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Fourth. I will add yet another encouragement for the man who is coming to Jesus Christ. Art, thou coming? Art, thou coming, indeed? Why,

1.  Then this thy coming is by God’s call. Thou art called. Calling goes before coming. Coming is not of works but of him that calleth. “He goes up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would, and they came unto him” (Mark 3:13).

 

2.  Art, thou coming? This is also by virtue of illumination. God has made thee see; and, therefore, thou art coming. So long as thou was darkness, thou loves darkness, and could not abide to come, because thy deeds were evil; but being now illuminated and made to see what and where thou art, and also what and where thy Saviour is, now thou art coming to Jesus Christ; “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,” saith Christ, “but my Father which is in heaven” (Matt 16:17).

 

3.  Art, thou coming? This is because God hath inclined thine heart to come. God hath called thee, illuminated thee, and inclined thy heart to come; and, therefore, thou come to Jesus Christ. It is God that worketh in thee to will, and to come to Jesus Christ. Coming sinner, bless God for that he hath given thee the will to come to Jesus Christ. It is a sign that thou belong to Jesus Christ because God has made thee willing to come to him (Psa 110:3). Bless God for slaying the enmity of thy mind; had he not done it, thou wouldst as yet have hated thine own salvation.

 

4.  Art, thou coming to Jesus Christ? It is God that giveth thee power to pursue thy will in the matters of thy salvation, is the gift of God. “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do” (Phil 2:13). Not that God worketh will come, where he gives no power; but thou shouldest take notice, that power is an additional mercy. The church saw that will and power were two things, when she cried, “Draw me, we will run after thee” (Song 1:4). And so did David too, when he said, “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart” (Psa 119:32). Will to come, and power to pursue thy will, is double mercy, coming sinner.

 

5.  All thy strange, passionate, sudden rushing forward after Jesus Christ, coming sinners know what I mean, they also are thy help from God. Perhaps thou feel at some times more than at others, strong stirrings up of heart to fly to Jesus Christ; now thou hast at this time a sweet and stiff gale of the Spirit of God, filling thy sails with the fresh gales of his good Spirit. Thou ride at those times as upon the wings of the wind, being carried out beyond thyself, beyond the most of thy prayers, and also above all thy fear and temptations.

 

6.  Coming sinner, hast thou not now and then a kiss of the sweet lips of Jesus Christ, I mean some blessed word dropping like a honeycomb upon thy soul to revive thee, when thou art in the midst of thy dumps?

 

7.  Does not Jesus Christ sometimes give thee a glimpse of himself, though perhaps thou see him not so long a time as while one may tell twenty?

 

8.  Hast thou not sometimes as it were the very warmth of his wings overshadowing the face of thy soul, that gives thee as it were glad upon thy spirit, as the bright beams of the sun do upon thy body, when it suddenly breaks out of a cloud, though presently all is gone away? Well, all these things are the good hand of thy God upon thee, and they are upon thee to constrain, to provoke, and to make thee willing and able to come, coming sinner, that thou mightiest, in the end, be saved.

 

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Third. Coming sinner, I will add another encouragement for thy help.

1. God had prepared a mercy seat, a throne of grace to sit on; that thou mayest come thither to him, and that he may from thence hear thee, and receive thee. "I will commune with thee," saith he, "from above the mercy seat" (Exo 25:22). As who shall say, sinner, When thou comes to me, thou shalt find me upon the mercy-seat, where also I am always found of the undone coming sinner. Thither I bring my pardons; there I hear and receive their petitions, and accept them to my favor.

2. God had also prepared a golden altar for you to offer your prayers and tears. A golden altar! It is called a "golden altar," to show what worth it is of in God's account: for this golden altar is Jesus Christ; this altar sanctifies thy gift, and makes thy sacrifice acceptable. This altar, then, makes thy groans golden groans; thy tears golden tears; and thy prayers golden prayers, in the eye of that God thou comes to, coming sinner (Rev 8; Matt 23:19; Heb 10:10; 1 Peter 2:5).

