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covery he had of Christ was fo faint in refpect of ours, yet we are told, "That he ftaggered not at the promise of God through unbelief," whereas we are ftaggering almoft at every Rep.

2. Abraham's feeing of the day of Chrift implies an að of the understanding, or a knowledge and uptaking of Chrift, fuited unto the revelation of him. His feeing of the day of Chrift, fays, that the light of the revelation had not ftaid without him, but it had entered into his heart; according to that, 2. Cor. iv. 6. "God, who commanded the light to fhine out of darkness, hath fhined in our hearts." God, by his Spi- ! rit, takes the things of Chrift, and he fhews them unto us. "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven."

3. Abraham's feeing of the day of Chrift, it has in it an act of delectation, He faw my day, and was glad. He was delighted at the fight of the day of Christ, Zech. ix. 9. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerufalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and having falva tion!" &c. Oh, with what triumphant delight doth the fpouse express her fight of him! Cant. ii. 8. "It is the voice of my beloved: behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, fkipping upon the hills."

4. An act of application and improvement. To be fure, when Abraham got that promife of the Meffiah, to come of his loins, "In thy feed fhall all the nations of the earth be bleffed," he would be ready to fay as Jeremiah did, chap. xv. 16. "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of mine heart." He would no doubt bring it home with particular application to his own foul, faying, Surely in this bleffed feed have I righte oufnefs and ftrength, in him will I be juftified, and in him alone will I glory. "This is my beloved; and this is my

friend."

5. I think it may have in it alfo, an act of wonder and admiration: He faw the day of Chrift, and was furprifed with the fight, faying with the apostle, "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godlinefs, God was manifeft in the flefh." Thus you fee what is implied in that fight that Abraham had of the day of Chrift; but especially I think it points at the two principal acts of faith, viz. knowledge and applica

tion.

Queft. What are the grounds of the metaphor? or why is faith reprefented in fcripture under the notion of the bodily fight?-I thall endeavour to clear this in the few following particulars.

The

1. The eye, you know, is a paffive recipient kind of an or gan: My meaning is this, the eye does not fend out a light from itself, nor doth it give and communicate any thing unto the object that it beholds: What do you give or add to the fun, moon, or stars, when you behold them? Your eyes only receive the print or image of them into your mind, without adding any thing unto them.

Juft fo is it with faith, it does not give or communicate any thing unto God, or Chrift, or to what it beholds in the world of grace, but it just takes them up, or takes them in, as they are prefented to the foul's view in the light of the revelation. What did the Ifraelites give unto the brafen ferpent, when they looked unto it, and were healed? As little do we give or add unto Chrift, when we look unto him and are faved.

2. The eye of the body is a very affuring fenfe. What are we more fure of, than of what we fee with our eyes? If a man fee the light of the fun, all the world will not perfuade him but that it is day, or that the fun is up.

So faith is a grace that carries a great deal of certainty in the very nature and bofom of it, Heb. xi. 1. "Now faith is the fubftance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not feen." And ver. 13. it is faid of the worthies, that they faw" the promises afar off, and were perfuaded of them, and embraced them."

3. The eye is a directing organ. The man that has the light of the day, and his eyes open, he will know his way, and is not fo ready to ftumble and fall into ditches and precipices as a blind man, or one that walks in darkness. So faith is a directing grace, when by faith we "look unto Jefus, then we run the race that is fet before us." We are faid to walk by faith and not by fight."

4. The eye, though it be little, is a very capacious organ. The man that has the light of day, and his eyes open, will fee every thing visible; it takes up the whole vifible frame of na

ture.

So faith is a moft capacious grace, extending itfelf to every thing that lies within the vaft circuit of the revelation. I own indeed there may be a true faith which takes up but little of the light of revelation at firit. Like the eye of an infant, it really takes in the light, and perceives external objects, but with a great deal of weakness and confufion, until it come gradually to more ftrength; and then it widens and extends itself further and further. Jutt fo is it with the eye of faith: At first the light of knowledge, it is but dim; the man, like an intant, does not fee far; but "the path of the juft is as the thining light, that thineth more and more unto the perfect, VOL. III.

3 H

day,

day," Prov. iv. 18. As the light and ftrength of faith grows, it widens itself to take in more of God; more of Chrift; more of things that are above, where Chrift is. It wades deeper and deeper into the myfteries of the kingdom, until it come to be at last swallowed up in immediate vifion.

5. The eye is an impreffing organ; what we fee with our eyes leaves an impreffion upon our minds. If a man look upon the fun for a little, he will find the impreffion of the fun in his eye, even though he fhut it, or though he turn his eye away from it.

Even fo faith leaves an impression of the glory of the Sun of righteoufnels, 2 Cor. iii. 18. " All we, beholding as in a glafs the glory of the Lord, are changed into the fame image."

6. The eye is a very quick fort of an organ, taking up things at a great diftance: it will run from the one end of the heavens to the other, in a very trice*, it will mount up to the heavens among the ftars, and in a moment will view the whole circuit of the heavens.

So faith is fuch a quick-fighted grace, it takes up things at a great distance, as the faith of Abraham did here, when he faw the day of Chrift afar off. It will in a moment, as it were, look back to an eternity paft, and view the everlafting fprings of electing and redeeming love, before ever the foundations of the world were laid; and then, at the fame breath, turn itself towards an eternity to come, and take a view of the hidden glories of an invifible world that are within the vail.

