Reasons That Christ Cannot Be United to the Soul in Its Natural Condition

Taken from (John 14:17). Christ says he would send them another Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive: Every man while he is in his corrupt and natural condition, he is one of the world (Ephesians 2:2): When in times past you walked according to the course of this world. (Verse 3): Among whom also we had our conversations in times past, in the lusts of the flesh; How otherwise could they be called [illegible] of the world, unless they were in it.

They who cannot receive the Spirit, cannot receive the Lord Jesus, nor union to him; but men naturally cannot receive the Spirit, therefore they must be called out of the world, and from the power of Satan, and so be prepared, and then receive faith, that so they may receive [illegible].

But conversion being a creating work; a work of creation needs [illegible] preparation to [illegible], or for it, [illegible] his Word is [illegible]; he calls men his people who are not his people, and by calling them so, he makes them to be so.

Preparation is required to the implantation of the [illegible] into Christ: not [illegible] regard of God or his work upon us, as though he needed any help to the execution of his holy will; but in regard of the thing wrought in us; for he working all things according to the counsel of his own will, and the rules of his infinite wisdom, he needs not any help, in his work: yet it is [illegible] his perfection and sufficiency to go against the wise order set down in the dispensation of his providence for the bringing about of this work; the causes of a thing do not help God in working or creating, they are necessarily required to make up the thing wrought or created: there is nothing in a blind eye [illegible] may help God to restore it to sight, yet God according to reason must put a power and ability of sight or a [illegible] faculty, before he will, nay indeed can, bring forth seeing: God can turn water into wine, but in reason he must destroy the nature of water, and then make wine: for it implies a contradiction to say that water should remain water, and yet have wine made out of it: So it is in the soul, he can change a proud and unbelieving heart into a [illegible] heart: but he must first destroy the power of unbelief [illegible] [illegible] can bring in faith.

He that is under the power of infidelity and corrupt nature, he is under the guilt of his sins, and in the state of condemnation (John 3:18): He that believes not is condemned already, and (verse 36): The wrath of God abides upon him. But he that is in Christ, to him there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3, last verse); and for his sake with all that are in him. Now to be in the state of condemnation, and acceptation together; in the state of life and death; to have the wrath of God abiding, and the good pleasure of God resting upon a party at the [illegible] time, [illegible] a perfect contradiction, and so impossibilities in reason.

Where there is nothing but opposition and resistance between two, there can be no union; for all union implies [illegible] and agreement, there must be a mutual accord [illegible] things on both hands, before they can be made one (Amos 3:3): Can two walk together except they be agreed? Love tends to unity and [illegible] the cause of it, and that ever presupposes some [illegible].

But [illegible] man remaining in the state of unbelief and corruption is wholly opposite to Christ, and the work of his Spirit: he is wholly flesh (John 3:6). And the flesh lusts against the spirit, and these are [illegible] (Galatians 4:17): the wisdom of the flesh is [illegible] against God, it is not subject, nor can be subject to the law: so far from closing with the work of the Spirit, as it is not able to bear it. The Scribes and [illegible] rejected the counsel against themselves: that is, to their own [illegible] (Acts 7:51): You stiff-necked and [illegible] hearted, you have ever resisted the Spirit of the Lord. Paul did no more than every natural man would do; Being mad (says he) I persecuted that way: The way of Christ, and so Christ himself.

In a word: It is said of all, and it is true of all, the best of the saints, take them in their naturals, you were darkness (Ephesians 5:10): darkness cannot but oppose light. He that is acted wholly by the power of infidelity, he must resist the work of faith, and so the receiving of Christ by it.

There are but two covenants that ever God made with man touching his everlasting estate; The covenant of works, or of the law; the covenant of the gospel, and so of grace; and these two covenants are so opposite that the one [illegible] the other, If it be of works, it is no more of grace, else works were not works; If it be of grace, it is no more of [illegible], else grace were no more grace (Romans 11:6). Hence they are severed as far as blessing and cursing (Galatians 3:9-10): So then, they which be of faith, are blessed with faithful Abraham, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Now all men by nature are members and heirs of the first Adam, and therefore under his covenant, and under his curse (Romans 7:5, 8): While we were in the [illegible], the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit to death. Those who are in Christ are under the covenant of grace and life, for he that has the Son, has life: Hence I [illegible],

To be under two contrary covenants, of law and grace, is impossible, because so a man should be accursed and blessed at once.

But he that is in his corrupt condition, and state of infidelity, he is under the covenant of works; he that is in Christ, under the covenant of grace.

Hence follows a fifth reason.

Whoever is under grace, over them sin shall not have dominion (Romans 6:14): Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. [illegible] they who are in their natural condition, and in the state of unbelief, they are under the power and dominion of [illegible]; therefore they are not under grace, nor yet in Christ.

This discovers the folly, and dashes the fond conceit of many carnal men, who have framed a speedy way to Heaven in their own fancies, through which, yet never any had passage there; to wit, they fondly imagine they have Christ and mercy at command, and that they can make a step to Heaven in the turning of a hand, they [reconstructed: need not] make such large provision or preparation before to tire out themselves, with tedious and heart-breaking sorrows, and daily remorse [reconstructed: for] their daily failings; small warning will serve [reconstructed: their] men's turns: Be it, they love their lusts, and practice them; they harbor continually their noisome distempers in their souls, express [reconstructed: them] also in their lives; they crave but the [reconstructed: space of a] few hours before their [reconstructed: death], to fit themselves for their departure and happiness, a few forced sighs, feigned and formal confessions of their evils, and howling for pardon, out of the horror of their spirits, now and then customarily adding a Lord have mercy on me, they suppose they have made all even with God; but if they can but get the Sacrament, they conclude all is sure, they must needs go post haste to Heaven; if they can but say they believe, Christ must comfort them, cannot but save them. No, no (brethren) the Word reveals none, our Savior accepts of no such agreement, he comes upon no such terms to bring any comfort with him, unless any man should be so far forsaken of reason and sense, as to imagine the Lord Jesus would carry the drunkard and his cups, the adulterer and his harlots also, the riotous gamester his cards and dice, hawks and hounds, and all to Heaven together, which is [reconstructed: absurd] and incredible: Oh! these men will one day find, and that to their woe, they deceived their own souls by their own folly: whereas sound [reconstructed: conversion] costs more, the way must be prepared, your heart loosened, rent and plucked away from your corruptions, before the Lord Jesus will deign once to look in upon you: No harbinger before, no King follows after, where the heart is not [reconstructed: prepared] for a Savior, there is no hope to [reconstructed: enjoy] the presence of a Savior: It is the condition upon which his coming is promised and can be expected upon any sure ground. It is the order and connection of things [reconstructed: which God] has set in the work of grace (Luke 3:8) And all flesh shall see the [reconstructed: salvation] of the Lord. The copulative particle, And, tells us the sight of salvation depends upon that which went before; when we see the mountains of pride, high and lofty imaginations levelled, crooked perverseness of our own spirits taken off, and we made meek and tractable, then there is some hope that salvation will appear to us; but if any man will yet rear up mighty bulwarks, and strongholds of rebellion, and hardness of heart, and maintain those high imaginations, sturdy distempers of pride, security and carnal confidence; he must know whoever he be, that as yet he is not within the ken of mercy, and though he look until his eyes [reconstructed: ache] in his head, and his heart [reconstructed: faint] in his body, he [reconstructed: shall] never come within a true sight of salvation, much less may he think ever to be made partaker of it; why? Confer with your own conscience; Do you think it fit the king should lie in the trundle-bed under a company of traitors? Is it reasonable the Lord [reconstructed: Jesus] should be a [reconstructed: slave] to your lusts? No certainly, the gods that you have obeyed; by those you must be saved: you would have your lusts, but reject Christ, you shall perish with them, but the presence of the Lord Jesus you cannot enjoy; Let the [reconstructed: wicked] man forsake his way and the unrighteous man [reconstructed: his thoughts] and return to the Lord for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).

We have here a ground of trial; by which we may gain certain evidence; whether ever we came the right way to Christ; or that Christ is come or that we have any grounded hope that he will come to our souls.

If Christ fits the soul, he will certainly never lose the soul, if he prepares it for [reconstructed: himself] he will undoubtedly possess it by his Spirit and grace.

Our Savior is not either so weak or unwise; so weak; [reconstructed: that] he cannot accomplish his work and intended end: [reconstructed: nor] unwise that he will lose his labor or leave his work without success; as though he had mistaken himself, and undertaken that which either he could not or should not accomplish.

This is [reconstructed: the difference] between restraining and preparing grace; the Lord may restrain a soul for other ends, but if he [reconstructed: prepares] the soul, it is for Christ, and he will never [reconstructed: fail in] that end.