3. God hath strewed all the way, from the gate of hell, where thou waste, to the gate of heaven, whither thou art going, with flowers out of his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, calls, and encouragements, like lilies, lie round about thee! take heed that thou dost not tread them underfoot, sinner. With promises, did I say? Yea, he hath mixed all those with his own name, his Son's name; also, with the name of mercy, goodness, compassion, love, pity, grace, forgiveness, pardon, and whatnot, that may encourage the coming sinner.

4. He hath also for thy encouragement laid up the names, and set forth the sins, of those that have been saved. In this book they are fairly written, that thou, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. (1.) In this book is recorded Noah's maim and sin; and how God had mercy upon him. (2.) In this record is fairly written the name of Lot, the nature of his sin; and how the Lord had mercy upon him. (3.) In this record thou hast also fairly written the names of Moses, Aaron, Gideon, Samson, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, with the nature of their sins; and how God had mercy upon them; and all to encourage thee, coming sinner.

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Second. Thou hast yet another advantage by Jesus Christ, thou art coming to him, for he is not only full BUT FREE. He is not sparing of what he has; he is open-hearted and open-handed. Let me in a few particulars show thee this:

1. This is evident because he calls thee; he calls upon thee to come unto him; the which he would not do, was he not free to give; yea, he bids thee, when come, ask, seek, knock. And for thy encouragement, adds to every command a promise, “Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall have; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” If the rich man should say thus to the poor, would not he be reckoned a free-hearted man? I say, should he say to the poor, Come to my door, ask at my door, knock at my door, and you shall find and have; would he not be counted liberal? Why, thus doth Jesus Christ. Mind it, coming sinner (Isa 55:3; Psa 50:15; Matt 7:7-9).

2. He doth not only bid thee come, but tells thee, he will heartily do thee good; yea, he will do it with rejoicing; “I will rejoice over them, to do them good—with my whole heart, and with my whole soul” (Jer 32:41).

3. It appears that he is free because he gives without twitting. “He giveth to all men liberally and upbraided not” (James 1, 5). Some will not deny to do the poor a pleasure, but they will mix their mercies with so many twits, that the persons on whom they bestow their charity shall find but little sweetness in it. But Christ doth not do so, coming sinner; he cast all thine iniquities behind his back (Isa 38:17). Thy sins and iniquities he will remember no more (Heb 8:12).

4. That Christ is free, is manifest by the complaints that he makes against them that will not come to him for mercy. I say, he complains, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt 23:37). I say, he speaks it by way of complaint. He saith also in another place, “But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob” (Isa 43:22). Coming sinner, see here the willingness of Christ to save; see here how free he is to communicate life, and all good things, to such as thou art. He complains if thou comes not; he is displeased if thou calls not upon him. Hark, coming sinner, once again; when Jerusalem would not come to him for safeguard, “he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace; but now they are hidden from thine eyes” (Luke 19:41,42).

5. Lastly, He is open and free-hearted to do good, as is seen by the joy and rejoicing that he manifested at the coming home of poor prodigals. He receives the lost sheep with rejoicing; the lost goat with rejoicing; yea, when the prodigal came home, what joy and mirth, what music and dancing, was in his father’s house! (Luke 15).

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4. He is full of the Spirit, to communicate it to the coming sinner; he hath therefore received it without measure, that he may communicate it to every member of his body, according as every man’s measure thereof is allotted him by the Father. Wherefore he saith, that he that comes to him, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 3:34; Titus 3:5,6; Acts 2; John 7:33-39).

5. He is indeed a storehouse full of all the graces of the Spirit. “Of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). Here is more faith, more love, more sincerity, more humility, more of every grace; and of this, even more of this, he giveth to every lowly, humble, penitent coming sinner. Wherefore, coming soul, thou comes not to a barren wilderness when thou comes to Jesus Christ.

6. He is full of bowels and compassion: and they shall feel and find it so that come to him for life. He can bear with thy weaknesses, he can pity thy ignorance, he can be touched with the feeling of thy infirmities, he can affectionately forgive their transgressions, he can heal thy backslidings, and love thee freely. His compassions fail not; “and he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax; he can pity them that no eye pities, and be afflicted in all thy afflictions” (Matt 26:41; Heb 5:2; 2:18; Matt 9:2; Hosea 14:4; Eze 16:5,6; Isa 63:9; Psa 78:38; 86:15; 111:4; 112:4; Lam 3:22; Isa 42:3).

