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I. MEN BY NATURE ARE FAR FROM CHRIST. In respect of —

1. Knowledge.

2. Union.

3. Participation.

4. Converse.

II. SINNERS ARE UNWILLING TO COME TO CHRIST.

1. Many think they have already come.

2. Many do not fully apprehend their need of Christ. They think it enough to be sorry, reformed, mean well, etc.

3. Many are too busy, and so have no leisure for such a journey: pleasure, business, care, etc., prevent (Luke 14.).

4. Many will not part with that which keeps them at a distance from Christ, viz., sin.

5. Many are possessed with prejudice against Christ as represented in the gospel.

III. THE USES.

1. Of information.

(1)  Man's wretchedness.

(2)  Man's helplessness to deliver himself.

(3)  The sufficiency of Christ and His salvation.

2. For examination. Those who come to Christ —

(1)  Are sorry that they were so long ere they came to Him.

(2)  Are acquainted with the way to Christ, having walked in it.

(3)  Have a high esteem of Christ.

(4)  Are in a new condition.

(5)  Walk with Christ.

(6)  Are at a greater distance from sin and the world.

(7)  Have renounced their own righteousness.

3. Of exhortation. Consider —

(1) The necessity of coming to Christ.

(a)  You are under the power of Satan.

(b)  You are under the guilt of sin.

(c)  You are under God's wrath.

(d)  You are under the curse.

(e)  The justice of God is engaged to destroy you.

(f)  Your outward enjoyments and accommodations in the world are uncomfortable, unsanctified, accursed.

(2) The advantage of coming to Christ — freedom from all these disadvantages; and —

(a)  Union with Him, real, happy, everlasting.

(b)  Communion with Him.

(c)  Participation of Him in all He is and all He has: His obedience, miracles, prayers, resurrection, etc.

(3) The equity of coming to Christ.

(a)  You lose nothing, but gain enough by it: health from sickness, liberty from captivity, beauty instead of deformity, sanity for madness.

(b)  He waits till you come, condescendingly, industriously, patiently.

(4) The danger of not coming: the guilt of soul murder. If you will not come to Christ —

(a)  He will come against you either in a severer way to reclaim you or to destroy you.

(b)  He will depart from you, and you know not how soon.

(c)  You shall not come hereafter.

(d)  Ye shall not have life.

IV. THE CONVERSE. Those that come to Christ will have life. What life? All that is opposite to the death Adam brought into the world. Those who come to Christ —

1. Have another kind of temporal life.

(1)  In respect of its tenure. The sinner's title is common providence; the saint's that of the covenant of grace.

(2)  In respect of its blessing. Life is not a blessing special but in Christ.

(3)  In respect of its comfort.

(4)  In respect of its usefulness.

2. Spiritual life.

(1)  The life of righteousness (Romans 5:18).

(2)  The life of holiness in its principles, increase, acts, continuance.

3. Eternal life in respect to —

(l) Its title

(2)  Hope.

(3)  Earnest.

(4)  Possession.Conclusion: Have you this life? If so, where there is life there is —

1. Breath;

2. Motion;

3. Sense — seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting.

(D. Clarkson, B. D.)

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KJV: If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

WEB: "If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid.