Christ Brings Great Blessings to the Soul That Opens to Him

“IF ANY MAN HEAR IVIY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME.’’ Rev. 3: 20.

In the former chapters we have considered Christ’s suit for a sinner’s heart: we now come to the powerful arguments and motives used by him to obtain his suit, which are two: first, union, “I will come in to him, and sup with him;” and second, communion, “and he with me.”

These are strong and mighty arguments and encouragements, able, one would think, to open any heart in the world to Christ: and yet considering how the hearts of men are attached to their lusts and riveted in their sins, until the Spirit come upon them with powerful convictions; and when under conviction, what discouragements they labor under from their former sinfulness and present unworthiness, all is little enough to bring them to faith, nay, utterly insufficient, without the almighty power set them home with effect on the heart; for it is not mere moral suasion will do the work. It is true, Christ will not make a forcible entrance into the soul, he will come in by consent of the will; but f the will consents not, until it feels the power of God uponj it. Psalm 110:3. Almighty power opens the heart and determines the will, but in a way congruous to the nature of the will. “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.” Hos. 11 :4. “When, under the influence of this power, the soul opens to Christ, he will come in, take that soul for his everlasting habitation, refresh and feast it with the sweetest consolations and privileges purchased by his blood: whence the tenth doctrine is,

Christ will certainly come in to the soul that ojoens to him; and will bring rich entertainment luith him. “I will come in to him, and sup with him.”

“When the prodigal, the emblem of a convert, returned to his father, Luke 15: 22, his father not only received, hut adorned and feasted him. In opening this point, I shall show what Christ’s coming into the soul implies; how it appears that Christ will come in to the opening soul; what entertainment he brings with him; and why he thus entertains the soul that opens to him.

I. What Christ’s coming in to the soul implies; and in general I must say this is a great m.ystery, which will not be fully understood till we com.e to heaven: “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” John 14: 20. Then the essential union of Christ and his Father, and the mystical union between believers and Christ, will be more clearly understood than we are capable of understanding them in this imperfect state; yet for the present so much is discovered, as may justly astonish poor sinners at the marvellous condescension of the Lord Jesus to them. More particularly, the expression, “I will come in to him,” imports no less than his uniting such a soul to himself; for he comes in with a design to dwell in that soul by faith, Eph. 3: 17 — to make such a man a mystical member of his body, flesh, and bones, Eph. 5: 30, which is the highest honor the soul of man is capable of This coming of Christ into the soul of a sinner does not indeed make him one person with Christ; that is the singular honor to which our nature was advanced by Christ in his imiting the divine nature with it. But this makes a person mystically one with Christ, and is more than a mere federal union. Christ’s coming into the soul signifies more than his entering into covenant with it; for it is taking such a person into a mystical union with himself, by imparting his Spirit unto him. As the vital sap of the stock coming into the graft, makes it one with the stock, John 15:4, so the coming of Christ’s Spirit into the soul makes it a member of his mystical body; and this is a glorious supernatural work of God, 1 Cor. 1: 30, most honorable, most comfortable, and for ever sure and indissoluble; as I have more fully showed in The Method of Grace,*

II. I shall show the certainty that Christ will come in icith refreshments and comforts to every soul that ojjens to him. No former rebellions or present unworthiness shall bar out Christ, or obstruct his entrance into such a soul. Whatever thou hast been or done, Christ will come in to thee and dwell with thee, and make thy soul a habitation for himself through the Spirit. Eph. 2: 22. Let thy heart be open to him, and he will both fill and feast thee, notwithstandmg all thy former sins.

I know it is a common discouragement that multitudes of convinced sinners lie under, that seeing so much vileness in their nature and practice, they cannot be persuaded that the Lord Jesus will cast an eye of favor on them, much less take up his abode in them. What, dwell in such a heart as mine, which has been a habitation of devils, a sink of sin from my beginning? this is hard to be believed. But, sinner, thou hast the word of a King from heaven for it, a word whose credit has never failed from the first moment it was spoken, that whatever thy former or present unworthiness has been, or is, he will not withhold himself from such a soul as thou art, if thou be but willing to open to him. Thy great unworthiness shall be no bar to his union with thee. “If any man open, I will come in to him.” For,

1. If personal unworthiness were sufiicient to bar Christ out of thy soul, it would equally bar him out of all other souls, for all are unworthy as well as thyself. Wherever Christ finds sinfulness, he finds unworthiness; and to be sure he finds this wherever he comes. Christ never expect- * Published by the American Tract Society. 12=^ ed to find worthiness in thee, but it highly pleases him to find thee under a becoming sense of thy un worthiness. “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God.” Jer. 3: 13. The returning prodigal acknowledged to his father, I am not worthy to be called thy son. Luke 15: 18, 19. But this did not hinder his acceptance by his father. All that come to God to be justified, must see and confess their own vileness, and come to him as one that justifieth the ungodly. Rom. 4: 5.

2. Thy former vileness and present unworthiness can be no bar to Christ’s entrance, because it can be no surjwise to him. He knew thou wast unworthy when he made the first overture of grace and reconciliation to thee; and if thy unworthiness hindered not the beginning of his treaty with thee, it shall not hinder the closing act in his union with thee. “I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.” Isa. 48: 8.

3. Christ never came into a soul icliere Satan had not the 2)ossession before him. Every soul in which Christ now dwells was once in Satan’s possession. “To turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” Acts 26: 18. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoil.” Luke 11 :21, 22.

4. Thy present unworthiness can be no bar to Christ’s entrance into thy soul, because Christ never objected to any m.an his unioorthiness, but only his unwillingness to come to him. “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life,” John 5: 40. And again, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” Matt.

23 :37. You find something like a repulse from Christ to the poor Canaanitcss: “Have mercy on me, 0 Lord,” said that distressed soul; “but he answered and said, it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs.” Matt. 15: 22, 26. However harshly these words sound, it was not Christ’s intention to discourage her faith, but to draw it forth to a more intense degree; which effect was produced. Verse 27.

