3. Beg of God to keep you, and pray as those that know the treachery of your own hearts, that unless you are kept by a better power than your own, you are loft,

Laftly, Keep that eternal life in view of which Chrift hath the words; and then meet every difficulty, and bear every trial, as those that know that the fufferings of the prefent life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed.

SER

SERMON XVII.

JOHN XII. 20, 21.

And there were certain Greeks among them, that
came up to worship at the feaft:

The fame came therefore to Philip, which was of
Bethfaida of Galilee, and defired him, faying,
Sir, we would fee Jefus.

HE Greeks or Gentiles here fpoken of,

TH

are fuppofed to have dwelt about Tyre and Sidon, near enough to the Galileans to have converse with them; and fo might be acquainted with Philip, who was of Bethfaida of Gali lee, to whom they applied, as in the text, Sir, we would fee Fefus.

With what defign they defired this, whether only to gratify their curiofity, or for better ends, is not faid: but the paffage may give rife to what may be of ufe to ourselves.

Accordingly, Two enquiries may be made upon our reading it.

I. By whom among ourfelves thefe fame words.
of defire may be uttered, We would fee Je-
• Jus.
II. What may be implied in them, according
to the fenfe of the feveral forts of men or

wishers,

wifhers, that may utter and repeat them after these Greeks?

I. By whom among ourselves these fame words may be uttered?

Now, three forts may thus express themselves, We would fee Jejus.

1. Such as are yet ftrangers to him, and who after this may continue fo, and live and die in fin and unbelief, may utter them. Many may fay, We would fee Jefus, and yet never seek heartily to get an intereft in him: they would have a Saviour, but will perish rather than accept him like one: they would go to heaven, and would feemingly bid fair for it at firft; but after they fee the difficulty of the way, they will rather ftop where they are, and at laft fink into eternal perdition, than enter into it, and patiently walk through it. Hence our Lord exhorts to ftrive to enter in at the ftrait gate; adding, by way of motive, for many, I fay unto you, will Seek to enter in, and shall not be able, Luke xiii.

24.

eyes

2. You may take the perfons fpeaking thus to be fuch, who, tho' yet out of Christ, are under the Spirit's preparatory work to lead them to a vital union and fellowship with him: fuch into whofe fouls the Spirit is come as a convincer, in order to their converfion; opening their and hearts fo far, by the affecting discoveries of fin and mifery, as to make them cry out for a fight of Chrift, as a dying man for a physician, a condemned man for a pardon, or a drowning man for a plank, by which he may escape beVOL. II.

Y

ing

ing swallowed up by the tempeftuous and fwelling ocean.

This was the cafe of Peter's hearers, Acts ii. 37. They, when pricked at their hearts, faid unto him, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what fhall we do? And this was the cafe of the awakened jailor, Acts xvi. 30. When he came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and faid, Sirs, what must I do to be faved?

The impreffions made on both thefe, iffued well for of the effects of the first, it is faid, The fame day there were added unto them, i. e. the church, about three thousand fouls: and the latter, the jailor, having faith in Christ preached to him as the way to falvation, was made a monument of mercy, and was baptized, and all his, ftraightway. The weary and heavy laden Chrift calls to him for their obtaining eafe and rest and fuch as thefe, under a lively sense of their need of him, we may conceive of, as uttering themselves as in the text, We would fee Fefus.

3. Those may thus fpeak who are already made partakers of Chrift, and stand in a special relation to him. True believers have not yet apprehended concerning Christ all that they defire, and are encouraged to expect but as to what is wanting, they depend upon him for receiving it. The life they live in the flesh, they live by the faith of the Son of God; and the heaven they are waiting for, is a place where they are to be present with him, where he is: and as going up towards it, they find frequent occafion to join in this defire, We would fee Jefus.

This

This distinction of perfons concerned, you are to keep in mind, while we confider,

II. What may be implied in these words according to the mind of the feveral forts of wishers, who may exprefs and repeat them after these Greeks?

The defire of each we fhall endeavour to open, both as to the object they defire to fee, and the nature of the act, or of their defire to fee this object.

1. To begin with fuch as are yet strangers to Chrift, and who after fuch an enquiry, may ftill, for all that, remain finally in a natural state, and never get a special intereft in him.

It is not eafy to diftinguish between fuch as by the preparatory work of the Spirit convincing them of fin, are converted and pass into a state of grace, and fuch as may be brought feemingly near the kingdom of God, and yet after all miscarry and come to nothing: but thus much feems plain, that when any say, We would fee Jefus, who after it never pafs into the number of his living and true members, their defire, as to the object of it, may be faid to be at best but carnal and confufed.

(1 Their defire is carnal, and fometimes it is fo very carnal and low, as to refpect Jefus only as Man, and to have regard only to his external form, and extraordinary outward actions: as for example, How he appeared among men, and what uncommon things he could do, &c.

Thus the Jews defired to fee the Meffiah promifed, but figured to themselves a quite different perfon, and one fent for quite different purposes Y 2 than