when the time of love was come. Ah, it was not the tractableness of thine own will, the eafy temper of thy heart to be wrought upon; the Lord let thee ftand long enough in the state of nature to difcover that; there was nothing in nature but obstinacy and enmity. Thou didst hear as many powerful fermons, melting prayers, and didft fee as many awakening providences before thy heart was opened to Chrift, as thou haft fince: yet thy heart never opened till now; and why did it open now? Because now the Spirit of God joined himself to the word; victorious grace went forth in the word to break the hardness, and conquer the rebellions of thy heart. The gospel was now preached (as the apostle speaks, 1 Pet. i. 12.) "with the Holy Ghoft fent down from heaven, which "things, (faith he) the angels defire to look into." Ah friends, it is a glorious fight, worthy of angelical obfervation and adiniration, to behold the effects of the gospel preached, with the Holy Ghost fent down from heaven; to fee, when the Spirit comes along with the word, the blind eyes of finners opened, and they brought into a new world of ravishing objects; to behold fountains of tears flowing for fin, out of hearts lately as hard as the rocks; to fee all the bars of ignorance, prejudice, cuftom, and unbelief, fly open at the voice of the gofpel; to fee rebels against Christ laying down their arms at his feet, come upon the knee of fubmiffion, crying, "Lord "I will rebel no more;" to fee the proud heart centered and wrapt up in its own righteousness, now ftripping itself naked, loading itself with all fhame and reproach, and made willing that its own fhame fhould go to the Redeemer's glory. Thefe, I fay, are fights which angels defire to look into. Certainly your hearts were more tender, and your wills more apt to yield and bend in the days of your youth, than they were now, when fin had fo hardened them, and long-continued custom riveted and fixed them, yet then they did not, and now they do yield to the calls and invitations of the gofpel. Afcribe all to fovereign grace, and fay, "Not unto us, not unto us, but to thy "name give the glory." The observation and experience of our own hearts will furnifh us with arguments enough to refift all temptations to felf-glorifying and conceit. Certainly you were born not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God. Confid. 3. Laftly, This is a comfortable confideration, that he that waited upon you fo long, and won your hearts at last; that hath gained you at the expence of fo much pains and patience, will not now forfake you. Poor fouls, I queftion not but there are many fears and jealousfies within you, that all this will come to nothing, and you fhall perish at laft. Divers things foment these jealoufies within your hearts: The weakness of your own graces, which alas, are but in their infancy; the fenfe you have of your own corruptions, and the great ftrength they ftill retain: The fubtilty of Satan, who employs all his policies to reduce you; fometimes roaring after his efcaped prey with hideous injections, which make your fouls to tremble; fometimes the difcouraging apprehenfions of the difficulties of religion, how far the fpirituality of active obedience, and the difficulty of paffive obedience is above your ftrength; fometimes feeling within yourfelves fad alterations, by the hiding of God's face, and withdrawment of sweet and fenfible communion with him. These, and fuch like things as these, cause many a qualm to come over your hearts; but cheer up, Chrift will not lofe at last what he pursued fo long; he that waited fo many years for thy foul, will never caft it away now that he hath feated himself in the poffeffion of it. 'N the former point we have feen the Redeemer's pofture, a I posture of condescending humility, rather the pofture of a fer vant than the Lord of all; Behold I ftand at the door. We now come to confider his action or motion for entrance, I ftand and knock: This metaphorical action of knocking, fignifies nothing elfe but the motions made by Chrift for entrance into the fouls of finners; and affords us this fifth obfervation, Doct. 5. That every conviction of confcience, and motion upon the af fections of finners, is a knock of Chrift from heaven for entrance into their fouls. This action of knocking is afcribed fometimes to the foul, and is expreffive of its defires to come into the gracious presence and communion of God; fo Mat. ii. 7. "To him that knocks, it fhall "be opened," i. e. to him that feeks by importunate prayer, fellowship and communion with the Lord. But here it is applied to Chrift, and is expreffive of his importunate defire to come into union and communion with the fouls of finners. Here I fhall open to you the following particulars. 1. What are the doors of the foul at which Chrift knocks. First, What are the doors of the foul at which Chrift knocks. You all know that term Chrift here used, cannot be proper but metaphorical; it is a figurative fpeech, the door is that part which is introductive into the house, and whatever is introductive into the foul, that is the door of the foul. Now in the foul of man there are many powers and faculties that have this ufe, and are of an introductive nature to let things into the foul of man. Some are more outward, as we may speak comparatively; and fome more inward, as the doors of our houses are. Chrift knocks orderly at them all, one after another, for the operations of the Spirit disturb not the order of nature. 1. The first door that opens and lets into the foul is the underflanding; nothing paffes into the foul, but it must first come through this door of the understanding; nothing can touch the heart, or move the affections, but what hath first touched the understanding. Hence we read fo often in fcripture of the opening of the understanding, that being, as it were, the fore-door of the foul. 2. Within this is the royal gate of the foul, viz. The will of man, that noble and imperial power. Many things may pass into the mind, or understanding of a man, and yet be able to get no further; the door of the will may be shut against them. There were many precious truths of God let into the understandings of the Heathens, by the light of nature, but could never get further, their hearts and wills were locked and fhut up against them; as you may fee, Rom. i. 18. "They held the truths of God in unrighteousness;" that is, they bound and imprisoned thofe com. mon notices the law of nature impreffed upon their minds, concerning the being and nature of God, and the duties of both tables. These truths could get no further into their fouls, and, which is of fad and dreadful confideration, Chrift