5. Neither would Christ have made the tenders of mercy so large and indefinite, had he intended to shut out any soul on account of its personal unworthiness, provided it be but willing to come to him. Cast thine eye, discouraged soul, on Christ’s invitations and proclamations of mercy in the gospel, and see if thou canst find any thing besides unwillingness as a bar between thee and mercy; hearken to that voice of mercy: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; comie ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine, and m.ilk without money and without price;” that is, without personal desert or worthiness. Isa. 55:1. So again, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22: 17. Here you see personal unworthiness is no obstacle in the way of Christ. Once more, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” John 7:37. Thus you see what Christ’s coming in to the soul is, and what evidences there are that when the soul is made truly willing, Christ will certainly come into it; and no former vileness or present unworthiness shall be a bar to obstruct his entrance.

III. I shall show that when Christ comes in to the SOUL, HE wiLL NOT COME EMPTY-HANDED. It is Christ’s marriage-day, and he will make it a good day, a festival day; brinfrino such comforts with him as the soul never tasted before. He spreads a table and furnishes it with the delicacies of heaven. “I will sup with him,” saith the text. What those spiritual mercies are which Christ brings with him to the opening soul, comes next in order to be spoken of And,

1. When Christ comes in to the soul of a sinner, he brings a pardon with him — a full, free, and final pardon of all the sins which that soul has ever committed. This is a feast of itself, good cheer indeed; Christ thought it to be so when he told the poor palsied man, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Matt. 9: 2. He does not say, Be of good cheer, thy palsy is cured, and thy body recovered from the grave; but, “be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven.” 0 how sweetly may the pardoned soul feed upon this. And this is not a mercy designed for some special favorites, hut what is common to all believers. “By him all that believe are justified from all things.” Acts 13: 39. Christ and pardon come tpgether; and without a pardon no mercy would relish: neither feast nor music, neither money nor honor bring any comfort to a condemned man; but the comfort of a pardon reaches to the very heart. “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,” Isa. 40: 1, 2; or, as in the Hebrew, “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” But what are the ingredients of that cordial that will comfort Jerusalem’s heart? “Cry unto her, that her iniquity is pardoned.” That carries with it the spirit of all consolation.

There are three things in the pardon of sin which make it the sweetest mercy the soul ever tasted; comfort which is impossible to be communicated to another as the pardoned soul has it. Rev. 2:17.

(1.) One thing which makes the pardon of sin sweet, is the trouble that went before it. The laborings and restless tossings of the troubled soul, before his pardon, make the ease and peace that follow it incomparably sweet. As the bitterness of hell was tasted in the sorrows of sin, so the sweetness of heaven is tasted in the pardon of it.

(2.) The nature of the mercy itself is incomparablysweet, for it is a mercy of the first rank. Pardon is a mercy which admits no comfort before it, nor can any just cause of discouragement follow it. If God has not spoken pardon to the soul, it can have no settled ground for joy. Ezek. 33: 10. And if he has, there can be no just ground for dejection, whatever troubles lie upon it. “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities.” Isa. 33: 24.

(3.) This mercy is made sweet to the soul by the properties of it, which are four: first, Grod writes upon thy pardon,/ree; it is mercy which costs thee nothing: “Being justified freely by his grace.” Rom. 3: 24. “Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” But, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” Isa. 43: 24, 25. Second, God writes upon thy pardon, /^(^//, as well as free; the pardon extends to all the sins thou hast ever committed: “By him all that believe are justified from all things.” Acts 13: 39. The sins of thy nature and practice; the sins of thy youth and riper age; great sins and lesser, are all comprehended within thy pardon. Thou art acquitted not from one only, but from all. Certainly, the joy of heaven must come down hi the mercy of remission. What a feast of fat things with marrow is this single mercy, a pardon free without price, full without exception. And then, third, it is final, without revocation; the pardoned soul never more comes into condemnation. Thine iniquities are removed from thee as far as the east is from the west. As those two opposite points can never meet, so the pardoned soul and its pardoned sins can never more meet mito condemnation. Psalm 103: 12. Fourth, God writes upon the pardon another word, as sweet as any of the rest, and that is, s.iire. It is a standing mercy, never to be recalled or annulled. E-om. 8: 33-35. The challenge is sent to earth and hell, men and devils: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.” Who can arrest when the creditor discharges? Who can sue the bond when the debt is paid? “It is Christ that died.” The table is spread, and the first mercy served in is the pardon of sin. “Eat, 0 friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 beloved.” Sol. Song 5: 2. Noav the laboring conscience that rolled and tossed upon the waves of a thousand fears, may drop anchor, and ride quiet in the pacific sea of a pardoned state. What joy must flow through the conscience when the sweetness of that scripture, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” Rom. 8:1, shall be pressed into thy cup of consolation. The pardoned soul may think of death and judgment without consternation; yea, may look upon them as a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:19. This is heavenly manna, the sweetness of it exceeds all expression; no words, no thoughts can comprehend the riches of this mercy.

2. And yet this is not all; behold another mercy brought, in to cheer the consenting soul, and that is jpeace with God. /] Pardon and peace go together: “Being justified by faith,^ we have peace with God.” Rom. 5:1. Peace is a word of vast comprehension: in the language of the Old Testament, it comprehends all temporal good things, 1 Sam. 25: 6; and peace in the New Testament comprehends all spiritual mercies, 2 Thess. 3:16: the blessings of heaven and earth are wrapt up in this word. The soul that opens to Christ has the peace of reconciliation with heaven; the enmity that was between God and that soul is taken away through Jesus Christ. “0 Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.” Isa. 12:1. This must he an invaluable mercy, for the purchase of it cost the blood of Christ: “The chastisement of our peace was upon him.” Isa. 53: 5. He made peace by the blood of his cross, Col. 1: 20; and this peace of reconciliation is settled by Christ upon a firm foundation. His blood gives it a more firm foundation than that of the hills and mountains. Isa. 54: 10. And that which makes it so firm and sure, is the advocateship of Jesus Christ in heaven: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” 1 John, 2:1. There is also peace in the believer’s conscience — peace as it were by proclamation from heaven; and this is built upon the peace of reconciliation. We cannot have the sense of peace till we are brought into a state of peace; the one is the result of the other. And this is a part of the supper Christ provides to entertain the soul that receives it. How sweet this is, is better felt than spoken. A dreadful sound was lately in the ears of the law-condemned sinner; but now his heart is the seat of peace. This peace is,

