you ly grovelling, with the moft fervent importunity, at heaven's gate, and begets the moft extreme loathing of your depraved nature: why, here you get the very thing you was feeking, yet you are not fenfible that there things are anfwers; because the anfwer comes in a way, contrary to your expectation: for the heart may have fuch thirstings after grace, fuch an abomination of fin, that these prefent anfwers from heaven may feem to be nothing; there is fomething more the man would have: prefent grants are not a fatisfying of his defire; yet fomething is got by every faithful seeking: the man gets either more addition to fome grace, or more averfion to fome fin; or more grace to feek, or more ftrength to wait. But though ye get not fo much as you defire, furely you get more than you deferve; though not fo much as to fatisfy, yet as much as to help for the prefent. But fuppofe you be not answered at all, it is your fin to murmur, and your duty to wait and remember, that God never gives his people fo large an alms here, but that they need to become beggars, the next hour, at the throne of grace again: and know, that God loves to be urged, but he does not love to be haftened. If God doth promife, it is your duty to believe: if he delays, it is your duty to wait; for, he waits that he may be gracious; and, Bleffed are all they that wait for him. In a word, the Lord may keep his door bolted, that you may be provoked to knock the harder. The woman of Canaan took up the defign of Chrift's refufing to anfwer her; therefore the turns the more importunate; and fo gets all her will. Therefore, whatever difcouragement you meet with, refolve never to quit the throne of grace, but always to lay yourselves in Chrift's way, and never to go to another for help; yea, that you will die waiting on him. Remember David's experience, Pfal. xl. 1. "I waited patiently on the Lord, and at length he inclined his ear, and heard my cry." You may meet with difcouragement and temptation, and be put to very hard thoughts; but you must be refolute in looking to Christ for help; reasoning with yourselves like the four lepers at the fiege of Samaria, 2 Kings vii. 4. If I live at a distance from Christ I will infallibly perifh, there is no hope for me: if Chrift pity me not, when I am waiting on him, I but perifh; but yet there is hope, he will have pity at length; therefore, if I perifh, I will perish at Chrift's feet; ftill looking up to him, where never one yet perifhed: and I hope he will not let me be the. first. Thus I have effayed to anfwer fome objections: but after all there may be thousands of objections that remain; and it is the Lord only that can effectually and powerfully answer them, or any of thofe already mentioned. But whatever be your objections, against receiving Chrift, pray to Chrift himfelf to anfwer them: he is content that you receive him for this end, to answer all your objections, as well as to pardon all your fins, and fubdue all your corruptions. Notwithstanding of all that hath been faid, perhaps fome are ready to think, my objection hath not been mentioned; my cafe has not been touched; for, it is a fingular cafe I am no more moved with all that hath been faid, than a stone in the wall. Well, it might give fome ground for faith, if you confider that Chrift can, out of thefe ftones, raise up children to Abraham; and that he hath promised to take away the heart of stone. O Sirs, will ye put him to his word? Nay, fay you, my heart is raging in enmity against him, like a devil.. Well, fay not, for all that, there is no hope; for, Chrift can caft out devils; and it is his work and bufinefs to put evil fpirits out, and to put his own Spirit within you: only give him employment; for it is one of the ways of receiving him, even to employ him to receive you, and to destroy the works of the devil within you. If Chrift get no employment here, among all this large company, wo is us, that you fhould all give fuch a vile flight to precious Christ, as that you prefer your base lufts to him, and will not fo much as defire him, to put the facrificing knife to the throat of your lufts; and though he ftand knocking at your door, yet you will not fo much as defire him to come in; nor invite him to fhut up the door. If any body knock at your door, you will readily defire them to open, and come forward : and fhall not precious Chrift get fo much reception as that that from you? O invite him, at least, to put in his hand by the hole of the door, and then your bowels will move for him, Song v..4.--May the Lord perfuade you to receive Chrift, and anfwer all your objections against him? *************************** SERMON COLOS. ii. 6. XLV. As ye bave received Chrift Jefus the Lord, fo walk ye in him. GRA [The Twelfth Sermon on this Text.] RACE is not an idle habit, but an operative principle religion doth not make men loiterers, but labourers. After a man hath believed in Christ, and received him, he is not then to ly down upon a bed of flothfulness, as if he had no more ado: nay, he hath much work, relative to God's glory, and his own good, to be employed about: he hath duties to be performed; many evils to be reformed; many ordinances to be improved; many heart-plagues to be healed; many temptations to be refifted; many enemies to be vanquifhed; many graces to be exercifed; many corruptions to be mortified: much employment to give to Chrift all his days; therefore, As he hath received Chrift Fefus the Lord, fo he is to walk in him. We have already handled, at confiderable length, the first branch of the exhortation, which was to unbelievers to receive Chrift. We now proceed, Secondly, To the fecond branch of the exhortation, which was to believers, who have received Chrift, that they walk in him. It is a walking, and a walking in Christ, that they are called unto. I have already, on the doctrinal part, handled this branch of the text, at fome length, and fpoken of the duty duty of walking; the qualification of it, as it is a walking in Chrift; and alfo the rule of this walk, or the proportion it fhould bear to our reception of Chrift, by confidering the AS and the SO in the text; AS ye kave received Chrift Jefus the Lord, SO walk ye in him. And therefore, all that now remains is, (by way of exhortation and direction) to prefs, excite, and direct unto this walk. And in order to the more diftin&t pursuing of this exhortation, I would, 1. Offer fome confiderations, for clearing our thoughts and conceptions, concerning this walk. 2. Some qualifications, or properties of this walk, and of the way wherein we are to walk. 3. Some motives and perfuafives that believers have to walk in Christ. 4. Some directions in order to our walking in Chrift. If in profecuting any of these particulars, any head fhall occur, that may coincide with what was faid on the doctrinal part; yet the different enlargement will, I hope, make the whole tend to be of new ufefulness. Ift, I am to offer fome confiderations, for clearing our thoughts and uptakings concerning this walk; and for paving the way to what may afterward be offered upon this exhortation. And the 1. Confideration I offer is, that this Chriftian walk is not to be expected in any, that are not Chriftians indeed: yea, it is impoffible for a man to have a truly Chriftian walk, if he be not truly a Chriftian. What is it to be a Christian? Why, it is for Chrift to be in a man by his Spirit, and the man to be in Chrift by faith.-It is for Christ to be in a man by his Spirit: and indeed Chrift must be in us by his Spirit, as a Spirit of regeneration, before we can poffibly come to him by faith: and as regeneration is primarily fuppofed to this walk, none can walk in Chrift, if Chrift be not in them, and if they be ftill in a ftate of nature and unregeneracy: the regenerating Spirit is the spring of this walk. Men, in their natural ftate, are dead, and cannot walk. I have read of one that attempted, by art, to make a ftatue to walk and fpeak; but after all, when he found his art fail him, and the thing impracticable, he was obliged to cry out, Aliquod deeft intus; There is fomething wanting ' within.' Why, there wanted a foul, a living princiVOL. III, ple ple within. So it is here; men in nature are but like dead ftatues, they want fomething within to make them walk in Chrift. It is true, as watches may go right for an hour or two, but will not hold on, if the fpring be amifs; fo, natural men may take a pace or two, in the ways of God, but they cannot walk unless the fpring be right, the heart be renewed, and the Spirit of Christ be put within them.-Again, to be a Christian, it is for a man to be in Chrift by faith: there is no walking in him, till there be a receiving of him, and closing with him if a man be not in Chrift, he cannot walk in Chrift. Without faith there is not fo much as a good thought, or confideration about a Chriftian walk: Now, ferious confideration is requifite thereunto; "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet to thy teftimonies. Without faith it is impoflible to please God:" but to walk in Chrift is a walk that pleafeth God; and therefore without faith it is impoffible to walk in Chrift. Faith takes in the ftrength of God to enable us to walk: and without this ftrength we cannot walk; for, "The way of man is not in himfelf: it is not in man that walketh to order his fteps." Therefore, without faith, drawing firength from him, we cannot walk in him: Why? becaufe we cannot walk with God, without God; nor walk in Chrift, without Chrift. In a word, it comes all to this: A Chriftian walk cannot be without a Chriftian ftate. O then, feek to be Christians indeed; i. e. To have Christ in you by his Spirit, and you in Chrift by faith: and not` only to be in him by faith in the habit; but to abide in him by faith in the lively exercise thereof; for, without this, you cannot bring forth fruit unto him, John xv. 52. Confideration I offer is, that there are not a few profeffors, whofe walk doth give their profeffion the lie: as thofe fpoken of, Pfal. lxxviii. 34-37. They returned, and enquired early after God: and they remem bered that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer: nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongues; for their heart was not right with God, neither were they fledfaft in his covenant." Many profefs to know God, but in works they do deny him. Many profefs the name of Christ, σε who |