The Morning Seeker, Sermon 2
Iſaiah 55.6.
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.
THe words are the Call of Chriſt to poor Gentile Sinners. It is clear, the Prophet in the preceding verſe is propheſying of Chriſt; and when he had ſpoke of Chriſt, 1. Under the notion of a leader, 2. Under the notion of a witneſs, 3. Under the notion of a Saviour, (ſo is meant by calling a Nation that knew him not, and their running to him, and God glorifying him, viz. as the Meſſiah, and Saviour of poor Gentiles, as well as Jewes) then the Prophet gives theſe poor Gentiles a Call, which is the words of my Text.
1. In the Text we have a Call, or Exhortation to a duty.
2. We have a Motive or Argument backing that Call.
1. The Call is, Seek the Lord.
2. Motive is implyed in that, while he may be found. There is an eſpecial ſeaſon for the performance of this duty; if let ſlip, your Souls will repent it to all Eternity.
Let us inquire a little, what is meant by this Call, Seek the Loed.
1. Here is this implyed in it. This people and the Lord were ſtrangers. This is the deſcription of a Gentile; He is a ſtranger to the Lord, Eph. 2.12.and to the Covenant of Promiſe. Souls who lye far from acquaintance with God; therefore expreſſed by another word,Luk. 15.13. to be in the far Country: So the Prodigal was, which was the Gentile, for the elder Brother was the Jew. Now then by ſeek the Lord is meant, get into acquaintance with him. Seek acquaintance with him, as a Saviour, as a Leader. He had been ſpoke of under theſe notions, and ſet out to them.
2. Seek the Lord (viz.) the willingneſs of the Lord to be found of poor Gentile Sinners. He would never elſe have given them ſuch a Call. He firſt calls, he is firſt in the motion, who loved us firſt: the buſineſs doth not ſtick at Gods door, but at ours.
3. Seek the Lord, (viz.) accept of the offers of grace while he holds them forth to you in the Goſpel. This is the great Duty called to in the Text. The Text then runs thus: There is both in time, and out of time, for your poor Souls; there is an eſpecial ſeaſon of Grace you have; and upon this depends the Eternal happineſs and felicity of your poor Souls. Let that ſlip, and your Souls are undone for ever. Lay hold of this eſpecial time, and you are happy for ever. This is the meaning of the Text, I will not always ſtrive with you, will not always call on you, will not always wait with offers of pardoning grace; therefore before I call in my Scepter, O do you ſeek me.
Obſervations are theſe.
1. The Lord Jeſus is willing to be found of poor Gentile Sinners.
2. There are eſpecial times of finding the Lord Jeſus while he is to be found.
3. It is the duty of every poor Soul to obſerve his eſpecial times, to ſeek Chriſt in.
4. There is a day and time in which Christ will not be found.
1. The Lord Jeſus is willing to be found of poor Gentile Sinners. I muſt keep cloſe to my Text; and it ſpeaks of ſuch as have been before hinted.
1. Let us make inquiry what a Gentile Sinner is? In the general take this Anſwer.
A Gentile Sinner is the worſt of Sinners; the vileſt of Sinners: thus the Apoſtle deſcribes them,Gal. 2.15. We who are Jews by nature, and not ſinners of the Gentiles: They were reckoned the greateſt ſinners.Mark 16.15. Preach the Goſpel to every Creature (viz.) Gentiles, as though they were not worthy the name of men and women. That we may ſet off the Free Grace of God in Chriſt to poor Sinners, let us ſee a Scripture-map of Gentiliſm, or Gentile Sinners, that Chriſt is thus willing to be found of.
1. They are ſaid to be Idolaters. Howbeit, then when ye knew not God, Gal. 4.8, 9.ye did ſervice unto them, who were no Gods. While they were in Heatheniſme, that is Gentiliſm; God is willing to be found of ſuch. What though you have been Idolaters? yet ſuch may have mercy from God.Jer. 14.22. In that black Catalogue of Sinners, Idolaters are reckoned among the Corinthians, ſuch were ſome of you. Idols are called the vanities of the Gentiles.
2. Gentiles were poor ſlaves.Tit. 3.3. For we our ſelves were ſometimes fooliſh, diſobedient, deceived, ſerving divers luſts and pleaſures, &c. They were ſervants to their luſts: their luſts did Lord it over them. Know you not you are Servants to him whom you obey? Yet of theſe poor Souls Chriſt is willing to be found. O do not ſay then, I am a poor Gentile, too great a Sinner ever to find favour from the hands of God.Luk. 15.15. The prodigal Gentile was a ſlave joyned to a Citizen to keep Swine, and yet God took him to be a Son; out of the field into the houſe.
3. Gentiles are poor hood-winkt blind Souls. Call in the blind and the halt; (viz.) the poor Gentiles now become the Lord Jeſus Chriſts gueſts, and the Jewes are rejected. The God of this world hath blinded their eyes: they go muffled in ignorance of God and Christ from day to day: yet God is willing to be found of them. They are ſuch muffled Creatures,Acts 17. that they are ſaid to feel after God.
4. A Gentile is a poor periſhing Soul. The poor man that was wounded, and lay periſhing of his wounds, is the poor Gentile,Luk. 10.30. that Jeſus Chriſt is the good Samaritan to, and binds up his wounds, and pours oyl into them. We may ſay we are all poor Aſſyrians ready to periſh, and yet Chriſt is willing to be found of ſuch.Joh. 3.10. Whoſoever believes on him, Jew or Gentile, might not periſh, but have everlaſting life. Doth thy poor Soul ſay as the poor prodigal did, and I periſh for hunger? O Jeſus Chriſt is willing to be found of ſuch.
5. A Gentile is a poor Soul that lies far from God. They are the inhabitants of the far Countrey.Eph. 2.13, 14. You who were a far off, are brought nigh by the blood of Jeſus. He is there ſpeaking of Gentiles. They are ſaid by the Prophet to be far from Rightcouſneſs. Iſa. 46. ult.Well poor Souls, Chriſt is willing to be found of ſuch. Alas, Sir, ſayes a poor Soul, I am a great way from Chriſt: O ſo were Gentiles; there was a wall of partition betwixt Chriſt and them; yet Chriſts blood took it away, melted down the ſtones in this partition wall.
6. A Gentile is a poor Soul without hope. Without Chriſt, Eph. 2.12. Without hope of being ſaved without Chriſt.without hope, can thou be worſe? Yet Christ is willing to be found of ſuch. Alas, ſayes a poor Soul, I have no hope. Thou art a Gentile, a poor hopeleſs Soul. Becauſe they are without Promiſe, they are without hope. The Heathens feigned when all was gone, yet Hope was in the bottom of Pandora's box, implying that Hope is a good refuge in calamity.
7. A Gentile is one that is a blaſphemer of the name of God.Rom 2.24. Chriſtiani ſanctè vixiſſent, ſi Chriſtus ſancta docuiſſet. For the name of God is blaſphemed through you. They did take all occaſions to ſpeak evil of God, for the infirmities of his followers. If Chriſt had taught them better, they would have lived better, was the brand of Gentiles, caſt upon Chriſt in Tertullians time. Paul tells us he was a Blaſphemer, and yet obtained mercy. It is the ſpirit of a Gentile to ſpeak evil of his Name, becauſe of the miſcarriages of his followers.
8. A Gentile is one that ſeeks only after earthly things. An earthly ſpirit is the ſpirit of the Gentiles. After theſe things, Mat. 6.32.ſaith Chriſt, do the Gentiles ſeek. It may be many poor Souls have made the comfort of the Creature their Summum Bonum; never ſought after any thing for their Souls in all their lives: Yet Chriſt calls ſuch to ſeek him; yea is willing to be found of ſuch. What though thou haſt been a poor earth-worm all thy dayes? yet if now thou ſeek the Lord, there is hope for thee; if thy heart be in good earneſt for Heaven.
Take theſe Scriptural deſcriptions of Gentiles, to ſet off the Free grace of God to the worſt of Sinners.
1. Reaſon, why Jeſus Chriſt is willing to be found of poor Gentile Sinners.
1. Becauſe this was the end of the Fathers donations; Chriſt is the great gift of his Father. Now ſurely the Lord would never have parted with ſuch a gift as his own Son, but he had ſome great end in ſuch a gift. Well, what was the Fathers deſign? He gave his only begotten Son, that whoſoever believes in him might not periſh but have eternal life: That Gentile ſinners might not periſh to all eternity.Eph. 2.18. Therefore we read of ſuch Souls being made nigh by the blood of Jeſus; and through him we have both Acceſs, (viz.) both Jews and Gentiles, to the Father, &c. Many poor Souls are under Objections concerning the willingneſs of God to ſhew them mercy. Do you think that the Lord would have parted with his own Son for you, if he had not been willing to ſhew you mercy? The Prophet tells us,Iſa. 42.6. He is given for a Covenant to the people, for a light to the Gentiles.
2. Reaſon, why Jeſus Chriſt is willing to be found of poor Gentile ſinners, this is evident from the invitations that he gives them to come in to him. O what an invitation is this very Call of my Text to ſuch? O how do the affections of Christ ſparkle in his invitations? 1. Conſider his invitations are free: There is no merit on our ſide, there is no ſuch thing, as worthineſs in the Creature. Chriſt moves freely from Arguments ſpringing up in his own bowels; My Creature will be loſt elſe, this poor Soul will be undone for ever elſe: And as Heſter ſaid in that caſe, ſo ſayes Chriſt, How can my heart endure to ſee this evil come upon my people and kindred? So, O ſayes Jeſus Chriſt, how can my heart endure to let this poor Soul go to Hell, and eternally periſh? And thus his heart works freely in his invitations towards poor Sinners. 2. His invitations are affectionate invitations: invitations mixed with entreaties. I beſeech you be reconciled unto God. Chriſt doth not only invite, but becomes a ſuppliant to the ſinner. He comes to the Sinner, which is obſtinate and inexorable, and upon his knees begs the Soul for his ſake, for its own ſake, to accept of terms of mercy and reconciliation. 3. They are importunate invitations. He doth not invite with an indifferency of Spirit, whether we accept of his terms or no, but he invites in good earneſt, and ſets on invitations with preſſing arguments, ſometimes taking an argument from the Souls danger, if it cloſe not with his invitations, ſometimes an argument from the Souls duty, and ſometimes an argument from the Souls benefit and profit; theſe are importunate invitations. 4. His invitations are daily and inceſſant invitations. Poor Sinners are daily invited, Chriſt is an every dayes Solicitor and Suitor; he waits to be gracious: If you deny him to day, he comes again to morrow; he doth not caſt off for every preſent denyal. 5. His invitations are univerſal; therefore thou mayſt ſay as he did, I am invited alſo. O poor Sinner, God hath not excluded thee if thy unbelief exclude thee not. 6. His invitations are upon the moſt ſolemn preparations that ever was: All things are ready. Hath he invited and prepared his gueſts, and doth not this argue his willingneſs to entertain?
3. Reaſon, why the Lord Jeſus Chriſt is willing to be found of Gentile Sinners, becauſe upon this account the Father enters into a Covenant with the Son to reward him. There was a Covenant ſtruck betwixt Chriſt and his Father, that upon his undertaking the great work of Mans Redemption, he would exalt him and glorifie him. I will glorifie thee. The Rewards of Christ for Redemption-work ſeem to conſiſt in theſe things.
1. The converſion of Souls.Iſa. 49.6. Is it a ſmall thing thou raiſe the Tribes of Iſrael? I will alſo give thee for a light to the Gentiles: as if Chriſt ſhould ſtand with his Father and ſay, But Lord what will become of the poor Gentile part of the world? Muſt they all dye in their ſins and be damned? O the heart of Chriſt was inflamed with love after the ſalvation of poor Sinners. Well, now the Lord gives him a Patent for Gentiles as well as Jews; a Patent of Free Grace:Tit. 1.2. this is covenanted for, betwixt God the Father and the Son: this is the promiſe of Eternal Life before the world begun. He ſhall ſee the travil of his Soul, and ſhall be ſatisfied.
2. His exaltation is promiſed. So he ſhall ſprinkle nations, (viz.) convert them: Sprinkle them with his blood: an alluſion to the blood of the Paſchal Lamb, when the deſtroyer was to paſs over.Iſa. 52.15. And Kings ſhall ſhut their mouths at him: Shall all be ſilent at the ſetting up of his Dominion; they ſhall be convinced of his Kingly Office and Dignity: Not a word to ſay againſt the Lord Jeſus as King.Iſa. 53 ult. He ſhall conquer them, and deliver the Elect out of their hands. Therefore ſayes another Text, He ſhall divide a portion with the great: Some read it, I will give him a portion among the great: He ſhall have his day of viſible greatneſs among them. Others read it, He ſhall divide the Mighty as a prey: This will be Chriſts work when he comes forth in Majeſty, to prey upon all that ſtand in his way to his Kingdome, whether perſons or things. Now this clearly demonſtrates the point in hand; becauſe God Covenants for this with him upon his undertaking Redemption and Salvation-work.
