heart to tremble, after tliis manner, This U ihij very state and con~ dit'ion ; this is thij sin, rvhich is noza opened b?/ the gvspel in thine ears. Tliis is a voice without sound or noise to any others, but very intelligible to the soul unto whom it is spoken. You read in 1 Kings xix. 11, 12. when Elijah stood upon the mount before the Lord, there came " a great and strong wind, which rent the moun- " tains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the I^ord, but the " Lord was not in the wind ; and after the wind an earthquake, but " the Lord was not in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake a " fire, but the Lord was not in the fire ; and after the fire a still " small voice : And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped " his face in his mantle,'" (^c. So it is here ; dreadful things are thundered against men by the voice of the law, the teiTors of the Lord are made known, hell and damnation are set before the eyes of sinners ; but until the Lord come in the still voice of his Spirit, and apply those things to the conscience, the sinner never covers his face with shame and confusion, nor goes aside to mourn and lament his misery. This voice of God sounds to the very centre of the soul. As for the outward voice of the gospel alone, it signifies little ; i?i hearing, men hear not, Mat. xiii. 13. They hear the voice of man, but not the voice of God : They hear the sound, but feel not the power of the word. What is spoken externally, dies in the ear that liears it : But this still voice of the Spirit by secret passages makes its way to the heart, and none knows what God speaks but the soul to whom he speaks. That is the first character.
XL Character. The internal spiritual voice of Christ is b, personal and particular voice, speaking distinctly and particularly to the case and state of the soul, as if it were by name. Ministers do, and must speak in general ; they draw the bow of the gospel at a venture, not knowing to whom God will direct the arrow; but the Spirit guides it to the mark. He applies general truths unto particular persons, so as the soul, to whom he directs it, is fully convinced and satisfied the Lord intends and means it, in such a convictive and threatening expression. Oh, saith the soul, hath the Lord singled me out in special ? This is my very state and case. You read, John x. 5. that Christ calleth his sheep by name. How doth he call them by name ? But by speaking directly and particularly to their condition and case, as if he called them by their particular names. He doth not now in an extraordinary way, as of old, call Samuel, Samuel ; or Saul, Saul ; but he sends a beam of convincing light into the conscience, plainly discovering this or that to be our sin, danger, or duty ; and so as to the effect, it is all one as if God named him: And truly, until it comes to this, the word hath no saving o|^ration upon the soul. A man may hear ten
thousand general truths, assent to them, and never be the better for them. How still and quiet was David's conscience, until Na- than struck the nail upon the head, by a home personal applica- tion, and then his conscience startled ? Thus God singles out one man or Moman from among a thousand in tlie congregation, speaks to the heart, rips up the seciu*e conscience ; the rest hear the same words, but feel not the same efficacy. And truly, it is a choice mercy when God shall please thus to single out one person from among many, after tliis manner to speak to his heart. As Christ said in Luke iv. 25, 26. " Many widows were in Israel in the days -' of Elias, &c. but to none of them was Elias sent, save unto '* Sai'epta a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." So here, multitudes sat with you under the same prayer or sermon, but unto none of them, at that time, was the Spirit sent, to make a particular convictive apphcation thereof, but unto thee. In this the peculiar goodness of God shines out, and shoidd for ever be admired in the eyes of that soul.
III. Clmracter. This spiritual, internal voice of Christ is distin- guishable by the soid that hears it from aU other voices ; John x. 4. " The sheep know his voice."^ As in the stile of the scriptures, there is a weight and majesty which distinguishes it from all human composures ; so in this voice of Christ, there is a majesty, a pecu- liar efficacy, a Divine and awful authority, by which the soul dis- tinguishes it from all human voices. It was said of Christ in the days of his flesh, John vii. 46. " Never man spake like this man."* The same may we say of his spiritual voice, the soul never heard such a voice before ; it seals the truth upon the heart so firmly, that no objections are left against it. It was not so when he heard the voice of man. And there are two things in this inward voice of Christ, which apparently difference it from all human voices. (1.) A marvellous light comes into the soul with it, which disco- vers all the secrets of the heart. God shines into the heart tlie same time he speaks unto it, 2 Cor. iv. 6. and now the secret of the hearts are manifest, and God is acknowledged to be in that word of truth, 1 Cor. xiv. 25. (2.) A marvellous power accom- panieth this voice, to make a deep and firm impression of what is spoken upon the soul : and this power is an innate character of the voice of God, whereby the soul receives it as his, with much assur- ance, as the apostle speaks, 1 Thes. i. 5. " Our gospel came not " to you in word onh , but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, '' and in much assurance." They could not l>e more certain of any thing in the world, than thoy were of this, that it was the Lord that spake to them in that word. It is true, at the first mstant, the soul may be amazed and at a loss, as Peter wjien he was dehvercd out of prison. Acts xii. 11. thought at first he had
seen a vision ; but when lie was come to himself, " Now, (said he) " I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel,'"* &c. Thus it is with the soul, it is amazed, and doubts what manner of call or power this is, sure it is, it never heard such a voice, nor never felt any thing like this before. But the matter is quickly cleared up^ when the soul hath reflected duly upon it, and finds (as it quickly doth) such a wonderful change of the frame and temper of the heart following u}x»n it. I now speak not of those into whom grace is distilled in the way of godly education in their tender years, but of adult persons, and especially such as have been grosser sinners,