PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 B"£ 
 
 |VIfs. Alexander Proudfit. 
 
 sec 
 ' 31 lU 
 
EVANGELICAL DISCOURSES 
 
 O N 
 
 SEVERAL SUBJECTS. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Powers and Contefts of Flesh and Spirit, 
 
 -yL 
 
 By / S A A C *W A T T S 9 D. D 
 
 LONDON; 
 Printed for C. Dillv in the Poultry. 
 
 MjPCCXCJ. 
 
THE 
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 CHURCH of CHRIST 
 
 ASSEMBLING IN 
 
 BERRY-STREET, LONDON. 
 
 Dear Chriftian Friends, beloved in our Lord, 
 
 TJAVING dedicated to you my 
 jirjl volume of Sermons, printed 
 twenty-fix years ago, I thought it 
 proper to addrefs this to you, being 
 the laft I am ever like to publifh, 
 that I might teftify to the world 
 the continuance of my iincere af- 
 fection for you ; and fignify to you, 
 A 2 my 
 
4 DEDICATION. 
 
 my ardent defire to do what I can, 
 in my prefent weak ftate of health, 
 to promote the welfare of your 
 fouls. 
 
 The jEffay on the Powers and 
 Contejis of Flejh and Spirit, which 
 is added at the end of thefe Dif- 
 courfes, has been written many 
 years ago, and I hope it may be 
 made ufeful, under the blefling of 
 God, to lead private Chriftians to 
 form a right judgment, in many 
 things relating to their fpiritual 
 concerns. 
 
 As I truft all thefe papers con- 
 tain the truths of God, which I 
 
 have 
 
DEDICATION. j 
 
 have thus recommended to you, fo 
 I am perfuaded you will find them 
 to be exa£Uy conformable to the 
 New Teftament, in all your re- 
 views and ftudies of that blefled 
 book. It is there my hopes of 
 eternal life are fixed ; and in this 
 hope, I truft all of you will be 
 found walking ftedfaftly in the fame 
 faith, by the fame rule, till you are 
 at length made happy partakers of 
 the fame falvation. 
 
 The great harmony which has 
 fubfifted betwixt me and my dear 
 and worthy brother and colleague, 
 the reverend Mr. Samuel Price, for 
 more than forty-three years, with- 
 A 3 out 
 
6 DEDICATION. 
 
 out any interruption, has been very 
 comfortable to us, and a confider- 
 able blefling to you. May the Spi- 
 rit of God render his continued la- 
 bours amongft you, in the gofpel, 
 very ferviceable, for your further 
 eftablifltament and growth in grace! 
 With this defign, I commit thefe 
 Difcourfes to the providence of 
 Chrift, and commit him and you alfo 
 into his hands, to whom, I doubt 
 not, you have often furrendered 
 yourfelves. 
 
 And let me intreat you, as a 
 church of Chrift, not only to fujfer> 
 but to regard the word of exhorta- 
 tion, which, as your aged pa/ior, 
 
 whofe 
 
DEDICATION. 7 
 
 whofe voice you may probably hear 
 no more, I would now, in a folemn 
 manner, leave with you: (viz. J 
 
 Continue to be of one mind, 
 live in peace, be careful to pra&ife 
 all the duties of holinefs and righ- 
 teoufnefs, keep clofe to God, by 
 humble fervent prayer and depend- 
 ance, feek his face for direction, 
 and a blefling in all your affairs. 
 
 To the God of almighty power, 
 and infinite wifdom and grace, I 
 commend you ; who is able to 
 build you up, and give you an in- 
 heritance among them that are 
 fandified. 
 
 A 4 Finally, 
 
8 DEDICATION. 
 
 Finally, my beloved friends, 
 farewell. May the love of God, 
 the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 and the communion of the Holy 
 Spirit, be ever with you. Amen. 
 
 I am, with much refpedl, under 
 very declining circumftances of life, 
 
 Your affe&ionate friend, 
 and faithful fervant, 
 
 in the gofpel, 
 
 Stoke-Newingtono 
 Jan. i$tb, 1746-7- * 
 
 ISAAC WATTS. 
 

 THE 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Discourse I. and II. 
 
 The Divine Commission of St. Paul 
 Examined and Eftabliflied. 
 
 Ads xxv. 1 8, 19. 
 
 AGainJi whom when the accufers Jiood 
 up, they brought none accufation offuch 
 things as I fuppofed: but had certain quef- 
 tions againji him of their own fuperjlition, 
 and of one Jefus, which was dead, whom 
 Paul affirmed to be alive. 
 
/ 
 
 The CONTENTS. 
 
 Discourse III. and IV. 
 
 The Difference between the Law and the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Gal. iii. 21, 22. 
 
 Is the law then againfl the promifes of God? 
 God forbid. For if there had been a law 
 given , which could have given life^ verily 
 righteoufnefs Jhould have been by the Jaw. 
 But the Scripture hath concluded all under 
 fin^ that the promife by faith of Jefus 
 Chrifl might be given to them that believe. 
 
 Discourse V. and VI. 
 
 The Atonement of Chrifl early mani- 
 fefted in Prophecy. 
 
 Rev. xiii. 8. 
 
 The Lamh flain from the foundation of the 
 world. 
 
The CONTENTS. 
 
 Discourse VII. and VIII. 
 Faith reprefented in its Lowell Degrees. 
 
 Ifa. xlv. 22. 
 
 Look unto me, and be ye faved, all the ends 
 of the earthy for I am God, and there is 
 none elfe. 
 
 Discourse IX. and X. 
 Faith built on Knowledge. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 / know whom I have believed, and I 
 
 am perfuaded that he is able to keep that 
 which I have committed to him, againjl that 
 day. 
 
 Discourse XI. 
 The Ordinary Witness of the Spirit. 
 
 Rom. viii. 16. 
 The Spirit itf elf bear eth witnefs with ourfpU 
 rit, that we are the children of God. 
 
The CONTENTS. 
 Discourse XII. 
 
 The Extraordinary Witness of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 Rom. viii. 6. 
 
 The Spirit itfelfbeareth witnefs with ourfpi- 
 rit^ that we are the children of God. 
 
 An Essay on the Powers and Contefts of 
 Flesh and Spirit. 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 The Divine Commission of St. PAUL 
 Examined and Eftabliflied: 
 
 I N A 
 
 Sermon preached on Eafter-day, 1731- 
 
 In oppofition to all the Deifts who have 
 appeared in the world fince Chriftianity 
 began: Being a full confirmation of the 
 bleffed gofpel. 
 
 The Firft Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Ads xxv. 18, 19. 
 
 Againjl whom when the accufersjlood up, they 
 brought none accufation of fuch things as 1 
 fuppofed: but had certain quejiions againjl 
 him of their own fuperjlition, and of one 
 Jefus, which was dead, whom Paul affirm- 
 ed to be alive. 
 
 THE hiftory which introduces thefe 
 verfes may be reprefented in fliort in 
 this manner: 
 
 The Jews were highly enraged againft 
 St. Paul for preaching the gofpel of Ghrift 
 
 with 
 
14 St. Paul's Divine Commijfion Disc. L 
 with fuch freedom and boldnefs in feveral 
 places; and when they found him at Jeru- 
 falem, they took occaiion to feize him, and 
 bring him before the magiftrate, with heavy 
 accufations; but when he had defended him- 
 felf fo well, the magiftrates faw no caufe to 
 punifh him. The Jews lay in wait to af- 
 faffinate him, or murder him privately ; 
 which being known, he was lent by night to 
 Cefarea, to be judged by Felix the governor; 
 and there he lay in prifon two years, till a 
 new governor, Feftus, came into the pro- 
 vince. 
 
 The Jews ftill purfued their malice againft 
 Paul, and what they could not obtain of 
 Felix, they hoped to perfuade Feftus to grant 
 them: And when Feftus had heard what 
 charges the Jews brought againft him, and 
 when Paul appealed unto Casfar, fearing that 
 Feftus would comply with the unjuft defire 
 of the Jews, Feftus had a mind to hear the 
 whole caufe, that he might fend Casfar a 
 more particular account. Now king Agrippa 
 being there upon a.vifit, Feftus tells Agrippa 
 the ftory in this fpeech of which my text 
 is a part. Ver. 1 7, &c. 
 
 And from thefe words we may take occa- 
 sion to make thefe three obfervations: 
 
 I. Civil governors among the Heathens, be- 
 
 fore they were taught to perfecute the 
 
 Chri/liansy thought it Jlrange to have 
 
 matters 
 
Disc. I. examined and ejlablijhed. 1 5 
 
 matters of pure religion brought before 
 them, where the fate and the peace of it 
 was not concerned. 
 
 II. The refurreclion of Jefus Cbrift from 
 the dead is the grand quefion in our de- 
 bates about Chr'iflianity , and which we 
 are folicitous to maintain, in vindication 
 of our religion. 
 
 III. Paul would not have affirmed Jefus 
 Chri/l, a dead man, to be alive, with- 
 out very good proof of it ; knowing that 
 the whole religion which he taught the 
 world depended on the truth of it. 
 
 Firft obfervation. Civil governors among 
 the Heathens ufually, in ancient times, thought 
 it f range to have matters of pure religion 
 brought before them. 
 
 Feftus imagined fome dreadful accufation 
 of fedition or murder was brought againft 
 Paul, or fome high crime againft the ftate, 
 when he was with fuch fury brought before 
 him ; but there was nothing of this kind ap- 
 peared. St. Paul exprefsly fays, He had walk- 
 ed uprightly before God and man, and exercifed 
 himfelf to keep a good confcience toward God 
 and ??ien; a confcience void of offence; and 
 after many years, he came to bring alms to his 
 own nation, to do his country a kindnefs, and 
 the Jews fei%ed him, upon pretence of his 
 opinions being contrary to the religion of their 
 nation. 
 
 The 
 
1 6 St. PauVs Divine Commijfion Disc. I. 
 
 The great defign of civil government, and 
 the inftitution of magiftracy among men, is 
 to keep the peace, to fecure the perfons and 
 properties of mankind who are innocent, 
 from all manner of injury; and there is no- 
 thing more of religion comes within their 
 province, than is abfolutely necefTary to fecure 
 the public peace. Now, upon this account, 
 and that with fome appearance of reafon, it 
 hath been fuppofed that Atheifts, or thofe 
 who deny God, or his providence, or his go- 
 vernment of the world, may be juftly punifh- 
 ed by magiltrates, fo far at leaft as to be ba- 
 nifhed from their dominions; becaufe they 
 who deny the knowledge and juftice of a 
 God, a fuperior governor, can givenofecurity 
 by oaths, of their allegiance or loyalty to any 
 government whatfoever; and will break all 
 manner of bonds when they can do it fafely. 
 But where fome divine power is owned and 
 acknowledged, who knows and will punifh 
 perjury and falfehood, the civil governor 
 hath no further power in affairs of pure re- 
 ligion, where the peace of mankind, the pro- 
 perty of man, and the fafety of the ftate, are 
 not concerned: Now thefe privileges and 
 powers are not impaired by any article of 
 the religion of nature. 
 
 This was the notion of the wifer and better 
 Heathens by the light of nature, and there- 
 fore you do not find them ufually quarrelling 
 about their gods, and bringing one anothei 
 
 before 
 
Disc. I. examined and ejlablijhed. ij 
 
 before courts of juftice, becaufe of their con- 
 tentions and differences in matters of their 
 religion: Nor would the magiftrates bear it. 
 This appears in the cafe of St. Paul at Corinth, 
 Acts xviii. 12 — 1 6. ' And when Gallic was 
 c the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made infur- 
 1 reclion with one accord againft Paul, and 
 ' brought him to the judgment- feat, faying, 
 c this fellow perfuadeth men to worfhip God 
 4 contrary to the law. And when Paul was 
 ' now about to open his mouth, Gallio faid 
 1 unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong, 
 
 * or wicked lewdnefs,0 ye Jews,reafon would 
 
 * that I mould bear with you ; but if it be a 
 
 * queftion of words and names, and of your 
 
 * law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge 
 4 of fuch matters: And he drove them from 
 c the judgment^feat/ 
 
 But then Gallio was much to blame in the 
 1 7th verfe, where he took no cognizance of 
 the Greeks beating Softhenes, an innocent 
 man, being the ruler of the fynagogue; which 
 was a crime againft the peace of the city, 
 and an offence againft the government, which 
 Gallio ought to have refented. 
 
 But however the civil magiftrates among 
 the Heathens had nothing to do in matters of 
 pure religion, yet the Jews were continually 
 running to the civil magiftrate with their 
 charges againft thofe who oppofed their Reli- 
 gion, or any part of it. And this is the plain 
 and apparent reafon of it: The government 
 
 B of 
 
18 St. PauPs Divine Commijjion Disc. I. 
 
 of the Jews was a theocracy: God was their 
 king as well as their God; the law that he 
 gave them by the hand of Mofes was the law 
 of their fecular affairs as well as the rule of 
 their religion; and therefore the high-prieft 
 was made a judge in many civil affairs as 
 well as religious. Their religion and their 
 civil government were fo interwoven, by 
 God's being their king as well as their God, 
 that there were many crimes in religion to 
 be punifhed by the civil magiftrate, by the 
 appointment of God himfelf; which makes 
 the cafe .of the Jews different from the cafe 
 of all other nations under heaven: For no 
 people ever had God for their civil and politi- 
 cal governor and lawgiver, but the Jews alone. 
 
 Chriftianity does not claim, or affume, or 
 pretend, to any fuch privilege or power: It 
 does not alter this matter from what the light 
 of nature hath determined : It introduces no 
 new civil government, but leaves all thefe 
 matters as it finds them: and fince the Judaic 
 (late and government are abolifhed, there is 
 no magiftrate on earth hath power to en- 
 quire or command, to rule or punifh, any 
 further in matters of religion, than to fee 
 that the ftate fuffer no damage, and the peace 
 of mankind, and the government be fecured. 
 
 But this hath been the unhappinefs of 
 Chriftians almoft in all ages fince Chriftianity 
 began, they have been cited before magi- 
 strates, and punifhed even by their fellow- 
 
 Chriftians, 
 
Disc. I . examined and ejlablljhed. 1 9 
 
 Chriftians, as well as by the Jews and Hea- 
 thenSjfor thofe notions and practices wherein 
 the magiftrate hath no power. This the 
 Jews began you fee very early, and the Ro- 
 man governors and Heathens have carried it 
 on; and Chriftian magiftrates have carried 
 this matter to the height, but it is in the An- 
 tichriftian church. They have done this by 
 bloody perfecutions, racks, torments, and 
 murders of the beft of their fellow-Chri- 
 ftians, where the very light of nature dic- 
 tated to the beft and wifeft of Heathens, that 
 they had no power or authority; and it is a 
 plain confeffion of it, where Feftus and Gallio 
 were not willing to meddle; nor would Pilate 
 himfelf, who crucified Chrift, have done it, 
 if the Jews had not almoft conftrained him; 
 as fufficiently appears in the hiftory of the 
 death of Chrift. Let us remember then, that 
 the religion of Chrift is not built on the wif- 
 dom nor power of man, nor doth it need 
 fuch a fupport. All that Chriftianity wants, 
 is to have the perfons, and property, and 
 peace of its profeflbrs, fecured againft the out- 
 rages of wicked men. Its own truth and 
 excellency, and divine authority, will make 
 its own way into the world by the afliftances 
 of the bleffed Spirit, where human powers do 
 but let it alone, and preferve it from the un- 
 righteous violence of its neighbours. 
 
 B 2 Second 
 
so «S7. Pants Divine CommiJJion Disc. L 
 
 Second obfervation. The refurreclion of 
 Jefus from the dead is the chief article, and 
 the grand point, which private Chrijlians and 
 mini/I ers are f o licit on s to maintain, in the vin- 
 dication of their religion. 
 
 This was the point that flood forth to view, 
 and fhewed itfeif with fuch evidence in the 
 debate between St. Paul and his accufers, 
 when Feftus gave them a hearing, that he 
 makes a fpecial remark on that, as though it 
 were the moft confpicuous and remarkable 
 article of their contention. Peter and Paul 
 were the two chief preachers among the 
 Chriftians, who are recorded in fcripture, and 
 you find them continually infilling on the re- 
 furre&ion of Chrift. It was chiefly the refur- 
 rection of Jefus Chrift from the dead that 
 was the matter of Paul's fuppofed herefy and 
 crime* as Feftus underftood the matter. This 
 was the great point of conteft. 
 
 I. Reafon. Becaufe this article of the refur- 
 reclion of Chri/l is a moft effeclual proof 'of 'his 
 divine commijfwn. This point, whether Jefus 
 Chrift, who was dead, is now alive, or no, is a 
 queftion of fuch importance, that the Chri- 
 ftian religion ftands or falls with it. It is 
 certain Jefus Chrift was once dead ; this the 
 Jews allow, this Feftus takes for granted: 
 Jefus was certainly crucified, a fpear run into 
 his fide, his heart's blood was let out, he was 
 buried, and Pilate the governor, and the 
 priefts, fealed up the fepulchre, to guard it 
 
 againfl 
 
Disc, I. examined and ejlablifljed. i\ 
 
 againft all poflible fraud of dealing away the 
 body. 
 
 Now if he be not rifen again, his religion 
 is not true, his pretences are vain; he w^as not 
 fent from heaven, nor is he a prophet or mef- 
 fenger of God. St. Paul grants, ' If Jems be 
 
 * not rifen your faith is vain, ye are yet in 
 
 * your fins; and we who preach a rifen Jefus 
 i arefalfewitnefTes.' I Cor. xv. 14, 15. But 
 on the other hand, if Jefus be alive, then his 
 religion is divine. Let me juft mention thefe 
 two reafons for w 7 hat I fay. 
 
 1. It is an undeniable proof of his divine 
 commifTion, Becanfe the prophets foretold this 
 refurreclion concerning the Mejfiah, though in 
 more obfcure language^ and darker exprejjions. 
 Now if he had not rifen from the dead, then 
 Jefus had not been the IVfeiliah wrhom the 
 prophets foretold. See A£ts xxvi. 6, 8. for 
 thus St. Paul pleads: c And now I ftand and 
 4 am judged for the hope .of the promife 
 ! made of God unto our fathers: Why 
 
 * mould it be thought a thing incredible with 
 c you, that God ihould raife the dead?' 
 1 Cor. xv. 4. Paul owns that he was dead, 
 and ' That he was buried, and that he rofe 
 ' again according to the fcriptures ' Ads 
 xiii. 32, &c. ' The promife which was 
 ' made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled 
 4 the fame unto us their children, in that he 
 
 * hath raifed up Jefus from the dead.' Ifa. 
 liii. 9 — 12. ' He poured out his foul unto 
 
 B 3 < death. 
 
22 St. Paul's Divine Commiffion Disc. I. 
 1 death. He fhall fee his feed, he fhall pro- 
 
 * long his days.' Pfal. xvi, 10,11.' Thou 
 c wilt not leave my foul in hell, nor fuffer 
 
 * thine holy one to fee corruption: Thou 
 
 * wilt fhew me the path of life/ 
 
 But on the other hand, if he did rife from 
 the dead, this is a thing which a mere man 
 could not do by his own power, nor would 
 the holy and all-wife, and true and faithful 
 God, fuffer any evil powers to do it for the 
 vindication of an impoftor; and therefore 
 he muft be the true Meffiah. 
 
 2. It is alfo a raoft effectual proof of his 
 commiflion from God, Becaufe Jefus Chrift 
 foretold this concerning himfelf; John ii. 18, 
 19, 21, 22. viz. That he mould rife from 
 the dead, Mat. xvi. 21. The miracles which 
 Chrift performed were very great, and fuffi- 
 cient to prove his divine authority: But 
 fmce he gave forth fuch a prophecy concern- 
 ing himfelf, if this prophecy had never been 
 fulfilled, it would have weakened the force of 
 his miracles, and given us reafon to fufpect 
 what power they came from. This his rifing 
 from the dead was the great and crowning 
 miracle that gave confirmation to all the reft. 
 
 Now confidering this refurre&ion from 
 the dead, to be foretold by the prophets, and 
 by himfelf in his life-time, this was as great 
 a teftimony as could be given of God's ap- 
 proving him as a prophet fent from heaven: 
 For it is the peculiar property and work of 
 
 God 
 
D i s c . I. examined and eftabli/hed. 2 3 
 
 God to raife the dead. See Rom. iv. 17. 
 This is God's eminent prerogative. Surely 
 he muft be no common favourite of heaven, 
 on whom the great and almighty God be- 
 ftows fuch a privilege. Acls iii. 13, 15. 
 c Ye have killed the Prince of life, whom 
 
 * God railed up from the dead, whereof we 
 ' are his witnefTes.' 
 
 II. Reafon. Becaufe as his rijing from the 
 
 dead is the great proof of his mijjion, fo the 
 
 refurreclion of Chrijl is the great foundation 
 
 of the Chriflian s hope; which will appear in 
 
 J ever % al particulars ; viz. 
 
 1. This was a teftimony of his having an- 
 fwered the end for which he died, having 
 made full atonement for fin, and his being 
 relealed from the hands of punifhing juftice. 
 Ads ii. 24. Rom. iv. ult. Rom. viii. 34. He 
 took our fins on him, he did bear the pu- 
 nifhment of our iniquities; ' he bare our 
 
 * fins on his own body on the tree, &c.' 
 And ' death is the wages of fin.' Now when 
 he had taken our fins on him, iinlefs he had 
 made full atonement and expiation for fin, 
 he would have lain under the power of death 
 ftill; but being railed from the dead, it ap- 
 pears, that divine juftice hath received full 
 fatisfaclion for fin ; and the way is open for 
 the juftice of God to receive finners into 
 favour. 
 
 2. This is the beginning of his exaltation 
 and his power, to befow all the blejjings of the 
 
 B 4 gofpel 
 
24 St. Paul's Divine Commijfion Disc. L 
 go/pel, fandification, falvation, and eternal 
 Hie; as well as all the gifts of the Spirit, 
 which confirmed his religion. See Ads ii. 
 32, 23-> 36. ' This Jefus hath God raifed 
 4 up, whereof we are all witnefTes: There- 
 4 fore being by the right hand of God ex- 
 c alted, and having received of the Father 
 1 the promife of the Holy Ghoft, he hath 
 c fned forth this which ye now fee and hear: 
 
 * Therefore, let all the houfe of Ifrael know 
 ' afTuredly, that God hath made that fame 
 6 Jefus both Lord and (Thrift.' Ads v. 31. 
 c Him hath God exalted with his right hand, 
 c to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give 
 
 * repentance to Ifrael, and forgivenefs of 
 
 * fins.' 
 
 His government, his interceffion, his com- 
 ing to judgment, all depend on this; and his 
 power to beftow heaven on his difciples, as 
 well as his power to punifh the wilful and 
 obftinate, and impenitent, who renounced 
 or rejeded his name, his gofpel, and his 
 falvation. 
 
 3. This Jefus Chrift, rifen from the dead, 
 is the prime foundation of our moft glorious 
 expedations, // is the pattern and pledge of 
 our final hope and bleffednefs: c Becaufe I 
 
 * live, ye mail live alfo,' faith our bleffed 
 Lord. John xiv. 19. 1 Cor. xv. 20, 49. 
 ' Where I am, there mail my fervant be. 
 
 * Now is Chrift rifen from the dead, and be- 
 & come the firft-fruits of them that flept: $s 
 
 1 we 
 
Disc. I . examined and ejlablifljed. 2 5 
 
 6 we have born the image of the earthy, fo 
 
 * fhall we alio bear the image of the heavenly.' 
 2 Cor. iv. 14. ' Knowing that he which 
 c raifed up the Lord Jefus, fhall raife up us 
 - alfo by Jefus, and fhall prefent us with 
 i you.' John xii. 26. See more. John xiv. 
 3. 'I go to prepare a place for you, that 
 c where I am, there ye may be alio.' Eph. 
 ii. 5, 6. c Even when we were dead in fins, 
 c God hath quickenedus together with Chrift, 
 
 * and hath raifed us up together, and made us 
 1 fit together in heavenly places in Chrift 
 4 Jefus.' 
 
 Occafional refleclion. If you are furnifhed 
 with convincing arguments that Jefus Chrift 
 is rifen from the dead, then you may be af- 
 fured your religion is true; though there may 
 be twenty little cavils that you cannot eafily 
 anfwer : You may be affured alfo, that all the 
 bleffings of this religion are provided and 
 ready for his faithful followers. 
 
 Is it certain that Jefus is rifen from the 
 dead? Then my fins are fully atoned for, 
 and forgiven, if I truft in him, and give my- 
 felf up to him. Rom. viii. $$, 34. * Who 
 ■ fhall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
 c ele&? It is God that juftifieth: Who is he 
 4 that condemneth? It is Chrift that died, 
 
 * yea rather, that is rifen again, who is even 
 4 at the right-hand of God, who alfo maketh 
 { interceffion for us;' /. e. as appears from 
 
 the 
 
2b St. Paul's Divine CommiJJion Disc. I. 
 
 the foregoing verfes, for all thofe who believe 
 or truft in Christ. 
 
 Then he hath all power to fan&ify and 
 fave me, if I commit myfelf into his hands. 
 Eph. i. latter end, and ii. I, 5, 8. c You 
 c hath he quickened who were dead in tref- 
 
 * pafles and fins. We are quickened toge- 
 
 * ther with Chrift, and faved by his grace:' 
 /. e. We who have trufted in Chrift, Eph. 
 i. 12. 
 
 Then I fhall be raifed from the dead, as 
 fure as if it were done already; for he is the 
 pledge and pattern of the refurredlion of all 
 his followers. Rom. viii. 11. ' If the Spirit 
 
 * of him that raifed up Jefus from the dead 
 c dwell in you, he that raifed up Chrift from 
 1 the dead fhall alfo quicken your mortal 
 { bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.' 
 
 O happy fouls, who have given up them- 
 felves fincerely to this all-fufncient Saviour, 
 and can apply thefe confolations to them- 
 felves, which are written in 1 Cor. xv. in 
 many glorious and comfortable expreffions. 
 
 Third obfervation. Paul would not have 
 affirmed Jefus Chrift^ who was dead, to be 
 alive again, without very good proof of it. 
 
 Here thefe two things are to be confider- 
 ed, or enquired: 
 
 1. Why Paul would not have affirmed it 
 without jiift grounds. 
 
 2. What 
 
Di s c . I. examined and ejlablljhcd. 2 7 
 
 2. What particular reafons Paul had to be- 
 lieve it; or what good proof he had of it. 
 
 Enquiry the firfl. Why Paul would not 
 have affirmed it without juft grounds: Thefe 
 are fome of the conliderations to make this 
 evident; viz. 
 
 1 . He was a man of good natural parts , 
 of great fagacity, as well as good learning, 
 and he could not fo cafily have been impofed upon 
 in a thing of that importance, which was done 
 in his own country, and the chief city of it, 
 in his own day and time, and when he had 
 abundant opportunities to have fearched into 
 the truth or falfehood thereof, and this whole 
 nation was fet upon the fearch and ievereft 
 fcrutiny into it. 
 
 Now that he was a man of parts and 
 knowledge, the good fenfe and reafoning 
 which appears in his writings, fufficiently 
 teftify this character. 
 
 He was a young man when he was con- 
 verted, and he was brought up in Jerufalem, 
 at the feet of Gamaliel: He muft have great 
 opportunities of enquiring concerning the 
 hiftory of the life, doctrine, and death of 
 Chrift, and of the report of his refurrection 
 among his own countrymen. 
 
 2. Hefeems to be a very fin cere and faith- 
 ful honejl man: This his whole conduct 
 
 mews, if we confider: He appears to have 
 an honeft zeal for his religion whilft he was 
 a Pharifee as well as afterward; diligently 
 
 and 
 
2 8 5/. Paul's Divine CommiJJim Disc. I. 
 
 and openly purfuing what he profefTed: No 
 flaw was found in his morals: No charge of 
 hypocrify. Acts xxiii. i. c I have lived in 
 
 * all good confcience unto this day.' Nor 
 are his morals impeached by his worft ad- 
 verfaries. 
 
 3 He 'was once a fierce and violent enemy 
 to Jefus Chrift, and his name, and his go/pel, 
 and his followers. Gal. i. 13. c I perfecuted 
 
 * the church of God, and wafted it.' Acts 
 xxvi. 11. ' And being exceedingly mad a- 
 1 gainft them, I perfecuted them even unto 
 c ftrange cities.' 1 Tim. i. 13. f Who was 
 ' before a blafphemer, and a perfecutor, and 
 
 * injurious.' This was fufficiently witnefled 
 by his own countrymen the Jews. 
 
 It hath been fometimes faid by unbelievers, 
 that teftimonies of the refurreclion of Chrift 
 came only from his friends, and that you 
 have none of the Heathens, or profefTed Jews, 
 bear witnefs to it. Here is a profefTed Jew, 
 and a violent enemy to Chriftianity, who 
 bears ftrong and conftant witnefs to it. But 
 it could never be fuppofed that he mould 
 continue an enemy and an unbeliever of 
 Chriftianity, after he believed that Chrift was 
 rifen from the dead, and thereby fo evidently 
 proved that he was the true Mefliah. 
 
 4. He f pent his whole life afterwards with 
 much zeal and fatigue, in publifhing this truth, 
 that Jefus Chrift was rifen from the dead, 
 and the doctrines which depend on it. He 
 
 preached 
 
Disc. I. examined and eJlabllJIoecL 29 
 
 preached this gofpel to a multitude of towns 
 and cities among the Heathens, who were 
 utter unbelievers, befides his vindicating 
 this doctrine always among the unbelieving 
 Jews. 
 
 5. He expofed himftlf to perpetual dangers 
 and difficulties, and to many fevere persecu- 
 tions, by ajffirming it, and even to death it/elf; 
 and that without any hope of riches, ho- 
 nours, or pleafures, in this world. Acts xx. 
 23, 24. * The Holy Ghoft witnefleth in 
 4 every city, faying, that bonds and afflic- 
 4 tions abide me, but none of thefe things 
 * move me; neither count I my life dear 
 4 unto myfejf, fo that I might finilh my 
 4 courfe with joy, and the miniftry which I 
 4 have received of the Lord, to teftify the 
 4 gofpel of the grace of God.' 
 
 Now put all thefe things together, and 
 can it be fuppofed that any man, a wife, an 
 ingenious, and learned man, faithful and 
 fincere, an enemy to Chriftianity, and of 
 the name of Chrift, mould be fo effectually 
 convinced of the truth of the doctrine of 
 Chrift, and of the facts which fupport it, as 
 to fpend his life in preaching this gofpel, 
 and to die for it, if he had not abundant 
 ground to believe it. And if Paul believed 
 it with fuch evidence, we may venture to 
 believe it too. 
 
 DIS- 
 
"^L^y-^£"Wr 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 The Divine Commission of St. PAUL 
 Examined and Eftablifhed. 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon: 
 
 O N 
 
 A£ts xxv. 1 8, 19. 
 
 Of one Jefus, who was dead^ whom Paul 
 affirmed to be alive. 
 
 SECONDLY: The next thing to be 
 enquired is, What fpecial and particular 
 rcafons Paul had to believe the refurreclion of 
 Chrijl, and thus conjlantly to preach it? 
 
 Here I mail not run through all the va- 
 rious proofs of the refurre£tion of Chrift, 
 which are often fummed up together on this 
 occafion ; but only mention thofe which 
 convinced St. Paul, and gave him this full 
 aflurance, that Jefus was rifen from the 
 dead. 
 
 1. He 
 
Di s c . II. St. Paul's Divine Commijfion^ &c. 3 1 
 
 1. He faw J ejus Chrifl after his refur- 
 rcEiion, and f pake with him more than once. 
 Ads ix. 4, 5. c And a voice faid unto him, 
 1 Saul, why perfecuteft thou me? And he 
 1 faid, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord 
 1 faid, I am Jefus, whom thou perfecuteft/ 
 And xxii. 1 7. c While I prayed in the tern- 
 c pie, I faw him, faying unto me, Make 
 c hafte, &c.' 1 Cor. xv. 4 — 8. c He was 
 c feen of Cephas, then of the twelve ; after 
 6 that, of above five hundred brethren at 
 c once; after that, he was feen of James; 
 i then of all the apoftles; and, laft of all, 
 * he was feen of me alfo.' He appeals to 
 this fight of Chrift, for the truth of the 
 refurre&ion of Chrift. 
 
 It belongs to the character of an apoftle, 
 that he muft be one who had feen the Lord; 
 therefore he partly proves his apoftlefhip that 
 way. 1 Cor. ix. 1. c Am not I an apoftle? 
 c Have I not feen Jefus Chrift, our Lord V 
 
 The firft time he faw Chrift, after his re- 
 furre&ion, was on the road to Damafcus, 
 when there were feveral with him accompa- 
 nying him on the road, who were alfo fur- 
 prifed with the defcending glory, though 
 they were not permitted to hear the words. 
 He faw him again, Acts xxii. 17, 18, 21. 
 when Chrift lent him to preach to the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 2. He felt a wonderful change in himfelf 
 both in bis body and his foul, after he had the 
 
 firft 
 
32 »S7. Paul's Divine Commifjion Disc. II. 
 
 Jirjl vifion of Chrijl: He was ftruck blind, 
 and after three days had his fight reftored, 
 by the laying on of the hands of Ananias, 
 a Chriftian, according to the vifion which 
 was given him. Ads ix. 8, 18. He had a 
 new fcene of things fet before his under- 
 ftanding, even the whole fcheme of Chrifti- 
 anity. Some fuppofe that, in the three days 
 of his blindnefs, he was taught the gofpel. 
 And accordingly it is faid, Acts ix. 20, 22. 
 c That he ftraightway preached Chrift in 
 ' the fynagogues, that he is the Son of God.' 
 GaL i. 1. * Paul, an apoftle, not of man, 
 
 * nor by man, but by Jefus Chrift.' He 
 had a new heart given him, and was made 
 a new man. c I received it not of man, 
 
 * nor by man, nor was I taught it but by 
 c the revelation of Jefus Chrift. God called 
 c me by his grace, and revealed his Son in 
 c me.' Gal. i. 11, 15, 16. And of an enemy 
 be became a friend \ and preacher of the gofpel. 
 Gal. i. 1 1 — 16, 23. 
 
 3. He found ft l range powers communicated 
 to him, and he could J peak many unknown 
 languages, and gave this gift of tongues to 
 other men; he could heal the fick with a touch 
 of his hand, or a word of his mouth: He 
 could make the lame to walk, as at Lyftra; 
 Ads xiv. 8, 10. and ftrike men blind with 
 a reproof; fo Elymas, Ads xiii. J 1, 12. 
 and could raife the dead ; lb Eutychus, 
 Ads xx. 10, 12. And beiides all this, he 
 
 had 
 
Disc. II. examined and ejlablijhed. 33 
 
 had a power of communicating thefe miracu- 
 lous and healing gifts to Chriftian6 ; which 
 eminently appears among the Corinthians ; 
 to which he appeals in his difputes with 
 them, 1 Cor. xiv. 1 8. 
 
 Now was it poffible for a man who felt 
 fuch amazing changes wrought in him, and 
 fuch amazing powers communicated to him 
 by. Jefus Chrift, to doubt whether Chrift was 
 rifen from the dead, whether Jefus were alive 
 or no ? Or would God have communicated 
 fuch powers to a man, who went about to 
 preach the refurre&ion of Chrift, if Chrift 
 had never been raifed from the grave? Would 
 God have afforded fuch favours to a man who 
 preached the Chriftian religion, if it had not 
 been true, and approved of God? 
 
 Nor could St. Paul be deceived in his fre- 
 quently exercifmg thefe powers, nor could he 
 deceive others by pretending to them, nor 
 could he appeal to men who enjoyed them, if 
 he had not received them and beftowed them. 
 He appeals, in his public epiftles to the Co- 
 rinthians and Romans, two large affemblies in 
 two noted cities, Rom. xv. 18. 2 Cor. xii. 1 1: 
 Thefe letters were to be read by the churches, 
 and they publiihed his vindication. And let 
 it be obferved too, that fever al among the 
 Corinthians were his profefied adversaries, 
 and had fet themfelves up againft him, and 
 endeavoured to deny his apoftlefhip. 1 Cor. 
 ix. 1,2. If I be not an apojile to others, I am 
 
 C unto 
 
34 "*• Paul's Divine CommiJJion Disc. II. 
 unto you; for ye are the feal, or proof, of my 
 apofllefhip, by receiving divine gifts from me. 
 
 4. Upon clofer examination of the Bible, St. 
 Paul found, that ChriJT s rifng from the dead 
 was agreeable to the revelations that God had 
 madt to mankind in former ages, agreeable to 
 the prophecies of the prophets his predecefjors, 
 and particularly agreeable to the explications of 
 thofe fcriptures by his forefathers, and the pro- 
 mifes contained in his own native religion, 
 and in the books which teach it; Ads xiii. 
 
 30 37. and eminently in that great type 
 
 and figure of him, Jonah the prophet, who 
 lived again after he had lain three days and 
 nights in the belly of the whale, in the heart 
 of the fea, Matt. xii. 39, 46. which was 
 fulfilled in the reiurre&ion of Chriit. 
 
 5. By conferring with others of his own 
 nation, and his own religion, who were well 
 acquainted with Jefus Chrijl in his life-time, 
 he found the fame truth confirmed by them; for 
 they had J ecu Jefus Chrijl, and eat and drank 
 with him after be rofe from the dead: So Peter 
 and James, as Gal. i. 18, 19. And they con- 
 firmed the fame doclrine by their teftimony 
 to him, and by gifts and miracles, as w r ell as 
 by their own peribnal knowledge. 
 
 6. He Jaw the bleffed and amazing ejfccls 
 <yf the refurreclion of Chrijl among the Gentiles, 
 who were once grofsly ignorant idolaters, de- 
 voted to grofs fuperjlitions , faves to every lujl, 
 and. given up to all abominations*, as they are 
 
 defcribed 
 
Disc. II. examined and e/Iabli/hea. $$ 
 
 defcribed Rom. i. i8, &c. Gal. iv. 8. Eph« iv. 
 17. 1 Cor. vi. 11. But they were changed 
 by this gofpel, and made new creatures. 
 
 Before I proceed any further, I would make 
 two or three Remarks. 
 
 Rem. 1. Which of all the infidels of the 
 Jew iflo or Heathen nations, which of all the 
 unbelievers and apofiatcs in a Chrifitan land, 
 ever could pretend to bring fuch powerful and 
 convincing arguments againfl the rcfurreclion 
 fChrif, as St, Paul had for it? Who hath 
 ever attempted or prefumed to prove that 
 Jefus Chrift continues Hill among the dead, 
 by fuch effectual arguments as Paul had to 
 prove that he is alive? St. Paul's own reafon 
 exercifing itfelf on thefe arguments, could 
 not reiift the power of them, but he became 
 a captive to the force of this reafoning, and 
 a rational believer, and a zealous preacher of 
 a rifen Jefus. 
 
 Rem. 2. How nee e [far y it is for Chr'fiians, 
 whofe life and hopes depend on the New Tefia- 
 ment, to be well fatisfed that St. Paul was in 
 the right, and that St. Paul's doclrine if true. 
 For it is eviderrt, that a great part of out re- 
 ligion, at leaft in the clearnefs, and fulnefs, 
 and glory of it, is derived from his writings. 
 His writings make up near half the New 
 Teftamenl. 
 
 Many of the articles of our religion would 
 
 be lefs plain, and more doubtful, if we did not 
 
 borrow light from St. Pauls writings; Many 
 
 C 2 a 
 
36 St, Paul's Divine CommiJJion Disc. II. 
 
 a comfortable expreffion which our fouls reft 
 upon would be loft and ufelefs to us, if we 
 are not fatisfied of the truth of what St. Paul 
 tells us, as one commhTioned by our rifen 
 Saviour. Many a fweet and powerful pro- 
 mile, on which Chriftians have lived and 
 died, would lofe its fweetnefs and its force, 
 if we doubt of the truth and authority of the 
 epiftles of Paul. 
 
 What would fome of you have done with- 
 out ieveral chapters, and many verfes in them ? 
 as Rom. iv. and v. 8, 12, 14. I mean parti- 
 cularly with regard to the doctrine of original 
 fin, derived from Adam, and the falvation by 
 Chrift, his priefthood, his royalty, and the 
 ufe and benefit of afflictions, Heb. xi. xii. &c. 
 Our refurreclion from the dead, and our eter- 
 nal happinefs, 1 Cor. xv.. and 1 Theff. iv. 
 and many others? 
 
 And of how great advantage is it to us, 
 that St. Paul has foretold, in plain language, 
 the rife and characters of Antichrift, 2 ThefT. 
 ii. 3 — 12. and the deftruction of that ftate, 
 to forewarn us, and to give us comfortable 
 hopes and expectations ? 
 
 It is a matter therefore of great and hea- 
 venly importance, for us Chriftians to be well 
 eftablifhed in the belief of St. Paul's conver- 
 fion, his faith, and his apoftleihip, and for 
 this end we fhall do well to remember thefe 
 proofs and arguments which convinced him 
 that Jefus was rifen from the dead. Other 
 
 holy 
 
Disc. II. examined and eflabliflded. i -j 
 
 holy writers have told us more of the life, 
 actions, death, and refurrection of Chrift, 
 in the particular circumftances thereof; but 
 St. Paul has told us more of the bleffed con- 
 fluences of thefe tranfactions. 
 
 And let it be always kept in mind by us, 
 that he was in a fpecial manner the apoftle 
 to the Gentile nations, of which Great Bri- 
 tain is a large province, and a remarkable 
 part; fo that, in his writings he fpeaks di- 
 rectly to us, and we are bound to attend to 
 him. 
 
 Rem. 3. // is very reafonable to conclude, we 
 may fafely believe what St. Paul believed and 
 taught about this fubjecl of the refurreclion of 
 Chrift. For if we have but reafon to believe 
 that this was Paul's character, faith, and 
 practice, and thefe are the reafons of his be- 
 lief, what mould difcourage or ftagger us? 
 
 Let us fum up the force of this argument, 
 and put it together. 
 
 Here is a wife, learned, fincere, honeft 
 man, bred up a Pharifee, in a ftrong oppo- 
 fition to Chrift, and the doctrine of his re- 
 furrection, zealous for another religion, even 
 the religion of his fathers and his country, 
 who yet faw reafon to renounce all his an- 
 cient prejudices, and fubmit to receive this 
 new and ftrange doctrine, who believed and 
 profeffed this gofpel, which he once griev- 
 oufly perfecuted, and afterwards preached it, 
 with much fatigue, danger, and fuffering, 
 C 3 fupported 
 
38 St. Paul's Divine Commiffion Disc. II. 
 
 fupported it with courage, and conftant di- 
 vine zeal and piety, and the practice of every 
 virtue; through his whole life, gloried in his 
 perpetual fufferings for it, lived upon the 
 comforts derived from it, died in defence of 
 it, and fealed it with his blood, and left it 
 as a chief treafure to thofe whom he loved 
 beft in this world, even to the churches of 
 Chrift. 
 
 Now we have not this account of Paul 
 from mere hearfay and tradition, but we 
 have his own teftimony to all this in his 
 writings, which have been delivered down 
 to us through many ages: And no man of 
 fenfe can reafonably doubt whether they are 
 his writings or no, any more than we can 
 doubt the writings of Julius Csefar, or Seneca, 
 Livy, or Virgil. I add this further: Con- 
 cerning the vigour and fpirit of his writings, 
 and the force of argument contained in them, 
 we have the teftimony of fome of his greateft 
 adverfaries, as he himfelf reprefents the cafe. 
 His letters , fay they, are weighty and power- 
 ful^ and he was not afhamed to appeal to 
 themfelves, and threaten them, that he would 
 make it appear that his practice towards them 
 mould have as much force and power as his 
 letters had, when he came the fecond time to 
 vifit them, 2 Cor, x. jo, 11. And we have 
 the teftimony of two others, particularly Luke 
 the phyfician, in his hiftory of the Ads of 
 the Apoftles, who was a fellow-traveller with 
 
 him; 
 
Disc. II. examined and gjlablijhed. 3 9 
 
 him ; and Peter, who was another of his 
 countrymen, in his epiftles, bears witnefs to 
 him, and to his writings; befides the tefti- 
 mony of all the Chriilian writers from the 
 beginning of Chriftianity, 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. 
 Which writings of St. Paul are dignified 
 by St. Peter himfelf, with the name of the 
 fcriptures, ver. 16. they being both men in- 
 fpired by God, and of chief repute among 
 the apoftles. 
 
 I proceed now to enquire, What were thefe 
 bleffed effccls on men in the Heathen world, 
 ^whereby PauVs doctrine of the refurreclion of 
 Chrift was further confirmed and eflablijhed. 
 
 And here I might talk largely of the idola- 
 ters that were turned from their fuperftitiohs 
 to the worfhip and love of the true God, of 
 their abandoning their former vices, and 
 their fuperftitious and finful cuftoms of their 
 nations, and the reformation of their lives 
 and manners, to goodnefs and holinefs, &c. 
 but I fhall confine myfelf only to thofe effects 
 which bear a more apparent relation to the 
 refurreclion of Chrift; and fuch are thefe that 
 follow : (viz*) 
 
 1. How many deadfinners were made alive 
 to God, and virtue, piety, and univerfal holi- 
 nefs, by preaching this doclrine of the death 
 and refurreclion of fefus Chrift f What en- 
 couragement for hope of pardon for the worft 
 of finners in this bleffed doctrine of a dying 
 and a rifing Saviour ? What an affurance of 
 C 4 full 
 
40 St. Pqufy Divine Commijjion Disc. II. 
 
 full atonement made to the juftice of God, 
 in that Jefus, who, in death, took our fins 
 upon him, is now difcharged from the dead, 
 and his difmiffion from the grave is a full to- 
 ken and proof of it. He died for our offences, 
 and rofe again for our juft if cation, Rom. iv. ult. 
 
 If Chrift be yet under the pain of death, as 
 the apoftle argues, i Cor. xv. 1 7. and be not 
 rifen ; then our faith is vain, we are yet in 
 our fins: But if he be rifen, then our faith 
 and hope are confirmed, and our fins are 
 atoned for, and our fouls are pardoned, if we 
 truft in him. 
 
 O how many guilty confeiences are made 
 eafy, and that upon folid grounds, by the 
 refurrection of Jefus from the dead? He is 
 a God of peace, and reconciled tofnners, who 
 brought Jefus Chrift from the dead, by virtue 
 of the blood of the everlafting covenant, Heb. 
 xiii. 20. Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 Several of the dead faints arofe after his 
 refurre&ion, and that by the virtue of it, 
 Matt, xxvii. 53. as an emblem of the many 
 dead fouls that mould rife from a death in 
 fins and trefpaffes by the fame influence, 
 Eph. ii. 5, 6. 
 
 A rifen Saviour hath, according to the 
 apoftle's preaching, given them repentance 
 and remijjion of fins, Luke xxiv. 46, 47. 
 They are raifed from a death in fins, by vir- 
 tue of the refurre&ion of Chrift. 
 
 2. How 
 
Disc. II. examined and e/iablijhed. 4 1 
 
 2. How many earthly, carnal, and fenfual 
 folds, have been made heavenly-minded by faith 
 
 in a rfen Saviour? Col. iii. 1. Many there 
 are, who have felt the power of the word. 
 4 If ye are rifen with Chrift, let your aftec- 
 ' tions on things above, where Chrift littcth 
 1 at the Father's right-hand.' 
 
 A rifen Jefus calls the foul upward, and 
 heavenward. 
 
 What have we here on earth worth living 
 for, fince Jefus is rifen from the dead, hath 
 left the world, and gone to heaven? Jefus, 
 our hope, our life, our eternal joy, Col. i. 
 
 This gofpel of a rifen Saviour hath done 
 more to refine the heart from earth, and 
 fleih, and fenfuality, and the love of this 
 world, and turn it to God, and things hea- 
 venly, than all the reafonings of philofo- 
 phers through all ages, and in all nations. 
 Compare the cities where they difputed with 
 the churches which Paul planted, and then 
 judge. 
 
 3. How many captives of Satan have been 
 releafed by the power of Jefus, fince his releafc 
 
 from the grave? The devil had no power to 
 hold Chrift in the fetters of death, Ads xiii. 
 37, 38. and hath been forced to releafe thou- 
 fands of his flaves by the authority of a rifen 
 Jefus, Col. ii. 15. c And having fpoiled prin- 
 f cipalities and powers, he made a fhew of 
 { them openly, triumphing over them in it.' 
 
 Pfalm 
 
42 St. Paul's Divine CommiJJion Disc. II. 
 
 Pfalm lxviii. 18. ' Thou haft received gifts 
 4 for men, even for the rebellious, that the 
 ' Lord God might dwell among them.' And 
 Eph. iv. 8, 9, 13, 15. ' He led captivity cap- 
 c tive, and gave gifts unto men, whereby 
 ' they were made prophets, teachers, mini- 
 ' fters, &c.' 
 
 4. How many fearful and feeble creatures 
 have grown bold and victorious i?i fufferings^ 
 and have conquered death itfelf by faith in a 
 dying and rifing Saviour? ' Thanks be to 
 c God, who giveth us the victory, through 
 1 Jefus Chrift our Lord.' 1 Cor. xv. 57. 
 How many believers have laid down their 
 bodies in the duft with fweet fatisfa&ion and 
 joy, through faith in the refurre&ion of 
 Chrift, and have triumphed over the grave? 
 1 O death, Where is thy fting? O grave, 
 * Where is thy victory?' 
 
 St. Paul had feen abundance of this work 
 performed, through the nations where he 
 planted the Chriftian churches, and thefe 
 wonders of lalvation wrought among the 
 Gentiles, by his preaching of Jefus, and his 
 refurredion ; and every one of thefe wonders 
 confirmed his belief, that Jefus who was 
 dead, is now alive. 
 
 A Geiieral Remark on this Head. 
 
 It greatly confirms our holy religion, when 
 we hear of thefe blefled effects of the refur- 
 
 rection 
 
Disc. II. examined and eJlablifhecL 43 
 
 region of Chrift in other perfons; but our 
 own perfonal hope muft be eftablifhed by- 
 feeling thefe effects in ourfelves. 
 
 Enquire into your own ftate under thefe 
 four particulars laft-mentioned. Search into 
 your own fouls, what have every r one of you 
 felt of thefe bleffed and divine effects; and let 
 not this difcourfe only confirm your faith, 
 but let it awaken and raife your hearts to a 
 fhare of holy and perpetual joy. 
 
 Some General Meditations, drawn 
 from the Text and Difcourfe. 
 
 1. However it hath been, and however it 
 is, a fhameful matter of doubt and enquiry 
 among infidels in a Chriftian land, in our 
 world, whether Jefus, who was put to death, 
 be alive or no, yet it is no matter of doubt or 
 enquiry in the world above, or the world be- 
 neath, in heaven or in hell. There his do- 
 minion and power are well known : Nor will 
 it be any matter of doubt hereafter in our 
 world, when he that was dead fhall come in 
 his Father's name, vefted with power, and 
 enthroned in glory, to judge the unbelieving 
 nations, and all the fons of infidelity. He 
 was onc'e unknown in this world, living and 
 dying, but will not be fo for ever, 1 Jo. iii. 1. 
 The great enquiry between Paul and his ad- 
 verfaries was about this ftrange perfon; it 
 was of one Jefus, who is fpokcn of a&an un- 
 known 
 
44 St. Paul's Divine Commijjion Disc. II. 
 known man. And he was fo for a time, but 
 it will not be fo for ever. The world once 
 knew him not, John i. 10. but he mail be 
 moll remarkably and illuftrioufly manifefted 
 one day. 
 
 2. How little mention foever was made of the 
 death and refurreclion of Chrifl, and efpe- 
 cially of the doclrines derived thence^ in his own 
 preaching in public while he lived; yet thefe 
 are evidently and continually infilled on in the 
 preaching of his apoftles, as things of the 
 greater!: moment in Chriftianity. Let not 
 thefe things therefore be ftrange or unheard 
 of in our miniftration of this gofpel, fince it 
 is built upon them. 
 
 It was not proper that Chrift mould too freely 
 publiih thefe things to the world, when they 
 had not been actually tranfa&ed among men, 
 nor was it fo fit that he mould fpeak fo parti- 
 cularly of the confequences and efte&s of 
 them, when they were not actual fa&s, yet 
 he gave fufficient notice to the world, and 
 much more to his difciples by way of pro- 
 phecy, that they might expect them. And as 
 he did not talk of thefe events freely and pub- 
 lickly, fo he could not fo properly talk of the 
 confequent bleffings of them. This was left 
 to be done by his apoftles, after thofe events 
 were come to pafs. ' Many things I have to 
 S fay,' (fays our bleffed Lord) 4 but ye cannot 
 c bear them yet,' John xvi. 1 2. 
 
 3. Let us remember, that whatfoever ad- 
 
 vantages 
 
Disc. II. examined and eftablijhed. 45 
 
 vantages or blefings we can derive from the 
 death of Chrijl, they all depend on his refur- 
 reclion, His being dead will be of no avail 
 to our fouls, either for pardon, or fanSifi- 
 cation, or future happineis, unlefs he be rifeii 
 again, 1 Cor. xv. 14, 17. ' If Chrift be not 
 c rifen, then is our preaching vain, and your 
 c faith is alfo vain; ye are yet in your fins.* 
 Rom. iv. 25. ' Jefus, who was delivered for 
 ' our offences, and was railed acrain for our 
 ' j unification.' When we meditate on a 
 dying Saviour in any of his ordinances^ let 
 us remember, the Lord is rifen; he hath ful- 
 filled that dreadful atonement for fin in his 
 death; he is accepted of his Father; and he 
 has thereby manifefted, that there is a way 
 opened for the pardon of fin, and our fal- 
 vation. He hath conquered death and the 
 devil; he hath laid a foundation for our 
 riling from the grave; he will fulfil in hea- 
 ven what he hath began on earth; his throne 
 fhall confummate the work of his crofs. ' If 
 ' when w T e were finners we were reconciled 
 c by his death, how much more, beinc: recon- 
 c ciled, we fhall be faved by his life,' Rom. 
 v. 10. 
 
 4. If Jefus, being dead, and alive again, 
 is fo momentous a point, fo important an ar- 
 ticle in our religion, then we may remark, 
 that fome of the chief evidences of the truth of 
 our religion, are nearly connccled with fome of 
 the chief glories, benefits, and excellencies of it; 
 
 for 
 
46 St. PauVs Divine Commifion Disc. II, 
 
 for they are all built on this fame foundation, 
 even the refurredion of our blefled Lord. 
 Thefe are not merely flrange pieces of hif- 
 tory, but fuch doctrines are built on them, 
 which are the life of our fouls. 
 
 The refurredion of Chrifi confirms our 
 religion: Firfl, As it gives fufficient proof 
 that God, whole prerogative it is to raife from 
 the dead, approves what Jefus taught: And 
 Secondly, As Jefus Chrift himfelf foretold his 
 own refurredion ; as I faid before. 
 
 And it lays a foundation for fome of the 
 chief dodrines, bleffings, and duties of our 
 religion, which St. Paul preaches without 
 end; (viz.) our truft in this rifen Saviour, 
 our faith in his interceiTion in heaven, and 
 coming to God by him; our dependence on 
 his government; our refignation of ourfelves 
 to him ; our expectation of the Holy Spirit, 
 and his graces, from him; our courage in 
 death: and our joyful hope of a refurrec- 
 tion and eternal life. 
 
 5. What continual matter for holy medita- 
 tion foould thefe two things furniflo us with, 
 (viz.) the death and refurreclion of Chrifi, 
 efpecially in all our addreffes to God? Heb. x. 
 19. and iv. 14. How delightful and how 
 encouraging are thefe ideas, in all our facred 
 and religious tranfadions with God, in life 
 and in death. We have boldnefs to enter into 
 the moft holy place by the blood of Jefus, and 
 have fuch an bigb-pric/l over the houfe of 
 
 God 
 
Disc. II. examined and eft ablifljed. 47 
 
 God to introduce us. How divinely agreeable 
 in all our behaviour, in our converfation in 
 this world. Gal. vi. 14. By the death of 
 Chrift we are dead to this world, by the 
 death of Chrift crucified to it y and the world 
 crucified to us. Col. iii. 1. We fhould live as 
 thofe who are above, whofe hearts are on 
 high, where Chrift is at the right hand of 
 God. 
 
 Under our carnality and earthly-minded- 
 nefs let us govern ourfelves by thefe medita- 
 tions. Let us remember we are dead to fin. 
 
 Under all our temptations to fin, Rom. vi. 
 2. let us be upon our guard, remembering 
 our being united to Chrift, in his death and 
 his life. 
 
 If at any time we fall under doubts of the 
 truth of our religion, let us look up to a 
 rifen Jefus. What better fupports can we 
 have under all our afflictions, forrows, fears, 
 weakneffes? Rev. i. 18. He % who was dead^ 
 is alive i and lives for evermore. Amen. Under 
 the apprehenfions of death; 1 Cor. xv. 
 Thanks he to God, who gives us the victory 
 over death and the grave by a living Chrift. 
 O what a fhame is it for profeffors of a dying 
 and a rifen Saviour to be dead-hearted in 
 religion, which is our fubllrneft hope; to be 
 carnally-minded, or to be afraid of death? 
 
 6 . If Jefus being dead, and being alive again 
 is Jo great and important an article of our religion^ 
 and as it were the foundation on which it ftands t 
 
 then 
 
48 St. Paul's Divine Conim'JJjon Disc. II. 
 then how wifely hath he ordered it in his gofpel, 
 that we JJjould have a conjlant memorial appointed 
 us both of his death and his refurreclionf Of his 
 death in the Lord's [upper ; I Cor. xi. 24, 25. 
 and of his refurreclion in the Lord's dayf Rev. 
 i. 10. it is the riling of Chrift that gives a 
 bleffed name to this day, Acls xx. 7. John 
 xx. 19, 20. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. On the firft day 
 of the week Chrift appears in his holy ordi- 
 nances, and faith, Peace be unto you, as he did 
 to the apoftles. 
 
 The primitive Chriftians celebrated both 
 thefe inftitutions on every firft day of every 
 week; that is, the Chriftian Sabbath, and the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 We all agree to celebrate one of thefe, viz. 
 his refurre&ion, every week on the firft day; 
 but how few are there that celebrate the me- 
 morial of his death in a conftant attendance 
 at the Lord's Supper, in comparifon of the 
 multitudes, who call themfelves Chriftians? 
 
 O let us take- pleafure in thefe faci ed me- 
 morials, and practife them both with fteadi- 
 nefs and conftancy, in remembrance of Jefus, 
 who was dead, and is alive. 
 
 Let us remember at the Lord's Supper a 
 dying Saviour, and call to mind the great 
 defigns of his death, as many as we can; 
 (viz.) to witnefs the truth of his gofpel; to 
 fulfil ancient predictions of his death and his 
 refarreclion ; to teach us to die as an ex- 
 ample; but, above all, to make atonement 
 
 for 
 
Disc.IL examined and ejlablijhed. 49 
 
 for our fins, and lay a foundation for par- 
 doning grace, and our hope of acceptance 
 with God. 
 
 Let us remember every Lord's day to raife 
 our thoughts to the heavenly world; where 
 Jefus is at the Father's right-hand, Col. iii. 
 
 1, 2. 
 
 7. Let us reflecl on this delightful circum- 
 Jlance of our own death, and the new life of 
 Chr'ift, that, in both thefe, he was our pattern 
 and forerunner, 2 Tim. ii. 8, 10 — 13. If we 
 die with him we ftjall alfo live with him, 
 Heb. vi. 20. 
 
 Mull we lie down in death? Jefus, the 
 Son of God, went through the dark valley 
 before us, and lay down in the grave, and 
 fan&ified it to us for a fleeping place, 
 1 TheiT. iv. 13 — 18. His death was attend- 
 ed with much more terror from God and 
 man than ours is or can be. His death 
 hath taken away the fting from ours. 
 
 Did Jefus rife again from the dead? So 
 fhall we, if we are his fmcere followers. 
 He is our Head, the firfl-born from the dead; 
 Col. i. 15. and our example, Rom. viii. 11. 
 The fame Spirit fhall quicken us, whatsoever 
 nation ye lived in, Rome, or Jerufalem, 
 Alia, or Corinth, or Great-Britain, or in 
 what age foever! 1 Cor. xv. 20, 23, 49. 
 2 Cor. iv. 14. And it will be a divine joy 
 to meet holy Paul, our great apoftle, and 
 our teacher, among the holy faints, who 
 
 D has 
 
5'0 St.PauFs Div'me Comrnijion^&cc. Disc. II. 
 
 has gone through fo many deaths and dan- 
 gers, to acquaint us with this gofpel. 
 
 Was it fo ftrange a thing to tell us, that 
 one dead man, even Jefus, mould be alive 
 again after his death? How ftrange and glo- 
 rious a fight will it be, when all the dead in 
 Chrift, thoufands and ten thoufands, mall 
 be made alive, with their Lord Jefus at the 
 head of them. Rejoice for ever in the Lord y 
 and comfort yourfelves with this divine con- 
 folation. Amen. 
 
?3iSS^ 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 The Difference between the Law 
 and the Gospel: 
 
 i N 
 
 Several Sermons preached at Bury-ftreet, 
 December, 1731. 
 
 Gal. iii. 21, 22. 
 
 Is the law then againjl the provtiifes of God? 
 God forbid: For if there had been a law 
 given which could have given life^ verily 
 right eoufiefs Jhould have been by the law.' 
 But the fcripture hath concluded all under 
 fin^ that the promife by faith of Jefus 
 Chrijl might be given to them that believe. 
 