(1.) The souVs guard against all inward and outward terrors. The peace of God shall keep, or, as the original word is, guard your hearts and minds, Phil. 4:7. The persons of princes are secured by guards of armed men, who watch while they sleep. Thus Solomon had his royal guard, because of fear in the night, Sol. Song 3: 7, 8. This peace of God, Christian, is thy life-guard, and secures thee better than Solomon’s threescore valiant men about him. Time was when thou wast afraid to sleep, lest thou shouldst awake in hell. Now thou mayest say with David, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou. Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety,” Psa, 5: 8. Now, come life, come death, the soul is safe; the peace of God is its royal guard,

(2.) This peace is ease as well as safety to the soul; it is heart’ s-ease. No sooner does God speak peace to the conscience, than the soul finds itself at ease and rest: “We which have believed, do enter into rest.” Heb. 4:3. It is with such a soul as it M^as with the dove Noah sent out of the ark: that poor creature wandered in the air as long as her wings could carry her; had her strength failed, there was nothing but the waters to receive her. 0 how sweet was rest in the ark I

(3.) This peace is neics, from heaven, and the sweetest tidings that ever blessed the sinner’s ear, next to Christ. The blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel, Heb. 12: 24; and you are come to this blood of sprinkling, as soon as Christ comes into your soul. This is the voice of that blood: “Thou hast sinned, I have satisfied; thou hast kindled the wrath of God, and I have quenched it.” The angels of heaven cannot fare better: their joys are not more sweet than those prepared for believers are, whereof this is a foretaste. Whatever trouble a man may be in, this efiectually relieves him. Paul and Silas were in sad circumstances, shut up in the inner prison, their feet made fast in the stocks, their cruel keepers at the door, and their execution expected in a few days: God did but set this dish upon the table before the prisoners, and they could not forbear to sing at the feast. Acts 16: 25.

3. k.{.QX liar don and ‘peace, a third blessing will come, namely, joy in the Holy Ghost. This is somewhat beyond peace, it is the very quintessence and spirit of all consolation. The kingdom of God is said to consist in it, Rom. ^14: 17; it is somewhat like the joy of the glorified, 1 Pet. 1:8; it is heaven upon earth. All believers do not immediately attain it, but one time or other God usually gives them a taste of it; and when he does, it is as it were a realization of full salvation. 0, who can tell what that is which the apostle calls, the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us?

Horn. 5:5. It is a joy that wants an epithet to express its full sweetness: “Joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” 1 Pet. 1:8. It has the very taste of heaven in it, and there is but a difference of degrees between it and the joy of heaven. This joy of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual cheerfulness streaming through the soul of a believer from the Spirit’s testimony, which proves his interest in Christ and glory. No sooner doth the Spirit shed forth the love of God into the believer’s heart, than it overflows with joy.

This will appear, if you consider the matter of it: it arises from the light of God’s countenance, Psa. 4: 6, 7, the heavenly glory: “Whom having not seen, we love.” 1 Pet. 1: 8. The soul is transported with joy, ravished with the glory and excellency of Christ. Didst thou ever see Christ with whom thy soul is so delighted? No, I have not seen him; yet my soul is transported with love to him, “whom having not seen, we love.” But if thou never sawest him, how comes thy soul to be so dehghted with hun? Why, though. I never saw him by the eye of sense, I do see him by the eye of faith; and by that sight my soul is flooded with spiritual joy: “Believing, we rejoice.” But what manner of joy is it which you taste? No tongue can express that, for it is joy unspeakable. But how are Christ and heaven turned into such joys to the soul? The Spirit of the Lord gives the beUever a sight to discern not only the transcendent excellency of these spiritual objects, but his interest in them also. This is my Saviour, and this the glory prepared for me. Without appropriation, heaven itself cannot be turned into joy. My soul rejoices in God my Saviour. Luke 1: 47. We read of some who shall have a sight of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yet shall be without joy, Luke 13: 28; a dreadful sight to such, for want of a joint interest with them in that glory. They shall see, and yet weep and gnash their teeth. But an interest sealed gives joy unspeakable.

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As to the excellency of this joy, it will prove the pleasant light of the soul. Light and joy are synonymous terms in Scripture. Psa. 97: 11. It is as the cheerful light of the morning, after a sad and dismal night. You who have sat in darkness and the shadow of death, who have sat mourning in the dark without one glimpse of a promise, wdio have conversed with nothing but dismal thoughts of hell and wrath — 0, 1 shall be cast away for ever; what will you say, when after all this darkness, the day-star shall arise in your hearts, and the joy of heaven shall beam upon your souls? Will not this be a glorious reward for all your self-denial for Christ, and fully recompense the frowns of ungodly relations for giving entertainment to Christ? This joy of the Lord, if there were no other heaven, is an abundant recompense. This joy of the Lord shall be your strength. Neh. 8: 10. Let God but give a person a little of this joy into his heart, and he shall presently feel himself strengthened by it, either to do or to suffer the will of God. Now he can pray with enlargement, hear with comfort, meditate with delight; and if God call him to suffer, this joy shall strengthen him to bear it. This it was that made the martyrs go singing to the stake. This therefore transcends all the joys of the world. There are sinful pleasures which men find in fulfilling their lusts; there are sensitive joys that men find in the good creatures of God, filling their hearts with food and gladness; there are also delusive joys, that hypocrites find in their ungrounded hopes of heaven. The joys of the sensualist are brutish, the joys of the hypocrite are ensnaring and vanishing; but the joys of the Holy Ghost are solid, sweet, and leading to the fulness of everlasting joy.

4. We read in Scripture of the sealing of the Spirit, a blessed privilege of believers, consequent upon believing: “In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” Eph. 1: 13. This may be expected by every soul that opens to Christ, how rich soever the comforts of it be. The Spirit indeed seals not before faith, for then would he set his seal to a blank; but he usually seals after believing, and that as the Spirit of promise. JNTotice here the agent or person sealing, “the Spirit;” he knows the counsels and purposes of God. 1 Cor. 2: 10, 11. He also is authorized to this work; and being the Spirit of truth, he cannot deceive us. There is a twofold seal spoken of in Scripture; one referring to God’s eternal foreknowledge and choice of men: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his,” 2 Tim. 2:19; he perfectly knows every soul that belongs to him throughout the world. But the believer has more than this. There is another sealing of the Spirit, as his act on believers, to make them know that they are his. The first is general, The Lord knoweth who are his; but this is particular, The Lord knoweth thee to be his. This is joyful news indeed. The former makes it sure in itself, the latter makes it sure to us. Now this is a glorious privilege, a work of the Spirit, which has a most delightful sweetness in it; for,

(1 ) The iveightiness of the matter sealed, which is no less than Christ, and the eternal inheritance purchased by his blood. This seal secures our title to Christ, and to the eternal glory. We are sealed to the day of redemption. The sealed believer can say, Christ, how great, how glorious soever he be, is my Saviour; and the covenant of grace, and all the invaluable promises contained in it, are mine.

