OCR Text |
Show T!J'e lfoufiul'uty i1t the Banquetti1tg-hou[e. Wedding-fopper, and tbofe tbat wm bidden wo~ld HOt come! for many years, Oh Chrifiians ! the Banquet ofwme hath been before you: we are but fervants to the Ma!\er of the F~aO:, to tell you all things are ready, to call upon you to eat and dnnk, yea to drink abundantly as the beloved of the Lord :Here have we ll?od' pleading with you, entreating of you, that ye would be reconciled· unto God; 1 am afraid there are many of you th~t ~av~ not yet fo much as tailed bow good the Lordi<. 1 remember tt ts fatd of our Saviour, John 7. ~ 7. In tbelajl day, t/Jat gre•t d•y of tbe Feajl, 'Je[ UJjlood and c>yed, [aying, If any m•Jt tlnrff letiJJm come u~to me and drink: The great day of the Feaa yet holds, ( Ble!fed be God_!) God grant it be not one of the laft dayr. We are yet as Chnfis Embalfadors crying to you, If any man thzrft, .let hn!' drm~ : How foon our MaO:er will call us away,and fend m a vmder I cannot tell. It is certainly advifable to every foul (for fear cf the worfi) to eat and drink of this Banquet while he may. The days wiil come when you will fay, Bleffed if be that cometh to 1M in the Jtame of the Lord ! I {hall add but one word more, whkh {hall be, To fuch as are not brought yet into the houfe of Wine, as t~ the fpecial and particular difpenfations of God towards them. It IS (I know, the cafe of many an honefi heart,_) they ~re indeed in the houfe of Wine living under the Gofpel·dtfp_enfanon. But for t_he effeCI~ of Wine, exhilarating the JPirit, cbearmg the htulrl, rt:(rtjhtng their fauls, t/Jty.find little or nothing of thrfo. They complam_of a fpiritual darkncfs,they are notable tQcomprel~end the My{{tnes ?f. Salvation : of a fpiritual deadnefs ; they are.mdecd no.t ~ead t.n fins, but they are dead to Duties, they find httle or no_hfi: m. thetr· fervice of God; they find a fpiritual we~k~efs and mabthty. t? their fpiritual work,and for the confola:one m_flucnces of the fpmt of Grace •. They have indeed he...-d of luch ~lungs, an~ have met with others whofe Souls have been full of thts new-wme, ull even even the bottles have been ready to burft again as not able to _bear it but their Souls are firaogcrs to it.. What now fha\1 be fatd to thefe Souls?'fhall they be exhorted to come into this Banquettin~houfe or bein"' there to eat and drink their portion? alas, thts is tha; they wo':,\d ha~e rather than their life. They lie at the Pool of Bethefda 1 the Angel comes down at certain times, and .the pool is fiirred and fame or other gets in but they cannot get m ; What now fh~ll thefe Souls do to attain this Happinefs ? tod eeanr·· The Spoiife!duty inthe'Btmquetting .'boti)e. dear themfelves fo far to Chrifi that he may bring them alfo into the Banquetting-houfe > I anfwer. In the firfi place, keep ~ill in the Wine-cellar, I mean, under the Ordi1t~ncu ofGud; Be much converfing with the holy Scriptures: Bt much under quickning powerful preaching ol the Gofpel ; be mll_ch in Prayer ; Chria is always there, he drin~s a cup ofConfola1lon fumetimes to onr, fometimes to another, it may be not yet to tll'ee, but thy courfe will come : Chrill will drink to all his gucfls in due time ; wait flill, read ftill and pray Hill, and hear fiill, and wait upon God in Sacraments flill , PJ Jlm 2 7. 14. JVait on tbe Lord, be of good couragc , and hejluU jlrengthen thy heart, f<'Jit I fily 011 the Lord. In the fecond place; Let thy great care be to keep thy eye upon Chrift, and to w•lk.. clofely with him: The Mailer of the Banquet that feeth the gu efls eye much upon him, will at Ia{{ cal\ an eye towards him. The Chriflians Eye is the Eye of faith: an all uring Eye that draweth the heart of Chrifl,aud even commands his love Hl the foul of his Servant, and walb,_clrfe with Chrift, John 1 4· 2 r• Hr that hath my Cammandmmt!, and k.fepeth them, he it i1 that loveth me, and he tbatlovrth me jhaU be loved of my father, R>td I wiU lave him and manifejl my {elf to him. The Wife-man faith, That the nny of tbe Lard if j!rmgth to the ~<pright. It is true as well of chat way which is the Souls duty towards God, as of :he way of God in an active fenfe, as it lignifies the courfe of Gods providence towards men: there two rhings are put together by the PfalmiH, JIHit "fr•nthe Lord and ~eep bi< ,..ay. There's nothing fo hinders the Souls comforts, nothing fo abates the Souls firength: nothing th•t makes the foul fo dull and heavy towards God as wilful !inning doth ; Take heed ofit. 3. Lay nat too l!,reat • ftrtfs upon confalatory imprtfJioHs ; nor b,.i/d thou aU thy conful•ti0111 up911 the .,;tnef!ings of Gods Spirit. God may fometimes ( for Chri{{ians impatience) keep them from confolatory inlluences,to let thetn know they may go to Heaven with· out them, and that they are not of the necelfaries of Salvation; , flight them not, they are the privy-Seals ofHeaven, the high~lt to· kens of divine Lon, but do not idolize them. Zanchy, I remember, hath another notion of the fealings of the Spirit from what we ordinarily take them lor: .(1 Seol, faith he, maketh an impreffion upon the Wax as well as confirms the writing; and a Soul is faid . to be fealrd by the Spirit, when the holy Spirit of God hath made M 2 upon |