therefore he is fit company for none but those that are humble self-denying self-condemning sinners 2. The Heart is many times shut against Christ by unbelief Faith is the hand whereby Christ is received Faith must open the door to Christ and therefore where Faith is wanting the door of the Heart must needs be kept shut against Christ Unbelief is one of the great Bars or Bolts whereby the Heart is kept fast shut against Christ This Bar therefore must be removed before the Heart can be opened to Christ The Apostle tells us the reason why the Jews were rejected was because of their unbelief Unbelief is the great Gospel-sin the Rock upon which many a poor soul as plit Therefore saith our Saviour John 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God Beware therefore of unbelief and open to him by Faith Christ gives many invitations and calls such as you read Isai 55.1 c. Believe therefore that Christ is really willing to receive those that he makes such calls unto and of those number thou art if thou dost not wilfully exclude thy self through unbelief He makes many gracious promises of Pardon of Sin of Adoption Sanctification and Life Eternal and withal he tells thee upon what terms and conditions these things are to be had Therefore by Faith embrace these Promise apply them to thy self thankfully close with them and labour to answer the terms and conditions of them and if thou dost but on thy part manifest thy real willingness thou shalt finde that he will come in unto thee with comfort and assurance Therefore open to Christ by Faith believe his word embrace his promises obey his commands dread his threatnings give up thy self by covenant unto him that he may be made of God unto thee wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption 3. Sometimes the heart is shut against Christ by impenitency It is an opinion but too common and ordinary among Sinners that Repentance is only needful in some few gross cases for some great and notorious enormity but as for sins of a less magnitude they look upon them as pardoned in course without any considerable repentance And therefore if they finde not themselves guilty of such great sins they conceit that they need no Repentance In this sense are those words of our Saviour to be understood Luke 15.7 Joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance i. e. that think they need no repentance and this is the secret thought but of too many in the world and by this they shut out the Lord Jesus Christ as a person that they have no great need of or occasion for they think themselves whole and therefore see no need of a Physician But he that would have Christ to come into his soul must see a need of Christ must see himself to be a sinner a great sinner lost and undone without Christ must see himself an enemy to God by nature a rebel and traitor and this his enmity he must repent of be heartily sorry for must be really willing and desirous of peace and reconciliation with God must abhor himself for his former enmity and resolve through the Grace of God that he will stand no longer in opposition to God but must come with an humble broken melted heart to God begging pardon for what is by-past and deliberately resolving and promising new and faithful obedience for time to come and this he must do from a sense of the sinful and cursed nature of sin And upon this Repentance it is that Christ comes in and is willing to be a Mediator between God and man And therefore it thou wouldest open to Christ aright set thy self seriously to the work of Repentance perform that work throughly let no known sin or sin that thou canst possibly discover in thy self pass unrepented of Go therefore into secret examine thine own heart what sins thou canst finde lodged there meditate upon them with all the aggravating circumstances of them and dwell so long upon the thoughts of them till such time as thou hast brought thine heart to an utter loathing and abhorrence of them and of thy self for committing of them and allowing thy self in them and till thou comest to judge and condemn thy self as worthy of eternal damnation for hearkening to the temptation of them And then let God hear thee bemoan thy self and complaining of thine own folly and wickedness and what a sad and wretched condition thou hast brought thy self into by thy sins and beg help of God to turn thee and bring thee unto Jesus Christ and bestow him upon thee and when this is done sincerely and faithfully thou shalt finde Christ ready to come in unto thy soul See this exemplified in Ephraims repentance Jer. 31.18 19 20. Surely I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bubock unaccustomed to the yoke turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God After I was turned I repented after I was instructed I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Child For ever since I spake against him I earnestly remember him still therefore I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord. Ephraim by repentance opened his heart to God and then Gods heart was open towards him and Gods bowels yearn towards him Thus do thou humble thy self to God and in due time he will exalt thee Open thine heart by Repentance and thou wilt be fit for the reception of Jesus Christ 4. Sometimes the heart may be shut against Christ by