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THE 
 
 SELECT WRITINGS 
 
 EEY. EBENEZER ERSKINE, 
 
 VOL. I. 
 DOCTRINAL SERMONS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 THE REV. DAVID SMITH, 
 
 BIGGAR. 
 
 A. FULLARTON AND CO., 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON, 
 
 1848. 
 
EDINBURGH : 
 FDILAKTON AND CO., PRINTERS, LEITH WALK. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The writings of Ebenezer Erskine have been of singular use in 
 the Church of Christ. They have not only served the more 
 ordinary, though all-important purposes of conviction and con- 
 version to sinners, and of edification and comfort to those that 
 believe, but have been especially useful for the higher ends of 
 exhibiting, vindicating, and diffusing evangelical views of reli- 
 gious truth. At the period when he commenced his ministry, a 
 cloud appeared to be coming over the firmament of the Church 
 in Scotland, darkening the lustre of the gospel, and particularly, 
 obscuring what should be always the- central object of preaching, 
 ' Christ Jesus and him crucified.' Works rather than faith, and 
 the law more than the gospel, formed the principal theme of the 
 discourses then commonly delivered. But 'when the enemy 
 came in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifted up a standard 
 against him.' In the ministry first, and afterwards in the writ- 
 ings of Mr. Erskine, along with those of his distinguished coad- 
 jutors, 'a banner was displayed because of the truth.' The 
 doctrines of gi-ace — that is the doctrines regarding the entire 
 corruption of human nature, the unconditional character of the 
 covenant of grace, the universal free offer of the gospel, the 
 appropriating nature of faith, the freedom of believers from the 
 law as a covenant, and the true nature and necessity of good 
 works — these as they were in his estimation the vital doctrines 
 of Christianity, and those chiefly at the time opposed, formed 
 the great subject of his discourses. The manner indeed in 
 which these are stated, illustrated and applied, so simply, so ex- 
 perimentally, and so practically, is just that which constitutes 
 the great charm of his writings. 
 
 It is not deemed necessary to enter here into any critical ex- 
 amination of these writings. They do not lay claim to the 
 qualities of profoxmd argimientation, impassioned eloquence or 
 
IV PKEFACE. 
 
 polished diction. The circumstances in which they were pro- 
 duced and given to the public, precluded this, arthough had 
 their author aimed at these things, as he on principle did not, 
 he possessed the natural talents and acquired endowments which 
 might have enabled him to excel in them all. They were pub- 
 lished not simultaneously, but for the most part in single ser- 
 mons, and these, Avith the exception apparently of the discourse 
 on the Assurance of Paith, not prepared for the press, but 
 printed from his notes, or as they were taken from his lips ; in 
 some cases with no corrections at all, and in the rest with very 
 few. The earlier sermons were forced from him in self-vindica- 
 tion, when honour forbade him to alter even a sentence, and the 
 later were drawn from him by the importunity of pious hearers, 
 when, though he had had the inclination to correct, he had not 
 the leisure. But apology is scarcely required for Sermons, 
 which have not only stood the test of more than a century 
 during which they have enjoyed a large circulation, having 
 gone through a number of editions, but Avhich have received 
 the commendation of such judges of writing as Thomas Brad- 
 bury and James Hervey. The former speaking of these ser- 
 mons says, ' The reader will find in them a faithful adherence 
 to the design of the gospel, a clear defence of those doctrines 
 that are the pillar and ground of the truth, a large compass of 
 thought, a strong force of argument, and a happy flow of words 
 both judicious and familiar.' The latter, in his Dialogues of 
 Theron and Aspasio, says, 'Were I to read in order to refine my 
 taste, or improve my style, I would prefer Bishop Atterbury's 
 Sermons, Dr. Bates' works, or Mr. Seed's Discourses. But Avere 
 I to read with a single ^dew to the edification of my heart in 
 tnie faith, solid comfort and evangelical holiness, I would have 
 recourse to Mr. Erskine, and take his volumes for my guide, my 
 companion and my familiar friend.' 
 
 It has been thought that while the whole writings of Ebenezer 
 Erskine are eminently calculated to be useful, a selection from 
 them might, if judiciously made, incalculably extend their use- 
 fulness, by bringing them, both as it regards size and price, what 
 they were not before, within the range of the people generally. 
 It has been thought moreover that the selection should, in the 
 first place at least, consist of the Doctrinal portions of his writ- 
 ings, not only as being in themselves pre-eminently excellent, but 
 as being peculiarly suitable to the present state of the religious 
 world. A particular reason for doing this at the present mo- 
 ment it has been conceived exists in the late happy union effect- 
 ed between the Secession and Kelief Churches. It has been 
 considered most desirable that the United Church should be 
 thoroughly imbued with those doctrines, Avhich formed the life- 
 blood of the several churches of which it is now composed, and 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 wliich enabled them to effect, in their separate capacity, so mucli 
 good in the land. Proceeding on such principles as these, the 
 Council formed for ' superintending the publication of the early 
 Uterature and history of the United Presbyterian Church,' 
 fixed upon the doctrinal writings of Ebenezer Erskine as the 
 subject of the second volume of their series, and allotted the 
 preparation of it to the Editor, who, while deeply sensible of the 
 importance and delicacy of the work, has endeavoured to the 
 best of his judgment to meet the wishes of the Committee who 
 reposed this confidence in him. 
 
 In endeavouring to carry out the design of the Council in re- 
 gard to this volume, the Editor felt that he had to keep dis- 
 tinctly before him the following things : —First, to make a selec- 
 tion of Doctrinal Sermons only. Secondly, to make a selection 
 of such a number of these as woidd faithfully exhibit the 
 Author's views on all the gi-eat leading doctrines of the gospel. 
 Thirdly, to alter nothing, but throughout allow Mr. Erskine to 
 express his owti ideas in his own language ; and lastly, to com- 
 prise his whole selection in a small duodecimo volume. With 
 these objects before him, there were different modes which pre- 
 sented themselves to view. One was to give a system of Ex- 
 tracts, classing these under different Heads of Doctrine. But 
 this appeared to the Editor a method which would neither be 
 just to the author, nor satisfactory to the reader. The very 
 finest pieces of art, detached from the work of v/hich they form 
 a part, lose much of their beauty and effect. It is the same 
 with detached portions of discourses. Wanting their original 
 unity, they want at the same time their original attraction. 
 Another mode was to select some of the more important and 
 interesting sermons, and give them, with only such literary cor- 
 rections as anew edition indispensably required, just as they were 
 originally printed. But to this there was the obvious objection, 
 that in consequence of this gi-eat length, there being usually se- 
 veral discourses on the same text, only a veiy few could be given 
 in a small volume, and thus not a fair representation of the author's 
 system of doctrine exhibited. Besides there would be thus includ- 
 ed a considerable quantity of matter which, though useful in itself, 
 would be felt extraneous in a volume of professedly Doctrinal 
 Discourses. The mode therefore adopted, as avoiding both these 
 defects, and best gaining the ends intended, has been to give all 
 the principal Doctrinal Sermons in the original volumes, omit- 
 ting only in each what did not directly bear upon the subject, 
 and re-arranging the parts of the discourses as far as these 
 omissions rendered necessar}-. Had there been more space, 
 some more sermons would have been added, but the Editor has 
 selected all those bearing on the points for which Ebenezer 
 Erskine and his distinguished coadjutors, the Marrow Divines, 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 60 nobly contended — that is, he has selected, he believes, the 
 Discourses which, had their sainted author had to do the work, 
 he would have himself selected. 
 
 The work of preparing these discourses for the press the 
 Editor has endeavoured faithfully and conscientiously to execute. 
 He has first of all introduced nothing of his own — not even to 
 the extent of a single sentence. He has only in a few instance* 
 substituted English words for Scotch which would not have been 
 generally intelligible — corrected a few ob^'iously grammatical 
 lapses and errors of the pi*ess which had crept in, and added 
 some connecting words and phrases which were necessary. All 
 is Ebenezer Erskine's — not only the ideas but the language. 
 He has secondly omitted nothing which was necessary to give a 
 fair view of Ebenezer Erskine's Doctrinal system. Even ex- 
 pressions and illustrations with which he might have been in- 
 clined to disagree he has allowed to remain, as the object was to 
 exhibit not the views of any man, or set of men, but those of 
 Ebenezer Erskine. In most cases simple omission has been all 
 the liberty taken. In some few instances, however, the Editor 
 has, in consequence of the necessarj^ omissions made, transposed 
 a particular or two, and in some, still fewer, he has added from 
 one discourse what seemed to be wanting in another. 
 
 If the Editor has executed his task as he washed to do, it is 
 not, he thinks, too much to hope, that the Doctrinal writings of 
 Ebenezer Erskine have been put in a form Avhich will render 
 them more generally intelligible and extensively useful than 
 they have ever been. It is his earnest wish and prayer that 
 they may be overruled to maintain among us, and even farther 
 to revive, that system of evangelical doctrine which is the life 
 of true preaching and the food of immortal souls. Let there 
 be enlightened criticism, forcible argumentation, classical diction, 
 impassioned eloquence — these are all useful and good in their 
 place, but let there be with all and as the substratum, plain, 
 pointed, rich gospel truth. Let our ministers and preachers be 
 as eloquent as Robert Hall, as profound as John Foster, and as 
 learned and refined as Philip Doddridge, but above all let them 
 be as plain, as scriptural, and as evangelical as Ebenezer 
 Erskine. Like him, may they all be ' determined to know no- 
 thing save Jesus Christ and him crucified.' 
 
 D. S. 
 
 BiGGAR, Feh-uary 1, 1848. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. Page 
 
 god's regard to worthless man. 
 Lord, what is man, that thoutakest knowledge of him? or the son 
 
 of man, tliat thou makest account of him? — Psal. cxliv. 3. 9 
 
 SERMON n. 
 
 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED AND MADE HONOURABLE. 
 
 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake ; he will 
 magnify the law, and make it honourable. — Isa. xlii. 2L 33 
 
 SERMON IIL 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT ARK OPENED. 
 
 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, 
 moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his 
 house. — Heb. xi. 7. - - •• - - 5£ 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 THE RAINBOW OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like 
 
 unto an emerald. — Rev. iv. 3. - - - 86 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 THE BELIEVER EXALTED IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteous- 
 ness shall they be exalted.— Psal. Ixxxix. 16. - 111 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 
 
 Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these 
 slain, that they may live.— Ezek. xxxvii. 9. - 126 
 
Viii CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON Vn. Page 
 
 THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 Having therefore, bi-ethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by 
 the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath 
 consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; 
 and having an high priest over the house of God; let us 
 draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. — 
 Heb. X. 19—22. 141 
 
 SERMON Vni. 
 
 THE PROFITABLENESS OF GOOD WORKS. 
 
 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm 
 constantly, that they which have believed in God might be 
 careful to maintain good works. These things are good 
 and profitable unto men. — Tit. iii. 8. - - 1S8 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING FORTH FROM MOL^NT ZIOX. 
 
 For the law shall go out of Zion. — Isa. ii. 3. - - 209 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 A TREASURE OP GOSPEL GRACE DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 1 am the Lord thy God. Thou shalthave no other gods before 
 me.— Exod. xx. 2, 3. - - - - 241 
 
 SERMON XL 
 
 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED AND CONDEMNED. 
 
 He that believeth not, is condemned already. — John iii. 18. 276 
 SERISION XII. 
 
 THE STONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS. 
 
 The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the 
 head slone of the corner.— Ptial. cxviii. 22. - - 303 
 
 SERMON Xni. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ZIOn's KING. 
 
 Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. — Psal. 
 ii. 6. - - - - - - - 33t 
 
DOCTEINAL SEEMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 god's regard to worthless max. 
 
 Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? or the sen 
 of man, that thou makest account of him?— Psal. cxliv. 3. 
 
 Here is a question put, that is both answerable and unan- 
 swerable, both easy and difficult. It is easy to teU what 
 man is, for the end of his perfection is soon discovered ; 
 but why God takes knowledge of man, or makes so great 
 account of him as to heap his favours on him, is a thing 
 that God only can best account for. David, in the two 
 preceding verses, declares what a reconciled God in Christ 
 was to him, and makes it the ground of his praise and 
 triumph. ' Blessed,' says he, ' be the Lord my strength, 
 which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. 
 My goodness, and my fortress ; my high tower, and my 
 deliverer ; my shield, and he in whom I trust, who sub- 
 dueth my people under me.' 
 
 Having viewed the goodness of God unto himself, and 
 remembering the greatness, glory, and majesty of his 
 Benefactor, who had done all this for him, he extends his 
 views unto the goodness of God to mankind in general, 
 and especially to the saints, and cries out in a rapture of 
 wonder, in the words of my text, Lord, what is iiian, that 
 thou takest himdedge of him ! and the son of man, that thou 
 nial'est account of him ! 
 
10 god's regard to 
 
 We may note here, 1. The subject matter of the ques- 
 tion, and that is man — earthly man, as some read it ; man 
 that is ' sprung of earth, and whose foundation is in the 
 dust ;' man who was '■ made a little lower than the angels,' 
 but who is now sunk into the greatest ignominy and con- 
 tempt, by his apostacy from God. 2. We have a question 
 of contempt put, concerning this creature, man, or the son 
 of man, uhat is he ? or wherein is he to be accounted of ? 
 We may hear the solution of this question afterwards. 3. 
 Notice to whom this question is proposed ; it is to the 
 Lord ; Lord^ what is man ! The Lord is a God of know- 
 ledge, and there is no searching of his understanding. He 
 needs not that any should testify of man to him ; he 
 knows the inward value of persons, things, and actions. 
 God has balances in which he weighs all mankind, and 
 therefore he can teU weU what man is ; 'he searches the 
 hearts, and tries the reins of the children of men,' and 
 knows far better what you and I are than we do ourselves. 
 4. We have the ground and reason of this inquiry con- 
 cerning man ; it is the hioidedge that God takes, and the 
 account God makes, of such an inconsiderable creature, that 
 ' the high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity, and who 
 dwells in the high and holy place,' should ' bow his heavens, 
 and come down,' to visit man in a way of love. 
 
 Observe, That the regard that God shows unto man is 
 truly wonderful and surprising. 
 
 This I take to be the plain import of the question. We 
 have the like question put, Job \'ii. 17, 18, ' What is man 
 that thou shouldst magnify him ? and that thou shouldst 
 set thy heart upon him ? and that thou shouldst visit him 
 every morning, and try him every moment ? ' Psal. viii. 
 3, 4, 'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy 
 fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, 
 what is man that thou art mindful of him ? and the son 
 of man that thou visitest him V These are down-bringing 
 questions. It is observable in scripture, that questions, 
 when they are put concerning God, are intended to raise 
 our affections and admirations to the highest. So Exod. 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. H 
 
 XV. 11, ' Who is like unto thee, Lord, among the gods V 
 and Micah vii. 18, ' Who is a God like unto thee V These 
 are uplifting questions. But when the question is con- 
 cerning man, it brings him down in his own eyes unto 
 nothing, ' that no flesh may glory in the presence of God.' 
 Now, in discoursing from this doctrine, through the 
 Lord's assistance, I shall endeavour, 
 
 I. To give a scriptural solution of this diminishing and 
 down-bringing question, W/iat is man ? 
 
 II. What is imported in God's regarding man, or making 
 account of him. 
 
 III. Wherein doth God discover his regard unto man. 
 
 IV. Apply. 
 
 I. The first thing is to give a scriptural solution of this 
 question, ^Yhat is 7nan ? for we can never wonder at and 
 admire the regard that God shows unto man, until we 
 know what man is. Come, then. Sirs, let us weigh our- 
 selves in the balances of the sanctuary, and see what we 
 are : 1st. As creatures ; 2dly. As fallen creatures. 
 
 1st. What is man, as he is a creature of God ? Why, 
 trace him to his first original, he is but a piece of modified 
 dust, enlivened with the breath of God. Adam signifies 
 earth, and red earth. Gen. ii. 7, ' The Lord God formed 
 man of the dust of the ground.' Hence is that of the apostle, 
 1 Cor. XV. 47, ' The first Adam was of the earth, earthy,' 
 Also that of the prophet Jeremiah, who, addressing him- 
 self to Israel, cries out, ' earth, earth, earth, hear the 
 word of the Lord.' 
 
 Again, What is man? He is in scripture reckoned a 
 ^potter's vessel, that is easily dashed and broken : ' Hath not 
 the potter power over the clay of his hand, to make one 
 vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour V Rom. ix. 
 21. and Psal. ii. 9, Christ 'will dash all his enemies in 
 pieces, as a potter's vessel,' 
 
 If you ask further, ]]7iat is man ? the prophet Isaiah 
 will tell you that he is but grass : Isa. xl. 6 — 8, ' The voice 
 said, Cry. And he said. What shall I cry ? All flesh is 
 grass, and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field. 
 
12 god's kegard to 
 
 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit 
 of the Lord bloweth upon it ; surely the people is grass.' 
 What is all this multitude here present, but just a little 
 grass : for as grass springeth out of the earth, and faUs 
 down again to the earth, so shall we and all living : and 
 then the place that knows us shall know us no more. 
 
 If you ask again, What is onan ? the Spirit of God 
 will tell, Isa. xl. 15, That ' aU mankind is before God but as 
 the drop of the bucket, and the small dust that will not 
 turn the scales of a balance,' no body regarding it ; and 
 yet all mankind before the Lord is no more. Oh then. 
 What is man, that God should take hioidedge of him ? 
 
 If you ask yet again. What is man before the Lord ? 
 Why, you have an answer that reduces man, and aU 
 nations of men, into nothing. Isa. xl. 17, 'All nations are 
 before him as nothing.' Can any thing be less than no- 
 thing ? Yes — it is added in the close of that verse, ' They 
 are accounted before him less than nothing and vanity.' 
 And thus you see an answer to that question. What is 
 man, considered as a creature ? But, 
 
 2dly. What is man as a fallen creature ? Man, even in 
 his best estate, is altogether vanity before God : what then 
 is he in his worst estate ? ' God planted him a noble vine, 
 but he is become the degenerate plant of a strange vine.' 
 Let us consider what he is in this resi:)ect. A creature he 
 is indeed ; but then he is the worst of all creatures through 
 sin ; for if we search out his character from the record of 
 God, we shall find him described, first as being a diseased 
 creature, overrun with a loathsome leprosy, from the crown 
 of the head to the sole of the foot. The disease of sin has 
 invaded the very vitals, insomuch that the very mind and 
 conscience is defiled and wasted. 
 
 But further, ^inan, fallen man, is become an ugly and a 
 loathsome creature. Job xv. 16, 'How much more abomi- 
 nable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water ? ' 
 Sin is called the abominable thing that God's soul hates. 
 Oh ! how abominable then is man, who is nothing else than 
 a mass of sin, a compound of all manner of iniquity % 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 13 
 
 What is tiian, fallen tnan ? He is an impotent and a help- 
 less creature, without strength, '^like the helpless infant cast 
 out into the open field,' Ezek. xvi. Men may talk of the 
 power of nature and of their ability to convert and turn 
 themselves, as they have a mind ; but, if we believe the 
 Spirit of God, speaking by the Son of God, he will tell us 
 that ' no man can come unto him, except the Father who 
 sent him draw him.' What can a new-born infant do for 
 its own help, oast out into the open field ? Of all creatures 
 it is the most helpless and impotent ; and yet this is man's 
 condition in his natural state. 
 
 What is man, fallen man ? Why, the Spirit of God will 
 tell you that he is a rebellious creature ; that he has lifted 
 up arms against his great Lord ; broken his allegiance to 
 God, and joined in a confederacy with the devil against God. 
 With proud Pharaoh, he has disowned God, saying, ' Who 
 is the Lord, that I should obey him?' Numb. xx. 10, 
 ' Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this 
 rock?' 
 
 What is man, fallen inan ? Why, he is a condemned 
 creature, under sentence from the great Judge of heaven 
 and earth : ' He that believeth not is condemned already, 
 and the wrath of God abideth on him.' Condemned by 
 God, condemned by the law, condemned by conscience. 
 
 Wliat is Tnan, fallen onan ? Why, he is a noxious and 
 fallen creature. He has hurt the creation of God ; ' Cursed 
 is the ground for thy sake,' says the Lord to Adam. Nay, 
 he is a cumberer of the ground ; ' The whole creation groan- 
 eth and travaHeth in pain,' imder the burden of his sin. 
 
 Whoi is many fallen mun ? He is a noisome creature, that 
 hath a filthy smeU, in the nostrils of God, angels, and saints ; 
 and therefore compared to the stench of a green opened 
 grave, that is ready to raise the pestilence ; ' Their throat 
 (says David, speaking of the wicked) is an open sepulchre, 
 and the poison of asps is under their tongue.' Yea, we 
 find fallen man compared to those creatures that are most 
 hurtful unto us ; he is compared unto a toad, a serpent, an 
 asp, a tiger, a lion, and the like hui'tful beasts. 
 
14 god's regard to 
 
 What is man, fallen tnan ? Why, he is a dead creature, 
 Eph. ii. 1, ' And you hath he quickened who were dead in 
 trespasses and sins :' Now, what account do we makfe of the 
 dead ? They are buried out of the sight of the living ; 
 ' Bury my dead out of my sight,' said Abraham of Sarah. 
 So what account should God make of dead sixmers, who are 
 destitute of the life of grace, but bury them out of his 
 sight in hell ? Thus I have told you some things in answer 
 to that question. What is man? and told you what he is, as 
 he is a creature, and as he is a sinner, or a fallen creature. 
 And, after all, is there not good ground for this question in 
 my text, WJiat is man, that thou takest knowledge of him ? o^r 
 the so?i of man, that thou imikest account of him ? 
 
 II. The second thing is to point out what is imported in 
 this regard that God shows imto man, and the son of man. 
 He is here said to take knowledge of him, — to Tnake account of 
 him. 
 
 It implies, 1. That, for as low, mean, and miserable a 
 creature man is, yet he is iwt beyond God^s notice and obser- 
 vation. ' I saw thee,' says the Lord, ' when no eye pitied, 
 when thou wast cast out and polluted in thy blood.' When 
 Adam hid himself in the bushes of paradise, ' the eyes of 
 the Lord were upon him.' He saw what a pitiful state he 
 was in, and all mankind in him. So Gen. vi. 5, ' God saw 
 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and 
 that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was 
 only evil continually.' 
 
 2. It implies that the regard God shows unto man does 
 not flow from anything in himself, — that there is no excel- 
 lency whatever in him, to recommend him unto God ; nei- 
 ther birth, nor beauty, nor riches, nor wisdom, no quali- 
 fication at all that is desirable. When God takes know- 
 ledge of his elect in a way of mercy, what are they but 
 children of wrath, as well as others dead in sin 1 and there- 
 fore, ' it is not of him that wiUeth, nor of him that runneth, 
 but of God that showeth mercy.' 
 
 3. It implies, that, whatever regard God shows unto 
 man, it is the fruit of his own free grace, and sovereign will 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 15 
 
 and pleasure. ' By grace are ye saved through faith, and 
 that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.' ' I will heal 
 their backlidings; I will love them freely,' Hos. xiv. 4. 
 Hence all the promises of the covenant run in the tenor of 
 sovereignty, no other reason being given for them, but that 
 of his own sovereign will. ' I will be their God, and they 
 shall be my people,, I will sprinkle them with clean water, 
 and they shall be clean ; from all their filthiness and idols 
 will I cleanse them. A new heart also will I give you.' 
 
 4. It implies that God has no need of man or of any of his 
 services. Job xxii. 2, ' Can a man be profitable unto God, 
 as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself 1 Is it 
 any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous ? or 
 is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?' 
 From whence it is plain that God maketh not account of 
 man as that he could be profitable or advantageous to him. 
 Oh, Sirs ! let us not fancy that God is obUged to us for 
 our praying, reading, hearing, obedience, or communicat- 
 ing : no, no ; God needs neither us nor our services. 
 
 5. It impKes that God's mercy and love unto man, and 
 the son of man, is of a 2'>reventing nature. Man is not seek- 
 ing after God when he takes knowledge of him in a way of 
 mercy. What knowledge had the poor infant taken of the 
 Lord, when the Lord took knowledge of it, Ezek. xvi. 4 — 6. 
 Isa. Ixv. 1, ' I am sought of them that asked not after me, 
 I am found of them that sought me not.' Oh, Sirs ! none 
 of Adam's race would ever look after God, did not God 
 look after them. Yea, so far are we from seeking after 
 God, that we are running further and further away from 
 him, until he seek and find us, Isa. Ixii. 12, ' Thou shalt 
 be called. Sought out.' God sought out and prevented 
 Paul in the way to Damascus, when he had little thoughts 
 of the Lord : he sought out Zaccheus, and every elect soul 
 is sought out by preventing grace. 
 
 6. It impKes, that whatever man be, however despicable, 
 low, and inconsiderable, yet God treats him as if he were 
 some great and considerable person. Hence he is said to 
 magnify him ; in that forecited. Job vii. 17, ' What is mau 
 
16 god's regard to 
 
 that thou magnifiest him 1 ' he makes au account of him, 
 as if he were something worth. But this leads me to 
 
 III. The third thing in the method was to show, wherein 
 doth God discover such a regard to tivin, and the son of 
 man? And here let us consider, first, the common re- 
 gard that God shows unto all men in creation and provi- 
 dence ; secondly, the special regard he shows to his chosen 
 generation, his pecuhar people, in redemption. 
 
 First, I say, let us take a short view of the common re- 
 gard that God shows unto all men, and that both in crea- 
 tion and providence. 1st. Let us observe what regard God 
 showed unto man, that petty poor creature, at his creation. 
 He builds a stately house, and provides it with all neces- 
 sary furniture, before he gave him a being. He rears up 
 the beautiful fabric of heaven and earth for his use. He 
 'gives the sun to rule by day, and the moon to rule by 
 night,' that by these luminaries he might see about him, 
 and behold the other works of God. He spreads out the 
 heavens as a curtain and canopy over his head, and studs 
 and embellishes it with an innumerable number of glitter- 
 ing stars, like so many stones of fiire. He plants the gar- 
 den of Eden with aU manner of trees, and plants, and 
 fruits. He calculates and adjusts the creation, to gratify 
 both his sensitive and rational appetite ; he makes colours 
 to please his eye, somids to please his ear, delicious fruits 
 and meats to gratify his taste, and savoury smeUs his scent ; 
 he frames wonders in heaven above, and earth below, for 
 his reasonable soul to pry and wade into with pleasure and 
 delight. Thus, I say, God discovers his regard unto man, 
 by building and furnishing a lodging for him, before he had 
 given him a being. 
 
 But, 2dly. Let us consider the regard God shows unto 
 man in the course of his common providence, and that not- 
 withstanding his apostacy from the state in which he was 
 created. He not only helps us into the world, and keeps 
 us from being stifled in the birth, but he provides the knees 
 to dandle, and the breasts to suckle us. He not only in- 
 spired our parents with tender care and afiection towards 
 
WOItTHLESS MAN. 17 
 
 US in our nonage and infancy ; but he himself, as a tender 
 parent, nourished and brought us up, preserving and pro- 
 viding for us, giving us our daily bread, and all the neces- 
 saries and conveniences of life. How quickly would all flesh 
 be starved to death, if he did not open his large granaries 
 every year, causing the earth to produce the grain that 
 nourisheth us, and other creatures ! The Psalmist David 
 observes this as matter of praise, Psal. cxlv. 15, 16, 'The 
 eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their 
 meat in due season ; thou openest thy hand and satisfiest 
 the desire of every living thing.' Oh, how wonderful is it 
 to behold the connexion of causes that God has established ! 
 how he has linked heaven and earth together, by his power- 
 ful hand, in order to the maintaining of man upon earth ! 
 Hos. ii. 21, 22, ' And it shall come to pass in that day, I 
 will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they 
 shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, and 
 the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.' Oh ! 
 what is man ? or the son of man, that the great wheels of 
 the creation should be carried about for his benefit and 
 sustenance. And, to conclude this head of common provi- 
 dence, and the kindness God shows unto man there, let us 
 observe, how the innocent creatures that never sinned 
 against God, or violated the laws of the creation, are every 
 day slaughtered for the use of rebel nothing man. The 
 fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, 
 have their lives sacrificed to sustain the life of man, who 
 has forfeited his title unto all good things, either in this 
 world or the world to come. Oh, what a favourite must 
 man be above the rest of the creatures ! And so valuable 
 is the life of man, that he has made it one of the ten com- 
 mandments of the moral law, binding to all generations, that 
 none shall kill man, or take away his life, till his own imme- 
 diate hand put an end and period to it. Life shall go for life ; 
 ' Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood 
 be shed :' and that for this good reason, because that * after 
 the image of God created he him.' Oh, may not this short 
 hint of the kindness of God to man, running out in the 
 
18 GOD S REGARD TO 
 
 channel of common providence, make us to cry with David, 
 here in my text. Lord, vjhat is man, <kc. But to pass this 
 head of God's common goodness to man in creation and 
 providence. 
 
 Secondly, Let us next take a view of the good of his 
 chosen, that we may triumphantly praise with his inherit- 
 ance. And to excite and engage you to this duty, you will 
 consider with me a little, what knowledge the great God 
 has taken of you, and what account he has made of you 
 by the outgoings of his love, 1. Before time. 2. In time. 
 3. After time ends, in eternity. 
 
 1. I say take a view of his love and kindness towards 
 you hefore time, and let that engage you to cry, AYhat is 
 man, that thou takest knowledge of him, and of me in par- 
 ticular % And for this purpose let us run back to the an- 
 cient years of eternity, and see how the kindness and love 
 of God to man did appear then. When God ' looked upon 
 you in your blood, he said unto you. Live, and your time 
 was a time of love.' Oh ! is it not wonderful to see elect- 
 ing love passing by the fallen angels and resting upon such 
 a poor pitiful creature as fallen sinful man ? And when he 
 passed by kings and princes, noble and wise, and rich, and 
 many thousands that the world would think should have 
 been the objects of his love, — passed by them, and pitched 
 upon thee, a poor creature that nobody regards, — Oh ! is 
 not thy soul saying, ' What am I, that God hath taken such 
 knowledge of me % that he should have loved me with an 
 everlasting love % that he should have chosen me before 
 the foundations of the world % and predestinated me to the 
 adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to himself?' 
 
 The decree of electing love being passed, a method must 
 be found out for thy salvation, consistent with the honour 
 of the law and justice of God ; and therefore, as if man and 
 the son of man had been some great creature, and thou in 
 particular, believer, a council of the Trinity must be called 
 to advise the matter ; and thus the plan of thy salvation was 
 laid. — * Oh,' says the eternal Father, ' my love is set upon 
 a remnant of Adam's family, and I have proposed to save 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 19 
 
 them, and to bring them to glory ; but oh, how shall I put 
 them among the children 1 I see that they will violate my 
 law, and become liable to my wrath and justice, and my 
 love to them cannot vent in a prejudice unto justice ; and 
 therefore, Son of my eternal love, I set thee up, and or- 
 dain thee to assume their nature in the fuhiess of time ; a 
 body for this end have I prepared for thee, that thou mayest, 
 as their Surety and Redeemer, fulfil my law in their room, 
 and satisfy my justice by the sacrifice of thy death ; and I 
 hereupon promise, that I will stand by thee in the work ; 
 mine arm shall strengthen thee ; I will raise thee from the 
 dead, and set thee on my right hand ; and I wiU give them 
 as a seed to serve thee, thou shalt be their Head, their 
 Husband, their Advocate, and Mediator, and thou shalt 
 reign over them as a peculiar kingdom, for ever and for 
 ever.' — ' I agree with my whole heart to the overture,' says 
 the eternal Son ; ' Lo, I come ; in the volume of thy book it 
 is written of me : I delight to do thy will, my God ;' yea 
 this law of redemption is within my heart ; it is seated in 
 the midst of my bowels.' — ' I agree to it,' says the Holy 
 Ghost ; ' I win form his human nature, by my overshadow- 
 ing power, in the womb of the virgin ; I will sanctify his 
 human nature, and make it a fit residence for the fulness 
 of the Godhead to dwell in, that out of that fulness they 
 may receive grace for grace ; I will take of the things that 
 are his and show them unto them, and carry on the work 
 of sanctification in them, tOl they be brought unto glory.' 
 — Thus, I say, the plan and method of thy salvation was 
 laid, believer, in eternity, before the foundations of the 
 world were laid. then, shall not the consideration of aU 
 this make us cry. Lord, what is roan, that thou takest know- 
 ledge of him? or the son of man that thou inakest account of 
 him ? 
 
 2. Let us come down from eternity to time, and see what 
 progress is made in the execution of this glorious project 
 of free grace and love towards nmn. This world being 
 created, as a theatre upon which the glorious scene was to 
 be acted, onan is brought forth upon the stage ; a covenant 
 
20 god's regard to 
 
 of works transacted between God and him, by the breach 
 of which man is plunged into an abyss of misery and sin. 
 But no sooner is he fallen, but the eternal purpose and pro- 
 ject of infinite love and wisdom begins to break forth ; and 
 so the scene of grace begins to be acted. "When man is 
 trembling at the apprehensions of being stricken through 
 with the flaming sword of justice, a promise of relief and 
 deliverance breaks out from under the dark cloud of wrath, 
 ' that the seed of the Avoman should bruise the head of the 
 serpent.' An angry and ofiended God on a sudden becomes 
 Immanuel, God with us, to avenge the quarrel upon the old 
 serpent, for the hurt he had done his viceroy and repre- 
 sentative in this lower world. This grace contained in the 
 fijst promise, is gradually opened in promises, types, and 
 prophecies, during the Old Testament economy ; until, ac- 
 cording to the concert in the council of peace, and declared 
 resolution in paradise, the great and renowned champion, 
 the Son of God, actually takes the field ; and having put 
 on the coat of the human nature that his Father had pro- 
 vided for him, he works wonders in it for that petty crea- 
 ture man, that he might bring about his salvation. 
 
 What did he 1 say you. I answer. What, oh, what did he 
 not do, that was necessary to break up the way, and clear 
 the passage to glory and eternal life, for man 1 Why, in so 
 many words, (for I cannot insist on particulars,) by his 
 obedience to the death, 'He finishes transgression and 
 makes an end of sin ; he makes reconciliation for iniquity : 
 he brings in an everlasting righteousness.' He ' confirms 
 a new covenant with many. He makes the sacrifice and 
 oblation to cease,' and unhinges the Mosaic economy. He 
 reveals the council of God anent redemption, opens up the 
 mystery of salvation in his doctrine, and confirms it from 
 heaven by a multitude of miracles. He magnifies the law 
 and makes it honourable, — spoils principalities and powers, 
 and triumphs over them in his cross, — through death de- 
 stroys death, and him that had the power of death, — wrests 
 the keys of death out of the devil's hand, and takes them 
 into his own custody, that he might make it a passage to 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 21 
 
 glory, instead of being a passage to hell. He dies for our 
 offences, and rises again for our justification, ascends up 
 to heaven with a shout of triumph and victory, and sits 
 down on the 'right hand of the Majesty on high,' as the 
 public Head and Representative of his friends on earth, 
 and to ' appear in the presence of God for them.' A little 
 after he is set down upon the throne, he pours down his 
 Spirit, like ' the rushing of a mighty wind, upon his dis- 
 ciples at Pentecost ; and gives gifts unto men ; gives some 
 apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, 
 some teachers ;' and sends them abroad, with a power of 
 working miracles, and of speaking all languages ; to pro- 
 claim the glory of his finished salvation to every creature 
 under heaven ; ' That whosoever believed in him might not 
 perish but have everlasting life.' And Oh ! may not a 
 reflex view of all this work about man make us cry, Lord^ 
 what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? or what the 
 son of man, that thou makest so great account of him ? 
 
 Well, is that all ? No ; for he doth yet more for man in 
 time. Having finished the salvation of man in a way of 
 purchase, his voice is unto men, and the sons of men. He 
 proclaims his salvation unto the ends of the earth, and 
 causes the joyful sound of the gospel trumpet to be heard 
 to the world's end. And oh ! what wonders doth he Tyork 
 here to make way for the salvation of poor man ! A 
 throne of grace is reared, to which man may have recourse 
 with boldness, ' that he may obtain mercy, and find grace 
 to help in every time of need.' Acts of grace are emitted 
 from this throne, indemnities, promises, and proclamations 
 of his grace : ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to 
 the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye,' <fec. 
 Heralds are sent abroad to proclaim the grace of God 
 through Christ to man, and to lift up their voice in the 
 tops of the high places. A word of reconciliation is com- 
 mitted unto them ; and they, as ambassadors for Christ, 
 pray men, and the sons of men, to be reconciled unto God : 
 'because Christ was made sin for us, that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God through him.' The great 
 
22 god's regard to 
 
 store-houses of grace are opened ; his righteousness and 
 salvation brought near to every one's door in a dispensed 
 gospel, with a voice from heaven, Come and welcome to 
 Christ, and all his fulness. He stands with the out- 
 stretched arms of redeeming love, crying, 'Behold me, 
 behold me ! how would I gather you, as the hen gathers 
 her chickens under her wings !' what is man that he is 
 thus mindful of him ! 
 
 But then, what work is he at with man after all this, in 
 order to the effectual application of the purchased and ex- 
 hibited salvation ! The hammer of the law must be 
 applied, in order to break the rocky heart in pieces ; the 
 fallow ground must be ploughed up, to prepare it for the 
 reception of the incorruptible seed of gospel truth ; the 
 strong holds of Satan must be puUed down ; the high 
 imaginations of the heart levelled ; Satan and proud self 
 must be dethroned. The sinner is dead, buried, and 
 stinking in the grave of sin ; the ' stone must be rolled 
 away from the sepulchre, and wonders must be showed 
 unto the dead, the Spirit of Kfe must breathe upon the 
 dry bones.' The sinner is blind, and he must have his 
 eyes opened. He is a prisoner, and his chains of captivity 
 must be loosed : the obstinate iron sinew of his wiU must 
 be bended by the almighty power of God, and 'he per- 
 suaded and enabled to embrace Christ, and salvation 
 through him, as he is freely offered in the gospel.' 
 
 The sinner being thus translated from death to life, from 
 darkness to God's marvellous light, in effectual calling, 
 what work doth the Lord make about the poor inconsider- 
 able creature ! how doth he heap favours and privileges, 
 one after another, upon him. He puts the beauty of his 
 own holiness upon the soul, and makes it like ' the king's 
 daughter, all glorious within,' like the embroideries of 
 needle-work. He maketh it 'like the wings of a dove, 
 covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.' 
 He visits the soul frequently, and manifests himself to it 
 so as he does not manifest himself to the world. He 
 waters it with the dew of his Spirit, like the vineyard of 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 23 
 
 red wine. He breathes on it by his Spirit, makes the 
 north and south wind to awake, come and blow on it, 
 whereby the graces of the Spirit, like so many spices, are 
 made to send forth a pleasant smell. He bears it company 
 through fire and water, and never leaves it. He makes 
 the man to dwell in the secret of his presence and under 
 his shadow, and as the mountains are round about Jeru- 
 salem, so his attributes pitch their tents on every hand of 
 it for its defence. He plants a guard of angels about his 
 bride, for her honour and safety, as a Kfeguard, Heb. i. ult. 
 and in a word, he ' keeps it by his power through faith 
 unto salvation ; makes goodness and mercy to follow it ;' 
 and at last divides Jordan and brings it home, under a 
 guard of angels, to the promised land of glory, and pre- 
 sents it before his Father ' without spot or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing.' And upon a review of all this that he doth 
 before time, and in time, may we not justly cry out in a 
 rapture of admiration. Lord, what is man ! 
 
 3. If we follow the Lord's way with men, from an eter- 
 nity past, through time, to an eternity to come, we shall see 
 just cause to cry, what is man? — But here a vail lies be- 
 tween us and that glory and happiness that God has 
 ordained and designed for man in the world to come. And 
 the things there ordained for man are so great, that ' eye 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man to conceive, the things which Grod hath pre- 
 pared for them that love him,' 1 Cor, ii. 9. What thinkest 
 thou, believer, of being ' for ever with the Lord,' and o^ 
 having ' places among them that stand by,' and beholding 
 the glory of God and of the Lamb ? What thinkest thou 
 of coming in person to ' Mount Zion, the city of the living 
 God, the heavenly Jerusalem' above,, described Rev. xxi. 
 whose ' waU is of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, 
 like unto transparent glass ; where there is no need of the 
 sun or moon,' or of these ordinances, word and sacraments, 
 and ministers, because ' the glory of the Lord doth lighten it, 
 and the Lamb is the light thereof V What thinkest thou, 
 believer, of coming to the ' general assembly, and church 
 
24 god's regard to 
 
 of the first-born, which axe written in heaven' — of joining 
 an ' innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of 
 just men made perfect,' who sing a new song crying, 
 ' Salvation to our God, and to the Lamb, for ever and 
 ever,' What thinkest thou of coming to God the judge of 
 all, as thy God and Father, and to Jesus the Mediator of 
 the new covenant ; and of seeing him no ' more darkly as 
 through a glass, but face to face, seeing him as he is, and 
 beholding the glory that his Father hath given him ? ' 
 What thinkest thou of sitting down at the table that shall 
 never be drawn, and of eating and drinking with him, and 
 the ransomed company in the kingdom of heaven 1 What 
 thinkest thou of these new scenes of glory, wisdom, power, 
 holiness, justice, mercy, gTace and love, and faithfulness, 
 that will be opening through eternity, in the immediate 
 vision of God, and in the works of creation, providence, 
 and redemption ; every one of which will fill thy soul with 
 a new rapture of wonder and praise ? What thinkest 
 thou of sitting down with Christ victoriously upon his 
 throne, as he also overcame, and is set down -with his 
 Father upon his throne 1 What thinkest thou of eating 
 of the hidden manna, and the fruits of that tree which 
 grows ' in the midst of the paradise of God : which 
 beareth twelve manner of fruits every month, and whose 
 leaves are for the healing of the nations V What thinkest 
 thou of entering into these ivory palaces of glory, with joy 
 and triumph, on every side, the house of many mansions, 
 <ithe house of Christ's Father, ' whose builder and maker is 
 God V What thinkest thou of becoming a pillar in the 
 temple of God, where thou shalt go no more out, and 
 having Christ's name, his Father's name, and the name of 
 the city of our God written on thee for ever ? What 
 thinkest thou in short of these eternal things, that are 
 shortly to be possessed ? of an eternal God, an eternal life, 
 an eternal light, eternal love, eternal rest, eternal vision 
 and fruition, eternal likeness and conformity to the Lord, 
 that are abiding thee 1 What thinkest thou of the ' crown 
 of glory that fadeth not away' — of ' a kingdom that shall 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 25 
 
 never be moved : an inheritance that is incorruptible, and 
 nndefiled, and that fadeth not away V What thinkest 
 thou of having these twilight blinks of glory through the 
 vail, turned into an eternal day of glory ? Sirs, all this, 
 and ten thousand, thousand, thousand times more than I 
 can tell you, is prepared for you on the other side of death : 
 and after all, have we not reason to sing and say, as in the 
 text. Lord, w/iat is man that thou takest hioivledge of him '^ 
 or what the son of man, that thou makest such account of 
 him ? 
 
 IV. The fourth thing was the application. And be- 
 cause I have been all along practical in the doctrinal part, 
 therefore I shall conclude with a few inferences. 
 
 1st. See hence the folly of all such as are taken up in ad- 
 miring any created excellency, either to be found in them- 
 selves, or others of the human race, without running up to 
 the fountain head, an infinite God, from whom all being, 
 beauty, glory, and excellency doth flow. The Spirit of 
 God speaks of it as a piece of brutish foUy, for man to 
 look at the creature, without tracing it and all its excel- 
 lency to God, as its original : Psal. xciv. 8, ' Understand, 
 ye brutish among the people ; and ye fools when will ye be 
 wise ; he that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? he that 
 formed the eye, shall he not see % ' ver. 10, 'He that 
 teacheth man knowledge,' shall not he know % These are 
 questions that may confound all the atheistical fools in the 
 world, who say in their hearts or practice, ' Tliere is no 
 God ; ' and at the same time discover to us, that man is 
 but a poor dependent creature, deriving all his powers in 
 soul and body from an infinite God : hence is that chal- 
 lenge, Isa. ii. at the close, ' Cease ye from man, whose 
 breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be accounted 
 of ? ' This challenge, together with the words in my text, 
 are enough to stain the pride of all gloriation in man; 
 Lord, what is mxxn, for ivherein is he to he accounted of ? 
 Especially when balanced with the excellency of his glori- 
 ous Creator, he just evanishes into nothing. You heai'd 
 upon the first head of doctrine, what man is in general, as 
 
26 god's REaARD TO 
 
 a creature and as a sinner. Now let us take a view of him 
 in his best excellencies and quahfications, and see what 
 they will amount to in God's reckoning, or compared mth 
 the infinite excellency of his infinite Creator ? What 
 account is to be made of his being before God 1 Why, he 
 is not, for it is God only whose name is, I AM. What 
 account is to be made of man in his pedigree, which some, 
 like the princes of Zoan, boast of ? Why, he is the ' de- 
 generate plant of a strange vine.' What account is to be 
 made of his riches ? Why, these take the wings of the 
 morning, and fly away, and cannot ' profit man in the day 
 of wrath.' What account is to be made of his honours ? 
 They cannot ' descend to the grave after him.' What ac- 
 count is to be made of all his projects and schemes ? Why, 
 that day ' his breath departs, his thoughts perish,' and are 
 all disconcerted and dashed in pieces. What account is to 
 made of his beauty 1 It is quickly turned into rottenness 
 and deformity. The wisdom of man before God is but 
 folly, his knowledge specious ignorance, his strength and 
 power is but impotency. What is his life in the M'orld, 
 but a vapour which the wind of sickness and death blows 
 away, out of time into eternity 1 Upon the whole, then, 
 may we not well cry, Lord, what is man, and wherein is he 
 to he accounted of ? Let us cease from trusting in man ; 
 for, ' cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh 
 flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord : 
 but blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and 
 whose hope the Lord is,' Jer. x\'ii. 5, 6. 
 
 2dly. See hence the horrid ingratitude of si7i7iers, in 
 waging war against that God, who is so good and so kind 
 unto man. Oh what tongue can express, or what heart 
 can conceive the monstrous ingratitude of sinners, in re- 
 jecting his laws, trampling on his authority, aflfronting 
 him every day to his face 1 May not the Lord say to us, 
 ' Do ye thus requite the Lord, Oh ye foolish and unwise ? 
 Oh my people, what have I done unto thee ? and wherein 
 have I wearied thee 1 testify against me ; was I ever a 
 barren wilderness, or a land of darkness unto you ] ' 
 
WORTHLESS MAX. 27 
 
 3dly. See hence the way mid niethod that God takes to 
 'lead sinners to repentance:' why, he just pursues them 
 with his kindness, and draws them ' with cords of a man, 
 with bands of love ; knowest thou not, man, that the 
 goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance % ' The first 
 thing that melts and thaws the heart of a sinner, in a 
 kindly way, is an uptaking of the love and kindness of 
 God to man, especially as it vents through the death and 
 blood of Christ, in the free pardon of sin, and acceptance 
 through Christ, Whenever the soul comes to see that love, 
 that grace, that mercy and bowels, that it has been 
 spurning against, it begins to smite upon its thigh, with 
 Ephraim, saying, ' What have I done \ ' and with David, 
 '■ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil 
 in thy sight.' And it is this that influences the turning of 
 the soul from sin unto God, with full purpose and endea- 
 vour after new obedience ; saying with Job, ' That which 
 I see not, teach thou me ; if I have done iniquity, I will do 
 no more :' the soul is just killed and melted with a sense 
 and uptaking of the love of God. 
 
 4thly. Is God so good and so kind to worm man ? then 
 see hence, what a reasonable command the first command of 
 the law is, ' Thou shalt have no other gods before me ;' 
 that is, ' Thou shalt know and acknowledge me as God, 
 and as thy God, and shalt worship and glorify me accord- 
 ingly.' Oh ! shall we give any thing, any creature, any 
 lust, any idol, that room in our hearts, that is due unto 
 such a kind Lord ? shall we not say with Ephraim, ' What 
 have I to do any more with idols ? Lord, our God, other 
 lords besides thee have had dominion over us, but by thee 
 only will we make mention of thy name. All people will 
 walk in the name of their God ; and we also will walk up 
 and down in the name of the Lord our God. Whom have 
 ive in the heavens but him ? and there shall be none in all 
 the earth whom we desire besides him f 
 
 5thly, See hence the criminal nature of the sin of itnhe- 
 lief, which is a saying upon the matter, God is not to be 
 trusted, notwithstanding all his kindnesses, pity, and love 
 
2-8 GOD S REGARD TO 
 
 to man. It calls him a liar : and says there is no good to 
 be got at his hand ; that he is a hard master, and his words 
 are no indications of his mind. An evil heart of unbelief 
 turns us away from the living God : why, what way doth 
 it this? It just acts the part of the false spies that went 
 up to Canaan, and brings up an ill report of a good God, 
 of a true and faithful God ; it says, ' His mercy is clean 
 gone, he will be favourable no more, his promise fails for 
 evermore.' And as Israel turned back to Egypt, when 
 they heard the ill report that the false spies brought of 
 Canaan ; so the soul, when it hears the ill report, that un- 
 belief brings up of God, the heart turns away from him. 
 Sirs ! take heed of an evil heart of unbelief, especially 
 after that you have been at a communion table. There is 
 nothing that the devil more cherishes and fosters folk in, 
 than in their unbelief. This was the way that he ruined 
 man at first ; he made our first parents, first to conceive 
 harsh thoughts of that good God who had been so kind to 
 them, and then quickly he ruins them. And this is the 
 very way that he still goes to work with his posterity ; he 
 tells you, that whatever God has done in sending his Son, 
 whatever he has said in his word, whatever experience of 
 his love you have met with, yet you have no ground upon 
 which to trust him, his promise fails, he has forsaken and 
 forgotten. If he once brings you this length, I know not 
 how far God may be provoked to give you up to the will 
 of the roaring lion. 
 
 Lastly. Is God so kind to man ; worm, worthless man ? 
 Is the regard that he shows to us so surprising and won- 
 derful ? then let us discover a regard to him, and to every 
 thing that belongs to him. 
 
 I shall instance in a few particulars, wherein we are to 
 discover our regard to him and for him. 
 
 1. Let us regard him even in the works of nature; the 
 works of creation in heaven above, and in the earth below. 
 This is a large volume, opened and spread out before all 
 mankind. It was a book in which David was frequently 
 reading, and he took great pleasure to see God there, ' 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 29 
 
 Lord my God, how great and manifold are thy works ! In 
 wisdom hast thou made them all.' The whole 104th psalm 
 is a lecture upon the works of creation, and the order God 
 has established among the creatures. 
 
 2. Let us regard him in his works of providence, in the 
 government of the world, and in the government of his 
 church, through aU periods of time ; and let us regard him 
 in all the dispensations of his providence towards the land 
 we live in, and to our families and ourselves in particular. 
 Psal. cvii. at the close, ' Whoso is wise, and will observe 
 these things, even they shall understand the loving-kind- 
 ness of the Lord.' When he is visiting us with favourable 
 dispensations, let us observe this with praise : and when 
 he is trying us with afflicting dispensations, let us humble 
 ourselves under his mighty hand, that he may lift us up. 
 Psal. xxviii. 5, ' Because they regard not the works of the 
 Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy 
 them, and not build them up.' 
 
 3. Let us regard him in his Christ, and the glorious 
 work of redemption through him, and, beholding him, lift 
 up the everlasting doors of our hearts unto ' the Lord of 
 hosts, the Lord mighty in battle.' It is the great sin of 
 vScotland, for which the Lord is contending, that Christ has 
 not been received and regarded, either in his prophetical, 
 priestly or kingly offices. You know what came of them 
 who did not regard the Lord, and reverence him, in the 
 person of his Son : he ' sent forth his armies, and misera- 
 bly destroyed them.' 
 
 4. Let us regard him in his hooh of the scriptures. We 
 call the scriptures the book of God ; and so it is, for it is 
 given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Therefore let 
 us regard it, by reading and searching and diving into it, 
 tiU we find the pearl ; John v. 39, ' Search the scriptures, 
 for in them ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are 
 they which testify of me.' And to encourage a regard to 
 it, see Prov. ii. 2 — 4. God observes what regard is paid to 
 his book among folk ; ' Take heed to it, as unto a light 
 shining in a dark place.' 
 
30 god's regard to 
 
 5. Regard him by attending his courts, I mean the ordi- 
 nances of his worship, word and sacraments, especially the 
 word preached, where his heralds are sent to proclaim and 
 intimate his mind ' in the high places to men, and to the 
 sons of men.' David, though a great king, looked on it as 
 his honour, to attend the courts of the King of kings, and 
 esteemed ' a day in his courts better than a thousand in 
 the tents of wickedness.' ' God's way is in his sanctuary ;' 
 these are the galleries where he has many a sweet inter- 
 view with his subjects. ' One thing,' says David, ' have I 
 desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may 
 dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to 
 behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire after him in 
 his temple.' These are the banqueting-houses, where he 
 entertains them with ^ fat things full of marrow.' 
 
 6. Show a regard to his great name. This is one of the 
 ten commands of his moral law, ' Thou shalt not take the 
 name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for he wiR not hold 
 him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.' Oh ! ' sanc- 
 tify that great name, the Lord your God,' and make it 
 ^ your fear and your dread.' Beware of profaning it either 
 in your common conversation, or by your unnecessary 
 customary swearing by it, or by a slight mentioning of it 
 even in religious duty ; and always when ye go to mention 
 that name in any duty of worship, study to fill your minds 
 with a holy awe and dread of it. 
 
 7. Show a regard of his day, and put respect upon him, 
 by remembering it, ' to keep it holy.' See a sweet and 
 encouraging promise to them that regard God's day, Isa. 
 Iviii. at the close ; ' If thou turn away thy foot from the 
 Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call 
 the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; 
 and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor find- 
 ing thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ; 
 then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will 
 cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and 
 feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the 
 mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.' I am ready to judge 
 
WORTHLESS MAN. 31 
 
 tliat folk's acquaintance with God himself is known by the 
 regard they show to his holy day. 
 
 8. Show a regard unto his voice; the voice of his word; 
 the voice of his Spirit ; the voice of his providence ; the 
 voice of mercies, and the voice of afflictions; for the 
 Lord's voice crieth in all these, and it is the man of wis- 
 dom that hears his voice. ' To-day if ye will hear his 
 voice, harden not your hearts : be not like the deaf adder 
 stopping her ear at the voice of charmers, charming never 
 so wisely.' "Whenever he comes, say, ' Speak, Lord, for thy 
 servant heareth.' His voice is sweeter than the melody of 
 angels and archangels to the soul that knows him : ' It is 
 the voice of my beloved, behold he cometh, leaping upon 
 the mountains, skipping upon the hills.' 
 
 9. Show a regard to all his laws and comnmndnients ; get 
 them engi-aven upon your hearts, that they may be a lamp 
 to your feet, and a light to your paths. 
 
 10. Show a regard to his promises and words of grace, 
 and any word of grace that he seals, and sends home by 
 his Spirit upon thy heart ; let that be a michtam or golden 
 word to thee ; and say of it, ' It is better to me than gold, 
 yea, than much fine gold : God hath spoken in his hoKness, 
 I wiU rejoice.' Roll it like a ' sweet morsel under thy 
 tongue.' 
 
 11. Show a regard to his members, by esteeming them as 
 the ' excellent ones of the earth,' and doing all the offices 
 of kindness to them that ye are capable of: for what says 
 he, Matth. xxv. 40, ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
 me.' Cultivate fellowship and acquaintance with those 
 that belong to the Lord, and let them be the men of your 
 counsel, and your intimates. JMy ' delight is with the 
 saints.' Tell them that fear the Lord, what he hath done 
 for your soul. 
 
 12. Regard him in his messengers, and ambassadors, his 
 sent servants, who act for their great Master ; and faithfully 
 declare his mind, and contend for his cause in a day of 
 defection and backsliding, especially any that he has set, 
 
32 god's regard to worthless man. 
 
 as it were, in the front of the battle, to bear the shock of 
 the enemy. They have many against them, and therefore 
 they need your sympathy and countenance, who ' love the 
 Lord.' A kindly word or look from a member of Christ 
 will do more service to a minister of Christ than folk are 
 aware of: Paul, in his bonds, was refreshed and comforted 
 with the sympathy of believers. 
 
 In a word, show a regard to him, by espousing his cause., 
 the interest of his house and kingdom. Sirs, the cause of 
 Christ is upon the field at this day. The cry is given, 
 ' Who is on the Lord's side V let them ' come up to the help 
 of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.' 
 Some, both ministers and Christians, profess friendship 
 unto the cause of Christ, his doctrine, discipline, worship, 
 and government ; but they love to dwell at ease, and, like 
 Issachar, to couch under the burden. But I have little 
 skill if that be the Lord's way and the Lord's call, when 
 others are jeoparding themselves 'in the high places of 
 the field,' for the cause and testimony of Jesus. I may 
 say to such, be they who they will, as the prophet said to 
 Israel, in a day of defection fi'om the Lord, ' How long 
 halt ye between two opinions ? If Baal be God, serve him ; 
 and if Jehovah be God,' then serve and follow him. And 
 if folk shift following Christ, his cause and sworn testi- 
 mony, especially when it is espoused by a handful upon all 
 hazards, they need to consider upon it in time, lest that 
 sentence go against them : ' Curse ye Meroz, curse ye 
 bitterly the inbabitants thereof, because they came not to 
 the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the 
 mighty.' Christ and his cause will carry the day without 
 you; but take heed that he do not resent it, ere all be 
 done ; his frowns and down-looks are heavier than the 
 frown of all men on earth, or angels in. heaven, or devils 
 in hell. 
 
SERMON 11. 
 
 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED AND MADE HONOURABLE. 
 
 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake ; he will mag- 
 rify the law, and make it honourable. — Isa. xlii. 21. 
 
 The chapter from which the text is taken is ushered in 
 with a solemn call from God, the Father of all the world, 
 both Jews and Gentiles, to take notice of Messiah the Prince, 
 the eternal Son of God, whom he was, in the fulness oi 
 time, to send into the world upon the great errand and busi- 
 ness of the redemption of lost sinners of Adam's family. 
 And to arrest their attention and excite their admiration 
 for this extraordinary person, many great and glorious 
 things are said of him ; as that he was his Father's honor- 
 ary servant, his elect, the darling and delight of his soul ; 
 that he is qualified, and fitted, and called to his work. And 
 having spoken of the base treatment he was to meet with 
 from the Jewish nation, the prophet comes, in the words 
 of my text, to declare what account his own Father made 
 of his person and undertaking. Whatever base and low 
 thoughts his friends and countrymen may have of him, yet 
 he ' is glorious in the eyes of the Lord.' God's sentiments 
 of him are quite different from theirs, for the Lord is well 
 pleased for h is righteousness' sake. As if he had said, How- 
 ever he may be ' despised and rejected of men, as a root 
 sprung out of a dry ground,' however you may make no 
 more account of him than if he were deaf, blind, and dumb, 
 yet '■ he is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' 
 The words then in general are, Jehovah's verdict con- 
 c 
 
34 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 cerning the righteousness brought in by the great Messiah, 
 with the ground thereof. 
 
 "We may notice, 1. The great and glorious party here 
 spoken of, and that is the Lord, or, as in the original, Jeho- 
 vah, the righteous Judge, the offended Lord and Lawgiver, 
 to whose wrath all mankind are obnoxious and liable, 
 through the breach and violation of the first covenant. 
 
 2. Something asserted concerning him, which may arrest 
 the attention of aU mankind, and filltheirhearts with joy, and 
 their mouths with praises, and that is, that he is icell pleased. 
 Whenever man had sinned, the anger and wrath of God was 
 kindled against him, and his fury was breaking out like 
 fire, and nothing remained for poor man but a fearful look- 
 ing for of wrath and fiery indignation, to consume him and 
 aU his posterity as a company of traitors and rebels. But 
 here is a surprising declaration, that though he was angry, 
 yet his anger is turned away, his frowns are turned into 
 smiles ; the Lord Jehovah is well pleased. Again, 
 
 3. We have the cause and ground of this surprising de- 
 claration. Why, what is the cause of his being well pleased ? 
 It is for his righteousness'' sake. Not for the sake of any 
 ransom, atonement, or satisfaction that the sinner could 
 make, for no man can by any means redeem his own or his 
 brother's soul, nor give unto God a ransom for it. It is 
 alone for his righteousmss' sake who finished transgression 
 and made an end of sin, who ' made reconciliation for ini- 
 quity,' and so brought in an ' everlasting righteousness.' 
 
 4. We have the reason why the Lord Jehovah sustains 
 the righteousness of the Surety in the room of the sinner, 
 or why he is so well pleased for his righteousness' sake; why ? 
 He shall magnify the law, and make it honourable. The holy 
 law of God, given unto man in innocency as a covenant, or 
 an eternal rule of righteousness, was violated and broken, 
 and the authority of the great Lawgiver affronted and con- 
 temned by man's disobedience. But Christ, as our Surety, 
 is ' made of a woman and made under the law ;' and, by 
 bringing in an everlasting righteousness, he not only fulfilled 
 the law, both in its precept and penalty, but he magnifies it 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 35 
 
 and makes it honourable ; he adds a new lustre and glory 
 unto the law, which it never had before, through the dig- 
 nity of his person who obeys it. 
 
 From the words thus opened, I observe this doctrine, 
 almost the same with the words : — 
 
 ' That Christ, as our glorious Surety, has magnified the 
 law, and made it honourable.' 
 
 I only quote two scriptures for the confirmation of this ; 
 the one you have, Rom. viii. 3, 4, where the apostle tells you, 
 that through the sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ, ' sin is 
 condemned, and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in 
 us ;' and Rom. x. 4. Christ is there said to be ' the end of 
 the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth.' 
 
 Now, in discoursing from this doctrine, I shall, through 
 divine assistance, observe the order and method follow- 
 ing. 
 
 I. Suggest a few things concerning the law. 
 
 II. Inquire what may be imported in Christ's magnify- 
 ing the law, and making it honourable. 
 
 III. Show how he magnifies the law, and what way he 
 takes to make it honourable. 
 
 IV. Make some application. 
 
 I. The first thing is, to suggest a few particulars con- 
 cerning the law of God, which is debased and disparaged 
 by the sin of man. 
 
 1st then, know that the law here principally intended is. 
 the moral laiv of the ten commandments, at first engraven 
 upon the hearts of our first parents at their creation, and 
 afterwards, because that edition or copy of it was much 
 obliterated and defaced by the fall, pubHshed to Israel from 
 the mouth of God upon Mount Sinai, and written upon 
 tables of stone, and laid up in the ark for the use of Israel. 
 This, I say, is the law here intended. The ceremonial and 
 judicial laws were things peculiar unto the Jews, or com- 
 monwealth of Israel ; but the moral had a being so soon as 
 man was created, and is binding upon aU nations. For the 
 breach of this law man was condemned, and all his poster- 
 ity laid under the curse ; and therefore this must be the 
 
36 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 law which Christ, as our Surety, came to magnify and 
 make honourable. 
 
 Sdly. That the moral law is nothing else lut a transcript 
 of the original holiness and purity of God's nature. God's 
 essential holiness and righteousness was too bright and 
 dazzhng a pattern for man, even in a state of innocency ; 
 and therefore he transcribes a copy of it, and pictures it 
 out upon the heart of man, that he might make it the rule 
 of his obedience in heart and in life, requiring him to ' be 
 holy as he is holy.' 
 
 3dly. The law being a copy or emanation of God's holi- 
 ness and righteousness, it must he dearer to him than heaven 
 and earth., or the whole fi*ame of nature. Hence that of 
 Christ, Matt. v. 17, 18, 'Think not that I am come to 
 destroy the law and the prophets ; I am not come to de- 
 stroy, but to fulfil. Verily I say unto you, till heaven and 
 earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from 
 the law, till all be fulfilled.' Sirs, whatever mean or low 
 thoughts we may have of the law, through the blindness of 
 our minds, yet I can assure you, that it is such a sacred 
 thing with God, that he will sooner unhinge the frame of 
 nature, and reduce it to its original nothing, than suffer it 
 to be trampled upon by sinners, without showing a suit- 
 able resentment. 
 
 4thly. This law was given to our first parents under the 
 form of a covenant; a promise of life being made to them 
 upon condition of their yielding a perfect obedience, and a 
 threatening of death added in case of disobedience. ' In the 
 day thou eatest, than shalt surely die.' In this covenant 
 Adam stood as the public head and representative of all 
 his posterity. Had he continued in his obedience to the 
 law of that covenant, eternal life had been conferred on him 
 and all his posterity, by wtue of the promise of God ; the 
 sum and substance of that covenant being, as the apostle tells 
 us, ' The man who doth these things shall live by them.' 
 
 II. The second thing proposed, was to inquire what is 
 imported hy ChrisCs mxignifying tlie law, and making it hon- 
 ourable. 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 37 
 
 There are these few things supposed or implied in the 
 expression. 
 
 First, It supposes that the law is hrohen, and thereby 
 the greatest indignity done to it, and to him who gave it. 
 Man being left to the freedom of his own will, through the 
 flattering hisses of the old serpent, ' did break the law of 
 God,' and so forfeited his title to life by virtue of that cove- 
 nant, and brought himself and all his posterity under the 
 curse or penalty of death temporal, spiritual, and eternal. 
 Rom. v. 12, ' By one man sin entered into the world, and death 
 by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
 sinned.' Hence sin, which is a transgression of the law, is 
 called a casting of God's counsel behind our backs, as we do 
 with a thing that we nauseate and disdain. The sinner 
 disdains to be under the government of the law of God, but 
 sets up his own lusts and corrupt incHnations in the room 
 thereof, and what greater ignominy and disgrace can be 
 put upon the royal law of heaven. 
 
 Secondly, The expression implies or supposes that God^ 
 the great Lawgiver^ stands upon reparation. The law being 
 broken and violated by sin, the honour of the law, and the 
 authority of God, the great Lawgiver, are, as it were, laid 
 in the dust, and trampled under foot, by the rebellious and 
 disobedient sinner. When man sinned, he, upon the mat- 
 ter, denied that the law was holy, just, and good ; and, at 
 the same time disowned God for a sovereign, saying, with 
 proud Pharaoh, ' Who is the Lord, that I should obey him ? 
 I myself am Lord, and will come no more unto thee.' Now, 
 God will have his law vindicated, and the honour of it re- 
 paired, otherwise no flesh living can be saved. Oh that 
 this were but duly weighed by sinners who have broken 
 the law times and ways without number ! If reparation 
 be not made to the holy law, for the transgression thereof, 
 it stands as an eternal bar in the way of our salvation. It 
 is among the irreversible decrees of heaven, that ' in his 
 sight no flesh living shall be justified,' unless the holiness 
 of the law be vindicated by a perfect obedience to its pre- 
 cept, and a complete satisfaction be given unto justice for 
 
38 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 the injuries done to the honour of the great Lord and Law- 
 giver : without this, 'he will by no means acquit the guilty.' 
 
 Thirdly, It implies that man, who has broken the law, 
 is utterly incapahle to repair its honour , or to satisfy justice. 
 Indeed, every legalist is attempting it, but, alas ! he walks 
 in a vain show, he walks in the light of his fire, and in the 
 sparks that he has kindled, and then lies down in sorrow. 
 He but wearies himself in the greatness of his way, for his 
 webs cannot become garments, neither shall he cover him- 
 self with his works ; for ' by the works of the law shall 
 no flesh be justified.' 
 
 Fourthly, It implies that God, the great Lawgiver, ad- 
 mits of the suhstitution of a Surety in the room of the sin- 
 Tier, otherwise he could not magnify the law in our room 
 and stead. Sirs, if God had stood to the rigour of his law, 
 according to the tenor of the first covenant, 'in the day 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,' he would have 
 exacted reparation of us in our own persons; in which 
 case we should have fallen an eternal sacrifice into the 
 hands of avenging wrath and justice. But glory to his 
 name, he dispenses with the rigour of his law, and admits 
 of a Surety, and not only admits of a Surety, but provides a 
 responsible one too for us. ' I have laid help upon one 
 that is mighty : I have found David my servant.' 
 
 Fifthly, It implies that Christ, as our Surety, actually 
 put his tuck under the yoke of the divine law. Though he 
 was no debtor to the law, either as to its precept or penalty, 
 yet he bowed his glorious head, that that heavy yoke 
 might be wreathed about his neck for us. Hence is that 
 of the apostle. Gal. iv. 4, 5, God sent forth his Son ' made 
 of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that 
 were under the law.' 
 
 Sixthly, It implies that the holy law is m loser ly Christ's 
 substitution in our room; no, it has all that it demanded in 
 order to its satisfaction. Did the law demand holiness, 
 and perfect holiness, in our nature 1 Well, it hath its de- 
 mand in Christ, for he was originally holy — was without 
 the stain or defilement of original sin : ' That holy thing 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 39 
 
 which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' 
 Luke i. 35. ' He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate 
 from sinners.' Did the law demand perfect obedience unto 
 its commands ? Well, that it hath in Christ ; for he ful- 
 filled all righteousness. ' He did no violence, neither was 
 guile found in his mouth.' Did the law demand satisfac- 
 tion to justice, or the execution of its penalty? Well, it 
 hath its demand in him: for 'he was wounded for our 
 transgressions; the just suifered for the unjust, that he 
 might bring us to God.' Thus the law loses nothing by 
 Christ's substitution, but hath all that it required. 
 
 Seventhly, It implies that the holy law, instead of being 
 a loser, gains an additional Jionour and glory hg the righte- 
 ousness of the Surety. Never had the law such a subject 
 before as its own Lord who made it. Suppose the sinless 
 obedience of Adam and all his posterity, and the obedience 
 of all the angels in heaven, and of all creatures, were put 
 together, and this obedience continued through eternity, 
 yet this could not magnify the law, or make it honourable ; 
 because the obedience of creatures is nothing but what 
 they owe in justice to the law of their great Creator. But 
 here we have the great Lord of angels and men, whose will 
 is a law to them all, yielding obedience to the law in our 
 room. This surely adds a new lustre and an additional 
 glory to the law which it never had before. And thus you 
 see what is implied in Christ's magnifying the law, and 
 making it honourable. 
 
 III. The third thing in the method was to inquire. How 
 is it that Christ magnifies the law, and makes it honourable ? 
 
 Now, for clearing this matter, I would have you to con- 
 sider, that the moral law may be considered under a two- 
 fold aspect. It may be considered as a covenant, and as a 
 rule of life — as a covenant, promising the reward of life 
 eternal to every one that yields a perfect obedience to its 
 commandments, and threatening death eternal to every one 
 that fails in the performance of this condition — and as a 
 rule of obedience, simply prescribing the duty which the 
 rational creature owes unto God, its great Creator, and 
 
40 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 Preserver, and Benefactor, without any promise of life or 
 threatening of death annexed to it, which gives it its 
 covenant form. Now Christ magnified the law, and made 
 it honourable, under both these views and considerations. 
 
 First, As a covenant^ he magnified it, and made it hon- 
 ourable ; and this he did by fulfilling all its demands. As 
 I hinted already, there are three things which the law in- 
 sists upon from fallen man, by virtue of the covenant 
 transaction between God and Adam in a state of innocency. 
 1. HoHness of nature. 2. Righteousness of life. 3. Sa- 
 tisfaction for sin and disobedience. None of these we are 
 in the least capable to afibrd; but every one of them is 
 completely afforded in Christ. 
 
 1. I say, the law, as a covenant, demands of us 2t. perfect 
 holiness and rectitude in our very natures. This God gave 
 unto Adam in innocency ; for he made man upright after 
 his own image. This uprightness and integrity of nature 
 was quite lost by the fall. ' We are conceived in sin and 
 shapen in iniquity.' — ' The whole head is sick, and the 
 whole heart faint : from the sole of the foot even unto the 
 head, there is nothing but wounds, and bruises, and putri- 
 fying sores.' Hence we are 'by nature the children of 
 wrath :' so that the law cannot find a holy, pure, and inno- 
 cent nature among any sprung of Adam by natural genera- 
 tion. But this demand of the law is fulfilled in Christ, the 
 second Adam, as the public head and representative of his 
 spiritual seed ; for, ' he was conceived by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin, and born of her 
 without sin.' Luke i. 35, ' That holy thing which shall be 
 born of thee,' — that is, that innocent human nature which 
 shall be born of thee. Heb. vii. 26, He is ' holy, harmless, 
 undefiled, separate from sinners.' The law requires of 
 every son of Adam, that he should have a nature as up- 
 right and holy as that which he received from God, the 
 great Lawgiver, at his creation. This is absolutely impos- 
 sible for us to give. But it is found in Christ ; for in 
 him the human nature is restored imto its integrity and 
 perfection; and aU believers being in him, as their 
 
AND MADE HONOURABI^. 41 
 
 pubKc head and representative, they are in the reckoning of 
 the law born holy in Christ, the second Adam, even as they 
 were created holy in the first Adam. Hence believers are 
 said to be complete in him, Col. ii. 10. They have a com- 
 plete holiness of nature in him. And this, according 
 to the demand of the law, is continued in Christ : for the 
 law not only demands that our nature should be holy, but 
 that we should persevere and continue in this condition. 
 Now, this demand of the law is fully answered in Christ ; 
 for in him our nature continues to be perfectly holy for 
 ever, however unlioly it may be in us, personally or ab- 
 stractly considered. And Grod looking upon our nature, as 
 it is in him, not as it is in us, sees us altogether fair and 
 perfect in holiness in him, not in the least marred : accord- 
 ing to what we have. Cant. iv. 7, ' Thou art all fair, my 
 love, there is no spot in thee.' And thus, this first demand 
 of the law is fulfilled in Christ, as to the perfect holiness 
 of our nature. 
 
 2, The law not only demands a perfect holiness of 
 nature, but also a perfect and sinless obedience of life. The 
 language of the law, as a covenant, unto all the sons of 
 Adam, is, ' He that doth these things shaU live by them. 
 If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments.' We 
 must ' continue in all things which are written in the 
 book of the law to do them.' But now this demand of 
 the law cannot be answered or fulfilled by us ; for ' no 
 mere man, since the fall, is able perfectly to keep the com- 
 mandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, 
 word, and deed.' Our nature, as you were hearing, being 
 whoUy corrupted, every thought and imagination is evil 
 only and continually. Now, although this active, perfect 
 obedience by the law, cannot be yielded by any of mankind, 
 descending from Adam by natural generation, yet it hath 
 its demand from Christ, our glorious Surety, Head, and 
 Representative. The law required of us, that our obedi- 
 ence should be universal, perfect, and constant : these are 
 all to be found in the obedience our Surety yielded unto it. 
 Fur, 
 
42 THE BKOKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 His obedience to the law as our Surety is universal. All 
 things written in the book of the law must be obeyed : if 
 there be the least failure of obedience as to any one jot, or 
 any the least of its commandments, it lays the man under 
 the curse. Now, I say, Christ did every thing that the 
 law required ; he fulfilled all righteousness ; he did ' no 
 violence, neither was guile found in his mouth.' 
 
 His obedience to the law was everywhere ijerfect as to 
 the manner. The law required that we not only do every 
 thing that it requires, but that we 'love the Lord, and 
 serve him, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and 
 with all the strength, and with all the mind, and our 
 neighbour as ourselves.' Oh ! who among all Adam's race 
 can obey and love the Lord after this maimer 1 "Well, but 
 this is done in Christ : love to God and man shined to its 
 perfection in him, and in the whole course of his obedience. 
 
 His obedience was constant, and- continued unto the very 
 end. Thus the law required that we should not only do all 
 things, but ' continue in all things which are written in 
 the book of the law to do them.' Man ' being in honour 
 continueth not ; ' and in his best state, in his best frames, 
 cannot continue in such a universal and perfect obedience, 
 as the law requires, for one moment ; but Christ, our glo- 
 rious Surety, continued in a universal and perfect obedi- 
 ence to the very end ; from his birth to the grave ; from 
 his womb to the tomb. Hence we are told, Phil. ii. 8, 
 That he was obedient to death; and John xvii.. That he 
 finished the work which the Father gave him to do. Thus 
 you see the law is magnified and made honourable, as to 
 this demand of righteousness of life, in Christ our glorious 
 Surety : and this is what divines commonly call his active 
 obedience. 
 
 3. Another thing that the law demands of fallen man, is 
 a complete satisfaction unto justice, in consequence of the 
 penalty or sentence of the law ; ' In the day thou eatest 
 thereof, thou shalt surely die.' The veracity and faithful- 
 ness of God was engaged in this threatening, and justice 
 stood upon its execution, insomuch that without death, or 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 43 
 
 shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sin. 
 Now, supposing that the threatening of death temporal, 
 spiritual, and eternal, had been executed upon Adam and 
 his posterity for ever, the law and justice of God would 
 have been glorified in our ruin. Yet it could never have 
 been said, that the law and justice of God were satisfied, 
 far less could they have been magnified and made honour- 
 able. But by the death and sufferings of the Son of God 
 in our room and stead, the penalty of the law is so fulfilled, 
 and the justice of God so fully satisfied, that the Lord 
 Jehovah declares himself well 'pleased for his righteousness' 
 sake, the law being thereby magnijied and made honourable. 
 It was the man who is God's fellow, and who thinks ' it 
 not robbery to be equal with God,' who became a curse 
 and a sacrifice for us. The best blood of the whole creation 
 goes for the satisfaction of law and justice. And thus you 
 see how all the demands of the law are satisfied to the 
 full in Christ : and thus he magnifies the law to the full as 
 a covenant. 
 
 Secondly, Christ magnifies the law, not only as a cove- 
 nant, but likewise as a ride of life; and this he doth 
 several ways. 
 
 1. By writing a fair copy of obedience to it, in his own ex- 
 ample, for the imitation of all his followers. Christ calls 
 the law, as a rule of obedience, his yoke, ' Take my yoke 
 upon you.' And to make the yoke easy to his friends, he 
 first wears it, and smoothes it himself, that it might not 
 gall their necks. Hence we are told, that he has left ' us 
 an example that we should follow his steps ; ' and we are 
 so to walk even as he walked, to follow him, and to run 
 our race looking unto him as our glorious pattern of obe- 
 dience. We must be holy, ' as he that hath called us is 
 holy.' 
 
 2. By explaining it in its utmost extent, for as David tells 
 us, ' it is exceeding broad.' The Jewish doctors, in order 
 to estabhsh a righteousness of their own, pared off the 
 spirituality of the law, and confined the meaning of it to 
 the bare letter. But Christ, in his sermon upon the mount, 
 
44 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 vindicates the law from these narrow and corrupt glosses, 
 and lays it open in its extent and spirituality, showing, 
 that the law of God not only concerned the external man, 
 or overt acts of the life, but reached the heart, and the 
 innermost recesses of the soul, as you see, Matth. v. where 
 he teUs them, that rash anger was murder in the eye of the 
 holy law, and that a lascivious look towards a woman was 
 heart-adultery. 
 
 3. By establishing the obligation of it as a rule of ohedi- 
 ence unto all his followers. Although indeed he dissolves 
 the obligation of it as a covenant to all believers, so as 
 they are neither to be justified nor condemned by it, yet he 
 establishes it, I say, as a rule of duty even to believers, as 
 well as others. ' Think not that I am come to destroy the 
 law or the prophets, nay, I am not come to destroy, but to 
 fulfil it,' Matth. V. 17 ; Rom. iii. at the close, ' Do we then 
 make void the law through faith 1 God forbid: yea, we 
 establish the law.' The law is now delivered to us in the 
 hand of a Mediator. It has lost nothing of its original 
 authority as coming from a God-creator, but this law of 
 the Creator receives an additional authority, as being 
 issued to us through a God-redeemer. 
 
 4. By writing it ujyon the heart of all his followers, by the 
 finger of his eternal Spirit, according to that promise, Jer. 
 xxxi. 33, ' I will put my law in their inward parts, and 
 write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they 
 shaU be my people.' Whenever a soul is called efiectuaUy 
 by the word and Spirit of Christ, there is, that moment, 
 inlaid a principle of holiness, or conformity to the law, in 
 its heart. Hence are these breathings of soul after obedi- 
 ence to it, that we find so frequent among the saints; 
 ' Let my heart be sound in thy statutes : that my ways 
 were directed to keep thy statutes : Hold up my goings in 
 thy paths, that my footsteps sHp not.' 
 
 5. By enforcing obedience to the law among all his follow- 
 ers, by stronger motives than the law itself, abstractly con- 
 sidered, could afford. Death, hell, and ruin are the prin- 
 cipal motives that the law makes use of in exacting obe- 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE, 45 
 
 dience from fallen man. ' In the day that thou eatest 
 thereof, thou shalt surely die.' ' The soul that sinneth it 
 shall die.' ' Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, 
 upon every soul of man that doth evil.' But now Christ 
 in the gospel does not drag but draws the soul sweetly 
 into the ways of obedience, by the consideration of re- 
 deeming love. He draws them with the ' cords of a man, 
 and with the bands of love.' ' The love of Christ constrains 
 me,' says Paul : ' If ye love me,' says Christ, ' keep my 
 commandments.' He sets them at liberty from wrath, and 
 the curse, and then caUs them ' to serve him without fear, 
 in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life ;' 
 and so he makes his yoke easy, and his burden light. 
 
 6. Bi/ actuating them in their obedience to the law by his 
 oivn Spirit, according to that promise of the covenant, 
 Ezek. XXX vi. 27, ' I wiU put my Spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
 judgments, and do them.' Hereby they are made to study 
 holiness ' in all manner of conversation,' and the light of 
 their obedience and hohness in their walk shines forth, so 
 as others seeing their good works, are made to 'glorify 
 their Father which is in heaven.' 
 
 Thus you see how Christ magnifies the law, and makes it 
 honourable, as a covenant, fulfilling the righteousness of 
 it in his own person, as our Surety, and as a rule of obedi- 
 ence in the hearts and lives of his followers ; though in- 
 deed I think it is in the first sense that the words are 
 principally to be understood, I mean the law as a covenant, 
 as seems plain from the other clause of the verse compared 
 with this. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' 
 sake; not for the sake of our obedience, but for the sake 
 of his righteousness, the Lord is well pleased. 
 
 IV. I proceed now to the fourth thing I proposed, which 
 was the application of this Doctrine, — and this simply in 
 the way of inference. 
 
 1st. Is the law magnified by the Surety, which was 
 broken by the sinner? Hence it follows, that the great 
 Lawgiver is satisfied and well pleased, as it follows in the 
 
46 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 text, The Lord is well pleased for his riffhteoicsness^ sake; 
 that which displeased and provoked the majesty of God, 
 was the breach of his law, but since the law is again mag- 
 nified, surely he cannot but be a well pleased Deity. Upon 
 this ground it is, that such declarations are issued out, 
 ' Fury is not in me,' — ' I was angry, but mine anger is 
 turned away,' — ' As I live, I have no pleasure in the death 
 of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his 
 way and live. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die T Oh, 
 Sirs ! that which scares you from coming back to God is 
 the apprehension, that, because of the breach of the law, 
 God is implacable and wiU never be reconciled. But we- 
 tell you, for your encouragement, that a God in Christ is 
 7vell pleased for his righteousness^ saJce,hecause he hath magni- 
 fied the lavj^ and made it honourable. God was in Christ, 
 not pursuing the world as an avenging enemy, but recon- 
 cihng the world to himself. And therefore let not an evil 
 heart of unbelief turn you away from the living God, as 
 though he were not well pleased for Christ's righteousness' 
 saJce. It was not for nought that that proclamation was 
 made three times with an audible voice from heaven, 
 ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' 
 it is glorious encouragement to a lost sinner, hanging over 
 the mouth of heU, that God is well pleased in his Christ. 
 
 2dly. Is the law magnified and made honourable ? Then 
 it follows, that the grea.t bar that lay in the way of our salva- 
 tion is removed. Upon the first Adam's violation of the 
 holy law, mountains of wrath were rolled in the way of sal- 
 vation. The way was so fiUed with briars and thorns, woes 
 and curses, that it became altogether impassable for any of 
 Adam's race. Hence came that horror and despair that 
 was seated in the hearts of our first parents immediately 
 after they had sinned. The sight of the cherubim, and the 
 flaming sword turning every way to keep the way of the tree 
 of life, had a dismal signification. Well, but Christ, the 
 second Adam, has tnagnified the law, and made it honourable, 
 and therefore it must needs follow, that all these impediments 
 and bars in the way of our salvation are now removed, and 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 47 
 
 the way is clear to every soul that has a mind to enter in 
 by faith. John x. 9/ 1 am the door : by me if any man enter 
 in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pas- 
 ture.' All legal impediments arising from law and justice, 
 in the way of salvation, are now taken out of the way, and 
 there is a free call to every man to enter in and be saved ; 
 in which case nothing can hinder but unbelief, which is a 
 refusing to enter in by Christ, and they that do so, how 
 shall they escape ? 
 
 3dly. Is the law magnified and made honourahle ? Then 
 here is encouragement, that sin is finished, and transgression 
 ended. The very essence of sin lies in a transgression of 
 the law. Well, but if the law be again magnified, then where 
 is sin ? It is surely buried in the obedience of Christ to 
 the death, by the righteousness of the Surety. The guilt 
 of it is taken away, and the power and dominion of it is 
 broken in every believer, and the very being of it shall be 
 destroyed ere it be long. So that I may say to believers 
 under the covert of Christ's righteousness, as Moses said 
 to Israel, with respect to the Egyptians, that were pursu- 
 ing them for their lives, Exod. xiv. 13, ' Fear ye not, stand 
 still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he wiU show, 
 you to-day : for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, 
 ye shall see them no more again for ever.' Poor believer, 
 thou art afraid of these innumerable sins, which compass 
 thee about, lest they pursue thee, and take away thy life, 
 but stand still, and see the salvation which God hath 
 wrought ; all thy sins are buried for ever out of God's sight, 
 and shall be buried out of thy sight also, in the Red Sea of 
 a Redeemer's blood, and under the covert of his law mag- 
 nifying righteousness, whereby he hath made an end of 
 sin. 
 
 4thly. Is the law magnified and made JionouraUe ? Then 
 the hand- writing of the curse that was against us, and con- 
 trary to 1CS, is cancelled and discharged. Upon the footing 
 of the righteousness of Christ, which magnifies the law, it 
 is, that that gracious declaration is issued out, John iii. 17, 
 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
 
48 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 but that the world through him might be saved.' Christ 
 has retired the bond that lay in the hand of justice, and 
 had it discharged in his resurrection from the dead ; and 
 upon this ground it is declared, that ' there is now no con- 
 demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' And if you 
 ask the reason of this interlocutory, here it is, Christ hath 
 inagnified the law, and made it honourable; therefore the 
 penalty of the law cannot take place against any soul under 
 the covert of his righteousness. No, no ; ' Christ hath re- 
 deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse 
 for us.' 
 
