your own righteousness, whatever ye can do or suffer: and receive Christ for righteousness, for a rest to your conscience.

2. Come down from the height of your expectations from the creature, and receive Christ for a rest to your heart.

3. Lastly, Come down from the height of your jealousies of Christ, by which ye are climbing up to heaven presumptuously, and breaking in to God's secret things, and receive Christ who is down here in his word of grace, breathing good-will to you. Hearken to what the apostle says, "The righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart that is, the word of faith which we preach," Rom. x. 6, 7, 8. Make haste down, or ye will fall headlong into the pit; for the law will not bear your weight, the creature will fail you, and the sheet of the gospel, wherein Christ's grace and good-will to you is spread out, will be drawn up to heaven, and ye will see no more of it for ever.

THE

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS

OF

TRUE BELIEVERS.

XI. IN RELATION TO THEIR ENTERING INTO REST IN CHRIST.*

HEBREWS iv. 3.

For we which have believed do enter into rest.

OUR Lord Jesus has been inviting you to come to him by believing, and many have professed to give him the hand. Here is a touchstone whereby ye may try, whether ye have believed indeed or not: For we which have believed do enter into rest.

In ver. 1. the apostle had exhorted the Hebrews to take heed and fear lest they missed or fell short of the blessed rest, of which they had the promise left them in the gospel. This he enforceth from this consideration, that they were in the same state with respect to it, as the ancient Israelites to Canaan. On the one hand, as the Israelites had the promise of Canaan, but lost it through their not believing the promise, ver. 2; so we have the gospel, the promise of the spiritual rest; but if we believe not, we will never enter into it, but fall as the body of Israel in the wilderness. On the other hand, as Caleb and Joshua who believed the promise of Canaan, did enter into it; so we believers do enter into the spiritual rest. Thus you see the connection of the text with the two preceding verses. In the words we have two things to be considered.

1. A sweet experience declared, We do enter into rest. It is an experience of a spiritual and heavenly benefit; whereof Caleb and Joshua's experience was the type, Josh. xix. And here consider, (1.) The benefit experienced; that is, rest. Rest is a sweet thing,

* The sermons on this subject were preached at Ettrick, begun June 18, 1727, the Lord's day immediately following the administration of the Lord's supper there.

But of all rest, soul-rest is the meant is the rest held

And if ye ask where

as all weary labourers do know. sweetest and such is this. The rest here forth in the promise of the gospel, ver. 1, 2. it is found? it is not in heaven only, for the believer enters into it now but it is in Christ, whether in earth or heaven. This appears from the sinner's entering into it by faith, the nature of the rest, ver. 10. the apostle's opposing believers' partaking of Christ, to unbelievers' losing their part in Canaan, chap. iii. 14. and is agreeable to the promise of the gospel, Matth. xi. 28. " Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

(2.) The experience of that benefit, We do enter. He says not, We shall enter, viz. at death; but in the present time, We do enter. The believer's rest is not altogether put off to another life. It is not complete indeed, till we come to heaven; but it is begun here, we are entering into it, and do enter. And the very entrance of the rest is sweet.

2. The parties in whose name this experience is declared, We which have believed, viz. in Christ. Unbelievers still remain in their restless condition, but faith in Christ lays the soul to rest. Christ is the resting-place of poor sinners: and faith uniting the soul to Christ, the soul enters into rest in him.

The words afford the following doctrine.

DocT. They who have truly believed in Christ, do enter into rest in him.

Here I shall,

I. Shew who they are that have truly believed.

II. Consider the entering of those that have believed into rest in Jesus Christ.

III. Apply the whole.

I. I am to shew who they are that have truly believed. I am not here to enter on the nature of faith at large the gospel-message sent you last day, I am to lieved in two particulars.

only with a view to shew who have be

First, They who have believed, have believed the grace and good will of Christ to them in particular, held forth in his word of grace to them, viz. a good-will to save them from sin and wrath. Behold the echo of the believing soul to the word of grace, 2 Tim. i. 15. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." Christ has been at much pains to shew his good-will to you and every one of you in particular: I ask you, Do ye now believe it? or are ye not as yet convinced of it? There are three sorts of unbelievers in this point.