There are [reconstructed: many] other ends for which the Lord in his [reconstructed: wise providence] sees fit to curb and keep in the [reconstructed: sins] of [reconstructed: the] wicked, and restrain the rage of their [reconstructed: corrupt] distempers, why he should take off the edge and keenness, and [reconstructed: abate] the fury and hellish fierceness that [reconstructed: rages] in [reconstructed: the] hearts of wretched and unreasonable men who are [reconstructed: led] by Satan according to his will, and ruled by him, even the prince of the air who is an enemy to God's glory and to mankind.

As first that the Lord might show his power, and that absolute sovereignty he has over the worst men, and the worst of creatures those infernal [reconstructed: spirits], and the worst and most violent of all their corruptions, and that he has the reins of all their violence and rage [reconstructed: in] his own hand, and orders it, and their wills and wickedness, not as they please but as he [reconstructed: pleases]; and therefore he enlarges their commission and recalls [reconstructed: their] commission as he pleases. And therefore (as Job speaks of the sea: Job 38:11) He [reconstructed: sets] the bounds and compass of their course which they shall not pass thus far and no further: So to the Devil he tells [reconstructed: him] punctually how far he shall proceed, he is in your hand only save his life (Job 2:4). Which was a [reconstructed: rebuke] to Satan, as though God had said, break this bottle but do not spill this wine; thus the Lord [reconstructed: acted] in Pharaoh, when the Israelites were to go out (Exodus 11:7) There was not a dog moved his tongue, against man or beast, that they might know that I am the Lord.

That by this means he might provide for the subsistence and continuance of the society of men, in churches and commonwealths: especially the relief and safety of his own servants, whereas had but wicked men their wills, it's certain there was no being nor breathing nor living for the saints upon the face of the earth, the Dragon the Devil in his instruments does so malignantly pursue the woman — that is, the true Church and children of God (Revelation 12:13). The Lord therefore breaks their teeth, pares their nails, and cuts short their tether [illegible] — they cannot do as they would. As Laban said to Jacob (Genesis 31:29), It is in the power of my hand to do you harm, but the God of your Father spoke to me saying, speak to Jacob neither good nor bad. It is in the wills and power of wicked men and devils to do harm to the people of God, but the Lord will not suffer them to act that rage and malice that is in their hearts and so not to do that hurt which otherwise they could and would. So to Abimelech the Lord whispers his displeasure in the [illegible] (Genesis 20:3), and so restrained him from that which his own heart would have carried him to.

That he might indeed put his servants to a more narrow search, and to cause them to look to their heart [illegible], and not content themselves with the lighter strokes of common impressions and [illegible]: since many have something like preparation and yet fall short of any saving work, the saints may be careful to go further and not content themselves with [illegible] copper and counterfeit appearances, of hearts prepared for a Christ and breathings after him; but to [illegible] themselves as the [illegible] [illegible] and walk [illegible] a jealousy and a suspicious fear over [illegible], and return and search and [illegible] and question with themselves: Am I no other? No better? [illegible] I as such? Then I shall fall and perish as [illegible]. (1 John 2:19) Had they been of us [illegible] would never have gone out from us. There must be heresies and that among you [illegible] (says Paul to the Corinthians) that they that are sincere hearted may be tried (1 Corinthians 11:9). When there is false coin goes up and down each wise man examines what he has, and what he takes.

Now those upon whom legal terrors and these restraining strokes are laid for [illegible] and the like ends, in the counsel of the Lord: in the issue the strength of their corruptions (like waters that are stopped) break out with greater violence, the Lord lets loose their distempers upon them: and commonly, these blows leave them at a greater distance from the Lord Christ, than ever before, and many times, a reformation of a man's own is but a preparation for sin. He that is otherwise cannot be hid (1 Timothy 5:25). It had been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment, and so to return with the sow that was washed to wallow [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] again, and with the dog to his [illegible] [illegible]. Dogs that lick up their vomit grow more filthy than ever, so such as these grow the most [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] adversaries to Christ and his Gospel that [illegible] earth. They seemed to be prepared by God, [illegible] it was (as I say) for other ends, than for Christ and when these ends are attained in God's secret counsel, he usually plucks up the stake and lets loose their tether that they may hurry headlong to everlasting ruin.

