fire union with our fouls upon terms of fuch deep felf-denial to himself.

3. Though Chrift gain nothing by you, and impoverished himfelf for you; yet doth he endure many vile repulfes, delays, and denials of his fuit, and will not leave it for all that: O aftonishing grace! One would think that the least delay, and much more a refufal of an overture from Chrift, upon fuch terms as you have heard, fhould make his indignation prefently to fmoak against fuch a foul; and that he should fay, Thou haft refused my offer, fo full of selfdenying and condescending grace, never thall another offer be made to fo unworthy a foul; and yet you fee he is contented to wait as well as knock, Behold, I fland at the door and knock.

4. Herein the admirable grace of this heavenly fuitor appears, that Jefus Chrift paffeth by millions of creatures, of more excellent gifts and temperaments, and never makes them one offer of him. self, never turneth afide to give one knock at their door; but comes to thee, the vileft and baseft of creatures, and will not be gone from thy door without his errand's end.

Knowest thou not, finner, that among the unfanctified there are to be found multitudes of men and women of more raised and excellent parts, nimble wits, strong memories, folid judgments; yea, men and women of cleaner converfations, ftrict morality, adorned with excellent homolitical virtues, capable, if called, to do him abundantly more fervice than thou canft; yet these are paft by, and he becomes a fuitor to fuch a poor worthlefs thing as thou art; yea, and rejoices in his choice. Matth. xi. 25. "I thank thee, O "Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou haft hid these "things from the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unto "babes." Here is the triumph of free-grace.

5. And laftly, This juftly increafes the wonder, that ever Jefus Chrift fhould defire and delight to dwell in fuch an unclean heart as thine, which, from the beginning, hath been the feat and throne of Satan, full of all uncleannefs and abominations. O that ever Chrift fhould make an overture of love to fuch a polluted foul! That he fhould chufe to erect his throne where Satan's feat was! Look intothine own heart, finner, and think what can Christ see there to be defired? Thou knowest thy heart hath been a fink of fin, thy confcience like the common fewer, into which all the filth of thy life hath been caft; yet Chrift paffeth by thee, as thou lieft in thy blood and filthiness, and cafteth love upon thee, and defire towards thee, as it is, Ezek. xvi. 6, 8. All these things put together make it justly admirable, and astonishing in our eyes, that ever Jefus Chrift, the Lord from heaven, should become an earneft fuitor for union and communion with the fouls of finners.

I. Ufe, for Information.

Infer. 1. If Chrift be fuch an earneft fuitor for union and communion with the fouls of finners, then it follows, That finners can justly charge their damnation upon none but themfelves. Your blood muft be upon your own heads; falvation by Chrift is not only freely offered, but you are with great importunity perfuaded to accept it. Chrift offers you life, you chufe rather to die than accept it upon his terms; where now can your damnation be charged but upon your own wilful obftinacy? Hofea xiii. 9. O Ifrael, thy defruction is of thyfelf! Thou art the author of thine own ruin: I would have gathered thy children, faith Chrift to Jerufalem, but thou would not; your ruin, therefore, lies upon yourselves, and upon none befide. Indeed, if the minifters of Chrift be negligent in their duty, they may come in as acceffories to your destruction; but that is a poor relief to you; as for myfelf, I hope I may with Paul, take God to record this day, that I am free from the bloodof all men. Now, confider what a difmal aggravation of your de struction will this be, that you perifhed by your own hands; this cuts off all plea and apology.

Inf. 2. Hence it also follows, That diftreffed finners have no reason to queftion Chriff's willingness to receive them, when their hearts are made willing to come unto him. It were no less than a blafphemous imputation of infincerity to Chrift himself, to question his willingnefs to receive broken-hearted finners, after fo many proteftations as he hath made in the gospel, of his zeal and earnestness for their falvation; that scripture, John vi. 37. puts it out of doubt, “Him "that cometh unto me, I will in no wife caft out." I know guilt breeds many fears and jealoufies in the hearts of finners; will Christ ever accept and receive fuch a one as I? Try him, foul, he hath faid he will; let him have but the deliberate confent of thy heart to his terms, and then, if thou be rejected, thou wilt be the first foul in the world that ever met with a repulfe from him.

