saints. These and such like reasons prevail with the Lord Jesus to stand in a waiting posture at the door of sinners' hearts. Ah, how loath is he to give them up. We now proceed to the uses of this doctrine.

And first, this point will be very fruitful for INFORMATION of our understandings in several great and useful points, both doctrinal and practical, wherein every soul is deeply concerned; and therefore, I beseech you, let them be heard and pondered with an answerable attention and seriousness of spirit.

INFERENCE 1. If the Lord Jesus exercises such admirable patience, then how much better is it for sinners to be in the hands of Christ, than in the hands of the holiest man in the world. O sinner, it is better for thee to fall into the hands of the meek and merciful Jesus, than into the hands of the dearest friend thou hast on earth: no creature can bear what Christ bears-no patience is like the patience of Christ. It is said of Moses, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.' Numb. 12:3. There was never such a man born into the world, for patience, meekness, and long-suffering, as Moses was; and yet this mirror of meekness could not bear the provocations of Israel: "Ye rebels," saith he, "must we fetch water out of this rock ?" Numb. 2010. Thus was his spirit ruffled with the provocations of Israel, and this lost him the land of Canaan. Jonah was a good man, a prophet of the Lord; yet because the Lord would not be so quick and severe with Nineveh as Jonah had predicted, in what uncomely language does his angry soul speak to his God: "O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." Jonah

Ah, Lord, I knew it would

4:2, 3. As if he had said, come to this; I knew thy gracious nature, how inclined thou art to mercy, and that upon the first appearance of their repentance thou wouldst repent of the evil, and so free-grace would make me seem as a deceiver among them.”

Give me leave to speak a higher word than all this, and let it not seem strange, that the patience of the glorified saints in heaven is nothing to the patience of Christ towards provoking sinners upon earth. Those glorified souls, though they have patience among other graces, perfected in its kind, still it is but finite patience and cannot bear what Christ's patience bears. Take an instance of it out of Rev. 6: 9, 10, 11: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And it was said unto them, that they should rest for a little season." Here you see glorified souls less able to bear the slow pace of justice towards their enemies, than Christ was. sinful impatience, but yet a patience short of Christ's infinite patience. Ah, if you were to depend on the patience of any creature in heaven or earth, you had worn it out long ago.

There was no

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger; for I am God, and not man." It is well that we have to do with God: "If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?" 1 Sam. 24:19. No, he will reckon with him before he parts with him. Sinner, the Lord finds thee daily in thy sins, and yet allows thee to go; yet beware thou try not his patience too far, lest vengeance overtake thee at last, and pay the justice of God with all the arrears due to his patience.

2. Hence it follows, that convinced and broken-hearted sinners need not be discouraged in going to Jesus Christ for mercy, seeing he exercises such wonderful patience

towards obstinate and refusing sinners. This inference breathes the pure gospel; it is a cordial to cheer the heart that is moving towards Christ with fear and trembling. It is a great artifice of Satan, to daunt and discourage poor convinced sinners by telling them there is no hope of mercy for them; that they shall find the arms of mercy closed; that the time of mercy is now past, and they come too late. 0 how busy is Satan with such suggestions as these in many of your souls. But I am instructed to tell you that these are but the artifices of the enemy: you are going to the fountain of mercy, patience, goodness, and long-suffering; go on, and you shall find abundantly more than you expect. He will not cast off a soul that comes mourning and panting towards him, and is willing to subscribe the gospel-articles of reconciliation. No, he will not shut out such a soul, whatever its rebellions and provocations have been. Sinner, thou art going to the meek and merciful Jesus, who has said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Matt. 11:28, 29. You are going to meekness and mercy itself: he is "the Lamb of God," that is his name. Go on then, trembling sinner; do not stand any longer inquiring, shall I, shall I? but make a bold and necessary venture of faith; try him once, and then report what you find him to be. Certainly, if he exercises such patience as he does towards the vessels of wrath while they are fitting for destruction, Rom. 9:22, he will not want patience for a vessel of mercy, preparing by humiliation and faith for Christ and glory. Does he bear with those that stand in defiance, and will he fall on those that are mourning before him upon the knee of submission? Shall a condemned sinner, who is preparing for hell, find so much forbearance, and a poor broken-hearted sinner none ? It cannot be. If Jesus Christ bore with thee when thy heart was hard as a rock, and would not shed one tear for sin, will

he execute his wrath upon thee, and show thee no mercy, when thy heart is broken to pieces with sorrow, and filled with loathing and detestation against sin, and thyself for sin? Did he bear with thee when sin was thy delight; and will he destroy thee now it is thy burden? It cannot be.

Moreover, if the Lord Jesus were not willing to show mercy to thy soul, now that thine eyes are opened and thy heart touched to the quick, why has he foreborne the execution of his wrath so long? He might have taken his own time to cut thee off; he might have made any day the execution-day. But among all the days of thy life, the day of thy humiliation, the day of thy faith, is not likely to prove that day.

Again, as great and vile sinners as thyself have ventured upon the grace of Christ, and found it infinitely beyond their expectation. These the Lord Jesus has set forth as encouraging examples to all broken-hearted sinners coming after; that they, seeing how it fared with those who went before them to Christ, may be encouraged to go to him with more confidence. I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1 Tim. 1:16. Then shut your ears against all the whispers of Satan entertain no evil reports of Christ. Satan loves to draw a false picture of Christ, and represent him in the most discouraging form to trembling sinners; but you will not find him so. What can Christ say more to convince and satisfy souls than he has done? He has left the bosom of the Father, he has entered into union with thy nature, he has poured out his soul unto death; he has told us, that he will in nowise cast out those that come unto him. Thousands have gone before us in the paths of repentance and faith, and found it according to his word; you have been spared all your life to this day of mercy. O do not stand off now upon such weak objections.

3. The long-suffering of Christ towards sinners teaches his ministers to imitate their Lord in patience and longsuffering. Christ is our pattern of patience; if he wait, much more may we. We think it much to stand from Sabbath to Sabbath, pleading and inviting, and are apt to be discouraged when we see no fruit follow. The want of success is apt to cast us under Jeremiah's temptation, to speak no more in his name, and make us lament with Isaiah that we have labored in vain. It is a hard case to study, pray, and preach, and see all our labors without fruit. It is not so much the toil as the returning of our labors upon us in vain, that discourages our hearts. Ministers would not die so fast, says Mr. Lockyer on Colossians, nor be grey-headed so soon, did they see the fruits of their labors upon their people. But let us look to our Pattern in the text, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." If the master wait, let not the servant be weary: "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. 2:24, 25.

Though the beginning be small, our latter end may greatly increase. Though we now fish with hooks, and take but now one and then another, the time may come, and we hope it is at the door, when we shall spread our nets and inclose multitudes. Aretius, a pious divine, comforteth himself thus, under the unsuccessfulness of his labors: "Perhaps future days will afford more tractable spirits and easier tempers of mind than our present times give." Besides, the fruit of our labors may spring up to a blessed harvest when we are gone: One soweth, and another reapeth," John 4:37; but if not, our reward will not be measured by the success, but by the sincerity of our designs and labors. Our zeal for the conversion of souls to Christ will be accepted, but our discouragement in his service will certainly displease