But if the Lord do not only curb a sinner, or hack and rough hew him a little by the word, but cut him off, as a branch or scion fit for a savior he will never let him lie and wither. Look then to those sinful lusts, those special and beloved corruptions to which your heart has been so strongly tied and linked, and whereby Satan and your corrupt heart have entrenched themselves, and set up as so many strong holds against the Lord Christ, the work of his spirit and power of his truth, as being in league and confederacy with these noisome distempers; have you felt the tyranny and treachery of them, that bondage and bitterness to which you are brought, that you long and breathe after relief and deliverance, and the coming of a Christ, that you may deliver up yourself and all into his hands, and you find your soul opposite to that that has been opposite and cross to Christ? (Isaiah 59:20) The Redeemer shall come out of Zion — who are those? To them that turn from transgression. If the Lord turn your soul he will redeem your soul, and if ever he redeems you he will turn your soul from your transgressions, he will make a divorce between your soul and sin; have you found the strong man bound, those temptations which formerly were so sweet you could not [illegible] them, those corruptions which were so natural, that you could not but yield obedience — indeed willingly [reconstructed: resign] yourself to the authority and right of [illegible] they claimed over you, and you went as an [illegible] to the slaughter and as a fool to the stocks? But now your heart is revolted from that right and power these corruptions and temptations had over you, and you wait only for a way of escape — now you are for a Christ, and he will be for you, for such as you are alone.

And therefore this gives in heavy evidence against sundry sorts of men, as such who as yet never came into the suburbs of salvation, never made entrance or preparation towards the enjoyment of Christ, and therefore are far from ever coming to the participation or [illegible] of him.

The first are those which slight this work as a matter merely superfluous; they look at it as an invention of some discouraged, and drooping melancholy persons, a course which out of dark and misguided [illegible] have contrived, but was never required by the Almighty. These are of two sorts.

1. Such as they who are in a dead sleep of senseless [illegible] conclude their condition good, because they never knew what a good condition meant, and therefore conceive they need not be troubled, they should not be altered from it. They observe no mountains, discern no crooked paths nor see their own sins nor the danger of their own condition, and therefore foolishly conceive they need be no better they should be no other: and if men could be as well contented with them as they are with themselves, they see no reason but that they might sit down in quiet, without trouble and distraction, and yet I will to Heaven also.

It's a needless and rigid curiosity of some singular humorous men, that require more than needs, that they might be counted more than ordinary, they cry out (as they) You take too much upon you, you sons of Aaron, are not all the Congregation of the Lord holy? They wonder why men should be so troubled for their sins, distressed in the apprehension of their own condition, they count it a blessing they never yet knew what it meant and hope they never shall.

You that never saw your [illegible] for a Christ, are not yet in a way to be [illegible]; you who never faults the ways which might stop the passage of Christ, you are never like to mend them upon these terms. This was Laodicea's temper, [illegible] [illegible] 16. You say you are rich and wise, and lack nothing, and know not that you are poor, and naked, and miserable, and indeed have nothing; indeed, you are cut out for confusion, fitted and prepared on purpose for an everlasting rejection (Isaiah 6:10). Mark how, when the Lord will prepare a people for utter desolation, and shut them out from sharing in mercy, he sends the Prophet with Commission, Go (says he) make the ears of this People heavy, their eyes dim, and their hearts fat, that seeing they may see and not understand, hearing they may hear and not perceive, lest they be converted, and I should heal them: as if he should have said, if they never see, if they never be made [illegible] of their sins and selves, they will never be converted, and so never saved. (2 Corinthians 4:3) If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that perish: There is not a thought that the King will come on progress when there is no Harbinger to make preparation before.

2. To this rank of those who slight this way and work of God, are your presumptuous Atheists, when the terrors of the Law are denounced, and the power of the Truth in the dispensations thereof is planted on [illegible] to make battery against the strong holds of the [illegible] corruptions of men's hearts and lives that they might [illegible] down before [illegible] Christ and [illegible] up all to him. These wretches defeat the power and stroke of the Truth by their [illegible] conceits; It's true (says they) the Lord requires the soul should sue out an everlasting divorce between itself and sin, such emptiness and such underness; It's but a white at which we should aim, not which we can hit; a Copy after which we should write, but though it be scribbled and blurred it will serve the turn; God requires so much, but he will take less: he threatens, and it's wisdom indeed to affright sinners, and in a Spiritual policy (as Fathers do) terrify, but he intends not Execution, it's but to awe men, not to condemn men. Let all [illegible] presumptuous Atheists hear, and fear, and tremble at what the Lord has said in (Deuteronomy 29:19). He that hears the words of this Curse, and shall bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst. Such a one is a subject prepared on purpose for the everlasting wrath of God, for the Text says in the next verse, The Lord will not spare that man, but the anger of the Lord will smoke against him, and all the Curses that are written in the Book of God shall be upon him, he shall cut him off, and root him out from among the number of his People.