 I HAVE long had a defign to explain this 
 text to you, becaufe it feems to be a key 
 whereby we are let into the fenfe and mean- 
 ing of this apoftle, in his long and laboured 
 arguments about the law and go/pel, in his 
 D 2 epiftles 
 
52 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 epiilles to the Romans and the Galatians, 
 and in the conftant diftinction that he there 
 obferves between them. 
 
 Thele Galatians, who were converted to 
 the faith of Chrift, had been clofely befet by 
 fome zealous Judaizing Chriftians, who would 
 fain have had them circumcifed, and engaged 
 to keep the Jewifh law, Chap. vi. 12, 13. 
 The apoftle, who well underftood the liberty 
 of the gofpel, would net fuffer them to be 
 thus impofed upon; and therefore he argues, 
 he allures, he threatens, he denounces, he 
 ufes all the proper methods of an apoftle, 
 and a preacher of Chriftianity, to e-ftablifh 
 them in the liberty wherewith Chri/i had made 
 them free, and to guard them againft yielding 
 a title of compliance with the Jewifli cere- 
 monies an.d bondage. 
 
 He fhews them, in this chapter, that the 
 promife was given to Abraham, the great be- 
 liever, with all the bleffings of falvation con- 
 tained in it, and to all thofe who imitate his 
 faith, by truiting in the gofpel of Chrift ; for 
 they are the feed of 'Abraham ', ver. 8, 9. And 
 the law curies and condemns finners; Gal. iii. 
 10. but it does not, it cannot fave them, ver. 
 I i . And that the law, which came in four 
 hundred years after the promife to Abraham, 
 could not dif annul the promife, or make it of 
 none effect. The quefion arifes then in the 
 19th verfe; To what end then ferveth the 
 law? The anfwer is, To ihew them their 
 
 fins, 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Go/pel. 53 
 
 fins, and to keep alive a fenfe of fin among 
 them, till Chrift mould come, who was to 
 remove fin: Ihen comes in the objeclion 
 of my text, Is not the law then again/I the 
 promifes? Is not the promt fe to Abraham con- 
 trac'icied by the law given to the Jews? No; 
 by no means; for they were defigned for two 
 different purpofes. The law was given for 
 fpecial and peculiar realbns in this life, to the 
 Jews: The promlfe was given to Abraham, 
 and, through him, to all Gentile, as well as 
 Jewifh believers, for eternal life. Whereas, 
 ' if there had been a law given which could 
 
 * have given life, /. e, eternal life, verily righ- 
 
 * teoufnefs fhould have been by the law : But 
 c the icripture hath concluded all under fin, 
 c that the promife by faith of Jefus Chrift 
 
 * might be given to them that believe.' 
 
 Let us firft examine the meaning of the 
 ■words and phrafes in my text. 
 
 Quejl. 1 . What is meant by law in general, 
 and the law here fpoken of in particular? 
 
 Anfw. A law is the will of a fuperior, 
 fignilied to us, or laid within the reach of our 
 knowledge; which, if we obey, we are pro- 
 nounced righteous, and obtain a right to any 
 blefnngs promifed to the obedient; but if we 
 difobey we are guilty, and are laid under a 
 fentence of condemnation. I fay, the will 
 of a iuperior, fign'ified to us, or laid within 
 our reach, becaufe the Gentiles, having not 
 the revealed law of God, are a law to them- 
 
 D 3 J elves; 
 
54 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 J elves; becaufe the great and general rules of 
 it, are fo far written in their hearts and con- 
 fidences, as that they might be found out by 
 reafon and diligence, and honeft enquiry; 
 and in this fenfe they are fet within our 
 reach. 
 
 A law of God requires that the obedience 
 of the creature be perfecl^ without defecl, 
 perfevering to the end of the time which 
 God hath appointed; and it muft be Aio per- 
 Jbna/y or performed by himfelf, not by a furety 
 or fubftitute. A law of God is fuch a confti- 
 tution of God, as pronounces righteous thofe 
 who fully comply with all its requirements; 
 but it accepts of no lefs than it requires, nor 
 does it own any thing for righteoufnefs which 
 is not perfect, Rom. ii. 7. ( Who by patient 
 
 * continuance in well doing' (Greek, conti- 
 nuance in a good work, or in working good) 
 
 * feek for glory, honour, and immortality, 
 c eternal life.' Gal. iii. 12. c The man that 
 1 doth them fhall live in them.' Jam. ii. 10. 
 
 * For whofoever fhall keep the whole law, and 
 4 yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.' 
 
 The Jewifh law given at Sinai is the par- 
 ticular law here meant in the firft part of the 
 verfe: The law which was given four hundred 
 years after the promife; even the whole law 
 of Mofes, given to the Jewifh nation. 
 
 £{uejl. 2. What is this promife? 
 
 Anfw. The promife to Abraham, that all 
 the nations fhoidd be bleffed in him: That he 
 
 and 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the GofpeL 55 
 
 and his feed fhould be heirs of an inheri- 
 tance, and that God Jhoidd be their God. It 
 is, in fhort, the go/pel of falvation contained 
 in the promife given to Abraham, fee Gal. 
 iii. 8. ' The fcripture forefeeing that God 
 ' would juftify the Heathen through faith, 
 1 preached before the gofpel unto Abraham, 
 * faying, In thy feed fhall all nations be blef- 
 4 fed.' And it is called the promife, to di- 
 ftinguifh it from the law of Sinai, and indeed 
 from all proper laws: For as I fhall fhew, 
 the gofpel does not fave us in the way of a 
 law; and therefore it is not a proper law. 
 
 Quejl. 3. What is meant by the law's giv- 
 ing life? 
 
 Anfw. The word is cr«o«»Wi, which more 
 naturally fignifies quickening, or bringing a 
 dead thing into life, by putting fpirit or life 
 into it, or by making it active in a vital man- 
 ner: And fo it might feem to imply giving 
 new fpiritual life to thofe who are dead in 
 trefpaffes and fins. But the whole context 
 rather conftrains us to conftrue it, the giving 
 a title to eternal life and happinefs to men in a 
 judicial or legal manner. This no law of God 
 can do, as the apoftle here afierts. 
 
 <%£/?. 4. What is meant by righteoufnefs? 
 
 Anfw. A jnfifying rightcoufnefs, or a fen- 
 tence of j unification, a rectitude in the court 
 of God, a freedom from punifhment, and a 
 right to life, which is the natural and proper 
 <efFecl: of perfect obedience to any law of 
 D 4 God 
 
56 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 of God given to men. But this bleffing may 
 be given alio in another way, (viz. J by the 
 free grace of God, without any fuch obe- 
 dience or righteoufnefs of our own working. 
 
 ^ueji t 5. What are we to underftand by the 
 fcripture concluding all under fin? 
 
 Anfw. It fignifies that the fcripture, or the 
 word of God, declares that all mankind are 
 finners, there is none righteous \ no, not one: 
 And, as finners, they are under a fentence 
 of condemnation by the law of God, what- 
 foever law they are under, whether the law 
 of nature, or any laws of revelation ; Foraf- 
 much as no man hath ever perfe&ly fulfilled 
 any law that God had given him, and there- 
 fore all are come fhort of juftification and 
 , life ; all are fallen floort of the glory of God, 
 promifed to obedience. See this at large, both 
 declared, pronouncedj and argued, Rom. iii. 
 9 — 20. By the law fo all no flcfh living be 
 jujlifed, &c. 
 
 \uefl. 6. What is that promife given by the 
 faith of Chrifl to them that believe. 
 
 Anfw. The promife of falvation, and the 
 inheritance of heaven, typified by the land 
 of Canaan, given originally and eminently to 
 Abraham, and his feed, and continued to 
 thofe who are his fpiritual feed, (viz.) who 
 believe or truft in Chrift, who is the Mefliah 
 promifed to Abraham : For by faith in Chrift 
 we are made the children of Abraham, Gal. iii. 
 29. i. e. as we are imitators of his faith, fo 
 
 we 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Gofpel. 57 
 
 we are inverted in his benefits ; i. e. thofe who 
 imitate Abraham by trufting in the mercy of 
 God through the MefTiah, now he is come 
 in the rleih, as Abraham trufted in him be- 
 fore he came, are accounted, in the light of 
 God, the children or pofterity of Abraham, 
 and are partakers of thofe bieffings of the in- 
 heritance of eternal life, which was pro- 
 mifed to Abraham, under types and figures 
 of the land of Canaan: Gal. iii. 7, 8, 9, 29. 
 And as Abraham was made a child of God by 
 trufting in the ancient promife, fo we'are made 
 the children of God by faith", or trufting in 
 Jefus Chrift the Meffiah, Gal. iii. 26. 
 
 Having explained the words fo particularly, 
 I come to lay down thefe Obfervations. 
 
 I. Obferv. There is a conflant and happy har- 
 mony between the fever al revelations of God to 
 men. The promife to Abraham, or the gof- 
 pel propofed and preached to him, is not con- 
 trary to the law given by Mofes to the Jews. 
 
 The law fignifies the precepts of God, re- 
 vealed or difcovered to men, more particu- 
 larly to the Jews. 
 
 The gofpel is the promife of the fpecial 
 bieffings of God revealed or difcovered to 
 men, particularly to Abraham of old, and to 
 us in a plainer manner, in thefe latter days. 
 
 Here I mall fhew, in the firft place, that 
 the law and gofpel, i. e. the precept and the 
 promife, cannot contradict one another; for 
 
 they 
 
58 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 they both run through all the different dif- 
 penfations that ever God gave to the children 
 of men fmce the fall. 
 
 Secondly , The law and go/pel do not con- 
 tradict one another, for they are two differ- 
 ent difcoveries of the mind and will of God, 
 made to men for very different purpofes. 
 
 The law, fince the fall of Adam, was 
 given for the difcovery or conviction of fin, 
 and to fhew men not only their duty, but 
 alfo, how exceeding finful their natures are, 
 and how unable they are to fulfil their duties 
 perfectly; and therefore to lay them under a 
 fenfe of guilt and condemnation. The pro- 
 mife, or go/pel, was given for the relief of 
 guilty man, whom the law had condemned, 
 and to provide a righteoufnefs, or juftifica- 
 tion, and life, for them, who, according to 
 the law, had a fentence of death palled up- 
 on them. Therefore the law is called the 
 mimjlration of condemnation and death, and 
 the gofpel the mhiiftration of the fpirit and 
 right eoifnefs, or of juftification and eternal 
 life, 2 Cor. iii. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 I confefs, if the law had been given for 
 the fame end as the gofpel, if the law had 
 been given for man ruined and finful, to ob- 
 tain life and falvation by it as well as the 
 gofpel, then they might have been fuppofed 
 to contradict one another, and the objection 
 in my text had flood firm, and we could not 
 have eafily and fairly anfwered it; but fince 
 
 they 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Go/pel. 59 
 
 they are given for different purpofes, they are 
 but different revelations of God, which are 
 made happily fubordinate one to another, and 
 their different ends and defigns are both at- 
 tained. The law convinces and condemns 
 fmners, and the go/pel relieves and pardons 
 them, juftifies and laves them, fee Rom. iii. 
 20 — 22, &c. Gal. iii. 10 — 14. 
 
 Objetl. 1. But doth not St. Paul himfelf fay, 
 that the law was ordained for life? Rom. vii. 
 
 JO. 
 
 Anfw. 1. Perhaps St. Paul might mean 
 only to ihew his former opinion, that he 
 thought it was ordained to give life, Rom. vii. 
 10, 11, 13. But fuppofing this to be the real 
 defign of the words, it fignifies no more 
 than that the law was defigned or ordained 
 to give life and happinefs to every one that 
 perfectly fulfilled it, Rom. ii. 7. and x. 5. But 
 in Gal. iii. 10. c Curfed is every one that con- 
 ' tinueth not in all things which are written 
 * in the book of the law, to do them.' The 
 law could have given life indeed to Adam, if 
 he had continued to obey it; and the law 
 could give life flill, if men were perfectly in- 
 nocent, and perfectly obedient; for the law is 
 not weak in itfelf, or unable to give life, but 
 only through the infirmity of our flefh, to 
 fulfil the law ever fince the fall of Adam, by 
 whom fin entered into our natures, and death 
 entered into the world by fin, Rom. viii. 3. 
 4 What the law could not do, in that it was 
 
 4 weak 
 
60 Tbc Difference between Disc. II L 
 
 * weak,' (not in itfelf,) but ' through the flefh, 
 c God lending his own Son in the likenefs cf 
 c finful flefh,' (and as a facritice) ' for fin, con- 
 c demned fin in the flefh; that the righteoufr 
 ' nefs of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 
 c walk not after the flefh but after the Spirit.' 
 
 Anfw. 2. The Jewifh law was brought in 
 to fhew how tranfgreflions abounded, Rom, 
 v. 20. Gal. iii. 19. ' The law entered that fin 
 1 might abound,' or might appear to abound; 
 c for by the law is the knowledge of fin/ 
 Rom. iii. 20. 
 
 ObjctJ. 2. Were none of the Jews faved, 
 to whom the law of Sinai w r as given, and 
 who were under this law? Were not all of 
 them condemned by it? 
 
 Anfw. Yes, they were all condemned by this 
 law in the fight of God, confidered as the 
 lord of fouls or confeiences; for they all had 
 broke it in feveral inftances: Nor could the 
 fervlces there required purify their confeiences, 
 Heb. ix. 9. But feveral of them were faved by 
 the promife to Abraham, i. e. by the gofpel, 
 which was contained in the five books of 
 Moles, and was often intermingled with the 
 declarations of the law : The promife to 
 Abraham, or the gofpel, was not annulled 
 but continued, cftablilhed and ratified by the 
 revelations of Mofes, Gal. iii. 1 7. l The law 
 
 * which was four hundred and thirty years 
 ' after, cannot difannul it, that it fhould make 
 
 * the promife of none effecV And Rom. iii. 
 
 21. 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the GofpcL 01 
 
 21. 'The right eoufncfs of faith, or juftification 
 of the gofpel, as witnejfed by the law and the 
 prophets. So Abraham was laved; fo David; 
 by the grace of God in the covenant of pro~ 
 mife, Rom iv. 3, 6. But not by the works of 
 the law; for by the works of the law no man 
 living was or could be jujlified. 
 
 Let us now recoilefl the explication of the 
 words law, giving life, and righteoufnefs, in 
 fhort, that we may more eafily apply the 
 words in reading what follows, and fo pro- 
 ceed to the next Obfervation. 
 
 Obferv. II. God would have appointed the 
 
 juf if cation of fallen man to have been by fome 
 
 law of his giving, if any law could have given 
 
 fuch a poor finful peri fl/ing creature jif'ification^ 
 
 or a title to eternal life. 
 
 And the reafons for it may be thefe. 
 I. Becaufe God is not wont to change his me- 
 thods of government, where he fees them cffeclual 
 to attain the ends of that government. He is 
 an unchangeable God, and doth not need ie- 
 cond thoughts to mend his own firft con- 
 trivances, or to change his conduct towards 
 man, unlefs the cafe of his creatures and the 
 nature of things require it. The law which 
 was given at firft to man in Paradife, and in 
 innocency, had continued the fame inftru- 
 ment of the government of God, if the cafe 
 of fallen man had not required an alteration. 
 But God was not willing all mankind, who 
 
 were 
 
62 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 were condemned by the law, mould be utterly 
 ruined, and perifh in their folly ; and there- 
 fore he changed his difpenfation. The law- 
 could not give life, becaufe it required more 
 than fallen man could perform; and there- 
 fore, through the weaknefs of man's fallen 
 and corrupted nature, the law became un- 
 capable of juftifying man; i. e. it was weak 
 to juftify man by reafon of the jfle/b, and to 
 pronounce a fentence of righteoufnefs or 
 j unification on him, becaufe he was a feeble, 
 guilty, difobedient creature. He had finned 
 already, and his paffions and flefhly appetites 
 were too ftrong for his reafon, and are rifing 
 up continually againft the commands of the 
 law, and therefore God brought in the gof- 
 pel, and gave a promife to our firft parents 
 as foon as they fell, and made his gofpel as 
 well as his law, the inftrument of govern- 
 ing his fallen creature man. ' There is for- 
 ' givenefs with thee, that thou mayeft be 
 1 feared:' Pfal. exxx. u e. That there may be 
 piety and religion maintained in the world. 
 
 2. If the law could have given life to fallen 
 man, righteoufnefs or juftification mould have 
 been by the law, that God might magnify this 
 original law, and make it honourable. This 
 would have {hewn it was not only a law 
 lit to govern innocent man, but to recover 
 fallen man too. The law hath a great glory 
 in it, in that it is the tranfeript of the holy 
 name of God ; it is holy, jujl, and good, 
 
 Rom- 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Go/pel. 63 
 
 Rom. vii. 1 2. And it would have been a great 
 honour put on the law, if it could have re- 
 covered a finful ruined creation. 
 
 If fallen man could have performed this 
 law, and anlwered the demands of it, here 
 had been a glorious difplay of all the wifdom 
 and majefty, goodnefs and holinefs, which 
 firft made the law of God exemplified in the 
 recovery of a poor, fallen, perifhing creature, 
 by this law of his. But; this could not be. 
 The law was weai, and infufficient for this 
 purpofe, through the fief; i, e. through the 
 weaknefs of fallen man. 
 
 3. If the law could have given life, righte- 
 oufnefs mould have been appointed and ob- 
 tained for fallen man by it; becaufe God would 
 never have been at the expence of a go/pel, if 
 there had been no need of it, to recover fallen 
 man, and to do that which the law could not 
 do. God does not lay out his thoughts or 
 counfels, nor his riches of grace, in needlefs 
 things, or in ufelefs contrivances. Now if 
 the law would have attained this end, (viz.) 
 the j unification and falvation of man, then 
 the gofpel had been needlefs; then all thefe 
 glorious riches of grace, and thefe counfels of 
 wifdom, and myfteries of mercy, had been in 
 vain. 
 
 Surely if the law could have done this 
 work, the bleffed God would never have fent 
 his own Son out of his bofom, upon fuch a 
 long journey to this finful province of his, 
 
 dominion. 
 
64 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 dominion, to this lower world, to take fleih 
 and blood upon him, and to be expofed to 
 fufferings and labours, reproaches and fhame, 
 pain and anguifh, and death, If the law 
 could have done the work of the falvation of 
 man without it. God hath more value for 
 the peace, and honour, and life of his Son, 
 than to expofe it at this rate; but it is plain 
 from fcripture, that the Son of God was fent 
 into the world to do that "which the law could 
 not do, Rom. viii. 3. Thefe treafures of 
 wifdom and goodnefs, thefe riches of grace, 
 which appear in the gofpel, were all laid out 
 to fave a ruined creature, whom the law 
 could not fave; otherwife Chrift died in vain; 
 fo the apoftle faith exprefsly, Gal. h\ 21. 
 
 Obferv. III. No law could give life and fal- 
 vation to poor fallen man. 
 
 Here let it be confidered, that all laws are 
 either moral, i. e. drawn from the nature of 
 God and the creature, or they are pofitive; 
 i. e. fuch as are appointed merely by the will 
 of God, for particular purpofes, and in par- 
 ticular feafons or circumftances. Again moral 
 laws are either fuch as belong to all man- 
 kind in general, whether innocent or fuif id, or 
 they are fuch as belong only tofinful and fallen 
 man. Now none of all thefe forts of laws 
 can fave finful mankind. Let us prove it 
 thus: 
 
 1. Moral 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the GofpeL 6$ 
 
 l . Moral laws, fuch as oblige all mankind 
 in general^ are contained in a due love to God 
 and mail) but fallen man can never be faved 
 or juftified by this law, becaufe all thefe mo- 
 ral laws of God require perfect obedience, 
 and cannot juftify us without it. God is a 
 molt holy, a moft wife, and righteotis God, a 
 mod perfect being, and the relation between , 
 God and creatures, requires the creature 
 mould honour him, and obey him in per- 
 fection, and without any defect* 
 
 The moral law did require this perfection 
 in the ftate of innocence ; and, as it is taken 
 into the conftitution of the gofpel, it does 
 not diminifh its requirements: It ftill re- 
 quires perfection of obedience in all inftances 
 of thought, word, and deed, and that with- 
 out any defect or intermiffion. The gofpel 
 doth not abate or leffen the requirements of 
 the law, but it fhews a way to relieve us 
 when we have broken it, or cannot fulfil it, 
 and the reaibns are plain. 
 
 If the law did not now require perfection 
 of obedience, but only iincere imperfect obe- 
 dience, then the creature, if he were but fin- 
 cere and honeft, would have fulfilled the law 5 
 though he were not perfectly holy. 
 
 And then imperfection of obedience would 
 have been, as it were, eftablifhed by the law, 
 if it could obtain falvation for fallen man. 
 
 Then alfo the imperfections of obedience 
 
 to the law would not have been fin-, for if 
 
 E they 
 
66 The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 they were, they could not have made up a 
 faving righteoufnefs. 
 
 The go/pel is a conftitution of grace which 
 accepts of lefs obedience from man than the 
 law requires, and pardons the imperfect o- 
 beyer for the fake of Chrift the Mediator; 
 but {till the law requires perfection, which 
 mankind cannot pay. Now that man cannot 
 pay it is evident, not only from the con- 
 fcience of every man in the world, for if it 
 be awakened to fee the extent of the law, it 
 muft condemn itfelf; but the fcripture ex- 
 prefsly afferts it in many places, c There is 
 4 none righteous, no, not one,' Rom. iii. 10. 
 Eccl. vii. 20. ' There is not a juft man on 
 * earth, that doeth good, and finneth not.' 
 2 Chron. vi. 36. * There is no man who fin- 
 4 neth not/ 
 
 2. Moral laws, fuch as belojig only to Jinful 
 man, and oblige him, can never juftify a Tin- 
 ner, or fave him. Let us enter into parti- 
 culars. 
 
 The requirements thereof are repentance 
 for fin, forrow and foame for paft follies, 
 and a difpleafednefs with felf for being guilty; 
 trujiing or hoping in the forgiving grace of 
 God, praying to him for pardon and grace, 
 and univerfal watchfulnefs againft every temp- 
 tation, under a fenfe of former failings. This 
 the very light of nature and reafon teaches 
 a finner, as well as the word of God re- 
 quires 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Go/pel. 6j 
 
 quires it. But this law cannot juftify any 
 creature, and that for two plain reafons. 
 
 (i.) Becaufe all our repentance, or new en- 
 deavours after obedience, cannot make atonement 
 for our pajifins. A righteous governor doth 
 not fuppofe that the tears, and forrows, and 
 repentance of criminals and malefactors, make 
 any fatisfaction to the public for his crimes, 
 nor make due reparation to the government 
 for his offences; nor are fufficient to procure 
 pardon for criminals. A penitent criminal is 
 often executed to fulfil the demands of the 
 law, and to fecure the authority of the go- 
 vernment. And what trifling things are our 
 forrows, to anfwer for the difhonour done to 
 the law of God our Maker. 
 
 (2.) Becaufe even our repentance itfelf our 
 hope or trujl in grace, our prayer for mercy, 
 our endeavours after new obedience, are all 
 imperfecl ; whereas the law requires a per- 
 fection even of this fort of duties, a perfect 
 hatred of fin, a perfedt difpleafure with felf 
 on account of it, perfect fincerity in every 
 thought, word, and action, and perfect watch- 
 fulnefs in guarding againft temptation, and 
 ftriving after new holinefs. But how fhame- 
 fully do we fail in thefe, and deftroy our 
 claims to juftification and life, even if we 
 were to be tried only by this part of the law 
 which requires repentance at the hand of 
 criminals: We fee then that no moral law 
 can juftify us. 
 
 E 2 3. Let 
 
68 "The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 3. Let us come to pofitive laws, u e. fuch 
 rites, and forms, or ceremonies, as are ap- 
 pointed by the mere free will of God, for 
 particular purpofes ; fuch as /acrifices, cir- 
 cumci/ton, wa/hings, bapti/m, the Lord's /up- 
 per , &c. Thefe cannot juftify us, becaufe it is 
 not in the power of any pofitive rites or ce- 
 remonies we can perform, to make up for the 
 neglect of moral duties, or the violation of 
 moral commands. They were never given 
 for this end, nor appointed for this purpofe. 
 Heb. x. 1, 2, 5. « It is not poilible the blood 
 c of bulls and goats can take away fins.' Nor 
 can circumci/wn cut off the vices of the heart. 
 No nor can bapti/m walh us from our fpiritual 
 defilements. Nor can the Lord' 's /upper give 
 us fpiritual life and nourifhment. It is not 
 outward performances of any kind can ftand 
 inftead of real holinefs, much lefs can they 
 anfwer for our paft iniquities. No law of 
 commandments, written in ordinances, can give 
 righteoufnefs and life to a finful creature; for 
 they were never ordained for that end. 
 
 Quell. What were they ordained /or then? 
 
 An/w. 1. To fhew us what finful and de- 
 filed creatures we are, who have need of fuch 
 wafhings, &c. and to give intimations that 
 we are worthy of death, who need fuch fa- 
 crifices by the death of fo many living crea- 
 tures, to make atonement for our fins, and 
 to die in our room. 
 
 An/w. 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the GofpeL 69 
 
 Anfw. 2. To give fome typical hints that 
 there is grace to be obtained of God, and 
 there is a way for atonement for fin and fal- 
 vation provided for finful man. 
 
 4. The laft reafon why no laws can juftify 
 or fave fallen man is this : (vi%.) All laws , 
 whether moral or po/itive y may command; but 
 they give no power to obey^ and therefore can- 
 not give life. It is the promife that gives 
 life. It is the gofpel and grace of God that 
 enables us to obey the law, even fo far as 
 the beft of men do obey it in this life. The 
 law commands, but it gives no ftrength to 
 obey. Rom. v. 6. When we were without 
 Jlrength Chrijl died for us, to obtain life and 
 ftrength, to yield obedience to the law from 
 principles of faith and love. It is the gof- 
 pel that brings fpirit and life with it, to in- 
 cline our hearts to obey the law. Gal. iii. 2, 
 ( Received ye the Spirit by the works of the 
 4 law, or by the hearing of faith?' Heb. viii. 
 8, 10. ' This is the covenant I will make af- 
 1 ter thofe days, I will put my laws into their 
 4 mind, and write them in their heart/ 
 
 Object. But is it a righteous thing with God 
 to give man a law which cannot be fulfilled \ or 
 perfeclly obeyed by him? 
 
 Anfw. 1. It is righteous to give innocent 
 man a law which at firft he was well able to 
 fulfil ; and this law continues in its force and 
 demands, though man hath loft his innocen- 
 cy, and by his .wilful crimes hath rendered 
 E 3 himfelf 
 
jo The Difference between Disc. III. 
 
 himfelf unable to fulfil this law. The fin of 
 the creature, and his own rendering himfelf 
 unable to fulfil his Maker's law, doth not 
 make void the law of his Maker, and abolifh 
 its commands. 
 
 Simile. Suppofe a fervant hath an order 
 from his mailer to carry a meffage to his 
 neighbour, if inftead of going into the 
 neighbour's houfe whither he was fent, he 
 goes into an alehoufe or tavern, there drowns 
 his fenfes and his natural powers in liquor, 
 that he hath fo weakened himfelf, that he 
 can neither walk nor fpeak; he can neither 
 go to the place where he was fent, nor de- 
 liver his meffage : I would afk, Doth his 
 matter's command ceafe, or is his command 
 abolifhed? And is his authority at an end in 
 this inftance, becaufe his fervant hath ren- 
 dered himfelf incapable of fulfilling it, either 
 with his feet or his tongue ? This would be 
 an eafy way to cancel a mailer's laws and 
 commands, if the wickednefs of a fervant 
 could have this effect. 
 
 Now apply this to the cafe between God 
 and man, and fee whether God may not be 
 juilified in continuing his law in its perfection 
 of demands, though man hath loft or weak- 
 ened his power to obey. Surely the moral 
 law of God flands in force, requiring perfect 
 obedience both of men and devils, and all 
 intelligent beings, how feeble and impotent 
 foever they have made themfelves by their 
 
 own 
 
Disc. III. the Law and the Go/pel 71 
 
 own crimes: For it is a law that arifes from 
 the nature of God and the creature, and from 
 the relation that is between them; and there- 
 fore it is an everlafting law. 
 
 Anfw. 1. But God is ftill farther to be 
 juftified in this matter; for though man hath 
 weakened himfelf by his fall, he hath not ut- 
 terly loft his natural powers, his natural abi- 
 lity of obeying the law. He has an under- 
 ftanding, he has a freedom of will, to choofe 
 good and refufe evil; but his will is fo obfti- 
 nately bent upon fin, vanity, and folly, and 
 his paffions are grown fo headftrong, that 
 he will not give himfelf the trouble to fub- 
 due them : He willingly lets them bear him 
 away from God: He is unwilling to obey; 
 and this is called a moral inability. Now God 
 may require fuch duties by his law, as thro' 
 the weaknefs of the flefh, and the ftrength 
 of appetite and paffion, in this frail ftate 
 man is morally or immediately unable to per- 
 form, though he hath a remote or natural 
 power. An infinitely holy God cannot but 
 command that we mould never fin, never 
 tranfgrefs the rule of righteoufnefs, never 
 break his pure and holy law; and yet, thro' 
 the many infirmities of human nature, it is 
 ?norally impojfible we fhould perfectly keep this 
 law, and live without fin. This Dr. Whitby 
 himfelf (as much as he indulges the Arminian 
 fentiments,) confefles in his Comment. 
 
 E 4 God 
 
nz The Difference between, &c. Disc. III. 
 
 God therefore doth not lofe his authority 
 or right of commanding perfect obedience 
 and perfect holinefs, though man, by his 
 folly and fin, hath rendered his will averie 
 to God, and his evil appetites and paffions 
 ftrong and ungovernable: So that, upon the 
 whole, it is plain, the law is holy, and jujl, 
 and good, and yet cannot pronounce any man 
 righteous, nor adjudge him to eternal life. 
 
x*rft 
 
 -*^«%!^ fc^rKrr 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 The Difference between the Law 
 and the Gospel: 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon: 
 
 Gal. iii. 21, 22. 
 
 Is the law then againfl the promifes of God? 
 God forbid: For if there had been a law 
 given which could have given life^ verily 
 righteoufnefs Jhoidd have been by the law . 
 But the fcripture hath concluded all under 
 fin, that the promife by faith of Jefus 
 Chr'ifl might be given to them that believe. 
 
 OBSERV. IV. Scripture hath concluded 
 all mankind under fin, hath fout us all 
 up as prifoners under condemnation. Here 
 I have nothing to do but to cite feveral texts 
 of fcripture, fome of which have been before- 
 mentioned, to prove that no man hath per- 
 fectly fulfilled the demands of the law, and 
 confequently, that all mankind lie under a 
 
 fentence 
 
74 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 fentence of condemnation, according to the 
 law of God. James iii. 2. 4 For in many 
 
 * things we offend all.' And ii. 10. 4 Who- 
 4 foever mall keep the whole law, and yet 
 
 * offend in one point, he is guilty of all,' be- 
 caufe he difhonours that authority which hath 
 enacted all. Rom. ii. 9, 10. * Tribulation and 
 4 anguifh upon every foul of man that doth 
 4 evil.' And iii. 9, 10, 19, 20, 23. 4 Are we 
 4 better than they? No, in no wife; for we 
 4 have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, 
 4 that they are all under fin, as it is written, 
 4 there is none righteous, no, not one. Now 
 4 we know that what things the law faith, it 
 4 faith to them who are under the law, that 
 4 every mouth may be flopped, and all the 
 4 world may become guilty before God. 
 4 Therefore by the deeds of the law there 
 4 mall no flefh be juftified in his fight, for all 
 4 have finned, and come fhort of the glory 
 4 God.' Gal. iii. 10, 11. 4 Curfed is every 
 4 one that continueth not in all things written 
 4 in the book of the law to do them: But 
 4 that no man is juftified by the law in the 
 4 fight of God, it is evident; for the juft ihall 
 4 live by faith.' 
 
 A Remark. 
 
 Here by the way we may take notice, 
 what is condemnation, and what is justification 
 by the law of God. It is the fentence of God 
 
 as 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 75 
 
 as it ftands in the written law, or in the law 
 of nature, pronouncing the creature, whether 
 he be righteous or guilty, according to fuch 
 different characters which are found upon 
 him. It is not any new act put forth by God 
 himfelf toward his creatures, but the conftant 
 fentence of his own law, declaring fuch a per- 
 fon righteous according to his performance of 
 the law, or fuch a perfon guilty according to 
 his non-performance of it. In like manner 
 justification by the gofpd is not a new act in 
 God, but the fentence of his gofpel, pro- 
 nouncing humble penitents and believers in 
 Chriji pardoned, forgiven, and accepted unto 
 eternal life. 
 
 According to the different characters of 
 men the word of God, i. e. his law or his 
 go/pel^ pronounces them guilty and con- 
 demned, or pardoned, juftined, and accepted 
 of God, unto eternal life. This is a very 
 plain and eafy doctrine to be apprehended 
 by fuch weak creatures as we are. 
 
 Obferv. V. Man who is condemned by the 
 law may be faved by the promife; i. e. by the 
 promife of grace and reconciliation to God, 
 which w r as given firft to Adam, then to Abra- 
 ham, and made further known to the people 
 of God by Mofes, and David, and the pro- 
 phets, according to the different revelations 
 of God to man ; but completed by the gofpel 
 of Chrift, and the miniftry of his apoftles. 
 
 A promife 
 
y6 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 A promife to Adam, of the dcfruclion of 
 the works of the devil by the feed of the woman; 
 as it is explained I John iii. 8. 
 
 A promife that God would be our God^ and 
 give us an inheritance^ made to Abraham, &c. 
 Gen. xvii. 7, 8. 
 
 A promife confirmed by many types of 
 the Jewiih law. A promife of all the blefs- 
 ings of the new covenant, expreffed Heb. viii. 
 8, 10. cited from the feveral prophets Jere- 
 miah and Zechariah. ' This is the covenant 
 1 that I will make with the houfe of Ifrael 
 c after thofe days, faith the Lord; I will put 
 4 my laws into their mind, and write them 
 c in their hearts: And I will be to them a 
 c God, and they mail be to me a people: For 
 c I will be merciful to their unrighteoufnefs, 
 1 and their fins and their iniquities will I re- 
 i member no more.' It is the fame promife 
 more particularly and fully fet before us by 
 Jefus Chrift the Son of God, in his gofpel, 
 and by his bleffed apoftles in their writings; 
 which, in plain and exprefs language, includes 
 in it not only pardon of fin and reconciliation 
 to God, but the fan&ification of our natures, 
 and our prefervation to eternal life, in a ftate 
 of happinefs, which fhall never end. 
 
 Obferv. VI. The way of obtaining an inter ef 
 in thefe promlfed bleffings is through faith. It 
 is to all that trufl in the grace of the gofpel, 
 fo far as it was manifefted in the feveral ages 
 
 of 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the GofpeL 77 
 
 of the world, 1. e. to Adam, Abraham, and 
 David; and as it is more fully manifefted in 
 and by Jefus Chrift. It is obtained by a re- 
 nouncing all claim by one's own works, and 
 trufting in grace entirely. 
 
 If Adam was faved, it is in a way of grace 
 and forgivenefs through a Mediator, which 
 was promifed under the title of the feed of 
 the woman, 'who Jloould bruife the head of the 
 ferpent; and which was typified by facririces, 
 and intimated by God's favourable dealings 
 with Adam after his fall, and which promife 
 was accepted and received by Adam's trufting 
 or hoping in this grace. 
 
 If Abraham is faved, it is in a way of grace 
 and forgivenefs, which was promifed under 
 the title of that feed of his, in whom all na- 
 tions fhould be bleffed; and in that language of 
 mercy, that God would be bis God, and would 
 give him an inheritance ; of which Canaan 
 was a type and figure. And Abraham be- 
 lieved, or trufled in this, and it was imputed 
 to him for right eoufnefs; Rom. iv. 3. u e. un- 
 to his juftification and acceptance. 
 
 If David was faved, it is in a way of grace 
 and forgivenefs. Pfalm xxxii. 1, 2. ' Bleffed 
 * is he whofe tranfgreffion is forgiven,, and 
 c whofe fin is covered. Bleffed is the man 
 6 unto whom the Lord imputeth not ini- 
 < quity,' Rom. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 If Chriftians are faved, it is in a way of 
 grace and forgivenefs ftill, which was pro- 
 mifed 
 
7 8 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 mifed to Abraham, which is revealed more 
 particularly by Jefus Chrift, the Son of God, 
 who came to confirm and to fulfil the former 
 promifes, and to obtain this pardon by the 
 Sacrifice of himfelf. And by his own perfect 
 obedience and fufferings, he laid a foundation 
 for the j unification of iinful creatures. If 
 they are faved, it is not by their performing 
 the law in any fenfe, but by trufting in for- 
 giving grace, revealed and manifeftdd through 
 Jefus Chrift. It is by trufting in another, and 
 not in themfelves; as Rom. iv. explains, from 
 ver. 17. to the 22. 
 
 It is not in a way of claim of righteoufnefs 
 and eternal life, but in a way of humble de- 
 pendence on grace. The Pharifees boa/led, 
 that they were righteous ', and defpifed others. 
 The young ruler in the gofpel, fpeaking of 
 the law of God, faid, All this have I kept 
 from my youth. The Jews fought for juflifi- 
 cation by the works of the law, and rejected 
 Chrift, Rom. ix. 31. But St. Paul, by the 
 fight of the law is dead to the law; i. e. to all 
 hopes of righteoufnefs and life by it ; Gal. ii. 
 16, 19. and feeks to be pardoned, accepted, 
 and juftified, by trufting in what Chrift hath 
 done and fuffered on his account. 
 
 And fo all Chrift ians, Rom. iii. 22. And 
 in this fenfe the gofpel jafifietb the ungodly; 
 Rom. iv. 5. u e. thofe who have no righte- 
 oufnefs of their own to plead, whofe beft 
 obedience is all defective. 
 
 Queft. 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 79 
 
 Queft. But doth this go/pel five and jujlify 
 a man that hath no regard to the law of God? 
 How is his obedience to the law or holinefs 
 fecured, if a man be juftified, or pronounced 
 righteous, and acquitted of fin, and accepted 
 to eternal life, by believing or trufting in the 
 promifes of grace? Surely many wicked men 
 will fay, " I truft in the promife of pardon 
 " through Jefus Chrift; and is this enough? 
 " Is there no fecurity that thefe believers fhall 
 " be obedient to the law as far as they can, 
 " though they cannot obey it perfectly?" 
 
 Anfw. Yes, there is abundant fecurity for 
 their diligence in duty to the law, though 
 they can never work out a righteoufnefs for 
 themfelves to be juftified by the law. Let 
 thefe reafons be confidered: 
 
 1 . // is the great defign of the gofpel to re- 
 fiore us to holinefs as well as to happinefs; and 
 therefore the law, in the commands of it, 
 runs through all the gracious difpenfations of 
 God to fallen man, as I have fhewn you : 
 And God wijl have no regard to them in a 
 way of grace, who have no regard to his 
 law in a way of obedience. The law con- 
 ftantly requires and points out our duty, it 
 mews us our fin, it lays us under condemna- 
 tion, and makes us leek a refuge in the gof- 
 pel of forgivenefs. Now the gofpel is not 
 prepared for fuch as knowingly and wilfully 
 renounce the law of God which is holy, and 
 
 Jul 
 
8o The Difference between Disc. IV* 
 
 juft, and good y and who perfift in this prac- 
 tice, and abandon the commandments of it. 
 
 Can it be ever expected that the great God 
 mould pardon and fave thofe rebels through 
 Jefus Chrift, who knowingly and wilfully 
 perfift in their rebellions? God forbid* The 
 very light of nature will not fuffer us to be- 
 lieve this. This would be to make Chrift the 
 miniftcr of fin, and to build again the things 
 which Chrift came to defray, Gal. ii. 17, 18. 
 For it is the defign of all the bleffings of the 
 gofpel to make us conformable to God, and 
 to this law, which is the unchangeable image 
 of his holinefs. The great defign of it is to 
 make us prac~tile love to God and our neigh- 
 bour, which is the fulfilling of the law as far 
 as our ftate of frailty permits, Rom. xiii. 1 o. 
 
 The defign of the grace of God in Chrift 
 
 Jefus, is that we might be holy, and without 
 
 blame before God, in love. Are we chofen in 
 
 Chrift? It is that we may be holy* Eph. i. 
 
 4. Doth God forgive us? It is that we may 
 
 fear, and love, and ferve him, Pfalm exxx. 4. 
 
 There is forgive nefs with God, that he may be 
 
 feared. Are we redeemed with the blood 
 
 of Chrift? It is that we might be a peculiar 
 
 people, zealous of good works, Titus ii. 14. 
 
 Doth the grace of God bring falvation to us? 
 
 It teaches us to deny all ungodlinefs and worldly 
 
 lufts, to live right eoufiy, fob crly, and religioufy i 
 
 in this prefent evil world, Titus ii. M, 12. 
 
 We 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 81 
 
 We are under the law Jlill unto Chrifl, as it 
 is the rule whereby Chriit governs his church, 
 while he pardons their failures and imper- 
 fections: But we are not under the law, as it 
 is the rule of judgment, and condemns all 
 that have not fulfilled it. We are freed from 
 the curfe of the law, but not from the obli- 
 gation to obedience. So the apoftle, i Cor. 
 ix. 21. All believers have this freedom from 
 the curfe of the law, that from a new prin- 
 ciple of holinefs and love they may fulfil the 
 commands of the law as far as our prefent 
 circumftances will admit. Rom. vii. 6. ' But 
 4 now we are delivered from the law, that 
 c being dead wherein we were held; that we 
 * mould ferve' God, not in the fpirit of ter- 
 ror and bondage, but c in newnefs of fpirit, 
 1 and not in the oldnefs of the letter,' by a 
 new principle of holinefs, wrought in us by 
 the Spirit of God, as a principle of love and 
 obedience. 
 
 2. The gofpel gives us encouragement and 
 Jlrength to fulfil the duties of the law, and en- 
 gages us to hope in God, that we may love 
 him, pleafe and ferve him, as a forgiving and 
 reconciling God, which the broken law, with 
 all its commands, threatenings, and terrors, 
 doth not, and could never do. The law 
 fpeaks only condemnation and death. As 
 many as labour for life under the law, and 
 would be jujlified by the law, are under the 
 curfe, and may defpair of life, Gal. iii. ic, 
 
 F Now 
 
82' The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 Now defpair is no fpring of obedience, and 
 hopelefs labour is very feeblv and negligently 
 performed ; but hope is a powerful and laft- 
 ing principle of holinefs. I John iii. 3. 
 ' He that hath this hope in him, purifieth 
 i himfelf even as he is pure.' 1 Tim. iv. 1 o. 
 ' Therefore we both labour and fuffer re- 
 
 * proach ;' i. e. in doing the will of God; 
 4 becaufe we truft in the living God, who is 
 
 * the Saviour of all men, efpecially of them 
 
 * who believe.' The devils go on in finning, 
 becaufe they defpair; but man hath hope let 
 before him, that he may be encouraged to 
 obedience, and allured to purfue holinefs 
 from a principle of love and gratitude. If 
 we are made new creatures, how can we 
 choofe but love and honour the law of God, 
 who hath faved us by his gofpel, and changed 
 our unhappy ftate from fin and death to hope 
 and joy. 
 
 Befides, it is the gofpel that gives us the 
 fanftifying Spirit, as I faid before. Gal. iii. 
 2, 14. and Heb. viii. 10. This is that new 
 covena?it, according to which he writes his 
 law in our hearts. 
 
 3. No faith in the grace of God will jujlify 
 men, but that which worketh by love; Gal. v. 
 6. and produceth the good fruits of obedi- 
 ence. Abraham obeyed the call of God : 
 James ii. 22, 26. And in this fenfe his works 
 wrought together with his faith, towards his 
 jufi/ication. Not that his imperfect works 
 
 in 
 
Disc. IV. the Law atid the Go/pel. 83 
 
 in themfelves do any thing to juftify him, 
 but his fincere imperfect works were the ef- 
 fect of his faith, and proved his faith to be 
 alive, and true, and faving. Things are faid 
 to be done in fcripture, when they are de- 
 clared or manifefted to be done : So Abraham 
 is faid to be jujlified by works , when his works 
 declared and manifefted his faith, whereby 
 he was juftified, James ii. 25, 26. David's 
 faith in forgivenefs was fuch as was accom- 
 panied with fincerity and piety, Pfal. xxxii. 
 2. ' In whofe fpirit there is no guile.' It 
 requires confeffion of fin, repentance, humi- 
 liation, and new watchfulnefs, verfe 5, 6. 
 Gal. v. 6. It muft be fuch a faith that pu- 
 rifieth the heart, and works obedience from a 
 principle of love, Acts xv. 9. Tit. iii. 5, 7, 8. 
 They who believe in Chrijl fefus mnji be care- 
 ful to maintain good works. 
 
 4. Without repentance and a change of heart, 
 fo as to love and to obey the law of God, we can 
 never be fit for that happinefs which God 
 promifes, and which the creature wants : 
 Without holinefs of heart we can never be 
 prepared for heaven, which confifts in the 
 blifsful vifion of God, nor indeed are we ca- 
 pable of it. ' Bleffed are the pure in heart, 
 < for they fhall fee God,' Matt. v. 8. ! With- 
 i out holinefs no man fhall fee the Lord,' 
 Heb. xii. 14. Indeed none can be truly happy 
 but thofe who are fan&ified and aflimilated 
 to the holy Jefus. A child of Satan, and an 
 F 2 enemy 
 
84 *fhe Difference between Disc. IV, 
 
 enemy of righteoufnefs, and of the law of 
 God, can never be happy in the midft of the 
 children of God, who have his law written 
 in their hearts, and are ever pra£tifing obedi- 
 ence to his law in perfection. 
 
 Holinefs indeed is a part of falvation, 
 which confifts in a releafe from the bondage 
 of fin, and the power of it in our own hearts, 
 as well as from the guilt and punifhment of 
 it in our perfons. And the man who pro- 
 felTes to receive the gofpel of Chrift, and hope 
 in God for falvation, he doth not know what 
 he profeiTes, if he does not hope for holinefs, 
 and long for it, and defire it. If he goes to 
 truft in Chrift as a Saviour, merely from the 
 wrath of God and hell, he doth not accept 
 of Jefus as fuch a Saviour as the gofpel repre- 
 fents him ; L e. a Saviour from fin, Mat. i. 21. 
 as well as from hell and wrath. 
 
 Lajl Remarks drawn from the whole Text^ 
 thus opened^ explained^ and proved. 
 
 1 ft Remark. See why St. Paul always denies 
 jujlification to be ob tamed by the law y i. e. by 
 any law whatsoever; (viz.) becaufe none 
 have fulfilled, or can fulfil, any moral law 
 of God in perfection, and a law requires per- 
 fect obedience, in order to juftification by it: 
 Nor is it in the nature or power of it to 
 juftify thofe who are under it, and yield not 
 perfed obedience. * Curfed be every one 
 
 1 that 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the GofpeL 85 
 
 1 that continueth not in all things written in 
 * the book of the law, to do them.' The 
 epiftles to the Romans and Galatians are full 
 of this doctrine. Whether it be the law of 
 nature; Rom. ii. 14, 15. or whether the law 
 under which the Jews were, which includes 
 the moral, ceremonial, and political precepts 
 of it; Rom. iii. 19, 20, 23. all have finned, 
 and come fhort of the glory of God. By the 
 works of the law, any law whatfoever, no 
 flefhjhall be juft'ified. Man doth not, cannot, 
 obtain life by any law; it cannot give life. 
 
 In this fenfe all laws are laws of works. 
 Do this, and live, is their language and fenfe. 
 The man that doth themfhall live in them. 
 
 2d Remark. See here to what a wretched 
 and deplorable ft ate of guilt and mifery are we 
 fallen, that no law which God can make in our 
 circumflances can five us. God cannot make 
 a law which doth not require perfect holinefs, 
 in thought, word, and deed : He cannot make 
 a law which allows fin and imperfection : 
 For this would be, as it were, to eftablifo ini- 
 quity by a law, which the holy God cannot 
 do. The holy nature of God, as governor 
 of his creatures, cannot but command them 
 to be perfectly holy, under whatfoever gra- 
 cious difpenfations he may place them, for 
 the relief of their guilt, weaknefs, and dif- 
 trefs. His law ftill commands what fallen 
 impotent creatures cannot fully obey; and 
 therefore we are miferable. 
 
 F 3 What 
 
86 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 What a hideous ruin hath the firft man 
 brought into human nature, and fpread over 
 all this lower creation? It hath weakened all 
 our powers, hath turned our hearts away 
 from God, hath debafed our inclinations to 
 fenfe, and flefh, and vanity, and made God's 
 own rational creatures incapable of being 
 made happy by any law that he mould give 
 them, when taken in a ftricl: and proper fenfe 
 of a law. 
 
 3d Remark, Even the go/pel of Chrift, con- 
 Jidered as a mere law, as requiring duty, and 
 prcrmfing a reward upon full performance^ 
 cannot give life to finful man: For whether 
 you take it in a large fenfe, and confider it as 
 including the moral law, taken into the 
 hand of Chrift the Mediator, ftill it diminifhes 
 not its commandments, it requires perfect 
 holinefs, and abates nothing in its demands. 
 Or whether you take it in a more limited 
 fenfe, as requiring faith and ?iew obedience, 
 fincere diligence and watchfulnefs, yet, con- 
 fidered as a law, it requires the practice of 
 thefe duties in greater perfection than the bell 
 of faints or Chriftians ever practifed them; 
 otherwife they would not fin in coming fhort 
 of what the gofpel requires; and therefore 
 they cannot give life, if God mould ftri&ly 
 judge us, according to thefe gentle commands 
 of the gofpel. And therefore you find, when 
 the apoftle fpeaks of jufification according to 
 the gofpel, he is pofitive, peremptory, and 
 
 univerfal, 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 87 
 
 univerfd, in his exclufion of all works of 
 the law from juitifying us; as in Rom. iii. 
 aii Gal. iii. 
 
 He calls the go/pel therefore a promife, the 
 gr: ce of God, the new covenant, &c. that he 
 m,y not be fuppofed to fpeak of it as juftifi- 
 ing us under the notion of a law. He ne- 
 ver calls the gofpel a law, but in fuch a rhe- 
 torical or figurative fenfe, by way of cata- 
 cbrefis or a very ftrong metaphor, the law of 
 faith ; as in Rom. iii. 27. It is as if he mould 
 fay, If we muft call it a law, it is a mere 
 law of faith, or trujting in the mercy of 
 God. 
 
 Queft. 1. What is the gofpel then? and how 
 doth it j ujl if y us, and give life? 
 
 Anfw. Not as fulfillers of a law, and 
 thereby obtaining a claim to life, but as de- 
 pending upon mere mercy. The gofpel is a 
 conftitution of the blefTed God, whereby he 
 accepts lefs obedience at our hands than the 
 law requires; and that, not to make up a 
 righteoufnefs for our acceptance, but that 
 God may receive us through grace, for the 
 fake of his fon Jefus Chrift, who wrought a 
 perfecl: obedience, or complete righteouf- 
 nefs, to anfwer that law, and died to make 
 atonement for our fins, and redeemed us from 
 the curfe of the law, which we had deferved. 
 This is the exprefs language of the gofpel, 
 taught us by St. Paul; Rom. iii. 23, 24. l All 
 , \ have finned, and come fhort of the glory of 
 
 F 4 ■ God;' 
 
88 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 c God;' u e. of that glory which we fhould 
 have obtained by a perfect obedience: But 
 when we are juftified, it is done c freely by 
 < his grace, through the redemption that is in 
 ' Jefus Chrift.' The law condemns us as fin- 
 ners, and we muft be fenfible of this condem- 
 nation. The gofpel mews us, that we muft 
 trult or depend merely on forgiving grace, 
 and not pretend to any righteoufnefs of our 
 own, and to claim life by obeying the law 
 ourfelves. It is by our faith or dependance, 
 not by our works, and any claim of merit. 
 The whole {train of the apoftle's writing to 
 the Romans hath this view in the five or fix 
 firft chapters. 
 
 Queft. 2. Is it 7iot therefore matter of blame 
 for us to us call the gofpel a law? or the new 
 law? 
 
 Anf The word law, when taken in a 
 ftricl: fenfe, for the will of a fovereign prince 
 revealed, and requiring perfect obedience of 
 his fubjedts, and pronouncing a fubjecl: right- 
 eous only upon this obedience, is the true no- 
 tion and idea of a law : In this fenfe the gof- 
 pel is not a law, for it doth not pronounce 
 any perfons righteous, and accepted to the 
 favour of God, on account of a perfect obe- 
 dience performed by them to any command 
 which was given them. 
 
 But if a law be taken in a large fenfe, for 
 any conftitution of a governor, whereby he 
 gracioufly accepts at our hands lefs than his 
 
 law 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel 89 
 
 law requires, and pardons thofe offenders 
 who are fmcerely willing and defirous to obey 
 his law, and who truft in his mercy, then the 
 gofpel may be called a law. Torah, in the 
 Hebrew, is uied in this large fenfe for the 
 gofpel; Ifa. ii. 3. * Out of Zion lhall go forth 
 } the law,' &c. and other places. 
 
 And *v f in the Greek, may be enlarged 
 to fuch an extenfive fenfe alio: But original- 
 ly it fignifies that w r hich diftributes to every 
 one their due reward, according to their me- 
 rit, or their fervices; and in this fenfe the 
 gofpel cannot be a law. 
 
 St. Paul does not ufually call it fo; nor 
 can I think it the beft way for minifters to 
 reprefent it thus. 
 
 Yet, after all, it is but a fort of difference 
 in words, if we do but explain the things in 
 the right manner, and guard againft thofe 
 errors which we are liable to fall into on 
 either fide. 
 
 Nor would I be angry with any man, who 
 confiderately and fmcerely thinks this the beft 
 way of reprefenting and explaining the gof- 
 pel, any further than to fay, that St. Paul did 
 not think it the beft way, and I am much of 
 his mind. 
 
 4th Remark. How much Jhould our fouls 
 blefs God for the introduction of the gofpel into 
 the world, at the firfl promife; and even for 
 all the promifes of this new covenant, efpe- 
 cially in this laft, and beft, and brighteft edi- 
 tion, 
 
90 "The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 tion, and the adminiftration of it by Jefus 
 Chrift, and his Spirit? As it is exprefled and 
 explained in Heb. viii. 10, 12. 
 
 Have we not fometimes had an awakening 
 and painful fenfe of guilt? 
 
 Have we never thought ourfelves finners, 
 and feared the eternal anger of God, and 
 cried out for falvation from the condemning 
 fentence of the broken law? 
 
 And when we have refolved, and watched, 
 and laboured again to fulfil the holy law of 
 God, and failed in many inftances, have we 
 not bewailed ourfelves as weak and impotent 
 creatures, as well as under the guilt of fo 
 many offences, repeated and abounding? O 
 what abundant realon have we to blefs God 
 for the gofpel of his grace, through Jefus 
 Chrift, wherein our only hope lies, and all 
 our falvation ! Even all our hopes of pardon 
 and acceptance with God, as well as all our 
 ftrength to do the will of God, and obey his 
 law, fo far as Chriftians are enabled and ex- 
 pected to do in this life. 
 
 Let us fly from the law, and its curfes and 
 condemnation, to the refuge and hope which 
 the gofpel has fet before us, and live there 
 daily, by faith in the Son of God the Sa- 
 viour ; for there only lies our fafety from the 
 wrath of God, and eternal deftruclion. 
 
 5 th Remark. What a glorious harmony 
 will appear in the reviezv of all the difpenfa- 
 t-ions of God at the lajl dav y between the law 
 
 and 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 91 
 
 and the go/pel? The law was the inftrument 
 of God's government of his creatures, and 
 the rule of his juftice, from the beginning of 
 the world to the end: But the golpel is the 
 inftrument of his grace for our falvation. 
 
 The law is the rule, guiding and teaching 
 all the faints in the ways of holinels, con- 
 vincing of fin, and condemning all finners, 
 and driving them to feek refuge in grace : 
 And the gofpel is the noble and divine re- 
 medy, difcovering that grace whereby alone 
 we can be faved. 
 
 And why may not thefe fentiments be part 
 of our tranfporting and beatifying contem- 
 plations in the heavenly ftate? It is generally 
 agreed by our divines, that the various pro- 
 vidences of the life and ftate we have paft 
 through in this world, whether they have 
 been painful or pleafant, fhall be the matter 
 of our delightful review and meditation ; efpe- 
 cially fo far as they have been the happy means 
 of our fan&ification, and our preparation for 
 the final bleftednefs of the heavenly ftate. 
 
 I am well aflured there will be abundant 
 matter of joy and thankfulnefs found in thefe 
 different difpenfations of God, in his bringing 
 many Jons to glory; and there will be ample 
 inftances of his providential care and glorious 
 examples of his righteoufnefs and his grace, 
 in a thoufand particular tranfa&ions of the 
 bleffed God, and our Lord Jefus Chrift his 
 Son, with the children of his grace : And 
 
 perhaps 
 
92 The Difference between Disc. IV. 
 
 perhaps there fhall be fuch difcoveries made 
 to us of the righteoufnefs and the grace of 
 God in his holy law and his gofpel, among 
 thefe divine tranfa&ions, as will elevate our 
 fouls into higher raptures of gratitude and 
 joy, and furnifh our tongues with pleafant 
 and everlafting hallelujahs. 
 
 The faints in that day fhall chearfully and 
 thankfully recount the awful voice of God 
 in the commands and terrors of his law, fince 
 thefe were the bleffed means of awakening 
 their ftupid confciences, and of ftirring them 
 to a hafty flight to Jefus and his gofpel, as 
 the only and all-fufficient refuge of finful and 
 guilty fouls. Happy creatures, who turned 
 their eyes to his grace, when they were thus 
 felf-condemned^ and trembling for fear of the 
 immediate execution of the divine threaten- 
 ings of his law. 
 
 How glorious and delightful will be the 
 moments of thefe fouls, when they fhall re- 
 view the firft glimpfes they had by divine 
 grace, of the falvation and hope which was 
 to be found for them in the encouraging 
 language of the gofpel and the promifes? 
 What new fongs will arife to the Redeemer, 
 in this review of thofe paft events ? What 
 echoes of praife to him that fits upon the 
 throne, and to the Lamb, while the inhabi- 
 tants of the bleffed world are purfuing and 
 tracing out backward the ancient fteps of the 
 grace of God towards their recovery from 
 
 the 
 
Disc. IV. the Law and the Go/pel. 93 
 
 the fin and ruin of the jirji Adam, and their 
 entering into the covenant of falvation, thro' 
 Jefus Chrljl the fecond? He was the ever- 
 blefled antitype of the firjl Adam, the great 
 Head and Lord of life and everlafting blef- 
 fednefs, to all who are fan&ified and laved* 
 Honour, and glory, and power, be to his 
 holy name, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
i ^'^kj}y,<jfr«v* r 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SERMONS preached at Berry-Street, 
 1744, and 1745. 
 
 In which 
 
 The Early Appointment of the Atonement 
 of Christ is manifefted. 
 
 The Firft Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Rev. xiii. 8. 
 
 The Lamb Jlain from the foundation of the 
 
 world, 
 
 IN order to make the fenfe of thefe words 
 eafy and plain, we muft take into our 
 counfel three other texts of the New Tefta- 
 ment: (viz. J 
 
 I. 1 Pet. i. 18 — 20. c Ye know ye were 
 
 1 not redeemed with corruptible things, as 
 c filver and gold, but with the precious blood 
 
 4 of 
 
Disc. V. The Atonement of &c. 95 
 
 * of Chrift, as of a Lamb, without blemifh, 
 
 * and without fpot, ver. 20. Who verily was 
 
 * fore-ordained before the foundation of the 
 c world, but was manifefted in thefe laft times 
 ' for you.' This fliews us, that this Lamb 
 was Jefus Chrift, who was offered a facrifice 
 for the fins of the world, and thereby takes 
 them away, John i. 29. 
 
 II. Ads xv. 1 8. c Known unto God are 
 ' all his works from the beginning of the 
 c world:' And therefore this great work of 
 redeeming finners by the death of his Son 
 Jefus, as 1 Pet. i. 20. was alio known to 
 him. 
 
 III. Rom. iv. 17. « God quickeneth the 
 1 dead, and ca.lleth thofe things which are 
 4 not, as though they were ;' /'. e. fpeaketh 
 fometimes of things not yet done, as though 
 they were done; therefore this Lamb is laid 
 to be (lain from the foundation of the w r or!d, 
 becaufe it was by virtue of his death many 
 other things were appointed. 
 
 God hath before the foundation of the 
 world, ordained all things that regard the 
 falvation and recovery of man, from the 
 ruins of his fall. Sometimes the holy fcrip- 
 ture fpeaks of thofe things which were ori- 
 ginally defigned and decreed, as though they 
 were actually done, though perhaps it was 
 many ages afterwards before thefe things had 
 any aftual being. 
 
 It 
 
96 "The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 It is in this fenfe that our Lord Jefus Chrift 
 is faid to be the ' Lamb (lain before the foun- 
 \ dation of the world;' i. e. he was decreed 
 and determined to be the Saviour of man- 
 kind; and for this end he was appointed to 
 be a facrifice of atonement for our fins, even 
 before God laid the foundations of the world, 
 Eph. i. 4, 5. He appeared as the Lamb flain 
 for this purpofe, and with this defign, in the 
 eye of God, who fees all things in one fingle 
 view, whether they be things part, prefent, 
 or to come. God the Father kept Jefus 
 Chrift his Son ever in his eye in this view, 
 through all his traniactions with the children 
 of men. 
 