decay or want of Love It is want of due love and respect to Christ that is the cause why he is shut out of the Soul did we love Christ more we should more readily open unto Christ and did we more really and fervently love him we should have more of his company If Love be wanting Christ cares not to come in that Soul neither indeed will there be convenient room for Christ in that Soul If thy love to Christ be cold thy heart will be shut against him for the Heart is naturally contracted and shut where love is wanting and it is the very nature of Love to open expand or enlarge the Heart towards the object beloved If therefore thou wouldest have Christ to come into thy Soul set Love to work Love will make Christ precious and desirable to thy Soul and thereupon set thee a longing for Christ when he is absent Love will enlarge thy desire and make thee impatient of his absence and spur thee on to a more diligent seeking of him Love will bid Christ welcome at his coming and therefore will endeavour not onely to remove whatever may be offensive and distasteful to him
company and communion with him may live in the light of his countâ—nance always beholding his most lovely face hearing his most pleasant voice and tasting of his most Royal dainties The breathings of a gracious heart towards Christ are the same for reality though not for degree that Christ his breathings are towards her Cant. 2.14 O my dove Let me see thy countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely It was thus with David Psal 27.4 c. If he might but have one request it should be that he might dwell in the house of the Lord and that for this end that he might behold the beauty of the Lord and enquire in his Temple and whatever became of other things this as the main would he seek after But alas is it not far otherwise with us in these days and that among those that profess love to Christ if we look what most men are busie about what takes up most of their thoughts what their discourse is most about in all companies what they spend most time in and weary themselves in the prosecution of from day to day shall we not finde it rather to be the World than Christ I will not say as is said of the wicked That God is not in all their thoughts but this may be too truely said of many that their most frequent pleasant and abiding thoughts are about the world These lie down with them these rise up these go out and come in with them as if these were their onely business Doth this argue that these Hearts are open to Christ where the door is open a man may enter in without obstruction But here it is an hard matter for a serious thought of Christ to get crowded in If it come to the door it gets no further hath little or no admission into the heart and affections no abiding there We read in Scripture of many very gross sins that the servants of God for some time have been overcome by but I do not remember any mentioned in Scripture that were sincere that were overcome with the love of the World Demas indeed is said to embrace this present World but whether this be to be understood of his total apostacy from the faith or onely his deserting his publick work or station the Scripture leaves us in the dark and leaves this brand of infamy and disgrace upon him We know what the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. 6.9 10. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows And the Apostle John tells us 1 John 2.15 If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Evidently manifesting that there is not room for Christ and the World to dwell in the same heart Christ himself tells us that we cannot serve God and Mammon These two contrary Masters will be encroaching upon each other and imposing their contradictory commands So that from hence I conclude that where the world hath a great share in the heart and affections there Christs interest is but small and the door of our hearts not sufficiently opened to him I am affraid that at the great day when all hearts shall be tried and made manifest there will be many a man found who prayed for Christ had a desire of him yea and hoped that he had an interest in him and a love for him and yet through the prevalency of the world never truely opened his heart to Christ Examine your hearts therefore how the case stands with you If Christ be there and opened to as he should be how comes his mortal enemy the world to have such an interest in you and to bear so much sway with you If your hearts were opened to Christ the world would be more despised and Christs company would be more delightful and more store set by 5. And lastly If the door of our hearts be open to Christ by faith How comes it to pass that there are so few fruits of Faith to be seen There is no question to be made but where Christ the Sun of righteousness shines into the Soul the door of the heart being opened by Faith but that it will be Summer-tide with that Soul Grace will bud blossom and bear fruit And if all other Graces be fruitful why not Faith If Faith therefore be fruitful where the Heart is opened to Christ it concerns us to examine what fruits of Faith we finde in our selves For as Faith hath a large root or foundation having the whole Word of God for its object upon which it acts and from which at all times it fetcheth direction so it hath a