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Son of God, and the Lamb of God that came to take away sin. So Heb. V. 9, ' He is become the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him.' Will Christ give eternal life to all that obey him ? I have too long stood out against thee, Lord. I now lay down the weapons of my defiance, and say, Here I am ; what wilt thou have me to do ?
"[2.] To whom God offereth this mercy. To every creature : Mark xvi. 15, 'Go ye into all the world and. preach the gospel to every creature.' And am not I in the rank of creatures ? But to whom especially ? To ' the weary and heavy laden,' Mat. xi. 28. To them tliat are lost : Mat. ix. 13, ' I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' To such as have most feeling of their sins. I have a burden too heavy for me to bear ; since Christ calleth me, I will come to him for ease.
[3.] Who it is that calleth : Christ, who is able, willing, and faithful. Able ; for all authority and power is given to him in heaven and earth, Mat. xxviii. 18 ; ' All judgment is given the Son,' John v. 22. They said to the blind man, Mark x. 49, ' Be of good comfort ; arise, he calleth thee ; ' that mighty He that hath the disposal of every man's eternal state. And willing he is : 2 Peter iii. 9, ' Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance ; ' if you will believe him on his call : Ezek. xxxiii. 11, ' I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his ways and live.' And you have God's truth for it : Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' He hath magnified his word above all his name.' Now take him at his word ; nay, we have his oath : Heb. vi. 18, ' That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.' His word was enough ; but since he hath added his oath, what contumely do you do him to refuse his offers ! 1 John v. 10, ' He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar.'
2. Wait for God's power to settle your hearts upon these grounds : Faith is his gift, Eph. ii. 8 ; and Phil. i. 29, ' To you it is given on the behalf of Christ to believe in him.' And he worketh it : Heb. xii. 2, 'Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.' Without him it cannot be done : John vi. 44, ' No man can come unto me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him.' And this by his almighty power : Eph. i. 19, ' And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.'
3. Look not for a transient act ; that his Spirit should work upon us as a stranger, but dwell in us as an inhabitant. After believing, the Spirit cometh to dwell in us and work in us, as a pledge and earnest of eternal life: Eph. i. 13, 14, 'After ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Sprit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.' He remaineth constantly, and flitteth not, but taketh up a fixed and immovable habitation, not as a wayfaring man, for a night : 1 Cor. vi. 19, ' Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost that is in you ? ' He dwelleth there not as an inmate or underling, but as lord of the house, and is worshipped and re- verenced there. This is the great evidence : 1 John iv. 13, ' Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.' Magnificent words ! Who may entitle themselves
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to such a privilege ? They that have -the Spirit, not to come upon them at times, hut to remain there as a principle of life :• John iv. 14, ' Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst ; hut the water that I shall give him shall he in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.' It shall quench his thirst after vanity and earthly delights, and make them tasteless ; they not only get a draught, hut the Spirit of Christ is as a fountain to make this grace enduring in itself and in its effects. It is not a stream or a pond, that may be dried up ; but a well, and a springing well, and maketh us fruitful in all well-doing ; yea, at length it becomes an ocean.
4, Look for the effects of it. If you have such a life begun in you as the life of faith, then you will have —
[1.] Spiritual senses, taste, and feeling : 1 Peter ii. 3, ' If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious ; ' and Ps. cxix. 103, * How sweet are thy words imto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth 1 ' You will relish spiritual things, which to others have no savour ; then promises begin to be savoury and to rejoice the heart, when others are no more moved with them than with common his- tories. You will then be sensible of good and evil suitable to that life you have ; more sensible of sin than any affliction : Rom. vii. 24, ' Oh, wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ? ' more sensible of God's hiding his face. It was as a sword in David's bones, Ps. xlii. 10. More sensible of providence: Jer. v. 3, ' Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved.'