Application.
Is it ſo, that the Lord Jeſus is willing to be found of Gentile Sinners? Then,
1. It informs us of the unſpeakable love of Jeſus Chriſt to poor Sinners. O how is it commended to us! In this, that while we were Sinners he died for us; greater love than this hath no man.
1. Is there not love in this, to be willing to be found of ſuch as have been profeſſed Enemies, proclaimed Traytors? The Lord hath proclaimed us upon our firſt apoſtaſie to be Traytors and Rebels to him; but yet he hath ſent out a proclamation of Peace; and look to that bleſſed proclamation, and lay hold of it by a hand of faith; or,Iſa. 27.5. Let him take hold of my ſtrength, that he may make peace with me, and he ſhall make peace with me. You ſee here is the proclamation to lay hold on. And ſo poor Souls, upon their falling in with Chriſt are at peace. Is not here love, ſhining love to poor dark Gentiles? Let us ſee the Proclamation renewed.Iſa. 55.1, 2 I am found of them that asked not for me, I am found of them that ſought me not. I ſaid, behold me, behold me, unto a Nation that was not called by my Name. I have ſpread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, (viz.) to a company of poor obſtinate Jews, and lo therefore I turn to the Gentiles. Behold, here I am, here I am; ſo ſome read it, as Chriſt holding out terms of Mercy, Life and Salvation to poor Sinners. If a man find his Enemy, ſayes Saul, will he let him go well away? O the love of Chriſt to Gentiles which were enemies!
2. Is there not love in this, to call theſe firſt to look after him? Is not this preventing love? Did I look after him, ſaid poor Hagar, who here ſees me? Alas, if the Lord had never found me out, I had never found him. He is called a Shepherd that ſeeks out his Sheep. O here do we run into corners from this good Shepherd, untill he follow us! O what love is this!
3. Is there not love in this, to tell us there is a time coming when it will be too late to ſeek him? See how free and ingenuous, as I may ſay, Divine Love is; it tells us the worſt, that we might be awakened to look about us. If you neglect but a while, follow your ſins for a while, ſet out your day of Grace for a while, then it will be over, and the bowels of the Lord will be ſhut up in diſpleaſure againſt you; and then you will ſay, as he upon his death-bed, I have told you, now all is too late, all is now too late. Is there not great love in warning Souls of danger before it comes?
4. Is there not love in this, that the Rejection of the Jews, the Cutting off them ſhould be the grafting in of the Gentiles? O that ſuch wild Olives ſhould be partakers of the ſweetneſs of the fat Olive! that ever ſuch brambles ſhould be inoculated into Chriſt! Rom. 11.33.This raiſed up the ſpirit of Paul into a frame of admiration. The caſting away of the Jews, was the reconciling of the world.
5. There is love in this, that Christ was ſo willing to come as his Fathers Gift, as a Commander and Leader to his People, as the words before ſpeak. See how Chriſts heart ecchoes to the heart of the Father in the work of the Salvation of poor Sinners! In the volume of thy Book it is written, I come to do thy will, O God.
2. Ʋſe. O then let us a little admire the condeſcention of Chriſt in this thing, that he is ſo willing to be found of poor Gentiles. It is no wonder, if upon the head of this Divine Miſtery be written a verily, Verily he took upon him not the nature of Angels, Heb. 2.16.but the Seed of Abraham. That he ſhould overlook them Glorious Creatures; that Mercy ſhould come to poor Gentiles over the head of Angels; how few take notice of this?1 Pet. 1.12. Angels deſire to look into theſe deeps; and yet we do not look into them with an eye of holy inſpection and heavenly admiration.
3. Another word is this, If Chriſt be willing to be found of poor Gentile Sinners, it is then a Call to ſuch to ſeek him. Seek him while he may be found. May not I ſay to poor Sinners, as God argues the caſe with thoſe Jews by the Prophet Ezekiel, Why will ye dye O ye houſe of Iſrael? So, why do poor Gentile Sinners neglect ſeeking the Lord Jeſus? Is not this to go careleſly the ready way to your Eternal deſtruction? Is not this the rode to your Everlaſting ruine? And will not the Lord ſay to you one day, as the Prophet to them, Your deſtruction is of your ſelves?
1. Motive to ſeek the Lord. He firſt is ſuitor to you, and ſeeks you; And is not this a mighty motive? This is that great loadſtone that ſhould draw the hearts of poor Sinners much in love with Christ: He loves them firſt: Who loved us firſt. Chriſt is firſt in the motion. He came to ſeek and to ſave that which is lost. Take that Parable of the Prodigal, his Father ſent after him into the far Country, ſought him out, This my Son was loſt, and is found. Nay, Christ is the Shepherd of the Gentiles, and he ſeeks out his ſheep in a dark and gloomy day. Alas, what is the Goſpel but Chriſt ſending after poor Sinners to wooe them, to accept of terms of Grace and Mercy?
2. Motive to ſeek the Lord Jeſus. His ſeeking you coſt him dear. He laid down his life for his ſheep. He ſought you, and where did he find you? He found you ſlaves, and he muſt pay your ranſome for you. I have found a ranſome for him. His death is our ranſome. We were priſoners and captives, and could not be redeemed at a lower rate than Chriſts blood.
3. Motive. He comes from the Father to ſeek you. The verſes going before are a Prophecy of Chriſt proceeding from the Father. I have given him for a witneſs. And frequently when he is ſpoken of to poor Gentile Sinners, then he is ſaid to come by way of donation. I have given him a light to the Gentiles. He comes and brings commendations of his Fathers love to poor Sinners. He is called the faithful and true witneſs of God.
4. Motive. He came from Heaven to ſeek you. O what Glory he left to come and mind your Eternal concerns upon earth! I cannot, nay, what Man or Angel can tell you what he forſook to ſeek you? He ſtript himſelf of all his Glory, of all his Royal Robes, to waſh your feet, to waſh you all over. He left his Throne. I remember it is ſtoried of a King, that found a ſheep in a ditch, and ſate down on hands and knees, and pulled it out with his own hands. The Sheep is thy own Soul, this King is the Lord Jeſus, the Ditch is thy Natural Condition in which thou hadſt periſhed to all Eternity, if he had not come from Heaven to have pull'd thee out.
5. Motive. He ſeeks as impatient of denyal. He is an importunate Seeker, he will not be ſaid nay; ſeeks like a beggar that will not be gone from your doors. Chriſt will not be gone from the door of thy heart, he ſtands and knocks; he doth not knock as he paſſes by, but ſtands waiting for thy coming out to accept of him, and cloſe with him; Therefore he beſeeches, wooes, waits to be Gracious. He comes in Ordinance after Ordinance, Providence after Providence, Motion after Motion, and Day after Day: What ſayeſt thou poor Soul, wilt thou now cloſe with me? And as he did, Wilt thou be made whole, to the Leper? And O how loth to go away! when will it once be?
6. Motive. He is a Seeker that is grieved when he is denyed. He was grieved becauſe of their unbelief, and the hardneſs of their hearts. You cannot grieve Chriſt worſe than deny him, when he comes to make out love to your Souls, and you ſlight him.
7. Motive. He ſeeks poor Sinners in their proper months.Jer. 2.24. In their months one ſhall find them: Chriſt knows the months to find Sinners in. All theſe Motives are taken from Chriſt, as the great ſeeker of Souls.
3. Ʋſe is of Reproof, 1. to ſuch as neglect to ſeek the Lord, that ſeek him not at all. Yet they are Seekers, but not Seekers of the Lord. Gentiles are Seekers, after theſe things the Gentiles ſeek. They ſeek good trading, good livelihoods, &c. But alas, this is all they ſeek after. Nay,Lev. 10.31.20.6. we read of ſome that ſeek after Wizards, they are ſo far from ſeeking after God. But the Lord ſayes, he will ſet his face againſt ſuch. Do you think, poor Seamen, and you their wives, that this is the way to have good voyages, to go to ask the Devil his Counſel? Some ſeek their luſts,Prov. 23.30. like Solomons drunkard they ſay, they will ſeek it yet again. But all this while they ſeek not the Lord. O how few ſeek to the Lord? What are theſe poor Souls ſeeking, but the living among the dead?
1. See the danger of ſuch as ſeek not the Lord. Such poor Souls ſee no worth in the Lord; and are not ſuch to be reproved? If Chriſt be not worth ſeeking, he is worth nothing. When we ſee the worth of any thing, we will ſeek after it. The object we ſeek, muſt be ſome good. O how neglecters to ſeek Chriſt do undervalue Chriſt!
2. They never ſee a want of him. We ſeek not, that we want not. O but now when the poor Soul doth ſee its need of him, then it doth with the Spouſe ſeek him. Poor Gentiles, they ſit ſtill. It is the Character of a Gentile to ſit in darkneſs, Ʋnto you who ſat in darkneſs a great light ſhined, (viz.) to Gentiles. They have no mind to riſe off from their ſeat.
3. It will aggravate the condemnation of ſuch, that Chriſt ſought them, and they would not be found of him. How often would I have gathered thee, &c.
But there are a company of poor ſouls that object, what have we to do with Christ, ſuch poor Sinners as we are?
O poor Souls, the great Promiſe is to ſuch; To it ſhall the Gentiles ſeek: Iſa. 11.10.All poor Sinners muſt betake themſelves to this Glorious Enſign. The root of Jeſſe ſhall ſtand for an Enſign of the people, to it ſhall the Gentiles ſeek.
But we are dark Creatures?Luk. 1.79. He came to give light to them that ſate in darkneſs, and in the ſhadow of death, and guide our feet in the wayes of peace.
Another Ʋſe is of Inquiry, If Chriſt be ſo willing to be found of Gentile Sinners, what then may be the reaſons why poor Sinners do not ſeek the Lord Jeſus? O how few Seekers hath the Lord Jeſus! Sinners, it is true, are Seekers, but it is of the living among the dead.
1. Poor Sinners ignorance of the worth of Chriſt: who will or can deſire after an unknown good? As he ſaid to the woman, If thou kneweſt the gift of God, Mat. 13.44, 45, 46.thou would ask living water, and he would give it thee: So do I ſay, If Souls knew the worth of Chriſt, they would cry, None but Chriſt, none but Chriſt. Nothing without Chriſt, nothing below Christ, would ſatisfie their Souls. The Merchant man could not be ſatisfied with goodly Pearls, after he had come to know there was a Pearl of Price; then all the goodly Pearls were out-ſhined by the Pearl of great Price, and now he is reſolved upon any terms to have Chriſt. He ſells all. O what difference betwixt this perſon and the young man in the Goſpel, who when Chriſt bid him ſell all, went away ſorrowful? O this broke the bargain betwixt him and Chriſt: He knew not the worth of Chriſt. It may be Chriſt is not much valued by you now, but ask your hearts the queſtion, O my Soul, what will Chriſt be worth upon a death-bed? What will Chriſt be worth when thy Soul is filled with horrour of thy own guilt? When thou art a Magor Miſabib to thy ſelf? Nay, it may be to all that are round about thee? When thy heart is made to meditate terrour? Could thou ask the damned in Hell what Chriſt would be worth to them, what they would give, if it could be procured, for one offer of Chriſt in good earneſt? It may be they might better inform thy judgement. If you did converſe with awakened dying guilty conſciences, or with poor damned Souls, they might tell you ſomething of the worth of Chriſt, or with Souls deeply groaning under guilt at firſt Converſion, or with poor tempted Souls: Theſe four ſorts of perſons can tell you what apprehenſions they have of the worth of Chriſt. When men know the worth of a commodity, it will go hard but they will obtain it. O what will a Malefactor judge a Pardon worth! So doth a poor ſelf-condemned Sinner judge of Chriſt.
2. Poor Sinners ſeek not after the Lord, becauſe they are lockt up under infidelity and unbelief. We read of being concluded and ſhut up under unbelief, as cloſe priſoners under lock and key (in arctâ cuſtodiâ) they are in Satans cloſe cuſtody.
1. Poor Sinners believe not Chriſts willingneſs to embrace and entertain their poor Souls upon cloſure with him. Untill poor Sinners be convinced of this, they can never make out after Chriſt. Therefore it is we read of Chriſts invitations, and aſſeverations, entreaties, promiſes; all to demonſtrate his willingneſs to be found of ſinners, when they ſeek him. Alas, poor ſinners take up falſe conceptions of Chriſt; they think his heart is hardned againſt them, and his bowels ſhut up in diſpleaſure, and they take him for their adverſary, and all this is their unbelief; and ſo are hindred from looking out after Chriſt.