 5thly. Is the law magnified, and made honourable? Then 
 it follows, that grace and mercy reign through righteousness, 
 and that the law and justice can be no impediment in the 
 way of pardoning mercy. The poor sensible sinner, whose 
 eyes are fixed upon his own sin, and the holiness of the 
 law, is many times ready to say and think with himself, 
 ' Oh ! God can never extend mercy to the like of me, in a 
 consistency with his law and justice. He is obliged to 
 take vengeance on me, by virtue of his justice.' But, 
 Sirs, consider that the Surety, Jesus Christ, has mag- 
 nified the law, and made it honourable, that mercy and 
 grace might have an unrestrained current, even towards 
 the guiltiest sinners that believe in Jesus. Hence is that 
 of the apostle, Rom. iii. 24 — 26, ' Being justified freely by 
 his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, 
 whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through 
 faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the re- 
 mission of sins. To declare, I say, at this time his right- 
 eousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him 
 who believeth in Jesus.' And therefore let this encourage 
 you to pursue after the pardon and remission of sin on this 
 account, that the law is already magnified and made hon- 
 ourable in the Surety's righteousness. God exalts and glo- 
 rifies his name, gracious and merciful, when he blots out 
 iniquity upon this footing ; yea, glorifies the law and justice 
 also, more than if he would pursue the quarrel against thee 
 to the lowest hell through eternity. 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 49 
 
 Cthlj. Is the law magnified and made lionourahle? Then 
 hence it follows, that the condition of the covenant of grace, 
 proi^erly so called, is already fulfilled. Since the fall of 
 Adam, Grod never entered into covenant with man himself 
 directly and immediately. No ; the covenant of grace is 
 made with us in Christ, as our Surety, Head, and Repre- 
 sentative. As the covenant of works was made with the 
 first Adam, as our natural and federal head, and with us 
 in him, so the covenant of grace is made with us in the 
 second Adam, as our spiritual Head, and the condition of 
 the covenant was fulfilled by him. And if you ask me, 
 ' What is the proper coadition of the covenant of grace V I 
 answer, ' It is just this, that Christ should be made under 
 the law, and by his obedience unto the death magnify it, 
 and make it honourable.'' Upon this condition, eternal life 
 and aU the appurtenances of it were promised to him and 
 his seed. Now, when any of the lost race of Adam believe 
 in Christ, they do not by that act of faith fulfil the con- 
 dition of the covenant of grace, but only take hold of the 
 condition of it, fulfilled by Christ, and in so doing they be- 
 come 'heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.' 
 And so they may travel through the large field of the cov- 
 enant, and pluck this, and that, and the other blessing of 
 the covenant, saying, ' This is mine, and that is mine, and 
 the whole of the covenant is mine, because I have the con- 
 dition of the covenant in my new spiritual Head, Jesus 
 Clirist; he has magnified the law, and made it honourable.^ 
 Oh ! with what courage might the believer go to work, in 
 lapng claim to the covenant and the blessings of it, if he 
 had but this view of matters in the light of the Lord 1 
 
 7thly. Is the law magnified and made honourable by Christ 
 as our Surety ? Then it follows, that lohatever was lost in 
 the first Adam, is noiu recovered by the second Adam. By the 
 first covenant, if we had continued in it, we had a title to 
 God as our God, a title to his favour and fellowship, a title 
 to the creatures, all things being put under our feet, and 
 a title to a happy eternity, after the course of our obedience 
 in this world had been fulfilled. By Adam's fall we lost 
 
50 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 all this, and more than I can name. But all is again re- 
 covered in the new covenant Head, by his magnifying the 
 law and making it honourable ; and the soul united to him, 
 hath all its losses repaired with advantage, in him. We 
 have God in him as the Lord our God, for God is in Christ, 
 our God and our Father, — ' I ascend,' says Christ, ' to my 
 Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' We 
 have the image of God fully restored in him, and going on 
 gradually in us. We have a complete stock of knowledge 
 in him, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and a beam 
 of that knowledge that is in the head shines into the heart 
 of every believer. We have a complete righteousness in 
 him, and we are made the righteousness of God in him. 
 We have a complete holiness of nature in him ; for, for our 
 sakes he sanctified himself, that we also might be sancti- 
 fied through the truth ; and, through the holiness of Christ 
 the head, God looks upon all the members, and says, ' Thou 
 art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee.' We have a 
 perfect and complete heaven of glory and eternal life in 
 him; for he that behoves in the Son hath everlasting 
 hfe: and this we are assured of by the faithful word 
 of the Trinity, 1 John v. 11, 'This is the record that 
 God hath given to us, eternal hfe : and this Hfe is in his 
 Son, He that hath the Son hath Hfe.' Thus, I say, all 
 that was lost in the first Adam, is regained in Christ, the 
 second Adam, and all upon this ground, that the second 
 Adam, as our Surety, has magnified the Icm, and made it 
 honourable. 
 
 8thly. Has Christ magnified the law, and made it honour- 
 able? Then Mg intercession of Christ for v^ in heaven goes 
 ujjon a solid ground, and shall be prevalent on our behalf. 
 Why, it goes upon the ground of that everlasting righte- 
 ousness which he has brought in, whereby he has magnified 
 the law, and made it honourable. Hence he is called ' Jesus 
 Christ the righteous,' 1 John ii. 1, 2, ' If any man sin, we 
 have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins.' Be- 
 hever, do not fear, that thy case committed to the hand of 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE. 51 
 
 thy Advocate, in the high court above, shall miscarry : no, 
 he never lost a poor man's cause, for the Father always 
 hears him. The Advocate is not only well skilled in the 
 laws of the court, but in pleading thy cause, he pleads it 
 upon the footing of a law magnifying righteousness, and 
 therefore he must prevail in thy behalf. 
 
 9thly. Has Christ magnified the law, and made it honour- 
 able ? Then there is good ground of holdmss in coming ' to 
 the throne of grace, for mercg and grace to help in time of 
 need."" Why, believer, that righteousness that magnifies 
 the law, and makes it honourable, is imputed to thee, and 
 by faith thou shouldst go with this surety-righteousness 
 upon thee ; and this is the ground of thy confidence in all 
 thy dealings with God. A behever is ready to think, ' my 
 prayers will be rejected of God, he will never hear them, 
 because I cannot order my cause before him : I cannot at- 
 tain to this or the other frame or enlargement of heart.' 
 Why, believer, that is but a remnant of the old legal Adam 
 in thee, that imagines that God regards thy person, from 
 thy frames and enlargements. No, no ; 'he hath made us 
 accepted in the beloved.' You, and your best frames, 
 graces, and enlargements, would be driven away out of the 
 presence of an infinitely holy God, if it were not for this 
 cause, that Christ has magnified the law, and made it hon- 
 ourahle: and therefore let this be thy only ground of 
 boldness before the Lord. ' Having a great High Priest, 
 who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God ; let 
 us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may ob- 
 tain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.' 
 
 lOthly. Has Christ magnified the law, and made it hon- 
 ourable ? Then it follows, that failures of obedience on the 
 believer'' s pavt do not nmhe void the covemint of grace, or the 
 believer's title to the blessings and privileges of the cove- 
 nant. Why, the whole law as a covenant, and all the 
 righteousness and obedience that it demands, is perfectly 
 fulfilled in his head Jesus Christ; and therefore the 
 believer cannot fall out of the covenant, through the im- 
 perfections of his obedience. I own indeed that a believer 
 
52 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED 
 
 should aim at, and endeavour no less than perfect obedi- 
 ence, in his own person, and for failures in obedience he 
 shall smart. ' God will visit his transgressions with the 
 rod, and his iniquities with stripes.' But observe what 
 follows, ' My loving kindness I will not take from him,' 
 viz., Christ, with whom the covenant is made, and who has 
 fulfilled the condition of it by his perfect righteousness ; 
 and therefore, ' my covenant I wUl not break ' with them, 
 nor alter the word of promise, ' that is gone out of my 
 lips.' 
 
 llthly. Has Christ onagnified the law, and made it honour- 
 able? Then believers have matter of everlasting triumph 
 and rejoicing in Christ, and cannot receive the spirit of 
 bondage unto fear, except in a way of correction. Be- 
 lievers are commanded to rejoice evermore, to shout for 
 joy; and when they see how matters are stated in the new 
 covenant Head, they will accordingly rejoice in Christ 
 always, even when they have no confidence in the flesh. 
 Why, what should discourage them, who have 'the 
 righteousness of the law fulfilled in them' through Christ ; 
 yea, who are the righteousness of God in him? That 
 which brings the believer at any time under a spirit of 
 bondage again to fear, is the unbelief and legality of his 
 heart, which turns away his eyes from Christ and the 
 righteousness of the law fulfilled and magnified in him ; 
 and then indeed the terrors of the law covenant, and of 
 an angry God, fall upon him, ' He remembers God, and is 
 troubled,' and the arrows of the Almighty are within him. 
 But while the believer can, by faith, see the law magnified 
 in his Head, and the Lord Jehovah well pleased for his 
 righteousness' sake, his heart will rejoice, and his joy will no 
 man take from him. 
 
 12thly. Has Christ magnified tlie law, andmadeithonour- 
 aUe 1 Then this doctrine lets us see the error of those, who, 
 though they will not absolutely reject the righteousness of 
 Christ, yet will adventure to mingle something of their own 
 with it. Oh, say some, ' Christ and my faith, Christ and 
 my good works, Christ and my prayers, my repentance, my 
 
AND MADE HONOURABLE, 53 
 
 tears and good qualifications, will justify me.' Why, this 
 way, whatever you may think of it, is a disparaging of the 
 righteousness of Christ, as though it alone did not fully 
 answer the law. Sirs, remember that faith is a resting on 
 Christ alone, and his righteousness, to the exclusion of 
 every thing in you, and about you, as the ground of your 
 acceptance. It is Christ's righteousness alone, that mag- 
 nifies the law ; and therefore there is no need of any thing 
 of ours. Yea, if you seek righteousness but in part by 
 the law, you are fallen from grace, and Christ shall profit 
 you nothing ; and therefore say with the church, Isa. xlv. 
 24, ' In the Lord alone have I righteousness,' and with 
 David, Psal. Ixxi. 16, ' I will go on in the strength of the 
 Lord God, I will make mention of thy righteousness, even 
 of thine only.' 
 
 In conclusion, hath God magnified the Jem, and made it 
 honourable, at the expense of the humiliation, incarnation, 
 obedience, death, and sufferings of his eternal Son ? Oh, 
 how dreadfvl and dismal is the condition of those, who, in- 
 stead of yielding the obedience of faith unto this law, are 
 daily in their practice tramjjling the authority of the law 
 under their feet, breaking God's bands, and casting the cords 
 of his law from them, and yet will needs pretend to and 
 profess the name of Christ, as if Christ had magnified the 
 law and made it honourable, that they might have a liberty 
 to break it, and to follow the swing of their own carnal 
 and corrupt hearts. The apostle Jude, ver. 3, of his 
 epistle, when speaking of such licentious Christians, calls 
 them ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ into lasciviousness, of old ordained to this condem- 
 nation. Sirs ! do not mistake it, Christ has magnified 
 the law, and made it honourable, not to loose but to establish 
 the obligation of it as a ' rule of obedience, he gave him- 
 self for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
 works,' Tit. ii. 14. He hath delivered us from the hand of 
 all our enemies, that we ' might serve him without fear, in 
 holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our 
 
54 THE BROKEN LAW MAGNIFIED, <tc. 
 
 life/ Luke i. 74., and that we may by his grace be taught 
 to deny all ' ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to walk 
 soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,' Tit. 
 ii. 12. So that ye who draw encouragement from the doc- 
 trine of Christ's magnifying the law and making it hon- 
 ourable, to violate and dishonour the law of God, are just 
 counteracting the design of the obedience of Christ unto 
 the death, and, like the filthy wasp, sucking poison out of 
 the gospel of salvation. And do you expect to be justified 
 by the righteousness of Christ, and eternally saved by his 
 blood in such a way as this 1 No, no ; ye have ' neither 
 part nor lot in this matter.' As sure as God Kves, ye are 
 under the law as a covenant, and therefore under the 
 dominion of sin, and the curse of the broken law is upon 
 you ; ye are ' condemned already, and the wrath of God 
 abideth on you.' And unto you, God saith, ' What hast 
 thou to do to make mention of my righteousness, or that 
 thou shouldst take my covenant, in thy mouth, seeing thou 
 hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.' 
 And therefore consider your danger in time, before you 
 come in before the awful bar of God, leet, when you arrive 
 there, he tear you in pieces, when there is none to deliver 
 you out of his hand. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT ARK OPENED. 
 
 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, 
 moved wiih fear, prepared an arii, to the saving of his iiouse.— 
 Heb. xi. 7. 
 
 In the preceding chapter, the apostle, in the close of it, had 
 exhorted the believing Hebrews to persevere in the faith ; 
 and to enforce the exhortation, he demonstrates, in this 
 chapter, the excellency of the grace of faith, and that, first. 
 Abstractly in itself considered, ver. 1 — 3 ; secondly. By lay- 
 ing before them the example of their believing ancestors, 
 both before and after the flood. 
 
 This verse which I have read contains the example of 
 the faith of Noah, who was the last patriarch of the old 
 world, and the first of the new world ; I mean the last be- 
 fore, and the first after the flood. More particularly, in the 
 words you have these things. 
 
 1st. An alarm sounded. Noah being warned of God of 
 things not seen as yet. The party that gives the warning 
 is God. And when God speaks or warns, well doth it be- 
 come all the inhabitants of the earth to Usten. Psal. 1. 1, 
 ' The mighty God the Lord hath spoken, and called the 
 earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down 
 thereof.' When the lion roars, the beasts of the field 
 tremble. The subject matter of the warning is about 
 things not seen as get; that is, the approach of the general 
 deluge, or destruction of the whole world by water, of 
 which there was not the least visible appearance when the 
 warning was given of God. Sirs, the word of God deals 
 
56 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 mostly about things that are not seen, things invisible and 
 eternal, which as yet lie behind the curtain ; hence faith, 
 that believes the word of God, is called, ver, 1. of this chap- 
 ter, ' the evidence of things not seen ; ' a setting to the seal 
 to what God says, though not obvious unto sense. 
 
 2dly. In the words we have the person, and the only 
 person, that took the alarm in aU the old world, viz., Noah, 
 whose character we have. Gen. vi. 9, ' a just man, and per- 
 fect in his generation.' He was a just man, being justified 
 by faith in the promised seed of the woman ; and he was a 
 holy man, whose walk and conversation justified his faith, 
 in the view of the ungodly inhabitants of the old world. 
 And being such a person as lived near God, God admits 
 him into his secrets, and imparts that unto him which was 
 hid from all the world besides. ' The secret of the Lord is 
 with them that fear him, and unto them will he show his 
 covenant.' Yea, sometimes he not only imparts to them 
 the secrets of his covenant, and the mysteries of his king- 
 dom, but also the secrets of his providence, what he is 
 about to do in the world. So did he unto Noah ; and so 
 did he unto Abraham, when he was about to destroy 
 Sodom : ' Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do ? ' 
 The Lord will do nothing, but he will reveal it unto his 
 servants the prophets. It is dangerous to pry curiously 
 into the secrets of God's purpose or providence, but when 
 he is pleased to reveal them, they are welcome. 
 
 3dly. We have the way how the warning was taken by 
 Noah. It was hy faith; that is, he beheved the word of 
 God, that the flood would come : and the ground of his be- 
 lieving was the faithfulness and power of God ; his faithful- 
 ness, ' for it is impossible for God to lie ;' and his power, 
 that was able to give being to his word of threatening, as 
 well as his word of promise. 
 
 4thly. We have the afiection of Noah's soul, that was 
 stirred or exercised by this awful warning of the approach- 
 ing deluge. He was moved icith fear. When faith sees a 
 smiling and reconciled God in Christ, it moves the soul 
 with joy and gladness, yea, a 'joy unspeakable, and full 
 
ARK OPENED. 57 
 
 of glory.' But when faith sees a frowning or a threat- 
 ening God, then it begets fear, not a slavish but a filial 
 fear ; like a dutiful child, that falls a trembling when he 
 oees the rod in his father's hand, and anger in his counte- 
 nance. Such was the fear of Noah ; and God declares that 
 he has a particular regard unto the soul that thus fears 
 him, Isa. Ixvi. 2, ' To this man will I look, who is poor, 
 and of a contrite spirit, and who trembleth at my word.' 
 
 5thly. We have the wise improvement that Noah made 
 of God's warning concerning the deluge ; why, his faith and 
 fear excited him to prepare an ark : ' The wise man,' saith 
 Solomon, 'foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself.' True 
 faith of God's operation is a sagacious grace ; it takes up 
 things not as yet seen, dangers that are out of the view of 
 the rest of a blind world, and provides for safety against 
 approaching dangers. So here, Noah's faith engages him 
 to prepare an ark against the deluge. Noah had not the 
 ark to build when the deluge came ; no, it was ready for 
 use when the windows of heaven and the fountains of tho 
 great deep were opened ; and the fruit and effect of his 
 faith and fear, and diligence in preparing of the ark, was 
 the saving of himself and his house. 
 
 Now, I do not stand so much upon the literal, as the 
 mystical and spiritual intendment of all this. The history 
 and mystery of the Old Testament is opened and unveiled 
 in the New Testament. It is granted by all, that the de- 
 luge of water, whereby God destroyed the old world, was a 
 typical representation of the wrath of God that is revealed 
 from heaven against all the wickedness and ungodliness of 
 the children of men, which will infallibly sweep away the 
 wicked, and all the nations that forget God, into hell : and 
 that Noah's ark was a type of Christ, and of that salvation 
 that believers have in him, from the wrath of God and the 
 curse of the broken law ; for ' whosoever believeth in him, 
 shall not perish, but have everlasting life.' The apostle 
 Peter gives us a hint, and that not an obscure one, of what 
 I am saying, concerning this typical design of the deluge 
 and ark, 1 Pet. iii. 19 — 21, ' By which also he went and 
 
58 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 preached to the spirits in prison : which sometime were dis- 
 obedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in 
 the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein 
 few, that is eight souls, were saved by water. The like 
 figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not 
 the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer 
 of a good conscience towards God), by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ.' 
 
 The main doctrine that I have in view from the words, 
 is as follows. 
 
 DocT. — 'That Christ is the great New Testament ark" 
 into which sinners must enter, if they would be saved from 
 the deluge of divine wrath.' 
 
 The method, through divine assistance, shall be as fol- 
 lows. 
 
 I. I would speak a Uttle of the wrath of God, with allu- 
 sion unto the universal deluge. 
 
 II. I would speak of Christ as the only ark wherein 
 safety is to be found. 
 
 III. Speak of the access that sinners have to this New 
 Testament ark. 
 
 IV. How it is that a sinner enters into this ark, so as to 
 be saved from the deluge. 
 
 V. Make some application of the whole. 
 
 I. The first thing is, to speak a little of the wrath of 
 God, with allusion unto the universal deluge in the days 
 of Noah. 
 
 1st. The sin and wickedness of the old world was the 
 irrocuring cause of the deluge. Gen. vi. 5 — 7, ' And God saw 
 that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and 
 that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was 
 only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he 
 had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his 
 heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I 
 have created, from the face of the earth, both men and 
 beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air ; 
 for it repenteth me that I have made them.' 
 
 Now, I say, as the sin of man procured a deluge of water, 
 
ARK OPENED. 59 
 
 SO doth it procure the deluge of the wrath of God, that is or 
 has been revealed against all the wickedness and the ungod- 
 liness of the children of men. Before sin entered into the 
 world, God and man lived in perfect amity and friendship. 
 Man was the darling of heaven, God's viceroy ; and he gave 
 him a sovereignty over all the works of his hands. Gen. i. 28. 
 But no sooner had man sinned, but a dismal cloud of wrath 
 began to hover over man's head, which had dissolved in a 
 shower of snares, fire, and brimstone, to the destruction of 
 all mankind, had it not been for the interposition of a 
 second Adam, the eternal Son of God, who undertook to 
 take away the sin of the world. For his sake, and upon 
 the account of his satisfaction unto justice, a stop is put 
 to the execution of divine vengeance. But that same 
 flood of wrath will run with the greatest violence against 
 aU unbelievers, who reject him, and his great salvation, 
 Ileb. ii. 3. and x. 28, (fee. 
 
 2dly. God did not take the inhabitants of the old world 
 by surprise ; but gave them warning before the flood came 
 and destroyed them. He dealt with them by the ministry 
 of Noah for the space of one hundred and twenty years, 
 (compare Gen. v. 32. with vi. 11.) in order to reclaim them, 
 but aU in vain. 
 
 Just so, God is long-suffering, and slow to wrath, towards 
 the children of men. He doth not speedily execute judg- 
 ment, like man, in a fury and rage. No ; but he waits to 
 be gracious ; he warns of the wrath to come, and beseeches 
 and entreats them to turn from their evil ways. Forty 
 years was his spirit grieved with that generation of Israel 
 in the wilderness, until at length he sware in his wrath that 
 they should never enter into his rest ; but many a time he 
 turned away his wrath, Psal. Ixviii. 38. before it came to that. 
 
 3dly. When the appointed hour for the execution of the 
 threatening against the old world came, God viade the 
 heavens and the earth to combbie for their destruction; 
 for both the fountains of the great depth, from below were 
 broken up, and the windows of heaven above were opened 
 upon them, Gen. vii. 11. 
 
60 THE ^'EW TESTAMENT 
 
 Just SO, God, who is the Lord of hosts, and doth what- 
 soever he wills in the army of heaven, and among the in- 
 habitants of the earth, Dan. iv. 35. can and will arm the 
 whole creation against impenitent sinners. He can com- 
 mand the earth to open its mouth, and swallow up its in- 
 habitants, as it did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numb, 
 xvi. 31, 32 ; and he can call for hosts of angels and celes- 
 tial luminaries to avenge his quarrel upon rebellious sin- 
 ners, as he did in the case of Sennacherib, 2 Kings xix. 35. 
 and the inhabitants of Canaan, Exod. xxxiii. 2. 
 
 4thly. The waters of the flood were irresistible. All the 
 inhabitants of the old world, with their united force, 
 though many of them were giants, men of huge stature 
 and strength, Gen. \i, 4. were yet not capable to stop the 
 current of the flood. 
 
 Sirs, the wrath of God, when it breaks out upon Christ- 
 despisers, cannot be stopped by all the power of angels or 
 men. ' Who hath hardened himself against God, and hath 
 prospered ? ' Job ix. 4. ' Who would set the briers and 
 thorns in battle against him ? he would go through them, 
 he would consume them together,' Isa. xx-\ai. 4. ' The 
 stout-hearted are spoiled, the men of might cannot find 
 their hands,' when God contendeth. Psal. Ixxvi. 5. 
 
 5thly. The waters of the deluge overfloimd all the refuges 
 that the inhabitants of the old world fled to for shelter. 
 We may easily imagine, that they would fly to the highest 
 rocks and mountains to save themselves from the waters ; 
 but the waters swelled and rose, until they covered all the 
 high hills and mountains on the face of the earth, under 
 the whole heaven, Gen. vii. 18 — 20; there was no shelter 
 left them. 
 
 Just so is it in the case before us. Sinners, when they 
 hear of the wrath and vengeance of God pursuing them 
 on the account of sin, fly to the hills and mountains of 
 their own making. Some fly to the mountains of general 
 mercy : but God SAveeps away that ; for ' he that made 
 them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed 
 them win show them no favour,' Isa. xx^ii, 11. Some fly 
 
ARK OPENED. 61 
 
 to the refuge of an outward profession of religion, and 
 think to find shelter there ; but the water of God's wrath 
 pursues them there, as it did the foolish virgins with their 
 empty lamps, Matth. xxv. 6. Others fly to the mountain 
 of the works of the law; but the deluge pursues them 
 there, ' for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justi- 
 fied,' Gal. ii. 16. Thus God makes 'the hail to sweep 
 away the refuge of lies,' Isa. xxviii. 17. 
 
 6thly. The flood was universal; it spared none but those 
 that were in the ark. In like manner, the flood of God's 
 wrath will destroy all that are out of Christ : ' for there 
 is none other name given under heaven among men, 
 whereby v/e must be saved, but the name of Jesus,' Acts 
 iv. 12. 
 
 II. The second thing proposed was, to speak a little of 
 Christ, as the great New Testament ark, that God has pro- 
 vided for saving sinners from the deluge of his wrath. 
 
 1st. The ark was a means of God's preparing for the 
 salvation of Noah and his family. It is true, Noah built 
 the ark ; but it was entirely at God's order and direction. 
 It would never have entered into Noah's head or heart to 
 build the ark, if God had not given him the plan of it. 
 
 Just so, Christ is a Saviour of God's providing and ap- 
 pointment. The plan of man's redemption by Christ was 
 laid in the heart of God ; it is the wisdom of God in a 
 mystery. Men and angels would have been at an eternal 
 stand, if it had been put to them, how man should be 
 saved from the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, in 
 a consistency with the justice, holiness, truth and faithful- 
 ness of God. The whole creation cried, Your help is not 
 in us. Well, but God devises a way. The Son of God 
 shall be incarnate, and be substituted in the room of sin- 
 ners ; and, by his obedience to death, justice shall be satis- 
 fied, and the honour of the law repaired, and ' whosoever 
 believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life,' 
 John iii. 16. Psal. cxviii. 23, ' This is the Lord's doing, 
 it is wondrous in our eyes.' We find God glorying in it 
 as the chief of his ways, Psal. Ixxxix. 19, 20, ' I have laid 
 
62 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 help upon one that is mighty, I have found David my 
 servant.' 
 
 2dly, The ark was very large and capacious, as is clear 
 from the account we have of it, Gen. vi. 14 — 19. And it 
 was necessary it should be so, considering that it was the 
 common receptacle, not only of Noah and his family, but 
 of all sorts of beasts, birds, and living creatures, that were 
 upon earth, and necessary provision for their subsistence, 
 for the space of about a whole year. 
 
 But, Sirs, the New Testament ark is far more large and 
 capacious than Noah's ark ; for it is none other than the 
 infinite and incomprehensible God, in the person of the 
 eternal Son, who made all things, and upholds them by the 
 word of his power, John i. 3. Heb. i. 3. As there was 
 room and provision in the ark for all the living creatures 
 of every kind that entered into the ark : so there is room 
 in Christ for all that will come, be they Jew or Gentile, 
 Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, male or female, it is all 
 one. Ye are welcome to enter into the New Testament 
 ark, John iii. 16. and x. 9. 
 
 3dly. All that entered into the arh loere saved, but all 
 that did not enter iii perished, Gen. vii. 21 — 23. 
 
 Just so is it here, Mark xvi. 16, 'he that belie veth in 
 Christ shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be 
 damned.' There are innumerable multitudes of mankind 
 that are already lost irrecoverably in the deluge of God's 
 wrath, through their not entering into the ark. what 
 innumerable numbers of men and women have gone down 
 to the sides of the pit since sin entered into the world ; 
 * Broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many 
 there be that go in thereat,' Matth. vii. 13. And all must 
 inevitably go the same way, I mean, perish in the deluge, 
 except they enter into the ark ; ' For there is none other 
 name under heaven, given amongst men, whereby we must 
 be saved, but by the name of Jesus Christ,' Acts iv. 12. 
 It is not your broken planks of a profession of religion, 
 hope in the general mercy of God, your civility, morality, 
 legal righteousness, that will do : God's wrath will stave all 
 
ARK OPENED. 63 
 
 these broken planks in pieces ; and therefore repair to the 
 Ark Jesus Christ. 
 
 4thly. Although there were but few saved in the ark, 
 (only eight souls), yet it was a great evidence of GocVs 
 love and kindness to man that any of them were spared, when 
 they all deserved to die, Gen. vi. 5, 2, 12. 
 
 Just so here, although there are but few that are saved, 
 yet his providing a Saviour, and saving a remnant of man- 
 kind by Christ, is a wonderful instance of his love and 
 kindness to mankind. 1 John iv. 9, ' In this was mani- 
 fested the love of God towards us, because that God sent 
 his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live 
 through him.' John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that Avhosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' 
 
 5thly. Noah and his family, after they were saved by the 
 ark, got a promise That the water should never more destroy 
 the earth, Gen. ix. 9 — 11 ; and, in token thereof, the bow 
 was set in the clouds, ver. 12 — 17. 
 
 So all that fly to Christ are secured by God's covenant 
 and promise from the wrath and curse of God, Rom. viii. 
 1, ' There is therefore now no condemnation to them who 
 are in Christ Jesus.' Isa. liv. 10 — 12, ' For the mountains 
 shall depart, and the hiUs be removed, but my kindness 
 shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of 
 my peace be removed, thou afllicted, tossed with tem- 
 pest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with 
 fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And 
 I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- 
 buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.' We read, 
 Rev. iv. 3. of a rainbow about the throne of Christ, which 
 alludes unto the transaction with Noah anent the flood. 
 
 6thly. All sorts of creatures, clean and unclean, v-ere ad- 
 mitted into the arh, without distinction, Gen. vii. 8, 9. 
 The ark was open to them all. 
 
 Just so is it now, under the New Testament. Since the 
 coming of Christ in the flesh, the gospel of the grace of 
 God is preached promiscuously unto Jews and Gentiles, 
 
64 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 without any distiDction. It is true, before the death of 
 Christ, and during his personal ministry on earth, the poor 
 Gentiles were excluded, and the disciples, when sent to 
 preach the gospel to the Jews, were discharged to go into 
 the way of the Gentiles, or to enter into any of the cities 
 of the Samaritans, Matth. x. 5. But after his death and 
 resurrection, their commission is enlarged, and the door is 
 cast open unto all nations, Mark xvi. 15, ' Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' It is 
 true, too, the apostles, even after the resurrection of 
 Christ, and the down-pouring of the Spirit in his extraor- 
 dinary gifts, could not understand this commission of 
 preaching the gospel to every creature, but continued 
 preaching it to the Jews only. Acts x. 19. until they were 
 cured of their mistake, by Peter's vision of beasts clean 
 and unclean. Acts x. 11 — 16. and the Holy Ghost falling 
 down upon the Gentiles, as weU as upon the Jews, ver. 44. 
 But thereupon they began, according to their commission, 
 to preach the gospel to all without any distinction ; and 
 when the Jews refused the gospel, the apostles turned 
 themselves unto the Gentiles, Acts xiii. 43 — 49. So that I 
 say, as Noah admitted of beasts clean and unclean into the 
 ark, in order to their being saved from the deluge ; so our 
 great New Testament ark is opened to sinners of aU sorts 
 and sizes ; if they be descended of the first Adam, they are 
 all welcome to a second x'ldam, Prov. viii. 4, ' Unto you, 
 men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.' But this 
 leads me to 
 
 III. The third thing in the method, which was to speak 
 a little of the door of access unto the New Testament ark. 
 
 Noah's ark stood open until the creatures that could not 
 subsist in the waters had entered in, and until the deluge 
 broke out. Gen. vii. 7 — 9 ; for, if it had been shut, no 
 creature could have entered into it, or been saved. 
 
 Just so, if there were not a way or door of access unto 
 Christ, no flesh could be saved. But we bring you good 
 tidings of great joy, Luke ii. 10. Christ is a common ark, 
 a common Saviour, to sinners of mankind : And to en- 
 
ARK OPENED. 65 
 
 courage poor perishing sinners to come to him, I will tell 
 you of several doors by which entrance by faith is to be 
 liad into the New Testament ark, that you may not perish 
 in the deluge. 
 
 1st. The door of the revelation of Christ as a Saviour 
 come into the world. What is the design of the whole 
 scriptures of truth, from the beginning to the ending, but 
 to make Christ known to the sons of men, in order to their 
 believing in him, that they may be saved from the wrath 
 to come. John xx. last, ' These things are written, that 
 ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
 and that believing ye might have life through his name.' 
 John V. 39, ' Search the scriptures, for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' 
 Sirs, Christ is evidently set forth before you in the word 
 read and preached, his whole righteousness and salvation 
 is set before you, and brought near to you; and pray, for 
 what end % Just that you may improve him to all the ends 
 of his saving offices. They that want the Bible and a 
 preached gospel will have far more to say for themselves, 
 than you unto whom the word of God and the gospel of 
 salvation is sent, (John xv. 22. compared with Matth. x. 
 15. Rom. X. 14.) for ' how shall they believe in him of 
 whom they have not heard % and how shall they hear with- 
 out a preacher ? ' But this is not the case with you ; for 
 Christ is nigh to you, in your mouths and hearts, even in 
 this word of faith which we preach, Rom. x. 8. So that 
 the very revelation of Christ is a door of faith, especially 
 when we declare to you, from Christ's own mouth, ' that 
 he came not into the world to condemn the world, but 
 that the world through him might be saved,' John iii. 17. 
 2dly. The incarnation of the Son of God, or his assuming 
 our nature into a personal union with his divine nature, is 
 a blessed door of faith for any poor perishing sinner of 
 Adam's family. This we find is set forth for a ground of 
 faith through the whole scriptures of truth. It was the 
 first thing proposed to Adam and Eve immediately after 
 the fall, when they were under awful apprehensions of 
 
Ot) THE XEVT TESTAMENT 
 
 present death, Gen. iii. 14, 15. They were to believe, that 
 the Son of God, who was speaking to them, would, in the 
 fulness of time, become the seed of the woman, or be in- 
 carnate, and avenge their quarrel ; and the faith of this 
 eased and quieted their spirits, because in this they saw 
 that God was upon their side. So in the promise made to 
 Abraham, the incarnation of the Son of God was pre- 
 sented unto him and his posterity, Gen. xxii. 18, ' In thy 
 seed shaU all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Upon 
 which the apostle, Gal. iii. 16, gives the following com- 
 mentary, ' He doth not speak of seeds as of many, but 
 as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.' In the 
 rest of the scriptures, where these two promises are 
 more fully opened, we find the incarnation of the Son of 
 God presented as a ground of faith and hope to the church 
 of God. David in the Psalms, frequently speaks of him 
 as man, Psal. viii. 4. compared with Heb. ii. 6, — the Son of 
 man, and the Man of God's right hand, Psal. Ixxx. 17. 
 Isaiah speaks of him as a child born unto us, although at 
 the same time his name is The Mighty God, chap. ix. (J. 
 Jeremiah speaks of him as a Branch of righteousness, 
 chap, xxxiii. 15. that was to spring out of the root of 
 Jesse, Isa. xi. 1. And everywhere almost in the New Tes- 
 tament, he is presented as the Word made flesh, John i. 
 14 ; made of a woman. Gal. iv. 4 ; the seed of the woman, 
 Gen. iii, 16; born of a virgin, Matth. i. 16; who 'took not 
 on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham,' Heb. 
 ii. 16. And commonly, when he speaks of himself through 
 the evangelists, he denominates himself by the human 
 nature, rather than by the divine, ' The Son of man.' 
 One special reason of which is, as I think, because the 
 faith of sinners could not terminate or fix upon his divine 
 nature, but by ^drtue of his human nature. The hand of 
 faith lays hold upon the skirt of the human nature, that 
 it may thereby draw, as it were, the divine nature along 
 with it, knowing that the personal union between these 
 two natures cannot be dissolved. 
 
 Now, that there is here a general ground of faith laid 
 
ARK OPENED. C7 
 
 for all mankind that hear of this great mj'stcry of godli- 
 ness, God manifested in the flesh, appears, if we consider, 
 that it was not the person, but the nature of man that 
 Christ assumed. And the nature of man is equally related 
 to every man and woman, that possesses a true body, and 
 a reasonable soul. Insomuch that every one that hears of 
 him is warranted to say. This is my brother, ' bone of my 
 ])one, and flesh of my flesh,' Gen. ii. 23. as Adam said of 
 Eve when presented unto him, and therefore a help meet 
 for me, ver. 20. Sirs, consider this, and dwell upon it. 
 (Jhrist, by virtue of his incarnation, is our Goel or Kins- 
 man, he is our blood relation, and he took part of your 
 flesh, that so he might be capable to act a part for you, 
 which none else of the human race was capable to do, 
 even to redeem you by his blood, and by death to bruise 
 the head of the serpent. And is not this a noble ground 
 of faith, trust, and confidence in him 1 Sirs ! enter in 
 and take possession of the New Testament ark, by this 
 door of his incarnation, and claim him as yours, by an ap- 
 propriating faith, saying with the church, Isa. ix. 6. To us 
 (or to me) is this child born — this son given. This doc- 
 trine was delivered by the angels at the birth of Christ, 
 as good tidings of great joy unto all people, Luke ii. 10, 11, 
 where they say to the shepherds, (not to us, but) ' to you 
 is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is 
 Christ the Lord.' 
 
 3dly. Another passage by which faith may enter into the 
 New Testament ark, is Christ's oledience to the law, which was 
 ■violated, broken, and dishonoured by the sin of the first 
 Adam, and of all his posterity. For understanding of this, 
 know that the condition upon v.-hich life was promised to 
 Adam, and to all mankind in him, was perfect obedience 
 unto the command of the law, ' He that doth these things 
 shall live in them,' Lev. xviii. 5. compared with Gal. iii. 12. 
 And if Adam had continued in his obedience, he and his 
 posterity might have claimed temporal, spiritual, and eter- 
 nal life, as a debt due to them (though not upon the account 
 of the intrinsic merit of his obedience, yet) by virtue of 
 
68 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 the paction in the covenant of works. Well, man being in 
 honour, continued not, Psal. xlix. 12. compared with Gen. 
 iii. 6. He brake the covenant by eating the forbidden 
 fruit ; and all his children's teeth ever since have been set 
 on edge against God, their carnal minds being enmity 
 against God, are not subject to the law of God, Rom. viii. 7. 
 By which means they have lost their title to that life pro- 
 mised in the first covenant, and are fallen under the sentence 
 of death, and without the honour of the law be repaired by 
 a perfect obedience yielded unto it by man, or one in man's 
 nature, it stands as an eternal bar in the way of life and 
 salvation unto all mankind. 
 
 Well, Christ, the eternal Son of God, as man's Kinsman 
 and Surety, undertakes to repair the broken law, saying 
 to his Father, ' Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is 
 written of me, I dehght to do thy will, my God ; yea, thy 
 law is within my heart,' Psal. xl. 7, 8. compared with Heb. 
 X. 7. as if he had said, ' Let my ear be bored unto thy ser- 
 vice in this matter, for it is the firm purpose of my heart 
 to fulfil all righteousness that the law requires of mankind 
 sinners.' And accordingly, in the fulness of time, he is not 
 only made of a woman, but made under the law. Gal. iv. 4. 
 and in our stead and room magnifies the law and makes it 
 honourable, Isa. xlii. 21. By this means, 'all legal bars 
 and impediments lying in the way of salvation and life, 
 on the part of the command of the law is made up again, 
 and the law as fully satisfied as though it had never been 
 broken, and the title to the life promised in the covenant of 
 works comes to stand in the person of our common Kinsman 
 and blood relation ;' upon which account, his righteousness 
 and salvation is published and brought near unto all ; yea, 
 even unto them that are stout-hearted and far from righteous- 
 ness, Isa. xlvi. at the close. And you see in the fortieth 
 psalm, after he had said to his Father, in the council of 
 peace, ' I delight to do thy will, my God, yea, thy law is 
 within my heart,' immediately he adds, ver. 9, 10, ' I have 
 preached righteousness in the great congregation : I have 
 not refrained my lips, Lord, thou knowest. I have not 
 
ARK OPENED. 69 
 
 hid thy righteousness within my heart,' cfcc. Thus you see 
 that all who have the gospel preached unto them have a 
 right of access to his righteousness or perfect obedience to 
 the law ; and whoever they be that believe in him as the 
 Lord our righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 6. they enter into the 
 New Testament ark, and are saved from the deluge of 
 God's wrath ; ' For there is no condemnation to them that 
 are in Christ Jesus,' because the righteousness of the law 
 is fulfilled in them, Rom. viii. 1, 3, 4. and x. 4. Christ be- 
 comes the end of the law for righteousness to them. Hence 
 is that of the apostle, 2 Cor. v. at the close, ' God was in 
 Christ, not imputing their trespasses to them : for he hath 
 made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might 
 be made the righteousness of God in him.' 
 
 4tlily. The death of Christ, or his atoning Hood, is another 
 door by which poor sinners do enter into the New Testa- 
 ment ark, and are saved from the deluge of divine wrath. 
 We are said to come by faith unto the blood of sprinkling, 
 Heb. xii. 24. ' and to enter into the hoKest by the blood of 
 Jesus,' chap. x. 19. Christ as crucified is evidently set 
 forth. Gal, iii. 1. before all, in the dispensation of the gos- 
 pel ;. hence the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, ' That he 
 determined not to know any thing among them, save Jesus 
 Christ, and him crucified,' 1 Cor. ii. 2. Christ says, speak- 
 ing of his death, ' And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
 will draw all men unto me,' John xii. 32. And accordingly, 
 when the apostles went through the nations preaching the 
 gospel, what was the great theme they continually dwelt 
 upon 1 ' We,' says he, ' preach Christ crucified, unto the 
 Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; 
 but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, 
 Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,' 1 Cor. i. 
 23, 24. 
 
 For clearing this matter of the death of Christ as a 
 ground of faith, you must know that there is a threefold 
 sufficiency in the death of Christ. 
 
 1. An intrimic sufficiency, arising from the infinite dig- 
 nity of his person who sufiered, being the infinite God in 
 
70 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 the person of the Son, clothed with a veil of flesh ; and in 
 this respect there was such a value in his death and blood, 
 that it was sufficient, not only to redeem all mankind, but 
 ten thousand worlds, supposing their existence and fall too, 
 if it had been so ordained. But, 
 
 2. There is an ordinate sufficiency, whereby the death and 
 satisfaction of Christ is limited unto the elect, and in this 
 respect Christ declares that he laid down his life for the 
 sheep, John x. 15. 
 
 3. There is a legal sufficiency, by which the law and its 
 penalty is fully answered ; insomuch that neither law nor 
 justice is any obstruction or bar in the way of a sinner's 
 salvation that believes in him ; but, on the contrary, that 
 moment a sinner believes in him, ' all the charges that the 
 law and justice had against the poor sinner, are all can- 
 celled,' Gal. iii. 10. Col. ii. 14. Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34 
 
 Now, when we speak of the death of Christ as a ground 
 of faith, we abstract entirely from the ordinate sufficiency 
 of it for the elect ; for that being among the secret things 
 that belong unto the Lord, Deut. xxix. 29. it can never be 
 a ground of faith unto any man, no, not unto the elect 
 themselves, that Christ died for the elect, otherwise a man 
 behoved to know his election before he adventured to be- 
 lieve, which is a thing absolutely impossible, inasmuch as 
 our election of God is a thing that can only be known by 
 obeying the call of the gospel. Hence we are commanded, 
 2 Pet. i. 10, ' to give all diligence to make our calling and 
 (then) our election sure.' And therefore, seeing it is not 
 the ordinate suflSiciency of the death of Christ that we are 
 commanded to preach, which would lead us in among the 
 secret decrees of God, which do not belong unto us, it 
 must needs be the intrinsic and legal sufficiency of the 
 death of Christ that is to be held forth as the ground and 
 foundation of faith to sinners of mankind. Hence are these 
 universal and extensive expressions in scripture, John i. 29, 
 ' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of 
 the world.' 1 John ii. 2, * He is the propitiation for our 
 sins ; and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole 
 
AUK OPENED. 71 
 
 world.' 1 Tim. iv. 10, ' He is the Saviour of all men, espe- 
 cially of those who believe.' All mankind have such an 
 interest in the death and satisfaction of Christ as the devils 
 have not. Yea, considering that it was the human nature 
 that was the sacrifice, and that all mankind are related to 
 him through his taking hold of the human nature, (as was 
 said,) it is impossible to conceive how all mankind, espe- 
 cially gospsl hearers, should not have an interest in his death, 
 I mean such as warrants them to say, in faith, ' He loved 
 me, and gave himself for me,' Gal. ii. 20. ' He was deliv- 
 ered for our offences,' Rom. iv. 25. ' He was wounded for 
 our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities,' &c., Isa. liii. 
 5. And upon this account I conceive that the death of 
 Christ, and the benefits flowing therefrom, is said to be ' a 
 feast made unto all people, of fat things full of marrow, of 
 wines on the lees well refined,' Isa. xxv. 6. This is the 
 carcase unto which all the hungry eagles of mankind should 
 gather, and feed to the full. Matt. xxiv. 28. Hence it is 
 that, Luke xiv. 21, 23, ' The poor, the maimed, the halt, 
 and the blind, that lie about the hedges and highways, aro 
 called, yea compelled, to come in ' and feast with him. 
 
 5thly. The great and 2^recious promises of the covenant of 
 grace, especially the absolute promises, (which have no 
 manner of condition annexed to them,) are another door 
 by which faith enters into the New Testament ark, and 
 saves the soul from the deluge of divine wrath. A pro- 
 mise of Christ was the first door opened to Adam and Eve 
 immediately after the fall. Gen. iii. 15. It (viz., the seed 
 of the woman) shall bruise thy head (viz., the serpent's). 
 After the same manner the door of faith was opened to 
 Abraham, Gen. xxii. 18, ' And in thy seed shall all the na- 
 tions of the earth be blessed.' And (in that promised seed) 
 ' I will be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,' chap, 
 xvii. 7. All the other promises are so many streams and 
 little rivulets of grace that flow out of the womb of these 
 two promises ; such as Isa. xliv. 3, ' For I will pour water 
 upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ;' 
 Jcr. xxiv. 7, ' I give them a heart to know me, that I am 
 
72 THE XEW TESTAMENT 
 
 the Lord ;' Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27, ' Then will I sprinkle clean 
 water upon you, and ye shall be clean : and from all your 
 filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you ; a new 
 heart also will I give you,' <fec. ' And I wiU put my Spirit 
 within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes ; ' Hos. 
 xiv. 4, ' I will heal their backshding, I will love them 
 freely.' Now, it is by virtue of these great and precious 
 promises of the new covenant that we receive and apply 
 Christ, and his righteousness and fulness, as our excellent 
 confession of faith well expresses it ; and therefore I call 
 this promise of God a door by which we enter into the New 
 Testament ark. 
 
 For further clearing of this matter, know and consider 
 that the promises of God carry a general endorsement or 
 direction to all the race of Adam, and especially to all the 
 visible church, Luke ii. 9, 'I bring you good tidings of 
 great joy which shall be to all people.' Wisdom's promis- 
 ing voice is to men, and to the sons of men : ' To you is the 
 v/ord of this salvation sent.' The apostle Peter, Acts ii. 38. 
 when he is preaching to a company of men who had im- 
 brued their hands in the blood of Christ, calls them to re- 
 pent, ' Repent every one of you, and be baptized, in the 
 name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins ; ' and to 
 lead them to repentance, he discovers to them the mercy 
 of God in Christ, by presenting to them the promise of 
 pardon in the blood of the Messiah, which they had shed, 
 saying, ver. 39, ' The promise is unto you, and to your chil- 
 dren, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord 
 our God shall call.' And what Peter said to his hearers, 
 that I say unto every one of you, ' The promise is unto you, 
 and to your children.' And as the apostle Paul tells the 
 Hebrews, chap. iv. 1, the promise is left to you as God's 
 charter for the good land of glory, as God's promise was 
 given to Israel as a security or charter for the land of 
 Canaan. Yes, God's promise is our charter for eternal life, 
 and ' therefore let us fear, lest a promise being left us of 
 entering into his rest, any of us should seem to come short 
 of it.' But as that generation of men that came out of 
 
ARK OPENED. 73 
 
 Egypt could not enter in, because of their unbelief, just so, 
 there are many, many, that shall never enter into the land 
 of glory above, because of their unbelief. They have a 
 good right, but they lose the benefit of their right by un- 
 belief, as Israel did, who believed not in God, and trusted 
 not in his salvation, Psal. Ixxviii. 22. so that you see the 
 promise is a door for entering into the ark. Oh ! do not 
 shut the door of faith upon yourselves, lest God shut it 
 also, and swear in his wrath that ye shall not enter into it, 
 but be left to perish in the deluge, Psal. xcv. 7. 
 
 6thly. Another door by which faith enters into the New 
 Testament ark, is the Father's gift of Christ unto mankind 
 lost. There is such a gift of Christ in the word as warrants 
 any man that reads it to receive, appropriate, and apply 
 Christ and all his purchased salvation to himself in particu- 
 lar, and to rejoice in him as his own property. Isa. Iv. 4, ' Be- 
 hold I have given him for a Witness unto the people, a 
 Leader and Commander unto the people ; ' Isa. xlii. 6, ' I 
 will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of 
 the Gentiles ; ' chap. xlix. 6, ' I will also give thee for a 
 light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation 
 unto the end of the earth ;' John iii. 16, ' God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting 
 life ; ' John vi. 32, ' My Father giveth you the true bread 
 from heaven;' Isa ix. 6, 'Unto us a child is born, unto us 
 a son is given.' From these and many other places, it ap- 
 pears there is such an universal gift or grant of Christ unto 
 sinners of mankind, as makes it lawful and warrantable 
 for every one to receive, use, and apply him for all the 
 ends for which he is given, — for wisdom, righteousness, 
 sanctification, and redemption. No man doubts of his 
 right to take or receive a gift when it is held out to him, 
 and he bidden take it. And it argues a very strange infa- 
 tuation in men and women, that they should so readily 
 grasp at a gift of this world's good, and yet be backward 
 in receiving God's unspeakable gift, that would make them 
 up in time and through all eternity. If I had this house 
 
74 THE >^E-W TESTA3IENT 
 
 full of gold and silver to distribute and scatter among you, 
 and were calling every man and woman, young and old, 
 to come and get as much as they want, I am sure there 
 would be few or none in that case that would draw back, 
 every one would be more forward than another to receive 
 or gather. Well, Sirs, why so forward to receive worldly 
 riches that take wings and flee away, and yet refuse to re- 
 ceive Christ and his unsearchable riches which we are scat- 
 tering among you in the dispensation of the word ? Here 
 is the great gift of heaven, without money or price. Here 
 is the gift of life ; for, ' He that hath the Son, hath life,' 
 1 John V. 12. Here is the gift of righteousness, that will 
 entitle you to God, to heaven, and glory, and all the good 
 of the covenant. Here is given gold tried in the fire, Rev. 
 iii. 18. that moth and rust cannot corrupt. Matt. \'i. 20. 
 Here is the best robe, Luke xv. 22. — White raiment. Rev. 
 iii. 18. Clothing that doth not wax old. Here is the mer- 
 chandise of wisdom, that is better than the merchandise of 
 silver, and her gain, which is better than fine gold. Prov. 
 iii. 1, 4. 
 
 7thly. The command of God, that is laid ujyon every one 
 that hears the gosjoel, to believe in Christ, is a blessed door of 
 access into the New Testament ark, John iii. 23, ' This is 
 his commandment, that we should beheve in the name of 
 his Son Jesus Christ.' Sirs, God has such a good will to- 
 wards our salvation, that he has concluded us under a law, 
 and has interposed his authority, enjoining us to believe 
 in the name of his Son ; and he has fenced this law with 
 the most awful and terrible threatening in case of disobe- 
 dience ; ' He that bclicveth not is condemned already, be- 
 cause he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten 
 Son of God,' John iii. 18. Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we escape 
 if we neglect so great salvation ? ' chap. x. 28, 29, ' He that 
 despised Moses' law died without mercy, under two or 
 three witnesses ; of how much sorer punishment, suppose 
 ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under 
 foot the Son of God ; ' chap. vi. 5, ' crucified unto themselves 
 the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.' 
 
ARK OPENED. 
 
 Thus you see that the command is peremptory, that you 
 must believe in the name of Christ ; you must receive liim 
 as the gift of God, otherwise you shall sink in the mighty 
 waters of the deluge of eternal wrath and vengeance, and 
 Christ himself will resent it to the uttermost if his salva- 
 tion be slighted ; for he will come in flaming lire to take 
 vengeance on all them who know not God, and who obey 
 not this great command of believing in the name of the 
 only begotten Son of God, 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. 
 
 Object. 1. ' I am afraid it be presumption in me to be- 
 lieve in and apply Christ.' 
 
 Ans. It can never be presumption to obey an express and 
 positive command of God. Is it presumption to pray 1 Is 
 it presumption to read the word 1 Is it presumption to 
 hear the word ? Is it presumption to sanctify God's name ? 
 and is it presumption to remember the Sabbath 1 You do 
 not reckon it presumption to do any of these, because ye 
 are commanded of God ; as little can it be presumption to 
 ' believe in Christ, seeing this is his commandment,' 1 John 
 iii. 21. 
 
 Object. 2. ' I am such a great sinner, that I am afraid it 
 is not I who am commanded to believe.' 
 
 Ans. The command of believing is to all without excep- 
 tion, great sinners, and sinners of a lesser size ; Isa. i. M, 
 ' Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : 
 Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as 
 snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as 
 wool.' If the command of believing were not to every one, 
 then unbelief would not be their sin; for 'where there 
 is no law, there is no trangression,' Rom. v. 13. But un- 
 belief is a sin of the deepest dye, and makes every sin else 
 unpardonable, by rejecting the only remedy. 
 
 01)ject. 3. You tell us, 'That we are commanded to be- 
 lieve ; and yet at the same time tell us that we want power 
 to believe ; that it is the work of God, John vi. 29. and that 
 exceeding great and mighty power of God, that raised 
 Christ from the dead, that must make us to believe.' E^h. 
 i. 19, 20. 
 
76 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 Ans. It is very true, ye cannot believe; 'No man 
 can come to Christ, except the Father draw him,' John 
 \i. 44. and yet ye are commanded to believe, not by us, 
 but by that God that commands 'things that are not 
 as though they were,' Rom. iv. 17. and he commands you, 
 impotent sinners, 'dead in sin, to believe in the name 
 of his Son ; ' that, from a sense of your own impotency you 
 may turn the work upon himself, as 'the Author and 
 Finisher of faith,' Heb. xii. 2. And his command is the 
 vehicle of power : as when he commanded the man with 
 the withered hand, ' Stretch forth thine hand,' Matth. xii. 
 13. the poor man attempted to obey, and in the attempt at 
 obedience got power to stretch out his hand as he was 
 commanded : so, after his example do ye. Attempt duty, 
 depending on the power of him who commands you to be- 
 lieve, that he may ' fulfil in you all the good pleasure of his 
 goodness, and the work of faith with power,' 2 Thess. i. 11. 
 
 Object 4. ' But all my labours will be in vain if I be not 
 elected; for it is only they that are ordained to eternal 
 life that will believe,' Acts xiii. 48. 
 
 Ans. It is true the election shall obtain, Rom. xi. 7. 
 though others be hardened; but let me tell you, in the 
 matter of belie\-ing, you have no more concern with the 
 secret counsels of God, than you have in buying or selling, 
 eating or drinking, or such like common actions of life. 
 If any man should say, I wiU not open my shop-door, be- 
 cause I do not know if God has decreed that I should sell 
 any wares ; or, I do not know if God has ordained that any 
 man should buy them : Or, if a man should say, I will 
 neither eat nor drink, because God has fixed the term of 
 my life : I am sure I shall live as long as God has ordained, 
 whatever I do : Or, I may cast myself down a precipice, or 
 attempt to walk upon the waters, because I shall not 
 perish till God's appointed time come : I say, would you 
 not reckon that man mad, or distracted, that would argue 
 at that rate 1 Yet the case is the same when he argues, 
 That he needs not fly to Christ, or enter into the New 
 Testament ark, because if he be elected to eternal life he 
 
ARK OPENED. 77 
 
 shall never perish, whether he believe or not. Sirs, let not 
 the devil and a deceitful heart lead you in among the de- 
 crees of God, which are secret ; for ' the secret things be- 
 long unto the Lord our God ; but those things which are 
 revealed belong unto us, and to our children,' Deut. xxix. 
 29. Follow commanded duty : believe in the Son of God ; 
 and then you shall know your election of God. 
 
 IV. The fourth thing in the method, which was, to speak 
 of the soul's actual entering by these doors into the New 
 Testament ark. It does so by faith. ^ By faith Noah, being 
 warned of things not seen as yet, prepared an ark.' 
 
 I find faith expressed in scripture under the notion of 
 entering, John x. 9, 'I am the door : by me if any man 
 enter in, he shall be saved,' and Heb. iv. 3, ' For we who 
 have believed do enter into rest;' and ver. 7, 'Let us 
 therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into 
 his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.' Of 
 the same import is that expression of turning unto Christ 
 as a stronghold or refuge, Zech. ix. 12. 
 
 All I shall say upon this head is, to illustrate a little 
 the nature of faith, under the similitude of Noah's enter- 
 ing into the ark, and the creatures that were saved there 
 with him. 
 
 1. Then, we see in the text, that Noah was warned of 
 God of his danger before he prepared an ark, or fled unto it. 
 
 Just so is it with sinners in the matter of believing in 
 Christ. God gives the sinner warning of the danger he is 
 in of the wrath to come. As God gave public warning to 
 the old world, by the ministry of Noah, of the approaching 
 deluge : so by the word read and preached, particularly by 
 the preaching of the law, there is warning given to all 
 sinners of the danger they are in of perishing for ever. 
 The voice of God in the law to sinners is, Gal. iii. 10, 
 ' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things 
 which are written in the book of the law to do them.' 
 Rom. ii. 8, 9, ' Indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
 anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil.' Psal. 
 ix. 17, ' The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the 
 
iS THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 nations that forget God. — The wages of sin is death.* 
 Now, these and the like warnings are carried in and 
 brought home to the soul in particular, by the power of 
 the eternal Spirit, before the sinner enters into the New- 
 Testament ark; and the sinner is made to believe the 
 truth of these threatenings. For there is a law of faith, 
 and a particular application of these and the like threat- 
 enings, before there be a true gospel faith of the remedy. 
 Hence, 
 
 2. You see that Noah was moved with fear before he pre- 
 pared an ark, or entered thereinto. What was he afraid 
 of? say you. I answer. He was afraid of perishing in the 
 deluge with the rest of the wicked world. ' He prepared 
 an ark to the saving of his house.' 
 
 Just so is the case with sinners in the matter of believ- 
 ing, or flying to Christ ; they are moved with the fear of 
 an angry God, against whom they have sinned. And 
 hence it is, that the sinner, through the terror of God, 
 and of an awakened conscience, falls a trembling with the 
 jailer. Acts xvi. 30. and cries, ' What must I do to be 
 saved 1 Oh ! to whom shall I fly for help, Isa. x. 3. ' Who 
 among us shall dwell with the devouring fire ? and who 
 among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? ' Isa. 
 xxxiii. 14. This is what is commonly called a law work, 
 which every one that believes hath either in a greater or 
 lesser degree : For ' The law is our schoolmaster to lead us 
 unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith,' (fcc, Gal. 
 iii. 24. 
 
 3. Noah renounced all the false confidences that the men 
 of the old world betook themselves unto for shelter against 
 the deluge. There is no doubt but the inliabitants of the 
 old world, when they saw the ' windows of heaven opened, 
 and the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the 
 waters increasing and swelling,' would fly to the highest 
 houses or mountains to save them from the waters of the 
 deluge, in hopes that the waters would stay before they 
 came up where they were. But Noah knew other things ; 
 he knew that these were but lying refuges, and that the 
 
ARK OPENED. 79 
 
 waters would overtop the highest mountains in the world : 
 And therefore he renounced these vain refuges and betook 
 himself unto the ark. 
 
 Just so is it in the matter of believing in Christ. The 
 poor soul is made to see that ' in vain is salvation to be 
 expected from the hills, and from the multitude of moun- 
 tains,' Jer. iii. 23. — ' That the hail shall sweep away the 
 refuge of lies,' Isa. xxviii. 17. — And the waters overflow 
 all these hiding places, which hypocrites, the carnal world- 
 ling, or legalist, betake themselves unto : and therefore it 
 flies for refuge unto Christ, that blessed hope set before it, 
 Heb, vi. 18., in the gospel, knowing that there is no 
 name given — whereby to be saved, but by the name of 
 Jesus. 
 
 4. Noah believed that the ark (being God's ordinance) 
 was sufiScient to save him and his family from the deluge. 
 
 So in the matter of belie\'ing, Christ is taken up as an 
 all-sufiicient Saviour, ' able also to save unto the utter- 
 most, all that come unto God by him,' Heb. vii. 25 ; and 
 as he is appointed and ordained of God to be a Saviour 
 every way qualified for the salvation of lost sinners, and 
 made of God ' unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification and redemption,' 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 5. God gave to the living creatures (that were to be 
 saved alive in the ark) a certain instinct, which made them 
 to move from all parts of the earth towards the ark, and 
 at last to enter into it. 
 
 Just so is it in the matter of believing. God gives an 
 instinct, a supernatural instinct, unto the poor sinner tliat 
 makes him restless, until he win Christ, and be found in 
 him, Phil. iii. 8, 9. This is nothing else but that drawing 
 power of the word and Spirit of God, whereby the sinner 
 is led to the Rock that is higher than all other refuges ; 
 John vi. 44, ' No man,' says Christ, 'can come unto me, ex- 
 cept the Father which hath sent me draw him :' IIos. xi. 
 3, ' I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.' 
 You know the bees, before a shower, by a certain instinct 
 fly into the hive : just so is it here. 
 
80 THE XEW TESTAMEXT 
 
 6. Noah's faith rested (not in the boards of the ark but) 
 in God who had appointed him to prepare it. 
 
 So in the matter of beheving, true faith terminates upon 
 ' God — in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,' 2 Cor. 
 V. 19. The great design of God in manifesting himself in 
 the flesh, is not that our faith should terminate upon 
 the man Christ Jesus, but upon God in him. You have a 
 word to this purpose, 1 Pet. i. 21, ' Who by him do believe 
 in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him 
 glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.' So that 
 you see, the scope of the whole work of redemption 
 (through Christ) is to bring us to trust in God, and to 
 place our confidence in him, as a God with us. Sirs, re- 
 member that God alone is the object of faith; and if your 
 faith terminate upon any thing inferior to God, Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, it is not saving faith, for it doth 
 not answer the very first command of the law, 'Thou 
 shalt have no other gods before me,' Exod. xx. 3. 
 
 7. When Noah entered into the ark, it was with a reso- 
 lution to abide there, until the waters of the deluge were 
 abated. 
 
 Just so is it here ; when a sinner comes by faith unto 
 Christ for refuge, he comes with a design to abide in him, 
 not (like Noah with his ark) for a while, but for ever. 
 The soul in beheving cries concerning Christ, ' This is my 
 rest for ever, here wiU I dweU ; ' Psal. cxxxii. 14. It is 
 the wiU of Christ that we should abide in him, 1 John ii. 
 28, ' And now little children, abide in him, that when he 
 shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed, 
 before him at his coming ; ' John xv. 4 — 7, ' I am the vine, 
 ye are the branches : he that abideth in me, and I in him, 
 the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye 
 can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast 
 forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, 
 and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye 
 abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what 
 ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' 
 
 V. The fifth thing in the method was to apply this doctrine. 
 
ARK OPENED. 81 
 
 And the only uses I make of the doctrine shall he in a 
 word of trial and exhortation. 
 
 Use first shall be in a word of trial and examination. 
 
 And that which I would have you to try, is, Whether 
 have you got into the New Testament ark Christ, where 
 alone a sinner can be in safety from the deluge of divine 
 wrath. I remember John the Baptist says unto the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, Matth. iii. 7, '0 generation of 
 vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to 
 come ? ' So say I to you, Have you, upon God's warning, 
 by the word of the law, fled for refuge unto Christ, and 
 taken up your residence and abode in him 1 I offer these 
 few marks for trial. 
 
 1. If ever you have fled to the New Testament ark, you 
 have seen the devouring deluge of God's wrath ready to 
 swallow you up, and you have seen yourselves upon the 
 very brink of perishing for ever in the deep waters, so 
 that you have been made to cry out. Oh ' what shall I do 
 to be saved 1 ' Acts xvi. 30. 
 
 2. God has broken all your false props and confidences, 
 and made you see they are nothing but lying refuges that 
 would betray you. So was it with Paul at his conversion, 
 ' what things were gain to him, these he counted loss for 
 Christ,' Phil. iii. 7. ' Ashur shall not save us,' Hos. xiv. 3. 
 
 3. You have (by the light of the word and Spirit) got 
 such a discovery of the glory, structure, beauty, and excel- 
 lency, of the New Testament ark, as has filled you with 
 wonder and admiration at the love, mercy, and grace of 
 God, in providing such an ark, such a Saviour. 2 Cor. iv. 
 6, ' For God, who commanded the light to shine out of 
 darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the Kght of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus 
 Christ.' Oh, will the soul say, at the sight of the ark 
 Christ, 'What hath God wrought?' Numb, xxiii. 23; 
 ' This is the Lord's doing, it is wonderful in our eyes,' 
 Psal. cxviii. 23 ; ' Without controversy, great is the mys- 
 tery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh ! ' (fcc. 1 
 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
82 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 4. If ever you have entered into the ark, you have seen 
 a reconciled God in the ark Christ, ' For God is in Christ, 
 reconciling the world unto himself,' 2 Cor. v. 19. This is 
 the very thing that induces and encourages the soul to 
 enter into it. The poor soul could see nothing before, but 
 God a devouring flame to consume it; but, looking to 
 Christ, it sees a smiling God, saying, ' This is my beloved 
 Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Matth. xvii. 5. Sirs, 
 this is the very thing that begets faith, love, hope, and 
 confidence, God's love in giving Christ, John iii. 16, ' God 
 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,' &c. 
 Now have you seen God to be love ? and have you seen his 
 love manifested in this, that he sent his only begotten Son 
 into the world, that we might live through him 1 I John 
 iv. 9. and has the faith of this love killed your enmity ? 
 
 5. If you have fled to the New Testament ark, you will 
 be so well pleased with your new lodging, and your safety 
 therein, that your hearts wiU be filled with gratitude, and 
 your tongues with the high praises of the Lord, that ever 
 provided such an ark, and that ever brought you into it. 
 You will sing and say with the church, Micah vii. 18, 
 ' Who is a God Uke unto thee, who pardoneth iniquity, and 
 passeth by the transgression of the remnant of thine 
 heritage ; ' and with David, Psal ciii. at the beginning, 
 ' Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless 
 his holy name : Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget not 
 all his benefits : ' and with Israel, when God had brought 
 them through the Red sea, and delivered them from the 
 hand of the Egyptians, Exod. xv. 11, 'I will sing unto the 
 Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously,' &c. 
 
 6. If you have ever fled into the ark, then you wiU be 
 new creatures ; for if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature, old things have passed away, 2 Cor. v. 17. You have 
 got new light in your understanding, a new will and aflec- 
 tions, you wiR not walk according to your old lusts in the 
 flesh, or according to the course of the world ; no, but as 
 the ark and they that were in it were lifted up above the 
 earth upon the waters, towards heaven, so you wiU not lie 
 
ARK OPENED. §3 
 
 grovelling upon the earth, but ' seek things that are above, 
 where Christ is,' Col. iii. 1. 
 
 7. You have got something of the Spirit of Christ : for 
 * if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his,' 
 Rom. viii. 9. ' But he that is joined unto the Lord, is one 
 spirit,' 1 Cor. vi. 17. And his Spirit will be in you as 'a 
 well of water springing up unto everlasting life,' John iv. 
 14. The Spirit will convince you of sin, &c. 
 
 8. If you have fled to the New Testament ark, you will 
 be concerned to get as many as possible into the ark with 
 you ; and for this end you will be telling them of their 
 danger while out of Christ, and of the great salvation that 
 is to be found in him. How active was Paul, after he 
 came to know Christ, to recommend him to others ? Acts 
 ix. 20, (fee. compared with Gal. i. 23. 
 
 Use second shall be of exhortation to all in general. 
 
 Is it so that Christ is our great New Testament ark, to 
 save from the deluge of di\dne wrath ? then, Sirs, let 
 me beseech and entreat you to consult your own safety, by 
 flying into his blessed ark, before the waters of the deluge 
 sweep you away into a miserable eternity. 
 
 I offer a few motives to stir you up to fly into the ark. 
 
 1. There is a fixed day, a time set for your entering into 
 the New Testament ark, which if it be let slip, there will 
 be no entrance into the ark, but you shall infallibly perish 
 in the deluge. ' He that lives for ever, has sworn with his 
 hand lifted up to heaven,' that there shall be no more en- 
 trance into the ark. Quest. What is the fixed time? 
 Ans. It is the day of grace, the day of life, the day of 
 salvation ; if that pass, you are gone for ever : and therefore, 
 ' To-day, if you will hear his voice,' Psal. xcv. and Heb. iii. 
 
 2. The ark is prepared of God for you, and that at an 
 infinite expense. God has provided a Saviour, Psal. 
 Ixxxix. 19, ' Help is laid upon one that is mighty;' John 
 iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not 
 perish.' The ark is finished and perfected, and made ready 
 for you : ' All things are ready,' Matth. xxii. 4. 
 
84 THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 3. The ark is at hand, it is near to us, Isa. xlvi, at the 
 close, Behold, ' I bring near my righteousness, it shall not 
 be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will 
 place salvation in Zion,' (fee. ' The word is nigh thee, even 
 in thy mouth, and in thy heart ; that is the word of faith 
 which we preach,' Rom, x. 8. 
 
 4. The ark is ordained for men and women of our 
 stamp, I mean men and women of the human nature: 
 And therefore the call is ' to men and the sons of men,' 
 Prov. viii. 4. Christ is a Saviour, not for the fallen angels, 
 but for us : ' Unto us is this child born,' Isa. ix. 6. ; he ' is 
 made of God unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption,' 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 5. Many have already entered, and are saved ; an innu- 
 merable company, 'which no man can number,' Rev. vii. 
 
 6. The doors of the ark are cast wide open to you also, 
 together with a promise of safety, 'Whosoever believeth 
 shall not perish, but have everlasting Kfe,' John iii. 16. 
 
 7. The great God commands you to enter into the ark, 
 
 1 John iii. 23, ' This is his commandment, that we should 
 believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ.' 
 
 I conclude with a word to believers who have fled into 
 the ark. 
 
 (1.) By way of comfort. 
 
 1. God is with you in the ark, ' For God is in Christ,' 
 
 2 Cor. V. 19. and he will never leave you, Heb. xii. 5. 
 
 2. ' Your life is hid with Christ in God,' Col. iii. 3. 'Be- 
 cause I live, ye shall live also,' John xiv. 19. 
 
 3. You are freed from condemnation. The law cannot 
 curse you ; though man may, yet God will not curse you, 
 Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 4. The waters of affliction shall not overwhelm you, Isa. 
 xliii. 2, 3. ; the waves may dash, but they will turn into 
 foam hke the waves of the sea. 
 
 5. Death and the grave cannot harm you, ' For you are 
 ransomed from the power of both,' Hos. xiii. 14. 
 
 (2.) A word of counsel to you that are in the ark. 
 1. Bless God that provided the ark. 
 
ARK OPENED. 85 
 
 2. Bless God that brought you into it. 
 
 3. Rejoice and glory in the Lord, triumph in him. 
 
 4. Live upon Christ and the provision you find in the 
 ark. 
 
 5. Walk worthy of the Lord, unto all well-pleasing, Col. 
 i. 10. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 THE RAINBOW OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto 
 an emerald. — Rev. iv. 3. 
 
 Not to stand in the entry, we may notice here three things 
 which John saw in a vision. 1. A throne set in heaven^ in 
 the close of the second verse. 2. The glorious Majesty 
 that sat on the throne, who was like a jasper and a sardine 
 stone for brightness. 3. The canopy of the throne, a rain- 
 bow round about it, in colour like unto an emerald. I un- 
 derstand the whole of this to have a respect immediately 
 to the church mihtant here upon earth, and the glorious 
 dispensation of the grace of God under the New Testament 
 economy. And that which inclines me to understand it 
 in this view is, because this vision is prophetical, and has 
 a respect to things that were to be done afterward, as 
 you see in the 1st verse, ' Come up hither, and I will show 
 thee things which must be hereafter;' that is, things 
 which were to be transacted in the church in the succeed- 
 ing ages and generations of the world. 
 
 Therefore by the throne here that was set in heaven, I 
 understand the throne of grace, to which we are invited to 
 come ' with boldness for grace and mercy to help in time 
 of need,' Heb. iv. 16; the throne which hath justice satis- 
 fied, and judgment executed upon the Son of God, for its 
 basis and foundation, Psal. Ixxxix. 14 ; the throne of God 
 and of the Lamb, from which proceeds ' a pure river of 
 water of life, clear as crystal,' Rev. xxii. 1. And this 
 
THE KAIXBUW OP THE COVENANT. 87 
 
 throne is said to be set hi heaven. Not as if God's throne 
 of grace were only in heaven properly so called ; fur we 
 find the church militant on earth frequently expressed by 
 heaven in scripture. She — to wit, the church — is called 
 in Heb. xii. 22. the heavenly Jerusalem, and in 1 Pet. ii. !). 
 a holy nation. And therefore by heaven here we may 
 understand the church of God in general. By him that 
 sits on the throne, I understand Christ, or God in our nature, 
 not excluding the Father and the Holy Ghost ; for it is 
 ' the throne of God and of the Lamb.' We have the same 
 description of a throne in a vision, in Ezek. i. 26. and arc 
 told, that ' above upon the throne was the appearance of 
 a man,' which can be applied to none other than the man 
 Christ Jesus ; and there is no doubt but it is the same 
 throne, and the same person sitting on it, that was seen 
 both by Ezekiel, and the apostle John. As for his posture, 
 he is represented as sitting wpon the throne. This points at 
 the perpetuity of his government, that he is in quiet pos- 
 session of it, it being for ever out of the power of his 
 enemies to disturb his administration. We are told here 
 further, that his appearance upon the throne was like a 
 jasper and a sardine stone. These stones being unknown to 
 us, we shall not take up time in telling you what is said 
 about them by naturalists, and some curious interpreters ; 
 only we may state in short, that the jasper is a bright trans- 
 parent stone, representing to the eye a variety of the most 
 vivid or lively colours, and the sardine is said to be red. 
 The scope is plainly this, to point out the admirable and in- 
 conceivable glory and excellency of an exalted Christ. Such 
 is the brightness of the Father's glory shining in him, now 
 when he is upon the throne, that all the precious things 
 on earth put together are but faint shadows and represen- 
 tations of his divine glory and excellency. The brightness 
 of the jasper, and the redness of the sardim stone, are put 
 together, to show that he is white and ruddy ; white in his 
 divine, ruddy in his human nature ; white in his holiness, 
 red in his suffering: the bright and glorious perfections of 
 God, shining through the rent vail of his human nature, 
 
88 THE RAINBOW 
 
 do as it were receive a tincture of red from the vail through 
 which they are transmitted. 
 
 But now I come to that part of John's vision which I 
 have principally in view, and that is the canopy of state 
 which covers the throne, and him that sat on it, in the 
 close of the 3d verse : And there was a rainhow round ahovZ 
 the throne^ in sight like unto an emerald. 
 
 Here I conceive there is a manifest allusion to God's 
 covenant with Noah, Gen. ix. When God called back the 
 waters of the deluge from off the face of the earth, he 
 made a promise, and bound himself by covenant that he 
 would never ' destroy the earth any more by water ; ' and 
 in token of his faithfulness in this matter, he set his how 
 in the clouds. With allusion to this, God's throne of grace, 
 or his mercy seat, from which all the promises of the cove- 
 nant do proceed, is said to be surrounded with a rainhow; 
 to signify, that as God deals with his people in the way of 
 a covenant, so his faithfulness in that covenant is ' esta- 
 blished in the very heavens.' And this bow surrounding 
 the throne is said to be in colour like unto an etnerald, that 
 is, of a green colour; to signify, that his covenant, by 
 virtue of the faithfulness of him that sits upon the throne, 
 is ever the same, without any shadow of turning. ' The 
 fashion of this world withereth and passeth away ; but the 
 word of the Lord,' his word of grace and promise, ' it en- 
 dureth for ever.' 
 
 The doctrine I take notice of from the words is this. 
 
 DocT. ' That God's covenant of grace, and his faithful- 
 ness engaged therein, is like a beautiful rainbow surround- 
 ing the throne of grace, for the encouragement of our 
 faith and trust in him that sits on it.' 
 
 In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall, through divine 
 assistance, do these things following. 
 
 I. OiFer a few thoughts respecting the covenant of grace 
 or promise. 
 
 II. Take a view of this covenant, under the similitude 
 of a rainhow i7i colour like unto an emerald surrounding the 
 throne of grace. 
 
OP THE COVENANT. 89 
 
 III. Show what it is to improve this rainbow of the 
 covenant. 
 
 IV. Apply the whole. 
 
 I. The first thing proposed is, to offer a few thoughts 
 respecting the covenant of grace and promise. And, 
 
 1. I remark, that the occasion of the covenant of grace, 
 like that of God's covenant with Noah, was a deluge of 
 wrath, which broke out upon Adam and all his family, 
 *for the breach and violation of the covenant of works. 
 This is what is pointed at, Ezek. xvi. 4 — 8. where you see 
 that that which gave occasion to God's entering into a 
 covenant of grace, was that miserable estate man had 
 brought himself into by sin. '■ When I passed by thee, and 
 saw thee polluted in thine own blood, behold, thy time was 
 the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and 
 covered thy nakedness : yea, I sware unto thee, and enter- 
 ed into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou 
 becamest mine.' 
 
 Here it may readily be asked. What is that state we are 
 reduced unto by the breach of the first covenant ? I 
 answer, it is a state of sin. Sin, like a contagion, has 
 overrun all men, and the whole man from the crown of the 
 head to the sole of the foot. It is a state of alienation and 
 estrangement from God. We are ' alienated from the very 
 life of God, through the ignorance that is in us ; ' like the 
 prodigal, we have gone into a far country, and care not for 
 returning to our Father's house. Yea more, it is a state 
 of enmity and hostility agaitist God. The carnal mind is 
 enmity against God ; we are * enemies in our minds by 
 wicked works.' It is a state worse than Egyptian darkness. 
 We are not simply in the dark, but we are darkness itself: 
 ' Once ye were darkness.' It is a state of impotency and 
 weakness. ' For when we were yet without strength, in 
 due time Christ died for us.' It is a state of bondage and 
 captivity to sin, Satan, and the world. We are led captive 
 by these potent enemies. It is a acrsed and condemned state. 
 We are ' condemned already, and the wrath of God abid- 
 eth on us.' It is a state of death. We are dead spiritually, 
 
90 THE RAINBOW 
 
 under the power of sin, and lying upon the very borders 
 of eternal death. Now, this is the condition we are re- 
 duced unto by the fall. But infinite mercy and love takes 
 occasion from this miserable and ruined estate of man, to 
 enter into a new covenant, even a covenant of grace, in 
 order to his deliverance. 
 
 2. I remark, that the rise and spring of this covenant of 
 grace was not foreseen faith or good works, or any thing- 
 else in the creature ; but only the free and surprising love 
 of God. John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Jer. 
 xxxi. 3, ' I have loved thee with an everlasting love : 
 therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.' This 
 love of God to lost sinners was altogether and absolutely 
 free; free in opposition to merit, free in opposition to con- 
 straint. It had no other cause but only the freedom of 
 his own will, Eph. i. 4, 5. And as it is free, so it is super- 
 latively great; love ih^t passeth hiouiedge ; love which hath 
 a height and depth, a breadth and length, which can never 
 be fathomed or found out. It is distinguishing love. It 
 lighted upon men, when it passed by angels that fell ; it 
 lighted upon some of Adam's family, when it passed by 
 others. 
 
 3. I remark, that this covenant of grace, in the original 
 inake and constitution of it, was transacted with Christ as 
 a new covenant head, a public person, representing all the 
 spiritual seed which the Lord had given him. For, Sirs, 
 you must know, that since the fall of man, God never en- 
 tered into any covenant with him directly and immedi- 
 ately, but only by the intervention of a Surety and Medi- 
 ator. Hence in our Larger Catechism, in answer to that 
 question, ' With whom was the covenant of grace made ] ' 
 the answer is, that it was made with Christ, and with the 
 elect in him as his seed. Hence it is that we read of 
 ' grace given us in Christ, before the world began.' In 
 this covenant there are some things that relate particularly 
 to Christ himself as Surety and Redeemer, and some things 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 91 
 
 in it that relate to the members and seed of Christ. The 
 Father having promised sufficient furniture and through- 
 bearing to his Son, both for the purchase and application 
 of our redemption ; the Son not only undertakes to satisfy 
 justice, to fulfil the law, to bruise the head of the old ser- 
 pent, but also by his Spirit, which he would send into their 
 hearts, to sprinkle them with clean water, to take away 
 the stony heart, to enlighten them, to justify them, to adopt 
 and sanctify them, and at last to present them ' without 
 spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.' And when all this 
 comes to be revealed and set forth in a gospel dispensation, 
 what is incumbent upon us, but to subscribe to this glo- 
 rious transaction and plan of redemption that was laid by 
 Infinite Wisdom ? Thus, I say, the covenant of grace was 
 originally transacted with Christ, and with us in him, and 
 through him. 
 
 4. I remark, that the revelation of this covenant of grace, 
 transacted with Christ before the world began, was made 
 very early to our first parents in Paradise, immediately 
 after the fall : Gen, iii. 15, ' The seed of the woman shall 
 bruise the head of the serpent.' Here it was that the 
 grand secret, which lay in the breast of God, did first break 
 forth. When our first parents were waiting, with a trem- 
 bling heart, every moment for the execution of the sen- 
 tence of the broken covenant of works, behold glad tidings 
 of great joy are issued out from a throne of grace, namely, 
 that in the fulness of time, the Son of God was to become 
 the seed of the woman, and bruise the serpent's head, to 
 destroy the devil and his works, and redeem man from that 
 gulf of misery into which he was plunged. This was the 
 covenant of grace. And it is remarkable, that in its first 
 edition it came forth in a promise of Christ. This was en- 
 larged and explained to Abraham, Moses, David, and yet 
 more fully opened after the Babylonish captivity, by Jere- 
 miah, Ezekiel, and other prophets, till Christ himself actu- 
 ally came, in whom all the Old Testament types, prophecies, 
 and promises, received their full accomplishment. And 
 having by his death ' confirmed the covenant with many,' 
 
92 THE RAINBOW 
 
 the covenant of grace came forth after his resurrection 
 and exaltation in its last and best edition ; namely, in the 
 form of a testament, having the two great sacraments of 
 baptism and the Lord's supper appended to it, as full and 
 incontested evidences of its being confirmed by his death. 
 This glorious charter has now passed the seal, and there- 
 fore faith may make use of it with boldness. 
 
 5. I remark, that this covenant of grace, or testament of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, may be viewed and considered in its 
 dispensation or exhibition. God, in his infinite wisdom, for 
 reaching the great end and design of a covenant of grace, 
 has appointed ordinances, the word, sacraments, and prayer, 
 and other proper means, by which the benefits of his death 
 and blessings of his covenant may come to be actually applied 
 to us ; he has authorized ministers to dispense word and 
 sacraments, that by these, as through conduit pipes, his 
 grace and fuhiess may be communicated to us. And here it 
 should be remembered, that the covenant of grace, in the 
 dispensation and exhibition of it, comes to every man's 
 door ; it is presented as the ground and foundation of faith 
 in common to all the hearers of the gospel, elect and repro- 
 bate. We call all and every one to take hold of God's cov- 
 enant, and tell them, ' To you is the word of this salvation 
 sent : The promise (or covenant) is unto you, and to your 
 children, and to aU that are afar off, even as many as the 
 Lord our God shall call.' 
 
 6. I remark, that this covenant of grace may be consid- 
 ered in the ap-plication and execution of it. And this is 
 either initial, progressive, or consummate. (1.) I say, there 
 is the initial application, or the soul's first entry into the 
 bond of the covenant ; that is, the Spirit of the great new 
 covenant Head ha\'ing taken hold of the poor soul, the soul 
 at the same moment takes hold of the covenant by faith, and 
 receives it as a good and sufficient security for that life and 
 happiness which was lost by the sin of the first Adam. 
 This is in scripture called the day of esjmusals, wherein the 
 soul does, as it were, sign and subscribe the marriage con- 
 tract, saying, / am the Lord's. (2.) There is the further 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 93 
 
 improvement of this covenant of grace, for the soul's daily 
 supply in a way of believing, whereby it is made to ' grow- 
 in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 
 This is called a 'drawing water with joy out of the wells 
 of salvation.' The believer finding himself under this and 
 the other want, improves the promises of the covenant 
 as they are suited and adapted to his case. And thus the 
 work of sanctification is daily advanced : ' they shall go 
 from strength to strength.' (3.) There is the full execution 
 of the designs of this covenant when the soul is brought to 
 glory, and ' presented faultless before the presence of God, 
 without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.' ' When Christ, 
 who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with 
 him in glory.' At that day, the covenant and all the con- 
 cerns of it is fully executed and performed, even the day of 
 Jesus Christ : Phil. i. 6, ' Being confident of this very thing, 
 that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform 
 it until the day of Jesus Christ.' So much for the first 
 thing proposed, which was, to give you some views of the 
 covenant of grace. 
 
 II. The second thing was to take a view of the covenant 
 of grace, under the similitude of ' a rainbow round about 
 the throne.' Now, I would say that the similitude inti- 
 mates such things as the following. 
 
 1st. That the jfirst covenant is broken, and that the wick- 
 edness of man was great upon the earth. For which cause 
 the fountains of the great deep of God's wrath were opened 
 like a mighty sea, sweeping all Adam's family to the bot- 
 tomless pit. When we see the bow in the heavens, we re- 
 member the flood of Noah, which was sent to take ven- 
 geance upon the old world for their sin ; so when we view 
 the rainbow of the covenant, we should remember the flood 
 of divine wrath and vengeance that is broken out against the 
 whole family and race of mankind. Sirs, the broad flying 
 roll of the curse of God is gone forth over the face of the 
 whole earth, because of the sin of man : Gal. iii. 10, ' Cursed 
 is every one that continueth not in all things which are 
 written in the book of the law to do them.' Remember 
 
94 THE RAINBOW 
 
 this when you see the bow of the covenant of grace round 
 about the throne of grace. 
 
