no heart fhould be able to refift fuch motives, and rational perfuafions, as these following will be found to be.

Motive 1. You are in extream need of Chrift, you want him more than bread, or breath; many things are convenient for your bodies, but Chrift is the one thing neceffary for your fouls. Luke x. 9. "One thing is neceffary." Neceflity is an engine that will open any thing in the world that can be opened; neceffity will make all fly before it. Now there is a plain, prefent, abfolute neceffity lying upon every one of you to open your hearts to Chrift, and that without delay. Neceflity goes before the face of Chrift, to open the way for him into the heart; thou must have him, or be loft for ever. Chrift and faith are not among the may bees, but the must bees, to the happiness of thy foul. A man may be poor, and happy; reproached, and bleffed; but he cannot be chriftlefs, and fafe; nor christless and comfortable: you must have Chrift, or you cannot have life, John iii. 36. you must have Chrift, or you can have no hope, Col. i. 27. Chrift and life, Christ and hope, go together: No Chrift, no life; no Christ, no hope: Sinner, thou must have Chrift, or thou canst have no pardon; for Chrift and pardon are undivided, Eph. i. 7. In a word, you must have Chrift, or you can have no falvation, Acts iv. 12. Well, then, if thou canft have no life nor hope, no pardon nor falvation without Chrift; then a plain neceffity goes before Chrift, to open his way into thine heart: methinks, thou shouldft now fay, then will I open to Chrift whatever the terms be. Come fufferings, loffes, reproaches, yea, death itself, all is one; Chrift I must have, and Chrift I will have; neceffity is laid upon me, and my heart is opened to Chrift by it: woe to me for ever if I miss of Christ. Motive 2. The Lord Jefus is this day come nigh to every of your fouls. I may fay to you as Chrift did to them, Luke x. 9. "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” The Lord grant he be not as nigh to fome of you as ever he shall be; for he must come nearer, or else you are loft for ever. It is not Chrift among you in the means of grace, but Chrift withe in you by the work of grace, which must be unto you the hope of glory, Col. i. 27. He is not only among you in respect of external means, but he is come into your understandings and confciences; yea, fome motions of his you may feel upon your affections, there wants but a little more to make you e, ternally happy. Ọ what would one effectual touch upon your wills be worth now! the head-work is done, but O that the heart-worl work were done too. You are almost saved, but to be

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almost faved, is to be wholly, and eternally lost, if it go no further. It is a fad thing for a man that hath one foot in hea ven to flide from thence into hell; it is fad to be fhipwrecked at the harbour's mouth.

Motive 3. Jefus Chrift hath unquestionable right to enter into, and poffefs every one of your fouls: Satan is but an u furper: Chrift is your lawful owner and proprietor; thy foul, finner, hath not fo full a title to thy body, as Chrift hath to thy foul: Satan keeps Chrift out of his right. Chrift knocks at the door of his own house; he built it, and therefore may well claim admission into it; it is his own creature. Col. 1. 16. "By him were all things made, whether they be visible, or in "vifible;" bodies or fouls. The invisible part, thy foul, is his workmanship, a ftately ftructure of his own railing. He hath alfo a right by redemption, Chrift hath bought thy foul, and that at the invaluable price of his own blood. Who then can difpute the right of Chrift to enter into his own house? But alas! he cometh to his own, but his own receive him not.

Motive 4. Open the door to Chrift, for a train of bleffings and mercies come in with him; a troop of privileges follow him. In the fame day and hour that Chrift comes into thine heart, by a full consent and deliberate choice, a pardon comes with him of all the fins that ever thou committedft in thought, word, or action. Will fuch a pardon be welcome to thy foul? Then let Chrift be welcome, Eph. i. 7. for where Christ comes, pardon comes. If you open to Chrift, you open to peace, and who would fhut the door of his foul against peace? If peace be welcome, let Christ be welcome; for peace follows faith in Chrift, Rom. v. 1. Where Chrift comes, liberty comes, John viii. 36. "If the Son therefore make you free, then are you "free indeed." Are you in love with bonds and fetters ? Satan's laws are written in blood. Chrift's yoke is eafy, and his commands not grievous. If you love liberty, love Chrift. In a word, where Chrift comes, falvation comes; "for he is the "author of eternal falvation to all them that obey him." If therefore you love pardon, peace, liberty, and falvation, fhut not the door against Chrift; for all thefe follow him wherever he goes..

Mative 5. Chrift this day folemnly demands entrance into thy foul; he begs thee to open to him, 2 Cor. v. 20. he commands thee to open unto him, 1 John iii. 23. He denounceth eternal damnation to thofe that refufe him entrance. Now confider well, here is entrance demanded under pain of the eternal wrath of God: This demand is filled and recorded in

heaven; at your own peril be it if you fhut the door against him: Only thus will I fay in my Redeemer's behalf, if you refuse, bear witness, heaven and earth this day, that Christ solemnly demanded entrance into thy foul, and was refused; bear witness, that the door was fhut against the only Redeemer, who intreated, commanded, and threatned eternal damnation to the rejectors of him. Oh, methinks, that scripture, Prov. i. 24, 25. is able to ftrike terror into the very center of that foul that refuses the offers of Chrift!

Motive 6. And fo I have done my mafter's errand; if you now refuse the knock of Christ at your hearts, he may never knock more; and where are you then? There is a knock which will be the last knock, a call which will be his last call; and after that no more knocks or calls, but an eternal filence as to .any overture of mercy or grace.

Object. 1. But if I de open to Christ, he will never come in to fuch a filthy polluted finful foul as mine is.