2. Poor Sinners believe not the Fathers willingneſs to ſhew them mercy. Many Souls ſtick here, though Chriſt hath told them, he hath declared his Fathers Name, and would declare it to poor ſinners. O what pains doth Chriſt take to convince of his Fathers good will!Joh. 6.37, 38. This is the will of him that ſent me.
5. Poor Sinners believe not an indiſpenſible neceſſity to cloſe with Chriſt. They do not ſee their Souls loſt for ever without a Chriſt. And this brings me to the next particular.
3. Poor Sinners ſeek not after the Lord Jeſus, becauſe they are not throughly convinced of their miſery without Chriſt. Peter did not cry out, Maſter ſave me or I periſh, until he begun to ſink: So poor Souls cry not after Chriſt, ſeek not after Chriſt, until they ſee themſelves in a periſhing ſinking condition. Perſons may fall under ſome convictions of their miſery, but alas, they are …lighty convictions, and ſo wear off the next temptation that comes upon their Soul: But when the conviction gets to the heart, then it is hopeful. When they were prickt to the heart, then they cryed out, Men and Brethren, what ſhall we do? There are many convictions that get no farther than the head. But now when a ſenſe of miſery is clapt to a mans heart, it will make him look out after Chriſt. Let me ſhew poor Sinners ſomething of their miſery without Chriſt.
1. You are without hope; and is not this the height of miſery? Hope doth yield the Soul ſome relief in the ſaddeſt condition; but to be without hope, is to be in Hell above ground. What is it that makes Hell, Hell? they have no hope of ever coming forth, from the pit there is no redemption. If a man be in Algier, hope keeps up his heart, that he ſhall be redeemed one day: But there is not one priſoner of hope in all hell among all the damned.
2. Without Chriſt you are condemned men already. There is no condemnation to them that are in Chriſt Jeſus. Then it follows, they that are out of Chriſt Jeſus, are under the ſentence of condemnation. What a miſerable condition doth a poor condemned creature think himſelf to be in, and cannot reſt night nor day but thinking of his execution? This is the caſe of a poor Soul out of Chriſt; though the Soul be not convinced of it.
3. The miſery of a Soul out of Chriſt is in this, it is eternal miſery. The eternity of the miſery is the ſting of Hell, and the very emphaſis of damnation. To be miſerable a thouſand years, and then to come out of it, the very thoughts of a better eſtate would be ſome kind of eaſe to the oppreſſed mind: but their miſery is like to be endleſs; and this compleats the miſery. It is called everlaſting deſtruction from the preſence of the Lord, &c. 2 Theſ. 1.8.This brings me orderly to the next head.
4. Poor Sinners ſeek not out to the Lord Jeſus, becauſe they are not convinced throughly of a future ſtate of the Soul. They are not under the powerful ſenſe of the Souls immortality. Who will ſeek out to Chriſt, if they be not convinced that the Soul is an immortal being? Chriſts errand from Heaven to Earth is in vain, his whole ſeries of ſuffering is in vain, his whole undertaking of the work of mans redemption in vain, if there be no future ſtate of the Soul: But becauſe we live in a time and day that Atheiſm doth abound, let me offer by way of conviction ſome few Arguments to prove the future ſtate of the Soul. Alas, men look not out after Chriſt, becauſe they are not taken up with Eternity.
1. Argument is taken from Chriſts death,1 Theſ. 1.10. which was to deliver from wrath to come. Then there is ſuch a thing as wrath to come, which could not be if there were no future ſtate of the Soul.
2. Argument of a future ſtate is from the horrour that wicked men feel ſometimes in their conſciences, when they are awakened. O what Magor Miſabibs are they to themſelves ſometimes! Crying out, Wo is them that ever they were born, to ſin ſuch wrath upon their own heads. Theſe are the ſparks of Hell that are gotten into the Conſcience in this life, this is the gnawing of that worm that never dyes.
3. Argument is taken from the wiſhes of the wicked that they might dye the death of the Righteous, as Balaam deſired.
4. Argument is taken from the ſufferings of Saints. What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and loſe his own ſoul? which is brought in to the Diſciples to caution them againſt Apoſtaſie. O, ſay poor believers, we may loſe our Souls, and therefore we may not apoſtatize from God, and therefore they will ſuffer the loſs of all. The poor people of God make a ſad bargain of it, if they ſuffer, and yet there ſhould be no reward.
5. Argument is taken from the great deſires that ſometimes Believers have to be diſſolved, as Paul did; which, if there were no enjoyment of God after, would greatly be to believers loſs, becauſe they enjoy ſomething of God here.
6. Argument is taken from the great joy that many Saints have had in their paſſage into another world. How have they gone off the ſtage of this preſent life with triumph, and died boaſting and glorying in God?
7. Argument is taken from Saints Communion with God. If there be ſuch a thing here, then much more hereafter; what we enjoy here is but a drop to the Ocean.
8. Argument is taken from mens natural unwillingneſs to dye. Certainly there ſome thing follows death, that the Soul cannot endure to think on. It is true, the diſſolving of the marriage-knot betwixt ſuch two dear lovers, as Soul and Body, is tedious to think of, yet there is ſome preapprehenſions of eternity, that trouble the Soul, that it cannot think of death with any quiet or comfort.
9. Argument is taken from the end of Christs appointments. God hath appointed the means of Grace in reference to the ſalvation of poor Souls. That thou may ſave thy own Soul, and them that hear thee.
10. Argument from the endeavours of Satan, ſeeking whom he may devour (or drink up, as the word is.) Satan would ſpare his pains, if there were no future ſtate of the Soul. Now it is no wonder if poor ſinners ſeek not the Lord Jeſus, when they lay not their ſouls under the convictions of the ſtate of the Soul after death.
5. Poor Sinners ſeek not after the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, becauſe they are diverted by their worldly enjoyments and employments. We read of ſome that made excuſes, and all their excuſes were from their worldly buſineſs, they could not come. I have obſerved that young perſons who have been under ſome notable convictions, and reſolutions to cloſe with Christ, and ſeek after Chriſt, if ever they have abated and cooled in their firſt love, it hath been when they have entred upon the world, changed their conditions, ſet up for themſelves; the world hath ſtoln their hearts from God. O how ſad is this! The world broke the bargain betwixt Chriſt and the young man in the Goſpel.
O but ſayes a poor Soul, I know not how to ſeek Chriſt: I am a poor Gentile Sinner that have ſate in darkneſs, and am in my dark ſtate of Gentiliſm to this day, and how ſhall I ſeek the Lord Jeſus that is, you ſay, thus willing to be found of me?
1. Seek the Lord betimes. If you would be ſpeeding Seekers of Chriſt, Job 8.5.you muſt not be loyterers; there is but in time and out of time. Make no delay therefore, poor ſinner, in ſeeking the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; take the preſent time by the fore-lock. While it is to day, hearken to his voice: Now acquaint your ſelves with God. We muſt take hold of the preſent time. They that ſeek me early ſhall find me; (ſhall morning me, the Hebrew is.) We muſt in our ſeeking give the morning to God. It is obſervable, in the morning Jacob got the bleſſing; in the morning the Lord looked through the cloud, and diſcomfited the Aegyptian Hoſt: Nay, Chriſt himſelf is called the Hinde of the morning, the morning-ſtar; and all to teach us to ſeek him in the morning. The firſt fruits were to be dedicated to the Lord; the firſtling of every Creature was to be offered up in Sacrifice to the Lord: but the firſtling of an Aſs being ſo dull a Creature, God would not accept it in ſacrifice.
1. We ſhould ſeek the Lord early, becauſe the preſent time is the only time to ſeek the Lord in. Now is the acceptable time. now is the day of ſalvation, &c. Upon this monoſylable Now depends Eternity (ſayes one.) There is a preſent time, and a preſent Truth for us to lay hold on. It was a good ſaying of him when invited to dinner to morrow, ſayes he, I have not promiſed myſelf a [to morrow] this many years. Who knows, ſayes Solomon, what to morrow may bring forth? What is in the womb of to morrow? What if thy death, nay, thy damnation ſhould be in the womb of another day? We read of death and what was at the heels of death? and Hell immediately followed him.
2. Seek the Lord early; you cannot promiſe your ſelves any more ſeaſons of Grace. If God ſhould prolong your lives, your day of Grace may have its ſun-ſet on a ſudden; and alas, what good will your lives do you, when you are wrapt up in groſs darkneſs? May not you ſay already, Woe unto us our day goeth away! Alas, there is a night coming when no man can work.
3. Seek the Lord early; If you have your lives lengthened, your means of Grace continued, yet you cannot promiſe your ſelves any more gales of the Spirit of God to breath upon you. And alas, what will Goſpel Ordinances ſignifie to you, without the ſpirits influences breathing in them? What is the moſt precious Miniſtry you can ſit under, if not influenced from the Lord, by the efficacy of his own Spirit?
4. Seek the Lord early; you have loytered long, you have ſlept much of your day of Grace away already. He that ſleeps in harveſt is a Son that cauſeth ſhame; but he that gathereth in ſummer is a wiſe Son. O what a harveſt of the Goſpel have we ſlept in! O what a ſpirit of deep ſleep and ſlumber hath fallen upon us! O that we may all take that counſel, Ʋp and be doing, and the Lord will be with you. Up and be ſeeking Chriſt early.
5. The longer you neglect to ſeek the Lord Jeſus, the more difficult it will be for you. Your very ſloth will take away your hearts: the more a man ſits ſtill, the leſs mind he hath to ſtir. Sitting is a pleaſing poſture; it is the deſcription of Gentile Sinners, they ſit in darkneſs; they are pleaſed with their dark ſtate: And it is hard when we have indulged our ſloth, to ſtir up our ſelves to lay hold of God.
2. Seek the Lord earneſtly as well as early. It is ſaid of Chriſt, he prayed earneſtly, when in his agony; and we read of ſtriving to enter in at the ſtrait gate. Strive to an agony; put your Souls into an agony: So we muſt ſeek Chriſt, having our Souls in an agony. Poor Souls, it may be, fall under ſome general convictions of their ſins, and they are now put upon ſeeking the Lord; but alas, it is with a kind of indifferency of ſpirit, as though they cared not whether they found him or not. We ſhould ſeek the Lord with Jacobs reſolution; I will not let thee go except thou bleſs me. 2 Cant. 1.2, 3, 4.The Spouſe by night ſought Chriſt: in a night of perſecution (ſome refer it to that night of perſecution by Antiochus Epiphanes) yet ſhe gives not over ſeeking; but did ſhe find him? No, ſhe found him not. Now ſhe might have fallen under ſome temptation to give over, why ſhould I wait upon the Lord any longer? O no, but ſhe falls now upon an earneſt ſearch and enquiry after him, and now ſhe finds him.
3. Seek the Lord under the ſenſe of a promiſe (viz.) believingly. They that ſeek ſhall find. If we have not our practice bottomed in our ſeeking of Chriſt upon ſome promiſe, we ſhall have no comfort in it. But now when the Soul ſayes, I will go a ſeeking Chriſt, but I will carry a promiſe with me; O this is very comfortable! Ʋnto him ſhall the Gentiles ſeek; and, in him ſhall the Gentiles truſt. This is the Great Magna Charta of the Gentiles; thou muſt not ſeek to thy own Righteouſneſs. We read of ſeeking that way.Iſa. 42.2. You muſt not truſt in your ſelves, but in his Name ſhall the Gentiles truſt. If you know not where to truſt, come hither,Mat. 12.18. and here place your truſt. Many Souls ſeek Christ, but their eye of faith is not up to the promiſe in their ſeeking of him.
4. We are to ſeek the Lord in a through ſenſe of our loſt condition without him. Many Souls ſeek Chriſt, but they do it not in a ſenſe of their undone condition. It is the loſt Soul that is the right ſeeker of Chriſt. Chriſt ſeeks ſuch Souls, and ſuch Souls ſeek Chriſt; then they are like to meet. That which is promiſed of the Jews Return holds good here;Jer. 50.5. Going and weeping, ſeeking the Lord their God, &c. It will make you ſeek him weeping, if you were but convinced, you were loſt to all Eternity, undone for ever, irrecoverably miſerable, if you find not Christ. The firſt-ſtep to ſeek Chriſt, is to be convinced of ones loſt condition. O now the Soul falls inquiring after Chriſt; If you ſee him whom my Soul loves, tell him, I am ſick of love.
5. Seek Chriſt perſeveringly. Thus the Spouſe did ſeek Chriſt untill ſhe found him; as the woman ſought her loſt groat until ſhe found it. The watchmen ſmote the Spouſe, and took away her veil from her, yet ſhe gives not over ſeeking her beloved. The watchmen, either the Miniſterial watchmen, or the Magiſterial, upon the City walls, they took away her veil (viz.) a token of ſubjection to Christ; yet ſhe perſeveres ſtill ſeeking Chriſt. Jacob wreſtled until the break of day: He was a perſevering wreſtler, and then came the bleſſing.