 It is generally fuppofed that Adam flood in 
 the ftate of innocence but a few days at moft, 
 or a very fhort time after his creation, though 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift came not into this 
 world, nor took flelli and blood upon him 
 of the fubftance of the virgin Mary, till about 
 four thoufand years afterwards. Many ages 
 ran out amongit the inhabitants of this world 
 in that time, and even fome of the tran- 
 factions of God in his own eternity, before 
 the foundation of the world, are reafonably 
 fuppofed to be derived from this very idea, 
 in the mind and appointment of the bleffed 
 God, becaufe he had originally appointed 
 that Jefus Chrift fhould in due time take flefh 
 and blood, and be offered as a facrifice for the 
 fins of men. 
 
 Here 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifefted. 97 
 
 Here we fhall firft enquire what are thofe 
 early tranf actions of the blefled God in eter-> 
 nity, or in time, which may be fuppofed to 
 have been any ways influenced by this view 
 of our Lord Jeius Chrift; and the aniwers 
 are thefe: 
 
 1. It was in this view that God at Jirji de- 
 creed a?id defigned tofave and recover any part 
 of fallen man from their ruin, Jin, and mifery, 
 and chofe thoufands of the race of finful man- 
 kind to be reflored to his favour, and to his 
 image: Eph. i. 4, 5, 7. c Behold my fervant, 
 e whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my 
 c foul delighteth:' That fo God might have a 
 proper atonement made for all their fins, by 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift, in order to be recon- 
 ciled to them, and to reconcile them to him- 
 f elf, that they might be holy, and without blame. 
 
 It would be too long at prefent to enter into 
 this enquiry, why God required an atone- 
 ment for fin, or why his juftice and his grace 
 would not unite in the falvation of fallen man 
 without it: The great God thought it unbe- 
 coming his fupreme majefty, and his charac- 
 ter, to deal thus in a way of abfolute mercy 
 with men; and as he has determined it fo in 
 his word, this is enough for us to acquiefce 
 therein: As Heb. ii. 10. ' It became him for 
 * whom are all things, and by whom are all 
 1 things, in bringing many fons unto glory, 
 1 to make the captain of their falvation perfect 
 4 through furTerings. , mummi, u e. As critics in 
 
 G the 
 
98 'The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 the Greek language expound it, to confecrate, 
 fan&ify, or finifh this captain of falvation for 
 this fervice, by an atoning facrifice. 
 
 God was pleafed to make his beloved Son 
 Jefus Chrift his firft eled:; Ifa. xlii. 1. and 
 he chofe all the reft in him. Eph. i. 4. ' Ac- 
 4 cording as he hath chofen us in him before 
 i the foundation of the world, that we mould 
 i be holy and without blame before him in 
 c love.' He was refolved to fet him up at 
 the head of all the faved number, who was 
 his own Son, that he mould be their forerun- 
 ner into heaven, and have the honour of re- 
 deeming all the fons of God, and bringing 
 them back unto the Father: And he decreed 
 him to be the great facrifice for the expiation 
 of the fins of all his chofen and favourite fons: 
 He has redeemed them all with his blood, 
 
 2. It was in the view of Jefus Chrift, as 
 the great Mediator and facrifice, that God 
 appointed any further communion, or any fa- 
 vourable communications, between himfelf and 
 his fallen creature man. It was in this view 
 that he appointed there fhould be any ap- 
 proach of fallen man towards himfelf: It was 
 in this view he gave him the firft promife, 
 and the firft hope of mercy, even that the 
 c feed of the woman fhould bruife the head 
 * of the ferpent;' Gen. ii. 15. by whom man- 
 kind was deceived to their ruin and deftruc- 
 tion; and by appointing Jefus Chrift to be a 
 facrifice for fin: It was prophefied that his 
 
 heel, 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifefled. 99 
 
 heel, or the lower part of his nature, 1. e. 
 his body, fhould be bruifed, in order to break 
 the head of the ferpent; as it is explained 
 t John iii. 8. * For this purpofe the Son of 
 6 God was manifefted that he might deftroy 
 4 the works of the devil;' i. e. his tyranny and 
 dominion over man. Th\$ feed of the woman 
 was the appointed facrifice for this purpofe, 
 Gen. iii. 15. It was with this view that God 
 enquired after loft man in the garden of Pa- 
 radife, in order to recover and fave him by his 
 Son Jefus., Gen. iii. 9. c Adam, Where art 
 4 thou ?' And he gave him the promife of re- 
 covery by this means. And as God after- 
 wards appointed it, that no man floould come 
 to the Father, but by the Son; John xiv. 6. fo 
 he revealed himfelf as making his way towards 
 fallen Adam, by this man Jefus; and it is by 
 him that all that are brought back again to 
 God have been appointed to draw near to him 
 ever fmce; for he is the only appointed way. 
 
 It is alfo very probable that God might 
 make clearer difcoveries to our firft parents in 
 the midft of their ruined and difmal ftate, in 
 and with this firft promife, than Mofes, the 
 divine hiftorian, has given us an account of, 
 becaufe this was to be the beginning and firft 
 pledge of their hope of any acceptance with 
 God, and their expectation of life and fal- 
 vation. 
 
 Let me here fpeak one awakening word to 
 
 fallen finners: Did you never give yourfelves 
 
 G 2 leave 
 
ioo The Atonement of Disc. V, 
 
 leave to think how great your guilt and de- 
 ftruclion is, and how terrible your mifery and 
 danger? And do you never confider that it 
 was in and by Jefus Chrift, as the appointed 
 facrifice for our fins, that God made his firft 
 fteps towards you in a way of reftoration and 
 recovery? This mould not be utterly neglec- 
 ted and forgotten by iinners. See how early 
 was the love of God to fallen man. 
 
 3. It was in this view of Jefus Chrift, as a* 
 propitiatory facrifice, that God inflitnted fa- 
 crifice s to be offered up by Adam, immediately 
 after his fall y as it is recorded by Mofes. God 
 forbid that ever we mould imagine, that the 
 great God left this important affair of offering 
 facrifices to reconcile and appeafe an angry 
 God, to the mere invention of vain and fool- 
 ifh man? And how can we fuppofe that it 
 mould enter into the heart of man, that God 
 mould be pleafed with fuch facrifices as the 
 cutting and burning of his living creatures in 
 the fire, in order to pleafe him after their 
 firft fin? 
 
 It is very evident that God appointed the, 
 (kins of beafts to be their firft covering, but 
 thefe very beafts were not then appointed by 
 God the creator to be flain for the food of 
 man, till the days of Noah : and therefore, it 
 muft be out of the beafts flain for facrifice, 
 that the Lord God made coats of fkins, and 
 clothed Adam, and his wife Eve. And it is 
 highly probable that their clothing was made 
 
 out 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifejled. 101 
 
 out of the fkins of the beafts that were facri- 
 ficed, to guard them from the cold winds, 
 and florins, and from any of the inconveni- 
 encies of the air and iky that might befal 
 them, for want of fuch covering. Gen. iii. 
 21. c And unto Adam and his wife did the 
 
 * Lord God make coats of fkins, and clothed 
 
 * them.' 
 
 It is further evident, that thefe facrifices 
 were not merely facrifices of thankfgiving and 
 acknowledgment to God for his mercies, as 
 men are too often ready to fuppofe. When 
 Cain brought to God the firft fruits of the 
 ground, Gen. iv. 3. if it was done merely as 
 an offering of thankfulnefs, it is manifeft that 
 Abel alfo, Gen. v. 4. * brought of the firft- 
 4 lings of his flock, and the fat thereof;' and 
 it is very plain that Abel found acceptance 
 with God, but Cain did not, ver. 5. And as 
 it is repeated, Heb. xi. 4. ' By faith Abel of- 
 1 fered unto God a more excellent facrifice 
 1 than Cain.' And probably this was the dif- 
 ference, becaufe by the facrifice and death of 
 the living creatures, there was an acknow- 
 ledgment made of fin, and of finful man's de- 
 fert of dea ; h, by fome intimation from heaven; 
 and this was accepted of God as an atonement 
 or fubftitute, in the room of the finner, or a 
 typical propitiation for fin. This feems to be 
 implied in that queftion of Balak to Balaam, 
 Micah vi. 6. * Wherewith fhall I come before 
 ' the Lord, and bow myfelf before the mod 
 G 3 ' high 
 
102 The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 * high God? Shall I come before him with 
 \ burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? 
 c Will the Lord be pleafed with thoufands of 
 c rams? &c. Or mail I give my firft-born for 
 c my tranfgreffion, the fruit of my body for 
 ' the fin of my foul ?' It is very natural for 
 man, under a fenfe of the guilt of fin, to en- 
 quire how he fhall appear before a holy God 
 with acceptance? And God, as it were in an- 
 fwer to fuch a fuppofed enquiry, directs Adam 
 to the facrifice of beafts, as an atonement for 
 fin; i. e. as a fort of ranfom for the forfeited 
 life of man. And this is the moft natural and 
 mod eafy fenfe of things, and the beft ac- 
 count of the original of facrifices, and of the 
 prevalence and continuance of that cuftom 
 almoft all over the world: And this is the 
 faireft account of the original tradition of 
 Adam's firft facrifice after his fall from God, 
 and the fenfe of his anger.* 
 
 4 . it 
 
 * As it is generally fuppofed by our divines, that it 
 was Jefus the Son of God, who, in the name of his 
 Father, appeared to Adam in the garden after his fin, 
 and had this converfation with him, fo it is not unlikely 
 that God, in the perfon of his Son Jefus, taught Adam 
 how to manage thefe facrifices, by taking off the fkins, 
 and cutting the beads into proper parts, and burning 
 them-, of which there is a hint given in the Greek tran- 
 lation of the Septuagint, Gen. iv. 7. which is not found 
 in the Hebrew original at prefent, where God fays to 
 Cain, If thou haft rightly offered, but haft not rightly divided 
 the facrifice, thou haft finned. And if this is fuppofed to 
 be a true account of the matter, then Jefus Chrift him- 
 felf, in a preludium to his incarnation, was the firft 
 
 High 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifcfled. 103 
 
 4. It was in the view of the atoning facri- 
 fice of Chrift, the Lamb of God, that all the 
 
 fch ernes of the J ewifh facrifice s, all the jlaugh- 
 ter and burnt-offerings of the animals, and the 
 
 pourings-out and fpr'mkl'mgs of blood, and the 
 wafhings with water in the Jewifh facrifices, 
 were firjl appointed as figurative methods, to 
 clean fe them from finful defilements : And the 
 Lord Jefus Chrift at laft appeared, or was fet 
 forth hereby, as the great deliverer from the 
 wrath of God, and as typified under all thefe 
 figures and fhadows, Heb. x. 1 — 12. ' The 
 1 law having a fhadow of good things to come, 
 4 but not the very image of the things,' thofe 
 facrifices were all imperfeft as to the grand 
 defign; for they could not cleanfe the con- 
 fciences of men from guilt before God, Heb. 
 x. 1, 2. In this refpect Chrift alone was the 
 true facrifice, Heb. ix. 11, 12. 
 
 And this was the reafon of fhedding of the 
 blood of beafts according to the law, Heb. 
 ix. 14, 15, 22. For there was no remiffion 
 without blood. The blood of Chrift, by vir- 
 tue of his union with the true God, had in- 
 finite and immortal value in it. Chrift, the 
 Lamb of God, offered himfelf without fpot unto 
 G 4 God 
 
 High Prieft, and he that taught Adam firft to offer a 
 facrifice, and fo, in the fight of God, it was accepted 
 from, the hands of him whom God had conftituted an 
 everlafting High Prieft; though, at the fame time, the 
 facrifice of Chrift, the Lamb of God, might he typified 
 by the flaughter and facrifice of the beaft itfelf. 
 
104 The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 God> to purge our confciences from dead works, 
 or from works that deferve death, that we 
 might ferve the living and true God with ac- 
 ceptance: Thus Ifrael, confidered as a nation- 
 al church, derived this advantage from our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift. 
 
 And it was with this view that the national 
 atonement, or the bullock that was offered 
 every year for the fins of the whole nation, 
 Lev. xvith and xviith chapters, attained its 
 proper effect, and delivered the whole nation 
 from national guilt, and that deftruction which 
 the juftice of God might have brought upon 
 it for fin. 
 
 5. It was in the view of this great facri- 
 fice, flain from the foundation of the world, 
 that God pardoned the perfonal guilt of men, 
 and forgave thoufands of fins under the Old 
 Teftameiit, and fpared the guilty, each of them 
 in their day and feafon, and took away the 
 guilt of their iniquities. So David was for- 
 given his adultery and his murder, crimes of 
 the deepeft dye, for which David knew of 
 no facrifice, Pfal. li. 16. and for which no 
 man could be pardoned or juftified by any 
 ceremonies in the law of Mofes: And there- 
 fore the apoftle fays, By this man, even Jefus 
 Chrift, there was forgivenefs appointed for 
 thole fins for which no facrifices were or- 
 dered by the law of Moles, nor any facrifices 
 were offered, or accepted, according to the 
 levitical law. Afts xiii. 38, 39. Rom. iii. 
 
 24, 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifejhd. 105 
 
 24, 25. ' God has fet him forth as a propi- 
 
 * tiation through faith in his blood, to declare 
 ' his right eoufnefs for. the remiffion of fins 
 4 that are paft, through the forbearance of 
 
 * God * :' But even at that time there was 
 forgivenefs with God in the view of Chrift; 
 for even David fpeaks with much freedom 
 in the 33d Pfalm, and eliewhere of the par- 
 don of fin. 
 
 It was alfo through this blood of the Lamb 
 flain, that Solomon was pardoned his many 
 heinous and grievous fins; L e. the Lamb of 
 God flain in the view of the Father, as an 
 atoning facrifice from the foundation of the 
 world : And through the fame blood God 
 forgave the repeated crimes of ManafTeh the 
 king, who had filled Jerufalem with Daugh- 
 ter; and all the faints, and all the kings, who 
 had ever been finners, and were faved, it was 
 in this view of the blood of the Lamb; al- 
 ways fuppofing truft in the mercy of God, 
 together with fincere repentance, and return 
 to God, was found with the finner at the 
 fame time. BlefTed Jefus, how early and 
 how extenfive was this falvation through thy 
 blood, even before it was actually offered! 
 
 6 The 
 
 * We tranflatc this word forgivenefs ', as though it were 
 *Afl £ <nr, remijjlon, but the word is -napta-ic, which properly 
 fignifies the paffing by of fin; that is, that God did not 
 then actually punifh them: Though the Cocceian writers 
 do not make a juft inference from this, that therefore no 
 fins were pardoned under the Old Teftament, but merely 
 the punifhment of them delayed or neglected. 
 
io6 The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 6. The go/pel of the falvation of finful man 
 was contrived and appointed by the great God, 
 in this view of Jefus the Lamb of God, the 
 great expiatory facrifice, fiain from the founda- 
 tion of the world: And it is for this reafon 
 that the dodhine of this atonement for fin by 
 facrifice, runs through all the parts and forms 
 of religion, which God early appointed in 
 the world, and the feveral religions which 
 man, under the divine appointment of God, 
 ever pra&ifed, Heb. x. 11, 12. Where there 
 is a particular account given of the covenant 
 of grace, from the language of the prophets. 
 c This man, after he had offered one facrifice 
 ' for fin, for ever fat down on the right hand 
 c of God; for by one offering, he hath for 
 ' ever perfected them that are fanctified ; 
 * whereof the Holy Ghoft alfo is a witnefs 
 'to us: For when he had faid, This is the 
 ' covenant I will make with them after thofe 
 ' days, faith the Lord; I will put my laws 
 ' in their hearts, and in their minds will I 
 ' write them ; and their fins and iniquities 
 4 will I remember no more. Now where re- 
 4 miffion of thefe is, there is no more offering 
 c for fin.' Thefe are the bleffings of the gof- 
 pel of Chrift; here is the fan&ifying Spirit 
 included, as well as the blood of atonement; 
 here is a purification of our natures, as well 
 as j unification of our perfons, introduced in 
 the view of this Lamb that was flain: And 
 therefore John the Baptift might fay, in 
 
 more 
 
Disc. V. Christ manifejled* 107 
 
 more fenfes than one, John i. 29. i Behold 
 4 the Lamb of God, that taketh away the fins 
 * of the world.' He takes away the guilt of 
 fin by his atoning facrifice, and the power of 
 fin in the foul, by the fanclification of his 
 Spirit. All the bleffed promifes of the gofpel, 
 in the Old Teftament and in the New, are 
 but the language of this new covenant, which 
 arofe from the view and forefight of the blood 
 of this dying Lamb ; which was therefore 
 called the blood of the everlajling covenant , 
 Heb. xiii. 10. 
 
 Let me afk ye now, O finners, whofe con- 
 fciences are expofed to agonies through the 
 guilt of fin, and whofe fouls are in danger 
 of being captivated into new offences, by the 
 power of fin within you: Do you not fee 
 how neceflary thefe blefTmgs are to your fal- 
 vation ? How can you have your fins par- 
 doned, or your fouls accepted with God unto 
 eternal life, or renewed unto holinefs, if you 
 have not an intereft in the falvation, wrought 
 by this blood of the Lamb? ■ 
 
 7. It was with this defign, and in the view 
 of this blood of Jefus, the great facrifice, that 
 all the ordinances of the New Tejlament itfelf 
 were inflitated: Baptifm itfelf had fomething 
 of this fignification ; for fo faid Ananias the 
 Chriftian to Paul, when he was firft {truck 
 down to the ground by the vifion from 
 heaven, * Why tarrieft thou? Arife, and be 
 4 baptized, and wafh away thy fins, calling 
 
 ' on 
 
io8 The Atonement of Disc. V. 
 
 4 on the name of the Lord Jefus,' Ads xxii. 
 1 6. The water of haptifm came to have a 
 cleanfing and fan&ifying virtue from the 
 forefight and eternal mercy of God, who ap- 
 pointed Jefus Chrift to be flain for a facrince; 
 which is alfo intimated Heb. x. 21. c Let us 
 
 * draw near with a true heart, in full afTurance 
 
 * of faith, having our hearts fprinkled from an 
 t evil confcience, and our bodies warned,' /. e. 
 in baptifm, ' with pure water.' 
 
 There is no need of the particular defcrip- 
 tion of the inftitution of the Lord's fupper^ 
 Matt. xxvi. 28. Rev. i. 5. wherein the blood 
 of Jefus Chrift is faid to waih us from our 
 fins. The blood of Chrift cleanfeth us from all 
 unrighteoufnefs , 1 John i. 7. 
 
 8. It was in the view of this Lamb flain 
 from the foundation of the world that there 
 was a way made, provided, and prepared, for 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift to arife from the dead. 
 The apoftle to the Hebrews, in chap. xiii. 
 ver. 10. is exprefs in this fentiment, ' The 
 fi God of peace, who brought again from the 
 
 * dead our Lord Jefus, that great Shepherd of 
 6 the fheep, through the blood of the everlaft- 
 € ing covenant:' /. e. The covenant of grace 
 and pardon, which began as foon as man had 
 finned, and remains to this day, even to all 
 everlafting, to fpeak peace and pardon to fin- 
 ners. Every circumftance in this part of the 
 hiftory of our Saviour was appointed in this 
 view. He died, and lay in the grave for a 
 
 fliort 
 
Disc. V. Christ manfefed. 100 
 
 fhort feafon, to prove the truth and reality of 
 his death, and he arofe again, to confirm the 
 predictions of the ancient prophets, for all 
 the works of God, concerning our Lord Je- 
 fus Chrift, and his tranfactions in life and 
 in death, were known to him from the begin- 
 ning of the world; and every ftep of his fuf- 
 ferings, and his rifing from the grave, was 
 all ordained with a view to this blood of the 
 covenant, by which he was raifed from the 
 dead, Acts xi. 18. All the decrees of God, 
 and all the predictions of the prophets, all 
 the types of the old JewilTi law, and all the 
 promifes of God with regard to his Son Je- 
 ius, were doubtlefs appointed, accomplished, 
 and fulfilled, with a regard to this great fa- 
 cririce. 
 
 The holy angels, who were to be employed 
 in the refurrection and afcenfion of Chrift, 
 were doubtlefs acquainted with this glorious 
 event before-hand; every one of thofe holy 
 ones had their orders to be ready at the pro- 
 per poll for thefe tranfactions; for his riling 
 from the dead, and his glorious entrance, as 
 the Son of God, into his heavenly kingdom; 
 thoufands of angels were prefent there. Pfah 
 Ixviii. 17. ' The chariots of God are twenty 
 c thoufand, even thoufands of angels. The 
 c Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the 
 4 holy place. Thou haft afcended on high, 
 c thou haft led captivity captive,' &c. in 
 ver. 17, 18. 
 
 9. Therefore 
 
no The Atonement of ] &c. Disc. V. 
 
 9. Therefore was our Lord Jefus Chrift 
 reprefented to the apoftle John, as a Lamb 
 Jlain in the mid/I of the throne ', after his refur- 
 rection, and his entrance into glory in heaven, 
 Rev. v. 6. That there might be an cverlafing 
 emblem, and monument^ or memorial, of the 
 Lamb fain before the face of God, for all the 
 bleffed defigns which God had in his view for 
 the falvation of his people, through all the ages 
 of mankind, ever f nee fn entered into the world, 
 even to the end of time, and the confummation of 
 all things: That by this vifion there might be 
 before the eyes of God a perpetual appearance 
 of this foundation of our pardon of fin, the 
 juftification of our perfons through the blood 
 of Chrift, and our acceptance with God in 
 the heavenly world. And who can tell, or 
 who can conceive, how many and how va- 
 rious were the bleffed and glorious ends that 
 God deiigned, and actually attained, by this 
 reprefentation? 
 
^o^k^Ji^g^xrrr 
 
 DISCOURSE VI 
 
 o N 
 
 Revelations xiii. 8. 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon, 
 
 Rev. xiii. 8. and v. 6. 
 ■Of the Lamb Jlain from the foundation of 
 
 the world. In the midft of the throne— flood 
 a Lamb as it had been Jlain. 
 
 THUS far have we confidered what are 
 the tranfac~tions of God, in which he 
 might have a regard to the facrifice of Chrift, 
 reprefented fo early as before the foundation 
 of the world. 
 
 In the next place, 1 proceed to confider 
 what divine leffons of inflrnclion, or conflation, 
 may be derived fro?n this vifon of the Lamb, as 
 it had been fllain, appearing in the midfl of the 
 throne, Rev. v. 6. And among thefe we may 
 number fuch as follow. 
 
 I ft Leffon. 
 
1 12 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 i ft Lcffon. There is hereby an information 
 given to the inhabitants of the heavenly 
 world, that jefus, the Son of God, who was 
 made man, has redeemed many from among the 
 children of men, to be a praife unto him, and his 
 glory, in all ages to come. There is an enquiry, 
 Rev. vii. 13. e What are thefe which are 
 c arrayed in white robes, and whence came 
 c they?' To this we may anfwer, as in that 
 text, ver. 14. ' Thefe are they who came 
 4 out of great tribulation.' Or we may give 
 the fame anfwer as Zeba and Zalmunna 
 anfwered to Gideon, when they were afked, 
 4 What manner of men were they whom ye 
 4 flew at Tabor?' And they anfwered, c As 
 c thou art, fo were they; each one refembled 
 
 * the children of a king.' And he faid, 
 
 * They were my brethren, even the fons of 
 
 * my mother.' Each of them are the bre- 
 thren of our Lord Jems Chrift, born of wo- 
 men, and expofed to great tribulations; but 
 they have all ' warned their robes, and made 
 6 them white in the blood of the Lamb :' 
 And therefore they are like the angels of 
 heaven, who ftand round the throne, in the 
 glorious fervices for which they are prepared, 
 in the court of our bleffed Redeemer, each 
 of them the image of the firft born Son of 
 God, and reconciled to God the Father by 
 his blood, and fhall dwell there for ever with 
 him. A glorious reconciler, and a divine 
 
 atonement, 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifeflcd. 113 
 
 atonement, and happy fouls who are par- 
 takers of it ? 
 
 2d Lefforu The Lamb, as it had been (lain, 
 appears there as a divine Mediator, and is a 
 me?norial of the ever lofting virtue, and conftant 
 efficacy, of the atoning facrifice ofChrift; which 
 was typified of old by the conftant facrifices 
 morning and evening: The priejis on earth 
 c flood daily miniftring, and offering often- 
 c times the fame facrifices; which could ner> 
 1 ver efifetlually take away fin : But this man, 
 6 after he had offered one facrifice for fins, 
 1 for ever fat down on the right hand of God: 
 * For by one offering he has for ever perfected 
 c them that are fanctified,' Heb. x. 1 1, 12, 14. 
 Thefe repeated facrifices, were defigned as a 
 type to remove the continual guilt of return- 
 ing fins amongft the faints ; morning-fins, 
 and evening-fins, fins in the beginning of 
 life, fins in the middle ftate of life, and fins 
 of old age; fins of public life, and private 
 fins, known and unknown, fecret and public. 
 The priefts were daily employed in continu- 
 ing thefe typical facrifices, through all the 
 Levitical difpenfation. And let it be ob- 
 ferved, Acts iii. 1. this was called the hour of 
 prayer; and that the people were appointed 
 to offer their prayers and praifes unto God 
 at thefe times of the morning and evening 
 facrifice, as the everlafting means of the ac- 
 ceptance of our morning and evening wor- 
 fhip before God, making all our fervices 
 H acceptable 
 
114 The Atonement of Disc. VL 
 
 acceptable to the great and blefled Gcd in 
 heaven hereby. 
 
 Therefore when we come to lift up our 
 morning worfhip, or our evening addrefTes, 
 to the throne, let us remember that Jems, 
 the Lamb who was flain, is there for ever, 
 making this new and living way to the throne 
 plain, and keeping it always open by the vir- 
 tue of his facrifice. Let not a morning or 
 evening pafs without an addreis to heaven 
 in this blood. 
 
 3d Leffon. This gives fiifficient and perpe- 
 tual 7iotice of the everlafing interceffon which 
 Chrift makes for the faints, Heb. vii. 25. And 
 therefore he is reprefented as able tofave to the 
 utter mofl all thofe that come unto God by him. 
 There is no need of other high priefts to of- 
 fer up daily facrifices, fince the one facrifice 
 of Jefus, the great High Frieft, in the con- 
 ftant emblem of it, abides here before the 
 face of God for ever. John i. 29. Behold the 
 Lamb of God, who, by his blood, cleanfetb us 
 from all fin. Though our fins may be as fear- 
 let, Ifa. i. 18. they fall all be wafed away r 
 and our garments be as white as fnow, or 
 made white as wool, and fit to appear before 
 God continually, without blemifhes and de- 
 filement, through this abounding fountain, 
 which may be faid to flow for ever from the 
 wounds of Jefus Chrift, as a facrifice; fince 
 it is in and by this blood, our High Prieft 
 may be fuppofed for ever to plead with the 
 
 Father 
 
Disc. VI. Christ man'fejled. 115 
 
 Father for our pardon and acceptance: For 
 the interceffion of Chrift is fcarcely revealed 
 unto us as carried on by the actual voice or 
 language of Jefus the Son of God in heaven; 
 but perhaps it rather means the everlafting 
 virtue and efficacy of his facrifice, as his 
 blood, which has a voice .in it, even as a 
 fountain, always open and flowing in the 
 fight of God, for the forgivenefs of fins ', 
 Zech. xiii. 1. for all the true Ifrael of God: 
 And in this fenfe, the blood of Jefus, as is 
 elfewhere laid concerning the blood of Abel, 
 it has a voice in it, and pleads for ever for 
 better things than the blood of Abel did, 
 Heb. xii. 24. Glory be to God for pro- 
 viding this everlafting facrifice, and for re- 
 vealing fuch a vifion in the midft of the 
 throne, for our conftant contemplation. 
 
 4th Leffon. This vifion appears on the 
 throne as an ever la/ling encouragement for the 
 vilejl and rnqfl guilty f inner s of all ages to trujl 
 in the facrifice of the Lamb that was flain. 
 When we remember the fcarlet and crimfon 
 fins of David, Solomon, and ManaiTeh, and 
 of the Corinthians, which are reckoned up, 
 1 Cor. vi. 10, 11. the faints on earth may 
 fay, And fuch were we, drenched all over and 
 defiled with iniquities, whole evil thoughts, 
 evil words, and evil actions, are without 
 bounds, and without number; but they are 
 all wajhed away in this divine laver, with all 
 the infinite evil and guilt of them, againft 
 H 2 the 
 
1 1 6 The Atonement of Disc. VL 
 
 the majefty and the grace of God; for the 
 virtue and the dignity of the united God- 
 head, which dwells in the man Chrift Jems, 
 runs through the whole of his facrifice, and 
 makes it of infinite and everlafting value; 
 whereby fins of all manner of aggravations 
 are removed from thofe that believe in Jems,. 
 I John i. 7. Matt. xii. 31. No manner of 
 crimes are fufficient to create defpair, where 
 this atonement is provided. 
 
 5th Leffon. It may alfo be defigned as an 
 encouraging memorial to relieve old finners wi- 
 der the guilt of fins, of long continuance, and 
 laden with many aggravations; for as the 
 yearly facrifice of atonement, whofe blood 
 the high-prieft carried into the holy place, 
 and appeared there before God, cancelled the 
 guilt of all the nation for all the days of that 
 year; fo Chrift, being entered into the holy 
 place, made without hands, and dwelling 
 there for ever, with his own blood, anfwers 
 for the fins of thofe that believe in him, 
 which they have been all their lives com- 
 mitting againft God, if they are but deeply 
 convinced of their long and repeated iniqui-. 
 ties, and with humble faith fly to Jefus, the 
 hope that is fet before them. 
 
 Look up, therefore, look up, ye humble 
 penitents, that have been guilty of many and 
 repeated crimes, and are almoft drowned in 
 tears of repentance, and are ready to die 
 under defpair, becaufe of your aggravated 
 
 iniquities, 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifejlcd. 117 
 
 Iniquities, look unto this bleffed emblem on 
 high, the Lamb, as it had been flain: This 
 facrifice gives foundation for hope, not only 
 that we mall be cleanfed from all our fecret 
 faults, which are more than we can think, or 
 reckon up, but even from prefumptuous fins, 
 which are of the deepeft dye. Matt. xii. 3 1 . 
 1 All manner of fins and blafphemies,' fays 
 our Saviour, c mail be forgiven unto men.' 
 Look up to this bleffed emblem, and you 
 ihall find this falvation complete and perfect, 
 and your confciences pacified, under the ago- 
 nies of your own guilty reflections, through 
 the blood of Jefus, who died. 
 
 6th Lejfon. This emblem of a dying facri- 
 fice is alfo a refuge, a fupport, and a hope for 
 faints, wider the continual work'wgs of original 
 fin, under their daily infirmities, under every 
 new temptation, and the bufferings and charges 
 of Satan, who is the accufer of the brethren, 
 Rev. xii. 1 1 . The armies of the faints have 
 continually experienced the virtue of this 
 facrifice; for in all ages they caj! down this 
 accufer by the blood of the Lamb; and here is 
 their great refuge, under all the violent and 
 repeated fuggeftions and accufations of the 
 great enemy of God and fouls : Here is 
 indeed a fweet pillow for the fouls of thofe 
 who have been guilty of long iniquities, to 
 reft their penitent and pained confciences, by 
 faith upon, in a dying hour. Heb. xiii. 8. 
 Jefus is the fame ye/lerday, to-day , and for 
 H 3 ever: 
 
1 1 8 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 ever. And the virtue of his atonement al- 
 ways frefh in the eye of God. 
 
 Is there any poor foul here, whofe con- 
 fidence is buffeted and forely tormented with 
 hurrying temptations, and doubts whether 
 their repeated fins mail be pardoned or no? 
 Go into the fecret chambers of retirement 
 and repentance, whither the faints before you 
 have gone, and fighed, and wept bitterly be- 
 fore God, and mourned over their fins before 
 the throne. Afk Chriftians of long experi- 
 ence, whence came all their peace, and their 
 hopes of freedom from the guilt of fin? And 
 they will anfwer with one voice, It is from 
 the blood of the Lamb. It would overwhelm 
 the confcience to have a full fight of thefe 
 tranfgreflions let in upon it, in all their terror 
 and their dreadful condemnation, if they had 
 not fuch a refuge as this to fly to. O bleffed 
 for ever be the name of Jefus, who has given 
 us, in his word, fuch a fight, fuch a gracious 
 vifion of hope and comfort! And a bleffed 
 vifion it is, for the poor humble finner to 
 take a look at daily, with an eye of faith. 
 
 7th Lejfon. This vifion is appointed as an 
 evidence and monument of the church *s fafety 
 and fecurity, hope and confidence, even to the 
 end of the world) though their circumflaiiccs 
 be never fo low, though they are never fo 
 much finking under their fears, this is a good 
 fecurity of that pro mile, Matth. xvi. 18, 
 The gates of hell Jhall not prevail againfl the 
 
 church's 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifefed. 1 19 
 
 church's intereft, to bring it down to the 
 ground ; for the facrifice of Chrift is of ever- 
 ] ailing value, and has purchafed the fecurity 
 of the church to the end of the world. Jefus 
 is repreiented as Handing in the midft of the 
 throne, and before the eyes of God the Fa- 
 ther; lb that the church fhall never be con- 
 demned, nor given up to deftrucliion. All 
 the living {tones that God has defigned to be 
 brought into the building of the church, fhall 
 be brought into it in their feveral feafons: 
 All the dead finners, that are made alive by 
 the blood of Chrift, and by the work of his 
 Holy Spirit, fhall be railed together in a glo- 
 rious building, which God fhall dwell in for 
 ever: And when the top-Jione is laid in hea- 
 ven, the redeemed nations jhall Jhout unto it, 
 Grace, grace, Zech. iv. 7. 
 
 8th Leffon. This vilion may be efteemed 
 alfo as a monumental emblem, that the followers 
 of Chj'ijl, who fid all fill heaven with inhabitants, 
 are finners redeemed from the earth: They are 
 brought into heaven as ranfomed by the blood 
 of the Lamb, and as cleanfed in this laver; 
 they are not originally pure and holy in 
 themfelves, as the angels were, but they are 
 guilty creatures, once fhamefully defiled and 
 corrupted, but refcued from hell and fin, and 
 recovered from all their defilements and dan- 
 gers by a blefTed Redeemer. Such were fome 
 of you, all ye pardoned and fan&ified fouls; 
 %iich w r ere all of you, as related to the firft 
 H 4 Adam, 
 
120 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 Adam, finful and miferable; but ye are re- 
 deemed and faved by the fecond. This 
 thought fhould ever keep us humble and 
 felf-abafed, that fuch worthlefs creatures as 
 we are, are not banifhed for ever from the 
 prefence of God. This fhould ever put us 
 in mind of our low eftate, that we were 
 once fallen creatures, and are railed by the 
 fovereign and condefcending grace of God 
 in Chrift Jefus; and it is in Chrift alone that 
 we ftand. 
 
 This fhould be a perpetual warning to each 
 of us, not to indulge or endure the lead de- 
 filement of fin; for fin is of fo malignant a 
 nature, that it will foon fpread all ovef the 
 foul, and taint it with guilt and fhame, when 
 once indulged. This is a leflbn for redeemed 
 creatures ever to remember, efpecially while 
 we are within the reach of temptation, and 
 fhould keep us ever watchful. 
 
 9th Lejfon. This virion may give the be- 
 lievers in Chrift an everhjling affurance that 
 they Jhall ?iever be feparated from the love of 
 God, ivhtch is in Chrift Jefus our Lord: For 
 he ftands in the midft of the throne, and 
 will keep his place there for ever and ever, 
 Rom. viii. 34, 35. He ftands there, if I may 
 fo fpeak, in his prieftly garments, with the 
 remembrance of his bloody facrifice, before 
 the throne of God, and is never out of his 
 fight. Faith may triumph with holy con- 
 fidence in this view. Who Jhall condemn us 
 
 now^ 
 
Disc. VI. Christ maniffed. 121 
 
 now, Jince Chrlji has died, and lives for ever, 
 to maintain and tejiify this atonement, which 
 he has made for our fins by his death, and 
 his rifmg again ? He that was dead is alive, 
 and lives for evermore. Amen, Rev. i. 18. 
 Who mail pretend therefore to feparate ns 
 from the love of God, that is fo fecured to us 
 in and by Jefus Chrif? You fee plainly, in 
 the laft verfe of this chapter, faith defies all 
 creatures whatfoever to make any divifion 
 between God and the juftiried and holy foul, 
 while Jefus appears there in the eternal re- 
 membrancce of his atoning facrifice : The 
 poor creature here on earth may fometimes 
 be overtaken with fin, through the power of 
 corruption, and blufh, and fear to think of 
 appearing before a God of perfect holinefs; 
 but this vifion of our Redeemer encourages 
 his faith, reftores his fpirit, and fupports his 
 hope. And we may obferve it is placed in 
 the laft of the prophetic vifions, even in the 
 Revelations of St. John, that it may abide 
 upon the foul, and live in the memory of 
 faints, in this frail and imperfect ftate, where 
 they are fo often in danger of finning againft 
 God. 
 
 Inferences or Remarks drawn from 
 thefe Difcourfes. 
 
 I. Rem. How large, how excellent, and 
 how glorious is this falvation of Jefus Chrifl, 
 
 the 
 
1 22 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 the Lamb of God, fain to take away the fins of 
 the world? And this may be made to appear 
 in many particulars. 
 
 I ft Infance of the extent of it. It is a fal- 
 vation that reaches through all ages, from the 
 beginning to the end of time, from the firft 
 fin of man, even to the end of all things: 
 Thofe glories of the falvation of Jefus Chrift 
 are beyond the reach of our preient concep- 
 tion, and beyond all the powers of number 
 to reckon up, and the force of eloquence to 
 difplay. 
 
 2d Infance of the extent of it. It reaches 
 through all the tribes of mankind, through all 
 countries and nations, through all families 
 and perfons, both Jew and Gentile, to the 
 ends of the earth. Our Saviour prophefies, 
 That if he be lifted up from the earth, that is, 
 crucified, and die as an atoning facrifice, he 
 fhall draw all men unto him, John xii. 32. 
 So in Rev. v. 10. and vii. 9. Men of all 
 nations, and of all languages, of all countries 
 and all ages, fhall be. found in this bleffed 
 number, who are redeemed by the blood of 
 Chrift, and join in the everlafting fong of 
 praile to him that Jit teth upon the throne, and 
 to the Lamb for ever. 
 
 3d Infance of the extent of it. This doc- 
 trine of the Lamb of God flain from the 
 foundation of the world, reaches through all 
 the tranfaclions of God with the children of 
 men : k begins as high as creation itfelf, 
 
 thoufands 
 
Disc. VI. GhUMT manifefiid. 123 
 
 thoufands of mankind were at firft created 
 for this reafon, that they might in time be 
 joined to this bleffed army, and rejoice and 
 triumph in the Lamb that was flain : It 
 reaches through all the redemption of Chrift, 
 for finful men were redeemed by the blood 
 of Chrift for this very purpoie: For this pur- 
 pofe they were called and convened from the 
 wicked of the earth; and turned from fin to 
 God, that they might for ever be made glo- 
 rious in holinefs. It is through this death of 
 Chrift, the Son of God, that they are all 
 juftified and brought into the divine favour: 
 They are all fanttified by his Holy Spirit, 
 under this influence, and adopted into the 
 family of God, to become the younger bre- 
 thren of Jefus, the Firft-begotten of the Fa- 
 ther: And when God fulfils this falvation in 
 heaven, it will appear what multitudes of 
 fallen ruined creatures are recovered and 
 faved, by this atonement of the Lamb. 
 
 4th Injlance of the extent of it. I may add 
 further, All the mercies and bleffings that are 
 bejlowed upon men through time and eternity: 
 I might add, Whether thefe bleffings are na- 
 tional or perfonal^ yet our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 in our nature, dying on the crofs, has fome 
 hand, by the exuberant merit of his facrifice, 
 in procuring and accompliihing all thefe pur- 
 poses: The grace of Chrift, while we keep 
 our eye on the united Godhead, has fome 
 hand in all the temporal favours, and even 
 
 the 
 
1 24 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 the national mercies, even of thofe who re- 
 fufe to receive the fpecial and everlafting 
 bleffings of his grace; befides all the confola- 
 tions and the joys which the faints are par- 
 takers of here on earth, from their firft cal- 
 ling to their glorification, muft have fome 
 regard to this great facrifice, ever frefh in the 
 eye of God. 
 
 5 th L fiance of the extent of it. This falva- 
 tion fpreads through and beyond all the fins 
 that ever we committed, from the beginning 
 of life to this day; and beyond even all tfe 
 mi fries that mankind ever fnjlained by their 
 original fall , and apofacy from God; had they 
 all received this grace, it is enough to balance 
 them all. In the dignity of the divine na- 
 ture, united to the man Jefus, there is pro- 
 viiion enough to anfwer for all this abound- 
 ing iniquity, and price fufficient to buy all 
 the bleffings that God ever bellowed upon 
 his fallen creature man, and fufficient pardon 
 and happinefs for all the finners that are wil- 
 ling to lubmit to the grace of God, and re- 
 ceive trhefe bleffings in his own appointed 
 way. It is only impenitence, and reje&ion 
 of the gofpel, hinders the univerfal effeel: of 
 it. O amazing and bleffed extent of this fal- 
 -vation ! 
 
 6th bfance of the extent of it. I add, m 
 the la It place, the doctrine of the falvation of 
 the Lamb of God, flain from the beginning 
 of the world, carries a glory through all the 
 
 perfections 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifefled. 125; 
 
 perfections and attributes of God himfelf which 
 might be dif covered at large in a furvey of the 
 feveral glories of his nature, his jufice, and 
 wifdom, his power and his truth, his grace 
 and goodnefs, in the falvation of fallen men : 
 There is never a perfection of God that is 
 honoured, but it is in and by this bleffed 
 medium, the death and mediation of Jefus 
 Chrift, the Lamb of God. 
 
 II. Rem. How necejfary, how folid, and 
 important, is this doclrine of the falvation of 
 Chrijl, by the atotiement of the Lamb? It is 
 not a mere matter of fpeculation, amufe- 
 ment, and difcourfe, but it is of infinite con- 
 cernment to men to be acquainted with it, 
 John xii. 27. For the purpofes and defigns 
 of this hour, even of the atonement and death 
 of Chrift, the Lord Jefus y the Lamb of God, 
 came into this world: This might be illus- 
 trated alfo in many particulars; as 
 
 1 . Illufration of this Remark. God voould 
 not deal thus with his beloved Son Jefus Chrifi, 
 to make him a bloody facrifce, for mean and 
 ignoble purpofes : This work of his death and- 
 atonement is by no means to be efteemed as 
 a cypher among the works of divine grace, 
 or as a mere obje£t of fpeculation and amufe-- 
 ment: The bleffed God has too much love 
 for his Son Jefus, his only begotten, and his 
 firft-beloved, to make him merely the talk of 
 his church, or the matter of entertainment 
 
 for 
 
126 The Atonement of Disc. VI. 
 
 for their meditation, or their difcourfe; there 
 mil ft be fomething fubftantial, holy, divine, 
 and honourable, defigned in and by the death 
 of this Lamb of God; whofe facrifice, in the 
 view of it, is reprefentcd as beginning before 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 2d Illuft ration of this Remark. God would 
 not deal thus with the fallen and inferable race 
 if mankind, to appoint fnch a facrifice, which 
 had little or no efficacy in it. Our Saviour 
 himfelf tells us, John vi. 33, $$. That he is 
 the bread rf life; and except we eat his fefh, 
 and drink his blood, except the fallen and pe- 
 riihing race of mankind apply themfelves to 
 this way of ialvation by Jefus Chrift, they 
 have no life in them; that is, there is no fal- 
 vation appointed any other way, Acts v. 1 2. 
 
 3d II I aft rati on of this Remark. The lie [fed 
 God would not deal thus with his chief favour- 
 ites among mankind, even the wifeft, the beft, 
 and the holieft of his creatures, to appoint his 
 Son to be a facrifice merely to entertain their 
 reafonings and their meditations ; but it is de- 
 figned as the food of their fouls, as the life of 
 their fpirits, and their hope for eternity, 
 John vi, 21. 
 
 4th Jlluf ration of this Remark. Again, 
 God would never have dealt thus with his 
 cbqfen and favourite people the "Jews, through 
 all their generations, to have fed them and 
 pie afed them only with types and fgurcs, fha- 
 dozvs and emblems, if they had no fubflantial 
 
 blefings 
 
Disc. VI. Christ mamfejled. nj 
 
 ble£i?igs contained in them: There were indeed 
 fome happy ufes appointed concerning thefe 
 types and fhadows, in the national church of 
 the Jews, but this was not the chief deiign 
 of their inftitution, but it was to figure out 
 and reprefent the folid bleflings of the gofpel, 
 the fpiritual and everlafting privileges which 
 God defigned for ail his chofen and faved 
 ones. 
 
 5th Illuflration of this Remark, I might 
 add, in the laft place, God would not deal thus 
 with his holy prophets of the Old Teft 1 anient, 
 and his apofles in the New, whether Jews or 
 Chriflians, to make them the min'flcrs of a 
 fhewy and Jhadowy difpenfation, which had no 
 fubjlantial and everlafting blejfings belonging 
 to it. 
 
 III. Rem. What a divine and difinguijhing 
 bleffing is it to us, in this age and this nation, 
 that the doclrine of the pardon of fin, by the 
 atoning blood of the Lamb, has been preached 
 to us from our i?ifancy, and yet continues to be 
 preached to us by the minifiers of the gofpel ? 
 O bleffed be God, that we are not found in 
 thofe Popifh nations, where the priefts would 
 teach us to truft in malTes and penances, in 
 long and idle repetitions of formal prayers in 
 Latin, and merits of the faints, and ufelefs 
 addrelfes to them, reprefented in figures of 
 filver or gold, wood or ftone, or brafs, in 
 order to reconcile us to God; in fprinklings 
 
 with 
 
1 2 8 The Atonement of Disc. VL 
 
 with holy water, and other fooleries, inftead 
 of the only appointed facrifice of the Son of 
 God; whereby they make void the bleffed 
 gofpel of Chrift, and overwhelm it with their 
 fuperftitious inventions ? How fad a thing 
 would it be for us, if we were left upon a 
 dying pillow, and had no other hopes but 
 thefe to reft our fouls upon? 
 
 Here it may not be improper to give an 
 anfwer to this objeclion: If this doctrine of 
 the atoning blood of the Lamb that was flain 
 be fo glorious in itfelf, and fo needful to our 
 falvation, How comes it to pafs that our Sa- 
 viour /peaks fo little of it in the whole of his 
 miniftry, while he 'was three years preaching 
 among ft the towns of the Jews? 
 
 Anfwer. See a large and full anfwer to 
 this objection in my Sermon on the Atone- 
 ment of Ghrf. Vol.11. And further anfwers 
 are repeated in my Treatife of Orthodoxy and 
 Charity united, in the three laft pages of the 
 fir ft EJfay of the Subftance and Matter of the 
 Gojpel. 
 
 Another objeclion may be raifed here: If 
 this doctrine be fo glorious, and fo very need- 
 ful, How comes it to pafs, that it is fo much 
 neglcfied among men that profcfs Chriftianity? 
 And that men who believe it, arc no more af- 
 fected with it? 
 
 Anfwer I, Though a thing be never fo 
 ufeful and neceflary, yet the mere commonnefs 
 of thefe things fometimes is an unhappy occafion 
 
 of 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifftcd. 129 
 
 of rendering them lefs regarded^ and lefs at- 
 tended to, Thefe glories and wonders of the 
 gofpel of Chrift have run over our thoughts 
 and over our tongues fo many thoufand 
 times, without that due folemnity as becomes 
 them, and without thofe awful ideas which 
 thole things require, that our natures are not 
 much moved by the importance of them. 
 Though thefe truths are in themfelves fo di- 
 vine, fo awful, and folemn, yet, alas! they 
 are loft upon our paffions, and they make no 
 powerful impreffion there; they awaken no 
 ierious meditations, neither at the time pre- 
 fent nor afterwards. 
 
 Anfwer 2. Mankind do not keep upon their 
 minds a deep fenfe of fin; the impreflions that 
 the convincing Spirit fometimes makes, va- 
 niih away from their confciences, and the 
 neceffity and the glory of this way of falva- 
 tion too foon vanifhes off from our thoughts, 
 becaufe we are not rightly and fteadily ap- 
 prehenlive what an infinite evil is contained 
 in the nature of fin; and therefore the me- 
 thods of pardoning mercy and forgiving grace 
 lie with fo little weight upon our fpirits. The 
 facrifice of Chrift, how exceeding precious 
 foever it is to an awakened and convinced 
 finner, yet it little affects the meditations of 
 thofe who have not a lively fenfe of fin 
 maintained upon their fpirits: When fin lies 
 with a weight upon the foul, it awakens 
 many a bitter figh and groan; and a review 
 I of 
 
130 The Atonement of Disc. VL 
 
 of the method of atonement appointed by 
 the great God, in the blood of Ghrift, ren- 
 ders the remembrance of it very pleafant and 
 affecting. Let us therefore endeavour with 
 all diligence to prefer ve a deep fenfe of the 
 evil of fin, as committed againit the infinite 
 Majefty of heaven, always upon our con- 
 fciences, that the blood of Jefus may be ever 
 precious unto us : We foon forget the vile 
 aggravations with which our fins are attend- 
 ed ; and therefore, the way of forgivenefs 
 makes fo little impreffion upon our fouls. 
 
 Anfwer 3. There are few Cbri/lians who 
 keep the love of Chrift aclive and warm enough 
 in their hearts, to give the?n any deep imprefjions 
 of the invaluable price of his blood. It is true, 
 there are many thoufands in our land and 
 nation who love the Lord Jefus Chrift fin- 
 cerely, though they have not feen him ; but 
 ftill they are but few, in comparifon of the 
 unknown multitudes who have heard of his 
 name, and yet know him not, and love him 
 not: O bleffed Jefus, awaken thele thoufands 
 of ftupid finners to fee the wonders of thy 
 love, the amazing condefcenfion of thy death, 
 and the glory of this thy falvation. This 
 reconciliation to God by the blood of Chrift 
 is one of the chief glories for which the faints 
 in heaven ever praife him, and ever love 
 him: This is the matter of their divine fongs, 
 Worthy is the Lamb to receive glory and honour ; 
 becaufe we were enflaved and captivated to 
 
 fin 
 
Disc. VI. Christ manifejlcd. 131 
 
 fin and Satan, and we are redeemed by his 
 blood, Rev. v. 6. 
 
 Anfwer 4. Another unhappy caufe why 
 thefe things make fo flight an impreflion 
 upon our fpirits, is, becaufe the mofl of us are 
 fo bufily and deeply engaged in the things of 
 this prefent life; though all thefe things, 
 which affect our prefent paffions, are but 
 fhadows and trifles, in comparifon of this 
 glorious and divine doctrine : A glorious 
 fubjec! indeed, which fhould at all times 
 awaken our warmed joy, and our loudeft 
 praifes. 
 
 IV. Rem. How divinely full of glory and 
 pleafure Jhall that happy hour be, when all the 
 millions of mankind, that have been redee?ned 
 by the blood of this Lamb of God, Jhall meet 
 together, and Jland around him, with every 
 tongue and every heart full of joy and praife ! 
 How aftonifhing will .be the glory and the 
 joy of that day, when all the faints fhall join 
 together in one common fong of gratitude, 
 and love, and everlafting thankfulnefs, to this 
 Redeemer ? With what unknown delight, 
 and inexpreflible fatisfadtion, fhall all that are 
 faved from the ruins of fin and hell, addrefs 
 the Lamb that was flain from the foundation 
 of the world, and rejoice in his prefence? 
 
 Nor fhall the angels be filent in this gene- 
 ral and univerfal fong of blefling and praife; 
 for though they are not redeemed from fin 
 I 2 and 
 
132 'The Atonement of, &c. D 1 s c . VI . 
 
 and hell by this blood of the Lamb, yet they 
 are reprefented in Rev. v. 11, 12, 13. as 
 aflifting the faints, the redeemed of the Lord, 
 in their triumphs of univerfal joy: And when 
 they fhall all at once, who, in the feveral ages 
 of the world, have been taught to receive the 
 grace and falvation of this Redeemer, ftand 
 together, and praife the Father of all things, 
 who has given their fouls into the hands of 
 his Son Jefus Chrift, to redeem, fanctify, and 
 fave them ! Then God fhall have fulfilled 
 this blefTed prayer of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 John xvii. 24. Father, I will, that thofe 
 'whom thou hajl given me Jhould be with me 
 where I am, to behold my glory. 
 
DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 G.od in Chrift is the Saviour of the 
 Ends of the Earth : 
 
 R, 
 
 Faith reprefented in its loweft Degrees. 
 
 The Firft Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Ifa. xlv. 22. 
 
 Look unto me, and be ye faved, all the ends 
 of the earth ; for. I am God, and there is 
 none elfe, 
 
 IF thefe words were not written in the 
 Bible, and by that means grown old 
 and familiar to us, but if they had come 
 immediately into the midft of any affembly 
 in Great Britain, by a voice from heaven, 
 How would they awaken our ears, and 
 
 1 3 imprefs 
 
134 Faith reprefented in D I s c . VII. 
 
 imprefs our fouls' Surely every one amongft 
 us, that lees himfelf in danger of perifhing, 
 would liften with eager attention to the word 
 that calls and invites him to be faved. The 
 Britifh Iflands have been reckoned by the 
 ancients to be the ends of the earth; and we, 
 the inhabitants thereof, fhould be ftrangely 
 furprized and pleafed at itich language from 
 the upper world. 
 
 Our thoughts would be crowded with 
 hafty enquiries, " Whence is this bleffed 
 " voice? Is it from heaven indeed? Who is 
 " it that invites perifhing wretches to falva- 
 " tion ? Am not I within the reach and 
 " compafs of this call ? Is it not I that am 
 " invited ? And is not the bleffing fuited to 
 " my cafe and my danger ? What muft I 
 " do to partake of it ? And what affurance 
 " can I have that it fhall be conferred upon 
 « me ?" 
 
 Such enquiries as thefe fhould be raifed in 
 us at this time, if we do but pay as juft a 
 deference to the voice of God when he fpoke 
 of old by a prophet, as we would if he fpake 
 now by a fudden miracle : And though all 
 thefe queries would be very hard to anfwer, 
 if we had nothing elfe but this miraculous 
 found, yet as the words lie in the Old Tefta- 
 ment, iince we enjoy the New, it is much 
 eafier to obtain a fatisfying anfwer to them. 
 Let us then try to find out, 
 
 I. Who 
 
Disc. VII. its low eft Degrees. 135 
 
 I. Who is the p erf on that [peaks. 
 s II. Who are the perfons fpoken to. 
 
 III. What this falvation is. 
 
 IV. How we are to come by it. 
 
 V. What affurance we can have that we 
 jhall poffefs it in the way propofed. 
 
 To anfwer thefe queftions fhall be the 
 bufinefs of thefe Difcourfes. 
 
 Fir/i, Let us find out Who is the per/on 
 that /peaks. 
 
 He aflerts his own divinity in the words 
 of my text. / am God, and there is none elfc. 
 Whether the Divine Being fpeaks this in the 
 perfon of the Father, or in the perfon of Je- 
 fus Chrijt the Son, is not of abfolute necelTity 
 to be determined in this place. 
 
 Perhaps it could nGt be expounded under 
 the Old Teftament any otherwife than con- 
 cerning the great God, confidered as the Fa- 
 ther of all, the only true God, whofe name 
 is Jehovah, and who was then chiefly known 
 to the Jews as the God of Ifrael. It is the 
 God of the Jews calling the Gentiles to par- 
 take of his falvation. He is their Jlrength 
 and their Saviour, and their righteoufnefs is 
 derived from him, as in the foregoing and 
 following verfes. 
 
 But when under the New Teftament we 
 explain thefe words, we muft rather confider 
 God in Chr'ift reconciling the. world of Jews 
 
 I 4 and 
 
136 Faith reprcfcnicd in Disc. VII. 
 
 and Gentiles to himfelf: It is the fame one 
 Godhead which dwells bodily in the man Chrijl 
 Jefus; for the Father and the Son are not 
 two Gods. It is God, the only true God, 
 manifejl in the fiefio: It is Emmanuel, or God 
 with us, who fpeaks thefe words: It is Chrijl 
 Jefus the Lord, who is one with the Father, 
 and in whom the fulnefs of the Godhead 
 dwells, who calls the ends of the earth to look 
 unto him and be faved. And there are fome 
 fpecial reafons that incline me to fuppole 
 thefe words of the prophet mould chiefly be 
 applied in the New Teftament to our Lord 
 Jefus Chrijl, who makes this bleffed offer of 
 grace. 
 
 (1.) It is the fame perfon to whom the 
 falvation of Ifrael is afcribed, and who is cal- 
 led a Saviour fo often in the context, yer. 1 5. 
 17, 21. which is the very meaning of the 
 name Jefus, and the frequent appellation of 
 Chrijl in the New Teftament, and his parti- 
 cular office is to be a Saviour, and to bring 
 falvation. 
 
 (2.) It is he who is appointed to be the 
 righteoufnefs and the Jlrength of his people. 
 Ver. 24, 25, ' Surely fhall one fay, In the 
 4 Lord have I righteoufnefs and ftrength. 
 * In the Lord fhall all the feed of Ifrael be 
 4 juftified/ Now this is the very name of 
 the Mefiah, Jer. xxiii. 6. c The Lord our 
 6 righteoufnefs:' And it is Chrijl who is made 
 righteoufnefs unto us, 1 Cor. i. 30. And by 
 
 and 
 
D i s c . VI I. its low eft Degrees. 137 
 
 and in whom all the faints are to be juftified 
 in the language of the gofpel. It is from him 
 alfo that his people derive ftrength. St. Paul 
 bids Timothy be c ftrong in the grace which 
 c is in Chrift,' 2 Tim. ii. 1. The Ephefian 
 converts muft ' be ftrong in the Lord,' Eph. vi. 
 1 o. And the apoflle himielf could c do all 
 f things through Chrift, who ftrengthened 
 * him,' Phil. iv. 13. Now the New Tefta- 
 ment (to which times the words of my text 
 chiefly refer,) does not ufually reprefent God 
 under the idea of the Father, as the ftrengtb 
 of believers, nor is he ever deferibed there as 
 their right eoi/fnefs. 
 
 Again, (3.) This is the perfon that brings 
 falvation to the ends of the earthy which is the 
 very character of the Meffiah in the writings 
 of the fame prophet, Ifa. xlix, *6. c I will 
 c give thee for a light to the Gentiles,' (fays 
 God the Father,) ' that thou mayeft be my 
 ' falvation to the ends of the earth.' 
 
 (4.) I add further, that part of this con- 
 text, even the very next words, are applied 
 to our Lord Jefus Chrift by St. Paul. The 
 prophet faith, 6 I am the Lord, and there is 
 ' none elfe,' ver. 1 8. ' Unto me every knee 
 c fhall bow, every tongue fhall fwear,' ver. 23. 
 The apoftle, citing the words of the prophet, 
 fpeaks thus: Rom. xiv. 9, 10, 11. 'Chrift 
 1 died, and rofe, that he might be Lord of 
 f the dead and the living: All muft ftand ber 
 t fore the judgment-feat of Chrift: For it is 
 
 c written, 
 
1 3 S Faith rcprefented in Disc. VI L 
 
 * written, As I live, faith the Lord, every 
 
 * knee fhali bow to me, and every tongue 
 
 * mail confefs to God.' Where the words 
 Chriji, Lord, and God, feem to be ufed pro- 
 mifcuoufly for the fame perfon. Nor would 
 the apoftle's argument feem ftrong and co- 
 gent in that place, if the word God were ap- 
 plied only to the Father; for it is his defign 
 there to ihew that the advancement and glory 
 of Chrift was the aim and the effect of our 
 Saviour's death and refurreclion, that he 
 might be Lord and Judge of all, ^and that 
 every knee and tongue might own his Lordfhip 
 and fovereignty. The application of thefe 
 words to Chrift is again evident in Phil. ii. 
 10, ii. ' At the name of Jefus every knee 
 ' mould bow, and every tongue confefs that 
 
 * Jefus is Lord.' Though there the glory of 
 the Father is expreffed alfo. 
 
 (5.) The laft reafon why this text may 
 be properly applied to Chrift, is, becaufe many 
 other expreflions of the prophets, that plainly 
 belong to the great God, the God of Ifrael, 
 as coming to bring falvation to the Gentiles, 
 are plainly applied to Chrift in the New Tef- 
 tament. Pfal. cii. 22, 25. ' When the peo- 
 
 * pie are gathered together, and the kingdoms, 
 ' to ferve the Lord, &c. Of old thou haft 
 c laid the foundations of the earth.' This is 
 applied to Chrift, Heb. i. 10. So Pfal. xcvii. 
 1, 7. c The Lord reigns; let the multitude 
 
 * of ifles be glad: Worfhip him all ye gods.' 
 
 Which 
 
Disc. VII. its loivejl Degrees. 139 
 
 Which is applied to ChM, Heb. i. 6. So 
 Ifa. xxxv. 4, 5, 6. compared with Mark ix. 
 27. So Ifa. xl. 5. compared with Matt. iii. 3. 
 So Joel v. 32. compared with Rom. x. 13. 
 which would be too large now to rehearie. 
 
