the utmost severity, favours him with the greatest grace. This, this must exhibit the Judge as incomparably good to the sinner, so is at he may cry out with the church, Micha vii. 18, 19. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion on us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." He descends from his throne of vindictive justice, and sits upon his throne of grace, and that without injuring, yea, to the glory of his justice; a wonder, before which "Moses bowed himself with his head to the earth," when the Lord proclaimed it before him, saying, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty," Exod. xxxiv. 5, 8.

3. Is not this a wonderful benefit, that God himself bestows his Son to be a Surety, Mediator and Advocate? The sinner must have been condemned according to the law, and the testimony of his conscience: but the bowels of the tender mercy of God made his Son to be sin, that the sinner might be the righteousness of God in him. He cannot be condemned now upon the allegations of his accusers, although their accusations be ever so just; they themselves must be condemned; for according to the words of Paul, Rom. viii 3, 4. "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for şin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." This is the great promise of God, who justifieth the sinner, that he saith, Isaiah liv. 17. "Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Do the accusers renew their complaints with his daily offences, "Jesus Christ the righteous is his Advocate with the Father, and he ever liveth to make intercession for him," agreeably to the testimony of John and Paul, 1 John ii. 1. Heb. vii. 25.

4. Will ye have more, look at the sentence. How precious is it, and like cold water to a thirsty soul, bowed down under the burthen of so many and just accusations! Can aught be more joyful, than that a justly, and a self-condemned malefactor is informed, that he hath obtained pardon? How soul enrapturing is it to a sinner, who bears with the greatest anxiety the sentence of everlasting condem. nation in his bosom, to hear the Judge say, Thou shalt not die, but

live: I will seat thee upon the throne of my Son, I have set my heart, my love on thee, and when his Judge, gives him the kiss of reconciliation! How must such a poor heart re ive, as it were, from the pangs of death, with the greatest pleasure & Such a soul saith straightway, "O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back," Isaiah xxxviii. 16, 17. Once

more:

5. Why doth Gol do such great things for such a vile child of hell? It cannot be, because he saw so much moral goodness in him; not only God, but the sinner himself, knew better. Nothing, nothing but grace moved the Lord to glorify himself in such a subject of condemnation. It is "to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," saith the apostle, Eph. i. 6. Yea, the sinner doth still do nothing to obtain this sentence, he only assents to it, that he may obtain grace and peace, agreeably to the method and wisdom of the King: his Advocate saith, “Fear not, only believe," Mark v. 36.

What think ye, hearers, is not David in the right, when he pronounces a sinner, who is justified in this manner, blessed? Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. Surely yes. But what will this avail you and me, if we ourselves have no interest in this great benefit? ought we not then to inquire thoroughly in what state we are with regard to this particular? what think ye, are ye already acquitted before the tribunal of God? or do ye not concern yourselves with this important matter? This would indeed be wretched. Or do ye say, We hope that we do, and we trust that all our sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ's merits? Have ye any ground or proof of this? Surely this is a matter of too great importance to be trifled with in such a manner. Permit me to inform you what are the marks of a justified person, and let each of you examine himself by them, and see whether they can be found in him.

1. The person who hath been justified before God, "his conscience hath accused him that he hath grossly transgressed all the commands of God, and that he hath kept none of them, and is still inclined to all evil." He knows this, not merely from hearsay, but be looks back, and sees that his whole life hath been without God, be ses even now clearly and plainly every evil inclination rise up in him against God, and his ways, and against his neighbour. This distresses him, and affects him with shame and concern, and he

earnestly desires to find grace only; this urges him to prayer, and to seek God, that, like such a vile wretch, he may find grace and mercy with God. See this in the publican, Luke xviii. 13, 14.

2. Such a person seeks his righteousness and pardon only in Christ. At first he seeks relief for his distressed heart in forsaking evd and doing good; but he is soon driven from this, for he sees that whatever he doth is so mixed with sin, that the more he strives to do any thing, the more his evil inclinations appear, and the more distress of mind he experiences on account of them, until his soul, entirely perplexed, hears the good report of the ability and willingness of the Mediator, whereupon being driven out of himself, he turns himself to him, surrenders himself to him, chooses, and accepts of him, that he may be justified by him before the throne. How exceedingly low doth he now rate his virtues, although he unce valued them so highly! and how is Jesus risen in his esteem! Like Saul he saith with his whole heart, "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith," Philip. iii. 8, 9. Once incre:

3. The person who is justified before God is also sanctified. These two benefits always accompany each other; see 1 Cor. vi. 11. “With God there is forgiveness, that he may be feared, Psalm cxxx. 4. David saith also that in the spirit of the justified person there is no guile, Psalm xxxii. 2. Indeed faith alone justifieth, but it doth not by itself prove that a person is justified, unless he also prove it by good works. James demonstrates this by the most forcible arguments: see his epistle, the second chapter, vrs. 14-26. It is also the nature of the justified person to be holy. He knows, he hates, and opposes the wicked inclinations of the old man; he knows and loves the holy will of God, and seeks to do it, and for this purpose surrenders himself to the Lord; love to God hath captivated his soul, and urges him to conduct himself according to his will, and with justified Paul he strives to be conformed to Christ,. and to be perfect, Philip. ii. 10-14.