6. We muſt ſeek Chriſt as appointed by the Father to entertain poor Gentile Sinners. Therefore we ſee the Commiſſion of Chriſt is to carry it tenderly towards poor Gentiles, ſmoaking flaxes, and bruiſed reeds. The Father hath put this work upon him, to treat with poor Gentiles about their everlaſting Salvation: and therefore we muſt ſeek Chriſt diſtinctly, under a diſtinct notion, as the Father hath commiſſioned him. Poor Sinners get ſome confuſed notions and apprehenſions of Chriſt, and upon theſe notions they ſeek Chriſt: but all this while they are ignorant of Chriſts being ſent as the Fathers Commiſſioner to treat with poor Sinners about the things that concern their peace. Several words the Spirit of God hath beſtowed upon this thing, noting to us that it is a matter of ſuch great concernment.
1. He hath ſet him forth to be a propitiation,Rom. 3.25. or fore-ordained him to this end and purpoſe.
2. God hath choſen him, My Servant whom I have choſen.
3. God hath called him.Iſa. 42.6.
4. God hath anointed him to this purpoſe.
5. God hath ſent him; now we ſhould conſider all theſe, and ſeek him as one thus ſent by his Father to treat with poor Sinners.
7. We muſt ſeek whole Chriſt in all his Offices. As you have received the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, ſo walk you in him. This is whole Chriſt; as Prophet, Prieſt, and Lord. And thus ſhould poor Gentile Sinners ſeek the Lord Jeſus.
The ſecond Obſervation is this:
That there are eſpecial times for Sinners to find the Lord Jeſus Christ in. Seek the Lord while he may be found.
We read David pointing out ſuch a time, For this ſhall every one that is Godly pray unto thee in a time, Pſal. 32.6.when thou wilt be found: or, in a finding time (ſo we ſhould read it;) Others read it in a time of hitting, when Gods judgements go abroad, and the Lord hits the conſciences. But David had been confeſſing his ſins, and the Lord forgives him, and the ſenſe of this forgiveneſs raiſes his heart ſo, that he breaks out thus, the Godly ſhall pray unto thee in ſuch a time, in an eſpecial time.Luk. 19.41, 42. O Jeruſalem hadſt thou known in this thy day! It was an eſpecial time in which they might have found the Lord, he ſo ſweetly offering himſelf to them in the Goſpel. Solomon tells us,Eccl. 8.5, 6. A wiſe mans heart diſcerneth time and judgment; becauſe to every purpoſe there is a time and judgment; therefore the miſery of man is great upon him. So in this caſe, there is a time, an eſpecial time to put your Spiritual purpoſes into execution, to ſeek the Lord Jeſus in: Therefore that was good Counſel,Job 22.20, 21. Now acquaint thy ſelf with God, and be at peace, and thereby good ſhall come upon thee. Now ſeek the Lord. There are ſome eſpecial Nows that we ſhould all improve and lay hold on.2 Cor. 6.2. Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of ſalvation, &c. I paſſed by thee, and ſaw thee in thy blood, and then it was a time of love, &c.
The great queſtion will be, what are theſe eſpecial times, in which Chriſt is willing to be found?
1. When he offers himſelf in the tenders of the Goſpel. O Jeruſalem, hadſt thou known in this thy day. It was a peculiar time in which the Lord Jeſus was preached to them. Now Chriſt is willing to be found of you. What is the Goſpel but Christ ſeeking out his Sheep, his voice calling in his Sheep; Christ following poor ſinners with invitations and entreaties, that they would return unto him and live? We read of the Shepherd ſeeking out his ſheep. Would Christ offer himſelf, but that it is an eſpecial time of love? O poor Souls, take heed as you reject theſe offers. 1. Theſe offers of Chriſt are a fruit of his blood; if he had not died, he never had been tendred to you; and for you to refuſe theſe offers, is for you to reject his purchaſe, nay, for you to tread his blood under-foot, and account the blood of the Covenant an unclean thing. And O how muſt this needs provoke the Lord, as is ſaid in the parable of the Supper, when they all had refuſed, the Lord was angry, and reſolved that none of them ſhould taſte of his Supper. 2. Theſe offers are offers of life and ſalvation; O then take heed of rejecting them. You will not come to me that you may have life. Now is an eſpecial time, you may have life. If a poor condemned Malefactor ſhould but have his life offered him, O how would he be tranſported with joy! And this is the caſe of every poor ſinner out of Chriſt; he is under a ſentence of condemnation, and Christ comes and offers them their lives. O then as we value the lives of our precious Souls, let us not reject the offers of Chriſt. 3. The offers of Chriſt are unasked, unſought for by us, therefore it is now an eſpecial finding time. Thou poor ſinner doſt not come forth and ask a Chriſt, and cry for Chriſt, and lament after Chriſt. O no, but Chriſt came out to offer himſelf to thy poor Soul, when thou lay dying and periſhing in thy blood, then he ſaid unto thee unasked, Live. 4. The offers of Chriſt are not only of his Grace but of himſelf: He offers not only what he hath, but what he is, to thy Soul. But my people would have none of me. He that hath the Son, hath life. There muſt be an union with the Son, a cloſing with the perſon of Chriſt, as well as with the promiſe of Chriſt. Now this is more than to offer Grace, yea, than to offer Heaven to poor ſinners. Therefore it is we read of the marriage of the Kings Son: and ſhall we deſpiſe ſuch a match as this? God forbid. 5. Surely this is a finding time in an eſpecial manner, he offers with entreaties, and invitations to accept. He doth not make an offer and away, as careleſs whether poor ſinners accept or no: but he follows his offers with arguments, if by any means he might prevail with poor Souls, before it be too late. 6. He offers all he hath. O will neither his perſon nor his benefits take with the Souls of poor ſinners? All he hath may be yours; If he have pardoning mercy, it is yours; if he have ſanctifying mercy, it is yours; if he have comforting mercy, it is yours. He intereſts you in all his fulneſs upon your cloſure with him: He beſtows upon you a large joynture upon your marriage with him. All is yours. Then certainly this is an eſpecial finding time.
2. The ſecond eſpecial finding time is, when the Spirit breaths upon ſinners in their attendances upon God. We read of a certain ſeaſon in which the Angel came down and moved the waters. There are ſome certain ſeaſons that the Spirit of God doth breath more freely upon poor ſinners than at other times; and theſe times we are to make an eſpecial improvement of. The Spirit of God, it is ſaid, came upon Sampſon by times. Certain briezes, if you will give me leave to call them ſo, that come from Heaven at certain times. The wind blows where it liſteth. O but poor Souls, be ſure you loſe not theſe winds; when they ſtand fair for Heaven, do not let them ſlip; loſe not a gale for Eternity, for they are eſpecial finding times. 1. Theſe gales once gone, and they are irrecoverable. There is no buying a wind for Heaven, if you would give all the world for it: one fair gale loſt, and thy poor Soul may lye wind-bound unto thy very dying day. 2. Theſe gales once gone, and your hearts harden. Sinners hearts harden, as the gales of the ſpirit of God are abuſed, and ſo ſuſpended. And O what a ſad caſe will it be for a poor Sinner to lye upon a deathbed crying out, this heart of mine, as very a ſtone as it is, as hard, as it is now, once was breathed upon by the Spirit to cloſe with Chriſt, but I ſinned all thoſe precious breathings from my Soul, and ſo by degrees hardned for Hell apace. 3. Theſe winds will not alwayes blow upon you, the wind will not alwayes ſtands here. Say ſo when under the Spirits breathings. The wind will not alwayes hold thus fair for Heaven; it will not alwayes blow in this quarter. My Spirit ſhall not alwayes ſtrive with man. You muſt not think of having a trade-wind for Heaven. 4. Theſe gales muſt you give an account for. Why did not you move with ſuch a fair wind, when you had it? This queſtion one day will be asked your precious Souls. O what anſwer will you give in that day? Did not my Spirit ſtrive with you? but you reſiſted it, and vexed it, and quenched it. Every motion you ever had and ſlighted, will come in as an evidence againſt you another day. 5. Theſe gales once gone will fill your Souls with horrour that you have loſt them; that you were in ſo fair a way for cloſing with Chriſt, and yet miſs of him; ſo nigh the Kingdom, and never come at it. O how it grieves a man to miſcarry, that had once a fair wind! O had I but taken the opportunity of a wind, how happy had I been! Who can think of it, but with dread, to look back upon all the motions that you have loſt, all the breathings you have loſt, and to ſay under the ſenſe of all theſe being loſt, Now your Souls are loſt too?
3. Eſpecial finding time is in a time of univerſal calamities and judgments upon nations. When the deluge is abroad upon the face of the earth, then he is willing to ask Souls to let them have room in himſelf.Pſal. 32.6. For this ſhall every one pray unto thee in a time when thou wilt be found (and obſerve what follows) Surcly in the floods of great waters they ſhall not come nigh thee. Some Expoſitors take it of a finding God in a time of general trouble and calamity. Therefore we have that ſweet counſel, Seek ye the Lord, Zeph. 2.3.ſeek meekneſs if that you may be hid in the day of the Lords anger. When the Lords Judgements are abroad, he calls upon poor Sinners to ſue to him, after an eſpecial manner. O poor ſinners, How can your hearts endure, or your hands be made ſtrong in the day that I ſhall deal with you? (ſaith the Lord.) You will be like the man-ſlayer that had no City of Refuge to fly to, when the avenger of blood was upon him: And was not this a very ſad caſe? Well may it be ſaid to ſuch, What will you do in the day of your Viſitation? and where will you leave your Glory? Iſa. 10.2, 3.and whither will you flee for help? God would never have given that eſpecial counſel, when he was to march in his anger through Iſrael, therefore prepare to meet thy God O Iſrael, if he did not aime, it ſhould be an eſpecial time of finding him. O what a Chriſt ſeeking, nay finding time was the plague, when death and danger faced you every day, nay every hour? when the Grave and Hell opened their mouths wide to ſwallow you?
4. Another eſpecial time of finding, is, a time of perſonal affliction: when ſinners months are upon them, in their months one ſhall find her, Jer. 2.24.ſpoken of the wild Aſs. So it is with a poor Sinner. He cannot be tamed, cannot be brought to hand, brought to the hand of Chriſt: but when affliction is upon the ſinner, O then it is an Ephraim; Thou chaſtiſedſt me and I was chaſtiſed, Jer. 37.18, 19.as a Bullock unaccuſtomed to the yoke; but yet the Lord tamed the Bullock. Manaſſeh as wild as he was, was thus tamed, and brought to ſeek the Lord, when he was in the bryars and fetters. Now is a time for the ſinner to return from iniquity:Job 36.9. (ſo Job hath it) In their affliction they will ſeek me early.
5. Another eſpecial time of finding Chriſt, is, when the Soul is under the ſenſe of its bewildred, loſt eſtate and condition; O then the Soul looks out after Chriſt; ſees it is undone without Christ, a periſhing loſt Soul for ever. This put the Prodigal upon returning to his Father, and I periſh by hunger. The Lord allures the Soul into the wilderneſs, it knows not what to make of its condition, it is in a wilderneſs of doubts and objections, but yet Chriſt now is found of it, and ſpeaks comfortably unto it. Now the Soul doth as the four Lepers in the gate of Samaria; they were under the ſentence of death in their own apprehenſions, and therefore they conclude they could but dye: So they reſolve to go into the Aſſyrian Camp; rather than dye in the Gate they would dye in the Field. Thus ſayes a poor Soul, I can but dye, therefore I will go out to Christ, and if I dye I will dye at his foot, if I periſh I periſh. Now this is a time wherein the Lord is found of poor Souls.
6. Another eſpecial time, is a time of violent and fierce aſſaults and temptations from Satan. Paul looked upon this time to be an eſpecial praying time. Paul beſought the Lord thrice: 2 Cor. 12.7, 8.and it was an anſwering time, my Grace is ſufficient for thee. Satan, he is the great Seeker after Souls, ſeeking whom he may devour. O now the Soul runs from Satan to Jeſus Chriſt, to take ſanctuary in Christ. Some poor Souls have cauſe to bleſs God for their temptation-experiences, upon this very account that Satan's aſſaults have haſtened them to Chriſt. Thus God outſhoots Satan in his own bow.
7. When the Soul meets with diſappointments from the Creature, this is another eſpecial finding time. The poor Church ſpeaks as a diſappointed people;Hoſ. 6.1. Come let us return unto the Lord. We have been big-bellied with expectations and hopes from the Creature, but all proves but a tympany: come therefore ſay they, let us return unto the Lord; He will not diſappoint us. The Lord was reſolved to make up a hedge of diſappointments againſt the poor Church, and now ſhe reſolves what to do.Hoſ. 2.7. I will return to my firſt Husband, it was better with me then than it is now. Diſappointments have been the occaſion of the converſion of many. The Prodigal would fain have filled his belly with the husks the Swine did eat; here was his deſire: no man gave him to eat; here was his diſappointment. And what then does he reſolve on? O then he reſolves to ariſe and go to his Father.
