Chap. 9. and the Soul committed to Christ.

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enabled to do so in other Instances, you must in the first Place, and as the first great Work of GOD, (as our Lord Himself calls it,) believe in Him whom GOD hath sent(x): You must confide in Him; must commit your Soul into "the Hands of Christ, to be saved by Him in His own "appointed Method of Salvation.” This is the great Act of saving Faith; and I pray GoD, that you may experimentally know what it means; so as to be able to say with the Apostle Paul, in the near Views of Death itself, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that Day (y); that great Decisive Day, which if we are Christians, we have always in View. To this I would

urge you; and oh that I could be so happy as to engage you to it, while I am illustrating it in this, and the following Addresses! Be assured, you must not apply your selves immediately to GOD, as absolutely, or in Himself considered, in the Neglect of a Mediator. It will neither

be acceptable to Him, nor safe for you, to rush into His Presence, without any Regard to His own Son, whom He hath appointed to introduce Sinners to Him. And if you come otherwise, you come as one who is not a Sinner. The very Manner of presenting the Address will be interpreted as a Denial of that Guilt, with which He knows you are chargeable: and therefore He will not admit you, nor so much as look upon you. And ac. cordingly, our Lord, knowing how much every Man living was concerned in this, says, in the most universal Terms, No Man cometh unto the Father but by Me (z).

§. 10. Apply therefore to this glorious Redeemer, (amiable as He will appear to every believing Eye) in the Blood which He shed upon the Cross, and in the Wounds which He received there. Go to Him, O Sinner, this Day, this Moment, with all thy Sins about thee. Go just as thou art; for if thou wilt never apply to Him, till thou art first righteous and holy, thou wilt never be righteous and holy at all; nor canst be so on this Supposition, unless there were some Way of being so without Him; and then, there would be no Occasion for applying to Him for Righteousness and Holiness. It were indeed as if it should be said, that a sick Man should

(7) John vi, 29,

(y) 2 Tim. i. 12. (z) John xiv. 6.

82 The Language of one submitting to Christ. Chap, 9.

me.

should defer his Application to a Physician, till his Health is recovered. Let me therefore repeat it without Offence,Go to Him just as thou art, and say, (O that thou mayest this Moment be enabled to say it from thy very Soul!) Blessed Jesus, I am surely one of the most sin "ful, and one of the most miserable Creatures, that "ever fell prostrate before Thee: Nevertheless I come, because I have heard that Thon didst once say, Come "unto Me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I "will give you Rest (a). I come, because I have heard, "Thou didst graciously say, Him that cometh unto Me, I "will in no wise cast out (b). O Thou Prince of Peace, O Thou King of Glory, I am a condemned miserable "Sinner, I have ruined my own Soul, and am con"demned for ever, if Thou dost not help me and save I have broken Thy Father's Law, and Thine, for Thou art one with Him (c). I have deserved con. "demnation and Wrath; and I am, even at this very "Moment, under a Sentence of everlasting Destrustion : (6 a Destruction, which will be aggravated by all the Contempt which I have cast upon Thee, O Thou "bleeding Lamb of GOD: For I cannot, and will not dissemble it before Thee, that I have wronged Thee, "most basely, and ungratefully wronged Thee, under the Character of a Saviour, as well as of a Lord. But now, I am willing to submit to Thee; and I have brought my poor trembling Soul, to lodge it in Thine Hands, if Thou wilt condescend to receive it; and if "Thou dost not, it must perish. O Lord, I lie at Thy Feet: Stretch out Thy Golden Sceptre that I may live (d)! Yea, if it please the King, let the Life of my Soul “be given me at my Petition (e)! I have no Treasure, "wherewith to purchase it; I have no Equivalent to "give Thee for it: But if that compassionate Heart of

Thine can find a Pleasure in saving one of the most "distressed Creatures under Heaven, that Pleasure Thou mayest here find. O Lord, I have foolishly attempted to be mine own Saviour; but it will not do. I am sensible the Attempt is vain; and therefore I give it over, and look unto Thee, On Thee, blessed Jesus, who

(a) Matt. xi. 28.

6 art

(b) John vi. 37. (c) John x, 30, (d) Esth. iv. 11, (e) Esth. vii. 3.

·Chap. I.

The Life must be answerable to it. 83 46-art sure and stedfast, do I desire to fix my Anchor. Ou “Thee, as the only sure Foundation, would I build my eternal Hopes. To Thy Teaching, O Thou unerring Prophet of the Lord, would I submit: Be Thy "Doctrines ever so mysterious, it is enough for me that Thou Thyself hast said it. To Thine Atonement, Obedience, and Intercession, O Thou Holy and ever "acceptable High-Priest, would I trust. And to Thy Government, O Thou exalted Sovereign, would I yield a willing, delightful Subjection: In Token of Rever “ence and Love, I kiss the Son (f); I kiss the Ground before His Feet. I admit Thee, O my Saviour, and "welcome Thee with unutterable Joy, to the Throne in my Heart. Ascend it, and reign there for ever! Subduc mine Enemies, O Lord, for they are Thine; and make me Thy faithful, and zealous Servant; faith“ful to Death, and sealous to Eternity.”

