3. The affections of his saints to him, which Christ will satisfy. There are many that never saw him, and yet believed in him, and loved him heartily : 1 Peter i. 8, ' In whom believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and lull of glory;' and John xx. 29, ' Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed ; blessed are they that have not seen me, and yet have believed.' Their faith is not misplaced, they shall find him such a one as was to be believed, loved, and obeyed. Now, to gratify their desires, Christ will appear and show himself : ' With these eyes shall I see my redeemer.' The children of God cannot look to heaven, but they remember they have a Saviour to come from thence : Phil. iii. 20, ' For our conversation is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.' Paul speaketh in his own name, and in the name of all those like himself. And Rev. xxii. 17, ' The Spirit and the bride say, Come.' The Holy Ghost breedeth the desire, and the church answereth the motion. Nature saith not, Come, but, Stay still. If it might go by voices, whether Christ should come or no, would carnal men give their votes this way? The voice of corrupt nature is, Depart, Job xxii. 14. Carnal men are of the mind of the devil : ' Art thou come to torment us before our time ?' Mat. viii. But the Spirit in the bride raiseth these desires. Now, would Christ disappoint these desires which he hath raised in the hearts of his children, and set them a-longing, and a- looking, and a-groaning for that which shall never be ? It cannot be imagined.
4. From the constitution of the church. He hath dispensed gifts and graces there, and left ordinances there ; and he will come, and require an account of things during his absence, how we have im- proved our talents, Mat. xxv. 31, how things have been managed in his house : 1 Tim. vi. 14, ' Keep my commandments without rebuke, till the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.' Christ is now removed from us, retired within the curtains of the heavens ; but he will come again : 1 Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema maranatha;' that is, cursed till the Lord come.
5. From his promise. We have his word in pawn. It is an ancient promise, made long ago: Jude 15, ' Behold the Lord cometh,' and hath been received in all ages by the Lord's messengers ; Moses, and David, and Solomon, and Daniel, and Job, and Zechariah, and Malachi ; and revived by Christ at his departure, John xiv. 3 ; by the angel, Acts i. 11. And the apostles everywhere put us in mind of Christ's coming. Now we may reason thus : Fidelis Deus in omnibus, in ultimo non deficiet. Cod hath ever stood to his word, many inter- venient providences, yet promises still accomplished ; not one word of God hath failed. Every one that hath had experience of God may
Vers. 5, 6.] sermons uroN matthew xxv. 365
make that acknowledgment that Joshua did : Josh, xxiii. 14, ' Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth, and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you.' As unlikely things have come to pass, that have been foretold in the word. Were the old believers deceived, that expected his coming in the flesh ? Sorely God never meant to deceive us. He will come again : 'If it were not so, I would have told you,' John xiv. 3. Christ's deed and performance never gave his word the lie.
6. His promise is solemnly confirmed —
[1.] By an outward sign and memorial : 2 Cor. xi. 26, "' For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death until he come.' God knew he had to do with distrustful crea- tures, therefore left a monument to keep the promise a- foot in the church, and to revive our hopes. Would Christ institute an ordinance for the solemn remembrance of his appearing, if he meant no more to come at us ?
[2.] By a real pledge, his Spirit dwelling in us. He is gone to heaven, to prepare heaven for us, and hath left his Spirit with us to prepare us for heaven. He hath left his Spirit in the church, and doth give out frequent tokens of love, to show that he doth not forget us. Christ and a believer are not strange. There is a constant inter- course between them. We are absent from him in the body, but there are frequent messages of love. We hear from him in the word, prayer, supper, and will he not come again that is so mindful of us at every turn ? He did not forget us in his exaltation, as the butler forgot Joseph; when preferred at court, he did not remember Joseph in prison. Now, in his Father's house, he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; and will not always leave us liable to sinning and suffering. Surely he that quickeneth us by the influences of his grace, and refresh eth us with the tastes of his love, he will come again. In short, what would our faith be worth if Christ would not come again? Here we have but a slender enjoyment of Christ ; our full communion is when he taketh us to himself.