 2dly. The representation intimates that a ransom is found 
 out, and that the sacrifice of our great Noah is accepted ; 
 that God has smelled a sweet savour in the death of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. You know the rainbow was set up in 
 the heavens after God had accepted of Noah's sacrifice ; and 
 when we see God's bow in the clouds, we remember this. 
 So, when we look upon a covenant of grace, we ought to 
 remember the death and satisfaction of Jesus as the very 
 ground and foundation of God's dealing with sinners in a 
 way of grace. When we behold the covenant, we should 
 behold the blood of the covenant, behold the red streams 
 of this rainbow, Zech. ix. 11, 'By the blood of thy cove- 
 nant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein 
 is no water.' I have read, that in Holland, where most of 
 their country is taken off the sea by strong dykes, if the sea 
 at any time happen to make a breach, whereby the country 
 is in danger of being laid under water, any man that ob- 
 serves the breach, is by the law of the country ordered to 
 stop the breach as soon as possible, though it were with his 
 most valuable packs of goods, and he has reparation from 
 the community. Sirs, sin has made a breach for the in- 
 undation of God's wrath to break in upon the whole race 
 of Adam ; and the breach was so wide, and the current of 
 wrath so rapid and strong, that it would have swallowed 
 up and swept away the whole creation of angels and men 
 if they had been cast in to stop it. The glorious Son of 
 God, perceiving that nothing elss would do it, cast his own 
 body into the breach ; ' he redeemed us from the curse of 
 the law, being made a curse for us.' Let us remember this 
 when we look at the bow about the throne. 
 
 3dly. The bow of the covenant, as it is set up in the 
 heaven of the visible church, intimates that the deluge of 
 God's wrath is recalled, and that God is a God of peace to- 
 ward sinners, through the atoning blood of the Lamb. God's 
 bow in the clouds is a security against the waters of the 
 deluge, that they shall never return any more to destroy 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 95 
 
 the earth ; and indeed the bow in the heaven is a greater 
 security against this than the sands and rocks wherewith it 
 is surrounded. So the covenant of grace, founded upon and 
 sealed with the blood of the Lamb, is a glorious security 
 against the devouring deluge of divine wrath, that it shall 
 never return to destroy any soul that by faith flees to 
 Christ, and takes shelter under the covert of his blood and 
 righteousness. Whenever a man sees the rainbow, it yields 
 him peace and safety against the fears of another deluge, 
 though never so great hurricanes or tempests were blowing 
 out of the heavens. Though the sea were roaring, and its 
 waves swelling, as though it would swallow up the dry 
 land, yet the sight of God's bow in the clouds puts us out 
 of fear of an universal deluge. So here, whenever a poor 
 soul by faith takes a view of the bow of the covenant, sur- 
 rounding God's throne of grace, it gives him peace. He is 
 made to see, that whatever be God's dispensations, what- 
 ever be the appearance of his providences, yet the deluge 
 of his vindictive wrath having spent itself upon the Surety, 
 justice itself becomes the sinner's security, by virtue of the 
 covenant of grace : Isa. liv. 9, ' For this is as the waters of 
 Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of 
 Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn 
 that I Avould not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.' 
 Sirs, I bring you glad tidings of great joy ; the waters of the 
 deluge of God's wrath are so far abated and fallen, that the 
 olive branch is brought forth to your view by God's minis- 
 ters. We preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings 
 of good things to you ; we tell you in the name of God, that 
 he is so well pleased with the ransom that he has found, 
 that he declares fury is not in him, that though he was 
 <(ngry, his anger is now turned away. And if ye will not be- 
 lieve his word, take his oath for it, in which he has pawned 
 his very life: Ezek. xxxiii. 11, 'As I live, saith the Lord 
 God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but 
 that the wicked turn from his way and live.' 
 
 4thly. The emblematical representation still farther inti- 
 mates God's faithful j^romise, that no man shall be ruined 
 
96 THE EAIXBOW 
 
 by an universal deluge. Indeed, if a man stand within the 
 sea-mark till the waters of the sea overflow him, there is 
 no help for that. God's faithfulness in his covenant with 
 Noah stands firm though the man perish. So here, the 
 rainbow about the throne of grace is a sign of God's faith- 
 fulness in a word of promise, that no man shall perish who 
 will take the advantage of the dryland that stands before him 
 in the gospel. Indeed, if a man will by unbelief stand still 
 witliin the sea-mark of God's wrath till he perish, there is 
 no help for that ; but the faithfulness of God in the cove- 
 nant of grace stands firm, and shall not be made of none 
 effect through his folly. But I say, whosoever believeth, 
 or taketh hold of the faithfulness of God pledged in his 
 covenant, shall not perish, but have everlasting hfe; the 
 deluge of wrath shall never touch him. 
 
 5thly. The representation intimates that aU men with- 
 out exception have access to the blessings of the covenant. 
 God's bow in the clouds is very extensive, reaching from 
 the one end of heaven to the other ; so God's covenant of 
 grace is a large and wide covenant. Though all Adam's 
 posterity were gathered together, there would be room for 
 them within the arches of the rainbow. God's covenant 
 of grace is a large and wide covenant ; there is room in it 
 for you, room for me, and room for all mankind. God's 
 voice is to every one to take hold of it, for every one to 
 come within the circuit of it : ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, 
 come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money let him 
 come. You that have spent your money for that which is 
 not bread, and your labour for that which profiteth not,' 
 ye are called to take hold of it, Isa. Iv. 1, 2. And as all 
 in general, so every one in particular, is warranted to take 
 hold of it. Although the arch of the bow is high above us, 
 reaching to the heaven, yet the extremes of it stoop down 
 to the earth, and come near to every man ; yea, one would 
 think, wherever he is, or whatever place of the world he is 
 in, still the end of the rainbow is pointing towards him. 
 Just so it is with the covenant of grace ; although the 
 great covenant Head be in heaven, yet the covenant itself 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 97 
 
 stoops down to mon upon earth. Rom. x. 6, 7, 8, ^ Say not 
 in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is to 
 bring Christ down from above) or, Who shall descend into 
 the deep ? (that is to bring up Christ again from the dead) 
 but what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy 
 mouth, and in thy heart : that is the word of faith, which 
 we preach.' Herein God brings near his righteousness to 
 us. Yea, the covenant of grace, in the dispensation of it, 
 like the bow in the clouds, points to every man, saying, 
 ' To you is the word of this salvation sent.' 
 
 Lastly. It is intimated that the rainbow of the covenant 
 is of divine origination. The natural rainbow was of God's 
 setting : ' I have set my bow in the clouds.' So the covenant 
 of grace is of God's making : ' I have made a covenant with 
 ray chosen. Hear, and your souls shall hve, and I will make 
 an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of 
 David. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, 
 that I will never turn away from them to do them good.' 
 Beware of thinking that the covenant is of your making. It 
 is indeed your duty to take hold of God's covenant, and to 
 come under engagements, through the grace thereof, to ob- 
 serve all the duties commanded in the law. But do not think 
 that your engaging, or promising and covenanting, do make 
 or constitute the covenant of grace : no, it is God that both 
 makes the covenant and leads our heart and hand in taking 
 hold of it, and in engaging to these duties of obedience which 
 are consequential unto our being in covenant with the 
 Lord. Heb. viii. 10, 'This is the covenant that I will 
 make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the 
 Lord, I will put my laws into their mind, and write them 
 in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall 
 be to me a people.' The covenant of grace is as much of 
 God's making as the forming of the bow in the clouds, 
 which cannot be done by the hands of men. 
 
 III. The third tiling was to show what it is to improve 
 the rainbow of the covenant. 
 
 Now this, as it is well expressed in our Confession of 
 Faith, ' is to believe in Christ, or to accept, receive, and 
 a 
 
S8 THE EAINBOW 
 
 rest upon him alone, for justification, sanctification, and 
 eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.' This is a 
 very material expression, and I fear little noticed by the 
 generality of people ; a resting upon Christy hy virtue of the 
 covenant of grace. As we rest upon a man by virtue of his 
 word or promise, so we rest upon Christ by virtue of the 
 covenant and the promises thereof. It is observable here 
 in the text, that the rainbow is round about the throne 
 and him that sits on it ; so that there could be no coming 
 to the throne, or Christ sitting on it, without coming 
 within the rainbow ; no coming to Christ, no true believing 
 in him, but by wtue of his word of grace and promise in 
 a covenant of grace. And this is one main difference be- 
 tween true saving faith and the presumptuous faith of 
 hypocrites. Hypocrites, by a presumptuous faith, will in- 
 deed catch at Christ and salvation ; but in the mean time 
 they do not receive Christ and his benefits as they lie 
 within the rainbow, they do not receive and improve him 
 by \irtue of the covenant of grace. 
 
 The covenant of grace, or the promise of God in Christ, is 
 his testament, bond, or disposition, wherein he assigns and 
 makes over himself, his righteousness, his Spirit, his ful- 
 ness, and all the blessings of his purchase ; and true faith 
 receives and rests upon Christ by virtue of this covenant 
 of grace. I defy you either to fasten your faith or trust 
 upon God or man without a word of promise to ground 
 your faith upon. If I should bid you trust or believe your 
 neighbour, or any responsible man, for a sum of money 
 that you stand in need of, you would ask me, Why, what 
 ground have I to trust him ? has he promised to give it or 
 lend it to me ? If he has not promised to do it there is no 
 ground of trust ; and you would think that I were but 
 mocking you when I bid you trust him for it, unless he 
 has passed his word. So here when we bid you believe in 
 Christ, receive him, or rest upon him for salvation, your eye 
 must immediately be turned to the word of grace or pro- 
 mise, and his faithfulness engaged in it ; for it is by virtue 
 of that that we receive him, or approve and apply him to 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 9f) 
 
 our own souls : hence believing in Christ is expressed by 
 a ' taking hold of God's covenant,' Isa. Ivi. 4. ; which ex- 
 pression plainly implies a fastening on the veracity or 
 faithfulness of God pledged in the covenant. For more 
 particularly clearing of this, I shall go no further than the 
 representation made in the text. What you think when the 
 rainbow appears in the heavens, the same you are to do 
 with relation to the bow in the covenant, and the faith- 
 fulness of God engaged in it. 
 
 1. When the bow appears in the heaven, you behold it, 
 you look upon it with your eyes, for it is a beautiful ap- 
 pearance ; you consider and inquire for what end there is 
 such an appearance in the heavens. Now, the same you 
 are to do with God's covenant of grace, — the bow that he 
 has set in the heaven of his church, about his throne of 
 grace wliich he has reared up. It is absolutely impossible 
 that ever you can reap any benefit by God's covenant un- 
 less you behold it, consider it, and study to know and un- 
 derstand it. There must be an uptaking of the secrets of 
 the covenant. And this is the first thing that ever God 
 does when he is to bring the soul within the bond of his 
 covenant ; he enlightens the mind in the knowledge of 
 Christ, the great covenant Head^makes the man to think 
 upon and consider the fulness and freedom, the comely order 
 and stability of the covenant, as a covenant of grace and 
 peace, having all our salvation wrapped up in it. 
 
 2. When a man sees the rainbow in the heaven, and 
 knows that it is a token of God's covenant with mankind, 
 that the waters shall not return to destroy the earth, he 
 assents to the truth of the coveimnt or promise of God. He 
 believes that it is true that God made such a promise, and 
 that God who promised such a thing will not break his 
 word, but that he will make it good. So here, when you 
 see the bow of the covenant of grace, and the veracity of 
 God pawned therein, — when you see it sealed with the oath 
 of God and the blood of his eternal Son, your duty is to 
 assent to the truth of God pledged in the covenant, because 
 he has ' righteousness for the girdle of his loins, and faith- 
 
100 THE RAINBOW 
 
 fulness for the girdle of his reins/ 0, will the soul say, I 
 see every promise of God to be true, it is impossible for 
 him to lie ; and therefore I set to my seal that he is true, 
 
 3. When a man sees the bow in the cloud, lie concludes that 
 he himself in particvlar is safe from the waters of the sea, 
 that they shaU not overflow him ; he rests upon the vera- 
 city of the Promisor, and so makes himself easy against 
 the fears of a second deluge. So here, when we see God's 
 covenant like a bow surrounding his throne, we should 
 rest with assured confidence upon it as a good security 
 against wrath, a good security for our everlasting happi- 
 ness, for peace, pardon, grace, and glory. The covenant is 
 God's charter for eternal life, and the soul accordingly 
 takes it, and says. This is all my salvation, that he hath 
 made with me in Christ an everlasting covenant, and in this 
 wilZ I he confident. Indeed, if God can break his covenant 
 I am undone, I will sink in the mighty waters of his 
 wrath ; but God's covenant cannot be broken ; it stands 
 fast for ever ; the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
 removed, but the covenant of his peace shall never be re- 
 moved; and therefore I am sure God will not betray me, 
 his covenant will not deceive me. And aU this is just what 
 is called ' a taking hold of God's covenant,' Isa. Ivi. 4. 
 
 IV. I proceed now to the application of the subject. 
 
 Is it so, that the covenant of grace, and the faithfulness 
 of God engaged therein, is like a rainbow round alout the 
 throne, in colour lilce unto an emerald ? Then my exhorta- 
 tion to aU hearing me is, to answer the design, and improve 
 this manifestation and display of the grace of God. Why 
 has he set the rainbow of his covenant round about his 
 throne, but that sinners who are far off may be encouraged 
 to come and enter within God's covenant, and take hold of 
 his faithfulness pledged therein, that they may 'obtain 
 mercy, and find grace at a throne of grace, to help them 
 in time of need?' Sirs, when you see the bow in the 
 clouds, you remember God's covenant with Noah, and be- 
 lieve that you are safe against a second deluge of water, 
 not for any good deed done by you to deserve such a tiling, 
 
OP THE COVENANT. 101 
 
 but because of the veracity of God pledged in his covenant 
 with Noah. So when you see the bow of the covenant 
 about a throne of grace, improve it as a security against 
 the deluge of wrath, which was stopped and recalled upon 
 the satisfaction and death of Christ ; improve it, I say, for 
 this and all the other blessings that lie wrapped up in 
 the large bosom thereof. And to engage you to this, con- 
 sider, — 
 
 1st. God commands you to lay hold on his covenant : 
 1 John iii. 23, ' This is his commandment, that we should 
 believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.' Now, when 
 God bids you believe in Christ, he bids you believe in him 
 by virtue of the covenant of grace, or by virtue of the free 
 promise of Kfe through Christ to perishing sinners. Oh, 
 essay it in the strength of Mm that commands you. The 
 very first command warrants you, yea, obligeth you to have 
 a God in Christ, and none other, as your God. Now, this 
 command is to all and every one ; and if it were not so, it 
 would needs follow that there are some in whom unbelief 
 were no sin ; for where there is no law, there can be no 
 transgression. But depend upon it. Sirs, that unbelief is 
 your sin, and the great sin upon which the sentence of 
 condemnation will run against you at the great day ; and 
 if unbelief be your sin, then it is your indispensable duty, 
 by the command of God, to believe on Christ, or to trust 
 in him for salvation, by virtue of his faithfulness engaged 
 in the bow of the covenant that is about the throne of 
 grace. 
 
 2dly. Let the indefinite extent of the rainbow encourage 
 and warrant you to come within it. The natural rainbow 
 reaches from one end of the heaven to the other ; but 0, 
 Sirs, the grace of God in a covenant of grace is much wider 
 and larger, for it reaches forth its arms to clasp every crea- 
 ture in its bosom, Mark xvi. 15, 16. The voice of a God 
 of grace is to men, and the sons of men, to take hold of his 
 covenant, to improve his faithfulness in the rainbow against 
 this the deluge of his wrath : Isa. Iv. 1, 2, ' Ho every one 
 that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 
 
102 THE RAINBOW 
 
 money ; let him come. Wherefore do you spend your money 
 for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which 
 satisfieth not 1 ' The covenant of grace, as it hes in the 
 external dispensation of the gospel, is conceived in the 
 form of a blank bond, or testamentary deed, where there is 
 room left to every man to fill up his name, by the hand of 
 faith. The strain and tenor of it is, ' I wih be their God, 
 and they shall be my people : I will take away the stony 
 heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of 
 flesh : I wiU sprinkle clean water upon them : I will put my 
 Spirit within them : I wiU be merciful to their unright- 
 eousness : I will subdue their iniquities.' Here, you see, 
 the grant runs in an indefinite way, no man's name men- 
 tioned, neither any by name excluded. Why, what is the 
 design of this, but that every man may be encouraged to 
 subscribe his name, or to make application thereof to his own 
 soul, in a way of behoving, by which we are said to take hold 
 of God's covenant ? Sirs ! the covenant of grace, as it lies in 
 the external dispensation of the gospel, (for now I abstract 
 from his secret purposes, which are not at all the measure or 
 rule of faith,) is just Uke a rope cast in among a company of 
 drowning men ; he that throws it in, cries to every one of 
 them to take hold of the rope, promising to draw them safe 
 to shore. So God, in the gospel dispensation, proposes his 
 covenant to every one as a ground of faith, assuring them, 
 that whosoever takes hold of his covenant, and receives 
 his Christ, whom he hath ' given for a covenant of the 
 people, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.' For the 
 Lord's sake, do not put this rope of salvation away from 
 you, under a pretence that ye know not if it be designed 
 for you. Would you not reckon it ridiculous madness in 
 any of these drowning men now mentioned, to fall a dis- 
 puting whether the rope were cast in to them, when they 
 are at the very point of sinking to the bottom ? Would 
 not every one of them catch at it with the utmost strength 
 and vigour, without putting any question ? Now, this is 
 thy very case, sinner. Thou art going down to the pit 
 of eternal misery ; God, by his ministers, cries to you to 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 103 
 
 take hold of this rope of salvation : then ! ' see that ye 
 refuse not him that speaketh from heaven ;' do not dispute 
 yourselves away from your own mercy. 
 
 3dly. The nature of the throne^ and the miture of the rain- 
 bow, invite and encourage your faith and trust. The throne 
 is of the nature with the rainbow ; the throne is a throne 
 of grace, and the covenant a covenant of grace. What 
 sort of a throne is a throne of grace 1 It is a throne for 
 beggars and bankrupts to come to, that they may get 
 whatsoever they want freely ; it is a throne that stands by 
 out-giving, by giving liberally to all loithout U2:>hraidina. 
 What sort of a covenant is a covenant of grace 1 The very 
 name of it tells you what is its nature ; a covenant of grace 
 can be nothing else but an absolute free grant of all the 
 riches of grace that lie about the throne of grace. If any 
 thing were required of us as a condition of our taking or 
 receiving the blessings of the covenant, it would that mo- 
 ment cease to be a covenant of grace. But, say you, is not 
 faith the condition of the covenant ? Ans. I will be loath 
 to condemn that way of speaking, because worthy men have 
 used it, and do use it in a sound sense. But, Sirs, I would 
 have you to remember, that when it is called a condition, 
 all that such worthy learned men mean by it, is only this, 
 that you can have no saving benefit or advantage by Christ 
 unless he be received ; you can have no benefit by God's 
 covenant or promise, unless you believe the promise to be 
 true, and believe it with application to your own souls. 
 Faith is just such a condition as shows the inseparable con- 
 nexion between one tiling and another. As if you should 
 say to a beggar, there is your alms, on the condition that 
 you take it ; there is meat, on the condition you eat it ; 
 there is a good bond for a sum of money, on condition that 
 you trust him that granted it. Or, as if I should say to 
 one, thou shalt have the benefit of the light of tlie sun, on 
 condition thou open thine eyes to see it ; or the ground 
 will bear you, on condition you lay your weight upon it. 
 Now, such a condition of the covenant of grace is faith ; it 
 is just a taking what is freely given without money and 
 
104 THE RAINBOW 
 
 price : and let it be remembered, that itself is one of the 
 blessings promised in this covenant. Now, I say, let the 
 nature of the throne, and the nature of the rainbow of the 
 covenant, encourage and warrant you to come and trust in 
 a God of grace. I make but a supposition, that a great 
 and rich king should erect a throne in the open field, and 
 emit a proclamation for all beggars, bankrupts, and people in 
 wants and straits, to come to his throne, and they should 
 get whatever they needed: what a gathering would 
 there be ! with what confidence would needy people flock 
 thither, and ask what they wanted, especially if the king 
 had sworn by his life that they should be served ! Well, 
 this is the very case ; the throne of grace is only a throne 
 for the needy, for rich folk are sent empty away : and the 
 bow about the throne is just the faithfulness of God engaged 
 in a free promise, that come to him who will, ' he will in 
 no wise cast them out.' then take the advantage, and 
 trust his promise, and you have the thing promised, for his 
 promise is as good as payment. 
 
 4thly. Will you but take a view of the name of him that 
 sits iq:)on the throne within the rainbow, and let that en- 
 courage your faith, hope, and expectation. Sirs, ' they 
 that know his name wiU put their trust in him ;' his name 
 that sits on the throne is a strong tower, to which the sinner 
 may jiee, and to which the saints ' do flee and are safe.' See 
 what his name is, Exod. xxxiv. 6, ' The Lord, the Lord 
 God,' Jehovah El, ' the strong God, able to do for thee ex- 
 ceeding abundantly above what thou canst ask or think.' 
 He stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of 
 the earth, and does whatever pleases him in the armies of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and there- 
 fore is able to do for thee whatever thou askest of him, 
 yea, more than thou canst ask. Abraham by faith stayed 
 himself upon the power of a promising God without stag- 
 gering, Rom. iv. 20, 21. Again, his name is merciful; and 
 therefore may you say, WiU he not answer his name, and 
 extend mercy, considering that misery is the only proper 
 object of mercy, and I am wretched, miserable, poor, and 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 105 
 
 blind, and naked ? David's faith found footing in this 
 name of a God in Christ, when he could not stand before 
 the bar of the law, Psal. cxxx. 4, ' But there is mercy with 
 thee : that tliou maycst be feared.' Again, his name who 
 Bits upon the throne within the rainbow is gracious; and 
 it is the very nature of grace, as I said, to give, and to give 
 freely. Grace is that attribute of the divine nature which 
 shall be celebrated through eternity ; this world is but a 
 theatre on which he designs the manifestations of his grace. 
 May not this encourage thee to go within the circuit of the 
 rainbow, and ask grace and mercy to help thee in time of 
 need ? Unbehef indeed, will tell thee, that ' the Lord has 
 forgotten to be gracious ; ' but it is not so, for he cannot 
 forget his own name. Unbehef will tell thee that thou art 
 unworthy of his grace, and this will hinder thee from 
 coming speed ; but that cannot be either, for grace is most 
 grace when it is extended to the most unworthy. Thus, I 
 say, draw encouragement from the name of him that sits 
 upon the throne within the rainbow. 
 
 5thly. It is for the honour and glory of God that you im- 
 prove the rainbow of the covenant, for your security 
 against the deluge of wrath, and for obtaining the blessings 
 that lie within the bosom thereof Hereby ye glorify his 
 power, being persuaded that he is able to make good what 
 he has promised. Hereby you glorify his hoHness, which 
 is pawned to the great covenant head, and give thanks at 
 the remembrance of his holiness, pledged in the covenant 
 to him and his seed. Hereby you glorify his justice by ac- 
 quiescing in that righteousness or justice which is the 
 foundation of his throne. Hereby you glorify his mercy, 
 and join vath him in saying, 'Mercy shaU be built up for 
 ever.' Hereby you glorify his truth and faithfulness, by 
 getting to your seal that God is true. In a word, you give 
 him the glory of your salvation, saying, ' Salvation to our 
 God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for 
 ever and ever ; ' the knguage of faith is, ' Not unto us, O 
 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory.' 
 
 6thly. The extent of the blessings contained in the covC" 
 
106 THE RAINBOW 
 
 nant should excite and encourage your faith. All the bless- 
 ings of heaven and eternity lie within the wide circuit of 
 this rainbow of the covenant, which surrounds God's 
 throne of grace. All grace whatsoever lay originally in the 
 heart of God ; but as it lies there, it is inaccessible by sin- 
 ners, ' For who hath known the mind of the Lord 1 ' Well, 
 because that grace that is in God's heart is inaccessible by 
 us, therefore he brings it yet nearer to us, by taking a 
 piece of our nature, uniting it to the person of his eternal 
 Son, and calls it Christ, Messiah, Immanuel, God-raan, or 
 God with iLs; and makes all the fulness of the Godhead, all 
 the grace that is in his heart, to dwell there, that so we 
 might not be afraid to come to one in our nature for grace 
 and mercy to help us. But that our faith might yet have 
 a greater advantage, he does not rest there, but he brings 
 aU the grace that is in Christ into a promise, or a covenant 
 of grace, — pledges his faithfulness in the strongest way 
 imaginable in the promise or covenant, that so unbelief 
 might have nothing to object. Unbehef might be ready to 
 say, It is true, there is enough of grace in Christ, but alas ! 
 he is in heaven, and he has carried aU his grace to heaven 
 with him ; and the throne on which he now sits is so high, 
 that I know not how to reach him. But, says the Lord, 
 sinner, say not so, think not so ; for all the fulness of 
 Christ is nigh thee in the rainbow of my covenant. I give 
 thee a word of faith, a faithful word of promise, lean to 
 that, rest on that, and Christ, and all that is in him, and 
 aU the grace that is in my heart, shall come along with it 
 into thy soul. What is it, sinner, thou wantest, but 
 thou mayest have it either in title or possession, by resting 
 on the veracity of him who has set his bow in the clouds ? 
 
 But, may the sinner say, though there be noble encour- 
 agement, and the best warrant in the world for believing 
 or coming within the covenant, yet, — 
 
 Object. 1. I am a poor unworthy creature, I dare not think 
 of meddhng with God's covenant. Ans. It is a bastard 
 devilish humility that keeps you from beheving ; for the 
 more unworthy you are of the grace and favour of God, the 
 
OF THE COVENANT. 107 
 
 more fit you are for receiving the grace of God at a throne 
 of grace, by virtue of the covenant of grace. Grace is only 
 calculated for the unworthy sinner, and not for those that 
 think themselves worthy of it. 
 
 Object. 2. M}j sins are like the great mountains, and I fear 
 the grace of God will never level them. Ans. Take hold of 
 God's covenant, and you shall find these mountains re- 
 moved, and cast into the midst of the sea : Isa. i. 18, ' Come, 
 now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : though 
 your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; 
 though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' 
 
 Object, 3. I want a law work, I am not weary and heavy 
 laden, and therefore am not fit to take hold of God's cove- 
 nant. Ans. If thou thinkest to make a law work and humi- 
 liation a price in your hand to recommend you to Christ, 
 and fit you for him, I tell you, that instead of fitting your- 
 self for Christ, you are building up a wall between Christ 
 and you that you shall never get over. If you see an ab- 
 solute need of Christ, and that you are undone without 
 him, do not stand to seek more law work. For that mo- 
 ment you close with Christ, by virtue of the covenant of 
 grace, the law has gotten its end, Christ being ' the end 
 of the law to every one that believeth.' It is the weary 
 and heavy laden that are called ; but that is not to exclude 
 others, v*^ho cannot find that disposition in themselves ; 
 and they are mentioned in particular in the call, because 
 they are most ready to exclude themselves from having 
 any concern in Christ or his covenant. 
 
 Object. 4. / am afraid to take hold of God's covenant in 
 case I turn av'ay from his commandments, and so render 
 myself unworthy of a covenant relation to him. Ans. If 
 you really take hold of his covenant, the grace of his cove- 
 nant will keep you in the way of his commandments. Jer. 
 xxxii. 40, ' I will make an everlasting covenant with them, 
 that I will not turn away from them to do them good : but 
 I wiU put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not de- 
 part from me.' 
 
 Object. 5. I am afraid to take hold of God's covenant, 
 
108 THE RAIXBOW 
 
 in case that I never he able to bear the cross : I will faint in 
 the day of adversity, for my strength is small. Ans, Do 
 not fear that, for he that sits on the throne has said in his 
 covenant, ' When thou passest through the waters he will 
 be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not over- 
 flow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt 
 not be burnt ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' 
 His presence shall go with thee to the hottest furnace, and 
 unto the deep waters of Marah ; and if so, there is no fear 
 but thy head shall be carried above. 
 
 Object. 6. I have formerly attempted to take hold of God^s 
 covena7it ; hut I have 'played the harlot ivith niany lovers since 
 that. Ans. Renew thy hold of the covenant ; for the grace 
 of God's covenant, the rainbow about the throne, is still 
 pointing thee out as it were by name : Jer. iii. 1, ' Though 
 thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return 
 again to me, saith the Lord.' 
 
 Object. 7. But / have acted as a rebel against heaven, I 
 have been waging war against God, and will ever he allow 
 me to meddle with his covenant, or come within the verge 
 of this rainbow? For answer, see Psal. Ixviii. 18. where 
 we are told concerning him that sits upon the throne of 
 grace within the rainbow, ' He received gifts for men ; yea, 
 even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell 
 among us.' See also, Isa. Iv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake 
 his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let 
 him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' 
 
 Object. 8. I want power to take hold of the covenant, I want 
 power to believe in Christ by virtue of the covenant. Ans. 
 He that sits upon the throne, with the rainbow about it, 
 is saying, ' I will give power to the faint, and increase 
 strength to them that have no might;' yea, he has said 
 that he will ' make thee willing by the day of his power :' 
 and if he has given thee the will to believe, there is no fear 
 for the want of power ; for he that works the will by his 
 covenant, has engaged to work the do also ; he ' works in 
 us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' 
 
OP THE COVENANT. 109 
 
 Object. 9. You are always speaking about the bow of the 
 covenant, but / woidd fain see it; I have seen the natural 
 bow, but the rainbow of the covenant is invisible. Ans. 
 It is strange not to see it, when you have it in your hand. 
 The Old and New Testament is the rainbow that I am 
 speaking of ; the rainbow is at this moment shining upon 
 you in a preached gospel. remember that awful word, 
 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, ' If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that 
 are lost ; in whom the God of this world hath blinded the 
 minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glo- 
 rious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine 
 unto them.' 
 
 Object. 10. I am afraid I be 07ie of those from ivhom this 
 rainbow is hid, and so am lost for ever. Ans. If thou dost 
 not see it, I ask, Art thou longing to see it ? If so, I can 
 tell you for good news, thou shalt see it ere long ; ' for he 
 satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with 
 goodness;' and then he that sits on the throne has said, 
 that he wiU ' open the blind eyes, and turn thee from dark- 
 ness, that thou shalt behold the glory of the Lord, and the 
 excellency of our God.' 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to clear away all the objections 
 I can think upon, that you may be encouraged to come 
 within the bow that is about the throne of grace. What 
 are you resolved to do ? Will you come within the bow of 
 God's covenant or not ] I would fain expostulate the mat- 
 ter with you. What will you do in the day of death, if 
 you come not within this rainbow 1 What will you do in 
 the day of reckoning, when standing before the bar of God 1 
 Whither will you flee, when rocks and mountains refuse to 
 fall upon you, to hide you from the face of the Lamb 1 
 Sirs, there is no shunning the deluge of divine wrath, but by 
 taking hold of the covenant, and of the faithfulness of God 
 engaged therein. The whole creation cannot help you if 
 you do it not, but you must lie under the fiery mountains 
 of God's wrath for ever ; for ' he that believeth not is con- 
 demned ah-eady ; and the wrath of God abide th on him.' 
 theuj Sirs, for the Lord's sake, and for your own souls' 
 
110 THE RAINBOW OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 sake, flee in within the rainbow that is about the throne ; 
 believe in Christ by virtue of the covenant of grace and 
 promise. And if after all you will not comply, I declare in 
 the name of God, that the bow of God's covenant shall 
 stand you in no stead. The faithfulness of God, that is en- 
 gaged to save the sinner that believes, or takes hold of his 
 covenant, is engaged to damn the soul that continues in 
 unbelief; for, as 'he that belie veth, shall be saved; so he 
 that believeth not shaU be damned. 
 
 But I cannot think of parting with you upon mount 
 Ebal or Sinai. And therefore let me beseech you, by the 
 mercy of God, by all the blessings of his covenant, by the 
 blood and bowels of a God of love in Christ, by all the glory 
 of heaven and eternity, that you come within the compass 
 of the rainbow that is about the throne. However bad thy 
 condition is there is rehef for thee in Christ ; for he is all 
 in all. Is thy state a state of sin 1 WeU, Christ is the Sa- 
 viour of none but sinners. Is thy state a state of distance 
 from God 1 WeU, he came to bring us near by his own 
 blood. Is thy state a state of enmity and war against 
 heaven 1 Well, his work is to reconcile God and man, to 
 satisfy justice, and to slay the enmity of the heart ; he 
 breaks down the wall of partition, and brings both parties 
 into one. Is thy state a hopeless state ? Well, he is the hope 
 of all the ends of the earth. Is it a state of darkness ? He is 
 the light of the world. Art thou in an impotent state ? He 
 is the strength of the poor and of the needy. Art thou in 
 a state of bondage 1 He proclaims liberty to the captives, 
 and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. 
 Art thou cursed ? He came to redeem thee from the curse. 
 Art thou dead in sin, dead by the law ? WeU, he died that 
 we might live ; and though thou be dead, yet thou shalt 
 Uve, if thou beUeve in him. So that, I say, there is that 
 in Christ which meets the condition of the sinner, let his 
 case be never so bad, if he be on this side of heU. Now, I 
 say, be persuaded of aU this, be assured of it, that there is 
 help laid upon this mighty Redeemer, and that he is indeed 
 able to save to the very uttermost. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 THE BELIEVER EXALTED IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness 
 shall they be exalted. Fsal. Ixxxix. 16. 
 
 The Psalmist, in the beginning of this psalm, having run 
 out at a great length in the praise and commendation of 
 the God of Israel, comes, from the 15th verse of the psalm, 
 to declare the happiness of his Israel, or of true believers, 
 of whom Israel according to the flesh were a type. 
 
 Now, God's Israel are a happy people upon several ac- 
 counts. 1. Because they are privileged to know the joyful 
 sound. The gospel has a joyful sound; a sound of peace, 
 a sound of life, a sound of liberty and salvation. You are 
 all privileged to hear this sound with your bodily ears ; 
 but the great question is, if you do know it, understand 
 it, and give faith's entertainment to it. Alas ! Isaiah's 
 lamentation may but too justly be continued, with respect 
 to the greatest part of the hearers of the gospel, ' Who 
 hath believed our report?' 2. God's Israel are a happy 
 people, because they ' ^valk in the light of his countenance.'' 
 They are privileged with the special intimations of his love, 
 which puts more gladness in their hearts, than when corn, 
 wine, and oil doth abound. 3. Whatever discouragement 
 they may meet with from the world, yet still they have 
 ground of rejoicing in their God : ^ In thy name shall they 
 ■rejoice all the day ;^ and 'Thanks be unto God,' says the 
 apostle, ' who always causeth us to triumph in Christ.' 4. 
 
112 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 Their happiness is evident from this, that they are digni- 
 fied and exalted above others, by the immaculate robe of a 
 Surety's righteousness; as you see in the words of my 
 text, In thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 
 
 In which words briefly we may notice, 1. The believer's 
 promotion ; he is exalted. In the first Adam we were de- 
 based unto the lowest hell, the crown having fallen from our 
 heads : but in Christ, the second Adam, we are again ex- 
 alted ; yea, exalted as high as heaven, for we ' sit together 
 with him in heavenly places,' says the apostle. This is an 
 incredible paradox to a blind world, that the believer, who 
 is sitting at this moment upon the dunghill of this earth, 
 should at the same time be sitting in heaven in Christ, his 
 glorious head and representative ; and yet it is indisputa- 
 bly true, that we ' sit together with him in heavenly 
 places,' Eph. ii, 6. Yea, in him the believer ' rules the na- 
 tions with a rod of iron,' and triumphs over, and treadeth 
 upon all the powers of hell. 2. We have the ground of the 
 believer's preferment and exaltation ; it is iii thy righteoits- 
 ness. It is not in any righteousness of his own ; no, this 
 he utterly disclaims, reckoning it but dung and loss, filthy 
 rags, dog's meat : but it is in thy righteousness ; that is, 
 the righteousness of God, as the apostle caUs it, Rom. i. 17. 
 ' The righteousness which is of God by faith,' Phil. iii. 9. 
 The righteousness of God is variously taken in Scripture. 
 Sometimes for the infinite rectitude and equity of his na- 
 ture : Psal. xi. 7, ' The righteous Lord loveth righteous- 
 ness.' Sometimes for his rectoral equity, or distributive 
 justice, which he exerciseth in the government of the 
 world, rewarding the good and punishing evil doers. PsaL 
 xcvii. 2, ' Righteousness and judgment are the habitation 
 of his throne.' Sometimes it is put for his veracity and 
 faithfulness in accomphshing his word of promise, or in 
 executing his word of threatening. Psal. xxxvi. 5, 6, 
 ' Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds : thy righteous- 
 ness is like the great mountains.' Sometimes it is put 
 for the perfect righteousness which Christ the Son of God 
 as our Surety and Mediator brought in, by his obedience 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 113 
 
 to the law, and death on the cross, for the justification of 
 guilty sinners: and this, as I said, is frequently called 
 tke righteousness of Ood; and in this sense I understand it 
 here in the text. In thy righteousness shall they he exalted. 
 
 The observation is much the same with the words them- 
 selves. Namely, That in, or by, the righteousness of 
 Christ, believers are exalted. Or thus, Whatever honour 
 or happiness believers are exalted to, the righteousness of 
 Christ is the ground and foundation of it. It is all owing 
 to the complete obedience, and meritorious death of the 
 ever-blessed Surety. This is the foundation which God 
 hath laid in Zion, upon which all our happiness in time 
 and through eternity is built. 
 
 All I shall do shall be only, 
 
 I. To offer a few remarks respecting this righteousness, 
 that you may understand both the nature and necessity 
 of it. 
 
 II. Speak a little of the believer's exaltation by virtue 
 of this righteousness. 
 
 III. Apply. 
 
 I. For the first thing, I shall offer a few remarks respect- 
 ing this righteousness for clearing its nature and necessity. 
 
 1. Then, know, that Grod having made man a rational 
 creature, capable of moral government, gave him a lavj 
 suited to his nature, by which he was to govern himself in 
 the duties he owed to God his great Creator. This law 
 was delivered to man in the form of a covenant, with a 
 promise of life upon the condition of perfect obedience, 
 and a threatening of death in case of disobedience. Gen. 
 ii. 17. Thus stood matters between God and man in a 
 state of innocency. 
 
 2. Adam, and all his posterity in him, and with him, 
 having broken tJie covenant^ are become liable to the curse and 
 penalty of it; so that our salvation is become absolutely 
 impossible, until justice be satisfied, and the honour of the 
 broken law be repaired. The law and justice of God are 
 very peremptory, and stand upon a full satisfaction and 
 reparation, otherwise heaven's gates shall be shut and 
 
114 THE BELIEVEB EXALTE© 
 
 eternally barred against man and all his posterity. The 
 flaming sword of justice turns every way, to keep us from 
 access unto the paradise that is above. 
 
 3. While man in these circumstances was expecting no- 
 thing but to fall an eternal sacrifice unto divine justice, 
 the eternal Son of God, in his infinite love and pity to perish- 
 ing sinners, steps in as a Mediator and Surety, offering not 
 only to take our nature, but to take our law-place, to stand 
 in our room and stead : whereby the whole obligation of 
 the law, both penal and preceptive, falls upon him ; that 
 is, he becomes liable and obliged both to fulfil the com- 
 mand, and to endure the curse of the covenant of works, 
 which we had violated. And here, by the way, it is fit to 
 advertise you, that it was an act of amazing grace in the 
 Lord Jehovah, to admit a Surety in our room. For, had 
 he stood to the rigour and severity of the law, he would 
 have demanded a personal satisfaction, without admitting 
 of the satisfaction of a Surety : in which case Adam, and 
 all his posterity, had fallen under the stroke of avenging 
 justice through eternity. But, glory to God in the highest, 
 who not only admitted of a Surety, but provided one, and 
 laid help upon one that is mighty. 
 
 4. Christ, the eternal Son of God, being in ' the fulness 
 of time, made of a woman, and made under the law,' as 
 our Surety, he actually, in our room and stead, fulfilled the 
 whole terms of the covenajit of works; that is, in a word, he 
 obeyed all the commands of the law, and endured the 
 curse of it, and thereby brings in a complete law-righteous- 
 ness; whereby guilty sinners are justified before God. 
 And this is the righteousness by which we are exalted. 
 By his active and passive obedience, he magnifies the law, 
 and makes it honourable, and the Lord declares himself to 
 be well pleased for his righteousness sake. 
 
 5. But although Christ obeyed the law, and satisfied jus- 
 tice, and thereby brought in an everlasting law-righteous- 
 ness for a whole elect world ; yet the elect of God are n&oer 
 exalted hy virtue of this righteousness, till, in a day of power, 
 they he brought to receive it by faith, and submit to it for jus- 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 115 
 
 tification before God. We disclaim that Antinomian error, 
 of an actual justification from eternity, or even of a formal 
 justification, bearing date from the death of Christ. We 
 own, indeed, with aU protestant sound divines, that it was 
 the purpose of God to justify his elect from eternity, and 
 that aU the elect were represented by Christ in his obedi- 
 ence unto the death ; but that they are actually justified 
 before conversion, or before their application by faith unto 
 the blood of Jesus, is impossible ; because the sentence of 
 the broken law stands always in force against them, tiU 
 they actually believe in the Son of God ; for he that heliev- 
 eth not, is condemned already. And how can they be both 
 justified and condemned at the same time ? TiU then, 
 they are children of wrath even as others, 
 
 6. This righteousness of the Surety is conveyed unto us 
 hy imputation; as is abundantly plain from many places 
 of scripture, particularly Rom. iv. 6, 11, 12, 23, 24. God 
 reckons what the Surety did in our room unto us ; so that 
 his righteousness becomes as much ours for justification 
 before God, as though we had obeyed the law, and satisfied 
 justice in our own person. Now, this imputation of the 
 Surety's righteousness runs principally upon these two or 
 three things. (1.) Upon the eternal transaction between 
 the Father and the Son, wherein the Son of God was chosen 
 and sustained as the Surety of an elect world. Then it was 
 that he gave bond to the Father, to pay their debt in the 
 red gold of his blood, saying, ' Sacrifice and ofi'ering thou 
 didst not desire : — Lo, I come : — I delight to do thy will.' 
 (2.) Upon the actual imputation of our sins unto him : 
 ' The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us aU.' There is a 
 blessed exchange of places between Christ and his people : 
 he takes on our sin and unrighteousness, that we may be 
 clothed with the w'hite robe of his righteousness. 2 Cor. 
 v. 21, ' He was made sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we 
 might be made the righteousness of God in him.' (3.) 
 Upon the ground of the mystical union between Christ 
 and the believer. When the poor soul is determined in a 
 day of power to embrace the Lord Jesus in the arms of 
 
116 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 faith, Christ and he in that very moment do coalesce into 
 one body. He becomes a branch of the noble vine; a 
 member of that body whereof Christ is the glorious Head 
 of eminence, influence, and government. And being thus 
 united to Christ, the long and white robe of the Mediator's 
 righteousness is spread over him ; whereby he is not only 
 freed from condemnation, but for ever sustained as righ- 
 teous in the sight of God : 1 Cor. i. 30, ' But of him are ye 
 in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and 
 righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' 
 
 II. The second thing in the method, was to speak of the 
 believer's exaltation by virtue of this righteousness. And 
 here I -R-iU very briefly show, 1. What evils it exalts him 
 above. 2. What happiness and dignity it exalts him to. 
 
 First, What evils it exalts him above. 
 
 1. It exalts him above the law as a covenant of ivories; yea,, 
 above both the commanding and the condemning power of 
 that covenant. ' Ye are not under the law,' says the apos- 
 tle, ' but under grace,' Rom. vi. 14. And if they be not 
 under it, it foUows that they are exalted above it. Indeed 
 they are not, and cannot be above it, as a rule of duty. 
 No creature can be dispensed from the obligation of yield- 
 ing obedience to the laws of the great Creator ; and the 
 believer, in a peculiar manner, is bound to obey the law of 
 a Creator, in the hand of a Mediator. But considering the 
 law as a covenant of works, demanding the debt of obe- 
 dience as a condition of life or threatening eternal wrath 
 in case of disobedience, the believer is indeed exalted above 
 it by the righteousness of Christ. And if the law at any 
 time attempt to bring the believer in bondage to it, he is to 
 stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made him 
 free. The bond-woman Hagar, with her oflfspring of legal 
 fears and terrors, is cast out by faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, Gal. iv. 30. If a believer in Christ shall hear the 
 thunderings and curses of mount Ebal, or Sinai, he has 
 no reason to be affrighted ; for Christ by his righteousness 
 hath redeemed from the curse of law. ' Thou art not come 
 unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 117 
 
 with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest ; 
 — but thou art come unto mount Sion, — and to Jesus the 
 Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprink- 
 ling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.' The 
 believer is dead to the law by the body of Christ, being 
 married unto a better husband, even him that is raised 
 from the dead. 
 
 2. By this righteousness the believer is exalted above 
 the world. Rev. xii. 1, the ' woman clothed with the sun, 
 has the moon under her feet ; ' which may not only point 
 at the believer's duty to soar heavenward in his affections, 
 but also his privilege in Christ, to trample both upon the 
 frowns and flatteries of this lower world; according to 
 that of the apostle, ' This is the victory that overcometh 
 the world, even our faith.' 
 
 3. By this righteousness he is exalted above the 'poicer 
 and malice oj Satan. Indeed as long as the believer is on 
 this side of Jordan, the devil will be harassing him with 
 his fiery darts, and do his utmost to make him go halting 
 to heaven. But by virtue of this righteousness, namely, 
 the doing and dying of our ever-blessed Surety, the devil 
 is both disarmed and destroyed. The head of the old ser- 
 pent is bruised ; for ' through death he destroyed him that 
 had the power of death, that is, the devil.' And by faith 
 in the blood and obedience of the Lord Jesus, the believer 
 treads Satan under his feet ; they overcome him by the Uood 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 4. By this righteousness the believer is exalted above 
 death. Perhaps thou art in bondage through fear of death ; 
 thy heart is like to faint and fail thee, when thou lookest 
 to the swellings of this Jordan. But take a view of this 
 righteousness, and thou shalt be exalted above the fears of 
 it ; for although thou be liable to the stroke of death, yet 
 by this righteousness thou art freed from the sting of it. 
 What is the sting of death ? It is sin. Now, Christ has 
 ' finished transgression, and made an end of sin, by bring- 
 ing in everlasting righteousness.' And therefore thou 
 mayest roll that word like a sweet morsel under thy 
 
118 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 tongue, Hos. xiii. 14, ' I will ransom them from the power 
 of the grave : I will redeem them from death : death, I 
 will be thy plagues ; grave, I will be thy destruction.' 
 
 5. By this righteousness the behever is exalted above all 
 accusations, from whatever quarter they may come, Rom. 
 viii. 33. There the apostle gives a bold challenge, ' Who 
 shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?' The 
 challenge is universal in respect of all accusers : as if he 
 had said. Is there any in heaven, earth, or heU, that can 
 accuse them ? It is universal in respect of all the accused ; 
 for the whole elect of God are comprehended, among whom 
 there have been as great sinners as ever breathed on God's 
 earth. And it is universal in respect of aU crimes : it is not 
 said, Who shaU lay this, or that, or the other crime to their 
 charge? but any thing? and what can be more compre- 
 hensive ? Now, what is the ground of this bold challenge ? 
 It is grounded on the righteousness of Christ : for, says the 
 apostle, 'It is God that justifieth: who is he that con- 
 demneth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen 
 again,' <fcc. 
 
 Secondly, I come to show what happiness or dignity the 
 believer is exalted to by virtue of this righteousness. I 
 only name these two or three particulars. 
 
 1. He is exalted by it unto a state oi peace and reconcili- 
 ation with God: Rom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we 
 have peace with God.' God for ever lays aside every 
 grudge in his heart against the soul that is clothed there- 
 with. 
 
 2. They are exalted by this righteousness unto a state of 
 sonship. Christ was ' made under the law, to redeem them 
 that were under the law, that we might receive the adop- 
 tion of sons,' Gal. v. 4, 5. 
 
 3. Unto a state of fellowship and familiarity with God, 
 and access to him with holy confidence and boldness : 
 Heb. X. 19, 20, 21, 22, ' Having therefore, brethren, bold- 
 ness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a 
 new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, 
 through the veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and having a 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 119 
 
 high priest over the house of God : let us draw near with 
 a true heart in full assurance of faith.' Heb. iv. 14, 16, 
 ' Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is 
 passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us come 
 boldly unto the throne of grace.' The believer may come, 
 under the covert of this righteousness, with as great free- 
 dom unto God as his Father in Christ, as ever Adam could 
 have done in a state of innocence. 
 
 4. At last thou shalt be exalted to a state of endless glory. 
 For heaven (as I was hinting before) is the purchase of the 
 obedience and death of Christ ; and faith acted on this righ- 
 teousness and satisfaction, is the path of life, by which we 
 enter into these rivers of pleasure, and that fulness of joy 
 which is at God's right hand for evermore. 
 
 III. The third thing was the application of the doc- 
 trine. And my first use shall be of information, in these 
 two particulars. 
 
 1. See hence, that the believer has no ground of boasting. 
 .Why? Because it is not in his own, but in Christ's righ- 
 teousness, that he is exalted : ' Boasting is excluded,' says 
 the apostle. ' By what law 1 of works 1 Nay ; but by the 
 law of faith,' Rom. iii. 27. If it were by our own doings or 
 obedience that we were exalted, we would have something 
 to boast of: but since it is in his righteousness that we are 
 exalted, we have nothing whereof to glory in ourselves. 
 There are three questions that the apostle asks, which may 
 silence all flesh, and put all boasters to an eternal blush, 1 
 Cor. iv. 7, ' Who maketh thee to diff"er 1 What hast thou 
 that thou didst not receive ? Why dost thou glory as if 
 thou hadst not received it?' Let believers themselves 
 pose their souls with these, or the Hke inquiries, when 
 pride begins to arise in their breasts. 
 
 2. See hence a noble antidote against a spirit of bondage 
 unto fear. What is it that thou fearest, believer? In- 
 deed if thou sin, thou mayest fear the rod of a Father ; for 
 '■ he will visit thy transgression with the rod, and thine 
 iniquity with stripes.' But art thou afraid of vindictive 
 wrath ? There is no ground for this. He has, Luke i. 74, 
 
120 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 ' delivered us out of the hands of our enemies, that we 
 might serve him without fear ; ' that is, without all servUe 
 or slavish fear of wrath. Art thou afraid of the tempests 
 of Mount Sinai? There is no ground for that, for the 
 storm broke upon the head of thy Surety ; and therefore 
 thou mayest sing and say, as Isa. xii. 1, ' Though thou wast 
 angry with me, thine anger is turned away.' Art thou 
 afraid lest thou be refused access unto the presence-cham- 
 ber ? Improve this righteousness by faith, and thou shalt 
 see that the way to the holy of holies is opened, and get 
 the banner of love displayed over thee. Whenever the 
 poor believer takes the righteousness of the Surety in the 
 hand of faith, and holds it up unto God as a ransom of his 
 own finding, he is so well pleased with it, that his frowns 
 are turned into smiles. In a word, you shall never get 
 rid of a spirit of bondage, tiU you learn by faith to im- 
 prove this law -biding righteousness; and then indeed 
 legal fears and terrors do evanish, like the darkness of the 
 night before the rising of the sun. 
 
 Use second, of reproof unto all those who are seeking to 
 exalt themselves by a righteousness of their own, like the 
 Jews, Rom. x. 3. who ' went about to estabhsh their own 
 righteousness, and would not submit themselves unto the 
 righteousness of God.' There are some of the hearers of 
 the gospel who exalt themselves in a negative righteousness: 
 they are not so bad as others : they are free of gross out- 
 breakings, being no common drunkards, swearers, or sab- 
 bath-breakers ; and therefore conclude that aU is right 
 with them. But, Sirs, the Pharisee could make this boast : 
 and Paul before conversion could say, that touching the law 
 he was hlameless; and yet when God opened his eyes, he 
 found himself lying under the arrest of justice ; for, 
 ' when the commandment came, sin revived, and he died.' 
 
 Others are exalting themselves in a moral kind of 
 righteousness; they not only cease to do evil, but do many 
 things that are materially good : they are sober, temperate, 
 just in their dealings, liberal to the poor, good peaceable 
 neighbours; they love every body, and every body loves 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGUTEOUSNESS. 121 
 
 them ; they keep the commandments as well as they can : 
 and this is the ground they are standing upon. But I may 
 say to you, as Christ said to the young man, who told him, 
 ' All these things have I kept from my youth up.' '■ Yet 
 lackest thou one thing.' what is that? say you. I 
 answer, it is to be brought off from the rotten bottom of 
 a covenant of works that ye are standing upon. You need 
 to see that you are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, 
 and that you are legally dead, condemned already, and the 
 wrath of God abiding on you. You need to see, that ' all 
 your own righteousness is as filthy rags,' and to be made 
 to say, with the church, ' Surely in the Lord have I 
 righteousness and strength.' 
 
 Others will go farther than bare morality; they will 
 abound in the duties of religion, read, hear, pray, communi- 
 cate, run from sermon to sermon, from sacrament to sacra- 
 ment ; and upon these things they rest. All these things 
 are good in their proper place ; but if you build your hope 
 of acceptance here, you are stiU upon a covenant of works 
 bottom, seeking righteousness, as it were hy the works of the 
 law; and while you do so, you do but seek the living 
 among the dead. All your works are but dead works, tiU 
 you be in Christ ; and they will but stand for cyphers in 
 God's reckoning, till you be brought to submit to this 
 righteousness, by which alone guilty sinners can be exalted. 
 
 Others rely upon a mixed kind of righteousness. They 
 wiU freely own, that their duties and performances will 
 never exalt them into favour and acceptance with God ; 
 but, 0, say they, it is Christ and our duties, Christ and our 
 prayers, he and our tears and repentance, that must do it. 
 But believe it. Sirs, Christ and the idol of self will never 
 cement ; these old rotten rags will never piece in with the 
 white and new robe of the righteousness of the Son of 
 God: and if you adventure to mingle them together, 
 ' Christ shall profit you nothing,' Gal. v. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 Others again, will pretend to renounce all their works 
 and duties, and own, with their mouths, that it is by faith 
 in Christ only that they hope to be accepted. But though 
 
122 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 they own this with their mouths, yet still their hearts 
 cleave fast unto a covenant of works; they were never 
 through the law, dead to the law. And when nothing else 
 will do, they wiU make their own act of believing the 
 righteousness on which they lean for acceptance ; which is 
 still a seeking righteousness in themselves: whereas, if 
 ever we be justified before God, we must have it in the 
 Lord Jesus, saying, In him will we be justified, and in him 
 alone will we glory. Faith carries the soul quite out of 
 itself; yea, faith renounces its own act in the point of 
 justification. 
 
 All these, and many other dreams and lying refuges hath 
 the devil and our own hearts de\ised, to lead us off from 
 Christ. But, Sirs, believe it, these are but imaginary 
 sanctuaries, and the hail will sweep them away. Nothing 
 but the doing and dying of the Surety, apprehended by 
 faith, wiU ever exalt you into favour and fellowship with 
 God, or acquit you from the curse and condemnation of 
 the broken law. And unless you betake yourselves to the 
 horns of this blessed altar, to this refuge of God's appoint- 
 ing, you are undone ; and you may read your doom, Isa. 1. 
 11, 'Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass your- 
 selves about with sparks ; walk in the light of your fire, 
 and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have 
 of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.' 
 
 Use third, of trial. Is it so, that in Christ's righteous- 
 ness we are exalted ? then, Sirs, try if you be really 
 exalted by this righteousness. 
 
 1. Hast thou seen thyself condemned hy the law or 
 covenant of works ? Every man by nature is con- 
 demned already, while out of Christ. Now the ordi- 
 nary way that God takes of bringing an elect soul 
 into Christ, and under the covering of his righteous- 
 ness, is by discovering unto him the sentence of con- 
 demnation that he is under by virtue of the broken 
 law ; and thus paves the way towards his acceptance of 
 Christ as the Lord our righteousness; for thus it is that 
 ' the law is our schoolmaster, to lead us unto Christ, that 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 123 
 
 WG may be justified by faith.' The Lord leads the sinner 
 to mount Zion by the foot of Sinai : the Spirit's way is, 
 first to convince of sin and then of righteousness. 
 
 2. Has the Lord discovered the Surety and his righteous- 
 tiess to thee? And has thy soul found rest here? Perhaps 
 the law, and its curses, justice and wrath, were pursuing 
 thee ; and thou couldst not find a hole wherein to hide 
 thy head, all refuge failed. At length the Lord drew aside 
 the vail, and discovered his righteousness as a suflBcient 
 shelter, saying, ' Turn ye to the strong hold, ye prisoners 
 of hope.' And thither thou fleddest, as unto a city of refuge, 
 Baying, ' This is my rest, here will I dwell.' Readily when 
 it comes to this, there is a Httle heaven of serenity and joy 
 enters into the soul ; so that if it were possible, it would 
 make heaven and earth to ring with Hallelujahs of praise 
 unto God for his unspeakable gift. Dost thou not know, 
 believer, something of this, to thy sweet experienced 
 This says, that in his righteousness thou art exalted. 
 
 3. When an arrow of conviction is at any time shot by 
 the hand of God into thy conscience, whereby thy peace 
 and quiet is disturbed, whither dost thou run for ease and 
 relief ? The man that is married to the law runs unto the 
 law for relief and ease ; the law is the thing that heals 
 him : his prayers, his tears, his reformation, is that which 
 stops the mouth of his conscience. But as for the believer, 
 he can never find rest on this side of the blood of sprinkling, 
 he gets his heahng only from under the wings of the Sun 
 of righteousness. No other balm will give him ease, but 
 the balm of Gilead; and no other hand can apply it, but 
 the Physician there. 
 
 4. If you be exalted by imputed righteousness, you will 
 be the real students of gospel holiness. It is a gross pervert- 
 ing of the gospel, and a turning of the grace of our God 
 into wantonness, for folk to pretend that they are justified 
 by the merit of Christ, while they are not at the same 
 time concerned to be sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. 
 Sanctification, or freedom from the power and dominion of 
 sin, is a part, and no small part, of that salvation which 
 
124 THE BELIEVER EXALTED 
 
 Christ has purchased by his obedience and death : Tit. ii. 
 14, ' Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works.' Justification and sanctifi- 
 cation go always hand in hand. He who is Qiiade of God 
 unto us righteousiuss, is also made sanctification ; we are 
 justified aiid sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and hj 
 the Spirit of our Ood. Try yourselves then by this 
 whether you be exalted by this righteousness. Are you 
 delivered from the reigning power of sin 1 at least, is it so 
 far broken, that it is become your burden, under which 
 you groan, saying, with the apostle, '■ Wretched man that 
 I am I who shall dehver me from the body of this death 1 ' 
 Use fourth shall be of consolation and encoui'agement to 
 believers who are exalted in this righteousness. By virtue 
 of it, believer, thou art entitled unto every thing that 
 possibly thou canst stand in need of. Whatever grace or 
 mercy thou wantest, thou shalt have it, if thou do but im- 
 prove this law-biding righteousness. Wantest thou par- 
 doning grace to take away the guilt of sin 1 That is one 
 of the gifts of God, through the righteousness of Christ 
 apprehended by faith ; for ' he is set forth to be a propiti- 
 ation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous- 
 ness for the remission of sins.' Wantest thou to have thy 
 peace with God confirmed ? Improve this righteousness by 
 faith, for 'being justified by faith, we have peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Wantest thou access 
 unto the holiest ? By faith in the blood of Jesus have we 
 access with boldness. Wantest thou medicinal grace for 
 healing of soul plagues? Improve this righteousness by 
 faith ; for by his stripes we are healed. Out of the side of 
 our gospel-altar comes forth li\'ing water, that healeth the 
 corrupt and dead sea of indwelling corruption, Ezek. xlvii, 
 9. This is ' the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing 
 of the nations.' Wantest thou a shadow or covering, to 
 shelter thy weary soul from the scorching heat of divine 
 anger, or of temptation from Satan or tribulation from the 
 world? Improve this righteousness and sit down under 
 
IN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 125 
 
 the shadow of it : it is ' as the shadow of a great rock in 
 a weary land.' Wantest thou courage to look the law or 
 justice of God in the face? Here is a fund for it? for 
 under this covering thou niayest look out with confidence, 
 and say, w/io can lay any thing to my charge? Wantest 
 thou to have the new covenant confirmed to thy soul? 
 Improve this righteousness by faith; for Christ, by his 
 obedience and death, confirmed the covenant with many. 
 His blood is the hlood of the New Testament; and when the 
 soul by faith takes hold of it, the covenant of grace is 
 that moment confirmed unto it for ever. In a word, by 
 virtue of this righteousness thou mayest come to a commu- 
 nion table, and to a throne of grace, and ask what thou 
 wilt ; our heavenly Father can refuse nothing to the 
 younger brethren, who come to him in their elder Brother's 
 garment. By virtue of this righteousness, thou mayest lay 
 claim to every thing, to all the blessings of heaven and 
 eternity. Thou didst indeed forfeit thy right in the first 
 Adam ; but the forfeiture is recovered, and the right re- 
 stored to thee upon a better ground, namely, upon the 
 obedience and death of the second Adam ; and thou comest 
 in upon his right. May not all this then revive thy droop- 
 ing spirit, and make thee take up that song in the text. In 
 thy wime will I rejoice all the day ; and in thy righteousness 
 will I be exalted. 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 THE WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 
 
 Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, 
 that they may live. — Ezek. xxxvii. 9. 
 
 In the beginning of this chapter, the Lord, in a vision, 
 brings the prophet Ezekiel into a valley full of dead men's 
 bones, quite dried and withered, and asks him the question. If 
 he thought it possible for these dry bones to live ? thereby 
 intimating, that although it was a thing impossible with 
 men, yet it was easily effected by the ahnighty power of 
 God. And, to convince him of it, he commands the pro- 
 phet to speak unto the dry bones, and to tell them, in his 
 name, that he would make the breath of life to enter into 
 them : which accordingly is done ; for the prophet having, 
 in the name of the Lord, called upon the four winds to 
 breathe upon the dry bones, immediately Kfe enters into 
 them, and they come together, bone to his bone, and they 
 lived, and stood up upon their feet, and became an exceed- 
 ing great army. 
 
 We have in this vision a representation of the resurrec- 
 tion of the church of God from the grave of her bondage 
 and captivity in Babylon, under which she was at present 
 detained. And this indeed is the primary and immediate 
 scope of the vision, as is plain from the expUcation that 
 foUows it, ver. 11, 12, 13, 14. However, seeing the deliv- 
 erance of the children of Israel out of their Babylonish cap- 
 tivity, was typical of our spiritual redemption purchased 
 by the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, and in a day of 
 
TUB WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST, ETC. 127 
 
 power applied by the mighty and powerful operation of the 
 Holy Spirit of God ; and seeing it is this redemption that 
 we under the gospel are principally concerned with, there- 
 fore I shall handle the words that I have read under this 
 spiritual sense and meaning. 
 
 And in them briefly we have, 1. A dismal case supposed, 
 and that is spiritual deadness. The people of God were 
 not only in bondage under their enemies, but likewise 
 their souls were at this time in a languishing condition. 
 
 2. "We have a blessed remedy here expressed, and that is 
 the breathings of the Spirit of the Lord, the influences of 
 the Holy Ghost : Conie from the four winds, breath, (fee. 
 
 Now, from these words I only ofier you this one observa- 
 tion, namely, 
 
 DocT. ' That as the generality of a church and people in 
 covenant with God may be in a very dead and languishing 
 condition as to their souls, so the breathings and influences 
 of the Holy Spirit of God are absolutely necessary for their 
 revival. 
 
 In discoursing from this doctrine, I would, 
 
 I. Clear the nature of these influences in a word or two. 
 
 II. Speak of the variety of these influences, /oz^r winds. 
 
 III. Attend to the manner of their operation upon the 
 elect ; they are said to breathe upon the slain. 
 
 IV. Speak a little of the necessity of these breathings. 
 
 V. I shall apply. 
 
 I. The first thing is, to clear the nature of these breath- 
 ings or influences. And what I have to offer upon this 
 head, you may take in these few propositions. 
 
 1. Know that the influences and gifts of the Spirit of 
 God are of two sorts, either common or saving. As for the 
 common influences of the Spirit, which are sometimes be- 
 stowed upon the wicked and reprobate world, I am not to 
 speak of these at this time. All I shall say about them is, 
 first, that they are given in common to the children of 
 men, 'for edifying of the mistical body of Christ,' until 
 it arrive at ' the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
 Christ,' as you read, Eph. iv. ; and therefore they are com- 
 
128 THE WIIS'D OF THE HOLT GHOST 
 
 monly called by divines doim ministrantia, or ministering 
 gifts. Although they have no saving efficacy upon the 
 person in whom they dwell ; yet God, in his holy wisdom, 
 makes use of them for the good of his church in general, 
 as we read, Eph. iv. And another thing that I would teU 
 you likewise concerning these common influences, is, that 
 they are of an exceeding dangerous nature when they are not 
 accompanied with saving grace. The man that has them 
 is like a ship having big large sails, and but little or no ballast 
 at all, in the midst of the ocean, and therefore in danger 
 of being split in pieces against every rock. In Matth. vii. 
 22. we read of some who had extraordinary uncommon gifts ; 
 they prophesied in Christ's name, wrought miracles, and 
 cast out devils in his name, and did many wonderful works, 
 and yet Christ utterly disowns them. I do not speak of 
 these common influences now, but of such as are saving. 
 And therefore, 
 
 2, A second proposition is, that the Holy Spirit of God, 
 considered in his particular economy in the work of re- 
 demption, as the applier of the Redeemer's purchase, is the 
 author and eflcient cause of all saving influences. It is he, 
 I say, that prepares and disposes the soul of man for the 
 entertainment of the things of God, which are not received 
 nor discerned by the natural mind. It is he that ploughs 
 up the fallow ground of the heart, and brings in the wil- 
 derness, and turns it into a fruitful field. It is he that 
 garnishes the face of the soul with the saving graces of the 
 Spirit ; these are flowers of the upper paradise, therefore 
 called ' the fruits of the Spirit,' Gal. v. 22. It is he that 
 preserves, cherishes, and maintains them by renewed in- 
 fluences : he cherishes the smoking flax, and at last turns 
 it into a lamp of glory in heaven; 'for he brings forth 
 judgment into victory.' 
 
 3. Again, know that the elect of God are the subjects reci- 
 pient of all saving influences of the Spirit of God ; I say, 
 they are peculiar unto the elect of God, and to them only, upon 
 their conversion, when they come to be united unto Christ, 
 as members of his mystical body. "We must be ingrafted 
 
LLOWINO UPON THE DRY BONES. 129 
 
 into this true olive, otherwise we can never partake of his 
 sap, and ' receive out of his fuhiess grace for grace.' That 
 these influences are peculiar unto the elect of God, is plain 
 from Tit. i. 1. where w^e read of 'the faith of God's elect.' 
 
 4. These influences of the Spirit are given for various emh 
 unto the elect of God. The judicious Dr. Owen, in his 
 ' Discourses on the Spirit,' observes, that these saving in- 
 fluences are given unto the elect of God for regeneration, 
 unto the regenerate for sanctification, unto the sanctified 
 for consolation, and unto the comforted Christian for fur- 
 ther upbuilding, and edification, and estabUshment, until 
 they arrive at perfection in glory. But the nature of these 
 influences will further appear from, 
 
 II. The second thing proposed, which was, to speak a 
 little of the variety of these influences of the Spirit. You 
 see they are diversified here, while they are called four 
 winds: Come from the four winds, breath. The apostle 
 tells us, that ' there are diversities of gifts and operations, 
 but the same Spirit,' 1 Cor. xi. 4. And we read of ' seven 
 Spirits that are before the throne,' Rev. i. Here I might 
 tell you that the saving influences and breathings of the 
 Spirit, are either primary, fundamental, and absolutely ne- 
 cessary to salvation, or they are accumulative, additional, 
 necessary only for the beUever's comfort and well-being ; 
 that some of these influences are antecedent, or preparative 
 unto conversion ; some of them regenerating, and others 
 are subsequent and posterior unto regeneration. But I 
 shaU not stand upon such nice distinctions. You may take 
 a few of them in the order following. 
 
 1. There are the convincing influences of the Spirit : John 
 xvi. 8, ' When he is come, he will convince the world of 
 sin.' This is what I conceive we are to understand by the 
 north wind, Cant. iv. 16. which is commonly boisterous, 
 cold, chill, and nipping. The elect of God by nature lie 
 fast asleep within the sea-mark of God's wrath, upon the 
 very brink of everlasting ruin, crying, Peace, peace, to 
 themselves. The Spirit of the Lord comes like a stormy 
 north wind, blows hard upon the sinner's face, and awakens 
 
130 THE WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST 
 
 him, breaks his carnal peace and security, brings him to 
 himself, and lets him see his danger, fills him with remorse 
 and terror. Hence Isa. xxviii. 17. the hail is said to ' sweep 
 away the refuge of lies,' before the sinner come to settle 
 upon the foundation that God hath laid in Zion. In Acts 
 ii. 37. it is said, ' they were pricked in their heart ; ' and 
 then they cried out, ' Men and brethren, what shall we do 1 ' 
 
 2. There are the enlightening influences and breathings of 
 the Spirit. Hence he is compared unto eye-salve^ Rev. iii. 
 18. 'Ye have received an unction from the Holy One, 
 whereby ye know all things,' 1 John ii. 20. "We read Isa. 
 XXV. 7. of a veil and face of a covering that is spread over 
 all nations. The wind of the Holy Ghost must blow off 
 this veil of ignorance and unbelief ; and then the poor sin- 
 ner comes to see a new world of wonders that he never saw- 
 before, — a wonderful great God, a wonderful Redeemer, a 
 wonderful covenant, and a wonderful holy law. Hence we 
 are said to be ' translated out of darkness into a marvellous 
 light. The Spirit searcheth aU things, yea, even the deep 
 things of God.' And 1 Cor. ii. 12, ' By the Spirit we know 
 the things that are freely given to us of God.' 
 
 3. There are the renewing influences of the Spirit. "We 
 are said to be ' saved by the washing of regeneration, and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost,' Tit. iii. 5. Hence he is 
 called ' a new Spirit ;' he renews the soul after the image of 
 God ; makes the heart, that was a cage of unclean birds, a 
 fit temple for the Holy Ghost to dwell in ; he garnishes the 
 soul, and makes it hke the King's daughter, all glorious 
 vnthin. They that had lien among the pots, become, ' Hke 
 the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers 
 with yeUow gold.' In short, he ' makes old things to pass 
 away, and all things to become new.' 
 
 4. There are the comforting influences of the Spirit. 
 This is the south wind, as it were, gentle and easy, and 
 refreshing ; and therefore he is called the Comforter. And 
 indeed his consolations are strong consolations ; they put 
 more gladness into the heart than corn, wine, and oil in 
 abundance; fill the soul with a joy that is 'unspeakable, 
 
BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 131 
 
 and full of glory.' His consolations are so strong, that 
 they furnish the soul with ground of joy in the blackest 
 and cloudiest day: Hab. iii. 17, 18, 'Although the fig-tree 
 shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the 
 labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
 meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there 
 shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the 
 Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' And the joy 
 that he gives, is deep : ' Your heart shall rejoice.' And it 
 is abiding: ' Your joy shall no man take from you.' And 
 it is such as cannot be made language of: ' We rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' And then, 
 
 5. There are the corroborating and strengthening influ- 
 ences of the Spirit. By the breathings of the Spirit the 
 feeble are made ' like David, and as the angel of God 
 before him.' It is he that '■ gives power to the faint, and 
 increases strength to them that have no might.' It is by 
 him that worm Jacob is made to ' thresh the mountains, 
 and to beat them small, and to make the hiUs as chaff.' 
 And then, 
 
 6. There are the drawing and enlarging influences of the 
 Spirit : ' Draw me, says the spouse, we will run after thee.' 
 The poor believer lies many times, as it were, wind-bound, 
 that he is not able to move one step in the way of the 
 Lord ; but, ! when the Spirit of the Lord comes, then 
 comes liberty and enlargement : ' I will run the way of 
 thy commandments,' says David, ' when thou hast enlarged 
 my heart,' to wit, by the influences of thy Spirit. He is 
 like oil to their chariot-wheels ; and when he comes, they 
 are as the chariots of Amminadib, or a ivilling 'peojple. 
 
 7. There are the sin-mortifying and sin-killing influences 
 of the Spirit : ' \Ye through the Spirit,' are said to * mortify 
 the deeds of the body, that so we may live.' When this 
 wind of the Holy Ghost blows upon the soul, he not only 
 makes the spices to revive, but he kills the weeds of sin 
 and corruption, making them to wither and decay ; so that 
 the poor believer, who was crying, ' Wretched man, what 
 shall I do to be delivered from this body of death ? ' is made 
 
132 THE WIND 0? THE HOLT GHOST 
 
 sometimes to tread upon the neck of these enemies, as a 
 pledge of his complete victory at last. And then, 
 
 8. There are the interceding infiuences of the Spirit : 
 Rom. ■viii, 26, ' The Spirit maketh intercession for us with 
 groanings which cannot be uttered.' He intercedes in a 
 physical and efficient way. He makes us to wrestle and 
 pray ; therefore he is called ' the Spirit of grace and supph- 
 cations,' Zech. xii. 10. He fills the believer's heart and 
 mouth with such a heavenly rhetoric, that God is not able 
 to withstand it. Hence Jacob ' had power with the angel, 
 and prevailed ; ' for ' he wept, and made supplication unto 
 him.' And then, 
 
 9. There are the sealing and witnessing influences of the 
 Spirit ; He ' witnesseth with our spirits, that we are the 
 sons of God.' He bears witness of the glorious fulness and 
 suitableness of Christ to the soul : ' the Spirit shall testify 
 of me,' John xv, 26. And he is said to ' seal believers to 
 the day of redemption ; ' and his seal is the earnest of 
 glory : Eph. i. 13, 14, 'Ye are sealed by the Holy Spirit of 
 promise, which is the earnest of the inheritance.' So much 
 for the second thing. 
 
 III. The third thing that I proposed here, was to speak 
 a little to the manner of the acting or operation of these 
 influences, or how it is that this wind blows upon the 
 soul ? I answer, 
 
 1. The wind of the Holy Ghost blows nqyj freely. The 
 wind acts as an independent sovereign, John iii. 8. It 
 doth not stay for the command, nor stop for the prohibi- 
 tion of any creature. So the breathings of the Spirit are 
 sovereignly free as to the time of their donation, free as to 
 their duration and continuance, fi'ee as to the measure, and 
 free as to the manner of their working. And then, 
 
 2. He breathes on the soul sometimes very surprisingly : 
 ' Or ever I was aware,' says the spouse, ' my soul made me 
 like the chariots of Amminadib.' Canst thou not seal this 
 in thy experience, believer, that sometimes, when thou hast 
 gone to duty in a very heartless and lifeless condition, per- 
 haps beginning to raze foundations, and to say with Zion, 
 
BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 133 
 
 ' The Lord hath forsaken, and my God hath forgotten,' a 
 gale from heaven has in a manner surprised thee, and set 
 thee upon the high places of Jacob, and made thee to cry 
 with the spouse, ' It is the voice of my beloved ! Behold, 
 he Cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the 
 hills 1 ' His anger endureth but for a moment ; in his favour 
 is life : weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in 
 the morning ! 
 
 3. These breathings and influences of the Spirit are 
 sometimes very piercing and ijenetrating . The cold nipping 
 north wind, ye know, goes to the very quick. The sword 
 of the Spirit ' pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul 
 and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner 
 of the thoughts and intents of the heart.' Wind, you know, 
 is of a very seeking, penetrating nature ; it seeks through 
 the closest chambers. So the Spirit, which is the candle of 
 the Lord, ' searcheth the lower parts of the belly :' he makes 
 a discovery of these lusts and idols that skulk in the secret 
 chambers of the heart. 
 
 4. The breathings of this wind are very powerful, strong, 
 and efficacious. "Who can oppose the blowings of the wind ? 
 Some winds have such a mighty force with them, that they 
 bear down, overturn, and overthrow every thing that stands 
 in their way. So the Spirit of the Lord sometimes, espe- 
 cially at first conversion, breaks in upon the soul like the 
 rushing of a mighty wi^id, as he did upon the apostles, 
 breaking down the strong holds of iniquity, casting to the 
 ground every high thought and towering imagination of 
 the soul, that exalteth itself against Christ, with a power- 
 ful and triumphant efficacy. He masters the darkness of 
 the mind, the contumacy and rebellion of the will, and the 
 carnality of the affections ; the enmity of the heart against 
 God, and all the spiritual wickednesses that are in the 
 high places of the soul, are made to fall down at his feet, 
 as Dagon did before the ark of the Lord. 
 
 5. Although he act thus powerfully and irresistibly, yet 
 it is with an overcoming sweetness, so as there is not the 
 least violence ofiered unto any of the natural faculties of 
 
134 THE WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST 
 
 the soul. For whenever the Spirit comes with his saving 
 influences, he sweetly overcomes the darkness of the mind ; 
 the sinner becomes a volunteer, and content to enlist him- 
 self a soldier under Christ's banner : Psal. ex. 3, ' Thy people 
 shall be willing in the day of thy power.' No sooner does 
 Christ by his Spirit say to the soul, ' Follow me, but imme- 
 diately it arises and follows him. Behold, we come unto 
 thee, for thou art the Lord our God.' Then, 
 
 6. There is something in the breathing of this wind that 
 is incomprehensible hy reason: John iii. 8, "Thou hearest 
 the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
 and whither it goeth,' says Christ : ' so is every one that 
 is born of the Spirit.' There is something in the operation 
 of the eternal Spirit and his influences beyond the reach, 
 not only of natural but of sanctified reason. Who can tell 
 ' how the bones are formed in the womb of her that is with 
 child 1 ' so, far less can we tell how the Spirit forms the 
 babe of grace in the heart ; how he preserves, maintains, 
 and cherishes the smoking flax, that is not quite extin- 
 guished. We may in this case apply the words of the 
 Psalmist in another case, and say, ' Thy way is in the sea, 
 and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not 
 known ; ' and that of the apostle, ' How unsearchable are 
 his judgments, and his ways past finding out.' 
 
 7. These influences of the Spirit are sometimes feh hefore 
 they he seen. As you know a man will feel the wind, and 
 hear it, when he cannot see it : so it is with the Lord's 
 people many times, on whom the Spirit breathes. They 
 feel his actings, they are sensible that he has been dealing 
 with them ; and aU that they can say about it is, with the 
 man that was born blind, ' One thing I know, that whereas 
 I was blind, now I see.' The kingdom of heaven comes not 
 with observation. 
 
 IV. The fourth thing proposed was, to speak a little to 
 the necessity of these breathings. And here I shall show, 
 1. That they are necessary. 2. To what things they are 
 necessary. 
 
 1. That they are necessary, will appear, 
 
BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 135 
 
 1st. From the express declaration of Christ, Jolm xv. 5, 
 * Without me ye can do nothing ; ' that is, without the aid 
 and influences of my Spirit. He doth not say, Without me 
 ye cannot do many things, or great things ; but, ' Without 
 me ye can do nothing.' 
 
 2dly. It is evident from the express acJcnoioledgment of the 
 saints of God upon this head : 2 Cor. iii. 5, ' We are not,' 
 says the apostle, ' sufficient of ourselves to think any thing 
 as of ourselves : but our sufficiency is of God.' It is he that 
 must work all our works in us and for us. 
 
 3dly. It is plain from the earnest prayers of the saints for 
 the breathings of this wind : Cant. iv. 16, ' Awake, north 
 wind, and come, thou south, and blow upon my garden.' 
 Psal. Ixxxv. 6, ' Wilt thou not revive us again : that thy 
 people may rejoice in thee?' 
 
 4thly. They :x,vq promised in the covenant, and therefore 
 necessary : Isa. xliv. 3, ' I will pour water upon him that 
 is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my 
 Spirit upon thy seed,' &c. Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put my 
 Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' 
 Now^, there is not a mercy promised in the covenant that 
 can be wanted. But, 
 
 2. To what are these breathings necessary ? I answer, 
 they are necessary, 
 
 1st. To the quickening of the elect of God, when they 
 are dead in trespasses and sitis. Can ever the dry bones 
 live, unless this omnipotent wind blow upon them 1 It is 
 strange to hear some men that profess Christianity talking 
 of the power of their own wills to quicken and convert 
 themselves. They may as well say that a dead man may take 
 his grave in his two arms, and lay death by him, and walk. 
 ' No man,' says Christ, ' can come to me, except the Father 
 which hath sent me, draw him.' what a dead weight is 
 the sinner, that a whole Trinity must draw ! for both Fa- 
 ther and Son draw the sinner by the breathings of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 2dly. These influences are necessary for the suitable dis- 
 charge of every duty of religion. You cannot read, you can- 
 
136 THE WIXD OF THE HOLY GHOST 
 
 not hear, you cannot pray or praise, you cannot communi- 
 cate to any advantage, unless the wind of the Holy Ghost 
 blow upon you. It is the Lord that must enlarge our 
 steps under us, and make our feet like hinds' feet in the 
 ways of the Lord. 
 
 3dly. They are necessary for accomplishing our spiritual 
 ovarfare against sin, Satan, and the world. We will never 
 be able to combat v/ith our spiritual enemies, if he do not 
 help us : it is he only that must ' teach our hands to war, 
 and our lingers to tight, so as bows of steel may be broken 
 in pieces by us.' Without the Spirit we will fall before 
 every temptation; like Peter, curse and swear, that we 
 never knew him. 
 
 4thly. They are necessary to the exercise of grace already 
 implanted in the soid. As we cannot work grace in our 
 hearts, so neither can we exercise it without the renewed 
 influences of the Holy Ghost, Cant, iv, 16. When this 
 wind blows, then, and never till then, do the spices flow 
 out. But I shall not stand on this : the Spirit's influences 
 are necessary to all the uses mentioned upon the second 
 head : for conviction, illumination, renovation, consolation, 
 enlargement, mortification of sin, for assurance of our adop- 
 tion. 
 
 V. The fifth thing is the use of the doctrine. And wav- 
 ing other uses that might be made of this doctrine, I shall 
 only improve it by way of examination and of exhortation. 
 The first use shall be of trial and examination. Oh try, 
 Sirs, whether or not these saving influences of the Spirit 
 did ever breathe upon your souls, yea, or not. For your 
 trial I shall only suggest these few things. 
 
 1. If these breathings have blown upon thy soul, man, 
 woman, then he has blown away the veil and face of the cover- 
 ing that was naturally upon thy mind and understanding. 
 He has given you other views of spiritual and divine things 
 than you can have by any natural or acquired knowledge. 
 The Spirit of the Lord is called ' the Spirit of wisdom and 
 revelation,' Eph. i. 17. because he reveals those things to 
 the soul which flesh and blood is not able to receive or un- 
 
BLOWING UPON THE DRY BOXES. 137 
 
 derstand. So then, has the Spirit testified of Christ unto 
 you ? has he ' who commanded the light to shine out of 
 darkness,' shined into your heart, to give the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ ? 
 And as a fruit and consequence of this, 
 
 2. If the wind of the Holy Ghost has blown upon thy 
 soul, he has hloivn away some of the filth of hell that did cleave 
 to thy sold, and has transformed thee into his own image : 
 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, 
 thou art changed into the same image, from glory to glory, 
 even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' If you have the Spirit, 
 the ' same mind will be in you, which was also in Christ 
 Jesus ; for he that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit.' 
 You will imitate and resemble him in his imitable perfec- 
 tions, in his holiness, meekness, self-denial, patience. He 
 is a holy God, and wherever he comes he works holiness, 
 and makes the soul holy. 
 
 3. If this wind has blown upon your souls, then it has 
 driven you from your lying refuges, and made you take 
 sanctuary in Christ. He has driven you from the law, and 
 made you consent to the method of salvation through the 
 righteousness of the Son of God: ' I through the law,' says 
 the apostle, ' am dead to the law, that I might live unto 
 God.' This is the design of all the Spirit's influences, to 
 lead sinners off from sin, off from self, off from the law, that 
 they may rest in Christ only. 
 
 4. If ever you felt any of the reviving gales of this wind 
 of the Spirit, you vnll long for new gales and breathings of 
 it; and when these breathings are suspended or withheld, 
 your souls will be like to faint, as it were, like a man that 
 wants breath. You will pant for the air of the Spirit's in- 
 fluences, like David, Psal. Ixiii. 1, 'My soul longeth for 
 thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;' and 
 Psal. Ixxxiv. 2, ' My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the 
 courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh crieth out for 
 the living God.' Oh for another gale of his Spirit in pub- 
 lic ordinances ! 
 
 5. If you have felt the breathings of this wind, you will 
 
138 THE "WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST 
 
 not snuff up the east vjind of sin and vanity : John iv. 14, 
 ' Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, 
 shall never thirst.' You will not thirst immoderately after 
 things of time ; no, no, you will see them to be but mere 
 trash and vanity. You will ' choose that good part which 
 shall not be taken away from you.' You will ' seek those 
 things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right 
 hand of God.' 
 
 6. If this wind has blown upon thy soul, then you will 
 follow the motion of this wind ; you will not run cross to 
 this wind, but will go along with it. I mean, you will yield 
 yourselves unto the conduct of the Spirit speaking in his 
 word ; for ' as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
 are the sons of God.' 
 
 The second use shall be of exhortation. Is it so, that the 
 influences of the Spirit are so necessary in order to our 
 revival ? then be exhorted to look up to heaven, and cry 
 for the breathings of the Spirit. Sirs, will ye turn the 
 words of my text into a prayer, and say. Come from the 
 four winds, hreath, and breathe upon these slain, that they 
 may live. I might enforce this exhortation by many mo- 
 tives ; I only name these two. 
 
 Mot. 1. Consider, Sirs, that spiritual deadness is very pre- 
 valent in the day wherein we live. There is a great multi- 
 tude of dry bones scattered up and down our valley of 
 vision. There are many that carry the marks of a deadly 
 leprosy on their foreheads ; their atheism, their profanity, 
 irreligion, and other gross abominations, plainly declare to 
 the world that they are stark dead in trespasses and sins. 
 And, alas ! may it not be for matter of lamentation, that 
 even many of those who, in the judgment of charity, have 
 the root of the matter, the principles of spiritual life, are yet 
 under sad decays of the Life of grace ? Alas ! it is not with 
 Scotland's ministers and professors as once in a day it has 
 been. 
 
 Mot. 2. Consider the evil and danger of spiritual dead- 
 ness. The evil of it will appear, 
 
 1st. If ye consider that it is a frame of spirit directly 
 
BLOWING UPON THE DRY BONES. 139 
 
 cross to the conunand of God. God commands us to ' pre- 
 sent ourselves a living sacrifice unto him;' and indeed 
 ' this is our reasonable service,' Rom. xii. 1. Yea, it is 
 cross unto the very nature of God ; for ' God is a Spirit, and 
 they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in 
 truth,' John iv. 24. 
 