7. Coming soul, the Jesus that thou art coming to, is full of might and terribleness for thy advantage; he can suppress all thine enemies; he is the Prince of the kings of the earth; he can bow all men’s designs for thy help; he can break all snares laid for thee in the way; he can lift thee out of all difficulties wherewith thou mayest be surrounded; he is wise in heart, and mighty in power. Every life under heaven is in his hand; yea, the fallen angels tremble before him. And he will save thy life, coming sinner (1 Cor 1:24; Rom 8:28; Matt 28:18; Rev 4; Psa 19:3; 27:5,6; Job 9:4; John 17:2; Matt 8:29; Luke 8:28; James 2:19).

8. Coming sinner, the Jesus to whom thou art coming is lowly in heart, he despised not any. It is not thy outward meanness, nor thy inward weakness; it is not because thou art poor, or base, or deformed, or a fool, that he will despise thee: he hath chosen the foolish, the base, and despised things of this world, to confound the wise and mighty. He will bow his ear to thy stammering prayers he will pick out the meaning of thy inexpressible groans; he will respect thy weakest offering, if there be in it but thy heart (Matt 11:20; Luke 14:21; Prov 9:4-6; Isa 38:14,15; Song 5:15; John 4:27; Mark 12:33,34; James 5:11). Now, is not this a blessed Christ, coming sinner? Art thou not like to fare well, when thou hast embraced him, coming sinner? But,

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5. What did Eulalia see in Christ, when she said, as they were pulling her one joint from another, Behold, O Lord, I will not forget thee? What a pleasure it is for them, O Christ, to remember your triumphant victory!

6. What do you think Agnes saw in Christ when, rejoicingly, she went to meet the soldier who was appointed to be her executioner? I will willingly, said she, receive into my paps the length of this sword, and into my breast will draw the force thereof, even to the hilts; thus, being married to Christ, my spouse, may surmount and escape all the darkness of this world. 

7. What do you think Julitta sees in Christ, when, at the Emperor’s telling of her, except she would worship the gods, she should never have protection, laws, judgments, or life? She replied, Farewell life, welcome death; farewell riches, welcome poverty; all that I have if it were a thousand times more, would I rather lose than speak one wicked and blasphemous word against my Creator?

8. What did Marcus Arethusa see in Christ, when, after his enemies had cut his flesh, anointed it with honey, and hanged him up in a basket for flies and bees to feed on, he would not give, to uphold idolatry, one halfpenny to save his life?

9. What did Constantine see in Christ, when he used to kiss the wounds of those who suffered for him? 

10. But what need do I give thus particular instances of words and smaller actions, when by their lives, their blood, their enduring hunger, sword, fire, pulling asunder, and all torments that the devil and hell could devise, for the love they bare to Christ after they came to him?

What have you found in him, sinner?

What! Come to Christ, and find nothing in him!—when all things that are worth looking after are in him!—or if anything, yet not enough to wean thee from thy sinful delights, and fleshly lusts! Away, away, you are not coming to Jesus Christ.

He that has come to Jesus Christ has found in him, that, as I said, that is not to be found anywhere else. As,

1. He that is come to Christ hath found God in him reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. And so God is not to be found in heaven and earth besides (2 Cor 5:19–20).

2. He that is come to Jesus Christ hath found in him a fountain of grace, sufficient, not only to pardon sin, but to sanctify the soul, and to preserve it from falling, in this evil world.

3. He that is come to Jesus Christ hath found virtue in him; THAT virtue, that if he does but touch thee with his Word, or thou him by faith, life is forthwith conveyed into thy soul. It makes thee wake as one that is awakened out of his sleep; it awakens all the powers of the soul (Psa 30:11, 12; Song 6:12).

4. Art thou come to Jesus Christ? Thou hast found glory in him, glory that surmounts and goes beyond. “Thou art more glorious than the mountains of prey” (Psa 76:4).