Anfw. Who faith fo? Who dare affirm so impudent a falsehood in the very face of the text?"If any man open to me, I

❝ will come in to him."

Object. 2. If I open to Chrift, I must bid farewel to ease and reft in this world; reproaches, fufferings, lofjes follow him.

Anfw. If Chrift, pardon, and falvation, be not worth the enduring and fuffering these small things, fure thou yalueft Chrift and thy foul at a low rate. O who can fufficiently bewail the ignorance, and folly of unbelievers, that will fell their fouls and hopes of heaven for fuch trifles! And if Chrift and thy foul muft part upon these terms, then hear me, finner, and let it fink into thine heart; thy damnation will be both,

1. Juft and righteous.

2. Unavoidable and fure,

1. Thy damnation will be just; for thou hadst thy own choice, and deliberately preferredst the infignificant trifles of this world before Chrift and falvation. It was plainly told thee what the iffue of thy rejecting Chrift would be; and yet, after fufficient warning, thou adventuredft upon it: Whatever other finners will plead, I know not, but as for thee thou must be fpeechlefs, Matth. xxii. 12. If thou die chriftiefs, thou must appear at his bar fpeechlefs; and the day of judgment will be the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Rom. ii. 5.

2. It will alfo be unavoidable, for there is no other way to falvation but this, Acts iv. 12. No Chrift, no heaven; no faith,

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no Chrift: "How fhall we escape, if we neglect fo great a falvation?" Heb. ii. 3. Mercy itself cannot fave thee out of Chrift, for all the faving mercy of God is difpenfed to men through him, Jude 21. It is to no purpose to cry mercy, Lord, mercy! when Chrift, in whom all the mercies of God are dif pensed to men, is rejected by thee.

HI. Ufe, for confolation.

This point winds up in confolation to all fuch, as, hearing the knocks of Chrift, have opened, or are now resolved to open their hearts unto him; and that nothing henceforth fhall keep Chrift and their fouls afunder: To fuch I fhall addrefs the following grounds of comfort.

Confolation 1. An opening heart to Chrift is a work wholly and altogether fupernatural; a fpecial work of the fpirit of God, never found upon any but an elect foul. There are common gifts of the fpirit, fuch as knowledge, vanifhing con victions, &c. but the opening of the heart by faith is the fpecial, faving, and peculiar work of the fpirit, John vi. 29. "This "is the work of God, that ye believe." Yea, it is the effect of the Almighty power of God, the exceeding greatness of his power is exerted in the work of faith, Eph. i. 19. It rises not out of nature, as common gifts do; but of this it is exprefly said, Eph. ii. 8. "It is not of yourfelves, it is the gift of God." Where this work is effectually wrought, we may reafon fo folidly, as comfortably from it, both backward, to the electing love of God, and forward, to our eternal glorification with him, Rom. viii. 30.

Confolat. 2. The opening of thy heart to Chrift by faving faith, gives thee intereft in Chrift the very fame hour; the relation is then conftituted, the conjugal tie or bond is faftned betwixt him and thy foul; John i. 12. "To as many as received him, "to them gave he power, (viz. right or priviledge) to become "the Sons of God, even to as many as believed on his name." You neither need, nor may expect an extraordinary meffenger or voice from heaven to tell you that Chrift is yours, and you are his; you have a better foundation in this word and work of faith: For my part, if God will give me the clear and fatisfying experience of this work upon my heart, I would never defire more fatisfaction on this fide heaven. I know not but the devil may counterfeit an extraordinary voice, and cheat the foul by a lying oracle; but if I really feel my heart and will fincerely opening to Chrift upon gofpel-terms, I am fure there is no deceit in that.

Confolat. 3. The opening of thy heart to Chrift by faith, is

a good affurance that heaven shall be opened to thy foul here. after: Heaven is fhut against none but those that shut their heart against Chrift by unbelief. Will you bar Chrift out of your fouls by ignorance, and unbelief, and then cry, Lord, or pen to us? No, God will open to none but them that open to Chrift. Eternity itself shall but fuffice to blefs God for this opening act of faith: "He that believeth shall be saved,” Mark xvi. 16.

Confolat. 4. The opening of thy foul to Chrift by faith, makes it Chrift's habitation for ever; in that hour out goes fin and Satan, and in comes Chrift and grace: "If any man open unto "me, I will come in to him," faith the text. Of fuch a foul Christ faith, as it was faid of the temple, Pfal. cxxxii. 13, 14. "The Lord hath defired it for his habitation. This is my reft ❝for ever; here will I dwell, for I have defired it.” The foul now becomes an hallowed temple to the Lord: as he hath faid, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and will be "their God, and they fhall be my people," 2 Cor. vi. 16. O what a heaven upon earth is here! Chrift dwelling in the foul, is the glory of the foul; as God's dwelling in the temple was the glory of the temple.

Confolat. 5. In a word, the opening of the heart to Chrift is that work which anfwers the great defign of the gospel. Wherefore hath God set up ordinances and minifters, yea, wherefore is the Spirit fent forth, but to open the hearts of finners to Chrift by faith? When this is done, the main end and intenti on of the gospel is attained and answered; the union is effected betwixt Chrift and the foul; it is now put out of hazard. The whole work of the gofpel, after that, is but to build up, confirm, and comfort the foul; ripen its implanted graces, and make it meet for glory.

And thus, through the affiftance of the Spirit, I have finished the fifth observation, That every conviction of confcience, and motion upon the affections, is a knock or call of Christ for entrance into the finner's heart.

The End of the Fourth Volume.