Receiving of Christ

I beseech you, consider what there is in the offer of
Christ to sinners, to induce you to receive him. Consider well to
whom and how Christ is offered in the gospel.
    First, To whom is he offered; not to the fallen angels, but to
you; they lie in chains of darkness, Jude, ver. 6. as he took not
their nature, so he designs not their recovery, and therefore will
have no treaty at all with them: but he is offered to you, creatures
of an inferior rank and order by nature; nor is he offered to the
damned, the treaty of peace is ended with them: Christ will never
make then another tender of salvation; nor is he offered to millions
as good as you, now living in the world. The sound of Christ and
salvation is not come to their ears, but he is offered to you by the
special favour and bounty of heaven; and will you not receive him?
Oh! then how will the devils, the damned, an the heathen upbraid
your folly! and say, had we had one such tender of mercy, of which
you have had thousands, we would never have been now in this place
of torments.
    Secondly, Consider how Christ is offered to you, and you shall
find that he is offered,
    1. Freely, as the gift of God, to your souls; you are not to
purchase him, but only to receive him, Isa. 55: 1 "Ho, every one
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and you that has no money,
let him come," &c.
    2. Christ is offered importunately, by repeated intreaties, 2
Cor. 5: 20. "As though God did beseech you, we pray you in Christ's
name, be ye reconciled to God." O! what amazing condescension is
here in the God of mercy! God now beseeches you, will you not yield
to the entreaties of your God? O then what wilt thou say for
thyself, when God will not hear thee, when thou shalt entreat and
cry for mercy? Which brings us to
    Motive 3. Consider the sin and danger that there is in refusing
or neglecting the present offers of Christ in the gospel, and surely
there is much sin in it; the very malignity of sin, and the sum of
all misery lies here; for in refusing Christ,
    1. You put the greatest contempt and slight upon all the
attributes of God that is possible for a creature to do: God has
made his justice, his mercy, his wisdom, and all his attributes to
shine in their brightest glory in Christ. Never was there such a
display of the glory of God made to the world in any other way.
    O then, what is it to reject and despise Jesus Christ, but to
offer the greatest affront to the glory of God that it is possible
for men to put upon it?
    2. You hereby frustrate and evacuate the very design and
importance of the gospel to yourselves; you "receive the grace of
God in vain," 2 Cor. 6: 1. As good, yea, better has it been for you,
that Christ had never cone into the world, or, if he had, that your
lot had fallen in the dark places of the earth, where you had never
heard his name; yea, good had it been for that man if he had never
been born.
    3. Hereby a man murders his own soul. "I said therefore unto
you, that you shall die in your sins; for if ye believe not that I
am he, ye shall die in your sins," John 8: 24. Unbelief is
self-murder; you are guilty of the blood of your own souls: life and
salvation were offered you, and you rejected them. Yea;
    4. The refusing of Christ by unbelief will aggravate your
damnation above all others that perish in ignorance of Christ. O, it
will be more tolerable for heathens than for you; the greatest
measures of wrath are reserved to punish the worst of sinners; and
among sinners, none will be found worse than unbelievers.
    Secondly, To believers, this point is very useful to persuade
them to divers excellent duties; among which, I shall singly out two
principal ones, viz.
    1. To bring up their faith of acceptance, to the faith of
assurance.
    2. To bring up their conversations to the principles and rules
of faith.
    1. You that have received Jesus Christ truly, give yourselves
no rest till you are fully satisfied that you have done so;
acceptance brings you to heaven hereafter, but assurance will bring
heaven into your souls now. O, what a life of delight and pleasure
does the assured believer live! What pleasure is it to him to look
back and consider where he once was, and where he now is? To look
forward, and consider where he now is, and where shortly he shall
be! I was in my sins, I am now in Christ. I am in Christ now, I
shall be with Christ, and that for ever, after a few days. I was
upon the brink of hell, I am now upon the very borders of heaven; I
shall be in a very little while among the innumerable company of
angels and glorified saints, bearing part with them in the song of
Moses, and of the Lamb, for evermore.
    And why may not you that have received Christ, receive the
comfort of your union with him? There be all the grounds and helps
of assurance furnished to your hand, there is a real union betwixt
Christ and your souls, which is the very ground-work of assurance.
You have the scriptures before you which contain the signs of faith,
and the very things within you that answer those signs in the word.