5. What shall I say? Thou hast found righteousness in him; thou hast found rest, peace, delight, heaven, glory, and eternal life.

Sinner, be advised; ask thy heart again, saying, Am I come to Jesus Christ? For this one question, am I coming or, am I not? hangs heaven and hell as to you. If thou canst say, I am come, and God shall approve that saying, happy, happy man art thou! But if you do not come, what can make you happy? Yes, what can make that man happy that, for not coming to Jesus Christ for life, he must be damned in hell?

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Third, are you coming to Jesus Christ? Prithee, tell me, What see thou in him to allure thee to forsake all the world, and come to him?

I say, What hast thou seen in him? Men must see something in Jesus Christ; otherwise, they will not come to him. 1. What comeliness hast thou seen in his person? Thou come not if thou see no form nor comeliness in him (Isa 53:1–3). 2. Until those mentioned in the song were convinced that there was more beauty, comeliness, and desirableness in Christ, than in ten thousand, they did not so much as ask where he was, nor incline to turn aside after him (Song 5, 6).

There be many things on this side of heaven that can and do carry away the heart; and so will do, so long as thou live, if thou shalt be kept blind, and not be admitted to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus.

Fourth, art thou come to the Lord Jesus? What hast thou found in him, since thou came to him?

Peter found with him the word of eternal life (John 6:68). They that Peter makes mention of, found him a living stone, even such a living stone as communicated life to them (1 Peter 2:4,5). He saith himself, They that come to him, &c., shall find rest unto their souls; hast thou found rest in him for thy soul? (Matt 11:28).

Let us go back to the times of the Old Testament.

1. Abraham found that in him, that made him leave his country for him and become, for his sake, a pilgrim and stranger on earth (Gen 12; Heb 11).

2. Moses found THAT in him, that made him forsake a crown, and a kingdom for him too.

3. David found so much in him, that he counted that to be in his house one day was better than a thousand; yea, to be a door-keeper therein was better, in his esteem, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Psa 84:10).

4. What did Daniel and the three children find in him, to make them run the hazards of the fiery furnace, and the den of lions, for his sake? (Dan 3, 6).

Let us come down to martyrs.

1. Stephen found that in him that made him joyful, and quietly yield up his life for his name (Acts 7).

2. Ignatius found that it was Christ who made him choose to go through the torments of the devil, and hell itself, rather than not have him. Fox’s Acts and Monuments.

3. What saw Romanus in Christ, when he said to the raging Emperor, who threatened him with fearful torments, Thy sentence, O Emperor, I joyfully embrace, and refuse not to be sacrificed by as cruel torments as thou canst invent?

4. What saw Menas, the Egyptian, in Christ, when he said, under most cruel torments, There is nothing in my mind that can be compared to the kingdom of heaven; nor is all the world, if it were weighed in a balance, to be preferred with the price of one soul? Who can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, our Lord? And I have learned of my Lord and King not to fear them that kill the body, etc. 

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USE SECOND. The second use—A USE OF EXAMINATION.

We come now to the use of examination. Sinner, thou hast heard of the necessity of coming to Christ and of Christ's willingness to receive the coming soul; together with the benefit that they by him shall have that indeed come to him. Put thyself now upon this serious inquiry, Am I indeed come to Jesus Christ?

Motives plenty I might here urge, to prevail with your conscientious performance of this duty. 1. Thou art in sin, in the flesh, in death, in the snare of the devil, and under the curse of the law, if you are not coming to Jesus Christ. 2. There is no way to be delivered from these, but by coming to Jesus Christ. 3. If thou come, Jesus Christ will receive you and will in no wise cast thee out. 4. Thou wilt not repent it in the day of judgment, if now thou come to Jesus Christ. 5. But thou wilt surely mourn at last, if now thou shalt refuse to come. 6. And lastly, Now thou hast been invited to come; now will thy judgment be greater, and thy damnation more fearful, if thou shalt yet refuse, than if thou hadst never heard of coming to Christ.

Object. But we hope we have come to Jesus Christ.

Answ. It is well if it proves so. But lest thou shouldst speak without ground, and so fall unawares into hell-fire, let us examine a little.

First, have thou indeed come to Jesus Christ? What hast thou left behind thee? What didst thou come away from, in thy coming to Jesus Christ?

When Lot came out of Sodom, he left the Sodomites behind him (Gen 19). When Abraham came out of Chaldea, he left his country and kindred behind him (Gen 12; Acts 7). When Ruth came to put her trust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel, she left her father and mother, her gods, and the land of her nativity, behind her (Ruth 1:15–17; 2:11,12). When Peter came to Christ, he left his nets behind him (Matt 4:20). When Zaccheus came to Christ, he left the receipt of custom behind him (Luke 19). When Paul came to Christ, he left his own righteousness behind him (Phil 3:7,8). When those who used curious arts came to Jesus Christ, they took their curious books and burned them; though, in another man's eye, they were counted worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 119:18–20.

What sayest thou, man? Hast, thou left thy darling sins, thy Sodomitish pleasures, thy acquaintance and vain companions, thy unlawful gain, thy idol-gods, thy righteousness, and thy unlawful curious arts, behind thee? If any of these be with thee, and thou with them, in thy heart and life, thou art not yet come to Jesus Christ.

Second, Art you come to Jesus Christ? Prithee tell me what moved thee to come to Jesus Christ?

Men do not usually come or go to this or that place before they have a moving cause, or rather, a cause moving them thereto. No more do they come to Jesus Christ—I do not say before they have a cause, but—before that cause move them to come. What sayest thou? Hast thou a cause moving thee to come? To be at present in a state of condemnation is sufficient for men to come to Jesus Christ for life. But that will not do, except the cause moves them; which it will never do until their eyes are opened to see themselves in that condition. For it is not a man's being under wrath, but his seeing it, that moves him to come to Jesus Christ. Alas! All men by sin are under wrath; yet but few of that all come to Jesus Christ. And the reason is, that they do not see their condition. "Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matt 3:7). Until men are warned, and also receive the warning, they will not come to Jesus Christ.

Take three or four instances for this. Adam and Eve came not to Jesus Christ until they received the alarm, the conviction of their undone state by sin. (Gen 3) The children of Israel cried not out for a mediator before they saw themselves in danger of death by the law (Exo 20:18,19). Before the publican came, he saw himself lost and undone (Luke 18:13). The prodigal did not, until he saw death at the door, ready to devour him (Luke 15:17–18). The three thousand came not, until they knew not what to do to be saved (Acts 2:37–39). Paul came not, until he saw himself lost and undone (Acts 9:3–8, 11). Lastly, before the jailer came, he saw himself undone (Acts 16:29–31). And I tell thee, it is an easier thing to persuade a good man to go to the physician for a cure, or a man without hurt to seek a plaster to cure him, than it is to persuade a man who sees not his soul-disease, to come to Jesus Christ. If they have no need for the physician; then why should they go to him? The full pitcher can hold no more; then why should it go to the fountain? And if thou come full, thou come not aright; and be sure Christ will send thee empty away. "But he healeth the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds" (Mark 2:17; Psa 147:3; Luke 1:53).

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7. It is that, above all other sins, that weakness our prayers, our faith, our love, our diligence, our hope, and expectations: it even taketh the heart away from God in duty.

8. Lastly, This sin, as I have said even now, appeared in the soul with so many sweet pretenses to safety and security, that it is, as it were, counsel sent from heaven; bidding the soul be wise, wary, considerate, well-advised, and to take heed of too rash a venture upon believing. Be sure, first, that God loves you; take hold of no promise until you are forced by God unto it; neither be you sure of your salvation; doubt it still, though the testimony of the Lord has been often confirmed in you. Live not by faith, but by sense; and when you can neither see nor feel, then fear and mistrust, then doubt and question all. This is the devilish counsel of unbelief, which is so covered over with specious pretenses, that the wisest Christian can hardly shake off these reasonings.

