2. There is also an internal energetical voice of Christ, consisting not in sound, but power : and betwixt these two, there are two re- markable differences. (1.) The external or ministerial voice of Christ is but the organ or instrument of conveying his internal and effica- cious voice to the soul ; in the former he speaks to the ear, and in or by that sound conveys his spiritual voice to the heart. (2.) The external voice is evermore ineffectual and successless, when it is not animated by that internal spiritual voice. It was mai-vellous to see the walls of Jericho falling to the ground at the sound of rams- horns ; there was certainly more than the force of an external blast to produce such an effect ; but more marvellous it is, to see at the sound of the gospel, not only the weapons of iniquity falling out of sinner s hands, but the very enmity itself out of their hearts. Here you see is a voice in a voice, an internal efficacy in the external pound ; without which the gospel makes no saving impression.
Secondly, This spiritual voice of Christ must be considered in its general nature, which implies two things in it :
1. Almighty efficacy.
1. Almighty efficacy, to quicken and open the heart with a word ; O what manner of voice is this, which carries such a vital power along with it ! In all the mighty works of Christ, his power was still put forth in some voice, as at the resurrection of Lazarus, John xi. 43. " He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth ; '' and he that was dead came forth." So in curing the deaf man, Mark vii. 34. " He saith unto him, Ephphatha, and straightway " his cars were opened." Thus, in the exerting of his Almighty glorious power in quickening a soul spiritually dead, and opening the heart that was lockt up by ignorance and unbelief ; an internal ahnighty efficacy passeth from Christ, along with the voice of the gospel, to effect this glorious work upon the soul : an emblem whereof Av^e have in Ezek. xxxvii. 9, 10. " Then said he unto me, '' prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, unto the wind, " saith the Lord God ; Come from the four winds, O breath, ^' and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophe- " sied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and " they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great ^' army." The animating vital breath which quickened the dead, came in, or with the four winds of heaven, as this almighty power of Christ doth with the sound of the gospel ; and before it the heart opens, the will bows, Psal. ex. 3. Man can no longer oppose the power of God ; man and man stand upon equal ground ; the power of man can repel the power of a fellow-creature ; but when the power of Christ comes along with the voice of man, there is no more power to resist. * This voice of Christ then, of which the text speaks, is an almighty impression made upon the soul of a sinner from heaven, which is to that soul instead of a voice ; and as fully expressive of God's mind concerning it, as any articulate voice in the world can be. It is a beam of light shining im- mediately from the Spirit, into the soul of a sinner ; as plainly and evidently discovering both its danger and duty, as if a voice from heaven had declared them. Thus it is said, Isa. viii. 11. The Lord spake to Isaiah with a strong hand, that is, by a mighty im- pression upon the prophet''s spirit, which was as a voice to him. Thus here, the Lord not only directs a suitable word to a sinner's condi- tion ; but also impresses it with such a strong hand upon his heart, as leaves no doubt behind it, but that it was the Lord himself that
♦ This voice and this knocking signify the thoughts which God injects, in order to awaken the sinner's conscience ; this God doth sometimes, not always. Pood St/nopsis on this place.
epake to his soul. This is Clirist's way of speaking by Ms spirit, to the inner spiritual ear of the soul ; not by oraculous voices, which I take to be but the suppositions of an overtroubled fancy ; but by an efficacious impression upon the heart. As to oraculous voices, we may sooner meet satanical delusions, than divine illuminations in that way. The learned Gerson speaks of a good man, who, being in prayer, seemed to hear such a voice as this ; / am come inperso)i to visit thee, for thou art worth?/. But he justly suspecting a delu- sion of Satan, shut his eyes and said, N'olo hie videre Ch?i^tum, &c. ' I will not see Christ here, it shall suffice me to see him in glory.' I am sure Christ's voice in the written word is more sure than a voice from heaven, 2 Pet. i. 19. This inward spiritual impression is Christ's effectual call from heaven ; and it is a voice sine strepitu syllabarum, without sound or syllable.
2. As this voice of Christ implies almighty efficacy, so it implies, in like manner, the facility of conversion unto Christ ; he can do it easily with a word of his mouth : As in the bodily cures per- formed by him in the days of his flesh, how suddenly and easily did Christ effect them 't Speak the word cmly, said the Centurion, and my servant shall he healed. Thus, let the Spirit but speak inter- - nally to the deadest soul, and it lives. Elijah did but cast his mantle upon Elisha, as he was plowing in the field, and he presently intreats the prophet to give him leave to go home, and bid his friends farewel, and he would follow him : Thus it is here ; let a beam of saving light shine from the Spirit into a man's heart ; let an effectual impression be made upon his soul, and he is presently made willing to quit and give up his dearest lusts and interests, and to embrace Christ upon the severest terms of the gospel. Conversion is too difficult a work for ano-els or men to effect in their own strength ; but Christ can do it with a word. And thus much of the general nature of Christ's spiritual internal voice ; but all this gives us but a remote imperfect knowledge of it : Therefore,
Thirdly, I shall endeavour to open the innate characters and special properties of this internal spiritual voice of Christ, which must be heard, or there can be no opening the door of the heart to receive him.
I. Character. And the first character is this ; it is a secret and a still voice, whereby somewhat is, as it were, whispered into the ear of the soul, making a particular application of what is spoken ex- ternally to the ear, much Hke that of Nathan to David, Thou art the man. This still voice sounds throughout the whole soul, yet none hear it but the soul concerned in it ; it is said, 1 Sam. ix. 15. " The Lord told Samuel in his ear, the night before," S^c. that is, he whispered the secret into the prophet's mind : So the Spirit of Christ whispers a word into tlie ear of a sinner, which makes his