Inf. 3. By Chrift's earnest fuit for the fouls of finners, you may eftimate the invaluable worth, and precious nature of the foul of man. Were not the foul a creature of great value, Jesus Christ would never be fo deeply concerned about the winning and faving of it. Sinners have a vile esteem of their own fouls, they will fell them for nought; but Chrift knows their true worth, and his folicitude to fave them is anfwerable to his eftimation of them; he counts when he hath gained a foul, he hath gained a treasure. Therefore he pleads, woos and waits fo earnestly and affiduously for the falvation of them. Two things fpeak the great value of the foul of

man.

Į. That it is a marriageable creature to Chrift now.

2. That it is capable of glory with Chrift hereafter. 1. It is a marriageable creature to Christ now, capable of espou fals to the Son of God; upon which account it is that Christ fo earneftly feeks its love, and fues for its confent. Now this is a dignity beyond all other creatures in heaven or earth; no angel in heaven, no other creature but the soul of man on earth is capable of efpoufals to Chrift; it is a dignity above that of angels, for Chrift took not on him their nature, and the hypoftatical union is the ground and foundation of the myftical union. They are members indeed of Christ's kingdom, and he is to them a head of dominion; but this honour was never conferred upon angels to be members of his body, flesh, and bones, as the faints are, Eph. v. 30. 2. As the foul is capable of efpoufals to Chrift on earth, so it is capable of glory with Chrift in heaven throughout eternity, John xvii. 24. «Father, I will that they also whom thou haft given me, "be with me where I am, that they may behold the glory which "thou haft given me." It hath a natural capacity of enjoying eternal bleffedness which the fouls of other creatures have not. this will be the aggravation of hell-torments, that men capable of the highest happiness, should, as it were, receive that capacity in yain; but that which conftitutes an actual right to the everlasting enjoyment of Chrift in glory, is the foul's efpoufals to him here in the way of grace. Upon these two accounts it is, that Chrift puts fuch a price upon them, courts their love fo paffionately; laments their lofs fo pathetically; and encourages his minifters to all diligence in perfuading and wooing them for him with fuch abundant rewards, Dan. xii. 3. Know then your own worth and dignity, neither pawn nor fell fo precious a thing as thy foul for any thing Satan can fet before thee by way of exchange for it; What shall a man give in exchange for his foul?

And

Inf. 4. Is Chrift fuch an earnest fuitor for union with finners? then certainly, they are the enemies of Chrift, and the fouls of men, that any way endeavour to hinder or break off the match betwixt Chrift and them?

Some there are that labour to create jealousies, and beget dif taftes and prejudices in the fouls of men against Christ and his ways; men that bring up an evil report upon Chrift, and strict religion, as that which will beggar them, and expose them to all the miferies of the world: Who, inftigated by Satan, whisper fuch ftories into the foul's ear, whom Chrift is wooing for himself, that the severity of religion will certainly extinguish all their joys and pleafures; they fhall never laugh more, never be merry more: befide, it will expofe all their comforts upon earth to hazard, their eftates and lives muft fall a prey to their enemies, and this is the eftate in which Chrift will jointer them in, if they consent to his

terms: and that this is no groundless jealousy of their own, but that Christ himself hath openly declared as much; "That he that "will come after him muft hate father and mother, wife and chil"dren, yea, and his own life alfo." This is what they must expect as the fruit of their confent to Chrifl's proposals. But, O what will these men have to anfwer, and how will they stand before Chrift another day, who are fuch profeffed enemies to his cross, and fet themselves fo directly in oppofition to the great defign Chrift is driving on in the world! Is it not enough that you will not enter yourselves, but you will hinder them that would? Mat. xxiii. 13. Thus carnal parents difcourage their children, one relation another. But, to help fouls under this difcouragement, I will leave only this one caveat with them, That fuch feeming friends are their real mortal enemies, their words are poifon to your fouls: Satan hath fee'd them to do his work, hired their tongues for his service. But if the serious cares of falvation, and fervent love of Chrift be in thy heart, thou wilt refolve, as Jerom did, If my father who begat me, and my mother who bare me, fhould hang about my neck with tears and entreaties, to keep me from Chrift, I would fling off my father, and tread upon my mother, to go to • Chrift.'

To this head alfo belong all thofe fcandals and offences which loofe and careless profeflors caft in the way to difcourage others from coming unto Chrift; Wo to the world (faith Chrift) because of of fences, Matth. xviii. 7. Wo to the world, this will be their ruin and undoing; by this means fuch prejudices will be begotten in their fouls against Chrift and religion, as they will never be able to free themfelves from. "But woe to them by whom fuch offence "cometh; it were better a mill-ftone were hanged about their "necks, and they were caft into the bottom of the fea." Chriftians, look carefully to your converfations; for beides the evil effects of fin upon yourfelves, you fee the mifchievous effects of it upon others. And thus we may understand thofe words, Cant. ii. 7. "I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerufalem, by the rogs, and "by the hinds of the field, that ye ftir not up, nor awake my love "till he pleafe." Roes and binds are timorous creatures, the least crack of a ftick will startle and fright them away; fuch are comers on toward Chrift; young beginners in the ways of religion, how fmall a matter may damp and difcourage them? O friend, you have fins enough of your own, bring not the fin and ruin of other men upon your account also.

Inf. 5. To conclude, How great is the blindness and ignorance of finners, thot need fo much entreaty and importunity to be made happy? It is your ignorance, finners, that makes all the gospel-importunity neceflary; did you know your own mifery, and fee Chrift in his

neceffity, fuitableness, and excellency, all these perfuafions might. be fpared; nay, you yourfelves would become importunate fuitors for Chrift: He would not need to be twice offered: there is a confcience in every man and woman, fet there on purpose by the Lord to give them an alarm; but the alarm goes off for want of a fpring, to wit, the knowledge of your fin and mifery. Ah foul! didit thou but know who it is that fues for thy love, what the benefits of union with Chrift are, thou wouldst answer his first call in fuch language as this: Lord Jefus, write down thine own terms; be they what they will, I am ready to fubfcribe them with the fulleft confent of heart and will; and then, how foon would the match be made betwixt Chrift and you! Yea, you would watch for, and hang on half a word of encouragement from Chrift's mouth, as Benhadad's fervant did on that word of Ahab, My brother Benhadad, 1 Kings xx. 32, 33. There is no need of rhetoric to perfuade a condemned malefactor to accept his pardon, a hungry man to fit down at a full table; but, alas! Sin is not felt, Chrift is not known; therefore the one is not bewailed, nor the other defired.

II. Ufe, for Exhortation.

In the next place, the point naturally leads us to an ufe of exhortation, to perfuade finners to embrace Chrift's motion, subscribe his terms, and debate no more with him, but end the treaty in a cordial prefent confent; and fo close up the match betwixt him and your own fouls. How long finner, wilt thou be at shall I, fball I? and thy will hang undetermined betwixt Chrift and fin, bivious and unrefolved in fo great and deep a concernment? O that Chrift's next overture might bring the matter to an iffue! Why will you trifle and dally with hini at this rate? There is, indeed, a treaty on foot betwixt Chrift and you; but you may perifh for all that: there is no conclufion or agreement made; Chrift and you may yet part. The Lord help you therefore to ponder and deliberate, with all speed and ferioufnefs, the terms propounded by Chrift in the gofpel; to count the cost, and yet not always to be deliberating neither, but to bring matters to an iffue, and that, with all the convenient fpeed you can: in order whereunto, I will lay two things before you; weigh and feriously ponder them.

1. What are the advantages you will gain by Chrift?

2. What is the most you can lofe by your confent to his terms? and then bring thoughts to an iffie.

Firf, Ponder well the advantages you will gain by Chrift; these are fo great and manifold, that it is impoffible for me to enumerate or value them: it fhall fuffice in this place, to fhew you one of