Lord I throw my self into the Arms of thy Grace O reject me not but grant I may be found in thee and may have thy Righteousness to commend me 4. Our receiving Christ doth note our complying with his Terms Most would be willing to be saved at last provided they might have liberty to live as they list at present But Christ must be accepted on his own Terms He calls us to Repentance Faith and new Obedience If we will conclude on good ground that we have received Christ we must see to it that we sincerely forsake our former Lusts and Sins which so long separated betwixt us and our God and for which Christ did undergo and suffer such pressing and astonishing Sorrows and Punishments Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts c. Isa 55.7 We must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that he is the Son of God that out of pure Love he did assume our Nature that he hath performed all that is necessary to put us into a capacity of Salvation and to reconcile us unto God that he is the only Author of Eternal Life and Salvation And we must rely and depend upon him only for Mercy and Salvation We must devote our selves to live godly righteously and soberly and make Conscience of attending to and walking in all Christ's Commandments And we must take care to get all this cleared and evidenced to our selves from Scripture-Grounds Art thou truly willing to part with all thy Lust to mortify thy corrupt Affections and to die every day more and more to sin to be crucified to the World and to oppose and resist all that fights against thy Soul Do'st thou labour to exercise Faith vigorously is it thy Business to eye Christ continually do'st thou fetch all thy Strength and Supplies from Him are all thy Hopes and Expectations laid up in him do'st thou without any reservation give up thy self to Christ is it thy heartiest desire study care and endeavour continually to imitate and please Christ 5. Our receiving Christ doth import our submitting to him in all his Relations It was a great Reflection on some who followed Christ when he was here upon Earth that they followed him for the Loaves with which he fed them and not for the Miracles which they saw him work whereby his Divinity was attested and the Truth of the Doctrines he taught undeniably evidenced and confirmed And it would be as severe a Reflection upon us should Christ lay it to our Charge that though we pretend to submit to Him in one Relation yet we refuse to own and acknowledg Him in his other Relations That we are willing to admit him to be our Priest to suffer for us but will not have any thing to do with his Yoke but do resolutely cast his Laws behind our back and determine that we will not have him to reign over us But it is our Duty to be ready and willing for his sake to take up the Cross as well as to wear the Crown to submit to do his Work as well as to expect and receive the Recompences and Wages he doth bestow We must take him as our King as our Husband as our Lord and as our Owner and perform to him all those Duties which concern us as we are his Subjects his Spouse his Servants and People in whom he hath an undeniable property We should complain to Christ of our hard and inflexible Hearts our unruly and tumultuous Affections of those Lusts and Wickednesses which we find strongest in us we should be earnest with him in desiring his powerful governing Presence in and with us that our Lusts may be conquered our Affections tamed made moderate and sanctified and that our stubborn Hearts may be made soft and pliable We must take him for our Priest expecting nothing but Wrath as what is due to what we can do of our selves and therefore relying wholly on Christ We must not look for any Pardon but what Christ's Blood hath purchased nor any fellowship and communion with God but what Christ doth by his intercession obtain for us We must take him for our Prophet to teach direct and guide us and to advise and counsel us We are naturally ignorant of God and our selves and the things which most of all concern us and we cannot get a sound and perfect knowledg of them but by his instruction who is the great Revealer of them even Jesus Christ as Prophet Those who will receive Christ aright must learn to know and understand his Voice and Dialect that whensoever they hear it they may follow him John 10.4 Christ is the Truth the Way and the Life and there is no coming to or knowing of the Father but by him John 14.6 We must take him for our great Teacher we must be willing to learn whatever he shall instruct us in and embrace and receive every direction he shall give us Consider therefore with your selves whether it be thus with you Whether you have sincerely given up your selves to his Government do willingly submit to his Laws do chearfully consent that he should rule over you Do you depend only on his Sacrifice and Merits and do you rejoice in his Light Do you receive him as a Master a Father a Brother a Friend c. And do you demean your selves to him in all the Duties and Offices of your Relations as by the Obligations arising from such Relations you are bound unto Mal. 1.6 6. Our receiving Christ into our Hearts doth import our having a transcendent and extraordinary love for Christ No Man is worthy to follow Christ or be owned by him that cannot deny himself