7. The eye is a curious piece of work. Naturalifts tell us, it is the most curious part of the whole body of man: There is much of the glory, wifdom, and power of the great Creator, to be feen in the formation of the eye of the body.

So faith is a grace that is curiously wrought in the foul. There is more of the power and wifdom of God discovered in the formation of the grace of faith, than in any other part of the new creature. Hence it is he takes one of his bleffed names from it, and styles himself "The Author and the Fi nifher of faith." And as "he fulfils in us all the good pleafure of his goodness," fo in a particular manner the "work of faith with power," 2 Theff. i. 11. Yea that fame "exceeding great and mighty power of God," which was put forth in the refurrection of Chrift from the dead, is faid to be exerted in them that believe, Eph. i. 19.

8. The eye of the body is a very tender thing; it is foon hurt and prejudiced. A very little waff of any thing will do it

*A moment, or the forteft time wherein one can fay, one, two, three.

it hurt, and if it be hurt it will foon weep. And this is the way how it comes to health; it weeps out any duft or mote that gets into it.

Just fo is it here, faith is a very tender kind of a grace, it thrives beft in a pure confcience. Hence the apostle fpeaks of" keeping the mystery of the faith in a pure confcience." The lively actings of faith are marred by the dust of fin, or the vanities of the world getting into the mind where it is feated. And wherever true faith is, if it be hurt by fin, it vents itself in a way of godly forrow and repentance, Zech. xii. 10. They hall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn:" And as long as there is any thing of the dust of fin cleaves to the foul, faith will ay be venting itself in a way of repentance, and mourning, faying, " Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?" Thus I have given you fome account of Abraham's faith, whereby he faw the day of Christ.

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III. The third thing in the method was, to fpeak a little of his joy, which was the fruit of his faith. He faw his day, and was glad. For clearing of this I offer the few following propofitions.

1. There are several forts of joy men are incident unto.

ift, A natural joy common to all, with the rest of the affections, and is in itfelf neither good nor bad, and is commonly raised by the actual enjoyment of fomething loved or defired. 2dly, There is a fentual joy; when the heart is, as it were, foaked and drenched with the delights and pleafures of a prefent life. Such a joy was that of the rich man, Luke xii. 16-20. who cried, "Soul take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, for thou haft goods laid up for many years." See James v. 5.

3dly, There is yet a more criminal, or rather I may call it a devilith joy: When men are fo far abandoned of God, as to take pleasure in fin, that abominable thing which God hates; like those who are faid to "drink iniquity as the ox that drinketh up the water. To draw iniquity with cords." Rom. 32. there we are told of fome who not only commit fins, but "have pleafure in them that do them."

i.

4thly, There is a fpiritual joy and gladnefs; fo called, becaufe the Spirit of God is the author of it, and fpiritual things the object thereof. "Light is fown for the righteous, and gladnels for all that are upright in heart.” And it is of this latt

kind of joy that I now speak.

Prop. 2. This fpiritual joy is a thing proper and peculiar only to believers in Chrift: It will not, it cannot grow in any

other

other foil, but a believing heart. The rest of the world are ftrangers to it, and strangers do not intermeddle with their joy, Indeed a believer may want the extrcife of this holy joy; his harp may (through prevailing troubles, temptation, unbelief, and defpondency) "be turned into mourning, and his organ into the voice of them that weep." Hence David cries out, "Reftore unto me the joys of thy falvation, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." But though a believer may want the exercife of this holy joy, yet,

ift, He has always ground of rejoicing; while Chrift lives, while the covenant ftands, while the love of God lasts, he can never want ground and matter of rejoicing. Hence,

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2dly, He hath always God's call and warrant to rejoice: Rejoice evermore. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I fay, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."

3dly, He hath always the promife of joy: "Your hearts fhall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." The redeemed of the Lord fhall return and come to Zion with finging, and everlasting joy fhall be upon their heads: They fhall obtain gladness and joy, and forrow and mourning fhall flee away." He has promifed the oil of joy for mourning.

4thly, They have always the feed of joy in the foul. The feed of God is the feed of joy; yea, their very tears of godly forrow are the feed of joy: "They that fow in tears fhall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious feed; fhall doubtlefs come again rejoicing, bringing his theaves, with him," Pfal. cxxvi. 5. 6.

Prop. 3. This fpiritual joy and gladness it hath several ingredients of which it is made up: As,

Ift, It includes in it fome meafure of fpiritual health and foundness of mind and spirit. A fick man may have the habit of joy, but the want of health will reftrain the exercise of it. Where this joy is, the Sun of righteoufnefs has arifen, with fome measure of healing under his wings, upon the foul; the broken bones are restored, and fet in their joints again.

2dly, It includes fone meafure of fatisfaction, arifing from a fupply of foul wants. Where there is nothing but want and need, there can be but little of this holy joy. Prov. xiii. 12. "Hope deferred maketh the heart fick" If thy foul be rejoicing in the Lord, it is a fign thou haft got a taste of the marrow and fatnefs that is to be found in the house of God.

3dly, It has in it a dilatation and enlargement of the heart, that was under bonds and fetters. A man under the bonds and fetters of darknefs, unbelief, and depondency, his joy is marred: But O, when his fetters are knocked off, and he

brought

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