Several Works

I N this Chapter, after the Miracle of the five hundred men fed with five loaves and two fishes, ver. 9, 10, &c. which was no small Miracle indeed, and argued divine power, to multiply so small a quantity into a sufficiency for so many hungry bellies; and here, if ever was made good that, that man liveth not by bread alone, but by the Word of God; and so it is, when he hath never so much; much more where he hath but little and inconsiderable, hath but Pulse instead of dainty fare, a cruse of oil, a little meal; I say, after this Miracle, our Savior had woon so far upon their affections, if not their understandings, though very carnal; they concluded this was that Prophet which they expected, ver. 14. that is to say, a special Prophet, beside John the Baptist, or Elias, as they thought he should come again, be born again, misunderstanding that place in Mal. 4. and beside, Christ the Messiah, they expected another Prophet before him, as the Ancients, Chrysost. Theoph. Cyril and Beza also conceive; and seemeth very plain in that place of John, why dost thou Baptize if thou neither be Elias, nor that Prophet, nor yet the Christ? where he is distinguished from Christ, and yet me thinks here they were carried further in their apprehensions of Christ, then to take him for such a Prophet, for saith the Text, Our Savior seeing that they would come and take him by violence to make him King, he withdrew himself into a Mount, ver. 15. therefore it should seem they had some kind of flash that he was the Messiah, according to their carnal conceit of the Messiah, that he should be a temporal King, and come in pomp, they would needs now make him King. Well, our Savior now going to his Disciples upon the Sea, and when he came into the ship, it was forthwith ashore; O how sweetly and swiftly doth any work of Christ or for Christ go on when he himself is with us; the multitude they follow him, their bellies all this while were their instructors, their gods and their guides; ye follow me because of the loaves, saith our Savior; and therefore he takes this occasion to stir them up, to seek for that food that perisheth not; they were sensible of the hunger of their bellies, and were taken with his power to make such provision for the body, even where there was nothing in comparison. O, but their poor souls were in a starving condition! and they were not sensible of this; and therefore our Savior endeavors to raise their apprehensions somewhat higher, spending much of the Chapter afterwards, in setting forth himself, the true, the spiritual Shew-bread, or bread of faces, if they had but stomachs and appetites suitable to the necessities of their poor perishing souls. But alas, they had not aseeing eye, nor a hearing ear, nor a believing heart; when they heard of bread, of which, if they did eat, they should never hunger; Lord give us this bread, said they, but they knew not well what they said; for alas, this bread was tendered to them, but they had no mind to it; as the fountain of water was near to Hagar, but she saw it not; so the bread of life was now offering himself to them, but they knew it not, and therefore our Savior reproveth them, you also, saith he, have seen me, and yet believe not; this bread is spiritual, I am the bread, but spiritually understood, for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the flesh profiteth nothing, (saith he) even to his own Disciples, who were already stumbled at this Sermon of his, concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood; but (saith our Savior) ye believe not; that is to say, ye will not take of this bread, eat of it, receive and apply the benefit of my death, and resurrection, and ascension, and intercession, and all I understand by this bread in a spiritual sense, whereby the soul is nourished to eternal life, and this was a sad symptom unto them, that they were not belonging to God's purpose of grace, they had little ground to conclude it as yet; for our Savior saith, all that the Father hath given me shall come; as yet ye believe not, ye have not come to me with hungry souls, though you have followed me with hungry bellies for the loaves; but if you belong to the election, if you be of those the Father hath given to me from eternity, you shall come, and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise, &c.

And him that cometh unto me; the copulative and, speaks as great a latitude of the subjects spoken of, as you have in the former part of the verse, All that the Father hath given shall come; So the Greeks use the Neuter-gender, to express universality, though they speak of persons, all that are given shall come, and he that cometh being given of his Father; for indeed, there are none else that do come to the Son, but such; ye believe not, saith he, but all that the Father hath given shall come; if you be not of that number, ye may never come to me: and then, whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise east him out.

Our Savior, in these words, hath given us to understand what welcome, what entertainment we shall be sure to have with him, if we come to him; he will not cast out any such soul. So that at once he hath stopped the mouths, or prevented and cut off the occasion of many doubtings, whereby Satan and a man's own heart are very busy to block up our way to Christ, that we should not come. O; I know not what success I shall have if I go to him, I may haply be refused; and it is as good sit still, as rise and fall (we use to say) thus we are apt to be answering ourselves, before we come to Jesus Christ. Now our Savior, to cut off all such excuses as these, and to embolden us, and encourage us, hath made this free, this general, this positive declaration of his willingness to receive us if we come to him, he will not in any wise cast out any soul.

The words will not need any division, and therefore we shall, before we speak any further to them, make the observation, which is this;

The Lord Jesus will not cast out any poor soul that cometh to him; there is no more change of them, then what necessity requireth: he speaking of himself, useth the first person; we speaking of him must use the third; and this variation is nothing.

This note I shall endeavor to explain, prove, confirm and apply to us all.

First then, for the opening of the Doctrine; First, what is meant by coming unto Jesus Christ. And secondly, what is meant by casting out; which he promiseth he will not do, if any man come unto him.

For the first then, what it is to come to Jesus Christ, not to speak of that which is necessarily presupposed, that we are all of us by nature far off from Jesus Christ, and strangers from the life of God and Covenant of promises, enemies to God and to Christ, and to our own salvation; we are miserable, and are content to be so, would be so; but that I shall leave building upon it as a thing granted by all, that it is so with us by nature, every mothers child; yea, however we may seem to be near, and have an outward nearness, as the Jews were said to be his people, near the Kingdom of God: So it may be with us at the present; that is to say, the Lord opens heaven, and lets down the white sheet of the Gospel to us, wherein we have all varieties of heaven in our Lord Jesus; and the voice is, arise and eat, come and eat, and drink and live; but alas, our hearts are so far from it, that we turn our backs upon it; and thus its with everyone of us, until the Lord proceeds further with us: therefore in the

First place, Brethren, to come to Jesus Christ in the order of nature, doth immediately presuppose a hearing and learning of God: in time haply they may agree: and this I speak of, because I neither myself would give you an effect, without showing you the dependence upon its cause, lest some might fasten it upon a false root, a false cause, and so put a fallacy upon themselves; this you have plainly in the 45. ver. of this Chapter, Whosoever therefore hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me; where, note the difference of the tense or time in the Text, whosoever hath heard and learned doth come, and therefore he cometh, because he hath heard and learned; this is God's teaching and man's learning; they shall be all taught of God: all! who? all that are in the womb of God's purpose, all that he will bring in to Jesus Christ, as he hath given to Jesus Christ: Not simply all men, for we see by daily experiences contrary, how many die and never hear of Christ: how many that hear of him, that never learn anything at all, and so do not come to Jesus Christ: yea, how many that seem to come to Jesus Christ, and make a profession, and yet depart from him, are left to their own hearts to depart (which is a kind of casting out) as those Disciples afterward, many of them went backward, being offended at our Savior's speech, concerning eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, and never walked with him anymore; therefore by the way note it, a man may be a Disciple that never learned, was never taught of God; for all that are thus taught of God, and learn, they do come to Jesus Christ; and they that so come to Christ, he saith, he will never cast them out, as we shall see more afterward. Well, but this hearing and learning of the Father, is as much as being taught of God, which in order goeth before the conversion of a sinner, or his coming to Christ, whatever it be in time; and if this Scripture would prove the needlesness of Ordinances now to grown Believers, it would prove it as well to new Converts, for these are taught of God as well as grown Believers, or else they could never come to Christ; and if they be not necessary, neither for the one nor for the other, to what end did the most wise Governor of the world and of the Church appoint them for? nothing? but that by the by. I say, this is as much as being taught of God, as the Evangelist showeth in the 45. verse, bringing that Prophecy, they shall be all taught of God; and making this inference from it, whosoever therefore heareth and learneth of the Father cometh unto me: Again, this being taught of God, it is nothing else but the drawing of the Father, as you have it in the 44. verse, no man cometh unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; it is written in the Prophets, they shall be all taught of God; therefore I conceive that this hearing and learning may be understood thus.

First, By hearing, I understand the usual means of salvation, and working of Faith, and that is the Word of Christ, the Gospel of Salvation. How can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? (saith the Apostle) And Faith cometh by hearing, and therefore it is called the word of Faith, and therein the righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith thereby: wherein? even in the Gospel preached, of which the Apostle was not ashamed: by the preaching thereof poor creatures were brought to believe in the Lord Jesus: and so the righteousness of Christ was revealed therein to them, and conveyed to them by Faith. I know not what course the Lord holds with the Heathen, to whom the Gospel is not preached by men like themselves, nor hath the Lord given us a positive account of his dealing with them, and therefore I meddle not with it; but this is the ordinary way of God's working of Faith in them who come to be capable of hearing the Word, and understanding of it; therefore usually, if God intend to bring on such a soul, or such a soul, he will bring them under the Word, either to dwell under it, or the Word accidentally to be among them. It is observable, that in Paul's conversion, only he himself heard the voice of him that talked with him, not the men that were with him, because God intended this vision for Paul, and not for them; they are said in another place, to hear a voice, but not the voice of God, but the voice of Paul, and wondered to hear him speak, and heard nobody speaking to him: hearing then of God, is hearing him speak in his Word, for it is he that speaks therein.

Secondly, By the hearing may also be understood yet further, some whisperings and motions, and secret workings of his Spirit, which many a man hath many times in hearing of the Word; the Spirit passeth by, and breatheth in the Word upon one soul, and upon another, putting on the soul to fasten upon such a a truth, or such a truth, as sweet and precious; inwardly speaking to their understandings, that they are sure the men concerned in such a threatening, in such a promise; and this is a part of God's striving by his Spirit with rebellious sinners that do not believe nor obey. Now this is a more inward hearing then the former; some sit under the same Sermon, and the Sword of the Spirit maketh no more entrance upon them, then upon a brazen wall; and it must be a sharp sword indeed, that must divide an heart of stone: many a blow is laid at a sturdy Oak, an old grown sinner, before his heart beginneth so much as to shake: and this is the second.

Thirdly, Then for the learning, which is the main thing, which goeth before the coming to Jesus Christ; this I take to to be when the Lord not only by his Messengers maketh his word plain before us, lays it to our Consciences, as the Ax to the root of the Tree, but when he opens our understandings, plucks open our eyes to behold the light, teacheth us indeed; he teacheth a poor soul in special these two or three things.