Application.
Is it ſo, that there are ſome eſpecial times of finding Chriſt? then it is a word of counſel. O then let no ſuch times ſlip you! Lay hold of the forelock of your eſpecial times. There is time and opportunity, and we diſtinguiſh betwixt them: opportunity is time filled up with ſeaſons of Grace. O be ſure then poor Souls you redeem opportunities. It is the ſame counſel that the Apoſtle gives them,Eph. 5.15, 16. Redeem the time; and the reaſon is very cogent, for the dayes are evil. A man hath a fair wind; he hath waited long for it; and now it is come about, he will not neglect it. O when the wind preſents, be ſure then you take it! O poor Soul, haſt thou not laid long without a wind for Heaven? Well, now it is come about. O then improve it. O poor Soul, put not off theſe precious gales; ſay not, come again to morrow.
1. Theſe eſpecial ſeaſons and times you muſt be accountable for. And can you anſwer it before the Great God, Sinners, that you did trifle with thoſe ſeaſons that did concern your immortal Souls? God puts every Sermon upon account, every Sabbath upon account, every Motion, nay, every Conviction upon account; they are all bookt down in Gods book of Remembrance; and though you have forgotten them, yet he hath not. O what horrour will fill your Souls, and what confuſion of face will be upon you, when you ſhall be called to an account for all your eſpecial times of finding Chriſt? 2. Theſe eſpecial times of finding Chriſt, are not all perſons priviledges. He hath not dealt with all people as with you. How many parts of the world that never were enriched with the tenders of Goſpel-grace as you have been, but lie in the rubbiſh of ignorance and ungodlineſs? Nay, how many that have lived under the ſound of the Goſpel, and yet the Goſpel is hid to them,2 Cor. 4.3. and ſuch ſouls are loſt? And ſhall your Souls be priviledged above others in the being under theſe eſpecial ſeaſons, and you not improve them? 3. Theſe eſpecial times if you let ſlip, you will be hardned and rivetted in your ſins. After men have ſinned away the day of Grace, O then they grow worſe and worſe. Then their poor Souls do ſwim down the ſtream of all manner of prophaneneſs. Have you not often obſerved it, that after ſinners have worn off their Convictions they have been more careleſs, more prophane, more reſolute in their courſe of ſin? 4. Theſe eſpecial times if you let them ſlip, it may be, you ſhall never have ſuch times again. My Spirit ſhall no more ſtrive with man. His bowels will be ſhut up in diſpleaſure againſt you. You may out-live the breathings of the Lord upon your Souls. And O if God ſhould awaken you, and cauſe you to reflect upon what hath paſt betwixt God and your Souls, O then it may be you will cry out, O that it were with me as in months paſt! O for one of the Motions of the Spirit of God I have ſleighted! O for one of the Convictions I have murdered! 5. Theſe eſpecial times will exceedingly aggravate your ſin, in ſtanding out againſt Chriſt. A woe was written upon the head of Capernaum and Bethſaida. O when Christ ſhall ſay, what have you to ſay for your ſelves? was not I tendred unto you? was not I offered with all the benefits of my death? but you would none of me. O now how will ſuch poor Souls run to the rocks, yea be fit to creep into the holes of the ragged rocks for the Majeſty of the Lord?
2. Word is a word of direction. What ſhall we do by way of improvement of theſe eſpecial times, or how ſhall we improve them?
1. Would you improve theſe eſpecial finding times? Then 1. Lament ſenſibly over your loſt time. Lapſed time goes to the heart of a poor convinced ſinner: nothing doth cut ſo deep, as the conſideration of trifling away golden ſeaſons of Grace. It was the charge the Lord brought in againſt Jezabel, I gave her ſpace to repent, but ſhe repented not. O for a poor ſoul to reflect upon the time that is paſt, then it will cry as Job did in that caſe, O that it were with me as in months that are paſt! O that I might enjoy one of the dayes of the Son of Man, that I have ſo ſlighted! The Apoſtle tells us of ſome who for the time might have been Teachers of others, but alas they had loſt their time. If you loſe but a tide-time, you can fret at that, and be impatient: O how many tide-times have you loſt for Eternity? Every appointment of Chriſt, in which the Spirit of Chriſt breaths, is a tide-time. O how many market-dayes for Heaven have your Souls loſt? And can you remember them, and not lament over them?
2. Would you improve theſe eſpecial finding times? Conſider then, you cannot miſ-improve, neglect theſe, but you put a ſleight upon Chriſt. O how dangerous is this to put a ſleight upon the Lord Jeſus, when he is willing to be found of you! What a ſleight was that they put upon Chriſt, when they made all their excuſes, they could not come! when Chriſt tenders himſelf and is refuſed. Therefore he complained, but my people would have none of me. For the Lord Jeſus Christ to leave the boſome of his Father, the Glory of Heaven, and be clothed in, and married to our nature, and be made a curſe for us, and after all this to be ſlighted by a company of poor ſinners; O what monſtrous ingratitude is this! Would we ſlight a Relation, a Friend, an Acquaintance thus? Is not this to be highly uncivil to Jeſus Chriſt? O how do poor ſinners put their incivilities upon Chriſt!
3. Would you not miſ-improve theſe eſpecial finding times? then conſider how this grieves Chriſt. When he came nigh the City, he wept over it; what was the matter? this was the conſideration that did draw tears from Chriſts eyes, that they had enjoyed an eſpecial time, and day of Grace in which Chriſt was willing to have been found of them. O that thou hadſt known in this thy day, &c. We read alſo of thoſe that refuſed the tenders of Chriſt, the maſter of the houſe was angry at them. O take heed of angring Chriſt, poor ſinners, in this reſpect. Kiſs the Sun lest he be angry. What if he be,Pſ. 2. ult. and you periſh from the way? When his wrath is kindled but a little. Bleſſed are they that truſt in him. O who can ſtand before the wrath of the Lamb? Yea, what can cover us from the wrath of the Lamb? O what ingratitude is this, to grieve him for loving you, to requite him evil for good! Is this your kindneſs to your friend? Will you thus requite the Lord, O you fooliſh Souls? Do you thus anſwer his love in coming from heaven upon your errand? It is ſaid, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt was grieved becauſe of their unbelief, and the hardneſs of their hearts. You would not willingly grieve a Relation, a Father, a Mother; and will you grieve Chriſt?
4. Direction. Would you not miſimprove theſe eſpecial finding times? then live in the conſideration of what depends upon them. Upon theſe times depend your eternal conditions: upon on theſe monoſyllables depends eternity; upon theſe Nows, theſe preſent gales, and ſeaſons of Grace. We ſay of ſome buſineſs, that we are very ſolicitous about, there is much depends upon it. It is a matter of grand importance. This is the caſe; thy laying hold of theſe ſpecial times, is a buſineſs of great moment, as much as your immortal Souls are worth. O that every time you prayed, you might ſay, this is for eternity: and every time you heard a Sermon, O poor Soul, this is for eternity. As that great Painter ſaid, propter aeternitatem pingo: So ſhould every poor ſinner ſay of his duties. Write Eternity upon the head of them. I have read of one that lived many years in a Cave under the earth among multitudes of Gnats, to the wonder of many; he was inſenſible of their diſturbances: and the reaſon given is this, he was come thither to contemplate eternity. So do I ſay, the conſideration and contemplation of eternity would make you forget the world and the comforts of it, when you make your approaches to God.
5. Would you not miſ-improve theſe eſpecial finding times? O then live much in the conſideration of the worth of your Souls. You cannot ſlight the ſeaſons of Grace, but you ſlight your own Souls. O that that word were daily before you, What ſhall it profit a man to gain the whole world and loſe his own ſoul? It is one of the firſt conſiderations uſually that ſets a poor ſinner upon looking out after Chriſt, What will become of my Soul, if I dye in this condition? Am I not eternally undone? and then what am I better for all the traſh I have gathered together? What gaineth it the Hypocrite, when the Lord ſhall take away his Soul? 1. Conſider your Souls are Heaven-born Souls, from above, breathed in by God; and will you ſlight them? 2. A ſpiritual being. 3. An immortal being. 4. A being that cannot be ſatisfied with any ſublunary objects. 5. A Soul capable of Communion with God here. 6. Capable of the fruition of God hereafter.
3. Ʋſe, is a word of examination, or inquiry. Are there ſome eſpecial times and ſeaſons in which Chriſt is willing to be found? Then have ever your poor Souls found Chriſt in theſe times? Is not this an inquiry worth following? By being found of Christ, I mean as the word explains it, cloſed with Chriſt. When Chriſt and a poor Soul meets, a poor Soul takes Chriſt, and accepts of him upon the terms of the Goſpel, and Chriſt takes a poor Soul: for as there is a taking and receiving of Chriſt, ſo there is a receiving on Chriſts ſide.
1. If your Souls have found Chriſt, then you have ſeen your Souls in a loſt, and bewildred condition, this my Son was lost, and is found. He was bewildred in his far Country, but now his return was his finding time. Chriſt uſually meets with the Soul in the wilderneſs, I will allure her into the wilderneſs, and ſpeak comfortably to her. Hof. 2.14.O how is a poor Soul at its firſt finding Chriſt bewildred and loſt, cannot tell what to make of his condition, ſees nothing but miſery before it, ſees nothing but Hell gaping upon him, cryes out, it is undone, and without hope!
2. If you have found Christ, then you will ſell all, part with all for him.Mat. 13.44. You read of the Merchant man that when he had found the Pearl of price, he ſold all to purchaſe it. Some take it, he ſold all his ſins he ſo dearly loved before, parted with them: Some take it, he parted with all his own Righteouſneſs, which we are naturally as loth to part with as our Sins. O thus did Paul, when he accounted all things dung and droſs in compariſon of the excellency of Chriſt Jeſus my Lord. They that have found the Lord Jeſus, they do not ſtand with him. We read, this was that which cauſed the young man in the Goſpel to leave Chriſt, he could not part with all, he had great poſſeſſions. Now you are like to be tryed, whether you have found Chriſt or no. If you have found the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, you have not only been convinced of ſin, and ſo ſeen your loſt condition; but you have been convinced of Righteouſneſs. There are many poor Souls that ſtick at their convictions of ſin, and get no further, and prove like fooliſh children, that ſtay long in the place of breaking forth: but all this while throws and pangs are put upon the Soul to prepare for the birth, yet the Soul hath not cloſed with Chriſt. The poor ſinner is but now like a man convinced of his diſeaſe, and ſees his miſery, but is at an utter loſs for a remedy. O but now the convictions of the Righteouſneſs of Christ to pardon, and freely juſtifie the ſinner, this is the remedy. A ſight of ſin, without a ſight of Chriſt is no converting work. You may be convinced of your ſins, and dye in them, and go to Hell in them. When the poor Prodigal was found, O then the beſt Robe (viz.) Chriſts Righteouſneſs was to be fetcht forth and put upon him. Now poor Soul, did thou ever take thy flight to Chriſts Righteouſneſs, to be found in him? When the poor Infant we read of, was found out in its blood, what did God? ſayes the Text, he caſt his skirt over it, (viz.) the skirt of the robe of his righteouſneſs.
4. If you have found Chriſt you will now know how you part with him. I found my Beloved (ſayes the Spouſe.) O but it was after long ſeeking! And now doth ſhe hold him with as ſlack a hand of faith as ſhe did? O no, I will hold him, and will not let him go. O now the Soul reſolves nothing ſhall ſeparate him from the love of God in Christ Jeſus.
5. If you have found Chriſt, you will commend him unto others, and ſet him off to others, that they may ſeek him alſo. Thus did the Spouſe, This is my Beloved; and ſhe commends him in every part, from Top to Toe. And what is the fruit of this ſetting forth the excellency of Chriſt? We will ſeek him with thee. Lovers will be commending one another. O how doſt thou ſpeak of Chriſt? doth thy Soul tell others what a Beloved thy Beloved is? what a bleſſed Chriſt, thy Chriſt is? and ſay, this is my Beloved, and this is my Friend?
We are now come to the third Obſervation:
It is the eſpecial duty of poor ſinners to obſerve thoſe times in which Chriſt will be found: ſeek him while he may be found, &c.