and take up his Cross for his sake Christ will not take up his abode in that Heart which is not entirely given up and resigned to him Our loving other things either with an equal or a greater Love than what we have for Christ renders us wholly unfit to enjoy him and deprives us of those special Communications he would otherwise vouchsafe unto us When Christ comes to us and calls for admittance he comes not like a Stranger to stay for a little while but as a Friend nay an Owner to take up his fixed residence and make his constant abode with us A little outward Ceremony and common Courtesy doth suffice for the entertainment of such as make Visits accidentally or for whom there is no very great respect But Love is necessary that there may be a personal constant abode and a mutual friendly converse together Christ must have our whole Hearts he cannot endure a Rival If we love other things it must be for his sake and in subordination to him or else this will exclude him and evidence that we refuse to receive him Call your selves now to an account and see whether your Hearts are free and disengaged from all other things or whether you are willing to receive Christ according to this sense of the Phrase Can you say in sincerity
Canst thou endure the eternal Displeasure of Almighty God Canst thou bear up under the direful and astonishing Punishments which contemned Grace and abused Patience and Goodness expose to Canst thou dwell with everlasting Burnings O let the Long-suffering the Patience and the Goodness of thy Saviour lead thee to Repentance and prevail with thee to accept of and close with him and his gracious Offers This shall serve at this time concerning Christ's waiting to be gracious unto Sinners I proceed to say something II. In the second place of his importuning Sinners for admittance This is noted by the word knock Jesus Christ doth not only wait long but useth much importunity and is very earnest to get admittance with Sinners He knocks and knocks again he repeats his Entreaties and often renews his earnest Sollicitations that we will not reject and despise him but admit him into our Hearts and bid him welcome Now what Condescention is this that the Son of God should court and perswade us with so much warmth and fervour That he who cannot receive any advantage from us should thus importune us for our own advantage Indeed this doth plainly manifest our baseness and stupidity in that we are so hard to be wrought on and affected with our most important Interests And it doth as certainly and fully display and upbraid our wilfulness and impiety when we stand out and finally resist Christ as it doth demonstrate the unparallel'd condescention and kindness of our Saviour O! what Demonstrations have we of the tenderness of Christ to Sinners How do his Bowels yearn over us when we are inconsiderately ruining our selves How often doth he knock and entreat us to yield to him and accept of him and his Benefits O how hard and stubborn are our Hearts what will not all the Divine Methods and Artifices win us and bring us into a compliance with him that loveth us above Life and Death I need mention but two Generals to evidence more distinctly unto you how earnest and importunate the Lord Jesus is to be received by us 1. The Arguments he doth use to perswade us to accept of him 2. The Instruments he doth imply about this Work viz. to win us to comply with his gracious Motions and offers 1. The Arguments he doth use to prevail with us to accept of Him He urgeth the strongest Arguments and presseth on us those Considerations which carry along with them the greatest force and weight imaginable And these are managed with all the heartiness and affectionateness that is possible Arguments many strong various and such as are most proper to have an influence on our Affections Judgments and Minds Were any Motions urged that had but the thousandth part of the reason the least of these hath to engage us to strike in and close with any thing for our secular Advantage how effectual would they prove No Difficulties no Straights no Discouragements would affright or dishearten us But when the greatest and most weighing Instances as the Divine Wisdom can pitch upon are urged by the Lord himself to engage us not to forsake our own Mercies to attend to and close with our only Happiness Alas how unapprehensive how unconcerned are we We are then as little moved as if the Arguments had no weight in them or we had no Souls to take care of and be saved If Satan hath a mind to draw us unto any Sin or engage us in some destructive and damning course how easily doth he prevail how soon doth he gain our Ear our Hand our Heart How suddenly doth he hurry us into what he pleaseth Yea Men like our selves can easily work upon our Affections and prevail with us to do those things which will hasten our Misery our Shame our Destruction But alas Christ may stand and call and warn and entreat us by ever so many Considerations and yet have no admittance amongst us We deal with our Saviour as the wanton and undutiful Child doth when he lets an Enemy into the House at the first word But when his Parent calls and knocks he sits unconcerned turns a deaf Ear and never takes any notice though that Relation knock never so loud and be very importunate to be let in We