1. That he is lost, a son of perdition for ought he knoweth: many a poor Creature in the Ship, like Jonas, though ready to sink; he was asleep, if the Ship had sunk, it had been all one to him; they come and awake him up, thou sleeper, dost thou not see thou art sinking, thou art dying, thou art perishing? so the Spirit of the Lord Jesus takes a poor, sleepy, dead sinner by the understanding, tells him, thou art the man condemned, wrath abideth upon thee particularly; what dost thou mean? wilt thou have the flames of hell about thy ears, before thou wilt stir a foot? what, wilt thou bring the blood of Jesus upon thy head? thus the Spirit cometh, and shaketh a poor soul out of his sleep in sin, he never dreamed what his condition was before; this is the Spirits convincing a man of sin, setteth his sins in order before him, setteth a man upon the search into his condition, then represents all his sins in their bloody guilt and condemning nature: everyone of them with a mouth like hell, ready to swallow him up: this is a part of the cords of a man's convictions.

2. It teacheth him yet further, now no longer to lie securely in that condition: if he continue here, he must perish: therefore now he beginneth to look about him: O what shall I do? to whom shall I turn myself? is there no hope of pardon, no mercy for me? O what shall we do (said they in Acts 2.) to be saved? if the Ship be sinking, now it is time to look about for a Plank, a Mast, something to lay hold upon, something to stop the leak; if now Brethren, granadoes be cast into the soul, and be broken, and tearing all to pieces, the very flames of hell have caught hold upon such a poor creature, there is no delay; now the Spirit of the Lord working with a man's natural principle for self-preservation, puts him on to inquire for somewhat to quench it; now he beginneth to cry out, fire, fire, in his soul; O he cannot hold it!

3. It teacheth yet further, and the poor soul learneth this also effectually, that there is no help for him in the creature, neither in himself, nor in any other; if he take the quintescence of all his works, which we usually before have a high esteem of, and temper them together, alas, they will not make a balsom for this wound; now all the Spirits in all the Creatures in the world, if they could be extracted, I mean the comforts that might arise from the enjoyment of them, would not keep the poor languishing soul from fainting and dying, waters of the fullest cup, let them overflow never so much; if a man have rivers of pleasures in the enjoyment of creature-comforts, honors, relations, parts, learning, gifts, whatsoever they be, alas, the poor creature is now taught, they will not quench this spark that is gotten into the conscience; I mean, they will not allay the trouble of his spirit, will not heal the wounds of his spirit, so that now he knoweth not what to do; the Hart, they say, if smitten with an arrow, goeth to her herb to cause the arrow to fall out; and other creatures being poisoned, stung, sick, distempered, run to their cure by a natural instinct; but now, when God hath shot this arrow into a poor soul, it wounds too deep, sticks too fast for the teeth of any creature to pluck it out, or for the virtue of any creature; yea they are so far from healing, that rather the consideration of them, are as oil to the flame, to vex and wound so much the more: well, this is much to be taught; he that learneth this effectually, and not in the notion only, goeth far; there are many convinced of their wounds, their bleeding, dying condition, but they imagine there is help to be had in something else: they run to a duty of their own, as if a day of fasting would make amends for all, run to this or that, unfaithful Shepherds that will daub and heal them deceitfully, get it skinned over a little, and so the world will do it, building, and planting, and marrying, and drinking, and pastimes, these may skin over the wound, but it heals not; and miserable is the condition of poor creatures, so deluded; but now they that are taught of God, and learn, they learn this effectually and practically, that there is nothing in the creature that can do it.

Fourthly, They learn this also, that though all the world be but as a cloud without rain, when the soul is a fire, a Well without water, a broken Cistern that leaks out all, a Torrent, a Brook that is dried up, when the soul is parched and burnt up with the scorching heat of the displeasure of God. O when the Lord setteth a soul in his sight, and looks upon him as a consuming fire, with his eyes as a flaming fire, ready with a sight of him to devour him, and he cannot get out of his sight. O now the world, all their comforts will not screen them from his eyes: but what will? only the Lord Jesus, he can be a cooling shadow, to shadow us from this scorching heat, and this the Spirit of the Lord persuadeth the soul; we all of us will talk of it, O Jesus Christ is our help and hope, and look for salvation in no other, but in him; it is grown now so cus • omary a thing among us, that it is in every man's mouth; but to how few hath the Lord spoken this to our hearts that thus it is?

Fifthly, Again, another thing that we are taught of God, before we come to Jesus Christ, is this: that he is willing to let out of his ointments to heal: he is willing to expend that precious balm of Gilead upon us, else the soul will never come to him: it is that that keepeth off many a soul a long time; the Spirit of the Lord persuadeth the poor soul, that though he hath been an enemy to Jesus Christ, and grieved him, and torn his wounds, and rent his flesh with horrid oaths and blasphemies, trampled his blood underfoot, have been never so horrid a transgressor, yet he persuadeth him that the Lord Jesus is willing to receive sinners without exception, if they come to him. Suppose there was a Physician, whose skill were so great, and his store of Medicines so inexhaustible, and sovereign, and his heart so large, as that he proclaimeth to all, that whosoever is wounded, though never so desperately; whosoever is sick unto the death, one of the Stone, another of the Gout, another of the plague, I will cure you all; O then, if poor creatures did believe this, were persuaded of it, they would come, and not before; O saith one, mine is a plague sore, and it is past cure; mine is an hereditary disease, saith another, and so far gone, I cannot be cured; they come not, and perish; O mine is such a disease; it will cost more pains and charge then I think he will be willing to be at to cure, and therefore he cometh not to him, and so perisheth; just so it is in this case, except the Lord do secretly insinuate it into the soul, how willingly the Lord Jesus writ it upon his Spirit, and that the Lord Jesus is willing to receive, to heal, to save the soul that will not come to him; but thus much for these things, which in the order of nature go before a coming to Christ; now for the acts wherein it formally consist.

First then, when the heart is thus made sensible of what is in himself working to death, and what is not in himself, nor in any other creature to save, then I say, there is from the teaching of the heart, how able and willing the Lord Jesus is, there ariseth a desire in the soul after the Jesus Christ; not as if this did flow or were produced by the former apprehensions of a man's own necessities of Christ, and of the fullness in him, as a fountain, and the openness of the fountain, which is sealed to none that come; for alas, one grace, though never so habitual and deeply rooted, cannot produce another, no not faith itself produce love, but the Spirit which works faith, works love in our hearts also; much less then, can a conviction be the cause of a conviction, or a turning unto the Lord Jesus; but it is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, when he hath so opened the eyes of an Hagar to see the fountain opened that was near her before, but she saw it not; and let us see that our bottle is dried up, and all other hopes in the creature perished, then I say, the Spirit inclineth the Will to come to Jesus Christ; then he works sweetly, though strongly, an inclination, a desire after him. It is not in these things as in nature, an ordinary providence concurring with the actings of the creature, according to their necessities. When Hagar saw the fountain, she needs no further persuasion to go unto it, her necessity was a cord strong enough to draw her, yea a weight, a spring to carry her swiftly to it; but alas, when we see the bottles dried, see that the creatures say, it is not in us to be had: and see there is a fountain opened, yet such is the waywardness of our hearts, yea such the enmity in our hearts against the Lord Jesus, though the streams of his love toward us were as strong as death, that we will not yet come to him, we had rather sit down, as you see some sullen creatures taken from their damms, will rather perish then receive food at the hand of man, such an indisposition and averseness to man there is; and so it is in this case, except the Lord Jesus come in by another act of his Spirit, and bow the will, and make us desirous of himself; O then, when this act of power is put forth, the soul beginneth to long, to desire after Jesus Christ, O that I had him, O that I might but have a sight of him; then there is getting upon the tree by a low Zacchaeus, then there is an ascending in this Ordinance and that Ordinance, and everywhere the desire of the soul is for Jesus Christ; this is a coming, for the affections are to the soul as the feet to the body, that which carrieth the soul in and out in all, to this object, or from that object; O then when shall I come and appear before him!

Secondly, In this coming to Christ is included a passing all other stands and rests on this side Jesus Christ; many a poor soul cometh near to Christ, and to the Kingdom of God, and yet falls short of him; as an arrow not drawn up to the head, falls short of the mark, and there it sticks where it fastens, goeth no further: So here, some upon their convictions, the discovery of their conditions, run to this Ordinance, to that; to this duty, to that; as things that of themselves, as performances, should give rest to them: and alas, they are but bottles themselves, if Christ be not in them, and there found to a soul, and sought by a soul, they are dry and sapless; when many a rich man in hearing a Sermon, hath a qualm cometh over his heart, and he beginneth to be a little sick of sin, which the Word hath lanced, and it strikes to the heart; what doth he do? alas, he cheers himself with this, Surely if I were such a sinner, God would not regard me, God would never have blessed me as he hath done, therefore this is but a foolish melancholy fit: The drunkard and the wanton can eat, and drink, and sing, and dance down twenty such pills as these; though they troubled them a little at the first, they make a shift to claw it off; The civil good-natured man, though he see and know himself to be a sinner, yet he is none of the worst, he doth much good in the place where he is; yea, he prayeth, and heareth, and keepeth Sabbaths, and thinks this shall make amends for all, and so walks in the sparks of his own kindling; but alas, the end of these things will not be rest, for they shall lie down in sorrow, and shall have it from the hand of God too; & then, who can resist it when lifted up, or heal his blow when it is given? I tell you, Brethren, I doubt this is the grand imposture of most of our hearts, for it can hardly be, but we must sometime or another be convinced our condition by nature is very sad and forlorn, and men are not men, if they be not carried forth to seek some course-for their escaping; and how few alas, reach the Lord Jesus? therefore we mnst needs stick somewhere short of him. Ah, the Lord grant that none of us, who think upon more probable grounds then others, and others think so of us too, that we are such as come to Jesus Christ; that we sit not down in anything on this side him, for if we do we perish: Therefore I say, the soul that cometh to Jesus Christ, goeth out of all; alas, if he have never so much of the world, profits, pleasures at will, he is as rich as another, and hath as much content in relations suitable to his hearts as another, and it may be as much in praying, fasting, hearing, using of the Ordinances, as another; and yet all this is nothing to him, satisfieth him not, he cannot take up with it, they are but husks, they will not satisfy, however they may fill.