 It will be objecled indeed, How can it be 
 faid, that Chrift is God, and there is none elfef 
 Is not the Father God alio? 
 
 I anfwer, This does no more exclude the 
 Godhead of the Father, than our Saviour's 
 own words, John xvii. 3. exclude his own 
 divinity, where he calls the Father 7 he only 
 true God. I think it is fufficiently evident 
 from many places of fcripture, that the Fa- 
 ther and the Son have an inconceivable com- 
 munion, and that one and the fame divine 
 nature, which is in the Father, dwells in the 
 Son: For fince divine names and attributes, 
 works and worfhip, are alcribed to both, 
 therefore they muft both be in fome fenfe 
 true God; and fince there is but one true God, 
 they muft both have fellowship in the fame 
 Godhead; or elfe the Son would be another 
 God different from the Father; whicfr the 
 Bible neither knows nor allows. 
 
 Thefe words therefore, I am God, and there 
 is none elfe, if applied to Chrift, mean no more 
 than this : There is no other Godhead but that 
 which dwells in me; but that Godhead in 
 which I partake, by intimate communion or 
 onenefs with the Father, ' I am in the Fa- 
 4 ther, and the Father is in me,' John xiv. 
 
 ? In 
 
1 40 . Faith reprefcntcd in Disc. VII. 
 
 < In Chrift dwells all the fulnefs of the God- 
 c head bodily,' Col. ii. 9. 
 
 After all, if we mould afcribe this fpeech 
 entirely to God the Father, yet it muft be 
 conferled, as I hinted before, it is God in 
 Chrift, God as reconciling the world to himfelf 
 in and by Jefus Chrift, and faving the Gentiles 
 as his people, with an everlajlhig falvation? 
 io that Chrift, the Son of God, the Saviour 
 of men, cannot be left out of my text. 
 
 The fecond Enquiry is this, Who are the 
 perfons to whom this gracious invitation is 
 made ? 
 
 The text tells us, that the call reaches to 
 all the ends of the earth, which we are to 
 underftand in a literal or in a figurative 
 fenfe. 
 
 Ift, In a literal fenfe, and thus it fignifies 
 the Gentile nations, who dwell afar off from 
 Judea, thofe that inhabit the diftant corners 
 of the world, and the i/lands that are afar off, 
 that have not heard of the fame of the grace or 
 glory of God, as Ifa. lxvi. 1 9. For the Jews 
 fancied themfelves to be placed in the middle 
 of the earth, by the peculiar favour of God; 
 and indeed they were fo in one refpedt, for 
 the land of Canaan is near the borders of 
 Alia, where it joins to Africa, and not very 
 far off* from the limits of Europe ; which 
 three were the only known parts of the 
 world in that day. 
 
 The 
 
Disc. VII. its loweft Degrees. 141 
 
 The Brlti/lj iflands may, in a fpecial man- 
 ner, be included in this expreffion, for they 
 were the very fart heft parts of the earth that 
 could be known in the age of Ifaiah. This 
 voice of companion is therefore eminently 
 fent to us in England; the Lord fays to every 
 one of us, Behold me, behold me, re that were 
 not called by my name, I fa. Ixv. 1 . Look unto 
 vie from thele ijles afar off, Ye Britons, Look 
 unto me from the ends of the earth, and hi: 
 
 faved. O Sirs, if you and 1 could but ima- 
 gine that Jefus Chriit calls us as it were by 
 name, furely it would allure us to hearken to 
 the voice of fuch divine companion. 
 
 Ildly, The words may be understood in a 
 
 figurative fenfe, and fo they may fignify all 
 thofe perfons who are tinder the fame fort of 
 character and circutnftance as the Gentiles w. 
 in that age. 
 
 1. Ye that are in the ends of the earth, 
 that are afar off from the church of God, his 
 knowledge and his worinip. Ye that are at 
 the greater!: diftance from the true Jcrufalem. 
 Ye who are the vileft of finners, utterly un- 
 holy and without God in the world. Ye that 
 have nothing of grace or religion in you, 
 Look unto Chrift and be faved; for he came 
 to fave the finners of the Gentiles, and the 
 vileft of mankind. 
 
 2. Ye that have not known the blejfing of 
 holy parents, but were bred like Heathens, 
 who know not God, and born in families that 
 
 call 
 
142 Faith rtprefented in Disc. VII. 
 
 call not on his name : Ye that never were 
 trained up in religious education, that were 
 never brought near to God by a father that 
 was in his covenant, or a mother that be- 
 lieved in his gofpel : Ye that were never 
 folemnly devoted to God, nor acknowledge 
 any relation to him, he calls you this day to 
 accept his falvation. 
 
 Or 3. Ye that have broke the bonds of a pi- 
 ous education, and ran a%vay from God and bis 
 ho ufe, and his worfjip, as the Gentiles had 
 done from the religion and inftru&ions of 
 Noah their anceftor: Ye that have wandered 
 afar off from your Father's houfe, even to the 
 ends of the earth, and are perifhing with the 
 prodigal J on, at a dreadful diftance from God 
 and heaven: Come, look unto Chrifl, and be 
 faved. 
 
 4. Ye that are mourning in darknefs, as it 
 were at the ends of the earth, and on the very 
 borders of hell, without hope, as the Gentiles 
 were, Eph. ii. 12. almoft giving up all for 
 loft, yielding to final defpair, Look to Jefus 
 the Saviour, lay hold on the hope that is fet 
 before you, and live. 
 
 And while I am preaching in this place"*, 
 I may add, alio (Fifthly,) You that dwell in 
 dark corners of this our land, far from any 
 place of religious worjhip : Ye who live by 
 the fides of the foreft, or on bare and folitary 
 commons, in a poor ignorant village, or in 
 
 lonefome 
 
 * This was delivered in a village in the country. 
 
Disc. VII. its lowejl Degrees. 143 
 
 lonefome cottages, where letters and reading 
 are not known, and a Bible is a ftrange thing, 
 where books are feldom feen, and the word 
 of God never founds : Ye that have lived 
 hitherto like wild Heathens in the ends of the 
 earth, if any fuch are prefent in this affembly: 
 Remember you are this day called as it were 
 by the prophet from heaven, and by the word 
 of the living God, from the lips of his mini- 
 flers on earth, to look to God in Chrifl, as 
 reconciling the world to himfelf, to look to 
 Jefus the Saviour, in whom all the fulnefs of 
 the Godhead dwells. 
 
 The third Enquiry proceeds thus: What is 
 this falvation to which we are invited? 
 
 It is the fame falvation that Ifrael fhall en- 
 joy, the Ifrael of God, the people of his love: 
 They ' fhall be faved in the Lord with an 
 4 everlafting falvation,' ver. 17. In general, 
 it is a falvation from fin, and all the difmal 
 confequences of it. This is the reafon of 
 the name Jefus, or the Saviour, Matt. i. 21. 
 c He fhall fave his people from their fins.' 
 And it is the fame jfefus who delivers us from 
 the wrath to come, 1 Theff. i. 10. 
 
 Particularly, (1.) It is a falvation from the 
 guilt of paft fins, which expofes us to divine 
 vengeance, and a reftoration of the perfon 
 to the prefent love and favour of God, to 
 peace of confeience, and to the hope of eternal 
 life. 
 
 (2.) It 
 
144- Faith rcprefcntcd in Disc. VII, 
 
 (2.) It is a falvation and recovery from the 
 power of fin to the power of holinefs. It is 
 a deliverance from vile affections and finful 
 practices to the practice and the love of all 
 piety and goodneis: It is a recovery of our 
 nature from the lufts of the flefh, and the life 
 of a brute, to the reafonable and becoming 
 life of a man or an angel. It is a refcue of 
 the foul from the tyranny of its own lufts, 
 and the foul image of Satan, to a fweet and 
 facred liberty, to a religious ielf-government, 
 and to the image of God. 
 
 (3.) It is a deliverance from all the future 
 puniihments due to fin, from the everlafting 
 mifery of hell, together with the conveyance 
 of a right and title to the everlafting happinefs 
 of heaven. It is a bleffing that runs through 
 this world and the world to come. It is a 
 total and complete deliverance from all that 
 you feel, and all that you fear. It is all-fuf- 
 ficient and eternal falvation. 
 
 Whatfoever your ruin, your diftrefs, or 
 your danger be, there is fomething in this 
 falvation that is fuited to relieve them all ; 
 there is relief and hope in Chrift. Let us 
 then awaken all the powers within us to at- 
 tend to the invitations of divine mercy. Are 
 we blind and ignorant of God, and heaven, 
 and divine things? Chrift is the light of this 
 lower world, John i. 9. He has companion 
 on them that are ignorant and out of the way, 
 Heb. v. 2. Are we foolifh? He is made of 
 
 God 
 
Disc. VII. its lowejl Degrees. 145 
 
 God wifdom to us, 1 Cor. i. 30. Are we un- 
 clean and denied with many iniquities? The 
 blood of Jefus Chrif cleanfeth us from all fin, 
 1 John i. 7. Are we guilty before God? He 
 is our propitiation and atonement, Rom. iii. 25. 
 and the Lord our right eoufnefs, Jer. xxiii. 6. 
 Have we loft the divine favour ? He is the 
 only Mediator betwixt God and man, 1 Tim. ii. 
 5. And the great reconciler to make our peace, 
 Eph. ii. 15. Are we unholy? He can change 
 our natures, andfanclijy our fouls, Heb. ii. 1 J. 
 Are we hard-hearted and impenitent, fo that 
 we cannot mourn for our fins as we would 
 do? He is exalted to be/low repentance ', as well 
 as forgiven efs, A£ts v. 3 1. Are we weak, and 
 unable to refift temptation, or to perform our 
 duty? He is our frength, Ifa. xlv. 24. Are 
 we fick and dying ? He is our phyfician, 
 Matth. ix. 12. Are we dead in trefpaffes 
 and fins? He can quicken us to a divine life, 
 and make us live to God; for the living Spi- 
 rit is with him. Chrift himfelf is our life; 
 and though the body of the faints muft die, 
 yet he fhall raife it again to life everlafling^ 
 John v. 21, 26, 29. 
 
 Surely if we are awake, and in our right 
 fenfes, there is not a foul of us in this affem- 
 bly, but muft feel itfelf under fome of thefe 
 unhappy circumftances. Come then, Ye 
 finful and diftrefTed fouls, ye helplefs crea- 
 tures, ye perifhing dying wretches of every 
 kind: Come, let me lead you to this hea- 
 K venly 
 
1 46 Faith reprefented in Disc. VII. 
 
 venly Saviour; and may my own foul join 
 with yours to partake of this full, this all-fuf- 
 ficient falvation. Bleffed Redeemer, make us 
 all willing to be faved, and let us feek our 
 help from thy hands. 
 
 I go on now to the fourth Enquiry : And 
 that is, What mujl we do in order to be par- 
 takers of this blejjing? 
 
 The words of the invitation are, Look unto 
 me. Now when perfons in diftrefs are called 
 to look to any one for help, it implies to truJI 
 in him, to depend upon him, to feek help from 
 his power and goodnefs. See the hiftory of 
 the cripple, who feeing Peter and John going 
 into the temple, afked an alms : And they 
 faid, Look on us: Upon which he gave heed 
 to them, expecting to receive fo?ne thing of them, 
 Acls iii. 4, 5. So looking unto God fignifies 
 dependence on him, and expectation of mer- 
 cy from him. c We know not what to do,' 
 faith Jehofhaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 12. ' But 
 4 our eyes are upon thee.' So Pfal. xxxiv. 5. 
 ' They looked unto him, and were lightened.' 
 Micah vii. 7. When there was univerfal di- 
 ftrefs round about, faith the prophet, ' I will 
 1 look unto the Lord, I will wait for the Ood 
 i of my falvation.' 
 
 It is evident from the facred, as well as the 
 common ufe of this word, that it fignifies 
 the fame as believing or tr lifting in Chrift in 
 the New Teftament, which is the appointed 
 
 means 
 
D i s c . VI I. its lo weft Degrees* 147 
 
 means of our obtaining a fhare in his falva- 
 tion. A els xvi. 31. ' Believe in the Lord 
 c Jefus Chrift, and thou fhalt be faved.' Sin- 
 ners of the Gentiles are required in my text 
 to look to him. It is foretold by the fame 
 prophet, that c to him fhall the Gentiles 
 ' feek,' Ifa. xi. 10. Which is cited and in- 
 terpreted by St. Paul, Rom. xv. 12. 'In 
 ' him (hall the Gentiles truft.' 
 
 The foul then, that is fo far fenfible of its 
 paft iniquities, its guilt, and danger of hell, 
 and that feels fo much of its inward finful 
 nature, appetites and paffions, as to know its 
 own inability to procure pardon of God for 
 fins paft, or to make itfelf holy for time to 
 come, and fees alfo in Chrift fuch a glorious 
 all-fufficiency of help and relief, and upon 
 this account commits itfelf by prayer and 
 humble trull, or dependence, into the hands 
 of Jefus Chrift, as an all-fufBcient Saviour, 
 fincerely and earneftly defirous of his com- 
 plete falvation in all the parts of it, the holi- 
 nels and the happinefs; this foul is a believer 
 in Chrift ; this foul has looked to Chrift in 
 the fenfe of my text, and fhall certainly be 
 faved. 
 
 Becaufe the duty of faith, trifling, or be- 
 lieving y is fo neceflary to falvation, therefore 
 it has pleafed God in his word to render the 
 notion of it plain and eafy, by many meta- 
 phors and figures of fpeech, to accommo- 
 date the capacities and underftandings of the 
 K 2 meaneft. 
 
1 48 Faith reprefentcd in Disc. V1L 
 
 meaneft. And thefe are borrowed alfo from 
 the mod ufeful and active powers of nature, 
 and the mod common actions of life. 
 
 When the metaphor is taken from the 
 feet) believing is called a coming to Chrifl, 
 Matth. xi. 28. 4 Come unto me, all ye that 
 4 are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 4 you reft.' John vi. 37. c He that cometh 
 * to me I will in no wife caft out.' In an- 
 other place it is defcribed by fleeing for re- 
 fuge, Heb. vi. 18. Which is a figure bor- 
 rowed from the feet alfo ; but including 
 danger, fear, and fpeed. 
 
 When it is borrowed from the hands, it is 
 called receiving of Chrifl, John i. 12. 4 But 
 4 as many as received him, to them gave he 
 4 power to become the fons of God, even to 
 4 them that believed on his name/ And 
 Heb. vi. 18. // is a laying hold on the hope 
 fet before us. 
 
 Sometimes the metaphor is taken from the 
 tongue, and then faith is defcribed by calling 
 on Chrifl, Rom. x. 11, 12, 13. 4 Whomever 
 4 fhall call on the name of the Lord mall be 
 4 faved. He that believeth on him fhall not 
 4 be afhained ; for the fame Lord over all is 
 4 rich unto all that call upon him.' 
 
 In my text the figure of fpeech is taken 
 from the eyes; and the direction is, Look unto 
 me and be faved. There is fomething in this 
 way of fpeaking that more exactly fuits the 
 words faith and believing) for as they imply 
 
 both 
 
Disc. VII. its low eft Degrees. 149 
 
 both a belief of the all-fufficiency of Chrift 
 to fave, and a trufting him for this falvation, 
 fo looking implies that the poor dying crea- 
 ture has feen the all-fumciency that is in 
 Chrift, and thence is encouraged to hope and 
 txpecl help from him. 
 
 It is fuch a look of hope and dependence 
 as a helplefs creature, jitjl dying of the pejli- 
 lence, or a mortal flab, would exprefs toward 
 fome angel-phyfician that was coming to him 
 with a vital and all-healing balm : Such a 
 look as a co7ide?nned criminal, at the place of 
 execution, would caft toward fome fwift 
 meffenger afar off, who has a pardon in his 
 hand ; or fuch a look as a child, jujl ready to 
 be Jlanghtered by a fpiteful enemy, would ex- 
 prefs towards his father, well-armed, and 
 hafting to his deliverance. 
 
 We may fuppofe the faving a£t. of faith in 
 this place to be defcribed by the word looking, 
 for thefe reafons. 
 
 Ift, Becaufe the perfons who are called are 
 in the ends of the earth: And thus the pro- 
 priety of expreffion is preferved, and the 
 metaphor appears more beautiful. Thofe 
 who are fo far off from Chrift might com- 
 plain, " We are feeble dying creatures, we 
 " cannot come to him, as with our feet, nor 
 <c lay hold of him as with our hands; but we 
 " can look toward him, though we are in the 
 u ends of the earth:" As Jonah did when in 
 the depths of the fea. Jonah ii. 4. * I am 
 K 3 ' caft 
 
1 5 o Faith reprefented in D I s c . VI I. 
 
 ■ caft out of thy light, yet I will look again 
 * towards thy holy temple.' Now the temple 
 was a type of the human nature of Chrift, 
 in which God was pleafed to dwell; and the 
 Jews in their prayers, even from the ends of 
 the earth, and in Heathen lands, turned their 
 eyes towards this temple in humble hope of 
 acceptance, i Kings viii. 29, 35, &c. So 
 may the poor perifhing finner fay, " Though 
 " I am far from God and holinefs, and all 
 " hope in myfelf or in any creatures that are , 
 " near me, yet I am within reach of the call 
 " of Chrift; I hear the voice of his inviting 
 " grace; I will look towards him as my only 
 
 . " hope; I will keep my eyes upon him and 
 " truft in him; I will by him draw near to 
 " God; and my foul fhall live." 
 
 Ildly, Believing in Chrift may be defcribed 
 in this place by looking to him to exprefs the 
 lowejl and the weakef degree of faith, for the 
 encouragement of poor convinced trembling 
 finners. When perfons are awakened to a 
 lively apprehenfion of their guilt, and a quick 
 fenfe of their danger, and fee themfelves eve- 
 ry moment liable to perifh under the wrath 
 of an offended God, and at the fame time feel 
 their own utter inability to fave themfelves, it 
 is proper that the acl of faith whereby we are 
 
 faved mould be expreffed in the eafieft man- 
 ner, that may allure them toward Chrift, the 
 only Saviour, and may encourage them to 
 hope. When they are, as it were, at the ends 
 
 of 
 
Disc. VII. its low eft Degrees, 151 
 
 of the earthy at a wide diftance from God and 
 Chrift, they may look towards him, and fend 
 a wifh of defire and dependence that way; 
 like dying drowning Jailors in a form, that 
 look towards the fhore, to fee if there be any 
 hope: And fuch a look as this is ordained of 
 God to derive all falvation from fo almighty 
 and complete a Saviour as Jefus Chrift is : 
 For it contains in it the whole nature of 
 faving faith, as the flower and the fruit are 
 contained in a little green bud, though the 
 feveral parts and the leaves of them are not 
 yet unfolded, nor appear to fight. 
 
 Such a look of a convinced finner to Chrift 
 implies in it a diftreffing fenfe of his fin and 
 prefent danger, a belief that there is help for 
 him in Chrift, and an averfion of the eye 
 from every thing elfe, a renouncing all other 
 dependences, an earneft readinefs and defire 
 to partake of this falvation, fuch as Chrift 
 offers it; that is, to make him holy as well 
 as happy: And it includes alfo thus much of 
 trnjl or confidence, that if the foul has any 
 hope at all of its own falvation, Chrift is the 
 only ground of this hope. There is and will 
 be fome fort of expectation of relief from the 
 hand to which we look, when we fee our- 
 felves perifhing. 
 
 Illdly, Looking to Chrift for falvation is a 
 
 word that (hows how little hand we have in 
 
 our own deliverance from fin and death. Ifrael 
 
 has defrayed himfelf, but in God alone is his 
 
 K 4 help, 
 
\$i Faith reprefented in Disc. VII. 
 
 help) Hofea xiii. 9. It is not poflible that 
 Our looking mould effect our falvation of it- 
 felf, or do any thing toward it any other 
 way, than as it is dependent on another to 
 fave us. 
 
 Faith itfelf is that grace that has the leaft 
 fhow of felf-activity, felf-fufficicncy, or felf- 
 honour in it. Rom. iv. 16. Therefore our 
 falvation is ordained to be of faith , that it 
 might be of grace. It is the law or conftitu- 
 tion of faith, as the means of our falvation, 
 that it muft exclude all boafling^ Rom. iii. 27. 
 That all that are faved might glory only in the 
 Lord) 1 Cor. i. 31. Now when faith itfelf 
 is exprefled in fo low and feeble exercife of 
 it as looking unto Chrift, it does in a moft 
 emphatical manner exclude every thing of 
 felf; it utterly forbids all boafting, and ren- 
 ders all the honour to Chrift alone. How 
 can a dying wretch pretend to any glory or 
 merit in his own falvation, who only looked 
 and was faved? 
 
 IVthly, There is in this way of exprefEon 
 a natural and eafy reference to the command 
 of looking to the brazen ferpent y which was a 
 type of Chrift, and which was to confer 
 health and life on the wounded and dying 
 Ifraelites, by their looking up to it in the wil- 
 dernefs. See John iii. 14, 15. c And as 
 * Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wilder- 
 ? nefs, even fo muft the Son of man be lifted 
 \ up j that whofoever belie veth in him mould 
 
 4 not 
 
Disc. VII. its low eft Degrdes. 153 
 
 1 not perifh, but have everlafting life.' Com- 
 pared with Numb. xxi. 8. ' The Lord laid 
 
 * unto Moles, Make thee a fiery ferpent, and 
 
 * fet it upon a pole; and it Ihall come to pafs, 
 f that every one that is bitten, when he look* 
 4 eth upon it, lhall live.' Happy people, for 
 whom fo divine a remedy was provided 
 againft a national mifchief. So lb vereign an 
 antidote againft fpreading and mortal poifon! 
 Thofe that were Hung and perifhing, though 
 they were at the utmoft limits of the camp, 
 might, as it were from the borders of the 
 ivildernefs, look up to the brazen remedy, and 
 find health and life: From the ends of the 
 land they looked and were faved. 
 
 Phyficians were ufelefs in that day, and 
 all medicines infignificant. The fwift and 
 fiery poifon wrought powerfully in them 
 that were bitten, and they were quickly 
 brought to the borders of the grave. But 
 before their eyes were clofed in death, if 
 they could but call a look towards the ap- 
 pointed fignal, the divine medium of falva- 
 tion, behold they are miraculoufly healed, 
 and live. And which of all the fons or 
 daughters of Ifrael could boaft of any thing 
 of his own in this wondrous deliverance, 
 when on the very confines of life and the 
 brink of the grave they were healed by a 
 look to the brazen image of a ferpent? Such 
 is the perifhing finner calling an eye toward 
 Chrill for falvation? 
 
 But 
 
154 Faith reprefented in D I s c . VI I. 
 
 But feme poor trembling firmer will be 
 ready to fay, " Surely this is fo little and lb 
 " low an a£t of faith, that I am ready to 
 " queftion whether this can fave me or no: 
 " How iriall I know whether my looking to 
 " Chrift is of that kind as mall be effectual 
 " to my falvation?" 
 
 Now in anfwer to fuch an enquiry, let 
 the fearful foul remember what I have faid 
 before under the fecond particular, concern- 
 ing the feveral acts of the foul that are fe- 
 cretly included in this looking to Jefus; and 
 afk itfelf whether it has put forth thefe acts 
 or no ? Befides this, I would mention alfo 
 thefe two properties of faving faith, as it is 
 defcribed by looking. 
 
 i ft, It muft be fuch a look as immediately 
 of eels the heart with love and forrow; for- 
 row for our own fins, and love to Chrifl our 
 Saviour. If we have ever feen him with 
 lincere delight as a Saviour from fin, we fhall 
 mourn heartily that ever we were finners. 
 We cannot but repent for fin, while we be- 
 lieve or hope for the forgivenefs of it through 
 fuch condefcending grace. And we cannot 
 but love fo companionate and almighty a 
 friend, that has delivered us from eternal 
 deftrucHon. Having feen Chrift, we are 
 weaned from fin, and we love the Lord. 
 Mary Magdalene, that remarkable finner, 
 lying at the foot of Chrift, wept much and 
 loved much, Luke vii. 38, 47. You have 
 
 never 
 
Disc. VII. its lowef Degrees, ijj 
 
 never feen Chrift, as your Saviour, if your 
 fins are not the objects of your fhame and 
 forrow, or if Jefus be not the object of your 
 defire and love. 
 
 2d, It muft be fuch a look as changes the 
 foul and temper into another image, even the 
 image of Chrift. 2 Cor. iii. ult. ' We, behold- 
 < ing as in a glafs the glory of the Lord, are 
 c changed into the fame image from glory to 
 * glory.' In the glafs of the gofpel beholding 
 the glorious holinefs of our Lord Jefus Chrift, 
 our very tempers are changed into his holy 
 likenefs, from one degree of grace to another, 
 till it advance to complete glory; and then 
 we mall be made more perfectly like him, by 
 feeing him as he is, or face to face, i John iii. 2. 
 There will be a fhine of holinefs on our con- 
 verfation in this world, as reflected from the 
 glory and holinefs of Chrift, whom we have 
 feen, even as the face of Mofes fhone when 
 he had feen God: Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30. 
 That is, when he had feen the Son of God 
 converfing with him in a vifible glory. 
 
 A faving look of faith to our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift will happily influence all the powers 
 of nature, and all the actions of life. This 
 is feldom done indeed at once, but by flow 
 degrees. The longer we behold him, and 
 the oftener we look to him, the more we 
 fhall grow like him. We muft look to Jefus 
 as our example, as well as the author and 
 finifher of our faith, that we may lay afide 
 
 the 
 
156 Faith reprefented Aft, &c. Disc. VII. 
 
 the fin that fo eafily befets us, and run 'with 
 patience the race of holinefs that is fet before 
 us, Heb. xii. 1,2. In vain do we pretend to 
 have feen Chrift, if we do not find ourfelves 
 at all beginning to become new creatures. 
 
 Thus I have finifhed my anfwer to the 
 fourth Enquiry; (viz.) How we are to come 
 by this f ah at ion; and why the acl of faith is 
 expreffed by looking to Chrift. 
 
=*&££&* 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 God in Chrift is the Saviour of the 
 Ends of the Earth : 
 
 o R, 
 
 Faith reprefented in its loweft Degrees. 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Ifa. xlv. 22. 
 
 Look unto me, and be ye faved, all the ends 
 of the earth ; for I am God, and there is 
 none elfe. 
 
 THIS is an invitation of iurprifing and 
 fovereign mercy to creatures in the ut- 
 moft diftrefs and miiery. It is the great and 
 blefled God himfelf, in the peribn of Jefus 
 Chrift, calling the Gentile world to falvation. 
 It is God in Cbrijl inviting finners from the 
 
 ends 
 
I j 8 Faith reprefented in D i s c . VI 1 1. 
 
 ends of the earth, and the borders of hell, to 
 partake of heaven and happinefs. It is Em- 
 manuel, God with us, who calls us to look unto 
 him, and be faved. If we are fenfible of our 
 own milery, if we are weary of fin, and 
 would be fecured from the wrath to come, 
 let us look to him as a Saviour, with an eye 
 of faith and holy dependence. 
 
 This was the fubjecl: of the former Dif- 
 courfe. 
 
 Let us now go on to the lajl quefion, and 
 learn, What ajfurance we can have from the 
 text, that we Jhall pojfefs this f ah at ion in the 
 way %rop of ed; or, that faith in God our Sa- 
 viour^fhall be attended with fuch fuccefs. 
 
 T& reafon is given by the prophet in al- 
 mighty and convincing language: For I am 
 God; and there is none elfe. 
 
 This fentence has two diftincl parts in it, 
 and each of them carries ftrong reafons for 
 the fupport of our faith, and the encourage- 
 ment of our hope. 
 
 The firf part is the affertion of his own 
 Godhead, I am God; which carries in it thefe 
 two fupports or affurances. 
 
 I ft, I am God; Therefore I am all-fufficicnt 
 to favc; and therefore, Ye dying finners, 
 Look unto me, and be faved. What is there 
 that the moil: wretched of creatures can ftand 
 in need of, but there is a fupply to be found 
 among the treafures of a God? When a God 
 
 undertakes 
 
Disc. VIII. its /owe/} Degrees. 159 
 
 undertakes to be a Saviour, the creature 
 cannot perifh. There is light and wifdom 
 enough in him to make the fool wife for 
 ever, and to fcatter all our darknefs: There 
 is power enough in God to make the weak- 
 eft foul ftrong in grace, and active in every 
 duty: There is love enough in him to melt 
 the moft ftubborn heart, and change an old 
 enemy into an humble and willing fubjecl:. 
 Ye may be affured of this falvation if ye look 
 to Jefus, who is God, and therefore mighty 
 to Jave, Ifa. lxiii. 1 . 
 
 There is an all-fufficiency in his blood 
 and righteoufnefs to atone for infinite tranf- 
 greflions, and to procure the everlafting fa- 
 vour of God: For this High Pried or Me- 
 diator himfelf is one with God, he is God, 
 and his facrifice on earth, and his inter- 
 ceffion in heaven, are all over dignified with 
 Godhead, and thereby become almighty for 
 falvation. 
 
 2dly, / am God ; and therefore have a 
 right to prefcribe the means of obtaining my 
 falvation. Look therefore unto me, ye fin- 
 ners, and be faved. I will give it to every- 
 one that looks; he that believes on me fall 
 be faved from fin and death, Mark xvi. 1 6. 
 John iii. 15, 16. God is rich in grace; and 
 if he will manifeft the glory and freedom of 
 it in the grant of his new covenant, and will 
 promife falvation to faith, and not inlift upon 
 that perfonal perfect obedience which once 
 
 W2LS 
 
x6o Faith reprefented in Disc. VIII, 
 
 was required, let the thankful firmer rejoice, 
 and fubmit, and give God the honour of 
 his abounding mercy. Let him purfue the 
 higheft meaftires of holinefs, under the melt- 
 ing influences of gratitude, and the conftrain- 
 ing power of divine love. 
 
 This is naturally implied in the firft part 
 of the words, I am God, But when he add3 
 this glorious clauf e, and there is none elfe, he 
 feems, in the fecond part of this fentence, to 
 intimate thefe three things further to us. 
 
 i ft, "There is none that can fave be/ides me. 
 The falvation of a finner from the ends of the 
 earth, from the borders of hell, is too great 
 a work for any being that is lefs than God. 
 What mere creature has worth enough to 
 make compenfation to the great God for the 
 fins of men? Or what created power has in- 
 fluence enough to perfuade God to be recon- 
 ciled? Is there knowledge enough in a mere 
 fellow-creature, intimately to acquaint him- 
 felf with all the thoughts and wants of a 
 perifhing finner ? Is there power enough to 
 new-mould his nature? To ftrike divine light 
 into his confcience ? To bend his ftubborn 
 will, and fubdue all his powers to the obe- 
 dience of the gofpel? Has any mere creature 
 power fufficient to change a dead finner into 
 a living faint? To fecure him through every 
 temptation ? To fit him for the fociety of 
 God and angels? And to bring him through 
 
 death 
 
Disc. VIII. its /owe/7 Degrees. 161 
 
 death to eternal glory? All this muft be done 
 if a finner be faved. 
 
 2dly, Thefe words alfo imply, There is 
 none but God who has a right to prefcribe the 
 means of our falvation. If he fays to finner s, 
 Look, a?td be faved ; Who fhall dare forbid 
 the bleffing, or appoint a different way to 
 obtain it? If the Lord of heaven has faid to 
 poor perifhing creatures on earth, Te fall 
 be faved if ye believe: Shall the Jew dare to 
 impofe circumcifion as neceflary to falvation? 
 Or the Papifts command penances or pilgri- 
 mages? Or fhall the conceited Pharifee re- 
 quire a perfection of holinefs, and a righte- 
 oufnefs made up of the works of the law, 
 in order to obtain eternal life ? The righte- 
 oufnefs of the law faith, Do this, and live ; 
 But the righteoufnefs of faith fays, Believe, 
 and be faved, Rom. x. 
 
 It is granted, that this faving faith muft 
 be a vital principle in the foul, that manifefts 
 itfelf in repentance, and endeavours after uni- 
 verfal holinefs; for a dead faith cannot fave: 
 But it is not our holinefs that can provide 
 acceptance with an offended God; it is faith 
 in the facrifice and righteoufnefs of the Re- 
 deemer, that is the means appointed for this 
 end. The great God has appointed it, and 
 who fhall dare to forbid ? His authority is 
 fovereign, and his appointment a fufficient 
 warrant for our hope. 
 
1 6 2 Faith reprefented in D I s c . VIIL 
 
 3dly, / am God^ and there is no?ie elfe, in- 
 cludes thus much alfo for the comfort and 
 aflurance of the believing finner; that there 
 is 7io?ie can prevent your falvation, if you com- 
 ply with the gracious propofals. Who Jloall 
 condemn if God will jujlify ? Rom. viii. 33, 
 34. Who can pluck us out of the hand of 
 Chrijl, or feparate us from his love? John x. 
 28. Who mall deftroy, if God will fave? It 
 is his property, and his divine prerogative, to 
 kill and to make alive, to fave and to deftroy. 
 Deut. xxxii. 39, 43. * See now, that I, even 
 \ I am he; and there is no god with me; I 
 J kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; 
 c neither is there any that can deliver out of 
 \ my hand. Rejoice' therefore, i O ye na- 
 * tions,' ye Gentiles, together c with his peo- 
 1 pie Ifrael ; for he will render vengeance to 
 c his adverfaries, and be merciful to his land.' 
 Ifa. xliii. 11, 13. 4 I, even I, am the Lord; 
 c and befide me there is no faviour. I will 
 J work; and who fhall let it?' 
 
 Thus it appears, that there is abundant 
 ground from the words of my text, for a 
 poor perifhing finner to raife his hope to af- 
 lurance that he mail be faved, if he does but 
 fincerely anfwer this gracious invitation from 
 heaven, and truft in God, as he is revealed 
 in our Lord Jefus Chrift, for falvation, ac- 
 cording to that defcription of true faith which 
 is given us in the word of God. 
 
 All 
 
Disc. VIII. its lowejl Degrees. 163 
 
 All the Improvements I fhall make of this 
 Difcourfe at prefent, fhall be contained in 
 thefe four Refeclions. 
 
 Ift Reflection. We may learn from this 
 fcripture, how extenfive and glorious is the 
 falvation of Chrifl I How anfwerable is it 
 in every refpecl: to the weakneiTes and the 
 wants, to the miferies, dangers, and fears, 
 of a convinced and awakened finner? It 
 reaches to thofe who are perifhing in the 
 ends of the earth. Let us furvey them a 
 little more particularly. 
 
 (1.) Is our guilt and diftrefs exceeding 
 great and dreadful ? Behold here a falvation 
 of rich fulnefs and divine all-fufficiency ; for 
 it is a God that provides it. The riches of 
 grace, the depths of wifdom, and the efforts 
 of almighty power are employed in this 
 blefTed work; and the mercy is expreflfed in 
 the manner of a fpeaking God: He who faid, 
 Let there be light, and there was light , fays 
 alfo, Look, and be faved : And the (inner 
 looks, and receives falvation. It is a God 
 who commands deliverances for Jacob, and 
 falvation for his people, Pfal. xliv. 4. 
 
 (2.) Are our enemies great and mighty? 
 Are the flefh, and the world, and the powers 
 of hell engaged againft the fafety of our fouls? 
 Yet our falvation is perfectly and eternally 
 fecure; for he that faves us is God: No crea- 
 ture can divert us of it, and there is no other 
 L 2 God 
 
164 Faith reprefentcd in DisCrVIII. 
 
 God bejides him. ' Neither height, nor depth, 
 1 nor principalities, nor powers, nor life, nor 
 ' death, nor any creature, friall feparate us 
 ' from the love of God in Chrift Jeliis our 
 c Lord,' Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 (3.) Are we at fuch a dreadful diftance 
 from God, that we feem to be on the utmoft 
 verge of all hope, at the ends of life and this 
 world, at the borders of hell and defpair ? 
 Yet we are within the reach of the call of 
 mercy, within the found of the voice of 
 Chrift, and his extenfive grace. Look from 
 the ends of the earth , and be faved. 
 
 (4.) Are we poor impotent creatures, that 
 can do nothing to make fatisfa&ion to God 
 for our own fins, and little or nothing towards 
 the reftoring our fouls to the likenefs of God, 
 and the recovery of holinefs? Do we itand in 
 need of fuch a Saviour, that muft work all 
 Qiir works for us, and in us f Behold fuch a 
 one in my text: He requires of you but to 
 look to him, and truft in him, in the manner 
 I have defcribed, and the falvation is free and 
 fure. Chrift himfelf will beftow it on us. 
 
 There are fome poor, melancholly, de- 
 fponding creatures, who are even almoft 
 overwhelmed with a fenfe of their guilt, and 
 of the power of fin in them, and are juft 
 giving up all hope, who have need to have 
 the riches and amazing condefcenfions of 
 grace to be fet before them, in fuch a manner 
 as this. And blefled be God, that his gofpel 
 
 contains 
 
Disc. VIII. its loweft Degrees. 165 
 
 contains in it fuch abounding mercy to crea- 
 tures fo miferable. 
 
 We may therefore cry out with joy and 
 thankfulnefs, and holy wonder; the fulnefs 
 and fujjiciency of this falvation ! It is God 
 who provides it, who knows, and can fupply 
 all the vaft variety of our wants ! O the wide 
 extent of it ! It reaches to all nations, to all 
 characters of perfons, even to the ends of the 
 earth. O the rich freedom of this grace, that 
 requires us to look, and be faved ! O what 
 free and full, what large and extenfive, what 
 rich and fovereign falvation! 
 
 Ild Reflection. What a bleffed fecurity of 
 this falvation is given to all thofe who comply 
 with the invitation of this grace ! It is as fafe 
 as it is extenfive. No creature can take away 
 what a God refolves to beftow. No finite 
 being can prevent what an infinite Being re- 
 folves to do. If he that is God will fave, 
 none elfe can deftroy, or fruftrate the de- 
 figned falvation ? Who fhall forbid the blef- 
 fing that the Almighty Saviour will confer 
 on thofe who look to him from the ends of 
 the earth ? The enemy, even the mod ma- 
 licious and powerful enemy, whofe name is 
 Abaddon, or the Defroyer, is but a creature; 
 but the friend, the mighty and merciful 
 friend, whofe name is Jefus, or the Saviour, 
 is God, even Emmanuel, God with us. When 
 he flands upon the throne of his mercy, and 
 L 3 cries 
 
1 66 Faith reprefented in Disc. VII 
 
 cries out to perifhing finners, Look to me from 
 the ends of the earth , and befaved; not all the 
 powers of hell fhall be able to deftroy the 
 finners that look to him, and accept of his 
 falvation. What a glorious relief is found 
 in my text againft all temptations to de- 
 fpondency. Your Saviour is God, and there 
 is none befides him* 
 
 Hid Reflection. How much do thofe ftnners 
 deferve to perifh for ever, who will not be 
 
 faved upon fuch gracious terms ? In vain do 
 you turn your eyes around you, and look to 
 one creature, and feek to another for help; 
 your ruin is too great, and your mifery too 
 deep and difmal, for any power but that of 
 God, to raife and recover you. If they who 
 refufd to hear the voice of Mofes, 'who fpake 
 
 from earth, died without mercy, of how much 
 
 forer punifhment fhall ye be thought worthy, 
 who refufe to hearken to the voice of God 
 
 fpeaking from heaven P Can you ever ima- 
 gine it poflible that you fhould efcape the 
 divine vengeance, who negled: fo great, fo 
 divine a falvation? 
 
 Confider, ye finners, that are this day un- 
 der the call of grace, though now you feem, 
 to be as it were at the ends of the earth, afar 
 off from God and Chrift, from all that is 
 holy, and all that is happy, yet you are not 
 utterly abandoned to definition, while the 
 voice of mercy founds in your ears. But 
 
 take 
 
Disc. VIII. its lowejl Degrees. 167 
 
 take heed that ye hearken while ye are called 
 to-day, -left ye perifh before the morrow 
 come. Remember this, that the filver trum- 
 pet of mercy will not always found: Chrift 
 Jefus will not always fay, Look unto me, and 
 be faved. Ye are now upon the confines of 
 hell; if once death open its dark gates, and 
 hell has fhut her mouth upon you, you will 
 then be far out of the fight of Jefus the Sa- 
 viour, and beyond the call of his mercy for 
 ever. 
 
 Let me turn my voice now for a few mi- 
 nutes to the gofpel Ifrael, to the children of 
 the kingdom. While I have been inviting 
 the ends of the earth to be faved, and have 
 been calling finners afar off from God and 
 his church to receive Jefus Chrift and his 
 falvation, is there any difpenfation for you 
 to negle£t it, who dwell in the midft of the 
 vifibfe church? You who were born of holy 
 parents, who have lived in religious families, 
 and are by this means brought near to the 
 kingdom of heaven ? Are you ready to flat- 
 ter yourfelves that you are out of danger of 
 periihing? Have a care of vain prefumption, 
 and foolifh feeble hopes. The wounded 
 Ifraelites, who lay juft under the brazen fer- 
 pent of old, might die and periih there in 
 their own folly, if they refufed to look up to 
 the appointed remedy; while fome from the 
 diftant borders of the camp looked, and were 
 L 4 faved? 
 
1 6 8 Faith reprefented in D I s c . VI 1 1. 
 
 faved: But fuch obftinate wretches muft be 
 unpitied in death. 
 
 Attend then, ytfnners in Zion, and hearken 
 to the voice of God the Saviour. Chrift has 
 been brought near to you in his gofpel, his 
 promifes, and his holy ordinances; you have 
 read of him in his word, you have heard him 
 fpeak by his minifters, and you have learned 
 much of him from the inftruclrions of your 
 pious parents: Ye have begun to lee fome- 
 thing of him in his glory and grace ; and 
 will you now turn your eyes away from 
 him? Will you look upon the vanities of the 
 prefent evil world, and fix the eye of your 
 fouls, your defires, hopes, and wifhes, upon 
 trifle and impertinence, and neglect the offer 
 of heavenly treafures ? Have you feen and 
 heard fo much of Chrift already, that you 
 have grown weary of him ? Are the Lord 
 and his falvation grown cheap and common 
 things to you, of little value, not worth a 
 look ? Will you, who are near to the king- 
 dom of heaven, refufe to enter in, and let 
 thofe that come from the ends of the earth 
 obtain the inheritance, and feize the happi- 
 nefs before you ? O how aggravated will 
 your condemnation be ? How dreadful the 
 agonies of your torment, to fee perifhing tin- 
 ners come from diftant regions, from the eajl 
 and the wef, from poor wicked families, and 
 houfes of iniquity, and receive the falvation 
 of Chrift; while you are cafi out into utter 
 
 darknefsf 
 
Disc. VIII. its lowejl Degrees. 169 
 
 darknefs? There J1d all be "weeping and wailing^ 
 and gna/hing of teeth, Matth. viii. 11, 12. 
 
 IVth Reflection. The laft Ufe I mall make 
 of this Difcourfe, is to take a floor t furvey of 
 that falvation, of the happinejs and the ho line/ s 
 thereof that is derived to a foul by a fine ere 
 look of faith to Jefus the Saviour, 
 
 O what a bleffed change is made by our 
 looking to Chrifl I A change, I fay, in the 
 very eye-fight of our fouls, and in our view 
 and furvey of all things round about us, fo 
 far as we have any concern in them ! What 
 a bleffed change in our judgment and efteem 
 of them ! We look upon things with another 
 eye than before, and things put on a new 
 face. Faith looking to Chrifl for falvation fets 
 all things in a different light before the eyes 
 of the foul, and gives quite another view of 
 them. It is like fome heavenly glafs applied 
 to the organ of fenfe, that not only affifts and 
 improves our fight, but reprefents every thing 
 to us in a divine light, even fuch as they ap- 
 pear to the blefled fpirits above. 
 
 (1.) It alters the view and appearance of 
 all the great and gay things of this Ufe, All 
 the treafures, and pomp, and enterta'uinients 
 of this world, were once the moft tempting 
 objects we could look upon ; but now we 
 look on the world, with all the gayeft and 
 the richeft fcenes of it, as a little mean and 
 defpicable thing; for we have feen Chrift 
 
 and 
 
170 Faith reprefented in Disc. VIII. 
 
 and heaven; and when the world begins to 
 flatter us again, and to look great and tempting 
 in our eyes, let us look again to Jefus, and his 
 falvation ; that the world may lofe its fplen- 
 dour and allurement. 
 
 (2.) Once a poor Chriftian in a cottage, or 
 in a vile raiment, was contemptible in our 
 fight, now we look on the faints, even in the 
 meaneft circumftance, as the excellent of the 
 earth; for they are heirs of heaven, they are 
 like to Chrift, and formed after the bleffed 
 image of him whom we have feen with an 
 eye of faith and love. Holy Saviour, and 
 holy faints ! They, the excellent of the earth, 
 and He, the ornament of heaven. 
 
 (3.) The Bible heretofore we looked on 
 but little better than a common book; or, 
 perhaps, it was our averfion. The New 
 Teftament gave us no pleafure. The true 
 glories of it were hidden from us. The 
 gofpel was a hidden gofpel; but now we look 
 upon it as our mo ft valuable treafure and por- 
 tion; and we often look into it; for we find 
 Jefus Chrift there, with all his falvation. 
 
 Every part of the Bible carries quite an- 
 other afpecl: than once it did. We look upon 
 the promifes as an inventory of our inheri- 
 tance; and we read thofe words, All things 
 are yours, with a relifh of unknown delight, 
 becaufe of our own intereft in them: And as 
 they are repeated twice, to confirm our faith, 
 fo we can read them often, and dwell upon 
 
 them 
 
Disc. VIII. its loivejl Degrees. 171 
 
 them with pleafure. Sill are yours, for ye 
 are Chrifrs, and Chrifl is God /, 1 Cor. iii. 
 2 1 . Then by virtue of this promiie we can 
 look to the heavens and the earth; to the fun, 
 moon, and (tars; to Paul, Apollcs, and Ce- 
 phas ; to minifters, and to angels ; to this 
 world, and the other; to life and death; to 
 things prefent, and to come; with a humble 
 and pleafurable belief of our intereft in them, 
 fo far as we have need of them to make us 
 holy or happy. 
 
 And as we look on the promifes of the Bible 
 with another eye than formerly, fo we be- 
 hold the precepts of it in a fweeter light: We 
 read them now as the rules of our happinefs, 
 as the model of our new nature, as the holy 
 tranfcript of the perfections of God, and the 
 bleffed advices of our dear Redeemer. We 
 look on his commandments, and behold they 
 are no more grievous to us; for his law is our 
 delight, 1 John v. 3. Pfal. cxix. 77. 
 
 As for the threat enings of the book of God, 
 we once beheld them, perhaps, with a re- 
 gardlefs eye, and a ftupid heart: Or if we 
 were awakened, we read them with utmoft 
 terror, as the mefTengers of our damnation: 
 We beheld them as fo many angels with 
 flaming fwords, to forbid our entrance into 
 Paradife. But fince we ha.vefeen Jefus with 
 an eye of faving faith, the threatenings of 
 fcripture have no more fuch a dreadful afpecl:. 
 Since the fword has awoke againjl the Man 
 
 Man 
 
1 7 2 Faith reprefented in Disc. VIII. 
 
 that was God's Fellow, and all the neceflary 
 vengeance was executed on Chrift, our lure- 
 ty, we behold the threatenings as difarmed 
 of their terror, and no longer a bar to our 
 ialvation. 
 
 (4.) The face of God, mining in his ter- 
 rible attributes of holinefs and jujlice, was 
 dreadful to our fouls, fo that we could not 
 look upon him, and we turned our eyes away 
 from God: As for his attributes of love and 
 mercy, we had no relifh of them ; for we 
 had no folid hope in them. We faw nothing 
 111 God deferable and delightful to us : We 
 ftood afar oft'; we neglected and forgot him; 
 or elfe we hid ourfelves from him, as Adam 
 did, becaufe we were afraid. But now, lince 
 we have beheld God in Chrifl, as reconciling 
 finncrs to hhnfelf now we can look upon him 
 in all his awful and his peaceful attributes 
 without difmay ; we can furvey and dwell 
 upon all his glories with a facred pleafure; 
 and lift up our eyes towards him with hum- 
 ble confidence, in prayer or in praife; for we 
 behold him as God reconciled, and a Father, 
 fince we have feen Jefus the Mediator, and 
 trufted in his name. 
 
 (5.) With what furprife and overwhelming 
 fear did we once behold approaching afflictions, 
 when we were without God, without Chrifl y 
 and without hope? But now we can look upon 
 iufferings and forrows without being over- 
 whelmed by them ; we can look upon the 
 
 huge 
 
Disc. VIII. its lowejl Degrees. 173 
 
 huge fwelling waves without painful appre- 
 henfions, and fee the floods rife high without 
 fear of being drowned; for we have fee?i yc- 
 fus as it were walking on the water; and we 
 have heard him faying, It is /, be not afraid. 
 We can look to him when we are afar off 
 from our friends, even in the ends of the 
 earth, and find light in darknefs, and relief 
 in the midft of our diftrefTes. 
 
 (6.) How formidable once was xhzfacc of 
 death. No pencil can defcribe the monfter 
 fo hideous to the fenfe, as he appeared con- 
 ftantly to our awakened fouls, before we had 
 feen Chrift. What horror did our fpirits 
 feel, and our flefh fhuddered at the thought 
 of his approach ! How frightfully, and yet 
 how juftly, did our guilty fancy paint him, 
 and all his attendants, in their terrible array ! 
 But the faint looks on death now as an harm- 
 lefs thing, for he has feen Jefus difarm him; 
 Chrift has abolifhed fin, and taken away the 
 fting from death. The lively Chriffiah can 
 look on it as a friend, or rather as a flave fub- 
 dued to the fervice of his Lord, fent on a 
 glorious mefTage, to fetch him to dwell where 
 his blefTed Lord is. They f hall be where I 
 am, to behold my glo?y, John xvii. 
 
 (7.) The man who has feen Jefus with an 
 eye of faith, can look to the lafl great tribunal 
 without terror; for he knows and is acquainted 
 with Chrift the Judge: He has feen him, and 
 trufted all the important concerns of that day 
 
 into 
 
174 Faith reprefented in Disc. VIIL 
 
 into his hands. c I know,' faith the Chriftian, 
 * whom I have believed, and I am perfuaded 
 c that he is able to keep all that I have com- 
 4 mitted to him unto that day,' 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 Therefore he can fee the judgment-feat, and 
 the books opened, without difmay or fearful 
 expectation; for he has feen Jefus crofs out 
 all his fins with the blood of his facrifice: 
 Chrift has cancelled them for ever from the 
 great regifter of heaven, the book of divine 
 remembrance; and has fhewn him his own 
 name written in the Lamb's book of life, from 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 (8.) Then he may turn his eyes to all that 
 glorious affembly on high; he may look on the 
 faints in their robes of light, as companions 
 of his bleffednefs, and the troops of angels as 
 miniflers of fire, to execute vengeance on all 
 his enemies; and heralds to prepare his way 
 to the upper heavens. He may fix his eyes 
 with moft intenfe and tranfporting delight 
 on Chrift his fovereign Lord, and behold him 
 hereafter with eyes of fenfe, amidft the ho- 
 nours of heaven, whom he had beheld here 
 with an eye of faith, amidft the fufferings 
 of the crofs, and the agonies of the garden. 
 " This is he, fays the faint, whofe voice of 
 " mercy I heard in yonder perifhing world, 
 " and to whom I looked from the ends of the 
 " earth, that / might be faved. I believed 
 " him then to have all the fulnefs of the 
 " Godhead dwelling in him bodily; and as 
 
 « God, 
 
Disc. VIII. its lowcji Degrees. 175 
 
 " God, manifeft in the flefh, I worfhipped 
 " him, and trufted in him. I behold him 
 " now as the brightnefs of his Father's glory, 
 " and his divineft image : I find him to be 
 " a complete and all-fufficient Saviour ; for 
 " I ftand poffeffed of his divine falvation. 
 " My knee bows, and my tongue confejfes that 
 U Jefus is Lord. He is one with the Father. 
 " To him that fits upon the throne, and to the 
 " Lamb, be blejjing and honour, power and 
 " glory, for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
kWVi 
 
 iS^iilftwr 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 Faith built on Knowledge, 
 Preached 1711. 
 
 The Firft Part of this Sermon. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 / know whom I have believed, and I 
 
 am perfuaded that he is able to keep that 
 which I have committed to him, againjl that 
 day. 
 
 HEN this Epiftle was written to 
 Timothy, St. Paul, the writer of it, 
 was a prifoner at Rome; there he lay under 
 a heavy chain, and was expofed to public 
 Ihame for the fake of the gofpel : He had 
 death in a near view, and was preparing for 
 the bloody ftroke. For in the fixth verfe of 
 the laft chapter he fays, c I am now ready 
 
 4 to 
 
u 
 
 Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 177 
 
 € to be offered, and the time of my departure 
 4 is at hand : I have fought the good fight, 
 € and my courfe is finifhed.' 
 
 But he feems to aflure himfelf upon the 
 words of my text, and grows bold upon this 
 foundation of folid comfort : As though he 
 mould fay, " None of thefe things move me, 
 " nor am I afraid to die; for I mail not be 
 
 loft: I fuffer; but I am not ajh anted: I know 
 
 whom I have trujled to take care of me in 
 " death, and all beyond it; even to the great 
 " day of retribution." 
 
 It is pleafmg and glorious to fee this apo- 
 ftle, this little mean figure of a man, whofe 
 prefence and whofe fpeech were both con- 
 temptible ; (2 Cor. x. 10.) to fee how he 
 builds upon this hope, and affumes divine 
 courage in the midft of pain and fhame, in 
 the very face of fcandal and martyrdom. 
 " Let me die out of this world, though with 
 " infamy, violence, and blood ; but I have 
 " been told of life, and joys, and honours, 
 " in the world to come; and that with fuch 
 " evidence, as to conftrain my belief: And 
 " I know whom I have believed. Let my bar- 
 u barous executioner and the fword rob me 
 
 of the ihort remains of this prefent life ; 
 
 bat I have committed my foul, and all my 
 
 infinite concerns, for a long hereafter, into 
 " the hands of an almighty and a fure friend^ 
 " and I am perfuaded he is able to keep what I 
 " have committed to him againjl that day." 
 
 M This 
 
 (C 
 
 CI 
 
178 Faith built on Knowledge, Disc. IX. 
 
 This is the language of a lively hope, and 
 thefe are the words that have adminiftered 
 conftant fupport to many dying Chriftians. 
 Now that fuch a hope may appear to be ra- 
 tionally built upon this text, and that our 
 prefent meditations and difcourfe may pro- 
 ceed with more regularity and profit, I muft 
 briefly explain the words. 
 
 The chief things that want any explication 
 are thefe four. 
 
 I. Who is this great friend of St. Paul's, 
 whom he has known and believed. 
 
 II. What he means by believing. 
 
 III. What it is he has committed into the 
 hands of this friend. 
 
 IV. What is that day, or period of time, 
 when he expected to find all fafe which he 
 had thus intrufted him with. 
 
 I ft, Who is this great friend of St. PauVs, 
 whom he had believed, and of whofe ability he 
 was fo well perfuaded? 
 
 Thefe words can be properly applied to 
 none fo well as to Jefus Chrift, the Son of 
 God, the Mediator; and that for thefe rea- 
 fons. 
 
 It is he that is fpoken of in the context, 
 verfe 10. i Who has abolifhed death, and 
 ? brought life and immortality to light thro' 
 c the gofpel :' And it is this gofpel of Chrift 
 
 for 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on K?io w ledge. 179 
 
 for which Paul is not afhamed to fuffer, in 
 the words juft before the text. 
 
 It is Chrift who is recommended as the 
 proper object of belief or truft in the New 
 Teftament, as God the Father was under the 
 Old : So our Lord himfelf declares, John xiv. 
 1. ' Ye believe in God; believe alfo in me.' 
 This was the great duty that all the firft 
 preachers of the gofpel prefTed upon their 
 hearers, even a belief on Jefus Chrift. This 
 was the perpetual fubject of St. Paul's ex- 
 hortations, the matter of his practice, and 
 the ground of his hope; the inftances are fo 
 numerous, that it is needlefs and endlefs to 
 collect them. 
 
 It is Jefus Chrift into whofe hands the Fa- 
 ther has put all his faints and children, and 
 committed them to his care, that he may keep 
 them, John xvii. 6, 9, 12. i Thine they were, 
 4 and thou gaveft them to me out of the world; 
 1 and I have kept them through thy name.' 
 And therefore into the fame hands a child of 
 God moft naturally commits himfelf. 
 
 Ildly, What does the word believe fignify 
 here? 
 
 By believing we are here to underftand an 
 afTent to the revelation that Jefus Chrift had 
 made of himfelf, as fent from the Father to 
 fave finners, and a truft in him for this falva- 
 tion: For the word ink***, in the Greek, na- 
 turally includes both, and the following part 
 M 2 of 
 
1 80 Faith built on Knowledge. Di sc. IX. 
 of the verfe confirms this fenfe ; which will 
 be made more completely evident in the im- 
 provement of this Difcourfe. 
 
 Here let it be remarked, from the bold and 
 pathetic manner of fpeaking, that the apoftle 
 appears as a ftrong believer, as one that had 
 much acquaintance with Chrift, and long 
 trufted in him, and every day gained further 
 confirmation of his faith. Obferve the ex- 
 preffion, / know whom I have believed \ and 
 am come to a confident perfuafion in myfelf 
 that he is able, &c. It is a faith rifing to 
 divine joy; for he mentions it as his fupport 
 againft fhame and fuffering. 
 
 Illdly, When we enquire, What it is that 
 the apojlle committed to Chrijl ? I think there 
 is no need to limit or confine the truft; all 
 that belongs to poor finful man, which God 
 the Father had appointed Chriil to take care 
 of, may be included in this dcpofitum, this im- 
 portant truft. I have committed my whole 
 perfon, foul and body, with all my fpiritual 
 concerns in this world, and all my everlafting 
 intereft in the world to come, into the hands 
 of Chrift ; my foul, and the affairs of my 
 eternity. And this the apoftle feems to have 
 chiefly in his eye, becaufe he was now ready 
 to leave the body, ' and all things of this pre- 
 fent life. So Chrift on the crofs commits his 
 foul into the hands of his Father, Luke xxiii. 
 46. • Father, into thy hands I commend my 
 
 1 fpirit.' 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built <%i Knowledge, 1 8 1 
 
 * ipirit.' So Stephen, the firft martyr, ad- 
 dreffes himfelf to Chrift, Ads vii. 59. ' Lord 
 
 * Jems receive my ipirit.' So David, by a 
 ipirit of prophefy, in evangelic expreflions, 
 betrufts his foul with God his Redeemer, 
 Pi al . xxxi. 5. ' Into thy hands I commit my 
 ' ipirit ; thou haft redeemed it, O Lord God 
 ' of truth.' 
 
 IVthly, What is thai day, that great day, 
 which the apqftle means in the text ? Without 
 doubt, he refers to the lajl judgment \ which is 
 that day, by way of eminence, that day when 
 the works of all other days ihall be reviewed, 
 when all mankind fhall appear together upon 
 the earth, that have lived in feveral fucceffive 
 days, and years, and ages, and a decifive fen- 
 tence fhall be paffed upon all, without a pof- 
 fibility of reverfe : The day on which the 
 fate of their eternity fhall depend, and be de- 
 termined. It is the cuftom of the apoftle to 
 fpeak of this day in fuch a way of abfolute 
 eminence, without particular descriptions : So 
 he does twice in this fame epiftle; chap. i. 
 1 8. and iv. 8. And it is sxprefsly evident in 
 2 TheiT. i. 10. he means this laft great day, 
 when Chrijl Jloall appear injflamifigjire, taking 
 vengeance on them that obey him not; a?idjhall 
 come to be glorified in all them that believe. 
 
 Though believers in Chrift, who have 
 
 committed themfelves to his charge, find 
 
 their fouls fafe in the moment after death, 
 
 M 3 and 
 
1 82 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 and the beginning of their intellectual hea- 
 ven, yet this is more infenfible to other men, 
 and unfeen to the world: The day of judge- 
 ment is a more remarkable and confpicuous 
 day in the eyes of all the creation, angels and 
 men; in this day mail Chrift openly deliver 
 up his great truft to the Father, who com- 
 mitted all elect finners into his hands: In this 
 day fhall he make it appear, that he has been 
 able and faithful to keep whatfoever God and 
 the faints have committed to him. 
 
 Befides, till this day come, Chrift has not 
 fulfilled his commiffion, nor anfwered his 
 truft for which he is engaged to his Father, 
 and to believers; for this is one part of it, 
 that he mould take care of their dying bodies, 
 and raife them up at the lajl day, John vi. 39. 
 The apoftle, though he well knew the happi- 
 nefs of feparate fouls, that were abfe?2t from 
 the body, and immediately prefent with the 
 Lord, yet he more frequently points to this 
 bright and diftant day of the refurre&ion, 
 when he invites our hope abroad beyond the 
 limits of life and time, to give it the faireft 
 and the longeft profped. 
 
 Thus having fufficiently unfolded whatfo- 
 ever might feem doubtful in the text, let us 
 proceed to a more particular improvement of 
 it : And to this end we may comprife the 
 fenfe in this one Propofition or Doctrine. 
 
