But, Come down Zaccheus; and know that you are not fufficient of yourself to think any thing as of yourfelf; your fufficiency must be of God in Chrift; therefore, come down.

[2.] I fhall endeavour to excite you by a few motives. Meantime, this call concerns finners and faints both; for, as unregenerate, proud nature, that is ftill afpiring to climb and clafp about the forbidden tree, needs to come down, fo the remains of proud nature, in the regenerate, makes it the duty of faints to be still coming down. Honeft communicants, though they have communicate never fo worthily and acceptably, and have come down to entertain Chrift in their houfe, and heart; yet, through the remaining power of natural pride and felf, being ready always to put confidence, even in received graces, frames, enlargements, attainments, or fome old-covenant twig; fome good thing done by them, or wrought in them, inftead of trusting only to the righteousness of Chrift, and living wholly upon the grace that is in him; therefore, they need daily to be coming down, and walking humbly with their God, and keeping themfelves down with him in the low valley.

The exhortation then concerns finners and faints both and, for motives, confider,

1. That the market of grace is as low as ever it was; therefore come down, if you would buy the pearl of great price. Here you may buy cheap, and fell dear:

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Buy the truth, and fell it not." You are to buy the pearl for nothing, by taking it freely; but you may not fell it for a thoufand worlds. Here is the richest pearl, for the lowest price. It is to be had at a lower rate than ever you, or any mortal could have expected.If you bid high, you cannot have it; the market is as low as your heart could wish. Chrift offers himself freely to the vileft and blackest finner here; and if you cannot think or imagine it is fo, then I muft tell you, that the market of grace is lower than you can imagine it is, or than your proud heart can think it is. Your lofty spirit thinks always there must be fome terms or conditions required of you as the price; but come down,

for

for the market is fallen far below your price. For, as all things are ready to your hand; fo all things are to be had without money, and without price, Ifa. lv. 1. It is lower than you can think it; therefore, come down with every high thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of Chrift.

2. Come down; for, while you are climbing too high, you are in danger of falling, and breaking your neck. It was by climbing too high at first that our first parents fell down to the pit of ruin. The prevalence of that temptation, "Ye fhall be as Gods," made them fall into fuch a low ftate, that instead of being as Gods, they became as devils. Again,

3. Confider further, That you must come down with a vengeance, if you come not down by choice to Chrift, when he calls you. "God has fworn by himfelf, that every knee fhall bow to him," Ifa. xlv. 23. Rom. xiv. II. If you come not down to kifs the Son, voluntarily, with a kifs of fubjection; you must be brought down violently and wrathfully; therefore, come down, "Left he be angry, and ye perifh from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little," Pfalm ii. 12.

4. Confider, That God hath come down already in many tokens of his wrath, against us, and the generation, becaufe of our delaying and refufing to come down to Chrift, to give him entertainment in our hearts and houfes unbelief, in refufing the kind offers of Chrift in the gospel, is the mother fin, that is fertile and productive of all other fins, in fo far as it is a refufing fubjection to Zion's King, and fetting ourselves above him, and above his word and will. For this the wrath of God is come down in many refpects, infomuch that wrath is upon all ranks. Signs of his anger and abfence are upon nobility, gentry, and commonalty; figns of it upon the Judicatories of the establifhed Church; and figns of it upon Seceders, and profeffed witneffes for truth. The anger of the Lord hath gone forth against all ranks.

5. Down-coming days feem to be haftening; and therefore, make hafte, and come down. It may be thefe inftances of divine wrath are but the beginning of

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forrows: and, indeed, "If judgments begin at the house of God, where will they end?" Days of great tribulation feem to be haftening on; church trouble, national trouble, family trouble, and perfonal trouble; and whether you will or not, you must come down to the gates of death and the grave. The day of death is haftening; therefore make hafte, and come down to Chrift.

6. If ye do not come down, ye cannot come speed. Many come up to ordinances, they come up to communion folemnities; but they do not come fpeed, they reap no fuccefs, becaufe they do not come down. They come beft fpeed who come down to Jefus' feet, to wash them, and wipe them with the hair of their head.