So you read, and so, just so, you might feel it in your own hearts,
would you attend to your own experience. The Spirit of God is ready
to seal you, it is his office and his delight so to do. O therefore,
give diligence to this work, attend the study of the scriptures and
of your own hearts more, and grieve not the holy Spirit of God, and
you may arrive to the very desire of your hearts.
    2. Bring up your conversations to the excellent principles and
rules of faith; "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in him," Cor. 2: 6. Live as you believe; you received Christ
sincerely in your first close with him, O maintain the like
seriousness and sincerity in all your ways, to the end of your
lives: you received him entirely and undividedly at first, let there
be no exceptions against any of his commands afterward. You received
him exclusively to all others, see that you watch against all self-
righteousness and self-conceitedness now, and mingle nothing of your
own with his blood, whatever gifts or enlargements in duty God shall
give you afterwards.
    You received him advisedly at first, weighing and considering
the self-denying terms upon which he was offered to you; O show that
it was real, and that you see no cause to repent the bargain,
whatever you shall meet with in the ways of Christ and duty
afterwards: convince the world of your constancy and cheerfulness in
all your sufferings for Christ, that you are still of the same mind
you were, and that Christ, with his cross, Christ, with a prison,
Christ, with the greatest afflictions, is worthy of all acceptation:
"As ye have received him, so walk ye in him." Let him be as sweet,
as lovely, as precious to you now, as he was in the first moment you
received him; yea, let your love to him, delights in him, and
self-denial for him, increase with your acquaintance with him, day
by day.
                          Use of direction.
    Use: Lastly, I will close all with a few words of direction to
all that are made willing to receive the Lord Jesus Christ; and sure
it is but needful that help were given to poor Christians: in this
matter, it is a time of trouble, fear, and great temptation;
mistakes are easily made of dangerous consequence; attend heedfully,
therefore, to a few directions.
    Direction 1. First, In your receiving Christ, Beware you do not
mistake the means for the end. Many do so, but see you do not.
Prayer, sermons, reformations, are means to bring you to Christ, but
they are not Christ; to close with those duties is one thing, and to
close with Christ is another thing. If I go into a boat, my design
is not to dwell there, but to be carried to the place whereon I
desire to be landed: so it must be in this case, all your duties
must land you upon Christ; they are means to bring you to Christ.
    Direct. 2. Secondly, See that you receive not Christ for a
present help, but for your everlasting portion. Many do so; they
will enquire after Christ, pray for Christ, cast themselves (in
their way) upon Christ, and the satisfaction of his blood, when the
efficacy and terror of conscience is upon them, and they feel the
sting of guilt within them; but as soon as the storm is over, and
the rod that conscience shaked over them laid by, there is no more
talk of Christ then: alas! it was not Christ, but quietness that
they sought; beware of mistaking peace for Christ.
    Direct. 3. Thirdly, In receiving, Christ, come empty-handed
unto him: "believing on him who justifies the ungodly," Rom. 4: 5.
and know that the deepest sense of your own vileness, emptiness, and
unworthiness, is the best frame of heart that can accompany you to
Christ. Many persons stand off from Christ for want of fit
qualifications; they are not prepared for Christ as they should be,
i. e. they would not come naked and empty, but have something to
commend them to the Lord Jesus for acceptance. O! this is the pride
of men's hearts, and the snare of the devil. Let him that has no
money come: you are not to come to Christ because you are qualified,
but that you may be qualified with whatever you want; and the best
qualification you can bring with your is a deep sense that you have
no worth nor excellency at all in you.
    Direct. 4. Fourthly, In receiving Christ, beware of dangerous
delays. O follow on that work till it be finished. You read of some
that are almost persuaded, and of others not far from the kingdom of
God; O take heed of what the prophet says, Hosea 13: 13. Delays here
are full of danger, life is uncertain, so are means of grace too.
The man-slayer needed no motives to quicken his flight to the city
of refuge.
    Direct. 5. Fifthly, See that you receive all Christ, with all
your heart. To receive all Christ, is to receive his person clothed
with all his offices; and to receive him with all your heart, is to
receive him into your understanding, will, and affections, Acts 8:
37. As there is nothing in Christ that may be refused, so there is
nothing in you from which he must be excluded.
    Direct. 6. Lastly, Understand that the opening of your hearts
to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, is not a work done by any power of
your own, but the arm of the Lord is revealed therein, Isa. 53: 1.
It is therefore your duty and interest to be daily at the feet of
God, pouring out your souls to him in secret, for abilities to
believe. And so much, as to our actual reception of Christ.
    
                 Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ.