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ing of the mind towards him. A moving of their mouth there may be. "With their mouth they show much love." Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Such a people as this will come as the true people cometh; that is, in show and outward appearAnd they will sit before God's ministers, as his people sit before them; and they will hear his words too; but they will not do them; that is, will not come inwardly with their minds. "For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart" (or mind) "goeth after their covetousness." Now all this is, because they want an effectual sense of the misery of their state by nature; for not till they have that, will they in their mind move after him. Therefore thus it is said concerning the true comers, "At that day the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain, at Jerusalem." Isa. xxvii. 13. They are then (as you see) the outcasts, and those that are ready to perish, that have their minds effectually moved to come to Jesus Christ. This sense of things was that which made the three thousand come, that made Saul of Tarsus come, that made the jailer of Philippi come, and that indeed makes all others come that come effectually." Acts iii. viii. xvi.

Of the true coming to Christ, the four lepers were a famous semblance, of whom you read, 2 Kings vii. 3, &c. The famine in those days was sore in the land, there was no bread for the people; and as for that sustenance that was (which was asses' flesh, and doves' dung), that was only in Samaria, and of that the lepers had no share, for they were thrust without the city. Well, now they sat in the gate of the city, and hunger was, as I may say, making his last meal of them; and being therefore half-dead already, what do they think of doing? Why, first they display the dismal colors of death before each other's faces, and then resolve what to do, saying, "If we say we will en

ter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall into the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive we shall live; and if they kill us we Here now was necessity at work, and this necessity drove them to go thither for life, whither else they

shall but die."

would never have gone for it. truth come to Jesus Christ.

Thus it is with them that in Death is before them; they

see it and feel it; he is feeding upon them, and will eat them quite up, if they come not to Jesus Christ; and therefore they come, even of necessity, being forced thereto by that sense they have of their being utterly and everlastingly undone, if they find not safety in him.

These are they that will come. Indeed these are they that are invited to come. "Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. xi. 28.

Take two or three things to make this more plain, namely, that coming to Christ floweth from a sound sense of the absolute need that a man hath of him.

(1.) "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble." Jer. xxxi. 9. Mind it! they come with weeping and supplication; they come with prayers and tears. Now prayers and tears are the effects of a right sense of the need of mercy. Thus a senseless sinner cannot come; he cannot pray, he cannot cry, he cannot come sensible of what he sees not, nor feels. "In those days, and in that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go, and seek the Lord their God; they shall ask their way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." Jer. 1. 4, 5.

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(2.) This coming to Christ, is called a running to him, a fleeing to him; a fleeing to him from wrath to come. By all which terms is set forth the sense of the man that comes; namely, that he is affected with the sense of his sin, and the death due thereto; that he is sensible that the avenger of blood pursues him; and that therefore he is cut off, if he makes not speed to the Son of God for life. Matt. iii. 7; Psalm exliii. 9. Fleeing is the last work of a man in danger. All that are in danger do not flee; no, not all that see themselves in danger; all that hear of danger, will not flee. Men will consider if there be no other way of escape before they flee. Therefore, as I said, fleeing is the last thing. When all refuge fails, and a man is made to see that there is nothing left him but sin, death, and damnation, unless he flies to Christ for life; then he flies, and not till then.

(3.) That the true coming is from a sense of an absolute need of Jesus Christ to save, &c., is evident by the outcry that is made by them that come, even as they are coming to him. "Lord save me or I perish." "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" and the like. Matt. xiv. 30; Acts ii. 37; Acts xvi. 30. This language doth sufficiently discover that the truly coming souls, are souls sensible of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ and moreover, that there is nothing else that can help them but Christ.

(4.) It is yet farther evident by these things. It is said, that such are pricked in their hearts, that is, with the sentence of death by the law; and the least prick in the heart kills a man. Acts ii. 37. Such are said to tremble, and to be astonished in themselves at the evident and unavoidable danger that attends them, unless they fly to Jesus Christ. Acts ix. 6.

(5.) Above all: coming to Christ is honest and sincere forsaking all for him. unto me and hate not his father, and

attended with an

"If any man come mother, and wife, and

children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple; and whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." Luke xiv. 26, 27. By these and the like expressions elsewhere, Christ describeth the true comer, or the man that indeed is coming to him; he is one that casteth all behind his back; he leaveth all, he forsaketh all, he hateth all things that would stand in his way to hinder his coming to Jesus Christ.

There are a great many pretended comers to Jesus Christ in the world. And they are much like to the man you read of in Matt. xxi. 30, that said to his father's bidding, “I go, Sir," and went not. I say, there are a great many such comers to Jesus Christ; they say, when Christ calls by his gospel, "I come, Sir," but still they abide by their pleasure and carnal delights. They come not at all, only they give him a courtly compliment; but he takes notice of it, and will not let it pass for any more than a lie. He said, "I go, Sir," and went not, he dissembled and lied. Take heed of this, you that flatter yourselves with your own deceivings. Words will not do with Jesus Christ. Coming is coming, and nothing else will go for coming with him.

Before I speak to the other head, I shall answer some objections that usually lie in the way of those that in truth are coming to Jesus Christ.

Object. 1. Though I cannot deny, but my mind runs after Christ, and that too as being moved thereto from a sight and consideration of my lost condition (for I see that without him I perish), yet I fear my ends are not right in coming to him.'

Quest. Why, what is thine end in coming to Christ?

Answ. My end is, that I might have life, and be saved by Jesus Christ.'

This is the objection; well, let me tell thee, that to come to Christ for life, and to be saved, although at present thou hast no other end, is a lawful and good coming to Jesus

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Christ. This is evident, because Christ propoundeth life as the only argument to prevail with sinners to come to him, and so also blameth them because they come not to him for life. "And ye will not come to me that ye might have life." John v. 40. Besides, there are many other scriptures whereby he allureth sinners to come to him, in which he propoundeth nothing to them but their safety. As, "He that believeth in him shall not perish." "He that believeth is passed from death to life." "He that believeth shall be saved." "He that believeth on him is not condemned." And believing and coming are all one.

So that you see, to come to Christ for life, is a lawful coming, and good. In that he believeth that he alone hath made atonement for sin. Rom. v.

And let me add over and above, that for a man to come to Christ for life, though he come to him for nothing else but life, is to give much honor to him.

He honoreth the word of Christ, and consenteth to the truth of it; and that in these two general heads. 1. He consenteth to the truth of all those sayings that testify, that sin is most abominable in itself, dishonorable to God, and damnable to the soul of man; for thus saith the man that cometh to Jesus Christ. Jer. xliv. 4; Rom. ii. 23; vi. 23; 2 Thess. ii. 12. 2. In that he believeth, as the word hath said, that there is in the world's best things, righteousness and all, nothing but death and damnation; for so also says the man that comes to Jesus Christ for life. Rom. vii. 24, 25; viii. 2, 3; 2 Cor. iii. 6-8.

He honoreth Christ's person, in that he believeth that there is life in him, and that he is able to save him from death, hell, the devil, and damnation; for unless a man believes this, he will not come to Christ for life. Heb. vii. 24, 25.

He honoreth his mission, in that he believeth that be is