[Qualities of unbelief as opposed to faith.]—But to be brief. Let me here give thee, Christian reader, a more particular description of the qualities of unbelief, by opposing faith unto it, in these twenty-five particulars:—

1. Faith believeth the Word of God; but unbelief questioned the certainty of the same (Psa 106:24).

2. Faith believeth the Word because it is true; but unbelief doubted thereof because it is true (1 Tim 4:3; John 8:45).

3. Faith sees more in a promise of God to help, than in all other things to hinder; but unbelief, notwithstanding God’s promise, saith, How can these things be? (Rom 4:19-21; 2 Kings 7:2; John 3:11,12).

4. Faith will make thee see love in the heart of Christ, when with his mouth he giveth reproofs; but unbelief will imagine wrath in his heart, when with his mouth and Word he saith he loves us (Matt 15:22,28; Num 13; 2 Chron 14:3).

5. Faith will help the soul to wait, though God defers to give; but unbelief will take huff and throw up all if God makes any tarrying (Psa 25:5; Isa 8:17; 2 Kings 6:33; Psa 106:13,14).

6. Faith will give comfort in the midst of fears; but unbelief causes fears amid comfort (2 Chron 20:20,21; Matt 8:26; Luke 24:26,27).

7. Faith will suck sweetness out of God’s rod; but unbelief can find no comfort in his greatest mercies (Psa 23:4; Num 21).

8. Faith maketh great burdens light; but unbelief maketh light ones intolerably heavy (2 Cor 4:1; 14-18; Mal 1:12,13).

9. Faith helps us when we are down; but unbelief throws us down when we are up (Micah 7:8-10; Heb 4:11).

10. Faith bringeth us near to God when we are far from him; but unbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him (Heb 10:22; 3:12,13).

11. Where faith reigns, it declared men to be the friends of God; but where unbelief reigns, it declared them to be his enemies (John 3:23; Heb 3:18; Rev 21:8).

12. Faith put a man under grace; but unbelief hold him under wrath (Rom 3:24-26; 14:6; Eph 2:8; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10; Heb 3:17; Mark 16:16).

13. Faith purifies the heart; but unbelief keep it polluted and impure (Acts 15:9; Titus 1:15,16).

14. By faith, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but by unbelief, we are shut up under the law to perish (Rom 4:23,24; 11:32; Gal 3:23).

15. Faith maketh our work acceptable to God through Christ; but whatsoever is of unbelief is sin. For without faith it is impossible to please him (Heb 11:4; Rom 14:23; Heb 6:6).

16. Faith giveth us peace and comfort in our souls; but unbelief worketh trouble and tossing, like the restless waves of the sea (Rom 5:1; James 1:6).

17. Faith maketh us to see preciousness in Christ; but unbelief sees no form, beauty, or comeliness in him (1 Peter 2:7; Isa 53:2,3).

18. By faith we have our life in Christ’s fullness; but by unbelief we starve and pine away (Gal 2:20).

19. Faith gives us the victory over the law, sin, death, the devil, and all evils; but unbelief lays us obnoxious to them all (1 John 5:4,5; Luke 12:46).

20. Faith will show us more excellency in things not seen, than in them that are; but unbelief sees more in things that are seen, than in things that will be hereafter;. (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11:24-27; 1 Cor 15:32).

21. Faith makes the ways of God pleasant and admirable; but unbelief makes them heavy and hard (Gal 5:6; 1 Cor 12:10,11; John 6:60; Psa 2:3).

22. By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob possessed the land of promise; but because of unbelief, neither Aaron, nor Moses, nor Miriam could get thither (Heb 11:9; 3:19).

23. By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea; but by unbelief the generality of them perished in the wilderness (Heb 11:29; Jude 5).

24. By faith Gideon did more with three hundred men, and a few empty pitchers, than all the twelve tribes could do, because they believed not God (Judge 7:16-22; Num 14:11,14).

25. By faith Peter walked on the water; but by unbelief he began to sink (Matt 14:28-30).

Thus might many more be added, which, for brevity’s sake, I omit; beseeching every one that thinketh he hath a soul to save, or be damned, to take heed of unbelief; lest, seeing there is a promise left us of entering into his rest, any of us by unbelief should indeed come short of it.

