Christ Crucified - 72 Sermons on Isaiah 53

But that which we would put to your Choise, is the ways of coming to this Judgment, and Reckoning, and there are but two ways; either ye must step to, at your own hand, or ye must betake you to Christ's Righteousness, as being thoroughly convinced of the necessity of it; and that it will do your turn: The Day of the Lord will discover, that many have spoken of their Faith, and Repentance, that never really exercised the same. I shall now say no more, Only remember, that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; who, when His Wrath is kindled but a little, can cause the stoutest and proudest of His Enemies to perish, in the midst of all their Designs and Projects; They will all then be found to be happy who have put their trust in Him.

SERMON XLIV.

ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be made perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works; and that His People may be made wise unto salvation; Yet these Scriptures wherein our Lord Jesus is holden forth more clearly, are eminently useful: He being the Foundation and Ground of all; To whom the Law and the Prophets bear witness; and they are only profitable to us, in the Estate wherein we are, in so far as they relate to to Him, and point Him out to us; And we may further say, that these Scriptures, wherein His Sufferings, and Death are holden forth, in the Richness and Fruitfulness of them are singularly so; that being the very Life of the Covenant, and the very Door, by, and through which, we step from Death to Life; And whatever they be to others, sure they have a special Sweetness in them to sensible Sinners; And therefore the Sum of the Gospel, and of Saving Knowledge is by the Apostle, 2 Cor. 2.2. Compended in the knowledge of Christ, and of him crucified, which unfolds His very Heart and Bowells to us.

The Prophet hath been pointing out this, in several Verses, and hath hinted at the effects of His Sufferings, in the former verse: And now in these Words, he puts a new Title on them, calling them the travel of Christ's soul; Not only to set out the exceeding greatness of them, but with respect to th • foregoing Words; wherein it's said, He shall see his seed; Which is repeated here, when it's said; He shall be satisfied; So that as a Mother is in Travel, for bringing forth of a Child; So says he, shall Christ be put to Soul-travel, for bringing Life and Immortality to the Seed given to Him, to be saved by Him; And seeing He is put to Travel, He must needs bring forth, and see his seed: Here we may allude that of Isaiah 66.9. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord; shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

We have spoken of the Nature and Greatness of these Sufferings; Now ere we proceed to any moe Observations, we would speak a Word further to the Use of this; It being indeed an Eater, out of which comes Meat; and a Strong, out of which comes Sweet; These pangs having calmed and quieted the Pangs and Showres (to speak so) of many Travelling Souls, and brought forth a Birth at last.

And therefore, beside what I spake to in the Use, the last day, I would add this, That we would endeavor to have the solid Faith, not only of His Sufferings, but of the Greatness of His Sufferings imprinted deeply on our hearts; That (I say) the Sufferings of a Dying, Blood-sweating Christ, Wrestling and Strugling, even to His being in an Agony, with the Wrath of God, and puting up strong Cries with Tears, may be born in on our hearts; and that we may thoroughly be persuaded of the greatness of the Work of Redemption, and that it was a most Dear and Coastly Bargain to Christ; For it was not Gold nor Silver, it was not Kingdoms nor visible Worlds, nor Angels that were given as a Price for Elect Sinners; but it was the precious Blood of the Son of God; Nay, it was the bitter and sharp Soul-travel, S • dness, Sorrow, and Agony of our Lord Jesus; which (to speak comparatively) was beyond the shedding of His Blood; And what a Price do ye think this to be? That He, that made all, and preserved all in their Being, and was before all things, should come thus low, as to be a Man, and a m • an sorrowful suffering, and dying Man; yea▪ to be a cursed Man, and to go out of • his Life, as being under a Curse, yet being always the beloved Son of the Father; And being even then, when at His lowest, the Prince of the kings of the earth, and shining forth gloriously, in the Pow • r▪ and Riches, and Freeness of His Love and Grace; sure this wonderful low stooping, and humbling of Himself, Preaches out the Love that straitened, and constrained Him to run upon that which was His own Death; there being no hands that could have taken away His Life, had He not willingly laid it down, which He did with delight; Could we make use of this, there is much here to be said for our use.

We shall draw what we would say on it, to these four heads. 1. To something for Instruction. 2. To something for Consolation. 3. To something for Exhortation. 4. To something for Reproof, and Expostulation.

I say, 1. It serves for Instruction, and ye would from it be Instructed in several things. 1. How to think aright of the great Severity of the Justice of God, and of the Horrour of Wrath, and of the dreadful Consequ nts of Sin, which it will most certainly have following on it; May it not make your Souls to tremble to think upon, and consider that our Lord Jesus was brought to such a pass, as to be in such an Agony, to be so exceeding sorrowful, and even amazed; To be so troubled in Soul, that he was thereby made to sweat great drops of blood, and to be wrestling with somewhat, that His holy Human Nature had a scarring at: O! the desert and wages of Sin is dreadful, when the Law pursues its Controversy, and when Justice exacts what a broken Covenant deserves; Alas! The most of men believe not this, but its here that may convince us▪ wh •• an evil thing Sin is, and what a dreadful thing it is to fall into the hands of an angry God; O! that ye would think upon it, that ye may beware of Sin, by all means, and may always be minding that Word which our Savior hath, If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If it was so done with Him? who in the Action (if I may so call it) was performing His Fathers will, and giving an admirable proof of His respect to the Honor of God, What wi • l He do to the dry Sticks, the Damned Reprobat, who have slighted the offer of His Grace, despised the Sufferings of a Mediator, and disdained to be reclaimed? Hear it, and tremble, and be persuaded, that the Horror that Sin shall bring upon the Sinner, when God comes to reckon with him, is inexpressible. 2. Be Instructed, and see here, how great the difficulty is of making peace with God, when once His Law is broken; A thing that is little believed by most, who are disposed to think that they will get God sooner pleased and pacifi • d, th • n they will get their Neig • bour, or Master pacified and pleased; which says That either they they think nothing, or but very little of His Wrath, or that they will soon get it put by, that a word will do that; Hence it is, that they think, that an equivalent Price is not necessary for Satisfying the Justice of God, and for prev • n • ing of His Wrath; but if it be so easy a thing to pacify God, and to satisfy His Justice, Why did Our Lord undertake the Debt? Why did He become so low and pay so dear a Price, to procure a Discharge of it? Why was His Soul put to such travel, when no Shame, nor R • proach, nor Pain on His blessed Body could do it, but H • s Soul in the sore travel thereof, behov • d to be made a Sacrifice for Sin? Sinners grossly ignorant mistakes of the Justice of God, appear palpably in this; There was never a Person that was called to it, and did undertake to remove God's Wrath from others, but our Lord Jesus; And ye see here what it cost Him; And what do ye imagine will be the lot of others, who shall lie under it eternally. 3. See here the Worth and Weight of a Soul, and the great moment of the Salvation of a Soul; Immortal Souls are of much worth, and though Men often sell them at an cheap and easy Rate, yet our Lord Jesus bought Souls dear; It's true, Souls considered in themselves, are not worthy of the Price laid down for them; But being considered with respect to the end for which they are designed; to wit, the glorifying of the Riches of the Grace and Mercy of God, and their enjoying of Him, They are of much worth; Ah! that men should sell that Soul so very cheap, when our Lord bought Souls so very dear. 4. See here, the Solidity, Fulness, and Satisfactoriness of the Price that Jesus Christ gave to Justice, for the Souls of His People? It cannot sure but be a fully satisfying Price, that such a Person should Suffer, and Suffer so much; Even to be put to Soul-travel; for which there could be no Reason, neither could it have any other End, but the satisfying of Divine Justice, for the Sins of the Elect; And considering these, His Sufferings in the Degrees of them, which was so very high; And in the use of them, in God's Purpose and Decree, and in the End of them, which was to satisfy the Justice of God, and to make His Grace Glorious, It cannot but be a most Solid, Full, and Satisfying Price; So that a Soul may have here a sufficient ground to build its Salvation upon; And the more low-that the Mediator was brought by His Sufferings, the more solid and sicker is the ground of our Faith, yea, this is the End why He came so low. 5. See here how greatly we are in Christ's Debt, That when Justice was provoked, and Sinners had loosed themselves; and when nothing else could be admitted, but all other Sacrifices were rejected, He was graciously pleased to yield Himself to be the Sacrifice, by His extreme, and most exquisite Sufferings; most pleasantly and heartsomly, saying, Lo, I come in the volum of thy book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; By the which will, saith the Apostle Heb. 10. We are sanctified; And by it we have access to Eternal Life; It had been much, if He had made a New World for Believers to dwell in, nay it had been much if He had provided Angels to Mollify, and Mitigat their Sufferings, and to give them drops of water to cool their Tongues in Hell; But that He His own blessed self, should decline no Soul-travel beside Bodily Sufferings, to redeem them from the Curse; How much, how unspeakably much are they obliged to Jesus Christ? If we were suitably sensible of our hazard, and clear, as to our Interest in these Sufferings, it could not be, but our Souls would leap someway within us, as the Babe did in Elizabeth's womb, on this consideration, that a Cautioner, and Savior hath come, and paid the Price that was due by us, to the Justice of God; This is a greater obligation then His making of the World, for an habitation to Sinners, Nay a greater obligation then His giving of Heaven to us, if abstracted from Christ: O! So well as it would become us, in reading of these Words, to stand and pause, and to say, Is it so indeed, that Christ gave Himself thus for Sinners, and for me? This is it which opens the door of Access to God, and makes a Bridge over the Gulf, that is betwixt God and Sinners; He was smitten, that by His Stroaks, and Strips health might be brought to us; He was content to undergo sore Soul-travel, that thereby Life might be brought to us.

That which we mainly aim at in this Branch of the Use, is, That ye would look to the Mercy purchased by this Soul-travel, as your great obligation; And at what a Rate you have the Offer of Grace, and access to Heaven; When He made the World, Heaven, and Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, &c. He spake the Word, and it was done, their needed no more, but let such a thing be and it was, but the work of Redemption was of another sort, and brought about at a high and dearer Rate; Therefore among all the things which the Gospel holds out, put a special Price on these things that are the fruits of Christ's Soul-travel; and consider what a flight it will be, and what guilt it will involve you in, that He should purchase Redemption so dear, and make offer of it so freely, and ye should care little or nothing for it. 6. Be Instructed anent the absolute necessity of being in Christ's Debt, for the Use making and Application of His purchase; is there any man that can merit it, or render Him a recompense for it? If not; And if there be a necessity of making H • aven and Salvation, then sure there is a n • cessity of being in Christ's Debt, and of making use of His purchase, for the attaining of that which He hath purchased; And men are not hardly dealt with, nor ill come to, when this blessed necessity is imposed upon them, not to satisfy for themselves (For what can they bring that will be an equivalent Price;) but to acquiesce in His Satisfaction made to Justice for them, and the rather, that they cannot bind Him to make application of it: Folk are very readily given to one of these two, either to misken, and pass by the Mediator, and so to presume to make a new bargain for their Peace, by offering to drink themselves for themselves, of that Cup which Christ drank of, for that only was the Price of Souls; Or if they esteem of Christ's Satisfaction, they think to oblige Him, and to procure from Him the Application of His Purchase, by their Prayers and good Living: But what is there in this, more then is in the former? What Price is there that can be given to Him, that is equivalent to His Sufferings? It must therefore of necessity come to this, That as it was freely purchased, so it is freely applied; and it were very suitable for Sinners to carry the Faith of this along with them in their bosom; If He procured Heaven to us by His Soul-suffering and Travel, we cannot procure it to ourselves, and therefore a necessity lies on all that would be at Heaven, to be in Christ's common for it; And this is the up-shot of all, that Dyvour Sinners may know, that they are in His common: As for His Purchase, so for the Applic • tion of it.

