doth not this nearly concern thee? Thou pretendest for Christ, but doth not the world sway thee? Dost not thou take more real delight in the world than in him? Dost thou not find thyself better at ease when the world goes to thy mind, than when retired to prayer and meditation, or attending upon God's word and worship? No surer evidence of an unconverted state, than to have the things of the world uppermost in our ain, love, and estimation. With the sound convert, Christ hath the supremacy. How dear is his name to him! How precious is his favour! The name of Jesus is engraven upon his heart. Here is the pearl of great price, here is his treasure, here is his hope. This is his glory, " my Beloved is mine, and I am his." O'tis sweeter to him to be able to say, Christ is mine, than if he could say, the kingdom is mine, the Indies are mine. 66 Fourthly, Your own righteousness.-Before conversion, man seeks to cover himself with his own figleaves, and to lick himself whole with his own duties, Micah vi. 6, 7. He is apt to set up his own righteousness, and not to submit to the righteousness of God. Now he casts away his filthy rags. Now he is brought to poverty of spirit; all his inventory is, poor, and miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked. He sees a world of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once idolized righteousness but filth and loss, and would not for a thousand worlds be found in himself. Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ's righteousness: he sees the need of Christ in every duty he cannot live without him; or cannot pray without him: Christ must go with him, or else he cannot come into the presence of God; he sets himself down for a lost undone man without him; he is fixed in Christ, as the root of a tree spreads in the earth for stability and nutriment. Before, the news of Christ was a stale and sapless thing; but now how sweet is Christ! In a word, the voice of the convert is, with the martyr, None but Christ. The terms are either ultimate or subordinate. Holy Ghost, whom the new convert takes as his all-sufficient and eternal blessedness. A man is never truly sanctified till his very heart be set upon God above all things, as his portion. These are the natural breathings of a believer's heart, Thou art my portion. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. My expectation is from him; he only is my rock, and my salvation, he is my defence; in God is my salvation and glory, the rock of my strength; and my refuge is in God. Would you put it to an issue, whether you be converted or not? Now let thy soul and all that is within thee attend. Hast thou taken God for thy happiness? Where doth the content of thy heart lie? Whence doth thy choicest comfort come in? Come, and with Abraham lift up thine eyes eastward, and look about thee. What is it that thou wouldst have in heaven, or on earth, to make thee happy? If God should give thee thy choice, as he did to Solomon, or should say to thee as Ahasuerus to Esther, What is thy petition, and what is thy request, and it shall be granted thee? What wouldst thou ask? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers from thence. Would these content thee? Go to the treasures of Mammon; suppose thou mightest lade thyself from hence? Go to the trophies of honour; what thinkest thou of being a man of renown, and having a name like the name of the great men of the earth? Would any of this, all this, suffice thee, and make thee a happy man? If so, then certainly thou art unconverted. -If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, the store of his mercies, the depths unfathomable of his all-sufficiency; doth this suit thee best, and please thee most? Dost thou say, 'Tis good to be here? Matt. xvii. 4. Here will I pitch, here will I live and die? Wilt thou let all the world go rather than this? Then it is well between God and thee: happy art thou, O man! happy art thou, that thou ever wast born! if God can inake thee happy, thou must needs be happy; for thou hast avouched the Lord to be thy God. Dost thou say to Christ, Thy Father shall be my Father, and thy God my God? Here is the turning point. An unsound professor never takes up his rest in God; but converting grace cures the fatal misery of the fall, by turning the heart from its idol to the living God. Now says the soul, Lord, whither shall I go? thou hast the words of eternal life, John vi. 68. Here he centres; 'tis the entrance of heaven to him, to see his interest in God. When he discovers this, he saith, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. And it is even ready to breathe out Simeon's song, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. The mediate term of conversion is either principal or less principal. The principal is Christ, the only mediator between God and man. His work is to bring us to God. He is the way to the Father, the only door by which we may enter. Conversion brings over the soul to Christ, as the only means to life, as the only way, the only name given under heaven. He looks not for salvation in any other but him, nor in any other with him; but throws himself on Christ alone, as one that casts himself with outspread arms upon the sea. Thus the poor soul doth venture on Christ, and resolvedly adheres to him. Before conversion the man made light of Christ, minded his farm, friends, merchandise, more than Christ. Now Christ is to him as his necessary food, his daily bread, the life of his heart, the staff of his life. His great design is, that Christ may be magnified in him. His heart once said, as they to the Spouse, What is thy beloved more than another? He found more sweetness in his merry company, wicked games, earthly delights, than in Christ. He took religion for a fancy, and the talk of great enjoyments for an idle dream; but now to him to live is Christ. He sets light by all that is accounted precious, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. All of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert: he loves not only the wages, but the work of Christ. He is willing not only to tread out the corn, but to draw under the yoke: he takes up the commands of Christ, yea, and the cross of Christ. The unsound closeth by halves with Christ; he is all for the salvation of Christ, but not for sanctification. This is an error in the foundation: whosoever loveth life, let him beware here: 'tis an undoing mistake, of which you have been often warned, and yet none more common. Jesus is a sweet name, but men love not the Lord Jesus in sincerity, Eph. vi. 24. They will not have him as God offers, to be a Prince and a Saviour. They divide what God hath joined, the King and the Priest. Every man's vote is for salvation from suffering, but they desire not to be saved from sinning. Yea, many divide here again; they would be content to have some of their sins destroyed, but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the beloved Herodias. They cannot be cruel to the right eye, or right hand. O! be infinitely tender here; your souls lie upon it. The sound convert takes a whole Christ, and takes him for all intents and purposes; without exceptions, without limitations, without reserves. He is willing to have Christ upon his own terms, upon any terms. He is willing to have the dominion of Christ, as well as deliverance by Christ; he saith with Paul, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Any thing, Lord. He sends the blank to Christ, to set down his own conditions. The less principal is the laws, ordinances, and ways, of Christ. The heart that was once set against these, and could not endure the severity of these ways, now falls in love with them, and chuses them as its rule and guide for ever. Four things (I observe) God doth work in every sound convert, with reference to the laws and ways of Christ, by which you may know your state, if you will be faithful to your own souls: therefore keep your eyes upon your hearts as you go along. 1. The judgment is brought to approve of them as most righteous and most reasonable. The mind is brought to like the ways of God; and the prejudices that were once against them are removed. The understanding assents to them all, as holy, just, and good. His judgment is for the ways of God, and that not only the absolute, but comparative judgment; he thinks them not only best in general, but best for him: he looks upon the rules of religion, not only as tolerable, but desirable; more desirable than gold, yea, than much fine gold. 66 2. The desire of the heart is to know the whole mind of Christ. He would not have one sin undiscovered, nor be ignorant of one duty. "Tis the earnest breathing of his heart, Lord, if there be any way of wickedness in me, do thou discover it. What I know not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more." The gracious heart is willing to know the whole compass of his Maker's law. He receives with all acceptation the word that convinceth him of any duty that he knew not, or minded not before, or discovereth any sin that lay hid before. 3. The will is determined for the ways of Christ, before all the pleasures of sin, and prosperities of the world. His consent is not extorted by some extremity of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and hasty resolve, but he is deliberately purposed, and comes off freely to the choice; his will is for Christ's laws and government; so that he takes them not up as his toil or burden, but his bliss. He had rather (if he might have his choice) live a strict and holy life, than the most prosperous and flourishing life in the world. Christ keeps not his subjects in by force, but is king of a willing people. They are (through his grace) freely resolved for his service, and do it out of choice, not as slaves, but as the son or spouse, from a spring of love, and a loyal mind. In a word, the laws of Christ are the convert's love, desire, delight, and continual study. 4. The bent of his course is directed to keep God's slatutes. "Tis the daily care of his life, to walk with |