There is but in time, (we ſay) and out of time. Mariners will obſerve their winds, and be ſure not to neglect them, be it night or day if they be preſent. Merchants will obſerve their Marts, and not neglect them, that they may buy the Commodities at the beſt hand. Nay, we read of other Creatures obſerving their times; to ſtir up poor, careleſs, ſtupid man. The Ant obſerves her time, and in Summer layes up for Winter; and the Prophet ſays, The Swallow and the Stork know their appointed times, Jer. 8.7.and obſerve the time of their coming. O how doth God complain of man, that his miſery is great upon him, becauſe he knows, not his time?Eccl. 8.6. By obſerving of them, we are to underſtand laying hold of them, taking theſe times by the fore-lock, and improving them to the utmoſt advantage for the ſpiritual good of your immortal Souls. We read therefore that excellent Counſel of the Apoſtles Redeeming the time: An alluſion to Merchants, that obſerve their Mart-times, who will be ſure not to neglect them. Every poor believer, and every poor ſinner ought to be obſervers of the times in this ſence. They ſhould obſerve when the Lord ſtrives and breaths with their poor Souls in his Ordinances. They ſhould obſerve how the Lord allures and draws their hearts after himſelf. Therefore it is we have ſuch eſpecial times pointed at by the finger of God, that poor ſinners might not miſs of them. God points at them in the word that they may be obſerved. Now acquaint thy ſelf with God. There is but a Now for it, a preſent time for it: this loſt,Job 21.22. and thy Soul is loſt for ever. You muſt not think to put it off and ſay to morrow: No, the Lord ſayes Now; and ſhould not you ſay, Lord, why not Now? O do not ſay, come again at a more convenient time. Chriſts time is the moſt convenient time, and this is Chriſts time. Now is the accepted time, &c. 2 Cor. 6.2.See how the finger of Free Grace points out the time. O poor Soul, now thou mayſt be accepted of God, and laid in his boſome: Now his heart is open, now his arms are widened, expecting thy running in thither; and if thou miſs of this accepted time, thou wilt for ever be rejected of God. Now or never is the language of Chriſt in an Ordinance.Heb. 3.7, 8. Hearken to his voice while it is to day. See ſtill how God points at the preſent time. While it is to day. It may be you may be dead to morrow; why may not I ſay, damned to morrow? Who knows what to morrow may bring forth?Luk. 12.36. We read of opening to Chriſt immediately. O poor ſinners, you ſhould not delay the buſineſs, but ſtrike in with Chriſt while he is beſeeching of you.
1. Reaſon. Poor Sinners ſhould be obſervers of Chriſts times. This the Lord calls to; and if we do not this, we turn a deaf ear to this bleſſed charmer. O what a pity it is, that a poor Soul ſhould be deaf to Chriſt? As though Christ only preached hell and damnation, and his Fathers diſpleaſure. And alas, poor ſinners, it is the quite contrary; he preaches Heaven to you, Salvation to you. This day, ſaith he, poor Sinner, ſalvation is come unto thy houſe. If you will not come to him, he will come to you with his Salvation. This makes me remember that ſweet call of Chriſts in the Prophet,Iſa. 46. ult? Hearken unto me ye ſtout-hearted that are far from Righteouſneſs. O poor Gentile Sinners, that are afar off from me, nay, that do oppoſe me: yet ſayes he, I bring near my Righteouſneſs. One would have thought it would have been, You ſtout-hearted I bring near my wrath, I bring near my judgements: O no but Gods thoughts are not as our thoughts. He calls ſuch to accept of his Righteouſneſs, and his Salvation, and ſhall we be deaf to ſuch calls? What a call is that, Hearken to his voice while it is to day? Chriſt calls to poor Sinners, that they would lay hold of their eſpecial times.
2. This is complained on by God. The Calls of God, and the complaints of God do both ſpeak it. And O this hath been complained on of old. O what a complaint was that of Chriſt againſt Jeruſalem, O that thou hadſt known in this thy day, &c! And this complaint came from Chriſt weeping. He came nigh the City; and wept over it. Surely it is ſome notable Sermon Chriſt preaches, now he weeps: O this was it, that Jeruſalem did not know her day.Mat. 23.37. And at another time, How often would I have gathered thee as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her wings, but ſhe would not be gathered. I would have gathered them into me, gathered them out of their ſins, gathered them out of the world; my armes were ſtretched out to that very end, but they obſerved not their gathering times. Alas, what are the ſeaſons of Grace but Chriſts gathering times? He ſees, poor Souls are like a Lamb in a large place, and they will wander and wander untill they drop into the Pit, whence there is no Redemption, if Chriſts compaſſions do not gather them.
3. We are to obſerve our eſpecial times in which Christ will be found, elſe we receive the Grace of God in vain.2 Cor. 6.1, 2. Paul writing upon this ſubject, We beſeech you (ſayes he) as workers with him that you receive not the Grace of God in vain; and then follows, I have heard thee in an accepted time, &c. He had been in the preceding Chapter ſpeaking of the Miniſtry of Reconciliation, now ſayes, We beſeech you that you receive not this Grace, (viz. of the Miniſtry of Reconciliation) in vain; which you will do, if you obſerve not that now is the accepted time, that now is the day of ſalvation. The end of Chriſt is fruſtrated if you obſerve not theſe times in which he is willing to be found, for he offers himſelf in order to acceptation. O how ſad would this be for ſo many Sermons of Chriſt, of his Love, of the Riches of Grace, to be in vain! For Chriſt to ſay, I have laboured in vain, I have ſpent my ſtrength for nought, and in vain.Iſa. 49.4. It is ſpoken in the perſon of Chriſt. Is it not a pity free Grace ſhould ſpend its breath in vain? O what will ſinners have to ſay or anſwer the Lord, when the Lord Jeſus ſhall ſay to them, O how many Sermons of my own Love, of my Fathers Love, did I preach to you, but who hath believed my report? All theſe were in vain. I could not be credited by you, though I came from the boſome of the Father to preach all theſe things unto you.
4. Sinners are to obſerve thoſe eſpecial times in which Chriſt is to be found, becauſe upon theſe eſpecial times depends Eternity. The eternal condition of a poor Soul depends upon one of theſe Nows. That very motion of the Spirit of God, which it may be thou ſlighteſt, or that very Sermon it may be thou refuſeſt to hear, or upon the very conviction thou ſmothereſt with thy worldly enjoyments or employments, it may be upon theſe very times did depend your eternal conditions. That Sermon thou was not at, might have been the means of thy Converſion. As I cloſe with theſe Calls of Chriſt, fall in with theſe motions of the Spirit of Christ, ſo it will be with my Soul to all Eternity. O did but ſinners think of this one thing, this one Truth, how ſerious would it make them in their obſervation of ſuch times? Now this is for eternity, this motion, this ſtriving of the Spirit of God with my poor Soul. If any of you were going to Sea on a voyage, and all that you were worth depended upon that voyage, and if you miſcarried you were undone, wives and children undone, O how careful would you be to obſerve your time, your winds, your markets? This is the caſe; thou art engaged in a voyage that all thou art worth is concerned in, nay infinitely more than thou art worth, even thy precious Soul; and if thou miſcarry in this voyage thou art undone, even undone to all Eternity. O then what a mad man art thou that obſerveſt not what may tend to the ſecurity of thy great venture (viz.) thy precious Soul? Obſerve then thy gales for this voyage; it is either a making or a marring voyage.
5. Sinners are to obſerve Chriſts times, when he is willing to be found, becauſe theſe times loſt will aggravate the condemnation of poor Souls. Chriſt hath not tendred himſelf ſo to all as he hath done to you. O how many Souls have lived and died without the tenders of Chriſt? How many that never heard of a Chriſt? as they ſaid, We have not ſo much as heard of an Holy Ghoſt. How many that ſit in darkneſs, and the ſhadow of death? How many parts of the world that are the dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of Cruelty? You do not hear ſuch Sermons in India as you do in England; you do not hear Chriſt ſo preached and tendred at Guiny, at Jamaica. Suppoſe thoſe poor Indians and Natives that you converſe with there, ſhould know what you have heard of Chriſt here, and what you have profeſſed of Chriſt here, they would certainly, ſeeing no more of Chriſtianity, no more of likeneſs to Chriſt among you, certainly they would ſay, this Chriſt is an Impoſtor, and this Chriſtianity a cheat, a deluſion to gull the world withal. Therefore upon this account it is that a woe was denounced againſt Chorazin and Bethſaida; If I had never ſpoken unto you, ſayes Chriſt, you had not had ſin. O Sirs, if Chriſt had never been preached to you, never been tendred to you, never beſeeched you, never wooed you, you had been under leſs guilt: but now your ſin remains; and how can you eſcape, who have neglected ſo great ſalvation? You may think to eſcape, you may think you have ſome back door to creep out at; but alas, how can you eſcape (as Chriſt ſaid to the Phariſees) the damnation of Hell?
6. Theſe times of Chriſts being willing to be found will not laſt alwayes. O what ſtronger reaſon to obſerve them! My Spirit ſhall not alwayes ſtrive with man. You think, poor Sinners, that I will alwayes wait on you, alwayes wooe you, alwayes beſeech you: O no poor Sinners, times are coming on that my Bowels will be ſhut up in diſpleaſure againſt you, my Bridge of Mercy ſhall be drawn, and my Gate of Mercy ſhall be ſhut, and then what will you do? O poor Sinners, what ſtanding will there be without in that day? what crying, Lord, Lord open unto us? Do you think to have a trade-wind to heaven? do you think the wind will alwayes blow fair in your voyage for Eternity? The time is coming that the Lord Jeſus (as it is ſaid of thoſe Angels) will keep the winds in his hands,Rev. 7.1. and not ſuffer them to blow on a poor Soul. That was good Counſel of our dear Lord, work while it is day, the night comes wherein no man can work. Your day will not alwayes continue, the night comes. May it not be ſaid by many poor Sinners, Woe unto us, our day goeth away? And alas poor Sinners, the night is no time for working in.
7. Reaſon. There are no Chriſt finding times beyond this life. No Chriſt-finding times in the Grave, whither we are all going. That is excellent counſel,Pecl. 9.10 what thou findest to do, do it with all thy might. Now is the doing time, this preſent time is only the doing time: and the reaſon is very cogent, for there is no work in the Grave whither we go: then it is paſt time to work for Heaven, to work for an intereſt in Chriſt. O that word is a ſad word, it is past time. As the Tree falls ſo it lies to all Eternity; there is no turning of it on the other ſide. O then poor Souls had need look to it, and make ſure when they fall, they fall right, that they fall Heaven-ward. When you die, then all the tenders of Chriſt ceaſe.
8. Reaſon. Becauſe it is not long that Chriſt will call, that Chriſt will offer himſelf to be found of you. The Mart-dayes for your poor Souls will not long continue; the ſhadows of the evening are ſtretched upon us, the Sun of the Goſpel declines apace. Time is ſhort; Goſpel-time is ſhort, life-time is ſhort, liberty is ſhort; God is cutting us ſhort. O now how ſhould we obſerve the finding times of Chriſt! It is ſaid,2 Kings 10.…. the Lord began to cut Iſrael ſhort: but now the Lord hath been cutting England ſhort a great while; cutting us ſhort of Trading, of Liberties, of Priviledges; and all that we may obſerve the times of Christ, in which he is willing to be found. The Angel within a little time will ſwear, Time ſhall be no more.
Application.
Is it ſo, that Sinners ſhould obſerve theſe times of Chriſt? 1. It doth inform us of the great ſtupidity and ſenſeleſneſs that is upon the Souls of poor Sinners naturally. They go on in the neglects of Chriſt untill the Lord Jeſus meet them, and ſtop them. They do not conſider. Nay, it was the complaint of the Lord againſt his own people, that they were worſe than brutes,Iſa. 1.3, 4. The Oxe knows his owner, and the Aſs his maſters crib; and yet my people do not know, they do not conſider. O the bruitiſhneſs of our hearts! The Turtle and the Crane obſerve the time of their coming, &c. The Pſalmiſt cautions us, be not as the Horſe and as the Mule, that want underſtanding. O may not every poor Sinner, when God comes to convince at firſt the Soul, ſay, Surely I am more brutiſh than any man?
2. It informs us that it is not the having times of Chriſts offering himſelf, but it is the obſerving of theſe times, that we are eſpecially to look after. It is indeed a great Mercy to have them, but it is a greater to obſerve them. We may ſay in this caſe as in that, who is wiſe, will obſerve theſe things, and the prudent ſhall know them. There are many poor Souls who are now in Hell, that have lived under the Calls of Chriſt, under the offers of Christ. What ſay you to Chorazin and Bethſaida? You may hear Chriſt forty years together preached; nay, you may profeſs Chriſt; nay, you may follow Chriſt for loaves many years, and after all this be Caſt-awayes; nay, a man may preach Chriſt, and at laſt be a Caſt away.
3. It informs us, that the Spirit of God doth not alwayes breath alike, and ſtrive alike. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Sampſon by times: and the Angel came down at a certain ſeaſon. The wind of the Spirit blows by guſts many times upon poor Souls, it blows where it liſteth, and it blows when it liſteth: It may be, not in that Ordinance thou expectedſt moſt, but in that Ordinance thou expectedſt leaſt. Or ever I was aware my Soul made me (ſayes a poor Creature) like the chariot of Aminadab. There is a ſet time to favour Zion: So there is a ſet time for the Spirit of God, both to convince and comfort the poor Soul.
