becaufe the angels never finned, '(They have now pay, free grace; glory to the Lamb, and glory to the riches of his grace for evermore. Thus for directions: "one word of application, or a few motives to work faith in you in this respect. 1. Chrift in his word invites you to believe, thefe are his letters from heaven, Come all to the marriage-fupper of the Lamb; ho, every one that thirfts come in; heaven's-gate is open to all that knock, but fools, foolish virgins, foolish fouls, which have no faith, nor will have any, to render them fit for heaven. This meets with some that fcruple, What, will Chrift come again to receive me to himself? Shall I enter with him into glory? Alas! no unclean thing fhall enter into that holy' city, and fhall fuch a finner as I am be admitted?" Oh believe! believe thy part in this coming of Chrift, to receive thee to himself; and no fin, that thou feelest a burden, shall keep thee out of hea ven.. There is Rahab the harlot, and Manaffeh the murderer, and Mary that had fo many devils; a man that hath many devils, may come where there is not one, lame, and blind, halt, may enter into heaven, and yet there is room, Luke xiv. 22. There is great variety of guests above, and yet one table large enough for all; no crowding, and yet thoufands, and thousands of thoufands fitting together. Ah poor foul! why dost thou make exceptions, where God makes none? Why shouldst thou exclude thyself out of these golden gates, when God doth not? Believe, only believe in the Lord Jefus, and the promife is fure, and without all controverfy, thou shalt be fav d. 2. Chrift by his miniftry intreats you to believe;' conie, fay they, we beseech you believe in your judge: it may be you startle at this, what, to believe in him who is a-coming to be your judge? But if your judge be Jefus, if the fame perfon who died for you thall come to judge you, why fhould you fear? Indeed, if your judge were your ene⚫ my, you might fear; but if he who is your Lord, and who loves your fouls, fhall judge you, there is no fuch caufe: will a man fear to be judged by his dearest friends, a brother by a brother, a child by a father, or a wife by her husband? Confider!" is not he your judge who came down from heaven, and who being on earth was judged, condemned, and executed in your stead? And yet are ye fear. ful, Oye of little faith? Oh! what an unreafon=" able able fin is unbelief! nay, fay the fcrupulous, if I were affured of this, if I knew that my judge were my friend, I should not fear; but is he not my enemy? Have not I provoked him to enmity against my foul? Do I not stand it out in arms against my judge? Am not I daily finning against him, who justly may condemn me for my fin? Give this for granted, that this and no other, no better is my cafe, and what fay you then? If it be fo, hearken then to the voice of our miniftry. We poor minifters that love your fouls, (fay what you will of us) would fain have all this enmity against God, and against Christ done away; and to this purpose, we not only appear many and many a time upon our knees to God for you, but (maugre all your oppofition against us) we would be content to come upon our knees from God to you, to befeech you not to provoke your judge against your fouls: what, is Chrift and you at odds? Is the difference wide betwixt your judge and you? I do now in my mafter's name, in the name of God, and in the name of the Lord Jefus Chrift, befeech you to believe, I beseech you in Chrift's name, in Chrift's ftead, be ye reconciled unto God. is not this the apoftle's word? Now, then we are embajadors for Chrift, as though God did hefeech you by us, we pray you in Chrift's Bead, 2 Cor. v. 20. Chrift's minifters are not only God's legates, but Chrift's furrogates: to make this plain, to you, when a prince fends a mellenger to another prince, that meffenger is only an ambaffador, the prince being not bound to carry the meffage himself in perfon; but now Jefus Chrift, he is the Father's ambaffador, and Chrift is thereby bound to bring the meffage of peace himself; but being neceflarily employed eltewhere, (in the fame design of grace) he conftitutes us his officers, fo that we do not come only in the name of God, but in the place of Chrift, to do that work which is primarily his, As the Father bath fent me, even fo fend I you, John xx. 21. And this was the commendation of the Galatians, That they received the apostle Paul even as Jefus Chrift, Gal. iv. 14. Now, weigh our defire, we befeech you to believe; we beseech you to fign, the articles of agreement betwixt Chrift and you; what, fhall fome base inconfiderable luft ftand in competition with Jefus Chrift? Will you not make your peace with your judge whilft you are in the way, and before he fit in the throne? Behold you. give the warning, The judge is at the door, now be lieve, and be faved. Oh! how fain would we tempt you (as it were), with glory? We tender