(2.) The rest which follows it, makes it an invaluable mercy. This brings the anxious conscience to peace. 0 what a mercy is it to have all those knots untied, those objections answered, those fears banished, under which the doubting soul so long labored, and which kept it so many nights waking and restless. God only knows how some poor creatures live, under their alarms of conscience and frequent fears of hell. And what an inconceivable mercy would it be to them to be delivered at once from their dangers and fears, which hold them under a spirit of bondage I Open to Christ, and thou art in the way to such a deliverance: Come unto me and I will give you rest, saith Christ, Matt. 11 :2S, 29.

(3.) This sealing of the Spirit which follows believing, will establish the soul in Christ, and settle it in the ways of God, which is an unspeakable privilege: “Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, is God; who hath also sealed us.” 2 Cor. 1: 21, 22. Mark how establishment follows sealing. Temptations may come, great persecutions and sore afflictions may come, but how well is that soul provided for them all, that has the sealing of the Spirit unto the day of redemption. Yea, though that soul should for the present be under new darkness, temptations, and fears, the former sealing will give establishment and relief, when the thoughts go back to the sealing day, and the man remembers how clear God once made his title to Christ. Well then, open to Christ, if ever you expect to be sealed to salvation. If you continue to reject the tenders of Christ in the gospel, while others who embrace him are sealed to the day of redemption, yo,ur unbelief and final rejection of Christ will seal you to the day of damnation.

5. “We read in the Scriptures of the earnest of the Spirit; this is three times mentioned: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Eph. 1: 14. The apostle Paul joins it with the former privilege of sealing: “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts,” 2 Cor. 1: 22; and again, “He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit” 2 Cor. 5: 5. The word is originally Syriac; the Greeks are supposed to have got it from the Phenician merchants with whom they traded, and it denotes a part paid in hand to confirm a bargain for the whole. An eai’nest is part of the sum, or iiilieritance: if it were a contract for a sum of money, it was a small part of a greater amount; if for an inheritance, the earnest is takinjr a twio-, or turf, as a part of the whole. The Spirit of God chooses this word to signify two great things to his people.

(1.) That the comforts communicated by the Spirit believers, are of the same kind with the joys of heaven, though in a far inferior degree. They are called, “Joy unspeakable, and fall of glory,” 1 Pet. 1:8; and, “The first-fruits of the Spirit.” Rom. 8: 23. The first-fruits, and the harvest, are one in kind; there is something of heaven, as well as hell, tasted by men in this world: hell is begun here in the terrors of some men’s consciences, and heaven is begun here in the peace and comfort of other men’s consciences.

(2.) As an earnest is part of the sum or inheritance, so the use of it is confirmation and security; as much as to say, take this in part till the whole be paid — take it for thy security that the whole shall be paid. Believers have a double pledge or earnest for heaven: one in the person of Christ, who is entered into that glory for them, John 14: 2, 3; the other in the joys and comforts of the Spirit, which they feel and taste in themselves. These are two great securities, and the design of God in giving us these earnests and foretastes of heaven, is not only to settle our minds, but to increase our industry, that we may long more earnestly and labor more diligently for the full possession. The Lord sees how apt we are to flag in the pursuit of heaven, and therefore gives his people a taste, or earnest of it, to excite their diligence in its pursuit. God deals with his people in this case, as with Israel: they had been forty years in the wilderness; many sore temptations had they there encountered; at last they came upon the very borders of Canaan, but then their hearts began to faint; there were Anakims, giants in the land, and Israel feared they should not stand before them: but Joshua sent spies into the land, who brought the first fruits of Canaan to them, whereby they saw what a goodly country it was; and then the fear of the Anakims began to vanish, and a spirit of courage to revive in the people. Thus it is even with the borderers upon Jjeaven: though we are near that blessed land of promise, our hearts are apt to faint on a prospect of the sufferings without us, and the conflicts with corruptions within us; but one taste of the first-fruits of heaven, like the grapes of Eschol, revives our spirits, rouses our zeal, and quickens our pursuit of blessedness. For these reasons, God will not have all heaven reserved till we come thither. And now tell me, you that have tasted these first-fruits of the Spirit,

Is there not something of that glorified eye, in faith, by which the pure in heart see God in heaven? Matt. 5:8. 0 that eye of faith — that precious eye, which comes as near to the glorified eye as any thing in this imperfect state can do: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Pet. 1: 8.

Is there not something of that glorified love felt in an inferior degree by the saints in this world? What else can we make of that transport of the spouse: “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love?” Sol. Song 2: 5. Our love to God in heaven will be much more fervent, pure, and constant; yet these high-raised acts of spiritual love have a taste and relish of it.

Is there not something here of that hcaveiilij delight wherewith the glorified rejoice in God? As the visions of God are begun on earth, so heavenly delights are begun here also. Some drops of that delight are let fall here: “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul” Psa. 94:19. David’s heart had been full of sorrow; a sea of gall and wormwood had overflowed his soul: God lets fall but a drop or two of heavenly delight, and all is turned into sweetness and comfort.

Is there not something here of that tramformation of the soul into the image of God, which is complete in heaven, and a part of the glory thereof? It is said, “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John, 3: 2. This is heaven, to have the soul moulded into full conformity with God: something thereof is experienced in this world; 0 that we had more I “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3: 18.

Is there not something felt here of the siveePness of GocVs presence in ordinances and duties, which is a faint shadow, at least, of the joys of his glorious presence in heaven? There is certainly a felt presence of God, a sensible nearness to God at some times and m some duties of religion, wherein his name is as ointment poured forth, Sol. Song 1: 3 — something that is felt above all the comforts of this world.