 2dly. The evil and danger of it appears further from 
 this, that it unjits the soidfor every duty, and mars our com- 
 munion and fellowship with God. God meets the Hvely 
 Christian in the way of duty : ' Thou meetest him that re- 
 joiceth, and worketh righteousness, those that remember 
 thee in thy ways.' But for the man that comes to him 
 with a Laodicean, dead, lifeless, and lukewarm frame of 
 soul, he will not hold communion with that man ; no, he 
 will spew him out of his mouth. 
 
 3dly. It opens the door for all other sin, and renders a 
 man an easy prey to every temptation. A dead man can 
 make no power of resistance, he is carried down the stream 
 without opposition. Then, 
 
 4thly. It lays a foundatio7i for sad and terrible challenges 
 for conscience. David's spiritual deadness brought him to 
 that pass at the long run, that he is made to cry out of 
 broken bones, (fee. 
 
 Quest. What advice or counsel do you give, in order to 
 our obtaining or recovering the enlightening and reviving 
 gales of the Spirit ? 
 
 Ans. 1. Be seiuihle of your deadness, and mourn over it; 
 for the Lord ' comforts them that mourn in Zion.' He will 
 ' give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourn- 
 ing, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness : ' and 
 then follows, ' They shaU be called trees of righteousness, 
 the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified/ Isa. 
 Ixi. 2, 3. 
 
 2. Be much upon the mount of divine meditation; for here 
 it is that the Spirit of the Lord breathes : ' While I was 
 musing the fire burned,' says David, Psal. xxxix. 3. ' When 
 I meditate on thee in the night watches, my soul shall be 
 satisfied as with marrow and fatness,' Psal. Ixiii. 5, 6. 
 
140 THE WIND OF THE HOLY GHOST, ETC. 
 
 3. Cry mightily unto God for these influences, that he 
 would pour down his Spirit from on high ; for ' if ye, being 
 e^-il,' says Christ, ' know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children : how much more shall your heavenly Father give 
 the Holy Sijirit to them that ask him?' Luke xi. 13. 
 Plead the promises of the new covenant ; and particularly 
 be much in pleading this absolute promise of the Spirit, 
 Isa. xliv. 3, ' I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
 and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon 
 thy seed,' <fcc. Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put my Spirit 
 within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' But 
 still remember. Sirs, that these promises are to be managed 
 by the prayer of faith. We are to turn God's promise into 
 prayers ; for it is added, ver. 37, ' For these things I will 
 be inquired of at the house of Israel, to do it for them.' 
 
 4. Make C07iscience of waiting on him in all the duties and 
 ordinances of his appointment, particularly the preaching of 
 the word. And beware of a legal frame of spirit in your 
 attending upon these ordinances, as if thereby you could 
 merit any thing at God's hand, or as if God were obUged 
 to you for what you do this way ; for ' we receive the Spirit,' 
 says the apostle, ' not by the works of the law, but by the 
 hearing of faith.' Gospel ordinances are the chariots in 
 which the Spirit rides when he makes his entrance at first, 
 or when he returns *into the soul after absence. 
 
 5. Lastly. Study to have union with Christ; for it is upon 
 them that are in Christ that the Spirit of God and of glory 
 rests : ' He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit ' with 
 him. The oil of gladness that was poured upon the head of 
 our exalted Aaron, runs down upon the skirts of his gar- 
 ments, upon every member of his mystical body. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 THE ASSURANCE OF FAIffH. 
 
 Havinjj therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the hoh'est by the 
 blood of Jesus, by a new and living wjij', which he hath conse- 
 crated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and hav- 
 ing an high priest over the house of God ; let us draw near with 
 a true heart, in full assurance of faith. — Heb. x. 19—22. 
 
 These verses contain the apostle's transition from the 
 doctrinal to the practical part of the epistle. Having at 
 great length discoursed upon the priestly office of Christ, 
 in the foregoing part of the epistle, he sums up, in a few- 
 words, the scope and substance of aU he had been sajing, 
 ver. 19 — 21. and then deduces a very natural inference 
 from the whole, ver. 22, Let us draiu near with a true heart, 
 in fidl assurance of faith. Like a wise builder, he first 
 digs till he comes to the foundation, and then calls himself 
 and others to build upon it with confidence. 
 
 That we may have the more distinct view of the words, 
 it is expedient that we observe in general, how the apostle 
 here very elegantly expresses New Testament privileges, 
 in an Old Testament style and dialect. The highest pri- 
 vilege of fallen man is to have access into the presence of 
 God, his offended Lord and Sovereign: the only way of 
 access is Christ, of whom the temple of Solomon was an 
 illustrious type. And with allusion unto that typical tem- 
 ple Christ is presented to our faith under a threefold view, 
 ver. 19—21. 
 
 1. As a gate or door, by which we may enter into the 
 holiest, and that with boldness, by virtue of his own atoning 
 
142 THE ASSURAXCE 
 
 blood, ver. 19. Under the Mosaic dispensation, Aaron alone, 
 and not the Israelites, could enter into the holy of holies, and 
 that but once a year, with the blood of beasts sacrificed for 
 himself and them. But now, under the New Testament, 
 through the death and satisfaction of the Son of God, the 
 way of access to friendship and fellowship with a holy God, 
 both here and hereafter, is made open and patent to every 
 sinner, who by faith comes in under the covert of the 
 blood of Jesus. 
 
 2. To encourage us in our approaches to God through 
 Christ, he is presented to us under the notion of a new and 
 living way, consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, 
 his flesh, ver. 20. The inner vail, that separated between 
 the holy place, and the holiest of all, in the temple of Jeru- 
 salem, was a type of that body of flesh assumed by the Son 
 of God, whereby his Deity was vailed ; and through the 
 breaking or rending of this by his death on the cross, the 
 way to God and glory becomes open and patent. And this 
 is called a neio way, either in opposition to Adam's way by 
 a covenant of works, which is shut up ever since the fall 
 of man ; or because it never waxes old, but is ever fresh, 
 green, and fragrant, unto the believing soul. And it is 
 called a living way, because, though Christ was once dead', 
 yet now he is alive, and lives for evermore, to give life to 
 every soul that comes to God through him. And then, he 
 is a way consecrated for us, he is dedicated for the use of 
 sinners in their dealings with God : ' For their sakes,' says 
 he, 'do I sanctify myself.' And what can be more 
 encouraging to a lost sinner, to make use of Christ by faith, 
 than to know that he is just devoted for this work of sav- 
 ing that which was lost ! 
 
 3. Whereas the sinner might object. That though the 
 door be opened, and the new and living way consecrated ; 
 yet he is either so ignorant, that he knows not this way ; 
 or so impotent, that he cannot walk in it ; or so guilty, 
 that he dares not venture to go into the holiest : therefore, 
 to obviate aU these, Christ is presented to us as a great 
 high ])riest over the house of God, ver. 21. what noble 
 
OF FAITn. 143 
 
 encouragement is here for believing ! Christ, as a High 
 Priest, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, 
 Heb. V. 1. And seeing he is ordained for men, may not 
 men make use of his mediation with confidence and bold- 
 ness? Heb. iv. 14 — 16. And then, by his office, he is 
 obliged to execute the duties of his office toward every soul 
 that employs him therein : he is obliged, as a High Priest, 
 to instruct the ignorant, to strengthen the weak, to con- 
 firm the feeble, and to make reconciliation for the sins of the 
 people. And therefore let us take courage to employ and 
 improve him, especially considering that he is both a 7aer- 
 ciful and faithful High Priest, Heb. ii. 17. ; and also a High 
 Priest who is over the house of God; i. e., he has fuU power 
 and authority from his eternal Father, to negociate our 
 affairs, and to render both our persons and performances 
 acceptable unto him. 
 
 Now, I say, the apostle having thus presented Christ 
 under the most encouraging views, as the object of our 
 faith, trust, and confidence in our dealings with the majesty 
 of God, he proceeds to recommend and inculcate a corres- 
 pondent duty in the words of my text, ver. 22, Let us draio 
 near loith a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our 
 hearts sprinkled, (fee. 
 
 In these words we may notice, 1. The grand duty the 
 apostle urges. Let us draio near. 2. He gives particular 
 directions how we are to manage in our approaches unto 
 God, through the new and living way, viz., With a true 
 heart, in full assurance of faith, &c. 
 
 As for the first, viz., the general duty that is pressed. 
 Let us draw nuar. The apostle does not tell us expressly, 
 whither, or to whom, we are to draw near ; but it is plain 
 from the whole drift of the text and context, that he 
 invites us to draw near to God; not to God absolutely 
 considered, for thus he is inaccessible by guilty sinners ; 
 but to ' God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.' 
 This is that throne of grace to which he had invited us to 
 '■ come with boldness, that we may obtain mercy, and find 
 
144 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 grace to help in time of need,' chap. iv. 16. The Greek 
 word is the very same both there and here. 
 
 The exhortation, Draio near, supposes our natural dis- 
 tance and estrangement from God : ' AU we like sheep have 
 gone astray,' says the prophet Isaiah, chap. liii. 6. When 
 Christ would describe our apostate and lapsed state, he 
 doth it under the notion of a ' prodigal going into a far 
 country,' Luke xv. There are three things we all lost and 
 forfeited in the first Adam, viz., the image of God, the 
 favour of God, 2indi fellowship with God: yea, so much have 
 we lost them, that the apostle plainly tells us, that we are 
 alienated from the very life of God in our natural state. 
 Thus the breach and rupture is wide like the sea. Can 
 ever parties betwixt whom there is such a natural and 
 moral distance be brought together again? Yes; the 
 apostle's exhortation to draw near plainly bears, that the 
 oiFended and affronted Majesty of heaven is accessible ' by 
 the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way.' It was 
 the great plot of Heaven from eternity, to bring fallen 
 man back again into fellowship with his Maker. Infinite 
 wisdom, animated by infinite bowels of mercy, has found 
 the way, and the way is Christ, John xiv. 6. The main 
 intent of his incarnation, and of the whole of his mediatory 
 work, was to bring lis to God, 1 Pet. iii. 18. To bring 
 strangers and enemies to amity and unity, is a great and 
 mighty work ; yet this work he accomplishes and brings 
 about by the ransom he has paid for us, and by the opera- 
 tion of his Spirit in us. 
 
 The apostle next proceeds to direct as to the manner of 
 our approach. And, 
 
 First, he directs us to draw near ivith a true heart. 
 This is a word fitly spoken. If he had required us to draw 
 near with a heart perfectly clean and pure, he might as 
 well have bidden us fly without wings; but he bids us 
 draw near with a true heart, i. e., with a heart truly con- 
 cerned about acceptance with God, a heart truly approving 
 of, and acquiescing in the new and YwAug way. In short, 
 
OF FAITH. 145 
 
 a true heart here, is opposed to a double, doubting, dis- 
 trusting, and hypocritical heart. 
 
 The second direction or advice the apostle gives, in order 
 to our successful approach unto God by the new and living 
 way, and which I have principally in view, is, to draw 
 near in full assurance of faith. The original word sig- 
 nifies to be fvlly 'persuaded^ or assured of a thing ; and is 
 opposed to ivavering, douhthig, and u)%certainUj. The apos- 
 tle having laid a firm foundation of access in the preceding 
 verses, bids us trust to it, and rest upon it, with an unshaken 
 confidence, and certain persuasion of success. What fur- 
 ther is necessary by way of explication, will occur in the 
 prosecution of the following doctrine. 
 
 DocT. ' It is the will of God, that they who approach 
 to him in Christ, should draw near in full assurance of 
 faith, or with a certain persuasion, and confident expecta- 
 tion of success and acceptance.' 
 
 In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall, through divine 
 assistance, endeavour to speak, 
 
 I. Of faith in general. 
 
 II. Of the assurance of faith. 
 
 III. Of the full assurance of faith. 
 
 IV. Of the grounds that faith builds its assurance upon, 
 in drawing near to God. 
 
 V. Apply the whole. 
 
 I. The first thing proposed in the method was, to dis- 
 course a little of faith in general. I shall not stand upon 
 the different kinds of faith that are commonly mentioned, 
 such as, a historical, miraculous, and temporary faith, which 
 may be found in reprobates and temporary believers : our 
 inquiry at present is particularly regarding the faith of 
 God's elect, which is well described in our Shorter Cate- 
 chism thus : 
 
 ' Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving gi'ace, whereby we re- 
 ceive and rest upon him alone, for salvation, as he is offered 
 to us in the gospel.' 
 
 For clearing of which description, I ofier the few follow- 
 ing considerations. 
 
 K 
 
146 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 1. That faith is a saving grace. And it is so designated, 
 because it is the free gift of God, Eph. ii. 8. It is not the 
 product of free-will; such a flower never sprung out of 
 the soil of depraved nature. No, it is one of the prime 
 operations of the Spirit, in effectual calling, upon the souls of 
 God's elect. It is not bestowed upon any on the account 
 of good dispositions or qualifications antecedent to itself. 
 Faith is the first grace, or the first act of spiritual life, and, as 
 it were, the parent of the other graces, because it roots and 
 graffs the soul in Christ, from whom alone our fruit is found. 
 Before the implantation of faith, nothing but atheism, en- 
 mity, ignorance, and unbelief, overspread the face of the soul, 
 ' it being alienated from the very life of God, through the 
 ignorance that is in us.' And therefore, faith must needs 
 be a grace or free gift of God, bestowed without any ante- 
 cedent merit, good disposition, or qualification in us. 
 Faith is a saving grace ; because, wherever true faith is, 
 there salvation is already begun, and shall certainly be 
 consummated in due time. There is an inseparable con- 
 nexion stated, by the ordination of Heaven, between faith 
 and salvation; John iii. 16, ' God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth 
 in him, should not perish but have everlasting life.' Mark 
 xvi. 16, 'He that believeth, shall be saved.' When we 
 preach the everlasting gospel, making offer of Christ and 
 his salvation unto every creature, we are at the same time 
 to declare, that whosoever he be that gives faith's enter- 
 tainment unto this gospel of the grace of God, shaU be 
 saved. So that this promise, establishing the connexion 
 between faith and salvation, is as extensive as the offer of 
 the gospel, and is not made to believers exclusively of 
 others. It is certainly true of every son of Adam, lying 
 within the joyful sound of a Saviour, that if he believe, he 
 shall be saved. 
 
 2. I remark from this description of faith, that it hath 
 Christ for its main and principal object ; for it is a faith 
 in Jesus Christ. There is such a relationship betwixt 
 Christ and faith, that they cannot be separated. Take away 
 
OP FAITH. 147 
 
 Christ from faith, then faith is but a cypher, and stands 
 for nothing ; nothing can fill the eye or hand of faith, but 
 Christ only. Christ is the bread of life; faith is the mouth 
 of the soul that eats and feeds upon him. Christ is the 
 mystical brazen serpent; faith the eye of the soul that looks 
 to him for healing. Christ is the strong hold cast open to 
 the prisoners of hope ; faith the foot of the soul that runs 
 in to him for shelter. Christ is our living altar, his satis- 
 faction and intercession like the two horns of the altar ; 
 and faith /gg.s in thither for safety from the law and justice 
 of God, which pursue the sinner for his life. Christ is the 
 hridegroom ; and faith, like the bride, takes him by the 
 hand saying, Eoen so I tal-e him. In a word, faith slights 
 and overlooks every thing else to be at Christ, saying with 
 David, Psal. Ixxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? 
 and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee;' 
 and with Paul, ' I desire to know nothing but Jesus 
 Christ, and him crucified. Yea doubtless, I count all 
 things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus my Lord.' 
 
 3. I remark, that faith is here described to be a receiving 
 of Christ, according to what we have, John i. 12, ' But as 
 many as received him, to them gave he power to become 
 the sons of God,' &c. For understanding this, you must 
 know, that Christ, the ever-blessed object of faith, is pre- 
 sented to us in the gospel under a great many different 
 views and aspects, in a correspondence unto which faith 
 receives its denomination. For instance, Is Christ pre- 
 sented under the notion of meat to the hungry soul 1 then 
 faith is expressed by eating. Is Christ held out under the 
 notion of living waters? then faith is called a drinking. 
 Is he held out as a refuge ? then faith is called a fleeing to 
 him, Heb. vi. 18. Is he held out as a garment to the 
 naked ? then faith is a imtting him on for clothing. Thus, 
 I say, according to the aspect in which Christ is presented, 
 faith receives its name ; as the sea receives its names 
 according to the different countries or shores it washes. 
 Just so here, when Christ is presented under the notion of 
 
148 THE ASSUIIA>'CE 
 
 a gift, then faith is called a receiving him ; for giving and 
 receiving are correlates, as you see, John iii. 27, ' A man 
 can receive (or as in the margin, talce unto himself) nothing, 
 except it be given him from heaven.' Receiving necessarily 
 supposes a giving ; and to take what is not given, is but 
 theft, robbery, or vicious intromission. Christ saith, John 
 vi. 32, to a promiscuous multitude, the greatest part of 
 whom were unbelievers, as is evident from the sequel of the 
 chapter, ' My Father giveth you the true bread from 
 heaven:' where it is plain, that giving and offering are 
 much the same thing ; with this difference only, that the 
 gift or grant of Christ in the word to sinners, is the 
 ground upon which the offer is made. We read, that 
 ' God hath given the earth to the sons of men ;' that is, he 
 made a grant of it unto them, to be used and possessed by 
 them. And, by virtue of this grant, before the earth came 
 to be fully peopled, when a man came to a piece of land, 
 and set his foot upon it, he might warrantably use it as 
 his own property and possession: and the foundation of 
 this was, that God had given, or granted, the earth to the 
 sons of men. In hke manner, God hsith. gifted, or granted, 
 his ordy begotten Son, John iii. 16. For what end? That 
 v:hosoever helieveth in him, or takes possession of him by 
 faith, should not perish but have everlasting life. It is true, 
 indeed, that this wUl not infer a universal redemption, for 
 I do not now speak of the purchase and application of re- 
 demption which without all doubt is peculiar to the elect : 
 but of that giving of Christ in the word which warrants 
 our receiving of him. And this past all peradventure is 
 common to aU the hearers of the gospel ; insomuch that, 
 as the great Mr. Ptutherford expresses it, the reprobate have 
 as fair a revealed warrant to believe as the elect have. 
 Every man has an offer of Christ brought to his door, who 
 lives within the compass of the joyful sound : and this 
 offer comes as close home to him, as if he were pointed out 
 by name. So that none have reason to say. The caU and 
 offer is not to me, I am not warranted to embrace CImst ; 
 for it is unto you, men, that we call, and our voice is to 
 
OF FAITH. 149 
 
 the sons of men, Prov. viii. 4. We have God's commission 
 to preach this gospel and to make oifer of this Christ to 
 every creature sprung of Adam, Mark xvi. 15; and the 
 event of the publication of this gospel among sinners 
 follows in the next words, ' He that belie veth this gospel 
 shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned.' 
 No man ever died, or shall die under the drop of the gos- 
 pel, for want of a full warrant to embrace a Saviour. No, 
 no, Sirs, your death and blood will be upon your own 
 heads ; your unbelief will be the great ground of your 
 condemnation. God will upbraid you at the great day 
 with tliis, that you had Christ in your offer, and would not 
 embrace him ; ' I called, but ye refused ; I stretched out 
 my hand, but no man regarded, — therefore will I laugh at 
 your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh,' Prov. i. 
 24, 26. 
 
 4. Upon this description of faith, I remark, that faith is 
 called not only a receiving, but a resting upon Christ : 
 Psal. xxxvii. 7, ' Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for 
 him.' We are not, in my opinion, to think, that receiving 
 is one act of faith, and resting another act of it ; they are 
 only different expressions of the same applicatory, justify- 
 ing faith, or (as some will have it) the rest of faith is a 
 continuation of the reception. There are a great many 
 denominations of faith, of the same divine authority with 
 these two mentioned in the answer of the Catechism, such 
 as eating, drinking, fleeing, entering, coming, trusting, &lc. 
 But these are not different acts, but only different expres- 
 sions of the saving act of faith, making use of, or applying 
 Christ in a suitableness unto the view wherein he is pre- 
 sented in the word of God. This .resting is equivalent unto 
 trusting, as is evident from all these scriptures cited in tlie 
 Catechism upon this head. I shall only notice further, be- 
 fore I leave this point, that both these expressions of re- 
 ceiving and resting, wherel)y faith is here described, do, in 
 the very nature of the thing intended, carry an applica- 
 tion and appropriation in them : for when I receive a gift, 
 I take it as my own property ; and when I rest upon a 
 
150 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 charter or bond, I rest on it as my security : and if this be 
 not allowed, the relieving and supporting nature of faith 
 is in a great measure lost ; without it we could never be 
 ' filled with joy and peace in believing.' 
 
 5. I remark, that faith receives Christ, and rests upon 
 him aloiie. The poor soul, before the saving revelation of 
 Christ, was grasping at empty shadows, trusting in lying 
 refuges ; and, like the men of the old world, when the 
 waters of the deluge were upon the increase, was running 
 to this and the other mountain, where he might be safe 
 from the sweUing deluge of God's wrath ; but finding the 
 waters to overflow his hiding places, he quits them, and 
 flees to the Rock of ages, saying, ' In vain is salvation 
 hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of moun- 
 tains : in the Lord only is the salvation of his people.' 
 ' There is none other name under heaven given among men 
 whereby we must be saved, but the name of Jesus.' Every 
 man by nature being married to the law in Adam, is attempt- 
 ing to climb up to heaven upon the broken ladder of the cove- 
 nant of works, and to pass the deluge of God's wrath by the 
 fallen bridge of the law. But as sure as the Lord lives, 
 your attempts this way will fail you ; for ' by the works of 
 the law, no flesh living shall be justified.' God has esta- 
 blished a bridge of communication between heaven and 
 earth, by the obedience, death, and intercession of his eter- 
 nal Son ; and every other passage to heaven but this, is 
 stopped by the justice and hoHness of God. John xiv. 6. 
 says Christ, ' I am the way, and the truth, and the life : no 
 man cometh unto the Father but by me.' 
 
 6. Faith receives Christ, and rests upon him alone for 
 salvation. This points at the end the sinner has before 
 him, in his first closing with Christ ; he flees unto him for 
 salvation: Acts xv. 11, 'We believe, that, through the 
 grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved.' By 
 salvation here, we are not simply to understand an eternity 
 of happiness in the enjoyment of God after time, but a 
 salvation begun in this present life ; salvation from the be- 
 ginning of it in regeneration, till it be consummated ia 
 
OF FAITH. 151 
 
 glory. The soul, in believing, rests upon Christ for par- 
 don, which is a salvation from the guilt of sin, and condem- 
 natory sentence of the law ; — on him for sanctification, 
 which is a salvation from the filth and power of sin ; — on 
 him for glorification, which is a salvation from the very 
 inbeing of sin. Alas! the greatest part of the visible 
 church have no other notion of Christ, but only as a 
 Saviour to keep them out of hell, and to deliver them 
 from vindictive wrath. It is true indeed, our Jesus saveth 
 from the wrath that is to come. But how does he that ? 
 He does it by saving from sin in the first place : ' His 
 name,' saith the angel, ' shaU be called Jesus ; for he shall 
 save his people from their sins.' His first and great busi- 
 ness was to condemn sin, that arch-traitor, and first-born 
 of the devil, Rom. viii. 3. 'to finish transgression, and 
 make an end of sin.' And therefore it is a salvation from 
 sin, in the guilt, and filth, and power of it, for which faith 
 receives Christ, and rests upon him. 
 
 7. I remark, that faith receives and rests upon Christ, 
 * as he is ofiered to us in the gospel.' This ofer of Christ, 
 though it be last named in this description of faith, yet is 
 the first thing, in the order of nature, that faith believes : 
 for unless one believe that Christ is ofiered to him in par- 
 ticular, as the gift of God, and as a foundation of hope 
 and help, he w^ill never receive him, or rest on him for sal- 
 vation. 
 
 Now faith's reception and application of Christ must be 
 regulated by, and bear a proportion unto the ofier that is 
 made of him in the gospel ; for here we are told, that 
 faith is a receiving and resting upon him as he is offered 
 in the gospel. This quahfies our reception of Christ, and 
 distinguishes the faith of true believers, from that of 
 hypocrites and formahsts. And therefore notice this as a 
 thing of the last moment and consequence, whether your 
 faith comes up to the offer, and corresponds thereunto. I 
 shaU illustrate this in the four following particulars. 
 
 1st. Christ i^ freely offered in the gospel: Isa. Iv. 1. * Ho 
 every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he 
 
152 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat, yea, come, buy 
 wine and milk without money, and without price.' Rev. 
 xxii. 17, 'Whosoever will, let liim take the water of life 
 freely.' So faith receives and embraces him as the free 
 gift of God. Beware of thinking to buy the pearl with 
 the money and price of your works, duties, and good qua- 
 lifications; as if by these you were fitted for receiving 
 Christ, or as if God made you the more welcome, on the 
 account of these, to receive his unspeakable gift. No, no, 
 remember that, in the matter of believing, you are to 
 shake your hands from holding of such bribes; for the 
 pearl of great price cannot be bought in such a way. -It 
 is true, believing is called a hiiying^ Isa. Iv. 1. Rev. iii. 18. 
 But then let it be remembered what sort of a buying it 
 is ; it is a buying without money ^ and without ^rice. God's 
 price in the market of the gospel is just nothing : and yet 
 this is so great a matter with man, that the pride of his 
 heart will not allow him to tell it down. what a cursed 
 aversion is there in the heart of man against his being a 
 debtor unto grace, and grace only ! To buy without money, 
 mid without price, is a mystery, which the selfish heart of 
 man cannot comprehend. But, Sirs, faith is a grace that 
 comes to get, and not to give : or if it give any thing, it is 
 the ills of the soul ; but nothing of good does it pretend 
 to give. The sinner, in believing, upon the matter says, 
 Lord, I give thee my folly, and take thee for my only lois- 
 dom; I give thee my guilt, that thou mayest be the Lord 
 my righteousness ; I give thee my defilements, and take thee 
 for sanctification ; I give thee my chains smd fetters, that I 
 may be indebted to thee for redemption and liberty; I give 
 thee m J poverty, and take thee for my only riches; I give 
 thee my wicked, wandering, hard, and deceitful heart, that 
 thou mayest give me the new heart and new s/)^>^Y promised 
 in thy covenant. Thus, I say, Christ is freely offered, and 
 must be freely received. 
 
 2dly. Christ is offered wholly; an undivided Christ is 
 offered, and thus also he must be received. There are 
 some who, in their professed and pretended way of believ- 
 
OF FAITH. 153 
 
 ing, do as it were halve and divide Christ. Some do so far 
 receive him as a Prophet, that they submit to the teaching 
 of his word, and thereby come to acquire a great deal of 
 speculative knowledge in the things of God ; but, being 
 unacquainted with the teaching of his Spirit, they never 
 come to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. And 
 hence it comes that they never flee to him as a propitiation 
 or submit unto his authority as a King and a Lawgiver : 
 for the execution of the prophetical office paves the way 
 for his reception both as a Priest and King. Some again 
 professedly receive Christ as a Priest, to save them from 
 hell and the curse ; but, by continuing in their ignorance 
 under a gospel revelation, and walking according to the 
 course of tliis world, and not according to the laws of Christ, 
 they do evidently reject him, both as a Prophet and King. 
 Others again, and I fear too many in our day, do profes- 
 sedly receive Christ as a King and Lawgiver, to the preju- 
 dice of his priestly office, while they imagine, by their 
 obedience to his law, particularly, the new gospel law of 
 faith and repentance (as some call it), to purchase a title 
 to salvation ; by which means they either totally exclude 
 the righteousness of Christ, or mingle in their own acts of 
 f:\ith and repentance with the righteousness of Christ, in 
 the affiiir of acceptance and justification before God ; in 
 both which cases, ' Christ can profit them nothing ; they 
 are fallen from grace,' as the apostle expressly declares, 
 Gal. V. 2, 4. Thus, I say, many pretended believers halve 
 and divide the offices of Christ. But is Christ divided? 
 No ; a whole, an entire, an undivided Christ must be 
 received, or no Christ at all ; there is nothing of Christ 
 that a believing soul can want. It is true indeed, the 
 first flight of a poor awakened soul, fleeing from the face 
 of the law and justice of God, is to Christ as a Priest; 
 because here, and here only, it finds relief and shelter 
 under the covert of everlasting righteousness. But at the 
 same moment in which it receives him as a Priest for jus- 
 tification, it submits unto his kingly authority, saying, as 
 
 Rule thou over us :— 
 
154 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 for thou hast delivered us out of the hands of our enemies. 
 Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion 
 over us : but by thee only will we now make mention of 
 thy name.' 
 
 3dly. Christ is offered particularly unto every one of the 
 hearers of the gospel ; and accordingly faith receives him 
 with particular application. The general call and offer 
 reaches every individual person ; and God speaks to every 
 sinner as particularly as though he named him by his name 
 and surname : Remission of sin is preached to you; we 
 beseech you to be reconciled; the promise is unto you. 
 And, for my part, I do not know what sort of a gospel men 
 make, who do not admit this. Now, I say, faith, which is 
 the echo of the gospel offer and call, must needs receive 
 an offered Christ and salvation, with particular application 
 to the soul itself. For a person to rest in a general per- 
 suasion that Christ is offered to the church, or offered to 
 the elect, or a persuasion of God's ability and readiness to 
 save all that come to Christ, is still but a general faith, 
 and what devils, reprobates, and hypocrites may have. 
 Man, woman, Christ stands at thy door, and thou in par- 
 ticular, even thou art called and commanded to believe in 
 the name of the Son of God. 
 
 4thly. God is hearty and in good earnest, in his offers of 
 Christ, and his salvation. Sirs ! do not think that a God 
 of truth dissembles with you, when he makes offer of his 
 unspeakable gift, or that he offers a thing to you which he 
 has no mind to give. He says, yea, he swears with the 
 greatest solemnity, by his very life, that he is in good 
 earnest, and has no pleasure in your death. And after 
 this, to think that he is not in earnest, what else is it, but 
 to charge a God of truth with lying and perjury ? There 
 cannot be a greater affront offered to a man of common 
 veracity. How criminal then must it be to impute such 
 a thing to him, for whom it is impossible to He, and who 
 hates all fraud and dissimulation in others with a perfect 
 hatred ? Thus, I say, God is in good earnest in his offers 
 of Christ ; so faith is hearty, and in good earnest in receiv- 
 
OF FAITH. 155 
 
 ing and applying him : ' with the heart man believeth unto 
 righteousness.' 
 
 II. The second thing in the method was to speak a little 
 of the assurance of faith. 
 
 I would premise here, that by the assurance of faith, I 
 just mean the certainty of faith, — not the absence of doubt- 
 ing in the heart of the believer, but the absence of doubt 
 in the nature of believing. The not attending to this, I 
 apprehend, is what scares many at this doctrine of the 
 assurance of faith. They think, that if there be an assur- 
 ance in the essence of faith, then it would follow, that every 
 true believer behoved always to have such assurance as to 
 be free of douhting ; which lies cross to the experience of 
 the generation of the righteous. But this objection goes 
 upon a palpable mistake, as if faith and a believer were 
 one and the same thing. We do indeed assert, that there 
 is no doubting in faith ; for faith and doubting are com- 
 monly in scripture directly opposed one to another : but 
 though there be no doubting in faith, yet there is much 
 doubting in the believer, by reason of prevaiHng unbelief 
 and indwelling sin. If it were true that assurance is not 
 of the nature of faith, because the believer is not always 
 assured ; by the same way of reasoning it would foUow, 
 that resting is not of the nature of faith, "because the 
 believer is not always actually staying and resting himself 
 on the Lord ; or that trusting is not of the nature of faith, 
 because the believer is not always trusting. It may be as 
 well argued, that seeing is not of the nature of the eye, 
 because sometimes the eye-lids are closed ; or that heat is 
 not of the nature of fire, because its heat is not perceptible 
 by reason of the ashes wherewith it is covered ; or that 
 light is not of the nature of the sun, because sometimes it 
 is eclipsed by the interposing moon. Remove the ashes, 
 and the heat of the fire will appear ; remove interposing 
 bodies, and the sun will give light ; open the eye-lids, and 
 the eye will see: so do but remove ignorance, unbelief, 
 and other incumbrances of corruption from faith, and see 
 what the nature of it is then. For it is of the nature of 
 
156 THE ASSURAJfCE 
 
 faith in the abstract, that the present question is, and not 
 what lodges in the heliever who hath faith. In the believer 
 there is as it vjere the company of two armies, grace and cor- 
 ruption, love and enmity, repentance and impenitence, 
 faith and unbelief; but these are not to be confounded 
 together, because they are in the same subject. We must 
 not exclude complacency and dehght in the Lord out of 
 the nature of love, because, through remaining enmity and 
 corruption, his love is so overpowered, that he cannot per- 
 ceive any such thing in him, but rather the reverse of love. 
 The same may be said of other graces. So here we must 
 not conclude, that there is nothing of this applicatory 
 assurance in faith, because of prevaihng unbehef, and 
 doubts flowing therefrom. 
 
 Having premised these things, I now remark, 1st, That 
 in this faith (which I have been describing) there is a two- 
 fold certainty or assurance, viz., of assent and application. 
 There is, I say, first, in faith an assurance of assent, where])y 
 the man assuredly beheves whatever God has said in his 
 word to be true ; and that not upon the testimony of men, 
 of ministers, or angels, but upon the testimony and autho- 
 rity of the God of truth, for whom it is impossible to lie, 
 speaking in his own word, and saying. Thus saith the Lord. 
 But in a particular manner the soul gives its assent unto 
 the truth of the gospel, and the revelation of the word, 
 concerning the person, natures, offices, undertakings, and 
 performances of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Redeemer, 
 Surety, and Saviour of lost sinners. The man's understand- 
 ing being enlightened in the knowledge of Christ, and having 
 got a view of him by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, 
 he finds it to be all true that God has said of Christ in the 
 word: so that he cannot shun in this case to join issue 
 with the apostle, ' This is indeed a faithful saying, that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,' 1 Tim. i. 
 15. He sees the truth and veracity of God so much en- 
 gaged in the covenant and promises thereof, that they are 
 more firm than the everlasting mountains and perpetual 
 hills; Isa. liv. 10. Now, this certainty of assent is, in 
 
OF FAITH. 157 
 
 scripture dialect, called a believing the report of the gospel, 
 Isa. liii. 1.; a receiving the record of God, 1 John v. 10, 11. ; 
 a setting to the seal that God is true, John iii. 33. 
 
 Kut there is, secondly, in faith an assurance of applica- 
 tion, or appropriation, expressed frequently in scripture by 
 a resting, a trusting, or confiding in the Lord, and the 
 veracity of his word of grace and promise. By this act of 
 faith, the soul takes home the promise, and embraces it as 
 a good and sufficient security to itself. It is said of the 
 Old Testament worthies, Heb. xi, 13, that they were ' per- 
 suaded of the promises, and embraced them.' Their faith 
 in the promise was a persuasion, or assent wdth appropria- 
 tion thereof to their own souls, insomuch that they looked 
 upon the promise as their substance ; and hence is that 
 which we have in the 1st verse of that chapter, Faith is 
 tJie substance of things hoped for. This applicatory act of 
 faith, wherein the very life, soul, and sweetness of faith lies, 
 is pleasantly expressed and illustrated in the case of David. 
 God had made a promise to him of the crown and kingdom 
 of Israel, which bore up his spirits, when, through the rage 
 and fury of Saul, he was hunted like a partridge upon the 
 mountains ; and viewing the promise, and the fidelity of 
 the promiser, he cries out, Psal. Ix. 6, ' God hath spoken iii 
 his holiness, I m^U rejoice:' and because I have the secu- 
 rity of his promise I dare say it with confidence and assur- 
 ance, ' Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.' In like 
 manner, true faith appropriates the mercy of God in Christ 
 to the soul itself in particular, upon the ground of the free 
 and faithful promise of God. I might here demonstrate, that 
 the stream of our best Protestant divines concur in their 
 sentiments as to this matter : I shall only at present quote 
 the definition of faith given by the great and judicious Dr. 
 Owen, in his Catechism, or ' Principles of the Doctrine of 
 Christ ;' where, having moved the question, ' What is jus- 
 tifying faith 1 ' His answer is, ' A gracious resting on the 
 free promises of God in Christ Jesus for mercy, with a 
 firm persuasion of heart, that God is a reconciled Father 
 to us in the Son of his love.' According to this account of 
 
158 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 faith, the assurance I speak of, viz., a persuasion of the 
 promise, witli appropriation, can (as the judicious Calvin 
 speaks) no more be separated from faith, than light can be 
 separated from the sun. It takes home the grace and mercy 
 of God to the soul in particular, which before lay in com- 
 mon in the olFer of the gospel. And without this particu- 
 lar application, the offer and promise of the gospel can 
 stand us in no stead ; but is like a price put in the hand 
 of a fool who has no heart to it. Faith answers and corres- 
 ponds unto the word of faith, as the seal and the wax 
 answer to one another, Zech. xiii. 9, ' I will say, It is my 
 people ; and they shall say, The Lord is my God.' Faith 
 will not quit its my's, though all the world should say 
 against it. The marrow of the gospel (as Luther observes) 
 is in these pronouns, my and our. He bids us read these 
 with great emphasis. It is the common dialect of faith in 
 scripture, to vent itself in words of appropriation ; it has 
 a peculiar pleasure and satisfaction in these words, my and 
 0U7', and rolls them in its mouth like a sweet morsel. See 
 how sweetly David harps upon this string, Psal. xviii. 1, 2. 
 no less than eight times in a breath does he repeat his 
 appropriating my, ' My strength, my rock, my fortress, my 
 deliverer, my God, my strength, my buckler, the horn of my 
 salvation, and my high tower.' Yea, so tenacious is faith 
 in this matter, that it will maintain its my's in the face 
 of a hiding and frowning God : Psal. xxii. 2, ' My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me 1 ' My is a word of faith, 
 says Flavel on the text. So Isa. xlix. 14, ' Zion said, the 
 Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.' 
 
 2. I remark, that there is a great diiFerence betwixt the 
 assurance of faith (which I have now described), and the 
 assurance of sense, which foUows upon faith. The assurance 
 of faith is a direct, but the assurance of sense is a rejfex act 
 of the soul. The assurance of faith has its object and 
 foundation from without, but that of sense has them within. 
 The object of the assurance of faith is a Christ revealed, 
 promised, and offered in the word; the object of the assur- 
 ance of sense is a Christ formed within us by the Holy Spirit. 
 
OF FAITU. 159 
 
 The assurance of faith is the cause, that of sense is the 
 effect; the first is the root, and the other is ih.Q fruit. The 
 assurance of faith eyes the promise in its stability, flowing 
 from the veracity of the promiser ; the assurance of sense 
 eyes the promise in its actual accomplishment. By the 
 assurance of faith, Abraham beheved that he should 
 have a son in his old age, because God who cannot lie had 
 promised ; but by the assurance of sense he l)elieved it 
 when he got Isaac in his arms. By the first, Noah was 
 sure that he and his family should not perish in the waters 
 of the deluge ; but by the last, he was assured of it, when 
 the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat, and the 
 waters were withdrawn again into their proper channels. 
 By the former, the believing Israelites were assured, that 
 Canaan should be their possession, because God had made 
 a grant and a deed of gift of it to them in his promise ; by 
 the latter they were assured of it, when they passed Jor- 
 dan, overthrew the old inhabitants, and divided the good 
 land by lot, as the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. Time 
 would fail me to illustrate this matter by instances that 
 stand upon record in the sacred oracles. Faith asserts its 
 interest in a future good, because promised; sense asserts 
 its interest in a present good because possessed. Faith says, 
 My God loill hear me; sense says, ' My God hath heard me.' 
 Faith says, ' He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall 
 behold his righteousness ; ' sense says, ' He hath brought 
 me forth to the light, and I do behold his righteousness.' 
 Again, faith is conversant about things that are not seen, 
 and hoped for ; sense is conversant about things seen, and 
 actually enjoyed. Faith says, ' He is my God, because he 
 has said in the covenant, / will he their God; ' sense again 
 says, ' He is my God, because / know my soul has said unto 
 the Lord, He is my Lord.'' Faith assures the soul of the 
 remission of sins in the blood of the Lamb, because God 
 has said, ' I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and 
 their sins and their iniquities wiU I remember no more ; ' 
 sense again assures the soul of remission, because of the 
 intimations of pardon in some sensible smiles of the Lord's 
 
160 THE ASSUEANCE 
 
 countenance, and some saving operations of his grace. By 
 faith I believe my salvation, because it is purchased, pro- 
 mised, and possessed, by my glorious head Christ Jesus : but 
 by sense I believe my salvation, because I find this salva- 
 tion already hegun in a work of regeneration, and advancing 
 in a work of sanctification, ' being confident of this very 
 thing, that he which hath begun the good work, will per- 
 form it until the day of Jesus Christ.' 
 
 3. I remark, that as there is a great difference betwixt 
 the my of faith, and the my of sense ; so there is yet a far 
 greater difference between the my oi faith (or of true sense 
 flowing from it), and the my of presumption. Presump- 
 tuous confidence has its my^s, as well as faith and well 
 grounded experience ; as we see plain in the case of Balaam, 
 Numb. xxii. 18, 'If Balak would give me his house full of 
 silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord 
 my God.' Now, say you, since a presumptuous confidence 
 may speak in the dialect of true faith and experience, 
 wherein lies the difference 1 This is a very material and 
 momentous question ; and with a dependence on the Father 
 of lights, I shall attempt a resolution of it in the few fol- 
 lowing particulars. 
 
 1st. The assurance of faith receives and applies Christ to 
 the soul in particular, as he lies in the revelation and grant 
 that is made of him to sinners in the word, wliich is the 
 immediate ground of faith ; whereas presumptuous confi- 
 dence, though it claims an interest in him, yet does it not 
 upon this bottom, or in God's method and way of convey- 
 ance. The apostle tells us, Rom. x. 8, that Clirist, and his 
 righteousness and salvation, is brought nigh unto us in the 
 word of faith. What is the design of a covenant of grace, 
 and of these declarations, offers and promises of grace, that 
 are made to us in the glorious gospel, but just to bring 
 Christ so near to us, as w^e by beheving may come to apply 
 him and his whole fulness to our own souls? John xx. 31, 
 ' These things are written, that ye might believe that 
 Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye 
 might have life throu2:h his name.' If we would find 
 
OF FAITH. 161 
 
 Christ, and eternal life in him, we need not ascend into 
 heaven^ or descend into hell,\n search for him, as the apostle 
 speaks, Rom. x. 6, 7. But we are to search for him in the 
 ' scriptures, for they are they which testify of him.' Christ 
 is brought near to us in the testimony or record of God in 
 the word, where ' he gives us eternal life, in his Son Christ 
 Jesus,' 1 John v. 11. Now, faith, in its direct act, I say, 
 takes Christ, and claims him upon this grant and gift that 
 is made of him in the word of grace ; and upon no other 
 foundation wiU it adventure to assert its interest in him. 
 Here lies a fatal flaw in the faith of many hearers of the 
 gospel ; they grasp at Christ and his salvation, but they 
 overleap the gift and grant of him in the word, as the im- 
 mediate foundation of their faith. But, say you, may not 
 a presumptuous hypocrite pretend to bottom his faith upon 
 the promise, and claim an interest in him, even upon that 
 ground ? An answer to this leads me to another and 
 
 2d Difierence between the my of faith, and the my of 
 presumptuous confidence, namely this, That though the 
 presumptuous person may run away with the promise, yet 
 he does not embrace the promise as it is in Jesus, or «« 
 Jesus is in it. This is a mystery which only can be ex- 
 plained to purpose by him who ' openeth the book, and 
 looses the seven seals thereof.' The view I have of it, you 
 may take up as follows. The covenant, and all the pro- 
 mises of it, are made to Christ as the first heir, both by 
 birth and purchase: he is God's first-born, and therefore 
 the heir of the inheritance of eternal life. But besides, as 
 the second Adam, by his obedience and death, having ful- 
 filled the law, and satisfied justice ; the promise of life, 
 which was forfeited by the sin and disobedience of the fii'si 
 Adam, comes to be settled upon him, and his seed in him. 
 Now, matters standing thus, the soul, in applying the pro- 
 mise, takes its title thereto, not upon the ground of any 
 thing in itself, but comes in only upon Christ's right and 
 title ; his righteousness is the only proper, entitling, meri- 
 torious condition of the covenant, and of all the promises 
 thereof. Here lies the failure in presumptuous confidence, 
 
162 THE ASSFRANCE 
 
 that the man being never cleanly beat off from Adam 'a 
 covenant, he is always seeking to found his title to the 
 promise in himself, some good condition or qualification 
 wrought in him, or done by him. Thus many attempt to 
 enter themselves heirs to the promises, and to eternal life, 
 but shall never be able : Why 1 Because they do not by 
 faith enter themselves heirs in Christ, upon his right and 
 title : and ' another foundation can no man lay ; for the 
 gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' 
 Thus, I say, presumptuous faith does not embrace the pro- 
 mise ' as it is in Christ, in whom aU the promises of God 
 are yea, and in him amen.' And also, I say, it does not 
 embrace the promise as Jesus is in it; for as all the pro- 
 mises are in Christ, so Christ is in all the promises. And 
 hence it is that the believer, in applying the promise, find- 
 ing Christ in it, he eats it, and it is to him the joy and 
 rejoicing of his heart; he finds the Lord in his own word 
 of grace, and this makes it relieving and comforting to his 
 soul ; he drinks in the sincere 'milk of the word because 
 therein he tastes the Lord is gracious. But now presump- 
 tuous faith is more taken up with the naked promises, 
 than with feeding the soul with Christ in and by the 
 promise. 
 
 3dly. True faith receives and applies Christ according to 
 the order that God has laid in his offices ; but presumptuous 
 faith inverts that order. The order that God has laid in 
 the execution and application of the offices of Christ, is 
 this. Christ comes by his word and Spirit, as a Prophet, 
 enlightening the sinner's mind in the knowledge of his 
 lost estate by nature, and the way of his recovery through 
 his atoning blood and satisfaction : upon which the soul, 
 by faith, turns in to him as a Priest, taking sanctuary under 
 the covert of his everlasting righteousness ; and so submits 
 unto him as a King, receiving the law from his mouth, and 
 yielding itself unto his government, from a principle of 
 gratitude to him who has bought it with a price. But 
 now, the presumptuous faith of the legalist inverts and 
 disturbs this comely order laid by infinite wisdom among 
 
OF FAITH. 163 
 
 the offices of Christ. For in his way of applying Christ, 
 he begins with the kingly office : pretending to obey him 
 as a Lawgiver; and, upon this ground expects that Christ 
 will save him as a Ft^iest by his righteousness ; and thus 
 makes his own obedience the ground of the imputation of 
 the righteousness of Christ. And what else is this but to 
 bring moiuy and price, contrary to the express command 
 of God, Isa. Iv. 1. Nothing can be of a more pernicious 
 tendency toward the overthrow of the freedom of God's 
 grace, in the great affair of justification and salvation. 
 Hence it is the apostle so much inveighs against this me- 
 thod of seeking justification in the Galatians; insomuch 
 that he tells them expressly, that by this way they made 
 themselves ' debtors to do the whole law ; yea,' says he> 
 ' Christ is become of no efiect unto you, whosoever of you 
 are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace,' Gal. v. 
 2—4. 
 
 4thly. Another difference betwixt the my of faith, and 
 the my of presumption, is this, That the assurance of 
 faith will maintain its claim, and humble confidence, even 
 under sad challenges, and a deep and abasing sense of much 
 prevailing iniquity; whereas presumptuous confidence 
 succumbs and fails upon the pre valency of sin. The reason 
 of this is, because the ground of presumptuous confidence 
 is within the man ; some good disposition and qualification 
 which he finds within him, as he apprehends, which being 
 dashed by the eruption of his reigning lusts, he has no more 
 to look to, the foundation of his confidence is gone. But 
 now, faith builds and bottoms its confidence, not on any 
 thing within, but on something without, namely, the ever- 
 lasting righteousness of the Lord Jesus, and the mercy of 
 God running in this channel, exhibited in the word of grace. 
 Here it is that faith sets down its foot, and upon this foun- 
 dation it stands, against which the gates of hell cannot 
 prevail. And thus, having the ground of its confidence 
 from without, it is not shaken with every insurrection 
 from within. An instance whereof we see in David, Psal. 
 Ixv. 3. The holy man, in the first part of the verse, cries 
 
164 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 out, under a sense of the strength, power, and guilt of 
 sin, ' Iniquities prevail against me.' WeU, but what says 
 faith in such a case 1 ' As for our transgressions, thou shalt 
 purge them away.' Another instance of the Hke nature, 
 we see in the same holy man, Psal. cxxx. We find him, 
 ver. 3. under such a sense of sin and guilt, that, viewing 
 himself as he stood in the eye of the law and justice, he 
 cannot shun to own, ' If thou. Lord, shouldst mark iniqui- 
 ties : Lord, who shall stand 1 ' Well, but where does 
 David's faith find a standing in such a case 1 Only in the 
 mercy and grace of a reconciled God in Christ ; and there- 
 fore he adds, ver. 4, ' But there is forgiveness with thee, 
 that thou mayest be feared; and plenteous redemption, 
 that thou mayest be sought unto.' 
 
 There are several other differences might be given be- 
 tween the m?/ of faith, and the mi/ of presumption, if I 
 were not afraid of being tedious. Only, in short, the 
 more of the assurance of faith, or yet of well-grounded ex- 
 perience, the more lowliness, humility, and self-abasement. 
 The higher that the soul is exalted in and by Christ, the 
 lower does it sink in its own eyes, saying with David, when 
 God promised to build him a sure house, and that the 
 Messiah should spring of his loins, ' Who am I, Lord 
 God 1 and what is my house, that thou hast brought me 
 hitherto ? ' The poor believer, in this case, sees himself to 
 be such a miracle of rich and sovereign grace, that he is 
 even wrapped up in a sUent wonder, and put to an ever- 
 lasting stand, that he knows not what to say, ' And is this 
 the manner of man, Lord God ? And what can David 
 say more ? ' But now, the more of a presumptuous confi- 
 dence there is, the more pride and self-conceit, like the 
 church of Laodicea, ' I am rich, and increased with goods, 
 and have need of nothing ; ' accompanied with an under- 
 valuing of others in comparison of themselves, like the 
 proud Pharisee, ' God, I thank thee, that I am not as other 
 men, or even as this pubKcan.' 
 
 III. The third general head proposed in the method, was 
 to speak a little of the fvll asmrance of faith; for there is 
 
OF FAITH, 165 
 
 a plain gradation in the apostle's way of speaking ; there 
 is faithy then the assuj'ance of faith, and then the full 
 assurance of faith. Having spoken of the two first de- 
 grees, I proceed now to the last and highest degree of faith. 
 
 And, in one word, I conceive it lies in such ' a firm and 
 fixed persuasion, confidence, or trust in the faithfulness of 
 a God in Christ, pledged in his covenant or promise, as 
 overcomes and tramples upon all diflSculties and improba- 
 bilities, all doubts and fears as to the actual performance 
 of what is promised in God's time and way ; and aU this 
 with particular application to the soul itself.' This de- 
 scription I would illustrate and explain in its several 
 branches, were it not done upon the matter on the former 
 two heads, this being nothing but a higher degree of the 
 self same faith formerly described. 
 
 I may remark, however, in general, that such an act of 
 faith we find put forth by Abraham, Rom. iv. 20, 21. where 
 we are told that ' he staggered not at the promise of God 
 through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to 
 God : being fully persuaded that what he had promised, 
 he was able also to perform.' This full assurance of faith, 
 though mountains of impediments were in its way, yet 
 makes no more of them than if they were a plain. It 
 overleaps and overlooks them all, fixing its eye only upon 
 the power and faithfulness of the blessed Promiser ; as we 
 see clearly exemplified in the case of Abraham. His own 
 body was dead, and incapable of procreation; Sarah's 
 womb was barren, and incapable of conception ; and sense 
 and reason in this case would have been ready to conclude 
 that it was impossible ever Abraham should have a son. 
 But we are told, ver. 19. that he entirely abstracted from 
 all considerations of that kind, ' Being not weak in faith, 
 he considered not his own body now dead, when he was 
 about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of 
 Sarah's womb.' He would not so much as listen to the 
 surmises of carnal reason ; flesh and blood are put out of 
 doors ; and he rests with an assured confidence, without 
 any doubting or hesitation, upon the fidelity of the Pro- 
 
166 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 miser, being certain that God would do to him in particu- 
 lar, as he had said, when the time of the vision should come. 
 In like manner after Abraham had gotten his be- 
 loved Isaac, the son of the promise, what a terrible 
 shock, may one think, would it be to his faith in the pro- 
 mise, when God commanded him to take Isaac, of whom 
 the promised seed (Christ) was to come, and offer him upon 
 one of the mountains of Moriah ! Gen, xxii. Reason 
 here might be ready to object, and that not without great 
 colour of religion. Can God, who has so severely forbidden 
 murder, require me to imbrue my hands in the blood of 
 my own son ? Will not such a thing be an eternal reproach 
 to Abraham and his religion ? What will the Egyptians 
 say, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, which dwell in 
 the land 1 What wiU Sarah say, and how shall I ever look 
 her in the face ? But especially what shall become of the 
 promise, and the veracity of him that made it, saying, Jn 
 Isaac shall thy seed he called'? Surely might unbelief and 
 sense say, either this command is a delusion, or else the 
 promise is a lie. But Abraham had a full assurance of 
 faith as to the stability of the promise ; and therefore he 
 would upon all hazards obey the command of a promising 
 God: he was fully persuaded, that though Isaac were 
 sacrificed and burnt into ashes, yet out of the very ashes 
 of his sacrificed son, God could, and actually would raise 
 up Isaac again, and so accomplish his own word of pro- 
 mise. And let none imagine that they are not obhged to 
 believe with such a faith as Abraham had ; for the apostle 
 expressly tells us, that the history of his faith stands upon 
 record in scripture, ' not for his sake alone, but for us 
 also,' that we, after his example, may be encouraged to 
 ' believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the 
 dead,' Rom. iv. 23, 24. 
 
 Object. 0, say you, if I had as good a ground for my 
 faith as Abraham had ; if I were as sure that the promise 
 were to me^ as Abraham was, I think I could believe with 
 a full assurance of faith, as he did ; but there lies the 
 Btrait. I answer, You and I have as good a ground of 
 
OP FAITH. 167 
 
 faith as ever Abraham had. Abraham had a promising 
 God in Christ to trust, and so have we ; you have the same 
 God, the same Christ, the same covenant, the same promise 
 as Abraham had. But, say you, God spake to Abraham in 
 particular^ hy name, when he gave him the promise, saying, 
 ^ In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' 
 I answer. Although you be not designed by name and sur- 
 name, as Abraham was, yet a promising God in Christ ad- 
 dresses himself as particularly to you in the word of grace, 
 and dispensation of the covenant and promise, as though 
 he called to you out of heaven by name and surname, say- 
 ing, '■ To you (i. e. to you sinners of Adam's race) is the 
 word of this salvation sent. The promise is unto you that 
 are afar off.' And not only is the promise presented, but 
 an express command of believing superadded, requiring 
 and binding every particular person to take hold of it and 
 embrace it ; so that whatever shifts and evasions the unbe- 
 lieving and deceitful heart may make, the promise of God 
 comes as close and home to every individual hearer of the 
 gospel, as that promise did to Abraham when God spoke to 
 him with an audible voice out of heaven ; yea, * we have a 
 more sure word of prophecy, unto which we would do well 
 to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.' 
 I do own, as was hinted already, that every true believer 
 does not come the length of Abraham, to believe without 
 staggering; but that is not the question. The present 
 question is, If we have not now as good and firm a ground, 
 and as good a right to believe the promise as Abraham had ? 
 If Christ, and his salvation and righteousness, be not 
 brought as near to us in the word of faith as it was unto 
 him 1 This is what none who understand the privilege of 
 a New Testament dispensation will attempt to deny ; yea, 
 I will adventure to say, that the ground of faith is laid 
 before us under the New Testament with a far greater ad- 
 vantage than ever Abraham had ; inasmuch as the gospel 
 revelation is much more clear, and brings Christ and his sal- 
 vation much nearer to us than ever they were under any 
 period of the Old Testament dispensation. Abraham saw 
 
168 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 his day only afar off; whereas we live in that very day 
 which he saw at such a prodigious distance ; and therefore 
 we have much more ground to believe without staggering 
 than he had. And therefore seeing %ve ham holdiuss to enter 
 into the holiest hy the blood of Jesus; and seeing we have a 
 new and living way consecrated for us through the veil of his 
 flesh ; and seeing we have an High Priest over the house of 
 God: let us draw tiear with a true heart, in full assurance of 
 faith, &c. 
 
 IV. The fourth thing proposed in the method, was to in- 
 quire into the grounds of this doctrine ; or what it is that 
 faith has to build its confidence upon, in drawing near to 
 God with full assurance of acceptance ? In answer to this 
 question, I shall not at present enter upon the particular 
 grounds specified by the apostle in the preceding verses, 
 but shall simply call your attention to the immediate 
 ground of faith, or full assurance thereof, in drawing near 
 to God, which is God's own promise of acceptance through 
 Jesus Christ, with which promises the word everywhere 
 abounds, Isa. Ix. 7. and Ivi. 7. Mark xi. 24. Matth. vii. 7. 
 John xiv. 13, 14. Now, faith, eyeing and pleading the 
 promise of God in Christ, has many things to bear it up 
 into a full assurance ; I shall instance a few of many. 
 
 1. The grace, mercy, and goodness of a promising God re- 
 vealed and proclaimed in the word, is a noble ground for 
 sinners, and yet more for saints, to trust him, and draw 
 near to him through Christ, with a full assurance of faith : 
 Psal. xxxvi. 7, ' How excellent is thy loving kindness, 
 God ! therefore the children of men put their trust under 
 the shadow of thy wings.' It is cross to the very dictates 
 of nature for a man to trust one whom he apprehends to 
 be an enemy. Yea, if we have but a jealousy that one 
 bears us an ill will, or designs our hurt, we will not trust 
 or confide in him. But persuade a man that such a one is 
 his friend, that he hath an entire love and kindness for 
 him, and wants only an opportunity to do him the greatest 
 services he is capable, in that case he will trust hira with- 
 out hesitation. Just so is it in the case in hand : so long as 
 
OF FAITH. 169 
 
 we conceive God to be an implacable enemy, our prejudice 
 and enmity against him will remain ; and while enmity 
 against God stands in its full strength, it is absolutely im- 
 possible we can have any trust or confidence in him. In- 
 stead of drawing near to him with full assurance of faith, 
 we flee from him like our first parents, under the awful 
 apprehensions of his wrath and vengeance. But let us once 
 be persuaded that he is a God of love, grace, pity, and good- 
 will in Christ, then, though never till then, will we put our 
 trust under the shadow of his wings. 
 
 2. Faith grounds its assurance upon the infinite power 
 of a promising God. Being once persuaded of his love, 
 mercy, and good-will in Christ, it proceeds to fasten its 
 foot upon everlasting strength, as fully able to fulfil what he 
 has promised, saying, I know that thou canst do every thing, 
 and there is nothing too hard for thee. Indeed, infinite 
 power, armed with wrath and fury, is the terror of a guilty 
 sinner ; but infinite power, animated with infinite love, pro- 
 claiming, Furg is not in me, through the ransom that / have 
 found, is a noble ground of trust, and may embolden a guilty 
 sinner to ' take hold of his strength, that he may make 
 peace with him.' Hence it is that the power of God in 
 Christ is frequently presented in scripture as a ground of 
 trust, Isa. xxvi. 4, ' Trust ye in the Lord for ever : for in 
 the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' The faith of 
 Abraham founded itself upon this rock of the power of God, 
 in that forecited instance, Rom. iv., when he believed without 
 staggering at the promise. Being first persuaded of God's 
 good- will toward him, in giving him a promise of the Messiah 
 to spring of his loins, ' in whom all the nations of the earth 
 should be blessed,' he next fixes the eye of his faith upon 
 the power of this promising God, and was ' fully persuaded, 
 that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.' 
 So, Matth. ix. 27. we read of two blind men following 
 Christ, sending their cries after him, ' Thou son of David, 
 have mercy on us.' They first believed that Christ was 
 the promised Messiah, the son of David ; and in this they 
 saw mercy and good-will to man upon earth, he being the 
 
170 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 seed of the woman, that should bruise the head of the ser- 
 pent. Well, Christ leads them on next to take a view of 
 the power of God in him, as a further ground of trust and 
 confidence, ver, 28, ' Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that 
 I am able to do this ? ' They answer. Yea, Lord: and there- 
 upon Christ says unto them, ver. 29, ' According to your 
 faith, be it unto you.' Thus, I say, faith grounds its trust, 
 confidence, or assurance, in drawing near to God through the 
 new and living way, upon the j)oii:er of a promising God. 
 
 3. The veracity and faithfulness of a God in Christ, pawned 
 in the promise, is another ground upon which faith builds 
 when it draws near with a full assurance. Faithfulness in 
 God, and faith in man, are correlates ; and there is such a 
 connexion and relation betwixt these two, that our faith 
 cannot subsist without faithfulness in God. And, on the 
 other hand, a revelation of God's faithfulness would have 
 been needless if there were not some to believe him. The 
 light would be useless, if there were not an eye to see it ; 
 and the eye would be useless, if there were no light. To 
 an unbelieving sinner, the revelation of the divine faith- 
 fulness is as unprofitable as light is to a blind man ; and 
 our faith would be like an eye without light, if there were 
 not faithfulness in God. Yea, faithfulness in God is the 
 very parent of faith in man. Faith is at first begot and 
 wrought in the soul by some discovery of the divine 
 faithfulness in the word of grace, and it is maintained and 
 increased in the sam.e way and manner. Whence is it 
 that some do believe, and others do not, who equally enjoy 
 the same revealed warrants and grounds of faith 1 The 
 matter is this ; the faithfulness of God in the covenant and 
 promise is revealed by the Spirit to the one, and veiled and 
 hid from the other, ' the god of this world bhnding the 
 minds of them which believe not.' And whence is it, that 
 at one time a believer is ' strong in faith, giving glory to 
 God,' and at another time 'staggers through unbelief?' 
 The reason is this ; the faithfulness of God at one time is 
 80 visible to him, that he sees it to be like a mountain of 
 brass under him : at another time his light is so dark and 
 
OP FAITH. 171 
 
 dim, that he imagines the promise, and the faithfulness of 
 the Promiser, to be but like a broken reed, not able to bear 
 his weight. But, Sirs, what can be ground of assur- 
 ance, yea of the highest and fullest assurance of faith, if 
 not the veracity of that God who ' hath righteousness for 
 the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness for the girdle of his 
 reins 1 ' 
 
 4. A fourth ground (taken in connexion with the former) 
 upon which faith may build its assurance, in drawing 
 near to God by the new and living way, is, the indorse- 
 TYient or direction of the promise of welcome through Christ. 
 To whom, say you, is the promise indorsed ? I answer. It 
 is directed to everi) man to whom the joyful sound of this 
 everlasting gospel reacheth, John iii. 16. There you see 
 that the promise of acceptance and of eternal life through 
 Christ, reaches forth its arms to a lost world ; ' Whosoever 
 believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.' 
 So here, AVhosoever draweth near to the holiest by the 
 blood of Jesus, by the new and living way, through the 
 mediation of the great high priest, shall obtain grace and 
 mercy to help them in time of need. The covenant of 
 grace and promises thereof, are so framed by Infinite 
 Wisdom, in the external dispensation of the gospel, that 
 they look to every man and woman, and, as it were, invite 
 them to believe, and encourage them to enter into the ho- 
 liest. He that sits on a throne of grace calls every one 
 within his hearing to come for grace and mercy, assuring 
 them, that come to him who will, ' he will in no wise cast 
 out.' And we that are the heralds and ministers of the 
 great King, whose name is ' the Lord, merciful and gra- 
 cious,' have warrant and commission to proclaim, that to 
 you, 'men, and the sons of man, is the word of this salvation 
 sent : The promise is directed unto you as a ground of faith, 
 even ' to you and to your seed, and to all that are afar off, 
 even as many as the Lord our God shall call.' There is not 
 the least peradventure, but the call or command of believ- 
 ing is to every one, otherwise unbelief could not be their 
 sin. Now, the promise, in the indorsement and direction 
 
172 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 thereof, must be as extensive as the command. These two 
 are inseparably linked together, both in the external dis- 
 pensation and in the inward application of the Spirit ; in- 
 somuch that whosoever is commanded to believe, has right 
 to the promise as the immediate ground of his faith ; and 
 whosoever actually believes, and builds upon this ground, 
 has the promise in his possession. Take away the promise 
 from the command of believing, and you separate what God 
 has joined together, and in effect command men to build with- 
 out a foundation. It is true, Christ is the object of faith ; 
 but it is as true that he can only be the object of faith to 
 us as he is brought near in the word of faith or promise, 
 Rom. X. 8. And therefore, seeing the promise is to you 
 and me, and every one who hears this gospel, I may war- 
 rantably say with the apostle, Heb. iv. 1, ' Let us fear, lest 
 a promise being left us, of entering into his rest, any of you 
 should seem to come short of it.' 
 
 5. Let it encourage us to draw near in full assurance of 
 faith, that there is no lawful impediment to hinder our ac- 
 cess and success, in entering with boldness into the holiest 
 by the blood of Jesus. Every bar and hinderance that 
 stood in our way is mercifully removed by our great high 
 priest, who is over the house of God. AU the impediments 
 that can be pleaded on God's part are the laio, justice, and 
 holiness of God ; and all the impediment that can be pleaded 
 on our part is sin. Now, none of these ought to hinder our 
 drawing near in this new and living way, with full assur- 
 ance of faith. 
 
 As for the law, that cannot be a just impediment to hin- 
 der our access ; for that moment the soul enters by Christ, 
 as the way to the Father, the law gets its end, Christ being 
 ' the end of the law for righteousness to every one that be- 
 lieveth.' Now, can the law be against its own end, or that 
 which gives it its due % All that the law demands is a per- 
 fect and sinless righteousness ; give it that, and it has no 
 more to seek. But this the law gets that moment a sinner 
 believes, or draws near by the blood of Jesus. ' What the 
 law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, 
 
OF FAITH. 173 
 
 God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and 
 for sin condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness 
 of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the 
 flesh, but after the Spirit,' Rom. viii. 3, 4. 
 
 Again, as for the justice of God, this is ready to scare us, 
 who are guilty sinners, from so much as looking toward the 
 holiest, or the place where God's honour dwells. But this 
 can be no impediment either, to our drawing nearby the blood 
 of Jesus, with full assurance of faith. Why 1 That which 
 justice demands is a complete satisfaction for the injury done 
 to the honour and authority of God, by the breach and vio- 
 lation of the holy and righteous law, which was a transcript 
 of the purity and equity of his nature. Now, when a sinner 
 draws near or enters into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 
 he gives justice that which it wants, namely, a ransom 
 of infinite value, even the ransom that God has found,^ the 
 propitiation that God has set forth in the gospel, to be re- 
 ceived by faith. The man, in believing, as it were, pre- 
 sents this ransom unto justice for the sin of his soul; and 
 whenever justice sees this ransom of the blood of Jesus in 
 the hand of faith, it assoilzes and acquits the soul from all 
 law penalties, declaring that now there is no condemnation 
 to that man, Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 As for the holiness of God, that seems to stand as an in- 
 superable bar in our way of entering into the holiest, by 
 reason of the blot, defilement, and pollution of sin, which 
 renders us utterly loathsome in the sight of the holy One 
 of Israel. But, glory to God in the highest, this bar is also 
 removed by the blood of Jesus ; for that moment a sinner 
 comes under the covert of this blood, and draws near to 
 God under this covering, he hath his heart thereby ' sprinkled 
 from an evil conscience, and his body washed with pure 
 water.' That same moment that the righteousness of the 
 second Adam is extended to us for justification, his Spirit 
 enters into us for sanctification, renewing us in the whole 
 man, after the image of God. And the blood of Jesus not 
 only cancels the guilt of sin, which made us obnoxious to 
 the law and justice of God, but it hides and covers the 
 
174 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 filth of sin from the eyes of immaculate holiness. Yea, 
 holiness is so much the sinner's friend in drawing near 
 through the blood of Jesus, that this attribute of the divine 
 nature is pawned in the promise of acceptance made to 
 Christ and his seed, Psal Ixxxix. 2, 35. 
 
 As for impediments on our part, I shall only say at 
 the time, that the sum-total of them all amounts to this, 
 that we are sinners, and so wretched, miserable, poor, bhnd, 
 and naked, that we cannot think that ever God will receive 
 or welcome us. But at once to roll away this impediment, 
 let it be considered, that this new and living way of access 
 into the holiest is only calculated for sinners : ' Christ calls 
 not the righteous (or innocent), but sinners,' to enter by 
 him as the way to the Father. If you were not sinners, 
 but righteous, as Adam was before the fall, you would not 
 need to enter by the blood of Jesus. But seeing the way and 
 door to the holiest is just shaped and calculated for the sin- 
 ner, let not the sinner scare to enter by it into the presence 
 of God, especially when he calls us, who are sinners, to 
 draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. 
 Faithful is he that hath promised acceptance in the be- 
 loved. 
 
 V. I proceed now to wind up the whole of this discourse 
 in some practical improvement thereof, which I shall en- 
 deavour to manage, as briefly as I can, in the few following 
 inferences. 
 
 Inf. 1. From this doctrine we may see the excellency of 
 the grace of faith. When it takes a view of the blood of 
 Jesus, of the neio and living way, and of the High Priest 
 over the house of God, it can draio near to the holiest with 
 fvU assurance of welcome. And it is not without warrant 
 that faith promises itself welcome from the Lord in its ap- 
 proaches to him through Christ. God has made the same, 
 yea, a much greater grant to the grace of faith, than Ahasue- 
 rus made unto Esther, chap. ix. 12, ' What is thy petition ? 
 and it shall be granted thee : or what is thy request 1 and it 
 shaU be done.' Compare this with John xiv. 13, 14, 
 * Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that 
 
OF FAITH. 175 
 
 the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any 
 thing in my name, I will do it.' So Mark xi. 24, ' What 
 things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye re- 
 ceive them, and ye shall have them.' As Ahasuerus put a 
 peculiar honour upon Esther, and preferred her above all 
 the maids in his kingdom, so God, the King of kings, stamps 
 a peculiar honour and excellency upon the grace of faith, 
 preferring it above all the other graces ; on which account 
 it may say with Mary, Luke i. 48, ' He hath regarded the 
 low estate of his hand-maiden.' Though God be high, yet 
 hath he respect unto the lowly : though he be the high and 
 lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, yet he dwells with the 
 humble : he delights to choose and put honour upon the 
 foolish, weak, base, and despised things of this world ; yea, 
 he chooses ' things which are not, to bring to nought things 
 that are.' Faith is the meanest and lowest, the poorest 
 and most beggarly of all the other graces ; for all the other 
 graces give something unto God, whereas faith, like a 
 mere beggar, comes not to give any thing, but to get and 
 receive all ; and yet God takes this beggar and sets it among 
 princes, to allude unto that expression, Psal. cxiii. 7, 8. 
 Such honour and preferment does God put upon this grace, 
 that though he has said, ' He will not give his glory to 
 another ; ' yet so little jealousy has he of the grace of faith, 
 that he, as it were, sets it upon the throne with himself, 
 ascribing things to it which are proper and peculiar unto 
 himself only ; he sets the jewels of his crown upon the head 
 of faith. 
 
 Inf. 2. See from this doctrine the true way of joy and com- 
 fort. Perhaps there may be some poor soul going mourn- 
 ing without the sun, saying, ' Oh that I were as in months 
 past.' Once in a day I thought I could say, ' The candle 
 of the Lord shined upon my head ; ' but alas ! the scene is 
 now altered, ' the Comforter that should relieve my soul is 
 far from me;' how shall I recover my wonted joy in the 
 Lord ? Well, here is the way to it ; go forth out of your- 
 selves, by a direct act of faith ; take Christ anew in the 
 embraces of your souls upon the free call and offer of the 
 
176 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 gospel ; and, with Simeon, ye shall be made to hless God. 
 It is the wreck of the comfort of the generality of God's 
 people, in our day, that they continue poring within them- 
 selves upon their frames, their graces, their experiences, 
 their attainments, without going forth by faith unto the 
 fulness of a Redeemer for relief. And while we do so, we 
 are just like mariners at sea ; while they sail among shallow 
 waters, near the shore, they are always afraid of striking 
 upon rocks or running upon sands, because they want deep- 
 ness of water : but when they launch forth into the main 
 ocean they are dehvered of these fears, being carried far 
 above rocks and sands. So while the believer continues 
 among the shallow waters of his graces, duties, experiences, 
 and attainments, he cannot miss to be harassed with con- 
 tinual fears, because the waters of divine grace are but ebb 
 while we remain there ; but when by faith we launch out 
 into that full ocean of grace that is in Christ, then fears, 
 doubts, and perplexities evanish; the soul is carried up 
 above all these, being strong^ not in the created grace that 
 is in itself, but ' in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, in 
 whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead.' So then, I 
 say, if ye would surmount your fears, and recover your joy 
 and comfort in the Lord, study to live by faith upon the 
 Son of God; for we are 'filled with joy and peace in be- 
 lieving.' 
 
 Inf. 3. Is it the will of God that we should draw near to 
 him in Christ, with full assurance of faith ? then let us 
 study to do the ivill of God in this matter. Seeing the door 
 of the holiest is open, the tuay consecrated for us, and the 
 High Priest entered within the vail; let us draw near with a 
 true heart, in full assurance of faith. I exhort you not 
 only to helieve, but to be strong in the faith. Study to have 
 a faith proportioned, in some measure, to the grounds of 
 faith already mentioned. 
 
 But here a question wiU readily be moved. Is it the duty 
 of all the hearers of the gospel, at first to believe after this 
 manner, or to draw near with a full assurance of faith 1 For 
 
OF FAITH. 177 
 
 1. I grant, that the first approaches of a sinner to God 
 in Christ by faith, are for the most part weak and feeble, 
 attended with much fear and trembling, through the pre- 
 valency and strength of unbelief, a sense of utter unwor- 
 thiness, and awful impressions of the glorious majesty of 
 God ; all which readily makes him, with the publican, to 
 * stand afar off, smiting on his breast, crying, God be mer- 
 ciful to me a sinner,' But yet, 
 
 2. I affirm, that there is sufficient ground laid, in the 
 gospel revelation and promise, for a sinner even in his first 
 approach to God in Christ, to come with full assurance of 
 faith. This will evidently appear, if we consider, that by 
 the glorious gospel, a wide door of access is cast open unto all 
 without exception ; all grounds of unbelief and distrust are 
 removed, every bar and impediment which might make them 
 to halt and hesitate is rolled away. This is given m com- 
 mission to ministers, to ' prepare the way of the people, to 
 cast up, cast up the highway, to gather out the stones, and 
 lift up a standard for the people,' Isa. Ixii. 10. When we 
 call sinners to beheve, we do not caU them to come with a 
 weak faith, or with a doubting, disputing faith ; but we 
 invite and call them to come with assurance of acceptance 
 and welcome, grounded upon his infallible word of promise, 
 ' Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.' 
 
 3. I find the Lord directing sinners, even in their first 
 approaches, to draw near to him in Christ, with full assur- 
 ance of faith, Jer. iii. 19, ' But I said. How shall I put 
 thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a 
 goodly heritage of the host of nations 1 ' Here is a puz- 
 zling question, such as none can answer but God himself. 
 Well, but what is the answer which the Lord puts in the 
 sinner's mouth ? ' Thou shalt caU me, My Father, and 
 shalt not turn away from me.' The first breath of the 
 Spirit of adoption is, Abba, Father, Rom. viii. 15. a word of 
 faith or confidence. Christ puts words of assurance in our 
 mouths, teaching us, when we pray, to say, Our Father 
 which art in heaven. And everyone apart is to say. My 
 Father which art in heaven, <fec. Agreeable to which 
 
178 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 is the direction given, Jam. i. 6. We are told, ver. 5, that 
 ' if any man (be he a saint or a sinner) lack wisdom, let 
 him ask of God, that giveth to all men Kberally, and up- 
 braideth not ; and it shall be given him.' Well, here is 
 noble encouragement to all; but they who would speed 
 well, are ordered to come in the full assurance of faith, 
 ver. 6, ' But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering,' &c. 
 
 4. I find sinners in their first approaches sometimes 
 practising this direction, and coming with words of assur- 
 ance. Thus in Jer. iii. 22. says the Lord, ' Return ye back- 
 sliding children, and I will heal your backshdings.' And 
 what is the first echo of faith unto this call ? ' Behold we 
 come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.' So Zech. 
 xiii. 9, ' I will say, It is my people ;' there is the word of grace, 
 and ground of faith : and the language of faith, correspond- 
 ent thereunto immediately follows, 'They shall say. The 
 Lord is my God.' Isa. xlv. 24, ' Surely shall one say, In 
 the Lord have I righteousness and strength.' Besides all 
 this, none, I think, can doubt but it is the sinner's duty, 
 at first, in obedience to the first commandment, to know 
 and acknowledge the Lord as God, and as his God ; and 
 how this can be done but by believing, I cannot tell. 
 
 Well then, seeing there is such a door of faith opened to 
 sinners in the gospel, let sinners enter in with boldness, 
 and be saved : John x. 9, ' I am the door,' says Christ : ' by 
 me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in 
 and out, and find pasture.' 
 
 Object. 1. May the sinner say. How shall I adventure to 
 draw near with assurance of acceptance? / have such a 
 burden of sin and guilt lying wpon me, and it has such a 
 prevalency and ascendant over me, that my confidence is 
 quite marred : for my part, I may well say with David, 
 Psal. xl. 12, ' Innumerable evils have compassed me about, 
 mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not 
 able to look up: they are more than the hairs of mine 
 head, therefore my heart faileth me.' To this I answer, 
 (1.) By way of concession, that it is indeed impossible for 
 a person living in the love and practice of sin, to draw near 
 
OP FAITH. 179 
 
 to God with the confidence of faith ; for in the very act of 
 drawing near, the heart is purified by faith, in the blood of 
 Jesus ; or, as it is expressed in the latter clause of the text, 
 he hath his ' heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and 
 his body washed with pure water.' In believing we ' cease 
 to do evil, and learn to do well.' But there is a great 
 difierence betwixt iniquity prevailing in the heart, and 
 iniquity regarded in the heart. In the last case, a person 
 cannot draw near with acceptance : Psal. Ixvi. 18, ' If I 
 regard iniquity in my heart : the Lord will not hear me ;' 
 that is. If I love it, or give it kindly harbour in my heart, 
 God will not accept of me, or my prayers. Because in that 
 case he could not draw near with a true heart, which is an 
 inseparable concomitant of the assurance of faith. But in 
 the former case, viz., of prevailing iniquity, it is not only 
 possible, but actually precedented, for a person to draw 
 near with the full assurance of faith ; as we see in the 
 instance of David, Psal. Ixv. 3, ' Iniquities,' says he, ' pre- 
 vail against me.' But what follows ? ' As for our trans- 
 gressions, thou shalt purge them away.' Now, this being 
 the case pointed at in the objection, it ought to be no pre- 
 judice or hinderance to your drawing near unto the holiest 
 by the blood of Jesus, with full assurance of faith, seeing 
 he is faithful who hath promised acceptance in the beloved. 
 (2.) Whereas, sinner, thou complainest of a burden of 
 sin and guilt lying upon thee, which mars thy confidence ; 
 I only ask. For whom, thinkest thou, was the way to the 
 hoUest opened by the blood of Jesus ? was it for the righ- 
 teous, or for guilty sinners 1 An innocent or holy person 
 needs no such way of access : it is only calculated and sha- 
 pen for the guilty criminal and transgressor, such as thou 
 art ; and ' though thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
 white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall 
 be as wool,' that moment thou enterest in by the blood of 
 Jesus : and, therefore, let its draw near with a true heart, in 
 fidl assurance of faith. Whither can a guilty sinner go, 
 but to the Lord pardoning iniquity, transgression and sin ? 
 Whither can a polluted sinner go, save to the fountain 
 
180 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 opened for sin and for uncleanness ? (3.) The boldness 
 and assurance of faith is not only consistent, but is always 
 accompanied with a soul-abasing sense of utter unworthi- 
 ness, because of the guilt, and filth, and power of sin. And 
 the reason of this is plain, because in believing, the man 
 through an uptaking of sin and guilt, is carried out of 
 himself to seek his standing and the ground of his confi- 
 dence in another, even in Christ, and the mercy of God in 
 him. So David, Psal. cxxx. 3, 4, ' If thou, Lord, shouldst 
 mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand? But there is 
 forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared,' <tc. 
 And therefore let a sense of sin, in its guilt and prevalency, 
 carry thee out of thyself, to draw near by the blood of 
 Jesus, with full assurance of faith. It was a preposterous 
 way of reasoning in Peter, to say, ' Lord, depart from me, 
 for I am a sinful man.' He should rather have said. Lord, 
 come to me, for I am a sinful man ; for where can a sinner 
 be better than wdth the Saviour of sinners ? 
 
 Object. 2. You caU us to draw near with the assurance 
 of faith : but, alas ! how can I do this, seeing I am in tJte 
 dark about my interest in Christ ? If I knew that I had 
 peace with God, my sin pardoned, my person accepted, and 
 that I were in a state of grace and favour, in that case I 
 could draw near with confidence indeed. But the case is 
 quite otherwise: clouds and darkness are round about 
 me ; I doubt if ever God dealt with my heart effectually 
 by his grace : How, then, can I draw near with the confi- 
 dence of faith ? Ans. If you never draw near to God with 
 the assurance of faith, tiU you come to a sensible assurance 
 of your interest in Christ, and of your being in a state of 
 grace, you will never draw near to him in your Hfe. And 
 the reason of this is, because a sensible assurance of an 
 interest in Christ, is the fruit and efiect of the soul's 
 drawing near by faith ; and the effect can never go before 
 its cause. The way to come at that assurance of a state of 
 grace, is to draw near with the assurance of faith, grounded, 
 not upon any gracious work within you, but upon the gra- 
 cious promise of God in his word, and the mediation of 
 
OF FAITH. 181 
 
 the great High Priest over the house of God. Heb. iv. 14, 
 16, ' Seeing we have a great High Priest, that is passed 
 into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, — let us therefore 
 come boldly unto the throne of grace,' <fec. Faith, as I 
 said just now, still seeks a ground of confidence, not in 
 grace received, or any thing within the man, but only in 
 Christ, and the gracious promise of acceptance through 
 him ; and therefore, the best way in the world to get above 
 all these doubts, fears, and perplexities, regarding your 
 gracious state, is, by a direct act of faith, to go to God by 
 the new and living way, assuring and persuading your own 
 souls, that a God of grace and love ' hates putting away,' 
 Isa. 1. 10. He that 'walketh in darkness, and hath no 
 light,' what course is he to take 1 ' Let him trust in the 
 name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God :' where 
 by the na7ne of the Lord, we are to understand the grace 
 and mercy, power and faithfulness of God, pawned in the 
 promises of the covenant. Here we are to cast anchor; 
 upon these we are to build the confidence and assurance of 
 faith, when we have nothing to look or trust to. Thus did 
 Abraham, the father of the faithful, Rom. iv. 20, 21 ; and 
 60 must we, if we would be the true seed of Abraham. 
 
 Object. 3. You call sinners to believe, and to believe 
 with an assured faith : But to what purpose is all this ? 
 may one E2lJ, faith is Hhe gift of God,'' the work of his 
 Spirit ; I have no power to believe, till God work it in me : 
 and therefore all this labour, in persuading us to believe, 
 might be spared. I answer, Your own inability to believe, 
 by any strength or power of yours, is so far from being an 
 argument against, that it is one of the strongest arguments 
 why you should believe. For when we call you to believe, 
 we do not call you to work or do anything by your own 
 power; but, to trust in the doings and strength of 
 another, who, as he has* wrought all your works for you, 
 so he engages himself by promise, to work all your works 
 171 you; and particularly, being ' the Author and Finisher 
 of faith,' is ready and willing to ' fulfil in you all the good 
 pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with 
 
182 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 power.' Every creature answers its name ; and will God 
 be wanting to answer his ? No, surely ; the name that he 
 takes to himself is declarative of his nature: and there- 
 fore since he has taken this name to himself, of being the 
 Author of Faith, and the Finisher thereof, we may, with 
 the greatest assurance of faith, ' trust in this name of the 
 Lord,' that he will both begin the good work and carry it 
 on to the day of the Lord Jesus. And this very commit- 
 ting of the work of faith unto him, from a sense of your 
 own inabihty, is that beheving which we urge and caU you 
 to. Faith is a grace which just springs out of the ruin of 
 all self-sufficiency and excellency ; finding neither righte- 
 ousness nor strength watliin, it looks abroad, and cries, 
 * Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.' 
 Unbelief and carnal reason are ready to argue. Because 
 God by his Spirit must do all, therefore we will sit still 
 and do notliing. But the Spirit of God, whose reasonings 
 I am sure are infinitely better, argues after a quite dif- 
 ferent manner, Phil. ii. 12, 13, ' Work out your own 
 salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which 
 worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good plea- 
 sure.' what glorious encouragement is here for a poor 
 impotent sinner to essay and aim at believing ! Here is 
 the arm of Omnipotency, reaching forth itself for thy 
 help and throughbearing in the work he calls thee to. Up 
 therefore, and be doing, for ' thy God commands thy 
 strength ; ' and therefore let him be ' the glory of thy 
 strength.' 
 
 Object. 4. Let me aim at believing as much as I will, I 
 shall never be able to eifect it, if I he not among God's 
 elect ; for it is only they that are ordained to eternal life, 
 that do helieve. Ans. This is an ordinary sophism of the 
 grand enemy of salvation, whereby he discourages sinners 
 from believing in the Lord Jesus; and the fallacy or 
 weakness of it will easily appear, by applying the objection 
 to the ordinary businesses of human life. When meat is set 
 before you, do you dechne to take or use it, for this reason 
 that you do not know whether God has ordained it for 
 
OF FAITH. 183 
 
 you ? Do not ye say, Meat is for the use of man, and this 
 meat is set before me, and therefore I will take it. Ye do 
 not say, I will not plough or sow my ground, because I know 
 not if ever God has decreed that it shall bring forth ; or I 
 will not go home to my house, because I do not know if 
 ever God has decreed I should go that length. Ye 
 would reckon a man mad, or beside himself, who would 
 argue at this rate, in affairs of this nature. Why, the 
 case is the very same : as the secret decrees of heaven lie 
 quite out of the road in the management of the affairs of 
 this life ; so neither are they at all to be the measure or 
 rule of our actings in the great concerns of eternity: 
 ' Secret things belong unto the Lord our God : but those 
 things which are revealed, belong unto us, and to our 
 children.' And the ground of your condemnation at the 
 great day will not be, because ye were not elected, but 
 because ye would not believe. The reprobate Jews were 
 cut off because of their unbelief, Rom. xi. 7. and 20. I 
 shall only add, that as ye cannot know that the meat set 
 before you is yours in possession, till ye take it ; so neither 
 can ye ever know that Christ was ordained for you, till ye 
 take him into your possession by faith. And therefore ye 
 must believe in Christ, before ye know your election ; 
 otherwise ye shall never know it, and shall never believe 
 either. 
 