4. It informs us, that in every poor Sinners miſcarriage to all Eternity, there is room to juſtifie God. We muſt not think to lay it at Gods door, as too many would do; but we muſt lay it at our own doors.Hoſ. 13.9. O Iſrael, thou haſt deſtroyed thy ſelf. Perditio tua ex te will be the Motto written upon Sinners backs in Hell. Will not God ſay to them,Jer. 4.18. Theſe things have your own wayes and doings procured unto you? O then will not every poor guilty Soul, cry out, O! O my ſelf was the cauſe of all theſe! O how often did Chriſt wooe me, invite me, call on me, beſeech me to be reconciled to him? but wretch that I was, hard hearted wretch that I was, I had no room for him, my heart was ſhut againſt him, I ſhut him out of my heart, and now for ever I muſt juſtify him for ſhutting me out of his Heaven.
5. It informs us what a great evil it is to put off Chriſt when he is willing to be found. O how many ſay of Chriſt, and to Chriſt, as he did to Paul, Come at a more convenient time and I will hear thee. They are too buſie with the world, they have no leiſure, no time, and they deſire to be excuſed. O what if the Lord ſay to ſuch, as he did to them, They ſhall not taſte of his Supper? O Sinners, do you think Chriſt will be thus dallied with, to ſay to morrow, to morrow, and Chriſts voice is to day, to day? Do you think Chriſt can be mocked or deceived? It is true, the Goſpel is called the word of his Patience; but do you think it is impoſſible to weary his Patience? Do not we read the Prophet complaining of the Jews, You have wearied man, and will you weary God alſo? Iſa. 7.13.O Sinner, doſt thou know what thou doeſt to delay thy ſtriking in with Chriſt? What if God take thee at thy word when thou ſayeſt, Depart from me, for as yet I deſire not the knowledge of thy wayes? What if God ſhould reſolve, as Moſes ſaid to Pharaoh, I will never ſee thy face more? Where wert thou then? and what a ſad condition would thy poor Soul be in then?
2. Ʋſe. Is it ſo that poor Souls ſhould obſerve Chriſts times in which he is willing to be found? then it is a word of Reproof to ſuch as put off Christ, that obſerve not theſe times. May not the caſe be expoſtulated with ſuch poor Souls, as God did with the people of Iſrael by the Prophet Ezekiel, why will you dye O houſe of Iſrael? O poor Sinners, why do you neglect ſuch great ſalvation? why do you dally and delay in a buſineſs of infinite moment and eternal conſequence? Is the ſalvation of an immortal Soul a jeſting matter? are Heaven and Chriſt indifferences? O why then poor Souls ſhould ye not ariſe from your ſloth, and ſhake your ſelves, and reſolve to have a Chriſt how dearly ſoever you come by him? May not Chriſt ſay to poor Sinners that loyter in their motion Heaven-ward, as was ſaid to them, why ſtand you idle all the day long?
1. Are not ſuch poor Souls to be reproved? This is the higheſt ingratitude and unthankfulneſs in the world; that Chriſt ſhould make offers, and be willing to be found, and you put a ſlight upon him, and you not obſerve them. Is this your kindneſs to your friend? Will you thus requite the Lord O fooliſh people and unwiſe?
2. Are not ſuch Souls to be reproved? This ſpeaks great infidelity and unbelief. Is not this the reaſon why Christ and poor ſinners make not a cloſure, they do not believe he is willing to receive them, to embrace them, to pardon them. This croſs-iron bolt and bar of unbelief lies betwixt Chriſt and a poor Soul, and was it not this that grieved Chriſt? He was grieved becauſe of their unbelief, and hardneſs of their heart. Their Souls were doubly bolted againſt the Lord Jeſus. O poor ſinners, after all Chriſt hath promiſed, all he hath ſuffered, all he hath done, that you ſhould ſlight Christ, when he is willing to be found of you, is not this ſad?
3. Are not ſuch to be reproved? You will obſerve times for your worldly ſecular advantages; you will obſerve a Summer ſeaſon to go into the Countrey for the air, if your bodies need it; you will obſerve times to take phyſick in; you will obſerve your winds to ſail in; you will obſerve your marts and fairs; you will obſerve your Change-time, and all this for your outward advantage: and alas, you neglect your eſpecial times and ſeaſons for your Souls. All theſe things are but your outward concernments, but there are things that concern the peace of your immortal Souls, and how do you look after them?
3. Ʋſe. Is it ſo that the Lords finding times ought to be obſerved by poor Sinners? Then it is a word of exhortation to poor Sinners, that they would take eſpecial notice of ſuch times; that it may not be ſaid of you, as is ſaid in that caſe Job ſpeaks, The Lord paſſed by on my left hand, and on my right hand, and I perceived him not. For God to be near a poor Soul in an Ordinance, in a motion of the Spirit, and the Soul ſee him not, for the eyes of the Soul to be held that it knows him not, O how ſad is this! O delay not to lay hold of Christ at ſuch times.
1. Your delayes will provoke and diſpleaſe Chriſt. Chriſt loves that Souls ſhould cloſe with him without delays. We read of ſome that delayed the matter, and fell to framing excuſes, and the Lord was angry with them, and ſaid, They ſhould not taſte of his Supper. The Spouſes delay to open to Chriſt ſo diſpleaſed him, that he did withdraw from her, and ſhe paid dearly for her delay. Now did he ſtand waiting, untill his locks were filled with the drops of the night?
2. Your delays are diſhonourable to Chriſt. They diſhonour him, as though he were not to be truſted, when he calls for Souls to cloſe with him, to open to him immediately, as though there were no great danger, as though it were but a dallying, jeſting matter, and you could do it when you would, even at your leiſure.
3. Your delayes will prove dangerous to your own Souls. We ſay there is danger in delay; and O how true is that in Soul caſes! What if God ſhut up his bowels in diſpleaſure? What if he will be gracious no more in viſiting you, in breathing upon you, in knocking at your doors? What if the Lord do withdraw from you, and ſay he will wait no more upon you, ſtrive no more with you, but paſs that Sentence upon you, Let them alone, let them wander like a Lamb in a large place. O poor Sinners, you are in danger of all this, and much more by your delayes to obſerve Chriſts times of being willing to be found.
4. Your delayes will make your falling in with Chriſts finding times, a great deal more difficult. Yea every day it will be more difficult than other. Sin and corruption will grow ſtronger, Satans temptations will be more violent. The longer a Soul is held in a ſnare, the faſter it is.
1. It will be more difficult, you will have fewer motions of the Spirit to call you out, and thruſt you out to cloſe with Chriſt. Delay to anſwer the Spirits breathings, doth put him upon withdrawing. When poor Sinners have ſo often quenched the Spirit, the Spirit lets them alone, and ſtrikes ſparks of holy motions and reſolutions there no more.
2. It will be more difficult, your ſelves will have leſs heart to it. The longer a poor Soul lies ſnoring in the bed of ſin, the leſs mind he hath to get up. And indeed ſuch ſouls ſeldome get up, untill the cry of fire, fire (I mean hell fire) get into their Conſciences. The longer a man ſits upon a ſeat, the ſtiffer he is, and the unfitter he is to ſtir and riſe; ſo it will be in this caſe.
3. It will be the more difficult, becauſe guilt is every day more contracted. The more guilt, the leſs mind to cloſe with thoſe times in which Chriſt is willing to be found. It is with a Soul in this caſe, as it was with our firſt Parents; they were afraid, when they ſaw they were naked, and they hid themſelves. Guilt is for running away from God.
4. It will be more difficult, Satan will be ſtronger with his oppoſition. His temptations and objections will get faſter hold of you. If you had ſought Chriſt ſooner, if you had early in the morning looked after him, haply he might have been found of you: but now ſayes Satan, it is too late; your day of Grace is paſt; now his bowels are ſhut up in diſpleaſure againſt you. Such objections will make dreadful work with poor guilty Souls. O it muſt needs be ſad when Satans objections get into our Conſciences.
5. It will be the more difficult, becauſe the ſenſe of former delayes will fill the heart for the preſent with jealouſies, and miſgivings of God and Chriſt. Alas, I have ſtayed too long, I doubt it is now paſt time; will he be found of me, at this time of the day? will he receive me that come ſo late? will he not tell me there is no room for one that hath dallied and delayed ſo long? O ſuch jealouſies will exceedingly hinder the Souls falling in with Chriſt.
5. Your delayes, to obſerve Chriſts times in which he is willing to be found, may in time bring a hardneſs of heart upon you; and O how ſad would this be? Take heed your hearts be not hardned through the deceitfulneſs of ſin. You think you can cloſe with Chriſt another time as well as this, in another Ordinance as well as this, in another duty as well as this; and alas, in a little time you come to be hardned by your delayes.
We are come now to the fourth and laſt Obſervation in the Text.
There is a day and time in which Chriſt will not be found, as well as a day and time in which Chriſt will be found.
Though Christ offer himſelf to poor Sinners now, yet he will not alwayes do ſo; his Golden Scepter of Free Grace will not alwayes be held out: As there is a time to hold it out, ſo there is a time to take it in. Though he call long, wait long, knock long, yet he will not alwayes ſtand at your doors.Luk. 12.36 Therefore we read of opening to him immediately. He will mark the door and be gone. We read of a very ſad judgement upon Iſrael: They ſhould come and ſeek the Lord with their Herds,Or he hath made himſelf free from them. Dutch. but ſhall not find him, for he hath withdrawn himſelf from them. O what a ſad caſe was that of the Spouſe to ſeek her beloved, and could not find him! but yet at laſt ſhe recovered a ſight of him: but it is far ſadder to ſeek him and never find him, but for a poor Soul to be ſealed up… loſt Soul to all eternity. We read of Eſau ſeeking the birthright, yea with tears,Heb. 12.17. Gen. 27.36. but yet could not find it. Chriſt lamented over Jeruſalem under this conſideration, but now they are hid from thine eyes; now it is paſt time.
But the great inquiry will be this; What are theſe times in which Chriſt will not be found? For as we have upon this Text ſhew'd the times in which Chriſt will be found, ſo we muſt ſhew the contrary, the times in which Chriſt will not be found.
1. When Souls are ſhut up, and ſealed up under obduracy and judicial hardneſs of heart. Give me leave to diſtinguiſh betwixt a natural obduracy of heart, and a judicial obduracy of heart; betwixt being under hardneſs of heart, and being ſhut up under it. This ſhutting up, and giving up is an Act on Gods part; ſo he gave up to their own luſts;Pſal. 81.12. Rom. 1.23 I gave them over to the arbitration of their own hearts: Some read it, The Lord past an Act of Tradition upon them. And now their time and day of Grace is over; now the Soul is delivered up to the Gaoler, and is ſhut up cloſe priſoner, ſentence is paſt upon him, and cannot be recalled. But poor ſouls know this, you firſt reject God, and refuſe the ſweet offers and tenders of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; you put God upon this by your ſinning againſt him: So the people of Iſrael did, for God waits long, and wooes long, and exerciſes great patience before he thus give up poor ſinners.
2. Time in which Chriſt will not be found, is, when poor Souls ſeek him, but they ſeek him feignedly; as it is ſaid of the children of Iſrael, Jer. 3.10.they turned to him feignedly. Poor Souls ſhould ſeek the Lord with their whole heart; and to ſuch ſeeking there is a promiſe;Jer. 29.1… And you ſhall ſeek me and find me, when you ſearch for me with all your hearts: therefore it is, the Lord hath called for the heart in our ſeeking of him; My Son give me thy heart; not thy tongue, nor thy head, nor thy hand; but thy heart. The kidneys were offer'd in ſacrifice to the Lord, to teach us he regards the inwards, the integrity of our hearts in our ſacrifices. Chriſt loves to be ſought to in good earneſt with all your hearts. The divided heart was found faulty.
3. When poor Souls ſeek him ſlothfully. We are to ſeek him diligently. We read, to teach us this leſſon, that the Aſs, the firſtling of an Aſs was not offered to God in ſacrifice, and Snails, thoſe ſlow-paced creatures were unclean creatures. We ſhould not be ſlothful in ſeeking Chriſt. Will he be found of the ſluggard? When the Spouſe ſought Chriſt in Bed, he would not be found of her. The Spouſe at another time indulged her ſelf in her ſloth, and then Chriſt would not be found.
4. Another time in which Chriſt will not be found, is, when you have griev'd and quenched the motions of his ſpirit: now he will withdraw from you and will not be found; then he ſayes, his ſpirit ſhall not alwayes ſtrive with man.