In a word, the joys of heaven are imspeakahle joys; no words can make known what they are. When Paul was caught up into paradise he heard unspeakable words, 2 Cor. 12 :4; and are there not times, even in this life, wherein the saints do feel that which no words can express? 1 Pet. 1:8; Rev. 2:17.

Now, if such earnests of the Spirit come with believing, if opening the soul to Christ bring it unto these suburbs of heaven, who would not receive Christ into his soul, and such a heaven upon earth with him? Thus I have showed you what are some of those heavenly joys which Christ gives to believers upon earth, the fulness of which is reserved for heaven, and hereby secured to the opening or believing soul.

IV. We shall show the reasons why Christ thus feasts and refreshes the soul that receives him.

1. This he does to express the great joy he lias in tJie

288 CHRIST KNOCKOa AT THE DOOR.

faith and obedience of siimers. We read of the travail of Christ’s soul, and the satisfaction he has in the fruit and issue thereof: “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,” Isa. 53: 11. 0 what pleasure and satisfaction doth it give him to behold the eternal counsels of God and the travails of his soul brought to such a result; there is no pleasure like it to the soul of Christ in this world. As it is satisfaction to a man to see a design upon which he has laid out many thoughts and much cost, at last happily finished; or as it is to a woman to behold the fruit of her womb, to embrace and smile upon the child she travailed for; so, and much more, it is to Christ: and therefore, as the Father of the prodigal manifested the joy of his heart for the return of his son by a feast and music, so does Christ here manifest the satisfaction of his soul by entertaining the believer with these foretastes of heaven; it is the soul’s welcome home to Christ.

2. This Christ does to relieve distressed souls who have endured so many fears and sorrows from the time of their first conviction until the day of their union with Christ by faith. The way of faith is a veiy humble way; there is much painful work in previous convictions and humihations, sad nights and days with many poor souls; and these things bring them low: they see the law broken by sin, wrath hanging over them m the threatenings, the bitterness thereof they have in their consciences; they have dealt with fears and horrors a long time, and they need support, which the Lord Jesus now gives them, lest the spirit fail before him. Isa. 57: 16. He delights to comfort them that are cast down. 2 Cor. 7: 6. Christ is of a compassionate nature; he is as ready as able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 2:18. The word which we render succor, signifies to run in by way of help at the cry of one in distress. Many emphatical cries have gone up to heaven from the distressed soul; these the compassionate Jesus hears, and now comes in to succor and refresh it; he has rich cordials for fainting hours; the soul hath had a bitter breakfast, and therefore Christ will give it a comfortable supper: “I will come in to him, and sup with him.”

3. Those that open their hearts, to Christ must expect to tneet with great troubles and temptations in the new course on which they have entered: their way to heaven lies through much tribulation; all our troubles are not over when we are once in Christ; nay, then commonly our greatest outward troubles begin: “After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.” Heb. 10: 32. Carnal relations scoff, frown, and cast us off; the world hates us and marks us out for persecution. Now, that Christians may not utterly be discouraged when, they meet with troubles in the way of duty, Christ will cheer them by these spiritual refreshments. Christ himself had a voice from heaven, “This is my beloved Son,” Matt. 17: 5, a little before his great combat; much more do his people need such consolations, to support and encourage them. God foresees and by this provision prepares for the troubles they are to meet with; an hour of seahng fortifies the soul for an hour of suffering. It has been the observation of some Christians when they have felt more than ordinary comforts of the Spirit, that some great trial has been near them; and the event has confirmed it. Whatever comforts Christ gives his people at their first entrance into his service, they will have need enough of them all before they finish their course. To these first sealings they will need to have frequent recourse, and all will be little enough to support them in after-trials.

4. Christ comes in to the opening soul with such divine refreshments to defeat the plot of Satan, who has so often discouraged them by representing the ways of Christ as melancholy; telling them they shall never laugh more, never be merry more, after they have espoused the ways of

Christ Knocking. 13 holiness. Their own experience shall confute it, for they now taste that pleasure in Christ, in faith and obedience, which they never tasted in the ways of sin; thus that scandalous libel of Satan is confuted. They find they were never truly merry till now; for all true mirth commences from our closing with Christ: “And they began to be merry.” Luke 15 :24.

These spiritual refreshments are here called a siqyper, because the supper among the Jews was their best meal, Luke 14:: 17, and because it is the last meal. This is not only the best enjoyment that a believer ever had, but upon these spiritual comforts, though much more refined and perfected, he is to feed for ever in heaven. 0 Christian, well mayest thou be contented with thine outward lot of providence, however it shall fall in this world with respect to thy outward man. Will the King of heaven come and sup with thee? Does he feed thy soul Mdth pardon, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and seal an earnest of future glory? Then thou livest at a higher and nobler rate than any of thy carnal neighbors do. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Eph. 1: 3. The same person who thus blesses God with a heart overflowing with joy and comfort, endured as many persecutions, felt as many wants and straits as any man. What if Providence do but meanly clothe your bodies, so that you cannot ruffle it in the splendor that others do? Yet mayest thou say with the church, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isa. 61: 10. What if thou fare not so deliciously as the great ones of this world do? Yet, if Christ will give thee to eat of the hidden manna which he promiseth, Rev. 2: 17, art thou not better clothed and fed than any of the nobles of the world? This takes away all grounds of complaint. It may be you will say, 0, but we have bodies as well as souls; if Grod had created us angels, so that we could live without material food, it were another case. I reply, Christ never thus intended to feast thy soul and starve thy body; he that feeds thy soul with bread from heaven, will take care for all necessary provisions on earth. Isa. 41: 17. You have sought and found the kingdom of God and his rightousness; fear not but all other things shall be added to you.

The doctrine before us is full of instruction: I shall begin with the following.

