Let no man turn the grace of God into wantonness. My design is now to encourage the coming soul.

Quest. But is not the door of mercy shut against some before they die?'

Answ. Yea: and God forbids that prayers should be made to him for them. Jer. vii. 16; 1 John v. 16.

Quest. Then, why may not I doubt but I may be one of

these?'

Answ. By no means, if thou art coming to Jesus Christ; because when God shuts the door upon men, he gives them no heart to come to Jesus Christ. None come but those to whom it is given of the Father. But thou comest; therefore it is given to thee of the Father.

Be sure, therefore, if the Father hath given thee a heart to come to Jesus Christ, the gate of mercy yet stands open to thee. For it stands not with the wisdom of God to give grace to come to Jesus Christ, and yet shut up the door of his mercy upon thee. "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your souls shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. lv. 3.

Quest. But is it not said, that some knocked when the door was shut?'

Answ. Yes; but the texts in which these knockers are mentioned, are to be referred unto the day of judgment, and not to the coming of the sinner to Christ in this life. See the texts. Matt. xxv. 11; Luke xiii. 24, 25. These therefore concern thee nothing at all; thou art coming to Jesus Christ, thou art coming now! "Now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. Now God is upon the mercy-seat; now Christ Jesus sits by, continually pleading the victory of his blood for sinners; and now, even as long as this world lasts, this word of the text shall still be free, and fully fulfilled; "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

FALLS OF COMING SOULS.

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Sinner, the greater sinner thou art, the greater need of mercy thou hast, and the more will Christ be glorified thereby. Come then, come and try; come taste and see how good the Lord is to an undeserving sinner.

Object. 6. But (says another) I am fallen since I began to come to Christ; therefore I fear I did not come aright, and so consequently that Christ will not receive me.'

Answ. Falls are dangerous; for they dishonor Christ, wound the conscience, and cause the enemies of God to speak reproachfully. But it is no good argument, I am fallen, therefore I was not coming aright to Jesus Christ. If David, and Solomon, and Peter, had thus objected against themselves, they had added to their griefs; and yet, they had, at least as much cause as thou. A man whose steps are ordered by the Lord, and whose goings the Lord delights in, may yet be overtaken with a temptation that may cause him to fall. Psalm xxxvii. 23, 24. Did not Aaron fall? yea, and Moses himself. What shall we say of Hezekiah and Jehoshaphat? There are therefore falls pardonable, and falls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable are falls against light, from the faith to the despising and trampling upon Jesus Christ and his blessed undertakings. Heb. vi. 4–8; x. 28, 29. Now, as for such, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. Indeed they have no heart, no mind, no desire to come to Jesus Christ for life; therefore they must perish: nay, says the Holy Ghost, "It is impossible that they should be renewed again unto repentance." Therefore these, God hath no compassion for, neither ought we; but for other falls, though they be dreadful (and God will chastise his people for them), they do not prove thee a graceless man, one not to come to Jesus Christ for life.

It is said of the child in the gospel, that "as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him." Luke ix. 42.

Dejected sinner, it is no wonder that thou hast caught a fall

in coming to Jesus Christ. Is it not rather to be wondered at, that thou hast not caught before this, a thousand times a thousand falls? considering, 1. What fools we are by nature. 2. What weaknesses are in us. 3. What mighty powers the fallen angels, our implacable enemies, are. 4. Considering also how often the coming man is benighted in his journey; and also what stumblingblocks do lie in his way. 5. Also his familiars (that were so before) now watch for his halting, and seek by what means they may to cause him to fall by the hand of their strong ones.

"Let

What then? Must we, because of these temptations, incline to fall? No. Must we not fear falls? Yes. him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. x. 12. Yet let him not utterly be cast down. "The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up those that are bowed down." Make not light of falls; yet hast thou fallen? "Ye have," said Samuel, "done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord; but serve the Lord with all your heart, and turn not aside, for the Lord will not forsake his people (and he counteth the coming sinner one of them), because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people." 1 Sam. xii. 20-22.

CHAPTER III.

THE CERTAINTY OF COMING.

SHALL come to me. -Now we come to show what force there is in this promise to make them come to him. “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me."

I will speak of this promise, First, In general. Secondly, In particular.

First, In general. This word, shall, is confined to those, that are given to Christ: "All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me." Hence I conclude,

1. That coming to Jesus Christ aright is an effect of their being (of God) given to Christ before. Mark, they shall come. Who? Those that are given. They come then, because they were given. "Thine they were (says Christ), and thou gavest them me." Now, this is indeed a singular comfort to them that are coming in truth to Christ, to think that the reason why they come, is because they were given of the Father before to him. Thus then may the coming soul reason with himself as he comes: 'Am I coming indeed to Jesus Christ? This coming of mine is not to be attributed to me or my goodness, but to the grace and gift of God to Christ. God gave first my person to him, and therefore hath now given me a heart to come.'

2. These words, "shall come," make thy coming, not only the fruit of the gift of the Father, but also of the purpose of the Son; for these words suppose a divine purpose: they show us the heavenly determination of the Son. "The Father hath given them to me, and they shall, yea, they shall come to me." Christ is as full in his resolution to save those given unto him, as is the Father in giving them.

Christ prized the gift of his Father; he will lose nothing of it; he is resolved to save it every whit by his blood, and to raise it up again at the last day; and thus he fulfils his Father's will, and accomplisheth his own desires. John vi. 39.

3. These words, "shall come," make thy coming to be also the effect of an absolute promise. Coming sinner, thou art included in a promise: thy coming is the fruit of the faithfulness of an absolute promise. It was this promise, by virtue of which thou at first receivedst strength to come: and this is the promise by virtue of which thou shalt be effectually brought to him.

It was said to Abraham, "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." This son was Isaac. Mark, "Sarah shall have a son;" there is a promise. And Sarah had a son; there was the fulfilling of the promise. And therefore was Isaac called the "child of the promise." Gen. xvii. 19; xviii. 10; Rom. ix. 9. "Sarah shall have a son.” But how if Sarah be passed age? Why, still the promise continues to say, "Sarah shall have a son." But how if Sarah be barren? Why, still the promise says, "Sarah shall have a son." But Abraham's body is now dead? Why, the promise is still the same, "Sarah shall have a son." Thus you see what virtue there is in an absolute promise; it carrieth enough in its own bowels to accomplish the thing promised, whether there be means or no in us to effect it. Wherefore this promise in the text, being an absolute promise, by virtue of it, not by virtue of ourselves, or by our own inducements, do we come to Jesus Christ; for so are the words of the text, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me."

Therefore is every sincere comer to Jesus Christ called also a child of the promise. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise," Gal. iv. 28; that is, we are the children that God hath promised to Jesus Christ,