1. Those who do not believe what the gospel holds out as good-will, to be good-will to them. Such unbelievers are all carnally secure sinners, unwilling to part with their lusts; Jer. ii. 25. "Thou saidst, There is no hope. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." If Christ in his gospel should shew a good-will to make them healthy, and wealthy, and well in the world, they could believe that to be good-will to them: or if he could restrict his goodwill to the keeping them out of hell, when they die. But all that is said of good-will to them otherwise, they look on as idle tales, Psal. iv. 6. And so they treat as airy notions, what they have no heart for, Prov. xvii. 16. Nay, when they look on it in earnest, they take it for ill-will, to rob them of what they have most delight in, Rom. vii. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Gal. iv. 16. "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

2. Those who do not believe the grace and good-will of Christ to them to be pure grace and good-will. Such unbelievers are all unhumbled souls: they have never got a true sight of their own exceeding sinfulness and utter unworthiness; so it is easy for them to believe Christ's good-will to them, for they never saw any difficulty in that, How shall I put thee among the children? But then it is not grace and good-will, but due good-will to them, that they believe: and that is not divine faith, Rom. iv. 4, 5, 16. wrought by the Spirit. 3. Those who do see their own sinfulness, that they cannot see nor believe Christ's grace and good-will to them. Such unbelievers are awakened sinners, on whom the law has its effect, but not the gospel, Isa. liii. 4. They have a jealousy of Christ reigning in them, that they cannot believe that ever his heart can be towards them. And so however they may believe the truth of the gospel as to others, they believe it not with respect to themselves.

Now all these are unbelievers, who have not entered into rest, but continue restless. They do not believe the gospel, receive not Christ's testimony, John iii. 32. make God a liar, 1 John v. 10, 11. They go no farther in their belief of the gospel than devils, Mark i. 24, 25.

Quest. By what characters may they be known, who have believed in this point?

Ans. 1. They have believed Christ's grace and good-will to them, over the belly of staring guilt, and felt unworthiness, Luke xv. 18. Convinced that the Lord would have been just, and done them no wrong, to have set himself against them for ever; they have yet believed his unhired good-will to them held forth in his word of grace. so their faith stands on the foot of mere grace, pure grace.

2. They have believed his grace and good-will towards the drawing them out of the miry clay of their sinfulness, as well as out from the rolling waves of guilt, the curse, and eternal wrath. For this is the good-will of Christ testified in the gospel, Matth. i. 21. He shall save his people from their sins; and faith believes that goodwill as held forth in the gospel. So they reckon it good-will to them, that they may be made holy, that the power of sin be broken in them, and believe such a good-will to them in Christ Jesus. They would as fain be sanctified, as one would be freed from his running sores, and believe the great Physician's good-will to their cure, Micah vii. 19. "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

3. The only foundation of their belief of it, is the faithfulness of God in his word of grace, Gal. iii. 2. "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" They see so much of their own vileness, that if men or angels had said it, they could not have believed it: but because they see God himself has said it, they cannot but believe it. The Spirit of God has demonstrated to them Christ's good-will in the word of the gospel, and that that word is God's own word: so they are overcome into a belief of it. So the word of the gospel is the anchor of their souls, which they hold by alone, whatever waves come on them to beat them off from that their belief.

4. Lastly, They have betaken themselves to the grace and goodwill of Christ in his word of grace, and laid all their weight over upon it. Whatever jealousies of Christ's good-will were hanging about them, proceeding from conscience of guilt, and Satan's subtile insinuations; they have broke through them all, and cast themselves into the arms of free grace, Mark ix. 34. This brings to

The Second particular, They who have believed, have believed on Christ as their own Saviour for life and salvation to them, Acts xv. 11. "We believe that, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved." Thus believing the Son, and believing on the Son, believing the gospel, and receiving and resting on Christ, are inseparably connected, John iii. 36. "He that believeth. on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life." They who believe the gospel, testifying Christ's grace and good-will to them in particular, cannot but receive and rest on Christ breathing that good-will towards them; as you see was exemplified in Zaccheus, Luke xix. 6. He made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. Their reigning jealousy being cured by their faith of the word of his grace, they cannot but throw themselves into the arms of his grace, and embrace him as their all.