S. His posture and action^ / sta7id at the door, and Tcnocl' ; the word is in the f preter tense, I have stood, but being here joined with another verb of the present tense, it is fitly translated, / standi yet so as that it notes a Continual action^ I have stood, and do still Btand \vith unwearied patience ; I once stood personally and bodily among you in the days of my flesh, and I still stand spiritually and representatively in my ambassadors at the door, i. e. the mina and conscience, the faculties and powers which are introductive into the whole soul.
The word door is here properly put to signify those introductive faculties of the soul, which are of a like use to it, as the door is to the house. This is the Redeemer"*s posture, his action is knocking'^ i. e. his I powerful essay and gracious attempts to open the heart to give him admission. The word knock signifies a strong and power- ful knock ; he stands patiently, and knocks powerfully by the word outwardly, by the convictions, motions, impulses, strivings, and instigations of his Spirit inwardly.
3. The design and end of the suit ; it is for openings i. e. coil' senting, receivmg, embracing^ and hearty accepting of him by faith. Acts xvi. 14. The Lord opened the heart of Lydia, \. e- persuaded her soul to believe ; implying, that the heart by nature is strongly barred and locked up against Christ , and that nothing but a power from him can open it.
Secondly, The powerful arguments and motives used by Christ to obtain his suit, and ^Qi a grant from the sinner's heart ; and thejr are drawn from two inestimable benefits accruing to the opening ot believing soul, viz.
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2. Communion with Christ.
1. Union ; I will come in to him, that is, I will unite myself with the opening, believing soul ; he shall be mystically one with me, and I ^\ith him.
2. Communion ; I will sup with him, and he with me ; that is, I will feast the believing soul with the delicates of heaven : such comforts, such ]oy?,, such pleasures, as none in the world but be- lievers are capable of
And, to set home all, these special benefits are proposed by Christ to all sorts of sinners, great and small, old and young ; If any man hear my voice and open the door : That so no soul might be dis- couraged from believing, by the greatness or multitude of his sins, but the vilest of sinners may see free grace triumphing over all their unworthiness, upon their consent to take Christ according to the gracious offer^s of the gospel.
The words thus opened, afford many great and useful points of doctrine, comprehending in them the very sum and substance of the gospel. The first which ariseth from the solemn and remarkable preface, Behold, will be this,
Doct 1, Tliai every offer of Christ to the souls of sinners is recorded and zcitnessed ivith respect to the day of account and reckoning.
Here we shall enquire into three things.
1. Who are God"'s witnesses to all gospel tenders.
2. What are the object-matters they witness to.
3. Why God records every offer of Christ, and takes a wit- ness tliereof
I. Who ai'e God's witnesses to all the tenders and offers made of Christ by the gospel, and they will be found to be more than a strict legal number; for,
3 . His ministers, by whom he makes them, are all witnesses as well as officers of Christ to the people. Acts xxvi. 16. "I have " appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and " a witness.'' Here you see ministers have a double office, to pro- pose and offer Christ, and then to bear witness for or against those to whom he is thus offered: they are expressly called God's witnesses, Ilex. xi. 6, 7. Their labours witness, their sufferings witness, their solemn appeals to God witness; yea, the very dust of their feet shaken off against the refusers of Christ, turns to a testimony against them, Mark vi. 11. Every groan and sigh, every drop of sweat, much more of blood, are placed in God's book of marginal notes by all their sermons and prayers, and will be produced and read in the great day against all the refusers and despisers of Christ.
2. The gospel itself, which is preached to you, is a testimony or witness for God, or against every one that hears it ; John xii. 4^. ** He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that " judgeth him ; the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge " him in the last day."" And this is the sense of Christ's word, Matth. xxiv. 14. " And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preach- " ed in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the " end come.'' Ah, Lord, what a solemn record is hero ! every sermon you hear, yea, every reproof, persuasion, and conviction, is a ^\4tness for God to cast and condenm every soul in judgment that complies not immediately with the calls of the gospel : so many sermons, so many witnesses.
3. Every man's conscience is a witness for God, that he hath a fair offer once made him : the very consciences of the Heathens that never saw a Bible, that had no other preachers but the sun, moon, and stars, and other works of nature ; yet of them the apos- tle saitli, Rom. ii. 15. " That they shew the work of the law " written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing them wit- " ness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing " one another." Certainly if such vigour and activity was put into the consciences of Heathens, who could only read the will of God by the dim moon-light of natural reason ; how much more vi- gorous and active will conscience be in its accusing office against all that live under the bright beams of gospel-light ? Their consciences will be swift witnesses, and will ring sad peals in their ears another day, Ezek. ii. 5. " You shall know that there hath been a prophet " among you." This single witness is instead of a thousand wit- nesses for God.
4- The examples of all those that do believe and obey the gos- pel, are so many witnesses for God against the despisers and neg- iecters of the great salvation. Every mourning, trembling soul among you is a witness against all the dead-hearted, unbelieving, disobedient ones, that sit with them under the same ordinances. Hence it is said, 1 Cor. vi. 2. " Know ye not that the saints shall " judge the world .?" They shall be assessors with Christ in the great day, and condemn the world for their examples, as Noali did the old world. Thus John, Matth. xxi. 32. came unto you in the i^ay of righteousness, and ye believed him not, hut the publicans and ftarlots believed him; and ye when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards that ye might believe him, q. d. What shift do you make to quiet your consciences, and stifle your convictions, when you saw ptiblicans, the worst of men, and harlots, the worst of women, tepenting, believing, and hungering after Christ ! their examples shall be your judges. These are God's witnesses.