Thirdly, There is a coming unto Jesus Christ, it is not a going towards him, but a coming to him; this is built much what upon the willingness of Jesus Christ to receive them; this desire after him, haply more fitly may be annexed to the power of Christ to save to the utmost. O when the soul knoweth this, O then that I had him, that I were in him; but now when the soul cometh to understand, is persuaded he is willing to receive all that come: Well then, the Spirit quickening, persuading; the soul resolves, I will venter upon him, I will go and cast myself upon him, and bear myself upon him, hang all my weight upon him; and this also he is taught of God, this is imprest upon his Spirit, by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, this is the drawing nigh, yea not nigh to him, but coming unto him; this is the touch of faith, if it be never so secret, a touch of faith that others take no notice of; yea, that a poor soul through the fears and troubles that are upon him, and earnestness of Spirit to have all quieted and cleansed, and done away forthwith, thinketh he doth not, he hath not touched the Lord Jesus, yet he may have touched him, and be come unto him, if he be carried out in his affections indeed and in truth beyond all; count all as nothing, as dung and dross; as an hungry man would prefer a piece of bread before much riches, he cannot eat nor drink gold nor silver; and so it is here, & he is resolved upon it, that he will lie at the pool of Bethesda, his eyes shall be up, and are up to him, he will hang on him, not let him go, except he shake him off • into hell; O this is a soul indeed that cometh to Jesus Christ.

Fourthly, He cometh to him with words too, at least heart-words, if not words of confession (I will wrap up these things as fast as I can, I doubt I stay too long in the first part) words of confession, and words of petition; of confession, so the poor Prodigal, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son. O I have sinned from the womb, conceived in sin, born in iniquity, I have sinned before thee, not regarding thy all-seeing eye, desperately, against light, against knowledge, against mercy, against the blood of the Lord Jesus, against all that grace whereby thou hast waited upon me to be gracious, O I am no more worthby to be called thy sun: O I am not worthy to lift up mine eye toward heaven, saith the poor Publican, I am not worthy to come near to the Temple, to come among the company of the people of God; but stands afar off, and there acknowledgeth his vileness. Ah, so it is with many a poor soul, he deserveth not to be owned by the Lord, nor by any of his; if he fall upon me as a mill-stone, to grind me to power, he doth me no wrong.

Secondly, With words of petition to him, that he would have mercy upon us, that he would pardon, and heal, and give himself to us indeed, that he would be our God; a soul that is thoroughly sensible of his want of Christ, crieth our after him; not with a still listless desire, but the heart maketh a noise unto the Lord, O give me Christ or else I die; Lord Jesus save my poor soul, else I perish; O sin is ready to swallow me up; O the grave and hell are ready to shut their mouths upon me, save me or else I perish, as they to Christ; the waves and billows of thy displeasure are the shaking and breaking of many poor souls. O what mone many times will a poor soul that wants the Lord Jesus make to him, lead me to the rock that is higher then I: O how he sucks the promises, and every argument he can fetch out of them, he cometh with it, and lays it before the Lord, yea every letter of his name, the Lord, the Lord God, gracious and merciful, &c. he pleadeth to the Lord, O thy name is great to the ends of the earth, therefore pardon me; O mine iniquity is great, therefore pardon; thy faithfulness, thy mercy, thy promise, thy dear Son, the highest pledge of thy love, that came to save sinners, the price is paid, the greatest part is done already; all that a poor soul can find, he will then make use of before the Lord: and indeed, these are the sweet breathings of faith, these are the near approaches of the soul to Christ, this is to lay hold upon him, though the soul feel little comfort for the present, yet this is a coming to Christ: So the Prodigal, O make me but as one of thine hired servants.

Fifthly and lastly, it is a closing with Jesus Christ, as he is offered, not by the halves, Christ is not divided, as the Apostle saith, his righteousness from his holiness, nor his holiness from his righteousness; therefore saith the Apostle, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him: O here many are deceived, they would have Christ, but they will not be his; what a strange unreasonable thing is this, they would have the benefit of having him to be their Father, and be heirs, but they will not be subject as children; they would have all the immunities, and privileges, peace, and prosperity of soul under him as a King, but they will not submit themselves to him as King and Lord; they would have him for an husband, and yet will not obey. O this is not a coming to Jesus Christ, this is to serve ourselves upon him; but the Lord Jesus will search this out, keep it as close as we can from others, that they may think well of us, yea from ourselves also, through the jugglings of our hearts, we cannot keep it from him, he knoweth where there is a soul that takes the Lord Jesus without any reserve and equivocation; Aug. Is non modo durus, was no good sign of his condition at that time, though afterward it was otherwise, for we find he acknowledgeth it, & bewails it; the Lord grant that the doom of Ananias and Sapphira reach not to many of our souls, for pretending to give up the whole to Jesus Christ, and yet reserve part to ourselves; yea, pretend to come to Jesus Christ, and yet divide him. Well, you see Brethren, what this coming to Jesus Christ is; it is not then everyone that saith, Lord, Lord, nor crieth out, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, that come to Christ; it is not the having a few faint wishings and wouldings, which like the untimely birth of a woman, like a bable, perish and never appear more, that is a coming to Christ; it is not your sucking sweetness from your own duties, performances, Ordinances, privileges, anything short of Christ that is coming to him. Dear Lord Jesus, how many of us loiter, and take up our rest short of thee? It is not a bare acknowledgement of our being sinners in the general, and a Lord have mercy from the mouth, without any sense of our condition upon our hearts, that is a coming to Jesus Christ. It is not a desire to be pardoned alone, for then none of us should miscarry; and O that it were so if the Lord see it good: But it is the earnest breathings of a poor, broken, lost soul, the moan of a poor wounded creature, the pantings of a poor languishing heart after Jesus Christ, a making him alone our stay, a resigning ourselves to him, that is the coming to him here spoken of, and such a soul he will not cast out. Pardon me, I know I am too slow for the acute, and I wish I be not as much too swift for many of us that are dull of understanding, slow of heart to understand and believe these things; the condition of people now a days, I take it, doth call upon us to speak oftener and more fully to beat it upon poor creatures, the nature of this coming to Jesus Christ, then any other thing; as I find still in all the preachings of the Apostles, they did endeavor to make good that truth most necessarily, that Jesus was the Christ, because that was most opposed in those days; so now this being granted by all, and already, that we are sinners, the main work lies herein, to undeceive poor creatures, who think all is well enough with them; and therefore I am the more large in this part, and indeed much more large then I thought to be.

The second thing then is, what is meant by this not casting out, wherein lies the marrow, and fatness, and sweetness of this Scripture; and indeed I think the whole Book of God doth not afford a more refreshing word, a more establishing word to a poor weak creature then this is: O then let us see what it is!

First, he will not cast him out, he will not cast him out of his heart, that is the first: not out of his love, for we must know this all of us, this day, which may be a comfort to many a doubting, trembling, misgiving-heart, that if the Lord Jesus have done this in us and for us, hath given us thus to come to him in truth: for degrees of the things formerly spoken of, I intend not them as to make up the nature of our duty, it may be in a weaker and a stronger measure; but if in truth it can be found, that so we come, know for thine everlasting comf 〈…〉 t, as base thoughts as thou hast of thyself, and of thy vileness, and of thy unworthiness, thy dear Savior hath precious thoughts of thee, thou art written in his heart, thou wast in his heart, when he wrought this work in thee and for thee; yea, long before this: for the truth is, were not he first as well as last in the work, the Alpha as well as the Omega, in that work of salvation, we should never come to him, nor should we abide with him. O thy Law is in my heart, saith he, in Psal. 44. 8. thy command, I delight to do thy will; and what was that? that all that the Father hath given to him, he should redeem, and deliver, and save; and therefore if it be thus with us, we were in his heart before; as it was said of that Queen when she died, That if her heart were opened, they should find Calais there. Ah, Brethren, surely the names of the choice of God, which now appears and breaks out by this that is given to us to come to Jesus Christ, all that the Father hath given, shall come to me; I say, our names were then upon his heart, and now are upon his heart; as the Priest did bear the names of Israel before the Lord, and therefore the Lord will not cast out such a poor soul out of his heart, out of his love; O my loving kindness I will never take from thee; however he may chastise, however he may with-hold comfort for a time, yet believe it, O that every poor weak creature might this day have it given from on high to believe, that the Lord will not cast them out of his heart; this is thy greatest fear, poor soul, lest thou shouldest lose him, lest he should disown thee, and say, I will not have mercy on thee: Alas, it is as impossible, as white to be black, or black white: hath he once owned thee, and made manifest his love, in drawing thee, bringing thee to come to him, and will he now change his mind? It is true, if he were as man he might repent, but the Lord is not as man: O what comfort is here, what encouragement is this!

Secondly, He will not cast them out of his Church; that is, his Kingdom, his Family, his School, his Vineyard, he will not cast them out; for if there be this coming to Jesus Christ, there is faith; and by that faith; as we are made one with Jesus Christ, so also with all his members; so saith the Apostle, we are members one of another; ye are come, saith the Apostle, to Mount-Zion, and to the assembly of the first-born; that is to say, you are gathered into the flock of Christ, and out of this ye shall not be cast; it may come to pass, that through the ignorance of men they may be cast out of the visible Church or Churches of Christ, and have little fellowship and communion with them, and it cannot but be a burden to a gracious spirit; and oh that the Lord would so clear up his mind, that we might not thus by mis-apprehension be a burden each to other; but here is the comfort, if we thus come to Jesus, we are of the invisible Church, and he that knoweth the heart, knoweth his own image there, his own hand-writing there, every spark of his own kindling there, and cannot be deceived, and therefore there is no fear, he will not cast away out of this Church the assembly of the first-born, not out of this his family; will a Parent cast out his child that he hath begotten in his own image, because of some deformity it may be, and imperfection that it doth not resemble the father in, or because of its weakness in those parts which it hath? even grace for grace we have from the Lord Jesus, though weak and imperfect; and will he cast out? surely no.

Thirdly, He will not cast out; that is to say, he will not send away empty, cast them out of his presence when they come to him; neither at our first coming, no nor our after-coming unto him: Not at our first coming; where is the soul that can say, that he did thus come to Jesus Christ and was refused, was sent away? it may be thou camest full, full of thyself, not with such an empty hand to take him; it may be thou camest with a false heart, and then well might he cast thee cut, for he knoweth how the heart stands towards him: it may be thou wast troubled only with the smart of sin, and not the filthiness, the putrifaction of the wound and loathsome nature of it, and wouldst have Christ only to have served thy turn, and then wouldst have turned thy back upon him: alas, he knoweth this, and therefore he resisteth the proud, a man of a Pharisaical spirit, a man of a Laodicean temper, that is rich and needeth nothing, cometh to Christ for a complement; thou comest to him whole, not sick, nor wounded; if thou didst, and with such a heart as we have said, I cannot believe that the Lord Jesus would have cast thee out, no more then I can believe that be can lie who is truth itself. O who would not venture upon this Jesus Christ▪ be his condition never so sad, he will not refuse if we come to him: we perish for our not coming.