6. 11. Such as this must be the Language of your very Heart before the Lord. But then remember, that in Consequence thereof it must be the Language of your Life too. The unmeaning Words of the Lips would be a vain Mockery. The most affectionate Transport of the Passions, should it be transient and ineffectual, would be but like a Blaze of Straw, presented instead of Incense at His Altar. With such Humility, with such Love, with such cordial Self-Dedication and Submission of Soul, must thou often prostrate thyself, in the Presence of Christ; and then thou must go away, and keep Him in thyeView; must go away, and live unto GoD through Him, denying Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, and behaving thyself soberly, righteously, and godly in this wain insnaring World (g). You must make it your Care, to show your Love by Obedience; by forming yourself as much as possible, according to the Temper and Manner of Jesus, in whom you believe, You must make it the great Point of your Ambition, (and a nobler View you cannot entertain,) to be a living Image of Christ; that so far as Circumstances will allow, even those who have heard and read but little of Him, may, by observing you, in some Measure see and know what kind of a Life that of the blessed Jesus was. And this must be your

constant

84

This is the only Way of Salvation. Chap. 9. constant Care, your prevailing Character, as long as you live. You must follow Him, whithersoever He leads you; must follow, with a Cross on your Shoulder, when He commands you to take it up (h); and so must be faithful even unto Death, expecting the Crown of Life (i).

We can

§. 12. This, so far as I have been able to learn from the Word of Gon, is the Way to Safety and Glory; the surest, the only Way you can take. It is the Way which every faithful Minister of Christ has trod, and is tread. ing; and the Way, to which, as he tenders the Salva tion of his own Soul, he must direct others. not, we would not alter it, in favour of ourselves, or of our dearest Friends. It is the Way in which alone, so far as we can judge, it becomes the blessed GOD to save His Apostate Creatures. And therefore, Reader, I beseech and intreat you, seriously to consider it: and let your own Conscience answer, as in the Presence of GOD, whether you are willing to acquiesce in it, or not. But know, that to reject it, is thine Eternal Death. For as there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we can be saved (k), but this of Jesus of Nazareth, so there is no other Method but this, in which Jesus Himself will save us.

The Sinner deliberating on the Expediency of falling in with this Method of Salvation.

CONS

ONSIDER, O my Soul, what Answer wilt thou "return to such Proposals as these; Surely if "I were to speak the first Dictate of this corrupt and "degenerate Heart, it would be, This is a hard Saying, " and who can hear it (1)! To be thus humbled, thus "mortified, thus subjected! To take such a Yoke upon

me, and to carry it as long as I live! To give up 66 every darling Lust, though dear to me as a Right Eye, "and seemingly necessary as a Right Hand! To submit "not only my Life, but my Heart, to the Command "and Discipline of another! To have a Master there, "and such a Master, as will controul many of its fa "vourite Affections, and direct them quite into another "Channel! A Master, who Himself represents His Com"mands,

(b) Matt. xvi. 24.

(i) Rev. ii. 10. (1) John vi. 60,

(k) Acts iv. 12.

Chap. 9. The Sinner deliberating what to do.

85

“mands, by, taking up the Cross and following Him! "To adhere to the strictest Rules of Godliness and So"briety, of Righteousness and Truth; not departing from

them, in any allowed Instance, great or small, upon "any Temptation, for any Advantage, to escape any "Inconvenience and Evil, no, not even for the Preser ❝vation of Life itself; but, upon a proper Call of Pro ❝vidence, to act as if I hated even my own Life (m)! "Lord, it is hard to Flesh and Blood: And yet I per. "ceive and feel, there is one Demand yet harder than this.

"With all these Precautions, with all these Mortifi ❝cations, the Pride of my Nature would find some in"ward Resource of Pleasure, might I but secretly think "that I had been my own Saviour; that my own Wis"dom, and my own Resolution, had broken the Bands "and Chains of the Enemy; and that I had drawn out "of my own Treasures, the Price with which my Re "demption was purchased. But must I lie down before

another, as guilty and condemned, as weak and help"less; and must the Obligation be multiplied, and must " a Mediator have His Share too? Must I go to the Cross "for my Salvation, and seek my Glory from the Infamy "of that? Must I be stripped of every pleasing Pretence "to Righteousness, and stand in this Respect upon a "Level with the vilest of Men? stand at the Bar amongst "the greatest Criminals, pleading Guilty with them, and "seeking Deliverance by that very Act of Grace, whereby "they have obtained it?

"I dare not deliberately say, This Method is unrea ❝sonable. My Conscience testifies, that I have sinned ❝ and cannot be justified before GoD, as an innocent ❝and obedient Creature. My Conscience tells me, that

all these humbling Circumstances are fit: That it is. "fit, a convicted Criminal should be brought upon his Knees: That a captive Rebel should give up the "Weapons of his Rebellion, and bow before his Sove. reign, if he expect his Life. Yea, my Reason, as "well as my Conscience tells me, that it is fit and necessary, that if I am saved at all, I should be saved "from the Power and Love of Sin, as well as from the

(m) Luke xiv, 26.

"Con