 Doctrine. 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 1 83 
 
 Doctrine. A Chriftian lays a f olid founda- 
 tion for his faith and joyful hope in the know- 
 ledge of the perfon whom he irufts. He has 
 fome good acquaintance with that great friend 
 of his to whom he commits all his concerns 
 from time to eternity; and upon this he 
 builds his confidence and comfort; and from 
 this he riles to joy and triumph. The words 
 of my text are the language of an advanced 
 and well-grown faith; and both my doctrine 
 and difcourfe keep this in view; yet the na- 
 ture and practice of a finner's firft addrefles 
 to Chrift by faith, may be eafily learnt here- 
 by ; as I fhall fhew hereafter. 
 
 To confirm and improve this doctrine, let 
 us confider, 
 
 I. What it is that a Chrijlian knows of 
 Chrift, that engages his truft and confidence? 
 
 II. What fort of knowledge it is? And 
 how he comes by it ? And 
 
 III. What ufeful Remarks may be drawn 
 from this fubjecl:? 
 
 Firft, What is it that a Chriftian knows of 
 Chrift) that engages his truft in him? 
 
 The Anfwer may be comprifed under thefe 
 two general Heads ; (viz.) The perfonal 
 qualifications of Chrift, and his fpecial cha- 
 racter, or commiffion, as one appointed to 
 take care of fouls. 
 
 M 4 Ift, 
 
184 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 , Ift, A believer knows the particular and 
 perfonal qualifications of Chrijl y which re?ider 
 him able to take care of what is committed to 
 him. Now thefe qualifications depend not 
 only upon the conftitution of his perfon, as 
 one in whom God and man are united, but 
 alfo upon the labours of his life, and the vir- 
 tue of his fufferings, his death, his resurrec- 
 tion, and his exalted ftate. Let us defcend 
 a little into particulars upon this fubje£t, and 
 take a ihort and pleafurable furvey how well 
 our Lord is qualified to take the charge of 
 fouls, and of their eternal welfare. 
 
 1 ft, He has almighty power, and can fecure 
 whatfoever is committed to him, againft all 
 oppofitions and dangers; for it is by him that 
 God the Father created all things, and he 
 hath fufficient influence over all the works of 
 his hands ; a divine ability to fave his fa- 
 vourites, and deftroy all that oppofe : to en- 
 fafe them from every peril that arifes from 
 their own weaknefs, and defend them againft 
 every adverfary that defigns mifchief. It was 
 by him that our fouls were formed at firft in 
 his own and his Father's image; and he can 
 new-mould them into the fame form, though 
 it be quite defaced. What iniquity is there 
 in nature, which fuch almighty grace cannot 
 fubdue ? What wild imagination, or rebel- 
 lious thought, in man, which a God cannot 
 reduce to obedience ? Should all the wicked 
 pf the earth confpire to ruin a Chriftian, 
 
 what 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 185 
 
 what could the impotent malice of creatures 
 avail, if the Creator forbid their violence ; or 
 if he who made them encompafs the faint 
 round as with a wall of brafs, and cover him 
 as with a ihield ? And what can Satan the 
 tempter or the deftroyer do, if Jefus hold 
 him in his chain, and forbid him to come 
 nigh the believer? The lion of the great deep 
 cannot fo much as roar, to affright the mean- 
 eft lamb of the flock, without the permiffion 
 of Chrift their Shepherd. He can neither 
 tempt us from our duties, nor rifle us of our 
 comforts, if the Son of God command him 
 to filence. And what are all the angels in 
 heaven but the fervants of Chrift, all mini- 
 Jlering fpirits^ fent forth to fecure them that 
 are heirs of falvationf Heb. i. 14. What is 
 there within us, or without us, in heaven, 
 earth, or hell, that can endanger our happi- 
 nefs, if he that is one with God, and al- 
 mighty, undertake to fave us? To him there- 
 fore we commit this great undertaking. 
 
 2dly, He has inconceivable treafures of know- 
 ledge^ and wifdom wifearchable. He takes no- 
 tice of the moft fecret and diftant dangers to 
 which his favourites can be expofed : Hell 
 is naked before him, and the dark counfels 
 of deftruction have no covering : He con- 
 founds all the policies of darknefs, and knows 
 how to infatuate Satan, the moft fubtile fpi- 
 rit, when he contrives mifchief againft the 
 faints. And when our own hearts, for want 
 
 of 
 
1 86 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 of forefight, run giddily, and wander into 
 fnares, he can furround us with divine light 
 for the recovery of our wanderings, and guide 
 us in a fafe path homewards. The hidden 
 workings of fin in the inmoft chambers of 
 the foul are open to his eyes, Heb. iv. 12, 13. 
 And he knows how to prevent it from bring- 
 ing forth fruit unto death. 
 
 But, on the other hand, his own counfels 
 are laid unfearchably deep; nor can all hell 
 fathom or undermine them. He is fuppofed 
 to be reprefented under the character of Wif- 
 Jom, (hewing her power, Prov. viii. 14. 
 4 Counfel is mine, and found wifdom; I am 
 
 * understanding; I have ftrength. He knows 
 c how to deliver the godly out of every temp- 
 
 * tation,' and to preferve them to his own 
 kingdom. This glorious perfon is fit to be 
 trufted with the infinite concerns of weak 
 and ignorant creatures. 
 
 3dly, His love and compaffion^ and willing- 
 nefs to take the charge of fouls ^ is equal to his 
 wifdom and power. Though this be not 
 exprefled in the text, yet it is neceflarily in- 
 cluded; for how could the apoftle fay with 
 joy, I know whom I have trifled^ if he knew 
 only that he was able tofave, without believ- 
 ing him willing? Or why fhould St. Paul 
 trull him with fo valuable a thing as his 
 eternal welfare, if he did not know him 
 companionate as well as mighty ? But his 
 willingnefs is abundantly evident by all that 
 
 he 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 187 
 
 he did, and all that he fuftered, to procure 
 falvation for us; for he tells us, it was the 
 very defign of his coming, to feck and fave 
 that which was lo/f, Lake xix. 10. And he 
 rauft be willing to keep that which he un- 
 dertakes to feek and to fave. 
 
 It was his love and willingnefs to take 
 care of iinners, that brought him down from 
 heaven to an incarnation, and veiled the dig- 
 nity of his divine glory in the lowly and de- 
 bafed figure of a man, in the liken efs of finful 
 flefh. A believer reads his willingnefs in the 
 very features of his manhood ; and every 
 poor and painful circumftance of his life 
 writes his love ftill in fairer characters. What 
 mean all his labours and wearifome travels? 
 His preachings and pleadings with obflinate 
 men all the day, in towns and villages? And 
 his midnight wreftlings with God upon the 
 cold mountains ? What mean his kind invi- 
 tations, and his melting language, Ho, every 
 one that thirfleth^ let him co?ne unto me y and 
 drink ? Come unto me all ye that are weary \ 
 and I will give you rejl ? Come to the phy- 
 fician, ye that are fick, and I will heal you. 
 Come, ye that are heavy laden , and I will re- 
 leafe you. He that comes unto mejhall in no- 
 wife be cafl out. What can be the defign of 
 all thefe tender expreffions, but to acquaint 
 us with his willingnefs to take care of thofe 
 finners that commit their fouls to him ? What 
 means his fubmiflion to cruel fufferings, and 
 
 to 
 
1 8 8 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 to bitter reproaches? His agonies in the gar- 
 den? The convulfions of his nature, and the 
 tortures of his foul? Tortures that drew cries 
 and tears from the Son of God? And his foul 
 ivas exceeding forrowful, even to aftonifhment 
 and death. What do all thole fpeak, if not 
 love and willingn > efs to fave ? What is the 
 language of his arms, when fpread naked 
 on the crofs, but " Come unto me, finners, 
 " and I will embrace you?" This is the voice 
 of every wound of his body, while his breath 
 expired amidft blood and groans. Nor can 
 we underftand any thing by all thefe fcenes 
 of wo, if we cannot read love in them, and 
 a hearty willingnefs to fecure believing fin- 
 ners from the wrath to come. 
 
 4thly, He hath perfeel right eoufnefs, and 
 atoning blood. So that the mod guilty foul 
 may truft him fafely; for he has obeyed, and 
 he has fuffered: He has procured pardon for 
 fin, and juflification unto eternal life : He 
 has made fatisfaction for the vileft of crimes, 
 and for the chief of finners. He has a hu- 
 man nature that could die, and the indwel- 
 ling divinity, that could put infinite dignity 
 into his death, and render it a full atonement 
 for the heavieft guilt: He has paid our im- 
 menfe debts, and juftice acknowledges the 
 receipt in full : He has fulfilled the com- 
 mands of God's perfeel: law, which we could 
 never fulfil : And he has bore the curfe which 
 would have made us for ever miferable: And 
 
 all 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 189 
 all this not for himfelf, but in our ftead; and 
 that with this cfefign, that he might redeem 
 us from the curfe of the law, and prefent us 
 before God in his own righteoufnefs, that we 
 might receive the adoption of fons, and be 
 for ever accepted in the Beloved, Gal. iii. 13. 
 and iv. 5. Eph. i. 6. Here is an all-mfficient 
 righteoufnefs, in which the fevere eye of the 
 holinefs of God can find no flaw or defecl, 
 which is the foundation of our hope; where- 
 as our righteoufnefles are mingled with many 
 defilements. Here is a righteoufnefs that fid all 
 not be abolifhed, though the heavens wear 
 away, and the earth wax old. Therefore 
 the ifles where finners dwell fhall wait upon 
 hint) and on his arm fhall they truft^ Ifa. li. 5, 
 6. It was the great bufinefs of the Meffiah 
 to finifh tranfgreffion, to make an end of fin, to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in 
 everlafling righteoufnefs, Dan. ix. 24. And 
 this is of fuch neceffity to our falvation, be- 
 caufe of the perpetual frailties of our nature, 
 that a poor trembling believer could not ven- 
 ture his foul fafely into any hands but where 
 fuch a glorious righteoufnefs was found; and 
 from this character our Saviour is plealed to 
 take one of his honourable titles, Jer. xxiii. 6. 
 'The Lord our righteoufnefs. Surely therefore, 
 (faith a humble, convinced, and guilty wretch,} 
 in fuch a one will I truft, for I have no merit 
 in me to obtain pardon, I have no righteouf- 
 nefs of mv own to render me accepted with 
 
 God, 
 
190 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 God, and I mull for ever perifh without it. 
 Surely in the Lord I fhall find right eoufnefs^ 
 as well as wifdom and ftrength, Ilk. xlv. 24. 
 And to him I commit my foul. 
 
 5thly, He has great inter ejl with God the 
 Father, and always prevails* when he pleads. 
 Father, 1 know that thou heareji me always ', 
 John xi. 42. He never prays in vain, for he 
 is ever worthy of the Father's ear. He ap- 
 pears in all the virtue of his original Sonfhip, 
 even when he appears in the name of finful 
 worms; and when he pleads their caufe be- 
 fore the throne, he does it in all the power 
 of his meritorious righteoufnefs, and with 
 the cries of his dying blood. We might 
 doubt of audience when we addrefs ourfelves 
 to the great and dreadful God; for we are 
 but his creatures, who have finned againft 
 him, but he is the only begotten Son. We 
 may well ftand at a diftance, and tremble, 
 for we are rebels; but he is perfect in his 
 loyalty and obedience. We are defiled, but 
 he is pure and unfpotted; we might exped 
 thunder and deftruction from the Almighty, 
 for the Lord abhors all fin. For fuch guilty 
 wretches to come before the face of God, 
 though with groans and tears, would but fet 
 our rebellion and guilt before his eyes, awaken 
 his wrath, and put him in mind of deferved 
 vengeance ; but when Chrift appears as a 
 petitioner, he is approved and heard: For 
 he is the Son of his love, he is all holinefs: 
 
 No 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 191 
 
 No man can come unto the Father but by trim, 
 John xiv. 6. Therefore we dare not truft 
 ourfelves in meaner hands. He is able to keep 
 what is committed to him unto the great day, 
 and to fave them to the uttcrmojl that come to 
 God by him; feeing he ever lives to make inter- 
 cefion for them ; and is fuch an Higb-Prieji 
 as the Son of God, hoi)' harmlefs, and undefiltd, 
 Heb. vii. 25, 26. He pleads for aliens and 
 ftrangers, in the virtue of his Sonlhip; for 
 criminals, in the efficacy of his obedience; 
 and we joyfully commit ourfelves, poor fin- 
 ful and perifhing ftrangers and criminals, to 
 him, to be introduced into the Father's pre- 
 fence, becaufe he has the moft powerful in- 
 fluence, and the ftrongeft intereft in heaven. 
 
 6thly, He lives for ever. Rev. i. 18. lam 
 he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I 
 live for evermore. Amen. He therefore that 
 hath known death by experience, and now 
 ftands firmly poflefled of eternal life, is the 
 moft proper perfon that I can truft with all 
 my concerns, my flefh and fpirit, for life and 
 death, for time and eternity. Should I pre- 
 fume to make myfelf my own keeper, yet 
 my utmoft care could pretend to reach no 
 further than the term of this life; for whi- 
 ther I go in death is all darknefs to me, if 
 
 1 had not known Chri/l and his go/pel, who 
 has brought life a?id immortality to light, 
 
 2 Tim. i. iOi 
 
 And 
 
192 Faith built o?i Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 And notwithftanding all thofe difcoveries 
 of the future ftate, I am ftill uncapable of 
 providing for myfelf in the invifible world. 
 My foul and body are then feparated, and I 
 cannot keep them together, nor take care of 
 them apart. Where this world of fouls is I 
 know not, nor can I tell how to fecure my 
 beft intereft there, or direct myfelf in the 
 right way to the region of fan&ified fpirits 
 in that world, where I am fo much a Gran- 
 ger; all the land of death is in a great mea- 
 fure the region of darknefs ftill; it is a vaftf 
 unknown country, and far the biggeft part 
 of it is a burning climate, a land of torment, 
 forrow, and defpair; and there are a thoufand 
 roads that lead down to this gulph of wretch- 
 ednefs; and how mail my poor -wandering 
 foul, when difmiffed from this flefh, find the 
 way to the land of light, fmce I know not 
 the paths, nor the dangers of the way, and 
 there is no companion in death to guide me 
 through the dark valley ? How lhall I dare 
 to plunge into eternity, except fome mighty 
 friend be there to take care of me, and con- 
 duel: me to the feat of the bleffed? 
 
 But my Lord Jems lives in that unfeen 
 world; he has parted through the region of 
 death, and knows it well; he has the keys 
 of death, and the feparate ftate, and is ac- 
 quainted with all the avenues of it; he is 
 Governor of the land of bleffednefs, and the 
 fitted Guardian to whom I can commit my 
 
 departing 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 1 03 
 
 departing fpirit. I leave alfo my poor re- 
 mains of flefh to his care : Theie limbs I 
 leave to moulder into duft, under the wake- 
 ful eye of his providence; for he is Lord of 
 this lower world too, and he will raife my 
 Belli to immortality, and rejoin it to my foul 
 at the great day. 
 
 ythly, In the laft place, I might add, The 
 faithfulnefs of Chrijl to fulfil all that he under- 
 takes, is another qualification that encourages 
 our truft : His name is the Amen, the faithful 
 and the true, Rev. iii. 14. The Lord is faith- 
 ful, 'who JJjall ejlablifh you, and keep you from 
 evil; therefore (faith the apoftle to the faints 
 at Theflalonica,) We have confidence in the 
 Lord touching you, 2 TheflT. iii. 3, 4. His 
 iincerity is above all poflibility of being cor- 
 rupted, and what he once defigns he will ac- 
 complish : Whom he loves, he loves to the e?id, 
 John xiii. 1. He is unchangeable in his 
 .compaffion from the very truth of his na- 
 ture ; Jiis zeal and watchfulnefs can never 
 admit him to be forgetful one moment, of 
 all the infinite concerns that a believer has 
 intrufted with him. His faithfulnefs adds 
 forrc and ftrength to all the encouragements 
 that our faith receives from all the other 
 qualifications of Chrift; and, if I know all 
 thefe excellencies are found in him, I am 
 perfuaded he is able and willing to fave to 
 the uttermoft; and I leave my all with him 
 till the laft day. * 
 
 N Thus 
 
194 Faith built g?i Knowledge. Disc. IX, 
 Thus we have briefly run through the 
 perfonal qualifications of Chrift. But 
 
 lldly, Befides thefe his perfonal qualifica- 
 tions, which are the objects of a believer's 
 knowledge, and the motives of his faith, 
 there is another thing that engages his con- 
 fidence in him; and that is, his fpecial cha~ 
 racier a?id commijjion as a Mediator, 'which he 
 has received from the Father, and which he 
 has voluntarily undertaken to fulfil. Hereby 
 he ftands obliged to ufe all his perfonal abi- 
 lities to take care of finners that are com- 
 mitted to his charge. He often fpeaks of his 
 being fent from the Father to do his will. See 
 John vi. 39. ' And this is the Father's will 
 4 that hath fent me, that of all which he hath 
 4 given me I mould lofe nothing, but mould 
 i raife it up again at the laft day.' 
 
 By this commiffion Chrift has a right and 
 authority to exercife all his natural powers 
 and capacities to fecure the fouls of believers. 
 The juftice, and wifdom, and holinefs, as 
 well as the grace and mercy of God the Fa- 
 ther, joined to commit this authority into his 
 hands. And it is in this fenfe that all power 
 in heaven and earth is given him, Matt, xxviii. 
 1 3. And he is Head over all things for the 
 church, Eph. i. ult. When we fay, that all 
 gifts and all graces are treafured up in the 
 hands of Chrift, to be communicated to his 
 people, we mean, that as a commiflioned 
 Mediator, he has a rightful authority to exert 
 
 all 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built o?i Knowledge. 195 
 
 all his natural and divine powers in the com- 
 munication of gifts and graces, and holy in- 
 fluences of the Spirit; which power neither 
 he nor his Father did think proper to be 
 exerted, without fatisfaction made for fin as 
 Mediator. 
 
 Behold then our Lord Jefus Chrift, the 
 Son of Mary, and the Son of God; behold 
 him in all the fufficiency of the united God- 
 head, and in all the glory and authority of 
 his mediatorial commiffion, fully capacitated 
 to keep whatfoever is committed to him ! 
 The believer fees this and rejoices; he be- 
 holds all the fouls of finners defigned for fal- 
 vation given into the hands of Chrift by the 
 Father, to keep; which Chrift himfelf often 
 fpeaks of, in the xvith and xviith chapters 
 of the Gofpel of St. John. And he reads 
 thofe words of his Lord with abundant joy, 
 c My Father which gave them me is greater 
 c than all, and none is able to pluck them out 
 c of my Father's hand: I and my Father are 
 c one; and I give unto them eternal life, and 
 c they fhall never perifh, neither (hall any 
 1 pluck them out of my hand,' John x. 28, 
 
 Now, fays the believer, fhall I not venture 
 my eternal ftate in thofe hands where God 
 himfelf has laid it ? Shall I not chufe him to 
 be my Guardian in this my weak and help- 
 lefs ftate, whom the Father has appointed for 
 this very purpofe, and trufted with the care 
 N 2 of 
 
196 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX, 
 
 of all his children ? Who is fo fit to be my 
 fhepherd as that glorious perfon to whom the 
 Father has committed the charge of all his 
 fheep? God the Father knows him well, that 
 he is equal to the great undertaking, or elie 
 he would never have intrufted him with the 
 fouls of his chofen ones; and I through his 
 grace have beheld fuch abilities, inch love, 
 , and fuch faithfulnefs in him, thnt he is fuf- 
 ficient to anfwer the weighty charge; there- 
 fore I have intrufted him with my all, and 
 / know whom I have trujlcd. 
 
 Befides, fays the Chriftian, this is the per- 
 fon whom God has ordained to take care of 
 his own infinite honours, as well as of the 
 immortal concerns of men ; and where can I 
 truft my foul better than where the all-wife 
 God has trufted all his own glory ? The go- 
 vernment of heav&n and earth, of angels and 
 men, is laid upon his moulders, and of his 
 dominion there is no bound, there is no end, 
 Ifa. ix. 6. The biggeft affairs of kingdoms 
 and nations, all the revolutions and concerns 
 of the worlds of nature, grace, and glory, 
 are committed to Chrift the Mediator; all 
 things are delivered into his hands by the Fa- 
 ther, John iii. 35. And furely, faith the 
 Chriftian, there is none like him to take care 
 of my foul; fince God himfelf, upon a fur- 
 vey of all the creation, found none like him ; 
 none fo fit to be intrufted with all his own 
 infinite concerns, in all the worlds which he 
 
 hath 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 197 
 
 hath made. / know therefore whom I have 
 believed^ when I believed in Jefus, and I am 
 pcrfuaded he is able to keep that which I have 
 committed to him againfl that day. 
 
 Secondly, After having difcovered what it 
 is that a Chrijlian knows of Chrift, that en- 
 gages his belief and firm confidence; we pro- 
 ceed to enquire, What fort of knowledge this 
 ^is, or how he comes to know him fo as to trufl 
 in him, and rejoice in his faith? 
 
 The Anfwer may be reduced to thefe two 
 Heads : A believer that is arrived at fuch a 
 knowledge of Chrift, has obtained it partly 
 by the tejlimony of others, and partly by his 
 own experience. 
 
 Ift, It is a knowledge that arifes from the 
 tefiimony of others. And this fort of know- 
 ledge is generally called faith ; that is, the 
 believing of any propofition upon the autho- 
 rity of thofe that relate it; and, according as 
 the witneffes that make the report are more 
 credible, and more numerous, fo we give the 
 iirmer affent to their teftimony ; our faith 
 grows fo much the ftronger, and our know- 
 ledge is the more certain. Now the wit- 
 neffes that give evidence to the power and 
 faithfulnefs of Chrift our Saviour, are fo glo- 
 rioufly credible in themfelves, and fo many 
 in number, that a believer has the mod ra- 
 tional and folid ground for his faith. Let us 
 N 3 take 
 
198 Fait b built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 take a fliort furvey of thefe witnefTes, and 
 humbly examine their teftimony. 
 
 God himfelf, the all-wife, the true, and 
 the eternal God, in the perfon of the Father ', 
 has borne witnefs from heaven to his Son 
 Chrift Jefus in all ages. This he did in old 
 time by vifions and voices, by prophecies and 
 holy inftitutions. It is of him that God has 
 fpoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets , 
 fince the world began. Acts iii. 2 1 . What is 
 the feed of the woman , that mould break the 
 ferpents head, Gen. iii. 15. but a promife of 
 our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Saviour, given to 
 Adam, to prevent his defpair; and a tefti- 
 mony of his power to deftroy the works of 
 the devil, and to fave fallen man ? What is 
 the feed of Abraham, in whom all nations 
 fhould be bleffed, Gen. xxii. 18* but a pro- 
 phecy of the bleflings of life and falvation to 
 the nations of the earth, by Jefus the Son of 
 Abraham ? Who was Shiloh, of whom Jacob 
 prophefied, To him fjall be the gathering of 
 the people, but Chrift, who was fent of God, 
 that the Gentiles might commit their fouls 
 into his hands, and join themfelves to him 
 as their Head and Governor? 
 
 It would be endlefs to run through all the 
 meffages from God, which the infpired pro- 
 phets of old delivered to men, and which 
 gave divine teftimony to the Saviour that 
 fhould be born. Who was the Angel of the 
 covenant, that was fent to Conduct the Jews 
 
 through 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 199 
 
 through the wildernefs, and to keep that 
 nation, and to bring them fafe to Canaan ? 
 Who was the Captain of the Lord 7 hojl, that 
 •was lent and appeared to Jofhua, engaging 
 for the protection of him and his army ? 
 What was the vifion that appeared to Ifaiah, 
 the Lord fitting upon a throne hi much glory 
 and power, but fo many prefigurations of the 
 Son of God, that was to take our nature upon 
 him, and become a Saviour ? What were all 
 thefe appearances of God in the form of man, 
 but figns and pledges, and (as it were) effays 
 towards his incarnation? What were the types 
 of the Old Teftament, but emblems of deli- 
 verance, atonement, and falvation, that were 
 to be conferred by Chrift upon thofe finners 
 that would truft him with their fouls? What 
 was the ark wherein Noah was faved, when 
 he committed his life to the keeping of God 
 an that floating houfe, amidft a flood of wa- 
 ters, but an affurance of fafety to thofe fin- 
 ners who make Chrift their refuge, when the 
 floods of divine wrath rife high ? What was 
 the defign of the blotidy facrifices, the facrifices 
 of expiation, hut to hold forth the method 
 whereby Chrift fhould fecure, guilty fouls 
 from death? 
 
 Time would fail me to fpeak of the brazen 
 and the golden altar; of burning the flefh of 
 beafts, and the fmoking incenfe ; of the ark 
 of the covenant where the law was kept, 
 and the cover of it, which was called the 
 N 4 inercy^ 
 
200 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 mercy-feat, where the God of glory dwelt 
 under the form of a bright cloud : Time 
 would fail me to fpeak of the tabernacle of 
 Mofes, and the temple of Solomon ; of the 
 cities of refuge, appointed for the fafety of 
 cafual murderers; of the high-prieft, of his 
 garments, and of his offices, who was to keep 
 the names of the tribes of Ifrael upon his 
 breaft and upon his fhoulder. Thele were 
 all the inftitutions and appointments of God 
 himfelf, to arTure us by various carnal em- 
 blems of the fulnefs of that falvation by Je- 
 fus Ghrift; for which no lingle emblem was 
 fufficient. 
 
 Let us defcend to later times, and behold 
 God the Father giving teflimony to his Son, 
 by kindling a new ftar in the heavens at 
 his birth, and fending it as a guide to lead 
 the wifemen from the eaft, and from the 
 rifmg fun, to a greater and fweeter light, the 
 Morning Star, and the Sun of Righteoufnefs. 
 He fent a voice from heaven at his baptifm, 
 and pronounced in diftindt language, This is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleafed. 
 Twice more did he fpeak from heaven, and 
 with an audible voice, in the time of the 
 life of Chrift, atteft this miffion: A believer 
 knows many of thele things, and receives the 
 teftimony of God. And this is the witnefs 
 of God, which he hath tefl'ified of his Son, that 
 eternal life is in hint, I John v. 9, 1 1. 
 
 Chrifl 
 
Disc. IX. FaitJj built on Knowledge. 201 
 
 Chrift himfelf is another witnefs that tefti- 
 fies his own ability to fave Bribers, and keep 
 what is committed to him. John viii. 18. 
 S I am one that bear witnefs of myfelf; and 
 c the Father that lent me beareth witnefs of 
 1 me.' And though he bear record of him- 
 felf, yet his record is true and credible; for 
 he came from heaven, and was made man 
 in an extraordinary way; and he role again 
 after death, and afcended to heaven; which 
 feeras to be the meaning of thole words, 
 ' For I know whence I came, and whither 
 c I go;' which are brought as a reafon of the 
 truth of his teftimony, John viii. 14. He 
 appeared amongft men with all the undis- 
 puted figns of the Meffiah upon him; and 
 the doctrines that he preached, and the mi- 
 racles that he wrought, and the convulfions 
 of nature at his death, and the wonders of 
 his refurrection, all agree to confirm the mif- 
 fion of Chrift, and his ability to fave. A 
 Chriftian beholds the Son of God coming 
 from the dead, with this meflage to him : 
 " I am able to deliver from death thofe that 
 " believe in me ; to keep their fouls fafe in my 
 u hand, and to raife their bodies up to life 
 " everlafling: For, behold, / was dead \ and 
 " am alive; and live for evermore. Amen." 
 
 Or fhall I rather fay, that the miracles of 
 Chrift were the tejlimonies which the Holy 
 Spirit gave to the million of Chrift, the Son 
 of God? For they are fometimes in fcripture 
 
 afcribed 
 
202 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 afcribed to the Spirit, Matt. xii. 28. ' I call 
 < out devils by the Spirit of God.' And one 
 of the three witneffes in heaven to the gofpel 
 of Chrift is the Spirit of God, 1 John v. 6, 
 7. * It is the Spirit that beareth witnefs, be- 
 4 caufe the Spirit is truth.' That Spirit and 
 power by which he opened the eyes of the 
 blind, made the lame to walk, and the dead 
 to rife, does effectually atteft his power to 
 take care of thofe that are intruded with him: 
 Tor thefe wonders were wrought with a de- 
 iign to confirm this doctrine; and upon this 
 account Chrift is faid to be jujlified in or by 
 the Spirit, 1 Tim. iii. 16. His commiflion 
 was fealed, and his authority attefted by thefe 
 mighty works of the bleffed Spirit. 
 
 Thus the believer has a threefold witnefs 
 from heaven, to give him the knowledge of 
 Chrift, and to confirm his faith; and this is 
 abundantly fufficient to juftify his truft in 
 Chrift Jefus. 
 
 But he has many other witneffes alfo to 
 the fame truth : He can call all the holy pro- 
 phets and faints fince the world began, to 
 bring in their witnefs, who told of the power 
 of Chrift to fave, in dark fpeeches, when they 
 lived in this world, and now find themfelves 
 fafe in his hands in the world of light. A 
 believer can call the noble company of apo- 
 ftles, the holy army of martyrs and confeffors, 
 to atteft the fame do&rine ; who, through 
 terrible temptations of Satan, and the wrath 
 
 of 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 203 
 
 of man ; who, through fires and waters, and 
 many deaths, have committed their fouls to 
 his divine keeping, and found them in fafety 
 beyond the grave. 
 
 The believer can add the teftimony of all 
 his fellow-faints now living, who, by ven- 
 turing their eternal concerns into the hands 
 of Chrift, have found fafety and red, ftrength 
 againft fin, and peace of confeience; divine 
 joy, courage againft fufferings, and triumphs 
 in the midft of dangers. They all with one 
 voice cry out, " Not unto ourfelves, not unto 
 w ourfelves, but to thy name be all the glory ; 
 " for thy grace has kept us fince we commit- 
 " ted ourfelves unto thee; and not one of us 
 u is loft; and we continue to truft our all 
 " with thee till the great day; and we are 
 " affured of fafety, though our dangers are 
 u infinite." 
 
 You fee here what a rational and folid 
 foundation a Chriftian has for his knowledge 
 of Chrift, and his faith in him. It is built 
 upon teftimonies fo numerous, fo credible, 
 and fo divine ; well might the apoftle fay, 
 / know whom I have trujled : And he be- 
 • comes a witnefs to us even to the end of the 
 world, to direct fouls to the fame refuge. 
 When a finner is awakened to fee his dread- 
 ful guilt, and danger for eternity, and is 
 making earned enquiry, What fo all I do for 
 my foul? Where fhall I truft it, that it may 
 JDe kept fafe for ever? Let his eye be directed 
 
 to 
 
204 Faith built on Knowledge, Disc. IX. 
 to this able and all-fufficient Saviour, by fo 
 long a train of witneUes, and the Holy Spirit 
 with them, and he can no longer doubt whi- 
 ther to apply hiinfelf, or to whofe hands he 
 ihould betruft his eternal concerns. 
 
 I Idly, The knowledge that a believer has of 
 ChrijTs ability to fave, arifes not only from the 
 ivitnefs of others, but from his own inward and 
 jhfible experience. The apoftle fpeaks here 
 not as a young believer, but as one that had 
 known Chrift long, had long trufted him, 
 and gained daily confirmations of his faith, 
 as was hinted before. Though a iinner at 
 firft is drawn to Chrift by the report that is 
 made of him by others, either by his educa- 
 tion, by reading or hearing the word, or by 
 holy conference; yet afterwards he gnyws up 
 to an eftablifhment and affuranee of faith by 
 the fweet experience he has had of what 
 Chrift has done for him; and he faith to his 
 minifter, and to his fellow-chriftian, and to 
 the apoftles, and the prophets, as all the 
 neighbours faid to the woman of Samaria, 
 John iv. 42. c Now we believe, not merely 
 ' becaufe of this faying; for we have heard 
 • him ourfelves, and know indeed that this is 
 4 the Chrift, the Saviour of the world.' 
 
 I am well fatisfied that it is from this fort 
 of knowledge, as well as the former, it is 
 from experience as well as faith, that fo 
 .iiany faints have been able to affumc the 
 words of my text, and to triumph in the 
 
 approaches 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 205 
 
 approaches of death. For though they may 
 have learned the knowledge of Chrift, and 
 his ability to fave, and that from their ear- 
 lier!: youth, by the pious inftructions of their 
 parents, by the miniftry of their teachers, 
 and much converfe with the holy fcriptures, 
 yet they have a more large and confirmed 
 knowledge of Chrift, from the many fenlible 
 effecls of his love and power upon their fouls, 
 and from their conftant converfe with him 
 by meditation and prayer, both in their fecret 
 retirement, and in their daily walk with God. 
 They can fay from a fweet and rich experi- 
 ence, perhaps from their youngeft years, and 
 downwards, to maturer age, / know whom I 
 have believed. 
 
 I know my confeience was burdened with 
 guilt, and I could find no relief till I faw the 
 crofs of Chrift, and carried my guilty con- 
 feience thither; the man that hung upon the 
 tree took my burden off, fprinkled me with 
 his own blood, and undertook to fecure me 
 from the wrath of God for ever. I know 
 who it was that relieved me from thefe ter- 
 rors, and I rejoice in his atonement. 
 
 I had no righteoufnefs to appear in before 
 a pure and a holy God, and I had juft reafon 
 to dread his prefence as a confuming fire ; 
 but the fame glorious perfon put a complete 
 righteoufnefs upon me, through faith, where- 
 by I can ftand before a juft God, with humble 
 
 confidence; 
 
2o6 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. IX. 
 
 confidence; and I know and adore the Lord 
 my right eonfnefs. 
 
 My nature was all corrupted, my fins were 
 ftrong, I had no power to think or to do that 
 which was good; and I know whofe grace it 
 was that renewed all my nature, that formed 
 my foul to religious thoughts, that fet me 
 upon the work of mortification, and affifted 
 me in thofe divine labours. I remember 
 what powerful feeds of vanity were found in 
 mv heart ; and if I had not given up the gar- 
 den to Chrift's keeping, it had been all over- 
 run with weeds, and neither fruit nor flower 
 had ever appeared there. 
 
 When I met with temptations I found my- 
 felf a very unequal match for them ; for I was 
 by nature all weaknefs; but by the knowledge 
 of Chrill I have obtained ftrength : I have 
 often found his grace fufficient for me^ and 
 his Jlrtngth made p erf eft in my infirmity : I 
 know by whofe power it is, that I ftand ; 
 and / am perfuaded that he that has kept me 
 hitherto, is {till able to five me from falling: 
 I have tried his grace lb often, and found it 
 fufficient hitherto, that I will truft him for 
 what remains. I have committed my foul 
 therefore to his keeping till the day of my 
 death, till the great day of my refurrecYion. 
 And we who are alive believe concerning 
 thole that are gone, that our blelTed Lord has 
 fulfilled a great part of his truft; has intro- 
 duced their fpirits into the prefence of the 
 
 Father, 
 
Disc. IX. Faith built on Knowledge. 207 
 
 Father, with exceeding joy; and will fulfil 
 the'defign of his love, when the dead fhall 
 arife to complete glory. 
 
 Thus I have endeavoured to make it ap- 
 pear, that a believe?' knows Jo much of the 
 perfon of Chrijl, of his qualifications for a Sa- 
 viour, and his divine commiffion for this pur- 
 pofc y as to engage his trujl and confidence in 
 him: And he obtains this knowledge by tef 
 timonies of fufficient evidence ; and by his 
 own experience he confirms his faith. The 
 Refleclions that attend this fubjecl: will com- 
 pofe the next Difcourfe. 
 
i-c^rti 
 
 '■^rvrfbjL ku8n*lnr 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 Faith built on Knowledge. 
 Preached j 71 1. 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 / know whom I have believed, and I 
 
 am perfuaded that he is able to keep that 
 which I have committed to him, againjl that 
 day. 
 
 1 HOUGH the Redeemer was gone to 
 the inviiiblc world, and St. Paul never 
 knew him while he was on earth, yet he 
 was no ftranger to him when he wrote this 
 Epiftle. Chrill is unfeen to men, but not 
 unknown to the believer. The apoftle was 
 ib well acquainted with the perfon and the 
 commiffion of Chrift, that he could venture 
 
 ail 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 209 
 
 all into his hands to the day of judgment; 
 he could look forward to that day with di- 
 vine pleafure, and rejoice in the midft of 
 prefent fufferings, upon the afTurance of his 
 future fafety. 
 
 From the example of this great and holy 
 man in my text, I have drawn this Obferva- 
 tvon. 
 
 Doc~t. A Chrijlian lays a folid foundation 
 for his faith and joy fid hope in the knowledge 
 of Chrijl Jcfus, in whom he trujls. 
 
 Here I have fhewn at large what it is of 
 Chrift that a Chriftian is acquainted with, in 
 order to truft him, Befides the wondrous 
 confutation of this perfon, as a man, in 
 whom dwells the fulnefs of the Godhead 
 bodily, many glorious and all-fufficient qua- 
 lifications of a Mediator are found in him. 
 Ye have heard how great and how good, 
 how wife and how faithful, he is; how well 
 fitted to undertake the falvation of the guilty, 
 becaufe he hath provided an atonement and 
 complete righteoufnefs ; how well furnifhed 
 to take the charge of bringing finners to a 
 ftate of grace and holinefs, becaufe he hath 
 the fulnefs of the Spirit in hirn, to commu- 
 nicate to men, in order to renew their na- 
 tures, and fit them for heaven. I have mown 
 what a commiffion he received from the Fa- 
 ther, to undertake the great work of the fal- 
 vation of men ; and thereby, as he hath a 
 natural power, fo he hath a legal authority 
 O to 
 
2 io Fa&J built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 to take the charge of fouls that are com- 
 mitted to him. O the glorious furniture of 
 the great Mediator! O the divine commiilion 
 that gives fecurity to faith ! How happily 
 are they joined in Jefus the Lord! And how 
 much doth the knowledge of this conduce 
 to a believer's comfort. 
 
 I have alfo mown at large, in the fecond 
 place, how a Chriftiam comes by this know- 
 ledge ; He has abundant teftimony to the 
 truth of all thefe things from heaven and 
 from earth : God himfelf hath given witnefs 
 from heaven, by miracles, vifions, and voices : 
 The apoftles, prophets, and martyrs, have 
 filled the earth with their witnefs; and, by 
 moft convincing arguments, have proved the 
 all-fufKciency of Chrift to fave. The believer 
 hath a witnefs in his own foul, to the power 
 and grace of Chrift, when he feels holinefs 
 wrought in his heart by the gofpel, and di- 
 vine peace in his confeience, with the fore- 
 taftes of heaven. 
 
 Now from fuch a knowledge, derived from 
 fcripture and inward experience, he grows up 
 to a holy courage in believing; he can ven- 
 ture his immortal concerns with affurance 
 into the hands of Chrift; he is bold, and tri- 
 umphs in his faith, and can fufTer for it with- 
 out being afhamed. 
 
 Thus having briefly recalled the doctrinal 
 part, I proceed now to the laft thing I pro- 
 
 pofed ; 
 
Disc. X. Faith built, on Knowledge, 2 1 i 
 
 pofed; and that was, to attempt fome ufeful 
 Remarks on this fubjecT: or Difcourfe. 
 
 Ift Remark. Here we may learn the true 
 nature of faving faith in Cbri/l. It is a com- 
 mitting of the foul into the hands of Chri/l y 
 from a due knowledge of his perfon^ and his 
 power to five. It is true, that my text is not 
 the mere language of a young and feeble 
 faith, but the divine oratory of holy con- 
 fidence, joy, and triumph; yet the nature of 
 faving faith is fo fully comprifed, and fo 
 plainly exprefTed in it, that I have often 
 thought I know not any one fingle verfe in 
 the whole Bible, that gives us fo clear and 
 diftinct an account of this grace. By the 
 words of my text it is rendered as intelligible 
 as love, or hope, or fear, or almoft any of 
 the common actions of life or religion. 
 
 It is a committing or betrufting of the foul 
 to Chrift for complete falvation, flowing from 
 a fenfe of our fin and mifery; a knowledge 
 of his perfonal qualifications, and his divine 
 commiffion; or a perfuafion of his ability and 
 willingnefs to keep what is thus committed 
 to him to the day of final judgment. 
 
 Saving faith is not a feeble belief of the 
 words, or works, or power of Chrift, upon 
 a fhort hearfay and flight notice, but it is 
 built upon knowledge and juft evidence. It 
 is not a mere doctrinal and hiftorical afTent 
 to the truths which our Saviour fpoke; nor 
 O 2 is 
 
212 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 is it a mere rational conviction by the beft 
 arguments, that Chrift is furnifhed with fuch 
 abilities to fave: It is not a fudden lit of de- 
 fire, or hope, or well-wifhing to our fouls to 
 be faved by Chrift; nor is it a rafh and bold 
 prefumption that Chrift will fave me, and 
 make me happy: But it is a folemn belmjling 
 of my foul into his hands for falvation, built 
 upon a deep fenfe of my own fin and danger; 
 a folid knowledge of his f efficient furniture for 
 fuch an undertaking; and an earnef defre to 
 be 7nade partaker of this falvation, in the full 
 nature of it, both the holinefs and the joy. 
 
 Saving faith therefore fuppofes and implies 
 in it a lively fenfe of the guilt of our fins, and 
 the eternal mifery that is like to enfue; a fight 
 of the juft vengeance of God to w T hich we 
 are expofed, and how uncapable we are to 
 make atonement for ourfelves, or procure 
 pardon ; a fenfe of our w r ant of a perfect 
 righteoufnefs to juftify us before God, and 
 how impoflible it is for us to make one out 
 of our own works and duties ; for why 
 mould we truft another to do that which 
 w r e can do for ourfelves. 
 
 It fuppofes alfo a fight of the corruption of 
 our natures, our perpetual tendency to frejh 
 iniquity, and our weaknefs to perform the du- 
 ties of life or religion; our natural delight in 
 fin and the creature, and our natural averfion 
 to God, and all that is holy ; together with 
 our utter incapacity of enjoying heaven whilft 
 
 we 
 
Disc. X . Faith built an Knowledge. 213 
 
 we are in this temper, and our impotence to 
 change our own natures, and turn our fouls 
 from earth to heaven. 
 
 It fuppofes and implies a painful fenfe of 
 our having offended God, and wearinefs of this 
 fate of fin, and a hearty willingnefs to be de- 
 livered from it: For why mould we feek after 
 the knowledge of fuch an almighty Friend 
 and Saviour, if we were not fearful of eternal 
 mifery without one? Or why mould we con- 
 cern ourfelves about a perfo'n that can fubdue 
 fin in us, if we are not fo far made willing to 
 part with it, as to have our natures reformed 
 into holinefs ? And let it be obferved, that 
 xhis painful fenfe, this inward wearinefs of 
 the power and reign of fin in us, and this 
 defire of deliverance from it, is the moft 
 efTential part of true repentance, or the con- 
 verfion of the foul from fin to God. 
 
 It Includes, in the next place, a fight and 
 belief of the all-fuffciency of Chr'ift to fupply 
 our wants; that there is atonement in him 
 for our fins, and pardon procured by him; 
 that there is righteoufnefs with him for our 
 j uitification and acceptance to eternal life ; 
 and all this by the means of his perfect obe- 
 dience and death : That there is power and 
 grace in him to conquer all our fins, to 
 fupprefs temptations, to reform our vicious 
 appetites, to incline our wills to God, to 
 ftrengthen our endeavours for the practice 
 of all holinefs; to keep us in the favour and 
 O 3 in 
 
214 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 in the image of God, and conduct us fafe to 
 heaven; and that he is appointed by the Fa- 
 ther to do all this for finners. 
 
 It confifts formally in a committing of the 
 guilty and fmful foul to the care of Chrift, 
 according to his Father's commiflion to take 
 care of loft fouls, and to keep that which is 
 committed to him. It is a fecret addrels of 
 the heart unto Chrift, whereby we reiign our 
 guilty perfons to him, to be pardoned for the 
 fake of his fufferings; our unrighteous fouls 
 to be accepted through his righteoumefs ; our 
 finful and polluted natures to be fan£tified by 
 the power of his grace, and to be preferved 
 fafe to death and glory. 
 
 After all this, there follows an acquiefcence, 
 or reft of the foul in Chrift r , which he promifed, 
 when he called the weary and the heavy-laden 
 finners to come to him, Match, xi. 28. And 
 this is accompanied with a good hope and 
 expectation of all this falvation from Chrift, 
 for which the fmner trufts in him: And this 
 excites his love and thankfulnefs to Chrift, 
 and awakens all his endeavours to a warm 
 purfuit of heaven in the path of holinefs, in 
 which God hath appointed us to walk to the 
 kingdom. Thus every divine promife, every 
 threatening and every command, obtains a 
 due authority over the heart, under the vital 
 influence of fuch a faith. This is not a lazy 
 and a flothful confidence, that cafts away all 
 care by throwing it on Chrift, and walks in 
 
 a 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 215 
 a fecure and bold neglect of duty: For a be- 
 liever well knows that he is bound to take 
 the ut mod care of his own foul, to work out 
 his falvation with holy fear, to watch againft 
 temptation, to refift every riling fin, and per- 
 ■fevere to the death ; though, from a fenfe of 
 his own infufricieney, he builds his fafety and 
 hope on the all-fufficiency of Chrift. 
 
 Let it be obferved here, that it is not ne- 
 ceffary that all thefe feveral workings of the 
 -heart ihould be plain, and diftinct, and fen- 
 i r ible, in every act of faith, nor in every true 
 believer : For the actions of the foul, and 
 efpecially the fprings, and the motives, and 
 deligns of thofe actions, are lb hidden, and 
 fo mingled with each other, that they are 
 not all diftinctly perceived even in the foul, 
 where they are tranfacted. When the jailor 
 cried out, ' What {hall I do to be faved ;' 
 Acts xvi. 30. or when the poor man in the 
 Gofpel, Markix. 24. faid, u Lord, I believe; 
 * help my unbelief;' there were a multitude 
 of crowding thoughts and paflions that pro- 
 duced and mingled with thofe ideas and ex- 
 preffions of fear and faith, which could never 
 be diftinctly apprehended and recounted by 
 the perfons that felt them. But this I fay, 
 that moil, or all the particulars 1 have men- 
 tioned, feem to be neceffary in the very na- 
 ture of a true and laving faith in Chrift, 
 where the gofpel is known and preached fo 
 ■dearly as it is in our times, and muft be 
 O 4 pre-fuppofed 
 
2 1 6 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 pre-fuppofed or involved, and fecretly in- 
 cluded, in the very act of believing unto 
 eternal life. It is a committing the foul to 
 the care of Chrift, from fuch motives, and 
 with inch deligns, as I have defcribed. 
 
 This account of foving faith guards it 
 againfl all the miftakes of the age, and fe- 
 cures it againfl all the inroads of error on 
 either fide. A Chriftian that takes in all 
 thefe views, will not eafily be led away by 
 the Popifh, or any other doctrine, where 
 faith is fuppofed to be a mere affent to the 
 revelations of the gofpel^ nor will he be in- 
 fnared by the unwary expreflions of fome 
 great writers, that faith is a full perfuafion of 
 our own falvation ; which has given too much 
 countenance to Antinomian follies. 
 
 He that has this knowledge and this belief 
 which I have defcribed, and does thus heartily 
 commit his foul to Chrift, fhall in no wife be 
 caft out, and can never mifcarry; but by re- 
 peated exercifes of this faith, and humble 
 watchfulnefs in walking with God, he fhall 
 grow rich in experience, and fhall learn to 
 fay with triumph, / know whom 1 have be- 
 lieved^ and am perfuaded that he is able y &c. 
 
 lid Remark. We may infer from this Dif- 
 courfe, the great value of a folid and regular 
 knowledge of the perfon of Chrifl and his gof- 
 pel ; It lays a good foundation for our firft 
 faith, and afterwards for its growth to a 
 
 fteady 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 217 
 
 fteady affurance. When we well know whom 
 we have believed^ we believe with a firmer 
 confidence, and with boldnefs we commit 
 our infinite concerns into the hands of a 
 perfon of whole ability and faithfulnefs we 
 are well perfuaded ; at firfl, by a diftindt 
 knowledge of his gofpel, and afterwards, by 
 an experimental acquaintance with his power 
 and grace. Our hope in his falvation is here- 
 by better eftablifhed, and our hearts grow 
 fearlefs. Such a hope is an anchor that lofes 
 not its hold in the wildefh florins, and makes 
 the veflel ride in fafety. 
 
 What is the reafon of the perpetual doubts 
 and defpondencies of fome Chriftians, that 
 have made a long profeffion of the gofpel? 
 Whence is it that they are alarmed at every 
 turn, and tremble, as though all were loft? 
 How comes it to pals, that thefe hurries of 
 mind fhould return f© often, and almoft over- 
 whelm fome pious fouls, that walk watch- 
 fully and humbly with God ? Is it not be- 
 caufe their faith has been too much built up- 
 on fudden and warm afFe&ions, without fo 
 folid a ground of regular knowledge? When 
 perfons of a weaker mind have felt a ftrong 
 and divine impreffion from fome particular 
 fcripture, or from fome bright fentence in a 
 fermon, which hath difplayed the grace and 
 falvation of Chrift, they have made this in- 
 ward fenfation the ground of their hope; 
 they have fed ftill upon this cordial, and 
 
 lived 
 
% 1 8 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 lived upon this fupport. And whenfoever 
 thefe warm impreflions return, they truft in 
 Ghrift afrelh, and rejoice fenfibly in his fal- 
 vation : But they can hardly give a rational 
 account what their faith is, or why they be- 
 lieve; and when thefe extraordinary fupplies 
 fail them, they fink, and tremble, and die. 
 
 I confefs, if this faith change their natures, 
 purify their hearts from the love of fin, and 
 make them walk in holinefs, far be it from 
 me to fufpedt the truth of it. But this I muft 
 fay, that fuch fouls are in danger of perpe- 
 tual difquietudes, ready to be fhaken by every 
 wind, and expofed to every gloomy tempta- 
 tion : When the flaihes of light are gone, 
 they are all darknefs and terror, becaufe they 
 cannot render a reafon of the hope that was 
 in them, from a diftincl: acquaintance with 
 the perfon in whom they had fixed their 
 hope, or from his rich ability to fave. 
 
 It is not a piece of wifdom in natural 
 things to truft a man with affairs of import- 
 ance before we know him; or if we do, every 
 little dark circumftance, every flying report, 
 will be ready to ihake our hearts, and fill us 
 with fear; though perhaps our concerns may 
 be fafe in his hands. And it is not a piece of 
 holy wifdom to truft Chrift himfelf infinitely, 
 and yet be contented to know him but a very 
 little. Such fouls may be fafe at laft, becaufe 
 the Lord, whom they truft, is honeft and 
 faithful; but they expofe themfelves to many 
 
 fears, 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 219 
 
 fears, and frequent torments of mind, all the 
 time of their abfence from him. Let Athe-* 
 nians build their altars to the unknown God; 
 but a Chriftian mould not truft in an un- 
 known Saviour. 
 
 Let us all be perfuaded then to learn much 
 of Chrift, that with honour and wifdom we 
 may truft him much; that we may venture 
 cur all for eternity into his hands, and reft 
 fecurely upon well-known power and faith- 
 fulnefs. ' They that know thy name,' O 
 God our Saviour, * will put their truft in 
 1 thee,' Pfal. ix. 10. There is a noble in- 
 ftance of holy prudence in a well-built and 
 well-fettled faith. Let us not fancy that we 
 know Chrift enough, when we have attained 
 merely fuch a degree of knowledge as is ab- 
 folutely neceflary for converfion, or fo much 
 as is fufficient to make a profeffion of his 
 name, and thereby obtain a right to the fel- 
 lowfhip of the faints. Let us not be content 
 to be always babes, feeble and fearful becaufe- 
 unknowing : We mould think no pains too 
 much to acquire divine knowledge, and to 
 improve it : And to this end, let the holy 
 fcriptures be our daily ftudy, for thefe are 
 the writings that teftify of Chrift. Let us 
 not cenfure the preachers that feed us with 
 a word of knowledge, nor complain of dry 
 difcourfes, when in any particular fermon, 
 the doctrines of religion are chiefly infifted 
 on; for thefe are the foundation of our wileft 
 
 faith, 
 
2 2 o Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 faith, and the pillars of folic! and exalted joy. 
 It was knowledge that carried the great apo- 
 ftle into that ecftafy of pleafure, and divine 
 mortification to every thing befides Chrift. 
 Phil. hi. 8, 9. c Yea, doubtlefs, I count all 
 c things but lofs, for the excellency of the 
 4 knowledge of Chrift Jefus my Lord, for 
 fc whom I have fuffered the lofs of all things, 
 i and count them but dung, that I might be 
 ' found in him,' &c. 
 
 Seek after experimental acquaintance with 
 Chrift. Follow the advice of St. Peter, 2 Pet. 
 iii. 1 3. c Grow in grace, and in the know- 
 c ledge of our Lord Jefus.' This is attained 
 by much converfe with him, in meditation 
 and prayer; by fecret and hourly addrefles to 
 him ; by frequent breathings of foul towards 
 our heavenly friend, in whofe hands lie all 
 our immortal concerns. Make daily obferva- 
 tions of the work and power of his grace up- 
 on your hearts, in your performance of duties, 
 and fuccefs againft temptations ; and have a 
 care that you lofe not the things which ye had 
 wrought: Take heed left you decline in your 
 acquaintance with Chrift; that your faith and 
 hope being built upon a regular knowledge, 
 you may ha\ie a bleffed trealure of Chriftian 
 experiences to eftablifh and exalt it. 
 
 I lid Remark. How unkind and unnatural 
 is it for parents to let the fouls of their children 
 perijh for want of knowledge ! How neceffary 
 
 to 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 221 
 to acquaint them betimes with the go/pel of 
 Chrift, that they may tritjl in him betimes •, and 
 that their fouls may be fife in the great day ! 
 If I mould afk every mother in the aflembly 
 this queftion, Do you not defire all your 
 children mould be young believers? But how 
 can they believe in him whom they have not 
 known ? How can you expect they mould 
 truft in any perfon, if you have never brought 
 them into his acquaintance? Or will you con- 
 tent yourfejyes that you give them the name 
 of Chriftians in baptifim, and let them know 
 nothing of Chrift? 
 
 Think it not enough therefore to make 
 them repeat the words of a Catechifm, but 
 enquire what they mean by fuch and fuch 
 words and fentences, which they pronounce; 
 and thus you will difcover where their igno- 
 rance lies: Then inform them, and affift their 
 young understandings. Acquaint them with 
 the fin of their natures, with the fins of their 
 life, with the anger of God, and danger of 
 hell; till they are afraid of it in earned, and 
 afk, What they fall do to be favedf Then 
 teach them the knowledge of Chrift, in his 
 glorious perfon; in his excellent qualifications 
 of love, power, and faithfulneis ; teach them 
 the doctrine of his death as a fatisfa&ion for 
 fin, and of that all-fufficient righteoufnefs, 
 upon whicli only they can find acceptance 
 with a juft and a holy God: Acquaint them 
 with his pleading in heaven as a Prieft, for 
 
 unners 
 
2 22 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X.- 
 
 finners here on earth, and his reigning there 
 as King, to give grace and holinefs, pardon 
 and repentance, and falvation, to all that are 
 willing to accept it in his own way. And 
 let this praclice be continually repeated, till, 
 by frequent enquiries, you find they under- 
 ftand what you teach them. 
 
 Show them how to commit their fouls into 
 the hands of Chrift by prayer and faith, and 
 how to walk watchfully in obedience to all 
 the commands of Chrift, to pradife the du- 
 ties of religion toward God, and tTie duties of 
 morality toward men; in order to evidence 
 their faith, and to bring them onward to 
 complete falvation. Tell them of the laft 
 great judgrnent-day, when all their fecret 
 a&ions fhall be brought to light before God, 
 angels, and men; and when they muft give 
 an account to Jefus the Judge, of all their be- 
 haviour here. Make it evident, that there is 
 no way to appear with fafety before him as 
 a Judge, but by committing their fouls to him, 
 as their kind and all-fufficient friend : And 
 then holy parents may hope to meet their 
 fons and their daughters with comfort, at the 
 right hand of the Lord in that day. 
 
 It is an acquaintance with fuch a Saviour, 
 and fuch a truft in him, that will prepare 
 them not only for the laft judgment, but for 
 every circumftance of life, and the various 
 changes they may pafs through in the day of 
 
 their 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge.. 223 
 
 their pilgrimage; and it will fit them for an 
 early or an aged death. 
 
 If they mould be exalted to riches or ho- 
 nour in the world, fuch a faith will be of 
 abundant ufe and fafety to them, that the 
 keeping of their fouls was committed in their 
 younger days to the care of Chrift ; and they 
 will carry their profeffion and their conver- 
 fation unfpotted with the world, through ten 
 thoufand friares attending fuch circumftances, 
 by the influence of fuch a faith. 
 
 If they fail under various and heavy af- 
 flictions in the feveral flages of their life, it 
 will be their perpetual relief, that all their 
 concerns are in the hands of a merciful and 
 a faithful High-Prieft, who himfelf has fuf- 
 fered in the fiefh, and knows how to pity 
 them that fuffer. When the tumults of for- 
 row gather together, and the waves rife high, 
 to diftracl: and overwhelm their fpirits, they 
 will find many an hour of fweet ferenity and 
 calmnefs, by having committed themfelves to 
 that Jefus, who can fay to the waves, Peace^ 
 and be jiill. 
 
 But this leads me to the next Inference. 
 
 IVth Remark. We may infer from this 
 Difcourfe, How well God has provided for 
 the fafety and comfort of believers. For their 
 fafety , becaufe he has let up and appointed a 
 perfon fo able to take care of their fouls; and 
 for their comfort, becaufe he gives them fuch 
 
224 $ (I ^h built ° H Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 a knowledge of him in his own word, and 
 by their own fpiritual obfervation. It is this 
 knowledge, this faith, and holy confidence, 
 in the pow r er and faithfulnefs of Chrift, that 
 prepares the foul for all accidents in the na- 
 tural and fpiritual life ; it is this gives the 
 Chriftian his fupport and comfort under every 
 ohange of circumftances; and makes him va- 
 liant, and ready to meet them all. 
 
 Shall we run through a few of thefe fea- 
 fons briefly? 
 
 In times of abounding error, when the gof- 
 pel of Chrift is corrupted, the believer gives 
 diligence to reading, that he may hold f aft the 
 form of found words ; he prays for the en- 
 lightening Spirit to confirm him in the truth; 
 but he rejoices in this, that his foul is in the 
 hands of Chrift, who w T ill not fuffer him to 
 be feduced into damnable herefies, but will 
 fecure him from every fatal miftake. 
 
 Under the violent temptations of Satan, it is 
 a fupport to the faint, that the powers of hell 
 are all led captive, and trodden under foot by 
 him who is the Guardian of his eternal wel- 
 fare: He knows that his Lord will five him 
 from the mouth of the lion; will deliver him 
 from every evil work) and will preferve him 
 to bis heavenly kingdom, 2 Tim. iv. 17. 
 
 Under a fenfe of frefid guilt, and fins of 
 daily infirmity, the Chriftian mourns bitterly 
 becaufe of his failings and follies, but hopes 
 for fecurity from ruining tranfgreffions, and 
 
 the 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 225 
 
 the unpardonable fin; becaufe the virtue of 
 the atonement in which he trufts is eternal: 
 Chrift has undertaken to preferve him from 
 final apoftafies, though the beft of faints are 
 not fecured here from the workings of fin. 
 
 And under thefe difcompofures of mind, and 
 the frequent vexations and uneafineffes in the 
 things of this life, that may ruffle their tem- 
 pers, had it not been for their acquaintance 
 with Chrift, they had been fometimes utterly 
 overcome; but how often have they retired 
 into their clofets, and left the tumult of their 
 thoughts behind them in the world, while 
 they went to converfe with him by prayer, 
 who had the care of their fpiritual concerns? 
 Or, at leaft, they have cried unto the Lord 
 becaufe of thofe uneafy companions ; have 
 fhook them off in his prefence with holy 
 anger, and returned into the world again 
 with ferenity in their countenance, and vic- 
 tory and peace in their fouls. This ftrength 
 they derive from their bleffed Lord, whom 
 they have chofen for their divine Guardian. 
 
 Under the iveaknefs of our graces, and the 
 inconflancy of our tempers, it is a matter of 
 relief to an humble faint, that the keeper of 
 his foul is companionate, and pities his frail- 
 ties ; is almighty, and will ftrengthen him 
 under his weakneffes ; is unchangeable, the 
 fame yeflerday, to-day, and for ever. The 
 lambs of his flock are weak, and cannot fol- 
 low him in feme rugged and difficult paths; 
 P then 
 
226 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X, 
 
 then he gathers the lambs with his arms, and 
 carries them in his bofom, Ifa. xl. 11. And 
 there are fome of the fheep of his fold that 
 are ready to ftraggle into forbidden ways, to 
 wander abroad, and lofe themfelves in the 
 wildernefs: But the Lord is their Shepherd, 
 he rejloreth their fouls, and leads them again 
 into the way of righteoufnefs , for his name's 
 fake, Pfal. xxiii. 3. 
 
 In an hour of ' defer t ion, when God has with- . 
 drawn his joys •, when the light of his counte- 
 nance is concealed, and darknefs lies upon the 
 fpirit, the believer holds fafl: his hope, though 
 his rejoicings are interrupted; for he has com- 
 mitted his foul to the care of Chrift, who has 
 full intereft with the Father, and can prevail 
 for the recovery of his joys again. While he 
 walks in darknefs, . and has no light of com- 
 fort, flill he can trufl in the name of the Lord, 
 and flay upon his God, Ifa. 1. 10. 
 