 Object. 5. I have tried believing so long and so often, 
 that / am quite wearied, iny strength is gone, and yet no 
 power from above ; what shall I do ? God takes no notice of 
 me. Ans. Isa. xl. 27, 28, (fee, ' Why sayest thou, Jacob, 
 and speakest, Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and 
 my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not 
 known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the 
 Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, 
 neither is weary % there is no searching of his understand- 
 ing. He giveth power to the faint ; and to them that have 
 no might, he increaseth strength.' Thou imaginest that 
 God's helping hand is withdrawn, and that he takes no 
 notice of thy endeavours to believe. But why sayest thou 
 
184 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 SO? He is nearer than thou apprehendest : Behold he 
 standeth behind our wall, ready to give grace, and mercy 
 to help in time of need, ready to give power to the faint, 
 and strength to them that have no might: and power 
 from on high to beheve is nearest, when we are most car- 
 ried out of ourselves in point of strength and sufficiency. 
 And therefore give it not over : ' Wait, I say, on the Lord ; 
 for they that wait upon him shall renew their strength.' 
 It is only the weak man that will lean to the help of 
 another : now, faith is a leaning on Christ when we cannot 
 stand alone. Cant. viii. 5, ' Who is this that cometh up 
 from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?' It is 
 only the wearied man that will sit down and rest him : 
 now, faith is the soul's resting in or upon Christ, Psal. 
 xxxvii. 7, ' Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.' 
 Heb. iv. 3, ' We which have believed do enter into rest,' 
 When a man can do nothing else, when he is so feeble that 
 he cannot put his hand to a turn, yet he can rest him : so 
 here, because thou art weak, and without strength for any 
 work of the law, therefore the Lord calls thee to rest thy 
 weary, sinking soul upon the Lord Jesus, on whom he has 
 laid thy help. And therefore let thy weakness encourage 
 thee to revive, instead of discouraging thee. 
 
 But now, I come to offer a word of exhortation to those 
 whose hearts do fall in with the foregoing exhortation. 
 Do ye now believe, though in the weakest degree ? Let me 
 exhort you not to rest in a low measure of faith, but press 
 after the highest degree of it. Forget things behind, 
 reach forth unto things that are before ; believe better 
 than ye have yet done. Go on from faith to faith, and 
 thus learn to drav) near with a trite heart, in full assur- 
 ance OP FAITH : and thus you shaU be the cliildren of 
 faithful Abraham, who ^ staggered not at the promise 
 through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory 
 to God ; being fully persuaded, that what he had pro- 
 mised he was able also to perform.' You see what was 
 the ground of Abraham's faith, by which he believed 
 without staggering ; it was nothing else but the promise 
 
OF FAITH. 185 
 
 of life and salvation through a Messiah to come. Well, 
 you have the very same ground of faith laid before you, 
 with a far greater advantage now under the New Testa- 
 ment, namely, the promise of acceptance, peace, pardon, 
 grace and glory, through a Messiah who is already come, 
 and finished the work which the Father gave him to do ; 
 and therefore believe without staggering, as he did. 
 
 That I may quicken you to press after a higher measure 
 of faith, I offer the following considerations. 
 
 1. Little faith is not easily discerned: it is but like a 
 grain of mustard seed lying in the ground, which one can 
 scarce distinguish from the dust which lies under his feet ; 
 and when faith is not discerned, God loses the glory of his 
 own grace, and you also lose the comfort of it. 
 
 2. The world we live in requires a strong faith. It is a 
 den of lions, and a mountain of leopards ; the roaring lion 
 is going about seeking to devour : Red seas and Jordans 
 of trouble lie in our way to Canaan, through the howling 
 wilderness. Storms and tempests of persecution and tribu- 
 lation may blow, which wiU make the strong behever to 
 stagger and shake : and if so, has not the weak believer 
 reason to fortify himself, by studying to believe better 
 than he has done ? for it is by fa,ith that we stand in an 
 evil day. 
 
 3. Contentment with little faith, is no good sign of the 
 reality of faith; for (as was hinted before) it is of the 
 nature of true grace, to breathe after its own perfection. 
 They who have the least degree of it press after the highest. 
 They that know the Lord, follow on to know him. 
 
 4. Consider the advantages of a strong faith beyond a weaJc. 
 1st. A strong faith hath 2, firm and solid peace coming along 
 with it : Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 
 whose mind is stayed on thee.' But weak faith has its 
 peace disturbed at every turn of providence. 2dly. Strong 
 faith brings great joy with it ; hence we are said to be 
 ' filled with joy and peace in beheving;' yea, the joy of a 
 lively faith is a 'joy unspeakable, and fuU of glory,' 1 Pet. 
 i. 8. But now the weak believer, though he may perhaps 
 
186 THE ASSURANCE 
 
 sometimes be filled with the joy of sense, yet he has but 
 little of the joy of believing. Hence it is, that whenever 
 sense is withdrawn, he is in the very suburbs of heU, cry- 
 ing, ' The Lord hath forgotten to be gracious, his promise 
 fails for evermore.' 3dly. Strong faith is more steady in a 
 storm than a weak faith is. Strong faith, when the storm 
 blows, casts out the anchor of hope, and rides in safety, 
 crying, ' 1 will not be afraid, though the earth be removed, 
 and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the 
 sea, and though the waters thereof roar.' But now, weak 
 faith, like Peter walking on the waters, is ready at every 
 billow to ' cry out, ' Master, I perish.' When created com- 
 forts fail, when the fields yield no increase, weak faith is 
 ready to say, I and my family will perish : but strong faith 
 will say. Up my heart, there is no fear ; ' my bread shall 
 be given rae, my water shall be sure ; ' because a God of 
 truth hath said it, whose is the ' earth, and the fulness 
 thereof.' He that ' feeds the ravens,' will not let his chil- 
 dren starve ; he that ' clothes the lilies,' will not let me go 
 naked. 4thiy. Strong faith has more confidence and boldness 
 in entering into the hoUest, more influence and interest in 
 heaven, than weak faith has, John xiv. 13, 14. Mark xi. 24. 
 James i. 6. Weak faith, although God will not reject its 
 suit, yet its returns are not so clear and full ; yea, I wiU 
 adventure to say, that unbelieving doubts, and fears, and 
 jealousies, mar the success of many a good petition. 5thly. 
 Strong faith makes the approaches of death more easy than 
 they are to the weak believer. Strong faith takes up the 
 telescope of the promise, and looks beyond death, to the 
 land afar oiF, and rejoiceth in the hope of the glory of God, 
 saying, as the head Christ did, Psal. xvi. 9, ' My heart is 
 glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in 
 hope :' for he hath ' shewed me the path of life,' the new 
 and living way to these ' rivers of pleasures,' and that 
 ' fulness of joy,' which are 'at God's right hand for ever- 
 more.' Strong faith, viewing an exalted Redeemer, sees 
 death and hell among the trophies of his victory, and 
 thereupon triumphs over it as a vanquished and slain 
 
OP FAITH. 187 
 
 enemy, saying, '0 death, where is thy sting? grave, 
 where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God, who giveth me 
 the victory, through Jesus Christ my Lord.' But now, 
 weak faith shivers and trembles at the approaches of 
 death, lest it should be swallowed up in the swellings of that 
 Jordan. Let these considerations, I say, quicken you to 
 breathe after the increase of your weak faith, that you 
 may draw near with full assurance of faith. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE PROFITABLENESS OP GOOD WORKS. 
 
 This is a faithful saying, and these things 1 will that thou affirm 
 constantly, that they which have believed in God might be care- 
 ful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable 
 unto men. — Tit. iii. 8. 
 
 The apostle having, in the preceding part of this chapter, 
 particularly from the 4th verse, and downwards, given a 
 brief summary or epitome of the doctrine of the gospel, 
 and of the free grace of God towards sinners, through the 
 imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, proceeds, 
 in this 8th verse, to shut up the whole with a serious ad- 
 vice unto Titus, what use to make of the doctrine of grace 
 among his hearers; namely, to urge them, upon that 
 footing, to the study of practical godliness as great gain : 
 This is a faithfid saying, and these things I will that thou 
 affi^rm constantly, (fee. 
 
 Where we have these things deserving of consideration, 
 1. We have the apostle's epilogue, or conclusion, with 
 which he shuts up that grave and weighty subject, which 
 he had been treating in the preceding verses, This is a 
 faithfid saying. Some indeed do understand this as a pre- 
 face unto what follows ; but I find the generality of inter- 
 preters do rather connect the asseveration with what went 
 l)efore, and particularly with what the apostle had asserted 
 in the verse immediately preceding, to wit, ' That being 
 justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according 
 to the hope of eternal life;' and then immediately adds, 
 This is a faithful saying. The apostle foresaw, by the 
 
OP GOOD WORKS. 189 
 
 spirit of prophecy, that the doctrine of grace would meet 
 with strange opposition in after ages of the world; and 
 knew that opposition was already begun in his own day, 
 as appears from his epistle to the Galatians ; and therefore 
 ratifies it with the greater solemnity, This is a faithful 
 sailing. From whence I observe by the by, That as minis- 
 ters of Christ are to declare the whole counsel of God, so 
 there are some truths that need to be more vouched and 
 dwelt upon than others ; particularly truths that are more 
 fundamental, and most controverted by gainsayers. 
 
 2. In the words we have an apostolic command given 
 unto Titus, and in him to all ministers of the gospel. These 
 things I will that thou affirm constantly. The word in the 
 original rendered affirm, is borrowed from the practice of 
 those who, when they buy or sell a thing, do oblige them- 
 selves to maintain the claim and title against all lawsuits 
 or entanglements. Titus, and other ministers, are not only 
 to teach the doctrines of the gospel, but confirm and make 
 them good against all the cavils or questions that may be 
 moved about them. 
 
 3. In the words we have a particular doctrine which the 
 apostle recommends to be taught by Titus, namely, ' That 
 they who have believed in God should be careful to main- 
 tain good works.' Where notice the foundation of all good 
 works, and that is helieving in God, to wit, in God as he is 
 manifested in Christ, God reconciling the world to himself; 
 for out of Christ he cannot be the object of faith, but of 
 terror, to a guilty sinner. Now, this believing in God is 
 the very foundation of all good works : for ' without faith 
 it is impossible to please God :' and they that have believed, 
 are enjoined to maintain good works. The word in the 
 original is borrowed from the military, particularly such 
 as set themselves on the front of the battle, and march 
 forward to encourage the whole army to follow them. 
 '■ Believers,' would the apostle say, ' must not only do good 
 works, but must be patterns and ensamples thereof to 
 others ;' according to that of Christ, ' Let your light so 
 shine before men, that they may see your good works, and 
 
190 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 glorify your Father which is in heaven.' But the import of 
 this you may meet with more fuUy afterwards. 
 
 4. We have a very cogent and weighty reason why 
 believers are to maintain good works ; why 1 ' These things,' 
 says he, ' are good and profitable unto men.' The apostle, 
 in the 5th verse, had secluded good works from any cau- 
 sality or influence on our justification or eternal salva- 
 tion : ' Not by works of righteousness, which we have 
 done, but according to his mercy, he saved us.' Now, lest 
 any should allege, that, in that case, good works were alto- 
 gether useless, he adds this as a caveat, and says, in effect, 
 ' Do not mistake it, for although your good works be not 
 profitable for justification, yet they are good and profitable 
 unto men on many other accounts :' of which we may hear 
 hkewise afterward. 
 
 The doctrine I notice from the words is this : 
 
 DocT. ' That as faith, or believing, is the source of good 
 works ; so these good works, which are the fruit of believ- 
 ing, are good and profitable unto men. Or take it thus, 
 That they who have truly beheved, are to be careful to 
 maintain good works, these being good and profitable unto 
 men.' The foundation of this doctrine from the words is 
 obvious. 
 
 In speaking to it, I shall, through divine assistance, 
 observe the method following. 
 
 I. I would speak a little of these good works, which 
 they who have believed in God are called to maintain. 
 
 II. Of that believing in God, which is the source and 
 fountain of good works. 
 
 III. Show, that these good works, flowing from faith, 
 are good and profitable unto men. 
 
 IV. Apply the whole. 
 
 I. I say, I would speak a little of good works. Where I 
 would show, What sort of works they are that may be 
 called ffood works. In general, then, you should know, 
 that, considering the law as a covenant, or an abstracted 
 rule of righteousness, as contradistinguished from the gos- 
 pel, there are no works done by men that can be called 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 191 
 
 good works ; for ' there is none that doth good (in this 
 respect), no not one.' ' In many things we offend all.' 
 The most blameless and perfect actions of the most con- 
 summate believer that ever drew breath in God's air are 
 not in this sense good works. For while in this state of sin 
 and imperfection, he cannot perform a work legally good, 
 because of the mixture of sin that attends his best perfor- 
 mances. And hence it is, that we find the saints in scrip- 
 ture owning, that they could not stcmd, if God should inark 
 iniquity; that all their righteousness is as filthy rags ; that 
 their goodtiess extendeth not to him. Sirs, if God should 
 'lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plum- 
 met,' we, and all our good works, would be for ever rejected, 
 like reprobate silver. And therefore we have little reason 
 to think or imagine that God is a debtor to us for any 
 thing we do, or that our good works do procure the favour 
 of God, his acceptation, or a title unto life. But our 
 works are called good works, as having a respect unto the 
 law, considered as a rule of duty, in the sweet hand of a 
 Mediator. He makes his yoke easy, and his burden light, 
 to his people, by accepting of their weak endeavours, 
 through his perfect obedience and satisfaction, as good, 
 though attended with manifold imperfections. Now to 
 constitute an action good in an evangelical sense, there 
 are several things requisite. 
 
 1. To make a work a good work, it must he donehy a good 
 and holy person, renewed by the Spirit of Christ, and justi- 
 fied by his merit. It is beyond all dispute and controversy, 
 that the person must first be accepted of God, and recon- 
 ciled to him in Christ, before the work can be accepted, 
 Abel's person was accepted of God, and then his offering. 
 And hence it is, that the sacrifices of the vncked are said to 
 be an abomination to the Lord. The very 'ploughing of 
 the wicked is sin.' The matter is this ; God is angry with 
 their persons, and he hates and loathes them while out of 
 Christ; and therefore nothing that comes from them, or 
 that is done by them, can be acceptable. And therefore, 
 I say, to make works good and acceptable unto God, they 
 
102 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 must be done by a person that is in a gracious and recon- 
 ciled state. 
 
 2. To make a work a good work, it must be a thing re- 
 quired and called for hy the law of God. The reason of this 
 is plaLQ, because it is God's wOl that makes any thing sin 
 or duty ; and if it be not agreeable to his revealed will, he 
 may say unto us, ' Who hath required this at your hand 1 ' 
 Hence Christ taxeth the Pharisees, saying, 'In vain do 
 they worship me, teacliing for doctrines the command- 
 mandments of men.' And therefore, if you would do any 
 work acceptable to God, you must take care that the thing 
 you do be required and commanded of God. Indeed, there 
 are some actions that are of an indifferent nature ; that is, 
 God has left men at a perfect liberty whether to do them 
 or not. But then it should be remembered, that these 
 actions, in the case of offence or edification, cease to be in- 
 different, and fall under some commandment of the moral 
 law. In which case Paul says, 1 Cor. viii. 13, ' If meat make 
 my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world 
 standeth.' It was a thing indifferent whether Paul did 
 eat flesh or not ; but when offence was like to follow his 
 eating, he would abstain from it as much as though it were 
 expressly forbidden in the law of God, because in that case 
 it became a breach of the law of love and charity. 
 
 3. To make a work a good work, it must he done from a 
 right principle. It must be done, first, from a principle of 
 faith, as was already hinted ; for no work can be acceptable 
 without this, Heb. xi. 6. And there is a twofold faith requi- 
 site in a good action. First, a general faith or persuasion 
 that the thing we do may be done lawfully. And of this the 
 apostle speaks, when he says, ' Whatsoever is not of faith, 
 is sin,' Rom. xiv. 23. And secondly, a particular justifying 
 faith, believing the acceptance of what we do only through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and his merit and mediation. 
 
 Again, a good work must be done out of a regard to the 
 authority of God commanding: and that not simply with 
 a respect unto the authority of a God Creator, for thus a 
 heathen or a Mahometan may obey God and do good 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 193 
 
 actions ; but out of a respect unto the authority of a God in 
 Christ. We must eye the authority of the Creator in our 
 obedience, as coming in tliis blessed channel, otherwise it 
 is not a true Christian obedience : for we Christians are 
 under the law to Christ; and when we are so, we are not 
 without law to God, seeing God hath commanded us to hear 
 his voice, and to obe^him, as our Lord, King, and Lawgiver. 
 And whatsoever we do in ivord or deed, we are to do all in 
 the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory 
 of Ood by him. 
 
 And further, good works must be done ivith simplicity 
 and godly sincerity, avoiding hypocritical and pharisaical 
 ostentation in the discharge of duty ; for ' his soul which is 
 lifted up, is not upright in him,' Hab. ii. 4. 
 
 4. To make a work a good work, it onust be done to a right 
 end. It must be done to the glory and honour of God, this 
 being the principal and ultimate end of our being, accord- 
 ing to that of the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 31, ' Whether ye eat 
 or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' 
 It must be done as a declaration of our gratitude to God 
 for redeeming love. We are bought with a price; therefore 
 we are to ' glorify him in our souls and bodies, which are 
 his.' They must be done also with a view to the edifica- 
 tion of others, Matt. v. 16. 
 
 II. The second general thing proposed in the method, 
 was to give some account of this beheving in God, which 
 is given as the character of those who maintain good works. 
 Here I would do two things. 1. Show wha,t believing in 
 God implies. 2. Show the influence that it hath upon 
 good works. 
 
 First, What believing in God imports. 
 
 1 . It imports the knowledge of God, in a suitableness to 
 the revelation which he hath made of himself to us, through 
 Christ, in the gospel. I do own, that the very heathens may 
 know his eternal power by the things that are seen ; but there 
 is no saving knowledge of God by a guilty sinner, but as he 
 is in Christ. 2 Cor. iv. 6, ' God, who commanded the light 
 to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give 
 
194 THE PROFITABLE^^ESS 
 
 the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
 of Jesus Christ.' And whatever fine notions or specula- 
 tions people may have of God and of his excellencies, as 
 discovered in the works of creation and providence, yet, if 
 their notions of him be not regulated by the gospel revela- 
 tion, and if this revelation of a God in Christ be not opened 
 by the Spirit of wisdom, rending the veil of ignorance and 
 unbelief that is upon the mind by nature, there can be no 
 saving, satisfying, or sanctifying knowledge of God, and 
 consequently no true faith or beUeving. Indeed, a rational 
 knowledge may produce a rational faith, and a historical 
 knowledge may produce a historical faith ; but it is only a 
 saving illumination of the mind with the knowledge of a 
 God in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, that can 
 produce a saving faith. And this knowledge is so essential 
 to faith, or beUeving, that we find it frequently in Scrip- 
 ture called by the name of knowledge : ' I will give them an 
 heart to know me, that I am the Lord. By Ms knowledge 
 shall my righteous servant justify many. This is life eter- 
 nal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
 whom thou hast sent.' 
 
 2. To beheve in God, implies ?ifirm and steadg assent unto 
 the truth and veracity of God speaking in his word. It is to 
 believe and credit what he says, on his own testimony. 
 This is caUed a ' receiving the record of God, a setting 
 to the seal that God is true, a believing of the report 
 of the gospel.' When the man hears ' the word of 
 the truth of the gospel,' he is ready to cry out, with the 
 apostle, 'It is a faithful saying.' Now, this assent of the 
 soul to the gospel revelation is not a bare historical as- 
 sent which leans only to the testimony of man ; for thus 
 reprobates may and do believe : but it is such an assent as 
 is bottomed upon the testimony of God, or his record con- 
 cerning Christ in the gospel. Hence it is called a ' beUev- 
 ing the record of God, a setting to the seal that God is 
 true.' Faith that is of a saving nature wiU not venture 
 upon any thing less than the credit and authority of God him- 
 self : — Thus saith the Lord, is the ground and reason of the 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 195 
 
 soul's assent. Aud this is a firmer bottom than heaven 
 and earth ; for ' the fashion of this world passeth away, but 
 the word of the Lord endureth for ever ; righteousness 
 being the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of 
 his reins.' So that he will as soon cease to be God as cease 
 to make good his word, which is ratified by his oath, these 
 being the ' two immutable things, wherein it is impossible 
 for God to He.' 
 
 3. To believe in God is to trust that this word of a recon- 
 ciled God in Christ is not only true in the general, but that 
 it shall he true to me in imrticular^ that it shall be made 
 good to me. He takes up God in Christ as a promising 
 God, promising peace and pardon, grace and glory, in 
 Christ ; and he takes up the promise, as coming to him in 
 the offer of the gospel, as the immediate ground and foun- 
 dation of his faith : Acts ii. 39, ' The promise is unto you, 
 and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as 
 many as the Lord our God shall call.' Now, I say, the man 
 taking up the word of grace and promise in this way, trusts 
 the promisor for the performing thereof to his own soul ; 
 he takes it as a sufiicient security for all promised good, 
 saying, Plere is my ' substance : This is all my salvation.' 
 Hence faith acted upon the promise of God is called the 
 ' substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not 
 seen,' Heb. xi. 1. And this is what many notable divines, 
 both abroad and at home, call the assurance of faith, or the 
 appropriating persuasion of faith ; because there is not only 
 a persuasion of the truth of the promise, but a persuasion 
 of it with application and appropriation of it to the man 
 himself in particular. 
 
 I proceed secondly to inquire what influence this faith 
 hath upon good works. And there are several things that 
 are inlaid with the very nature and exercise of faith, which 
 cannot miss to influence holiness and good works. As, 
 
 1. True faith unites tlie soul to Christ, who is the very 
 root and fountain of all holiness. 'From me, saith the 
 Lord, is thy fruit found. Except ye abide in me, and I in 
 you,' to wit, by faith, ' ye cannot bring forth much fruit.' 
 
196 THE PaOFITABLENESS 
 
 Indeed, a person in a state of nature may bring forth many 
 fruits that are morally and materially good ; but without 
 union with Christ he can do no work that is spiritually 
 good and acceptable. For, 'as the branch cannot bear 
 fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, 
 except ye abide in me.' We may as well ' gather grapes of 
 thorns, or figs of thistles,' as expect works that are spiritu- 
 ally good from a person out of Christ. Why ? The reason 
 of it is plain. His root is but rottenness while he grows 
 upon the old Adam ; and therefore his hlossom shall go wp 
 as dust. While a man is growing upon the old Adam, he 
 is married to the law as a covenant, and therefore all his 
 works are but dead works ; and can ever dead works be ac- 
 ceptable to the living God? We must be 'dead to the 
 law by the body of Christ, and married unto that better 
 husband before we can bring forth fruit unto God,' Rom. 
 vii. 4. 
 
 2. Faith v^or'ks hy love; and ' love is the fulfilling of the 
 law.' Love to God in Christ is the next and immediate 
 fruit of true and saving faith. K^ow, the heart being filled 
 with the love of God in Christ, makes the man to abound 
 in good works : ' The love of Christ constraineth us,' says 
 the apostle. Love makes a man to keep God's command- 
 ments. Love will make a man to run through fire and 
 water for him. ' Many waters cannot quench love,' Cant. 
 viii. 7. ' Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? ' 
 Rom. viii. 35. 
 
 3. Faith is a shield to quemh the fiery darts of Satan. 
 When temptation without, and corruption within, are 
 forming a conspiracy against the work of grace in the 
 soul, whereby the whole work is endangered, then faith 
 breaks the plot, and countermines it. When Adonijah's 
 conspiracy had carried the whole strength of the kingdom 
 of Israel, it was broken by making appKcation unto David, 
 ' Hast thou not said that Solomon shall reign 1 ' So, when 
 temptation and corruption have carried the matter to a 
 great height, the conspiracy is broken by faith's application 
 to Christ: Lord, hast thou not said that grace shall 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 197 
 
 reign, and that 'sin shall not have dominion over me?' 
 And thus the soul is made to go on its way, ' rejoicing to 
 work righteousness.' 
 
 4, Faith applies the jyromises of the 7iew covenant, and 
 fetches grace from thence, for obeying the precept of the 
 law. So that faith, as it were, travels between the precept 
 and the promise : it carries the man from the precept unto 
 the promise, and from the promise to the precept. As for 
 instance, when the law says, ' Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
 all thy strength, and with all thy mind ;' faith runs to the 
 promise, where God hath said, ' I will circumcise their 
 hearts to love me.' When the law says, ' Thou shalt fear 
 the Lord thy God, and make him thy dread ;' faith, in that 
 case, runs to the promise for the grace of fear, ' I will put 
 my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from 
 me.' Does the law say. Thou shalt hnow the Lord, and 
 acknowledge him for thy God? Well, faith looks to the 
 promise, ' I will give them an heart to know me, that I 
 am the Lord.' Does the law oblige us to heep all his com- 
 mandments? Faith runs to the promise, and applies it, 
 ' I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk 
 in my statutes.' 
 
 5. Faith hath influence on good works, as it beholds the 
 aihthority of a God in Christ interposed in every command- 
 ment of the law. The eye of natural reason may see, as 
 was hinted, the authority of a God Creator, as is plain in 
 the case of the heathens ; but it is only the eye of that 
 faith, which is of God's operation, that can behold the 
 authority of a God in Christ, and receive the law out of 
 his hands. In this respect we are told, ' that no man can 
 call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.' And when the . 
 law is received from his mouth, it does not reflect dishon- 
 our upon God as a Creator. ! when a God in Christ is 
 viewed by faith, the soul cannot but cry out, ' He is my 
 King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth : 
 His commandments are not grievous; His yoke is easy, 
 and his burden is light :' for I see it no more a covenant 
 
198 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 of works to me, but a rule of obedience, sweetened with 
 redeeming love and grace. Thus, you see what influence 
 faith hath upon good works, 
 
 III. The third general head proposed in the method, 
 was, to inquire in what respect good works are profitable 
 unto men. 
 
 But, first, I would show you negatively, wherein they 
 are not profitable unto men. 
 
 1. Then, they are not at all profitable unto men for jus- 
 tification or acceptance before God; for ' by the works of the 
 law,' says the apostle, 'shall no flesh be justified.' Our 
 justification and acceptance, both as to our persons and 
 our works, goes upon a quite other ground, namely, upon 
 the everlasting righteousness, the obedience and death of 
 the Son of God, as our Surety apprehended by faith. It is 
 in him ' that all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and 
 shall glory.' Indeed the generality of men, that are trained 
 up in a Protestant country, will tell you, that they do not 
 expect to be justified by their own righteousness, but 
 only by the righteousness of Christ. But alas ! how few 
 are they that do really and actually submit unto this 
 righteousness ! There is a cursed bias in the heart of 
 man to lean to something in himself. Is not this the 
 language of thy heart many times ] I if I had such a 
 frame, such a melting heart, such love, such a degree of 
 humility and obedience, then I think God would accept of 
 me, and love me on that account. But, Sirs, let me tell 
 you, that it is not on the account of any thing wrought 
 in you, or done by you, that God accepts of you, but only 
 on the account of the doing and dying of the Son of God. 
 I may say to all legalists, that are looking for acceptance 
 with God on the ground of the law, and their own obedience, 
 as the prophet Isaiah says to a set of men in his day, Isa. 
 lix. 6, ' Their webs shall not become garments, neither 
 shall they cover themselves with their works.' So then, 
 good works are not at all profitable to righteousness and 
 justification. Hence is that, Isa. Ivii. 12, ' I will declare thy 
 righteousness, and thy works, for they shall not profit thee.' 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 199 
 
 2. Good works are not at all profitable to found a claim 
 or title imto heaven, or yet to any blessing and miercy promised 
 in the whole covenant of grace; for heaven, and all the bless- 
 ings that lie on this side of it, come to us in the way of a 
 free gift. God gives Christ his unspeakable gift, and with 
 him he freely gives us these things : ' The gift of God is 
 eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' I own, in- 
 deed, that in God's covenant of promise there is a con- 
 nexion and order established, for conferring of these pro- 
 mised blessings unto us : so that when God gives one thing, 
 it is a pledge of another thing coming. When for example 
 he gives grace we are sure he will give glory ; when he gives 
 a mourning heart, it is a sign that comfort is coming, 
 because that is God's method and w^ay, ' to give the oil of 
 joy for mourning, and to revive the heart of the humble.' 
 But though the tears of gospel mourning be a sign and 
 evidence of comfort coming, yet they are not the condition 
 on which God bestows comfort. So God has connected 
 faith and salvation together in the covenant ; so that ' he 
 that believeth shall be saved :' but it is not our faith that 
 entitles us unto salvation ; no, but faith unites the soul to 
 Christ, in whom we recover our right to the forfeited 
 inheritance. It is by virtue of the soul's union with Christ 
 by faith, that it is entitled to all the promised blessings. 
 Hence all the promises are said to be ' in him, yea, and in 
 him amen.' There is no promise in the Bible, but it is 
 made in the first instance to Christ as the Head, and in 
 him to the members of his mystical body. Just as it was 
 in the first covenant, to wit, the covenant of works ; the 
 promise of hfe, upon condition of perfect obedience, was 
 made directly to Adam as the covenant-head, and, in him, 
 to his posterity : so in the new covenant, of which Christ 
 is the Head, the promise of hfe, and every thing belonging 
 to it, is first made to him ; and, in him, to all his spiritual 
 seed and ofispring : and, in this respect, all the promises 
 are yea and amen in him. Christ is the first lieir of all 
 things: and the title of the younger brethren is only 
 through him, or by virtue of their union with him. Thus, 
 
2()0 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 good works, I say, are not profitable unto men, in order to 
 found a title to heaven and eternal life. 
 
 3. Our good works, as they are not profitable unto men 
 in any of these respects, so neither are they profitable unto 
 God, as though he had any advantage by them: Job xxii. 2, 
 3, ' Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise 
 may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the 
 Almighty, that thou art righteous ? or is it gain to him, 
 that thou makest thy ways perfect?' Hence David ac- 
 knowledgeth, that 'his goodness extended not to the 
 Lord.' Alas ! we are ready to think, that God is much 
 indebted unto us, when we do this or not : Have we fasted 
 and prayed, mourned and repented, kept the Sabbath, at- 
 tended ordinances, and performed this or the other duty ; 
 and yet will not God be pleased with all ? No, no ; do not 
 mistake it, Sirs, you that bring these things as a price in 
 your hands, to recommend you to God, will find that all 
 your duties are but like the cutting off of a dog''s neck, and 
 the offering of sivine's hlood upon his altar. And therefore 
 he will say to you, as he said to Israel, Isa. i. 11, ' To what 
 purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me.' 
 
 But now, you may perhaps say to me. By this way of 
 speaking you make good works profitable for nothing at all. 
 What strange doctrine is this ? I answer, although they 
 be not all profitable in any of these respects, but wholly 
 unprofitable and pernicious ; yet good works, when done out 
 of a principle of faith, are really profitable on many other 
 accounts. As, 
 
 1. They are profitable, as they are the fruits and evidences 
 of a true and lively faith : Jam. ii. 18, ' Yea, a man may say, 
 Thou hast faith, and I have works : show me thy faith 
 without thy works, and I wiU show thee my faith by my 
 works.' And ver. 22, ' Seest thou how faith wrought with 
 his works, and by works was faith made perfect ? ' From 
 whence it is plain, that works are profitable, as the fruits 
 and evidences of true faith. We know that there is sap 
 and life in the tree by the fruits, the leaves, and blossoms 
 that it puts forth ; so we know our faith to be a true faith, 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 201 
 
 by the fruits of holiness and good works. Yea, our good 
 works will be brought forth at the last day as the evidence 
 of our faith; and therefore it is said, Rev. xx. 12, 'They 
 were judged according to their works.' Works are not a 
 ground of confidence, but an evidence ; they are not the 
 foundation of faith, but the fruits of it ; and the believer's 
 comfort may be increased by the sight of good works, 
 though it is not built on them. In a word, they manifest 
 our claim and title to the crown, but do not at all found 
 or merit the same. We have peace ivith God and with con- 
 science by the righteousness of Christ ; and by holiness, or 
 good works, our peace of conscience is maintained and evi- 
 denced unto us. 
 
 2. They are profitable, as they are testimonies ami evi- 
 dences of our gratitude unto God for the ivonders of his grace 
 and love, manifested in and by Jesus Christ. Hence is that 
 of David, Psal. cxvi. 12, 13, ' What shall I render unto the 
 Lord, for all his benefits towards me ! I wiU take the cup 
 of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.' 1 Pet. 
 ii. 9, ' Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an 
 holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye should show forth 
 the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into 
 his marvellous light.' The works of obedience are, as it 
 were, thank-offerings unto God for the benefits bestowed 
 on us ; and when men have not a conversation suitable unto 
 their mercies, they despise the goodness of God. Hence is 
 it that the Lord complains of such, saying, ' Do ye thus re- 
 quite the Lord, foolish people and unwise % ' 
 
 3. They are profitable and needful for strengthening our 
 assurance. 1 John ii. 3, ' Hereby we do know that we 
 know him, if we keep his commandments.' And, ver. 5, 
 ' Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God 
 perfected : hereby know we that we are in him.' 2 Pet. i. 
 5. to ver. 10. From all which you see that assurance is 
 strengthened and confirmed by the fruits of holiness and 
 good works. We read, that 'the Spirit beareth witness 
 with our spirit, that we are the children of God : ' and it is 
 well, when, with the witness of the Spirit, we have that 
 
202 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 of water, that is, sanctification and purity of heart and 
 Hfe. 
 
 4. They are profitable, as they are edifying unto others. 
 Matth. V. 16, 'Let your light so shine before men, that 
 they may see your good works, and glorify your Father 
 which is in heaven.' Christ does not there encourage vain- 
 glory and boasting, but proposeth the true end of our 
 visible or external holiness, namely, that others may have 
 matter of praise to God for his grace abounding towards 
 us ; and that they may be also engaged to the study of ho- 
 liness and practical religion by our example. It was a 
 saying of Jerome, ' That he loved Christ dwelling in Augus- 
 tine.' So ought we to walk, as others may love Christ 
 dwelling in us. It is an exhortation to believing wives, 
 1 Pet. iii. 1. so to walk, that their husbands maybe ivon to the 
 Lord. So that, I say, good works are edifying unto others. 
 
 5. They are profitable, as they serve to adorn the jirofes- 
 sion of the gospel: 1 Tim. vi. 1, ' Let as many servants as 
 are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all 
 honour ; that the name of God, and his doctrine, be not 
 blasphemed,' Tit. ii. 5, 9, 10, 11, 12. Thus they serve to 
 adorn religion. The Church is the Lord's garden ; and you 
 know the fruitfulness of the trees of the garden serves ex- 
 ceedingly to adorn it ; whereas barrenness, or bad fruit, is 
 a disgrace, and makes the garden to be ill spoken of When 
 men professing godliness have not a walk and conversation 
 suitable, it makes enemies and strangers to conclude that 
 all religion is but a fraud or cheat, and that there is no 
 reality in it; whereas a fruitful conversation stops the 
 mouths of the enemies of religion: 1 Pet. ii. 15, * So is the 
 will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the 
 ignorance of foolish men.' 
 
 6. They are profitable, as they manifest oiir implantation 
 or ingrafting into Christ : Eph. ii. 10, ' We are his work- 
 manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 
 God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.' 
 
 IV. I proceed now to the last thing in the method, which 
 was the application. 
 
OP GOOD WORKS. 203 
 
 First, This doctrine may serve for information in these 
 two or three particulars. 
 
 1. See hence the right way to attain true morality, or how 
 you may come to do good works to purpose : you must he- 
 lieve in God, and by faith be united to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, The apostle, Rom. vii. tried to do good works by 
 the strength of nature, but it would not do with him ; for 
 
 * the commandment which was ordained to life, he found to 
 be unto death.' And I do verily believe, that none shall 
 ever make a better hand of it than he did, try it who will, 
 by the strength of nature. The law of itself only irritates 
 corruption instead of mortifying it ; for, says he, ' when the 
 commandment came, sin revived.' Like a serpent that is 
 chilled with the cold, Hes as if it were dead, but when 
 brought to the heat, it revives and spits venom ; so corrupt 
 nature, when brought to the commandment, or the com- 
 mandment brought to it, revives and gathers strength, and 
 discovers more malignity than it did before. ' Sin taking 
 occasion by the commandment, works in us all manner of 
 concupiscence.' 
 
 2. See hence, hoio unjustly ministers, who endeavour to 
 preach the doctrine of the grace of God, or who preach down 
 works in the matter of justification, are asjyersed as enemies 
 to good works and holiness, or as if they separated between 
 faith and good works. This was a calumny cast upon 
 Christ himself, which made him offer that vindication, 
 Matt. v. 17, ' I am not come to destroy the law or the pro- 
 phets, but to fulfil the law.' This was a charge against the 
 protomartyr Stephen, Acts vi. 13. that he 'spoke blasphe- 
 mous words against the holy place, and the law.' And this 
 also was a charge against the apostle Paul and his doctrine ; 
 hence it is that he anticipates that objection, Rom. iii. 31, 
 
 * Do we then make void the law through faith 1 God forbid : 
 yea, we establish the law.' 
 
 3. See hence the folly of those who, under a preteM of 
 grace, or of faith in Christ, give way unto lice7itiou^n£ss, 
 as Tnany carnal professors do. Whatever pretences such 
 may have to faith, yet they are strangers unto it, and never 
 
204 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 felt the effect of divine grace on their own souls ; otherwise 
 it would ' teach them, that denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, they should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in 
 this present world.' It is no new thing for corrupt nature 
 to abuse the doctrine of the grace of God. This was an 
 evil the apostle complains of in his day ; hence he takes 
 notice of some who argued that they ' might sin, that grace 
 might abound,' Rom. vi. But though the doctrine of grace 
 may be abused while it lies floating in the head, yet when 
 it gets into the heart it engages to holiness in all manner 
 of conversation. In a word, though the doctrine of grace 
 may be abused, the habit and exercise of grace cannot be 
 abused unto sin. 
 
 But I conclude the whole with a few directions or advices. 
 Take these following. 
 
 1. If you would do good works, take care that your state 
 he rights I mean, take care that ye have a station in Christ 
 the second Adam ; for without this you cannot bring forth 
 fruit, either pleasing to God or profitable to your own souls. 
 Thou art but a thorn and thistle in God's vineyard, while 
 thou art in a state of nature, and therefore there is no good 
 fruit of obedience that can grow upon thee. See that you 
 have the Spirit of Christ within you ; and for this end plead 
 that promise, Ezek. xxxvi, 27, ' I will put my Spirit within 
 you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' It is the 
 Spirit of the head that animates all the members of the 
 body ; he helps our infirmities in prayer, and in other good 
 works also. 
 
 2. In all your works or duties of obedience, heep your 
 eye upon the chief cormr-stone that God hath laid in Zion. 
 You know a mason or builder cannot miss to make very 
 irregular work if he do not keep his eye upon the founda- 
 tion and corner-stone of the house ; his w«rk will be marred. 
 Just so is it here ; if we do not keep our eye on Christ by 
 faith, as the foundation laid in Zion, the foundation of ac- 
 ceptance, the foundation of assistance, we can never yield 
 acceptable obedience unto God. And when either the 
 merit or Spirit of Christ go out of sight, immediately the 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 205 
 
 heart turns legal, whereby all our duties are spilled and 
 marred. 
 
 3. Study always to heep up the lively impression of this 
 awful truth upon your hearts, that God could find matter of 
 condemnation against you, not only from your worst sins, 
 but from the best of your duties. The most holy and 
 heavenly man that ever breathed, durst not adventure the 
 salvation of his soul upon the most heavenly thought that 
 ever he conceived. Due impressions of this will help to 
 keep your hearts right in point of righteousness, so as not 
 to build your acceptation before God upon your good works, 
 but only on the works of the Son of God. The apostle, I 
 find, has a notable word to this purpose, 1 Cor. iv. 4, ' I 
 know nothing by myself, yet am not hereby justified.' It 
 is as if he had said, I am not conscious to myself of any 
 unfaithfulness in my ministry, or trust that God has re- 
 posed in me ; my conscience does not smite me for neglect 
 of duty. Yet aU this will not make a righteousness by 
 which I may expect to be justified or accepted of God. No, 
 he accounted aU as dung and loss, in the point of justifica- 
 tion, that he might be found in Christ, not having his own 
 righteousness. So that you see, even in the presence of 
 your best graces, works, and duties of obedience, free grace 
 through imputed righteousness is to be your only sanctuary 
 and city of refuge. 
 
 4. Whenever you are helped to do any thing in obedience 
 to the law, still remember what you do is done in a borrowed 
 strength, and that will keep you humble ; for it is a vain 
 spirit that is proud of what is borrowed. 1 Cor. iv. 7, 
 ' Who maketh thee to differ from another ? and what hast 
 thou that thou didst not receive 1 now if thou didst receive 
 it, w^hy dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it ? ' 
 And therefore do not sacrifice to your own net ; for it is not 
 free will, but free grace, to which thou art beholden. ' It 
 is God which worketh in us, both to wiU and to do of his 
 good pleasure.' 
 
 5. Beware of legal ends and motives in the performing 
 of good works. 
 
206 THE PROFITABLENESS 
 
 Quest, What are these 1 I answer, 
 
 1st. It is a legal end in obedience, when a man obeys, or 
 does good works, to make an atonement for his former sin. 
 Some folk, when they have fallen into any sin of omission 
 or commission for which their consciences do check and 
 challenge them, will purpose, vow, and resolve that they 
 wiU do better in time coming, and thereby they think they 
 will make God amends for what injury they have done to 
 him and his holy law. This argues a legal spirit. There 
 is nothing that can atone for the guilt of sin but the ran- 
 som and propitiation that God hath found. 
 
 2dly. When a man yields obedience only to still the cla- 
 mours of an avjakened conscience, or to keep his conscience 
 easy. Alas ! Sirs, our own righteousness and good works 
 may well blunt and stop the mouth of conscience, but they 
 will never ' purge the conscience from dead works.' No- 
 thing less can satisfy conscience, God's deputy, than what 
 satisfies divine justice, and that is the blood of Christ ap- 
 plied by faith. And therefore it must needs argue or dis- 
 cover a man to be of a legal spirit that Hcks himself whole 
 with his good works. Good works are not to be ne- 
 glected ; but they are not to be rested in or upon as a right- 
 eousness. 
 
 3dly. When a man yields obedience to the commands of 
 the law, only that he may be kept out of hell. It is true, in- 
 deed, there is a filial fear of God as a Father, and of his 
 fatherly displeasure, which is one of the principal springs 
 of gospel obedience, according to what you have, Jer. 
 xxxii. 40, ' I will put my fear in their hearts, that they 
 shall not depart from me.' But there is a vast difference 
 between this and a slavish fear of hell and eternal damna- 
 tion. There is as great a difference between the one and 
 the other, as between the fear that a loving child has to an 
 affectionate father, and the fear that a condemned malefac- 
 tor has of his judge : the one is driven to obedience through 
 terror, but the other is drawn to obedience through love. 
 I do not deny but a child of God, through the prevalency 
 of temptation, desertion, or unbehef, may come to be under 
 
OF GOOD WORKS. 20/ 
 
 such a spirit of bondage ; but then it is not his privilege, 
 but his punishment. And in so far as the child of God is 
 actuated in his obedience by a spirit of bondage unto fear, 
 his obedience is legal ; for when he acts like himself, like a 
 believer, indeed, he ' serves the Lord without fear,' without 
 slavish fear of hell and wrath, ' in holiness and righteous- 
 ness before him, all the days of his life,' Luke i. 74, 75. 
 
 4tlily. When a man performs good works, to procure a 
 right and title to heaven and glory. For, as I was saying, 
 our title comes only by Jesus Christ ; Christ is the first heir 
 of eternal life, and we are joint heirs with him. But ye may 
 say. Are we not told, Rev. xxii. 14, ' Blessed are they that 
 do his commandments, that they may have right to the 
 tree of Hfe, and may enter through the gates into the 
 city.' For clearing this to you, know that there is a two- 
 fold right to glory, which is the thing there spoken of, 
 to wit, a legal and evidential right. (1.) I say there is a legal 
 or a law right. You know the title to life and glory was for- 
 feited by the breach of the law in the first Adam, and it must 
 be recovered again by a perfect obedience unto the law ; and 
 whose obedience can do this but the obedience of Christ 
 imputed to us for righteousness l So that, I say, we come 
 to have our law right and title to glory, and other blessings 
 only recovered in Christ, and by the imputation of his 
 righteousness to us, whereby ' the law is magnified, and 
 made honourable.' But, (2.) There is a right of evidence, 
 whereby our right through Christ is evidenced and cleared 
 up to our own souls. And this is the right that I conceive 
 is spoken of in the scripture last mentioned. ' They that 
 do his commandments,' and yield obedience out of gospel 
 principles and motives, give evidence of their right, through 
 Christ, to heaven and glory; and they shall 'enter in 
 through the gates into the city of the new Jerusalem.' 
 But to make our own obedience, our own holiness or good 
 works, the ground and foundation of our claim to the glo- 
 ries of heaven, is grossly legal and popish. Thus, I say, 
 study to beware of doing good works out of legal motives 
 
208 THE PHOFITABLEXESS OF GOOD WORKS. 
 
 and principles ; for these are like the dead fly, that makes 
 the apothecary's ointment to stink. 
 
 6. My last advice is, Study to yield obedience from gospel 
 2ri'inciples, ends, and motives. I shall not enlarge upon these, 
 because they were hinted at abeady. Obey and do good 
 w^orks, with an eye to the glory of God, out of a principle 
 of gratitude unto him that has bought you with his blood. 
 And yield obedience, that in this way ye may maintain fel- 
 lowship and communion with God. It is the man ' that 
 hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not Hfted up 
 his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, who shall 
 ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his 
 holy place.' The duties of obedience are like waggons or 
 chariots, Avhich bring the soul to Christ and the embraces 
 of his love, though they be not the procuring or meri- 
 torious cause of the least blink of the Lord's counte- 
 nance. And then, to conclude, study the duties of obe- 
 dience, not that ye may obtain a title to heaven, which 
 is the fruit of the Redeemer's purchase, but that ye may 
 attain an aptitude and ' meetness for partaking of the in- 
 heritance of the saints in light;' for though there be no 
 connexion of merit, yet there is a connexion of congruity 
 and suitableness between begun holiness here and consum- 
 mated holiness hereafter. It is among the irreversible de- 
 crees of heaven, that unholy, unsanctified sinners, conti- 
 nuing so, shall never enter into the kingdom of God. No 
 unclean thing shaU ever enter the gates of the New Jeru- 
 salem. And therefore, beware of thinking, that when we 
 lead you to Christ, as the only foundation of your title to 
 eternal life, thereby we encourage any in a way of sin or 
 unholiness. No ; the grace of God in this gospel teacheth 
 us better things, namely, to 'deny aU ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in 
 this present world.' 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 
 
 For the law shall go out of Zion. — Isa. ii. 3. 
 
 From the beginning of tliis chapter and downwards, we 
 have a prophecy concerning the glorious kingdom of grace, 
 to be erected by the Messiah, under the New Testament 
 dispensation. Where two or three things may be noticed. 
 (1.) By what name the prophet speaks of the New Testa- 
 ment church ; he calls it ' the mountain of the Lord's 
 house.' Under the Old Testament, the mountain of the 
 house of the Lord w^as restricted to Jerusalem ; the church 
 of God was mostly pent up within the narrow boundaries 
 of Jerusalem and Judea ; but under the New Testament, 
 the mountain of the Lord's house is to be found, wherever 
 God is worshipped, the gospel preached, and the mystery 
 of salvation through a Redeemer opened. (2.) We have 
 an account of the ingathering of the Gentile nations, into 
 the bosom of the church under the New Testament ; ' all 
 nations shall flow unto it.' The kingdom of Christ shall 
 no longer be confined to the nation of the Jews, the natural 
 posterity of Abraham ; no, the partition wall shall be bro- 
 ken down, and ' from the uttermost part of the earth 
 songs shall be heard, even glory to the righteous.' (3.) We 
 have the encouragement which the New Testament con- 
 verts give to their friends and neighbours to come along 
 with them, and partake of the blessings of Christianity, 
 and share of the advantages of the Messiah's administra- 
 
210 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 tion. ' Many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us 
 go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God 
 of Jacob,' (fee. They that know Christ, and who have ob- 
 tained grace and salvation through him, are desirous that 
 others should share with them ; saying with the woman of 
 Samaria to her feUow-citizens, ' Come, see a man which 
 told me aU things that ever I did: is not this the Christ ?' 
 They would have all the world the better of him, could 
 they get their desire. Then foUows an account of the 
 great mean or instrument whereby all this should be 
 effected, how the kingdom of Christ under the New Testa- 
 ment should be erected. The law shall go out of Zion, and 
 the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The last part of the 
 verse is exegetic or explicatory of the first, the word of the 
 Lord that goes out of Jerusalem being the same thing with 
 the law that goeth out of Zion ; and it is this I am to insist 
 upon at present. Where notice, 
 
 1. The designation given to the gospel; it is expressed 
 here under the notion of a law. It is generally agreed 
 among all orthodox interpreters, that by the law here is 
 to be understood the gospel. And it is not without good 
 reason that they make this to be the meaning ; for it is not 
 a law coming out of Sinai, but out of Zion ; it is a law 
 which is the great instrument of gathering the nations in- 
 to the bosom of the church : All nations shall flow unto it, 
 for the law shall go out of Zion. And this is not effected 
 by the law of commandments, but by the gospel only. 
 
 2. In the words we may notice the royal seat from 
 whence this law is issued: it cometh forth from Zion. 
 Zion was the usual name whereby the Old Testament 
 church was called : ' The Lord hath chosen Zion : he hath 
 desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever; 
 here will I dwell, for I have desired it. Out of Zion, the 
 perfection of beauty, God hath shined.' And then the 
 church was called Zion, from the mount upon which the 
 tabernacle was erected : thither the tribes of Israel went up 
 to worship the God of Israel who dwelt between the cheru- 
 bim. And we find this name of Zion transferred from 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZIOIf. 211 
 
 the Old to the New Testament church, Heb. xii. 22. 
 ' Ye are come unto mount Zion, the city of the living God.' 
 
 3. We have the egress of this law from Zion ; it goeth 
 forth, like a proclamation issued out by royal authority 
 unto the subjects, that none may pretend ignorance ; it 
 goeth forth like the waters of the sanctuary, which issued 
 out from under the threshold of the temple, and did run 
 into the desert of the Gentile nations, making every thing 
 to live whither it cometh. 
 
 Observ. That the gospel, which is the law of sovereign 
 grace, is issued out from Zion, or published for the behoof 
 of lost sinners, who are sinking under the curse and con- 
 demnation of the law of works. The laio shall go out oj 
 Zion. 
 
 In discoursing from this text and doctrine, I shall en- 
 deavour to observe the order and method following. 
 
 I. I shall offer some general thoughts respecting the 
 gospel, here called by the name of a law. 
 
 II. Give the reasons of this designation, or show why 
 the gospel is called a law. 
 
 III. Inquire into the differences between the law coming 
 out of Zion, and the law coming out of Sinai. 
 
 IV. Wind up all in some practical improvement of the 
 whole. 
 
 I. The first thing is, to give some account of the gospel, 
 here called a law coming out of Zion. All I shall say about 
 it at present is only to tell you, 
 
 1. That the word gospel properly signifies any good speech, 
 or joyful message : and fitly is it applied unto the gospel, 
 because it brings the most joyful message unto lost sinners 
 that ever was heard. Behold, said the angels unto the shep- 
 herds, ' we bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall 
 be to all people ; for unto you is born this day, in the city 
 of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.' On the 
 same account also it is called 'the joyful sound,' Psal. 
 Ixxxix. 15, 16, ' Blessed are the people that know the joy- 
 ful sound : they shall walk, Lord, in the light of thy 
 countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day : 
 
212 THE LA-Vf OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted,' The gos- 
 pel brings a sound of liberty to captives, of pardon to con- 
 demned criminals, of peace to rebels, a sound of life to the 
 dead, and salvation to them that lie on the borders of hell 
 and condemnation. 
 
 2, I would remark, that the gospel strictly taken is a 
 word of promise. The first gospel that ever was preached 
 to our first parents, when a dismal cloud of wrath was 
 hanging over their heads in Paradise after the fall, was in 
 a promise. Gen. iii. 15, ' The seed of the woman shall 
 bruise the head of the serpent.' The gospel preached unto 
 Abraham, what was it but a promise of Christ 1 ' In thy 
 seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,' Gal. iii. 
 8, And I think it observable, that the same thing which 
 the apostle calls the gospel, ver. 8, he calls the promise, and 
 the cove7iant, ver. 17, 18, 19. So that the gospel strictly 
 taken is a word of promise. Thus in Heb. iv. 1, 2, what 
 the apostle calls ' a promise of entering into God's rest ' in 
 the 1st verse, he calls the gospel in the 2d verse. And a 
 God of love and grace dispenses his grace in a promise, for 
 our encouragement to take hold of it in a way of believing ; 
 for there is nothing wherein the faithfulness of God is so 
 much engaged as in a promise, the very design of which is 
 to be believed. 
 
 3. We are carefully to distinguish between the gospel, and 
 the dispensation of the gospel. For although the gospel 
 strictly taken be a word of promise, yet there are many 
 other things that belong to the gospel dispensation. For 
 instance, the whole law of God, considered both as a cove- 
 nant and as a rule, falls in under the dispensation of the 
 gospel. The law as a covenant is a schoolmaster to lead 
 us to Christ, by convincing us of sin and misery ; the law 
 as a rule comes in to show us what is good, and what the 
 Lord our God requires of us, not for justification, but in 
 point of love and gratitude, even 'to do justly, to love 
 mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.' And every 
 man that really by faith closes with the promise, or law of 
 grace, will infallibly approve of the law of commandments, 
 
FORTH FUO.M MOUNT ZION. 213 
 
 as holy,jmt, and good: and thus it is for a light to his feet, 
 and a lamp to his paths. All gospel institutions, such as 
 the word, sacraments, and prayer, and other means of 
 God's appointment, belong to the dispensation of the gos- 
 pel, being as so many golden pipes, by which the golden 
 oil of the grace of God in the promise is conveyed to the 
 city of God. All the histories, prophecies, and types of the 
 word, what are they but an opening and explication of the 
 promise ? Every thing in the word, from the beginning 
 to the end of it, is, some way or other, subservient to the 
 exhibition or application of the promise unto us. 
 
 4. Since the coming of Christ in the flesh, and the erec- 
 tion of a New Testament church, the gospel is much more 
 clearly preached than it was under the old dispensation. 
 Under the Old Testament, the glorious mysteries of re- 
 deeming love lay under a vail of dark prophecies, types, 
 ceremonies, and the like : but now ' life and immortality 
 is brought to light.' The mystery which was hid from ages 
 and generations is made manifest unto the saints. The 
 fountains of the great depth of the love, wisdom, and know- 
 ledge of God in Christ, are broken up, and set forth in the 
 purest light. Thus much for the first thing, which was, to 
 give you a general view of the gospel. 
 
 II. The second thing was, to inquire why the gospel is 
 called a law. ' The law shall go out of Zion.' 
 
 1. Then, the gospel may be called a laio, by ivay of accora- 
 onodation, or condescension unto the weakness of the Jewish 
 nation, who had the word law in such veneration, that 
 they could receive no doctrine but what went under that 
 name and notion. And this is a reason given by some ex- 
 cellent interpreters, why the apostle Paul caUs the gospel 
 tlie law of faith, Rom. iii. 27. He became all things to all 
 men, that he might gain some ; and so here he speaks to the 
 Jews in their own dialect, when he calls the gospel the law 
 of faith. As if he had said. You will needs be justified by 
 the law ; yet you cannot be justified by the law of works ; 
 but here is a law by wliich ye may be justified, even by the 
 law of faith, ' the gospel of the grace of God.' We find 
 
214 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 Christ accommodating himself much after the same man- 
 ner unto the Jews, John vi. 28. There a company of legal- 
 ists came to Christ, who had no other notion of the way to 
 salvation but by working or doing, and they say to him, 
 ' What shall we do, that we may work the works of God ? ' 
 Christ answers them in their own dialect, ver. 29, ' This is 
 the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath 
 sent.' Working and beheving stand opposite to one ano- 
 ther in the business of a sinner's salvation, as you see, Rom. 
 iv. 5.; and yet Christ, to accommodate himself to these 
 Jews, calls faith a ivork, though it excludes itself and all 
 works besides in the business of salvation. So here the 
 apostle calls the gospel a law, in condescension to the Jews, 
 though, as you heard, it is a law that requires no works to 
 be done by us ; for it is not the law of works but the law of 
 faith. 
 
 2. The gospel may be called a law, because it is the will 
 of a Sovereign, intimated to those who depend on him for 
 their being and well-being, and who lie entirely at his 
 mercy. A law must bear the stamp of sovereign authority 
 on it ; and in this sense the gospel is fitly called a law, be- 
 cause it carries the stamp of the authority of heaven. Not 
 only the law of commandments, but the law of faith, or 
 the gospel, is issued forth with a Thus saith the Lord. And 
 if the gospel be not received and believed upon this ground, 
 namely, that of the divine testimony, the faith is not of the 
 right stamp ; for the language of faith is. Speak, Lord, for 
 thy servant heareth. It receiveth the whole will of God, and 
 that not as the word of man, but as it is indeed the word 
 of the living God. 
 
 3. The gospel may be called a law, because of its obliga- 
 tion both upon God and man. It has a mighty force to 
 bind and oblige aU concerned. What more binding to God 
 than his own promise ? It is to him as the laws of the 
 IMedes and Persians, which he will not come and go upon. 
 Ko, his promise (which is the law of faith) is not yea and 
 nay, but is always yea and amen. And this is the great 
 comfort of believers, that he will not go back with his word ; 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 215 
 
 no, ' the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent.' And then, 
 as this law of faith is binding upon God the Lawgiver, 
 so it is binding upon us, to whom it is given. For though 
 it enjoins no duty perceptively, yet it requires faith objec- 
 tively considered ; that is, it is the object of faith, and the 
 matter of faith, and the fuel of faith, and it requires or 
 commands faith in us, just as meat and drink require a 
 hungry and tliirsty man to eat and drink, when they are 
 set before him. What can be a better invitation to eat 
 than to have meat set before us, with a hearty welcome to 
 the guests 1 So that, what can be a stronger obligation 
 , upon us to believe, than to have Christ and his whole ful- 
 ness set before us, in a full, free, unhampered call, offer, 
 and promise. 
 
 4. The gospel is called a law^ because of the inihlic intima- 
 tion of it to a lost world. You know laws of sovereigns are 
 commonly proclaimed by heralds from the market-cross 
 with sound of trumpet, that none may pretend ignorance. 
 So the gospel is published by heralds, I mean ministers of 
 the gospel, who are ordered to proclaim it from the tops of 
 the high places, and in the entry of the gates, and places of 
 public concourse. Yea, our commission bears us to inti- 
 mate it to men, and the sons of men, to preach this gospel 
 to every creature, that none may perish through ignorance 
 of the way of salvation. 
 
 0. The gospel is fitly called a law, because it is the mea- 
 sure and standard of faith ; and therefore fitly called by the 
 apostle in the place just now cited, Rom. iii. 27, the law of 
 faith. The whole of our religion is comprised in two 
 things, expressed in the third question of our Lesser Cate- 
 chism, namely, what we are to believe, and what we are to 
 do. As for the last, viz., What duty God requires of man, 
 it is summarily comprehended in the law of the ten com- 
 mandments, that is the standard and measure of duty ; and 
 there is nothing sin but what the law forbids, and nothing 
 duty but what the law requires. But as for what we are 
 to believe concerning God, unto the salvation of our souls, 
 the gospel only is the standard of that. Our faith is to be 
 
216 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 bounded by the gospel, as our practice is by the law ; so 
 that we are not to receive for doctrine the dictates or no- 
 tions of men. True faith will receive nothing, it will be- 
 lieve nothing but just what God says in the gospel; it will 
 take and entertain every word of God and no more ; it is 
 the measure of faith, and the true boundary of faith ; and 
 therefore fitly called the law offaith^ 
 
 6. The gospel may be called the law of faith, because of 
 the invincible 'power and force that it lays a sinner under to 
 receive and believe it, when accompanied with the energy 
 of the Spirit. I remember that this same apostle frequently 
 calls indwelling sin a law, Rom. vii. 23, ' I find a law in my 
 members, warring against the law of my mind.' And Rom. 
 viii. 2, '■ The law of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, hath 
 made me free from the law of sin and death.' Sin is called 
 a law, because of the power that it hath over the man to 
 lead him captive to his service. So, for the same reason, 
 the gospel may be called the law of faith, because, when ac- 
 companied with the efficacy of the Spirit, ' it is the power 
 of God unto salvation ; for therein is the righteousness of 
 God revealed from faith to faith.' It is ' mighty through 
 God, to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down 
 imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself 
 against the knowledge of Christ, and brings every thought 
 into captivity to his obedience.' that the gospel may 
 be indeed the law of faith unto many in this respect, that 
 it may be the power of God to the salvation of their souls. 
 
 7. I think it may be called a law, in respect of the royal 
 throne from which it issues forth. The law of command- 
 ments comes from God's throne absolutely considered ; but 
 the law of faith goes out from the throne of God and the 
 Lamb, that is, from a throne of grace. Hence we read of 
 the ' pure river of water of life proceeding out of the throne 
 of God, and of the Lamb ;' which may be understood of the 
 doctrine of the gospel, which is frequently in scripture 
 compared to water. It is from this throne that all the 
 laws of grace in the gospel are emitted. And then, 
 
 8. Because the promise, which is the soul of the gospel, 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 217 
 
 runs in the style of adorable sovereignty^ even of sovereign 
 grace, ' I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
 I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,' (fcc. And 
 when this law of grace is received by faith, the soul just 
 says, Lord, thy will be done, and it shall be done, because 
 it is thy will. 
 
 III. The third thing in the method was, to inquire into 
 the difference and agreement between the law coming out 
 of Zion, and the law coming out of Sinai ; or, in other words, 
 between the law and the gospel. And first, with regard to 
 the difference between them, I remark, 
 
 1. Then, the law of commandments coming out of Sinai 
 is a thing known (though not in its uttermost latitude and 
 extent) hj the light of Tiature; as is clear, Rom. ii. 14, 15, 
 where the apostle tells us, that ' the Gentiles which had 
 not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
 these having not the law, are a law unto themselves : which 
 show the work of the law written in their hearts.' The 
 writings of Seneca, Plato, Confucius, and other heathen 
 moralists, are incontested evidences of the truth of this. 
 But now the gospel, or the law of grace, which cometh out 
 of Zion, is a thing o')}Iy known hy sujyernatural revelation 
 from on high. Search all the volumes of the heathen philo- 
 sophers from one end to the other, you shall never find in 
 them the least hint of an incarnate Deity, or of the glorious 
 mystery of salvation through a crucified Christ. Indeed, 
 they discovered God as a creating God, and as a governing 
 God, as a commanding and threatening God ; but they never 
 discovered him as a promising God in Christ ; no, no, this 
 is only owing to the discovery that God has made of him- 
 self in the gospel. Yea, the mystery of salvation through 
 Christ is so much out of the ken of natural reason, that 
 even after it is revealed externally in the dispensation of 
 the word, yet such is the ignorance and depravation of 
 nature, and the strong bent that it hath toward the law, 
 that it cannot know, and cannot receive it, till a beam of 
 supernatural light shine into the heart. Hence Christ 
 tells his disciples, 'Unto you it is given to know the 
 
218 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to others it is not 
 given.' The hght of natural reason is so far from receiv- 
 ing the gospel revelation, that it spurns at it, and opposes 
 it with might and main : ' How can this man give us his 
 flesh to eat ? ' said the Jews to Christ. The gospel preached 
 by Paul, was ' a stumbling-block to the Jews, foolishness 
 and vain babbling to the Greeks and wise Athenians,' 
 hence comes the difficulty of believing in Christ to the 
 saving of the soul. 
 
 2. The office of the law of works coming out of Sinai is 
 to discover sin and guilt. ' It was added because of trans- 
 gressions,' says the apostle. ' By the law is the knowledge 
 of sin, and sin by the commandment appears to be exceed- 
 ing sinful ;' and at the bar of the law, ' the whole world is 
 found guilty before God : no flesh living can be justified,' 
 if God deal with us according to the terms and tenor of 
 the law. But now the office and province of the gospel 
 coming out of Zion is to discover Christ, as ' the Lord our 
 righteousness, and the end of the law for righteousness to 
 every one that believeth.' The gospel teUs us, that ' Christ 
 has finished transgression, and made an end of sin, brought 
 in an everlasting righteousness ; that he was made sin for 
 us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God in him.' The gospel shows how the righteous- 
 ness of the law may be fulfilled in us, namely, by God's 
 imputation and faith's acceptation of the righteousness of 
 God revealed for this end in the gospel. 
 
 3. The law of works is a cursing and condemning word to 
 the guilty sinner, ' Cursed is every one that continueth not 
 in all things which are written in the book of the law to 
 do them.' It cries ' Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of 
 the earth.' Nothing but clouds of wrath and vengeance 
 are to be seen by a guilty sinner when he looks toward 
 Sinai; 'indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish 
 unto every soul of man that doth evil.' But now the gos- 
 pel is a word of blessing, it presents Christ the blessed seed 
 of Abraham, and cries, ' Men shaU be blessed in him, and 
 all generations shall call him blessed.' The law is a word 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZIOW. 219 
 
 of wrath, but the gospel comes with the ohve branch of 
 peace ; the law displays the red flag of war, but the gospel 
 casts out the white flag of reconciliation, saying, ' God was 
 in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,' sending out 
 a word of reconciliation. And, ' how beautiful are the 
 feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring 
 glad tidings of good things ! ' 
 
 4. The law coming out of Sinai is a slaying and hilling word 
 to the sinner. Paul had the experience of this at his first 
 conversion ; it was a keen arrow dipped in law vengeance, 
 that struck him to the ground in his way going to Damas- 
 cus, and made him cry, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ? ' Hence it is that he thus expresses himself, Rom. 
 vii. 9, 10, ' I was alive without the law once : but when 
 the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the 
 commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be 
 unto death.' But now the gospel, or the law coming out 
 of Zion, is a word of life. The first sound of the gospel, 
 when it reaches the heart, is like life from the dead to the 
 poor soul that was lying in the regions and shadow of death. 
 By it we arc ' begotten unto a lively hope of eternal life, to 
 an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth 
 not away.' It is with a view to the preaching and publi- 
 cation of the gospel in the power of it that Christ says, 
 John V. 25, ' The hour is coming, and now is, w^hen the 
 dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they 
 that hear shall live :' hence the gospel is ' the power of God 
 unto salvation,' it contains ' the words of eternal life.' ' Go 
 (says the Lord to the apostles, when he is dismissing them 
 from the prison into which they were shut up by the per- 
 secuting Jews) Go, stand and preach in the temple to the 
 people, all the words of this life ;' that is, go preach the 
 gospel, publish my law of grace unto lost sinners, in spite 
 of all the malice and power of your enemies, Acts v. 20. 
 
 5. The law of works coming out of Sinai, is a word of 
 bondage; but the gospel coming forth from Zion, is a word 
 of freedom and liberty. This the apostle illustrates at great 
 length, Gal. iv. from ver. 22. and downward, where he 
 
220 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 compares those who are under the law unto Hagar and 
 Ishmael her son ; those who are of the gospel, or children 
 of the promise, unto Sarah and her son Isaac, ver. 24, 
 ' Which things are an allegory : for these are the two 
 covenants, the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth 
 to bondage, which is Agar.' And, ver. 25, 26, ' This Agar 
 is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem 
 which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But 
 Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of 
 us all.' And, ver, 28, ' Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, 
 are the children of promise.' And, ver. 30, ' Cast out the 
 bond-woman and her son : for the son of the bond-woman 
 shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman.' From 
 all which, it appears, that the law is a word of bondage, 
 and they that cleave unto it are in bondage to sin, to 
 Satan, to the curse and wrath of God. But the gospel is 
 a word of liberty, and they who do by faith receive and 
 entertain the joyful sound of it, are not the children of 
 the bond-woman, but of the free, being freed from the law 
 as a covenant, freed from its curse, from the dominion of 
 sin, and the power of Satan, and advanced into the glorious 
 liberty of the children of God. It is very remarkable, 
 that Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman, is cast out of 
 the family, even after he had done many things in obe- 
 dience to his father Abraham. AU the services he had 
 done in the family would not give him a title to the inheri- 
 tance. No, notwithstanding of all he had done, he is dis- 
 inherited. Just so is it with the legahst who keeps and 
 obeys the law in a servile way, with a view to entitle him- 
 self to the inheritance, or to dehver himself from hell and 
 wrath by his obedience ; all his service stands for nothing, 
 at last he is cast out with the son of the bond- woman. 
 But as Isaac, being a child of promise, was, by virtue of 
 the promise, entitled unto Abraham's estate, before ever 
 he was capable to do his father any service; just so is it 
 with believers, they renounce all claim to the inheritance 
 of eternal life by the law, or the works of it, and serve 
 themselves heirs to the inheritance by virtue of the jpro- 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 221 
 
 mise, which is yea and amen in Christ. Thus, I say, the 
 law gendereth to bondage, but the gospel unto liberty and 
 freedom. 
 
 6. Whatever the law gives to any of Adam's race, it gives 
 in a way of dtht, whether it be life or death. If a man 
 keeps the law perfectly, he shall have life as his reward, 
 and as a debt due to him in a pactional way. If he break 
 the law, he shall have death, as a debt due for his rebellion 
 against heaven. Hence ' the wages of sin is death : ' Rom. 
 iv, 4, ' To him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of 
 grace, but of debt.' But now whatever the gospel, or the 
 law coming out of Zion, gives to any, it gives in a way of 
 grace or free gift; hence we are told, that ' the gift of God 
 is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord ;' and this is 
 asserted upon the record of a Trinity, ' that he hath given 
 unto us (viz., of his own sovereign grace) eternal life, and 
 this life is in his Son.' It is ' not by works of righteous- 
 ness which we have done, but according to his mercy that 
 he saves us.' By the law of works justice reigns either 
 unto eternal life, or to eternal death, as the law is kept or 
 broken; but by the law of faith, or the gospel, 'grace 
 reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus 
 Christ our Lord.' 
 
 7. The law of works is calculated for the justification of a 
 righteous man, like Adam in a state of perfect integrity, 
 and it speaks peace to none but such : but the gospel, or 
 law, coming out of Zion, is calculated for the justification 
 of the fallen, ruined, and hankrupt sinner. It shows a way 
 how God doth justify the ungodly, Rom. iv. 5, ' To him 
 that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the 
 ungodly.' None but they who own themselves ungodly 
 and unrighteous, can enjoy the privilege of justification by 
 the gospel ; for ' Christ came not to call the righteous, but 
 sinners to repentance.' 
 
 8. The law of works, through the depravation of nature, 
 in-itates and strengthens corruption: Rom. vii. 5, 'The mo- 
 tions of sins which are by the law, work in our members 
 to bririg fruit unto death.' And, ver. 8, ' Sin taking occa- 
 
222 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 sion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of 
 concupiscence.' And, ver. 11, ' Sin taking occasion by the 
 commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.' From 
 which it appears, that the law, considered abstractly, in- 
 stead of being the death of sin, is the strength of it. 
 Whenever the commandment of the law is broken, the 
 curse takes place, of which this is a particular branch, that 
 such a man shall be given up to the power of sin, that he 
 may be capable to do nothing but sin, and sin on till he has 
 ripened himself for hell and wrath. ' My people would not 
 hearken to my voice ; and Israel would none of me. So I 
 gave them up to their own hearts' lust ; and they walked 
 in their own counsels,' It is the voice of the law, and the 
 most terrible voice that it utters on this side of heU, Such 
 a man is 'joined to his idols, let him alone ; he builds altars 
 to sin, and altars shall be unto him to sin.' Thus the law 
 of works, instead of weakening sin in the soul, gives up 
 the sinner to the power of sin, that he may go on with- 
 out any restraint, till the final sentence of the law be 
 executed with a vengeance. And then corrupt nature is 
 so impetuous, that the more it is hemmed in by the 
 law, the more doth it swell and rage, till it has broken 
 down and broken through aU the boundaries the law set 
 against it. Thus, I say, the law of works, abstractly con- 
 sidered, through the depravation of nature, irritates and 
 fortifies corruption. But now the gospel, or law coming 
 out of Zion, enters into the heart, and, through the power 
 of the eternal Spirit, ivastes, weakens, and hills it in the very 
 source and fountain ; for ' we through the Spirit do mortify 
 the deeds of the body.' And how do we receive the Spirit ? 
 * Not by the works of the law but by the hearing of faith.' 
 I own, indeed, that the law which urges obedience and 
 doing, may have so much influence upon those who are 
 under it, as to smooth and poUsh their outward conversa- 
 tion ; but yet it leaves the heart and will obstinate against 
 its spiritual commands. The iron sinew is never bowed by 
 any power that the law hath ; corruption keeps the throne 
 in the heart, but gospel grace enters the strongholds of 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION, 5J5J3 
 
 iniquity, casts down the high imaginations that advance 
 themselves against the knowledge of Christ, and brings 
 every thought unto his obedience. Moses, we read, entered 
 the border and outskirts of Canaan, such as the country of 
 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, but 
 never pierced into the heart of the country to subdue the 
 Canaanites, This was left for Joshua, a type of our Jesus. 
 Just so is it here, the most the law can do to them that 
 are under it, is only to restrain sin in the conversation, to 
 reform the life. It may bring a man to serve in the old- 
 ness of the letter, while sin still keeps the throne in the 
 heart. Hence either pride or hypocrisy, or raging despair, 
 remains with the legalist ; it is only the gospel, or the law 
 coming out of Zion, that is ' the power of God unto sal- 
 vation.' 
 
 9. The law of works coming out of Sinai is a word of pre- 
 ce2)t, or a commanding word; but the law coming out of 
 Zion is a 'promising word. By the gospel God shows what he 
 is to do for us and to us of his sovereign grace ; by the law 
 he shows what we are to do for him in point of duty, ' He 
 hath showed thee, man, what is good ; and what doth the 
 Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, 
 and to walk humbly with thy God % ' By the gospel God 
 shows what we may expect from him ; and by the law he 
 shows what he expects from us, in a way of duty and gra- 
 titude. The gospel is the boundary of faith or things to 
 be believed ; the law is the boundary of practice, or things 
 to be done by us. In a word, all precepts whatsoever be- 
 long to the law ; but all promises, oflfers, and revelations of 
 grace, belong to the gospel. 
 
 10. The law of works enjoins duty, but gives no strength 
 to discharge it; the law does not furnish the bankrupt with 
 any new stock wherewith to fall a-trading, but supposes us 
 to have the stock and strength that God gave us at our 
 creation. It abates nothing, remits nothing of its demands 
 upon the account of our weakness, but requires as much 
 service of the sick and weak sinner as if he were sound and 
 strong; it admits of no composition or allowance to the 
 
224 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 insolvent debtor. But now the law coming out of Zion con- 
 siders the sinner as bankrupt ; and therefore irre&ents him 
 with an everlasting righteousness, wherewith to answer the 
 law as a covenant. It considers him as wholly impotent 
 for any duty, and therefore leads him out of himself to 
 Christ, as the ' strength of the poor and needy ; it gives 
 power to the faint, and increases strength to them that 
 have no might.' It teaches the soul to say. Though I be 
 not sufficient to think a good thought, or to do any duty 
 of the law, yet ' I can do all things through Christ strength- 
 ening me.' The gospel law coming out of Zion considers 
 the man as poor, and therefore presents him with ' gold 
 tried in the fire to enrich him ; ' it considers him as naked, 
 and therefore presents him with white raiment; as blind, 
 and provides him with eye-salve, that he may see; it con- 
 siders him as starving for want, and therefore invites him 
 to ' eat that which is good, and to delight himself in the 
 abundance of fatness ; ' as bewildered, and therefore shows 
 him ' the new and living way ' to glory, crying, ' This is the 
 way, walk ye in it.' Thus I have showed some of the prin- 
 cipal diiferences between the law and the gospel. 
 
 I shall conclude the doctrinal part of this discourse, by 
 pointing out, in a few words, the harmony and agreement 
 between them ; for although there be aU these differences 
 between the law and the gospel, yet there is no feud be- 
 tween them. They sweetly stand together in their proper 
 place; the law is not against the gospel, nor the gospel 
 against the law ; no, there is a pleasant harmony, which 
 will appear, if we consider, First, that hy the gospel the law 
 reaches its end, ' Christ is the end of the law for righteousness 
 to every one that belie veth.' In the gospel we see the law 
 fulfilled as a covenant, and settled as a rule of obedience. 
 I say, it is fulfilled as a covenant by the righteousness re- 
 vealed in the gospel ; yea, not only fulfilled, but magnified 
 and made honourable, a new and superadded glory reflected 
 upon it by Christ, the Son of God, being ' made under the 
 law, to redeem us who were under the law.' And then 
 by the gospel it is also settled as a rule of obedience, Rom. 
 
FORTH FKOM MOUNT ZION. 225 
 
 iii. 31, ' Do we make void the law through faith ? God 
 forbid : yea, we establish the law.' The gospel brings to 
 light new motives and arguments to obedience, which the 
 law itself, abstractly considered, could never afford, namely, 
 arguments drawn from the consideration of redeeming 
 grace and love, which have a more constraining power to 
 obedience with an ingenuous spirit, than all the curses and 
 penalties that the law denounces against those who do not 
 continue in obedience thereto. 
 
 Second, the harmony of the law and gospel appears in this, 
 that the law paves the way to the entertainment of gospel grace : 
 for it is ' a schoolmaster to lead us unto Christ, that we may 
 be justified by faith.' The law is a lance in the hand of the 
 Burgeon to open the ulcer of sin and corruption within us ; 
 the gospel as a medicinal balsam drains and gradually heals 
 it, when applied in the way of believing. The law is a 
 plough to till up the fallow ground of the heart of man ; 
 the gospel is the good seed cast into the furrows, which 
 being impregnated by the dew of heaven, makes it spring 
 up to everlasting life. The law is as a hammer to break the 
 rock in pieces ; the gospel dissolves it with the warm tire 
 of the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy 
 Ghost. Thus the law is subservient to the great design of 
 the gospel. 
 
 Third, what the law teaches preceptively, the gospel teaches 
 effectively ; the law enjoins the duty, the gospel furnishes with 
 grace to obey it ; there is no duty the law requires, but there 
 is suitable furniture in the gospel-promise to discharge it. 
 Doth the law require us to hioio the Lord, which is the first 
 precept in the moral law? Well, here is suitable grace 
 provided in the gospel, ' I will give them an heart to know 
 me, that I am the Lord.' Doth the law require us to 'trust 
 in him at all times?' Well, the gospel promise is suited 
 unto this, 'They shall trust in the Aame of the Lord,' 
 Zeph. iii. 12. Doth it require of us to 'love the Lord our 
 God with all the heart, soul, strength, and mind?' Here 
 is gospel grace to effect it, ' I will circumcise their hearts 
 to love the Lord their God,' Doth it crave obedience, say- 
 p 
 
226 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 ing, ' Walk before me, and be thou perfect ? ' Well, the 
 grace of the gospel says, ' I will put my Spirit within you, 
 and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep 
 my judgments and do them,' Doth the law enjoin us to 
 ' sanctify the Lord in our hearts, and make him our fear 
 and our dread ? ' The grace of the promise exactly suits 
 that, ' I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not 
 depart from me.' Doth the law require us to ' call on the 
 name of the Lord, to worship and serve him '? ' The gospel 
 promises that ' the spirit of grace and supplication shall be 
 poured out, to help our infirmities, and to teach us to pray, 
 and praise,' and perform other acts of worship. Does the 
 law enjoin us to repent and turn from the evil of our 
 ways 1 the gospel promises the kea?'t of fiesh in place of the 
 heaH of stone; and tells us, that ' God sent his Son to bless 
 us, in turning away every one of us from our iniquities.' 
 Thus you see that what the law teaches preceptively, the 
 gospel teaches effectively. 
 
 Fourth, I might tell you, that the harmony between the 
 law and the gospel appears in this, that the law discovers 
 the sinne/s duti/, and the gospel discovers the object of duty. 
 The law enjoins faith, the gospel lifts up Christ the object 
 of faith. ' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
 even so is the Son of man lifted up,' viz., upon the gospel 
 pole ; ' that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, 
 but have eternal life.' The law enjoins the sinner to love 
 God with all the heart ; but it is the gospel only that pre- 
 sents God in such a view, as to become an object of love 
 to a guilty sinner, namely, as he is a reconciled God and 
 Father in Christ; for viewing God absolutely, as he is 
 presented in the glass of the holy law, he is an object of 
 terror instead of love. The law enjoins us to turn from 
 sin under the pain of eternal wrath and vengeance ; the 
 gospel shows the signer a refuge unto which he is to turn, 
 ' Turn ye to your strong hold, ye prisoners of hope.' The 
 law enjoins mourning for sin, ' Rend your hearts and not 
 your garments;' the gospel presents a crucified Christ, 
 wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 227 
 
 whom when the sinner views by faith, he ' mourns, as one 
 doth for an only son, and is in bitterness, as one is in bit- 
 terness for a first-born.' The law requires us to worship 
 the Lord our God ; the gospel discovers both the object and 
 the way of worship ; I say, the gospel discovers the object 
 of worship, namely, a God in Christ, and the way to the 
 holiest opened by the blood of Jesus. 
 
 To conclude, the law by its terror sweeps away the refuge 
 of lies; the gospel discovers a new foundation of hope and 
 help, saying, ' Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a 
 stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foun- 
 dation: and he that believeth on him shall not be con- 
 founded.' The law saps the foundation of sand, and over- 
 turns the tower that the sinner was building in order to 
 reach heaven by it ; the gospel discovers the rock of ages 
 upon which the sinner may build his house, against which 
 the gates of hell shall never prevail. The law, when viewed 
 spiritually, drives the sinner out of himself, by discovering 
 his emptiness, poverty, and misery ; the gospel draws and 
 invites him out of himself, by discovering the all-fulness of 
 a Redeemer to supply his wants, though never so great. 
 The law lets the man see that he has no money nor price ; 
 the gospel shows, that though he has no money nor price, 
 yet he may come and buy gold tried in the fire, white rai- 
 ment, and eye-salve. The law lets the sinner see that he 
 is shut up in a pit, wherein there is no water ; the gospel 
 shows how the sinner, by the blood of God's covenant, may 
 come forth out of the pit, and opens a fountain of living 
 water, where he may draw and drink with joy. The law 
 leads us to Christ for righteousness ; the gospel sends us to 
 the law as a rule of obedience, as a Ught to our feet, and a 
 lamp to our paths. Thus the whole life and work of a 
 Christian is a continual traffic from the law to the gospel, 
 and from the gospel, back again to the law as a rule. So 
 much then shall serve for clearing the harmony and agree- 
 ment betwixt the law and the gospel, 
 
 IV. The fourth and last thing proposed, was the appli- 
 
228 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 cation of the whole. And the first use shall be by way of 
 caution, to prevent the abuse of this doctrine. 
 
 Although, as ye have heard, there be such a law of 
 grace issued out of Zion for the salvation of lost sinners ; 
 yet let none from this conclude, or infer, that the law of 
 commandments coming out of Sinai is to be laid aside as a 
 thing useless under the dispensation of the gospel. There 
 are two extremes corrupt nature is ready to carry people 
 into, who hear the word preached ; they are ready either 
 to turn in to the Antichristian or Antinomian camp. I 
 say, some are ready to turn in to the Antichristian camp, 
 by setting up the law, and the works thereof, in the room 
 of Christ and his everlasting righteousness ; and this is the 
 extreme that all legalists run into, whose hearts are not 
 sufficiently loosed from the law as a covenant. But then 
 there are others, who having some notional knowledge of 
 the doctrine of grace, of the law coming out of Zion, in 
 their heads, and being strangers to any heart acquaintance 
 therewith, begin to imagine, that the moral law, or the law 
 of commandments, is an useless thing under the gospel, 
 and that it is a matter of indiiferency whether they obey 
 it or not ; and thus turn the grace of our God into lasci- 
 viousness. I have had occasion already to guard you 
 against the first of these extremes ; at present I would 
 ofier something to keep you from the Antinomian extreme 
 of casting away the law coming out of Sinai as a thing 
 useless and unprofitable under the gospel. And this I 
 shall endeavour to do, by telling you of several excellent 
 uses that the law serves for even under the gospel. I shall 
 not enlarge upon them, some of them having been just 
 now touched upon, in clearing the differences and harmony 
 between the law and the gospel. Know then, that divines 
 tell us of two main ends for which the law was pro- 
 mulgated from mount Sinai, the one political, the other 
 theological. 
 
 1. There was a political use of it, which the apostle 
 seems to point at, 1 Tim. i. 8, 9, ' We know that the law 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 229 
 
 IS good if a man use it lawfully ; knowing this, that the 
 law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless 
 and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy 
 and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of 
 mothers, for manslayers,' &c., that is, it was made for them, 
 if not for their rule that it should be their punishment. 
 
 2. The second use of it is theological or divine. This 
 theological or divine use and end of the law is twofold. 
 Ist. In those who are not yet justified. 2dly. In those 
 who are justified. 
 
 1st. I say, There is a use of it in those who are to be 
 justified, but are not yet in a state of justification. And 
 the use of it with respect to them is to discover sin, or 
 humble them for it, that so they through the law may 
 die to the law, as a covenant, and so betake themselves 
 to Christ, who is 'the end of the law for righteousness 
 to every one that believeth.' 
 
