2. For the manner in which j'ou ought to come. [1.] Come judging and condemning yourselves, and humbled under the sense of your own vileness and un worthiness, that Jesus Christ may be more sweet to you. Though you do not know j^ourselves to be the children of God, yet you must know yourselves to be sinners, condemned by the law, and needing a saviour to reconcile and justify you, that you may humbly cast yourselves at the feet of grace, begging
YeR. 28.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 485
meroy to such a poor vile sinner as you are. All do not go to heaven by the hilly country, some go a lower, darker, and it may be the safer way,; though they cannot look upon Christ as their saviour and re- deemer, yet they can look upon him as one whom they have pierced, Zech. xii. 10. And so they acknowledge the merit of sin, though they cannot apply the comfort of salvation ; though they cannot say with Paul in one place, viz., Gal. ii. 20, ' Who loved me, and gave himself for me ; ' yet they can say with Paul in another place, viz., 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' Surely I am sinner enough for Christ to save, and so creep in at the back-door of the promise, by a darker kind of assurance, or a humbling application. Certainly he that knows and is affected with his unworthiness and necessities is not unwelcome to the Lord : 1 Cor. xi. 31, ' If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged ; ' and the publican that cried, ' Lord, be merciful to me a sinner, went away justified,' Luke xviii. 13, 14. If we cannot come with the joy of faith, let us come with the more brokenness of heart ; and we must come with an earnest desire after a saviour, if cannot come with a holy delight in him.
[2.] They must come with hunger and thirst after sacramental benefits, the comforts and saving graces of the Spirit. God invites such, whatever discouragements they have upon them : Isa. Iv, 1, ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat ; yea come, buy wine and milk, without money, and without price.' If ye cannot come with delight, come with an appetite : John vii. 37, ' Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink ; ' and he hath promised such shall be satisfied : Mark v. 6, ' Blessed are they tliat hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.' Surely Christ would not flatter you with a vain hope, for he calls such as thou art. Though he doth not speak to thee by name, yet he speaketh to thee by qualification. Therefore you must plead as David : Ps. Ixiii. 1, ' My soul thirsteth for thee ; my flesh longeth for thee.' He that is duly affected with the want of Christ, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity, such a one is not altogether a stranger to Christ and the work to his Spirit.
[3.] They are to bewail their unbelief, and to make what application of Christ they can: when they cannot apply Christ to themselves, they must apply themselves to Christ ; they must go to Christ with that faith they have, and say as the father of the cliild, Mark ix. 24, ' Lord, I believe ; help thou my unbelief.' And they must run to Christ for refuge : Heb. vi. 18, ' Who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us.' Though there be not assurance, yet there must be some application — Here I come to take my portion ; the bread is broken and distributed, the wine poured out and distributed, Take, eat, every one of you. Therefore I am not to be a looker-on in this feast, but an actor ; I must not be an idle observer only, but a guest ; my hand must be in Christ's dish, and as I am able, I must lay hold upon him, and take out my share of the common salvation. In short, there must be an adherence to Christ, though there be not
486 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LXII.
assurance. Because thou seest not thy own qualification, excite thy soul to wait upon the Lord, and to trust in him for these benefits. It would be, I confess, a very great satisfaction to the soul to believe that God loves us, and that he is reconciled to us, and doth take us for his children. Come then, and see what he hath done for you ; "was he not in Christ reconciling the world unto himself? Pray, what is here represented to you but the death of Christ for the expiation of sin ? And can you use such a duty without seeing or feeling the love of God ? What is set forth before our eye but a God incarnate, a Christ crucified, a covenant sealed in his blood ? A God incarnate, and come near to us for our converse and delight ; a Christ crucified, that he might pay our debts, and that we might come now and put our hands into the holes of his wounded side, and be healed ; and a covenant sealed, that it may be the charter of our hopes. Therefore act that faith you have upon these things, and see what God will do for you.