Another sort are such, who though they are not come to this height of profaneness [illegible] as to slight this Work, yet they [illegible] another way of coming to a Christ, which is as sure (as they conceive) and much more easy; They catch after Christ and comfort in him, before ever there be any breach of league with their lusts, or sad abasement of their hearts before the Lord in the sight of their Natural condition. And thus as Travellers when they meet with deep ways, and [reconstructed: foul] and long lanes that are hardly passable, they make bold to cut a way for [illegible], and break over the Fence and Hedge to avoid the [illegible] of the travel, so they make a way of their own, not keep the King's Road. So here, when this way of preparation is too narrow and tedious a passage, they have contrived a narrower course and compass [illegible] their own; They will catch at a Christ, and press on for mercy and to take hold of a Christ, and not come by this coast of breaking the league with [illegible], and renouncing the [illegible] of any [illegible] besides, and in a misguided mistake, they [illegible] they have carried the cause. This was the guise of the stony ground (Matthew 13:20). He [illegible] received the seed into stony places, the same is he that hears the Word and immediately with joy receives it. They should first have ploughed up the stones, there should have been brokenness of heart; they should have received the Word with sorrow first, and then afterwards with joy; and therefore this sudden and disorderly coming, brings as sudden and shameful departing away; therefore it follows in verse 21, Yet has [reconstructed: he] not root in himself, but endures only for a while, and in the time of temptation falls away. As it is with the corn upon the House top, it flourishes and fades speedily, but no man fills his hand with it.

But would you not have a man to believe? Is it not a duty which God reveals and commands upon no less hazard than the loss of eternal life? He that believes not is condemned already (John 3:18). This is the sin of all sins, which the Spirit convinces the world of, that they do not believe (John 16:8). Can a man do so necessary a duty too soon? Or has he allowance to neglect it, and not believe at any time? Why? Would you not have a man to believe at some times, when God commands him to believe at all times?

No: God forbid: There is no allowance for unbelief at any time. It's his duty forever to [reconstructed: flee] it, the minister's duty to exhort to it, and require it. Believe [reconstructed: if] he can: but that he will never be able to do it, to be married to Christ and sin also, to be under the [reconstructed: dominion] of corruption, and [reconstructed: under the] command of the Lord Jesus; to grow upon two stocks at one and the same time, it is not possible. And when the Lord in his word so strictly enjoins it, and his [reconstructed: ministers] call upon men to believe, the aim and intent of both is, to [reconstructed: direct] them to use [reconstructed: all] means and take that [reconstructed: course] whereby they may come and believe: first to make room for faith, before they can receive faith; first go out of themselves and [reconstructed: repent] before they can go to a Savior: and therefore this is not to hinder the work of believing, but to further it, and that to the utmost according to the mind of God.

A third sort who miss the way to the Lord Jesus, are such who indeed attend [reconstructed: the] work in the right place, but spoil it in the doing; make an entrance but never come to any perfection, indeed pervert it [reconstructed: greatly] by their rash and unskilful proceeding. There be some quarrels and babbles raised between the soul and a man's sinful distempers, they begin to be at odds and contention, and therefore upon a push they purpose to part dwellings, because of some hard measure that they find unexpectedly from their beloved lusts: the venom thereof vexes his spirit, and the sting of those terrors, and the righteous plagues which are now deserved and so presented before the view of the soul, makes him fall out with his corruptions, as having expected other and more pleasing dealing at their hands, and that upon their [reconstructed: promises] and pretenses made, but [reconstructed: now] he feels the bitterness thereof, and therefore can [reconstructed: truly] judge of them by his own sense and experience. And thus the terror and trouble and heart-smart which his sin has wrought in him, sets him busily and resolutely to the reformation and amendment of it. And in this turn, there may be no sin he sees or knows, but in his own apprehension, he would renounce all; no service or duty but he does approve and practice all: self-terror sets him to work for [reconstructed: his] own honor or quiet; and pitch him at whatever narrowness you will he will come to it. And as the force of the blow is, and the power and strength of the ordinances under which he lives, and the constant holding himself to the use and exercise of holy duties continue, this may continue long, and cause both confidence and comfort with it. And this is a dangerous and desperate mistake, being a preparative for a child of the law, that is, to a legal reformation, not for the implantation of the soul into Christ: and here millions perish.

When by self-terror occasioned by the sting of sin, the sinner is set upon reformation, and that with much violence, with a kind of thoroughness and strictness to procure his own safety, self-love meeting with terror sets a man upon amendment of himself for self ends, as his own salvation and honor. That preparation which sets a soul upon reformation, so that he attains his end and ease there, so that there is deep silence about a Christ nor yet sight and sense of the need of him, it is certain, it is naught. For it issues only from this principle and when that fails, both his duties and comforts come to an end. This was the way of that young man (Matthew 19:20), who could say to our Savior, I have kept all the commandments from my youth, what lack I yet? He lived in a reformed way and rested there when yet his heart was not loosened from his [reconstructed: beloved] corruptions, and therefore when he came to the trial he would rather part with [reconstructed: Christ] and heaven and happiness than part with his [reconstructed: riches]. This was also the frame of those hypocrites (Isaiah [reconstructed: 58:6]), who fasted and afflicted their souls and yet did not loose the bonds of wickedness. A saving preparation, though it be not a principle of life, yet it makes way and room for the coming of a Christ that will [reconstructed: bring] a principle of life into the soul — this is the end of it, and if it cease before it come [reconstructed: to that,] it misses its end.

A fourth sort are such who have wallowed long in their own sorrows and their own performances, and services, and [reconstructed: at last] find (and therefore are forced to [reconstructed: confess]) there is neither power, nor pardon, nor peace there to be had, for their guilt and [reconstructed: corruption], and distempers remain as before: and therefore they see all in [reconstructed: and through] Christ, know they must have it from him and are [reconstructed: resolved] to expect it, therefore they ply him with [reconstructed: earnest] prayers, indeed, are contented that he should do all for them. Only they would [reconstructed: deal] with him, [reconstructed: but] in this proviso, that he must do it for them [reconstructed: as it was] spoke of the Centurion (Luke 7:4), he is [reconstructed: worthy] for whom you should do this. So they think of themselves, since they sorrow and seek and attend upon him according to his will, they cannot [reconstructed: bear it] with patience to think they should miss. These men have not renounced their own worthiness, and would indeed [reconstructed: break] in upon the privilege of the Lord and not make it free; and so not grace.

How shall the soul know it [reconstructed: does] thus look too much to its own worthiness?

I answer in two things. First, if it [reconstructed: will] snarl at God's dealings, and quarrel with his [reconstructed: providence], and privately [reconstructed: murmur] and repine when they see others have more and better than they: I see others have been humbled and pardoned, and comforted; but I go on still in a disconsolate way: the saints of God have sought the Lord, and found him gracious to their souls; they have used the means, and found a blessing upon them: but I pray and fast, and use all the means of grace, and yet I feel no power, receive no profit, nor benefit to my own soul, and there is a secret conceit that God does them wrong: as she said, If it be so, why am I thus? (Genesis 25:22).

2. We may know it by a sinking discouragement of heart. When the soul wearied with delays and deferments, and expectation, sits down in a [illegible] condition; because he cannot have what he will, he will cast away what he has, and conceives he may be careless of what he might attain. As David said, I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul (1 Samuel 27:1). All men are liars (Psalm 116:11). Alas! I am not fit to pray or to hear; I find my heart worse after it, none was ever in such a case as I: better never to use the means, than never to have benefit by them; better never to enjoy the ordinances and privileges of God, than to get no good by them. How now! Better never use the means? It would be better, and best of all, if you were deeply humbled and abased in the sight of your own vileness. As the Apostle says, What if God will not? What [illegible] he will never pardon your sins or show mercy to your soul? If he give you nothing, does he [illegible] you anything? You think your worthiness is not attended, you secretly think the Lord has forgot himself, your parts and performances, your [illegible] and prayers, diligence and endeavors, ought upon due, to be remembered and recompensed.

No: Thank your proud heart; you are not prepared for the presence, the peace, the comfort; the coming of a Savior, and therefore you want him. Do you think yourself worthy to be condemned when you think it much to be denied, deserted, punished, indeed, but delayed in the dispensation of God's goodness? He must please your palate and suit your mind and humor at a beck. No, no, mend yourself if you be in so hasty a mood, the Lord will make you know that you are unworthy of mercy. He will not bribe you, nor be beholden to you to wait upon him for his mercy, indeed, be thankful to him that you may wait; and wonder that you are not past praying, hearing, and waiting, and all.