 2dly. In those that are Justified the holy law serves, (1.) 
 As a rule of obedience to direct to what is duty. (2.) As 
 a glass to discover the holiness of God, and the imperfec- 
 tion of our obedience, that so we may see a constant use 
 for Christ, both for righteousness and sanctification. (3.) 
 It serves as a bridle to restrain and hem in remaining cor- 
 ruption, as a rod to chastise and correct for sin, 2 Tim. iii. 
 16. The Lord makes use of it as a whip to lash his own 
 children with inward terrors, when he sees it needful for 
 them ; hence we find them sometimes complaining that 
 the arrows of the Almighty are within them, viz., the arrows 
 of legal terrors drinking up their spirits, and setting them- 
 selves in array against them. This is something of ' the 
 spirit of bondage unto fear,' which yet believers do not 
 receive in a way of vindictive anger, as the wicked do, but 
 in a way of fatherly correction. This much then by a way 
 of caution, to prevent Antinomianism, either in principle 
 or practice. Beware then of casting away the law coming 
 out of Sinai as an useless thing ; if you do it, it is an e\'i- 
 dence that you never yet truly received the grace of the 
 gospel. It is among the acts or laws of grace coming out 
 
230 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 of Zion, that ' God will write his law upon the hearts of 
 his people, and put it into their inward parts ;' so as they 
 are made to ' delight in the law of the Lord after the in- 
 ward man.' It is, and will be the study of the true Israel 
 of God, to walk according to this rule ; and David's prayer 
 wiU be often in their hearts and mouths, Psal. cxix. 80, 
 ' Let my heart be sound in thy statutes ; that I be not 
 ashamed :' and ver. 5, ' that my ways were directed to 
 keep thy statutes ! ' And if there be any, who under pre- 
 tence of gospel grace, do discard the law of commandments, 
 I shall only refer them to that awful word of God, Psal. 1. 
 16, 17, ' Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to 
 declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my cove- 
 nant in thy mouth? seeing thou hatest instruction, and 
 castest my words behind thy back.' Do not then pretend 
 to be saved by God's covenant, while you disregard his 
 commandments. 
 
 Use second of this doctrine may be of information only 
 in two or three things. Is it so that the gospel or law of 
 grace is issued out of Zion, for the benefit of sinners lost 
 and condemned by the law of works ? then, 
 
 1. See hence how agreeable it is unto the reveaUd will of 
 God that a sinner beheve in Christ. Why, in believing, we 
 both answer the authority of God enjoining faith in the 
 law of commandments, and God's great design in the gos- 
 pel or law of grace, which is to bring Christ and his grace 
 near to sinners, that they may receive him by faith : John 
 XX. 31, ' These things are written, that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing 
 ye might have life through his name.' 
 
 2. See the horrid evil of the sin of unbelief, which tramples 
 loth law and gospel under foot. It contemns the authority 
 of God interposed in the law of commandments ; for ' this 
 is his command, that ye beUeve on the name of his Son Jesus 
 Christ.' And it despises the riches of his grace manifested in 
 the gospel or law of grace, it calls God a liar, and in effect says, 
 not a word or promise that ever he uttered is to be trusted : 
 remember that awful word, Heb. x. 28, 29. Indeed unbe- 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 231 
 
 lief is of a more criminal nature, in God's reckoning, than 
 any other sin that can be named or thought upon. The 
 sin of Adam, in eating the forbidden fruit, was a most 
 aggravated crime. For a creature newly dropt out of his 
 Creator's lingers, a creature dignitied with the lively image 
 of God upon him, exalted unto sovereignty over this lower 
 world, having all things put under his feet : I say, for such 
 a creature, upon a slender temptation, to turn his back on 
 God, and cast himself into the devil's arms, to ruin himself 
 and the whole tribe of mankind at one blow ; this, no doubt, 
 was a most crying sin. But yet the sin of unbelief far sur- 
 passes it : for our first parents sinned only against God as 
 a Creator ; but the unbeliever sins against him as a Re- 
 deemer, consequently he sins against more love than they 
 could sin against, before the revelation of Christ. Again, 
 unbelief is more criminal than the sin of the Jews in cru- 
 cifying of the Lord of glory ; they crucified him when vailed 
 and disguised under the form of a servant ; but the unbe- 
 liever crucifies him upon his throne, when the evidences of 
 his being the true Messiah are completed by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, Rom. i. 4. It would be a crime of a 
 far more capital nature, to maltreat a king sitting on the 
 throne, with all his nobles about him, than to maltreat him 
 when under a disguise, sitting upon the dunghill with a 
 company of beggars about him : yet the former is the case 
 with the unbeliever. Again, unbelief is worse than the sin 
 of Sodom, which provoked God to rain heU out of heaven 
 upon its inhabitants. Christ tells us that Sodom and Go- 
 morrah will have a cold hell in comparison of those who 
 liave had the ofiers of a Saviour in the gospel, and yet 
 have rejected him. IVIatth. xi. 24, ' It shaU be more 
 tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judg- 
 ment, than for' Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and 
 other cities where Christ had preached. Again, all the 
 sins of the blinded nations are not comparable to the sin 
 of unbelief. We have a black roU of their sins, Rom, i., 
 toward the close: but yet Christ speaks of them as no 
 sins, in comparison of the sin of those who remain in un- 
 
232 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSTJIITG 
 
 belief under the drop of the gospel : ' If I had not come, 
 und spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but novr 
 they have no cloak for their sin.' 
 
 3. From this doctrine see what a fair way sinners living 
 under the gospel dispensation have for the eternal salvation of 
 their soids. Why, they have the law coming out of Zion, 
 acts of grace and mercy issued out and proclaimed to them, 
 and they fully warranted and authorized to take the bene- 
 tit thereof If a company of condemned rebels had the 
 king's indemnity or act of grace proclaimed to them, and 
 the act put in their hand, who would be to blame if they 
 did not take the benefit of it 1 surely none but themselves. 
 The case is the very same with sinners, condemned by the 
 law, by conscience, and heaven and earth ; they have the 
 gospel or law of grace pubhshed to them, with this view, 
 ' That they may not perish, but have everlasting life ; for 
 unto you is the word of this salvation sent, the promise 
 is even to them that are afar off.' Sirs, ' how shall ye 
 escape if ye neglect so great a salvation,' and a salvation 
 brought so near to you in the ' word of faith which we 
 preach?' Rom. x. 8. Sirs, the devil and an unbelieving 
 heart will persuade you, that Christ and his righteousness 
 are quite out of your reach, and that it is needless for you 
 to look after it ; Christ is in heaven, and how shall I be 
 the better of him 1 But, for the sake of your immortal souls, 
 beware of this way of thinking, for it brings in a secret 
 despair into the heart, that makes men hang down their 
 hands, and turns them quite careless and indifferent about 
 Christ, his righteousness and salvation. See what the 
 apostle says to you and me, Rom. x. 6 — 8. He had told, 
 ver. 5, what the law of works says, ' The man which doth 
 those things shall live by them ;' but then he tells what 
 the gospel says, which he calls ' the righteousness of faith, 
 becatise therein the righteousness of God is revealed from 
 faith to faith,' from the faith of God revealing, to the 
 faith of man receiving. Well, what says the gospel, or the 
 law giving righteousness 1 It ' speaketh on this wise. Say 
 not in thine heart. Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is. 
 
PORTH PROM MOUNT ZION. 233 
 
 to bring Christ down from above) or, Who shall descend 
 into the deep 1 (that is, to bring up Christ again from the 
 dead) But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in 
 thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is the word of faith, 
 which we preach,' What can be nearer to a man, than 
 the word that is in his mouth, or the thought that is in 
 his heart ? Yet so near doth Christ, and his righteousness, 
 and salvation, come to every man that hears the gospel ; 
 for if when we are speaking of it, or thinking of it, our 
 souls would but beheve it, Christ and his righteousness 
 becomes our own for ever. And therefore you that would 
 have a righteousness to answer the charge of the law of 
 works, a righteousness that will bear you through when 
 you come to the tribunal of God, take hold of the law of 
 faith coming out of Zion ; ' for therein is revealed the 
 righteousness of God,' Christ is therein given and offered 
 as ' the Lord our righteousness. He was made sin for us, 
 who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God in him,' 
 
 4. See hence what a happi/ and auspicious government and 
 administration beUevers are under ; they are not under the 
 rigorous administration of the law or covenant of works, 
 requiring either perfect or sincere obedience as the condi- 
 tion of Hfe, but under the mild government of grace, where 
 the law coming out of Zion prevails. Heb, xii. 18, com- 
 pared with ver. 22 — 24, ' Ye are not come unto the mount 
 that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto 
 blackness, and darkness, and tempest : — but ye are come 
 unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
 angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-bom 
 which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, 
 and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus 
 the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
 sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.* 
 Every son of Adam lives within the confines of one of these 
 mountains ; I mean of mount Sinai or mount Zion, The 
 sinner that is out of Christ, let him be what he will, a 
 
234 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 sober moralist, a painted hypocrite, or loose and profane, he 
 lives within the confines of mount Sinai, and remains a 
 debtor to do the whole law, under pain of eternal death. 
 But that moment a sinner believes in Christ, by virtue of 
 the covenant of grace, or the law issued forth from Zion, 
 he is joined to that heavenly corporation of the church 
 militant and triumphant, consisting of angels, and the 
 spirits of just men perfect and imperfect, whereof Christ 
 is the glorious head (called mount Zion and the heavenly 
 Jerusalem), where he is for ever delivered from the com- 
 manding and condemning power of the law as a covenant, 
 so that he is no more to look either to be justified or con- 
 demned thereby. By the law coming out of Zion, he is 
 exempted from the command of the law as a covenant, so 
 that it cannot exact obedience of him, as the condition of 
 life, this being done by the Surety. He is exempted also 
 from the curse of the law as a covenant, so that it cannot 
 threaten him with the penalty of eternal death, Christ his 
 Surety having endured that in his room and stead, so that 
 there is no condemnation to him, being in Christ Jesus. 
 Not only so, but by virtue of his union with Christ, the 
 Heir of aU things, he is entered among ' the general assem- 
 bly of the first-born,' who are all ' heirs of God, and joint- 
 heirs with Jesus Christ.' Thus, I say, the believer lives 
 under a happy and auspicious administration, on which 
 account we may apply the words of Moses, Deut. xxxiii. 
 29, ' Happy art thou, Israel : who is hke unto thee, 
 people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who 
 is the sword of thy excellency I ' or this of Balaam, Numb, 
 xxiii. 9, ' The people shaU dwell alone, and shall not be 
 reckoned among the nations.' 
 
 5. From this doctrine see whence it is that believers, 
 when under the influence of the Spirit of faith, have such 
 holdness mid assurance in coming to a throne of grace. Why 
 the man has law, even the law coming out of Zion on his 
 side, and this gives him courage and boldness in asking 
 grace and mercy to help him in time of need. You know, 
 a man, who has business in any court, if he has law on his 
 
FOllTII FROM MOUNT ziox. 23;3 
 
 side, holds up his head, and looks with an air of courage, 
 and speaks with boldness to the judge. This is the case 
 with the believer, he has the law coming out of Zion, the 
 acts of grace, acts of peace, I mean all the promises of the 
 well-ordered covenant on his side. He pleads upon these, 
 fastens upon the veracity of a God of grace, and requires 
 him to do as he has said, to see to the execution of his 
 own will of grace, enacted at a throne of grace, and regis- 
 trated in the court-book of the grace of God. This, I say, 
 is the ground of his confidence, Heb. x. 22, ' Let us draw 
 near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having 
 our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
 washed with pure water ;' upon which it follows, ver. 23, 
 ' For faithful is he that hath promised.' 
 
 Use third may be of trial. Whether are you under the 
 law of Sinai or of Zion 1 Whether are you under the law 
 covenant or gospel covenant l Are you yet staying at mount 
 Sinai, with the bond-woman and her seed ? or are you come 
 to mount Zion, the place of freedom and liberty, with the 
 children of the promise 1 For clearing of this matter, I 
 offer the following things by way of trial. 
 
 1. If the law never slew you., you are yet under it, and 
 married to it as a husband : Gal. ii. 19, ' I through the law, 
 am dead to the laM\' Rom. vii. 9, ' I was alive without 
 the law once, but when the commandment came, sin re- 
 vived, and I died.' Every man naturally sits mounted 
 upon the throne of his own imaginary righteousness ; he 
 imagines himself to be alive, and that he is capable to do 
 well enough by his endeavours after life. But when the 
 law of God comes in its spirituality, it shakes the founda- 
 tion of his refuge of lies, just as the earthquake shook the 
 foundation of the prison at the jailer's conversion, making 
 the poor man to cry out, ' what shall I do to be saved % ' 
 Try yourselves then by this. Has God brought you to the 
 foot of Sinai, making the thunders of his law to awaken you 
 out of your security ? Has he given you such a view of the 
 law in its extent and spirituality, that you became quite 
 dead to all conceit of righteousness by any doing or obe- 
 
236 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUI^^G 
 
 dience of your own, saying, ' All my righteousness is as filthy 
 rags?' If you were never yet brought to this pass, I fear 
 you are yet strangers to the law of grace issuing out of 
 Zion, and that you are yet under the law of works as a cov- 
 enant. 
 
 2. You who do not Jcnow what it is to watch, and jpray, and 
 wrestle against the legal bias of your hearts, it is a sign that 
 you are yet cleaving to mount Sinai law. As every man 
 by nature is seeking righteousness by the law of works, so 
 beUevers themselves, while they have any thing of the old 
 Adam in them, will find a strong bias in their hearts to 
 return to that husband. They find it a matter of the ut- 
 most difficulty to keep their treacherous legal heart from 
 resting on its duties, frames, graces, attainments, as a 
 ground of acceptance before God ; and a sense of this makes 
 them mourn before the Lord as much, if not more, than for 
 their other failings and infirmities. And therefore you who 
 know nothing of this natural bent of your hearts towards 
 the law as a covenant, and you who do not know what it 
 is to watch, and pray, and wrestle against this bias of your 
 hearts, it says that you are yet within the confines of mount 
 Sinai, not as yet come to mount Zion. 
 
 3. When you are under any distress or trouble of con- 
 science, what quarter do ye run to for comfort and relief? 
 What is it that afibrds you ease 1 The man that is mar- 
 ried to the law runs to his husband for relief ; I mean, he 
 plies the oar of his ow^n obedience, he heals his wound with 
 a plaster of vows, tears, penances, and endeavours after 
 amendment. But, Sirs, you that heal the wounds of con- 
 science with such a plaster, you are yet at mount Sinai, 
 which gendereth to bondage. The true believer, who is 
 ' come to mount Zion,' when an arrow from mount Sinai 
 smites and wounds him, he does not run to Sinai, but ' to 
 mount Zion, to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better 
 things than the blood of Abel.' No balm but that of Gilead 
 will heal his wound ; he cannot find ease, but only under 
 the wings of the Sun of righteousness. 
 
 4. Ye who can be troubled for gross sins and outbreak- 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 237 
 
 ings, but icere never affected loith, nor afflicted for the guilt of 
 AdcirtCs sin, the corruption of your nature, the heinous na- 
 ture of the sin of unbelief, I suspact you never saw the law 
 in its spirituality, and consequently are not dead to it as a 
 covenant. There are two things that are more heavy to a 
 believer, who is ' come to mount Zion,' than any other 
 thing whatsoever, viz., original sin and the sin of unbelief ; 
 these, these are the things that make him many times 
 go with a bowed down back, crying, ' Wretched man that 
 I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin and 
 death ! ' 
 
 5. What is it that sets you a ivork in the mortification of 
 sin? for the legalist may set himself to mortify sin as well 
 as the true believer, but here lies the difference, they act 
 from different principles. The legalist mortifies sin, and 
 opposes it merely out of self-love, that he may be kept out 
 of hell, or procure a title to heaven ; but the true believer 
 principally acts from a principle of love to Christ ; he looks 
 on him whom he has pierced, and this tires him with re- 
 sentment, so that he studies to avenge Christ's quarrel by 
 piercing the heart of his most beloved lusts and idols. The 
 man has a love to Christ, a desire to glorify God, and to 
 maintain fellowship and communion with him ; these are 
 the principal things that constrain him to duty, and re- 
 strain him from sin. And therefore turn inward, and see 
 whether self-love or love to Christ have the principal influ- 
 ence in your obedience. I do not deny but a desire after 
 the enjoyment of God in glory, and the eternal happiness 
 of the soul, may, and actually do influence the soul to obe- 
 dience in a secondary way ; but beyond doubt, the love of 
 Christ and the glory of God is the ultimate and principal 
 spring of obedience. 
 
 6. If you do not see so much weakness and corruption, 
 so much deadness and distraction attending your best du- 
 ties, as to convince you of the absolute need of the blood of 
 Jesus, and of his merit and mediation, to render both you 
 and them acceptable to God, it is an evidence that you are 
 not yet come otf from mount Sinai lav/ as a covenant. The 
 
238 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUIiS^a 
 
 poor believer, when he has reached the greatest enlargement 
 in duty, and the best frame that he can desire, yet he will 
 be ready to cry out, ' If thou. Lord, shouldst mark iniqui- 
 ties ; Lord, who shall stand ] ' He sees himself to be an 
 unjyrofitahle servant, and that ' his goodness extends not to 
 the Lord.' 
 
 7. If you be more concerned to hulk well in the externals 
 of religion, than in an acquaintance loith the inward power 
 of it, it is an evidence that you are yet upon a law bottom, 
 like those who cry, ' Will the Lord be pleased with thou- 
 sands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil 1 shall I 
 give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body 
 for the sin of my soul? Wherefore have we fasted and 
 prayed, and thou takest no knowledge ? ' But the believer 
 who is come to mount Zion, although he will not neglect 
 the external duties of rehgion, yet his particular concern is 
 to grow in internal holiness, and conformity of heart and 
 life to the Son of God, ' to have the same mind in him, 
 which was also in Christ Jesus.' He longs to know more 
 Qithefoiuer of his resurrection, of the virtue of his sin-kill- 
 ing blood, and the efficacy of his Spirit, lifting him up after 
 ' things that are above,' where Christ is at the right hand 
 of God ; and if he can get at this, he is the less careful about 
 the flourishes of a profession, which is all that the hypo- 
 crite and legalist aims at, although in the mean time he 
 will ' flourish like the palm-tree, and grow like the cedars 
 in Lebanon.' 
 
 8. You who have your hearts //^ec? loith enmity and preju- 
 dice against the children of grace, the heirs of the promise, 
 and cannot endure strict and holy walking with God, but 
 are ready to envy those whom you think outshine you, and 
 have your hearts filled with inward rancour and prejudice 
 against them, or perhaps mock and persecute them, either 
 with heart, tongue, or hand, it is an evidence that you are 
 yet in the confines of Sinai, among the children of the bond- 
 woman : Gal. iv. 29, 'But as then he that was born after 
 the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, 
 even so it is now.' A persecuting spirit, or a spirit of ran- 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 239 
 
 cour and envy against those whom we think more holy 
 than ourselves and whom we fancy darken us, is a plain evi- 
 dence of a legal spirit. They that are of a true gospel spirit, 
 are ready to love the society of saints whom they think 
 excel themselves, and the more holy they are, the better 
 they love them ; the more of the image of God is on them, 
 or in them, the more desirable will they be unto them. 
 
 9. If you be come off from mount Sinai to mount Zion, 
 from the law to the gospel covenant, then those things 
 which o)ice in a day you accounted gain, will he hut loss in 
 your reckoning. So soon as Paul was brought off from the 
 law, to be a partaker of gospel grace, ' what things were 
 gain to him, those he counted loss for Christ,' Phil. iii. 7. 
 What those things are the legahst accounts gain, which 
 the believer reckons loss for Christ, you have an account of, 
 Phil. iii. 4—6. 
 
 Use last is of exhortation. Has God issued out a law of 
 grace from mount Zion, for the benefit of lost sinners sink- 
 ing under the curse of the law of works ? and is this law so 
 calculated by Infinite Wisdom for debasing self, and ex- 
 alting the freedom of grace in the salvation of sinners ? 
 then, for the Lord's sake, and for your own soul's sake, let 
 me caU all hearing me to come away from mount Sinai to 
 mount Zion ; come away from the law of works, which con- 
 demns the whole race of Adam in bulk, and receive the 
 law of faith ; take the benefit of these acts and edicts of 
 grace that are emitted in the gospel from a throne of grace. 
 Sirs, it is ordinary for kings, when they enact laws at court, 
 showing the duty or establishing the interest and privilege 
 of the subject, to send their heralds to intimate and pro- 
 claim them in the public places of concourse, that none 
 may pretend ignorance ; but when they have done so, they 
 leave it to every man to take the benefit of the law or not, 
 as he has a mind. But the great King, whose name is 
 gracious and merciful, not only orders us to intimate and 
 proclaim the beneficial laAvs of sovereign grace, but he has 
 given us express orders to urge and ' compel you to come 
 in,' and take the benefit of his acts of grace. And there- 
 
240 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 fore, that I may act according to my commission from the 
 Lord, I must be allowed to make use of an argument 
 or two to engage your compliance with my exhortation. 
 Sirs, quit and renounce the law of works, and take the 
 benefit of the law of faith. Consider then, 
 
 1st. So long as you cleave to the law as a covenant, there 
 is a handwriting standing against you before God uncan- 
 celled, the justice of God hath a bond over your head. ' The 
 sin of Judah is written before him as with a pen of iron, 
 and the point of a diamond.' This handwriting is never 
 cancelled till you believe in Christ, and submit unto his 
 righteousness. No, no, you are ' condemned already, and 
 the wrath of God abideth on you.' While you are within 
 the confines of mount Sinai law, a lowering cloud, pregnant 
 with wrath, hangs over your head, which will infallibly dis- 
 solve in a tempest of wrath, to the everlasting ruin of your 
 souls, unless you make your escape to mount Zion, and take 
 the benefit of the law of grace : ' Snares, fire, and brimstone, 
 and an horrible tempest, this shall be the portion of your 
 cup.' Perhaps you may be crying. Peace, peace ; but what 
 will that avail, seeing God says otherwise, ' There is no 
 peace, saith my God, unto the wicked 1 ' Nay, there is a 
 double vengeance attending them that do not take the 
 benefit of the law of faith, and no wonder, since (as you 
 have heard) they despise a double law, viz., of works and of 
 faith at once ; every and the least transgression even of the 
 law of works infers wrath and vengeance, death and dam- 
 nation, against the sinner. See how the apostle argues 
 upon this head, Heb. x. 28, 29, ' He that despised Moses' 
 law, died without mercy,' &c. Now, all this the man is 
 guilty of who does not by faith fall in with the revelation 
 of the law of faith, he ' crucifies the Son of God afresh,' re- 
 acts and approves the tragedy acted on mount Calvary, he 
 ' tramples the blood of the covenant under foot, and does 
 despite unto the Spirit of grace,' who revealed the law of 
 faith ; and therefore a double vengeance must be abiding 
 you if you do not receive the law of faith. unbelieving 
 sinner, ' consider tliis, lest he tear you in pieces, when none 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 241 
 
 shall be able to deliver you out of his hand.' But I do not 
 incline to end with terrors ; and therefore, 
 
 Consider, 2dly, That moment you take the benefit of the 
 law of faith (the gospel coming forth from Zion) i/ou are 
 acquitted and discharged of all that ever the law of works 
 could demand of you. The law of works craved only a 
 single debt of Adam in innocency, viz., the debt of obe- 
 dience ; but it hath a double charge upon the sinner, not 
 only of obedience unto its precept, but also it craves that 
 its penalty be endured ; and of this double debt you are not 
 capable to pay the least farthing. Though you were to 
 live to Methuselah's days you could never obey one precept 
 of the law, as it is the law of works, being utterly desti- 
 tute of that principle from which, and of the end to which, 
 all acts of obedience to the law must be performed. For 
 the holy law does not look so much to the matter of the 
 action as to the principle and end thereof ; so that our best 
 actions, instead of being acts of obedience to the law, are 
 but splendid sins before God the great Lawgiver ; and there- 
 fore the debt of obedience to the precept you can never 
 pay, while you cleave to the law as a covenant. And as 
 you are not capable to pay the debt of obedience, so nei- 
 ther are you in your own person capable to pay the debt of 
 punishment or satisfaction, though you were to lie in hell 
 tire through an endless eternity. The reason is, because 
 justice requires an infinite satisfaction for an infinite of- 
 fence ; and can the punishment of a finite creature ever 
 amount to an infinite satisfaction? Thus you are insol- 
 vent debtors to justice, by virtue of the precept and penalty 
 of the law of works. 
 
 But now, I say, whenever you take the benefit of the 
 law of faith, or believe in Christ as he is offered and 
 gifted in the promise of the gospel, you are that mo- 
 ment assoilzied and acquitted from both these debts, and 
 all charges that the law of works hath against you ; you 
 are no more concerned with it either in point of justifica- 
 tion or cendemnation, ' there is therefore now no condem- 
 nation to them which are in Christ Jesus : Who can lay 
 
242 THE LAW OF FAITH ISSUING 
 
 any thing to the charge of God's elect ? ' Perhaps, indeed, 
 the de\'il may set home the law as a covenant upon the be- 
 liever in Christ, craving the debt both of obedience and 
 punishment for sin ; but the believer, under the lively ex- 
 ercise of faith, has a ready answer to these charges. As for 
 the debt of obedience, may the believer say, my Surety 
 paid it by his spotless obedience, ' He magnified the law, 
 and made it honourable, and Jehovah is well pleased 
 for his righteousness' sake,' and through him the right- 
 eousness of the law is fulfilled in me; so that although 
 now, by strength derived from him, I resolve to honour 
 and obey the law as a rule of obedience, from a principle 
 of love and gratitude to my blessed Husband and Redeemer, 
 yet as a covenant I owe it nothing. And then, as for the 
 debt of punishment and satisfaction, I owe the law of works 
 nothing either. Why, its penalty was endured by my 
 Kinsman and Redeemer, ' he finished it upon the cross, he 
 was wounded for mine iniquities, the just suffered for the 
 unjust,' his blood answers for my offences, and his resurrec- 
 tion is my discharge for justification. ' It is Christ that 
 died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the 
 right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for me;'' 
 and therefore ' who is he that condemneth,' seeing upon 
 this ground God does justify? It is remarkable, that the 
 apostle puts a note of distinction on the resurrection of 
 Christ, saying, ' Yea rather, that is risen again,' because 
 the resurrection of Christ from the dead is an invincible 
 proof of the full payment of the debt, which he as our 
 Surety undertook to pay. If he had not made full pay- 
 ment, the prison of the grave had never been opened, and 
 he dismissed, or 'taken from prison and from judgment,' 
 Isa. liii. 8. Sirs, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, 
 our brother Joseph, our elder brother Jesus, has had his 
 head lifted up out of prison by a glorious resurrection and 
 exaltation; and therefore let all the seed of Israel rejoice, 
 for he having Lifted up the head as a public person and re- 
 presentative, our heads are lifted up in him, and with Mm. 
 Eph. ii. 5, 6, ' Even when we were dead in sin, he hath 
 
FORTH FROM MOUNT ZION. 243 
 
 quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) 
 and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together 
 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' And therefore, come 
 and let us all return unto a God of peace, who hath raised 
 up Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead : ' he hath torn 
 him, and he will heal us ; he hath smitten him, and he will 
 bind us up : after two days he revived us,' who were dead 
 in law, ' in the third day he raised us up ' in him ; and 
 therefore let us say, in a way of believing, ' We shall live 
 in his sight : Because Christ lives, we shall live also.' Sure 
 I am, if we had but the lively uptaking of this mystery of 
 a risen Christ, we would be ready to join the apostle in his 
 doxology, 1 Pet. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 
 mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 A TBEASTTRE of gospel grace digged out op mount SINAI. 
 
 I am the Lord thy God. — Thou shalt have no other gods befoie 
 me. — Exod. xx. 2, 3. 
 
 v^LOMON says, ' Where the word of a king is, there is 
 power.' What power then must there be where the word of 
 <Tod is, who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords ! 
 Pray, Sirs, notice and consider what is said, ver. 1, ' God 
 spake all these words.' This is enough to make heaven 
 and earth to listen with the most profound silence and 
 adoration. Isa. i. 2, ' Hear, heavens, and give ear, 
 earth, for the Lord hath spoken. The mighty God the 
 Lord hath spoken.' And when he speaks, he ' calls the 
 earth from the rising of the sun to the going down there- 
 of ' to Usten, and therefore, ' earth, earth, earth, hear 
 the word of the Lord. God spake all these words.' This 
 is like the sounding of a trumpet before the king's pro- 
 clamation. God spake all the words of this Bible in a 
 mediate way, by the mouths of his holy prophets and 
 apostles ; but here God himself is the immediate speaker. 
 Surely it must be some matter of vast moment and of the 
 highest importance, when God himself is the preacher. 
 Well, what are the words God spake in such an immediate 
 manner 1 Ans. All these words from the 2d verse of this 
 chapter to the close of ver. 17. And, Sirs, I would have 
 you to remember, that all these words are spoken as 
 directly to you, and to every soul hearing me, as ever they 
 were unto Israel. And you and I are to reckon ourselves 
 no less concerned now to hear and regard them, than if 
 
A TREASURE OP GOSPEL GRACE, <kc. 245 
 
 "we had been standing at the foot of Sinai among the 
 children of Israel, when the heavenly trumpet sounded, 
 and the voice of God was uttered with such awful majesty 
 as made Moses and all Israel fall a-quaking and trembling ; 
 for aU these words are directed unto us, as much as they 
 were unto them. And therefore do not shift them, as 
 though they were spoken only to Israel, or as if they were 
 spoken to others, and not to you. No, no ; to thee, man, 
 to thee, woman, God now speaks all these words in this 
 Bible ; and therefore hear and listen with particular appli- 
 cation of them to thy own soul, as if God were calling thee 
 out of heaven by name and surname. Two of these ten 
 words I design to speak to, namely these, taken in their 
 connexion. / am the Lord thy God. — Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before mie. 
 
 Where two things are observable. 1. A great and gra- 
 cious promise, even the leading promise of the covenant, 
 / am the Lord thy God. 2, A great and gracious law or 
 commandment, founded upon the covenant promise and 
 grant ; a law, the obligation whereof nothing can shake 
 off ; Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
 
 1. We have a great promise or new covenant grant; / 
 am the Lord thy God — The greatest word ever God spake 
 since the fall of Adam ! for here he not only speaks forth 
 his own glory and transcendant being, but he speaks over 
 himself unto us as our God. Here is a promise, yea, 
 something more than a promise. A promise is commonly 
 expressed with respect to the time to come, concerning 
 something God hath a mind to do hereafter ; but here God 
 speaks in the present time, / am the Lord thy God; i. e. 
 Now while I am speaking, from this moment I become 
 your God ; and from this time forward you may claim me 
 as such, and liold me to it, by this my grant that I make 
 of myself unto you. God's covenant of promise is not a 
 thing past, or a thing to come only ; but a thing present, 
 / am tJie Lord thy God. 
 
 2. In the words we have a law or commandment, suited 
 unto, and founded upon, this covenant grant ; Thou shalt 
 
246 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 liave 110 other gods before me. This, as many of the rest of 
 the commandments are, is delivered in negative terms, 
 prohibiting and forbidding, ^ the denying, or not worship- 
 ping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God ; and 
 the giving of that worship and glory to any other which 
 is due to him alone.' And this law, or commandment, as 
 the generality of the other commandments, is dehvered in 
 negative terms, because of the perpetual propensity of our 
 natures, since the fall, to depart from the living God 
 through an evil heart of unbelief. But although the 
 command be delivered in negative terms, yet the contrary 
 positive duty is manifestly included in it, or under it : 
 namely, 'to know and acknowledge God to be the only 
 true God, and our God ; and to worship and glorify him 
 accordingly,' as it is well expressed in our Catechism. As 
 for these words. Before me, or before my face, as it may be 
 read, this expression plainly teaches us, that an omni- 
 scient and all-seeing God, before whom all things are open 
 and naked, and who ' sets our most secret sins in the 
 light of his countenance,' taketh notice of, and is much 
 displeased with, the sin of having any other God ; and 
 consequently is well pleased with the sinner who knows 
 and acknowledges him as the only true God, and his own 
 God, according to the gift of the covenant which is the 
 foundation of our claim to him. From which words, 
 
 Observe, ' That as God is the Lord and our God by his 
 own free gift in a covenant of grace, so it is his royal will 
 and pleasure, intimated to us in the first commandment of 
 Ms law, that we should know and acknowledge him to be 
 our own God, upon the ground of that covenant grant.' 
 
 I have framed the doctrine almost in the words of our 
 Lesser Catechism, opening up the import of this promise 
 and precept. And that I could make all this company, 
 and the whole world of mankind, if I had access, to under- 
 stand what a glorious and rich treasure they have among 
 their hands when they hear these words repeated, or re- 
 peat them themselves, / am the Lord thy God. — Thoit, shall 
 ha've no other gods before me. Alas I there are many have 
 
PIGGED OUT OF MOUA'T SINAI. 247 
 
 these words by rote, who never consider what is in them ; 
 just like a company of people travelling the high way 
 where an immense treasure lies under their feet. They 
 pass and repass it, but miss the treasure, because they 
 never dig into the field. So people read and repeat these 
 words, and lose God and eternal life, that lie hid in them, 
 because they do not advert to what they are saying or 
 reading. 
 
 I. To speak a little of this covenant promise, / am the 
 Lord thy God. 
 
 II. To speak a little of the precept, Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before me. 
 
 III. To inquire a little into the connexion betwixt these 
 two. 
 
 IV. Apply the whole. 
 
 I. The first thing is, to speak a little of this covenant 
 promise, / am the Loid thy God. And here I shall, 1. 
 Offer a few general remarks concerning this fundamental 
 promise or grant of the covenant. 2. Inquire a little more 
 particularly into the import of it ; or what that is which 
 God promises when he says so. 
 
 First, I would offer a few general remarks concerning 
 this great covenant grant and promise, / am the Lord thy 
 God. And, 
 
 1. I remark, that this, as all the other promises, is in 
 Christ. My meaning is, that it goes upon a ransom found, 
 and a satisfaction paid, unto justice by Christ our glorious 
 Surety. Sirs, beware of imagining, that an absolute God, 
 or a God out of Christ, utters this promise. No, no ; an 
 absolute God is a consuming fire unto guilty sinners, and 
 he could never speak in such a dialect to any of the sinful 
 rebellious race of Adam, in a consistency with the honour 
 of his holiness, justice, and sovereignty, which were offend- 
 ed and affronted in the violation of his royal law. Unless 
 the Son of God had promised, as our Surety, to pay the 
 infinite ransom that justice demanded, none of Adam's 
 posterity had ever heard anything but the terrible thun- 
 ders of his wrath and justice pursuing them for sin. So 
 
2-i8 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL aKACB 
 
 that this covenant grant or promise, as well as the other 
 declarations of the grace and love of God in the word to 
 perishing sinners, must needs go upon the footing of the 
 blood and satisfaction of Jesus. 2 Cor. v. 19, ' God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
 their trespasses unto them ; and hath committed unto us 
 the word of reconciliation.' And therefore, Sirs, whenever 
 you read or hear a word of grace from God, think upon 
 Christ, in and through whom only God is a God of peace ; 
 and let your soul say, ' thanks be unto God for his un- 
 speakable gift.' 
 
 2. It is more than probable, that it was God in the per- 
 son of his eternal Son, that uttered aU these words at mount 
 Sinai; and this promise in particular, whereby the law 
 was ushered in. Here was a parliament or general assem- 
 bly of angels, called at mount Sinai ; and Christ the great 
 Angel of the covenant was president, or great Lord 
 speaker. This I gather from Psal. Ixviii. ver. 17. and 18. 
 compared. Ver. 17. it is said, ' The chariots of God are 
 twenty thousand, even thousands of angels : the Lord is 
 among them as in Sinai, in the holy place.' WeU, what 
 Lord was it that was among them at Sinai 1 ' Even that 
 same Lord,' ver. 18. ' who ascended up on high, and led 
 captivity captive, and received gifts for men,' <fec. See 
 also to the same purpose, Acts vii. 37, 38. compared. Ver. 
 
 37, ' A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, 
 of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear.' Christ 
 is that great prophet. But then notice what follows, ver. 
 
 38, ' This is he that was in the church in the wilder- 
 ness, with the angel which spake to him ' (viz. unto Moses 
 and the children of Israel) ' in the mount Sinai, and 
 with our fathers.' So that it was Christ the Son of God 
 that spake all these words in mount Sinai, saying, lam the 
 Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of 
 Egyjpt, out of the house of bondage, Thou shalt have no other 
 gods before me. And by the way, this furnishes us with a 
 notable confutation of the Arians, who deny Christ to be a 
 Bupreme, self-existent, and independent God. Who did 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 249 
 
 ever doubt, that it was the supreme God, the self-existent 
 God, that spake all these words, and delivered the law with 
 such awful solemnity at mount Sinai? Yet, from what I 
 have been saying, it appears, that it was none other than 
 Christ the eternal Son. 
 
 3. I remark, that this covenant grant and promise is 
 the same upon the matter with the promise God had 'inade unto 
 Abraham several hundred years before. Now, God's pro- 
 mise to Abraham was, ' I will be thy God, and the God of 
 thy seed ; ' and here he meets with his seed at Sinai, and 
 repeats what he had said to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob, saying, I am the Lord thy God ; i. e. I am the 
 very same promising God that spake unto Abraham, and 
 what I said unto him, I say it over again unto you his 
 posterity, and give the very same ground for your faith 
 that he had ; as I was his God, so / am the Lord thy God. 
 God does not come and go upon his promise, he is not yea 
 and miy : he does not make a promise one day, and retract 
 it another ; no, it is always yea and ainen. He does not 
 speak of the promise made to Abraham as a thing out of 
 date after so many years ; no, it is as fresh and green with 
 him as the first day he made it ; / am still the Lord thy God. 
 The promise is renewed in their own persons immediately 
 by God, and they have as good a foundation laid by this 
 means as ever Abraham had, who believed without stag- 
 gering. 
 
 4. These words, I am the Lord thy God, contain the lead- 
 ing promise of the covenant of grace. And there is more in 
 them than heart can conceive, or tongue express ; for here 
 is an infinite God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, making 
 over himself in two or three words to man upon earth. 
 what can he give more than himself! and what will he 
 not give when he gives himself! Rom. viii. 32, ' He that 
 spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, 
 how will he not with him also freely give us all things ? ' 
 
 5. This promise is so framed by Infinite Wisdom, as to 
 point to every individual person in the camp of Israel. It is 
 not ye collectively, but thovb in the singular, as if he spake 
 
250 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 to every individual person in the camp, and every man was 
 to look to it as pointing at him in particular ; like a well- 
 drawn picture, it looked every man in the camp straight 
 in the face. And not only did this promise point to every 
 man and woman there present at mount Sinai, when the 
 law was delivered, but it looked forward to all succeeding 
 generations, and every man and woman that should spring 
 of them ; for this ' promise was to them, and to their seed.' 
 So that no sooner did any of the posterity of Abraham 
 come into the world, but God said to him, as much as to 
 the men that were at the foot of Sinai, / am the Lord thy 
 God. And no sooner did one of the Gentile nations join 
 himself to the commonwealth of Israel, but immediately 
 he found the God of Israel saving to him, / am the Lord 
 thy God: and in this respect, this promise was a door of 
 faith opened unto the Gentiles, even before the coming of 
 Christ. And when Christ came in the flesh, and by his 
 death and resurrection, and publication of the everlasting 
 gospel unto the Gentile world, broke down the partition- 
 wall betwixt them and the Jews, this promise, as well as 
 the law subjoined thereunto, extended itself, not only to 
 the Jews and their seed, but to the Gentiles, w^ho were 
 ' afar off, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call ' 
 by the sound of the gospel trumpet. So that now, under 
 the New Testament, this promise becomes a ground of 
 faith unto us as well as unto them ; and we have the same 
 interest in it that they had. But to clear this, I shall add, 
 
 6. A sixth remark, namely, that this promise may be 
 considered in a threefold situation ; either as it is in the 
 heart of God, or as it is in the word of God, or as in the 
 hand of faith. 
 
 1st. As it is in the heart of God or in his counsel or de- 
 cree. And when viewed in this situation it is peculiar 
 only to his chosen people, whom he has ' loved with an 
 everlasting love ' before the foundations of the world. But 
 as it is in God's heart, it is not an object of faith unto any 
 of Adam's posterity ; no, not to the elect themselves, be- 
 cause they do not know that they are among the number 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 251 
 
 of the elect till they be actually believers: no man can 
 say, at the first instant, in a way of believing, The Lord is 
 my God, upon the ground of electing love. So that the 
 promise in this situation being all one with the decree, 
 must be laid aside as an object of faith at the first in- 
 stance. 
 
 2dly. The promise may be viewed as sitvxited in the word, 
 as it is pubHshed and proclaimed to the visible church, ' to 
 whom belong the adoption, and the giving of the law, and 
 the promises.' View it in this situation, it is a ground of 
 faith to every one that hears it. God said to every man ia 
 the camp of Israel, and he says to every man and woman 
 in the visible church, / am the Lord thy God, and Thou 
 shalt have no other gods before me. And the man or woman 
 that does not know and acknowledge God as his God in 
 Christ, upon the ground of the promise, considered in this 
 situation (in the word), as it is held forth in common .to 
 all as the object and ground of faith, at once rebels against 
 the authority of God in the command, and gives the lie to 
 his faithfulness engaged in the promise. And, therefore, 
 * Let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into 
 his rest, any of us should come short of it ; for unto us is 
 this gospel preached, as well as unto them,' Heb. iv. 1, 2. 
 
 3dly. This promise is also to be considered as in the hand 
 of faith, or as it is applied and possessed in a way of be- 
 lieving. And, .in this situation, it is peculiar only to a 
 believer to have the Lord as his God ; because it is only ho 
 that has a saving interest ; it is he only whose ' soul has 
 said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord,' upon a covenant 
 ground. 
 
 Secondly, I come to inquire, what may be the import 
 of this promise, or of this covenant grant that is here laid 
 as a foundation of faith unto Israel, and unto the church 
 in all succeeding generations. 
 
 Before I go on, I would put you in mind of what I said 
 already, viz. that this covenant grant or promise goes upon 
 the ground of a ransom found, and satisfaction paid unto 
 justice; upon which account only God's anger is turned 
 
252 A TKEASUBE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 away, and he comforts us with such declarations of his 
 grace as this in my text, / am the Lord thy God. In which 
 words, I conceive he promises these three or four things, 
 not to multiply particulars. 
 
 1. The infinite God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, males 
 over himself by covenant as the soul's portion and inherit- 
 ance for ever. And what a vast, large, and glorious in- 
 heritance is this ! Sirs, when God says, / am the Lord 
 thy God, he says more than if he had said, heaven is thine, 
 earth is thine, the glories of both are thine ! There is 
 something in this promise, that ' eye hath not seen, nor 
 ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to 
 conceive,' &c. No wonder though David cried out upon 
 the view of the Lord's being the portion of his cup, Psal. 
 xvi. 6, ' The lines are faUen unto me in pleasant places, 
 yea, I have a goodly heritage.' it is a surprising arms- 
 ful the soul has, when by faith it grasps an infinite God in 
 this little word, / am the Lord thy God. 
 
 2. When he says, / am the Lord thy God, he in efifect 
 says, AH that I have / mxihe it over unto you. And when 
 he makes a grant of himself, what else wiU he withhold I 
 ' He that spared not his own Son, but dehvered him up for 
 us all, how will he not with him also freely give us ail 
 things ? ' Rom. viii. 32. Has he life ? Yea, he is the foun- 
 tain of life. Well, in this promise he gives life unto thee, 
 ' Because I live, ye shall live also.' Has hg light in him- 
 self? Yea, ' God is light, and with him is no darkness at 
 all.' Well, ' He shall be thy everlasting Hght, and thy 
 God thy glory.' Has he love ? Yea, ' God is love.' Well, 
 he who says he is thy God, ' v*^ill shed abroad his love in 
 thy heart by the Holy Ghost, and circumcise thy heart to 
 love him.' Has he honour ? Yea, ' his work is honourable 
 and glorious.' Well, thou shalt be preferred ; if thou take 
 him as thy God, thou shalt have a ' place among them that 
 stand by ' about his throne. Has he riches 1 Yea, ' honour 
 and riches are with me.' Well, ' he will fill aU thy trea- 
 sures ' with gold better than the gold of Ophir. Has he 
 * rivers of pleasures, and fulness of joy in his presence, and 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 253 
 
 at his right hand ? ' Well, ' the times of refreshing shall 
 come forth from his presence ' into thy soul. 
 
 3. When he says, I am the Lord thy God, he engages that aU 
 the attributes and perfections of h is glorio us nature shall jointly 
 co7ispire and he forthcoming for thy good. Sirs, imme- 
 diately upon the breach of the first covenant, all the attri- 
 butes of God put on an air of wrath and vengeance against 
 man ; hence Adam, after he had sinned, falls a-trembUng, 
 and flees in among the thickets of Paradise to hide him- 
 self. But ! the divine attributes, as they shine in the 
 face of our Immanuel, and are displayed through his blood 
 and satisfaction, appear with an air of grace, love, and 
 pity, inviting sinners to come and shelter themselves under 
 them, from the wrath and curse due to them for sin. So 
 that when God says, / am the Lord thy God, it is upon the 
 matter as if he should say, impotent and helpless sinner, 
 come under my shadow, take me as thy own God, and my 
 power shall be employed to help and protect thee. fool- 
 ish and bewildered sinner, my wisdom shall be thine, to 
 direct and instruct thee. polluted sinner, who hast 'lien 
 among the pots,' my holiness shall sanctify thee, and ' make 
 thee like the wings of a dove,' &c. guilty sinner, my 
 mercy shall pardon thee ; yea, my justice shall acquit thee, 
 on the score of the ransom that I have found : my goodness 
 shall supply all thy need, and my truth and faithfulness is 
 pledged to accomplish all the promises unto thee: my 
 omniscient eye shall ' run to and fro, through the whole 
 earth, to show myself strong on thy behalf:' my providence 
 shall be employed to manage all things for thy good and 
 advantage ; ' I will ride in the heavens for thy help, and in 
 mine excellency on the skies.' 
 
 4. / am the Lord thy God; i. e. Whatever I, the infinite 
 and eternal God, can do for thy advantage, it shall not he 
 wanting. And what cannot the arm of omnipotency do ! 
 ' He doeth great things, yea, wonders without number.' 
 What wonders has God wrought for his children and people 
 in all ages of the world ! It was he that saved Noah by 
 water from perishing in the flood. It was he that made a 
 
254 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 lane for Israel through the deeps, as if it had been dry land. 
 It was he that dissolved the flinty rock into floods of water, 
 suspended the fury of the devouring flames, and stopped 
 the course of the sun. ' His hand is not shortened that it 
 cannot save.' Now, whatever that omnipotent arm that 
 ' stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the 
 earth,' can do for thy salvation, it shaU not be wanting. 
 All this, and infinitely more than I can name, is wrapped 
 up in the bosom of this covenant grant, which is here laid 
 as the foundation and ground of our faith, / am the Lord 
 thy God. And this much concerning the promise. 
 
 II. The second thing proposed was, to speak a little of 
 the precept subjoined or annexed unto this covenant pro- 
 mise. Thou shalt have no other gods before ine. And, in speak- 
 ing to the precept, I shall observe the same method as in 
 discoursing upon the promise. 1. By premising some re- 
 marks. 2. Inquire into its import. 
 
 First, I would offer some remarks upon it. As, 
 
 1. I remark, that as the promise, I am the Lord thy God, 
 is given forth by a God in Christ, so the precept in this 
 situation must needs come from the same fountain. This 
 law or commandment must be viewed as in the hand of a 
 Mediator, and not of an absolute God. The reason is plain, 
 because the command obliges us to have him as our God, 
 to love and trust him as our own God, which a sinner can- 
 not do, but only as he is in Christ. Here the command 
 stands under a covenant of grace, as is evident from the 
 preface. Indeed, if that glorious preface, or covenant grant, 
 / am the Lord thy God, had not gone before the command, 
 we might have taken it as coming from an absolute God ; 
 but, taking the precept in connexion with the preface, we 
 must needs take up the law here as in the hand of a recon- 
 ciled God in Christ, and as coming from that glorious foun- 
 tain. And therefore let us say, with the church, ' The Lord 
 is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our 
 King, and he will save us.' 
 
 2. This commandment of the law, Thoii: shalt have no other 
 before me, narrows or extends its obligation upon the 
 
DIGGED OUT OP MOUNT SINAI. 255 
 
 children of men, in a suitableness to the revelation that Ice 
 makes of himself. When God reveals himself only by the 
 works of creation and providence, as he doth to the heathen 
 world, then this commandment obhges us to know and ac- 
 knowledge him as a God Creator and Preserver. But 
 when he superadds to this the revelation of himself as a 
 reconciled God, a redeeming God in Christ, then the law 
 superadds a new obligation, namely, to know and acknow- 
 ledge him as such, and to claim him as the God of salva- 
 tion, a saving, pitying, pardoning God. 
 
 3. As the promise, / am the Lord thy God, is the leading 
 and fundamental blessing promised in the covenant of grace, 
 which draws all other blessings along with it, so this pre- 
 cept. Thou shalt have the Lord Jehovah as thy God, is the 
 leading and fundamental duty of the law, which sweetly and 
 powerfully constrains the soul to obey all the other com- 
 mands of it. The reason of this is plain : when a person is 
 determined to know and acknowledge God as his own God 
 in Christ, it binds and obliges him inevitably not to bow 
 down to images, or to give that worship and glory to any 
 other which is due to him alone. He will be concerned to 
 sanctify the name of God and his holy Sabbath, and in a 
 word, to have respect unto all his commandments. Hence 
 it is that faith in Christ Jesus (which is just the first com- 
 mandment in other words) is so much inculcated in the 
 scriptures, particularly of the New Testament ; yea, we are 
 expressly told, that ' without faith it is impossible to please 
 God ; ' and * he that cometh unto God, must believe that he 
 is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
 him.' 
 
 4. That the command and promise are of equal extent, so 
 that every man that is bound to obey the command, or to 
 have a God in Christ, as his own God, is concerned in this 
 promise, 1 am the Lord thy God; or, in other words, he is 
 as much obliged to believe this promise with application, 
 as he is obHged to obey the command. The reason of 
 this is plain, because a believing the promise with applica- 
 tion is the very thing that the first command requires of 
 
256 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 US ; and the promise is the very ground and foundation of 
 that faith that is required in the command ; and the foun- 
 dation of faith must be as extensive as the command of be- 
 lieving, unless we would say that God commands men to 
 believe without giving them a foundation to believe upon ; 
 so that, if I be obliged to have the Lord as my God, then 
 it is lawful, yea, plain duty for me, viewing the covenant 
 grant, to say to the Lord, ' Thou art my Lord.' 
 
 5. As the promise is indefinite, / «w the Lord thy God, 
 without mentioning any, or including any, but pointing to 
 every man in particular, so the precept is indefinite, Thou 
 sJudt have no other gods before one, without mentioning any 
 particular person to whom it extends. And I think it is 
 observable, that both the promise and precept are in the 
 singular number, as if God spoke to every individual. And 
 I do think that Infinite Wisdom has so ordered it of design, 
 that no man might neglect the promise that thinks him- 
 self bound to obey the precept. The legal heart of man 
 is ready to fall in with this command of the law, and own its 
 obHgation ; while, in the mean time, it rejects the promise as 
 a thing it has no concern in. What more ordinary than to 
 hear some, especially under awakenings of conscience by 
 the law, say, it is a sad truth indeed that I am a debtor 
 to the law, and obliged to obey it ! But as for the promise of 
 God, / am the Lord thy God, I have no interest or concern 
 in it. But, Sirs, whatever you may imagine, I tell you, 
 that by this way you are separating what God has joined ; 
 he has joined the command and the promise together, 
 therefore let not your unbelieving hearts or legal spirits 
 put them asunder ; for you can never obey the first com- 
 mand without closing with this promise, / am the Lord thy 
 God. 
 
 Secondly, I come to inquire what is included or required 
 of us in this command of the moral law. Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before me. I do not design to launch out in open- 
 ing of this precept in its greatest latitude, or in telling you 
 of all the duties required, and sins forbidden, in it ; that 
 which I have especially in my view, is the obligation that 
 
DIGGED OUT OP MOUNT SINAL 257 
 
 it lays upon us to receive and believe the promise, I am tlie 
 Lord thy God. And for clearing of this, there are only 
 these few things I name, as included in this command- 
 ment. 
 
 1. This commandment obliges us to believe that God is, 
 which is the first and fundamental truth both of natural 
 and revealed religion ; and except you be established in the 
 faith of this you believe nothing to purpose. We cannot 
 open our eyes, or look upon any of the creatures of God, 
 whether in the heavens above or in the earth beneath, but 
 this truth must shine into our minds with such a glaring 
 evidence, that one would think there were no need of a 
 command to oblige us to believe it. 
 
 2. This command obliges us to believe that he is such a 
 God as he has revealed himself to be in his word and in his 
 works. It binds us to believe all the displays that he has 
 given of his eternal power and Godhead, in his works of 
 creation and providence; but especially us, who enjoy the 
 revelation of his word, to believe every thing that he has 
 revealed of himself in that word ; as, that he is a Spirit, infi- 
 nite, eternal, unchangeable ; that he is but one God in three 
 persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the same in sub- 
 stance, equal in power and glory ; that from eternity he de- 
 creed all things that come to pass in time ; that he is the 
 great Creator that made all things of nothing, by the word 
 of his power, in the space of six days, and aU very good ; 
 that by his providence he preserves and governs all his 
 creatures, and all their actions ; and that this great God, 
 in the fulness of time, was ' manifested in the flesh,' in the 
 person of his eternal Son, and became a Redeemer and Sa- 
 viour of lost sinners ; that he was ' made under the law, to 
 redeem them that were under the law, that we might re- 
 ceive the adoption of sons ; ' and in a word, every other 
 thing that God has revealed of himself. 
 
 3. This commandment requires us to believe and be per- 
 suaded, that this glorious God is the chief good of the ratioiiai 
 sold; that as his glory is to be our ultimate end, so our 
 chief happiness lies in the enjoyment of him alone, Thou 
 
258 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 shalt have no other gods before me; i. e., Thou shalt place thy 
 chief happiness in the enjoyment of me, who am the Lord 
 thy God. So that, when God commands us to have him as 
 our God, he commands us to be happy for ever in himself, 
 and to say with David, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? 
 and there is none in all the earth that I desire besides 
 thee.' 
 
 4. This command requires us to assent unto every word 
 God speaks, as a truth of infallible verity, and unto the truth 
 of this promise in particular ; that he speaks the truth in 
 his heart when he says, lam the Lord thy God. And there- 
 fore, not to believe that it is as God says in this promise, 
 is to caU God a liar ; it is an impeaching of his veracity 
 in the promise, and a contempt of his authority interposed 
 in the command. From whence it appears, that an unbe- 
 liever breaks the very first command of the law of nature. 
 
 5. This command requires us not only to believe the 
 truth of the promise in general, but to believe it loith par- 
 ticular application of it, each one of us unto ourselves. It 
 is not a fulfilling of the contents of this command to be- 
 lieve that he was the God of Israel, or the God of the visible 
 church, or the God of the elect, or of aU that believe in 
 him, for aU this do the devils and reprobates believe ; but we 
 must believe, know, and acknowledge that he is our God : and 
 every one for himself must say, in faith, with Israel, ' He is 
 my God, I will prepare him an habitation.' The first com- 
 mand requires of us a faith exactly corresponding unto the 
 promise : now, the promise is to every one in particular, / 
 am the Lord thy God; and the command runs parallel with 
 it, pointing out every man in particular, Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before me; and therefore it is a particular applying 
 faith that is here required and called for. Perhaps this 
 may appear somewhat surprising to those who never con- 
 sidered, that by the first commandment they are obliged 
 to believe that the Lord is their God by covenant grant and 
 promise. They believe that he is their Creator, and Pre- 
 server, and Benefactor, but they never thought he was their 
 God by covenant grant, or that they were bound to believe 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 259 
 
 it with application, till once they found themselves so and 
 so qualified. 
 
 III. The third thing proposed was, to speak a little of the 
 connexion betwixt the promise and the precept. That there 
 is a connexion between them is plain ; for the promise is re- 
 peated in the command, and the meaning is, Thou shall have 
 no other gods before me, who engage myself by covenant to be 
 the Lord thy God. How sweetly is the law and gospel con- 
 nected here ! How sweetly does the law stand in a sub- 
 serviency unto the glorious designs of grace ! 
 
 1st. I would have you carefully observe as to this order 
 and connexion, that it is suited ivnto the circumstances of the 
 lost sinner, oi of fallen man, who has nothing and can do 
 nothing, but is ' wretched, miserable, poor, and bHnd, and 
 naked.' Because man can now do nothing for his Kfe, 
 therefore God will give him life and glory for nothing at 
 all ; and as a testimony of his having got all freely from 
 God, he will have him to obey. It is an order and method 
 suited to God's great design, of debasing man, staining his 
 pride, and of exalting the glorious freedom and riches of 
 his grace : '■ Where is boasting ? ' says the apostle : ' It is ex- 
 cluded. By what law ? of works ? Nay ; but by the law 
 of faith.' The law of faith is just the free promise, I am 
 the Lord thy God; I loill he to tliem a Father, (fee. Now, by 
 this law, and not by the law of works, self is abased, and 
 the glory of free grace exalted. 
 
 2d. I shall only add, as to this connexion and order, that 
 God, like a wise builder, ^rs^ lays the foundation of faith in, 
 the promise, saying, I am the Lord thy God, and then enjoins 
 the duty of believing. He first reveals the object of faith, 
 and then lays on the duty of faith ; he first makes a grant 
 of grace, and then warrants us by his command to lay hold 
 on it. The promise is a plaster or medicine, and the com- 
 mand orders the application or use-making of it. The pro- 
 mise is the door of salvation opened, and the command 
 enjoins us to enter in by that door. The promise is the 
 testament, and the command is the Judge's order and 
 warrant to make use of the goods, without fear of vicious 
 
260 A TREASURE OP GOSPEL GSACE 
 
 intromission. The promise gives us a right of access ; the 
 command, when obeyed and complied with, gives a right 
 of possession. By the grant of the covenant God manifests 
 his free and sovereign grace, and by the command he mani- 
 fests his royal authority, which he makes subservient unto 
 his glorious design of grace. And so much shall serve for 
 clearing the order and connexion between the promise, / 
 am the Lord thy God, and the precept, Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before me. 
 
 IV. The fourth general head was the application. And 
 the first use shall be comprised in these inferences. 
 
 1. From what is said we may see, that Christ, our glo- 
 rious Redeemer, is none other than the supreme, self -existent, 
 and independent God. Who ever doubted, as was hinted 
 before, but it was the supreme God, the great Lawgiver of 
 heaven and earth, who spoke all these words, saying, / am 
 the Lord thy God: Thou shalt have no other gods before nie? 
 Whosoever reads or hears these words with opened eyes, 
 or understanding hearts, cannot shun to cry out, ' It is the 
 voice of God, and not of man ; ' yea, the voice of the supreme, 
 self-existent- God, and not of any inferior or dependent 
 being ; the voice of him whose prerogative alone it is to be 
 the Lord of the conscience, and to ' search the heart and 
 the reins ; ' for these words are quick and powerful, and 
 sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the 
 dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and 
 marrow, and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.' 
 As aU the works, so all the words of God carry the stamp 
 and evidence of their glorious author in their bosom. And 
 are we not immediately struck with the impressions of the 
 supreme, self-existent Being, when these words are uttered, 
 / am the Lord thy God ! Had Moses, or the children of 
 Israel, when they stood quaking and trembling at the foot 
 of the mount, any notions of a dependent deity speaking 
 to them ? No, they knew and behoved that it was he 
 'whose name alone is Jehovah, most high over all the 
 earth.' Yet it was cleared already, this was Christ the 
 eternal Son of God ; and therefore he must needs be the 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 261 
 
 supreme God, the same in substance, equal in power and 
 glory with his Father. It is the most daring presumption, 
 the most consummate ingratitude, for any of Adam's race, 
 especially for any professed Christian, bearing his blessed 
 name and wearing his livery, to lessen his glory, and dero- 
 gate from his excellency, as if, when he is called the su- 
 preme God, it were to be understood cmn grano salis, with 
 grains of allowance or abatement. I am persuaded there 
 was not an Arian at the foot of Sinai among aU the many 
 thousands of Israel ; and were these words to be repeated 
 by the Son of God with the same awful solemnity among 
 us, I am very sure there would net be one Arian among us 
 either. 
 
 2. From what has been said, we may see the mistake of 
 those who assert that faith in Christ is a 7iew precejyt of the 
 gospel, not required in the moral law, but by a new positive 
 law given forth under the gospel. JSTone, I suppose, will 
 deny, that the law required faith in a God Creator from 
 our first parents in innocency : and if so, what need of 
 any new law to bind and obUge us to believe in the same 
 God revealing himself in the capacity of a Redeemer? 
 We have already observed from the text, how sweetly the 
 old law of nature is grafted in, in a subserviency unto the 
 grace of the new covenant, obliging us to know and ac- 
 knowledge a God in Christ as our own God, upon the foot- 
 ing of this glorious grant of grace, / am the Lord thy God. 
 The applying or appropriating act of faith, when it is ex- 
 pressed in words, comes forth carrying the stamp of obe- 
 dience to what the first commandment of the moral law 
 requires. What need then of any new positive law to en- 
 join it? The same law that bound Adam before the fall, 
 to believe the promise of life upon the footing of perfect 
 obedience, bound him to beheve the promise of life after 
 the fall, upon the footing of the incarnation and satisfac- 
 tion of the Son of God : and therefore, when the first pro- 
 mise of the seed of the woman is uttered. Gen. iii. 15. we 
 read of no new law enjoining him to believe it; the 
 very light and law of nature told our first parents, that 
 
262 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 a promise, especially the promise of God, was to be 
 believed. 
 
 3. See hence the iiecessity, excelleiicy, and warrantaUeness of 
 the great duty of believing, which we ministers are so much 
 pressing upon you who are hearers. It must needs be the 
 most necessary and excellent duty which God enjoins in 
 the first precept of his law, and which he has laid as the 
 very spring and foundation of obedience to all other pre- 
 cepts, namely, to receive him, and to acknowledge him as 
 our God in Christ, and him alone ; and to rest in him, and 
 upon him, as our upmaking and everlasting all. Hence, 
 John vi. 28, 29. when the Jews were fond to know what 
 they should do to work the work of God, he directs them 
 to faith in himself; because this was the first thing that 
 the law required as it stood under a covenant of grace : 
 ' This is the work of God,' (his work in a way of eminence ; 
 the very first and fundamental work, and the spring and 
 soul of all obedience,) ' that ye believe on him whom he 
 hath sent.' For this reason, true obedience to the law is 
 called ' the obedience of faith : ' and we are told, Heb. xi. 
 6. that ' without faith it is impossible to please God ; ' and, 
 ' Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin,' Rom. xiv. 23 ; because, 
 until this first command of the law be obeyed, till we re- 
 ceive, embrace, and acknowledge the Lord as our God in 
 Christ, we do nothing at all in obedience to God's law, but 
 break it every moment of our hfe. Again, as I said, we 
 see here also the warrantableness of beUeving in Christ, 
 and of embracing the promise. It is as warrantable for a 
 lost sinner to embrace the promise, and to receive Christ 
 by virtue of the promise, as to do any other thing that the 
 law requires. WiU any man doubt his warrant to honour 
 and reverence the name of God, to honour his father and 
 mother, to sanctify the Sabbath 1 <fec. As little reason has 
 he to doubt his warrant by faith to lay claim to this glori- 
 ous grant of sovereign grace through Christ, I am the Lord 
 thy God; seeing this is the very thing that is required in 
 this command. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
 4. See hence a solid ground for the assurance of faith. 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 263 
 
 Why it has the noblest ground in the world to go upon, 
 namely, the infallible word of a God of truth, saying, / am 
 the Lord thy God; and the best warrant in the world, 
 namely, the first commandment of the law, requiring us to 
 know and acknowledge him as our God. The first com- 
 mand requires a persuasion of the promise, with applica- 
 tion or appropriation of it to the soul in particular : and 
 what is that but the assurance of faith ? And no doubt 
 the law requires every duty, and particularly this in its 
 perfection; the consideration of which may make every 
 one of us, yea, even the best believer upon earth, to cry 
 out with the poor man in the gospel, ' Lord, I believe, help 
 thou mine unbelief;' and, with the disciples, 'Lord, in- 
 crease our faith.' 
 
 5. See hence the proper hottom of true Christian morality^ 
 and an excellent test whereby to distinguish betwixt 
 gospel and legal preaching. You see here, upon what 
 foundation God himself inculcates the duties of the moral 
 law : he first discovers himself as a reconciled God, a pro- 
 mising God in Christ, saying, / «m the Lord thy God; and, 
 upon this ground, urges the duties of the law. Now, the 
 order of doctrine observed by God himself, ought certainly 
 to be observed by us in our inculcating any duty of the 
 law upon our hearers ; and if this method be not observed, 
 it is certainly legal. Neither do I think that it is enough, 
 when we are pressing any duty of the law, to come in with 
 a direction or advice at the end, telling that all is to be 
 done in the strength of Christ ; we see here that God be- 
 gins his sermon of morality to Israel, from Mount Sinai, 
 with a revelation of himself as the Lord God gracious and 
 merciful through Christ, / am the Lord thy God; and lays 
 this as the foundation of obedience to the following pre- 
 cepts. And I do tliink, that we who are ministers, when 
 we inculcate the duties of the law upon people, we ought 
 always to keep the grace of the new covenant in their eye ; 
 for unless obedience to the law be influenced with this 
 view it cannot be the obedience of faith, and consequently 
 cannot be acceptable : ' ^Yithout faith it is impossible to 
 
264 A TKEASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 please God.' It is observable, that God, in the promulga- 
 tion of the law to Israel, frequently intermixes the grace 
 of the new covenant with the precepts of the law, and 
 every now and then casts it up in their view, that he was 
 the Lord their God in Christ. So in the second command, 
 ' Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, <fec., 
 for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, &c., shewing 
 mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my 
 commandments.' So in the third commandment, ' Thou 
 shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,' &c. 
 So in the fourth, ' The seventh day is the Sabbath of the 
 Lord thy God,' &c. So likewise in the fifth, ' Honour thy 
 father and thy mother : that thy days may be long upon 
 the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' Thus, I 
 say, he makes gospel grace, like a thread of gold, to run 
 through the duties of the law, whereby the whole law is 
 sweetened and beautified, his yoke made easy, and his bur- 
 den light. 
 
 Upon the other hand, there is an error, I fear too com- 
 mon among some. Whenever they hear a minister press- 
 ing duty, immediately they conclude him to be a legal 
 preacher, without ever considering upon what ground he 
 doth it; for if he press the duties of the law upon the 
 ground of covenanted grace, he acts according to his com- 
 mission, and keeps the order and method that God has laid ; 
 but if this method be not followed, if the duties of the 
 law be urged as the foundation of our claim to the privi- 
 leges of the gospel, or without keeping Christ and the 
 grace of the gospel in the eye of the sinner, as the founda- 
 tion of duty, you may indeed conclude, that it is legal. 
 Although what the man says may be truth, abstractly 
 considered, yet the truth is not delivered in its due order 
 and connexion ; and therefore has a tendency to mislead 
 the hearer, at least to lead him into perplexing exercises. 
 
 6. See hence the truth of what the apostle asserts con- 
 cerning God, 1 John iv. 16, ' God is love.' Why, the pro- 
 mise here is a promise of love. What more can infinite 
 love say than what is here said, I am the Lord thy God? 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOU]!fT SINAI. 265 
 
 What can he give more than himself ? And as the promise 
 is a promise of love, so the precept is a precept of love, 
 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. He first makes a 
 free grant and gift of himself to us in his covenant, and 
 then concludes us under a law of love, whereby he makes 
 it the first and fundamental duty of obedience to him, that 
 we shall know and acknowledge him as our own God; or 
 in other words, that we should be happy for ever in the 
 enjoyment of him. The most consummate happiness of 
 the rational creature lies in what God here commands, 
 viz., in having him and none other as our God. Oh, how 
 excellent is his loving kindness ! surely ' God is love,' it is 
 the regnant perfection of his nature. And how reason- 
 able is it that we should love the Lord Our God with all 
 the heart, soul, strength, and mind ! And how unrea- 
 sonable is the enmity of the heart against God ! Do we 
 thus requite a God of love ? Well may the Lord say to 
 us, as he did to Israel, ' my people, what have I done 
 unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? testify 
 against me.' 
 
 The last use I make of this subject is of exhortation to 
 obey and keep the first commandment, by taking hold of 
 this covenant grant, / am the Lord thy God: which is all 
 one, as if I should exhort you to believe in Christ, or re- 
 ceive and rest upon him alone. When a sinner believes in 
 Christ, what does he else but receive God in Christ, as his 
 God, by virtue of the covenant of grace, placing his only 
 rest and happiness through eternity in the enjoyment of 
 him alone 1 And is not this the very thing required in the 
 first commandment, or a having no other gods before him ? 
 The gospel, holding forth the object of faith, and the com- 
 mand requiring the obedience of faith, has been one and 
 the same in all ages of the world, however difierently ex- 
 pressed and dispensed. We generally look upon the law of 
 God delivered to Israel at mount Sinai, as binding and 
 obligatory upon us ; and no doubt it is the rule of obedi- 
 ence to all mankind unto the end of the world, who shall 
 read or hear it. And I am so far from thinking or teach- 
 
266 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 ing, that the obligation of the holy law is dissolved by the 
 grace of the gospel, that I think it plain, from the con- 
 nexion Infinite Wisdom has laid betwixt them here, it is 
 simply impossible any man can share of the grace of the 
 gospel, but in a way of obedience to the very first com- 
 mandment of the law, as already explained. And there- 
 fore my exhortation to every one hearing me is, to yield 
 obedience to this first commandment of the law ; lay claim 
 by faith unto a God in Christ as your God, by virtue of the 
 covenant, where he says, I am the Lord thy God; and see 
 that you have no other gods hefore him. Do not think that 
 I exhort you to this, as though I supposed you had any 
 strength or power of your own to obey ; no, we are natu- 
 rally without strength, wholly impotent to do anything 
 spiritually good : but when I exhort you to obey this com- 
 mandment, I exhort you to obey it in a dependence upon 
 the grace of him who commands you to have him as your 
 own God, and who engages himself by covenant to be our 
 God, and so to be the author and finisher of our faith. 
 
 But I shall not insist in pressing this exhortation with 
 arguments. One would think that no man that believes a 
 future state of eternal happiness or misery needs to be 
 much urged to know and acknowledge God in Christ as his 
 God, upon this new grant of sovereign grace ; this being 
 the very hinge upon which a comfortable eternity doth 
 turn. All I shall do further in prosecuting this exhorta- 
 tion, is to answer a few objections which carnal reason and 
 unbelief will very readily muster up against this doctrine 
 and exhortation. 
 
 Object. 1. May one say, I have lost all claim and title to 
 the Lord as my God, by violating the holy law ; and I think 
 I hear God saying to me with a frown, ' How shall I put 
 thee among the children,' who hast forfeited thy relation 
 to me ? and therefore I dare not own and acknowledge him 
 as the Lord my God. Ans. It is indeed true, that you and 
 I, and all mankind, have lost our title and relation to him 
 as our God by the first Adam, and the breach of the first 
 covenant : and since the fall of Adam God never said to 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 267 
 
 any sinner upon a law ground, / am the Lord thy God. 
 No, when a sinner looks at that quarter, his hope and 
 strength perish for ever from the Lord. But, Sirs, here 
 is a new covenant, a new gift or grant that God makes of 
 himself, which does not go upon the ground of our obedi- 
 ence to the law as its condition, but upon the ground of 
 sovereign grace, reigning through the righteousness of 
 God-man. Here, I say, is a new claim of right presented 
 to the guilty sinner, / am the Lord thy God; ' I will be 
 unto them a Father, and they shall be my sons and daugh- 
 ters, saith the Lord Almighty.' These and the like abso- 
 lute and indefinite promises are universally dispensed to all 
 and every one as the ground of faith. And lest any sinner, 
 through a sense of guilt, should scare to lay hold upon this 
 new claim of right, here is the warrant subjoined and 
 annexed to the claim. Thou shalt have no other gods he- 
 fore one. 
 
 Object. 2. I am afraid lest God be not saying this to ine 
 in particular, / am the Lord thy God ; and therefore dare 
 not lay hold of it ; I fear lest he be not requiring me in 
 particular, by this commandment, to know and acknow- 
 ledge him as my God. Ans. It is by these and the like 
 groundless surmises and insinuations, that an evil heart of 
 unbelief turns us away from the living God, and from 
 taking hold of his covenant. But pray, tell me in good 
 earnest, do you think to dispute away the binding obliga- 
 tions of the very first commandment of the law of God '? 
 For, as was said, at the same time that you refuse to take 
 hold of this covenant grant, you disobey the first and 
 leading precept of the law. Why, will you own the obli- 
 gation of the other commandments of the law, and reject 
 this ? I suppose there are none of you but will readily 
 acknowledge, that you in particular are bound to honour 
 your parents, not to kill, steal, commit adultery, (fee. You 
 may with as good reason say or think, that these other 
 precepts do not bind you in particular, as imagine that you 
 are not particularly bound by the first to know and ac- 
 knowledge a God in Christ as your God. Why so much 
 
ZbO A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GEACE 
 
 prejudiced against the first and chief commandment of 
 God beyond all others ? What account can be rendered 
 for it, that men should thrust away from them the first 
 commandment of the very law of nature, when grafted 
 into the gospel covenant, and made so subservient to their 
 eternal salvation ? I know of no solid reason that can be 
 given for it, but that of the apostle, ' The god of this 
 world hath blinded the minds of them wliich believe not.' 
 Object. 3. I cannot refuse that the command. Thou shalt 
 have no other gods lefore me, is binding upon me in particu- 
 lar ; but I can never think that it is to me in particvlar 
 that God is saying, / am the Lord thy God. Ans. Who 
 authorized you, or any of Adam's race, to put asunder what 
 God has joined? I am sure it is not by God's warrant 
 that this is done ; and therefore you may easily divine that 
 it is from a worse quarter. It is the great plot of Satan 
 to break that connexion which God has laid betwixt the 
 gospel and the law ; for he knows very well, that if the 
 gospel be separated from the law, or the law from the gos- 
 pel, in the matter of practice, not one of the command- 
 ments of the law can be obeyed to purpose. And this first 
 command in particular, if it be disjoined from the gospel 
 promise laid in the preface, / am the Lord thy God, can no 
 more be obeyed by a sinner, than if he were commanded 
 to pull the sun or moon out of the firmament. Pray con- 
 sider, while you own the obligation of the precept, and 
 meanwhile refuse your interest or concern with the pre- 
 face, you acknowledge your obligation to obedience, and 
 yet at the same time cast away the foundation upon which 
 your obedience is to stand ; thus you build without a foun- 
 (^ation, and how can that building stand ? It will fall, and 
 great will be the fall of it. And therefore, in the name of 
 God, I proclaim that this promise, / am the Lord thy God, 
 is to you and your saed, and to all that are afar ofi". Did 
 not God speak to every individual in the camp, when he 
 uttered these words, / am the Lord thy God ; as well as 
 when he added. Thou shalt have no other gods before me? 
 The same is he saying to you, and me, and every one of 
 
DIOaED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 5J6» 
 
 ns ; and therefore let us not cast away our own mercy ; to 
 us, as well as unto them, ' belong the adoption, and the 
 covenants, and the giving of the law and the promises.' 
 
 Object. 4. What if all that is intended in these words, / 
 am the Lord thy God, be only either an assertion of divviie 
 sovereignty, or of an external federal relation to Israel as 
 the seed and posterity of Abraham ? and the only visible 
 church % And if so, where is there a foundation in them 
 for me to believe in him as the Lord my God ? Ans. I am 
 far from excluding any of these things the objection men- 
 tions as comprehended in these words, / am the Lord thy 
 God; and I grant, that if no more were included in them, 
 I do not see how they could be a foundation of special and 
 saving faith to me, or any else. But that it is otherwise, 
 will not readily be denied by any, if they consider what it 
 is God requires of us in the first command, as inseparably 
 connected with the preface. Pray consider it a little. Is 
 this all that God calls for by the first precept of his law, 
 to know and acknowledge him as our sovereign Lord Crea- 
 tor, or that he is a God to the visible church by external 
 federal relation % No doubt these are truths indispensably 
 to be believed : but there is more required, namely, to be- 
 lieve that he is the Lord our God in Christ, and to worship 
 and glorify him accordingly. The external federal relation 
 that God bears to the visible church, becomes special when 
 this promise is applied by a saving faith ; hence this is the 
 common argument wherewith Israel is urged to believe 
 and repent through all the Old Testament; particularly, 
 Psal. Ixxxi. 9 — 11. And whenever saving faith was acted 
 whereby their turn unto him was influenced, they com- 
 monly fasten upon, and apply this fundamental promise in 
 my text, Jer. iii. 22. So that, I say, there is more in these 
 words, / am the Lord thy God, than a bare assertion of 
 divine sovereignty, or of his covenant relation to Israel as 
 a visible church. There is in them a glorious new cove- 
 nant grant or gift that God makes of himself to us in Christ 
 as our God, to be applied by a saving faith ; and when such 
 a faith is acted upon it, the native echo of the soul unto it 
 
270 A TREASURE OP GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 is, ' This God is my God ;' I believe it, because he himself 
 hath said it, and said it not to others only but to me in 
 particular : ' I will say, It is my people ; and they shall say, 
 The Lord is my God.' 
 
 Object, 5. If this promise be made to every one in the 
 visible church, how shaU the veracity of the Promiser be 
 salved or vindicated, seeing there are many ivho come short 
 of it, many to whom he never becomes their God in a spe- 
 cial covenant relation. Unto this objection I might answer 
 by way of retort, How is it that the unbeliever makes God 
 a har, if the promise be not made to him in particular ? for 
 if the promise, and the faithfulness of the Promiser, be not 
 to him, he cannot be blamed for not believing, or not set- 
 ting to his seal to a promise never made to him. Can he 
 be condemned for not intermeddling with a thing that does 
 not belong to him 1 Again, I ask. How was it that God, in 
 a consistency with his faithfulness, made unbelieving Israel 
 to know his breach of promise, Numb. xiv. 34. after he 
 had made a grant or gift of the land of Canaan to them, 
 and promised to bring them into it, while yet they never 
 were allowed to enter it, but dropped their carcases in the 
 wilderness, God having sworn that they should not enter 
 into his rest? The faithfulness of God, in breaking his 
 promise that he had made to that generation, is salved by 
 landing the blame upon their own unbelief. They beheved 
 not his word, they trusted not in his salvation, they gave 
 more credit to the false lying report of the wicked spies, 
 than to the word and promise of him for whom it is im- 
 possible to lie ; and because they made God a Har, there- 
 fore his promise made to them turned to be of no effect 
 unto them. In like manner, a promise is left us of enter- 
 ing into a spiritual and eternal rest ; but meantime most 
 have reason to fear lest God make them to know his breach 
 of promise, by excluding them out of that promised rest, 
 because of their unbelief. The faithfulness of God is not 
 in the least impeached hereby, because the unbehever calls 
 his faithfulness in question, and rejects his promise as a 
 thing not worthy of regard. Can a man be charged with 
 
DIGGED OUT OP MOUNT SINAI. 271 
 
 unfaithfulness, in not bestowing himself and his estate 
 upon a woman to whom he has made a promise of mar- 
 riage, if the woman to whom it was made refuse his oflfer 
 and promise ? The faithfulness of the bankers of Scotland 
 is engaged in particular to the bearer of their note ; but if 
 the bearer shall tear the note, or throw it a way as a piece of 
 useless paper, their veracity is no wise impeached though 
 they never pay that man the sum contained in the note ; 
 60 is it here. 
 
 Object. 6. If I could find the marJcs and evidences of sav- 
 ing grace once wrought in my soul, then indeed I could 
 acknowledge and believe the Lord is my God ; but till then 
 I dare not, neither do I think it my duty. Ans. I do own 
 that none can warrantably draw this conclusion that they 
 are in a state of grace within the bond of the covenant, or 
 savingly interested in the Lord as their God, till they have 
 examined the matter at the bar of the word, and upon 
 trial have found such marks of grace as warrant them to 
 draw such a conclusion. But this is not the question now 
 under consideration. The question at present is. Whether 
 it be lawful and warrantable for a poor sinner, who is so 
 far from finding any works of grace or gracious qualifica- 
 tions in himself, that he can see nothing but sin and misery, 
 feels himself to be an heir of hell and wrath ; whether, I' 
 say, it be his duty, upon the footing of this covenant grant 
 and promise, / am the Lord thy God, to know, believe, and 
 acknowledge the Lord as his God ? And if this be the 
 question, which it must be, it is all one as if it were asked, 
 whether it be the immediate duty of such a person to obey 
 the first command of the moral law as it stands under a 
 covenant of grace 1 or, whether a person is to forbear obe- 
 dience to the first command in the law of God, till he find 
 gracious qualifications wrought in his soul? To affirm 
 which, were upon the matter to say, that the first com- 
 mandment of the law does not enjoin the first duty of re- 
 ligion, but that something is to be done before we do the 
 thing that God requires of us in the first place as the foun- 
 dation of all other acts of obedience ; and that is, to know 
 
272 A TREASURE OF GOSPEL GRACE 
 
 and believe that God in Christ is our God, by virtue of a 
 covenant of grace contained in these words, / am the Lord 
 thy God. Such strange absurdities we inevitably run our- 
 selves into, when we keep not in the cleanly path of faith 
 chalked out to us in the word. 
 
 Object. 7. We fear that this way of teaching lead us in 
 to a presuraptuous confidence, and therefore we are afraid to 
 meddle with it. Ans. God teaches no man to presume ~ 
 when he requires him to have no other gods before him. 
 Your approven Catechism does not teach you to presume, 
 when it tells you that God in this commandment requires 
 you to know and acknowledge him as God, and as your 
 God ; and that because he is the Lord, and our God, there- 
 fore we are bound to keep all his commandments. But 
 besides, the man who in a presumptuous way lays claim to 
 the Lord as his God, he either lays claim to him out of 
 Christ, or he does it not upon the footing of the faithful- 
 ness of God engaged in the covenant ; or else, while he says 
 with his mouth that the Lord is his God, he hath other 
 gods before him ; in wliich case, God says to the man, 
 ' What hast thou to do to make mention of my covenant ? 
 seeing thou ' hast other gods before me in thy heart, and 
 thus thou ' hatest instruction, and castest my counsel be- 
 hind thy back.' 
 
 Object. 8. God is angry, he carries toward vie as an enemy, 
 he smites by the word and rod ; how then shall I ad- 
 venture to say he is the Lord my God ? Ans. It is true 
 God was angry ; but his anger or vindictive wrath having 
 spent itself upon our glorious Surety, we may now say, 
 with the church, Isa. xii. 1, 'His anger is turned away, and 
 he comforteth us. Behold God is my salvation: I will 
 trust, and not be afraid.' Having smelt a sweet savour in 
 the sacrifice of the death of Christ, the deluge of wrath is 
 recalled, and a proclamation issued out, ' Fury is not in me : ' 
 I am the Lord thy God: Thou shalt have )io other gods before 
 me. Sirs, this is not the language of anger and wrath, but 
 the language of love, mercy, and of infinite bowels of pity and 
 good- will toward man upon earth. As for the appearance of 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 273 
 
 anger in his dispensations, no man can know either love or 
 hatred by all that is before him. The only way to judge of the 
 love of his heart, is to read it in and by his words of grace ; 
 for these, and not his external dispensations, are the exact 
 portraiture of his deep and infinite heart. It is true in- 
 deed, we are told that ' God is angry with the wicked every 
 day ; ' but what is his grand and fundamental quarrel with 
 them ? It is this, that though he has said, / am the Lord 
 thy God and Redeemer ; though he has given such a glorious 
 proof of this as to give his only begotten Son, and to give 
 him up to the death for our redemption ; though he has en- 
 gaged his faithfulness to us in a new covenant ; yet they 
 will not know and acknowledge the Lord as God, and as their 
 God, but will have some other gods before him. To con- 
 clude ; the design of all the threatenings of the word, and 
 of all the angry-like dispensations of his providence is, that 
 we may flee from his wrath, and may not rush upon the 
 thick bosses of his buckler, but may turn to him as our 
 God in Christ, and live, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 
 
 Object. 9. What if it was only to the elect or believers in 
 the camp of Israel that God spake, when he said, / am the 
 Lord thy God? If so, they cannot be a foundation of faith 
 to all. Ans. This objection still breaks the connexion God 
 has made betwixt the promise and the precept, which must 
 not be. I believe no man wiU adventure to say, that the 
 command. Thou shalt have no other gods before me, was only 
 to the elect and believers ; but to the elect and reprobate, 
 believers and unbelievers. The whole law was given to 
 every man, no man exempted ; now, did God tie them aU 
 to obedience hj his command, and yet at the same time 
 take away the foundation of obedience, which lies in the 
 promise ? No, the one must run parallel with the other ; 
 the promise in its exhibition must be as extensive as the 
 obligation of the command ; the object of faith must be 
 presented to all whose duty it is to believe ; the promise is 
 among things revealed as well as the precept, and therefore 
 do equally belong unto us. ' What God has joined let no 
 man separate.' It is true these words, I am the Lord thy 
 
 8 
 
iJ/4 A TREASUr.E OF G03?i;L GKACE 
 
 God^ considered as in liis mind, purpose, and decree, be- 
 longed only to the elect ; but considered as uttered or 
 spoken indefinitely, they cease to be a decree with respect 
 unto us ; we are to look upon them as a promise tendered 
 to us as the ground of our faith ; and so they have a respect 
 to every one commanded to have Mm as his own God. 
 
 I shall shut up this discourse with two or three words 
 of exhortation or advice to you who have in reality obeyed 
 this first commandment of the royal laAv, by laying hold 
 upon God in Christ as your God, by \'irtue of his faithful- 
 ness engaged in this glorious grant, / ara the Lord thy God. 
 what shall we, or what can we render unto him, who, 
 after we had lost him as our God by sin, renders himself 
 back to us in a new covenant, sealing it with his own blood, 
 and attesting it by the three that bear record in heaven ! 
 There are these few things the Lord thy God requires of 
 thee in a way of gratitude. 
 
 1. Love him as thy God, and love all that bear his image ; 
 for this is the sum of the ten commandments, ' Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, 
 with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy 
 neighbour as thyself.' This love is the fulfilling of the law. 
 
 2. Trust him as thy God ; ' Trust ye in the Lord for ever : 
 for m the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Trust in 
 him at all times, ye people.' Trust him for every promised 
 blessing, and ask them of him in prayer, for they are agree- 
 able to his will. ' And this is the confidence that we have 
 toward him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, 
 he heareth us. Cast all thy cares upon thy God, and in 
 every thing by prayer let your requests be made known 
 unto him.' 
 