large office and work in the soul its work being to purifie both heart and life Acts 15.9 Purifying their hearts by faith Therefore the Apostle James tells us that Faith without works is dead being alone I may well compare Faith to a large and frugiferous tree whose root or foundation is the whole Word of God recorded in the whole body of Scripture The ground or seat of Faith is the heart the commanding power of the soul the body or trunk of this tree is the habit or principle of Faith infused into us and nourished in us by the Spirit of God The several branches of this tree spreading themselves every way are the several emanations or flowings forth of Faith guided and directed by the several parts of Gods word The fruits of Faith are the several particular actings of the whole man guided by Faith according to the direction of Gods Word Now where the ground of the heart is made warm by the presence and influential beams of the Sun of righteousness being opened unto Christ at his coming the tree of Faith must needs flourish and drawing in fresh supply of sap from the rock of truth which being digested in our hearts by Faith must needs bring forth suitable and proportionable fruit of all kinds in our lives and conversations If therefore thy heart be open to Christ by Faith Where then are the fruits effects actings and flowings forth of Faith in all the parts and passages of thy life and conversation Where is thy dependance upon and embracing of his Promises relying upon his All-sufficiency Where is thy universal obedience to his commands discharging duty in every part and condition of life living by and acting according to the rule of Gods Word in every thing thou goest about leaving the issue success and event of all thy business and concerns to God to his care and faithfulness Where is thy constant watch against the deceitfulness of thy Heart the temptations of Satan the allurements and enticements of the World and thy faithful resistance of all Temptations thy deep repentance for and faithful
him any entertainment Men are generally got plunged so deep in the cares and cumbers of the World that they have no leisure to open to Christ no nor so much as to weigh the arguments and motives that Christ makes use of to procure admission into their hearts Oh how busie are men in the world head and heart hands and feet yea whole soul and body as busily exercised about the world as may be and they think all this little enough too they think they get little enough by it and how should these then have leisure to open to Christ no wonder though his calls be so ineffectual when perso◠〈◊〉 so deeply ingaged in the world that 〈◊〉 have not leisure to stand still and consider 〈◊〉 were best to be done whether that which they are about or some other thing We read in the parable of the Supper when the Master sends forth his Servants to invite guests one man is busie with his Farm another with his Merchandise but none of those which were bidden had leisure to come And the reason was they saw a present necessity and urgency of the present business which they were about but they saw none so great and present need of Christ Many in the world are worse employed than Martha was and yet think their time so well spent in that which they are about that they are loth to be taken off to wait and attend upon Christ and his Ministry Martha had invited the Lord Jesus to her house and with him many friends and that which she was busie about was to make ready provision for his entertainment a business one would think indispensible And yet our Saviour blames her for this Luke 10.40 41 42. But Martha was cumbered about much serving And Jesus answered and said Martha Martha thou art careful and troubled about many things but one thing is needful And Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her How many are â—oth 〈◊〉 employed than this and yet have not 〈◊〉 to consider whether any thing be more necessary to be done than what they are about To such as these I would speak these few words You think your selves well employed in your earnest and not pursuit of the world the cares and business that onely relates to this present life and you see nothing more needful at present to be done Let me ask you this question Notwithstanding the great business which you have to do in the world do you not sometimes finde leisure to eat drink sleep dress and adorn the body You will say Yes without these we could not live nor have any strength to follow our business Well will time be afforded for taking and feeding upon the meat that perisheth and no time allowed for feeding upon that meat which endures to everlasting life Read John 6.27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endures to everlasting life Hath your Body more need of Clothes to cover your nakedness and keep your warm than your Souls to be clothed with the Righteousness of Jesus Christ as a Robe or Garment If you did but as really see how naked your Souls look in the sight of God Angels c. you would be as much ashamed of your selves as you would now be to have men see your Body naked And therefore consider with your selves whether there be not as great need to take fit and convenient time for the feeding and clothing your Souls as there is for feeding and clothing your Bodies And if there be as great need I pray you let not your precious Souls famish and starve while you so carefully pamper your Bodies and that notwithstanding your great and urgent business in the world Again you that are so earnest and busie about the world and have your time and thoughts so taken up about it let me ask you this one question more Whether do you judge that your success in your worldly affairs doth principally flow from your own wisdom care and pains or from the blessing of God upon your endeavours I believe that few or none of you will be so audaciously impious as to affirm the former whatever you think but rather that your successive business doth arise from the blessing of God upon your endeavours And if so I pray you to consider upon what ground or warrant you can expect the blessing of God upon your endeavours when you wilfully shut the door of your Hearts against his well beloved Son and when you make so light of him and his company that every worldly trifle must take place of him and be preferred before him Might not many of you succeed better in your worldly business if you would give Christ better entertainment in your Hearts and cumber your selves less about the world Christ bids us Matth. 6.33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and promiseth that all other things shall be added Intimating that the best way to secure a competency of this world to our selves is in the first and chief place to secure an interest in Christ for our Souls We say that he that would drive on a Trade must have interest and acquaintance And I am sure we cannot have interest in nor acquaintance with a better friend than Christ nor one that can bestead us more in the carrying on of our worldly business For It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and addes no sorrow therewith Prov. 10.22 O spare some time therefore in the midst of your worldly business to open your hearts to Christ 3. Another hinderance to our opening to Christ may be the difficulty and unpleasantness of the work either in opening to Christ or when we have opened to him 1. There is a difficulty in opening to Christ which a lazy sluggish Soul is hardly brought to grapple with and overcome Faith and Love are the two principal ways whereby the Soul is to open to Christ And these are two Graces not without much difficulty attained unto in the right exercise of them Many persons at a distance think it an easie matter to believe in a crucified Saviour but when they come to make proof of their Faith in particular cases they many times finde themselves at a loss See this in an instance Mark 9.24 we have a man bringing his child to Christ to be healed his coming argued something of Faith but when the Disciples had failed in the cure and the child was rather worse than better the mans faith begins to stagger as appears by his words vers 22. If thou canst do any thing have compassion on us and help us Hereupon Christ calls him to the real exercise of Faith vers 23. If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth The poor man upon examination of his own heart finding some faith but yet this very weak and hardly to be raised to a firm and stedfast belief without wavering or doubting cries out
I believe Lord help thou mine unbelief Which manifested his sense of the difficulty of opening to Christ by Faith as he ought And truely Christians that know any thing of their own hearts as they ought finde this a very difficult work in cases of an easier nature than this here of this man was And therefore a lazy sluggish Soul is unwilling to be at such pains There are some weary steps that a believer must take to open to Christ by Faith As 1. earnest Prayer to him who is the Finisher and Perfecter as well as the Authour and Beginner of this Grace Faith in the act and exercise as well as in the habit must be obtained of Christ by earnest Prayer And to tug in this duty of Prayer as we ought is no easie work especially if Christ for some time seem to hold back and deny as he did to the woman of Canaan This puts the Soul sometimes into a sweat and therefore the easeful Soul is loath to be at this pains his patience is worn out and he faints and flags in the duty 2. Another weary step the Soul must take to get Faith into the exercise is the searching the Word and Promises and rightly applying them It is sometimes difficult to finde such promises as may rightly suit our condition When we have found them it may be something more difficult rightly to understand them according to the true intent and purport of them sometimes it may be difficult to get our hearts rightly affected with them and most of all to clear up our interest in them So that sometimes a Believer findes a promise and meditating sees it to suit his condition well enough but yet lays it aside can suck no sweetness from it because he cannot clear up his interest in it and that by reason of some particular condition or qualification annexed thereto which he findes not in himself In this case to believe seems difficult and therefore the promise is laid aside and no comfort gathered from it upon this account a lazy Soul sits down in unbelief and doth not open to Christ by faith 3. Another weary step is the overcoming that unbelieving frame of heart which we are naturally prone unto Unbelief is a sin which naturally flows from the corruption of our natures and accompanies us in some measure more or less while we are in this Vale of Tears And this part of corrupt nature poor Souls finde as much difficulty in the overcoming as any corruption And the reason is because of all corruptions none hath more to say for it self than this for the object of Faith properly is unseen things such as are not obvious to sense such as seem to thwart both sense and reason and frequent experience such things as we have nothing to bottom our faith concerning upon but the bare Word of God we are to believe in hope contrary to hope And this makes the work difficult hereupon few Christians are so resolved and industrious as to be at the pains which the Psalmist was Psal 73. to search things to the bottom and to weigh things in the balance of the Sanctuary and therefore they sit down without opening to Christ by Faith 4. Another difficulty is the griping guilt of sin and unworthiness which so looks them in the face when they should open to Christ by Faith that the eye of their Faith is dim and they cannot with any confidence look Christ in the face It is an usual saying that a guilty Conscience needs no Accuser Conscience will inwardly check the adulterous Spouse of Christ and make her blush when she should open to him and look him in the face The Psalmist complains that he was so compassed about and tormented with his sin that he could not look up Psal 40.12 It is a mistake very common in humbled penitent sinners that they must not dare not by Faith open to and close with Christ till they have attained such a measure of internal purity and Sanctity as may make them fit for and in a sort worthy of his company But these begin their work at the wrong end They should first open to Christ by Faith and then he will help them to and carry on in them this work of purity For it is his work by his Spirit to purifie and this purifying vertue we must fetch from him by Faith for It is he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure because without him we can do nothing Our work is first to believe and then by Faith to mortifie the deeds of the flesh Now this work is difficult to open to Christ and look him in the face by Faith with the guilt of sin upon our Consciences This goes contrary to the grain of Flesh and Blood who would gladly have something of its self and its own Righteousness in its justification Whereas our work is to disclaim all worthyness of our own and to come to Christ with Ropes about our Necks as self-condemned persons lying at the foot-stool of pure Grace and Christs Righteousness for justification and life And therefore where there remains any measure of pride in the Heart according to that measure and degree of pride Christ will be shut out The weary step of self-denial in this case the sluggish Christian is not willing to take Thus you see the work it self in opening to Christ by Faith is very difficult and hence the lazy Christian lies down upon his bed of present ease and refuseth to be at the pains to open to Christ by Faith But would the Soul but consider the amends that Christ's company would make for all his pains and how easie all these duties would be made by Christs coming in surely the Soul would never think his pains better bestowed than in opening to Christ by Faith It is he that by his Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer and helps us by his own strength to wrestle with himself and prevail It is he that brings promises to our minde helps us to understand and rightly to apply them and to take the sweetness and the comforts of them It is he that gives us a Pisgah-sight of unseen things and assures our Souls of the certainty of them It is he that helps our unbelief And it is he and he alone that by his Blood must purge away the guilt of all our sins Oh! therefore open to Christ by Faith and let not these impediments hinder you And as in Faith so in opening the Heart to Christ by Love there is great difficulty much ado to bring the Heart to open fully to Christ by Love These worldly things seem so lovely that the Heart is much stolen away by them These worldly things are so constantly present with us that it is hard to get a sight of Christ who is at a distance and seen as it were afar off These worldly things are so obvious and suitable to sense by which we too much live that
Sinners are by nature so fast asleep in such a dead sleep of sin and security that nothing less than the voice of the Son of God knocking and speaking at the door of their Hearts will awaken them hence we read John 5.25 That the time is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Which must be meant not of a natural Death or of the day of Resurrection but of a Death in sin because he saith the time now is And therefore saith the Apostle Eph. 2.1 You hath he quickned i. e. by the powerful voice of his Spirit Who were dead in trespasses and sins Would you see what one of Christ's calls are in this case read Eph. 