If ye, who hear this, examine yourselves by it, ye will see how it is with you in this respect; if we were not to speak of justification on the following Lord's day, we should show you now how many are yet estranged from this great benefit, and how wretched their condition is; but this we must do on the twenty fourth Lord's day.

But with respect to you, whose souls are humbled under sin, who have sought and found your righteousness in Christ only, and pur sue after holiness, be active and zealous in your improvement of this matter. And particularly.

1. Let this ruth be precious to you, and do all that in you lieth to retain it in the church; and therefore endeavour to understand it thoroughly, and to teach it to others; suspect and oppose those who civil at it in the least. Applicable are here the words of holy Jude in his epistle, the third verse," Earnestly contend for the faith wh ch was once delivered to the saints." The doctrine of the justification of the sinner, before God is the chief truth of Christianity with this article the church either stands or falls. No doctrine can remain unviolated, when this is impaired. He who doth not hold this truth pure, cannot have a pure opinion of the satisfaction of Christ, nor of the state of grace; his humility, his faith, his hope, his charity and sanctification is vain. He cannot "serve God in the Spirit, while he doth not glory in Christ Jesus, and hath confidence in the flesh," as Paul speaks, Philip. iii. 3.

2. Let this truth possess and captivate your souls so, that it may ravish and transport you with wonder, joy and thanksgiving to the Lord. Think what hath been done to you, that ye, who were so vile and guilty, have been raised up out of the bottomless pit of misery, and compassed with joyful songs of deliverance, on account of the righteousness of the Son of God, by such an exalted grace, upon the consenting act of your faith, that ye might receive and praise for ever grace for grace. How should your souls now be filled with the praises of God, with his honour all the day! Have ye not greater reason than Hagar, to say with her, "Have I here also looked after him that seeth me?" Gen. xvi. 13. See only how David strove to do this, when he said, Psalm eiii. 1-5. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

3 Be and remain lowly and humble. Remember what ye were, (and yet are in yourselves,) surely a Magor missabıb, a terrour round about to yourselves and to all who beheld you with a discerning eye. Ye know how loathsome and hateful ye were in your own eyes, when God first laid his hand on you; there was none so filthy, so wicked and damnable as ye were in your own opinion. Will ye now exalt yourselves on account of the excellency of your revelation?

will ye forget yourselves, because ye are believers, and beloved? "Who maketh you to differ? and what have ye, that ye have not received? and if ye have received it, why do ye glory, as if ye had not received it?" thus I ask you with Paul, 1 Cor. iv. 7. Do ye no longer know what ye have been, know then what ye are now still, through the evil inclinations of your hearts; if this will not humble you, and render you lowly, the Lord will "give you a sharp thorn in your flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet you." And why not you, as well as Paul, "that ye may not exalt yourselves?" 2 Cor. xii. 7. Why did the Lord withdraw his hand, and suffer the greatest saints to fall into exceedingly grievous sins? was it not that they might remain humble?

4. When ye have sinned against your great Benefactor, Judge and Father, be grieved and sorry for it. Shall one, who hath been delivered from so great a death, behave himself unthankfully, basely, and like a degenerate child toward him, who hath delivered him, and who hath been so inconceivably kind to him? Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?" thus speaks Moses to Israel, Deut. xxxii. 6. Let your hearts bleed on account of this, and bewail it with briny tears, like David and Peter, Psalm li, and Matt. xxvi. 75. Do not however sink down in discouragement, but seek pardon for your ill behaviour with humility; draw near unto God, as a Father, whose gracious gift of righteousness is without repentance, and who will never more be wroth with you, as a Judge; he sits yet upon his throne of grace, to afford grace, help and mercy in time of need. Your Surety hath brought in an everlasting righteousness for you, and hath been made righteousness to you of God, ye have still a right to it, it is imputed to you entirely, and for ever. He hath justly turned his face away from you, but ye have not lost your title to his righteousness by your iniquities; have ye been unfaithful, he remains faithful: therefore lay hold anew on the righteousness of your Surety for reconciliation, come with it to the throne, and plead upon "his resurrection, with the answer of a good conscience," as Peter requireth, 1 Peter iii. 21. And rest not, until your souls be really and actually at peace again with the Father.

5. Conduct yourselves worthily of the great favour, that hath been shown to you. This Paul enjoins, when he saith, Philip. i. 27. "Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ." The benefit of justification is the great theme of the gospel; and to what, think ye, doth so great a benefit oblige you? doth it not to