3. His coming is joyful to him, because it is on a glorious defign of glorifying the Father; and therefore, when he comes he fays, Now is my Father glorified;

now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him," John xiii. 31. When he came, and was just ready to lay down his life, and having done his work he said, John xvii. 4. "I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work thou gaveft me to do." He brought in glory and honour to all the perfections of God, and full reparation to all his injured attributes.

4. His coming is joyful to him, becaufe, as his coming was on a glorious defign, with reference to his Father, God being glorified by his coming, whether in the flesh, or by the Spirit; fo it is on a loving defign towards his people, to whom he comes. He comes to fave them, and juftify them, and fanctify them, and 'comfort them, and heal them, and help them; and all for love, becaufe he has loved with an everlasting love, therefore he comes to draw with loving-kindness.Love makes him come joyfully: it was love made him come joyfully in the fleth, and love makes him come joyfully in the Spirit; love made him come at first; and, notwithstanding many provocations, love makes him come again, according to his word, "I will fee you again, John xvi. 22. Now you have forrow, but I will fee you again, and your hearts fhall rejoice. O the height and depth, and length, and breadth of his love!" He comes joyfully, because he lives cordially.--But I

go on,

III. To the next thing propofed, namely, what makes his coming joyful to his people, what makes them welcome him with a joyful bebold, BEHOLD, be cometh! Why,

1. Because his coming is their life; when he came in the flesh," He came to give life, and to give it more abundantly," John x. 10. And when he comes in the Spirit, he comes to give life, to give the well of water fpringing up to everlafting life, John iv. 14. Whenever he comes, life enters the dead and dry bones. We

are

are like dead carcafes, our fpirits finking within us; but whenever the Spirit of life comes in the word, then we get up, as it were, to our feet; then we have life; "He that hath the Son, hath life:" whenever he comes, and that we have him with us, then the life of faith, the life of repentance, the life of love, the life of joy, the life of humility, the life of holiness, and the life of comfort come: we live or die as he comes or goes. If life be fweet, then his coming must be fweet; and of all lives the life of God, a fpiritual life, hid with Chrift in God, is the most pleasant and glorious.

2. His coming must be joyful to them, because his abfence is their death; yea, his abfence is a hell to them that know what a heaven his prefence makes: hence their many Obs when he is away; "Oh! when wilt thou come unto me? Oh! that it were with me as in months paft!" and hence their many bow longs, when he is away; "How LONG wilt thou forget me, O Lord? How LONG wilt thou hide thy face from me?" Pfal. xiii. 1, 2. They cannot live without him; or, if his absence be to fuch a degree, as that they are carelefs, ftupid, and unconcerned, yet they that know what his joyful prefence is, will grant, that their careless times are their fad and fighing times; they are not their joyful times; they are not their life, but their death, and they never expect to have a joyful life till he come again.

When he is away from the church, then all goes to confufion: The fervants of the houfe begin to fmite their fellow fervants," Mat. xxiv. 46. Why, because the Lord delays his coming: they begin to fmite them with fentences of fufpenfion, or feclufion, as at this day * when he is away, then the fhepherds begin to rule his people with force and violence, Ezek. xxxiv. 4. And what is the effect of that? See ver. 6. "My fheep wan. dered over all the mountains; my flock was fcattered u pon all the face of the earth, and none did fearch, or feek after them." Why, might not this fmite the hearts of rigid rulers, to fee the flock scattered here and there,

A fhort account of what is here alluded to, may be feen, Vol. V. Serm. LXXXIV. See likewife Serm. LXXXII, LXXXIII.

прод

upon the violent obtrufions of hirelings upon them? * No; none did fearch out, or feek after them. They even flight them as an ignorant mob, a rabble, that need not to be regarded, [and, indeed, if matters go on at this rate, if God do not ftir up the enfuing Affembly, (viz. 1734.) to take courfe with thefe diforders, the ruin of the church of Scotland is but beginning.] But whence are all thefe confufions? May we not fay, as it is, Deut. xxxi. 17. Are not thefe evils come upon us, because our God is not amongst us?" When he is away from a church, nothing but confufion and diforders take place; but when he comes back, then his work is revived, Zion is built up, reformation reflored. When he goes away from a particular believer, On! what a hell of confufion till he returns! His prefence gives reft, but his abience trouble; "Thou didit hide thy face, and I was troubled.”

