The saints treasury being sundry sermons preached in London /

Christ prays, O Father, that there might be an acceptable time for such a people, for such a man and woman; it may be they have gone on a long time in ignorance and profaneness; I but Christ hath been praying to the Father for them, and when this acceptable time comes, then God disposes of them, that this man shall go out of such a wicked family, and shall live in a godly family, or shall come to such a Sermon, and there shall hear the wonderful things of the Gospel opened to him, and shall come to understand this great mystery of Gods letting himself out through Christ unto his people: and there the Lord will renew him by a work of grace, and bring his heart over unto himself, this is the acceptable time when ⟨p. 59⟩God reveals the mystery of the Gospel to any soul: therefore bless God for this.

Christ prayes, O Father, that there might be an acceptable time for such a people, for such a man and woman; it may be they have gone on a long time in ignorance and prophanesse; I but Christ hath been praying to the Father for them, and when this acceptable time comes, then God disposes of them, that this man shall goe out of such a wicked family, and shall live in a godly family, or shall come to such a Sermon, and there shall heare the wonderfull things of the Gospell opened to him, and shall come to understand this great mystery of Gods letting himself out through Christ unto his people: and there the Lord will renew him by a work of grace, and bring his heart over unto himselfe, this is the acceptable time when ⟨p. 59⟩God reveales the mystery of the Gospell to any soul: therefore blesse God for this.

Thirdly, this shows how dear Jesus Christ should be unto us. O how should we delight and take contentment in him that brings the Treasuries of grace from the bosom of the Father, and opens them unto us: and not only opens the mind of God the father to us, but comes and lets out the treasure of Gods goodness to us. It was stopped before, I but Christ he opened as it were the flood gates, and lets the current of grace and mercy in upon us. O how dear therefore should Christ be unto us? it was the speech of that Martyr, Master Lambert, None but Christ, none but Christ. Yea when he suffered Martyrdom for Christ, then none but Christ was dear to him; because he saw that Christ was the way of conveyance of all good unto him: as if God now make a man a means of conveyance of a great deal of good to a nation, every man will be ready to have his eye upon that man: I, but there was never such a way of conveyance of good to us as Christ is: therefore how should our hearts love him, and prize him, and rejoice at the very thoughts of him? If you have a friend, and God makes that friend an instrument of mercy to you, O how doth it endear you to that friend: if the husband be an instrument of good to the wife, or the wife to the husband; if a Minister to his people, or people to their Minister, and so in all relations: when we can look upon others as a means of conveyance of Gods mercy to us, it is a mighty argument to knit our hearts unto them, and indeed this is the way to obtain love. It may be the wife complains, she hath not love from her husband; or the husband complains he hath not love from his wife: Why now, be as instrumental as you can to convey the goodness of God to them, and this will mightily endear and knit them to you; and if it doth so between man and man: how should it do so much more between us and Christ, who is indeed the husband of his Church, and through whom the fullness of God is let out unto his people? O how dear and precious therefore ought he to be unto us!