are ready to follow Satan and do what he would have us to do if he do but promise us a little Pleasure or Wealth c. But Christ is shut out and not hearkned unto though he is most importunate and doth urge the weightiest Arguments to prevail with us to attend unto him The Arguments he doth urge are very many It shall suffice at present to name a few of them with a brief intimation of their worth and excellency 1. He lays before us his own transcendent Excellencies and Perfections The Dignity of his Person and how wonderful his Condescention is in that he is pleased to make such Vouchsafements unto us He is the Brightness of the Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person and he upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power Heb. 1.3 He is God over all blessed for ever-more Rom. 9.5 And what shall the Eternal God be repulsed when he makes such importunate Addresses to most miserable Worms Shall we deny admittance to the high and lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity whose Name is Holy and dwelleth in the high and holy Place when he condescendeth to come to us and earnestly entreateth us to let him have his abode with us He is not a mean contemptible Person which maketh Love to us whose Favour we may lose and be never the worse whose Kindness and Love if withdrawn may be made up another way or by another Person He is God He is the Lord of Glory The Angels adore and reverence glorify and worship him He can and will make thee truly and unspeakably blessed and happy if thou hearken to his Voice and entertain him Thou must needs be unconceivably miserable without him he has Power to make thee happy or miserable If thou receive him he will conduct thee to Heaven and constitute thee perfect and unalterably blessed But if thou stubbornly and finally despisest him and tramplest under thy Feet the offers of his Love and Grace he is able to punish thee for thy contempt and he will cast thee into and burn thee in Hell to all Eternity 2. He represents unto us the miserable and undone condition we are naturally in That whilst without him we are Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel we do not belong to the Society of those the Lord hath chosen and set apart for himself we are Strangers from the Covenant of Promise we have nothing to do with those great and precious Priviledges which are made over to them who are interested in the Divine special Love We have no hope we are in a desperate condition as to hereafter without any true and solid ground to encourage our selves to hope it shall be well with us We are without God in the World we are
us we are not only to cast away our Lusts and Sins but our Hearts must be fitted and disposed to receive him by the powerful Operation of his Holy Spirit beautifying and enriching them with Divine and Heavenly Qualifications And therefore it will concern us to be earnest in our Prayers that the good Spirit of God may come down upon us and make our Hearts and Souls meet Temples for the Son of God to dwell in IV. Go forth unto Christ by the actings of Faith upon all occasions Let Christ dwell in your Hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 according to every alteration in your condition and according to all the diversities of Providence do you look unto Christ exercise Faith on him and by Faith fetch supplies of Grace from him V. Meditate much and often on the Love of Christ to Sinners Read over the Gospel the several Apostolical Epistles and the many Prophecies concerning Christ especially Isa 63. take notice of the many remarkable Passages there relating to Christ declaring his Condescention and Love weigh them seriously and press them upon thy own Soul and Conscience dwell on these Matters in thy Thoughts and expostulate with thy self about them What hath the Son of God taken my Nature has the King of Glory condescended to live here in the form of a Servant did he patiently undergo all the unjust Affronts and Contempts of lewd and prophane People did he bear the weight of God's Wrath and actually lay down his Life in the most open scandalous cursed linguering and painful kind of Death then known in the World and was all this for my sake O incomprehensible Love What shall I return unto my Saviour for all this I can never love Christ enough may I never cease admiring the many Instances wherein his Love hath broke forth unto me may I so wonder at and be affected with all these things that love to Christ may shine through all the passages of my Life May I never be at rest till I do arrive at the full enjoyment of my Saviour in his own Kingdom What has the Lord Jesus Christ done so much for me has he revealed such Truths made such Promises suffered such Sorrows submitted to such a Death as are recorded in the Holy Scriptures are so many glorious and wonderful Things related concerning him Doth he now reign in Heaven and hath he purchased such blessed Inheritance and satisfying Treasures for poor Sinners Nay doth he still importune and entreat me to accept of Him and his Benefits God forbid that I should oppose his Motions and resist his Love any longer Shall the King of Glory be slighted and excluded still by me Shall I wilfully cast away my own Soul and stubbornly neglect this great Salvation God forbid Shall it be