Secondly, Even in our after-comings to him, he will not cast out; tell me, when didst thou ever come before the Lord, with a heart sensible of thy want of him, with a renewing of the acts of self-denial, being nothing in thyself, that thou we • test away empty? did ever any hungering soul come to▪ this Ordinance, where we have the most royal dainties that ever itself affords in some degree, even the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus, the strong wines of consolation, and didst thou go away empty? surely no; he that cometh full, goeth away empty; but he that cometh empty, goeth away filled with some refreshing: Haply thou mayst be put to it to wait a little while for it, but have it thou shalt: If either the Lord Jesus wanted a fullness of mercy, there were not room enough in his heart for us all, it were something; or if he wanted propensity and bowels, it were something; if he were not a merciful, pitiful high-Priest, or if he did not know our meanings by our very looks, or if he did not know our hearts where they are upright, it were something indeed, there were some ground to be discouraged; but who can suppose any of these? O that we could more strongly close with these; with what confidence should we then come to him? and how full a recompense of reward should we find, even in the first fruits here, • f there were no more?

Fourthly, He will not cast them out of heaven; for every child of God, as I may say, hath one foot in heaven already, as an unbeliever hath one foot in hell already; where our hope is, there our hearts are▪ O that I could • ay they are there, they should be there, there is our Anchor, in heaven, there the Lord Jesus is, our head is, who hath taken possession for us, and went to prepare a place for us; and therefore the works of grace in the soul are called, things that have salvation, he will not cast them out; no, by no means: two negatives do deny more ve • emently: some shall be cast out at the last day, yea, the Kingdoms children, Members of the Church, and such as have lived under the Ordinances, as the Jews did strangers; others, any that hear, and believe, and obey the Lord Jesus, shall be received in. Now Brethren, our hearts are so vain, we can scarce settle upon it, to think of the woeful condition that will be, to be cast out from the Lord Jesus; but no man that cometh to Christ shall be cast out. O then, it is not greatness shall enter in, nor riches, nor beauty, nor learning, nor gifts, nor any of all these, but merely the coming unto Jesus Christ; he will never cast out such a soul.

You have seen already, what▪ it is to come to Jesus Christ, in many particulars, and what is necessarily presupposed, and such he will not cast out, no, in no wise or sort whatsoever; but alas, the difficulty is to persuade poor creatures of this, that are upon the turning pin; many can say, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean; but the willingness of Christ to accept of poor sinners, is that we many times doubt very much of; and it is not the tongue of men nor Angels that can persuade a man to this; and well it is for us that it is so, for then the Faith of poor creatures would consist in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God only: let me lay before your hearts, and my own, a few considerations from Scripture, which, if the Lord be pleased to breath in them, may be a support to Faith in this.

First then, The Lord Jesus hath promised, that if any man come to him, he will in no wise cast them out; And shall men that are liars, yet count it their honor to make good their word; and do you think Jesus Christ his honor is not as dear to him, as the honor of men is to them? is he not the Amen, the faithful and true Witness? all that he saith is Yea, and Amen in him; is it not his own nature to be true and faithful? is he equal, or equals with his Father? (as some critically note) that is to say, in all his perfections essential: and is he not equal with him in truth? (saith the Apostle) God who cannot lie, hath promised; would he not cease to be God, to be the highest perfection, and rule of all perfections, if there were any obliquity in him? is not Satan a liar, and the father of it, and shall we father a lie then upon God? what a Mediator were Jesus Christ, and how should the Promises of God in him, be Yea, and Amen, if he could falsify his own word to his people? Well then, surely if Jesus Christ hath promised it, as you see he hath, will he not be as good as his word? did he eve • break with any poor soul, though never so unworthy? which is the great plea of poor creatures: did he ever cast out any? hath he not been as good as his word? And is he not the same yesterday, today, and forever? But thus much for the first: it leads to the second.

Secondly, If that Jesus Christ should cast out any poor creature, he would plainly be argued to be changable: for I shown you before, that none that came to him, but they were in his heart before the world was, and his delight was with the sons of men: and is he now so changed, as when they do come, he will▪ cast them out? did he before the world, (as I may say) please himself with the thoughts of it, that he should be a Savior to his people, to save them from their sins, and from wrath to come, and when they come to him, to the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, he should refuse them? would not this be more then a shadow of turning, if his heart, that once was so toward them, should now be turned so against them, as to disown them when they follow after him? O surely this cannot be!

Thirdly, If so, It would be rather a slighting of his Fathers gift; for he hath given them to Jesus Christ even before the world was; in which respect, They are said to be chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world: all that the Father hath given to me, shall come; and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed; and therefore, now when a poor soul cometh with his mouth in the dust, with a rope about his neck, with a word of confession, petition, with sighs and groans, with mournings over Christ, and mournings after Christ, and he shall now shut up his mercy from him, cast him out, turn his back upon him, would not this be an high undervaluing of the gift of the Father, and slighting of it? you know that gifts are not given from one friend to another, but as tokens of respect and love, and so he gave a number of poor creatures to his Son for him to redeem and purchase to himself, and if he should slight them now, his Fathers love would be much undervalued.

Fourthly, It would be failing in his trust: for the Lord Jesus is the great undertaker for his poor people, and help was laid upon this mighty one, mighty to save to the utmost; for this end I say, he undertook the ransoming and redeeming of a people to himself, and to his Father, and his Father committed the charge of it to him; He came not to do his own Will, but the Will of him that sent him; (as he saith in that place) I delight to do thy Will; the Will of his Father: and what was that Will? That is, That none that come to Jesus Christ should miscarry: This is the Fathers Will that hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day, (that is to say) as Mediator, as by the influence of an Head unto the Members; so to raise them up, is here meant: Well, Of, all that he hath given me, either in his purpose of Grace, or actually in their Calling, which is an evidence of the secret purpose of God, I should lose none: now none can come to Jesus Christ, except he be given to Christ of the Father; that is clear, by comparing the words of the Text with the former: Ye will not come to me, or ye have seen me, and yet believe not: but though you believe not, All that the Father hath given me, shall come, shall believe in me: well, As many as were ordained, believed, came to Jesus Christ: as we have expounded this coming the last time. Now I say, if Jesus Christ should not take up every poor soul that cometh, he would not discharge his trust, do the Will of his Father which he hath undertaken; and then what a Savior should we make of him?

Fifthly, Then the Lord Jesus should slight and undervalue his own blood: he only knew what a value his Godhead put upon it, and therefore accordingly, he only can bear a proportionable esteem of his blood; did he not shed his precious blood, That whosoever believeth, might not perish, but have everlasting life? or whosoever cometh to him, might not perish? for believing, if it be not convertible with coming to Christ, yet it is doubtless comprehended in it, as a main part of it. And what then, when a poor sinner laden with iniquity, whose burden is too heavy for him to bear, cometh to Christ, groaning and panting for ease and refreshing, rowls himself upon him, hangs all his weight upon him, lies at his feet in his weariness of spirit under it, if he now cast out this poor creature, would not this be an undervaluing of his blood, and the price of our redemption? would it not appear that he was lavish of his blood? Brethren, is the Lord Jesus so angry with sinners for trampling his blood under their feet, and for neglecting so great salvation, as he hath wrought out for them, (as you have not long since heard) and will he (think you) be guilty of slighting his own most precious blood? O surely no: And would it not be a neglecting of the salvation, to improve the price he hath laid down, if he should exclude any poor sinner that cometh to him, though he have not been what he might be? surely if ever our blessed Savior would have balked it, it would have been when he was to lay down the price, his life, his blood▪ for sinners, when he was amazed at the apprehension of his Fathers displeasure, when that cup of trembling and astonishment was to be put into his hand, to be drunk off to the very dregs; but yet he willingly undertook this, took it off to the bottom, that nothing might remain of the dregs to his people; which potion put him into a bloody sweat, filled him with horror, and even astonished him; but hath he done all this, and is it possible he should now slight it, by casting out any poor soul purchased with so dear a rate, that now cometh to him? O surely it cannot be.

Sixthly, Because this would be to undo what the Father hath done; For it is the Fathers work to draw a poor soul, to teach them, (as you have heard) before they can come to Jesus Christ, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; you could not have a desire towards the Lord Jesus, not a breathing after the water-brooks, the Fountain of life, which is in Jesus Christ, but that the Father hath breathed it into thee; now the Lord Jesus, if he should cast out a poor soul that cometh with such breathings after him, would quench the Spirit, would put out the light of Israel, should destroy the works of his Father, instead of destroying the works of the devil; therefore surely it cannot be, that he should cast out any poor soul that cometh to him, that his Father hath drawn with the cords of a man, and with the cords of love: Is it the work of a Savior to cut the cords, whereby poor creatures are drawn to him, and not rather of a murderer, a soul-destroyer? and can we have such hard thoughts of Christ our dearest Savior? O far be it from us! this cannot be.

Seventhly, He would hereby bring upon himself the imputation of delusion, and mocking of poor sinners, not only because of his Promise, and offers of Grace, but in two respects among others; for I will not dwell too long upon these things.

First, Because of the many invitations that he hath made to poor creatures to come to him. O mind, how he proclaims it to everyone that thirsteth: Come, come, buy wine and milk without money or monies worth; you that have no worthiness, nor any money to buy an acccptation, come to the Waters, and what then? when they come to the Fountain, to the Waters, will the Lord Jesus shut them out, cast them away? is there any such imposture in him? Come to me all that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest: what then? is a poor soul persuaded of his burden, and where rest is to be had, and cometh to Jesus Christ, ready to sink at his foot, and faint away under his burden, and will he there suffer him to perish, and turn away his face from him? I beseech you, (saith the Apostle) as if God did beseech you by us, to be reconciled to God, ye rebels, for so we are all 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , ye run-aways, what do you mean? why will ye perish? Why will ye die (saith he) O house of Israel? why now if a rebel turn, and his heart relent, and he would fain close with this Prince of Peace, that would fain be at peace with him, do you think he will turn his back upon him Surely no: he might have done it to the thief upon the Cross, that truly repented and believed, as to any, if he would; but if he should do so, then sinners had something to answer indeed, that there is reason wherefore we should not come to thee; who would come to be mocked, to be deceived, tantalized, to have the fountain opened, and stand open for any to come that will come, and when we are willing, then to roll a stone upon it, is not this deceiving? the Jews indeed took Christ to be a deceiver, and therefore they came not to him; I wish we be not many of us Jews in heart, though we be Christians in name, our conversation witnesseth to our faces; for why else do not sinners come to Jesus Christ, except they look upon all these invitations of Christ as delusions; but take heed, that as they perished, so we also perish not in the same gain-saying.