A ground of encouragement to a poor distressed sinner, when devils assault, [illegible] grow strong, conscience accuse, and the venom of the vengeance of the Almighty drinks up a man's spirits, so that the sinner knows not how to bear his condition, nor yet how to help himself out of it: so that he is at his wit's end. His friends pity him, and the parents conceive their child is undone, they never thought to have seen this day. Why so? It is the best day that ever his eyes saw; he is now in God's way, the Lord now seems to lay hold upon him, and to intend good to him; be not afraid of the work, but be afraid he should miss and spoil in the working. As in childbirth, when throes come thick and strong, there is most hope of a speedy and happy delivery, but when her throes leave her, her life leaves her, so it is in the new birth. Stormy gales at sea toss a man most, but soonest land him. Therefore do not so much fear the blow, as be thankful and be willing to follow the blow; nor so much desire to be eased, as not to be deceived; not so much to have the work over, as to have it made good upon your soul; labor to get into, and keep in that frame prophesied of in all [illegible] converts (Jeremiah 50:4). Going and [illegible] with their faces towards Zion, they shall [illegible] the Lord their God.

Exhortation. Suffer then the exhortation of the Baptist, the voice of him that cries in the wilderness to sound in your ears, and to sink into [illegible] hearts; Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. As ever we [illegible] to share in the merits of our Savior to enjoy him, and his presence and everlasting happiness by him; let us address ourselves, bestir our souls in the use of all means to [illegible] a Savior, and then we may [illegible] expect him, and we shall not miss of our expectation. There is no lack on his part, he is willing and ready, He that stands and knocks at the door that he may come in (Revelation 3:20). If the door was open, he would come in without question: If the way was prepared he has promised to come speedily, and certainly he would not delay his coming. I know this manner of entertainment seems hard to flesh and blood, loath are we to dislodge so many gainful guests, so many special friends, darling pleasures, and sweet contentments, which we have contrived to ourselves out of the earthly comforts of this life. Hence many are content the King would go another way, and secretly wish they had nothing to do with the Lord Jesus; there is so much privy search to be made, so much examination to be used, such a sight of our sins and unworthiness; indeed, that which is worst of all to the corrupt hearted, they must vomit up all their sweet morsels, shake hands, and break league with their beloved darling delights, which they tender as their lives, they must thrust world, and ease, prosperity, and pomp, credit, and applause by the head and shoulders out of the doors, and turn them going. [illegible] therefore I am afraid, many [illegible] that in secret in their own hearts, which the devils openly professed, What have we to do with you Jesus, you Son of God? Are you come to [illegible] us before the time, to deprive us of our profits, to pluck away our pleasures, and to dislodge those sweet lusts that we harbored so long in our bosoms and bowels? Let us learn then to press some sound arguments upon our own hearts, that we may persuade and prevail with them if it be possible, to set about this work which is so necessary.

Consider then, First, who we are that must [illegible]; And Secondly, For whom.

First, let us consider ourselves, a company of poor, miserable, sinful, and damned creatures, sinful dust and ashes, dead dogs. Consider of this and think with yourself, Will the Lord of Heaven come down? Will Christ dwell in my heart? Will he deign to look in, indeed, to call in (as he goes by) upon such a sinful creature? And let this move you to prepare for his coming. We are not worthy (as the Centurion said) that the Lord should come under our [illegible]. In (1 Kings 8:27) Solomon says, Will the Lord indeed dwell on earth? Will he dwell in a house made with hands? As if he should say, Is it possible? Can it be imagined that you Lord being the great God of heaven, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, should once [illegible] to dwell in a house made with hands, in the Temple which I have built! And what may we say, Is it so? Can it be? Shall it be that God will come and dwell under our roof? That he will come and dwell under our rotten and sinful hearts, that he will dwell in our [illegible] and sinful souls? Why, he will, he has said it, he has [illegible] it, he will perform it; and therefore let us consider our own unworthiness to receive Christ, as a motive to stir us up to make preparation for Christ; for the baser the place is that should entertain him, the greater the preparation should be. We ought to wonder that the Lord will deign to come into our sinful souls, and therefore we had need prepare the more for his coming. The Lord has promised to come into our souls, if we humble them, and make them fitting to entertain his Majesty; therefore sweep your hearts, and cleanse those rooms, cleanse every sink, and brush down every cobweb, and make room for Christ; for if your heart be prepared and divorced from all corruptions, then Christ will come and take possession of it.

A second motive that may stir us up to prepare for the Lord Jesus is to consider who it is that we are to prepare for: here we have three things.