Christ, * and we offer peace, we come in the judge's name to beseech you to make ready for him, and for heaven; we bring falvation to your very doors, to your very ears, and there we are founding, knocking, Will ye go to heaven, finners? Will ye go to heaven? Oh! believe in him that will judge you, and he will fave you.' 3. Chrift by his Spirit, moves, excites, and provokes you to believe. Sometimes in reading, and fometimes in hearing, and sometimes in meditating, you may feel him flir; have you felt no gale of the Spirit all this while? It is the Spirit that convin. ceth the world of fin, John xvi. 8. efpecially of that great fin of unbelief; and then of righteousness, which Chrift procureth by going to his Father. Obferve here, it is the work of the Spirit thus to convince, fo that all moral philofophy, and the wifeft dire ctions of the most civil men, will leave you in a wilderness; yea, ten thousands of fermons may be preached to you to believe, and yet you never fhall, till you are overpowered by God's Spirit: it is the Spirit that enlightens and directs you, as occafion is, faying, This is the way, walk ye in it, Ifa. xxx. 21. It is the Spirit that roufeth and awakeneth you by effectual motions, Arife my love, my fair one, and come away, Cant. ii. 10. He ftands at the door and knocks; he stretches out his hand with heaven in it, and he doth fo all the day long, All the day long have. I ftretched out my hand; Rom x. 21. And that you may find his yoke. cafy,. and his burden light, it is the Spirit that draws. the yoke with you, and by fecret animations, and fweet infpirations, heartens and enables you to do the work with eafe; and, in this respect, the faints are faid to be led by the Spirit, Rom. viii. 14. Even as a mother leads her child that is weak, and enables it to go the better, fo the Spirit leads the faints (as it were) by the hand, and strengthens them to believe yet more and more. I fpeak now to faints, if whilst I prefs you to believe in Jefus, you feel the Spirit in his firrings, and impetuous acts, furely it concerns you to believe, it concerns you to be obfequious and yielding to the breath-, ings of God's Spirit, it concerns you to co-operate with the Spirit, and to anfwer his wind blowing As you are to take Christ at his word, fo. you are to to take Chrift's Spirit at his work: if now he knocks, do you knock with him; if now his fingers make a stirring upon the handles of the bar, let your hearts make a stirring with his fingers alfo; O reach in your hearts under the firrings of free grace; obey difpofitions of grace, as God himfelf. If now you feel your hearts as hot iron, it is good then to fmite with the hammer; if now you feel your fpirits docile, fay then with him in the golpel, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief; I believe, What? I believe when Jefus comes again, be will receive me to himself, and that I fhall be for ever with the Lord. Amen, Amen. SECT. VI. Of loving Jefus in that refpect. 6. •Le ET us love Jefus, as carrying on the great work of our falvation for us in his fecond coming. In profecution of this, I muft firft fet down Chrift's love to us, and then our love to Chrift; that is the caufe, and this the effect; that is the fpring, and this the stream; in vain should we perfuade our hearts to love the Lord, if, in the first place, we were not fenfible that our Lord loves us, We love him, (faith the apostle) because he first loved us, 1 John iv. 19. It is Chrift's way of winning hearts, he draws a lump of love out of his own heart, and cafts it into the finner's heart, and fo he loves him. Come then, let us first take a view of Chrift's love to us, and fee, if from thence, any sparks of love will fall on our hearts to love him again. Should I make a table of Christ's acts of love, and free grace to us? I might begin with that eternity of his love before the beginning, and never end till I draw it down to that eternity of his love without all ending: his love is as his mercy, from everlasting to everlasting; he loved us before time, in the beginning of time, in the fulness of time; at this time the flames of his love are as hot in his breaft, as they were at first, and when time shall be no more, he will love us ftill; this fire of heaven is everlasting; there is in the breast of Chrift an eternal coal of burning love, that never, never fhall be quenched. But I have, in fome measure, already discovered all those acts of his grace and love till his fecond coming: and therefore I begin there. 