XI. 28. " Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden ; '• and I \^ill giv3 you rest/' O what a charming voice is here ? he that considers it may well wonder what heart in the world can resist it : hke unto this is that in Isa. Iv. 1. ^' Ho, every one that *• thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money " let him come ; yea, let him come and buy ^vine and milk with- '' out money and without price.'' q. d. Come, sinner, come ; though thou have no qualifications nor worthiness, nor righteousness of thy ov>ii ; though thou be but a heap of sin and vileness, yet come : my grace is a gifi, not a sale : and such is that in John vii. 37. " In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and '' cried, if any mnn thu'st let him come to me and drink."" q. d. My grace is not a sealed fountain, it is free and open to the great- est of sinners ; if they tliii'st, they are invited to come and di'ink. This is that oil of the gospel grace which makes the key turn so pleasantly and effectually amongst all the cross wards of man's ^^ill. And thus you see how the word preached becomes an in- strument in the Spirit's hand, to open the door of a sinners heart, at which it knocks by its mighty convictions, dreadful threats, and gracious uivitations.
2. We next come to the second hammer by which the Spirit knocks at the sinners heart, and that is tlie providential works of God. These, in subser\'iency to the word, are of excellent use to awaken sinners, and make them open their hearts to Christ. God hath magnified his word above all his name ; yet there ai'e some of the providential works of God greatly sendceable in this case ; the word sanctifies providences, and providences assist the word, and make it work. Now tliere are two sorts of providential dispensa- tions which the Lord Jesus makes use of to gain entrance for liim into the hearts of men, viz. (1.) Judgments. (2.) Mercies.
(1.) Judgments and afflictions ; the word of God many times works not till some stroke of God come to quicken and assist it ; thus did the Lord open the heart of that monster of vrickedness, -\Ianasseh, the word could not work alone, but a smart rod quick- ened its operation : 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10, 11, 12. "■ And the " Lord spake to ^Vlanasseh, and to liis people ; but they would not '• hearken. Wherefore the Loi'd brought upon them the cap- '•' tains of the host of the king of Ass^Tia, which took Manasseh " among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and earned him " to Babylon. And when he was in affliction he besought the " Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of '* his fathers.*"
Thus the heart of this man relented under the word assisted by
t'le rod. Ah it is good that God takes such a course with some sinners, else the word would do them no good : and to this pur- pose is that iu Job xxxvi. 8, 9, 10. " And if they be bound in " fetters, and holden in cords of affliction ; then he sheweth *' them their work and their transgression, that they have exceed- " ed ; and openeth their ears to discipline.'^ This is that rough course the obstinacy of men's hearts makes necessary for their re- covery, and therefore it is very observable, that some words of God have lain dead in some sinners hearts for years together, and at last have begun to work under some smart and close rod. Alas, while all things are pleasant and prosperous about us, the word hath but little operation and effect : Jer. xxii. 21, 22. " I spake " unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou saidst I will not hear : " this hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst " not my voice. The wind shall eat up all thy pastures, and thy *' lovers shall go into captivity ; surely then shalt thou be ashamed " and confounded for all thy wickedness." q. d. Your eyes are so dazzled with the beautiful flowers, and your ears so charmed with the Syren songs or earthly delights, that my word can take no place upon you. Let an east-wind blow, and wither up these flowers ; then the word shall work, and conscience resent the con- cernments of eternity. This course God is fain to take with many of you ; here you sit from sabbath to sabbath under the word, and nothing takes place upon your hearts. Will you not hear the voice of my word ? Go, death, saitli God, smite that man's child dead, I will try what that will do ; go, poverty, and blast his estate, and see what that wdll do ; go, sickness, and smite his body, and shake him over the grave's mouth, I mil see what that will do. Thus God sends to sinners, as Absalom sent to Joab, who refused to come near him, till he set fire to his field of corn, and then away comes Joab, 2 Sam. xiv. 29, 30, 31. And thus the Lord opened the heart of 'the Jailor, by putting him into a fright, a panic fear of death, x\cts xvi. 27. And thus doth the Lord devise means to bring back his banished.
(2.) As God makes use of the hammer of judgments, so he makes use of mercies to make way for Christ into the hearts of men. Every mercy is a call, a knock of God : and truly if there be any ingenuity left unextinguished in the heart, one would think mercy would prevail more than all the judgments in the world, Rom. ii. 4. " Knowest thou not that the goodness of God leadeth " thee to repentance .^" q. d. Dost thou not see the hand of mercy stretched out to lead thee into a corner, there to mourn over thy sins committed against so gracious and merciful a God ? By every mercy you receive, Christ doth, as it were, sue you to open your hearts to him ; they are so many gifts sent from heaven to