8. Every effectual knock of Christ gives an alarm to hell, and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the possession of the convinced sinner. The devil is a jealous spirit, and when his inte- rest is in danger he bestirs himself to purpose ; the time of convic- tion is an hour of temptation. " We wrestle not with flesh and "blood, (saith the apostle) but against principalities, against " powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against '' spiritual wickedness, (or ^ncked spirits) in high places," or about heavenlies, Eph. vi. IS. The strife betwixt Satan and the soul is now for no less than the prize of eternal life ; it is now for all, or none, for life or death, for heaven or hell : The powers of hell are now all in arms to destroy convictions, and secure the posses- sion of the soul against Christ ; as when a granado falls into a gar- rison, the first care of the defendants is, to stifle and choak it before it break. Whilst Christ is speaking by his Spirit in one ear, the devil is whispering in the other ; and the things he whispers to quench convictions are usually such as these : It is time enough yet, what need such haste ? Enjoy thy pleasures a little longer, thou mayest come to Christ and be saved at last. If that will not do, then he changeth his voice: To what purpose wilt thou go to Christ ? It is now too late, the time of grace is over ; hadst thou come to him in thy youth, and obeyed his first call, it had been somewhat, but now it is to no purpose. If this will not quiet the soul, then he saith. Thy sins are two great to be pardoned, there is no hope for such a prodigious sinner as thou art. If the Lord help the soul to overcome this by discovering to it the riches of mercy, pardoning the greatest of sinners ; then he represents the toultitudes which are in the same case with the convinced sinner ; Come, fear not, if it go ill with thee, it will be as bad for millions of men and women ; if thou go to hell, thousands will go with thee : But if the soul be loth to be damned for company, then he bids it look upon the train of troubles and afflictions that come along with Christ, and will certainly follow him, if the door be open to let him in : If Chirst come in, reproaches, losses, and sufferings will certainly come in with him ; troops of miseries and calamities follow him ; himself hath told thee so, and art thou mad to ruin all thy com- forts in the world, and plunge thyself into a sea of trouble for what thine eyes never saw ? But if the soul reply, these are more tolera- ble than damnation ; better my flesh suffer for a time, than my soul be cast away for ever. Then lie represents the insuperable difficul-
ties of religion ; What a hard thing it is to be saved, how many painful duties and acts of mortification the soul must pass through ! Thus you see what an alarm conviction gives to the powers of hell.
9. Every effectual knock of Christ is followed on, and new con- victions revive old and former ones, and the Lord never leaves knocking till the door be opened ; if one sermon will not do, ano- ther shall ; if one wound be plaistered and healed by the art of Satan, a fresh wound shall be made ; if a former conviction vanish, the next shall be sealed upon the soul ; and when the Spirit of the Lord sealeth a conviction upon the conscience, raze it out who can ? And here is the difference betwixt special and common convictions ; common convictions come and go, they put the soul in a fright for a day or a month, and then trouble it no more for ever ; but spe- cial convictions will be continued, one thing backs another ; for Christ is in pursuit of the soul, and will give it chase, till at last he overtake, and come up with it.
10. Lastly, All the knocks of Christ cease and end when the sin- ner's day of grace is ended ; this is of dreadful consideration ; when the time of mercy is over, no more strivings of the Spirit with a man after that. Christ saith to the drowsy sinner, as he spake to the drowsy disciples in the garden. Sleep on now, and take your rest. So here, I called thee in such a sermon, but thou heardest not ; by such a providence, but thou obeyedst not ; sleep on now, and take thy rest : " My people would not hearken to my voice, and Israel " would none of me ; so I gave them up to their own hearts lust, ^' to walk in their own counsels," Psal. Jxxxi. 11, 12. q. d. I have done with them, the treaty is ended, I will make no more essays towards their conversion and salvation. So I gave them up. Me- thinks it sounds as much as this, — Take them sin, take them devil^ I will have no more to do with them : — so Hosea iv. 17. " Ephraim " is joined to idols, let him alone."" His heart is glued fast to sin, he is enamoured upon other lovers, let him alone. O beloved, it is a dreadful thing for God to say. Let this man alone in his for- mality, and that man in his carnal security. Let not this be mis- applied by poor trembling souls under conviction : I know the fear of this judgment is upon their hearts, nothing makes them tremble more than lest the day of grace be ended with them. But there is no ground for this fear, whilst the Spirit continues convincing and the soul trembling lest his convictions should prove ineffectual. Thus much of the nature, instruments, and manner of Christ's knocking at the door of a sinner's heart. Our way is now opened to a fruitful application of this point, which I will wind up in divers necessary uses.
I. Use^for Information,
And first, The point before us will be useful for information in the following inferences and deductions.
Infer. 1. Into how deep a sleep hath sin cast the souls of sinners^ that Christ must stand so long, and give such loud repeated knocks before it will awal^e and open to him ? There is the spirit of a deep sleep fallen upon men, hke that into which God cast Adam ; God speaks once, yea, twice, but man regards it not ; it is the hardest thing in the world to rouse and awaken a man out of his carnal security. Look over Satan's kingdom, and you shall find a general stillness and quietness among his subjects ; there is no trouble for sin, no strivings after salvation, no cryings out, " What shall we do " to be saved ?'"* Go into the crowds of carnal men and women, and you shall find them all intent and busy about other matters. How long shall you be in their company before you hear one groan for sin, or see one tear slide from their eyes on that account ? Oh ! what a marvellous thing is here ! do not their consciences know the guilt that lies upon them ? Are they not aware of a day of reckoning which approach eth ? Yes, yes, these things are not hid from their consciences : What art then is used to keep them so still and quiet ? Why, there are divers rattles to still the consciences of sinners, and they do it effectually. There are four causes and oc- casions of this wonderful stillness in the souls of sinners.