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee life This he speaks not onely to the Ear by his Word but to the Heart by his Spirit 2. Christ his calls at the doors of our hearts many times designe Repentance Repentance is a Gospel-duty incumbent upon every person Acts 17.30 But now commands all men every where to repent And for this end he sends forth his Ministers to preach the Doctrine of Repentance to shew the necessity of Repentance and that there is great reason or cause for Repentance because we have sinned and thereby departed from God and cannot come to him again but by Repentance It is called The Doctrine of Repentance because Repentance is properly a Gospel-doctrine a Doctrine that the Law preacheth not for the Law or Covenant of Works admits of no Repentance but upon our breach of the Law immediately pronounceth a Curse Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them But the Gospel-covenant admits of yea calls for Repentance as the way and means to obtain Mercy yea promiseth Mercy and Pardon upon our Repentance Prov. 28.13 He that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy Therefore the Gospel tells us that Except we repent we shall all likewise perish Luke 13 5. If persons be in a state of unregeneracy then Christ knocks by his Word and by his Providences by his Mercies and his business with them is to shew that there is a necessity of their Repentance and that they must either repent or perish everlastingly If persons be in a state of regeneracy and have by some temptation or other lapsed or fallen into Sin or it may be have some Sin lodging in them not yet truely discovered and consequently not particularly repented of Then and in such case Christ calls to renewed and enlarged acts of Repentance for Repentance is a grace that concerns us all our lives long And therefore the calls of Christ in this case may be such as these Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand 3. Christ calls to reconciliation with God When Christ comes to the door of thine Heart he comeS as a mediator and peace-maker to make peace between God and thy Soul which are at variance with each other and by reason of sin have an utter enmity against each other The cause of this enmity Christ hath taken away by his death upon the Cross and nailed it to his Cross The cause being removed he comes and calls to intreat that the enmity it self may be taken away and we would be reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. Though there be little reason for it yet man is hard to be wooed and perswaded to cast out of his heart the enmity that is lodged there against God and his wayâ— And therefore Christ is forced to knock and call again and again before we will in this case be perswaded to yield to his suit 4. Christ calls for a closure with himself by Faith as the onely way and means to obtain peace and reconcilation with God We by our Sins are indebted to God more than ever we are able to pay are therefore in danger to be arrested by Divine Justice and cast into prison where we may lie and rot to all eternity Jesus Christ seeing us in this misery and distress comes and calls at the door of our hearts offers to be our Surety to pay every farthing of our debt for us and that upon this condition only that he may have our full and free consent to do this for us and that we will accept of with thankfulness what kindness he shews herein and rely upon him for the perfecting of this work for us and where-ever Justice shall lay any charge or accusation against us we will by Faith confidently and stedfastly plead his Satisfaction for our Discharge This is all that he requires from us and upon this condition only promiseth to pay our Debt reconcile us to God free us from imprisonment and seal us an absolute and full discharge that shall for ever stand good to all intents and purposes And therefore Christ his calls in this case are such as these Matth. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Isai 55.1 Hâ— every one that thirsts come unto the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come and buy wine and milk without money and without price Rev. 22.17 Let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the waters of life freely and he assures us John 1.12 that As many as receive him upon these terms to them he will give power to become the sons of God to them that thus believe on his Name And surely one would think this call is worthy to be embraced with all readiness of heart and thankfulness 5. Christ calls to sincere and hearty obedience to his commands and subjection to his revealed Will and Law he calls to take his yoke upon us and learn of him Mat. 11.29 This call is like unto that of Boaz to his Kinsman Ruth 4. Buy Naomi's inheritance but know also that thou must buy it of Ruth i. e. buy the inheritance but thou must take her to be thy wife also to raise up seed to thy kinsman that is dead So saith our Saviour Come and take the inheritance that I have purchased for thâ—â— and thou art freely welcome to it but know that in the day whereâ—in thou dost this thou must also 〈◊〉 me to be thy Lord and Husband and 〈◊〉 solemnly engage to behave thy 〈◊〉 as a loyal faithful and obedient wife to me thou must take me wholly as I am onely absolutely and everlastingly not only for a Priest to make atonement for thy Sins and to sanctifie and offer thy gifts to the Father but as a Prophet to teach thee such Laws Statutes and Judgments as are fit and requisite for thee to observe and as a King to rule and govern thee by my Law Thy heart must be my Throne and there must I sit and exercise my Authority and have thy whole man