 Under ficknefs, and pains of nature, that 
 threaten a diffolution of the body, the pillow 
 of a believer lies eafy under his head; for 
 his foul, his deareft part, is in fafe keeping, 
 and cannot perifh. Amidft all the languifh- 
 ings of nature, we have often heard the tri- 
 umphs of grace from the mouth of a lively 
 Chriftian. " If I walk through the valley of 
 " thefhadow of death, I will fear no evil; for 
 " my Almighty Friend is with me, Pfal. xxiii. 
 "4. / know that if the tabernacle of this 
 " earthly houfe be diffolved, I have a building 
 
 °f 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 22 7 
 
 " of God, a houfe not made with hands, eternal 
 " in the heavens. There is a manfion above 
 " prepared for me by him, who has the care 
 " of my eternity. He went up on high, on 
 " purpofe to prepare a place, and he will come 
 " again, and take me to hmfelf; that where 
 " he is, there I may be alfo; if it were not fo, 
 " he woidd have told me; for I know whom 
 " / have trufed; and whither he is gone / 
 " know, and the way I know, 2 Cor. v. 1. 
 " John xk 2, 3, 4." 
 
 Upon this view and affurance, the dying 
 faint attempts the praifes of his Lord, and 
 practifes fomething like the worfhip of hea- 
 ven before-hand: To him that is able to keep 
 me from falling, and will prefent me faultlejs 
 before the prefence of his glory with exceeding 
 joy, be glory and ?najefly, dominion and power \ 
 both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24, 25. 
 
 Vth Remark. See whence arifeth the di- 
 vine and amazing courage that fome Chrijlians 
 have expreffed under the foule/l reproaches and 
 fiarpef fufferings for the fake of the go/pel. 
 This holy fortitude fp rings from a good ac- 
 quaintance with the perfon of Chriit, and a 
 full perfuafion of his ability to fave. When 
 we are ignorant, and in the dark, we are 
 afraid of every thing, but courage is the ef- 
 fect of light and knowledge. A faith that is 
 well-founded on a due knowledge of Chrift, 
 can raife the fuffering Chriftian above the 
 P 2 power 
 
22% Faith built on Knowledge, Dl s C. X. 
 
 power of fhame and fear. And I chufe to 
 make this Remark a diftincl: Head of dif- 
 courfe, becaufe it is the very occafion on 
 which the apoftle introduces the words of 
 my text. Chrijl has abolifocd death, ver. i o. 
 He has brought life and immortality to light by 
 the go/pel : This I am well acquainted with, 
 faith the apoftle; for this very perfon, even 
 Chrift, my Lord has appointed me a preacher 
 of this doctrine : For which caufe I alfo fuf- 
 
 fer. Nevertheless I am not ajhamed : For 
 
 I know whom I have believed; and I am per- 
 fuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto him againjl that day. 
 
 It is a point of folly for a man to expofc 
 himfelf to reproach, and pain, and death, 
 without any folid reafon, or juft hope of re- 
 compenfe. But St. Paul was no fool, when 
 he was ready to be bound and die for the 
 name of Chrift ; for he looked forward to 
 the laft great day, he faw his immortal in- 
 tereft fafe under the care of Chrift, whom 
 he had well known and trufted; and there- 
 fore he had good reafon to venture all on 
 earth for the fake of fuch a friend in heaven. 
 He faw the recompenfe fecure in the hands 
 of Chrift ; and therefore, (fays he) " / am 
 " not ajhamed of my fufferings, nor of my 
 " faith. Let my perfecutors deftroy this 
 <c flefh, but they cannot touch my foul; for 
 " it is in fafe hands : I know where I have 
 " trufted it. Let the Jews or the Romans 
 
 " kill 
 
Disc. X . Faith built on Knowledge. 2 z fj 
 
 <c loll this body, but it fhall be raifed up 
 " again at the great day, by his power, to 
 
 bom I have committed my all for here 
 " and for hereafter ; for he ib able to expel 
 " death from his polTeffions, and make the 
 " g^e reftore all its prifoners. I know his 
 <c power to fubdue all things to himfelf. Let 
 " them load me with fhame and reproaches 
 
 w 3 but I lhall look them in the face in 
 " that day with courage ; and they fhall 
 " tremble, and be confounded with everlaft- 
 M ing fhame. They may deprive me of a 
 " mortal life, and all that belongs to it; but 
 " they cannot rob me of a bleffed immorta- 
 " lity ; for the Lord of life hath taken charge 
 " of that important concern; and I am al- 
 u lured he is able to keep it. None can pluck 
 M me out of his hand : He will prefent me 
 M fafe before his Father in that day, and 
 " make it appear with divine evidence, that 
 " the light afflictions which 1 fujfer now are 
 u not worthy to be compared with the glory 
 " that is then to be revealed He puts me 
 a into the fame promife with himfelf; If I 
 " fufftr with him, I fhall alfo reign with him: 
 44 And his promifes are an eternal fecurity. 
 " I know whom I have believed" Thus you 
 iee what a glorious encouragement may be 
 alTurned from fuch an acquaintance with 
 Chrift, to endure the crofs, and defpife the 
 fhame, for the fake of Chrift and his gofpel. 
 
 P 3 I 
 
230 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 I grant there have been weak Chriftians of 
 lower degrees of knowledge, that have borne 
 fufferings and martyrdom with a courage be- 
 yond all expectation. There have been fome 
 babes in Chrift, that could not difpute for the 
 truth, yet they could die for it. But let it be 
 noted, that fuch perfons have had generally 
 but fmall advantage for improvement in 
 knowledge ; either they were young con- 
 verts, or had but mean natural parts, or a 
 poor education; yet a fincere zeal for their 
 Lord : And perhaps alfo they had a bright 
 and ftrong experimental knowledge of the 
 gofpel, by its fweet and fan&ifying influ- 
 ences. Now when fuch as thefe have been 
 called out by providence to bear a teftimony 
 to the truth, they have had a mouth and 
 ivifdom given them immediately from heaven, 
 "which all their advcrfaries have not been able 
 to gainfay^ nor rejijl: And this, according to 
 the promife made to the apoftles, in their in- 
 fancy of underftanding, Luke xxi. 1 5. They 
 have been upheld under their torments by the 
 arms of Chrift, and by his fenfible prefence: 
 Their divine fortitude hath been all infpira- 
 tion. But you that have fair and daily op- 
 portunities for a large acquaintance with the 
 gofpel, have no reafon to expect fuch miracles 
 for your affiftance in our day, if ye refufe 
 the appointed means of hearing, reading, 
 and meditation. 
 
 Take 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 231 
 
 Take this further advice alfo along with 
 you : While you are treafuring up truth y feek 
 after holinefs, and every grace. See to it, that 
 all the knowledge you gain by thefe methods 
 be wrought into your very fouls, and that 
 you experience the fandifying and comfort- 
 ing power of thefe truths on your confidences, 
 your paffions, and your lives. Divine truth, 
 thus turned into fpiritual nourifhment, gives 
 a vital ftrength for fervice and fuffering. 
 When you have the word of God in your 
 mouths, as the fword of the Spirit, Eph. vi. 
 14, &c. the breaf -plate of righteoufnefs to 
 cover your hearts, the hope of f ah at ion as a 
 helmet on your heads, and the fhield of faith 
 to ward off every dart ; you are then beft 
 furnilhed to refift unto death. 
 
 But I would here chide the ignorant and 
 the lazy Chriftian. What will you do when 
 ye mail be affaulted with the witty reproaches 
 of the Heathens of our age, thofe apoftates 
 from Chriftianity? When they fhall laugh at 
 you for a fool, becaufe you profefs to be a 
 believer, and they think they have reafon to 
 laugh, if you can give no reafon why you 
 believe ? What will you fay, when they mail 
 tell you the gofpel of Chrift is but a fable, 
 and endeavour to feoff you out of your faith? 
 When they fhall ridicule you for paying the 
 honours of a God to a poor man, that was 
 hanged upon a tree in Jerufalem, and hath 
 been dead and buried feventeen hundred years 
 P 4 ago? 
 
« 
 
 it 
 
 232 Faith built on Kno w ledge. Disc. X. 
 
 ago ? What will you fay, when they fhall afk 
 you, how you can imagine that this man was 
 the Son of God? Or the fcriptures are of di- 
 vine original ? Will you anlwer as a Papift 
 does, " I believe it becaufe the church be- 
 lieves it?" Or will you reply with the Turk, 
 I believe in Chrift (as the Turk doth in 
 Mahomet) becaufe the whole nation be- 
 " lieves?" Or will you give the anfwer of a 
 child, " I believe the Bible is the word of 
 " God, becaufe my mother told me fo?" But 
 how unworthy is this of a perfon that pro- 
 fefTes to be a Chriftian, and is grown to full 
 years of maturity ? How ridiculous is it for 
 a man to believe, and he knows not why? 
 A man that hath had a thoufand advantages 
 to get his faith well-grounded, and to learn 
 the reafon of the hope that is in him? 
 
 Befides, How will you be able to ftand in 
 fuch an hour of temptation? Perhaps you will 
 lofe your faith, and all your religion. A bold 
 jeft, or a fair fhew of argument, may make fo 
 deep an impreflion on a weak and unfurnifhed 
 mind, as to give a fudden inlet to the tempter; 
 and your foul may be filled with doubts and 
 fufpicions of Chriftianity : Then from one 
 degree of unbelief you may be led on to an- 
 other, till you have madejhipivreck of the faith 
 and a good confcience too. Thus you will part 
 with all your hopes of immortality and hea- 
 ven, for want of a well-grounded knowledge 
 of the perfon in whom you profefs to truft. 
 
 But 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 233 
 But further ; if perfecution mould grow 
 fharp, and days of torment and martyrdom 
 return again, how would you be able to relift 
 unto blood, and to bear the fiery trial, for the 
 fake of a Saviour that you have not much 
 acquaintance with? How could you hold out 
 in this conflict till the death, if you have but 
 little knowledge and little experience of that 
 gofpel which promifeth a crown of life? 
 Would fuch ignorance as your's is endure to 
 be plundered and banifhed ? To be fcourged 
 and buffeted ? To be fattened to the chains 
 of a galley-Have, or to die by lingering tor- 
 tures ? Do you think you could bear what 
 our neighbours and brethren in France have 
 endured upon the account of your faith, and 
 yet have no better reafon to give for it ? You 
 will make but a poor confeflbr or martyr, if 
 you can fay no more for Chriftianity than an 
 Heathen can fay for his national religion? If 
 you have no more to plead in defence of the 
 bleffed Jefus, than a native of Morocco hath 
 for his prophet Mahomet; a man of Ephefus 
 for his goddefs Diana; or a citizen of Athens 
 for his unknown God. 
 
 Attend therefore to the advice of the apo- 
 ftle Peter, ift epiftle, 3d chapter, ver. 14, 15. 
 c But and if ye fuffer for righteoufnefs fake,. 
 ' happy are ye ; and be not afraid of their 
 6 terror, neither be troubled ; but be ready 
 \ always to give an anfwer to every man that 
 * afketh you a reafon of the hope that is in 
 
 ' you 
 
234 Faith built on Knowledge, Disc. X. 
 1 you with meeknefs and fear :' And again 
 I would put you in mind how he concludes 
 his fecond epiftle, and what direction he 
 gives even to thole who had fome good 
 knowledge of Chriftianity ; that you may be 
 fecured from the growing apoftafy of the age. 
 Ver. 17, 1 8. c Ye, therefore, beloved, feeing 
 c ye know thefe things before, beware left ye 
 * alfo being led away with the error of the 
 ' wicked, fall from your own ftedfaftnefs : 
 c But grow in grace, and in the knowledge 
 4 of our Lord and Saviour Jefus ChrifV 
 
 Vlth Remark. This doctrine relieves our 
 
 forrows at the death of our pious relatives * ; 
 
 for we know to whom they had intrujled their 
 
 foids. We are in no pain or jealoufy about 
 
 their eternal itate ; for when they leave us 
 
 and this world, they have parted indeed with 
 
 their friends on earth, but it is to dwell with 
 
 a better friend: For this is the defign of our 
 
 Lord Jefus Chrift, and of his powerful prayer, 
 
 John xvii. 24. ' Father, I will that thofe 
 
 4 whom thou haft given me be with me 
 
 4 where I am, to behold my glory.' 
 
 And we fhould learn for the fame reafon 
 to be well pleafed with the time when Chrift 
 calls up to heaven thofe fouls that he has 
 taken care of; for he knows the propereft 
 
 hour, 
 
 * This Sermon was firft preached on occafion of the 
 death of a worthy member of our congregation. 
 
Disc. X. Faith built on Knowledge. 235 
 
 hour, when to difmifs them from flefh into 
 the in viable world. 
 
 If they are declining in their religion, and 
 beginning to wander away from God, we 
 may be ready to fay, " O that they may 
 " live till they are fully recovered again to 
 " the brightnefs of their former profeftion!" 
 But Chrift, who hath the care of them, calls 
 them now, left they run further away, and 
 fall into groffer fins ; he hides them from 
 temptations in the filent grave, and feizes 
 their fouls to himfelf in the wifeft and kindeft 
 moment. 
 
 If they grow more holy, more delightful, 
 and more lovely to all their friends, we are 
 ready to fay, " Now let them live long, to 
 " bring more glory to God, to pleafe, en- 
 " tertain, and profit us." But the voice of 
 Chrift, to whom they had committed their 
 fouls, may fay, " Now let them die, and quit 
 " the world with the faireft honour, that they 
 " may leave behind, amongft their friends 
 " and the churches, the fweeteft favour of all 
 " their converfation, and the moft precious 
 " memory of their names." 
 
 Are they taken away by fudden death ? 
 They know him who has the keys of death, 
 and they have committed the care of it to 
 him, to determine the time and the manner, 
 when and how they fhould be releafed from 
 this prifon of flefh, and be taken up to his 
 pwn bofom. Though they may be conveyed 
 
 with 
 
236 Faith built on Knowledge, Disc. X. 
 with a fort of furprife into the unfeen world, 
 yet it is but a feizure into the arms of their 
 heft Beloved, who is ready to receive and 
 conduct them to the Father in perfect righte- 
 ouinefs, with abounding joy. 
 
 Laft Remark. This doctrine leads us on to 
 a joyful and enterta'ming profpecl of the great 
 and lajl day; the day when Chrift fhall make 
 his faithfulnefs appear in all the trufts that 
 he ever undertook ; for then he fhall have 
 fulfilled them all, and fhall deliver up his 
 account to the Father. Then millions of 
 fouls, that were committed to his care in 
 fucceflive ages, and human bodies, an equal 
 number, that had long lain fleeping in the 
 grave under his eye, fhall be re-united, to 
 make complete and glorious perfons ; then 
 fhall all his faints at once appear, and give 
 honour and everlafting thanks to their faith- 
 ful and almighty Guardian, 
 
 Behold, he comes with clouds, and every eye 
 Jh all fee him ! He comes in his own glory, in 
 the glory of his Father, and with ail his holy 
 angels ! Behold, he comes exalted upon a 
 throne of judgment, where the Father hath 
 placed him to finifh his great commiflion, 
 and to pafs a decifive fentence upon all man- 
 kind. My faith defcries him afar off; I fee 
 his day, and I rejoice to fee it. He fhall 
 fummon all the nations before him ; and I 
 fhall appear there, I truft, at his right hand, 
 
 among 
 
Disc. X. Faith built m Knowledge. 237 
 
 among the bleffed. Then fhall he remember 
 and fulfil all the kind words that he hath 
 fpoken to me on earth, by his holy writings: 
 For in the days of my infirmity and warfare 
 on earth, 1 have not been afhamed of him before 
 men, nor will he be afhamed of me before his 
 Father, and his holy angels, Matt. x. 32. 
 
 " See, O Father, will the Lord Jefus fay, 
 " See, here am I, and the children that thou 
 " haf given me, Heb. ii. 13. While they were 
 " in the world I kept them, through thy name: 
 " Behold, there is not one of them lojl, John 
 " xvii. 12, 
 
 " Come," will the Lord fay to every hum- 
 ble believer, " come to my right hand, and 
 " ftand there among the faints : Behold, all 
 " is fafe that thou didft once intruft to my 
 " keeping: I know thy faith; I acknowledge 
 u thy love; I will now reward all thy hum- 
 " ble obedience with everlafting honours ; 
 " and thou fhalt confefs I have been a kind 
 " and a faithful Friend." 
 
 God the Father fhall fay to our Lord Jefus, 
 " Well done, my beft of fervants, my Son, 
 " my Firft-beloved ; thou haft kept all thofe 
 " whom I gave thee to keep, and brought 
 " them fafe into my prefence; they fhall be 
 " thy glory, and thy eternal crown." And 
 every faint fhall, as it were, echo to the voice 
 of the Father, and fay, " My Firft-beloved, 
 " my Lord, and my beft of friends, thou haft 
 " kept me through all the days of my infir- 
 
 " mitv 
 
238 Faith built on Knowledge. Disc. X. 
 
 " mity and flefh, ever fince I gave myfelf 
 " up to thy keeping; and thou haft brought 
 " me fafe to thy Father's houfe ; the glory 
 " and the crown be thine for ever!" 
 
 O the unknown tranfports of this hour ! 
 The unfpeakable joy and glory of this day ! 
 Faith is even aftonifhed at the delightful dis- 
 tant profpect, and longs till the Lord appear, 
 
s«S2§^ 
 
 DISCOURSE XL 
 
 The Ordinary Witnefs of the Spirit. 
 The Firft Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Rom. viii. 16. 
 
 The Spirit itf elf bear eth witnefs %mth our fpirit^ 
 that we are the children of God. 
 
 HERE is a facred honour and dignity 
 conferred upon men by a patent from 
 heaven : The patent is the fcripture, or word 
 of God, and the dignity is, that we are made 
 his children. Here are alfo two diftincl: wit- 
 ncjfes to this title of honour; [viz.) our own 
 fpirits, and the blefled Spirit of God : The 
 Spirit itf elf witnejfes with our fpirits, that we 
 are the children of the Moil High. 
 
 Everj& one that reads the text may plainly 
 difcern, that, by the Spirit itf If we mult un- 
 derftand the Holy Ghoft, or third perfon in 
 the ever bleffed Trinity, who is fent to dwell 
 
 and 
 
240 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 and operate in the hearts of Chriftians; as it 
 is exprefled in feveral of the foregoing verfes. 
 And it is as manifeft, that oar ownfpirit here 
 fignifies that principle within us, diftindt from 
 our fleih, whereby we are enabled to think, 
 reafon, compare things together, and to judge 
 concerning them. This is fometimes called 
 the mind, the heart, the conference, the foul ; 
 and it is termed our fpirit here in the words 
 before us. 
 
 The Spirit of God may fometimes operate 
 by himfelf alone, in a very extraordinary 
 manner, upon the fouls of men, and give 
 them immediate and divine aflurances of 
 their adoption and their intereft. in the love 
 of God, as his children: And this favour was 
 fometimes beftowed in the primitive days of 
 Chriftianity, when the faints were called in 
 an uncommon manner, to undertake fervices 
 of uncommon difficulty. But the words of 
 my text feem rather chiefly to refer to that 
 more ordinary and ufnal teflimony which the 
 Spirit of God gives to our fonfhip, by amll- 
 ing our own fpirit» to attain the knowledge * 
 of this privilege. 
 
 In order to improve thefe words, I fhall 
 endeavour 
 
 Ift, To lead your thoughts on in a few 
 Proportions, toward a plain and eafy notion 
 of this ordinary or amfting witnefs of the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 Ildly, 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit. 241 
 
 Ildly, Shew what methods the Holy Spirit 
 generally takes in this work. 
 
 Illdly, Propofe fome advices concerning 
 it. And then 
 
 IVthly, I mall give my thoughts alfo 
 concerning the extraordinary witnefs of the 
 Spirit, 
 
 Firft, I would open the way toward a 
 plain and eafy notion of this ordinary or afjijl- 
 ing witnefs of the Spirit of God with our own 
 fpirits, in a few Proportions. 
 
 I. Prop. God, in his word, has given us the 
 defcription and the characters of his children. 
 This is evident, and beyond difpute. Many 
 fcriptures there are that evince it. He has 
 told us what we are by nature; {viz.) Chil- 
 dren of wrath; and laid down the character 
 of finful man in an unregenerate ftate, who 
 are called the children of the devil. He has 
 acquainted us with what we are by grace ; 
 {viz.) His own children, born again, or born 
 of God; and has laid down various marks of 
 that privilege alio, that fo we might diftin- 
 guifh between good and evil, between faints 
 and finners. 
 
 The marks of the children of God in fcrip- 
 ture, are chiefly fuch as thefe. 
 
 1. They believe in Chrift Jefus. John L 
 
 12. To as many as received him, to them gave 
 
 he power to become the children of God; even to 
 
 as many as believed in his ?ia?ne. I John v. 1 . 
 
 Q» You 
 
242 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 You have the fame thing expreffed in other 
 words : Whofoever believes that Jefus is the 
 (thrifts is born of God: Whofoever lb believes 
 him to be the Meffiah, as to receive him for 
 a Saviour from fin and hell, according to his 
 commiffion to fave. 
 
 2. They are fuch as do not willingly in- 
 dulge fin, that do not make fin their pradice. 
 See 1 John iii. 9. He that is born of God fin- 
 mth not: He doth not drink in iniquity with 
 greedinefs, as others do; he has ftill a fettled 
 rooted averfion in his mind, to thofe finful 
 practices into which fometimes he is drawn 
 by the power or furprife of temptation ; for 
 he has the feed of God abiding in him, and the 
 divine likenefs and temper communicated to 
 him by regeneration, fo that he fins not with 
 a full bent of foul, nor with his whole heart, 
 as he loves God, and feeks him, nor with 
 conftancy and perfeverance, Pfal. cxix. 2, 
 10, 38, 44. 
 
 3. Such as love God, and keep his command- 
 mentSy they are the children of God : And 
 this you have frequently repeated in the ift 
 jepiftle of John. When a principle of divine 
 love reigns in the heart, we keep the com- 
 mands of our heavenly Father with delight, 
 and they are not an heavy talk or burden 
 to us: His commandments are not grievous , 
 1 John v. 3. 
 
 v 4. Juftice and charity toward men, and 
 ipecial affection toward our fellow-chrifti- 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit. 243 
 
 ans, are further evidences of our adoption, 
 1 John iii. 10. /;; this the children of God are 
 manlfeft) and the children of the devil: Whofo- 
 ever doth not right eoufnefs is not of God, neither 
 he that loveth not his brother. When our 
 righteous and friendly conduct toward our 
 fellow-creatures proceeds from a fenfe of the 
 authority of God, and his divine compaffion; 
 when our meeknefs, gentlenefs, goodnefs to 
 to all men, and our peculiar love to the faints 
 of God, fpring from a right principle; when 
 we love the brethren becaufe they carry the 
 image of God in them; thefe are fuch cha-* 
 rafters as diftinguifh the fons of God from 
 the children of wrath, and the feed of the 
 wicked one. 
 
 5. Peace-makers are entitled to this dig- 
 nity: Matt. v. 9. BleJJed are the peace-makers ', 
 
 for they fid all be called the children of God : 
 But he that fows difcord among brethren is 
 of the feed of the ferpent. 
 
 6. Sanctified afflictions, and patience under 
 them, is another mark of adoption. Heb. xii. 
 7. If ye endure chafiening, God dealeth with 
 you as with fons ; and he does this for our 
 profit, ver. 1 o. that we might be partakers of 
 his holinefs. If the forrows, the burdens, the 
 reproaches, the pains, the ficknefles, and the 
 fufFerings that we fuftain, either from the 
 hands of God or men, do not draw out our 
 angry difquieting paflions, but are borne with 
 a holy compofure of fpirit, looking to the 
 
 Q^2 hand 
 
244 ^ e Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 hand of God as our Father; and if we find 
 our hearts weaned from this life as to a ftate 
 of fin and forrow, and drawn nearer to hea- 
 ven, it is a comfortable fign that we belong 
 to the family of God. 
 
 7. They that gain a victory over the world, 
 and live above the reach of the frowns and 
 the fmiles of it, they are the children of God 
 too : The apoftle John aflures us of this, 
 I John v. 4. He that is born of God over- 
 cometh the world. 
 
 8. They are the children of God that walk 
 as Chrift walked, and live as Chrift lived : 
 They that follow the glorious example of the 
 original and firft-begotten Son, have the mark 
 of true children. Rom. viii, 29. God has 
 predef mated all his children to be conformed 
 to the image of his Son Chrift jfefus. 
 
 I might fum up all the foregoing evidences 
 of fonfhip in this general character of like- 
 nefs and conformity to our Redeemer : For 
 if we confult that text, 1 John v. 6. we 
 fhall find that the water and blood are the 
 two great teftimonies that are given to the 
 Son/hip of our Lord jfefus. This is he that 
 came by water and by blood. And as he was 
 manifefted to be the Son of God by the purity 
 of his life, and the blood of martyrdom, 
 which alfo was a blood of atonement, i'o are 
 we manifefted to be the children of God. 
 The blood is our witnefs, when we by faith 
 lay hold of the atoning blood of Jefus, and 
 
 commit 
 
Disc. XI. of the Spirit. 245 
 
 commit our guilty fouls to pardoning mercy, 
 to be accepted through that blood of his fa- 
 crifice. And when we are fprinkled with 
 the clean water of fandtification, or baptized 
 with the Holy Spirit and made holy, as Jefus 
 is holy, then we have the witnefs of the water 
 too. Thus, by the witnefs of the water and 
 the blood, Jefus the firft Son is evidenced, and 
 we alfo appear to be children. 
 
 II. Prop. As the word of God difcovers to 
 us, and defcribes the characters of his chil- 
 dren, fo the Spirit of God works thefe heavenly 
 difpofitions in ns, thefe happy characters of our 
 fonfip. By nature we are the children of 
 wrath, the mere feed of the firft Adam, and 
 the offspring of Satan, rather than of God ; 
 in our corrupt natural ftate, we are led by the 
 prince of the power of the air; we are children 
 of 'dif obedience, and of death, Eph. ii. 2. There 
 are none of thefe divine marks upon us. It is 
 the blelTed Spirit that forms thefe filial graces 
 in our fouls, lays the foundation of thefe evi- 
 dences in the heart with power, and makes 
 them appear in the life with beauty and 
 praife. Therefore the children of God are 
 laid to be born of the Spirit, John iii. 5, 6. 
 
 It is he that takes us out of the kingdom 
 of Satan, the family of death and hell, and 
 brings us into the family of God, and the 
 kingdom of his grace. It is he that, by his 
 divine influences, tranflates us from darknefs 
 Q^3 into 
 
246 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 into the kingdom of Chrift. It is he that 
 takes away all the wild and favage marks of 
 an unclean beaft from the foul, and gives it 
 the difpofition and the character of the frieep 
 of Jefus. It is the bleffed Spirit who, by his 
 fanctifying and renewing work, Ramps the 
 image of God on the foul, forms the features 
 and refemblance of the divine nature, and 
 imprints on the heart fuch gracious habits 
 and difpofitions as render it like to God. 
 Thus the child of God bears the Father's 
 likenefs, as the figures engraved on the feal 
 are copied out on the wax. And this fome 
 have called xhzfeal of the Holy Spirit , Eph. i. 
 13. and iv. 30. 
 
 And as the Spirit of God works thefe di- 
 vine principles of holinefs in the heart, fo 
 he is laid to be given to us, to dwell in us ; 
 /. e, to preferve thofe holy principles which 
 belong to the children and heirs of God : 
 And in this fenfe he may be called an earnejl 
 of their future inheritance, Eph. i. 14. 
 
 Bleffed are your fouls, who have the fore- 
 mentioned characters impreffed upon you. 
 Rejoice in your own happy ftate, and blefs 
 the Eternal Spirit, who has ftamped the like- 
 nefs of God upon you ; who has begotten you 
 again to a new life, by the power of the 
 word working effectually upon your hearts; 
 who has tranflated you from the houfehold 
 of fin and Satan, and made you the children 
 of the mojl high God. 
 
 Here 
 
Di s c. XI. vf the Spirit. 247 
 
 Here alfo we may remark, that in this we 
 bear a refemblance to Chrift Jefus, the only 
 begotten Son. It was by the defcent of this 
 Spirit on the bleffed Virgin, and by the over- 
 fjadowing power of the Moji High, that the 
 child Jefus was formed; and therefore, that 
 holy thing which was born of the Virgin, was 
 called the Son of God, Luke i. 35. 
 
 The refemblance holds yet farther : For 
 the Spirit was given to dwell in Chrijl with- 
 out meafure, to fan&ify his human nature, and 
 to work miracles, John iii. 34. By this 
 Spirit of hol'niefs he was alfo raifed from the 
 dead; and thus he was declared to be the Son 
 of God with power, as fome interpret that 
 text, Rom. i. 5. He was God's Firft-born, 
 before all worlds; and it is the fame Spirit 
 that dwells in him, the original Son, without 
 meafure, that is fent, according to our mea- 
 fure, to dwell in us alfo: It is the fame Spirit 
 that raifes us from a death in trefpaffes and 
 fins to a new life: It is the fame Spirit that is 
 given to fan&ify us, and to make us children. 
 
 Go on yet, and compare Rom. viii. 9, 1 1 , 
 14. with Heb. ii. 14. and you will find, as 
 he was pleafed in a way of condefcenfion to 
 take flefh and blood upon him, becaufe the 
 children were partakers offe/h and blood, that 
 he might be like them : Heb. ii. So he is 
 pleafed to give his own Spirit to men, that 
 they might be like him alfo: For he that has 
 not the Spirit of Chrijl is none of his, Rom. viii. 
 * Q^4 For 
 
248 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 For this reafon he is not afoamed to call them 
 brethren, children of one Father; for he par- 
 took of their flefh, and they partake of his 
 Spirit. 
 
 III. Prop. God has given to each of our fpi- 
 rits a power of reflecting upon our own hearts 
 and lives, whereby we become witnefles and 
 judges for or againjl ourfelves : And by this 
 power we pafs a judgment both concerning 
 our particular actions, concerning the temper 
 of our fpirits, and concerning out fate toward 
 God. 
 
 This power is fometimes called confeience. 
 It is a faculty whereby we compare our 
 words, our thoughts, and actions, with fome 
 rule ; and that rule is the law of God : And 
 hereby we judge concerning thefe particular 
 thoughts, words, and actions, whether they 
 are good or bad. But when we compare 
 the habitual frame and temper of our fpirits, 
 as well as the tranfactions and conduct of our 
 lives, with the plain defcription and cha- 
 racters of the children of God, that are given 
 us in his word; hereby we judge of our own 
 ftate, whether it be 2^. flat e of fin, or a fate of 
 grace. 
 
 This is that light that God has fet up in 
 men, by which they fhould pafs fentence in 
 their own cafe, with regard to their own pre- 
 fent conduct, and their future hopes. And 
 Solomon, for this reafon, calls the fpirit of 
 
 man 
 
Disc. XI. of the Spirit. 249 
 
 man the candle of the Lord, Prov. xx. 27. 
 The Heathens had this confcience in them, 
 and thofe broken pieces of the taw that were 
 written in their hearts, was the rule bv which 
 their confciences did either excufe or elfe accufe, 
 Rom. ii. 15. But we have a more certain 
 rule to judge ourfelves by, even the word of 
 God, the revelation of his mind and will, that 
 he has made in the Bible. Our confciences 
 mull judge according to this rule. We are 
 bid therefore to try, to judge, to examine our- 
 felves. 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Examine and prove 
 yourfelves. And 1 Cor. xi. 28. Let a man 
 examine himfelf This felf-examination is re- 
 quired as a neceflfary duty, in order to come 
 at the knowledge of our fonfhip, that our 
 fpirits may be able to bear a witnefs, that we 
 are the children of God. 
 
 Blefled are they who, upon fuch an inward 
 fearch and examination of themfelves, can 
 find fuch marks of his children. BlefTed are 
 we, if our own hearts condemn us not : Then 
 we may affure our hearts before Jefus our 
 Judge, and have confidence at his comi?ig, 
 1 John iii. 19. Happy is our Hate, if our 
 fpirits bear witnefs that we are the children 
 of God, by this inward and impartial reflec- 
 tion upon ourfelves, and the comparifon of 
 our hearts with this rule of judgment. 
 
 IV. Prop. Though God has given us this 
 power of reflecting and comparing ourfelves 
 
 with 
 
n$o The Ordinary Witncfs Disc. XL 
 
 with characters laid down in his word, yet 
 there is need of the ajjifing light of his Spirit 
 to fear ch with our fpirits, and to witnefs to his 
 own "work in our hearts. 
 
 We are too often ready to deceive ourfelves 
 in this matter two ways: (i.) In fome per- 
 sons pride and J elf -flattery are fo prevalent, 
 that they always think better of themfelves 
 than they deferve, and are ready to pronounce 
 themfelves the children of God y without juft 
 evidence and fufficient ground. (2.) Others, 
 who are humble and fincere Chriftians, have 
 their fpirits fo depreffed, either by a melan- 
 choly confiitution, by a natural fetf diffidence, 
 by weaknefs of body, or by heavy affliclions, 
 that they can fee nothing good in themfelves; 
 they cannot read any characters of divine 
 grace in their hearts, though grace mines vi- 
 sibly in their whole converfation, to the view 
 of their fellow-chriftians. 
 
 On thefe accounts, and fome others alfo, 
 we ftand in need of divine afliftance in this 
 work of fe 'If examination. And therefore it 
 is, that though we are commanded to fearch 
 ourfelves, yet we have the examples of faints 
 in the fcripture, that defire the Spirit of God 
 to fearch them too. With what zeal and 
 fervency doth holy David intreat that God 
 would fearch him. See Pfalm cxxxix. 23, 
 24. when he had been examining his own 
 heart in the two former verfes, he concludes, 
 Search me, Lord, and try ?tie. As we can- 
 not 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit, 251 
 
 not work grace in our own hearts, fo in an 
 hour of darknefs, we cannot clearly difcover 
 that grace that is there, to the full fatisfa&ion 
 of our confeiences, unlefs the fame Spirit that 
 wrought it is pleafed to reveal it to us by his 
 aflifting influences. It is by obfervations and 
 affiftances borrowed from the fun, that hour- 
 lines are drawn on a fun-dial, and they abide 
 there in the dark; but w r e cannot find what 
 hour of the day it is, unlefs the fun mines 
 upon thofe hour-lines: So grace in the heart 
 is wrought by the Holy Spirit, and it abides 
 ftill even in the darkeft night of temptation, 
 when once the Spirit of God has wrought it 
 there, it fhall never be quite loft ; for the feed 
 of God remains: but the foul cannot difcern 
 it clearly, fo as to take comfort from it in an 
 hour of darknefs; unlefs the Spirit, like the 
 fun, dart his beams of light into the foul, and 
 difcover his own work. Therefore, a great 
 writer of practical divinity, Mr. R. Allein, 
 expreiTes it, " As the Spirit feals us, by be- 
 " ing the mark of the Lord upon us, fo he 
 " witnefles, by being the light of the Lord 
 " within us, whereby we come to difcern the 
 " mark of the Lord upon us." As Hagar in 
 the wildernefs did not fee the fountain of wa- 
 ter, though it was near her, till God opened 
 her eyes, Gen. xxi. 19. So the fprings of 
 divine life and holinefs, which the Spirit of 
 God has raifed within our fouls, are fome- 
 times, as it were, hidden from the foul itfelf, 
 
 till 
 
252 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 till the Spirit fhew it to the believer, by af- 
 fifting his enquiring faculties, and fhedding 
 down a divine light. This leads me to 
 
 The fecond thing propofed : And that is, 
 To fhew the method by which the Spirit gene- 
 rally works in this ajjijling teflimony. 
 
 1 . He doth it by Jlirring up the foul to a 
 mojl diligent fearch, and making it unwearied 
 in this toil and labour of felf-examination. I 
 call it labour and toil y for by nature we are 
 very unwilling to be accurate, and ftrid:, and 
 juft, in the fearch of ourfelves. The Spirit 
 of God will hold us to it, when we find great 
 avernons and difinclination in our own hearts 
 to fuch a work. We, who have fo much fin, 
 are fometimes much afraid to look into the 
 bottom of our fouls, left we mould find no 
 fincerity there: It is the Spirit of truth there- 
 fore, that excites us to diligence in thefe holy 
 enquiries. 
 
 2. He gives us fometimes a fair opportunity 
 and occafion for the exercife offome grace in a 
 clear and dijlincl manner; and hereby aflifts 
 the witnefs of our fpirits. Perhaps by the 
 difcovery of the grace and glory of Chrift in 
 a fermon, he invites our faith, our love, our 
 holy joy, to appear: By a kind providence, 
 and fome new fignal mercy, he puts us in 
 mind of thankfulnefs : Or if our fouls have 
 lain long in a fecure carelefs frame, he leaves 
 us (it may be) under fome fpiritual affliction, 
 
 fome 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit, 253 
 
 fome terrible temptation, and awakens us to 
 thoughtfulnefs, repentance, holy mournings, 
 and longing defires after God. Thus the 
 characters of adoption appear in our hearts, 
 that before were covered over with the duft 
 of this world, and buried under the cares or 
 vanities of life. 
 
 3. It is the Spirit of God that inwardly 
 afjijls thefe holy principles, and frengthens 
 them in their exercife, when he hath given an 
 outward and providential occafion to awaken 
 them : For as he is the firft fpring of all the 
 powers of the new creature, fo he is a con- 
 ftant aflifting principle to promote their holy 
 exercife. He dwells in the faints for ever, 
 and is an everlafting fpring of their holinefs. 
 It is he that excites and manages the vital 
 motions of our fouls, and makes it appear by 
 holy exercifes, that we have fpiritual life in 
 us; otherwife the providential occafion and 
 opportunity for the exercife of fuch a grace 
 might be given, and pafs away, and be loft, 
 while the foul itfelf lies fluggifh, negligent, 
 and inactive, if the Holy Spirit did not fet 
 it on work: For we are ?iot of ourf elves fiiffi- 
 cient even to think or do any thing truly good, 
 2 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
 4. The Spirit of God fometimes ajfifts this 
 witnejjing work, by bringing fome word of 
 
 fcripture into the mind, wherein the character 
 of a child of God is defcribed, agreeable to fome 
 holy difpofition which we find working in our 
 
 own 
 
254 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 own hearts: And this makes the matter clear, 
 plain, and evident to the confcience. Though 
 this be not a conftant method with God, yet 
 furely the experience of many Chriftians can 
 fubicribe to the truth of it, when they have 
 been fearching their own hearts, to find what 
 grace is there, fome proper fentence of fcrip- 
 ture has been brought to their minds, where- 
 in they have, as in a giafs, beheld their own 
 face, beheld the likenefs of the children of 
 God in their own fouls; and then they have 
 been conftrained to pronounce with holy joy 
 concerning themfelves, Surely I am a child of 
 God. 
 
 Nor is it at all hard to fuppofe, that God's 
 Holy Spirit mould caft a happy fentence of 
 his own word into our minds, or bring it to 
 our remembrance, in order to evidence our 
 adoption, when it is generally granted the 
 evil fpirit may have fuch acceis to our minds 
 by the organs of the brain, or the fancy, as 
 to fuggeft to our thoughts profane, impure, 
 malicious, or blafphemous fpeeches, or to 
 tempt us to prelumption or defpair. 
 
 5. It might be added, in the lad place, 
 that the difcerning faculty of the foul is enabled 
 to a El aright by the Spirit of God y and kept 
 from all dangerous mijlakes and felfdeccivings 
 in this work of examination. Hereby he 
 makes it appear, that fuch a principle of 
 faith, or love, or repentance, which we find 
 working within us, is true evangelical re- 
 pentance, 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit. 25c 
 
 pentance, is fincere love, and faith unfeigned ; 
 and that it is indeed God's own work in the 
 heart: And thus he puts an end to our doubt- 
 ful fears about the truth of grace. 
 
 Thefe things feem to me fo plain and in- 
 telligible in themfelves, and fo correfpondent 
 with thofe divine aids of the Holy Spirit 
 which are promifed to the children of God 
 in all their ferious and religious exercifes, 
 and without which we can do nothing that 
 is truly good, that I truft it will be eafily 
 underftood, and readily received, by thofe 
 who are much converfant in tranfading their 
 moft important affairs with God, according 
 to the light of fcripture. 
 
 The fubftance of this testimony of the 
 Spirit to our adoption may be represented, in 
 fhort, after this manner: The Spirit of God 
 in his w r ord has defcribed the marks and 
 characters of his children; and, by his gra- 
 cious influence, he works thefe holy diipo- 
 fitions, thefe characters in our hearts : God 
 has given us a confcience, which is a faculty 
 of comparing ourfelves w T ith the rule of his 
 word, and judging accordingly : The Spirit 
 of God, by his power, and by his providence, 
 awakens thefe holy difpofitions into lively 
 exercife : He aflifis our enquiring and our 
 judging faculties, helps us to compare our 
 own fouls with his word, and thus confirms 
 our own fpirits in the belief of this Propo- 
 fition, that we are the children of God. This 
 
 is 
 
256 The Ordinary Witncfs Disc. XL 
 
 is the more common and ordinary way and 
 method, whereby God is pleafed to give the 
 comforts of adoption to his people. 
 
 It is the remark of a judicious writer on 
 this iubject, " That as on the one hand 
 " wicked men are fometimes convinced in 
 " their own confciences that they are chil- 
 " dren of wrath, and further confirmed in 
 " this perfuafion by that evil fpirit who la- 
 " bours from hence to drive and hurry them 
 " on to defpair; fo, on the other hand, when 
 " the hearts of believers fpeak peace to them, 
 " telling them, that God is their Father^ re- 
 iC conciled to them in Chrift, and the Holy 
 " Spirit faith the fame alfo, then they have 
 " perfect peace." 
 
 That the Spirit of God may thus concur 
 with the inward confcioufnefs and teftimony 
 of our own fpirits, in fo important a matter 
 as our love to God, and his love to us, is 
 very eafy to be fuppofed, when the apoftle 
 fpeaks of this concurring witnefs of the Spirit 
 of God to his own confcioufnefs, and his 
 fincere love of his countrymen, when he 
 fays, Rom. ix. 1. My confcience alfo bearing 
 me witnefs in the Holy Gboji. There is no- 
 thing in all this account of things but what 
 is perfectly agreeable to the word of God, 
 and to the rational actings of created minds, 
 under the happy influences of the uncreated 
 
 Spirit. 
 
 The 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit. 257 
 
 The third thing propofed was, To give a 
 few advices relating to this ordinary witnefs of 
 the Spirit of God concurring with our Jpirits. 
 
 1. Satisfy not yourf elves with one fight ex- 
 amination, but renew the work frequently, and 
 
 fearch whether you find the fame marks and 
 evidences of adoption remaining in you or no. 
 Do not content yourfelf to run the whole 
 courfe of life with one or two folemn ex- 
 aminations of your* own hearts, when God 
 firft began to work religion in you, but en- 
 quire and fee whether your principles of 
 grace abide in the fame brightnefs, evidence, 
 and activity, as in time paft. Perhaps by 
 this means you may difcern a fenfible growth 
 in grace and you may find abundant advan- 
 tage, worth all the care and labour of felf- 
 examination ; or, if you find decays and 
 backflidings, it will awaken repentance and 
 zeal toward a recovery. 
 
 2. /;/ this fe arching work keep aloof from 
 carnal fe If love. When you call yourfelves 
 to an account, fet yourfelves before the bar 
 of your ov/n confciences, as before the bar 
 of God; for confcience is a judge for God 
 within us. Pafs an impartial fentence con- 
 cerning yourfelves, even fuch as you fuppofe 
 God himfelf would pafs, if you were now 
 fummoned before his tribunal. Suffer not 
 yourfelves now to be biafled by the efteem or 
 the fondnefs that we all have naturally for 
 ourfelves. The matter is too important, the 
 
 R enquiry 
 
258 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XL 
 
 enquiry too folemn and awful, for you to 
 indulge J elf-flattery. It will be no profit to 
 deceive your fouls in this work, for you can- 
 not deceive God. Come therefore and apply 
 yourfelves to this holy exercife, with an un- 
 biafTed defign to pronounce concerning your- 
 felves whatever you find the w r ord of God 
 pronounces concerning you. 
 
 3. Trujl not merely to your own fpirits> 
 'without earneft prayer for the afjiflance of the 
 Spirit of God. Jer. xvii.9. The heart is de- 
 ceitful above all things : Who can know it ? 
 Therefore David prays importunately, as we 
 have before obferved, that God would fearch 
 him and try him, Pfal. exxxix. 23, 24. Beg 
 of the Lord that he would not fufFer you to 
 be deceived, when you fet about this fearch- 
 ing work ; for it is a matter of mo ft high 
 concern. A miftake here is dangerous, and 
 it may be for ever fatal. 
 
 4. When you find any characler of adoption 
 made to appear with flrong evidence upon your 
 fouls , be not utterly difcouraged, though you do 
 not find all the characlers of grace there. 
 
 It is true indeed, where there is a new 
 nature and a divine principle wrought in 
 the heart, there are the feeds of every holy 
 difpofition; but they do not all ariie to an 
 equal ftrength, nor ftand forth and fhine 
 with equal evidence. The Spirit of God 
 may fometimes witnefs with your fpirits, 
 though but one mark of adoption appear 
 
 plainly, 
 
Disc. XI. of the Spirit. 259 
 
 plainly, while others are not fo eafily dif- 
 covered. A Tingle bough of the tree of life 
 has upheld fouls from drowning in defpair, 
 when they could but lay hold of that one 
 bough. Many a Chriftian, under great dif- 
 ficulties, inward tumults, doubts, and dark- 
 neiTes of fpirit, have been enabled to hold on 
 their way by living upon fome one plain 
 fcripture, and rinding the fenfe of it tran- 
 fcrioed into their own hearts. Some one 
 evidence of tr^ie faith, or holy love, of re- 
 pentance, or heavenly-mindednefs, has been 
 fet in fuch a divine light before them, that 
 they could not well miftake ; and this has 
 borne up their hope in an hour of tempta- 
 tion. But I muft add 
 
 5, Though you ought to blefs God for any 
 mark of his children in your hearts , yet you 
 ught not to content yourfelf with one mark r 
 fince the fcripture has given us many. The 
 faculties of our nature are various, and they 
 have their various operations : The paffions 
 or affections of our fouls are many, and fome 
 of them are frequently in exercife : Now all 
 the paffions and faculties of nature, with all 
 their operations, mould be conformable to 
 the rule of the word of God ; and when 
 it is fo, there appears a variety of marks of 
 the children of God upon us, even as many 
 as there are powers or paffions belonging to 
 our fouls. Whether it be love, it is love to 
 God, and the children of God; for they are 
 R 2 born 
 
260 The Ordinary Witnefs Disc. XI. 
 
 born of the fame Father: Whether it be 
 hatred, it is hatred to fin, and to all that dif- 
 pleafes God: If it be delight, it is a delight 
 in heavenly things, and in holy ordinances: 
 If it be dejire, it is a defire after God, after 
 a fenfe of his love, a greater acquaintance 
 with him, a more exact conformity to him, 
 and a breathing after the heavenly Hate, 
 where we fhall never fin againft him. Thus 
 fmce the feveral powers and principles in 
 our nature being fanctified, yield us feveral 
 diftinct evidences of adoption, let us not be 
 contented with one of them, but prefs for- 
 ward toward a ftronger hope of our fonfhip. 
 Let us labour and pray that all the fprings 
 of action within us, being fanctified by the 
 Holy Spirit, may yield the fruits of holinefs, 
 may fhine bright in a way of evidence, and 
 raife our hope to full affurance. 
 
 6. When you have found any comfortable 
 and folid hopes of your adoption, by the 
 Holy Spirit witnefling in this rational way 
 with your fpirits, that you are the children 
 of God, walk in the chearful fenfe of it con- 
 tinually; go on in the way of holinefs, re- 
 joicing in the Lord. This was one end why 
 Chrift has given us the characters of his dif- 
 ciples in fcripture, that when we find them 
 in our own hearts we might rejoice. This 
 was part of the defign of his farcwcll-fermon 
 to his apoftles, wherein fome of thefe cha- 
 racters are defcribed. See John xv. 1 1. Thefe 
 
 things 
 
Disc. XL of the Spirit. 261 
 
 things have I fpoken unto you, that my joy 
 might remain in you, and that your joy might 
 be full. The blefled Spirit \ in the fame dif- 
 courfe, is promifed as a Comforter^ and we 
 ought to walk in the light of his confolations. 
 It is the moft evangelical and the moft con- 
 straining method of his grace, when he car- 
 ries on his fanclifying work by the influence 
 of peace and joy; and it is one of the glories 
 of a Chriftian, that the joy of the Lord is his 
 Jlrength, to fulfil all the duties of righte- 
 oufnefs. 
 
 R3 
 
DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 The Extraordinary Witnefs of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 The Second Part of this Sermon. 
 
 Rom. viii. 16. 
 
 The Spirit itfelf beareth witnefs with ourfpirity 
 that we are the children of God. 
 
 IT is great and divine condefcenfion, that 
 the blefled God fhould ever take any of 
 the children of wrath, and make them the 
 children of his love: But he condefcends yet 
 farther, when he fends down his own Spirit 
 to give us notice of our adoption, and to ac- 
 quaint us with our high and holy privilege. 
 
 The common and ordinary method where- 
 by the Spirit of God bears witnefs that we 
 are his children, is by drawing out our own 
 fpirits to fearch and enquire into the filial 
 and holy difpofitions which he himfelf has 
 wrought in our hearts, and by affifting our 
 
 confciences 
 
Disc. XII. The Extraordinary Witnefs, &c. 263 
 
 confciences in this enquiry. Thus by his 
 gentle, eafy, and infenfible influences upon 
 our fouls, he leads us on in a rational manner 
 to infer and conclude, that we are born of 
 God, becaufe we find the image of God 
 impreffed on us, and thofe divine qualities 
 wrought in us, which belong only to his 
 children. This has been the fubjecT: of the 
 foregoing Difcourfe. 
 
 I proceed now to confider the extraordi- 
 f/ary wit?iefs of the Holy Spirit, when in a 
 more immediate * and more fenfible manner 
 he raifes in the hearts of fome of his fpecial 
 favourites a powerful and a pleafant fenfe of 
 their intereft in the love of God. 
 
 This extraordinary voitncfs may be diftin- 
 guifhed into two kinds. 
 
 1. It may imply fome very uncommon 
 and powerful confirmation of the ordinary 
 and rational witnefs, by moft fenfible im- 
 preffions of divine love on the heart, by 
 which it is raifed to holy raptures, to hea- 
 venly joy and affurance. Perhaps the apo- 
 ftle Peter may have fome refpecl: to this, 
 1 Pet. i. 8. where, fpeaking of Chrift, he 
 adds, Whom having not feen, ye love; in whom, 
 though now ye fee him not, yet believing, ye 
 R 4 rejoice 
 
 * Note, By the word immediate here I do riot mean 
 without ordinances, fuch as prayer, meditation, &c/ 
 but rather fudden and fpeedy. 
 
2 64 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 rejoice with joy unfpeakable, and full of glory. 
 Here it is fuppofed in the text, that the per- 
 fons to whom he writes were confcious of 
 their own faith in an unfeen Saviour, and 
 their love to him ; and thence they could 
 infer that they were accepted of God : But 
 without fome peculiar and more uncommon 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, they could 
 hardly be faid to arife to fuch joy as was ////- 
 fpeakable and full of glory \ or glorified joy, 
 as the Greek text exprefles it, x«p x mxI**^*, 
 a-kin to that which the faints poffefs in the 
 glorified ftate. 
 
 2. There is yet another fort of extraordi- 
 nary witnefs of the Spirit; and that is, when 
 in an immediate and powerful manner the 
 Holy Spirit imprefles the foul with an af- 
 furance of divine love, and gives the heart of 
 a faint fuch a full difcovery of his adoption 
 or intereft in the favour of God, without the 
 more flow and argumentative method of 
 comparing the difpofitions of their fouls with 
 fome fpecial characters of the children of God 
 in fcripture. The Spirit of God may witnefs 
 in an extraordinary manner to our adoption, 
 by an inward experimental fenfe of the love 
 of God fhed abroad in the heart, afluring 
 fome of his favourites that they are the fons 
 or daughters of God, without any particular 
 examination of the heart at that time, or any 
 prefent reflections on the characters of adop- 
 tion defcribed in the Bible. 
 
 I 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 265 
 
 I confefs the feveral ads of the mind of 
 man, even the reafoning and argumentative 
 acls of the foul, are fo quick and fudden, and 
 the fenfible joy that may arife from them 
 follows in fo fwift and clofe a fucceffion, that 
 it is fometimes very hard to diftinguifh and 
 define the bounds and limits of the feveral 
 actions, perceptions, and impreffions on the 
 mind. On this account I mall not be folici- 
 tous to keep up the diftinction between thefe 
 two kinds of the extraordinary witnefs of the 
 Spirit, but fhall only fpeak of them in gene- 
 ral, as diftinguifhed from the ordinary wit- 
 nefs of the Spirit, by the more immediate 
 fenfations of- divine love, that are imprefled 
 through the peculiar favour of God on the 
 fouls of fome of his children. 
 
 I am very fenfible that, in our prefent age, 
 the Spirit of God is fo much withdrawn from 
 the Chriftian church in all his operations, that 
 a man expofes himfelf to the cenfure of wild 
 enthafiafm^ and a heated fancy, if he ventures 
 to difcourfe at all on fuch a theme as this: 
 But as I am perfuaded thefe things were fre- 
 quent matter of Chriftian experience in the 
 primitive days of the gofpel, and in fcenes of 
 fharp perfecution, fo I am fatisfied that God 
 has not utterly with-held his divine favours 
 of this kind from his churches and his chil- 
 dren, for fixteen hundred years together; and 
 I hope I fhall make it appear, that a fuppo- 
 fition of this extraordinary witnefs of the 
 
 Spirit 
 
266 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 Spirit may be maintained, without giving a 
 loofe to all the roving dreams of a diftempered 
 brain, or to the bold prefumptions of weak 
 and conceited men, or falfe and deceitful 
 impoftors. 
 
 The method of my Difcourfe is this. 
 
 Ift, I will offer fome very probable proofs 
 that there has been, and is, fuch a thing as 
 the extraordinary witnefs of the Spirit of God, 
 
 Ildly, I fhall mention a few of the fpecial 
 feafons or occafions of fuch a divine favour. 
 
 II Idly, Shew how it may be d'iflinguijhed 
 from delufwns of Satan, and from the mere 
 ferments and vivacity of animal nature, or a 
 difordered fancy. 
 
 I Vthly, Reprefent fome other characters of 
 it, and fhew wherein it differs from the ordi- 
 nary witnefs of the Spirit. And then 
 
 Vthly, Conclude with a, few Direclions re- 
 lating to it. 
 
 Ift, Let me offer fome proofs that there is 
 fuch an extraordinary witnefs of the Spirit. 
 Now that this is not the language of wild 
 enthufialm, or a mere fantaftic notion of 
 the brain, will appear from thefe few Con- 
 fiderations. 
 
 I. Coif i 'deration. The great God, the Fa- 
 ther of lpirits, can reveal a truth to the mind 
 of his creature, with fuch life, and power, and 
 evidence, that the mind cannot diffent from 
 
 it, 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 267 
 
 it, or refufe to believe it; the overpowering 
 light may be fo divine and convincing, that 
 the creature may be fully and juftly perfuaded 
 it is a divine truth. Thofe who believe the 
 prophets and apoftles divinely infpired, can 
 have no reafonable doubt about this propo- 
 sition. 
 
 II. Confideration. It has pleafed the great 
 and bleffed God to give fuch immediate af- 
 furances of his own love to fome of his fa- 
 vourites of old, by vifions and voices, and 
 the meffage of angels, and by inward im- 
 preffions on their minds by his own Spirit. 
 Thus Abraham was affured that God was his 
 God) and would be his exceeding great reward \ 
 Gen. xv. 1 7. Thus concerning Mofes, it was 
 made known that he was the friend of God^ 
 Exod. xxxiii. 1 1. Thus Daniel was often in- 
 formed that he w T as a man greatly beloved ^ 
 Dan. ix. 23. and x. 11,19. Mary Magdalene, 
 and fome others, who converfed with Chrift 
 when he was here on earth, had a particular 
 alTurance that their fins were forgiven them. 
 Paul was affured that he was a chofen veffel. 
 And indeed, all the apoftles had fufficient 
 evidence of their acceptance with God, and 
 their intereft in the love of Chrift, by the 
 extraordinary communications of the Holy 
 Ghoft. It is the opinion of a late ingenious 
 writer, that not only the apoftles themfelves, 
 but even all the primitive Chriftians that were 
 truly converted by their miniftry, received 
 
 thefe 
 
268 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 thefe extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghoft 
 in forne degree; which did not only witnefs 
 to the Chrijlian religion, but to the comfort 
 of thofe who had it, with the aflurance of 
 God's pardon and acceptance. (See Mifcella- 
 nea Sacra, Efay i. p. 1 17, 126, 134.) 
 
 III. Confederation. There is no evidence 
 from reafon or fcripture, that all fuch imme- 
 diate divine favours are ceafed; and though 
 there is not the fame occafion for the fre- 
 quency of them as there was in the beginning 
 of Chriftianity, yet the Spirit of God is a free 
 and unconfmed agent; and fince it is plain 
 from fcripture, that he doth ftill dwell in 
 his people, and carry on his divine work 
 among the churches of Chrift in all ages, to 
 the end of the world, why may he not fome- 
 times difcover his power and grace in an ex- 
 traordinary manner, above and beyond his 
 ordinary and ufual operations? 
 
 IV. Confederation. Some fpecial feafons and 
 occafions may arife, and indeed have arifen, 
 wherein the bleffed Spirit of God has thought 
 it proper, vaftly to exceed the meafures and 
 rules of his ordinary operations, in the ex- 
 ercife of his offices of illumination and fanc- 
 tification? And why may it not be allowed in 
 his confolations alfo? 
 
 (1.) There may be fome reafon for ex- 
 traordinary acts of his illumination; as when 
 perfons are not able to read the holy fcrip- 
 tures, or when the Bible is withheld from 
 
 them, 
 
Disc. XIL of the Spirit. 269 
 
 them, and when they have enjoyed but very 
 poor and infufficient miniftrations of the gof- 
 pel; the bleffed Spirit may fometimes fhine 
 into humble fouls with fome uncommon rays 
 of divine truth, and they may enjoy more 
 fenfible teachings of the Holy Spirit: Or 
 fometimes a perfon of low parts, and weak 
 underftanding, may have been illuminated in 
 the knowledge of fome fcripturai do&rine, 
 beyond what the mere exercifes of their own 
 feeble reafon upon fcripture would have at- 
 tained to in fo fhort a time: And perhaps 
 fome Chriftians of better capacities may have 
 enjoyed this favour alfo. Luther, that extra- 
 ordinary fervant of God in the Reformation, 
 is faid to have oftentimes learned more of the 
 gofpel on his knees in prayer, than in his la- 
 borious ftudies. 
 
 (2.) There may be, and there have been, 
 inftances of an extraordinary work of fan&i- 
 fication. To what glorious degrees of piety, 
 virtue, and true holinefs, have fome perfons 
 been raifed in a very fhort time? A moft 
 aftonifhing change has been wrought in their 
 fouls, and a fwift preparation for heaven, be- 
 yond what appears in the ordinary work of 
 the Spirit, by the rational or perfuafive in- 
 fluence of outward ordinances. 
 
 And fince the Spirit of God appears fome- 
 times, for the honour of his own grace, to be 
 an extraordinary Enligbtener and Sanclifier; 
 
 Why 
 
270 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 Why may he not be an extraordinary Com- 
 forter alio? 
 
 V. Confederation. If we can credit the ac- 
 counts which have been given by holy men 
 in later ages, and fome of which are recorded 
 in the memoirs of their lives, we muft confefs 
 that there have been inftances and experiences 
 of moil fublime and extraordinary confola- 
 tions of the blefted Spirit beftowed on them ; 
 fuch as, upon the moft rational furvey of 
 things according to fcripture, we cannot but 
 conclude to have been truly divine. 
 
 It would take up many whole pages to cite 
 fuch inftances as we find upon record, in the 
 lives of particular perfons. Many fuch may 
 be found in the late Mr. Fleming's fulfilling 
 of the fcripturcs, efpecially in Scotland. I 
 thall mention one only, and it mail be a moft 
 uncontefted example, in our land in England, 
 even in our own day; the example of a per- 
 ion whole folid fenfe, whofe deep fagacity, 
 whofe fedate judgment, and the fuperior ex- 
 cellence of his reafoning powers, leave no 
 room to charge him with vain and delufive 
 raptures of a heated imagination. The name 
 is the late venerable Mr. John Howe. The 
 name commands refpe£t, and confirms the 
 narrative. He wrote the following paragraphs 
 in the blank leaf of his own Bible. 
 