writ on my Grave Here lies the sturdy ungrateful Wretch that did wilfully resist Jesus Christ the Wretch that resolved to force his way to Hell through all the Impediments and Discouragements infinite Justice and infinite Mercy had laid in his way that vile unpitiable Miscreant that would damn himself in spite of Love it self VI. Converse much with those who are experienced Christians and have much acquaintance with Christ He that walketh with wise Men shall be wise but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed Prov. 13.20 Such People will very much assist thee in thy closing with Christ by their Discourses Exhortations and Practice They can tell thee such things concerning Christ from their own experience as will warm and melt thy Heart and inflame thy Affections They will contribute much to thy help by their advice and counsel by the accounts they can give thee off their own experiences by their watchfulness over thee and by their fervent effectual Prayers for thee VII Labour to be acquainted with and to observe all the Motions and Workings of Christ towards Sinners and close with and improve every one of them when he is pleased to exert any of them towards thy self Take notice of the Calls he doth give thee in his Word and the awakening visits he doth make thee by his providential Occurrences and improve these to put thee on a more diligent search and close walking after him and to excite and quicken in thee more fervent desires after Communion with him VIII Conscientiously frequent those Ordinances wherein Christ hath promised his more especial Presence Prepare thy self carefully to meet thy Lord and come with passionate Desires and confident Expectations grounded on his Faithfulness Word and Promise that he will exhibit himself unto those Souls that sincerely long and wait for him IX Lastly Faithfully resign and give up thy self to Christ When thy Heart is affected truly with a sense of Christ's Love then desire him by fervent Prayer that he will be pleased to take thee into Covenant with himself and make a hearty faithful entire resignation of thy self unto him O Blessed Jesus most Holy Saviour I am unworthy I acknowledg to make use of thy Name I have often resisted and sinned against thy constraining Love but I am heartily sorry now that ever I did so O compassionate and tender-hearted Saviour reject not an humble returning mourning Penitent embrace me the unworthiest of all others in the Arms of thy Mercy and admit me into thy favour the more stubborn and head-strong and wilful I have been the more abundantly let thy Grace be manifested toward me and bring me under the more powerful influences of thy Love Lord seize by the Power of thy Grace and take possession of this Soul Gracious Saviour whose Bowels have ever yearned over the miserable and who hast been always compassionate and gracious to the unworthy favourably accept of this poor Oblation Lord it is the purchase of thy own Blood O reject not despise not cast not away what thou hast bought at so dear a rate Lord here is my Soul my Body my Heart my Affections my Mind my Judgment my Will Lord here is all that I have Lord I resign up all unto thee without any reservation do with all as pleaseth thee best only accept of them O Lord I love thee above all I desire with my whole Soul to love thee every Day more and more Lord dwell in my Heart rule over my whole Man bring all my Powers unto a true and sound subjection unto and compliance with thee in every thing May my Soul always admire thee my Heart love thee my Tongue praise thee my Lips speak of thy Glory and Goodness May my Life glorify thee may I in every part of my practice serve and honour thee may all my Faculties and Members be ready and faithful Servants for and unto thee Lord I long to be with thee my Soul panteth after thee For me to live is Christ and to die is gain Phil. 1.21 FINIS
had long overspread it the Reformation began in rectifying Mens Judgments and Minds about this Matter of the insufficiency of our own Works and the absolute necessity of the Righteousness and Merits of Jesus Christ The high and lofty God will dwell with none but those who are of humble and contrite Spirits Isa 57.15 As long as we please our selves with fancying we have no need of Christ we have a sufficiency in our selves and can do well enough without him we shall never attend with due care to his Voice nor faithfully receive him into our Hearts We are apt to think our selves rich and increased with Goods and that we have no need of any thing without us and are very difficultly perswaded that we are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked and therefore we slight Christ and shut him out of our Hearts Rev. 3.17 There is no room for Christ in a proud self-conceited Heart 2. Infidelity or Unbelief doth keep the Heart shut against Christ Herein consists our non-acceptance of Christ Notwithstanding the Lord Jesus hath so many Witnesses and explains himself to us so fully yet do we slight and reject him And whence is all this but from our not diligently attending to his Instruction nor understanding and conceiving aright of what he doth propose to us not weighing and considering seriously the Evidence of things recommended to us not truly and really assenting to the Truths of Christ People