And O that you, who are called Christians,
would receive him into your hearts! for there it is you want him, and at
that door he stands knocking, that you might let him in; but you do not
open to him; you are full of other guests, so that a manger is his lot
among you now as well as of old. Yet you are full of profession, as were
the Jews when he came among them, who knew him not, but rejected and
evily entreated him. So that if you come not to the possession and
experience of what you profess, all your formality and religion will
stand you in no stead in the day of God's judgment.
I beseech you ponder with yourselves your eternal condition, and see what
title, what ground and foundation you have for your Christianity: if more
than a profession, and an historical belief of the gospel. Have you
known the baptism of fire, and the Holy Ghost, and the fan of Christ that
winnows away the chaff in your minds, the carnal lusts, and affections;
that divine leaven of the kingdom, that, being received, leavens the
whole lump of man, sanctifying him throughout in body, soul, and spirit?
If this be not the ground of your confidence, you are in a miserable
state.
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