First, The soul seeth an absolute necessity of coming : necessity- is laid upon it, there is no other way, Acts iv. 12. God hath shut it up by a blessed necessity to this only door of escape, Gal. iii. 23. Damnation lies in the neglect of Christ, Heb. ii. 3. The soul hath no choice in this case ; angels, ministers, duties, repentance, refor- mation cannot save me ; Christ, and none but Christ can deliver me from present guilt, and the wrath to come. Why do I dispute, demur, delay, when certain ruin must inevitably follow the neglect or refusal of gospel-offers ?
Secondly, The Lord shewcth those that are under his teaching, the probabilities of mercy, for their encouragement in the way of believing. And these probabilities the soul is enabled to gather from the general and free invitations of the gospel, Isa. Iv. 1, 7. Rev. xxii. 17. from the conditional promises of the gospel, John vi. 37. Mat. xi. 28. Isa. i. 18. from the vast extent of grace, beyond all the thoughts and hopes of the creatures, Isa. Iv. 8, 9. Heb. vii. 25. from the encouraging examples of other sinners, who have found mercy in as bad a condition as they, 1 Tim. i. 13. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3. 2 Cor. vi. 10, 11. from the command of God, which warrants the action, and answers all the objections of unworthiness and presumption in them that come to Christ, 1 John iii. 23. and lastly, from the sensible changes already made upon the temper and frame of the heart. Time was, when I had no sense of sin, nor sorrow for sin ; no desire after Christ, no heart to duties. But it is not so with me now ; I now see the evil of sin, so as I never saw it before ; my heart is now broken in the sense of that evil ; my desires begin to be enflamed after Jesus Christ ; I am not at rest, nor where I would be, till I am in secret mourning after the Lord Jesus ; surely these are the dawnings of the day of mercy ; let me go on in this way. It saith, as the lepers at the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings vii. 3, 4. " If I stay here, I perish :" If I go to Christ I can but perish. Hence believers bear up against all objected discourage- ments, certum exitium commutemus incerto ; it is the dictate of wis- dom, the vote of reason, to exchange a certain for an uncertain ruin. And thus you have here what those excellent lessons are, which all that come to Christ are taught by the Father.
SIS THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. XXHL
It is written in the Prophets, And they shall be all taught of God: Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
XN the former sermon, you have been taught this great truth ;
Doct. That the teachings of God are absolutely neceesary to every soul that cometh imto Christ, in the way of faith.
What the teachings of God import, hath been formerly opened ; and what those special lessons are, which all believers hear and learn of the Father, was the last thing discoursed : that which remains to be further cleared about this subject, before I come to the applica- tion of the whole, will be to shew you,
1. What are the properties of divine teachings.
2. What influence they have in bringing souls to Christ.
3. Why it is impossible for any man to come to Christ without these teachings of the Father.
First, What are the properties of divine teachings ? Concerning the teachings of God, we affirm in general, that, though they ex- clude not, yet they vastly differ from all human teachings : as the power of God in effecting transcends all human power, so the wis- dom of God in teaching transcends all human wisdom. For,
1. God teacheth powerfully ; he speaketh to the soul with a strong hand ; when the word cometh accompanied with the Spirit, it is " mighty through God, to cast down all imaginations,'1 2 Cor. x. 4. Now the gospel " comes not in word only, (as it was wont to do,) but in power,1'' 1 Thes. i. 4, 5. a power that makes the soul fall down before it, and acknowledge that God is in that word, 1 Cor. xiv. 25.
2. The teachings of God are sweet teachings. Men never relish the sweetness of a truth, till they learn it from God, Cant. i. 3. " His name is as ointment poured forth." Cant. v. 16. " His " mouth is most sweet." O how powerfully and how sweetly doth the voice of God slide into the hearts of poor melting sinners ! how jejune, dry, and tasteless are the discourses of men, compared with the teachings of the Father !
3. God teacheth plainly and clearly : He not only opens truths to the understanding, but he openeth the understanding also to perceive them, 2 Cor. hi. 16. In that day the vail is taken away
SERM. XXIII. THE METHOD OF GRACE. 319
from the heart ; a light shineth into the soul ; a clear beam from heaven is darted into the mind, Luke xxiv. 45. Divine teachings are fully satisfying ; the soul doubts no more, staggers and hesitates no more, but acquiesces in that which God teaches ; it is so satisfied, that it can venture all upon the truth of what it hath learned from God ; as that martyr said, / cannot dispute, but I can die for Christ. See Prov. viii. 8, 9.
Fourthly, The teachings of God are infallible teachings. The wisest and holiest of men may mistake, and lead others into the same mistakes with themselves ; but it is not so in the teachings of God. If we can be sure that God teacheth us, we may be as sure of the truth of what he teacheth ; for his Spirit guidcth us into all truth, John xvi. 3. and into nothing but truth.
Fifthly, The teachings of God are abiding teachings ; they make everlasting impressions upon the soul, Psal. cxix. 98. they are ever with it : The words of men vanish from us ; but the words of God abide by us : what God teacheth, he writeth upon the heart, Jer. xxxi. 33. and that will abide ; liter a scripta manet. It is usual with souls, whose understandings have been opened by the Lord, many years afterward to say, I shall never forget such a scripture that once convinced, such a promise that once encouraged me.
Sixthly, The teachings of God are saving teachings ; they make the soul wise unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. There is a great deal of other knowledge that goes to hell with men : The pavement of hell (as one speaks) is pitched with the skulls of many great scholars, but eternal life is the teachings of God, John xvii. 3. " This is the eternal life, to know thee the only true God, and " Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.1' This is deservedly stiled the light of this life, John viii. 12. " In this light we shall see tight,* Psal. xxxvi. 9.