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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A28583 Christ's importunity with sinners to accept of him by S. Bold. Bold, S. (Samuel), 1649-1737. 1687 (1687) Wing B3478; ESTC R26454 53,458 159

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things are required to and imported by our receiving of Christ according to the express Letter of the Text 1st Hearing his Voice 2dly Opening unto him But before I speak particularly to these things let me observe to you from the general indefinite Expression here used That Jesus Christ doth not exclude any one Person from enjoying Him and the Benefits of his Death and gracious Presence provided he will but comply with Him and accept of his gracious Offers He is willing to come to and dwell with any Person who will but hearken to his Voice and give Him admittance He will not refuse you for any personal unworthiness or because you have been very grievous and notorious Transgressors He would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledg of the Truth 1 Tim. 2.4 He invites all without exception Isa 55.1 2. If any Man hear my Voice any Man though ever so poor or miserable in the Eye of the World nay notwithstanding he hath been ever so violent and fierce against me though his Sins be never so many never so great never so hainou● yet if he will but hear my Voice obey my Call and open unto me I will accept of him I will be his Guest and impart unto him my Self my Merits and the Comforts Satisfactions and Benefits arising therefrom We have very signal Evidences of this in the Holy Scriptures Peter after his most detestable denial of Christ is received into Favour Paul though he had been such an outragious Persecutor findeth Mercy and is made a most excellent and useful Apostle The general Doctrine of the Scripture doth confirm this Truth That Christ is ready and willing to communicate Himself and the Benefits of his Death and Passion to any that will accept of him Christ hath put no Bar no Impediment no Hindrance in any Man's way If we do not accept of Him if we reap not the Benefits of his Death the fault is our own even because we would not receive Him when he came unto us and entreated for admittance He comes to and seeks after the most unworthy Mark 2.17 He came to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 He came to seek and to save the Lost He excepts none if they renounce their Wickednesses and Sins Isa 55.7 The Terms he proposeth to us in order to our reaping all this Advantage are but hearing his Voice and opening the Door 1st Hearing his Voice This imports two things 1. Attending to and taking notice of those Arguments he doth urge to obtain admittance I have given you before a short account of these Arguments But this instructs us that an heedful attentive frame of Spirit is ordinarily requisite to a due receiving of Christ into our Hearts An unruly froward temper that is impatient of Spiritual Advice Instruction Reproof c. and fumes and chafes on all such occasions and applies to any sort of courses to divert from serious considerations is a very dangerous and unhappy Temper But this is not all that hearing Christ's Voice doth import People may attend to Matters of this nature and design no more than to obtain some embellishments in their Discourse or they may have some design not truly useful and commendable Indeed God may make his Word to fasten and prove effectual to those who have none of the best purposes in hearkning to the Word of Christ and therefore I dare not discourage any Man absolutely from attending whatever he may propose to himself in so doing because the Word may take hold of him beyond expectation Mr. Bilney reports of himself that he bought and read the New Testament not because it was the Word of God but because Erasmus had translated it into excellent Latin yet it pleased God when he read 1 Tim. 1.15 that his Mind was particularly fixed on those words so that God made them effectual for his Conversion and Reformation But such Instances are something out of the usual and common road therefore we have reason to conclude that hearkning to the Voice of Christ doth note something more than bare attendance to his Voice 2. It doth note the Influence the Arguments our Saviour doth use have on our Affections and Hearts Attention is a very useful Expedient for the making of those things which are proposed unto us to have some efficacy on us When we diligently attend to any thing that is spoken we have Impressions ordinarily made on our Minds which bear some proportion with what hath been discoursed And this seems to be imported here by hearing Christ's Voice those Impressions which the serious considering what he hath propos'd occasion to be fastned on our Hearts and Minds the Affections and Dispositions of Soul which do result from our hearkning to his Voice Which is something betwixt bare hearing his Voice and opening unto him It is the Result Fruit and Consequent of the former and a good and proper Preparative to the latter 2dly Opening the Door This is the other Expression in the Text to note our receiving of Christ And it doth import our compliance with him our free and sincere resignation of our selves unto him As a Person who being in an House when another who is the right owner of it comes and knocks at the Door and declares to the Party within his claim to that House and makes it appear he is the true owner of that House and has Authority to require the Possession to be delivered up unto him the Party within hearkning to what he hath to say and being convinced and fully satisfied of his Right and Authority to make that Demand he opens the Door to him and admits him into the House not only in point of common civility but so as owning his Propriety and delivering up the Possession to him Thus opening to Christ doth note our giving up our Hearts to him and owning him for the only true lawful Soveraign Owner and Governour of them Our receiving Christ is not right till we arrive at this Point People may give attendance to Christ's Voice and have their Affections and Hearts in some measure moved and influenced by the same and yet Corruption may prevail and keep them from resigning up the Possession to him Nay it falls out too often thus with the truly Godly that they do not immediately upon some affection and sence begot in them upon their hearing the Voice of their Saviour resign up themselves and comply with his Demands as they should The Spouse Cant. 5.2 4 c. heard the Voice of her Beloved she knew it to be his Voice and seemed to attend to what he said vers 2. And though she made several Excuses yet we may easily perceive his Voice had some influence on her Ver. 4. My Bowels were moved for him Yet notwithstanding all this she did not open unto him He was provoked to withdraw and went his way vers 6. But I will not confine my self strictly to a minute enquiry into the extent of these Phrases used in the