through the whole fcriptures of truth: It was the first thing proposed to Adam and Eve immediately after the fall, when they were under awful apprehenfions of prefent death, Gen. iii. 14. 15. (viz. the feed of the woman) fhall bruife thy head, (viz. of the ferpent). They were to believe, that the Son of God, who was speaking to them, would, in the fulness of time, become the feed of the woman, or be incarnate, and avenge their quarrel; and the faith of this eafed and quieted their fpirits, because in this they faw that God was upon their fide. So in the promife made to Abraham, the incarnation of the Son of God was prefented unto him and his pofterity, Gen. xxii. 18. “In thy feed shall all the nations of the earth be bleffed." Upon which the apoitle, Gal. iii. 16. gives the following commentary, "He doth not speak of feeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy feed, which is Chrift." In the reit of the fcriptures, where these two promifes are more fully opened, we find the incarnation of the Son of God prefented as a ground of faith and hope to the church of God. David, in the Pfalms, frequently speaks of him as man, Pfal. viii. 4. compared with Heb. ii. 6. the Son of man, and the Man of God's right hand, Pfal. lxxx. 17. Ifaiah fpeaks of him as a Child born unto us, although at the fame time his name is THE MIGHTY GOD, chap. ix. 6. and liii. as a Man of forrows, and acquainted with grief. Jeremiah, as a Branch of righteoufnefs, chap. xxxiii. 15. that was to fpring out of the root of Jeffe, If. xi, 1. And every where almost in the New Teftament, he is prefented as the Word made flesh, John i. 14.; made of a woman, Gal. iv. 4.; the Seed of the woman, Gen. iii. 16.; born of a virgin, Matth. i. 16.; Who took not on him the nature of angels, but the feed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16. And commonly, when he speaks of himfelf through the evangelifts, he denominates himfelf by the human nature, rather than by the divine, The Son of man. One fpecial reafon of which is, as I think, because the faith of finners could not terminate or fix upon his divine nature, but by virtue of his human nature. The hand of faith lays hold upon the fkirt of the human nature, that it may thereby draw, as it were, the divine nature alongft with it, knowing that the perfonal union between these two natures cannot be diffolved. Now, that there is here a general ground of faith laid for all mankind that hears tell of this great mystery of godlinefs, God manifested in the flesh, appears, if we confider, that it was not the perfon, but the nature of man that Chrift affumed. And the nature of man is equally related to every man and woman, that poffeffes a true body, and a reasonable foul. Infomuch that every one that hears of him is warranted

་

to

to fay, This is my brother, "bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," Gen. ii. 23. as Adam faid of Eve when presented unto him, and therefore a help meet for me, ver. 20. O Sirs, confider this, and dwell upon it. Chrift, by virtue of his incarnation, is our Goel or Kinfman, he is our blood-relation, and he took part of your flesh, that fo he might be capable to act a part for you, which none elfe of the human race was capable to do, even to redeem you by his blood, and by death to bruife the head of the ferpent. And is not this a noble ground of faith, truft, and confidence in him? O Sirs! enter in and take poffeflion of the New Teftament Ark, by this door of his incarnation, and claim him as yours, by an appropriating faith, faying with the church, If. ix. 6. To us (or to me) is this child born, &c. This doctrine was delivered by the angels at the birth of Chrift, as good tidings of great joy unto all people, Luke ii. 10. 11. where they fay to the fhepherds, (not to us, but) "To you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Chrift the Lord."

3dy, Another paffage by which faith may enter into the New Teftament Ark, is Chrift's obedience to the law, which was violate, broken, and difhonoured, by the fin of the first Adam, and of all his pofterity. For understanding of this you would know, that the condition upon which life was promifed to Adam, and to all mankind in him, was perfect obedience unto the command of the law, "He that doth these things fhall live in them," Lev. xviii. 5. compared with Gal. iii. 12. And if Adam had continued in his obedience, he and his pofterity might have claimed temporal, fpiritual, and eternal life, as a debt due to them (though not upon the account of the intrinfic merit of his obedience, yet) by virtue of the paction in the covenant of works. Well, man being in honour, continued not, Pfal. xlix. 12. compared with Gen. iii. 6. He brake the covenant by eating the forbidden fruit; and all his children's teeth ever fince have been fet on edge against God, their carnal minds being enmity againfl God, are not fubject to the law of God, Rom. viii. 7. by which means they have loft their title to that life promifed in the first covenant, and are fallen under the fentence of death; and without the honour of the law be repaired by a perfect obedience yielded unto it by man, or one in man's nature, it ftands as an eternal bar in the way of life 2nd falvation unto all mankind. Well, Chrift, the eternal Son of God, as man's Kinfman and Surety, undertakes to repair the broken law, faying to his Father, "Lo, I come, in the vo lume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart," Pfal. xl. 7. 8. compared with Heb. x. 7. as if he had faid, Let my ear be