3. His coming is joyful to them, becaufe the errand on which he came is merciful. What does he bring when he comes? Why, he even brings God with him, and all the fulnefs of God: and fo he brings the chief good with him.-God is in Chrift, and all the fulness of the God-head in him; and therefore, when he comes, all good comes: when he comes graciously, he comes in the capacity of a friend, to help; a phyfician, to heal; a fhepherd, to feed; "He feedeth among the lilies." When he comes, his presence is a reviving and refreshing prefence; an enlightening, enlivening, and enlarging prefence; fometimes a confirming and comforting prefence; a humbling and a fweetly-debafing prefence; yea, it is an exalting and dignifying prefence. The effects of his coming are moft joyful; for, when he comes to his people, then their fins are pardoned, their wants fupplied, their enemies conquered, their croffes fanctified, their kingdom fecured: and therefore his coming must be joyful to them.

4. His coming is joyful to them, because his coming is all their heaven upon earth; yea, his prefence is the heaven of heavens. What is heaven, but a being like

*That the Lord's her tage was grievoufly oppreffed at this time, may be feen laid open, Vol. V. Serm. LXXXII, LXXXIII. LXXXV.. in fome foot notes.

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him, by feeing him as he is. Now, this heaven is begun on earth when he comes; for then they behold his glory, and are changed into the fame image, 2 Cor. iii. 18. How can they be but joyful at his coming, when they confider who he is; he is enough to make a heaven, whatever way they look to him: if they look to Lim abfolutely, "He is altogether lovely; the brightness of his Father's glory." When they look to him comparatively," He is fairer than the fins of men; more glerious than all the mountains of prey." When they look' to him relatively, he is their Head and Hufband; their God and guide; their righteoufnefs and ftrength; their light, life, joy, and all. O fays the frong believer, My beloved is mine, and I am his " he is mine, and I will not part with him for the whole creation. O fays the weak believer, the doubting believer, O if he were mine, I would not part with him for a thoufand worlds. In a word, he is fuch a heaven to them, that nothing can make up the lofs of his prefence: miniflers cannot. do it; ordinances cannot do it; angels cannot do it. Ordinances are but the fhell, without the kernel, when Chrift is not in them; all creature-comforts cannot fupply his room. Naturalifts fay, The loadflone cannot draw in prefence of the diamond; furely, when Chrift is prefent with a foul, all the pomp and pride, all the gallantry of the world, will have no influence on the foul. Offer the believer mountains of gold and filver inftead of Chrift, "Get thee behind me, Satan," will be his answer: 66 Thy money perifh with thee," that lays it in balance with the Son of God. Offer me fomething better than Chrift, then you will fee what I will do. There are fo many thoufand excellencies in Chrift, that might be fo many thoufand reafons why his coming is joyful, that they cannot but fay upon the notice of it, Behold, be cometh!

--

IV. The fourth thing propofed was, What expreffion.s of joy in the Lord Jefus is imported in this, Lo, I come! What fort of joy does it exprefs.

1. I think this, Lo, I come! expreffes prefent joy'; Lo, I come! It is fomething like that of John xiii. 32.

"Now

"Now is the Son of man glorified:" there was a time when he said, "Now is my foul troubled, and what shall I fay?" John xii. 27. But when he comes graciously, he fays upon the matter, Now is my foul fatisfied, now is my heart glad; the Lo, is in the present time, and I come, is in the prefent tenfe; Lo, I come! And if Chrift be prefently faying with reference to any company here, Lo, I come to you! O it is a prefent joy to him; he comes rejoicing; he comes leaping and skipping; his fet time of coming is the time of the gladnefs of his heart.

2. It expreffes active joy; Lo, I come! He rejoices to do good: it is his joy to do fervice to his Father and his friends. And if he rejoiced in his work when he came to fave by the price of his blood; how must he rejoice when he comes to fave by the power of his Spirit? The natural fun is faid to rejoice as a ftrong man to run his race, Pfal. xix. 5. It is a metaphorical fpeech, for the fun is not capable of joy; but, without metaphor, it is true of the Sun of righteoufnefs, the Lord Jefus Chrift; he is a ftrong man, the man of God's right-hand, whom he hath made ftrong for himself: and he rejoices to run his race; he rejoices to arife with healing under his wings: Lo, I come!-It is an active joy.

3. It expreffes certain joy. The Lo, is a note of certainty; the thing is certain and true; Lo, I come! And his joy is certain; certain, true, folid joy. There is nothing more certain than that believers have fometimes joy unspeakable; but these are only ftreams that flow from the joy that is in Chrift's heart. His joy is the fountain of their joy; "He is anointed with the oil of joy above his fellows;" and the fellowship they have with him is by fome drops of that oil of joy. Can they be

are allotain of the ftreams and the drops when thefe

How much more is it certain, that all true joy centers in him: Believers have fometimes a fulness of joy; but their fulness is the fulness of the ftreams, or of the velfel; but his fulness is the fulness of the ocean. If it be certain, there is a ftream of joy in the believer fometimes, much more that there is the Ipring of joy in Christ.