himself stands betwixt these two doors, in the fouls of many perfons; he is got into their understandings and confciences, they are convinced of the poffibility and neceffity of obtaining Jefus Chrift, but still the door of their will is barred against him, which drew from him that fad complaint, John v. 40. "Ye will not come unto me that ye "might have life." When this door of the will is once effectually opened, then all the inner doors of the affections are quickly fet open to receive, and welcome him; defire, joy, delight, and all the reft, ftand open to him. Thefe are the doors at which the Redeemer knocks. Secondly, Next we must confider what is meant by Chrift's knocking at the doors, and what that action implies. In the general, knocking is nothing else but an action fignificative of the defires of one that is without, to come in; it is a fign appointed to that end: And what is Chrift's knocking, but a fignification to the foul of his earneft defires to come into it; notice given to the foul of Chrift's willingness to poffefs it for his own habitation? And it is as much as if Christ should say, Soul, thou art the house that was built by my hand, purchased and redeemed by my blood; I have an unquestionable right to it, and now demand entrance. More particularly, there are divers great things implied in this gracious act of Chrift's knocking at the door of the foul. 1. It implies the special favour and distinguishing grace and goodness of Jefus Chrift, that he will stand and knock at our doors when he paffes by fo great a part of the world, never giving one fuch knock or call at other men's doors; it is certainly a moft glorious and admirable condefcenfion and favour of heaven, and wherever it is fuccefsful, it fpeaks a man highly favoured of God. O amazing! when Chrift paffes by the fouls of thoufands and millions, that would certainly afford him as comfortable an habitation as our fouls can do, and will not give one effectual knock or call at their doors all the days of their life; that he will please to turn aside to thy foul, and wait and knock there for entrance: I fay, here is one of the greatest acts of favour that can be fhewn to the foul of a finner. How many fouls be there in the world equal in natural dignity to yours, and of sweeter natural tempers, whom yet the Lord Jefus lets alone in the quiet poffeffion of Satan, Luke xi. 21. There is a deep filence and ftillness in their confciences, no ftirrings nor difturbances by convictions, but, through a dreadful judgment of God, they are left in a deep fleep; and if their confciences at any time begin to grumble, how foon are they hufhed and quieted again by Satan? What the condition of the world was in former ages, we may fee in Acts xiv. 16. “Who "in times paft fuffered all nations to walk in their own way." O! it is the greatest mercy in the world for the fleepy confcience of a finner to be rouzed by convictions, because it is introductive to all other spiritual mercies. I confefs this act of grace is little apprehended by the fons and daughters of men; much rather would poor finners be let alone, than be thus difturbed by troublefome convictions; and when Chrift difturbs their reft, how do they ftartle at the knocks of his Word and Spirit? How angry are they that they cannot be let alone to enjoy their quiet fleep in fin till the flames of hell awaken them? Mr Fenner, that great and eminent inftrument of God in this work, tells us, in one of his fermons, how it fared with a certain man that came to hear him preach: It feems the word had got entrance into his confcience, and gave it aterrible alarm, and as he was going home, fome that followed him, heard him thus blaming and bemoaning himself: O what a fool, what a beaft was I to come under this fermon to-day? I fhall never have peace and quietness any more.' And what is the reason that smooth and general preaching is fo much applauded and affected in the world, and clofe convincing doctrine fo much fhunned and hated, but this, that finners are very loth to be difquieted, and have their confciences thoroughly awakened? Well, whatever your apprehenfions be, certainly it is an unfpeakable mercy for Chrift to knock, and difquiet the fouls of finners by his calls. That is the first thing. 2. The next thing implied in this action of Chrift is this, That the first motions towards the recovery and falvation of finners begin not in themselves, but in Chrift: We never knock at heaven's door by prayer till Chrift hath first knocked at our doors by his Spirit: Did not Chrift move firft, there would be no motions after him in our hearts; we move towards him, because he hath first moved upon our fouls. Chrift might fit long enough unfought and undefired, did he not make the first motion. All our motions are fecondary and confequential motions. Ifa. lxv. 1. "I am found of "them that fought me not." As we love him because he first loved us, fo we seek after him because he first sought us. Alas! poor finners are as well fatisfied as any people in the world can be to lie faft afleep in the devil's arms. When the Spirit of God goes forth with the word of conviction, he finds the fouls of men in the very fame posture which the angels that had furveyed the world reported the whole earth to be in. Zech. i. 11. "Behold all the "earth fitteth ftill, and is at reft." Every man fettled and fatisfied in his own way. What a ftrange stillness and midnight filence is there amongst finners? Not a figh, not a cry to be heard for fin: So the Pfalmift, Pfal. xiv. 2. reprefents the cafe of finners, "The "Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to fee " if there were any that did understand and feek God. They are all gone afide," &c. There is one thing that is admirably ftrange in this cafe, that even those men and women, whose rattles of earthly pleasures and delights, which brought them into this fleep and fecurity, are taken away from them by the hand of Providence, I. mean their estates, health, children, &c. yet they awake not; there are no ftirrings after God, O what a dead fleep hath fin caft the fouls of finners into! You have a notable fcripture to this purpose, in Job xxxv. 9, 10. they are the words of Elihu, concerning men and women under grievous oppreffion, perfons squeezed and ground by the cruel hands of wicked men : « By reason of the multitude " of oppreffions they make the oppreffed to cry; they cry out by " reason of the arm of the mighty: But none faith, where is God my Maker, who giveth fongs in the night?" i. e. Succour, comfort, and refreshment to the afflicted. Here are men turned out of their estates, thrown into prifons, cast upon all extremities 1 |