Secondly, He would be convicted of imposture, if he should reject any poor soul that cometh to him, because it is he also that draweth them as well as the Father, else they could not come. So he saith, When I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me; that is to say, all that the Father hath given me, I will draw to me; and so he doth objective, as the carcass draweth the Eagles together, as the willow branch draweth the Lambs after it, as a fair lovely object draweth the eye, sweet melody draweth the ear; and effective also, for what the Father doth; he doth also, for he and the Father are one. Now doth the Lord Jesus draw and persuade men, send forth his Spirit, which is his arm unbared and stretched out, to lay hold upon the hearts of sinners, to draw them, to make them willing to accept of deliverance and salvation in him, from the filthiness and power, as well as from the guilt of sin, and when they come, will he shut them out? were not this horrible deceit? O, surely Jesus Christ cannot so deceive poor creatures, these are most unworthy thoughts of him!

Eighthly and lastly, It is inconsistent with his bowels and tenderness, which naturally he hath to poor sinners, specially such as the Father hath given unto him; could the Father shut out the Prodigal Son when he returned to him? his bowels would not bear it, he ran and met him, &c. Joseph made it a little strange at the first to his Brethren, and spake a little roughly to them, but mind you, he could not hold, he was fain to go into a place to weep, egerere dolorem, to empty his affection into tears for them, to see those Brethren of his that had done him so much wrong, dealt so hardly with him; O when he heard them confess what they had done, and their consciences smit them for it, then doubtless his bowels were rolled together within him; and for a while, I say, he made a shift to cover it, and put some of them into prison, but all this while his bowels were moved; and was he not a type of Jesus Christ in this? haply, as I may say, in other respects I shall not determine it, but when a poor sinner cometh to Jesus Christ, that hath sold him for a lust, dealt hardly with him, crucified him, and now he is convinced of it, he mourns for it, and mourns over him; did Josephs bowels yearn, and do not the Lord Jesus his bowels? is the love of women to be compared to the love of Jesus Christ? O surely no; he may seem for a while to turn his back upon a poor creature, but all this while the fire of love is burning within, and will burst out into a flame; all this while what workings there are in the heart of Jesus Christ towards a poor sinner; as a Father, that for a time to humble his child, will make it strange to him; O how full is his heart, how much ado hath he to hold, as Joseph to his Brethren! O it is the rejoicing of Jesus Christ, when poor sinners do come to him to see his seed, to see his blood that was sowed, and his Semen Ecclesiae to come up, it is his rejoicing; and will any Husband man in the world, that sows precious seed, when it puts forth, beat it down again, nip off the buds, the tops of it? it cannot be: he is grieved when poor creatures will not be persuaded to come, through hardness of heart, and unbelief, and waywardness: we will not come to the fountain, but sit down, it may be, some of us with Hagar, weeping over our empty bottles, and making sad moan and complaints for want of righteousness, because of sin, and yet come not to him; this is a grief to him, as it was among the Jews: O did he ever in the days of his flesh refuse any poor creature that came to him, either for healing of soul or body, which is the lesser; yea, when they came some of them for the healing of the body, did he not heal the soul? and all out of the abundant riches of his love to poor creatures. O surely then, now he is in heaven, at the right hand of the Father, being no less tender of his poor people, if any come now, he will in no wise cast them out. Well, the Lord write these arguments upon our hearts: it may be some of us may have occasion, or have at present need of them to persuade us of this truth.

We now come to the Application.

Use 1. And first, in the first Use, It may serve for a lamentation, to lament the backwardness of our hearts to come to Jesus Christ, for if our hearts were not backward to come to him, what need all this ado to make poor creatures willing to come to Jesus Christ? O, what is the reason! what a strange enmity is in our hearts against the Lord Jesus, that we run away from him instead of coming; yea, though he follow with a Pardon in his hand, purchased with his blood; O I am Jesus who died for you, turn unto me, my heart is toward you, turn unto me, I delight not in your death, turn unto me; O why will ye die? and yet poor creatures will not be persuaded to come to Jesus Christ: O what is it? what is it Brethren, that can keep us off thus from Jesus Christ? in our unwillingness to close with him, to come unto him, have not many of us many times clearly been convinced that our condition hath been slark naught? that we stand guilty before God, and he will by no means clear the guilty: and convinced that in Jesus Christ there is a doing away of this guilt, a bloting out of the hand-writings that are against us, and contrary to us; if we will but come to him? No, we are like sullen creatures, will rather perish then come to Jesus Christ. I do not believe but many of us are convinced, and what shift can we make to smother our convictions? I know not: but it appears we come not to Jesus Christ: As long as the Prodigal could have husks to fill his belly with, he would not come home to his Father; as long as ever the poor woman in the Gospel had anything to spend upon the Physicians, she came not to Jesus Christ; as long as ever poor sinners can make a shift to daub over the breaches that sometimes the Word maketh upon their consciences, they will not come: O the fault lies in the Will, Brethren: Ye will not come unto me, saith our Savior, that ye might have life; how often would I have gathered you as a Hen doth her Chickens, and ye would not? they would rather perish then be healed by such an hand, even the hand of Jesus Christ. O the deadly enmity that is in everyone of us by nature! What, we are not willing to part with sins, and therefore we come not to Jesus Christ: we are not willing to be healed, wilt thou be made whole? we are profane, and we would be so still; proud, and would be so still; unclean, and would be so still: We know, if we come to him, put on Christ, we must put off the lusts of our former conversation. O wretched love to sin, that preferreth it before the Lord Jesus, before the salvation of our poor souls! What, are we loath through the pride of our hearts to take the shame of our iniquities? Haply something of this nature kept off the Prodigal: Is it not more shame to do sin, then to acknowledge it when it is done? what is it, Brethren? how strange a thing is it, that men should take such pains to hew out broken Cisterns to themselves that will hold no water? dig deep into the world to find some rest there; exhaust their strength in duties, in prayers, and tears, as many self-Savior's do, specially the Papists; and I wish there be none among us, rather then they will come to Jesus Christ to accept of that righteousness, that pardon, which shall cost us nothing but acceptance: O the pride of our hearts; O the enmity of our hearts, against the Lord Jesus; and is there such an heart in everyone of us, Brethren? Yea, even in the best, until he overcome us with his loving-kindness; and is not this a thing worthy to be bewailed? Yea, if it were possible with tears of blood; being such an aversion from the blood of Jesus Christ, and the dearest love of our Savior to poor creatures. Or what is it, Brethren? is it the more love we find from Jesus Christ, are our hearts the more averse from him? if he did profess himself an enemy to us, to destroy and slay us, if we came near him, to scatter us with the streams of flaming indignation, issuing from his throne and presence, we could do no more then run away from him, as many of us now do. O that we could lay it to heart!

The second Use shall be, to show us the grievous nature of the sin of unbelief, and haply this may make poor creatures afraid of straining courtesy with Christ, and afraid to come to him because of their vileness, &c. to complement with him.

First, Consider but the unreasonableness of the sin of unbelief above other sins indeed; though all sin be unreasonable, other sins they have some pretence of profit, or pleasure, but this hath nothing but woe and misery attending it, condemnation. But that I shall not insist upon, for there is hardly anything but Satan and a man's carnal reason will put a specious pretence upon it.

Therefore consider this unreasonableness; First, in respect of ourselves, that being plunged into such a depth of distraction and misery of sin, and guilt, and wrath, that when we are sinking and drowning, we will not so much as put out the hand to lay hold upon a twig, upon something held out to us; is not this unreasonable, and unnatural? it raceth out the principle of self-preservation that is in every man by nature; so that I will be bold to say, the greatest reason in the world improved to keep off a poor soul from Jesus Christ, is unreasonable; it is the depravation of our carnal reason: had it not been unreasonable if Hagar, having a fountain opened her before her eyes, and she languishing for thirst, and must perish without it, and yet would sit still, is not this unreasonable?

Again, If we look upon the Lord Jesus, who seeks to us, beseecheth us to accept of him, of mercy, of pardon in his blood, the Creator cometh down to the creature, poor worms who have our being by his Word, and might be dissolved with his Word, and yet we stand it out, and will not accept of him, who would bestow himself and his infinite all-sufficiency upon us, and we will not; is not this unreasonable? that a Prince should seek to a worthless rebel to be reconciled, and he will not hear of it: If he had any need of us, and upon that account would have poor sinners to come to him, to make a supply of his wants, it were something; but all the want; the indigency is on our part, and therefore unbelief is the more unreasonable thing: O how might we here break out and say, hear ye heavens, and give ear O earth, for the Lord Jesus, the Lord of both, heir of all things, the offended Majesty seeks to poor rebelling worms to be reconciled, but they will not hear of it, they come not in, they close not with him.

Secondly, As the unreasonableness of the thing, so also we may take notice of the injuriousness of this sin of unbelief; I would a little insist upon this sin, the more, because that though I find many a poor heart seemeth to be weary of sin, and afraid of sinning against God in other kinds, yet seeth not in the mean time how exceedingly he sins against him by his unbelief, not closing with Christ, and coming to him; therefore see in the second place, the injuriousness of this sin of unbelief, how injurious it is to Jesus Christ, Brethren? for if the truth were known, what is the reason wherefore we need so much ado, why we come not in to him? We either think he cannot save us; our sins are so great; O saith one, there was never such a wretch as I, though he have accepted of great sinners, such as Paul, and Manasseh, and Magdalene, yet there was never such a wretch as I; O surely, my wounds are such, there is no healing for them: What is this, but to make Jesus Christ weak, and a Physician of no value? Is there any sin higher then the imbrewing their hands in the blood of Jesus Christ himself? and suppose thou be such an one, and this is that thou criest out of, thou hast come so often to the Lord's Supper with a common heart, which is to be guilty of his blood, accessory to his death: and cannot his blood cleanse, even from the guilt of them that shed it? were not many of the Jews sensible os this? how dishonorable is this to Jesus Christ, when we will be measuring of him by ourselves? we are apt to think of pardon, and mercy, as far as a man's, a creatures bowels and thoughts will reach: mind, there is an end, not minding that he is God as well as man; this is an high wrong unto our Savior: O, he will not, saith the poor soul, if he can, yet he will not, sure, receive such an one as I; O I am so laden and so loathsome a wretch; what should he do with such an one as I? What, is it possible thou shouldest remember how many promises, how many invitations, how many expostulations he hath made; what entreaties to poor creatures to be reconciled to him, and yet call in question his willingness! why, what do you make of Jesus Christ? O, how doth unbelief, in effect, dethrone Jesus Christ, disgracing the Throne of his Glory, robbeth him of his mercy, of his power, his love, his bowels, of that which he most glorieth in; and is not this injurious then to thy dear Savior? Would not you think it a wrong to you, from one of your children, that had offended you as highly as you can imagine? suppose he had sought your life, as Absalom did David's, and now the Father seeks, thou suest to thy son; O how many promises thou heapest up, one upon another, backest them with oaths, wooest him, intreatest him to be reconciled, to accept of a pardon: No, he believeth you not, notwithstanding all you can do or say, that you are real in the thing; is not this injurious? doth he not wrong exceedingly in this, as well as in the former; and is not this the very case?