7. Confider that to come down is the way to come up, even as humiliation is the way to exaltation: "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you." Yea, the farther down you come, the farther up will you mount. The deeper root you take downward, the more fruit will ye bring forth upward, to the praife and glory of God. For,

8. Confider, the great and high God loves to come down, and dwell with thofe who come down: "Thus faith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whofe name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place; with him alfo that is of a humble and contrite spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones," Ifa. lvii. 15. He loves to come down to be all in them, that come down to be nothing in their own eyes. He loves to come down and dwell with thofe that dwell low; and to come down and fit with thofe who fit in the duft. His voice is, "Come down, and fit in the duft," Ifa. xlvii. 1. And afterwards his voice will be, "Awake and fing, ye that dwell in the duft," Ifa. xxvi. 19. He will go down with them, and dwell with them, till he bring them up; even down to the grave with them, from thence to bring them up: "But if the Spirit of him that raifed up Jefus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Chrift from

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the dead, fhall alfo quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you," Rom. viii. 11.

[3.] We fhall now clofe with a word of direction. Would you fall in with this call, to make hafte, and come down to Chrift; there are two advices I would 1. Study, through grace, to open your eyes to 2. To open your ears to hear him; for, if ye but fee his face, and hear his voice, you will quickly come down to him.

give. fee him.

1. Study to open your eyes to fee him; and there is a twofold look you are to take of him. 1. To look down, and fee how low he was. 2. To look up, and fee how high he is.

(1.) Look down, and fee how low he was in his state of humiliation. Chrift came down to you, and for you, that you might come down to him: he came down to this earth, in affuming your nature; down to the womb of a virgin; down to a manger; down to a forrowful life; down to a fhameful death; down to the grave !-O Sirs, has God come fo far down to you, and will you not come down to him? O proud finner, it well becomes you to come down to his feet, down to the duft, down to nothing before him. Yea, he has not given over coming down to you; for, now he comes down by his word, and down by his Spirit, to deal with you to come down to him.

(2.) Look up, and fee how high he is, in his ftate of exaltation at the Father's right hand. The higher he is, the lower doth he look down towards you; and the lower he looks down, and defigns to call his eye upon you, the more will you haften down to hide yourfelf in the duft; efpecially if you look up, and fee how high and lofty his throne is, and what a glorious, rich, and opulent Lord he is. Here I may allude to what Jofeph faid to his brethren, Gen. xlv. 9. "Halte you, and go up to my father, and fay unto him, Thus faith thy fon Jofeph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt, come down unto me, tarry not." O Sirs, lock up, and fee how high Chrift is now: "God hath made him both Lord and Chrift: Lord of heaven and earth, and

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all things; therefore, down to him, and tarry not. Make bafte, Zaccheus, and come down.

2. Study to open your ears and hear him; hear him calling you, as he did Zaccheus, Make hafte, and come down; and hear him promifing, as he did to Zaccheus, "To-day I must abide at thy house."

(1.) Hear him calling you particularly, as he did Zaccheus, Make bafte, and come down; who, whenever he heard Chrift calling on him in particular, then he came down. O then, hear him calling you man, you woman, whether old or young, though he does not give you your particular name, John, James, or Mary; yet, if your general name, a guilty Sinner, be alfo your particular name, then you guilty finner, in particular, are called upon to make hafte, and come down to him, quitting hold of all your vain confidences, and falfe refts, and carnal refuges. On thefe heights you will not fee Chrift, fo as to entertain him in your heart and houfe. Therefore, hear the call; O hear him calling on you in particular, and then you will come down. And, again,

(2.) Hear him promifing, as he did to Zaccheus, To-day I must abide at thy house." O Sirs, whenever Zaccheus heard him thus promifing, he speedily came down; and fo will you, if you hear him promifing, and found your faith upon his promise. Well, Sirs, the Lord is in hafte, fpeaking to you; "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Why, to-day, I must be in your houfe, in your hearts; there is a bleffed neceffity on my part and yours both. I must be in, and you must make open doors unto me. Another promife of this fort you have, John x. 16. "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; thole alfo I must bring, and they fhall hear my voice." I muft bring them, and they fhall hear my voice. O Sirs, hear then a promise with a promife, importing the neceffity of the accomplishment, Do you hear him faying, in effect, O poor finful creature, many a call you have fitten and flighted; but now I will not take one refufal more; to-day I must be in: this day, this hour, this moment, I must be in: I muft have your heart.— Well,