When do poor Sinners grieve the Spirit that Chriſt will not be found? 1. When they refuſe him, though he hath ſtood long knocking at their doors and waited upon them. Thus we ſee he did by the Spouſe, he waited long, untill his locks were ſilled with the dew of the night, and yet ſhe opened not to Chriſt; and you ſee how ill Chriſt took this, and did withdraw upon it. O poor Soul, how long haſt thou made Jeſus Chriſt ſtand and wait? But know he will not always thus wait.
2. When we believe not his willingneſs to receive us, then we grieve him and cauſe him to withdraw. He was grieved becauſe of their unbelief, and the hardneſs of their hearts, ſaith the Text. It was ſaid of Iſrael by the Lord,Num. 14.17. how long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all my ſigns and wonders? Unbelief puts God to his How-longs: Therefore the Prophet complains, perſonating Chriſt, who hath believed our report, &c. Muſt it not needs grieve him when you do not believe him? 1. He promiſes to you mercy and pardon, poor ſinners, upon your coming over to cloſe with him; and would it not grieve any, to have the moſt ſerious and ſolemn promiſes ſlighted? To be look'd upon as a perſon unfaithful, this takes Gods good name from him; his name is faithfulneſs: Is not he faithful who hath promiſed? 2. He is ſent from his Father to declare, this is the heart of the Father alſo; and this muſt needs grieve him that you ſhould not credit his Father; that he ſhould come from Heaven to Earth with ſuch an errand, and cannot be truſted. If you ask, but how comes he to be ſo well acquainted with his Fathers heart?1 Joh. 18. He tells us, he lay in his Fathers boſome, therefore he can tell beſt how it beats toward poor ſinners. 3. He hath ſealed with an oath; As I live ſayes the Lord, I delight not in the death of a ſinner. O ſurely the Lord would gladly have poor ſinners to believe his love. As one ſayes, O happy man, for whoſe ſake the Lord ſwears; O unhappy man that will not truſt a ſwearing God! The oath of God is for confirmation of Gods good will to poor Souls. O how muſt it then grieve him that he cannot have his oath believed? 4. O how it grieves him now he hath ſealed this love with his blood! Herein Divine Love is commended to poor ſinners, that while Enemies Chriſt died for them. 5. It muſt needs grieve him, not to believe him after ſo long waiting upon them. Now when we have thus griev'd him, he will withdraw, & not be found of poor finners.
5. Time in which Chriſt will not be found of poor Souls, is, when in a time of mercy & proſperity we have ſlighted him, and yet in a time of judgment and calamity ſeek him, but only ſeek him by being affrighted at his judgements. Iſrael forgat God in their Proſperity, and how did God take it? and he ſaid, I will hide my face from them, Pſal. 32.20.I will ſee what their end will be. God now in a time of judgment will not be found of them, becauſe in a time of proſperity they had ſlighted him. Therefore we read the Prophet Jeremy threatning Iſrael, that the Lord will give them his back and not his face in the day of their calamity. Jer. 8.17.Now O what a dreadful thing is this in a time of calamity and common judgment, to have no God to look upon a people! To go to him at ſuch times is not to make him our choice, but only to make him our refuge: and if we make him not our choice in a time of proſperity, can we expect he ſhould be our refuge in a time of calamity? What a ſad word was that, Go to the Gods whom you have ſerved, and ſee if they can deliver you.
Application.
Are there times in which Chriſt will not be found? 1. It informs of the folly of poor ſouls that trifle in ſeeking Chriſt. O why ſhould we dally in a matter of ſuch moment, a matter of eternal conſequence? Be not deceived poor ſinners, Christ will not alwayes wait upon you, not always be willing to be found of you. The time is coming that his bowels will be ſhut up in diſpleaſure, that he will be gracious no more, that his mercies will be clean gone for evermore. O then why do you trifle now? will the gates of mercy alwayes ſtand open? will Chriſts arms always be held wide open? 1. Here is great folly in trifling in ſeeking Chriſt, it is a matter of eternal conſequence. There is no trifling in great caſes. We ſay we muſt be ſerious, it is a matter of great concernment. O! Soul-concernments are great concernments. If I miſcarry (ſays a man) in this deſign, I am undone. O then he will be mighty watchful and careful: So ſayes a poor Soul, if I miſcarry in this great buſineſs, if I miſs of Chriſt, I am undone, yea to all eternity undone. 2. O the great folly of trifling in ſeeking Chriſt! This is all the time you have to ſeek him in. When a man hath a work allotted to him, and he muſt do it in ſuch a time, elſe it can never be done, O what folly it is to trifle that time away allotted for that work! and this is the caſe; this preſent life-time is your allotted time to ſeek Chriſt, to get acquaintance with Chriſt; and after the hour-glaſs of this preſent time be out, you will never have more time for this work. There is no work in the grave whither you go. I often tell you the grave is too dark a ſhop to do any Soul-work in. 3. O the folly of trifling in ſeeking of Chriſt! ere long it will be paſt time. Is not this great folly, to trifle when time goes ſo faſt away? If you were like to have a long day, you might ſay ſomething, ſinners, for your trifling: but to have a ſhort day, and a great deal of work, and to triflle any of it away, this muſt needs be great folly. We read of time being ſhort.
2. It informs us of this, that though God wait long, yet he will not wait always; my ſpirit ſhall not always ſtrive with man. You may weary God as the Prophet ſays, You have wearied man, and will you weary God alſo? He will be gone from your doors, after long ſtanding and long knocking.
3. It informs of the wiſdome of ſuch poor Souls as ſeek him in a day and time when he will be found; wiſdom obſerves to take its fitteſt times and ſeaſons. There is much in timing actions. O now this Soul and heavenly wiſdom is all for obſerving its ſeaſons. Here the fooliſh Virgins miſs'd it ſadly; they did not obſerve their ſeaſons for getting oyl into their lamps. 1. Is not this wiſdom to ſeek the Lord while he may be found? this will lay you in againſt the moſt tremendous and terrible diſpenſations that can come upon earth. Wiſdom appears much in foreſight, and in laying ſomething in for a rainy day. O poor ſouls, you know not what rainy days hang over your heads; what terrible clouds cover the face of the heavens, and what ſhakings of earth and heaven may come. Therefore it is wiſdom to ſeek Chriſt before ſuch dayes come, that the Lord may not be a terrour to us in an evil day. Therefore it is that Jeſus Chriſt is propheſied of to be a covert from rain and from ſtorm, and a refuge. He is the only City of refuge to fly to, when purſuers are abroad. 2. Is it not wiſdom to ſeek Chriſt while he may be found? this will fit you for death. Is it not great wiſdom to conſider our latter end? This is that which God wiſhed his own people might do. Was not it wiſdom in the five wiſe Virgins, that they prepared for the Bridegrooms approaching? O how much wiſdom appears in this! It is the property of a fool to ſay, non putâram, I had not thought. O how many then have died fools, ſaying, I never thought an intereſt in Chriſt was ſo difficult a thing to obtain; I never thought of any times in which Chriſt would not be found. 3. Is it not great wiſdom to ſeek Chriſt while he may be found? your eternal happineſs depends upon it. Is it not wiſdom to provide for eternity? every man thinks it wiſdom to provide for his own family; what then is it to provide for his own Soul? 4. Is it not wiſdom to do that now, which elſe your Souls will repent to all eternity? Wiſdom conſiſts in preventing after-repentings. O how many Souls are repenting the loſs of their time in hell! and ſaying, O if they were to live on earth again, and had their opportunities to ſeek Chriſt again, they would never be ſuch loyterers and ſluggards in the matters of their Souls. 5. Is it not wiſdom to do that which you came into the world to do? Was not this to ſeek the Lord while he may be found, to look about for your ſalvation? Did you come into the world to eat and drink and riſe up to play? What, needed you immortal ſouls for ſuch ſenſual employments? 6. Is it not wiſdom to do that God gives you time on purpoſe it might be done? Why doth God exerciſe ſo much patience? Why doth he hover over Souls, and continues thus to be gracious, but that he would ſtill have them ſeek the Lord Jeſus. 7. Is it not wiſdom to do that now, which we have only means now to do it in? No means of ſeeking Chriſt after this life; no means then of acquaintance with God. Now our dayes are filled up with means and Goſpel advantages to this end.
2. Ʋſe. Is it ſo, that there are times in which Chriſt Jeſus will not be found? then it is a word of Exhortation, to improve your preſent time in ſeeking Chriſt; Redeem the time. The Apoſtle gives us the exhortation, to walk as wiſe and not as fools, redeeming the time becauſe the dayes are evil. 1. Time is precious. It is a precious commodity in hell, ſayes one, where a damned Soul would give all the world for one inch of time. It is precious time, for it is filled up with precious advantages for precious ſouls. It is precious, it is your working-day for eternity. O then while he is to be found ſeek him. 2. You muſt be judged according to the precious opportunities you have now for your Souls. The word, ſayes Chriſt, that I ſpeak, ſhall judge you at the laſt day. 3. Seek him in your preſent day, it will lie heavy upon you that you loſt ſo much time in which you might have ſought Chriſt. O how doth it cut to the heart to conſider, what a day a poor ſinner once had, only he wanted a heart to look after Chriſt. O what wringing of hands will there be in hell one day under this very conſideration! 4. Seek him in your preſent day, if others had enjoyed ſuch Golden Scepter-ſeaſons, they would have kiſſed the Scepter, and have ſubmitted to the terms of the Lord Jeſus, they would have believed, they would have repented, yea, in ſack-cloth and aſhes, as is ſaid of Tyre and Sidon. 5. Seek him in your preſent day, the damned Souls that have loſt him for ever, if God ſhould priviledge them to have another day of Grace to ſeek Chriſt in, O how would they ſeek him! how would they mourn for him! Would they hear as you do? pray as you do? ſweal a way their time upon which eternity doth depend as you do? Would they miſ-improve precious ſeaſons for their ſouls as you do? If you did but know what the loſs of an immortal Soul meant, is it poſſible you could ſleep away, play away Sermons of Chriſt, Heaven and Salvation? 6. Seek him in your preſent day, your Enemies ſeek you becauſe you ſeek him. To be ſought after by Enemies and found by them, as you muſt reckon of one time or other; and yet not to find Chriſt, O how ſad is this! Methinks our enemies ſhould ſtir us up to lay hold of all ſeaſons to ſeek Chriſt. Could you young ones, or old ones, go to priſon and have not yet found him whom your Souls love? Can you ſuffer, and not have found Chriſt?
3. Ʋſe. Is it ſo, that there are times in which Chriſt will not be found? It is then a word of terrour to all ſuch as live in their neglects to ſeek the Lord Jeſus Chriſt. What, poor Souls, if his bowels ſhall ceaſe yearning towards your Souls? What if they ſhould be ſhut up in diſpleaſure? If the Lord Jeſus Chriſt ſhould ſtrive with you no more, O what a dangerous condition were your Souls in then!
1. Your danger that live in neglects of Chriſt is much in this, your offers and tenders of Chriſt will never be forgotten by you in another world. O they will ſtick by your Conſciences in hell! Nothing will aggravate poor ſinners condemnation ſo, as this, they ſlighted the offers of life and ſalvation by Chriſt. How can you eſcape, if you neglect ſuch great ſalvation? It ſhall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, than for Chorazin and Bethſaida. Why ſo? the one had Chriſt preached and offered to them, and ſo had not the other.
2. There is no poſſibility for your eſcape that neglect to ſeek Chriſt; whoever eſcape you cannot. How can you eſcape, &c. O poor Souls, can you contend with the wrath of an Omnipotent God? Can your hearts endure, or your hands be made ſtrong in that day he ſhall deal with you? If you cannot eſcape it, nor contend with it, O how miſerable are you! This is a great piece of hell that you are in already.
3. You that neglect Chriſt now, muſt never come under a poſſibility of a tender of Grace after death. If there could but be hope in hell of a poſſibility of a tender of Grace, this poor hope would relieve the Souls that are in that pit of miſery. A very peradventure, or it may be would be ſome comfort to them, if they might ever come under the tenders of Chriſt again. No, their condition is now unalterably ſtated for ever.
4. You that neglect Chriſt now, know, this is a degree of deſpight to the Spirit of Grace. And is not this a dangerous thing?Heb. 10.29. That Text in the Hebrews will tell you ſo. Is not this to uſe Chriſt deſpightfully? and O how can Chriſt bear theſe ſleights time after time?
5. You that neglect Chriſt now, are every moment under condemnation. There is now no condemnation to them that are in Chriſt Jeſus. Then others are under condemnation. O now what if death ſhould ſmite thee in this condition? Would not thy poor Soul, ſinner, be ſtruck dead and damned at a blow? O then ſee thy danger and tremble to continue in it. Continue no longer in thy neglects of Chriſt, but ſeek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near.
FINIS.
End of the text · John Ryther, The Morning Seeker (1673)