 3. Worshij) him as thy God: 'He is thy Lord, and wor- 
 ship thou him.' And worship him in the beauties of ho- 
 liness, for ' holiness becomes his sanctuary for ever.' 
 
 4. ' Walk before thy God, and be thou perfect. All people 
 will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will 
 walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. 
 Walk worthy of liim who hath called you out of darkness 
 
DIGGED OUT OF MOUNT SINAI. 273 
 
 into his marvellous light. Let your Kght so shine before 
 men, as others, seeing your good works, may glorify your 
 Father which is in heaven,' 
 
 5. Praise, extol, and magnify him as your Ood: Exod. xv. 
 2, ' He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation ; 
 my father's God, and I will exalt him.' Let the high 
 praises of thy God be continually in thy mouth, that ever 
 said to thy soul, / am the Lord thy God. Join issue with 
 David, Psal. xviii. 46, saying, ' The Lord liveth, and blessed 
 be my Rock : and let the God of my salvation be exalted.' 
 
 6. Lastly. Disband all other gods: Thou shalt have no 
 other gods before me : let nothing usurp his room. ' Little 
 children, keep yourselves from idols. Hear, my people, 
 and I wiU testify unto thee : Israel, if thou wilt but 
 hearken unto me : there shall no strange god be in thee : 
 neither shalt thou worship any strange god. / am the Lord 
 thy God, Psal. Ixxxi. 8 — 10. 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED AND CONDEMNED. 
 
 He that believeth not, is condemned already. — John iii. 18. 
 
 Christ having, in the preceding verse, declared the great 
 end and design of his mission by the Father, or of his 
 manifestation in our nature, namely, not that he should 
 'condemn the world, but that the world through him 
 might be saved ; ' in the verse where my text lies, deduces 
 a two-fold inference therefrom. The first is very sweet 
 and comfortable, in the former part of the verse, ' He that 
 believeth on him is not condemned : ' that is, he who falls 
 in with the great end of my manifestation in the nature of 
 man, he who gives me my errand, by intrusting his lost 
 and ruined soul into my hand, although he be a sinner, 
 and a great sinner, though the law and justice of God be 
 pursuing him, for the many millions of talents he is owing ; 
 yet the process shall be stopped, the judgment arrested, 
 the sentence of the broken law cancelled, insomuch that 
 he cannot come into condemnation. And if he be not 
 condemned he must be absolved and acquitted ; I, as his 
 Surety, have paid the debt, and obtained the discharge 
 under the hand of justice ; I was made sin for him, that he 
 might be made the righteousness of God in me : and there- 
 fore, who can lay any thing to his charge ? 
 
 The second inference, drawn from the design of the in- 
 carnation of the Son of God, is very terrible and awful ; 
 and you have it in the words I design to insist a little 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 277 
 
 upon, Ih that lelieveth not, is condemned already. For which 
 there is a very relevant reason given, in the close of the 
 verse, ' Because he hath not behoved in the name of the 
 only begotten Son of God.' 
 
 In the words wc may notice, (1.) A capital crime charge- 
 able upon most of gospel hearers, not believing, (2.) An 
 awful sentence passed against the criminal ; he is condemn- 
 ed. (3.) The quality of the sentence, imphed in that ex- 
 pression, condemned already. This may point either at 
 the certainty of the unbeliever's condemnation : it is not 
 simply a thing future, or to be done; but it is done 
 already. The sentence is pronounced and gone forth 
 against him, from the mouth of the righteous Judge ; yea, 
 not only is sentence passed, but is partly executed, the law 
 having delivered him over, in a way of righteous judgment, 
 into the power and dominion of sin, which is spiritual 
 death. Or the word already may point at the severity of 
 the unbeliever's sentence ; his sin is of such a deep dye, of 
 such a criminal nature, that the Judge cannot bear with 
 it, as he doth with other sins, Psal. 1. 21. It offers such 
 indignity to his beloved Son, the darling of his soul, that 
 he cannot shun to adjudge the pannel to immediate death. 
 Or the word may intimate this much to us, that the sen- 
 tence of the broken law stands in full force and vigour 
 against the unbelieving sinner, for all his other sins : he 
 despises the only remedy, the only sacrifice for sin ; and 
 therefore every sinful thought, word and action, exposes 
 him to the just vengeance of a righteous God, in time, and 
 through endless eternity. 
 
 My doctrine is, ' That every unbeliever is a sentenced 
 and condemned criminal before God. Or, take it, if you 
 will, in the very words of the text, lie that helieveth not, is 
 condemned already^ 
 
 Here, through divine assistance, I shall speak, 
 
 I. Of the crime. 
 
 II. Of the sentence. 
 
 III. Of the ground on which the sentence is founded. 
 
 IV. Deduce some inferences from the whole. 
 
278 UNBELIEF ARRAIG]S'ED 
 
 I. I would speak a little of the crime, which is unbelief, 
 by giving some account of it. 
 
 Before I proceed to shew wherein it consists, to prevent 
 mistakes, I shall name a few things, which will not amount 
 unto this heavy charge in God's reckoning, whatever they 
 may sometimes do in the court of an erring or misinformed 
 conscience. 
 
 1. Unbehef does not lie in a person'' s heing in the dark as 
 to his actual union loith Christ, or interest in him. A real 
 believer may want the sensible assurance of God's love, 
 and yet at the same time be acting faith with an assurance 
 of appropriation upon the promise of a reconciled God in 
 Christ. Sense may be saying, as in the case of Heman, 
 Psal. Ixxxviii. ' Thou has laid m.e in the lowest pit, in 
 darkness, in the deeps, I am afflicted and ready to die, 
 from my youth up : while I suffer thy terrors, I am dis- 
 tracted.' And yet faith breathing out its appropriating 
 act, and saying, ' Lord God of my salvation ; ' will look 
 in the face of a hiding and smiting God, and say, ' Though 
 he should slay me, yet will I trust in him.' And seeing it 
 is so, it must needs follow, that unbelief does not lie in a 
 person's being in the dark as to his actual interest in 
 Christ. To say so, were to offend against the generation 
 of the righteous, who may be ' trusting in the name of the 
 Lord, and staying themselves upon their God, while they 
 walk in darkness, and see no light.' 
 
 2. Unbelief does not lie in the interruption of the actings 
 and exercise of faith. We find the faith of the most emi- 
 nent saints many times interrupted in its exercise, through 
 the prevalency of temptation and indweUing corruption. 
 In Psal. Ixxvii. 8, 9, the holy man, in a fit of unbelief, 
 cries, ' Hath God forgotten to be gracious '? doth his pro- 
 mise fail for evermore ? ' David, in a like case, gives the 
 lie to a God of truth, through the sides of all his prophets, 
 Psal. cxvi. 10, 11. ' I said in my haste. All men are liars.' 
 This was indeed a pang of unbelief, but did not argue unbe- 
 lief in its reign. Many times faith is laid asleep in its 
 habit, while yet the life of it remains ; like Samson in the 
 
AA^D CONDEMNED. 270 
 
 hands of the Philistines, though his life was continued, yet 
 the locks wherein his strength lay, were cut. 
 
 3. This unbeUef, whereof I speak, does not consist in a 
 disbelief of some particular truths of the word, through 
 igiiorance, providing they be not fundamental. Every 
 error in the head, through ignorance, does not destroy the 
 being of faith in the heart ; no more than every miscar- 
 riage in the life, through weakness, destroys the being and 
 reaUty of the grace of God in the soul. The apostles, we 
 find, all the time of Christ's life, yea, after his resurrection 
 also, were in an error as to the nature of the Messiah's 
 kingdom, imagining that it was to be modelled after the 
 fashion of the kingdoms of this world ; neither did they 
 believe the universal call and offer of the gospel unto the 
 Gentile nations, as well as to the Jews, until they were 
 convinced of their error by Peter's vision. But, notwith- 
 standing of this error of theirs, they believed in Christ as 
 the promised Messiah, and rested on him as the Saviour 
 of the world. 
 
 4. I do not here speak of the negative unbelief of the 
 heathen world, who never had the benefit of gospel revela- 
 tion. ' How shall they beheve,' says the apostle, Rom. x. 
 14, ' in him of whom they have not heard 1 ' Their unbe- 
 lief, or infidelity, is more properly their punishment than 
 their sin. They can no more be punished for not believing 
 in Christ, than a man can be condemned for not seeing the 
 sun at midnight, or than a man can be blamed for not re- 
 ceiving a gift that was never in his offer. So that it is 
 not the negative unbehef of the heathens I now speak of, 
 but the positive unbelief of those who sit under the light 
 of the glorious gospel. 
 
 But, say you, seeing none of these will amount to the 
 charge of unbelief, wherein then doth it consist ? I an- 
 swer. There are three things, any one of which will 
 amount to this capital crime. 
 
 1. A denying of the truth of the gospel; a looking upon 
 the word of God, contained in the scriptures, as a fiction 
 or cunningly devised fabU. I am very jealous, there are 
 
280 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 unbelievers of this stamp among those who are called hj 
 the name of Christians ; men pretending to be great mas- 
 ters of reason, who, because their weak and depraved 
 minds cannot grasp the unsearchable mysteries of our holy 
 reUgion, do therefore turn infidel, and reject the whole as 
 an incredible paradox. This very thing upon which they 
 stumble, proves it to be of a divine original. The un- 
 searchable wisdom that appears in every one of the works 
 of God, proves them to be indeed his works, and not the 
 works of any created being. And shall it be imagined, 
 that there is less wisdom in his words than in his works, 
 when they are the more immediate product and picture of 
 his infinite understanding, which can never be searched 
 out ? Here, if any where, we may expect the ' deep things 
 of God ; the wisdom of God in a mystery, which none of 
 the princes of this world knew.' 
 
 2. A douhting or ivavering uncertainty of mind about the 
 truths of the gospel, will amount to this crime of unbelief 
 pointed at in my text. There are some who, though they 
 do not go the length of denying flatly that the Bible is the 
 word of God, or that the gospel is of a divine original, yet 
 they are in a doubt and suspense about it ; like the wor- 
 shippers of Baal, they halt between two opinions, they nei- 
 ther beheve nor disbelieve it ; but are like the scales of an 
 even balance, ready to turn either to this or the other 
 side. Such are unbelievers, in Christ's reckoning ; for ' he 
 that is not with me,' says he, ' is against me.' 
 
 3. When though a person may be convinced in his mind, 
 by rational arguments, that the Bible is the word of God, 
 that the gospel is of a divine extract, yet does not fall in with 
 the great design of the scriptures, by receiving Christ, and 
 resting upon him alone for salvation, as he is there pre- 
 sented and discovered. We have the design of the whole 
 word of God expressed in one verse, John xx. 31, ' These 
 things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
 Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have 
 life through his name.' And, therefore, when Christ is not 
 received as the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world, 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 281 
 
 and actually improved for those ends and uses for which 
 he is revealed and exhibited in the word, particularly for 
 * wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,' 
 in this case, I say, a person falls under the heavy charge of 
 unbelief, and is condemned already. This last is the un- 
 belief which I take to be principally pointed at in my text, 
 and is most frequent and prevalent among the hearers of 
 the gospel. 
 
 II. The second general head proposed was, to give some 
 account of the condemnatory sentence passed against this 
 crime of unbelief The unbeliever is ' condemned already.' 
 
 The word rendered to condemn, is forensic, borrowed from 
 courts of judgment, where the malefactor or guilty person 
 is arraigned and indicted before the judge, his crime made 
 legally evident, and then sentence passed against him, ac- 
 cording to the nature and demerit of his crime. So here, 
 the unbeliever is, as it were, arraigned before the bar of 
 divine justice; process is led against him, and he found 
 guilty of the violation of the royal law of Heaven, and of 
 contemning the glorious remedy provided and offered in 
 the gospel ; and thereupon sentence goes forth against him 
 from the mouth of the great Judge, who hath justice and 
 judgment for the habitation of his throne. This man be- 
 lieves not in my Son, and therefore I condemn him to death 
 everlasting ; he rejects the Saviour of sinners, and there- 
 fore let him die in his sins ; he would needs seek life by the 
 law as a covenant, and therefore let the curse of that cove- 
 nant lie on him for ever. See, to the same purpose, the 
 last verse of this chapter, ' He that believeth not the Son, 
 shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him.' 
 
 1. Now the unbeliever is thus condemned already in thecourt 
 of the law as a covenant, by which he is seeking to be justified 
 and saved : Rom. iii. 19, ' Now we know, that what things 
 soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the 
 law : that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world 
 may become guilty before God.' Every unbeliever is upon a 
 law bottom, he is seeking salvation and righteousness by 
 the works of the law, by some good thing or other, which 
 
282 UXBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 he apprehends to be in him, or done by him, or which he 
 hopes to do. But I may say to you, who are of this law 
 spirit, as Christ said to the self-righteous Pharisees, John 
 v. 45, ' There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom 
 ye trust ;' where, by Moses, we must understand the law 
 of Moses. The same say I to you. The law accuseth and 
 condemneth, it is denouncing its heavy anathemas against 
 you, while you cleave to it as a covenant : ' As many as are 
 of the works of the law, are under the curse ; for it is writ- 
 ten. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things 
 which are written in the book of the law to do them.' 
 While you are out of Christ, cleaving to the law as a hus- 
 band, it lays you under the curse for every and the least 
 failure in obedience. Sirs, the vengeance of Heaven lies 
 upon you while you are under the power of unbelief : you 
 are cursed in your basket and store, in soul and body, and 
 all that belongs to you : and the curse not being causeless, 
 it shall come ; yea, it cleaves to you, and will cleave to you 
 for ever, unless by faith you flee to him who ' hath redeemed 
 us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' 
 
 2. The unbeliever is already condemned in the gospel court. 
 Now, do not mistake this way of speaking, as if, when 
 I speak of the gospel court, I meant, as if the gospel, 
 strictly considered, condemned any man. The gospel, hke 
 its glorious Author, comes not into the world to condemn 
 the world, but that the world, through it, might be saved. 
 Neither do I mean, as if there were new precepts and pen- 
 alties in the gospel, considered in a strict sense, which 
 were never found in the book or court of the law. This is 
 an assertion which has laid the foundation for a train of 
 damnable and soul-ruining errors ; as of the Antinomian 
 error, in discarding the whole moral law as a rule of obe- 
 dience under the gospel ; the Baxterian error, of an evan- 
 gelical righteousness different from the imputed righteous- 
 ness of Christ ; the Pelagian and Arminian error, of a suffi- 
 cient grace given to every man that hears the gospel, to 
 beheve and repent by his own power. But when I speak 
 of the unbeliever's being condeinned in the court of the 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 283 
 
 gospel, my meaning is, that the sentence passed against 
 him in the court of the law is aggravated and heightened 
 by his contempt of gospel grace. AU I intend by it is 
 comprised in that awful word, Heb. ii. 3, ' How shall we 
 escape if we neglect so great a salvation 1 ' or that, Heb, x. 
 28, 29, ' He that despised Moses' law, died without mercy, 
 under two or three witnesses ; of how much sorer punish- 
 ment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath 
 trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the 
 blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an un- 
 holy thing ? ' 
 
 3. The unbeliever is condemned already in the court of his 
 own conscience. Conscience is God's deputy and vicege- 
 rent, and, in the name and authority of the God of heaven, 
 it keeps a court in every man's breast, and either approves 
 or condemns, accuseth or excuseth, according to the views 
 and uptakings that it hath of the holy law of God. When 
 the law is only known by conscience in the letter of it, it 
 condemns only for sins which lie against the letter of the 
 law ; but when conscience comes to be irradiated and in- 
 structed by the Spirit of God, in the spirituality and extent 
 of the law, then it condemns even for those spiritual wick- 
 ednesses that are of a more refined nature, and which lodge 
 in the high places of the soul ; of which kind is the sin of 
 unbelief. A natural conscience, even though assisted by 
 external revelation, will smite a man for a thousand sins, 
 before it gives him one check for his unbelief. TMs seems 
 to be the peculiar province of the Spirit of God, to ' con- 
 vince the world of sin, because they believe not in Christ,' 
 John xvi. 8, 9. And ! when once conscience, by the 
 direction of the Spirit, begins to smite for this sin of un- 
 belief, there is no sin in the world that appears in such a 
 formidable hue, and there is no sin that the worm of 
 conscience will gnaw a man so much for in hell through 
 eternity, as that he had a Saviour in his offer, and yet re- 
 fused him. In a word, let a man be never so moral and 
 sober, let him have never so much seeming peace and quiet, 
 yet he still carries an evil conscience in his breast, till by 
 
284 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 faith he comes to get his heart sprinkled from an evil con- 
 science by the blood of sprinkling, Heb. x. 22. 
 
 4. The unbeliever is already condemned in the court of 
 ilie church; or, may I caU it, in the ministerial court. 
 Ministers, by virtue of the commission they have received 
 from their great Lord and Master, must ' go and preach 
 the gospel to every creature.' And having acted according 
 to their commission, they must in the same authority de- 
 clare, that he who believes this gospel shall be saved ; he 
 who believeth not shall be damned. Indeed, this ministe- 
 rial sentence is but little regarded by a profane and secure 
 world, who are ready to say or think that our words are 
 but wind. But whether sinners hear or forbear, we must, 
 by our commission, declare to the righteous or believer, 
 ' it shall be well with him ;' but ' woe unto the wicked, it 
 shall be iU with him ; for the reward of his hands shall be 
 given him.' And when this ministerial sentence, whether 
 doctrinal or judicial, is faithfully pronounced, whatever 
 men may think of it, it is ratified in heaven : Matt. xvi. 19, 
 ' Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in hea- 
 ven ; and whatsoever ye shaU loose on earth, shall be loosed 
 in heaven.' 
 
 5. The unbeliever is condemned in the court of the great 
 God. It is true, every one of these courts I have men- 
 tioned is his ; he sits as supreme Judge in each of them, 
 but they are only his inferior courts ; and while the sinner's 
 sentence is in dependence before them, there is stiU access 
 for an appeal by faith unto a throne of grace, or mercy-seat. 
 But when once a man comes to be personally sisted before 
 the bar of God at death or judgment, no further appeal can 
 be admitted ; the man then goes out of mercy's reach ; he 
 that made him will have no mercy upon him ; the things 
 that belonged to his peace are then for ever hid from his 
 eyes. that an unbelieving world may lay this to heart 
 in time, before their case become absolutely hopeless and 
 helpless : ' Consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tear you 
 in pieces, when there is none to deUver.' 
 
 III. The third thing in the method was, to inquire into 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 285 
 
 the grounds of this condemnatory sentence. And, among 
 many others, I shall instance in the few following. 
 
 1. The unbeliever is condemned already, because by his 
 unbelief he has offered the highest indignity to a Trinity of 
 persons in the glorious Godhead that a creature is capable 
 of. He despises the love of the Father, who, out of his 
 good-will and kindness to a lost world, ' gave his only be- 
 gotten Son.' He gave him to be incarnate ; he gave him 
 unto death ; and gives him and his whole purchase in the 
 revelation of the gospel, ' that whosoever believeth in him, 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life.' But now the 
 unbeliever despises all the riches of this grace and love, 
 and practically says, that the unspeakable gift of God is 
 not worthy to be taken up at his foot. And as he despises 
 the love of the Father, so he tramples upon the blood of 
 the Son, as if it were an unholy thing. He says upon the 
 matter, that Christ shed his blood in vain ; hence unbe- 
 lievers are said to ' crucify the Son of God afresh ; ' they re- 
 act the bloody tragedy that was once acted upon Mount Cal- 
 vary ; and, upon the same account, the unbelieving commu- 
 nicant is said to be ' guilty of the body and blood of the 
 Lord.' Again, the unbelieving sinner sins against the Holy 
 Ghost. I do not mean that every unbeliever is guilty of 
 the unpardonable sin, for then we need not preach the 
 gospel to them. But I mean, that every unbeliever, in re- 
 jecting Christ, runs directly cross to the work and office 
 of the Spirit, in the economy of redemption. It is the 
 office of the Spirit to co7ivince the world of sin, hecause they 
 believe not in Christ; but the man is so far from owning 
 this, that he practically denies unbelief to be any sin at 
 all. It is the office of the Spirit to convince of righteousness, 
 that is, of the necessity and excellency of the righteousness 
 of Christ for justification ; but the unbeliever goes about to 
 establish a righteousness of his own, and will not submit 
 to this righteousness of God. It is the office of the Spirit 
 to glorify Christ, to ' take of the things of Christ, and show 
 them unto us.' But the unbeliever upon the matter says, 
 ' There is no form nor comeliness in him, why he should be 
 
283 UXBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 desired.' Thus, I say, the unbeliever affronts a whole 
 Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; and therefore he is 
 condemned already. 
 
 2. The unbeliever is condemned already, because he has 
 injured all the glorioics attributes and perfections of the divine 
 nature. He rebels against awful and adorable majesty and 
 sovereignty. The authority of God is in a peculiar manner 
 interposed in the command of believing; God speaks of 
 this command as if he had never given another command 
 to the sons of men, 1 John iii. 23, ' This is his command- 
 ment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus 
 Christ.' Now, the unbeliever flies in the face of all this 
 authority, saying, with proud Pharaoh, ' Who is the Lord, 
 that I should obey him % ' Let the Almighty depart from 
 me, for I desire not the knowledge of his ways. Again, the 
 man makes a mock of the masterpiece of Infinite Wisdom, as 
 though it were nothing but arrant folly. The device of salva- 
 tion through a Redeemer is the wisdom of God in a mystery ; 
 it is hidden ivisdom; but the unbeliever, with the Greeks, calls 
 it foolishness ; and, with the Athenians, looks on it as mere 
 bahUing, when it is brought out in a gospel revelation. The 
 unbeliever also spurns at the bowels of infinite and amazing 
 love ; yea, as it were, runs a spear into the bowels of a com- 
 passionate God, which are sending -out a sound after him, 
 "• turn ye, turn ye ; why will ye die 1 As I live, I have 
 no pleasure in your death.' He dares and challenges Omni- 
 potency to do its worst, while he refuses to take sanctuary 
 in Christ, and to turn in to the stronghold, where he may 
 be sheltered from the storm, wind, and tempest of divine 
 vengeance. He laughs at the shaking of God's spear and 
 the whetting of his glittering sword. He gives the lie also 
 to the veracity of God, 1 John v. 10, ' He that believeth 
 not God, hath made him a liar ; ' not as if he could do so 
 indeed, for God will be true, and every man a liar \ but the 
 unbeliever does what he can to make God a liar. Tliis is 
 the language of his sin, God is a liar, he is not to be trusted, 
 there is no truth in his words : which is blasphemy in the 
 highest degree. Thus, I say, the unbelieving sinner injures 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 287 
 
 God in all his glorious excellencies. And is it any wonder, 
 then, though he be condemned already ? 
 
 3. Another ground of this awful sentence is, because the 
 man counteracts and runs directly cross to the most glorious de- 
 signs that ever God had in view ; I mean, his designs in the 
 work of redemption through Christ. I shall only clear this 
 in two or three instances. (1.) God's design in redemption 
 was the illustration and manifestation of his own glorious 
 excellencies, which were sullied or obscured by the sin of 
 man; but the unbeliever, as was showed just now, does his 
 uttermost to darken and affront every one of them. (2.) 
 God's design is, that in all things Christ should have the 
 pre-eminency ; that he should have ' a name above every 
 name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.' 
 But now the unbeliever, like the devil, being lifted up with 
 pride, refuses to bow or submit to that name jehovah- 
 TSiDKENu, The Lord is our righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 15. Rom. 
 X. 3. He refuses to own or bow unto that royal name 
 written upon his thigh and vesture, Rev. xix. 16, The 
 Kino of kings, and Lord of lords. He joins in a confed- 
 eracy with those who refuse to stoop under his royal 
 sceptre, saying, ' Let us break his bands asunder, and cast 
 away his cords from us,' Psal. ii. 3. (3.) God's design in 
 redemption is, that grace only should reign, and that ail 
 ground of boasting and gloriation should be cut off from 
 man for ever, so as he that glorieth may glory only in the 
 Lord. But now the unbeliever's language is. Not grace but 
 self shall reign. He chooses rather to be damned for ever 
 than submit to grace's government, 'reigning through right- 
 eousness unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' 
 "What, says the man, will not ' God be pleased with thou- 
 sands of rams 1 ' &c. If God will give him life for some 
 equivalent, some good thing wrought in him or by him, he 
 is content ; but to take it for nothing as the gift of free 
 grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, this is too low a bar- 
 gain for his proud heart to stoop to. And for this pride 
 of his heart,which makes him to run cross unto God's glo- 
 rious designs in redemption, he is condemned already. 
 
288 • UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 4. He is condemned already, because his sin (I mean his 
 unbelief) is of a more criminal nature, in God's reckoning, 
 than any other sin that can be named or thought upon. 
 The sin of Adam, in eating the forbidden fruit, was a most 
 aggravated crime. But yet the sin of unbehef far sur- 
 passes it. Again, unbelief is more criminal than the sin of 
 the Jews in crucifying of the Lord of glory. Nay, unbelief 
 is worse than the sin of Sodom, which provoked God to 
 rain hell out of heaven upon its inhabitants. ' It shall be 
 more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of 
 judgment, than for' Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and 
 other cities where Christ had preached. Still farther, all the 
 sins of the blinded nations are not comparable to the sin 
 of unbelief. We have a black roll of their sins, Rom. i. 
 toward the close : but yet Christ speaks of them as no sins 
 in comparison of the sin of those who remain in unbelief 
 under the drop of the gospel : ' If I had not come, and 
 spoken unto them, they had not had sin : but now they 
 have no cloke for their sin.' Witchcraft is a very mon- 
 strous sin ; what a sin for a man or woman to enter into 
 compact with the devil, and give themselves soul and body 
 to be his for ever : and yet the unbeliever does the same 
 upon the matter ; for he is in league with hell, and with 
 death is he at an agreement. I remember, the rebellion of 
 Saul against the express command of God, ordering him 
 utterly to destroy the Amalekites, is compared to the sin 
 of witchcraft, 1 Sam. xv. 23. Now, the unbehever rebels 
 against the greatest command that was ever issued out 
 from the throne of the Majesty on high. I shall only add, 
 that unbelief is a sin attended with aggravations which are 
 not to be found in the sin of de\ils. The devil never re- 
 jected a Saviour, as the unbeliever does ; for ' he took not 
 on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.' 
 Some think that the devil, and his angels who joined him, 
 were cast out of heaven for refusing to be subject to God 
 in man's nature, when intimation of this design was made 
 in heaven. No doubt he would have been well enough 
 pleased to subject himself to God, manifesting himself in 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 289 
 
 the nature of angels ; but to be subject to God manifested 
 in the flesh, he looked upon it as a disparagement. But 
 the unbeliever rejects God appearing in his own nature, 
 saying, ' We will not have this man to rule over us.' Is 
 it any wonder then, though the unbeliever be condemned 
 already ? 
 
 5. He is condemned already, because unbelief is the 
 spring and ringleader of all other sins. Every sin is a 
 turning away from the living God: and whence comes 
 this, but from an evil heart of unbelief? Heb. iii. 12. The 
 name of the sin of unbelief may be Gad, for a troop doth 
 follow it. Why are men proud 1 why are their hearts lifted 
 up within them, as if they were rich, and increased with 
 goods, and stood in need of nothing 1 Why, the reason is, 
 they do not believe the verdict of the Spirit of God con- 
 cerning them, that they are indeed wretched and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked. Why are men covetous? 
 why have they the world set in their hearts, but because 
 they do not believe that Christ is a better good than this 
 world and the things of it 1 Why are men uncharitable to 
 the poor, but because they do not believe that what is 
 given to the poor is lent to the Lord, and that he will pay 
 it again ? Why are men secure in a way of sin, crying, 
 Peace, peace, but because they do not believe that wrath 
 and destruction from the Lord is pursuing them 1 Why 
 is the blessed Bible so much slighted and neglected by 
 many, like an almanack out of date, but because they do 
 not believe it to be the word of God, or that eternal life is 
 found therein 1 Why do people generally hear us, who arc 
 ministers, preaching the everlasting gospel, with such wan - 
 dering hearts and careless ears, but because they do not 
 believe that we are ambassadors for Christ, and that God 
 doth beseech them by us to be reconciled unto him 1 Why 
 do many hve in the neglect of prayer ? Why are they so 
 formal, heartless, and careless in prayer, but because they 
 do not believe God to be the hearer of prayer ? Why aro 
 there so many hypocrites, contenting themselves with a 
 show of religion, but because they do not believe there is a 
 
290 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 reality in religion, and that God searches the heart, and 
 tries the reins ? Why do men remain under the power of 
 natural enmity, but because they do not believe that God 
 is love, 1 John iv. 16. and that, through the ransom he 
 hath found, he bears a hearty good-wUl toward them ? 
 Ezek. xxxiii. 11. Whence comes that flood of profanity, 
 which, hke Jordan, has overrun all banks and bounds in 
 our day, such as cursing, swearing, cheating, lying. Sab- 
 bath-breaking, thefts, robberies, forgeries, and the like 
 abominations? Why, the plain reason is, they do not 
 believe there is a God, or that ever they shall stand before 
 his tribunal to answer for the deeds done in the body. 
 The plain language of the heart of unbelief is, ' The Lord 
 doth not see, neither doth the God of Jacob regard ; ' and 
 therefore they give themselves loose reins in a way of sin. 
 
 To conclude, unbelief is the principal pillar of the deviVs 
 kingdom in the vjorld, and in the soul of man. Let this 
 pillar be but broken, and aU his strong-holds go to ruin. 
 Faith is the radical grace, which gives life and spirit 
 to all the other graces ; it is the spring of all true gospel 
 obedience, therefore called the obedience of faith; so, in like 
 manner, unbelief is the radical sin, which gives life and 
 spirit unto all vicious habits and acts of disobedience in 
 the life and conversation. Faith is a shield that beats back 
 the fiery darts of Satan ; so unbelief is a shield that beats 
 back all the good motions of the Spirit of God. Faith is 
 the victory whereby we overcome the world ; unbelief is 
 the victory whereby the world overcomes us. After all, is 
 it any wonder though such a severe sentence pass against 
 the unbelieving sinner, as that in my text, He that helieveth 
 not, is condemned already? 
 
 IV. The fourth and last thing proposed, was the appli- 
 cation, which I shall endeavour to discuss in a few in- 
 ferences. 
 
 Inf. 1. See hence a very relevant reason, why ministers 
 of the gospel do insist so much upon the subject of faith or 
 believing. Why, it is for unbelief, that sinners are con- 
 demned already ; and there is no way to free them from 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 291 
 
 this sentence, but by bringing them to believe in the Son 
 of God. Unbelief is the main pillar of the devil's kingdom ; 
 and therefore the main batteries of the gospel must be 
 raised against it. It is but at best a foolish ignorant cavil 
 of some against ministers, Why so much insisting upon 
 faith 1 are not other things as necessary to be preached 1 
 I answer, Other things are necessary in their own place, 
 but faith or believing in the first place : and till we bring 
 you to believe we do nothing at all, this being the laying 
 the foundation of all religion ; and, you know, it is foolish 
 to think or speak of rearing up a superstructure, till the 
 foundation be once laid. Can we ever make you accepted 
 of God without faith in his Son ? No, sure, ' Without faith 
 it is impossible to please him:' we are 'justified by faith 
 without the works of the law,' Can we ever make you the 
 members of Christ without faith? No, this is the very 
 bond of the soul's union with him ; ' Christ dwells in our 
 hearts by faith.' Can we ever make you the children of 
 God who are by nature the children of wrath, without 
 faith ? No, ' We are the children of God by faith in Christ 
 Jesus.' It is to them who receive him that he gives 'power 
 or privilege to become the sons of God, John i. 12. Let us 
 press and inculcate the duties of holiness with never such 
 flourishing harangues of rhetoric, we shall never make you 
 holy, till we once land you in Christ by faith, he being the 
 fountain and root of holiness ; therefore said to be ' made 
 of God unto us sanctification.' In one word, whatever 
 duties we inculcate upon you, we only call you to build 
 castles in the air, to build a tower without a bottom, un- 
 less we first bring you to Christ by that faith which is of 
 God's operation. 
 
 Inf. 2. See hence the miserable and mournfvZ condition of 
 the generality of gospel hearers; they are a company of con- 
 demned men, under sentence of death. that God may 
 dart home an arrow of conviction on the hearts of unbe- 
 lieving sinners, and persuade them of the truth of my 
 doctrine, that every unbeliever is condemned already. I am 
 sure it is true, whether you believe it or not ; and you shall 
 
292 UNBELIEF AKRAIGNED 
 
 find it to be so, sooner or later. Sirs ! here is a hand- 
 writing against you, that may make the joints of your loins 
 to loose, and your knees to smite one against another ; He 
 
 THAT BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY. And, that 
 
 I may, if possible, awaken you to some serious thought and 
 concern about this matter, will you consider whose sen- 
 tence it is 1 It is none other than God's sentence of con- 
 demnation. It is somewhat awful and terrible, to be 
 arraigned and condemned at the bar of man ; what then 
 must it be to be condemned at Jehovah's bar? The 
 Judge is omniscient ; his eyes are as a flame of fire ; he set- 
 teth our secret sins in the light of his countenance, so that 
 the crime cannot be concealed from him : his justice is un- 
 biased ; his eye cannot be blinded with bribes : the arm 
 of his power cannot be stayed from the execution of the 
 sentence. What a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands 
 of this living God 1 He is indeed a consuming fire. The 
 solemnity of the bench adds to the terror of the criminal ; and 
 you may see with what solemnity the bench is to be reared, 
 before which you and I must stand ere long, Matth. xxv. 
 31, ' When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all 
 the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne 
 of his glory.' ! whither will the unbeliever fly for help ? 
 or where will he leave his glory at that day ? If hills and 
 mountains could cover him, he would choose far rather to 
 be buried under them, than appear before the face of the 
 Lamb, when he comes on his circuit as the universal Judge 
 of all the earth. You may read your doom, Matth. xxv. 
 41, ' Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- 
 pared for the devil and his angels.' The sentence being 
 passed, there can be no stop in the execution ; the Judge 
 will have his officers at hand, an innumerable host of 
 angels, all ready for this service: these reapers shall 
 gather the tares, bind them in bundles, and burn them. 
 The Judge will stand and see the sentence executed before 
 his face, saying, ' Those mine enemies which would not 
 that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them 
 before me,' Luke xix. 27. Among all the innumerable 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 293 
 
 multitudes of angels, men, and devils, who shall be specta- 
 tors of the righteous execution, there shall be no eye to 
 pity; and the reason is, because the sinner wilfully, 
 through unbelief, slighted Christ the only Saviour, and re- 
 fused to accept of pardon and redemption through his 
 blood. Who will pity the traitor, who dies for his treason, 
 rejecting his prince's pardon presented to him to the last ; 
 Christ would have gathered you, as the hen gathers her 
 chickens under her wings, and ye would not ; and there- 
 fore ye must die without pity, and without remedy. 
 
 Inf. 3. See hence how ill-grounded the joy and triumph of 
 a Christless unbelieving world is. We would think that 
 man beside himself, who, being under sentence of death, 
 and to be brought forth in a little unto the place of execu- 
 tion, would spend any little time he has, in eating, drink- 
 ing, dancing, and revelling. Yet this is the very case with 
 the generality; they take up the timbrel and harp, rejoice 
 at the sound of the organ ; they spend their days in wealth 
 and ease, without ever thinking, that they are condemned 
 already by the great God. All I shall say, to stop your 
 career at present, is this ; The triumphing of the unbeliev- 
 ing sinner is short, and his, jog hut for a moment. You may 
 indeed ' kindle a fire, and compass yourselves about with 
 sparks : but tliis shall ye have of the Lord's hand, ye shall 
 lie down in sorrow,' Isa. 1. 11. 
 
 Inf. 4. See hence, that it is everg man'^s dutg ayid interest 
 to examine and trg, whether he he under this heavg sentence, 
 yea, or not. It is a miserable thing to be under sentence 
 of death, and to know nothing of it. Neither will a man 
 ever seek to be freed from it, till he be convinced that he 
 is indeed under it. I shall give you the few following 
 characters of such as are under sentence of condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 1st. You who never yet saw yourselves to he condemned in 
 the court of law and conscience for sin, and particularly 
 for the sin of unbelief, you are surely under sentence of 
 death to this day ; for the first work of the Spirit, when 
 he comes to liberate a poor soul from condemnation, is to 
 
294 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 'convince the world of sin; of sin, because they beKeve 
 not on him,' John xvi. 8, 9. 
 
 2dly. You whose minds are so blinded with ignorance 
 and prejudice against Christ, that you can see no form or 
 comeliness in him, notwithstanding of the bright displays 
 of his glory that are made to us in the word, you are 
 ' condemned already.' ' If our gospel be hid, it is hid to 
 them that are lost : in whom the god of this world hath 
 blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the 
 light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of 
 God, should shine unto them,' 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. 
 
 3dly. You who are yet wedded to the law as a covenant, 
 and are seeking life and righteousness by that first husband, 
 you are to this moment under the sentence of death ; for ' as 
 many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse.' 
 If you never knew what it is to be dead to the law by the 
 body of Christ, to have as little hope of life and salvation 
 by the law and its works, as though you had never done 
 any one duty commanded by the law in your whole life, 
 you are yet married to the law as a husband, consequently 
 under the law's sentence. Yea, I will adventure to say, 
 that the legalist, or self-righteous person, is a step farther 
 off from heaven and eternal life, than the grossest of sin- 
 ners ; for ' publicans and harlots,' says Christ, ' shall enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven before you.' 
 ^ 4thly. You who cast off the obligation of the law as a rule of 
 obedience, under a pretended hope of being saved by grace, 
 without the works of the law, are still under sentence 
 of death. All practical Antinomians, who are following 
 the swing of their own lusts, are under the power of 
 unbelief, and consequently condemned already. Away 
 with lying, swearing, drinking, whoring believers. Will 
 you pretend to be the people of a holy God, the members 
 of a holy Jesus, the federates of a holy covenant, the 
 heirs of an undefiled inheritance, and yet wallow in your 
 sins, or yet retain any known iniquity in your hearts? 
 No, no. To such, not I, but God himself saith, ' What 
 hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 295 
 
 shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? seeing thou 
 hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.' 
 Sirs, they that are dead to the law as a covenant, they are 
 so far from casting off its obligation as a rule of duty, that 
 they bind it about them as an ornament, choosing it for a 
 light to their feet, and a lamp to their paths. We are not 
 without law to God, when under the law to Christ. The 
 law is so dear and sweet to a true believer, that it is his 
 meditation day and night. ' how love I thy law ! ' says 
 David : as if he had said, I love it so well, that I cannot 
 tell how well I love it : ' My soul breaketh for the longing 
 that it hath unto thy judgments at all times,' Psal. 
 cxix. 20. 
 
 Inf. 5. Is it so that every unbeliever is a condemned 
 criminal before God ? then. Sirs, be concerned at your 
 hearts to get rid of that dismal sentence yoit are under. 
 What can be matter of concern if this be not ? I come, in 
 the name of God, to tell you, that this is not impossible ; 
 yea, I dare go further, and tell you, that if you will but 
 hear, your souls shall live, and not die under that condem- 
 natory sentence which is gone forth against you. I dare 
 promise you not only a reprieve, but a remission ; for thus 
 saith the great Judge, as a reconciled God in Christ, to the 
 poor trembling pannel, standing condemned before the bar 
 of his holy law, ' I, even I am he that blotteth out thy 
 transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember 
 thy sins,' Isa. xliii. 25. Here is an act of grace passed at 
 a throne of grace, sealed with the blood of the Lamb, pub- 
 lished and proclaimed in the tcps of the high places, that 
 none may pretend ignorance, and that every condemned 
 sinner may take the benefit thereof, and come in upon the 
 king's royal indemnity, granted upon the satisfaction made 
 to justice by his eternal Son. then. Sirs, ' Hear, and 
 your souls shall live, and he will make an everlasting 
 covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David,' Isa. 
 Iv. 3. ' earth, earth, earth, hear this word of the Lord.' 
 
 I come not to tell you how you may be rich, great, an,d 
 honourable in the world ; these things are but trifles to 
 
296 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 people in your circumstances. Should you come to a con- 
 demned man, and talk to him of riches, honours, crowns, 
 robes, sceptres, kingdoms : Alas I would he be ready to say, 
 what is all that to me? I am a poor man going into 
 another world within a few hours ; if you can tell me how 
 I may save my life, or how I may get rid of my sentence, 
 chains, prison, you will say something to the purpose. 
 This is the very case with thee, sinner ; for ' by the of- 
 fence of one, judgment is come upon all men to condemna- 
 tion.' And therefore, poor criminal, listen, lend me a 
 believing ear for a few moments, and I will teU thee how 
 infallibly thou shalt make thy escape. 
 
 Quest. 0, may the poor criminal say, how is that ? I 
 answer, I have no advice to give thee but one ; it is an old 
 advice, a new advice, and the only advice that can be given 
 while the world stands ; it is the very same which Paul and 
 Silas gave to a poor pannel, trembling at God's bar, crying, 
 ' What must I do to be saved 1 ' The plain advice they gave 
 him, I give this day to you, Acts xvi. 3, 1, ' Beheve on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved : ' agreeable to 
 which are the words of Christ himself, in the first part of 
 the verse where my text lies, ' He that believeth on the 
 Son of God, is not condemned : ' and ver. 16, ' Whosoever 
 believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.' 
 
 Quest. You advise us to believe in Christ, but pray tell 
 us, what is it to believe in him 1 You have the answer in 
 your Catechism : To believe, is to ' receive Christ, and to 
 rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in 
 the gospel ; ' or, in other words, it is to trust and credit 
 him, as the Sa\dour of sinners, with the salvation of thy 
 lost soul, upon the warrant of his own call and command 
 in the word. Christ's business and occupation is to save 
 that which was lost. Now, you all know what it is to 
 trust a man in his trade and occupation ; you who have 
 some business at law, know what it is to trust your advo- 
 cates with your most valuable concerns, and the whole 
 management of your cause depending before the judges. 
 Well, in like manner, to believe, is, upon the credit of 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 297 
 
 God's testimony concerning Christ in the word, to trust 
 him, as the Saviour of sinners, with the salvation of thy 
 own soul in particular. This, I say, is the business, the 
 office, and occupation of Christ, to save sinners ; and he is 
 so fond of employment in his trade of saving, that he says, 
 ' Come to me who will, I will in no wise cast out.' And 
 therefore trust in him in his occupation ; put thy con- 
 demned soul in the hand of the sinner's Saviour, for that 
 is to believe in him and on him. what a happy suitable 
 meeting is it, when the sinner and the Saviour of sinners 
 thus meet together ! Some have a notion, when we bid 
 them believe, we bid them do some great thing as the con- 
 dition of salvation. But this is a mistake. Believing is a 
 resting from works in point of salvation, and a resting on 
 Christ alone for salvation from sin, and all the effects of 
 it. It is to receive a salvation already completed and pre- 
 pared to your hand, and brought near to you in the word 
 of grace. But I must not stand further in describing faith 
 at present. 
 
 Quest. What influence (may you say) will our believing 
 have upon our being delivered from this condemnatory 
 sentence we are under ? Ans. Much every way. For, 
 
 1. That moment thou belie vest, ^Ao2^ hecomest a member of 
 Christ, ix^ a new covenant head. While under the power 
 of unbelief, thou art a member of the first Adam, and 
 consequently under Adam's covenant, which is a cursing 
 and condemning covenant to all who are under it, 'judg- 
 ment being come upon all men to condemnation,' through 
 Adam's breach of it ; but in believing, thou becomest a 
 member of Christ, the second Adam, the head of the new 
 covenant, the covenant of grace and promise, which con- 
 tains nothing but blessings to the soul that takes hold of 
 it, Rom. viii. 1, ' There is therefore now no condemnation 
 to them which are in Christ Jesus.' It is not said, there 
 is nothing culpable or condemnable in the believer ; but 
 there is no condemnation to him ; he is no more liable to 
 the penalties of Adam's covenant, Christ, his glorious 
 Surety, having endured these in his room and stead ; and 
 
298 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 it were inconsistent with justice, to demand payment of 
 the same debt, both from the cautioner and principal 
 debtor. 
 
 2. To clear this yet further, the poor soul, in believing, is 
 married unto a new husband, even Christ; and being under 
 his roof, the covert of his blood and righteousness, the con- 
 demning law can have no action against it, this new and 
 better husband having made his spouse free indeed, by the 
 imputation of his law-magnifying righteousness : Rom. vii. 
 4, ' Ye are dead to the law by the body of Christ (or, by 
 the offering of his body on the cross), that ye should be 
 married to another, even to him who is raised from the 
 dead.' He does that for us, which the law could not do, 
 through the corruption of nature ; particularly, ' condemns 
 sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be 
 fulfilled in us. Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
 ness to every one that believeth.' And if the law have its 
 end, and be fulfilled in the believer, by virtue of his union 
 and marriage with the Son of God, how can he be liable to 
 condemnation, or any law penalties ? 
 
 3. That moment the condemned sinner beheves in Christ, 
 he is entered heir of a new family, a member of a new cor- 
 poration : he is come, not to mount Sinai, but to mount 
 Zion ; not to the earthly Jerusalem, which is in bondage, but 
 to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is free. He is ' no more 
 a stranger and foreigner, but a fellow-citizen with the 
 saints, and of the household of God.' He comes in among 
 the ' general assembly, and church of the first-born.' He 
 becomes an 'heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus 
 Christ;' and the inheritance is settled upon him by a 
 charter, which contains no irritant clauses. No, no ; hav- 
 ing taken hold of God's covenant, by faith, he hath a nairve 
 and a 'place within the walls of God's house, even an everlast- 
 ing name, that shall not he cut off; and therefore must needs 
 be free from the condemnatory sentence he lay under be- 
 fore he believed. 
 
 4. That moment you believe, your cause is carried into a 
 new court; I mean, from a tribunal of justice to a mercy- 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 299 
 
 seat, where all the acts and interlocutors that pass are acts 
 of grace and mercy, acts of pardon and acceptance in the 
 beloved. No sentences of condemnation pass in the court 
 of grace : no, this is inconsistent with the nature of the 
 court. let every guilty sinner, who finds himself con- 
 demned in the court of the law, and of conscience, carry 
 his cause, by a solemn appeal, unto this court ; for the 
 court is open to aU comers, and the Lord merciful and 
 gracious, who sits upon this throne of grace, receives all 
 appeals that are made to him, and will in no wise cast out 
 the sinner, or cast his appeal over bar. 0, therefore, ' let 
 us come with boldness unto a throne of grace, that we 
 may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us in time of 
 need.' 
 
 Quest, But (may you say) if matters stand thus with a 
 believer, that he cannot fall under the sentence of the law, 
 cannot come into condemnation, then he may live as he 
 lists. Does not this doctrine open a wide door for licen- 
 tiousness and profanity 1 for if once a man be a believer, 
 according to this doctrine, he has nothing to fear, and so 
 may do what he will. "Were it not better for ministers to 
 forbear doctrines that are liable to such abuse 1 I answer, 
 
 1. The whole counsel of God must be revealed, and not 
 one iota of divine truth must be suppressed, though a 
 whole reprobate world should break their necks on it, 
 by wresting it to their own destruction. The gospel will 
 be the savour of death unto some ; Christ crucified will be 
 a stone of stumbling and a rock of ofience. But shall we, 
 because of this, forbear to preach Christ, and his gospel ? 
 God forbid ; we must not starve God's children, out of fear 
 lest dogs snatch at it to their own perdition. 
 
 2. I own, that a carnal professor, who has some swim- 
 ming notions of the grace of God in his head, may abuse 
 the doctrine of the believer's freedom from condemnation, 
 by virtue of his union with Christ ; but the grace of God 
 in the heart teaches the very reverse of this, namely, to 
 * deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly, in this present world.' 
 
300 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED 
 
 3. Though the believer be deUvered from the law as a 
 covenant, and its condemnatory sentence, through Christ, 
 yet it does not in the least pave a way to licentiousness ; 
 because at the same time that he is assoilzied and acquitted 
 from his obligation to the law as a covenant, he comes under 
 stronger and more powerful ties than ever to yield obe- 
 dience to it as a rule of duty. 
 
 I shall conclude this discourse, by naming a few of these 
 bonds of obedience the behever remains under, even when 
 delivered from condemnation. 
 
 1st. He is still under the bond of the royal authority of 
 the great God, both as a Creator and Redeemer. The 
 authority and obligation of the divine law can never be 
 dissolved, while God is God, and the creature a creature. 
 
 2dly. He is under the hand of interest to obey the divine 
 law. It is true, his obedience does not give him the title 
 to the reward of glory ; it is only his union with Christ, 
 the heir of all things, that gives him this ; but yet his own 
 personal obedience is evidential and declarative of his title 
 through Christ. And is it not much for the believer's in- 
 terest, to have his claim to glory and everlasting life cleared 
 up and made evident to his own soul? In this sense I 
 understand that word. Rev. xxii. 14, ' Blessed are they 
 that do his commandments, that they may have right to 
 the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into 
 the city.' 
 
 3dly. He is still under the bond of fear : Jer. xxxii. 40, 
 ' I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not 
 depart from me.' This is not a slavish fear of hell and 
 vindictive wrath, for that is inconsistent with his freedom 
 from condemnation ; but it is a filial fear of God as a 
 Father, flowing from an affectionate regard unto his autho- 
 rity, interposed in the commands of the law. Though 
 they be not afraid of being cast into hell ; yet they ' fear 
 him who is able to cast soul and body into hell.' Though 
 they have no reason to fear him as a revenging and con- 
 demning Judge ; yet they have much reason to fear him 
 as a fatherly Judge, lest he ' visit their transgressions with 
 
AND CONDEMNED. 301 
 
 the rod, and their iniquity with stripes?' for, pass who 
 will unpunished, they shall not pass : ' You only have I 
 known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will 
 punish you for all your iniquities.' 
 
 4thly. He is under the bond of love. He studies to love 
 the Lord his God, with all his heart, soul, strength, and 
 mind ; and this love of God in Christ, like a strong cord, 
 draws him on in the way of obedience ; ' I drew them with 
 the cords of love : ' ' The love of Christ constraineth us,' 
 says Paul. This love laid in the believer's heart, has such 
 a force and power with it, ' that many waters cannot 
 quench it, neither are all floods able to drown it,' Cant, 
 viii. 7. Rom. viii. 35, 39. 
 
 5thly. He is under the bond of gratitvde : being bought 
 with a price, he studies to glorify God in soul and body, 
 which are his. Christ having delivered him from the hand 
 of his enemies, he serves the Lord without fear, in holiness 
 and righteousness, all the days of his life. The believer, 
 when delivered from the hand of the condemning law, 
 says to Christ, as the men of Israel did to Gideon, Judg. 
 viii. 22, ' Rule thou over us ; for thou hast delivered us 
 from the hand of our enemies.' Suppose a king should 
 not only pardon a rebel, but restore him his forfeited inher- 
 itance, advance him to the highest places of honour about 
 the throne ; yea, make him his son, his heir, and set him 
 upon the throne with himself; would not that man be 
 under a far greater obligation to serve and obey the king, 
 than if he had never received such singular favours at his 
 hand 1 There is no bond of obedience like the bond of 
 gratitude to an ingenuous spirit. 
 
 6thly, He is under tlte bond of a reneived nature. The 
 man is made a partaker of the divine nature, whereby the 
 life of God, the love of God, and the law of God, is laid in 
 his very heart ; and this is a mighty bond to obedience : 
 Heb. viii. 10, * I will put my laws into their mind, and 
 write them in their hearts.' It is engraven there with the 
 finger of the Holy Ghost : his heart is cast into a divine 
 mould, moulded into the will of God, his will of grace, his 
 
302 UNBELIEF ARRAIGNED AND CONDEMNED. 
 
 will of precept, and his will of providence : so that he ' de- 
 lights in the law of God after the inward man.' ^ The law 
 of his God is in his heart/ and therefore ' none of his 
 steps shall slide.' 
 
 Lastly, The inhabitation of the Holy Ghost is another 
 efficacious bond to obedience: Ezek. xxxvi. 27, 'I will put 
 my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my sta- 
 tutes; and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.' 
 This law of the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus, 
 makes them ' free from the law of sin and death.' And 
 being led by the Spirit, they do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. 
 To conclude, that very grace of God which frees them 
 from the law as a covenant, binds them to it as a rule, Tit. 
 ii. 11, 12. 
 
 These are some gospel bonds of obedience : and you who 
 never knew what it is to have your souls under the sweet 
 influence of these, but only obey the law with a view to 
 purchase a title to heaven, or to redeem your souls from 
 hell and wrath, I, in the name of God, pronounce the 
 heavy doom of my text against you, He that believeth notj 
 is condemned already. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 THE STONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS. 
 
 The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head 
 stone of the corner. — Psal. cxviii. 22. 
 
 {Preached before the Synod of Perth and Stirling, Oct. 10, 1732.) 
 
 It is probable this psalm was penned by David when the 
 ark of God was brought up from the house of Obed-edom, 
 to its proper place in Jerusalem, after the intestine broils 
 between the house of David and Saul had happily issued 
 in David's promotion, by the common consent of all the 
 tribes to the crown and kingdom of Israel. But though 
 this was the occasion, yet the Spirit of God had in it a 
 further view, namely, to Christ himself, of whom David 
 and his administrations were but a faint type and shadow. 
 David's accession to the throne was through many 
 storms of opposition, for although God had chosen and or- 
 dained him for the kingdom and government ; yet he was 
 opposed by the house of Saul, and them who adhered to 
 that family; but after all the house of David prevailed. 
 Just so was it with the son of David, our glorious Re- 
 deemer : hell and earth combined against the Lord and his 
 Messiah, but God had determined that the government 
 should be upon his shoulders, that his king should be set 
 upon his holy hill of Zion ; and he carries his design 
 against all opposers, as you see in my text. The stone 
 which the builders rejected, the same is made the head stone of 
 iJie corner. 
 
304 THE STO^'E EEJECTED 
 
 I need not stay to prove that these words are to be un- 
 derstood of Christ, after the express application that is 
 made of them to him by himself and his apostles in the 
 scriptures of the New Testament, Matth. xxi. 42. Acts iv. 
 11. 1 Pet. ii. 7, 8. Eph. ii. 20. 
 
 In the words we may notice the following particulars, 
 (1.) The metaphorical view in which the church is here 
 represented, namely, that of a house or building. (2.) The 
 character that our Immanuel bears with respect to this 
 building; he is the stone in a way of eminence, without 
 whom there can be no building, no house for God to dwell 
 in among the children of men. (3.) The character of the 
 workmen employed in this spiritual structure, they are 
 called builders. (4.) A fatal error they are charged with 
 in building of the house of God ; they refuse the stone of 
 God's choosing ; they do not allow him a place in his own 
 house. (5.) Notice the place that Christ should and shall 
 have in this building, let the builders do their worst, he is 
 made the head stone of the corner. The words immediately 
 following declare how this is effected, and how the saints 
 are affected with the views of his exaltation, notwithstand- 
 ing of the malice of hell and earth, ' This is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.' 
 
 In discoursing of this subject, I shall just follow the 
 order of the text now laid down, by explaining the par- 
 ticidars named, and then deduce a few inferences from the 
 whole. 
 
 I. Let us take a \dew of the church under the notion of 
 a house or building. This metaphorical view of the church 
 is very frequent in the scriptures, both of the Old and New 
 Testament. Isa. ii. 2, 3, ' It shall come to pass in the last 
 days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be esta- 
 blished in the top of the mountains. — And many people 
 shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the moun- 
 tain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.' The 
 same way of speaking occurs also in the scriptures of 
 the New Testament, 1. Cor. iii. 9, ' Ye are God's husbandry, 
 ye are God's building.' Hence Paul writing to Timothy, 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 305 
 
 directs him how to behave himself in the church of God, 
 which is the house of the living God. 
 
 Now, with relation to this house or building, I offer the 
 following particulars. 
 
 1. That though God took up house with man at his 
 creation, yet by the faU of Adam the family was scattered. 
 God broke up house with man, the family was parted, and 
 the breach was wide like the sea. God could have no 
 fellowship with man ; for what fellowship could there be 
 betwixt light and darkness, betwixt God and Belial ? And 
 immediately man like the prodigal forsook God, and wan- 
 dered into a far country of sin and vanity. 
 
 2. God had a stated design from eternity, that notwith- 
 standing of this breach, he would have a house and dwell- 
 ing with fallen man. He designed to take up house, and 
 gather the family again ; hence we are told, that ' before 
 the foundation of the earth, he rejoiced in the habitable 
 parts thereof, and his delights were with the sons of men.' 
 The foundation of this building was laid in the council of 
 peace, and all the stones and materials of it were seques- 
 trated and set apart. From the ancient years of eternity 
 Christ was chosen as the foundation and the chief corner- 
 stone : * I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, 
 or ever the earth was.' And all the saints were elected as 
 living stones, to be renewed, justified, adopted, sanctified, 
 and eternally saved in him and through him : Eph. i. 3 — 5, 
 * He hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the 
 world ; he hath predestinated us unto the adoption of chil- 
 dren, that we should be holy, and without blame before 
 him in love.' 
 
 3. Before this designed building could go up, heaven mi.tst 
 he at an infinite expeiise. Before one stone could be laid in 
 the building, the glory of the infinite God must be veiled 
 with a veil of flesh in the person of the eternal Son, the 
 great Lawgiver must be made under his own law, God 
 blessed for ever must be made a curse, and the Holy One 
 of God made sin. Justice had determined, that ' without 
 the shedding of blood there should be no remission of sin ;' 
 
 u 
 
306 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 and except justice was satisfied, and the honour of the law 
 repaired, God could never dwell upon honourable terms 
 with man upon earth. Oh, the expense that God is at in 
 building this house ! We must be redeemed from the hand 
 of justice, 'not with silver and gold, or such corruptible 
 things, but with the precious blood of Christ,' <fcc. 
 
 4. Every stone of this building is digged out of the deep 
 and dark quarry of nature^ being ' dead in trespasses and 
 sins, children of wrath even as others, alienated from the 
 life of God through ignorance, aliens to the commonwealth 
 of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise ;' in a word, 
 there is not worse stuff in hell itself, than the stones of 
 this building are by nature. And who can quarrel with 
 the great Builder for taking one stone out of the quarry, and 
 leaving another behind him as he has a mind % Only when 
 we look to the rock whence we were hewn, and the pit 
 whence we were digged, we may say, ' Who made u& to 
 differ ? for a Syrian ready to perish was our father.' 
 
 5. The great engine the glorious Builder makes use of 
 for gathering the stones of the building, and carrying on 
 the edifice, is the pure preaching of the everlasting gospel. 
 This is what the prophet, Isa. xxvii. 13, foretells, ' And it 
 shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet 
 shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to 
 perish, in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land 
 of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at 
 Jerusalem.' It pleases God, by the fooUshness of preach- 
 ing, to save them that beUeve. It is the gospel that is 
 ' the power of God unto salvation ; ' for ' therein is revealed 
 the righteousness of God from faith to faith,' Rom. i. 16, 
 17. When Christ sent forth his apostles and ministers, as 
 founders of the New Testament church, what were they to 
 do ? Their commission was, to go into all the world, and 
 to preach the gospel to every creature under heaven : ' Go, 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Hence the apostle 
 declares, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5, ' The weapons of our warfare are not 
 carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of 
 
BY THE BUILDEllS. 307 
 
 strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high 
 thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, 
 and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience 
 of Christ; 
 
 6. The church thus gathered and united under Christ as 
 a glorious head, is the house of God, or his family upon earth. 
 He has a manifold right unto her ; a right by election, a 
 right by redemption and purchase^ a right by covenant and 
 possession. 
 
 II. The second thing proposed was, to speak a little 
 here of the character given unto Christ, with relation to 
 this building; he is the stone. There are a great many 
 stones in a building ; but in this spiritual building of the 
 house of God, Christ is the stone, in a way of eminence and 
 excellency, as if the whole building were of one piece, inti- 
 mating, that Christ and his church are so closely united 
 as to become one body and one spirit. Upon this account 
 the whole building is called by the name of Christ, as the 
 principal part thereof, 1 Cor. xii. 12, ' As the body is one, 
 and hath many members, and all the members of that one 
 body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.' So Jer. 
 xxxiii. 16, — ' And this is the name wherewith she shall be 
 called,' viz., the church. The Lord our Righteousness ; the 
 very name given unto Christ himself, chap, xxiii. 6. I 
 conceive that Christ is called the stone here, for the same 
 reason that he elsewhere calls himself a rock, ' Upon this 
 rock will I build my church,' to intimate that he is the 
 strength and stability of his church. Now, the excellency 
 and necessity of this stone, to the rearing and building of 
 the house of God, will appear, if we consider, 
 
 1. That he is the stone of God's choosing : 1 Pet. ii. 4, 
 ' Chosen of God and precious.' Isa. xlii. 1, ' Behold my 
 servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul 
 delighteth. Foreordained before the foundation of the 
 world.' 
 
 2. He is the stone of God's approbation. Though he be 
 disallowed of men, he had his Father's testimony from 
 heaven with an audible voice, ' Tliis is my beloved Son, 
 
308 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 in whom I am well pleased.' And as he is approved of 
 God, so he is approven of by every wise builder. They 
 will be ready to say with Paul, ' This is a faithful saying, 
 and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into 
 the world to save sinners.' 
 
 3. He is the stone of God's trying: Isa. xxviii. 16, 'Be- 
 hold, I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone.' He was tried 
 in the furnace of his Father's wrath, and he abode the 
 trial ; for he came forth more glorious than ever, in his 
 resurrection from the dead. He stood the trial of the rage 
 of men and devils, who endeavoured to stop him in his re- 
 deeming work. All the saints in heaven, and all believers 
 on earth, have tried him, and will give him this testimony, 
 that ' he is able to save to the uttermost,' 
 
 4. He is the only living and life-giving stoiie, 1 Pet. ii. 4, 
 ' To whom coming, as unto a living stone. As the Father 
 hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have 
 life in himself.' He is ' the resurrection and the life ; ' 
 and all the stones of the building derive their life from 
 him : 1 Peter ii. 5, ' Ye also as lively stones are built up a 
 spiritual house. He that hath the Son, hath life. Our 
 life is hid with Christ in God.' 
 
 5. He is the stone that is laid by the hand of Jehovah 
 as a foundation in Zion: ' Behold I lay in Zion for a foun- 
 dation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a 
 sure foundation,' Isa. xxviii. 16. He was laid decretively 
 from eternity ; he is laid doctrinally and declaratively in a 
 preached gospel ; and he is laid efficaciously in a day of 
 power, when the sinner is, by the power of the eternal 
 Spirit, determined to take hold upon him by faith. He is 
 laid a foundation, and the only foundation of hope and 
 help for perishing sinners. Men have been trying in all 
 ages to lay other foundations, but stiU they have proven 
 foundations of sand : ' another foundation can no man lay, 
 than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.' They who attempt 
 to rear a church without Christ, or to build up to themselves 
 a hope of salvation without him, have only built castles in 
 the air, and their building has always turned to nought. 
 
BY -THE BUILDERS. 309 
 
 6. He is the matchless and incomparable stone, for he is 
 tJie chief stone of the corner; the brightness of his Father's 
 glory is in him, and the express image of his person. AU 
 created glory shrinks into nothing and darkness, when he 
 appears ; for he is ' fairer than the children of men, as the 
 apple-tree among the trees of the wood : ' and he casts a 
 lustre and glory on the whole building, and every stone in 
 it, for we are ' beautiful through his comeliness ; ' the 
 beauty of the Lord is upon his saints. 
 
 III. The third thing to be discoursed of a little, was the 
 workmen employed in rearing this spiritual building or 
 fabric of the church, here caUed builders. Christ himself 
 is the principal builder to whom the work is committed ; 
 Zech, vi. 12, 13, ' Behold the man whose name is the 
 Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he 
 shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build 
 the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory.' But 
 he employs officers under him for the carrying on of the 
 work, and these are called builders. Kings, and those in 
 civil authority, when in their sphere they lend their help- 
 ing hand to advance and carry on the work of God, may 
 be called builders of the church. But under the New 
 Testament I find this term applied only to ministers of the 
 gospel, ordinary or extraordinary. Eph. iv. 11, 12, ' He 
 gave some, apostles : and some, prophets : and some, evan- 
 gehsts : and some, pastors and teachers.' For what end ? 
 It is for the edification of the church, or building the body 
 of Christ: and 1 Cor. iii. 10. Paul declareth there, that 
 ^ according to the grace given him, he, as a wise master 
 builder, had laid the foundation.' So that ministers of the 
 gospel are especially the New Testament builders. 
 
 Now, with relation to these, there are only these few 
 things I suggest. 
 
 1. It is a very honourable employment to be a builder of 
 the house of God. It is an employment wherein the Son 
 of God as Mediator is engaged ; and is it not an honour to 
 be co-workers with him 1 David esteemed it an honour to 
 be a door-keeper in the house of our God : but it is yet 
 
310 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 more so to be a builder of the house. And as the work is 
 honourable, so the reward of grace is proportioned ; for, if 
 we keep the charge committed to us in building the house 
 of God, we shall have place among them that stand by the 
 heavenly throne. ' And they that be wise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many 
 to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.' 
 
 2. None can warrantably lay a stone in this building ex- 
 cept he he regvlarly called. What mason will put his hand 
 to a building unless he be employed by those who have 
 warrant to caU him? This is such a necessary circum- 
 stance, that Christ himself would not meddle with build- 
 ing his Father's house till he had his Father's call. ' Ko 
 man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called 
 of God as was Aaron : so also Christ glorified not himself, 
 to be made an high-priest ; but he that said unto him, 
 ' Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee,' Heb. v. 
 4, 5. There is a twofold call necessary for a man who 
 meddles as a builder in the church of God ; there is the 
 call of God, and of the church. God's call consists in his 
 qualifying a man for the work, and inspiring him with a 
 holy zeal and desire to employ those qualifications for the 
 glory of God and the good of his church. The call of the 
 church lies in the free choice and election of the Christian 
 people. The promise of conduct and counsel in the choice 
 of men that are to build the church, is not made to patrons, 
 heritors, or any other particular set of men ; but to the 
 church, the body of Christ, to whom apostles, prophets, 
 evangelists, pastors and teachers are given. As it is a 
 natural privilege of every house or society of men, to have 
 the choice of their own servants or ofiicers, so it is the 
 privilege of the house of God in a particular manner. 
 What a miserable bondage would it be reckoned for any 
 family to have stewards or servants imposed upon them by 
 strangers or enemies, who might give the children of the 
 family a ' stone for bread, or a scorpion instead of a fish,' 
 and poison instead of a medicine ? And shall we suppose, 
 that ever God granted to any set of men, patrons, heritors, 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 311 
 
 elders, or whatever they be, a power to impose servants on 
 his family, without their consent, being the freest society 
 in the world 1 But I pass this at present ; perhaps more of 
 it may occur afterwards. 
 
 3. The builders of the house of God are not left to form 
 or mould the house according to their own fancy ; no, but 
 they must follow the pattern showed in the holy mount of 
 divine revelation. When the tabernacle was reared, a 
 platform of it was given to Moses ; when the temple was 
 to be built, a pattern of it was given to Solomon by his 
 father ; and every pin of the tabernacle, and every stone of 
 the temple, was to be regulated and disposed according to 
 the divine order. Now these were but types of the New 
 Testament building, whereof we now speak. Who builds 
 a house without forming a plan of it to the builder ? Who 
 erects a society without giving orders about its govern- 
 ment 1 They who assert the government of the church to 
 be ambulatory, cast a reflection on the wisdom of God, 
 which is not to be supposed of any wise man whatever. 
 Now, I say, as builders of a house must renounce their 
 own schemes, and follow the orders of the owner, so min- 
 isters, and church officers, in building the house of God, 
 must renounce carnal policy, and the wisdom of the world, 
 and follow the orders given by God in his word, the perfect 
 rule of faith and manners both to ministers and church 
 members. What the particular model of the church should 
 be, is a thing I hope beyond controversy amongst us, who 
 are so solemnly engaged to maintain the doctrine, disci- 
 pline, worship and government of this church ; and there- 
 fore I do not enter upon it now. 
 
 4. God has endowed men whom he calls to build liis house, 
 with difierent talents and abilities, according to the differ- 
 ent services they are to be employed about in the work. 
 There are a great variety of gifts bestowed by Christ upon 
 his ministers, all calculated for the good of the church of 
 God in general: the apostle illustrates this argument at 
 great length, 1 Cor. xii. through the whole of the chapter. 
 If this were but duly considered, it would cure all manner 
 
312 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 of strife and emulation among the builders, that they should 
 not grudge one against another. 
 
 5. The gifts of men, however edifying or well adapted for 
 carrying on the work, will never do service without the 
 Uessin-g and countenance of the great IMaster builder. ' Paul 
 may plant, and Apollos water ; but God giveth the increase :* 
 and it is well that it is so ordered of Infinite Wisdom, that 
 men may not give greater glory to instruments than is due, 
 and that the whole glory may redound to the Lord ; for this 
 end he ' puts the treasure in earthen vessels, that the ex- 
 cellency of the power may be of him.' 
 
 6, The work of God is many times exceedingly marred^ 
 through the weakmss or wickedness of pretended builders. 
 But this leads me to, 
 
 IV. The fourth thing proposed, which was, to speak of 
 the fatal error of these builders spoken of in my text ; they 
 reject the stone, without which their whole building was no- 
 thing but a medley of confusion, however glorious it might 
 appear in their own eyes : The stone is rejected hy the builders. 
 
 They seemed to have a great zeal for the Messiah and 
 his kingdom ; yet when he comes, they do not allow him a 
 room in his own house : ' He came unto his own, and his 
 own received him not ;' and so they fulfilled Isaiah's pre- 
 diction of him, Isa. liii. 2, ' He hath no form nor comeli- 
 ness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that 
 we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men.* 
 And because they rejected him, he hath rejected them as 
 a church and nation ; and, happy had it been, if their 
 error and ruin thereupon, had served as a beacon to other 
 churches since their day, not to dash upon the same rock ! 
 But here a question naturally arises. 
 
 How did the Jewish builders reject the stone which God 
 hath ordained to be the chief stone of the corner ? Ans, 
 This came about through a great many corruptions which 
 they introduced, both in principle and practice. I shall 
 only name a few of them, and leave it to every one to 
 judge how far such evils or corruptions are to be found 
 in our own day. 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 313 
 
 1. Though they pretended a great regard unto the holy 
 law of God, and cried out upon Christ and his apostles as 
 enemies to it ; yet they narrowed and contracted the sense 
 and meaning of it, confining it merely to the letter, with- 
 out searching into its extent and spirituality, which gave 
 occasion unto Christ's sermon on the mount. By these 
 means, though their hearers might have some notions of 
 moral honesty, yet could they have no notion of the depra- 
 vation of nature, and of the deceit and desperate wicked- 
 ness of their hearts, without wliich no man can ever know 
 the need he has of the work of regeneration, or of a Saviour 
 from sin. 
 
 2. Having pared off the spiritual meaning of the law, 
 they sought justification hy the works thereof, and thought a 
 man's own personal obedience enough to recommend him 
 to God; as is clear from Rom. ix. 31, 32, 'Israel, which 
 followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained 
 to the law of righteousness. Wherefore 1 Because they 
 sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the 
 law: for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone.' And 
 Rom. X. 3, ' For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, 
 and going about to establish their own righteousness, have 
 not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.' 
 They could frame no notion to themselves of justification 
 by the imputed righteousness of the Messiah, though God 
 had told them that their righteousness and their works 
 could not profit them, that it was a bed too short, and a 
 covering too narrow for them. 
 
 3. These builders, through the legality of their doctrine, 
 shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. They would 
 neither enter themselves, nor suffer others that were en- 
 tering to enter. God had told them that the blessings of 
 his covenant must be had without money, or price ; but 
 they would needs pawn their legal qualifications upon 
 God, and barter the matter with him : and thus, instead 
 of casting out the stones, or preparing the way of the 
 people, Isa, Ixi. 10. they threw stones and stumbling-blocks 
 in the way of the salvation of sinners by the Messiah, 
 
314 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 4. These builders deadened the ordinances of God by their 
 formality. Though they retained the shell of ordinances they 
 never regarded the end, either with respect to their own 
 souls, or the souls of their people, which was fellowship 
 and communion with God therein ; for which reason God 
 declareth his abhorrence of his own institutions, Isa. i. 11, 
 12, &c. ' To what purpose is the multitude of your sacri- 
 fices unto me ? saith the Lord : I am full of the burnt-oflfer- 
 ings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in 
 the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats,' kc. One 
 of the great sources of this evil was, that if a man had been 
 trained up at the feet of Gamaliel for a few years, and got 
 a smack of the learning then in vogue, it was enough in 
 their opinion to qualify him for being a builder in the 
 house of God, though in the mean time he was an utter 
 stranger to the work of God on his soul; as is evident 
 from the instance of Nicodemus, who, when Christ tries 
 him upon the head of regeneration, babbles and speaks 
 nonsense. John iii. 4, ' How can a man be born when he 
 is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's 
 womb, and be born ? ' Hence is that sharp challenge, ver. 
 10, ' Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these 
 things?' There Christ speaks of it as a thing criminal, 
 that men should be made teachers of the church, who 
 were strangers to a work of grace ; for what but dead for- 
 mal worship could be performed by men ' dead in trespasses 
 and sins ? ' 
 
 5. They were continually dahhling in 'politics, and gave 
 themselves up to the conduct of carnal wisdom and policy 
 in the matters of God and of his church ; and through tliis 
 carnal wisdom, they were led on to crucify the Lord of 
 glory. ' It is expedient that one man die for the people : 
 and if he be not taken out of the way, the world will go 
 after him ; and so the Romans shall come and take away 
 our kingdom.' "When once a church comes to stand upon 
 the rotten prop of carnal wisdom and policy, she is near 
 unto ruin. It is true, ministers are to be wise as ser- 
 pents ; but the wisdom of the serpent will soon lead us off 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 315 
 
 our feet unto pernicious courses, if not attended with the 
 simplicity of the dove; and therefore we need, 'that in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, 
 but by the grace of God, we should have our conversation 
 in this world.' 
 
 6. The Jewish builders valiced themselves exceedingly upon 
 their contiexion with the riders and great folk in that day ; 
 and having joined interests with them, treated the com- 
 mon people, especially those who owned Christ, and at- 
 tended his ministry and that of his apostles, as an unhal- 
 lowed mob ; as is clear from John vii. from ver. 45. and 
 downward, where they having sent some of their officers 
 to apprehend Christ, the officers return, declaring that 
 * never man spake like this man ; ' to which the Pharisees 
 reply, ' Are ye also deceived ? Have any of the rulers or 
 of the Pharisees believed on him ? But this people who 
 knoweth not the law are cursed.' As if the common peo- 
 ple had been obliged to follow them, and the rulers with 
 whom they connect themselves, by an implicit faith and 
 obedience, without ever bringing their doctrine and actions 
 to the bar of the law and testimony to be tried there. 
 
 7. They and the rulers having got the ascendant in the 
 sanhedrim, and other courts, they took care to keep the power 
 upon their side, by bringing in none but men of their own 
 stamp and spirit. And if any man adventured to open his 
 mouth, or testify against their corruptions in principle or 
 practice, presently combinations are formed, plots are laid, 
 and the edge of the church's discipline which they had 
 grasped, is turned against him as a turbulent person, an 
 enemy to the law and temple ; as is clear from their manage- 
 ment with Christ, his apostles, and the protomartyr Stephen. 
 But yet, notwithstanding of their pretended regard to the 
 temple, they admitted the buyers and sellers to enter into 
 it, whereby they turned that holy place into a den of 
 thieves, as Christ tells them to their face, John ii. 16. and 
 Matth. xxi. 13. And whatever regard they pretended to 
 the law, by a show of sanctity before the world, yet they 
 abandoned themselves to all manner of secret and heart 
 
316 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 wickedness : hence our Lord compares them unto painted 
 sepulchres; glorious without, but within full of dead men's 
 bones and rottenness, Matth. xxiii. 27. 
 
 8. Again, however careful they were to cloak and pal- 
 liate their secret wickedness, yet now and then it was break- 
 ing out, to the great scandal and offence of the poor 
 people of God ; by which means they made themselves con- 
 temptible, and caused many to stumble at the law, and 
 abhor the sacrifices of the Lord as administrated by them ; 
 as is plain from Mai. ii. 8, 9, ' Ye are departed out of the 
 way : ye have caused many to stumble at the law : ye have 
 corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. 
 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base be- 
 fore aU the people according as ye have not kept my ways, 
 but have been partial in the law.' 
 
 9. Having lost the hearts of the people by these means, 
 they gave themselves up to all manner of sloth and indolence, 
 taking care to feed their own bellies, and enrich themselves 
 with the good of this world, while in the meantime they 
 entirely neglected the flock and heritage of God. Hence is 
 that charge against them by the prophet, Isa. Ivi. 10 — 12, 
 ' His watchmen are blind : they are all ignorant, they are 
 all dumb dogs, they cannot bark ; sleeping, lying down, 
 loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can 
 never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot 
 understand : they all look to their own way, every one for 
 his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch 
 wine, and we w^ill fill ourselves with strong drink, and to- 
 morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.' 
 
 10. Those Jewish rulers ruled the Lord^s people with rigour, 
 invaded their freedoms and liberties, bound heavy burdens 
 on them, which they themselves would not touch with one 
 of their fingers ; by this means the Lord's people were scat- 
 tered from the worship of God in their synagogues, as sheep 
 having no shepherd. Hence is that plain dealing by the 
 prophet, Ezek. xxxiv. 2 — 6, ' Thus saith the Lord God unto 
 the shepherds. Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do 
 feed themselves ; should not the shepherds feed the flocks ? 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 317 
 
 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill 
 them that are fed ; but ye feed not the flock. The diseased 
 have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which 
 was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, 
 neither have ye brought again that which was driven 
 away, neither have ye sought that which was lost ; but 
 with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they 
 were scattered, because there was no shepherd ; and they 
 became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were 
 scattered. My sheep wandered through aU the mountains, 
 and upon every high hiU ; yea, my flock was scattered upon 
 all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after 
 them.' 
 
 In short, to such a degree of corruption were they ar- 
 rived, that the holy and profane, the clean and unclean, 
 vjere alike to them, provided they were of their way and 
 party : Ezek, xxii. 25, 26, ' There is a conspiracy of her pro- 
 phets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the 
 prey : they have devoured souls : they have taken the trea- 
 sure and precious things : they have made her many widows 
 in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated, (as in the 
 original,) ofiered violence to my law, and have profaned 
 my holy things ; they have put no difference between the 
 holy and profane, neither have they showed difference be- 
 tween the unclean and the clean.' 
 
 Thus, the Jewish church, and particularly her pretended 
 builders, we see were sunk into the very dregs of corrup- 
 tion. And hence it came, that when the glorious and long 
 looked for Messiah actually appeared among them, upon 
 the stage of this world, instead of giving him a reception 
 suitable to his excellency, as Immanuel, God -man, they 
 treated him with the utmost contempt. Though he opened 
 his commission, and made it evident to the world, by his 
 doctrine, miracles, and the whole of his conversation, that 
 he was none other than the brightness of his Father's glory, 
 yet they disparaged his person, denied his supreme Deity, 
 esteeming him only as the son of the carpenter, contra- 
 dicted his doctrine, and studied to obscure his miracles, by 
 
318 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 ascribing them to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of 
 devils. They blackened his character with reproaches, as 
 though he had been a glutton, a wine-bibber, a friend of 
 pubhcans and sinners ; and at length crucified him igno- 
 miniously, as though he had been a notorious impostor, 
 betwixt two thieves. And when, after his resurrection 
 from the dead, he came to them in the ministry of his 
 apostles, bringing his righteousness and salvation near unto 
 them, they finally rejected him, and all the ofiers of his 
 grace ; for which reason God was provoked, by a heavy sen- 
 tence of excommunication, to cut them off from being a 
 church or nation, under which they are lying to this day, 
 his blood being upon them and upon their children, accord- 
 ing to their wish at his crucifixion. And thus we see 
 how the stone of God's choosing was rejected by the builders. 
 Let their example and ruin serve as so many beacons, that 
 we of the Gentile churches may not dash ourselves upon 
 the same church ruining and soul destroying rocks, which 
 is the very use the apostle Paul makes of this subject, when 
 writing to the Romans, chap. xi. 20 — 23, ' Well ; because 
 of unbelief they were broken ofi", and thou standest by faith. 
 Be not high minded, but fear. For if God spared not the 
 natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 
 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on 
 them which fell, severity ; but towards thee, goodness, if 
 thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt 
 be cut oflf.' Which melancholy event actually happened 
 unto the church of Christ at Rome, as we see at this very 
 day, it being now the seat of Antichrist, and a synagogue 
 of Satan. 
 
 V. The fifth thing in the method was, to inquire what 
 may be implied in Christ's being made the head stone of 
 the corner, notwithstanding of the attempts of the builders 
 to jostle him out of his place. 
 
 1. Then, it implies Christ's exaltation and victory over all 
 his enemies and opposers ; he will have the better of them, 
 let them do their worst. However Christ and his cause, 
 interest, and people, may be borne down for a while, yet 
 
BY TDE BUILDERS. 319 
 
 the scales will turn, and, like the house of David, they 
 shall prevail. Christ was personally oppressed and afflicted, 
 ' he drank of the brook in the way ;' yet at length ' he lifted 
 up the head, and God hath highly exalted him, and given 
 him a name above every name.' And as it was with 
 Christ personal, so it will be with his injured members. 
 However they be ' afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not 
 comforted, yet God will lay their stones with fair colours, 
 and their foundations with sapphires.' Though Sion may 
 be laid in ashes, yet she shall be built up again by the al- 
 mighty God ; and when the Lord brings her forth to the 
 light, then ' shame shall cover her who said, Where is the 
 Lord thy God ? ' 
 
 2. It implies, that God has a great regard for the glory of 
 his Son, as the head and king of his church ; and that it is 
 his will, ' that aR men should honour him, even as they 
 honour the Father.' This was intimated by a royal man- 
 date, issued forth from the excellent glory, ' This is my be- 
 loved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him.' God 
 does not reckon it any injury done to him as God Creator, 
 that we worship and serve him in the person of the Re- 
 deemer, for ' his name is in him ;' his glory, his majesty, and 
 other excellent perfections, are in him as they are in the 
 Father ; and therefore it is his will, ' That at the name of 
 Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess, 
 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' 
 
 3. It implies, that the whole spiritual fabric or building 
 of the church hangs upo7i him, as the superstructure leans 
 upon the foundation and chief corner-stone. ' He shall 
 build the temple, and bear the glory,' says the prophet 
 Zechariah ; and Isa. xxii. 24, ' They shall hang upon hira 
 all the glory of his Father's house.' All the doctrines of 
 the church and truths of the everlasting gospel lean upon 
 him ; he is their Alpha and Omega ; hence we read of ' the 
 truth as it is in Jesus ;' they meet in him as the spokes of a 
 wheel in the nave. All the promises meet in him, ' they 
 are in him yea and amen.' All the precepts lean upon his 
 authority ; for the law is ' the law of Christ,' it is his ' yoke 
 
320 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 and burthen.' The whole discipline of the church hangs 
 upon him ; the keys of doctrine and discipline hang at his 
 girdle. The government of the church pertains to him ; 
 for it is laid upon his shoulders. The ordinances and wor- 
 ship of the church hang on him ; no sort of worship, or a 
 part of worship, can be admitted, but what bears the im- 
 pression of his institution. The officers of the church hang 
 upon him for their commission, and success in their work. 
 In a word, all the members of the church hang upon him ; 
 ' the whole offspring and issue, the vessels of small quantity, 
 from vessels of cups to vessels of flagons, hang on him, as 
 upon a nail fastened in a sure place.' 
 
 4. His being made the head stone of the corner implies, 
 that he is the alone centre of unity in the church ; for the 
 head stone of the corner knits the whole building together, 
 and if that be removed, the walls of the house fall asunder, 
 and so the 4whole fabric is ruined. If we do not hold the 
 head stone of the corner, by which the whole building is 
 supplied and knit together, the fabric of a church, however 
 politically framed, can never stand long. And the reason 
 why the house is tottering at this day, is because there is 
 too much of receding from the corner-stone. Usually in- 
 deed, in a time of defection, the pulpits of those builders 
 whose hands are deepest in it, ring with the doctrine of 
 peace. And if a tongue be moved against the corrupt 
 measures they are going into, the cry is raised, ' These 
 that turn the world upside down, are come hither also.' 
 While in the mean time it is such as depart from the cor- 
 ner-stone that ruin and tear the building, and not they 
 who give warning to the house or family of its being in 
 danger of falling. They who do give warning may lay 
 their account to be beaten by their fellow-builders, that 
 are leaving the corner-stone. But this needs be no surprise, 
 for in all ages Christ's witnesses have tormented them that 
 dwell upon the earth ; and it needs be no discouragement, 
 for though they may be killed and buried, yet there will be 
 a resurrection both of names and persons. 
 
 5. His being the head stone of the corner implies, that 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 321 
 
 Christ is the heauti/ and ornament of his church; for much 
 of the beauty and ornament of the building lies in the 
 corner-stone. We are told, the daughters of Zion were 
 ' like a corner-stone, polished after the similitude of a 
 palace.' Christ is ' the glory of his people Israel:' and no 
 wonder, for he is * the brightness of his Father's glory.' 
 When he is in the midst of his church, countenancing his 
 ordinances and judicatories, then it is ' she looks forth a<i 
 the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terri- 
 ble as an army with banners : ' but when he departs, all 
 the glory departs, and a dismal Ichabod succeeds : ' Yea, 
 woe also unto them when I depart from them ; ' as may be 
 seen at this day in the once famous churches of Lesser 
 Asia, and other places where Christ had once flourishing 
 churches. They departed from the chief corner-stone, in 
 doctrine, discipline, worship, and government, and this 
 provoked him to depart; and upon his departure, the 
 songs of their temples were turned into bowlings. 
 
 6. It implies, that they who would build the church of 
 Christ must still have him in their eye, and that the whole 
 of their conduct and administration in the house of God 
 must be regulated with a view to his glory and honour. 
 If in building a house, the chief corner-stone be not kept 
 in view, irregular work cannot miss to ensue. Just so is 
 it in the case in hand ; if we shall pretend to build the 
 house of God ; and do not keep our eyes on Christ, and his 
 honour and interest, whether in matters of discipline or 
 doctrine, instead of building the church, we do but disor- 
 der and disturb it, and throw all into confusion. When we 
 begin to work by carnal policy, or to have a squint eye 
 upon serving the lusts and humours of men, great or small, 
 or our own worldly interests, and not the glory of our 
 great Redeemer, we but ruin and pull down the church of 
 Christ, instead of building it ; and are fair to bury our 
 name, our ministry, and our own souls, and the souls of 
 multitudes, in the rubbish of it. Therefore there is much 
 need of disinterested views in the management of the 
 affairs of Christ. We that are ministers, as well as others, 
 
 X 
 
322 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 have much need to learn the lesson of self-denial ; to deny 
 our own wisdom, and our worldly interest, as a trifle in 
 respect of his glory, and the advancement of his kingdom. 
 
 7. The text implies, that God and corrupt builders are 
 driving quite different measures and designs. The builders 
 reject the stone, but God will have it to be the head stone 
 of the corner ; and which of the parties shall prevail, it is 
 easy to judge. Christ shall sit at his Father's right hand, 
 till aU his enemies be made his footstool. He will break 
 them that rise up against him as a potter's vessel. ' I 
 have set my king, says the Lord, upon my holy hill of 
 Zion ; ' and who is he that will dethrone him 1 
 
 VI. What was last proposed in the method, was the 
 application of the whole. All the use I shall make of 
 what has been said, shall be wrapt up in the following 
 inferences. 
 
 Inf 1. From what has been said, we msijsee the excellency 
 of the church of Christ ; why, she is a building, an house 
 for God to dwell in among the children of men. So valu- 
 able is this building, that this whole visible creation is 
 only a theatre or scaffold for rearing the house ; and when- 
 ever the building is completed, the scaffold will be taken 
 down and committed to the flames. To discover the high 
 estimate God puts upon his church, he calls her by the 
 most endearing names and epithets. He designs her his 
 spouse, his love, his dove, his undefiled, his treasure, his por- 
 tion, his HephzihaJ^ and Beulah, his bed, his resting-place, 
 Ms walking-place, and his dwelhng-place. A whole Tri- 
 nity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, lay themselves out in 
 their particular economy for the upbuilding of this house : 
 the grace of the Father, the love and blood of the Son, and 
 all the gracious influences and operations of the Holy 
 Ghost, are laid out for carrying on the work.' The whole 
 administrations of providence in the government of the 
 world are adjusted for the benefit of the church, and the 
 faithful members thereof For tiiis end the reins of ad- 
 ministration, the keys of hell and death, were committed 
 into the hands of Christ; for ' God hath given him to be 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 323 
 
 the head over all things to the church, which is his body.' 
 The Father hath put all things into the hand of the Son, 
 that so all the wheels of providence might be roUed and 
 turned about * for the good of them that love him, and 
 who are the called according to his purpose.' The whole 
 institution and administration of gospel ordinances, and 
 all the officers of his ordination, whether ordinary or ex- 
 traordinary, are designed for her edification, as we see in 
 that forecited Eph. iv. 11, 12, 13, &c. This may let us see 
 what a valuable trust we have among our hands, to whom 
 God has committed the affairs of the church, and how 
 tenderly it concerns us to manage them, even Hke those 
 who are to make an account to the great Lord of the 
 house. 
 
 Inf. 2. Is Christ the stone in a way of eminence 1 Then 
 we may see how necessary and useful it is to preach Christ ; 
 why, he is the stoiu by way of eminence, the stone of God's 
 laying, of his choosing, and the stone which God will have 
 for head stone of the corner. Paul, as a wise master builder, 
 laid this foundation among his hearers, and declares that, 
 * another foundation can no man lay.' It is ' Christ whom 
 we preach.' ' I desire,' says he, ' to know nothing among 
 you, but Christ, and him crucified.' The whole of the 
 scripture revelation meets in him as its centre ; all the 
 histories, prophecies, promises, types, precepts, doctrines, 
 and ordinances of the word, are just full of Christ. The 
 whole Bible, what is it but the testament of Christ, and 
 the testimonial that Christ brought from heaven ? ' These 
 are they which testify of me.' ' These things are written, 
 that ye may believe in the name of the only begotten Son 
 of God, and that believing ye may have life in him.' And 
 to be sure what is the scope of the whole revelation of the 
 mind of God in the word, ought to be the scope and design 
 of all our sermons. Whatever particular doctrines we 
 insist upon, ought still to be grafted upon the blessed 
 Branch that springs out of the root of Jesse; for the 
 truth is only right dispensed, and right known as it is in 
 Jesus. Hence the great Mr. Durham tells us, in his first 
 
3«Mt THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 sermdn on Isa. liii. that ' Christ stands under a fourfold rela- 
 tion to preaching. 1. He is the text of it. All preaching is 
 to explain him ; and that preaching that does not stand in 
 relation to him, is a preaching besides the text. 2. He is 
 the ground work and foundation of preaching. So that 
 preaching without him wants a foundation, and is but 
 building castles in the air. 3. He is the great end of 
 preaching, namely, to set him on high in the hearts and 
 affections of our hearers. This design of preaching is not 
 to make ourselves, but our Master, great, to cause his 
 name to be remembered. 4. He is the very power and 
 life of preaching : for he is " the power of God, and the 
 wisdom of God ; " and the gospel is called " the power of 
 God unto salvation, because therein is revealed the righte- 
 ousness of God from faith to faith." ' — Thus far that great 
 man. 
 
 Inf. 3. If the ministers of the gospel be builders of the 
 house, then see hence the need of trying a man's acquaint- 
 ance with Christ and the power of religion, before he is 
 admitted unto ministerial communion, as a fellow-builder 
 in the house of God. Why, that man who is not really- 
 acquainted with Christ in an experienced way, may be fair 
 to reject the stone of God's choosing, and so ruin the 
 building, and bury himself and many souls in the ruins of 
 it. Masons know one another, they have certain signs 
 and words by which they are capable to distinguish men of 
 their own art and business from others ; so skilful builders 
 in the house of God are capable, by a spiritual discerning, 
 to know who are fit for being admitted to the work of the 
 Lord, and who not. If such a discerning be given, even 
 unto church members, as to ' try the spirits, whether they 
 are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into 
 the world,' 1 John iv. 1. much more may it be supposed 
 that this discerning faculty is to be found among faithful 
 ministers of the gospel. Hence is that of the apostle to 
 Timothy, 2 Epist. ii. 2, ' The things that thou hast heard 
 of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to 
 faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.' 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 325 
 
 Inf. 4. Is it so that the stone is rejected by the builders? 
 Then see hence wliat a fatal and pernicious thing a corrupt, 
 erroneo'ics, and ignorant ministry is to the church of Christ: 
 why, they spoil, mar, and destroy the whole building ; they 
 run counter to the great plot of heaven, by casting away 
 the stone which God has ordained to be the chief stone of 
 the corner. The new mode of preaching some men have 
 fallen into with their harangues and flourishes of morality, 
 while Christ is scarce named, from the beginning to the 
 end of their discourse, I look on as a plot of hell to throw 
 out the corner-stone, in order to bring us back unto 
 Heathenism or Antichristian darkness. Christ is ' the 
 light of the world ;' and if he be removed, or shuffled out, 
 where are we, but just among the ' dark places of the 
 earth, which are full of the habitations of horrid cruelty 1 ' 
 So that, I say, a corrupt ministry, whatever be their fine 
 parts, are the very bane of the church of Christ. 
 
 Inf. 5. If it be God's great design, that Christ should be 
 the chief stone of the corner ; if this, I say, be the resolu- 
 tion of heaven ; then, see hence, that all the attempts of hell 
 for the dep>ressing of Christ and the ruin of his cause, 
 whether by open enemies, or pretended builders, shall he 
 abortive in the issue ; for ' the counsel of the Lord wUl 
 stand, and he wiU do all his pleasure,' in spite of hell and 
 earth. And what is his pleasure and counsel 1 Why, here 
 it is. The stone which the builders rejected, the same shall be- 
 come the head stone of the corner. The gates of hell have 
 made many an attempt to get the stone of God's choosing 
 rejected, in order to the ruin of the church; but they 
 have never yet prevailed, and never shall : Infinite Wisdom 
 hath always ' taken the wise in their own craftiness, and 
 turned the counsel of the froward headlong,' and made 
 these very devices of hell and its instruments subservient 
 to lift the corner-stone higher in the building, to the 
 shame and ruin of those who attempted to reject it. 
 This ' little stone cut out of the mountain,' hath always 
 proved too hard for all the metals that clashed with it, and 
 it will be so to the end of time. 
 
326 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 Inf. 6. See from what is said, what it is makes a flourish- 
 ing church. It is not her external peace, plenty, or pros- 
 perity ; not her connexion in poUtics with kings or par- 
 liaments, patrons, heritors, or any other sort of men ; but 
 her connexion with the chief corner-stone. This, and this 
 only, is what beautifies the whole building, and makes her 
 ' increase with the increase of God.' 
 
 Inf. 7. See hence great ground of lamentation and humi- 
 liation at this day. The stone is rejected, which God 
 would have to be the chief stone of the corner. Is he not 
 rejected in his prophetical office, through the prevailing 
 ignorance and unbelief that is to be found among the 
 hearers of the gospel? The old complaint may be still 
 renewed in our day, * Who hath believed our report 1 ' Is 
 he not rejected in his priestly office, while the generality 
 with the Jews, ' go about to establish their own righteous- 
 ness, and refuse the righteousness of God ] ' And is he not 
 rejected in his kingly office and headship in his church, by 
 the abounding profanity, atheism, and immorality of 
 our day ; the generality of professed Christians breaking 
 his bands, and casting his cords from them? I cannot 
 now stand to give a full narrative of these things, but the 
 injuries that have been done to the royal prerogative of 
 this King of kings, and Lord of lords, claim a more parti- 
 cular reference. 
 
 The Roman Antichrist has for a long time invaded the 
 prerogative of the Son of God, by usurping a headship 
 over the church : ' He sits in the temple of God exalting 
 himself above all that is called God.' At the imperfect 
 reformation of England, when they threw off the Pope as 
 the head of the church, they lodged the same in the King, 
 declaring him to be supreme head in all cases civil or eccle- 
 siastic. In the late days of Scotland's apostacy from God, 
 the crown was sacrilegiously taken from Christ's head 
 among us also, and set upon the head of a persecuting 
 apostate. Dreadful were the invasions and encroachments 
 that were made upon the crown royal of the King of Zion, 
 by king, parliaments, and persons of all ranks ; particu- 
 
BY TIIS BUILDERS. 327 
 
 larly by the act rescissory, whereby axes and hammers 
 were lifted up upon the carved work of the temple, hewing 
 down the glorious work of reformation, restoring abjured 
 Prelacy, rescinding the obligations of our solemn cove- 
 nants, yea, ordering them to be burnt at the cross of 
 Edinburgh, by the hand of the common hangman, prose- 
 cuting to the very death all that owned a work of refor- 
 mation. 
 
 In those bloody days, the headship and sovereignty of 
 Christ was contended for by many of the Lord's worthies 
 even unto death ; and it has been the peculiar honour of 
 the church of Scotland, particularly in those days of per- 
 secution, to bear testimony unto Christ, as the alone head 
 and king of his church, in opposition unto these dangerous 
 and heaven-daring encroachments that were made upon it. 
 And it is much to be regretted and lamented, that since 
 the Lord turned back our captivity, in any measure, at the 
 late wonderful revolution, whereby we were freed from 
 the yoke of lordly Prelacy, we have not been so zealous for 
 our great King, and his prerogatives, which were so much 
 invaded, as might have been expected, upon our deliver- 
 ance from that Egyptian thraldom. I do not remember of 
 any particular act of Assembly, since the revolution, 
 whereby the rights of the crown of Christ are asserted, in 
 opposition to the encroachments that were made upon 
 them in those days of public apostacy and persecution. 
 Yea, instead of that are there not invasions and encroach- 
 ments made upon the authority of Christ, and the immu- 
 nities of his kingdom, even since that period, particularly 
 in the end of Queen Anne's reign, when designs were 
 formed for the overthrow of a Protestant succession ? 
 His headship and authority was invaded by an almost 
 boundless toleration of all errors in doctrine, and corrup- 
 tions in worship, excepting Popery and blasphemy against 
 the Holy Trinity ; two evils that never prevailed more in 
 the memory of man in these lands, than since the tolera- 
 tion act was passed. His authority was at the same time 
 invaded by the act restoring patronages, whereby power is 
 
328 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 given to a malignant lord or laird, to present a man to 
 take the charge of precious souls, who has perhaps no more 
 concern about their salvation than the Great Turk. 
 
 And is it not matter of lamentation, to see some of the 
 judicatories of this church, whose province it is to contend 
 for the sovereignty of Christ, and the rights of his subjects, 
 falling in with patrons and heritors of the nation, in oppo- 
 sition to the known rights of the Christian people to elect 
 and choose their own pastors ? How are the rights of the 
 Lord's people invaded and trod upon by violent settlements 
 up and down the land ? A cry is gone up to heaven against 
 the builders, by the spouse of Christ, like that. Cant. v. 7, 
 'The watchmen that went about the city, found me, they 
 smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls 
 took away my veil from me.' A cry and complaint came 
 in before the bar of the last Assembly, for relief and re- 
 dress of these, and many other grievances, both from 
 ministers and people ; but instead of a due regard had 
 thereto, an act is passed confining the power of election 
 unto heritors and elders, whereby a new wound is given to 
 the prerogative of Christ, and the privilege of his sub- 
 jects. I shall say the less of this act now, that I had 
 opportunity to exoner myself, with relation to it, before 
 the national assembly, where it was passed. Only allow 
 me to say, that whatever church authority may be in that 
 act, yet it wants the authority of the Son of God. All 
 ecclesiastical authority under heaven is derived from him j 
 and therefore any act that wants his authority, has no 
 authority at all. And seeing the reverend synod has put 
 me in this place, where I am in Christ's stead, I must be 
 allowed to say of this act, what I apprehend Christ him- 
 self would say of it, were he personally present where I 
 am, and that is, that by this act the corner-stone is receded 
 from, he is rejected in his poor members, and the rich of 
 this world put in their room. I say, were Christ here pre- 
 sent, I think he would say with relation to that act, ' In as 
 much as ye did it unto one of the least of these, ye did it 
 unto me.' By this act Christ is rejected in his authority, 
 
Br THE BUILDEUS. 329 
 
 bocause I can find no warrant from the word of God, to 
 confer the spiritual privileges of his house upon the rich 
 beyond the poor : whereas by this act, the man with the 
 gold ring and gay clothing is preferred unto the man with 
 the vile raiment and poor attire. I add further, that this 
 act, I judge, is inconsistent with the principles and the 
 practices of the best reformed churches, asserted in their 
 public confessions of faith, and particularly with the known 
 principles of this church since the reformation, asserted in 
 our books of discipline, which we are bound by solemn 
 covenant to maintain. I am firmly persuaded, that if a 
 timely remedy be not provided, this act will very soon ter- 
 minate in the overthrow of the Church of Scotland, and of 
 a faithful ministry therein, in regard that the power of 
 electing ministers is thereby principally lodged in the 
 hands of a set of men who are generally disaffected to the 
 power of godliness, to the doctrine, disciphne, worship, and 
 government of this church, as well as to the government 
 of our gracious sovereign King George, and the Protestant 
 succession in his family. 
 
 All sound Presbyterians, who read the history of our 
 forefathers, generally approve of the practice of Mr. Samuel 
 Rutherford, Mr. James Guthrie, and other ministers of 
 this Church, who protested against the resolutions, as a 
 thing inconsistent with our covenants, and prejudicial to 
 the work of reformation, although thereby the door was 
 only opened to malignants to come into places of civil or 
 military trust ; and we who live at this time of day, may 
 see the pernicious effects these resolutions had in the 
 Church of Scotland. But what would our forefathers have 
 thought, or what will succeeding generations think of this 
 Act of Assembly, whereby malignants are vested, not with 
 a civil or military, but with an ecclesiastical power, in the 
 settlement of the generality of ministers through the 
 Church of Scotland ? By which means the Church of 
 Scotland, and her sacred privileges, are rendered exceeding 
 cheap, even in the eyes of her avowed enemies, this being 
 a compliment they neither expected nor desired at our 
 
330 THE ST0X2 REJECTED 
 
 hands. But, after all, I have good reason to beKeve, that 
 this act is far from being the mind of the generality of 
 presbyteries through this national church; and therefore 
 would gladly hope a seasonable stand shall yet be made 
 against it, in order to prevent its pernicious consequences. 
 
 My last inference shall be in a word of exhortation. Are 
 ministers of the gospel builders of the church, and is it the 
 great plot of heaven to have Christ exalted as the head 
 stone of the corner? Then let me call and exhort my 
 reverend brethren and fathers (and I desire to apply the 
 exhortation to myself), to concur with heart and hand, in 
 lifting wp the chief corner-stone, and making his name to be 
 remembered unto all generations, that the people may 
 praise him for ever and ever. However he has been, or 
 still is rejected by other builders ; yet let us study to exa,lt 
 him, saying one to another, ' magnify the Lord with me, 
 and let us exalt his name together.' 
 
 I shall not stay, after what has been said, to use many 
 motives ; only, in so many words, let us consider the excel- 
 lency of his person, and the relation he bears to us and 
 others of our tribe or family, both by nature and office, he 
 being ' Immanuel, God with us,' ordained the great Pro- 
 phet, Priest, and King of the church, to answer the mala- 
 dies and miseries of ignorance, guilt, and bondage, we are 
 brought under by the sin of the first Adam. Let us con- 
 sider, that it is his Father's will, ^ that all men should 
 honour him, even as they honour the Father' himself; yea, 
 his Father has ' highly exalted him, and given him a name 
 above every name,' and hath ordered that ' every tongue 
 should confess, that Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of his 
 eternal Father.' Let us consider, that this is the work of the 
 Holy Ghost, the great scope of all his dictates in the word, 
 and of aU his graces, influences, and operations in the heart, 
 being to lift up this corner-stone : John xvi. 14, ' He shall 
 glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it 
 unto you.' This is the work wherein angels delight to be 
 employed ; with what alacrity do they celebrate his nativi- 
 ty, and tell the tidings of it unto the shepherds ! Luke ii. 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 331 
 
 10, 11, ' Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which 
 shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in 
 the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.' 
 And thereupon, ver. 13, 14, ' a multitude of the heavenly 
 host praise God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and 
 on earth peace, and good-will towards men.' This was the 
 work of all the prophets under the Old Testament, they all 
 prophesied of him, ' testified of his sufferings, and of the 
 glory that should follow.' They were as so many harbin- 
 gers, sent to prepare the world for the reception of this 
 glorious person. All the apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
 pastors, and teachers, given by him unto the New Testa- 
 ment church, have had this as the great scope of their 
 ministry, to edify the body of Christ, by lifting up the 
 glory of this head stone of the corner, Rev. iv. 10. In 
 short, this is and has been the business of the church mili- 
 tant here upon earth, and will be the work of the church 
 triumphant through eternity. They all with one voice cry, 
 ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and 
 riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
 and blessing,' Rev. v. 12. And is it not glorious encourage- 
 ment to us, to lift up the honour of our Redeemer, when 
 we have such company to join us in our work ? 
 
 Again, let us consider that Christ is the stone, without 
 which there can be no building, for he is the church's all ; 
 ' Christ is all, and in all.' He is her hght, her life, her 
 righteousness, her strength, her peace, her food, her 
 clothing, her wisdom, her holiness. So that if he be want- 
 ing, all is wanting, and the church is ruined. We cannot 
 answer the commission we bear from our great Master if 
 we do not exalt the chief corner-stone. It is ' Christ whom 
 we preach,' Col. i. 28. We are to be of Paul's spirit, * to 
 know nothing' among our hearers, 'but Christ, and him 
 crucified ; ' we are ' always to triumph in the revelation of 
 Christ, so as the savour of his knowledge may be made 
 manifest by us in every place.' To conclude, we can never 
 finish our course with joy, and the ministry we have re- 
 ceived of the Lord, except this be the great scope of our 
 
332 THE STONE REJECTED 
 
 work, whether in doctrine, discipline, worship, or govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I shall shut up this discourse with a few advices in order 
 to our being successful builders of this glorious fabric, 
 whereof Christ is the head stone of the corner. 
 
 1. Then, Let us beware of the fatal errors before men- 
 tioned, whereby the Jewish builders ruined their once glo- 
 rious fabric, and buried themselves in the ruins thereof. 
 Let us beware of those doctrines vented in our day, which 
 disparage the person of our glorious Redeemer, and dero- 
 gate from his supreme and independent Deity, or his 
 headship and sovereignty in his church. Let us beware of 
 nauseating the spirituality of his doctrine, and the sublime 
 mysteries of our holy religion, preferring thereunto the 
 harangues of moralists. When we preach the law, let us 
 open it in its extent and spirituality, so as to turn its edge 
 upon the heart and conscience, that it may be a discerner 
 of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Let us preach 
 up the everlasting righteousness of the Son, as the only 
 ground of a sinner's justification, and beware of every 
 thing that has the least tendency to foster a sinner in his 
 hope of salvation by the works of the law. Let us beware 
 of blocking up the door of access to Christ, by legal qualifi- 
 cations, which are nowhere to be had but in Christ him- 
 self. Let us beAvare of formality either in preaching or 
 praying, whereby we may deaden the ordinances of God, 
 to our own souls, or the souls of our hearers ; and, in order 
 thereto, let us take care to licence or lay hands upon none, 
 but such as, in the judgment of charity, we have reason to 
 think are acquainted with the power of godliness, even 
 though they have been trained up in literature at the foot 
 of a professor of divinity. Let us beware of carnal policy 
 in the matters of Christ's kingdom and glory. Let us be- 
 ware of valuing ourselves upon the favour of men, great 
 or small. Especially let us take care, that we be not 
 swayed in the matters of Christ with the favour of great 
 men ; for this has been ' a snare on Mizpeh, and a net 
 spread upon Tabor.' Let us study impartially the exercise 
 
BY THE BUILDERS. 333 
 
 of discipline, and beware of turning the edge of it against 
 them that deserve it least. And let us set ourselves to 
 stop these passages into the house of God, by which thieves 
 and robbers must ordinarily enter, that the house of God 
 be not turned into a den of thieves. 
 
 2. In order to our being successful builders, let us seek 
 the builders' loord from the great Master builder ; for there 
 is a word which Christ gives to his faithful ministers, 
 whereby the art of building is much conveyed, John xvii. 
 14, 'I have given them thy word.' Without this word 
 from the mouth of Christ, we will never know the true art 
 of building the church : by this word the man of God is 
 made a perfect builder, thoroughly furnished unto every 
 good work. And if you ask me, what is that word ? I 
 answer. It is an experimental acquaintance with the power 
 of the word upon the soul, particularly the knowledge of 
 that leading mystery, ' God manifested in the flesh.' 
 
 3. Let us take care that ever^/ stone of the building cor- 
 respond with the foundation and corner-stone; whatever 
 doctrines or practices do not hang right with this regu- 
 lating stone ; let that be cast. In order to which, let us 
 examine our own and others' doctrines and conversation 
 by the plumb line and infallible rule of the word : ' To 
 the law and to the testimony ; if they speak not according to 
 this word, it is because there is no light in them,' Isa. viii. 20. 
 
 4. Let us observe the signs of the times ; and whenever we 
 discern the danger a-coming, either from open enemies, or 
 pretended friends, let us give the cry, like faithful watch- 
 men ; and, though fellow-builders be offended, there is no 
 help for that. It is a heavy charge that is laid by God 
 against some, as above, that they were dumb dogs, that 
 could not bark, but preferred their own carnal ease unto 
 the safety of the church, Isa. Ivi, 10, 11, 12. 
 
 5. Lastly, Let us vjrestle much at a throne of grace for the 
 countenance of the great ^Master, and assistance of his 
 Spirit ; for ' except the Lord build the house, the builders 
 build in vain. Paul may plant, and Apollos water : but it 
 is God that giveth the increase. 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE SOVEREIGNITY OF ZION S KINO. 
 
 Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. — Psal. ii. 6. 
 
 In the first three verses of this psalm, we have an account 
 of the strong opposition that is made to the kingdom and 
 government of the Messiah. One would have thought, that 
 when he came into the world, every knee would bow unto 
 him, crying, ' Hosanna to the Son of David ; ' and that all 
 the sceptres of the earth would have been laid at his feet ; 
 but never was any government so much opposed. For, 
 (1.) We are here told, that hell and earth take the alarm 
 when he appears upon the stage : ' The heathen rage,' kc. 
 (2.) The opposition they make is described ; it is spiteful 
 and malicious ; for they rage and gnash their teeth at him, 
 filled with indignation against him, Luke xiii. 14, John xi. 
 47. Acts V. 17, 33. and xix. 28, <kc. It is deliberate; they 
 take cow/isel, &c. It is resolute ; they ' set themselves against 
 the Lord,' set their faces like flint, and make themselves a 
 brow of brass. It is joint opposition; they combine. (3.) 
 What they aim at by this opposition to Christ ; they are 
 children of Belial, that cannot endure the yoke, they cast 
 away his cords, his commandments, his laws ; these are 
 what they resolve to break through. (4.) See how all 
 these designs are bafiled with the greatest ease, ver. 4, 5. 
 (5.) Notice the stability of Christ's kingdom, notwith- 
 standing of all these attempts of heU, in the words of my 
 text. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. 
 Where we may notice, 
 
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ZION's KING. 33,5 
 
 1. The royal office and character of our glorious Re- 
 deemer ; he is a King ; this name he hath ' on his vesture 
 and on his thigh/ Ilev. xix. 16. 
 
 2. The authority by which he reigns ; He is my King, 
 says God the Father, and I have set him up from everlast- 
 ing: 'The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed 
 all judgment unto the Son.' The world disown his author- 
 ity, but I own it ; I have set him, I have ' given him to be 
 head over all things to the church.' 
 
 3. The particular kingdom over which he rules, it is over 
 my holy hill of Zion, an eminent type of the gospel church. 
 The tabernacle was set up on mount Zion ; and therefore 
 called a holy hill. Christ's throne is in his church, it is his 
 head quarters, and the place of his particular residence, 
 ' The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his 
 habitation. His laws go out of Zion, and the word of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem. There are the thrones of judgment, 
 the thrones of the house of David.' 
 
 4. Notice the firmness of the divine purpose with re- 
 spect unto this matter ? Yet have I set him King. What- 
 ever be the plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he 
 reigns by his Father's ordination. 
 
 Observe, That Christ is King in Zion, the alone Sover- 
 eign of his church, by his Father's appointment and 
 ordination. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of 
 Zion. 
 
 In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall endeavour 
 through divine assistance, 
 
 I. To speak a little of this King. 
 
 IL Of the kingdom which he governs. 
 
 III. Of the administration of his kingdom. 
 
 IV. Apply. 
 
 I. As to the first, I shall endeavour to give you very 
 briefly a view of the excellent quahties of Zion's King, 
 and let them serve as so many motives to strangers to sub- 
 mit unto his authority, and as so many cordials unto his 
 friends and loyal subjects, in this dark and cloudy day. 
 
 1. He is a very ancient King. He is indeed ' the An- 
 
336 THE SOVEREIGNTY OP 
 
 cient of days : ' he is no upstart ; his throne was ' set up 
 from everlasting;' none can compete with him for anti- 
 quity, ' The everlasting Father ; Ruler in Israel, whose 
 goings forth were of old from everlasting.' 
 
 2. He is a King of incomparable wisdom : ' A wiser than 
 Solomon is here.' Solomon's wisdom was but folly com- 
 pared with his ; for ' in him are hid aU the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge.' 
 
 3. A King of irresistible p)oicer, and absolute authority : 
 ' All power in heaven and earth are his.' He is ' the man 
 of God's right hand ; ' the arm of Jehovah is in him : he 
 hath ' a name above every name, and at his name every 
 knee shall bow.' 
 
 4. He is a King of unspotted holiness and purity. ' The 
 holy One of Israel is our King ; of purer eyes than that he 
 can behold iniquity.' His name is a holy name. His 
 throne is a holy throne ; he ' sits upon the throne of his 
 holiness.' His laws are holy laws ; ' The law is holy ; and 
 the commandment holy, and just, and good.' His covenant 
 with his subjects is a holy covenant ; ' he hath commanded 
 his holy covenant.' The officers that bear the vessels of 
 his house are, and should be, holy. 
 
 5. He is a righteous King. ' Righteousness and judgment 
 are the habitation of his throne. Behold a King shall 
 reign in righteousness,' Isa. xxxii. 1. We have an account 
 of the equity of his administration, Isa. xi. 1 — 3. Psal. 
 xlv. 7, ' He loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity.' 
 
 6. He is a gracious King. His name is ' the Lord, the 
 Lord God gracious.' He is said to be ' full of grace,' and 
 grace comes by him, and rivers of grace run from his 
 throne, Rev. xxii. 1. Psal. xlvi. 4, ' There is a river, the 
 streams whereof do make glad the city of God.' The 
 throne whereon he sits is a throne of grace, and acts of 
 grace are emitted from his throne, even the great and pre- 
 cious promises, which are the edicts of the King, or bene- 
 ficial laws issued out for the benefit of the subject. 
 
 7. He is a most merciful aiid compassionate King. He 
 has bowels of compassion towards his enemies ; he would 
 
zion's king. 337 
 
 have gathered his enemies in Jerusalem, ' as a hen gathers 
 her chickens under her wings;' and when his enemies 
 prove obstinate, he ' weeps over them.' He is loth at his 
 very heart, to give up with a people that are giving up 
 with him, Hos. xi. 8, ' How shaU I give thee up, 
 Ephraim.' 
 
 8. Of wonderfvl sympathy with his subjects. He is 
 * touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; ' he reckons 
 anj favour or injury done to them, as done to himself, 
 Matth. XXV. at the close. 
 
 9. A King of immense riches^ and unhounded liberality 
 and bounty. His riches are unsearchable : ' Riches and 
 honour are with him.' And as for his bounty, he distributes 
 his grace as freely as the sun scatters his beams through 
 the earth. He invites all the world to come and share of 
 his fulness, Isa. Iv. 1, ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
 ye to the waters.' 
 
 10. He is a King of untainted veracity and truth. One 
 may depend upon his royal word, ' He is not a man that 
 he should lie, neither the Son of man that he should re- 
 pent.' His name is ' Truth, the Word of God.' One may 
 venture his salvation with safety, on his word, for he never 
 failed ; ' all the promises of God are in him yea and amen.' 
 He hath sealed them with his blood, and sets to his royal 
 amen, as * the faithful and true witness,' to every one of 
 them. 
 
 11. He is an immortal King. Other kings 'die like 
 men, they fail like the sons of the mighty ; ' death brings 
 them out of their high seats, and sets them upon a level 
 with the beggar ; but the King of Zion ' lives for ever and 
 ever.' It is true he was once dead ; but being ' the Prince 
 of life,' it was not possible that death, the king of terrors, 
 could detain him in his territories, Rev. i. 18, ' I was dead, 
 but am alive.' And the life of all his subjects is bound up 
 in his life. 
 
 12. He is at present an invisible King, out of the sight 
 of our bodily eyes. He has gone within the vail ' to ap- 
 pear in the presence of God for us;' he pleads the cause of 
 
 T 
 
338 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 all his subjects in the highest heavens. But still he is 
 visible to the eyes of faith ; ' Whom having not seen we 
 love.' And in a little he will be visible to every eye, Rev. 
 i. 7, ' Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall 
 see him.' 
 
 13. He is an eternal King : ' The King eternal.' As his 
 kingdom is from everlasting, so it is to everlasting : ' and 
 of the increase of his kingdom and government there shall 
 be no end.' 
 
 14. He is an indepeTident King. All the powers of the 
 earth depend on him ; * By me kings reign, and princes 
 decree justice ; ' but he depends upon none. It is true his 
 mediatory kingdom is committed to him by his Father, 
 but his essential kingdom is as independent as that of God 
 the Father, ' he being in the form of God, and thinks it no 
 robbery to be equal with God.' 
 
 15. He is 2i puissant andicarlike King. He is 'the Lord 
 of hosts ; he is a man of war.' He encountered Satan, and 
 wounded, bruised, and destroyed him upon Mount Calvary, 
 and he will wage war for ever against all that refuse his 
 government, and say, ' Vf e will not have this man to rule 
 over us.' He will send out his armies and destroy them ; 
 and not only his own vengeance, but the vengeance of his 
 Father, will fall on them, Psal. ex. 1, <fec. 
 
 16. He is 'the King of glory,' Psal, xxiv. When the 
 summons is given to sinners, to ' lift up the everlasting 
 doors ' of their hearts to him, they are told that it is no 
 less a person than the ' King of glory ' that calls. Solomon 
 in all his glory could not compare with the lily, far less 
 with him who is ' the brightness of his Father's glory,' and 
 on whom hangs all the glory of his Father's house, Isa. 
 xxii. 24. 
 
 II. I come now to give some account of Christ's king- 
 dom ; and here I shall first offer a few distinctions regard- 
 ing that kingdom. 
 
 Know, then, in the first place, that the kingdom of 
 the Son of God is twofold, either essential or personal. 
 His essential kingdom belongs unto him as to his divine 
 
ZION S KING. 339 
 
 nature, or as he is the Son of God, the second person 
 of the glorious and ever blessed Trinity, the same in 
 substance, equal in power and glory with the Father and 
 the Holy Ghost. Christ, considered in this view, is the 
 great Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things 
 therein, and the government and disposal belongs unto him 
 by right of creation. But it is not of this absolute or es- 
 sential kingdom of Christ that I now speak, but of his per- 
 soiud and mediatory kingdom, as he is Immanuel, God-man ; 
 and under this consideration he acts by a delegated autho- 
 rity, or a power committed or given him by the Father, for 
 the salvation of the elect that were given him. Man being 
 fallen from the state wherein he was created, must, in 
 order to his recovery, be brought under another model of 
 government than that which he was under at his creation, 
 when he was subject to God only as his Creator and Bene- 
 factor, promising life to him upon the terms of the cove- 
 nant of works ; I say, in order to his recovery a new scene 
 of government behoved to be erected, the plan of which was 
 laid in the council of peace from eternity. By virtue of 
 this plan of government, the first person of the glorious 
 Trinity sustains the part of the supreme Judge, passing 
 a sentence of condemnation upon all mankind for the breach 
 of his holy law, but yet so far dispenses with the rigour of 
 the law as to admit of a ransom and satisfaction. God, in 
 the person of the Son, sustains the place of a Mediator, 
 Surety, and Redeemer, promising to satisfy and to repair 
 the honour of the holy law. Upon which undertaking the 
 Judge is so well pleased, that, in order to the accomplish- 
 ment of the Son's undertaking, ' all power in heaven and 
 in earth is given him ; ' all government is committed to the 
 Son ; angels, men, and devils, and all creatures are put into 
 his hand, that he may make them subservient to the re- 
 covery of that poor contemptible creature man. And it is 
 upon this foundation that the great Jehovah says, in the 
 text and context. Yet have I set my King ujion my holy hill 
 of Zion. ' I will declare the decree : the Lord hath said 
 
340 THE SOTEREIGNTT OP 
 
 unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 
 Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen,' <fcc. 
 
 Again the mediatory kingdom of Christ is either more 
 general or special. His general mediatory kingdom ex- 
 tends itself over heaven, earth, and hell, (as I said just 
 now,) Eph. i. at the close : God hath ' given him to be head 
 over all things to the Church, which is his body.' Phil. ii. 
 9 — 11, 'At, or in, the name of Jesus every knee must bow, 
 of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under 
 the earth ; and every tongue must confess, that Jesus 
 Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' All 
 persons, kingdoms, and revolutions of affairs in the world, 
 are ordered and managed by our Mediator and Redeemer, 
 Jesus Christ. He sets up kings and pulls them down, as 
 serves the designs of his glory, and of his church's good. 
 Hence it is proposed, as matter of triumph to the church in 
 her distress, Psal. cxlvi. 10, ' The Lord doth reign for ever, 
 even thy God, Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the 
 Lord.' But the kingdom of Christ is to be considered 
 as more special and particular, and so his church is his 
 kingdom, in which and over which he reigns. This king- 
 dom or church of Christ is sometimes in scripture called 
 his body, because of the union that is between him and 
 them ; sometimes his flock, because he as a Shepherd, watches 
 over them and provides them their pasture. 
 
 Still farther, this particular kingdom of Christ, the 
 church, is to be considered either as militant on earth or 
 triumphant in heaven. The church triumphant is that part 
 of the saints of God who are by death gathered to him in 
 glory, where Christ is ; and the heavens are to contain him 
 and them until ' the consummation of all things,' at the 
 end of time, when he will descend to the last judgment, 
 and all his saints and angels attending him as his retinue. 
 But it is of the church militant on earth I now speak. It 
 is called militant because the members of it are yet in a 
 state of war upon the field of battle, wrestling with sin, 
 Satan, and the world. 
 
zion's king. 341 
 
 The militant church, again, is either visible or invisible. 
 The invisible church catholic consists of all believers who 
 are savingly united unto Christ, as their head of influence 
 and government, by his regenerating and sanctifying Spirit. 
 And those are called his invisible church, because the bonds 
 of union between him and them are such as are not visible 
 to the eye of the world ; they are not perceptible by sense 
 and reason ; their life, and all the concerns thereof, are ' hid 
 with Christ in God,' and therefore sometimes called his 
 hidden ones. The visible catholic church of Christ consists 
 of all these through the whole world, who make a visible 
 and credible profession of their faith in Christ, and subjec- 
 tion unto him as their Prophet, Priest, and King, and who 
 own and acknowledge the doctrine, worship, discipline, and 
 government that he has appointed, having the gospel 
 preached unto them by ambassadors of his sending, and his 
 ordinances administered. This catholic visible church, 
 consisting of all that profess the name of Christ, but espe- 
 cially of them who do really believe in him, this is that 
 which in my text is called the holy hill of Zion, over which 
 Christ doth reign. Now, regarding this church, or the 
 kingdom of Christ, I would offer the following remarks. 
 
 1. It is a spiritual kingdom. It is not of this world, as 
 the Jews imagined, and as others imagine, who would 
 fashion and mould it according to the kingdoms of this 
 world. The laws, the ordinances, the discipline, and whole 
 of this kingdom is spiritual, and has a relation principally 
 to the souls of men and women, and an eternal state to 
 come. And seeing it is so, what a strange notion of the 
 kingdom of Christ must men and judicatories among us 
 have, who distinguish men in the affairs of Christ's king- 
 dom by the gold ring, gay clothing, and worldly heritages. 
 Alas ! true notions of the kingdom of Christ are generally 
 lost among us in this generation. Some have no other 
 notion of the church of Christ, than a society of men meet- 
 ing together, under the name of judicatories, under the 
 protection of civil authority, whether they be acting ac- 
 cording to the laws of Christ or against them, for the inter- 
 
342 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 est of the body of Christ, or to its hurt and prejudice; 
 whether they he holding Christ as a head, or practically 
 renouncing his headship, however they profess the contrary. 
 I make no difficulty to affirm, that a church not holding 
 the head, Christ, in all his offices, is but an idol of man's 
 making ; and zeal for such a church, is but like the zeal of 
 these who cried, ' The temple of the Lord, the temple of the 
 Lord, the temple of the Lord are these,' and yet were real 
 enemies to the God of the temple ; or like Ephraim, con- 
 cerning whom it is said, ' Ephraim hath forsaken the Lord, 
 and buildeth temples.' I say, then, that the kingdom of 
 Christ is of a spiritual nature, and it relates principally 
 to the soul, or to the inner man ; hence Christ declares con- 
 cerning his disciples and followers, ' The kingdom of God 
 is within you ; ' and without this, it is little matter what 
 church or communion folk be of. 
 
 2. Christ's kingdom is a large yet select kingdom. It is 
 true, under the Old Testament dispensation the kingdom 
 of Christ was pent up within the confines of the land of 
 Judea ; ' To them belonged the adoption, the covenants, the 
 law, and the promises,' while the generahty of the Gentile 
 nations were held as dogs, aliens to Israel's commonwealth. 
 But blessed be God, now the waters of the sanctuary have 
 run down to the valley of Shittim, and the gospel is ' preached 
 unto all nations, for the obedience of faith.' Psal. ii. 8, ' I 
 will give him the heathen for his inheritance,' <fec. Psal. Ixxii. 
 8, ' His dominion shah reach from sea to sea, and from the 
 river unto the ends of the earth.' But although the king- 
 dom of Christ, I mean his true church, be of a large extent, 
 yet it is but a select kingdom, I mean, it is not populous, 
 when compared with the kingdom of the god of this world. 
 Christ's flock, indeed, is but 2i. little flock, comparatively con- 
 sidered, Luke xii. 32, (fee. They are but little in respect of 
 their numbers. Abstractly considered, it is true, they will 
 at the end of the day make an ' innumerable company, 
 which no man can number ; ' but viewed in comparison of 
 the wicked, they are but few ; ' strait is the gate, and nar- 
 row is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be 
 
zion's kino. 543 
 
 that find it,' They are like the gleanings after the vintage. 
 ' I will take them,' says God, ' one of a city, and two of a 
 family, and bring them unto Zion.' They are but little in 
 respect of quality. Christ's subjects are generally among 
 the poorer sort of people : ' God hath chosen the poor of 
 this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom.' 1 Cor. 
 i. 26, ' Not many wise men after the flesh,' &c. They are 
 little in regard of esteem ; the world make but little ac- 
 count of them ; they are generally reckoned the dross and 
 offscourings of the earth, 1 Cor. iv. 11 — 13; but however 
 little account the world may make of them, yet when Christ, 
 at the end of the day, presents them unto his Father, they 
 shall shine like the stars, yea, like the sun in the kingdom 
 of their Father. 
 
 3. It is a regular and well governed kingdom : ' Jerusalem 
 is a city compactly built together.' We have a description 
 of the regularity and good order of the kingdom of Christ, 
 under the notion of a city built four-square, Rev. xxi. See 
 to this purpose, Eph. iv. 1 6. There are many irregularities 
 and disorders in the church of Christ, as she is managed 
 by the hands of men, as sad experience testifies among us 
 at this day ; but as she is under the administration of the 
 great King that God has set in the midst of her, there is 
 nothing but beauty and order. If the church of Christ, 
 even his visible militant church, were governed exactly 
 according to Zion's laws by her pretended officers, there 
 would be nothing but order and beauty in the whole king- 
 dom. But when men go about to make other laws than the 
 laws of Christ, and to make their wiU the standard of gov- 
 ernment, rather than the wUl of the great King, this casts 
 all into confusion, and yet even these confusions are managed 
 by the King for the advantage of his true kingdom and 
 subjects, and in due time he wiU bring Hght out of dark- 
 ness, and order out of confusion. 
 
 4. The true kingdom of Christ is a kingdom that is mvx;h 
 hated by the devil and the world. She is the eye-sore of hell 
 and all its confederates ; hence we are told in the beginning 
 of this psalm, that when Christ comes to set up liis king- 
 
344 THE SOVEREIGNTY OP 
 
 dom, ' The heathen rage, the people imagine mischief, the 
 kings of the earth, and princes thereof, take counsel' how 
 to suppress this kingdom of Christ. The gates of hell 
 wage war against the kingdom of Christ. The world loves 
 its own, who are under the government of the ' god of this 
 world,' and who ' walk according to the course of this 
 world ; ' but they hate the laws, the ordinances, the disci- 
 pline, and subjects of Christ's kingdom ; they are intoler- 
 able unto them, and therefore they are always trying to 
 make themselves rid of them. Hence are all the reproaches, 
 afflictions, persecutions, and massacres of the followers of 
 Christ, that we read of both in sacred and profane history. 
 5. The kingdom which Christ governs is a holy kingdom. 
 The church of Christ, even his visible church, is a sancti- 
 fied society, federally holy ; you see in the text it is called 
 the holy hill of Zion. All the members of the visible church 
 are dedicated to God in baptism, in which ordinance we 
 renounce all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit, and are 
 solemnly engaged to wage war against sin, and to ' resist 
 it even unto blood.' The design of afl church discipline, 
 and of all ordinances, ministers, officers, and judicatories, 
 is to preserve the church, or kingdom of Christ, from cor- 
 ruption, either in principle or practice, that she may be a 
 holy lump unto him. Whenever any scandal breaks out 
 in a church, it is to be purged out by the discipline of 
 Christ's appointment, lest that leaven leaven the whole lump, 
 and provoke the Lord, the holy One of Israel, to depart 
 from her. 1 Cor. iii. 17, the church is called the temple of 
 God: 'The temple of God is holy; and if any man defile 
 the temple of God, him will God destroy.' If this word of 
 God be true, as I am sure it is, they stand but a sorry 
 chance at this day, who are defiling the church of Christ, 
 by complicated and multiplied scandals. 
 
 III. I come now to take notice of the administration of 
 the King of Zion in his visible kingdom ; and here I would 
 specify the following acts of his royal authority. 
 
 1. It is an act of his royal authority to give the lively 
 oracles of his word unto his visible church : ' He (viz. Zion's 
 
zion's king. 315 
 
 King) gave his statutes unto Jacob, and his testimonies 
 unto Israel ; he dealt not so with any nation.' Whence is 
 it that the gospel comes to one nation, and not to another ? 
 Why was it given to the Jews under the Old Testament, 
 when it was denied to the Gentiles ? And whence is it, 
 that now, under the New Testament, the gospel is preached 
 to the Gentiles, when it is denied to the Jews ? And whence 
 is it, that the gospel is sent to us in this land, when many 
 nations are worshipping the devil, for want of the know- 
 ledge of God and of his mind ? Why, this is just an act of 
 the sovereign power and pleasure of Zion's King. 
 
 2. By his royal authority he has appointed what form of 
 government is to be observed in his visible kingdom. He has 
 not left his church in a state of anarchy, or confusion, or to 
 be moulded according to the fancies of men, as may best 
 serve their politic views and designs. The Old Testament 
 church had a certain form both of doctrine, worship, disci- 
 pline, and government ; much more must the New Testa- 
 ment church, considering that the whole Mosaic economy 
 was but like a porch to lead the world in to the greater 
 glory of the New Testament dispensation. This the apostle 
 argues at length, 2 Cor. iii. from ver. 7. to the close. Of 
 this form of the house the prophet Ezekiel speaks as a 
 thing most sacred, chap, xliii. 10, 11, ' Thou son of man, 
 show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be 
 ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the pat- 
 tern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, 
 show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, 
 and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and 
 all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and aU 
 the forms thereof, and aU the laws thereof: and write it in 
 their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and 
 allthe ordinances thereof, and do them.' Where you see that 
 the form and fashion of the church of the New Testament, 
 among the Gentile nations, is reckoned by God such a 
 sacred thing, and of so great importance, that the prophet, 
 and consequently all ministers of Christ, are commanded 
 expressly to show the form and fashion of it, from the pat- 
 
346 THE SOVEREIGNTY OP 
 
 tern described in the mount of divine revelation ; and not 
 only so, but to write it in a book, that they may keep the 
 whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do 
 them. AVhat that form of government is, has been stated 
 from the word of God, and solemnly sworn to by all ranks 
 of the land, since our reformation from popery. It is true, 
 there are a set of men in the land, that set up for other 
 schemes of government ; but they that remove these land 
 marks will do it to their cost. 
 
 3. His appointing oficers, hoth ordinary and extraordinary, 
 is another act of the royal authority of the King of Zion. 
 We have an account of these officers of both kinds, Eph. 
 iv. 11, 12, ' When he ascended up on high, (whenever he 
 had sitten down upon his throne of glory above,) he gave 
 some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangehsts ; 
 and some, pastors and teachers; for the edifying of his 
 body.' Ye know it is the prerogative of the king to nomi- 
 nate and call, and appoint, whom he pleases as officers 
 civil or miUtary, under him in the government of the 
 kingdom ; and no man dare, upon his highest peril, assume 
 any of these offices, from the highest to the lowest, without 
 the king's commission ; if he should, he would be found 
 guilty of treason, and of usurping the king's prerogative. 
 So is it in the kingdom of Christ ; it is his prerogative to 
 caU, and send out officers to serve him, ' and no man tak- 
 eth this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, 
 as was Aaron.' Christ himself did not go without his 
 Father's commission, to act as his viceroy, ' I the Lord 
 have called thee, I will hold thine hand, and will help 
 thee;' and if Christ would not run without his Father's 
 commission and call, it must be dangerous for any to in- 
 trude themselves into the sacred offices of his kingdom, 
 without his call and commission. 
 
 4. His appointing and ordaining the way how his officers 
 are to he chosen, and installed visibly in their office, is another 
 act of Christ's royal power and authority, as King of Zion. 
 As it is he that gives gifts unto men, for the edifying of 
 his subjects ; so he has given it as his pleasure, that his 
 
ZIOX'S KING. 347 
 
 visible subjects, or these that are so in the judgment of 
 charity, should be the electors of the office-bearers in liis 
 visible church or kingdom. It has been made evident from 
 Acts i. that when an apostle was to be chosen in the room 
 of Judas, the hundred and twenty persons did nominate 
 and present two to the apostles, and one of these was 
 pitched upon by an immediate determination from heaven, 
 because he was to be an extraordinary officer. It is from 
 Acts vi. clear like a sun-beam, that the multitude of the 
 disciples did elect the seven deacons, and present them for 
 ordination to the apostles. It is indeed contended against 
 this, that the manner of electing deacons, who were to have 
 the charge of the poor, and of the public money appointed for 
 'their relief, is no argument for the election of ministers and 
 elders, who are superior officers. But to this it is easily 
 answered, that if it be the privilege of the visible church, 
 and of Christ's visible and credible subjects, to have the 
 choice of these that are to have. the care of their money, 
 much more of those that are to have the care and charge 
 of their precious souls, which are far more valuable. The 
 argument, from the less to the greater, is strong in this 
 matter. It has been also cleared from Acts xiv. 23. that 
 the apostles, when going through and visiting the churches, 
 which they had formerly planted, ordained elders, or pres- 
 byters, in every city, by cheirotonie, or stretching out of 
 the hand, which was the common way of taking the voices 
 of the people at that time, both in civil and sacred affairs. 
 So that the manner of electing ministers and other officers 
 in the church, is not left to a patron, a presbytery, or to 
 men that are heritors in this world. No, it is a privilege 
 that belongs unto the subjects of Christ's kingdom, or to 
 the community of those who are visibly of, and in the 
 communion of the church of Christ, and who are walking 
 according to his laws ; by which means all ignorant, erro- 
 neous, or scandalous persons, or these that are not of the 
 communion of the church, are evidently excluded. And 
 this privilege of electing ministers and officers to the 
 church, continued in the church till about seven hundred 
 
348 THE SOVEREIGNTY OP 
 
 years after Christ, when it was violently wrested from them 
 by the usurpations of popery. 
 
 5. Another act of Christ's royal power and authority in 
 his visible church, is his appointing ordinances for worship 
 to he dispensed hy ministers of the gospel. Such is the public 
 preaching of the gospel, ' Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to every creature.' This is the great 
 ordinance of God for gathering of subjects unto Christ's 
 kingdom, and for the edifying of these that are brought in. 
 And then there is the ordinance of baptism to be dispensed 
 ' in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' There 
 is also the ordinance of the supper, for ' What we received 
 of the Lord, that we are to deliver,' 1 Cor. xi. 23. And 
 there is public prayer and praise, catechising both in pub- 
 lic, and teaching from house to house. These and the like 
 ordinances, for edification and worship, Christ, as King of 
 Zion, has appointed to be dispensed by ministers in his 
 visible kingdom. And remember. Sirs, it is God's authority 
 in any ordinance, that gives it value, efficacy, and validity ; 
 just as the stamp of the king upon the coin makes it to 
 pass current. Nothing will pass current in the church of 
 Christ, with his loyal subjects, that does not bear the 
 stamp of the authority of the King of Zion. What is the 
 reason that the subjects of Christ, that desire to be faithful 
 to him at this day, desert the ministry of mere pretended 
 pastors ? Why, it is because they do not carry the King's 
 commission ; they run unsent ; they do not hear the voice 
 of Christ in them ; they do not see them coming in by the 
 door of the fold ; and therefore they will not follow them. 
 Why do we protestants reject the doctrines of the Romish 
 church, their mass, breviaries, and idolatries ? Why, it is 
 because they do not bear the stamp of God's authority. 
 And, on the other hand, why do we sprinkle water in bap- 
 tism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? 
 Why do we eat and drink at the table of the Lord a little 
 simple bread and wine, which to carnal reason are incon- 
 sistent things ? Why do we preach the gospel, which to 
 the wise of this world is foolishness 1 Why do we pray, 
 
zioN s KiNa. 349 
 
 and praise, and go about other duties ? It is just because 
 they are all commanded and ordained of God. 
 
 6. Christ, as King of Zion, has a-ppointed censures for 
 discipline and good order for his kingdom^ for the removal 
 of offences, and preventing the leaven of sin and scandal 
 from running through and defihng his church, such as pri- 
 vate and puhhc admonition, reproof, exhortation, and the 
 sentences of greater and lesser excommunication. These 
 are called ' the keys of the kingdom ; ' and when these 
 keys or censures, are exercised according to Christ's ap- 
 pointment, by the officers of his kingdom, 'what they 
 bind on earth, is bound in heaven ; and what they loose on 
 earth, is loosed in heaven.' The apostle writing to the 
 Corinthians regarding the scandal of incest, appoints such 
 a person to be excommunicated, and delivered over to 
 Satan, 1 Cor. v. 4, 5 ; and the reason he gives for passing 
 such a censure, with respect to the church, is, that she 
 might not be defiled with that impure leaven, ' Know ye 
 not that a Uttle leaven leaveneth the whole lump % ' And 
 it is the opinion of Dr. Owen, in his treatise upon schism, 
 that, whenever a visible church comes to that pass, that 
 she will not, or cannot, purge herself of notour and evident 
 scandals, she, in that case, is to be departed from ; and the 
 reason is, because she has lost or cast away the keys of the 
 kingdom, committed to her by her great King, and then 
 error and scandal runs without control, till the whole mass 
 be defiled. 
 
 7. Christ, as King of his visible church, has authorized 
 the oflcers of his kingdom to meet in a judicative capaciti/, 
 in his name and authority, for the better and joint regu- 
 lating of the affairs of his kingdom. The judicatories of 
 a church, higher and lower, constituted in his name, and 
 moulded according to his appointment, for the government 
 and for the exercise of the keys of discipline ; these, I say, 
 are the glory of a church, for these are ' the thrones of 
 judgment, the thrones of the house of David.' When 
 these courts, constituted in the name of the King of Zion, 
 proceed in their management with an eye to the honour of 
 
350 THE SOVEllEIGNTY OF 
 
 Zion's King, and according to that complete system of 
 laws that he has given in his word, then it is that a church 
 ' looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the 
 sun, and terrible as an army with banners,' unto all ig- 
 norant, erroneous, or scandalous persons ; and her very 
 enemies are obliged to say of her, as Balaam said of Israel, 
 ' How goodly are thy tents, Jacob 1 ' Now, all this 
 glory hangs upon the nail fastened in a sure place, for he 
 alone is King in Zion, the government is upon his shoulders. 
 He it is that gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven unto 
 his office-bearers, and promises that ' what they bind on 
 earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and what they loose on 
 earth shall be loosed in heaven ; ' and where they assemble 
 in courts for discipline, he ' wiU be in the midst of them.' 
 8. Christ by his authority, as King of Zion, has hounded 
 and limited all the courts and officers of his kingdom, to 
 govern his subjects, and to teach them no other thing than 
 he has commanded. Thus in Matth. xxviii. 19, 20, he 
 says, ' Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
 have commanded you.' Observe, That it is the character 
 of Christ's faithful servants, whether ministers or Christi- 
 ans, to observe and do all things whatever he has command- 
 ed them in his word. It is not what kings, parliaments, 
 or assemblies, command, but what God commands, which 
 is the rule by which they walk ; the laws of man must be 
 tried by the law of God. There is a generation of ministers 
 in our day who, instead of keeping the commandments of 
 God, are very careful to keep the commandments of men, 
 though even cross to the command of God. If they be 
 commanded by men to profane the Sabbath, to profane the 
 pulpit, and ministerial character, and to prostitute the 
 headship of Christ, and turn heralds to another head than 
 Christ, they will do it, and defend the deed when they have 
 done. Such servants of men cannot be the servants of 
 Christ Jesus, but they serve their own beUies. So that, if 
 such officers, or courts of Christ's kingdom, begin to 
 ' teach for doctrines the commandments of men,' or to im- 
 pose any laws upon his subjects than what Christ has 
 
ZION S KING. 351 
 
 given, they have good reason to ask, By what authority 
 such or such things are done 1 and to disregard all such 
 laws or impositions. 
 
 9. Christ, as King of Zion, has given express orders 
 unto all his sul)jects, to examine all spirits, all doctrines, all 
 laws and impositions, at the bar of the word, and to contend 
 earnestly for the purity of his truth and worship, ordi- 
 nances and institutions ; Jude 3, ' Contend earnestly for the 
 faith delivered unto the saints.' Where it is deserving of 
 consideration, that the keeping of the truth and purity of 
 doctrine, is not simply committed to ministers, or officers 
 of his house, but to saints, that is to the whole visible 
 church ; it is a trust for which they are to be accountable, 
 if, through their neglect, it fall in the streets. Blessed be 
 God, we have the written word in purity, we have excel- 
 lent standards of doctrine in our Confession of Faith and 
 Catechisms. But how is the law and testimony dispensed 
 and given out through many corners of the land, when an 
 empty jingle of human oratory, and dry harangues of 
 heathenish morality, or virtue, as they call it, are substi- 
 tuted in the room of the gospel of Christ ; a natural kind 
 of religion preached up, and the supernatural mysteries of 
 the gospel, such as the incarnation and satisfaction of the 
 Son of God, justification by his imputed righteousness; 
 regeneration, sanctitication, or gospel holiness, are explod- 
 ed as unfashionable 1 And, among these that aim at 
 better things, how little is the true order of gospel doc- 
 trine observed. The duties of the law are inculcated as 
 the foundation of the glorious privileges of the gospel, and 
 not the grace of God in the gospel laid as the foundation 
 both of privileges and duty. And thus the weapons that 
 are ' mighty through God for pulling down of the strong 
 holds ' of Satan are cast away, and weapons that are merely 
 carnal taken up in their room, 
 
 10. Christ acts as King of Zion, when he resents injuries 
 done to his kingdom or subjects, and sent and called officers. 
 Sometimes the King of Zion has resented visible injuries 
 done to his visible church, in a very open and visible man- 
 
352 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 ner. He * makes Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto her 
 enemies,' Zech. xii. 3. and ver. 2, ' he makes Jerusalem a 
 cup of trembling unto all the people round about.' For 
 the injuries done to Jerusalem God pulls down the nobles 
 of Babylon, and dashes the Babylonish empire in pieces. So 
 for his true and loyal subjects he gives a charge unto the 
 world, to beware of offending them, or doing them hurt ; 
 for, says he, ' it were better for them,' that do it, ' that a 
 millstone were hanged about their necks, and they cast 
 into the sea.' And as for the ministers and office- 
 bearers, he says, ' Touch not mine anointed, and do 
 my prophets no harm.' They that receive them, coming 
 in their Master's name, receive himself, and his Father ; 
 and they that despise them, despise him, and him that sent 
 him. The sound of their master's feet is behind them, when 
 going his errands, Matth. xxviii. ult. ' Lo, I am with you 
 always, even unto the end of the world.' 
 
 11. Christ as King of Zion removes his royal standard 
 from one people or n/ztion to another. When a people have 
 long enjoyed the gospel, and the ordinances of his worship, 
 and continue barren under them, and slight his ordinances, 
 officers, and laws, in that case, by his royal authority, he 
 translates the seat of his visible kingdom, and the badges 
 of his presence, elsewhere: hence Christ tells the Jews, 
 that his kingdom was to be taken from them, and given to 
 a people that would make better use of it. So dealt he with 
 the churches of Lesser Asia ; so has he dealt with many 
 famous and once flourishing churches ; to this purpose is 
 what you read concerning ' the vineyard of the Lord of 
 hosts, the house of Israel,' Isa. v. Thus I have given you 
 an account of some of the royal actings of the King of 
 Zion, with respect to his church as she is a visible society 
 of men and women, professing allegiance to him. 
 
 IV. The fourth head in the method was the application. 
 And here I shall apply it by way first of inference, and then 
 of exhortation. First, I deduce the following inferences : — 
 
 1. See what happy persons the true and loyal suhjects of 
 Christ (believers) are. As it was said by the Queen of 
 
ZION S KING. 353 
 
 Sheba, concerning the servants of Solomon, so may we say 
 of them, they are happy, for they dwell in the King's 
 court, Psal. Ixxxiv. &c. All his subjects are made sons 
 and heirs, ' kings and priests unto God ; ' their King hears 
 them when they call, Psal. xx. 9. They enjoy peace under 
 his administration. They have trouble from the world ; 
 but ' in him they have peace ; ' they dwell on high, dwell 
 in safety. They shall all be well seen to in the day of 
 famine and trouble. 
 
 2. See the dangerous risk they run that invade his govern- 
 ment, and contemn his authority. 
 
 Quest. Who are these who do this ? 
 
 Ans. 1. They that turn the authority, derived from him, to 
 the hurt and prejudice of his kingdom and interest. All 
 power and authority, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is 
 derived from him. All civil power is from him : ' By me 
 kings rule.' He sets up kings and casts them down at his 
 pleasure, x\nd therefore it must be a dangerous abuse of 
 civil authority, to enact laws invading the royalties of his 
 crown, and the hberties of his subjects ; laws for the pro- 
 faning of his day and worship, and for modelling the courts 
 of his house, and officers of his kingdom, according to their 
 mind; laws obliging the ambassadors of Zion's King to 
 change their holding, and to become the heralds and offi- 
 cers of king and parliament. Again, as all civil, so all 
 ecclesiasticcd authority is derived from him, as the fountain 
 of it, having '■ all power in heaven and on earth.' And if so, 
 what a horrid conspiracy against the King of Zion must it 
 be, to employ that power for screening the erroneous, and 
 censuring these that bear witness for him, for violating the 
 rights and privileges of his subjects, and carrying on vio- 
 lent intrusions of officers into his house, to the dividing, 
 destroying, and scattering of his subjects ? We may easily 
 think what the King will do with such courts and officers, 
 when he reckons with them. 
 
 2. They invade his kingdom and authority, who, being 
 civil officers, claim, j^ower in the church, whether they he king 
 or 'parliament. It ill becomes any crowned head to wear the 
 z 
 
354 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 jewel of supremacy in and over the church, which is the 
 house of the living God, save he only whom God hath anointed 
 King over his holy hill of Zion. The Pope, or Antichrist, 
 pretended to this supremacy ; and when King Henry VIII. of 
 England renounced the Pope's jurisdiction, he took that 
 jewel of the crown of Christ, and set it in his own crown, and 
 got himself proclaimed head in aU causes, not only civil but 
 ecclesiastical, and the oath of supremacy imposed in con- 
 sequence thereof upon the subjects of England where it 
 stands to this day. This supremacy, at the restoration of 
 King Charles, was extended to Scotland, and an absolute 
 power granted to the king, to mould the church of Christ 
 according to his pleasure. Upon which, contrary to the 
 oath of God, lying upon himself and the whole land, the 
 whole covenanted work of reformation from 1638, and the 
 obligation of our solemn covenants for reformation, were 
 rescinded by acts of parliament. Our forefathers witnessed 
 against these things, and many of them sealed their testi- 
 mony with their blood. But their testimony, for Scotland's 
 reformation and solemn covenants, has never been fairly 
 adopted by the church of Scotland, since the deliverance 
 God wrought for us at the Revolution. However, God, 
 who takes the wise in their own craftiness, and turns the 
 counsel of the froward headlong, has, in his overruling 
 providence, raised up that testimony, and a judicatory upon 
 the footing of the covenanted reformation, who are pledged 
 to revive and renew our covenant allegiance unto the ex- 
 alted King of Zion. 
 
 3. They contemn the authority of the King of Zion, who 
 walk toillingly after the commmndments of men, in opposition 
 to the com77iands of Christ. When the commandments of 
 men interfere with the authority of Christ, it is plain from 
 the practice of the apostles and of the three children, what 
 we are to do. ' Whether it be right to obey God or man, 
 judge ye,' said the apostles before the Jewish sanhedrim. 
 And say the three children, when required by an angry 
 king, in view of a fiery furnace, to bow down to his idol, 
 ' We are not careful to answer thee in this matter.' How 
 
ZION S KING, 355 
 
 culpable then are those men, who call themselves minis- 
 ters, officers, and ambassadors of Christ, who, contrary to 
 the laws of his house, at the commandment of worm man, 
 are profaning his Sabbaths, polluting his worship, prosti- 
 tuting their office by sinful compliance, and throwing up 
 the headship and sovereignty of Christ, our only King, 
 Judge, and Lawgiver, and casting the jewels of his crown 
 under the feet of men 1 
 
 4. They will be found equally guilty, who stand hy and 
 see those injuries done to the King of Zion by others, and 
 who though they be not themselves actors, yet, I say, 
 stand by as spectators, or are silent without witnessing 
 against these things, yea, associate themselves with trai- 
 tors to the Redeemer's crown, as though they were his 
 loyal subjects and officers. Would any man be reckoned a 
 loyal subject to the king, especially any who have sworn 
 the allegiance and abjuration, and are entrusted with 
 honorary and beneficial posts, and are daily eating the 
 king's bread, and receiving his pay ; I say, would such a 
 person be reckoned a loyal subject who, being witness to 
 manifest treason committed against the king, and yet 
 should hold his peace ; and not only so, but allow such to 
 sit in the king's courts, and sit with them as if they had 
 done no injury 1 When manifest treasons are committed 
 against the King of Zion, and corruptions, either in prin- 
 ciple or practice, are allowed, and not purged out by dis- 
 cipline; when the majority of a church, and of her judica- 
 tories, are in a conspiracy, the plain command in that case 
 is, 2 Cor. vi. 17, to ' come out from among them, and to be 
 separate, not to touch the unclean thing,' that the Lord 
 may receive %ls. When the corrupt party are few, says 
 Hooker, they are to be cast out ; but when the body, or 
 majority of the church, becomes wicked, then says he, the 
 sound part is to withdraw from her ; for which he cites the 
 above scripture, 2 Cor. vi. 17. The apostle Paul, when he 
 orders the incestuous person to be cast out by excommu- 
 nication, gives this reason for it, because ' a little leaven 
 leaveneth the whole lump ; ' plainly intimating, that when 
 
356 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 the whole lump of a church is leavened with unpurged 
 scandal and error, she is like the house under the law, 
 overrun with the leprosy, which was not only to be left by 
 the inhabitants, but to be taken down to the foundation. 
 Sin is, in scripture, compared unto smoke. You know, 
 when a house is so smoky, that it is like to stifle the breath 
 or smother the inhabitants, there is no help for it, they 
 must leave the house, and seek new lodgings. 
 
 Last inference. See from this doctrine an excellent rule 
 for all the subjects of the King of Zion, who desire to be 
 found faithful unto him in a dark and cloudy day, how to 
 steer their course. You know, in the time of a revolt and 
 insurrection in a kingdom, against the government, when 
 all things are running to confusion, the loyal subjects, who 
 adhere to the interests of their king, make inquiry after 
 the king's standard. Their question is not, Who have the 
 greatest numbers 1 or. Where is the greatest body of men 
 swaying ? But if the king's standard be lifted up, however 
 few they be that own it, why, their question is. Where 
 doth it stand 1 or. What is the party that are cleaving to 
 it 1 This is the very case in this divided and distracted 
 day wherein we live. There is an insurrection against the 
 King of Zion, even in the house of his professed friends, 
 and even under the covert of liis name and authority. 
 Yet many that profess friendship to the King of Zion in 
 this land, are in suspense as to what hand to turn. Why, 
 the way to come to a resolution is, to inquire. Where stands 
 the standard of the covenanted testimony of Christ in the 
 land 1 whether within or without the camp 1 If it be held 
 faithfully within the camp, then it is duty to join it there : 
 but if it be without the camp, we are to follow it there 
 although we should be obliged to take up the cross in fol- 
 lowing it. 
 
 Second, I shall address a word of exhortation, first, unto 
 all these that profess themselves the subjects of Christ's 
 kingdom, and then to those who are its enemies. 
 
 1, The subjects of the King of Zion I would exhort to 
 keep the King's court, I mean his ordinances for worship. 
 
zion's king. 357 
 
 David, though he was a great king, yet we find, Psal. 
 Ixxxiv. he made conscience of attending the tabernacles of 
 the King of Zion, and reckoned it his honour so to do ; and 
 when driven from the place of public worship, through the 
 persecution of Saul, or Absalom's rebellion, he envies the 
 happiness of the very swallows or sparrows, which were 
 allowed to nestle about the sanctuary, while he was driven 
 away from it, and had not access to attend his Lord and 
 King there, Psal. Ixxxiv. 1, 2 — 10. What shall we think 
 of those, who have the doors of the sanctuary of the King 
 opened, the ordinances of the New Testament dispensed at 
 their door; and yet either through pride, or heart con- 
 tempt of the ordinances, or love to the world, or sloth, or 
 other carnal causes or pretences, turn their back on the 
 courts of the great King ; and yet take it in very ill part, 
 if ministers tell them they do not act the part of loyal 
 subjects unto Zion's King? Is it to be supposed, that 
 people ever opened their hearts unto him, who contemn 
 and disregard his institutions, where he has required his 
 subjects to attend upon him, and do him homage 1 They 
 may fancy they are his subjects as well as others, but they 
 have reason to fear, that the day is coming, when the King 
 of Zion will say to them or of them, ' Bring forth those mine 
 enemies who would not that I should rule over them, and slay 
 them before me.' At the same time, it is necessary here to 
 add, take care what ministers you own and hear as the am- 
 bassadors of the King of Zion. This is as necessary a caveat 
 in our day, as it was in the days of the apostles, 1 John iv. 
 1, ' Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits 
 whether they are of God : because many false prophets are 
 goue out into the world.' And if you ask. How shall we 
 try them? Christ answers the question, Matth. vii. 15, 16, 
 ' Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 
 clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall 
 know them by their fruits.' But, say you, what are their 
 fruits by which they may be known ? Ans. Do you see 
 any of them fishing up and down for worldly gain ? do you 
 see them strengthening the hands of those tliat are pulling 
 
358 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 down the carved work of reformation, and weakening the 
 hands of those that are endeavouring to build it up ? do 
 you see them tormented by a testimony for the Lord's 
 work in the land, and siding with these that are carrying 
 on a course of backsliding ? do you see them entering any 
 other way than by the door of the house ? depend upon it, 
 they are not the true prophets of Christ, but inwardly 
 they are ravening wolves. And therefore do not own them 
 as the ambassadors of Christ ; they do not carry Christ's 
 commission ; and therefore, though they shall say, ' Lo, 
 here is Christ, or lo, he is there,' whatever pretensions 
 they may make to the Spirit of Christ, yet go not after 
 them, because these fruits are not the fruits of the faithful 
 prophets of Christ's sending ; and if he never sent them 
 they cannot profit their hearers, however, perhaps, they 
 may have the art of touching the imagination, or raising 
 the passions. 
 
 2. Let aU the subjects of the King of Zion stand ti^for the 
 honour of their King. This is a day when manifold indig- 
 nities are done unto his royal authority. His laws are 
 counteracted both by civil and ecclesiastical authority, the 
 liberties of his subjects are invaded, his Sabbaths are pro- 
 faned, his professed ambassadors are throwing up their 
 Master's sovereignty and alone headship in his church, 
 and are yet sustained by others, that have not gone their 
 length, as fellow-members in judicatories, without any 
 censure or testimony. It is not a private owning of him 
 that will do in such a day as this ; he is publicly affronted, 
 the crown is publicly taken off his head; he is injured by 
 civil and ecclesiastical courts; he is injured in his doctrine, 
 worship, discipHne, and government; he is injured in his 
 members ; he is injured in his supreme Deity ; he is injured 
 in his headship and sovereignty over his church. Now I 
 say, when he is thus publicly injured, he ought also to be 
 publicly confessed. A pubHc testimony hath been emitted, 
 in a judicial way, by a handful of ministers, who, by the 
 peculiar providence of God, have been brought into a par- 
 ticular situation, and that testimony has come abroad. It 
 
zion's king. 351) 
 
 is easy then to know what course to steer. If the rights 
 of Christ, as King in his holy hill of Zion, be maintained 
 in the judicatories of the establishment, then it is a sin to 
 withdraw from them ; but if they be trampling under foot 
 the authority of the Son of God, by enacting laws in his 
 house which are inconsistent with his laws, and with the 
 liberties wherewith he hath made his people free ; then we 
 ought not to continue with them, especially when a public 
 testimony is lifted up. Wherever his cause is displayed, 
 and his truths are maintained by doctrine, worship, or dis- 
 cipline, there should the accession be ; for ' the gathering 
 of the people ' should be there. If it be within the camp, 
 stand there ; if it be found in the fields, and city of the 
 wood, it concerns us to follow him there, though reproach 
 and persecution should follow ; says the apostle, Heb. xiii. 
 13, ' Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp 
 bearing his reproach.' 
 
 3. Another word of exhortation to the subjects of the 
 King of Zion is, to act the part of faithful soldiers infighting 
 your King's battles^ against sin, Satan, and the world. 
 Fight against sin; this is the grand enemy that Christ 
 came to destroy, and make an end of; and therefore fight 
 against it. Wage war against Satan ; for Christ came to 
 bruise his head : ' Resist the devil, and he will flee from 
 you.' Wage war against the world ; for ' the friendship of 
 this world is enmity against God ;' the world was an enemy 
 to Christ, and it wUl be an enemy to his cause, work, and 
 testimony to the end. These are the enemies you are to 
 enter the lists with. And that you may fight the battles 
 of the King of Zion, (1.) Be sure to have his kingdom and 
 authority estaUished within you, and study to have every 
 thought brought into captivity unto the obedience of the 
 King of Zion, and be aware of harbouring any traitor in 
 your own bosom. Can ever that man fight the open bat- 
 tles with the external enemies of the King of Zion, who 
 is saying a confederacy with sin in his bosom 1 And 
 therefore give daily battle unto indwelling sin, a body of 
 sin and death, and ' take heed, lest there be in any of you 
 
360 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 an evil heart of unbelief,' turning you aside ' from the liv- 
 ing Grod.' (2.) You must make use of your King^s armoury , 
 and the weapons of his providing and appointing, if you 
 would fight his battles ; what these are, see Eph. vi. 13, 
 14, &c. ' Above all, taking the shield of faith,' &c. (3.) 
 Keep witliin the sight of your royal King. As we must 
 run our race, so we must fight our battles, ' looking unto 
 Jesus.' A sight of the King of Zion inspires the soldiers 
 with courage and greatness of spirit : ' They looked unto 
 him, and were lightened ; and their faces were not 
 ashamed. Consider him who endured the contradiction 
 of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in 
 your minds.' (4.) Carry the Uood of your King continually 
 along loith you, in the hand of faith, especially in the day 
 of battle ; for the enemy flees at the sight of it : Rev. xii. 
 1 1, ' They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,' &c. 
 (5.) In the time of open war study to hnoio and keep the 
 camp of tlie King of Zion, and be aware of the camp of the 
 enemy. That is a question, some may say, we would 
 gladly have resolved. Where is the King's camp 1 for some 
 are saying, in our divided day, ' Lo it is here,' and others, 
 * Lo it is there ;' will you tell us ' where he feedeth, where 
 he makes his flocks to rest ? ' Answer, negatively, it is not 
 always where stands the greatest multitude ; for Christ's 
 flock is but a little flock. In the days of Elijah it was 
 among seven thousand. It is not always with a body of 
 men calling themselves the church of Christ, enjoying the 
 protection of law, and civil authority on their side; for 
 we have heard and seen the day when popery and prelacy 
 had the law of the land, and civil authority for them. 
 
 Quest. How then may the camp of the King of Zion be 
 known ? 
 
 Ans. (1.) The King's camp is where the King's standard 
 is upheld, not where it is pulled down. Where is the 
 testimony of Jesus, the covenanted testimony of Scotland 1 
 Whoever they be that are holding the doctrine, worship, 
 discipline, and government of his house, in their purity, 
 there is the King's camp. (2.) The King's camp is where 
 
ZION S KING. 36*1 
 
 his flock is gathered, and not where they are scattered, 
 borne down, and oppressed. (3.) The King's camp is 
 where his glory is most displayed, and not where his glory 
 is darkened and obscured. (4.) The King's camp is where 
 the smell of his garments gladdens the hearts of his sub- 
 jects, Psal. xW. (kc. (5.) The King's camp may be known 
 by the current of the flood of the old serpent's malice, 
 Rev. xii. 15 — 17 ; there we read that ' the serpent cast 
 out of his mouth waters as a flood after the woman ; ' i. e. 
 the devil raised a storm of persecution and trouble against 
 the church of Christ represented by the woman : and ver. 
 17, ' The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to 
 make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the 
 commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ.' So then if you would know where is the camp of 
 the King of Zion, where his standard is, you may observe 
 where the weapons of hell are levelled ; malice, reproach, 
 persecution of hand or tongue, for there is the camp of 
 Christ ; for he ' fights neither against small nor great, but 
 against the King of Israel,' and his seed and interest. 
 
 I proceed now to offer a word of exhortation unto the 
 second sort of persons I named, and that is to you who 
 are yet strangers to Zion's King and enemies to his kingdom 
 and government. 
 
 I may premise in a few words, to clear the matter to 
 you, who are the enemies of Christ. All who are yet in a 
 state of nature and never felt the efl^icacy of the grace of 
 God in a work of regeneration, are among the enemies of 
 Zion's King, for ' the carnal mind is enmity against God.' 
 All who never felt the power of Christ's prophetical office 
 executed upon them in a work of illumination, opening the 
 eyes of their understanding to know Christ in his person, 
 natures, oflfices and undertaking, and to know the mind and 
 will of God revealed in the word. All who are ignorant of 
 the righteousness of God, and going about to establish their 
 own rigliteousness, I mean all legalists, who are cleaving 
 to the law as a covenant, and have not ' submitted to 
 the righteousness' of Jeuovaii Tsidkenu, are yet enemies 
 
362 THE SOTEREiaNTY OP 
 
 to the kingdom and government of Zion's King ; never 
 any in reality submitted to his laws and government who 
 did not first submit unto his righteousness. AU who sit 
 under the drop of the gospel and have a Saviour, and his 
 whole salvation brought near to them, and yet continue to 
 reject him and his salvation through unbeUef, Christ shall 
 hold aU such as enemies to his kingdom and government, 
 Heb. ii. 3, ' how shall we escape if we neglect so great a 
 salvation?' Those wicked men that were invited to the 
 marriage supper of the King, and yet refused, the King 
 sends forth his armies and miserably destroys. All Gallios 
 and neutrals in the cause of Christ, who are easy whether 
 the cause of Christ sink or swim, are among his enemies ; 
 for ' he that gathereth not with us, scattereth abroad ; ' 
 lukewarm Laodiceans the Lord spues ©ut of his mouth. 
 All that are combining against the Lord, and against 
 his Anointed, and laying their heads and hands together 
 to ruin the kingdom of Christ, a covenanted work of re- 
 formation, and with axes and hammers breaking down 
 the carved work of the temple. All profane Esaus, 
 who for a mess of pottage are selling their birthright as 
 Christians, sacrificing their liberties whereby Christ hath 
 made them free, for any secular or worldly consideration 
 whatever. All who are, with the serpent, licking up the 
 dust of the earth, and preferring the vanities of this world 
 to things of eternal concern. All who are rejecting his 
 laws as the rule of their obedience, and who are saying, 
 ' we ourselves are lords, and will come no more unto 
 thee,' and whose practice has this language, ' We will not 
 have this man to reign over us : Let him depart from us, 
 for we desire not the knowledge of his ways.' I say, you, 
 and all such, are enemies to Zion's King, and strangers to 
 his government 1 
 
 Now, my exhortation to you, as one of the heralds of 
 the renowned King of Zion, is, to surrender your rebellious 
 arms and submit unto his royal authority : ' Lift up your 
 heads, ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, 
 that the King of glory may come in.' 
 
ZION S KING, 363 
 
 By way of motive, I need only put you in mind of some 
 things that have already been insisted on ; as, 1st, Consi- 
 der the dismal wrath and danger abiding all his enemies. 
 2dly. Consider what kind of a King he is to whom ye are 
 called to submit. See the properties or qualities of Zion's 
 King, spoken to on the first head of doctrine. 3dly. Consi- 
 der the advantages of his government. 4thly. Consider how 
 earnest he is with the rebellious sinner, to come in under 
 his rule and administration. (1.) He invites the rebels to 
 submit, Isa. Iv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his way,' Szc. 
 (2.) He beseeches sinners to be reconciled to him, and to 
 God in him, 2 Cor. v. 20. (3.) He promises welcome with 
 the golden sceptre of peace in his hand ; ' Come to me who 
 will, I will in no wise cast out.' (4.) He is grieved at the 
 obstinacy of sinners, who will not submit, as in the case of 
 Jerusalem, Luke xix. (5.) He reasons with sinners, and 
 expostulates the matter, Isa. i. 18. Jer. ii. (6.) He swears 
 that he has no pleasure in their death and ruin, Ezek. 
 xxxiii. 11, ' As I live, I have no pleasure in your death,' 
 <kc. (7.) When there is no persuading of them, he takes 
 away his kingdom with regret, Matth. xxiii. at the close. 
 (8.) Consider how glad he is wdien a rebel sinner submits 
 to him, as the father of the prodigal. 
 
 That you may become his subjects, I would add the fol- 
 lowing plain directions. 
 
 1. Be convinced that ye are by nature enemies, yea, enmity 
 itself; and do not deceive yourselves, by imagining that 
 you have good hearts toward God ; for they are desperately 
 wicked. 
 
 2. Meditate much on your miserable thraldom and bon- 
 dage to sin, Satan, and the world, until the Son make you 
 free. 
 
 3. Attend carefully on the ordinances of the King of Zion, 
 particularly that great converting ordinance of the preach- 
 ing of the word ; for this is ' the rod of his strength, and 
 it pleases him by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
 that believe ; ' and listen carefully to hear the voice of the 
 
364 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF 
 
 King of Zion in that ordinance, as Lydia, wlio attended on 
 the ministry of Paul See Isa. Iv. 2, 3, &c. 
 
 4. With hearing of the wovd. Join a diligent reading of it : 
 ' Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eter- 
 nal hfe, and these are they which testify of me.' The Bible 
 is God's record concerning him whom he has set King in 
 his holy hill of Zion ; there his glory and beauty is deci- 
 phered with his own hand, there you have the will of the 
 King, the latter will of the King sealed with his own 
 blood. 
 
 5. Be imjjortunate sicpjMcants at the King's throne for 
 grace and mercy. Zion's King is a merciful King; his 
 work is to ' save the poor and needy,' Psal. Ixxii. <fec. 
 He is liberal ; ' If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of 
 God,' (fee. 
 
 6. In the use of other means, see that ye go about the great 
 work of believing ; for without this it is impossible to please 
 the King or his eternal Father ; ' This is his command- 
 ment, that ye believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 
 Do what you will, you will be held as rebels till you be- 
 lieve : ' He that believeth shall be saved ; but he that 
 believeth not shall be damned.' And therefore, I say, in 
 obedience to the commands of God, and in a dependence 
 on his grace and Spirit, attend to the work of beheving: 
 ' This is the work of God, that ye believe on his Son whom 
 he hath sent.' 
 
 7. Pray much for the purchased and promised Sjnrit from 
 the King who is in the midst of the throne ; plead the pro- 
 mise, ' I will put my Spirit within you,' Ezek. xxxvi. 27. 
 and that promise, Psal ex. 3, ' Thy people shall be willing 
 in the day of thy power.' 
 
 8. Cast out a red pig of vjar against all the enemies of the 
 King of Zion, whether within or without you. Begin the 
 war against his enemies in your own hearts, in your walk, 
 and in your families ; begin reformation there : and having 
 l)egun the war within carry it abroad in your profession. 
 And take up the cause of Christ in the land, his public 
 
zion's king. • 365 
 
 interest, and do what in you lies to oppose and discoun- 
 tenance those who are attempting to ruin his kingdom 
 and interest in the world, particularly in the land wherein 
 you live. For if his kingdom be taken from us, if he re- 
 move the doctrine, discipline, worship, and government of 
 his house, wo to our land ; then the songs of our temple 
 shall be turned into howlings, and our poor posterity 
 shall, in a few years, be a company of pagan and popish 
 idolaters. 
 
 Well, then, let me renew my call and invitation unto all 
 strangers, foreigners, and rebels, to come and submit to 
 the government of him whom God has set King in his holy 
 hill of Zion. It was foretold by Jacob, on his death-bed, 
 that ' the gathering of the people should be to him,' and 
 by Isaiah, that ' unto him should the Gentiles seek.' 
 that this may be the day and time wherein this prophecy 
 shaU be fulfilled! This time hundred years, viz. 1638, 
 there was a strange gathering of the whole land unto the 
 Lord Jesus, as their glorious Head and King. When his 
 work seemed to be buried, and his friends were reckoning 
 that they were like a company of dry bones, it pleased the 
 Lord to breathe upon the dry bones, by the wind of his 
 Spirit, and presently a great army stood up, and gathered 
 Ufe and strength to fight his battles, insomuch that the 
 whole land, in a little time, was brought under the oath of 
 a covenanted allegiance to the King of Zion ; and such a 
 vigorous stand was at that time made for the royalties of 
 his crown, that these very powers then in being, which had 
 been attempting to bury his cause, were obliged to give 
 way to it. Although the kingdom and interest of Christ 
 be brought low at this day yet let us not lose hopes of its 
 resurrection, but ' remember the years of the right hand of 
 the Most High ; ' let us ' remember the works of the Lord, 
 and his wonders of old ; for the residue of the Spirit' is 
 still with him ; ' his hand is not shortened, that he cannot 
 save ; neither his ear heavy, that he cannot hear.' A na- 
 tion can be born to him at once, just by the swaying of 
 his royal sceptre, the sound of his voice in the dispensation 
 
obb THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ZION S KING. 
 
 of the gospel. that this may be the hour or year in 
 which the dead through Scotland may hear the voice of 
 the Son of man, and live ! 
 
 Mean time, I say, I desire, as one of the meanest of his 
 heralds, to invite and call, to intreat and beseech, yea, in 
 his name and authority, I require all hearing me this day, 
 to believe in his name, to trust him for salvation from sin, 
 Satan, wrath, and hell, and to submit to his authority, to 
 receive the law at his mouth, and to own him as their 
 alone Judge, King, and Lawgiver : ' Thou art my King of 
 old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.' 
 
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