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Works of John Bunyan: The Greatness of The Soul And Unspeakableness of the Loss Thereof; Life must be in Jesus Christ with respect to us, 303

 

(1.) That we might have it upon the easiest terms, to wit, freely: as a gift, not as wages. Was it in Moses’ hand, we should come hard at it. Was it in the pope’s hand, we should pay soundly for it. 20 But thanks be to God, it is in Christ, laid up in him, and by him to be communicated to sinners upon easy terms, even for receiving, accepting, and embracing with thanksgiving; as the Scriptures plainly declare (John 1:11,12; 2 Cor 11:4; Heb 11:13; Col 3:13-15). (2.) Life is in Christ FOR US, that it might not be upon so brittle a foundation, as indeed it would have it been anywhere else. The law itself is weak because of us, as to this. But Christ is a tried stone, a sure foundation, one that will not fail to bear thy burden and to receive thy soul, coming sinner. (3.) Life is in Christ, that it might be sure to all the seed. Alas! the best of us, was life left in our hand, to be sure we should forfeit it, over, and over, and over; or, was it in any other hand, we should, by our often backslidings, so offend him, that at last, he would shut up his bowels in everlasting displeasure against us. But now it is in Christ, it is with one that can pity, pray for, pardon, yea, multiply pardons; it is with one that can have compassion upon us when we are out of the way; with one that hath a heart to fetch us again, when we are gone astray; with one that can pardon without upbraiding. Blessed be God, that life is in Christ! For now, it is sure to all the seeds. But,

Fourth, This doctrine of coming to Jesus Christ for life informs us of the evil of unbelief; that wicked thing that is the only or chief hindrance to the coming sinner. Doth the text say, “Come?” Doth it says, “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out?” Then what an evil is that that keeps sinners from coming to Jesus Christ! And that evil is unbelief: for by faith we come; by unbelief we keep away. Therefore it is said to be that by which a soul is said to depart from God; because it was that which at first caused the world to go off from him, and that also that keeps them from him to this day. And it doth it the more easily because it doth it with a wile.

[Of the Sin of Unbelief.]—This sin may be called the white devil, for it oftentimes, in its mischievous doings in the soul, shows as if it was an angel of light: yea, it acts like a counselor of heaven. Therefore a little discourse of this evil disease.

1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath some show of reason in its attempts. For it keeps the soul from Christ by pretending its present unfitness and unpreparedness; as want of more sense of sin, want of more repentance, want of more humility, want of a more broken heart.

2. It is the sin that most suited with the conscience: the conscience of the coming sinner tells him that he hath nothing good; that he stands indictable for ten thousand talents; that he is a very ignorant, blind, and hard-hearted sinner, unworthy to be once taken notice of by Jesus Christ. And will you, says Unbelief, in such a case as you now are, presume to come to Jesus Christ?

3. It is the sin that is most suited to our sense of feeling. The coming sinner feels the workings of sin, of all manner of sin and wretchedness in his flesh; he also feels the wrath and judgment of God due to sin, and oftentimes staggers under it. Now, says Unbelief, you may see you have no grace; for that which works in you is corruption. You may also perceive that God does not love you because the sense of his wrath abides upon you. Therefore, how can you bear the face to come to Jesus Christ?

4. It is that sin, above all others, that is most suited to the wisdom of our flesh. The wisdom of our flesh thinks it prudent to question awhile, to stand back awhile, to hearken to both sides awhile; and not to be rash, sudden, or unadvised, in too bold a presuming upon Jesus Christ. And this wisdom unbelief falls in with.

5. It is that sin, above all others, that continually is whispering the soul in the ear with mistrust of the faithfulness of God, in keeping the promise to them that come to Jesus Christ for life. It also suggests mistrust about Christ’s willingness to receive it and save it. And no sin can do this so artificially as unbelief.

6. It is also that sin which is always at hand to enter an objection against this or that promise that by the Spirit of God is brought to our heart to comfort us; and if the poor coming sinner is not aware of it, it will, by some evasion, slight, trick, or cavil, quickly wrest from him the promise again, and he shall have but little benefit of it.

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