bored

bored unto thy fervice in this matter, for it is the firm purpose of my heart to fulfil all righteousness that the law requires of mankind finners.' And accordingly, in the fulness of time, he is not only made of a woman, but made under the law, Gal. iv. 4. and in our ftead and room magnifies the law and makes it honourable, If. xlii.21.: By which means, all legal bars and impediments lying in the way of falvation and life, from the part of the command of the law is made up again, and the law as fully fatisfied as though it had never been broken, and the title to the life promised in the covenant of works comes to stand in the perfon of our common Kinfman and bloodrelation; upon which account, his righteoufnefs and falvation. is published and brought near unto all; yea even unto them that are tout hearted and far from righteoufnefs, If. xlvi. at the clofe. And you see in the fortieth pfalm, after he had faid to his Father, in the council of peace, "I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart," immediately he adds, ver. 9. 10. "I have preached righteoufnefs in the great congregation, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knoweft, I have not hid thy righteoufnefs within my heart," &c. Thus you fee, that all who have the gofpel preached unto them have a right of accefs to his righteoufnefs or perfect obedience to the law; and whoever they be that believe in him as the Lord our righteoufnefs, Jer. xxiii. 6. they enter into the New Testament Ark, and are faved from the deluge of God's wrath; "For there is no condemnation to them that are in Chrift Jefus," because the righteoufnefs of the law is fulfilled. in them, Rom. viii. 1. 3. 4. and x. 4. Chrift becomes the end of the law for righteoufnefs to them. Hence is that of the apostle, 2 Cor. v. at the close, "God was in Chrift, not imputing their trefpaffes to them; for he hath made him to be fin for us, who knew no fin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Heb.

Heb. xi. 7.-By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not feen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the faving of his houfe.

A

THE THIRD SERMON ON THIS TEXT.

FTER resuming of what is above, I go on to tell

you,

4thly, The death of Christ, or his atoning blood, is another door by which poor finners do enter into the New Testament Ark, and are faved from the deluge of divine wrath. We are faid to come by faith unto the blood of fprinkling, Heb. xii. 24. "and to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jefus," chap. x. 19. Chrift as crucified is evidently fet forth, Gal. iii. 1. before all, in the difpenfation of the gofpel; hence the apostle Paul tells the Corinthians, "That he determined not to know any thing among them, fave Jefus Chrift, and him crucified," I Cor. ii. 2. Chrift fays, fpeaking of his death, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," John xii. 32. And accordingly, when the apostles went through the nations preaching the gofpel, what was the great theme they continually harped [infifted or dwelt] upon?" We (fays he) preach Chrift crucified, unto the Jews a ftumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Chrift the power of God, and the wifdom of God," 1 Cor. i. 23. 24.

For clearing this matter of the death of Chrift as a ground of faith, you would know that there is a threefold fufficiency in the death of Chrift.

1. An intrinfic fufficiency arifing from the infinite dignity of his perfon who fuffered, being the infinite God in the perfon of the Son, clothed with a vail of flesh; and in this refpect, there was fuch a value in his death and blood, that it was fufficient, not only to redeem all mankind, but ten thousand worlds, fuppofing their existence and fall too, if it had been fo ordained. But,

2. There is an ordinate fufficiency, whereby the death and fatisfaction of Chrift is limited unto the elect, and in this refpe&t Chrift declares that he laid down his life for the sheep, John x. 15.

3. There is a legal fufficiency, by which the law and its penalty is fully answered; infomuch that neither law nor justice is any obftruction or bar in the way of a finner's falvation, that

I

believes

believes in him; but on the contrary, that moment a finner believes in him, all the charges that the law and justice had against the poor finner, they are all cancelled,' Gal. iii. 10. Col. ii. 14. Rom. viii. I. 33. 34.

Now, when we fpeak of the death of Christ as a ground of faith, we abftract entirely from the ordinate fufficiency of it for the elect; for that being among the fecret things that belong unto the Lord, Deut. xxix. 29. it can never be a ground of faith unto any man, no, not unto the elect themselves, that Chrift died for the elect, otherwife a man behoved to know his election, before he adventured to believe, which is a thing abfolutely impoffible, in regard our election of God is a thing that can only be known by obeying the call of the gospel; hence we are commanded, 2 Pet. i. 1o. to give all diligence to make our calling and (then) our election fure. And therefore seeing it is not the ordinate fufficiency of the death of Chrift that we are commanded to preach, which would lead us in among the fecret decrees of God, which do not belong unto us, it must needs be the intrinfic and legal fufficiency of the death of Chrift, that is to be held forth, as the ground and foundation of faith to finners of mankind. Hence are thefe univerfal and extenfive expreflions in fcripture, John i. 29. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the fins of the world." 1 John ii. 2. "He is the propitiation for our fins, and not for our uns only, but for the fins of the whole world." Tim. iv. 10. "He is the Saviour of all men, efpecially of those who believe." All mankind have fuch an intereft in the death and fatisfaction of Chrift, as the devils have not. Yea, confidering that it was the human nature, that was the facrifice, and that all mankind are related to him, through his taking hold of the human nature (as was faid), it is impossible to conceive how all mankind, especially gofpel-hearers, fhould not have an intereft in his death, I mean, fuch as warrants them to say, in faith, "He loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. "He was delivered for our offences," Rom. iv. 25. "He was wounded for our tranfgreffions, bruised for our iniquities," &c. If. liii. 5. And upon this account I conceive that the death of Chrift, and the benefits flowing therefrom, is faid to be a feaft made unto all people, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined, If. xxv. 6. This is the carcafe unto which all the hungry eagles of mankind fhould gather, and feed to the full, Matth. xxiv. 28. Hence it is, Luke xiv. 21. 23. "The poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind, that lie about the hedges and high-ways, are called, yea compelled, to come in," and feast with him. 5thly, The great and precious promifes of the covenant of VOL. III.

Rr

grace,

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