Inference 1. It is a vile and groundless slander upon religion, to say or insinuate that it deprives men of the comfort and joy of life. The devil, in design to discourage men from the ways of God, puts a frightful mask on the beautiful face of religion, pretending there is no pleasure to be expected therein; but this is abundantly confuted in the text: “I will come in to him, and sup with him.” Solomon tells us, “A feast is made for laughter.” Eccl. 10: 19, I am sure the soul that sits with Christ at such a feast as has been described above, has the best reason of any man in the world to be merry. Religion indeed denies us all sinful pleasure, but it abounds with spiritual pleasure. No rational, solid mirth can come before Christ: the unsanctified rejoice in things of naught, and their joy will be soon ended; they are hastening to the place where they will find that to be verified of the wages of sin, which they now falsely impute to the wages of holiness; they shall never rejoice more, never be merry more: but believers shall find this scripture attested by their daily experience: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace,” Prov. 3:17; and that there are such pleasures in the ways of God, as they never experienced in the ways of sin. Is it a solid ground of comfort to a man to be out of debt and all fears of arrest; and is it not much greater to have our debts paid to God by Christ our surety? “Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Matt. 9:2. Is it matter of joy to have a sufficiency of all things for the supply of every want? He that is in Christ has this: “All are yours; and ye are Christ’s.” 1 Cor. 3: 22, 23. Is it a joyful life to border upon heaven, to be on the confines of blessedness itself? Then it is joyful to be in Christ; for they that are so may rejoice in the hope of glory. Rom. 5:2. Is it matter of joy to have the Comforter himself, who is the Spirit of all consolation, taking up his residence in thy heart, comforting and refreshing it with cordials unknown in all the unbelieving world? Then certainly the life of a Christian and the ways of holiness must be most comfortable. Let none therefore, that are looking towards Christ, be discouraged in their way by the slanderous reproaches designedly cast upon religion, Christ and comfort dwell together.

2. Hence, in like mamier it follows, that Christians usually tneet the greatest difficulties at their first entrance into religion. The first work of religion is wounding and weeping work. Thus religion usually begins. Acts 2:37; 16: 29, The soul seems to be struck dead, in the giving up of all its former vain hopes: “When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died,” Rom. 7:9; but afterwards come pardon, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. They that go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, now come back rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Psa. 126: G. Now the blessing is realized: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matt. 5: 4, “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Psa. 97: 11. It is quite contrary in the ways of sin; all the pleasures of sin come first, the terrors of conscience come after. Sin comes with smiles in its begimiing, but a sting in its end. Pleasures lead the van, hell and destruction bring up the rear. “Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.” Job 20: 12-14. But here conviction and humiliation come first, these prepare the way for Christ; and with him come rest and peace. Their sorrow is turned into joy. John 16: 20.

Objection. But is this always true? Do not the worst things of religion in any times come last? How many Christians go out of the world in an unhappy manner.

Answer. Whatever the after-sufferings of Christians may be, the worst is past when they are in Christ. Great and sharp sufferings they may endure, but the Lord sweetens them with answerable consolations: “I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.” 2 Cor. 7: 4. The lowest ebbs are followed by the highest tides; the greatest troubles need not give interruption to peace.

3. Hence it follows, that no man can he truly happy till he be in Christ. Comfort and refreshment in the natural order follow faith; it is the vainest imagination in the world to expect solid, spiritual comfort before union with Christ; you may as well expect a harvest before a seed-time. I do confess there are two sorts of comforts found in the world without Christ. First, men may have sensitive and sinful comforts without Christ; these are common in the unregenerate world, where you may daily see rich men taking comfort in their riches, and voluptuous men in their pleasures: “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth.” James 6 5. But these are pleasures common to brutes, and beneath the immortal spirit of a man. Second, hypocrites have their delights and comforts in an imaginary happiness, which they fancy to themselves; but this is a vanishing shadow. They take comfort from their groundless hope of heaven, whither they, shall never come; it is a feast in a dream. Isa. 29: 8. Thus they make a bridge of their own shadow, and are drowned in the waters. Such sensitive and false comforts and pleasures men may have, but no true, sohd, spiritual joy enters any man’s heart before Christ come into it.

4. See fro7n hence what heaven is, if there be such a feast to the soul hi the very foretastes of it. If a relish, a taste of heaven as the earnest of it, be so transporting and ravishing, what is the full fruition of God? If these are unutterable, what must that be? Whatever the comforts and joys of any believer in this world may be, yet heaven will be a surprise to him when he comes thither. The joys of God’s presence are not to be measured by our present comforts; though these are of the same kuid with them, they are far inferior in degree. There is a sixfold difierence between the spiritual comforts of believers on earth, and the joys that are above.

(1.) They differ in quantity. Here, “we know in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” 1 Cor. 13: 9, 10. When the Scripture speaks of the comforts commmiicated to saints on earth, it usually expresses them in some diminutive term or other, calling them first-fruits, earnests, paid the like; and indeed it is necessary we should receive them here in small degrees, because the weakness of our present state will not bear them in their plenitude and perfection. Here the joy of the Lord enters into us, but there we are said to enter into that joy. Matt. 25: 21. It is too great to enter into us; therefore we enter into, and are swallowed up in it.

(2.) They differ in constancy. The best comforts on earth are intermitting: a sun-blast and a cloud; a good day and a bad. You know we feed on tAVo sorts of meat, daily bread and dainties; rarities come not every day to the table. The daily bread on which believers live, is the repose and reliance of faith; as for assurance and joy, these come but now and then.

(3.) They difier 12n1rity. Here we have the comforts of the Spirit, but we mingle sin with them, and especially the sin of spiritual pride, which spoils all. Yea, many times the Lord sufiers Satan to mingle his temptations with them, lest we should be unduly exalted. 2 Cor. 12:7. But in heaven the comforts of the saints are as the pure water of life, clear as crystal. Rev. 22:1.

(4.) They differ in efficacy. The highest comforts of the Spirit here do not perfectly transform our souls into the image of God, as they will be in heaven. “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John, -3:2. Here, after we are comforted by him, we grieve the Comforter by sin. Neither do the comforts of the Spirit, in this state, produce the fruits of obedience in their maturity, as they do above; there is the same difference in point of efficacy, as there is between the influence of the sunbeams in the winter months, and those in May and June.

(5.) There is a great difference in respect to society. Here, the believer for the m.ost part eats his pleasant morsels alone: one Christian eats, and another hungers; but in heaven they all feast together at one table. They shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God. Matt. 8:11. 0 what must it be to rejoice in the fellowship of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, where the joy of one is the joy of all?

(6.) They differ also in durability. Sin here puts a stop to our comforts, but in heaven there shall never be an end: “Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.” Isa. 35: 10. There is an eternal feast. It is everlasting consolation: “We shall be ever with the Lord.” 2 Thess. 2:16.

