SERMON VIII.

THE APPEALS OF CHRIST TO THE SINNER.

REV. iii. 20.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.

THIS is the language addressed by Jesus Christ, who is styled the faithful and true witness from the beginning of the creation of God, to the lukewarm and impenitent church of Laodicea. The patient forbearance which he exercised towards her, his solicitude for her recovery from her spiritual insensibility, and his affectionate invitation to this purpose, are denoted by the symbolical allusion of his standing at the door and knocking. Should the impenitent Laodiceans hear his voice and open the door-should they, by humble and lively penitence, faith and obedience, receive and treat him as their Lord and Redeemer-he graciously promises to come in to them, and sup with them, and they with him-they should be restored to his favour and enriched by his blessings.

Alas! brethren, the church of Laodicea is the emblem of too many professing Christians in every age. By their remissness, their lukewarmness, their sensual pursuits, by their impenitent neglect to fulfil the holy conditions of the covenant of their salvation, they have shut the door of their hearts

against their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But he stands at the door and knocks. Their ingratitude, their insensibility, their numerous provocations, cannot induce him utterly to forsake them; he still importunes with them to yield him the possession of their hearts, and graciously promises, that if they will hear his voice, and in humble penitence and faith submit to him as their Lord and Saviour, they shall be received into the closest and most endearing union with him, and shall partake of the inestimable blessings of his love and favour.

Lukewarm and unholy Christian! impenitent sinner! who refusest to render to thy Saviour the supreme homage of thy heart and affections—who refusest him admission into that soul which he has redeemed, and which he is desirous to purify by his grace, and to bless with his everlasting favour, how astonishing is his forbearance and his compassion! He sues for admission into that bosom which thou hast closed against him, and urges his solicitation by the exalted promise, that if thou wilt open unto him, he will come in and bless thee.

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Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me."

When we hear this affectionate invitation, we are naturally prompted to contemplate

The interesting character of him who thus solicits admission into our hearts;

The tender and affecting manner by which he solicits this admission;

The reception which is due from us to a character so interesting, and an invitation so tender and affecting; and

The blessings which we shall enjoy in yielding him the possession of our hearts.

Who is he that solicits admission into our souls, to sanctify, to rule, and to bless them?

A personage in himself the most exalted, and sustaining to us the most exalted relations-Jesus Christ the Son of God-he who was with the Father before the world was-he who, from all eternity, was the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person-he, the Lord of all things, by whom all things were created, and by whom all things consist-Jesus Christ, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the Almighty. This is indeed a mystery which surpasses our conception, but which claims our profound adorationa mystery not greater indeed than that divine nature into which there is no searching-not greater than our own nature, which so often baffles our inquiries -not greater than innumerable truths of reason and religion, which command our assent-and a mystery which claims our most profound adoration -the second person in the eternal Trinity, he who, equal with God, was from all eternity partaker of the glory and felicity of the Godhead, sues for admission into our souls.

And in the most exalted and endearing characters does he solicit admission.

He claims the possession of our souls as our Creator, who formed us out of nothing, and breathed into us an immortal spirit-as our Preserver, who sustains us in life, and protects our frail being from VOL. III.

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the innumerable dangers which surround us-as our Benefactor, who surrounds us with the countless blessings of his providence-and, a character still more endearing and interesting, he presents himself before us and sues for the possession of our hearts as our Redeemer, who, for our sakes, endured poverty, scorn, persecution, was buffeted and scourged, and poured forth his life as one forsaken by his God-He who, as our Redeemer, never withdrawing from us his compassion, is constantly interceding for us, sending forth his spirit to guide and sanctify us, and who is preparing for us a place in his own presence.

And what is the mode in which he presents his claim to our hearts, to our supreme homage and service?

Having violated, by repeated transgressions, the law of our nature, the dictates of reason and of conscience, the commands of God, as good as he is powerful, it is an act of mercy which spares us, thus sinful and guilty, which rescues us from that prison of darkness where the angels who have sinned are reserved in chains. We deserve only wrath-wrath from the Sovereign of the universc. But should our offended God entertain towards us any purposes of mercy, what would be the utmost of our hopes? We might reasonably indeed expect that pardon would not be extended to guilt so aggravated, but on conditions the most rigorous and severe, conditions enforced by the stern voice of violated authority. The utmost that we could hope would be, that these conditions of pardon would be rendered practicable by the divine aid of the Sovereign whom we had offended. But here

again is a mystery which claims our profound adoration. God did not appear to us in the darkness, the tempest, the terrors of Mount Sinai, an inflexible Sovereign and Judge. He unfolds himself to us, his rebellious creatures, in the light, the radiance, the compassion of our heavenly Father. He so loved us, as to send to us his only-begotten Son, not to announce, in the majesty of offended justice, the stern conditions of our pardon, but, in the lowliness of the Lamb of God, to make a propitiation for our sins, in the mild accents of the Prince of Peace, to propose the easy terms of acceptance, and with the tenderness and compassion of our dearest Friend, to invite us to come unto him and receive rest and salvation. And even when insensible to the calls of gratitude and duty, and regardless of our own present and eternal interest, we resolve to continue in our sins, and thus defy the justice of heaven, and trample under foot that mercy which is sealed by the blood of the Son of God; still this almighty Redeemer, who could summon legions of angels to vindicate his insulted glories, becomes the suppliant-and the suppliant to the guilty rebels who had rejected him; he stands at the door and knocks; he sues for admittance into our souls; he sues for admittance by those temporal blessings which he still bestows upon us, sinners, who are unworthy of them, and who, while they deserve the vengeance, are thus crowned with the goodness of their almighty Lord. Jesus Christ sues for admittance into our hearts by those chastisements and warnings, by the loss of health and of temporal comforts, by those escapes from impending danger and threatening death, which are calculated to arouse us to a sense of the necessity of