 " December 26th 1689. After that I had 
 tc long, ferioufly, and repeatedly thought with 
 " myfelf, that, befides a full and undoubted 
 
 " affent 
 
Disc. XII; of the Spirit. 271 
 
 " affent to the obje&s of faith, a vivifying fa- 
 " voury tafte and r.elifh of them was alfo ne- 
 u ceffary that with ftronger force, and more 
 u powerful energy, they might penetrate into 
 " the moft inward center of my heart, and 
 " there being moft deeply fixed and rooted, 
 " govern my life ; and that there could be no 
 " other fure ground whereon to conclude and 
 " pafs a found judgment, on my good eftate 
 " Godward; and after I had, in my courfe of 
 " preaching, been largely infifting on 2 Cor. 
 " i. 12. This is my rejoicing , the tcjiimony of a 
 " good confcience^ &c. this very morning I 
 " awoke out of a moft ravifhing and delight- 
 u ful dream, that a wonderful and copious 
 " ftream of celeftial rays, from the lofty 
 " throng of the divine Majefty, did feem to 
 " dart into my open and expanded breaft. I 
 " have often fince, with great complacency, 
 " reflected on that very fignal pledge of fpe- 
 " cial divine favour, vouchfafed to me on that 
 " noted memorable day; and have with re- 
 " peated frefh pleafure, tafted the delights 
 " thereof." 
 
 u But what of the fame kind I fenfibly 
 " felt through the admirable bounty of my 
 " God, and the moft pleafant comforting in- 
 " fluence of the Holy Spirit, on October 22. 
 u 1704. far furpaffed the moft expreffive 
 u words my thoughts can fuggeft. I then 
 u experienced an inexpreffibly pleafant melt- 
 " ing of heart, tears gufhing out of mine eyes 
 
 for 
 
272 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 " for joy that God fhould flied abroad his 
 " love abundantly through the hearts of men; 
 " and that, for this very purpofe, mine own 
 cc heart mould be fo fignally pofTeffed of and 
 " by his bleffed Spirit, Rom. v. 5." 
 
 Befides this inftance of fo fedate, fo ra- 
 tional, and fo judicious a perfon, there have 
 been many others of our pious fathers in 
 England, but efpecially, as I faid before, in 
 the church of Scotland, have enjoyed fuch 
 divine vifits, and given very fenfible evidence 
 that the Holy Spirit is not utterly withdrawn 
 from men, even as to his extraordinary in- 
 fluences. , 
 
 If any thing could be added to this tefti- 
 mony of Mr. Howe, it mould be the inftance 
 of Mr. Flavel, the famous practical divine in 
 the weft of England, who, in his treatife of 
 the foul of man, gives us this account of him- 
 felf, but with his name concealed: " That, 
 " in a journey on horfeback, he fell into a 
 cc divine meditation, wherein he had fuch 
 " tokens of the love of God, and his intereft 
 " in the divine favour, manifefted to him, 
 " that greatly furpafled all the rational and in- 
 " ferential evidences that ever he had; though 
 " he was known to be a clofe walker with 
 " God, and an eminent faint, and a lively 
 " preacher of the bleffed gofpel of Chrift." 
 
 VI. Conf deration. There have been feveral 
 learned and judicious divines, who have de- 
 clared their firm belief of fuch extraordinary 
 
 manifeftations 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 273 
 
 manifeftations and witneffings of the bleffed 
 Spirit: which belief lias rifen from their ac- 
 quaintance with the fcriptures, and their ob- 
 fervations of the dealings of God with the 
 fpirits of his people, in fome uncommon 
 cafes, though they have not profeffed any 
 fuch experiences of their own. So the wor- 
 thy and pious Mr. Caryll, on Job x. The 
 Spirit brings in the witnefs of the water, and 
 the blood, which is his mediate work. But 
 beiides and above thefe, he fometimes gives 
 a diitincl witnefs of his own, which is his 
 immediate work; and is, in a way of pe- 
 culiarity and tranfeendency, called the witnefs 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 The learned and venerable Dr. Owen, in 
 his Treatlfe of communion with God, p. 293. 
 faith, " There are two ways whereby the 
 " Spirit worketh this joy in the heart of be- 
 " lievers. (1.) He doth it immediately by 
 " himfelf, without the confideration of any 
 " other acts or works of his, or the interpo- 
 " fition of any reaibnings, or dedu&ions, and 
 " conclufions. This does not arife from our 
 " reflex confideration of the love of God, but 
 " rather gives occafion thereunto. He fo 
 " fheds abroad the love of God in our hearts, 
 " and fills them with gladnefs by an immedi- 
 <c ate acl: and operation. Of this joy there is 
 " no account to be given, but that the Spirit 
 " worketh it when and how he will: He fe- 
 " cretly infufeth and diflils it into the foul, 
 
 S " prevailing 
 
2 74 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XIL 
 " prevailing againft all fears and forrows, 
 " tilling it with gladnefs, exultations, and 
 " fometimes with unfpeakable raptures of the 
 " mind." To this the Doctor adds, 
 
 (2.) " The Spirit works this joy alfo me- 
 " diately by his other works towards us, £ffV. 
 " Thefe are after the common or ordinary 
 
 " manner." 
 
 That great and evangelical divine, Dr. 
 Goodwin, in Vol. iv. Part 2. p. 95, 96. de- 
 clares, u That, befides the teftimony of the 
 " water and the blood, that is, faith in the 
 " death of Chrift and ian&ification, there is 
 " a third teftimony, and that is the Holy 
 " Ghoft himfelfj which is immediate; that 
 " is, though it backs and confirms what the 
 " other two faid, yet it quotes them not, 
 " builds not his teftimony on them, but raifes 
 " the heart to fee its adoption and fonfhip, 
 " by an immediate difcovery of God's mind 
 " and love." And a little after he adds, 
 " This witnefs is not a teftimony fetched 
 " out of a man's felf, or the common work of 
 " the Spirit in man, as the others were, but 
 " he fpeaks from himfelf: As when the broad 
 " feal is put to by a king, he writes tejle me- 
 " ipfo; fo doth the Spirit fpeak in the lan- 
 " g ua g e °f a ^ m g? tl fl e meipfoi witnefs myielf ; 
 " and receives and borrows no witnefs from 
 " what is in us, but makes his own abundantly 
 " fatisfy." 
 
 The late pious and judicious expofitor of 
 
 fcripture, 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 275 
 
 fcripture, Mr. Samuel Clark, has written in 
 the defence of this extraordinary witnefs of 
 the Spirit, and delcribes it thus: " When 
 " the Spirit of God, without confideration 
 " of, or reflecting upon, any of thofe gracious 
 " qualifications he has formerly wrought in 
 " the foul, does, by his own immediate power, 
 " imprint this perfuafion upon the heart, 
 " Thou art a child of God) and by an inward 
 " and fecret, yet powerful voice, doth fay to 
 " the foul, Thou art a believer, thy fins are 
 "pardoned, or to that purpofe; and fo fatis- 
 " fies the foul concerning its ftate and con- 
 " dition." 
 
 I proceed, in the fecond place , to confider 
 the fpecial feafons and occafions wherein fuch 
 favours have been beftowed on men. 
 
 1. The Spirit of God has, in a more im- 
 mediate manner, made extraordinary impref- 
 fions of the love of God on the foul, when 
 perfdns have been called to great and difficult 
 fervices in the church, or to uncommon fuffer- 
 ings for the fake of Chrift. St. Paul was in 
 labours more abundant, and in faffierings above 
 meafurc, beyond the reft of the apoftles; he 
 had need of eminent fupport: He was affured 
 by a vifion, that he was a chofen veffel: He 
 was taken into heaven before-hand, and had 
 a fight and tafte of unfeen future glories, to 
 encourage his zeal and patience, 2 Cor. xii. 
 And if we read the hiftory of the martyrs, 
 S 2 even 
 
2j6 The Extraordinary Witncfs Disc. XII. 
 
 even in later as well as in ancient times, we 
 can hardly forbear to believe this truth, when 
 they have exulted under a fenfe of divine 
 love, in the midft of racks and flames. 
 
 2. When the temptations of fome humble- 
 fouls have been extraordinary ', and their af- 
 flictions above meafure, prefling and over- 
 whelming; when the hurry and tumult of 
 their fpirits hath net fuffered them to recol- 
 lect in a calm and rational way, the evidences 
 of their adoption, the Spirit of God may fee 
 fit to give a faint fuch a divine cordial to keep 
 him from finking. When a Chriftian has 
 been long contefting with doubts and dark- 
 nefles, and been opprefied with many fears, 
 the blefled Spirit has fometimes let a Hidden 
 light into the heart, and with or without 
 fome word of fcripture, has given furpriiing 
 confolation. Mr. S. Clark tells us of a mini- 
 fter, who having been under a fpirit of bon- 
 dage many years, and now even ready to die 
 in that condition, when Rom. viii. was be- 
 gun to be read to him, a little before his laft 
 gafp, flopping at ver. I. " There is therefore 
 ' now no condemnation to them that are in 
 c Chrift Jefus, who walk not after the flefh, 
 ' but after the Spirit:' Stay, laid he, I never 
 faw fo mu eh in thofe words in all my days, 
 though I have read them often, as I fee now. 
 This feems to be an inftance of the Hidden 
 and extraordinary influence of the Holy Spi- 
 rit in his enlightening grace, as well as his 
 
 witnefling 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 277 
 
 witneffing and comforting power. This has 
 been the cafe of fome holy fouls in their dying 
 hours, or when juft departing from the body, 
 they have, as it were, entered into the world 
 of fight before they have left this world of 
 fenie, and flefh, and blood ; or rather, heaven 
 itfelf hath entered into their fpirits. 
 
 3. When Chriftians of the firft rank of 
 piety have been warmly engaged in mofl lively 
 acls of devotion, in fervent and holy prayer, 
 and they have been brought near to heaven 
 in the frame of their fpirits, they have had a 
 divine foretafte of the joys of the upper 
 world, and an affurance given them of their 
 own intereft therein. Daniel had been en- 
 gaged in fervent and zealous interceffion for 
 the church of God, when a heavenly meflen- 
 ger was fent to acquaint him, that he was a 
 man greatly beloved, Dan. ix. 
 
 Or 4. Perhaps the Spirit of God may think 
 it neceffary to uphold fome poor weak Chrif- 
 tians of the loweft rank of underftanding, 
 by fome immediate impreflions of the love 
 of God, when he fees that their love to God 
 is great and fiacere, but they are fo unfkilled 
 in the exercifes of their rational powers, that 
 they hardly know how to compare their hearts 
 with the icripture, and pafs a determinate 
 judgment on themfelves. Such weak crea- 
 tures, it may be, could never come to any 
 fettled hope or peace, without fuch divine 
 condefcenlions; and efpecially if they are 
 S 3 under 
 
278 The Extraordina ry Witnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 under fome fpecial temptation, which gives 
 a confufion or darknefs to their thoughts. 
 
 Thomas was but a weak believer ; he knew 
 not how to build his faith of a rifen Saviour 
 on what Chrift. himfelf had foretold, or on 
 the teftimony of his brethren, which were 
 fufficiently juft, and rational foundations for 
 his faith: Therefore, in great condefcenlion 
 to his weaknefs, Chrift appeared to him, and 
 fhewed him the print of the nails in his hands, 
 and the wound of the fpear in his fide: Upon 
 which difcovery, Thomas cries out with joy, 
 My Lord, and my God! 
 
 It is poffible that other occafions may arife 
 in. the courfe of divine providence, wherein 
 the great and gracious God may fee it necef- 
 fary to beftow fuch peculiar and extraordinary 
 favours on fome of his people; but there 
 feems to have been fufficient evidence already 
 given, that fome of the wife and the learned, 
 as well as fome of the weaker rank of Chrif- 
 tians, have had heavenly experience of this 
 uncommon witnefs of the Spirit. 
 
 The third thing I propofed, was to fhew 
 how thefe extraordinary favours of heaven may 
 be diflinguifhed from the delnfwns of Satan, and 
 from the mere ferments and fits of vivacity 
 in animal nature, or a difordered fancy. 
 
 It has been faid indeed, though perhaps 
 too rafhly, that they who go about to aflert 
 an immediate teftimony, will never fecure 
 the foul from delufion: Satan will foon find 
 
 artifices 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 279 
 
 artifices to counterfeit this teftimony, and 
 bear witnefs in the Spirit's ftead ; and when 
 we think we have the Spirit of truth to alTure 
 us, we fhall have the father of lies to deceive 
 us. 
 
 But if Chriftians are careful and watchful 
 in this matter, there are figns whereby the 
 teftimony of the Spirit may be diftinguifhed 
 from his delufions. 
 
 Some divines have fuppofed this teftimony 
 of the Spirit to be known as the fun is, by 
 its own light; and a man who hath feen the 
 fun, can never miftake the moon for it; the 
 very glory of the fun manifefts itfelf, and 
 convinces every beholder. And perhaps in 
 the ancient infpiration of the prophets, and 
 the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the days of the 
 apoftles, there was a divine felf-diftinguiih- 
 ing light that accompanied thefe heavenly 
 favours, which we know not how to judge 
 of at this diftance of time; we who never 
 have experienced what divine infpiration is. 
 
 But the fureft way of our difcerning the 
 extraordinary witneffings or joys of the Holy 
 Spirit, is by the effects; which are fuch as 
 thefe. 
 
 I. // Jills the foul with great degrees of 
 humility and felf-abafment^ under a fe?ife of 
 its own vilenefs, guilty and unworthinefs ; as 
 holy Job, when he faw God in fome more 
 uncommon manifeftations of his power and 
 glory, he abhorred himfelf in dnf and ajhes, 
 S 4 Job 
 
1 8 o The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. X II . 
 
 Job xlii. 4, 5. So Ifaiah, when he had beheld 
 the Lord fitting upon a throne, high, and 
 lifted up, Wo is me, faith he, / am a man of 
 unclean lips, Ifa. vi. 1, Esff. But vain delu- 
 fions puff up the foul with an high conceit of 
 itfelf; as Simon Magus, when, by the power 
 of the devil, he performed foine ftrange feats, 
 he gave out that he was fome great pcrfon, 
 Acts viii. 9, 10. Many other inftances of the 
 like kind might be produced out of the hiito- 
 ries of the Chriftian church. 
 
 II. By this teftimony of the Spirit the foul 
 is led to a more fenfible dependence on divine 
 grace, having an inward and effectual con- 
 viction how dark and weak it is in itfelf, and 
 how powerful is the grace of God, and the 
 operation of the Spirit: it makes the foul run 
 to the protection and fuccour of almighty 
 grace; whereas vain delufions of the fancy, 
 or temptations of the devil, rather lead the 
 foul away from divine grace, and incline it 
 to a fort of felf-fufficiency and dependence 
 upon its own attainments, its own light, and 
 its own ftrength. 
 
 III. The witnefs of the Spirit does more 
 e/labli/h the foul in the great doclrines of the 
 gofpel, and particularly in faith on Chr'ift Jcfus. 
 Many of thefe immediate teftimonies of old 
 were given to the primitive Chriftians with 
 this defign, to confirm them in the doctrines 
 of grace, and in the faith of Chrift -Jefus. 
 When St. Paul was tranfported into the third 
 
 heaven, 
 
D i s c . XII. of the Spirit. 2 8 1 
 
 heaven, 1 Cor. xii. and had doubtlefs an un- 
 common manifeftation of the love of God; 
 as foon as the next danger and trial appeared, 
 he befought the Lord importunately , and could 
 not be fatislied till he received this anfwer 
 from Chrift; my grace is fufficient for tbee % 
 1 Cor. xii. He was weak in himfelf, but 
 ftrong in Chrift. But, on the other hand, it 
 has been evident too often, when the devil 
 has endeavoured to delude weak creatures in 
 this refpect, he has drawn them off from 
 Chrift, or filled their imaginations with forrie 
 ftrange errors, and led them away into falle 
 and fooliih opinions, contrary to the doctrines 
 of the gofpel. The blefled Spirit will perform 
 his office when he becomes a Comforter, he 
 will be an Advocate for Chrift, (for lb the 
 word paracletos alfo fignifies;) he will take 
 of the things of Chrift, and f dew them to the 
 foul; he will guide his people into the fame 
 truths to which he witneffed fo glorioufly in 
 the primitive times; and will confirm believ- 
 ers in the faith of the holy fcriptures, John 
 xvi. 13, 14. 
 
 IV. The witnefs of the Spirit draws out 
 the heart to fome fpecial degrees of love to 
 God, and engages it in warm and lively thankf 
 givings for fuch div'me and undeferved favours : 
 The foul admires the rich grace and good- 
 nefs of God in Chrift Jefus. Thence will 
 arife an utter averfion to all fin, an hatred 
 of every thing that is difpleafing to God, a 
 
 powerful 
 
282 The Extra or 'dinar yWitnefs Disc. XII. 
 
 powerful fcnfe of indwelling corruption, a 
 watchful care to pleafe God in every thing, 
 and to make fome humble returns of love 
 for fuch ineftimable favour?, and divine ma- 
 nifeilations; whereas the warm preemptions 
 of fancy, or the delufions of the devil, leave 
 the foul in a more carelefs and unholv frame: 
 or, at leaft, they are oftentimes attended, or 
 quickly folio wed, by fome powerful temp- 
 tation to grofs iniquity; which the deluded 
 foul too often and too eafily complies with: 
 And there have been many inftances, wherein 
 perfons under the powder of vain delufions 
 from the devil, have been drawn away to the 
 practice of various forts of crimes, and par- 
 ticularly to foul and fcandalous fins. 
 
 In the laft place, I might add alfo, in ge- 
 neral, that though the Spirit of God may 
 witnefs in an extraordinary manner to our 
 adoption, when the foul cannot plainly fee, 
 or does not actually and plainly recoiled: the 
 characters of adoption in itfelf; yet it never 
 leaves the foul without awakening the exercife 
 of fuch graces as are indeed the Jure marks 
 and evidences of the children of God: Where 
 the Spirit comes, it will bring fome of its own 
 fruits with it, in a fenfible manner. Now 
 the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace \ 
 long-fuffering, gentlenefs, goodnefs, faith, meek- 
 nefs, temperance, Gal. v. 22. If we are com- 
 forted by the Spirit, we fall crucify theflefh, 
 <with its affections and lujls, and endeavour to 
 
 walk 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 283 
 
 walk and live as becomes the fbns and daugh- 
 ters of fuch a Father as God is. 
 
 Upon the whole, I conclude, that it does 
 not ieem to be agreeable to the wifdom and 
 providence of God, in the government of the 
 world, to fuffer the devil ib exaclly to coun- 
 terfeit the works of his own Spirit, as to 
 leave no marks or evidences w T hereby to di- 
 ftinguifh them from the tmpoftures of Satan. 
 Truth and hoiinefs are the objects of the 
 devil's hatred; and though he may trans- 
 form himfeif in fome particulars into an angel 
 of light, yet he brings along with him fome 
 peculiar evil badge, whereby he may be 
 known or diftinguifhed : And if Chriilians 
 w r ill be fincere and honeft, watchful and dili- 
 gent, to examine not only the prefent impref- 
 fions, but the fucceeding effects of fuch fort of 
 affurances of their adoption, together with 
 earneft prayer to be kept from all delufions, 
 I can hardly think that God will fuffer his 
 own people to be impofed upon in a matter 
 of fo facred importance. 
 
 The fourth thing I propofed, was to men- 
 tion briefly fome characters of this extraordi- 
 nary witnefs of the Spirit, wherein it differs 
 from the ordinary witnefs. 
 
 1. The extraordinary teftimony of our 
 
 adoption is a more fenfible and froug impref- 
 
 fion upon the foul; which feems to be difin- 
 
 guijhed in itfelf from the morefozv, fuccefjive, 
 
 and 
 
2 8 4 The Extraordinary Witnefs D I s c . XII. 
 
 and rational operations of the human faculties. 
 The fpirit of a Chriftian, fearching out his 
 own mtereft in the love of God, exercifes his 
 reafoning powers, lays down thefe propor- 
 tions: He that believes ' in Chrijl, or he that 
 loveih God, is a child of God. Again, / be- 
 lieve in Ckrifl, or I love God; and then it in- 
 fers this ccnclifwn; Therefore 1 am one of his 
 children. Now the Spirit of God, in his or- 
 dinary and ufual influences, does fo gently, 
 lb fecretly, and in fuch a con-natural manner, 
 affift thefe operations of the foul, that it 
 feems to be all our own work; and the in- 
 fluences of the Spirit are feldom feniibly di- 
 ftinguifhed from the operations of our own 
 faculties; and we learn, that we have the 
 affi (lance of the Holy Spirit herein, rather 
 by the doctrine of fcripture, and by its fanc- 
 tifying effects, than by any powerful fenfa- 
 tions of a fuperior influence on our fouls: 
 But in the extraordinary witnefs the cafe is 
 otherwife; for the fuperior and external in- 
 fluence appears ftrong and fenfible. The 
 Holy Spirit iinpreffes the conclufion, or the 
 afiurance of our adoption, with power upon 
 the foul, without any iucceflive deduction of 
 it from any foregoing propofitions, fets it in 
 a bright light, and perfuades the foul to be- 
 lieve it. 
 
 2. This extraordinary witnefs is ufually 
 
 Jljort and fudden, the other is more durable; 
 
 this is only a cordial to encourage us in an 
 
 hour 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 285 
 
 hour of clanger, or fupport us in a faint- 
 ing feafon; the other is our common food, 
 and our daily refreshment. It has been faid 
 of this favour, it is rara bora, brevis mora: 
 A vifit feldom beftowed, and of fhon con- 
 tinuance. 
 
 3. The ordinary witnefs of the Spirit of 
 God with our fpirits, proving our regenera- 
 tion and adoption in a rational way, may 
 in fome me af tire be made out to others; but the 
 extraordinary witnefs of the Spirit is like the 
 white fone of abfolution, and the new name 
 written in it; Rev. ii. 1 7. which none knows 
 but he that receives it. It is like hidden manna, 
 with which God, at fpecial feafons, may feed 
 his children in fecret. 
 
 4. The extraordinary witnefs of the Spirit 
 fills the foul with great and exceeding joy, and 
 
 brings it, as it were, within the confines of hea- 
 ven: It is joy unfpeakable, and glorified, as 
 the apoftle Peter calls it: The other main- 
 tains the foul in fuch a degree of peace, 
 comfort, and well-grounded hope, as carries 
 the Chriftian onward through the difficulties 
 and duties of life, though without fuch rap- 
 tures of inward joy. There is an unknown 
 fenfation of heavenly light and love, which 
 runs through the fpirit of a Chriftian, under 
 fuch extraordinary affurances of divine love; 
 and it has been with a faint at fuch a time as 
 it was with Peter in the mount, when he 
 faid, Lord, it is good for us to be here. When 
 
 he 
 
288 The Extraordinary Witnefs D I S C . XII. 
 
 he was overwhelmed with revelation and 
 pleafure, fiich a foul has felt more than feebly 
 nature was able to bear, and has cried out, 
 It is enough, Lord; or, // is too much for a 
 fate offltjh and blood, Lord: Either tvithhold 
 thy comforts, or enlarge the vcfel; for I cannot 
 bear thefe joys. 
 
 5. This extraordinary witnefs of the Spirit 
 doth not belong to every faint. Many a 
 Chrifiian, it may be, paffes the whole courfe of 
 his life, and pratlifes a regular faith and buli- 
 nefs for many years, without this excefs of joy , 
 this affurance of God's love. Believers are ge- 
 nerally led on in a rational way of evidence 
 and hope; and walking in the paths of holi- 
 nefs, having good hope through grace, hold 
 faft an humble confidence unto the end. 
 The extraordinary witnefs is exceeding rare 
 and uncommon, at leaft in our days. 
 
 I proceed now to finifh this Difcourfe, by 
 c E&ring to your thoughts a few advices con- 
 cerning thefe witneffings of the Spirit of God, 
 both in his ordinary and extraordinary ways. 
 1. Though you have never felt any fuch 
 immediate influences of the Spirit of God, 
 giving you an extraordinary affurance of your 
 intereft in his love, yet have a care of ridi- 
 . culing and reproaching thefe peculiar and un- 
 common operations of the Holy Spirit: Take 
 heed of pronouncing them all at once the delu- 
 fons of the devil, the vifions of an heated 
 fancy, or vain and idle dreams. It is certain 
 
 that 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 287 
 
 that God has beftowed fome fuch favours on 
 men in the primitive days of Chriflianity. 
 It is certain alfo, that there is no place of 
 fcripture that declares, that thefe influences 
 are utterly ceafed, or that God will beftow 
 no more fuch divine favours. It is certain 
 yet further, that wife, and judicious, and 
 holy men, have had very extraordinary im- 
 prefhons of this kind made on their fouls, fo 
 that they were almoft conftrained to believe 
 that they were divine; and the effects of thefe 
 impreiTions have been holy and glorious: We 
 mould fet a guard therefore on our hearts 
 and our tongues, left we.caft a reproach and 
 fcandal on fuch iacred appearances, which 
 the Spirit of God will hereafter acknowledge 
 to have been his own work. 
 
 2. Let not humble Cbriftians* who 'walk 
 with God according to the ordinary methods 
 of his grace, be difcotiraged, though they have 
 never found this extraordinary witnefs of the 
 Spirit, nor tafed of thefe peculiar favours. 
 Value the evident marks and characters of 
 the children of God, wrought in your hearts, 
 more than ecftafies of joy and pleafure. Va- 
 lue mortification to fin more than raptures; 
 for mortification is a certain fign that the 
 Spirit of God dwells in us, and that we are 
 heirs of life. Rom. viii. 13. 'If you by the 
 * Spirit mortify the deeds of the flefh, you 
 4 ihall live.' Heaven is the place of complete 
 joy; heaven is the ftate where fight and fenfe 
 
 (hall 
 
288 The Extraordinary Witnefs Disc. XII« 
 
 fhall be exercifed; but we are here ordained 
 to live by faith, 2 Cor. v. 7. We may have 
 the affifting prefence of the Spirit of adop- 
 tion, and by that Spirit may fay unto God, 
 Abba, Father, without the extraordinary wit- 
 nefiing of that good Spirit. 
 
 3. Dare not to believe any fudden raptures to 
 proceed from this extraordinary teflimony of the 
 Holy Spirit, unlefs you find fome confiderable 
 meafure of thoie fan&ifying effects of them 
 which I have defcribed. I have granted that, 
 in particular feafons of trial, when the natu- 
 ral fpirits fink and fail, and temptations are 
 exceeding ftrong, God may give this imme- 
 diate teftimony, on purpofe to bear up the 
 foul from finking; yet we fhould not dare to 
 truft fuch fort of vehement impreffions, and 
 pronounce them divine, if we neither find 
 any of the plain fcriptural marks of the chil- 
 dren of God upon us, before or after thefe 
 impreflions. There is great danger of de- 
 pending upon fuch raptures, if they leave no 
 evident and lading effects of fan&ification 
 behind them. Where the Spirit mines with 
 fuch a divine light, he will warm the heart 
 with uncommon love, and the foul rauft be 
 confcious of fome fuch rational evidence of 
 adoption, fuch a love to God in the heart, 
 as will effectually prove that God has firft 
 loved us. 
 
 Perhaps this is one reafon why fome Chrif- 
 tians fall under fo many doubts and fears, 
 
 becaufe 
 
Disc. XII. of the Spirit. 289 
 
 becaufe they live more upon their inward 
 ienfations of joy, their traniports of pleafure 
 in religion, which they call the extraordinary 
 witnefs of the Spirit, than they do upon the 
 characters of the children of God, which 
 mould be written in their hearts, and by 
 which they mould endeavour to fearch out 
 and to evidence their intereft in the favour 
 of God. 
 
 4. Let every believer walk humbly before 
 God, in all the paths of holinefs. Take heed 
 left at an y time you rejift the Blejfed Spirit in 
 his fanclifying influences, left he withdraw your 
 comforts of every kind. Be not deceived, for 
 the Spirit of God will not be trifled with. 
 \iyoufow to thefleflj, after you have received 
 any of the witneffings of the Spirit, you may 
 expecl to reap defertions, forrow, pains, and 
 long mourning. Keep a confeience tender, 
 and afraid of every fin ; grieve not the Holy 
 Spirit of God, whereby ye are fealed to the 
 day of redemption, Eph. iv. 
 
 5. Wait on God in all his holy ordinances^ 
 and wait for the manifeftations of his love. It 
 is in a regular attendance on the public and 
 private duties of religion, that we may hope 
 to meet with the witnefling Spirit; there the 
 principles of grace are wont to be awakened, 
 and called forth into lively exercife ; and 
 where your love to God your Father, and 
 to Jefus your Saviour, is excited, and your 
 fouls exert themfelves as becomes the chil- 
 
 T dren 
 
290 The Extraordinary Witnefs, &c. D 1 S c . XIL 
 
 dren of God, you have moll reafon to expert 
 the prefence of the Holy Spirit, to bear wit- 
 nefs to your adoption, and to your interefts 
 in his love. He will never beftow confola- 
 tions of an ordinary or extraordinary kind, 
 where there is a wilful neglect of the duties 
 he has prefcribed. Frequent the ferviccs of 
 his holy temple, the out-goings of God our King 
 are in his fancluary. His power and glory, 
 his grace and kindnefs, are made vifible in 
 hivS houfe. There has he promifed his own 
 prefence; and where his prefence is, he often 
 brings with him the witneffing Spirit, 
 
iuiij3r^jj^£*<6<rfi. 
 
 A N 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 POWERS and CONTESTS 
 
 O F 
 
 FLESH and SPIRIT. 
 
 ^wv^m^J^R 
 
=55^L5SLJ^*w 
 
 THE 
 
 POWERS and CONTESTS 
 
 O F 
 
 FLESH and SPIRIT. 
 
 A N 
 
 ESSAY. 
 
 IT is agreed by all the more fober and 
 thinking part of the world, that man is a 
 compounded creature; and it is made evident 
 from this plain and eafy obfervaticn, [viz.) 
 that he puts forth hourly fuch different kinds 
 of action as one fimpie being could never 
 perform. Flejlo and fpirit are the two ingre- 
 dients that go to the compofition; yet they 
 keep their own natures ftill diftind:, un- 
 mingled, and unconfounded. By the Jlejh 
 T 3 we 
 
294 ^ e Powers and Contejls 
 
 we eat, drink, walk, and fleep, and are a-kin 
 
 to brute animals ; by the fpirit we think, 
 
 know, and chufe, and hold kindred with 
 
 angels. 
 
 It appears to every careful obferver, that 
 each of thefe parts of the man have their 
 particular and diftincl: natures, qualities, and 
 operations. 
 
 Thefe/h, or body, includes in it the limbs, 
 blood, and breath, with all the grofler and 
 finer materials, folid or fluid; that make up 
 the animal ; it has many inward ferments 
 and appetites of its own; it has feveral vifi- 
 ble, as well as hidden motions ; and it re- 
 ceives various impreflions, made by outward 
 objects of fenfe, which are proper to itielf, 
 and in which the fpirit has no fhare. 
 
 On the other hand, the foul or fpirit in- 
 cludes the underftanding and will, which are 
 its chief powers: It has its thoughts and con- 
 ceptions, its judgments and reafonings, its 
 acts of choice, averfion, and defire, in great 
 variety; which are peculiarly its own, and 
 belong not to the flefo. 
 
 But while we dwell in this prefent world, 
 there is fuch a near and fpecial union be- 
 tween foul and body, that there are very few 
 operations or affections of the mind, which 
 do not receive a fenfible turn or influence 
 from the qualities and ferments, the im- 
 preflions, powers, and paflions, of feflo and 
 blood. 
 
 Sometimes 
 
of FleJId and Spirit. 1 95 
 
 Sometimes thefe animal motions attend or 
 follow the ads or exercifes of the mind, and 
 yet even then they increafe them in many 
 cafes: So when the foul is afhamed, the blood 
 fluihes in the face, and the fhame is doubled; 
 whtn the fplrtt is angry, the cheeks kindle, 
 or grow pale, and the inward wrath burns 
 fiercer. So in a fit of fear, the blood retires, 
 the flefh trembles, the natural fpirits flutter, 
 or fmk into faintnefs, and the foul is more 
 terrified and overwhelmed. 
 
 At oiher times thefe inward ferments of 
 the juices of the body are entirely beforehand 
 with the foul; thefe motions or impreflions 
 of the fe/h, and fenfe, and animal nature, 
 may firft awaken, and then maintain the 
 anger, or fear, or love, or other affections of 
 the mind. s 
 
 Thus moft of the actions of man in this 
 prefent ftate are of a mixed nature, wherein 
 both flefb and fpir it concur, and each per- 
 form their feveral parts; though in fuch a 
 manner, that, in many cafes, it is hard to 
 fay how far the fe/Jj and how far the fpirit 
 have their diftindl fhares of influence. Yet 
 there is one excellent and unfailing rule to 
 judge of this matter, if we could but always 
 apply it right; and that is, Whatfoever know- 
 ledge, confent, or choice, is in any aclion, belongs 
 to the mind ; and what implies mere matter, 
 fape, or propter motion, mmft be attributed to 
 the body. 
 
 T 4 Thefe 
 
296 The Powers and Contefts 
 
 Thefe appetites and affections of human 
 nature, which are the mingled operations of 
 flefn and fplrit, are either lawful, facred, or 
 finful; and they are properly and formally fo 
 called, partly according to the different ob- 
 jects of them, and partly according to their 
 various degrees, or fome other circumftances 
 of time or place, that may attend them; as 
 will be made evident by fuch instances as 
 thefe. Thus it will appear, that the fame 
 action or paffion may be determined to be 
 lawful, facred, or finful, if it be exercifed 
 toward different objects, or in different de- 
 grees. Thus it is lawful to be hungry and 
 thrrfly, and to defire proper food, bread and 
 wine ; and to defire, with faith and holy 
 affections, to eat the bread and drink the 
 wine at the Lord's fupper, is a facred action. 
 But to covet that meat or drink, that bread, 
 or that wine, which belongs to another man, 
 is finful ; for it is a violation of the tenth 
 command, and becomes a tranfgreffion. So 
 to fear the great God, or to love him, is a 
 facred affection. To fear a robber, or a roar- 
 ing lion, or to love my houfe, or my fervant, 
 are very lawful affections: But if my love or 
 my fear of any creature exceeds my fear or 
 my love of God my Creator, it becomes 
 hereby finful. It is lawful, or rather it is 
 religious and holy, to be angry^ to hate, and 
 to be af darned, when fin is the object of thefe 
 paflions ; but to be afloamed of virtue and 
 
 religion, 
 
of Fief 3 and Spirit. 297 
 
 religion, where I am called to profefs them, 
 or to bate my neighbour, or even mine ene- 
 my, or to be angry without a caufe, or above 
 a proper degree, are all criminal pafiions, and 
 render a man guilty before God. 
 
 The mere motions and ferments of fief 3 
 and blood, or w r hatfoever fliare mere animal 
 nature has in thefe actions or affections of 
 the man, can have no moral good or evil in 
 them, cenfidered apart from the foul ; nor 
 are they properly called lawful cr (infill in 
 themfelves; for they are the pure operations 
 of brutal matter, till the foul or the will in- 
 dulges them, or approves them, commands 
 them, or complies with them. Yet if the 
 objects of thefe flefhly motions be forbidden 
 by the laws of God, or if the degree be ex- 
 ceffive, or the time or place unlawful, then 
 thefe motions and ferments of the flefh may 
 be called finful; not. formally in themfelves, 
 but occafonally ; becaufe the foul fo often 
 complies with them, and becomes guilty ; 
 and thus thefe operations of the fief 3 are fad 
 occafions to fin. 
 
 Now in this prefent fallen ftate, wherein 
 all the children of Adam are found, thefe 
 finful motions and ferments, appetites and 
 paffions, abound mowx fief and blood; partly 
 as we derive too much of them from our fin- 
 ful parents, and partly as we have too much 
 encouraged and ftrengthened them ourfelves, 
 by frequent practice and indulgence. 
 
 It 
 
2 f) 8 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 It is evident alfo, that the greateft part of 
 the a&ions of our lives are ready to be in- 
 fluenced by appetite or affedion; and it is 
 plain, that the outward fenfes of the body, 
 or the inward ferments, motions, and im- 
 preffions of flefh and blood have fo large a 
 {hare in them, that they are called the deeds 
 of the body^ the defircs, hifts^ and affeclions 
 of the flefld, in many places of fcripture ; 
 thence it comes to pais that our flefj becomes 
 the chief cauie and occafion of fin to the 
 foul 
 
 Now though it be difficult (as I have 
 hinted) in many particular a&ions, to de- 
 termine precifely how far the influence of 
 the flefh reaches, and how far it is the a£t of 
 th,e mind or fpirit^ yet it is of great ufe in 
 the Chriftian life to fearch into thefe matters, 
 in order to find how far our actions are 
 criminal and guilty, that we may abafe our 
 fouls before God, and take fhame to ourfelves 
 fo far as we are culpable; and on the other 
 hand, that from a melancholy or iuperftitious 
 miftake, we may not charge ourfelves with 
 more guilt than God charges us with, or lay 
 heavier loads upon our own confeiences than 
 the divine law lays upon us. 
 
 We fhall find thefe enquiries alfo of ex- 
 cellent ufe to lead us. to proper methods for 
 the mortification of fin, and to fhow us the 
 juflice and wifdom of divine conduct, and 
 the holinefs and beauty of the providence of 
 
 God, 
 
 
of FIcJId and Spirit. 299 
 
 God, in appointing our prefent ftate of trial, 
 in order to a future judgment. 
 
 The firft thing I mail difcourfe on here, 
 is the unhappy influence that our fiefh, or 
 animal nature, has to tempt us to fin. And 
 then 
 
 Ildly, I ihall mew what powers the foul 
 is furnifhed with to refift the finful motions 
 of the flefh, and to maintain the facred war- 
 fare. 
 
 This is the Propofition therefore that I 
 fhall firft lay down in my Difcourfe; [viz.) 
 That the principles, fprings, and occajions of 
 our finful actions, lie very much in the 
 and thefe have a fatal and unhappy influence 
 to lead the foul or fpirit into fin. 
 
 I fhall make this evident from the word 
 of God, efpecially from the writings of the 
 bleffed apoftles; and Ihall confirm it by many 
 common obfervations, and an eafy train of 
 reafoning. 
 
 When thofe facred writers have occafion 
 to defcribe fin, in its principles or operations, 
 they ufe the words fiefh , fief ly , or carnal^ the 
 body, or the members, with much freedom and 
 frequency. St. Peter fpeaks of walking after 
 the fief d ; 2 Pet. ii. 20. of alluring men by 
 the lufis of the fiefh; 2 Pet. ii. 18. of fiefh ly 
 lufis, that war againfl the foul, 1 Pet. ii. it. 
 St. Paul bids us mortify the deeds of the body; 
 
 Pvom. 
 
300 The Powers and Contcjls 
 
 Rom» viii. 12. and he calls the principle of 
 fin the body of death, Rom. vii. 24. He 
 fpeaks of fin reigning in our mortal bodies, 
 Rom. vi. 1 2. He places the finful principles 
 (which he calls the law of fin) in our very 
 members, Rom. vii. 23. And particular Tins 
 he calls our members, CoL iii. 5. And in 
 correfpondence with him, the apoftle James 
 fpeaks of Ufls that war in our members, Ja. iv. 
 1. And John and Jude m?.ke mention of the 
 lujls ofthefefh, and garments f potted with the 
 filefij. And there are few words more fre- 
 quent on St. Paul's tongue than the. word 
 ifle/h, when he would fignify fin; the morti- 
 fication whereof he calls crucifying the fiejh, 
 with its affeclions and lifts, Gal. v. 24. He 
 names adultery, formication, idolatry, hatred, 
 envy, murder, drunkennefs, re veilings, and 
 fuch like, the works of the fiejh, Gal. v. 19. 
 Perfons in a finful ftate are faid to be in the 
 fief d, Rem. viii. 8, 9. A courfe of finning 
 is called [owing to the fief, living after the 
 fie/h, minding the things of the fie/h, 'walking 
 after the fiejh, fulfilling the defires and lufis of 
 the fief j, in feveral parts of his epiftles. 
 
 Both in fanctiiied and unfancxilied per- 
 fons, fin, in the judgment of St. Paul, lies 
 very much in the fleih, as to the fprings, 
 principles, and occafions of it. See Rom. vii. 
 5. compared with the 1 8th and 25th verfes. 
 In Rom. vii. 5. St. Paul fpeaks concerning 
 the natural and unregenerate ftate: When we 
 
 were 
 
of Fle/Jj and Spirit. 3 o 1 
 
 were in the flefh, i. e. all flefh, no fpirit, /'. e. 
 no fpiritaal life, then the motions of Jin did 
 work in our members ■, to bring forth fruit unto 
 death. And when he fpeaks concerning him- 
 felf in a regenerate ftate, at the end of that 
 chapter, he defcribes fin ftill as having its 
 occaiion and caufe much feated in the flefh. 
 See. i8th and 25th verfes: I know that in me, 
 (that is, in my flefh,) dwelleth no good thing: 
 1 fee another law) in my members , 'warring 
 againjl the law of my mind. With my mind 
 1 ferve the law of God, but with my flefh the 
 law of fin. So that, confidering himfelf 
 either in a natural or in a regenerate ftate, 
 ftill he fuppofes the great occafion of finful 
 actions to proceed from the flefh. 
 
 I confefs that in fome places of the New 
 Teftament, and perhaps in feveral of thefe 
 which I have now cited, the word flefJj may- 
 be ufed fomething figuratively, to iignify all 
 the principles of fin that are in human nature, 
 whether they immediately refide in the mind, 
 or in the body, as the fubjecl; but the figure 
 itfelf feems to be borrowed from this very 
 fentiment, That the flefh, with its affections 
 and appetites towards flejhly objecls, is the 
 chief fpring and occafion of Jin. 
 , I might add alio, that there are fome 
 other places of fcripture, where the word 
 flejh muft neceflfarily be taken in a literal 
 and proper fenfe, denoting the body to be 
 the feat or fpring of many finful affections; 
 
 as 
 
3<32 The Pozvers and Contejis 
 
 Eph. ii. 3. where the dejires of the fefo 
 are dirtinguimed from the finful dcfrcs of the 
 mind. And 2 Cor. i. 7. where both the 
 
 filtbinefs of fe/J: and fpirit is mentioned; and 
 there are very few places which will not 
 allow us to underftand it in a literal fenfe. 
 And it is evident to any one who compares 
 the various parts of the writings of this apo- 
 ftle, that he fpeaks ten times of the body, the 
 
 flejh, or the members, as the fprings of fin, 
 where he once mentions the lufs of the mind; 
 intimating, that the far greater! part of the 
 fins of men are derived from their fejh, and 
 are owing to their compliance with the fin- 
 ful defires or affections of the body. 
 
 I would not be miftaken here, as if I 
 fuppofed the flefh to be the only immediate 
 fpring of all our fins; though, perhaps, it is 
 the original, and remote fpring of all, as I 
 fhalr fhew prefently : But the foul of man, 
 being once depraved, has many finful quali- 
 ties in it ; the underftanding and the will, 
 the very mind and confeience, are defied, Tit. 
 i. 15. The foul itfelf has fome propensities 
 to things that are forbidden, as well as finful 
 averfions to God, and things holy and hea- 
 venly. There are the lufs of the mind as 
 well as lufs of the flefti. There is a.flthinefs 
 both of flejh and fpirit. The devils, who have 
 no flefh and blood belonging to them, are 
 vile finners; thefe,are called fpiritual wicked- 
 neffes in high places, Eph. vi. 12. or, as it 
 
 may 
 
ofFkfi and Spirit. 303 
 
 may be tranilated, wicked fpirits in heavenlies; 
 that is, in the airy regions,: So the fpirit of 
 man has fins of its own, that it borrows not 
 ' immediately from the fleih: There is a pride 
 in the mind, arifing from learning, and in- 
 tellectual powers, and accomplifhments;" there 
 are vain and exceffive defires of human know- 
 ledge; there is a iinful curiofity, prying into 
 fecret futurities; there is a glorying in felf, a 
 vanity of mind, and felf-confidence, inftead 
 of trufting in God, and giving him the glory 
 of all: There is, indeed, a fecret diflike and 
 averfion to God and holinefs, in the foul of 
 every unfanctified finner ; thefe are more 
 fpiritual iniquities. 
 
 I might add alfo, that there are feveral of 
 thofe fins w T hich, in fome appearances of 
 them, are numbered among the works of th-e 
 /left, (becaufe they are often excited, and 
 almoft always increafed, by the humours and 
 ferments of the body;) which yet, in fome 
 other operations and appearances, begin in 
 the fpirit, belong chiefly to the foul, and 
 muft be called fpiritual fns^ or lifts of the 
 mind; fuch as malice and envy, felf-conceit, 
 emulation, hatred of good men, &c. which 
 are doubtlefs found in the fallen angels, thofe 
 evil fpirits, who have no fieih about them. 
 Now as an unfanctified foul may be fome- 
 times guilty of thefe when in the body, fo, 
 when it is difmiffed from fleih, we muft 
 grant, that it would be filled with all thefe 
 
 iniquities 
 
304 The Powers and Contefls 
 
 iniquities, thefe fpiritual lufis, for ever, tho' 
 none of the carnal fins, no appetites to flefhly 
 objects, fiiould follow it into the feparate 
 Rate. 
 
 But the point which I propofe to prove is 
 this, that though there may be feveral fins 
 that arife chiefly from the mind, yet there 
 are multitudes of diforderly appetites, finful 
 inclinations and avernons, as well as violent 
 immoderate tendencies towards lawful ob- 
 jects, feated in our animal nature, in our 
 flefh and blood, in this mortal part of our 
 frame and compofition, wherein we are akin 
 to the beads that perifh; and it is by the 
 fenfes, by tjfiefe fenfitive motions and fer- 
 ments of Rffh and blood, that the human 
 foul is moil frequently led into temptation 
 and fin: And more efpecially I may venture 
 to fay, that the foul of a true Chriftian, which 
 is fanctified by the Spirit of God, and has a 
 new and heavenly temper and bias, and a 
 divine nature given it, owes moft of its actual 
 tranlgrefTions to the fieih, and the lufts there- 
 of, to which it is united in the prefent ftate. 
 
 There is one objection that feems neceffary 
 to be anfwered ; and that is drawn from the 
 words of our Saviour, Mark vii. 21, 23. For 
 from within, out of the heart of men, proceed 
 evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 
 &c. Jill thefe evil things come from within, 
 and defile the man. Now fome perfon may 
 fay, it is evident, that by the heart he did 
 
 not 
 
of Flejh and Spirit. 305 
 
 not mean that inward bowel fo called, but 
 the foul itfelf ; becaufe, according to the 
 vulgar philofophy, and common fentiments 
 of the Jews, the foul of man had its chief 
 refidence in the heart 5 and upon this account 
 they attributed to the heart the feveral affec- 
 tions and inward operations of the foul, 
 whether they were finful or holy; and in 
 this fenfe our Saviour may be fuppofed to 
 attribute to the foul, or fpirit in man, all 
 thefe wickedneffes. 
 
 But it is eafy to folve this difficulty two 
 ways. 
 
 1 ft, That neither the philofophy of the 
 Jews, nor the common language which our 
 Saviour ufed, did make any nice diftindtion 
 in thofe principles of human actions, what 
 ihare the fpirit had in them, and what the 
 jftejh ; but they ufed the word heart for all 
 thofe inward powers of the man whence out- 
 ward acYions proceeded; and this becaufe the 
 fprings and motions of the blood and life, as 
 well as the ferments of feveral pallions, were 
 found there : So that our Saviour ufing the 
 common language of the people, does by no 
 means exclude the inward ferments of the 
 flefh from their ihare in thefe finful actions; 
 but rather includes them in the word heart. 
 
 2dly, If we could fuppofe the word heart 
 
 in this place to fignify merely the foul or 
 
 fpirit^ yet it would by no means exclude the 
 
 inward ferments of the rleih from being the 
 
 U firfl 
 
306 The Powers and Con lefts 
 
 firft fprings and occafions of many of thefe 
 finful practices; for they do not become fins 
 till the foul has confented to them; nor can 
 they break forth into outward acts without 
 the command, or, at leaft, the finful compli- 
 ance of the foul. Thus all thofe actions that 
 may juftly be called evil and wicked \ fuch as 
 Chrift here mentions, proceed from the foul, 
 fo far as they are truly and properly finful; 
 and yet the firft fecret occafions and incen- 
 tives of many of them may fpring very much 
 from the powers of the flefh. 
 
 Now as I have made it to appear in fome 
 good meaiure, that the fprings and principles 
 of fin lie very much in our fiejhly natures, from 
 the frequent expreflions of holy fcripture, fo 
 it may be made yet more evident ftill, by 
 thefe following confiderations, drawn from 
 reafon, obfervation, and experience. 
 
 I. Confider how different are the fins of 
 men, according to their peculiar conftitutions of 
 ficjh and blood, Thefe may be called the fins 
 that eafly befet us, Heb. xii. i. becaufe our 
 temper and conftitution is always prefent 
 with us. 
 
 Thofe that are of a brifk and fanguine 
 make, whole blood flows high and vigorous, 
 how often are they tempted by the gay fcenes 
 of life, to purfue vanity, and to indulge for- 
 bidden pleafures? Luxury and intemperance 
 are their peculiar vices : They follow after 
 carnal mirth with eager guft, as well as with 
 
 long 
 
of Flejh and Spirit. 307 
 
 long forgetfulnefs of God, and of things fpi- 
 ritual. By this means they indulge a fatal 
 fecurity, and groundlefs prefumption of long 
 life here, or happinefs hereafter, being ever 
 animated by lively fenfual fancies, appetites, 
 and pafiions. 
 
 On the other hand, thofe that have me- 
 lancholy humours mingled with their natural 
 constitution, are inclined to fullen vices, to 
 an unfociable and uncharitable behaviour a- 
 mong men, as well as they are often tempted 
 under the influence of thefe prevailing hu- 
 mours of the body, to defpair of the mercies 
 of God, and, upon this account, to abandon 
 all religion. 
 
 Some have a greedinefs of defire wrought 
 into the very frame of their natures ; and 
 thefe are inclined to felfifh and covetous ini- 
 quities, and often are found hard-hearted and 
 uncompaflionate to the neceilities and cries of 
 the poor. 
 
 Others are four and peevifh in their na- 
 tive temper, having an excefs of fharp juices 
 mingled with their flefh and blood ; and 
 thefe are eafily awakened to fudden wrath 
 and refentment, and kindled into a flame of 
 finfiil anger upon the firft and flighteft pro- 
 vocation. 
 
 I might inftance in feveral other qualities 
 
 of the conftitution, whereby multitudes of 
 
 iniquities arife amongft men, and fufEciently 
 
 difcovcr that the flefh is a moft fruitful fpring 
 
 .U 2 of 
 
308 'The Powers and Contejh 
 
 of temptations, and a conftant occafion of 
 
 fin. 
 
 2dly, Confider how many particular fins 
 we may be inclined to, by re a/on of fome fuddcn 
 dijlemptr of body, or long and habitual difcafes 
 that attend flejh and blood. 
 
 When the four or acid humours in animal 
 nature rife to an irregular height, or when the 
 body is frequently exercifed with fharp and 
 tedious pains, even a well-tempered man be- 
 comes peevifh and fretful; he vexes his own 
 fpirit with impatience; he murmurs againft 
 the hand of God; and this fecret uneafinefs, 
 (though it dares not appear in vifible rage 
 againft his Creator) yet it cannot contain it- 
 felf in filence, but breaks out with too much 
 evidence and guilt, quarrelling with his fel- 
 low-creatures round about him : He tires out 
 his beft friends with perpetual difquietude; 
 he lofes his meek and gentle temper; and the 
 man that was wont to be always pleafed and 
 eafy, now relents every thing, and fcarce any 
 body can pleafe him. 
 
 This appears with bright evidence to be 
 occafioned by bodily diforders; for even our 
 natural hunger makes us peevim : When 
 fharp and corrofive juices prey upon the fto- 
 mach itfelf, for want of food, how touchy 
 and fretful does our temper grow, till a good 
 meal provides matter for thofe digeftive juices 
 to act upon; then the flefh grows eafy, and 
 the good humour returns. 
 
 But 
 
of Flefo and Spirit. 309 
 
 But to purfue the obfervation concerning 
 difeafes. 
 
 When the natural fpirits are reduced very- 
 low by long weaknefs, how cold and una&ive 
 are fome good men? When phlegmatic hu- 
 mours prevail in the body, how flothful arc 
 fome Chriftians in every duty? How back- 
 ward to all active fervices of God or man? 
 Even thole very perfons who were once 
 chearful and zealous, and ready to every 
 good work. 
 
 After the fame manner, when, through dif- 
 temper of body, black and melancholy juices 
 get the afcendant over the more fprightly ani- 
 mal powers, how often do we find perfons 
 of a fweet affable behaviour grow fullen and 
 unfociable ? Thofe who were fond of com- 
 pany and converfation feek dark corners, and 
 lolitary chambers of retirement; they grow 
 liftlefs to every diveriion, and will hardly 
 admit a vifitant, or give anfwers to the com- 
 mon queftions of life. 
 
 Again, When the powers of nature are 
 broken by continual difeafes, the man of 
 courage becomes fearful, and ftarts afide from 
 duty, at every appearing difficulty: The man 
 of faith gives in to fears and doubts, to per- 
 petual unbelievings, and fufpicious thoughts, 
 with regard to the promifes of God and all 
 the encouragements of the gofpel. 
 
 And to put this matter beyond all difpute, 
 
 experience teaches us, that the very fame 
 
 U 3 perfons 
 
3 1 o The Powers and Contejls 
 
 perfons who have been fretful, peevifh, floth- 
 ful, fullen, or exceflively timorous, under the 
 influences of thefe feveral diftempers of body ; 
 when, by the means of medicine, they have 
 been reftored to health, they have returned 
 again to the chearful practices of thofe fingle 
 and focial virtues, which fo long lay cramped, 
 confined, and buried under the difeafes of the 
 flefh. 
 
 Now if the occafion of thefe feveral forts 
 of fins, both of omhTion and commhTion, did 
 not chiefly arife from the flefh, why mould 
 the fame Chriftian fo remarkably find his 
 whole temper and his conduct altered for 
 the worfe by the difeafes of his body, and 
 reftored again by the recovery of his health? 
 
 3dly, Confider hovo different are the fins of 
 youth and old age; how contrary are their 
 feveral temptations. 
 
 The youth delights in gay company, pu- 
 blic vanities, fenfual amufements, luxury, and 
 profufenefs ; he contemns money, and de- 
 fpiies his eafe, to purfue with labour the 
 gratifications of fancy and wanton appetite; 
 and hereby he neglects all the duties of re- 
 tirement, and ferious thoughtfulnefs. The 
 old man loves his eafe above all things, ex- 
 cept his money; he neglects and defpiles the 
 pleafures of the flefh, and gay diverfions ; 
 but he daily hoards up his gold for fear of 
 want; and in counting over his treafure he 
 waites the latter hours of his life, which he 
 
 flaould 
 
of Fkjh and Spirit. 3 1 1 
 
 mould fpend in a preparation for death at 
 hand. 
 
 The youth fears nothing, and rufhes on to 
 guilt headlong; the old man is frighted at 
 every thing, and fhrinks back from the moft 
 neceflary duties. 
 
 Whence are all thefe differences of fin? 
 The natural philofopher will give happy hints 
 toward the lolving this queftion with eafe 
 and truth: He knows that one is occafioned 
 by the florid blood, and juices, and active 
 powers of young human nature ; thefe hurry 
 the foul on to purfue every flefhly delight. 
 The other is owing to the languid and grofs 
 ftagnant humours that mingle with the blood 
 of old age: Thefe render him dull and un- 
 aclive; and his perpetual fears of want, and 
 poverty, and of every other evil arife partly 
 from the poor low ftate of thofe feeble fpirits 
 that attend that laft and expiring period of 
 life. The unholy foul is too eafily influenced 
 by both thefe extremes, in the different fea- 
 fons of its dwelling in this mortal and finful 
 flefh; and the foul that is fanctified finds it 
 hard work to relift. 
 
 4thly, Let us confider yet again, bow great 
 a part of the fins of men arife from the prefencc 
 of tempting fenfible objecls; and thefe are con- 
 veyed to the mind by the fenfitive powers of 
 the flefh. What influence could the whole 
 world of enticing objects have on the fpirit, 
 if the notices of them were not brought to 
 
 U 4 the 
 
3 1 2 The Powers and Coniejls 
 
 the fpirit by the fenfes? The prefence of al- 
 luring temptations ftrikes ftrongly on the 
 outward organ of fenfe, awakens the carnal 
 appetite, and with a powerful, an unhappy, 
 and almofr conftraining force, perluades the 
 foul to guilty practices and enjoyments. At 
 other times it caufes a finful neglect of pro- 
 per duties to God or man; or, at leaft, it calls 
 in vain thoughts to mingle with our fervices, 
 both civil and religious ; and thus gives them 
 a fenfual taint, and pollutes and fpoils them. 
 
 Particular circumftances of time and place, 
 where fenfual temptations attend us, become 
 unhappy occalions of defiling the foul. And 
 where is the time, or where the place, in 
 which fuch objects or occafions are not to be 
 found? The day- light opens before us the 
 fcenes of a vain world, crowded with ten 
 thoufand allurements to fin; nor can the 
 fhadows of the night conceal or banifh thole 
 temptations that attack us at other avenues 
 befides the eye. A wanton fong, an im- 
 modeft touch, the fcent of dainty meats, or 
 the remembered relifh of delicious wine, are 
 fufficient to provoke the flefhly appetites, and 
 to inflame the foul to the purfuit of iniquity. 
 Thus every fenfe has a hand in the convey- 
 ance of fin to the fpirit. 
 
 Not the board, nor the bed, not the fhop, 
 nor the exchange; no, not the clofet, nor 
 the temples of w T orfhip, are fecure from 
 temptations that aflault the foul, by means 
 
 of 
 
of Fief}) and Spirit, 3 1 3 
 
 of this wretched flefh. We are in danger 
 when in the midfl of company; nor are we 
 fafe when folitary and alone. How often have 
 eyes and ears been the unhappy torches to 
 kindle either unlawful love, or malice and 
 revenge, according as a man hath been ca- 
 fually led within fight or hearing of the 
 perfon that has allured him to pleafure, or 
 put him to pain? Pictures and ftories have 
 many a time become fatal inftruments of the 
 fame mifchief. When we fit at a well-fpread 
 table, doth not our palate often tempt us to 
 improper food, and to riot upon a beloved 
 dim? We venture to tafte of the lufcious 
 compound, even though we fufpecl, or are 
 almoft certain, it has ficknefs or difeafe lurk- 
 ing in it; and fometimes we indulge the 
 freedom of appetite in the moft wholefome 
 provifions, to a vicious excels and furfeit. 
 How many a wretch is enticed to become a 
 glutton, or a drunkard, or to rufh on to the 
 purfuit of adultery and polluted pleafure, by 
 his pafling through fome infnaring occur- 
 rences of life, and having the foul united 
 to this finful flefh? The wanton eye, and the 
 greedy palate, are tempting engines, that 
 draw the mind away to forbidden objects. 
 
 It is upon this account that our bleffed 
 Lord gives advice in his excellent fermon: 
 If thy right-eye offend thee, pluck it out; or, if 
 thy right-hand offend thee, cut it off, and c aft 
 tfyem both away from thee; for it is profitable 
 
 for 
 
314 ^ ?e Powers and Conlcfts 
 
 for thee that one of thy members fooiild perift:, 
 and not that thy whole body Jhould be cajl into 
 hell, Matt, v; 29, 30. And though our Lord 
 may be fuppofed here to fpeak metaphori- 
 cally, and to bid us part with thofe beloved 
 fins that are dear to us as an hand or an eye, 
 yet he defigns to teach us that the eye, and 
 the hand, and the flefhly powers, may become 
 wretched occafions of fin to us; and if there 
 were no other way to avoid the danger, it is 
 better to bear the pain of parting with thofe 
 mifchievous and offenfive members, than yield 
 to their temptations, and rufh on to guilt 
 and eternal mifery. 
 
 I might here alfo take notice, that the 
 very prefence of all forts of corporeal objects, 
 even the mod neceflary, and the moft inno- 
 cent, may become occafions of fin at fpecial 
 feafons; as, when we are engaged in any 
 part of divine worihip, the common and ob- 
 vious appearances round about us, the walls, 
 the doors, the windows, the furniture of the 
 place, or the perfons prefent, imprefs our 
 fenfes, and often turn away the thoughts 
 from the facred work. We forget God to 
 purfue the creature, even in his own awful 
 prefence, and in the midft of our folemn de- 
 votions. A curious ear fhall wrap up the 
 foul in the melody of the fong, till it has loft 
 the divine fenfe and meaning. A vain and 
 wandering eye roves among the faces, the 
 poftures, and the drefs of our fellow-wor- 
 
 fhippers, 
 
of Flejh and Spirit. 3 1 5 
 
 (hippers, and calls the mind away from prayer 
 and devout attention. Oh how often does 
 the criminal indulgence of thefe fenfitive 
 powers carry the foul afar oft* from God and 
 religion ! How does it break off many a holy 
 meditation in a moment! What long inter- 
 vals does it make in our addreffes to our 
 Creator, and interline our prayers with folly 
 and fin! So, when we are employed in any 
 bufinefs of the civil life, that is our proper 
 prefent duty, our fenfes glance at fome other 
 object, and draw the foul away to a quite 
 different work, w T hich is finful at that feafon ; 
 though perhaps it might be the duty of the 
 next hour, or the proper bufinefs of the mor- 
 row. And where is the man that has not 
 jeafon to complain often of this fort of temp- 
 tations every day, while his fpirit dwells in 
 this houfe of flefh ? 1 
 
 5thly, Confider further, that mojl of the 
 temptations that we meet with, even when the 
 outward objecls are abfent, arifefrom the images 
 of them remaining in the brain; which is (as it 
 were) the fhop, or ftorehoufe, of the memory 
 and the fancy. The impreffions which thofe 
 objects made on the outward fenfes, when 
 they were prefent, are conveyed to the brain, 
 and laid up there, ready to appear->at the fir ft 
 call of the mind, when thefe objects are 
 withdrawn. But they oftentimes alio ftart 
 out unbidden, and a whole fcene of wicked- 
 nefs is fpread all over the imagination, 
 
 before 
 
3 1 6 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 before the foul is aware; and fometimes when 
 the foul exprefsly forbids it too: Then the 
 corrupt appetites are kindled, and finful paf- 
 fions awake again. Thus the temptations 
 return, and folicit the fpirit to fin, even when 
 the objects are afar off, and out of reach: 
 For fancy and memory are but the pictures 
 of fenfe; it is fight and hearing at fecond 
 hand. Now if the foul feeks and calls for 
 thefe tempting virions to appear, or if it in- 
 dulges thefe impure exercifes of the imagi- 
 nation; if it delights itfelf in thefe criminal 
 ideas when they happen to arife, and pleafe 
 itfelf with thefe painted fhapes of iniquity, 
 then it too frequently repeats the fin, and 
 renews its own guilt and defilement. 
 
 Such is the composition of our natures, 
 that the images on the brain, the traces and 
 footfteps of paft fenfations, and the fprings 
 of fancy and paflion, are linked together by 
 unknown and unperceived ties; fo that, when 
 one is touched and awakened, a whole train 
 of images appears at once, and awakens all 
 thofe fancies, and thofe guilty paflions, which 
 were linked and connected together when 
 that leading image was firft painted on the 
 brain through the organs of fenfe. So one 
 line of a comedy, or the door of the play- 
 houfe, or the found of an actor, or a hero's 
 name, (hall call over again all thofe alluring 
 and mifchievous fcenes which firft drew the 
 heart away from God and religion, fpoiled 
 
 the 
 
of Flejb and Spirit. 317 
 
 the labours of a pious education, and plunged 
 the young finner into early debaucheries. 
 
 Befides all thefe mifchiefs that arife from 
 the recollection of paft occurrences, there is 
 an infinite variety of new fcenes of vice, 
 that fancy can furnifh out on the fudden, by 
 mingling, joining, enlarging, multiplying, 
 and compounding, the vicious images that 
 the brain can fupply it with. Thus in this 
 fhop of vanity, this workhoufe of fin, and 
 thefe fecret chambers of imagery, new-devifed 
 iniquities are coined continually; new engines 
 are forged every minute, by a bufy and fruit- 
 ful fancy, to charm the foul, and tranfport it 
 to frefh guilt and ruin. Thus the treafury 
 of the brain and thofe inward and hidden 
 parts of the fiefh, become many times as 
 effectual occafions of fin, as all the outward 
 fenfes joined together, and an army of tempt- 
 ing objects. 
 
 6thly, There is another consideration too, 
 that will make it appear to any perfon of an 
 enquiring and thoughtful genius, that fin has 
 much of its feat and root in the flefh, if we 
 do but reflect how many iniquities we commit, 
 which, in their outward appearance, are very 
 nearly imitated by brute creatures, which have 
 no intelligent fpirit, no rational foul; whole 
 blood is the very foul, fpirit, 'and life of 
 them, as the fcripture fpeaks, Lev. xvii. 14. 
 EccL iii. 21. 
 
 Is 
 
3 1 8 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 Is there not fomething like envy working 
 in a dog, when he forbids the ox from the 
 crib, or the manger, and yet he neither wants 
 nor taftes the hay nor the corn himfelf ? Is 
 he not the picture of malice, when he grins 
 with fury, and grows mad with rage, againft 
 the harmlefs traveller ? Does not the ivafp, 
 that little angry infecl:, fix a fling in us fome- 
 times without any provocation? And thus it 
 becomes the very image and proverb of ill- 
 nature as well as the dog; fo that men of 
 fuch a temper are called dogged and wafpijh. 
 Does not our Lord Jefus himfelf give Herod 
 the name of a fox for the fame reafon, (viz,) 
 becaufe the craft, the plunder, and the vari- 
 ous and bloody injuries which were pracYifed 
 by that man among his fubjedts, and are well 
 prefented by the natural a&ions of that fubtile 
 and mifchievous animal, among his fellow- 
 Drutes. See Luke xiii. 32. 
 
 Is not the fvoine often overwhelmed with 
 food by its own greedinefs ? And does not 
 that foul animal imitate the glutton well ? 
 You grant all this proceeds from the very 
 make and frame, the blood and juices of 
 thefe animals, and from the keennefs., or 
 other peculiar qualities of their natural Spi- 
 rits : And why may not the fir ft motions 
 and ftirrings of the fame vices in us proceed 
 from the ferments of our blood too ? Have 
 you never obierved the refemblance of pride 
 working in a peacock, or a well fed horfe ; 
 
 how 
 
of FleJJo and Spirit. 3 1 9 
 
 how thole brutal beings exult and glory, the 
 one in his beauty, the other in his ilrength 
 and his peculiar endowments ? This proud 
 ferment heaves and fwells their bodily na- 
 tures : And why may not fome of our pride 
 be fuppofed to begin there too? 
 
 I confefs thefe animals have no rational 
 mind in them, no thinking fpirit, no will, 
 either to refill or confent to thefe motions of 
 the fleih and blood; fo that they are under 
 no moral law : Thefe a&ions of theirs are 
 agreeable to their original nature, and are 
 under a divine appointment rather than a 
 prohibition ; therefore they are not capable 
 of fin- and guilt. But man, who hath thefe 
 fame animal motions and ferments of the 
 fleih, and the fame appetites, and fprings of 
 paflion, had nothing vicious in his original 
 frame and conftitution, but derived all that is 
 faulty from his firft parents, who were wilful 
 finners, and who fpoiled their whole nature; 
 and upon this account he will hardly be 
 found innocent. 
 
 But his guilt appears much more evident, 
 when we confider that man has alio an in- 
 telligent mind, a reafonable foul, capable, in 
 fome meafure, of refilling thefe irregular ten- 
 dencies of the fleih ; therefore he becomes 
 guilty in the fight of God, by wilful confent 
 to them, and indulgence of them, contrary 
 to the forbidding law of his Creator. Now 
 this propofed conteft between fleih and fpirit 
 
 is 
 
320 The Powers and Con! efts 
 
 is ordained by God our Maker in infinite 
 wifdom, to be a proper ftate of trial for us, 
 in order to future rewards and puniihments. 
 
 /thly, I might add, in the laft place, an- 
 other argument, to prove that our flefh is the 
 chief occafion of fin to the foul, from this 
 confideration ; that the foul at frfl is tainted, 
 corrupted, or defiled, ivith original Jin, by its 
 union to finful flejh. 
 
 You will immediately enquire, How is 
 this poflible, fince the foul is a pure fpiritual 
 being, created immediately by God himfelf, 
 and therefore innocent and r holy; and fince it 
 cannot touch, nor be touched, by any thing 
 corporeal, fuch as flefh and blood ? In what 
 manner can the foul, though united to the 
 body, receive any fuch finful pollution, or 
 finful impreflion, from the body? 
 
 Take this account of it in fhort, in thefe 
 few Propofitions. 
 
 I. Though the fpirit of man be incorpo- 
 real, and is created by God without depraved 
 or finful qualities in it, yet it never exifts, or 
 comes into being, but as a part of human 
 nature; and that not as a piece of new work- 
 manfhip, but as a part of mankind propa- 
 gated from parents by the continued power 
 of God's creating word ; Be fruitful, and 
 multiply. When the infant-body of man is 
 fo far formed as to become fit for union with 
 a rational foul, the foul comes into exiftence 
 in union with the body, by the original law 
 
 of 
 
cfFleJh and Spirit. 321 
 
 of creation, and becomes a part of the man, 
 as much as the breath, which is borrowed 
 from the air, or the blood, which is made 
 out of the food of the mother. 
 
 2. Thence it follows, that the foul is not 
 to be judged of, or confidered, as a fingle 
 feparate being, but as in union with flefh and 
 blood, as making up a compound creature of 
 the human fpecies. 
 
 3. Since in the very iirft moment of its 
 being, by the old and general rules or laws 
 of creation and providence, it belongs to a 
 human body, derived from Adam, it is efteem- 
 ed as propagated by the parents, and it be- 
 comes hereby a fon or a daughter of fallen 
 man, and is naturally, by the law of creation, 
 involved in the fame circumftances of ruin, 
 has no claim to preferring or fecuring grace, 
 above the mere and untaught faculties of its 
 intelligent nature. 
 
 Then 4thly, Since this body has many 
 (infill ferments and irregular appetites in it, 
 conveyed down from the original fmner, the 
 new-made fpirit being created and joined to 
 the flefh, is perpetually imprefled and allured 
 by thele morions, paffions, and appetites of 
 the fleih, and willingly complies with thofe 
 that are criminal as well as thofe that are in- 
 nocent ; and thus the young creature con- 
 tracts actual and perfonal guilt, perhaps, as 
 foon as it is capable of exerting any actions 
 X with 
 
3 2 2 The Powers and Contefs 
 
 with underftanding; and fuch as are pri 
 human, and capable of moral different 
 
 Thus the foul is defiled by communion 
 with the rlcih; and, according to the original 
 law of creation, which is called the covenant 
 of God with Adam, it partakes of a finful 
 nature from degenerate parents, and by de- 
 grees becomes an actual (inner. 
 
 But I proceed no further on this Head, 
 having delivered my fentiments in another 
 place more at large, in the deep and difficult 
 Controveriy of original Sin ; which may be 
 beft accounted for in this manner, as far as 
 my judgment reaches. 
 
 What I have laid here is fufficient to fhew 
 that, in the prefent ftate of human nature, 
 the fe/h is the chief caufe and oceafwn of fin 
 to the fouL 
 
 Meditation I. 
 
 AND are we tempted to fin fo often by 
 our flefhly powers ? Then hoiv little Jhould 
 iv c reckon our [elves debtors to the fejh? How 
 much mifchief has it already done us? And 
 how much ftill have we reafon to fear from 
 its influences, as long as we continue to dwell 
 in it! 
 
 Little do you think, O finners; little do 
 
 you think what an enemy you carefs, while 
 
 i pamper the fe/I\ and vifiam /> 
 
 . / the lufls of it; it is a foe that fits clofe to 
 
 you, 
 
of Flejh and Spirit. $2$ 
 
 you, and is a partner of your very natures; 
 and thus it has a thoufand opportunities to 
 do you mifchief, when other adverfaries are 
 afar off: It has done you already more injury 
 than the devil and the world joined together; 
 for in all the pernicious and fecret fnares 
 which they have laid for your fouls, and all 
 the open attacks that they have made upon 
 your virtue, or your peace, the flefh has ever 
 been an accomplice with them, and helped 
 onward the fatal defign ; belides the many 
 guilty practices into which it has drawn you, 
 without the afTiftance either of the world or 
 the devil. Not all the deceitful vanities on 
 the earth, nor all the armies of hell, could 
 lead your fouls aftray from God, and your 
 own happinefs, in half fo many inftances as 
 they have done, if you had not fuch a fecret 
 traitor fo near you, that is in league with 
 them for your ruin. And mail this enemy 
 be your counfellor and your guide ? Shall 
 this fieih be your chief darling, which has 
 been ever warring againft your foul? 
 
 Would you not diftruft a man that has 
 dwelt with you from your childhood, and 
 every day of your life has led you into fome 
 mifchief? Would you not be watchful and 
 jealous of all his motions, who has betrayed 
 you into fome fnare almoft every hour ? 
 Would you not guard againft his perverfe 
 practices, if, whenever he took a walk with 
 you, he had thrown you into a pit, and 
 X 2 denied 
 
324 ¥hc Powers and Contefs 
 
 defiled your garments ? Such a dangerous 
 attendant is this flefh of yours in the prefent 
 degenerate ftate. 
 
 Why then will ye be fo fond of this 
 tempter, this deceitful companion? Why will 
 you fpend your bePt moments, the prime of 
 youth, and the very flower of life, to drefs 
 and adorn, to flatter, and pleafe, and gratify, 
 fuch a wretched traitor to your foul, fuch a 
 foe to your eternal welfare ? The very beft 
 of men have already given too much refpecl 
 to it. But when a perfon is fan&ified by 
 divine grace, the flefli begins then to be fub- 
 dued to fome ufeful fervices to God : Then 
 the eye by reading, and the ear by hearing, 
 and the feet by going to attend upon the 
 divine word, are made to help forward his 
 fpiritual and heavenly intereft; and many a 
 hundred fervices of this kind muft the mem- 
 bers of the body do, in order to make the 
 foul any tolerable recompenfe for all the in- 
 juries that the foul has received from its cor- 
 rupt appetites and paflions. Well therefore 
 might the apoftle fay, We are by no means 
 debtors to the fe/h y to live after the fe/h, 
 Rom. viii. 12. Nor do we owe any more of 
 our ftrength, time, thought, or contrivance, 
 to gratify its vain or finful inclinations; for 
 they that are CbriJFs have fo far crucified the 
 flcflo, voith the affcclions and lifts of it, as to 
 keep it under, and hold it in fubjeclion, that 
 
 it 
 
of Fle/h and Spirit. 325 
 
 it may not get the maftery over the foul, 
 Gal. v. 24. and 1 Cor. ix. 27. 
 
 Nourifh and fupport the flefh, that is your 
 duty: Heal it when it is fick, and endeavour 
 to preferve it in health, that it may be a pro- 
 per fervant to the fpirit. It was made for 
 this end; and the foul mould know its own 
 dignity, and keep the body in its place: But 
 dare not pamper it with too much fondnefs, 
 left it ufurp the dominion, and caufe the foul 
 to walk after it in the fmful appetites and 
 inclinations thereof; which is quite contrary 
 to the character of the faints, as they are de- 
 fcribed by the apoftle, Rom. viii. 1. Thofe 
 that are in Chriji Jefus, to whom there is 
 no condemnation , walk not after the fe/h y but 
 after the Spirit. 
 
 Meditation II. 
 
 IS the body fuch a foul and wretched 
 fpring of fin ? Then what a heaven of purity 
 and pleafure is provided for the children of 
 God at their death, and is contained in thofe 
 few words of the apoftle, Abfent from the 
 body, 2 Cor. v. S. When a child of Adam 
 has received a new nature by the new-cre- 
 ating power of the Holy Spirit, and is be- 
 come a fon or daughter of God, it is thence- 
 forward, as it were, a prifoner in this unto- 
 ward manfion of flefh and blood : It is in 
 a ftate of perpetual conflict, yet it cannot 
 X 3 change 
 
326 The Powers and Contejis, &c. 
 
 change thefe old fenfual appetites, nor correct 
 at once thefe long habits of irregular defire. 
 It labours daily in this work; it maintains 
 a vigorous warfare againft the flefh ; but, 
 through the power of fenfible enticing ob- 
 jects all around us, it is too often carried 
 away into finful compliances. O wretched 
 man that I am, faith the apoftle, what an 
 unhappy law, or fpring of fin, is there in 
 my members, that carries me away from the 
 better dictates of the law of my renewed 
 mind, and bears me captive to the law of fin 
 that is in my flefh! O wretched man indeed! 
 And who fhall deliver me? O blefTed hour of 
 death, that fhall break the chain, and fet the 
 prifoner free ! O fweet and glorious moment 
 of releafe from this body, which tainted my 
 fpirit early with its poifonous influences ; 
 and, by drawing me away perpetually by 
 its dangerous attachments to things fenfible, 
 has kept me long at a painful diftance from 
 my God. 
 
 
^3§S38Srn== 
 
 THE 
 
 IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 THE former part of this Difcourfe pro- 
 pofed this fentiment, (viz.) That the 
 principles and fprings, or occafions of fin, lie 
 chiefly in our bodily natures, in our fllejh and 
 blood : And as I have made this to appear 
 from feveral places of fcripture, fo I have 
 proved it from rational obiervations ; (viz.) 
 how great an influence the different conftitu- 
 tions of mankind, their carnal diftempers, and 
 their various ages of life, have upon the foul, 
 to incline it to the pra&ice of different fins ; 
 and all thefe are plainly derived from flefh 
 and blood. I have considered further, what 
 finful actions arife from the prefence of tempt- 
 ing objects impreffing the fenfes; and when 
 the images of them are treafured up in the 
 brain, they become the feeds of impure ima- 
 gination and finful appetite. Many of our 
 fins alfo are nearly imitated by the brutes 
 that perifh, whofe blood is their life and foul; 
 and even original fin itfelf is conveyed to us 
 by the flefh. 
 
 X 4 Hence 
 
328 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 Hence we may learn to judge aright con- 
 cerning fever al cafes of difficulty in the Chriflian 
 life^ relating to fins and temptations , and find 
 an anfwer to fome practical queftions of great 
 importance. 
 
 Queft. I. Whether the f>fl fart or motion 
 of our nature towards unlawful objccls is pro- 
 perly f n f u h an d brings guilt upon the foul? 
 
 Anfwer. The mere ferments of the blood 
 and fpirits, the appetites and motions, that 
 belong purely and only to the flefh, and 
 fpring entirely from it, are not properly fins; 
 becaufe the flefh, confidered in itielf, is but 
 mere matter: Now mere matter, whether it 
 were united to a rational mind or no, would 
 be thus moved and acted by natural fprings 
 and impreflions, and is under no moral law; 
 and 'where no law is there is no trafifgrefion. 
 The brutal or animal nature, abftracled from 
 the foul, is not capable of knowledge or will, 
 confent or difTent; but the firft moment that 
 the foul indulges or confents to any of thefe 
 irregular ferments, thefe fprings of unruly 
 paflion in the blood, and yields to thefe in- 
 ordinate appetites of the flefh, it commits 
 fin; as foon as it complies with any of thefe 
 defires, that are contrary to its duty, the foul 
 becomes guilty in the fight of God; for the 
 proper notion of fin is the tendency of an 
 intelligent being to things difagreeable to the 
 divine law ; the practice of what is forbidden, 
 or the neglect of what is commanded. 
 
 If 
 
ef F/e/h and Spirit. 329 
 
 If the eye beholds food, though the man 
 be aflured there is hidden poifon in it, yet 
 the hungry ftomach will have a natural ap- 
 petite toward it, and thi is not finful; but if 
 the foul comply, and the man eats it, or de- 
 fires to eat it, he breaks the fixth command, 
 which forbids all murder. Our Saviour has 
 fufficiently decided this part of the contro- 
 verfy in his fermon on the mount, that the 
 foul's very deiire and confent to fin is fmful, 
 Matth. v. 27. And the fuller and ftronger 
 the confent of the will is, and the further it 
 goes on to encourage or impel the body to 
 the forbidden a&ion, fo much greater is the 
 fin. 
 
 When our bleffed Saviour fpake thefe words, 
 He that looketh upon a woman, to lujl after her, 
 hath committed adultery already i?i his heart, 
 it cannot be fuppofed that he intended to 
 give a law that mould make the inward mo- 
 tions or ferments of mere animal nature fm- 
 ful; for thefe were not originally and natu- 
 rally fubjeel: to the immediate command of 
 the foul in the ftate of innocency, fo as to 
 be raifed or prevented abfolutely and imme- 
 diately by the will, as the motion of the 
 hand or foot is. But his defgn is to mew, 
 that the foul itfelf inwardly confenting to 
 thefe animal ferments and motions, or encou- 
 raging or indulging them but one moment, 
 is really fmful in the light of God, c en 
 though the man did never piucetd to the 
 
 outward 
 
330 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 outward and actual commiffion of tholb fins 
 in the fleih: And hereby he vindicated the 
 iaw of God from thole narrow and corrupt 
 €xpofitions which the fcribes, and doctors, 
 and interpreters of thole days put upon it, 
 who would allow nothing to be linful but 
 the outward act. 
 
 This will appear with fuller evidence, if 
 we coniider that there might, be in the flefh 
 of innocent Adam, fome natural appetites 
 towards objects that might be forbidden by 
 the exprefs and pofitive law of God ; for 
 the flefh, merely confidered in itfelf, has a 
 natural propenfity to things that pleafe and 
 gratify it, without any regard to the unfeen 
 circumftances or moral relations of things ; 
 without any refpecl to a law that permits or 
 prohibits them. Thus Adam, or his partner, 
 might feel an innocent inclination in their 
 animal natures, towards any fruit in the gar- 
 den that was pkafant to the eyes, and good 
 for food, even to that of the tree of know- 
 ledge : And this indeed was necefTary, in 
 order to make a proper ftate of trial ; and 
 it was fit and becoming divine wifdom, to 
 appoint fuch a tree to be" the teft of their 
 obedience. Now while they continued in- 
 nocent, the foul refilled this inclination of 
 the fleih, under a fenfe that the fruit was 
 forbidden ; but the firft moment that they 
 indulged the flefh in this irregular appetite, 
 or confented to it, they made themfelves 
 
 tranfgreflbrs; 
 
of Flejh and Spirit. 331 
 
 tranfgreffors ; then their nature was cor- 
 rupted ; thus they eat the unlawful food, 
 and became the parents of a fmful race. 
 
 The chief differences therefore in this mat- 
 ter, betwixt innocent and fallen man, are 
 thefe: 
 
 (1.) That it is probable his flefh might 
 have no natural inclination to objects appa-. 
 rently hurtful in themfelves, but to fuch only 
 as might be made unlawful by ibme attending 
 circumftances, or by an exprefs and politive 
 law. And 
 
 (2.) Thefe inclinations alfo, perhaps, were 
 but few, and feeble, in companion of the 
 multitudes of violent appetites, and irregular 
 defires, that are found in our degenerate na- 
 tures, to all forts of unlawful objects. And 
 
 (3.) That his foul had power in itfelf, by 
 due confederation, to refift and iubdue thefe 
 appetites of the flefh, though not abfolutely 
 to prevent them ; whereas, in our , prefent 
 corrupt ftate, we are foon tranfported and 
 hurried away into a fmful compliance with 
 them: The fpirit is ready to yield as foon as 
 it feels the temptations of the body; fo that 
 there are fcarce any fuch inordinate ferments 
 or propenfities arifing or ftirring in our flefh 
 and blood, but the foul more or lefs confents 
 to them in fome degree. 
 
 Thus, though the firft motions towards fin 
 that are in our members, are not in them- 
 felves properly finful, nor is the fenfe or 
 
 perception 
 
2,^2 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 perception of the mind finful neither, for 
 this is natural and neceffary, according to 
 the compofition of human nature, if the 
 mind were never fo holy: Yet thefe motions 
 feldom arife in our members (especially in 
 an unregenerate ftate,) but the foul is defiled, 
 and becomes guilty ; and that is by fome 
 confent of will, iome degree of indulgence 
 to them, or compliance with them. Well 
 then may we cry out with the Pfalmift, 
 Pfal. xix. 12. Who can underjlatid his errors? 
 Clcanfe ns, Lord, from the multitudes of 
 our tranfgreflions, and the millions of our 
 iniquities : Cleanfe us from fecret offences, 
 and keep us free from prefumptuous fins. 
 
 Queftion II. Whether all impure imagina- 
 tions a?id blafphemous thoughts are properly 
 finful; and render us guilty before God? 
 
 Anfwer. It is poffible that fome peculiar 
 qualities of the conftitution, fome diftem- 
 pered humours of the body, or fome fort of 
 improper food, may excite impure images 
 on the brain; and this is often done alfo by 
 the cafual and unavoidable, occurrences of 
 human life. An indecent pi&ure, an immo- 
 deft or profane fong, or the vile, the impious, 
 or uncleanly language of the wicked world, 
 may fpread a dangerous fcene over the fancy. 
 The devil alfo is a watchful and a bufy ad- 
 verfary, and we know not what fecret power 
 he has to draw evil pictures on the brain, to 
 
 write 
 
of Flefh and Spirit. 333 
 
 write blafphemy there, or to awaken fome 
 old traces of immorality. The powers and 
 devices of wicked fpirits are a great and un- 
 fearchable fecret to us, who dwell in the fleih. 
 He may buzz into the ear fome impious fyl- 
 lables, or lewd and profane founds, efpecially 
 when his chain is a little lengthened, and he 
 has a divine permiffion to approach human 
 nature. 
 
 But all thefe things that I have here de- 
 icribed may be impreffed on the animal 
 powers of an innocent perfon : The foul 
 may have a very painful perception of all 
 this without actual fin, fuppofing (till, that 
 it ftrives and wrejlles both againft its own 
 flefh and blood, and againft thofe principalities 
 and powers of darknefs ; fuppofing that it 
 fights, and watches, and prays for divine 
 aid, and ufes all the holy armour and the 
 weapons of facred appointment, to fence 
 againft thefe afTaults of rlefhly and fpiritual 
 enemies, thefe fore invafions of its holinefs 
 and peace. 
 
 I confefs it is hard, in this fallen and im- 
 perfect ftate, to be thus attacked on any fide, 
 without fome degree of compliance in an 
 unguarded moment ; and efpecially if we 
 are befet on all fides, and affaulted by the 
 flefh, the world, and the devil, at once. 
 It is feldom or never that the beft of men 
 can pafs through fuch a fcene of conflict and 
 fharp trial, without fomething of defilement. 
 
 Our 
 
334 ^ e lowers and Cunt efts 
 
 Our Saviour himfelf indeed was affaulted 
 by Satan, and by the world; but the prince 
 of darknefs found nothing "within him to pro- 
 mote or am ft his temptations, John xiv. 30. 
 But he finds fo much tinder in our nature, 
 ready to catch fire, and blaze, at every fpark 
 of iniquity, that it is fcarce poffible we 
 fhould pafs through fuch dangerous hburs 
 of conteft, and keep our fpirits pure and 
 unpolluted. 
 
 Yet ftill it mull be determined, that where 
 there is perpetual refinance, and no manner 
 of indulgence of thefe vicious fcenes, w r here 
 there is no confent of the will to them, nor 
 a neglect of any proper and appointed means 
 to oppofe and fupprefs them, there is no 
 fin. 
 
 Let this be a word of confolation and 
 facred encouragement to thofe poor melan- 
 choly Chriftians who are forely buffeted by 
 Satan, and his hellifh fuggeftions, or are 
 vexed with the wild and unruly infults of 
 fancy, under fome diftemper of the fiefh. 
 Let them enquire whether thefe evil thoughts 
 be not their conftant burthen; whether it is 
 not their daily and hourly toil of fpirit, to 
 fupprefs and caft them out ; whether they 
 do not make this the matter of their holy 
 complaint and mourning before God night 
 and day ; whether they are not wreftling 
 hard with thefe adverfaries of their peace, 
 and pleading hard at the mercy-feat, for 
 
 grace 
 
of Flcjh and Spirit. 33$ 
 
 grace to refift and fubdue them : Then let 
 them take the fame encouragement that 
 St. Paul does, who is an excellent example 
 both of fuch fufferings, and of fuch hope 
 and confolation. 2 Cor. xii. 7 — 10. He 
 had a thorn in the fie/h; he had an angel of 
 Satan fent to buffet him-, he bef ought the Lord 
 thrice; i. e. often and earneflly, for deliver- 
 ance : And though God did not anfwer 
 him immediately by a full releaie from the 
 temptation, yet he afforded him fuch a fuf- 
 ficiency of grace, that he could glory in hope 
 of final victory. Nor did he call the buffet- 
 ings of Satan, nor the thorn in the fle/h, his 
 own fins; but his infirmities, which he durft 
 even glory in, from his great affurance of 
 the grace of Chrift, to aflift him in the com- 
 bat, verfe 9. 
 
 I have written this to prevent the humble 
 holy foul, that lies under thefe exercifes, 
 from charging itfelf with more guilt than 
 the law or juftice of God charges it with: 
 Let fuch a one alfo take comfort from thofe 
 words of the apoftle, as there is no condemna- 
 tion to them that are in Chrift Jefus, who 
 walk not after the fie/h, in the courfe of 
 their lives, fo there is no guilt in fuch in- 
 llances of finful imagination, where there is 
 no indulgence. 
 
 Yet here it is neceffary to take notice, that 
 fome perfons have heretofore given fo crimi- 
 nal an indulgence to their feniual lulls, or 
 
 have 
 
336 The Powers and Contcjls 
 
 have been fo freely engaged in profane or 
 immoral converfation in their younger years, 
 that they have tainted their fancy with many 
 foul and impious reprefentations, infcribed it 
 with vicious words and images, and lodged 
 a fatal treafure of iniquity there. They have 
 often recalled thefe fcenes with fo much 
 delight, that when divine grace has been 
 pleafed to awaken them to a fenfe of their 
 folly, and give a pious turn to their fouls, 
 they have been many years perplexed with 
 the vile workings of imagination : Thefe 
 fcenes of iniquity have returned unbidden, 
 and rifen up incefiantly, in fpight of all their 
 facred labour to aboliih them : Thefe have 
 filled their fpirits with forrow and perpetual 
 anguifh; and there is juft reafon they mould 
 deeply humble themfelves before God on 
 this account. For though it is poffible fuch 
 wicked thoughts may be fuggefted to holy 
 fouls, who have kept themfelves in their 
 youth from this fort of defilement; yet when 
 perfons themfelves have been fo far acceffory 
 to their own guilt and mifery, they ought 
 to take frefh occafion from their prefent 
 temptations, to renew and maintain repent- 
 ance for their old fins. 
 
 Belides the habit or cuftomary return of 
 fuch corrupt imaginations, that thefe unhappy 
 finners have entailed upon themfelves, they 
 have alfo given hereby fuch a fatal handle to 
 the temptations of the devil, and furnifhed 
 
 fuch 
 
of Flcp and Spirit. 337 
 
 fuch a pleifmg habitation for unclean fpi- 
 rits, that lewd and blafphemous thoughts 
 have been continually impofed upon them 
 with eafe, by the fport and malice of the 
 tempter : thefe have given them many 
 grievous days and reftlefs nights, conftant 
 fatigue, and combat, and forrow of heart ; 
 nor could they ever free thefe inward re- 
 ceffes of the brain, thefe fecret chambers of 
 the fancy, from the impure pictures which 
 they themfelves have hung up there, till the 
 whole mortal tabernacle has been demolifhed. 
 Thole wicked images have been graven fo 
 deep, and lafted fo long, that all their pious 
 labours and tears have never been able to 
 blot them out, till the fleih itfelf has been 
 deftroyed in death. 
 
 Betimes then, O ye young finners, awake 
 betimes to ferious piety, and flee every youth- 
 ful luft; avoid the perfons and the places that 
 would tempt you to fenfual or profane prac- 
 tices ; turn your eyes away from the very 
 appearances of guilt, and from all defiling 
 reprefentations; let your ears be deaf to all 
 the language of profanenels or immodefty, 
 left you fuffer a fatal inroad to be made upon 
 the avenues of the fancy, and admit fuch a 
 guilty treafure of mifchief and iniquity there, 
 that may lay a foundation for toil and an- 
 guiih, and much bitterneis of foul, in the 
 following and the better years of life. 
 
 Y QueftiQ* 
 
338 The Powers and Co'ntejls 
 
 Queftion III. Whether we may be guilty 
 of fin in our dreams, in hours of delirium 
 under a fever, or in feafons of diftraclion 
 and madnefs f 
 
 Anfwer. I join all thefe three together, 
 becaufe they all agree in this, that the repre- 
 fentations made on the brain are fo ftrong 
 and predominant in all of them, that imagi- 
 nation is almoft equal to fenfe ; it imitates 
 fight and hearing, and the appearances and 
 actions of life fo nearly, that the foul cannot 
 diftinguifh them ; and fometimes the wild 
 operations of the brain overpower even the 
 prefent impreflions made upon the fenfes, 
 and fancy prevails above the ear or the eye. 
 Dreaming is but fleeping diftraclion, as the 
 diftraclion of a delirious hour is but a waking 
 dream. 
 
 Now where the images of fancy are fo 
 prevalent, the foul even of a holy man may 
 be fo far overpowered, as that reafon is quite 
 thrown out of its feat; the underftanding is 
 dazzled and deceived by the glaring flaihes 
 of imagination ; the notions of confeience, 
 the rules of duty, and the facred motives of 
 religion, are, as it were, confounded and 
 overwhelmed, and loft for a feafon, under 
 the conftant ftrong impreflions of the animal 
 fpirits revelling in the receffes of the brain: 
 And where the diforder rifes to fuch a de- 
 gree as this, the fprings of carnal appetite 
 and paflion are foon touched and awakened; 
 
 and 
 
ofFle/h and Spirit, 339 
 
 and being of a kindred nature, are fuddenly 
 inflamed ; fo that a man of piety may be 
 hurried to confent to finful pra&ices, under 
 any of thefe waking or fleeping diffractions. 
 In fuch a cafe the guilt feems to be leffened 
 fo far as the reafon is drowned in confufion 
 and darknefs, and the thought and confcience 
 overpowered and cheated with falfe im- 
 preflions. Perhaps at the end of this difor- 
 der, when the man awakes into daylight 
 and reafon again, he know r s nothing of what 
 has panned; or if he recollects the folly, he 
 blufries and mourns over the infirmity of his 
 nature ; and while he afks forgivenefs of 
 God, he can fcarce forgive himfelf, that he 
 mould yield the leaft confent to criminal 
 
 inclinations. 
 
 Where the confufion of thought does not 
 arife to fuch an overwhelming degree, but 
 there are fome debatings of reafon, fome no- 
 tions of duty, fome workings of confcience, 
 and yet the foul complies at laft, there the 
 guilt is increafed, and rifes higher, in pro- 
 portion to the exercife of the intellectual fa- 
 culties. But this crime can never become 
 near to the guilt of the fame actions, done 
 in a waking hour, or in a feafon of health, 
 and foundnefs of mind and memory. 
 
 I have known a man of ferious piety take 
 
 the name of God in vain, and curfe under 
 
 the power of diftradtion, which he would 
 
 have abhorred with all his foul t if he had 
 
 Y 2 l*eefl 
 
340 The Powers and Contefls 
 
 been in his fenfes, and not abfolutely over- 
 powered by the disordered humours of the 
 flefh. 
 
 Yet take this awful caution by the way: 
 That where thefe diforders or difeafes of the 
 brain, fleeping or waking, are caufed by our 
 own folly or wickednefs, by luxury, by un- 
 modified lulls, or by any immoral practices, 
 the cafe feems to be far worfe, and perhaps 
 the guilt of every irregular action is propor- 
 tionally enhanced and aggravated thereby; 
 as in the wild freaks of a drunkard, who 
 has indulged his vicious appetite, till it has 
 overcome all his better faculties ; for there 
 reafon itfelf, and the common judgment of 
 mankind, determine the crimes then com- 
 mitted againft the fociety to be juflly punifh- 
 able; He that kills a man in his drunken lit, 
 mull be put to death when he is grown 
 fober. And how far God will impute every 
 thing that is criminal, and whether he will 
 not deal with fuch a one in rigour, accord- 
 ing to the full guilt of the crime, can be 
 determined only by God himfelf. He fees 
 all the fecret motions of the flelh and fpi- 
 rit; he weighs every circumllance in a true 
 balance ; he knows perfectly all the rules 
 of Uriel: and impartial jullice ; and will 
 judge the world with divine equity and wif- 
 dom. 
 
 Let us watch and pray then, left we enter 
 into temptation in the healthful and waking 
 
 hours 
 
ofFleJh and Spirit. 341 
 
 hours of life: Let us carefully fliun all thofe 
 practices that have any tendency to difcom- 
 pofe the brain, or introduce difeafe, or dis- 
 order into that part of our animal powers; 
 left if we bring thefe inconveniencies upon 
 ourfelves by our own guilt or negligence, 
 we expofe ourfelves to more juft ceniure and 
 punifhment, for the unhappy effects and at- 
 tendants of fuch a difordered imagination. 
 
 And there is another reafon too why w t c 
 ihould take care at all times to employ our 
 thoughts and our time aright; and that is, 
 that we may introduce a better habit into 
 animal nature, and provide better againft 
 thofe feafons wherein either the daily courfe 
 of nature, or the afflictive providence of 
 God, may feem to give the powers of the 
 flefh an exceflive or fuperior influence over 
 the faculties of the mind. Let us never 
 indulge the corrupt appetites, the unlawful 
 defires, or the finful paffions that work 
 within us: Let us be watchful againft every 
 rifing enemy, and fubdue the vicious pro- 
 penlities of nature by holy diligence in our 
 proper duty, and by earneft addreffes to 
 the throne of grace: Let us treafure up in 
 our imagination the facred hiftories of the 
 Bible, and fill our memory with the things 
 of religion ; that the ideas of better things 
 than riches, honours, and pleafures, may 
 be ever ready to ftart up and appear to th« 
 foul, when it is at leifure from other ne- 
 Y 3 celTary 
 
342 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 ceffary bufmefs. This might happily fur- 
 niih out fafer and fweeter fcenes to entertain 
 fancy at midnight-hours, or when the brain 
 labours under worfe diforders by reafon of 
 fome bodily diftemper. The wile man tells 
 us, that a dream cotnetb through the multi- 
 tude of bufinefs, Eccl. v. 3. And by the 
 multitude of thoughts that pafs through the 
 mind, and are entertained with delight, in 
 the vigorous 1 and wakeful parts of life, the 
 animal powers of fancy and pafTion will ge- 
 nerally be in fome meafure influenced and 
 regulated. The heft way then to cure cove- 
 tous, or ambitious, or luxurious dreams, is 
 to fight againft the workings of thefe iniqui- 
 ties when we are awake ; for a very pure 
 fountain, even under fome cafual difturb- 
 ance, will not fend forth its ftreams fo much 
 defiled, and fo muddy, as where the fpring 
 itfelf is filthy or corrupt, and under fome 
 difturbance too. 
 
 Que ft. IV. Whether all perfons are equally 
 defiled with original fin? 
 
 Anfw* We muft here diftinguifh between 
 the guilt of fin belonging to the perfon, and 
 the power of fin that is in the nature. 
 
 Now whatfoever guilt is derived to any 
 perfon from Adam, by communion with 
 him in his firft apoftafy, the fame is derived 
 to all the pofterity ; nor is this the thing that 
 is doubted or enquired here. 
 
 But 
 
of Fief o and Spirit, 343 
 
 But as to the power of fin in the nature, 
 it is evident that there are not the fame de- 
 grees of finful propeniity, vicious appetite, 
 and paffion, in the bodies of all, even from 
 their very birth and infancy. The confti- 
 tution of animal or flefhly nature in fome, is 
 much more fullen or greedy, more wanton or 
 peevifh, more flothful, or proud and haugh- 
 ty, than it is in others, according to the va- 
 rious mixture of the blood and humours, 
 and the different ferments that arife thence, 
 whereby the foul is early imprefled and go- 
 verned, and habituated to particular vices be- 
 times. 
 
 Though we are all conceived in fin, and 
 
 fhapen in iniquity, Pfal. li. 5. yet there are 
 fome who are emphatically wicked in their 
 very conftitutions, who are more remark- 
 ably ef ranged to all that is good from the 
 *womb, and go afray as foon as they are born, 
 
 fpeaking lies, Pfalm lviii. 3. Whereby the 
 Pfalmift may feem to intimate, that fome 
 perfons have wickednefs more eminently run-* 
 ning through their families; they are born 
 and bred utter ftrangers to God, honefty, 
 and goodnefs; and they have a fort of craft 
 and knavifhnefs mingled with their temper, 
 that they pra&ife lying as foon as they can 
 fpeak. 
 
 It is evident enough to the obfervation of 
 every man, that fome perfons are of a more 
 temperate, more chafte, more modeft, more 
 
 Y 4 friendly 
 
344 ^be Powers and Conte/ls 
 
 friendly and kind difpofition, even in ani- 
 mal nature; they are more plain-hearted, 
 and of a more honeft and fincere make from 
 their very infancy; they have more of the 
 dove and of the lamb in them, than of the 
 fox, the bear, or the lion; and the foul is 
 not led aftray to the practice of the contrary 
 vices, either fo far, or fo early, as thofe who, 
 perhaps, from their immediate parents, have 
 received flefh and blood more tainted with 
 thefe iniquities. And if this be called a dif- 
 ferent degree of original fin, I will not ftand 
 now to conteft the word, nor can I utterly 
 deny the matter. 
 
 But ftill it is abundantly evident alfo con- 
 cerning every one of us, who are fons or 
 daughters of Adam, how finful or how holy 
 foever our immediate parents were, that we 
 bring vicious propenfities enough with our 
 flefh and blood into this world, that if we 
 encourage and indulge them, and walk after 
 the flefh, we fhall foon be found fufficiently 
 wicked here, and grow meet for a juft con- 
 demnation hereafter; and this will be the 
 cafe of the beft conftitution, unlefs a mighty 
 change pafs upon nature, by the power of 
 renewing and fanctifying grace. All that is 
 born of the jiejld is flefo, or finful ; and except 
 a man be born of water and the Spirit ; , that is, 
 regenerated by the Spirit of God, which is 
 typified by baptifmal water, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Queltion 
 
cfFle/Ij and Spirit. 345 
 
 Queftion V. Whether the fame Jin a I ways 
 carries equal guilt with it in different perfons^ 
 who have the fame advantage or the fame de- 
 grees of knowledge? 
 
 Anfwer. It ieems to be fuppofed in the 
 queftion, that different means or different 
 meafures of knowledge make the finner more 
 or lefs guilty in the light of God; and in- 
 deed our Saviour himielf has determined that 
 point beyond all difpute, Matt. xi. 21, 22. 
 Chorazin and Bethfaida having feen the mi- 
 racles of Chrift, and heard his doctrine, were 
 much more culpable than Tyre and Sidon, 
 whofe great ignorance would render their 
 cafe more tolerable in the day of judgment. 
 
 But to anfwer this queftion, let it be con- 
 fidered that there are other things befides 
 knowledge that make fins more or lefs hei- 
 nous. The fame crime committed under a 
 fmall and fingle temptation, is much more 
 culpable than when the temptations are many 
 and ftrong, whether they be within us or 
 without us. Now if a perfon of a fharp and 
 fretful conftitution, or whofe natural juices 
 of the flefh are foured by long ficknefs and 
 pain, ihould fall into frequent paffions of 
 finful anger, notwithftanding all his labour 
 and watchfulnefs againft it, he is not quite 
 fo criminal in tl>e fight of God as another, 
 who has no fuch peevifh and fretful fprings of 
 paffion in his nature, neither by original con- 
 ftitution, nor by any accidental diftemper. 
 
 The 
 
346 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 The man that perpetually carries about with 
 him the vigorous and active feeds of any iin- 
 ful appetite or affection, may take ten times 
 more pains in mortification than another does 
 who is of a happier temperature, and yet may 
 fall more frequently into his own peculiar in- 
 iquities, and be overcome by the Jin that cajily 
 bejets him: Nor is his guilt fo great as it is in 
 thofe who are bleffed with a better animal 
 nature, but either take no care to guar 
 
 a a- 
 
 gainft thofe fins, or perhaps excite nature to 
 practife the fame iniquities, beyond its own 
 inbred appetite. 
 
 And for this reafon it is evident, that a 
 perfon who in different periods of life com- 
 mits the fame fins, may deferve much more 
 blame at one time than another; fo wanton 
 practices are more hateful and criminal in 
 old age, and flothfulnefs and inactivity in 
 duty is a greater fault in the days of youth; 
 becaufe in thofe different feafons of human 
 life, there is lefs temptation to thofe fins a- 
 rifing from the flefh. 
 
 So fear, and fudden anger and forrow, 
 wherefoever they are found exceflive in per- 
 fons of enfeebled conftitutions, labouring un- 
 der fharp pains, or oppreffed by nervous mala- 
 dies, and weak natural fpirits, have not quite 
 fo much guilt in them as thofe fins would 
 have in the fame perfons when they were in 
 a Mate of vigour and health; for then they 
 had lefs uneafinefs within to join with the 
 
 provocations 
 
of FkJJj and Spirit. 347 
 
 provocations and temptations from without; 
 and belides, they were much more capable of 
 bridling the inferior powers, of countermand- 
 ing the animal motions and evil ferments: 
 Then they could more ealily maintain a 
 wife felf-government, they could range their 
 thoughts in better array to refill thefe fudden 
 attacks of the flefh. 
 
 I might add further alfo, that under thefe 
 fort of infirmities they are more expofed to 
 fudden furprifes; the hurry of the natural 
 fpirits ihakes the whole network of the nerves 
 in a moment; they throw all the blood into 
 the face at once; or, by a contrary operation, 
 fpread an univerfal chill and tremor over the 
 body, and clothe the countenance in palenefs 
 and the image of death. 
 
 They flaih like gunpowder, they force the 
 fweat through every pore, and convey a fer- 
 ment of paffion through the whole nature at 
 once, fo that the foul is fometimes feized into 
 a fudden confent to the finful motions of the 
 body before it is aware; which dangers are 
 much more eafily prevented in a calm and 
 healthful ftate of life. 
 
 But here let me infert a cautionary remark 
 or two, to guard againft the abufe of this 
 doctrine, which is defigned for the relief of 
 holy, humble, and deje&ed fouls. 
 
 1. Caution. Many who return frequently 
 to the commiflion of the fame fin, excufe 
 their own flothful and fottifh negligence by 
 
 throwing 
 
34§ ^be Powers and Contefls 
 
 throwing the blame on their conftitution; 
 let them take heed, left it be found that it is 
 their own wilful indulgence of finful appetite 
 and temptation, and not conftitution, hath 
 made the habit of fin fo ftrong within them, 
 and hath formed their very temper into fuch 
 vice and iniquity, which was by no means 
 born with them in any uncommon degree, but 
 is owing to their own wicked practice: God 
 fees through fuch vile hypocrify and difguife 
 as this, and will punifh the finner with a 
 double ftroke of vengeance, one for his guilty 
 fenfuality, and the other for his hateful dif- 
 fembling. If I would give an inftance of this 
 pretence, I think it is found no where more 
 frequently than among the drunkards, the 
 paffionate, and the unclean; and fuch perfons 
 alio difcover the vanity of their pretences, in 
 that they always excufe their fins, and feldom 
 or never mourn under them. 
 
 2. Caution. If your iniquity that frequently 
 befets you, arife from any bodily diforder 
 which you have brought on yourfelf by your 
 own fins, dare not murmur, and charge the 
 providence of God with this your difeafe or 
 impotence, but maintain a humbling fenfe of 
 your own guilt, which, perhaps, God hath 
 thus chaftiled in righteoufnefs: And let 
 younger finners avoid all thofe guilty prac- 
 tifes that may turn their very nature and bet- 
 ter conftitution into vice and raging appe- 
 tite, or into fuch difeafes as may expofe them 
 
 t® 
 
• of Fkjh and Spirit. 349 
 
 to the violent and unruly infults of flefh and 
 blood. Let /{hem take heed of indulging 
 vehement defires or averfions, even to com- 
 mon, indifferent, or lawful obje&s, left af- 
 fedlion get the afcendant, and fubjefl: the 
 flefh; and, by that means, the foul alio, to 
 a flavifh habit of appetite and paffion. 
 
 3. Caution. Let not thofe perfons, whofe 
 happier conftitution, or uninterrupted health, 
 gives them fome advantages in this refpect, 
 throw off their daily w r atchfulnefs, or neglect 
 prayer, left a vain felf-confidence betray 
 them into foul iniquities: And let them 
 remember too, that their guilt will be the 
 greater. 
 
 Nor fhould thofe whofe appetites and paf- 
 fions are become more unruly, either by the 
 original temperature of their flefh and blood, 
 or by particular diftempers, indulge them- 
 felves more eafily in a finful compliance, under 
 pretence that their guilt is lefs; unlefs they are 
 content to dwell for ever in fire and forrow, 
 upon this condition, that fome of the forrows 
 of hell be fharper than theirs, and fome part of 
 the flame be hotter and fiercer. O rather think 
 that you are called by the providence of God 
 to a ftri&er watch, to more frequent and fer- 
 vent prayer, and to a more laborious refin- 
 ance of the flefh; and the grace of Chrift is 
 fufficient to aflift the weakeft warrior, and 
 make him an overcomer even in the hardefl 
 conflict. 
 
 But 
 
35 o The Powers and Contefls 
 
 But this naturally leads me on to the next 
 queftion. 
 
 Queftion VI. Whether there he not a very 
 unequal diflribution of providence in thefe vari- 
 ous conftitutipns of jnankind? And how can 
 this be reconciled to ftricl: juftice, to make the 
 difficulties of the ftate of trial fo much harder 
 in one man than it is in another, by expofmg 
 him to much ftronger temptations? 
 
 Anfwcr. This difficulty, which dwells on 
 the lips of profane fmners, is eafily folved 
 by attending to a few fuch proportions as 
 thefe: 
 
 i ft, This muft be laid down as an eternal 
 and an immoveable truth, that the great God 
 has all poffible perfections belonging to his 
 nature, and his whole conduct in providence 
 is ever regulated by thofe perfections; fo that 
 he can no more be unjuft, than he can be 
 impotent or ignorant; nor can any part of his 
 conduct be unrighteous, any more than it can 
 be weak or unfkilful. 
 
 2dly, It is evident to the univerfal obferva- 
 tion of Heathens as well as Chriftians, that 
 mankind is a fallen and degenerate rank of 
 beings, who have loft their primitive inno- 
 cence and happinefs; and are running on to 
 deeper guilt and mifery, with headlong and 
 thoughtlefs hafte: Though it is only the 
 fcripture that informs us how this came to 
 
 pafs 
 
of Fkfh and Spirit. 351 
 
 pafs, which philofophers, by the light of 
 nature, could never rind out 
 
 3clly, If the whole race of creatures, which 
 were lb degenerate, had been put under the 
 moil difficult tefts of obedience, in a ftate of 
 trial, appointed in order to their recovery 
 from ruin, not one of them had any juft 
 reafon to complain, or murmur againft their 
 fovereign Ruler in the methods of his wif- 
 dom working toward their recovery. 
 
 4thly, If fome of thefe fallen and dege- 
 nerate beings have therefore fome ealier 
 circumftances of trial appointed to them, 
 fuch ought to be very thankful indeed, but 
 others ought by no means to quarrel w T ith 
 their Maker, or treat their fellow- creatures 
 with envy. Is thi?ie eye evil becaufe he is 
 good? Matth. xx. 15. 
 
 5thly, Perhaps many of thofe who have 
 lefs inward temptations in the flefh, are, in 
 the courfe of providence, expofed to greater 
 outward temptations in the world ; and in 
 this cafe, the ftate of trial for both of them 
 may be equally difficult; the one is balanced 
 with the other. 
 
 6thly, How great foever the difficulties 
 appear which any foul is expofed to by the 
 unhappy circumftances of flefh and blood, 
 to which it is united, there is fufficient relief 
 provided in the covenant of grace; there is 
 fufficient atonement and pardon in the blood 
 of Chrift; to remove the deepeft guilt, and 
 
 fufficient 
 
352 The Powers and Coiitejls 
 
 fufficient aids of the bleffed Spirit promifed 
 in the gofpel, to mortify the moft violent 
 appetites, and perverfe affections of the flefh ; 
 and there are many fouls now in heaven, 
 who wreftled hard with as vile conftitutions 
 of body here on earth as you are vexed with, 
 but have been made conquerors by the power 
 of this gofpel. 
 
 7thly, Confider alfo, that the harder the 
 fight is, the brighter fhall be the crown, and 
 the moft laborious combat fhall be attended 
 with the faireft prize. Maintain your con- 
 flict with fleih and blood, though the ftrife 
 may be never fo fharp and painful; hold out 
 till you are called up to the world of fpirits, 
 and you fhall find that your labour was not 
 in vain. 
 
 Have a care then, O man, of contending 
 with God thy Maker ; nor let the earthen 
 veifel fay to the Potter, Why haft thou formed 
 me thus? If thou giveft a loofe to thy cor- 
 ruptions becaufe they are ftrong, thou prac- 
 tifeft the fame folly as if the keeper mould 
 give a loofe to a lion, becaufe it is a very 
 wild and large one, and let him run at ran- 
 dom becaufe he is full of rage. What doft 
 thou think the event will be, O (inner? 
 When thy native appetites are (till grown 
 ftronger by indulgence, and become utterly 
 ungovernable, and thou art plunged into un- 
 fpeakable guilt, and endlcfs mifery, what a 
 cutting reflection it will be to thy confeience, 
 
 that 
 
of Fle/h and Spirit, 353 
 
 that, inftead of watching, praying, and ftriv- 
 ing againft thine inbred fins, thou wert ever 
 quarrelling at the great God thy Maker, that 
 he did not form thy nature juft according to 
 thy dire&ions : Efpecially when thou fhalt 
 fee others advanced to high feats in glory, 
 and reaping the joys of the Chriftian con- 
 queft, who had as many adverfaries to wreftle 
 with in the days of their flefh, and each of 
 them as violent and as mighty as thine. 
 
 Queftion VII. If the fprings of fin lie fo 
 much in the flefh, ore not fome methods of re- 
 forming theflefld proper to be praclifed, in order 
 to facilitate the work of mortification, to cure 
 our Jinful diflempers, to prevent actual tranf 
 greffion, and break the habits of fin ? 
 
 Anfwer. Since the feeds and occafions of 
 fin lie fo much in the flefh and blood, doubt- 
 lefs it is our duty to take fome' care that thefe 
 feeds of iniquity be fuppreffed and killed, as 
 far as poflible, by all proper methods; fuch 
 as do not neceffarily interfere with other 
 commands of God, or plain duties of Chris- 
 tianity. But in all matters of this nature, 
 perfons are in danger of running into ex- 
 tremes. 
 
 The Papifts require a certain abflinence 
 
 from meats, and forbid to marry, without a 
 
 due attendance to the circumftances of times, 
 
 places, and perfons; whereby fuperftition is 
 
 fupported, and finful appetites are often irri- 
 
 Z tated, 
 
354 ^ Je P ot w ers an d Contcjls 
 
 tated, inftead of fuppreffing them. At other 
 times they wear fackcloth on their flefh, 
 they fcourge and whip themielves, they lay 
 their bodies under much painful difeipline, 
 and fometimes too under bloody correction, 
 in order to mortify fin. But it was never 
 required of God, that we mould break the 
 fixth command in order to keep the feventh ; 
 for the advice of Chrift about parting with 
 a right-hand, or a right-eye^ Matt. v. 29. is 
 to be taken metaphorically for the mortifica- 
 tion of darling Jin s, or, at leaft, in a com- 
 parative fenfe, that it is better to bear the 
 lcfs of a limb than to be eternally miferable, 
 if there were no other poffible way of efcape. 
 Befides, it is part of their defign alfo in 
 Popery, to make fome fort of atonement and 
 fatisfa&ion for paft fins by thefe fuperftitious 
 feverities, which are fo far from being ac- 
 ceptable to God in this fenfe, that they dif- 
 honour the blood of Chrift, and will be ab- 
 horred of the Father. 
 
 Some Proteftants run to another extreme, 
 and becaufe our religion is fpiritual, there- 
 fore they neglect many due reftraints of the 
 flefh, and think to fecure themielves from 
 fin merely by the exercifes of the mind, 
 without due guard or care to keep the body 
 under proper difeipline, in order to mortify 
 the lufts thereof. They are ready to ima- 
 gine that this is too legal a way of mortifica- 
 tion, that it detra&s from the liberty and 
 
 privilege 
 
of Flefh and Spirit. '355 
 
 privilege of the Chriftian flate, to keep under 
 the flefh by any iuch methods of felf-govern- 
 ment. 
 
 But in oppofition to thefe two extremes, 
 the icripture feems plainly to lead us to a 
 medium; and the rules which may be drawn 
 from the word of God, may be chiefly com- 
 prifed under thefe few Heads. 
 
 1 ft, Never dare indulge the craving of the 
 jlcflo in any one Jinfid appetite or inclination; 
 much lefs make provifion for it, to fulfil the 
 lufis thereof Rom. xiii. 14. Here indeed 
 you fhould be well informed what is and 
 what is not finful, and not bind the body 
 to extravagant and unreafonable reftraints, 
 under a miftaken notion of fin and duty. 
 But when you are once upon juft grounds 
 fatisfied what is unlawful, then, if finful 
 neighbours, or if finful felf entice thee, content 
 thou not; for every man is tempted when he 
 is drawn away of his own lufi, and enticed, 
 Prov. i. 10. James i. 14. Compliance with 
 fin is the way to make fin ftrong : Every 
 fuch indulgence gives it courage to demand 
 more, and makes the inclinations grow into 
 a confirmed habit. It is the character of the 
 children of wrath, that they fulfil the defires 
 of the fief, Eph. ii. 3. 
 
 2dly, Keep out of the way of temptation. 
 
 Whatsoever place, company, diverfion, or 
 
 unneceffary bufinefs, you have found ready 
 
 to provoke a corrupt pafiion, avoid it as 
 
 Z 2 much 
 
3 $6 The Powers and Contejls 
 
 much as poflible. Remove thy way afar 
 off) and come not nigh the door of her houfe, 
 Prov. v. 8. 
 
 3(Ily, Deny the fleflo fometimes in its lawful 
 appetites, to teach it fubjeclion, and let it learn 
 to be governed, by being fometimes retrain- 
 ed, and difappointed in its innocent defires, 
 that it may with more eafe be withheld 
 when unlawful objects appear. The holy 
 apoftle feems to have this in his eye, when 
 he tells the Corinthians, that he that Jlriveth' 
 for the maflery mujl be temperate in all things: 
 And he allures them, that he keeps his own 
 body under, and brings it into fubjeclion, I Cor. 
 ix. 25, 27. And in the kit verfe of the 
 eighth chapter, He will eat no fe/h while the 
 world fands, rather than make his brother 
 offend. Surely then he would ufe the fame 
 felf-denial, rather than be in danger of giving 
 himfelf leave to offend. 
 
 4th! y, Keep the body in fuch temper and 
 circumfances as may render it fittef for the 
 prefent duty. If excefs of faintnefs and fee- 
 ble fpirits make it unfit for fervice, refrefh it 
 with the proper comforts of life. If through 
 excefs of vigour, and a florid ftate of the 
 blood, it grow unfit for any duties of reli- 
 gion, or lead the mind aftray to dangerous 
 vanities and allurements, it may fometimes 
 be kept under by diligence in labour, by 
 fparmg diet, and diminifhed hours of ileep. 
 When Jefhurun waxed fat, he kicked, DeuL 
 
 xxxii. 
 
ofFlefh and Spirit. 357 
 
 xxxiL 15. And the danger of Sodom was 
 plenty and luxury, which the fcripture de- 
 scribes by fulnefs of bread, joined with abund- 
 ance of idlen efs, Exod. xvi. 49. 
 
 And it is upon this account that you find 
 fafling joined with prayer, in the New Tefta- 
 ment as well as in the Old; and perhaps the 
 word watching, which is coupled therewith, 
 may in fome places be fuppofed to include 
 its literal fenfe alfo; for abftinence from full 
 meafures of food and fleep may give occa- 
 fional affiitance to the foul in devout ex- 
 ercifes ; and where experience finds that a 
 full indulgence either of fleep or food unfits 
 the body, or clogs the foul in any duties of 
 religion, there thofe appetites of the flefh are 
 certainly to be reftrained. 
 
 I might add, in the laft place, That if any 
 floarp difeafes of the body, or difordercd humours, 
 awaken the finful ferments of any pajjion or 
 appetite, in a more than ordinary manner, feek 
 relief from the phyfician, to refore the flejh to 
 its left fate of fervice to the foul; that it may 
 be delivered, through the divine blefling, 
 from vexing difquietudes, from fudden fur- 
 prifes of fin, from the feeble flutterings of 
 animal nature, from langcur and heavinefs, 
 and every other infirmity ; and may join 
 chearfully and regularly with thy willing 
 foul, to glorify God, thy Maker and thy 
 Saviour. 
 
 But, 
 
$58 The Powers and Contefts 
 
 But, after all, never imagine that thefe, 
 or any other methods of mortification, will be 
 effectual to fipprefs and cure one fin, without 
 converting and renewing grace, without the 
 knowledge and faith of Jefus Chrift, who is 
 the only Redeemer of mankind, appointed 
 to five us from ourfns; the only Phyfician 
 able to cure our fpiritual maladies. It is a 
 deep fenfe of the univerfal corruption of 
 nature, together with a betrufting our whole 
 felves into the hands of Chrift, to be fancli- 
 fied and faved, is the only effectual and fure 
 way to holinefs. It is faith muf purify the 
 heart, Ads xv. 9. It is by the influences of 
 the great and precious promifes of the gofpel, 
 that we muft be made partakers of a- divine 
 nature, and efcape the corruption that is in the 
 world through luf, 2 Pet. i. 4. All our la- 
 bours, Ihort of regeneration, and an entire 
 change of the whole foul, by the mighty 
 work of the Spirit of Chrift, are but like 
 nipping the bloffoms of a poifonous tree, 
 like cutting off the twigs, or lopping the 
 branches, while the fatal ftock ftands firm 
 ftill, and the root maintains its life and full 
 vigour. Thus it will be ever fpringing with 
 new moots, and bring forth fruits of guilty 
 and mortal favour. But converting grace is 
 a blow at the root; it kills the finful princl* 
 pie, or, at leaft, gives it a deadly wound. 
 Seek earneftly therefore the Spirit of Chrift, 
 
 to 
 
of Fief J a??d Spirit. 359 
 
 to renew your whole natures : Walk under 
 
 *the influences of this bleffed Spirit, and you 
 
 fall not fulfil the lufs of the flefh, Gal. v. 
 
 16, 24. For it is only they that are Chrifls, 
 
 who have crucifed the flefh, with its affeclio?is 
 
 and lufs ; and if by the affiftances of this 
 
 Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the body, you 
 
 fall have a life here on earth, made up of 
 
 the peace and beauty of holinefs, and you 
 
 fhall die out of this world, into a diviner life 
 
 of glory. Amen. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

 Date Due 
 
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