Beloved, when the gospel is effectually brought home by the Spirit to the heart of a sinner, and wounds him for sin, sends him home, crying, O sick, sick of sin, and sick for Christ ; the news thereof is presently in heaven, and sets the whole city of God a re- joicing. Christ never rejoiced over thee before ; thou hast wound- ed him and grieved him a thousand times, but he never rejoiced in thee till now ; and that which gives joy to Christ may well be matter of joy to thee. And that is the sixth consolation.
VII. Consolation. And then Ithly., That day thy heart is unlock- ed, unbarred, and savingly opened by faith, that very day an in- timate, spiritual, and everlasting union is made betwixt Christ and thy soul ; from that day Christ is thine, and thou art his. Christ is a great and glorious person, but how great and glorious soever lie be, the small and feeble arms of thy faith may surround and embrace him; and thou mayest say with the church, "My " beloved is mine, and I am his :" For mark what he saith in the text, " If any man open to me, I will come unto him.'' That soul fehall be my habitation, there will I dwell for ever. Thus will
Christ dwell in your hearts by faith. What soul feels not itself advanced by this uni»n with the Son of God ? Hereby the beUever becomes a member of his body, flesh and bones; this is an ho- nour bestowed upon thy soul, above, and beyond all that honour that ever God bestowed upon any angel in heaven ; to them Christ is an head by way of dominion, but to thee by way of vital influ- ence. Angels are as the ba?'ons and nobles of his kingdom^ but the believer his spouse, and all the angels of heaven ministering spirits unto such. That is the seventh consolation.
VIII. Consolation. And then, ^thly, The opening of thy heart to Christ brings thee not only into union with his person^ but into the state of sweet, soul-enriching communion with him. So he speaketh in the text, " If any man open the door, I will sup with *' him, and he with me.'"* Poor soul, thou hast lived many years in the world, and never hadst any communion with God till this day. Christ and thy soul hath been strangers till now. It is true, thou hast had communion with ordinances, and communion with saints, but for communion with Christ thou couldest know nothing of it, till thou receivedst him into thy soul by faith. Now thou mayest say, " Truly my fellowship is with the Father, and with " his Son Jesus Christ,'' 1 John i. 3.
And thenceforth thy communion with men is pleasant and de- sirable.
IX. Consolation. The opening of a man s soul to Christ by faith is a special and peculiar mercy, which falls to the share, but of a very few. God hath done that for thee which he hath denied to mil- lions ; " Who hath believed our report ? and to whom is the ann " of the Lord revealed .^" i. e. to how small a remnant in the world, Isa. liii. 1. And the apostle puts the work of faith among the great mysteries of godliness, among the wonders of religion, 1 Tim. iii. 19. " Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the « world."
The sound of the gospel is gone forth into the world ; " Many " are called, but few are chosen. There were many widows in " Israel, in the days of Elias, but to none of them was Ehas sent, *' save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a " widow,*" Luke iv. 25, 26. To allude to this, there were many hundreds that sat under the same sermon which opened thy heart to Christ, but it may be unto none of them was the Spirit of God sent that day, to open their hearts by faith, but unto thee ; thou wilt freely acknowledge thyself as unlikely and unworthy as the vilest sinner there. O astonishing mercy !
X. Consolation. And then lastly, in the same day thy heart opens by faith to Christ, all the treasures of Christ are unlocked and opened to thee. In the same hour God turns the key of regene-
ration to open thy soul, the key of free-grdce is also turned to open unto thee the unsearchable riches of Christ ; then the righ- teousness of Christ becomes thine to justify thee, the wisdom of Christ to guide thee, the hohness of Christ to sanctify thee ; in a word, he is that day made of God to thee, " Wisdom, righteous- " ness, sanctification, and redemption,'" 1 Cor. i. 30. " All is <* yours, for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's,"" 1 Cor. iii. ult. And thus I have shewed you some of those great things God doth for those souls that will but do this one thing for him, viz. open their hearts to receive Christ upon the tenders and terms of the gospel.
Rev. iii. 20. Behold I [stand ] at the door and knock, &c.
JL HE verb esrixa here rendered / stajid, is of the prefer tense, and woidd strictly be rendered / have stood ; but being joined with a verb of the present tense, is here rendered / do sta7id, a frequent Hebraism in scripture : And it notes the continued patience and long-suffering of Christ ; I have stood and still do stand, exercising wonderful patience towai'ds obstinate sinners. Which gives us thid fourth observation,
Doct. 4. That great and admirable is the patience of Christy in waiting upon trifling and obstinate sinmers.
Thus wisdom, i. e. Christ expresses himself, Prov. i. 24. " I ** have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and " no man regarded." Here you have not only Christ's earnest calls, but suitable gestures also, to gain attention. The stretching out of the hand was a signal given to procure attention. Acts xxL 40. Yet none regards ; and this the Lord doth not once or t\vice, but all the day long, Isa. Ixv. 2. shewing forth all long-suffering, as the apostle speaks, 1 Tim. i. 16. In the opening of this point I will shew you,
1. What Divine patience is.
2. Wherein it is evidenced.
3. Why it is exercised towards sinners.
First, Of the nature of Divine patience ; it is an ability in God not only to delay the execution of his -vvrath for a time towards ^ome, but to d^lay it in order to the eternal salvation of otliers.
Let me speak to the parts of this description of Divine patience.
1. It is an ability of power in God, not the effect of impotence, or want of opportunity : All sinners are continually within the reach of the arm of his justice, and he can strike when and where he will. Esau had a revengeful mind against Jacob, but wanted opportu- nity, and therefore was forced to delay the execution of his con- ceived wrath, until the days of mourning for his father were come ; and then saith he, " I will slay my brother Jacob," Gen. xxvii. 41. DBut in God it is a glorious effect of power, Nah. i. 3. " The Lord *' is slow to anger, and great in power."