1. Chrift will come; Is not this love? As his departure was a rich teftimony of his love, It is expedient for you that I go away, fo is his returning, I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you, John xiv. 18. Oh! how can we think of Chrift's returning, and not meditate on the greatnefs of his love? Might he not fend his angels, but he must come himself? Is it not state and majesty enough to have the angels come for us, but that he himself must come with his angels to meet us more than half the way? What king on earth would adopt a beggar, and after his adoption would hinifelf go in perfon to fetch him from the dunghil to his throne? We are filthy Lazarus, from the crown of our heads to the foles of our feet we are full of fores, and yet the King of heaven puts on his best attire, and comes in perfon with all his retinue of glory, to fetch us from our graves to his own court of heaven. Oh! the love of Christ in this one act, he will come again, he is but gone for a while, but he will come again in his own perfon. 2. Chrift will welcome all his faints into his prefence: And is not this love? After he is come down from heaven, he stays for them a while in the clouds, and commanding his angels to bring them thither, anon they come; and, oh! how his heart springs within him at their coming; What throbs and pangs of love are in his heart at the first view of them? As they draw near, and fall down at his feet, and worship him, fo he draws near and falls upon their necks, and welcomes them. Methinks I hear him fay, Come bleffed fouls, you are my purchase, for whom I covenanted with my Father from eternity; O! you are dearlywelcome to your Lord, in that now I have you in my arms; I feel the fruit of my death, the acceptation of my facrifice, the return of my prayers; for this I was born and died, for this 'I arofe again and afcended into heaven, for this • I have interceded a priest in heaven these many years, and now I have the end and defign of all my actings and fufferings for you; how is my joy fulfilled?' Look, as at the meeting of two lovers there is great joy, especially if the distance hath been great, and the defires of enjoying one another vehement; fo is the meeting of Chrill with his faints; the joy is fo great, that it runs over and wets the fair brows, and beauteous locks of Che Cherubims and Seraphims, and all the angels have a part of this banquet at this day. 3. Chrift will fentence his faints for eternal life. Here is love indeed, every word of the fentence is full of love; it contains the reward of his faints, a reward beyond their work, and beyond their wages, and beyond the promife, and beyond their thoughts, and beyond their understanding; it is a participation of the joys of God, and of the inheritance of the Judge himself: Come, enter into your Mafter's joy, inherit the kingdom. Oh! but if all the faints have only but one kingdom, Where is my room? Fear not, O my foul! thou shalt have room enough, though but one kingdom, yet all the inhabitants there are kings; whole heaven is fuch a kingdom, as is entirely, and fully enjoyed by one glorified faint, all and every one hath the whole kingdom at his own will, every one is filled with God, as if there were no fellows there to fhare with him. Oh! that I may come under this bleffed fentence. Never was more love expreffed in words than Christ expreffeth in this fentence, Come ye bleed, &c. 4. Chrift will take up all his faints with him into glory, where he will prefent them to his Father, and then be their all in all to all eternity. This is the height of Chrift's love, this is the immediate love that comes out from the precious heart and bowels of Jefus Chrift; this is that Zenith of love, when fenfibly and feelingly it burns at hotteft; it is true, that Chrift's love breaks out in all thofe precedaneous acts we have already fpoken: oh! but what loves will be caft out from himfelf in glory? The more excellent the foil is, the nearer the fun is, and the more of fummer, and the more of day; the more delicious must be the apples, the pomegranates, the rofes, the lillies, that grow there: furely Chrift in glory is a bleffed foil; rofes, and lillies, and apples of love, that are eternally fummier-green and fweet, grow out of him; the honey of heaven is more than honey; the honey of love that is pure, and unmixed, and glorious in Chrift, muft needs be incomparable. I cannot fay, but that Chrift's love, like himself, is the fame yefterday, and to day, and for ever; there is no intention, or remiffion of his love as in itself, for God is love, 1 John iv. 8. He is effentially love, and therefore admits of no degrees; yet, in refpect of the fenfe, or manifefta tion of this love of Chrift, there muft needs be adifference; thus, if he loved his fpoufe on earth, How much more will he love her when his bride in heaven? If he loves us while finners, and enemies to his holiness, How much more will he love us, when we are fons, and perfected saints in glory? He that could fpread his arms, and open his heart on the crofs, Will he not then open arms, and heart, and all to them that reign with him in. his kingdom? If, in this life, fuch is love's puiffance, that we ufually fay of Chrift, Though the head be in heaven, yet he hath left his heart on earth with finners;' What fhall we fay of Chrift in glory, where love, like the fun, ever stands in the Zenith? Where the eternal God is the foul's everlasting refuge, and underneath are his everlafting arms? Deut. xxxiii. 