content themselves with empty Notions and a fashionable Profession without any real firm perswasion of the Particulars they pretend to own Did we really and firmly assent to or believe the Doctrines concerning Christ his Person Natures Offices Promises Laws c. contained in the New Testament we should be thereby influenced to a holy faithful entire recumbency of Soul on Christ and to a vigorous active conformity to his Laws and following of his Example If there be no difference betwixt us and Turks or Heathens but only that we call our selves by another Name and in word pretend to another Religion we do not really believe For Faith if real will influence our Affections and Lives proportionably to the Degree of our Assent the Nature and Tendency of the Truths we do believe and the Sense we have of our concernment in them It is the great Fault of People pretending to Religion and enjoying means of Instruction that they do not take a becoming care to get their Minds possessed with right and sound Notions of the Truths and Doctrines they profess to own They do not consider what Grounds and Evidences they have for their yielding assent to the Doctrines they profess they do not labour and endeavour and strive to get the Characters of Divine Truths deeply imprinted with their full Light and Power on their Hearts And how can it otherwise be expected then but that multitudes should prove meer Hypocrites and Formalists It is Unbelief that blinds our Minds that we see no beauty or loveliness in Christ it is this that turns away our Hearts from Christ renders us uncapable of receiving any saving benefit from Christ which hardens and sears our Consciences makes them unsensible and locks and bolts our Hearts against Christ See Isa 53.2 3. Heb. 3.12 John 1.11 12. Mat. 13.58 Rom. 11.20 22 23. 3. Worldly-mindedness keeps the Heart shut against Christ When we expect too much from the World and these lower Enjoyments do set our Hearts excessively on them press after pursue and seek for earthly Things with too much vehemence and earnestness we of course grow unmindful of and unconcerned for Christ and our Souls Heaven and Spiritual Matters The Things of the World do devour our Strength and drink up all our Spirits yea they beget in us not only a regardlesness of Spiritual Things but a contempt of and opposition against them Know ye not that the Friendship of the World is Enmity with God whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God Jam. 4.4 see 1 John 2.15 Alas when Mens Hearts are set upon the World what will they not venture for it They venture Christ and Heaven and Soul and all that is truly precious This worldly-mindedness makes the Word and Truths of Christ to be of no esteem and value with us this makes them of no use to us makes us that we reap no benefit from them Matth. 13.22 How many who have made a fair shew in the Flesh have seemed to make fair Offers for Christ have fallen off as soon as ever they have been tried as to this Point see Matth. 19.22 The love of this present World choak'd and destroy'd Demas 2 Tim. 4.10 What a cursed influence had the love of the World on Judas when he adventured on that villanous piece of Treachery to betray and sell his Lord and Master the Son of God for thirty pieces of Silver 4. Love of carnal sensual Pleasures We read of some who are lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God 2 Tim. 3.4 Of some who make their Belly their God Phil. 3.19 Now such as have devoted themselves to their Lusts and are wholly enslaved to their Pleasures and sensual Delights are wholly indispos'd and unfit to bid Christ welcome There must be a great change wrought in them before they can receive and entertain Christ It is not meet to bring a Person of Honour and Quality into a Room that is full of Vomit and loathsom filthiness and stench Such a Person will not be entertained and treated in a Swine-stye and the Heart of him that wallows in his sinful Pleasures is no better That Soul where Christ will dwell must be cleansed from all those fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul Rom. 13.14 And as such a Heart is very unfit for Christ so there is much malignity in it against Christ Who greater Enemies to Christ and who so bitter against his Ways his Laws his Word his Government than those who do wholly addict themselves to the sensual gratifying of all their carnal Appetites Desires and Inclinations If they may not enjoy their swinish Lusts without any molestation and reproof from Christ and his Word they will either with the Gadarens desire them to be gone or else more rudely attempt to thrust and force them out of their Quarters 5. Cherishing any particular Lust or Sin in our Hearts and suffering it to have a predominant reigning Power over us Though we seem to reject and cast from us many of our former Vices and to deny our selves in several Instances in which we did before allow our selves a greater liberty yet if we yield up our selves Subjects to any one Sin though we do it never so cunningly and secretly we do thereby bid Christ defiance and renounce his Rule and Government over us If a Man make his Addresses to one he desires to have a conjugal friendship and familiarity with if that Party have preingaged her self faithfully to another Person this is a more effectual