Use 2. This Doctrine yields much Consolation, and it is the Fountain and Rise of it; His Soul travel bought it all, and makes way to the bringing of us to the possession of it: And in many respects, our Consolation depends on it; We shall look upon it as the rise thereof more generally, in these respects. 1. That to a poor Sinner lying under the Curse, there is a possibility of getting it put by, and kept off, that Heaven is not desperate, and that the fear of coming before the Tribunal of Justice is not absolute; for our Lord hath satisfied Justice; the Price that He laid down was not for naught, but levelled at this very Scope, as the Apostle hath it, 2 Cor. 5. ult. He was made sin for us, that knew no sin, that we Sinners might be made the righteousness of God in, or through him? and what strong Consolation is this; for a Sinner under the Curse of God, to have this word spoken to him, though thou cannot satisfy Justice for thyself, yet there is a way laid down to satisfy it for thee; the Mediator having the Price that was required proposed to Him, did not stick at the Terms, but held the Bargain, and hath accordingly actually performed it. 2. It is a Consolation in this respect, That not only is there a Compleat Satisfaction given to Justice, but a willing Savior, ready to make that Satisfaction forthcoming, and to make it forthcoming freely; can there be a greater proof of our Lord Jesus His Love to Sinners then this? That when they were considered with all their Debt lying on their heads, He undertook this Soul-travel for them, to procure them Salvation from Wrath and Justice; This is more then His giving them His Word for it, though that had been enough; it's more then the giving them His Oath, thus to commend His Love, As it is, John 15.13. Greater love hath no man then this, that a man should lay down his life for his f • iend; but, says the Apostle, Rom. 5.8.10. God commends his love to us, that while we were yea sinners, yea enemies Christ died for us; This good Shepherd laid down His Life for His Sheep. 3. It's a Consolation in this respect, That there is also a willingness to the Lord Jehovah, the provoked Party, to accept of this Satisfaction, and to absolve the Elect on account of this Satisfaction; For what I pray was all this Soul-travel that the Lord underwent? But Jehovah His transferring of the Debt of the Elect on Him, according to the transaction that had past in the Covenant of Redemption; He would never have made the Sword of His Justice to awake against the man that was His Fellow, if He had not been content to accept of His Satisfaction for them that should make use of it; for we have not only the Mediator, and His Satisfaction to look upon in this Soul-travel, but also the contrivance of the Covenant, called in the former words, The pleasure of the Lord; who, while we were enemies gave His Son, and was content to want Him for a time (to speak so) and to be a distinct party to pursue Him; Is not this then a good Bargain, when we have a willing Mediator, and Merchant, content to give the Price and Satisfaction, and a gracious and willing God, content to accept of this Satisfaction, and both of them content to make the Application of it to us freely, As it is, Revel. 3.18. Here is matter of strong Consolation, the ground whereof will not fall, to wit, The mediators Soul-travel, and the Lord Jehovah will not cast the Bargain; When the poor Sinner says, I have nothing to pay, but there is a Price in Christ's Satisfaction offered in the Gospel, and the Judge says, admits it for the Sinner that lays claim to it, as if the Sinner had never Sinned, or had actually paid the Price himself.

But 4. Look a little further, and we will find more Consolation, though this be much; consider a Sinner in a tempted condition, and under Sad-soul-exercise, that wots not what to do with Unbelief, with the Devil, and with the Wrath of God, all which are like to overwhelm and swallow them up, and the heart is like to sink, here is the native and kindly Fountain for such a Soul to drink at; That our Lord Jesus suffered more, and that it was another sort of Cup that He drank of, and drank out; And for these Ends 1. To take away the Sting and Bitterness of thy Cup. 2. To procure, and Meritoriously to Purchase a Freedom and Out-gate from these Temptations to thee. 3. Also, that He might be made a Sympathizing High Priest, and the more compassionat towards the Person that should be so Tempted, according to that, Heb 2. ult. For that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able also to succor these that are tempted; He was Tempted, that He might have kindly sympathy with Tempted Souls, and therefore when such are ready to fall a swoon, He dates and dandles them, as it were on His Knee, and when they are in hazard to turn their backs in the Conflict, He comes up with fresh strength, and recruits them; So, Heb. 4.15. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin; We have such an High Priest, as was not only mocked, and scorned of Men, and some way deserted of God, but who was tempted, though not from Sin within (for He was without Sin) yet to Sin, for He was assaulted by the Devil, and tempted to unbelief, and other gross Sins, As is clear, Matth. 4. though, (as He saith Himself) The prince of this world had nothing in him; And He was not only tempted to Sin, but as if He had actually Sinned, He met with Wrath from all, there is a sweet and strong Sympathy flowing from such bowels, as one Brother hath towards another, yea, inconceivablie beyond the tenderest bowels, that the most warmly loving Brethren in all the World have one towards another; And therefore he knows well what Apprehensions, Temptations riding thick (to speak so) will attempt to beat in upon poor Souls, and can from experience Sympathy with them; It is not so to be understood, as if there were any additional degree made to His Kindnesse, Skill, and Grace, as He is God, These being infinite in Him, as so confedred, yet He being Man, as well as God, or having a human Nature, He hath from His Personal experience a Sympathy, and that in a human way, though infinitely above what we can conceive, with His own under their Temptations, and sad Soul-exercises: And seeing the Scripture holds out such a thing as this, That our High Priest is a Man that hath bowels of Sympathy, it may sufficiently warrand a Believer to expect much good, this, and other ways from Christ, He having Grace infinite in Him, as God, and a tender heart as Man to befriend them, and to communicate, and let out of that Grace unto them: And this is great ground of Consolation to Believers, under any Cross and piece of hard exercise, to know that we have a Mediator, who knows in experience, though not the sinfulness that accompanies these hard exercises in us, yet what these fears are, of being shut out from God, and how dreadful a thing it is to be at controversy with Him; and is like to these, who having come thorough a sad Trial, and Piece of Exercise themselves, are thereby the more ready to Sympathize with others under it. 5. and lastly. The consideration of this may comfort Believers even in their outward afflictions; it had been another sort of Crosses that they would have been made to meet with, if He had not taken this Cup of Wrath and dunken it for them; and therefore they would be comforted, and bless God, who hath taken this Soul-travel from off them, and made way for a Retreat and Shelter for them in Him; and it should even shame Believers, who are ready to think so much of any little Bit of inward Exercise, or of outward Affliction, seeing our blessed Lord Jesus endured so much, not only outwardly, and Bodily Affliction, but also so much inward Trouble, and Soul-travel, that thereby their Burden might be made light, and their yoke easy.