27. 2. And if Chrift love thus, How fhould we love again for fuch a love? Lord, What a sum of love are we indebted to thee? Is it poffible that ever we should pay the debt? Can we love as high, as deep, as broad, as long as love itself, or as Christ himfelf? No, no, all we can do is but to love a little; and, oh! that, in the confideration of his love we could but love a little in fincerity. Oh! that we were but able feelingly to fay, Why, Lord, I love thee, I feel I love thee, even as I feel I love my friend, or as I feel I love myself." Such arguments of love have been laid before us, as that now I know no more; we have seen whole Chrift cap-a-pe, we have heard of the loves of Chrift from eternity to eternity, we have had a view of the everlafting gofpel of Jefus Chrift, ; wherein his love is reprefented to us as hot as death, or as the flames of God; And do we not yet love him? Hath Chrift all this while opened his breast and heart to us, faying, Friends, doyes, ' come in, and dwell in the holes of this rock?? And do we scratch his breaft? Do we turn our backs upon him, and require his love with hatred ? Surely this is more than fin; for what is fin but a tranfgreffion of the law? But this fin is both a tranfgreffion of the law and gofpel. What, to spurn against the warm bowels of love? To fpit on grace? To difdain him who is the white and ruddy, the faireft of heaven? Oh! the aggravation of this fin, it is an heart of flint and adamant that fpits at evangelic-love: law-love is love, but evangelic love is more than love; it is the gold, the flower of Christ's wheat, wheat, and of his fineft love. Oh! the many gof- 7. L SECT. VII. Of joying in Jefus in that respect. ET us joy in Jefus, as carrying on the great work of our falvation for us in his fecond coming. Chrift delights to have his people look upon him with delight; for a foul to be always under a fpirit of bondage, and fo to look upon Chrift as a judge, a Lion, or an offended God, it doth not please God; the Lord Jefus is tender of the joy of his faints, Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, faith Chrift, Mat. v. 12. Rejoice evermore, I Theff. v.-16. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I fay, Rejoice, Phil. iv. 4. Let the righ teous be glad, let them rejoice before God, yea, let them exceedingly rejoice, Pfalm Ixviii. 3. All that Chrift doth to his faints tends to this joy, as the upfhot or end of all; if he caft down, it is but to raife them up; if he humble, it is but to exalt; if he kill, it is but to make alive; in every difpenfation ftill he hath a tender care to preferve their joy. This is the Benjamin, about which Chrift's bowels beat, Let my children fuffer any thing, but nothing in their joy; I would have all that love my name to be joyful in me.'. Oh! fay fome, but Chrift's day is a terrible day; when Chrift appears, he will make the heavens, and the earth, and hell to fhake and tremble; Our God fhall come, and shall not keep filence; a fire fhall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him, Pfalm 1. 3. True! but what is all this terror, but an argument of my Father's power, and juftice against finners? If thou art Chrift's, and halt thy part in him, not one jot of all this terror belongs to thee; the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to referve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished, 2 Pet, ii. 9. He knows how to make the fame day a terror to his foes, and a joy to his people; he ever intended it for the great distinguishing and feparating day, wherein both joy and forrow fhould be manifefted to the highest. then let the heavens rejoice, the fea, the earth, the floods, the hills, for the Lord cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness fhall he judge the world, and the people with equity, Pfalm xcviii. 7, 8, 9. If you find it an hard thing to joy in Jefus, as in reference to his fecond coming, think of thefe motives, 1. Chrift's coming is the Chriftian's encouragement, fo Chrift himself lays it down, You fhall fee the Son of man coming in a cloud,with power and great glory; and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh, Luke xxi. 27, 28. The figns of his coming are the hopes of your approaching introduction into glory; And what should you do then but prepare for your approaching with exceeding joy? Many evils do now furround you every where, Satan hath his fnares, and the world its baits, and your own hearts are apt to betray you into your enemies hands; but when Chrift comes, you fhall have full deliverance, and perfect redemption; and therefore look up, and lift. up your heads. The apoftle speaks the very fame encouragement, The Lord himself fhall defcend from |