Motive 3. Confider the dreadful consequence of abiding without the knowledge of Chrift. As the fin is great in itself, and in its aggravations, fo the confequence of it will be difmal. For, 1. Confufion will cover us, when we fhall fee Chrift appear in his glory. There is a day approaching, wherein the Lord Jefus Chrift fhall appear in great majesty and glory and in that day, every eye fhall fee him. Rev. i. 7. Our eyes fhall then behold the King in his glory. And what a confounding fight will this be to us, if we are of them that defired not the knowledge of bim? When we fhall look upon that most glorious Lord, and fee what a one he was, of whom we remained fo contentedly ignorant; Oh! what confufion will cover our faces! how will our confciences reproach us, and fay," This is he whom you difregarded, and ca"red not to know!" And how terrifying will the fight of him be unto us? yea, how glad fhould we be, to have rocks and mountains to fall upon us, and hide us from his face? Rev. vi. 16. 2. Jefus Chrift will not know us in the great day. This will add to our confufion. If we fay to Chrift now, Depart from us, for we defire not the knowledge of thee; he will in that day fay to us, Depart from me, for I know you not. (Luk. xiii. 27.) He will reject us and difown us, and caft us at an eternal diftance from himfelf. And oh how dreadful will a total and everlasting feparation from Chrift be! how can we bear the thought of it? To depart from Chrift, is to depart from every thing that is good, and fweet and defirable. In that day, Come ye bleffed, will be the most joyful found; and, Depart ye curfed, will be the most doleful found, that ever entred into the ear of man. O then, let us no longer remain ignorant of Jefus Chrift; but labour to know him now, as ever we would expect to be known, acknowledged and bleffed by him, in that day. 3. Jefus Chrift will make known his power upon us. unto our eternal deftruction. A bare feparation from Chrift, will not be all the punishment of our ignorance of Chrift: this is only a privation of good. But befides this, there fhall be an infliction of pofitive evil and mifery. As his favour shall be eternally withdrawn from us, fo his wrath fhall eternally wax hot against us. As the hand of his bounty fhall be thut up from us, fo the hand of his indignation fhall be ftretched forth against us. A moft awful reprefentation hereof we have in 2 Theff. i. 7, 8, 9. The Lord Jefus Chrift fball be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift: Who fball be punifbed with everlasting deftruction, from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. This will be the portion of them that know not God in Chrift, and fo as to obey him. They that defire not thus to know Chrift now, fhall hereafter know the power of his anger, by lying under the weight of it to all eternity. By way of Direction now, in a few words. Direct. 1. Let us be humbly fenfible of our great ignorance of Chrift. One fad fruit of the first apoftacy is blindness upon the mind; fo that we fee and know not God, as we should. There must be an humble fenfe of this, in order to our obtaining the faving knowledge of God in Chrift. A fenfe of ignorance is the firft and great step towards true knowledge. One of the chief caufes of remaining without a right knowledge of God our faviour, is a prefumption, that we fufficiently know him already. This keeps men from feeking after the knowledge of Chrift, and leaves them fhort of it. Let us then get a deep fenfe of our ignorance of Chrift; and labour to see how little it is that we know of him, to what we might and ought to have known. And let us bewail the darkness and blindness of our minds, that we perceive no more of the glory and excellency of Chrift, though fo plainly revealed in the gospel. Such a fenfe of blindness will lay us in the way of fpiritual illumination. Job. ix. 39. For judgment, am I come into the world; that they which fee not, might fee; and that they which fee, might be made blind. Thofe that are are vainly conceited, that they fee, and know enough already, fhall be left in their blindnefs, and given up to further blindness. Whereas, thofe that fee not, that are ignorant, and humbly fenfible thereof, fhall be made to fee, be favingly inlightned. When Chrift hears us bemoaning our want of knowledge of him, and fees us humbled under the apprehenfion of it, he will let light into our minds, which fhall give us more full difcoveries of himself. Humility will prepare us for the fuitable reception of knowledge. To him that is poor and of an bumble fpirit, will God look. (Ifai. Ixvi. 2.) And he giveth grace to the bumble. I Pet. v. 5. Direct. 2. Study the works, but efpecialy the word, of Chrift. Much of God is to be feen in the works of creation and providence, which by divine revelation we know to be the works of Chrift. And if we confider them as the works of Chrift, we may therein fee his eternal Godhead, wifdom, power and goodness: yea, therefrom, we may know him to be the Lord our maker, preferver and benefactor, from whom we receive life, breath, and being, and all things. And it is meet that we should know these things concerning Chrift.---But however, the difcoveries that we have of Chrift in the works of creation and common providence, are not fufficient to bring us to a faving knowledge of Christ. They difcover him to us as God creator, but not as God-redeemer. The holy feriptures, which are the word of Chrift, are only fufficient hereunto. It is therefore faid of them, that they are able to make wife unto falvation, through faith which is in Chrift Fefus. 2 Tim. iii. 15. If then we would gain a true faving knowledge of Chrift, we muft fearch the fcriptures. So has Chrift himfelf directed us to do. Joh. v. 39. Search the fcriptures, for in them ye think that ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me. The great end and fcope of the old and new teftament is to make known Chrift to us. We fhould therefore be converfant with the holy fcriptures, fearch them, and fearch for Chrift in them, which is the way to come to the knowledge of him. We fhould alfo attentively liften to the dif coveries made of Chrift, in the ministerial opening of the fcriptures to us. What we hear of Chrift, from thence delivered to us, we fhould labour to understand, and retain. This will be a good way to gain, and to grow in, the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Fefus Chrift. In the diligent ufe of fuch appointed means, we may groundedly expect the bleffing of God, to that end. Direct. 3. Be frequent and earnest in prayer to God, for a faving knowledge of Jefus Christ. We cannot furnish ourselves with this knowledge; nor is there any creature, that can confer this grace upon us, or work it in us. 'Tis God only can poffefs us of this rich and precious jewel. He only can give us an understanding to know him that is true. I Joh. v. 20. He is the Father of lights, the fountain of all the light of fpiritual knowledge. 'Tis he that fhines into the dark minds of men, and inlightens them in the knowledge of Jefus Chrift. Hence he promifes to beftow this grace on his covenant-people. Fer. xxxi. 34. And they fball teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, faying. Know the Lord: for they fhall all know me, from the leaft of them to the greatest of them. and chap. xxiv. 7. I will give them an heart to know me. He promifeth, what he himself alone can perform. If therefore we would be made partakers of this know. ledge, we must repair to God for it, in the way of humble prayer and fupplication. God our Saviour has counfelled us to come to him for eye falve, that we may fee, Rev. iii. 18. His counfel we thould follow; as knowing that he only can restore fight to the blind, and open their eyes. The apostle James directs us to this method, and annexed encouragements thereunto. Fam. i. 5. If any man lack wifdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. God will give it freely, and alfo liberally, to all that ask aright, and will not upbraid us with our ignorance or unworthiness. Let us then attend this duty of prayer, going to the throne throne of grace for effectual light and grace to know Chrift truly and favingly. Such petitions coming from the heart, and put up in the name of Chrift, will be highly acceptable and well-pleafing to God, and are under a gracious promife of being granted. Prov. ii. 36. If thou crieft after knowledge, and lifteft up thy voice for understanding; if thou feekeft her as filver, and searchest for her, as for bid treasures; then shalt thou underftand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wifdom: out of his mouth cometb knowledge and understanding. · DOCT. II. When the call of Chrift to finners, is made effectual, they will then run unto him. 'Tis here faid, Thou shalt call the nations, the poor, blind finners of the Gentiles; and fuch fhall be the efficacy of that call, that they fhall run unto thee. Under two propofitions we may handle this doctrine. 1. Jefus Chrift calls finners. 2. When this call is made effectual, finners will run him. unto PROP. I. Jefus Chrift calls finners. He directs his gracious calls to them.----Here two things may be enquired into. Quest. 1. How does Chrift Jefus call finners ?----To which I reply both negatively and pofitively. Anfw. 1. Negatively. Not immediately in his own perfon. Indeed, when he was here upon earth, he did in an immediate way, or perfonally, call finners. He went up and down from place to place, preaching the word of the kingdom; and wherever he came, he did with his own mouth and voice give forth his calls and invitations unto finners This was one great end of his coming into the world, and a great part of his work in the world. Matth. ix. 13. I am come, to call finners unto repentance. And after his afcenfion into heaven, he did from thence in an extraordinary way, in his own perfon, call the apostle Paul.But no fuch immediate call from |