Thirdly, See how much unkindness there is in this sin of unbelief, as it is directly against the love, the bowels of Jesus Christ, which sound toward poor creatures in the Gospel, in every entreaty, to be reconciled to him: Brethren, what could the Lord Jesus do more for us, then he did? was not his life dear to him, even to the death sor poor sinners, that there might be a pardon for us? and do we thus requite him, even to slight it, never to mind it? or if we do sometimes a little, yet to stand out and not to close with him: What unkindness was it in the Jews? it is so recorded of them, he came to his own, and his own received him not; that is to say, his own flesh and blood; and so he is ours as well as others; but he came of them according to the flesh in a nearer manner, and sent to them in the first place, they received him not: But to come to Us poor Gentiles, outcasts, that were strangers, afar off, with a desire to make us near in his blood, near to his Father and to himself, is this love nothing to be thus slighted? for how few among us do believe in the Lord Jesus, notwithstanding all this? nothing breaks the heart of a creature more then unkindness: and surely Brethren, me thinks the thoughts of this, if our hearts were not stony, should be a breaking of our hearts, that we have hitherto, so many of us, dealt so unkindly with Christ as we have done.

But fourthly, see the dangerousness of this sin of unbelief, that we may be set a trembling by reason of this sin, as well as any other, and be weary of this, as well as any other.

1. Other sins have but their own particular guilt, each of them particularly binding over a poor soul to wrath, and entayling the curse of the Law upon a poor sinner; so every sin doth, every oath, every lie, every unclean thought, wanton look, adultery, fornication of the body, the heart or eye; but unbelief is that which binds the guilt of all other sins upon the soul, besides its own proper guilt, which is not the least, as you have heard before: I say, it binds all upon the soul; if Paul had not believed, all the guilt of his persecution had yet lain upon his head. O, saith our Savior, if ye believe not, ye shall die in your sins; not only in your unbelief, but in all your sins, so that this unbelief, it is the very edge, as I may say, of all other guilt whatsoever, and therefore how dangerous a sin it is, judge ye; you are terrified and affrighted with your grievous abominations, rebellions, filthiness of your ways, you never think of it haply, but your heart sinketh within you: why know this, this day, that unbelief is that which keepeth all this upon the soul: if that thou wouldst but aceept of deliverance in Jesus Christ, take him, close with him, come to him, he would not cast you out, he would not turn you away without a pardon: but the reason of your burdens upon you, is because of unbelief.

Secondly, It is dangerous, because above other sins, it brings a man's blood upon his own head; that is a sad word (me thinks) that of the Apostle, I take God to witness, that I am pure from the blood of all men; if you perish, your blood will be upon your head: that is to say, you are guilty of your own death, your own murder, your own damnation, and everlasting separation from God; much more may our blessed Savior say, I am free from the blood of you all, sinners, I have died for you, made an All-sufficient satisfaction to the Justice of my Father, for all sins, laid down a price, enough to ransom you, and yet you would none of me, you cared not for it; I have made this known to you, else you had had some excuse, some cloak, but you have no cloak for your sins, for your unbelief; If I had not wooed you, entreated you to be reconciled by my Messengers, then it had been something to ext • nuate at least; but alas, he hath done all this, and more, Brethren, infinitely, then I am able to speak, for poor sinners, and yet they will not close with him; why then, Jesus Christ is clear from your blood, he hath done what he undertook to do of his Father, spared not himself to the least drop of wrath, and of his own blood, and yet we will not come to him. O this must needs bring poor sinners blood upon their own heads.

Thirdly, This unbelief brings the blood of Jesus Christ upon our heads, for if after all this that he hath done and said to persuade us to make us willing to close with him, we stand it out, are we not guilty of his blood, as well as of our own? If an unworthy receiving of the Lord's Supper bring a man under this guilt, will not an unbelieving heart, in hearing of this Gospel, bring a man under the same guilt? for is it not the same Jesus that is held forth broken for sinners? and the same blood shed for sinners, that is held forth in the Lord's Supper to the eye, and in the Gospel Preached to the ear? even so plain as if it were before their faces, as the Apostle saith to the Galatians; O, me thinks this should make us afraid of resting any longer in this condition of unbelief, and make us look about us; the Jews, as hard-hearted as they were, could not endure: their consciences pricked them I believe, and did fly in their faces, and therefore would not endure the Apostles to Preach Christ: say they, ye would bring upon us the blood of this man. O me thinks this stirs the stoutest sinners among us; I delight not to bring to you, Brethren, such sad things as these are, nor to bring the blood of Jesus upon your heads, but let us take heed we do it not ourselves, for we shall find that this will be the dregs of the cup of wrath, if we will not be reclaimed, that ever we have so much under-valued the Lord Jesus, as to cast his love behind us by our unbelief.

The third Use shall be then of Exhortation to every poor soul to come to Jesus Christ; for you that are yet in your hardened condition, never made sensible of your need of Christ, I have the less hopes to prevail with you, for this Doctrine is foolishness to such; it is foolishness to speak much of the sovereignty of a medicine, the readiness of a Physician to heal, to a man that feels not that he is wounded; and such is the Doctrine of Christ and of faith to many a poor soul; but there are some poor souls that haply are convinced of their lost condition by nature, and see that all the water in the bottle is spent, and yet cannot see the fountain near them & opened, haply for grief, for weeping, they are over-charged with sorrow, and yet come not to Jesus Christ. O that the Lord Jesus, who hath received the tongue of the Learned for this end, to speak a word in due season, would speak by the mouth of his poor unworthy Messenger to such hearts! What is the reason that thou wilt not come to Jesus Christ? art thou resolved to sit languishing over an empty bottle and perish, when there is refreshing to be had in Jesus Christ? O no, saith the poor soul, I would not sit still and perish if there be healing and mercy to be had; why, dost thou not believe that he is able to save to the utmost? where sin hath most abounded, there Grace can superabound; yea, it is the glory of his Grace so to do. If I thought there were any stuck at this, I would spend a few words upon it, but consider those Scriptures fore-mentioned; but the main thing is, whether Jesus Christ will accept of such a wretch as I have been, saith one: O you know not the vileness of my heart, the horrid pollutions of my ways, else you would have harder thoughts of me, therefore thou art ready to conclude that he will not look at thee sure. Let me here propound a few Considerations to thee.

First, Consider how injurious it is to Grace, to measure it by our thoughts; limit not the holy one of Israel; it is the Glory of God, The Lord, the Lord God, gracious and merciful, and that whereby he infinitely transcendeth all other gods and men; Who is like unto thee? pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin; and canst thou comprehend the Glory of God in thy poor narrow thoughts? thou it may be thinkest, O if any man had so offended me, I could not have born it, I could never have been reconciled to him again; but if thou canst not, it may be another can; it is much that the Lord enables his people to love, to pray for, to be ready to embrace those that in the most bloody manner seek their lives, if they come and close with Christ, as the Disciples did Paul; and doubtless Stephen would have hugged them in his bosom, if any of them had then had their hearts changed; and what then can, and will the Lord Jesus do, when such as have been guilty of his blood, trampled it under feet, turned their backs upon him, crucified him, when they come to him? So in Acts 2. Thou thinkest, if thou wert but such a sinner, if thou hadst not sinned against such love and mercy, he would have pardoned, he would have accepted; when thy thoughts are at an end and lost, then is infinite Grace beginning to be Glorious.

Secondly, Consider this, that he hath left thee altogether without excuse; he hath cut off all pretences that sinners might make for their keeping off from Christ, both here and in other places. O saith one, He hath waited so long upon me, stretched out his hands all the day long to me; While I have been rebelling, the Lord Jesus hath been entreating me to be reconciled; he hath stood so long at the door knocking, that now sure he is gone; he will not come to my soul, nor take my soul into fellowship with himself. I am an old sinner, as long as ever I could arm my heart, and boy up myself with anything, carnal reasonings, moral services, vain delights, and creature-comforts, I would never come to him: what though the Lord Jesus is ready to receive when ever thou come to him? Had not the poor Woman in the Gospel spent all upon the Physicians, before she came to Christ? if she could have had balm anywhere else, she would never have gone to Gilead for it, nor for that Physician, and doth he cast her out notwithstanding? surely no: He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not: he hits her not in the teeth with her unworthiness to come to him, but when she cometh, he healeth her distemper. Was not this the Prodigals case? would he ever have gone to his Father, if he could have gotten husks, or anything? and what, doth his father upbraid him with it? what, thou be received now, that hast stood out as long as ever thou couldst? it is necessity, and not love that hath driven thee home, therefore take thy course, I have no bread for thee; O this would have broken the heart quite, and forever discouraged him for coming; no, he meeteth him by the way notwithstanding, and how ready he is to receive him, and embrace him, that Parable setteth forth. O but saith another, I am so poor, miserable, have nothing at all in me but sin and misery: suppose so, thou hast the more need of Jesus Christ, and he is most ready to reveal himself to them that need him most, yea thou art the more fit to come to Christ; for while thou hast anything to subsist upon, thou wilt not come off thyself clearly and fully as thou oughtest; besides, remember this, that the Lord Jesus is able to bestow his riches upon nothing, as he did at the first make a world of nothing: so in the new Creation in the soul, he can, he will bestow the riches of his Grace upon nothing; it is like thou hast as much as the Prodigal had in his returning; O but he cannot but abhor me, my sins are not slight scars, and races, but deep wounds, and festering wounds, running sores, bloody issues, loathsome in his sight: did the woman with the bloody issue in the Gospel find a repulse, because of the loathsomeness of her distemper? or the Lepers, because of theirs? or Lazarus, because of his? surely no: therein is the great commendation of his love to poor sinners, that though in their blood, yet he loveth them, yet he receiveth them. In one word for all, to stop the mouths of these clamours, the Lord Jesus hath said it, and will he not be as good as his word? he hath said, That if any man come to him, he will in no wise cast him out, be his distemper what it will, be his uuworthiness what it will, he will in no wise cast him out: therefore never make that an obstruction, but rather an argument to put thee on to go to Christ, because thy want of him is so great, more then is found in others.

Thirdly, Consider that these hard thoughts of Jesus Christ, before thou hast tried, and had experience of a repulse from him, are but a prejudice against the Lord Jesus; how glad is the enemy of our peace, if any way he can keep poor souls off from Christ; will you judge a man to be so hard-hearted, and unkind to you, before you have tried him? and shall we judge so of Jesus Christ? O this is to add sin to sin, and much worsens our condition daily.

Fourthly, Consider this poor soul, and add to thy own experience, the experience of all the Saints; ask of them, and they will tell thee, O never was there viler wretches then they themselves were! they had as vile and base thoughts of themselves as thou, and were as much discouraged as thou art; and yet when they came to Jesus Christ, they did obtain mercy, they found Grace in his sight, the Scepter was held out to them. Ask of Paul, who though dead, yet speaketh, and he will tell thee, thou never wast such a wretch as he, imbrewing his hands in the blood of the Saints, a persecutor, blasphemer, injurious. Ask but Magdalene, and she will tell thee, that she had seven Devils for one haply that thou hast. And so will Peter and David: O thou never hadst thy hand in blood, in adultery, in denying the Lord Jesus, these found mercy; And is not Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever?

Fifthly, Thou canst have no good evidence, that thou art one given of the Father to Christ, before the world began, until thou comest to Jesus Christ: All that the Father hath given me, shall come. What then, shall sinners abuse this doctrine, to set light by it, cast off all care of their condition, because if they be given of the Father, they shall come? no: But sadly consider this, if thou be not yet come to Jesus Christ, thou art not as yet declared to be one that is given to Christ; and if not given to the Son, thou art a son of perdition; and woe is thee that thou wast ever born; and as yet thou art not come to Christ, and how knowest thou, thou shalt ever have an opportunity, or an heart to believe, or come to him? Faith is not at your command, nor Christ at your command for poor sinners; O consider this ye that forget God, and forget your own welfare; As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed; the rest were hardened.

Sixthly, A rational Motive shall be this; In other distractions a possibility of relief will make poor Creatures put themselves upon extreme hazards, when it is not possible they should escape without such a hazard running; how much more then in the business of our souls, should we be willing to run an hazard, if there were any, where there is probability, yea, certainty of speeding if we come. So the Lepers, you know their argument, If we stay here, we must perish; if we go, we may escape. So Esther, she knew if she went not into the King at that time, her neck was upon the block, as well as the rest, and if she did go in, she might haply speed and prosper, and therefore she ventures hard; if the Scepter had not been held out to her, it had cost her, her life there; but the body did lie at the stake, as being starved for want, or else designed to destruction by enemies; but here soul and body lie at the stake, and are in danger of perishing forever; there was only a possibility of escaping, here is a certainty of escaping: he will not in any wise cast him out. O how cheerfully would Esther have run to the King, if there had been such a Law, that when ever the Queen cometh, the Scepter should be held out to her; so it is here: there they ran a very desperate hazard, but here is no hazard run, here is a sure word of promise for it, That heaven and earth shall pass away, before a tittle of it shall pass away: whoever cometh to Christ, he will in no wise cast him out.

Seventhly, It is a grief to the Lord Jesus, that we should be thus wayward, that we will not be persuaded of his good will toward us, if we come to him; that we should have such unworthy thoughts of Jesus Christ, that he should make no more of his Word of promise, his death his blood, then to slight all, falsify all, when poor sinners come to him according to his invitation; he was grieved (saith the Text) because of the unbelief and hardness of their hearts; It is said of the Jews, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, &c. he wept over it, when nothing would do to persuade them to close with him; thou art grieved, and Christ is grieved by this frowardness of thine; Suppose the Father of the prodigal son in the Gospel had invited him to come to him, promised him all the inheritance, to put him in his bosom, confirm his love to him; no, saith he, I have misspent all, I have undone myself, fed upon husks as long as I could get them, and now I am ready to perish not being able to procure them: here I will sit and die, I cannot believe that thou wilt accept of me, that thou canst ever love me, or receive me more: would not this grieve the father think you? I know poor mourning soul thou wouldst not grieve the Lord Jesus; I tell thee, if thou wouldst not, thou must come to him, accept of his kindness and love, believe his faithfulness, and truth, and so thy soul shall be established.

Use 4. The fourth Use shall be then to exalt the riches of the Grace of Jesus Christ to poor sinners; we might altus repetere, and speak something to the purchasing of us at so dear a rate as his precious blood; corruptible things, as Silver and Gold are not worthy to be named the same day with the blood of Jesus Christ. Alas, there had been no possibility for us to come to him, except there had been the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 paid, and then to invite us to come to him, and not only so, but to draw us with the cords of a man, and the cords of love, that we should hear and learn of the Father, be all taught of God, which is the drawing of his Father, without which we cannot come, which what it is, you have heard already formerly; Brethren, this is abundance of Grace, yea, more he hath promised, and doth, and will perform; whoever cometh to him, he will in no wise cast him out. If the Lord Jesus had limited himself to such or such a sort of sinners, that he would receive all that should not continue so many years in sin, or s • all not rise to such an height in sin, yet it had been much Grace to receive any, but he excludeth none; if any man come to Christ he will in no wise cast him out. Are there not many souls in the presence of God, that can set to their seals that this is a truth in Jesus? if he would have cast out any, what would become of thee and me, who are the chief of sinners? if he would have cast out such as have been drunkards, covetous, unclean, effeminate, what had become of them in 1 Cor. 6? Such were some of you: and what would have become of some of us, if he would have cast out all that have been bloody persecutors, what would have become of Paul? Ah poor soul! bethink thyself in what filth and blood thou didst wallow, before he put off his own comeliness upon thee? and then think, if the Lord Jesus had limited his receiving of sinners, that come to such or such a measure, what then had become of thee? O what abounding Grace is in the Lord Jesus towards poor sinners! let us exalt it, meditate much of it, labor to heighten it in thy thoughts; there will be no thoughts more sweet, or profitable, more melting of that stone in thy heart, we so sadly complain of, more endearing and engaging of the heart to the Lord Jesus, then these are.

Use 5. Use 5. Then surely there is no falling away from Christ, from justifying, sanctifying Grace once received; for what else is this coming to Christ, but coming for righteousness, for pardon, for he is the Lord our Righteousness; the Father hath found a Ransom now in his Son, and this the poor sinner maketh after in Christ; and for holiness also, for he is made of God, Sanctification, as well as Righteousness and Holiness to the poor soul that cometh to him; now he will never cast him out that cometh to him, he will in no wise cast him out: If he had said, I will not cast him out, except he sin to this or that degree after my receiving him, it had been somewhat; but I will not cast him out, no, in no wise will I do it. O blessed bosom, which will never shut out the poor soul that is once gotten in to it! and if the Lord Jesus cast us not out when we come, what can? It may be, some will say that we ourselves may do it, Christ will not do it; I, but the sinner himself may • all off, though he have been received of Christ, put in his bosom, warmed with his love; it is true, if a sinner were his own keeper, it were somewhat like; if it were left to the liberty of our wills, whether we would abide in Christ, yea or no, we should quickly be lost again; but it is not, the Lord Jesus doth not only not cast us out, except we cast ourselves out, but he holds us in his hand, and the Father holds us in his hand, and they are stronger then all: None shall be able to pluck them out of his hand: he lays hold upon the heart, puts his fear there; yea, and that Peace of God also placeth he, as a pregnable garrison there, that they shall never depart from him; except the Lord could deny his Covenant, for my part, I see not how any soul that in truth is come on to Christ, can finally apostatize, though from some common grace they may withdraw, which is true Grace, though not of this kind which is saving. But what then, doth the Lord Jesus hold us to himself whether we will or no? No Brethren, But he maketh us willing in the day of his power; so that we shall not anymore be willing to leave him, to depart from him; nor is it an infringement of our liberty at all to be determined to one party either of the contradiction of contrariety, as they use to distinguish them, for God himself is determined to one part, he cannot will anything that is evil as evil; nor the Angels in heaven established and confirmed; and yet their liberty sure is much greater then ours; well then, the Lord Jesus he will never cast them out, therefore they shall persevere when once they are in him in Covenant; God hath put that principle into them, that they shall never depart themselves, he will not let loose any lust, any temptation upon them that shall ruin them, that were in effect, in a moral sense, a casting of them out; in no wise whatsoever will he do it.

Use 6. Sixthly, Yet here let me put in a double Caution: First, Let sinners, impenitent sinners that yet stand it out, protract the time of their coming to Jesus Christ: as Aug. O modo Domine, take a warning word this day, that is, do not so abuse this sweet and precious truth, as to encourage themselves thereby in an evil way: tush, saith the drunkard, the unclean person, tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant: it is time enough to repent, Jesus Christ is so tender and so merciful to poor sinners, that when ever we come to him, he will not cast us out; and though we do treasure up many bags, and fill up the measure of sin fuller then others, he hath made no limitation; if we come to him, he will not cast us out: what a lamentable condition is that man in, whose stomach turns an honey-comb into poison to him! here is the most precious cordial, the very Spirits of the Gospel in this our Doctrine, and see how sinners do turn it into a deadly potion to their souls! what Spiders are we, that can suck venom out of the sweetest flowers? but suppose this be true, that when ever thou comest to Jesus Christ, thou shalt be received, and not cast out in any wise; is there any truth in the Hypothesis that lies hid, which is either this, that thou hast power to come of thyself at any time, thy will at command, if it be proper to say so of that which is the commanding faculty in the soul; or else this, that God will draw thee hereafter, and give thee a will to come to Jesus Christ, when thou hast lived a while longer in the pleasures of sin: Ah poor soul, thou little knowest the deceitfulness of sin, and of thy own heart; what is the reason that thou art not now willing to receive the Lord Jesus Christ? is it not because thou art held so fast in the embraces of thy darling lusts? O that sin that kills with its embraces, poisons with its kisses! and tell me, is that the way to get looser from thy lusts, and so more ready to come to Jesus Christ, to go on in sin, to satisfy and fulfill the lusts of the flesh? surely no: thou knowest not the deceitfulness of sin, whereby the heart is more hardened every act, then before; It may please him out of the abundant riches of his Grace to draw such a presumptuous sinner to Christ, but it is to be admired, me thinks thou shouldst rather tremble when thou thinkest, I now put off my coming to Christ until a more convenient opportunity, and what if this never come? what if my soul be taken from me this night, now the Arrows of God are scattered among our dwellings? and what if I never have a heart, nor some time to come and repent, but go on still and grow more and more hard and desperate, and sinning, and so perish? O that sinners would consider this that forget God, that they abuse not this Grace of Jesus Christ: When did Jesus Christ tell thee how long he would wait upon thee to be gracious? doth he not say, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; you may possibly out-live your day of grace, a • d Christ is waiting upon you, and striving with you, and then it had been better for you, you had never been born.

Secondly, Another caution shall be to them that have come to Jesus Christ, and are found in him, that they take heed they abuse not this grace to wantonness. If we shall not in any wise be cast out of Christ, what need so much ado? O what viperous natures have we, that are ready to turn all to poison! this principle is in every heart among us, therefore watch over it: The Doctrine is Christ's, a truth in Jesus, and therefore in its own nature hath no tendency to such a froward walking before God, there is nothing in its own nature doth more tend to kill sin then grace, the abundance of grace in Jesus Christ: & truly, if grace & love will not do it, nothing will do it; nothing runs the old man to the heart so home, as this unsearchable love of God in Christ, that if we come to him, he will in no wise cast us out. It is a wretched, graceless conclusion, to say no more of it, to continue in sin that grace might abound; the Apostle was well taught in Christ's School, and both by Revelation from Christ, and personal experience in his own case; he knew the power of the love of God in Christ, the exceeding abundance of his grace, and how doth he argue from mercy to duty? So our Savior himself, who best knoweth the end of his grace, of which he is the Author and Finisher, come to me, &c. and I will give you rest: And what then? may they sit still and take their ease, never trouble themselves more concerning their souls, never care how to walk in well-pleasing to Christ? No, the next words are, take my yoke upon you, for it is easy, and it is light: It is no great matter he expecteth of us, in comparison of what he might expect, and in respect of the recompense of reward; a Belial is a Monster in the Church of Christ, a man without yoke, like a wild-Ass, snuffing up the wind, and doing according to his own hearts lust. I will be bold to say, let men pretend to what they will, that man that hath drunk deepest of the love of God in Christ, and is most firmly rooted in him, and this free grace of God in him, brings forth fruit in the greatest abundance of any other whatsoever, therefore take heed of this abuse of the grace of Christ.

Use 7. Seventhly, Then let the people of God make this the comfort, the stay of their hearts, that to which they have recourse in all their doubts and fears, the Lord Jesus will never cast them out; labor to set a high price upon this promise, it is worthy to be written in every heart of a Believer in golden letters; we are too often too apt to turn aside to our broken Cisterns for refreshings when troubles seize upon us; but alas, how do they by their emptiness quickly cause the heart to fall off from them? as a Be cometh to a flower, abideth not, because it quickly emptyeth, it sucks out all the sweetness, and then to another; and truly, such are all things in the world, when we go to drink at them, to refresh our weary spirits: but here you may drink, and drink abundantly, these are waters that never fail; never any were occasioned to fall off from Christ because of emptiness in him, nor yet because of satiety, as the Horseleach when gorged full: No, no, Christ's breasts are full of milk, full of grace, abundant consolation do they minister; thou shalt never need to fear that hunger or thirst shall force thee away from Christ.

Nor yet secondly, will these comforts ever forsake thee, ever cast thee out; relations come together, and much delight they take each in other; and many a man is much taken up with the embraces of this well-favored harlot, the world; what between the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and pride of life; but alas, Brethren, besides the killing of the embraces, the sinner must leave them, or they will leave him; and what then? O but once get into the arms of the Lord Jesus, and those embraces cure instead of killing, and thou shalt never be cast out more. O me thinks, Brethren, one rolling of this sweet morsel under the tongue, were enough to sweeten any condition in the world; happy soul that hath the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus, and the sense of it.

Thirdly, Yea more, if he have not cast thee out at the first coming, much less afterward in thy after-comings to him for more of his fullness of grace, he will not cast thee out, not send thee away empty; if he would have ever thrown thee off, it would have been at the first, while thou wast a stranger to him; yet when thou camest to him in a weary, burdened condition, he had respect to thy condition, had pity on thee, gave thee rest, admitted thee with all thy sin, and guilt, and took it away; will he not much more have now bowels towards thee? can he cast thee out now for thy defects and deformities? O surely no. Brethren, you that have Fathers and Mothers hearts to your children, tell me, you that have a poor child, though by his own untowardness he falls, wounds himself, bleedeth, fainteth, deformeth himself, cometh to his father, O father pity, father help, father heal, I have what in me lies undone myself; though he be angry at his miscarriage, yet the bowels work towards him, he doth not upon this account cast him out: And it is worth noting, when our Savior was offended with his Disciples for their little faith in the storm, they came and awaked him, saying, Lord save us, we perish; his tenderness was such, before he rebuked them for their unbelief, he rebuked the Sea and the wind. O Brethren, surely, surely the Lord Jesus his tenderness towards his people, is a feast of fat things, here are the wines on the lees to revive and refresh the poor drooping spirits; lose not the comfort of your condition for want of meditating upon it.

Object. But some will say, If this be so, it is sad with me, for I have thought I came to Jesus Christ, and have found comfort and refreshing, and rest in him, and yet alas, now he hath cast me off; and therefore surely I was never truly in him, for none that come to him doth he in any wise cast off.

For answer to this, I conceive it is but a mistake, such qualms as these seize upon the people of God sometimes, when we will needs live by sight and not by faith: And sometimes the Lord may please to hide his face from his own people, and then no marvel if they be troubled; in a little wrath I hid my face, &c. Sometimes our lusts come and steal away our Savior, bereaveth us of his presence, at least the sensibleness of it; and then we know not where they have laid our Savior, is our sad complaint; then we mourn, as children, thinking themselves forsaken, if the Mother be but stepped aside haply on purpose upon some necessary occasion. So David, I said I am cast out of thy sight. So Jonas, What, hath the Lord shut up his tender mercies, hath he taken his leave of me, and will he be gone forever? all this while the Mother is behind the Curtain, takes notice of every sigh, seeth every tear fall from the child, mindeth every expression of longing and breaking desires after her, and so doth the Lord; this is not a forsaking, a casting out, but a fitting the poor soul for the receiving more of his love afterward. Why art thou then so disquieted, poor soul, and droopest, as if there were no more hope nor help for thee in Christ, because he hath a little turned his face away from thee? O happy soul, that canst not bear his absence, that followest so hard after him, that mournest after him, it is a sign he hath left some sweetness upon the heart to draw thee after him, he hath not cast thee off; but by this means would work thee more out of love with that sin that hath made the separation, that so he might abide with thee forever.

2. Object. Alas but I know not whether I have ever yet come to Jesus Christ; I am persuaded that such as come to him aright, he will never cast them out; but my scru • le yet sticks, I am afraid of deceiving myself, and thinking I come to him when I come not, for I have thus long come and followed after Christ, and never yet got a smile from him to this day; therefore he seemeth to shake me off, and cast me out.

Let me speak a few things to this.

First, That though he hold thee off a while, and seem not to own thee, in respect of the comforts his presence, yet in the mean time he doth stay and support thee, there is his strengthening presence, else thou wert never able to endure to hold out mourning after him.

Secondly, When thy heart is so drawn out after Jesus Christ, that thou canst not live, nor be satisfied without thou mournest, pinest, languishest after him, this is a coming, a true coming to Jesus Christ; when thou hast all things else that heart can wish, it may be thou hast relations, estate, name as good as others, yet thou canst not be satisfied, all is nothing without interest in him; thou runnest from Ordinance to Ordinance, from one Congregation to another, from reading to prayer, yet findest no satisfaction in all: I will say to that soul, Thou hast an evidence, and a clear one too, he hath indeed received thee, or thou wert never able thus to breath after him; and though he may hold thee off for a while, yet he will not shut thee out.

Thirdly, Hath the Lord made thee willing indeed to have him, to receive him as King and Savior, to be purified by him, subdued to him, as well as saved by him? Alas, I know not whether I am or no: if not, what then meaneth all thy stuffing thy bed with groans? What mean those Rivers of tears shed over him? what meaneth thy following so hard after him? What, is it possible that any man should make such heavy moan, as some poor souls do for Jesus Christ, and yet not be willing to have him? If thou wouldest not have him, me thinks thou wouldest rather run away from him, then run after him: what ascending is there up into this tree and that tree, as the Lord Jesus passeth by in an Ordinance, to get a sight of him, and yet the poor soul will not be persuaded that he would have, fain have the Lord Jesus; when one sight of him would be so refreshing to them: O go away rejoicing and triumphing in the Lord Jesus, that ever he hath looked upon thee, to make thee willing in the day of his power, for surely thou art a willing soul who art so affected towards him; and this willing, Brethren, surely is the very receiving of Jesus Christ, it is the closing with him, thus taking with one hand Christ for pardon, and giving up a man's self to him with the other hand, which is the thing thy soul groans for; now if Christ Jesus be so willing to receive poor sinners, and thou be so willing to receive him, what can interpose to hinder or break the match? surely nothing.

Fourthly, Thou must be content to wait a while haply, before thou have the comfort of thy coming to Christ; before, I say, thou shalt suck the sweetness that floweth from him to thy soul, for thou hast broken thy bones with sin, which brought wrath upon thy soul, as David complains; O there was no rest in his bones, and they must have a time to knit again. A man will rather lie upon his bed a Prisoner a few days, then be a Cripple all the days of his life; therefore they say a Horse leg is incurable if broke, he will not endure to be bound, to lie quiet.

Submit to the Chyrurgians hand and skill, the Lord Jesus will do it, it is doing; but alas, such broken bones heal but slowly through many humors; by reason of the abundance of sin in the soul may be it will be the longer, but wait; Remember the pains that Elijah's servant took to go up and down that steep hill Carmel with wearyness seven times, and brought news of nothing at all, until at last, he sees a little cloud which filled the heavens: So it may be with thee, and it will recompense all; at last there will be abundance of rain to refresh thy weary parched soul.

Fifthly, Be frequent in acting of faith, putting forth the acts of thy willingness to receive the Lord Jesus, if he be willing to receive thee, for hereby the habit of faith will grow stronger, the little grain of Mustard-seed thou shalt see take strong rooting and spread itself, and then the acts will be stronger, and those will yet again strengthen the habit, and by this means the grace will appear more visible: So that at the last thou shalt even feel in thy very soul, that thou dost believe, if thou often put forth this act of recumbency upon him, casting thyself upon the Lord Jesus, into his arms, at his feet; and see if thou find it not, that at last thou have not this witness in thyself, that thou dost believe in the Lord Jesus. And then happy soul, thou mayest take the comfort of that condition; Thou shalt never be cast out.