5. This doctrine puts serious matter of exhortation into my mouth. The Lord direct it to the hearts of all, whether they be in Christ or out of Christ.

(1.) To those who are out of Christ, and will not be persuaded to open their hearts and consent to his terms. 0 what a spiritual infatuation is here. What, shut the door of thy heart against Christ, and all the delights of this and the coming world? “What madness is this. Hear me, thou poor deluded sinner, who wilt not he persuaded to part with thy sinful, sensual delights in exchange for Christ, and the peace, comfort, and joy that follow him. I have a few things to speak on Christ’s behalf at this time. 0 that they may prevail; 0 that by them the Spirit of the Lord may persuade thy spirit. Let me ofler four or five ^9/e<2S on Christ’s behalf, if haply they may prevail and make way for his entertainment in thy soul. And,

Plea 1. Let me plead thine own necessity: a mighty argument, which in other cases makes its way through all oppositions, and makes all difficulties fly before it. Thou art a poor, necessitous, pining, famishing soul; however thy body be accommodated, thou hast not one morsel of spiritual bread for thy famishing soul to live upon. Christ is the bread that cometh down from heaven. The starving prodigal is the lively emblem of thy soul; he feeds upon husks, Luke 15: 16, 17, and thou feedest upon that which is not bread. Isa. 55: 2. “Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Rev. 3:17. Thy body has often been filled and refreshed with the good creatures of God, but thy soul never tasted one morsel of spiritual bread since it came into thy body; it never relished the sweetness of a pardon, the deliciousness of a promise, or the joy and comfort of Christ: the choicest food thou hast ever tasted, was such as thy soul cannot live upon.

Plea 2. Christ is at the door of thy soul with plenty and variety of heavenly comforts purchased by his blood; if thou wilt but open to him, thou shalt be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of the rivers of his pleasure. Psalm 36: 8. “He that belie veth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” John 7: 38; meaning the graces and comforts of the Spirit.

Plea 3. If Christ he refused now, you may never taste those invaluable mercies for ever. “For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” Luke 14: 24. They were invited to this feast, and so are you; they refused to come, God grant that you may not; for methinks this sentence of Christ, “Those men which were bidden shall not taste of my supper,” is like a sentence on a malefactor that is to be hanged in chains, whom the law permits none to relieve. 0, it will be dreadful to see the saints sitting at the royal feast in heaven, and yourselves shut out like starving beggars standing in the streets and about the doors where the marriage-supper is kept: they see the lights, they behold the rich dishes carried up, they hear the mirth and music of the guests, but not a bit comes to their share.

Plea 4. The refusal of Christ’s invitation, as it is the greatest of all sins, xvill he avenged with the greatest ‘punishment. It is said of those guests that were bidden, that they made light of it. Matt. 22: 5; but it fell heavy upon them: “He was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” Ver. 7. Beware of making light of Christ.

Plea 5. What vain things are all those pleasures of sin, for the sake of which you de“prive your souls of the everlasting comforts Jesus Christ can give. Deluded soul, it is not the intent of Christ to rob thee of comfort, but to exchange thy sinful for spiritual delights, to thy unspeakable advantage. True, you can have no more pleasure in sin; but instead of that, you shall have peace with God, joy in the Holy Ghost, and solid comforts for evermore. What are the sensitive or sinful pleasures of the world? You have the total sum of them in 1 John, 2: 16, 17: “All that is in 13# the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof; but he that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever.”

Question. But hoiu may a ‘poor unregenerate soul be prevailed upon to make such a blessed exchange as to part tvith the pleasures of sijifor the blessings of Jesus Christ?

Answep.,. Besides all that has been offered before, let me briefly add three counsels to such a soul.

Labor to feel thy need of Christ, and then thou wilt quickly be willing to give up all the pleasures of sin for the enjoyment of him. “What makes men so tenacious of their lusts, so hard to be persuaded to give up their sinful pleasures, but this, that they never felt the need of a Saviour? 0, sinner, didst thou but feel thy need of Christ, wert thou but hungry and thirsty for him, thou wouldst never stand upon such trifles for the enjoyment of him. We read, in the famine of Jerusalem, how they parted with their pleasant things for bread to relieve their souls; jewels, rings, bracelets, things which cost dear and were highly valued at another time, were now willingly parted with for bread. Christ is more necessary to thee than thy necessary food.

Consider the spiritual and immortal nature of thy soid, which cannot live upon material things, and must outlive all temporal things. If thy soul cannot live upon them, and must certainly outlive them, what a miserable condition will it unavoidably fall into, when all these sensual and sinful enjoyments are vanished and gone, as thou knowest they shortly will be. These things pass away, 1 John, 2:17, and then has thy soul nothing to live upon to all eternity.

Hearken to the experiences of the saints, who have tried both sorts of pleasure, which you never did. They have tried the pleasures of sin, and they have tasted the pleasures of Christ, and so are able to give a true judgment on both; and they have accordingly determined, that one glimpse of the light of God’s countenance puts more gladness into their hearts, than in the time that their corn and wine increased. Psalm 4:6, 7. Nay, the wisest Christians, on trial of both, have rightly determined, that the worst things in religion are infinitely to be preferred to the best things belonging to sin; the very sufferings and afflictions of the people of God have been pronounced better than the pleasures of sin for a season. Heb. ll: 25. Could you but see with their eyes, and were you capable of making a right judgment as they did, there would not need a word more to persuade you to deny your most pleasant lusts, in exchange for Christ and his beneficial sufferings.

(2.) The doctrine also affords various exhortations to the regenerate, who have opened their hearts to Christ, and are thereupon admitted into this comfortable state. It is found in experience a difficult thing, for souls after conversion to bear their own comforts, as it was to rightly manage their troubles at conversion. My business here is to advise souls under the first operations of the Spirit, how to improve their spiritual comforts, that they may abide with them and be growing continually in their souls.