1 Consider the worthiness of the person, in regard of whom all preparation may seem too little; you are not to entertain an ordinary person, it is not a man, it is not a king, it is not an earthly monarch, but it is the King of Kings that will come into your souls to comfort them; indeed, his holy and blessed Spirit will remain with you for ever: therefore do all that possibly may be done to prepare for his coming and for the entertainment and welcoming of him, when he comes. In (Psalm 24:7) David calls [illegible] his own soul (for so the words are to be expounded) Lift up your heads O you gates, and be you lifted up you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. As who should say, Be enlarged, Love, Joy, Hope, Desire, and all that is within me, set open, give way, for the Lord is coming; but who is the Lord? It is the Lord of Hosts, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, verse 8. And with that he knocks again, Lift up your heads O you gates, and be you [illegible] you everlasting doors, for the King of [illegible] shall come [illegible], verse 9. As if he should say, What! shall the Lord knock? Shall the King of Glory stand? Open [illegible] and make all preparation: did David do thus? Why do you do [illegible] then? Christ knocks by promises, he knocks by judgments, he knocks by threats; indeed, he speaks this day to your souls, and labors this day to make way for himself: make therefore all preparation, let nothing be wanting, that when he comes he may take [illegible] of your souls, and be a God to you for ever.

2 Consider all that good that Jesus Christ brings with him, and that should move you; for all the good that we need or can desire to make us happy, he will bring with him when he comes to take [illegible] of the soul. The Lord comes into our souls not to trouble us and charge us, no, he comes to bring everlasting salvation and happiness to our souls. Look what Christ said to [illegible] (Luke 19:5, 8-9), when he went up into a sycamore tree to see him, Make haste and come down Zacchaeus (says he) for I must abide with you in your house. Zacchaeus makes no cavilling, nor no tarrying, but made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And mark what Christ said to him, This day salvation is come to your house. So likewise it shall be with you, when Christ comes, everlasting happiness and salvation comes with him; and therefore if you do not make preparation for him, you refuse salvation and happiness that is offered to your souls by him. In (Amos 4:12), when the Lord had sent many plagues and judgments upon Jerusalem, he says, Thus will I do to you Oh Israel, and because I will do thus to you, therefore prepare to meet your God O Israel. I will do thus to you, that is, I will send mildews, and pestilence, and war, and famine among you, I will draw you out with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks. And what follows? Prepare to meet your God Oh Israel. If God come against us to plague us, we must prepare to meet him; reason then with your own souls: should the Lord come in judgment to punish us, if we ought to prepare to meet him, then what preparation ought we to make for his coming, when he shall not come thus in judgment to condemn us, but in mercy to save us, in his goodness to enrich us, in his compassion to comfort us? Then now if ever, prepare to meet your God O Israel. Let every heart persuade itself in this particular, Is Christ so gracious and so merciful, does he send from Heaven to us, and say he will come in, Behold (says he) I stand at the door and knock, and if any man will hear my voice and open to me, my Father and I will come in, and sup with him. He will come in himself, and bring all the good things of grace and glory with him for the everlasting refreshing of our souls. Why, where are your hearts in the mean time? Therefore if ever, now prepare to meet the Lord Jesus bringing salvation with him.

3 Consider again, how the Lord Jesus entreats you, and beseeches you to receive him, he that might command you, and condemn you for refusing; beseeches you to entertain him (2 Corinthians 5:20). We as ambassadors in Christ's stead, beseech you that you would be reconciled to God: that is, that you would prepare to meet God willing to be reconciled to you in Christ, and that you would come to his terms.

Consider our Savior Christ has taken a great journey from heaven to earth to save us miserable wretched sinners; conceive you saw those [illegible] of blood trickling down his cheeks, conceive you saw him upon the cross, with his hands thrust through with nails, and his side pierced with a spear, enduring the wrath of God for our sins, and behold now he stands at the door, and says with the church (Lamentations 1:22), Is it nothing to you, have you no regard? O you that pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow, etc. Imagine you heard Christ say, I have suffered these and these things for you, these hands of mine were nailed, this side of mine was pierced, this heart of mine was melted with anguish of spirit. Imagine you saw Christ standing and knocking at the door of your hearts, as indeed he does, and say, Ho all you within there, all you proud hearts, all you covetous and malicious hearts, have you no regard to a Savior? a crucified Savior? He that died for you and now labors to do good to your souls, will not this move you to prepare your hearts for him and let him in? Will you suffer the Lord Jesus to stand knocking, and calling and weeping, and saying as he said to Jerusalem (Luke 19:42), Oh that you had known, even you at least in this your day, the things belonging to your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes. Will you suffer Christ to stand thus, knocking at the door of your hearts and not let him in? Take heed of this, Christ knocks this day at your hearts, if you now give him his last answer, and shut the door against him, it may prove to be the last knocking, you may happen never to see him more.