Advice 1. »See that you humhhj admire and adore the condescending goodness of God to you, in all the comforts of the ^inrit which refresh you. 0 that God should comfort such a soul as thine, that has so often grieved him — that Christ should be a joy to thee, who hast been a sorrow to him. In Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians you will find the spirit of the apostle filled with admiration of this mercy, which breaks forth into this rapturous expression: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Eph. 1:3. Some never enjoy an ordinary degree of earthly comforts. Job 30: 3-5; others enjoy abundance of earthly, but no spiritual comforts. Psalm 17:14. There are others for whom God intends everlasting consolalion in the world to come, who are kept low as to spiritual comforts in this world. Psalm 68: 15. What cause have you to admire the bounty of God to you, for whom there is not only fulness of joy prepared in heaven, but such precious foretastes and earnests of it communicated in the way thither.

Advice 2. Cleave fast to Christ awl those duties of religion in which you have found the best comforts that ever your souls knew. This is one thing God intends in the communication of these spiritual refreshments, to attach your souls fast to the ways of holiness. The Lord knows that temptations will befall you; discouragements enough you will be sure to meet with; but the enjoyments of God, which you have met with in prayer and hearing, in meditation and sacraments, should engage your hearts for ever to the ways of obedience. You never found that sweetness in the ways of sin which you have found in repentance and faith. “When a temptation comes baited with sinful pleasures, think of Jotham’s parable of the trees, and of the answer of the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine. Judges 9: 8-13, and say, in reference to thy spiritual enjoyments, Shall I leave such soul-refreshmg comforts as these for the pleasures of sin? God forbid.

Advice 3. Conitnunicate the S’piritual comforts you enjoy, for the benefit arid refreshment of others. The Lord never intended you should engross the comforts of his Spirit to yourselves, nor eat your pleasant morsels alone. He comforts us, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God, 2 Cor. 1:4, It is true, religion lays not all open; nor yet does it conceal all. There needs a great deal of wisdom, humility, and caution to secure us from pride and vanity in spirit, while we communicate our comforts to others. Both ostentation and self-appropriation of our comforts are against scripture law; he may be justly suspected that opens all, and so may he too that conceals all. Spiritual comforts are not diminished, but improved by a wise and humble communication.

Advice 4. Be frequent in renewing the acts and exercises of faith. Your first faith brought in your first comfort; your renewing and repeating those precious acts of faith, Mdll bring you in greater stores of comfort than you yet enjoy. We are not to look upon faith as a single, but a continued act: “To whom coming as unto a living stone.” 1 Pet. 2:4. Thy soul, Christian, is to be in a continual motion towards Christ; the more you believe, the more you will rejoice. You see the door through which comfort comes into your soul. Joy is the daughter of faith, Rom. 15: 13; your present comfort is the first offspring of faith; but there are many comforts more which will yet be born to your souls, if unbelief prevent it not.

Advice 5. Take heed that you be not a grief to Christ, who Jiath already brought so much comfort to you. It will be a sad requital if, after he hath given you the joys of heaven to drink, you shall give him that which is as wormwood and gall; the Lord write that caution upon thy soul: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph, 4: 30. The argument of the apostle in this place strongly infers coAition from comfort. Christ hath been all joy, all peace, rest, and comfort to you; take heed you be not a grief and shame to him. The intermission of thy duties, the falling of thy affections in duties, thy rash adventures upon sin, will be a grief to the heart of Christ, who hath filled thy heart with so much comfort; and if you grieve him, you cannot expect he should comfort you. A little sm may rob you of a great deal of comfort.

Advice 6. Be rwt dejected if the first comforts Christ gives you should afterwards abate, or be taken aifOAj for a time. This is a common thing in the experience of most

Christians. You must not think your first comforts are such fixed, settled things, that there is no hazard of losing them; alas, nothing is more liable to change than the joys of a Christian. You will be apt to lose your first love. Rev. 2:4; and if you lose your first love, no wonder that you lose your first comforts. Yet if it should so fall out, be not cast down and discouraged; Christ is not gone, though comfort be gone; and though comfort be gone, it is not gone for ever; renew thy repentance, faith, and obedience, and try if God will not renew thy comfort. There is a former and a latter spring of joy; God will make thy comforts spring again. Besides, thy justification is steadfast, though thy consolation is not so. There are two things which belong to a Christian: one to his being, namely, union with Christ; another to his well-being, nam.ely, comfort from Christ. The latter is contingent, the former fixed and steadfast.

Advice 7. Be filled with comioassion to others icho lack the comforts you enjoy, esiJecially such as God has united to you as natural relatio7is. Art thou a father or mother, to whom God has given the comforts and soul-refreshments that have been opened in this discourse? And hast thou no compassion for thy children, who never yet tasted one drop of these spiritual consolations? It will do a man little good to be feasted abroad, while his wife and children are starving at home. Say to them as Paul, in another case, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.” Acts 26: 29. Religion creates bowels of compassion. 0 tell them what sweetness there is in the ways of godliness; counsel, plead, and pray that those who are yours may also be Christ’s.

Advice 8. As ever you expect the continuance and enlargement of your comforts, see that you ivalh circumspectly. It is as much as all your comfort is worth to give way to a little carelessness. That is a remarkable expression of the psalmist, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak; for he M’ill speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.” Psalm 85: 8. Sin, in this text, is fitly called folly; for indeed it is the greatest folly and madness in the world to divest ourselves of such sweet peace and comfort by returnmg to sin, which has cost us so much sorrow before. Are you willing to be in your former darkness and troubles — to exchange the pleasant light you noAV enjoy for the horrors you formerly felt? This you must do, if you return again to folly.

Advice 9. Lo7tg for heaven, teller e is the fulness of those joys of which these you now taste are but the earnest and firstfruits. One design of God in giving them, is to set us a longing after heaven, to help our conceptions, and raise our afiections: if these be so sweet, what must those be? “Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Rom. 8: 23. We are not to sit down satisfied, and say we have enough of these first-fruits; they are given to make us long after the fulness of those enjoyments. This answers God’s end in giving.

Advice 10. Imiwove every spiritual comfort you have from Christ to greater cheerfulness in the paths of obedience to Christ. This is another end for which God communicates them, that our souls being refreshed by them, we might move the more nimbly in the paths of duty. “I wdll run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.” Psalm 119:32. God expects that you pray more frequently, meditate more delightfully, and perform every duty more cheerfully; this is the way to perpetuate your comforts. How many Christians go on droopingly in the ways of duty for want of the encouragements you enjoy.