Use 3. For Exhortation, seeing our Lord Jesus was put to such sore Soul-travel, sure it lays a great obligation on them, for whom he Suffered, to endeavor to make some Suitable and Gratefull Return; seeing therefore we are so much in His Common, and Debt, we should give Him a friendly meeting in these Four, which this calls for, 1. It calleth for Love to Him, that vented such Love to us. 2. It calleth for Faith, That seeing He gave such a Price for us we should trust our Souls to Him. 3. It calleth for Holiness and Obedience, even living to Him, and to the Glorifying of Him that hath bought us; This Argument will sure weigh with you, who, on solid grounds lay claim to His Purchase. 4. It calleth for Thankfulness, and Praise, in magnifying His Grace and Love, that hath so Loved us; And are not all these very suitable and becoming, that Sinners should Love Him, and that these who Love Him not, should be Anathema Marenatha, accursed to the coming of the Lord; that Sinners should believe on Him, and be obedient to Him, and thankful?

1. If ye believe this Truth, this Comfortable, and Soul-ravishing Truth, let me exhort you, and be exhorted and prevailed with t • love Our Lord Jesus Christ, and to give Him that answerable respect, meeting and welcome that becomes; If we may plead for anything from you, sure we may plead for this; If it be true that He engaged in such a Bargain, in which, if He had not engaged Himself, we had inevitably gone to the pit; and if He hath actually paid the P •• e which He undertook to pay, let your Consciences speak, if it should not melt the hearts of such to whom the benefit of this is offered, with Love to Him? And if ye have the Faith of the Doctrine, can ye deny, but this obligation lieth upon you? Look in on your Consciences and Hearts, and see if ye be able to shift it; and if ye had suitable Palaces for entertaining Him in, if ye be not bound to open to Him, and give Him patent entry to them, and if your Eyes were Fountains Tears, if it would not become you to wash His Feet with them, and to wipe them with the Hair of your Heads? Would to God that you were under the suitable impression of this, and that ye were by the Gospel, and the Privileges ye have by it constrained to love the Lord Jesus Christ, It may be some of you think, if this be all that is called for, He shall not want it, We assure you it is called for, My Son (saith He) give me thine heart; But we are afraid, that though ye will confess, that this is your duty, and that ye should have Love to Him, yet the most part of you want it: For when we speak of Love to Ch • ist, it is not a Pretext or Apprehension of Love, that will be taken for Love, but such Love as hath these Qualifications. 1. If Christ be Loved, He will be esteemed of, as the most excellent Thing, or Person, the most excellent Bargain, the most Kind Friend, the most Loving Husband, and as the most Full, Compleat, and absolute Sufficiency, or Sufficient One; As He is spoken of, and esteemed of by the Spouse, Can. 5. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the Cedars, his mouth is most sweet, he is altogether lovely; The heart is brought to esteem of Him, and to prefer Him beyond all that it can set the eye upon; It were indeed somewhat, if ye were brought under Conviction, and through Perswasion of this, that Jesus Christ is the incomparable best thing that a Sinner can have a Title to; But, alas! He is despised, and rejected of Men, though He be the chiefest of ten thousands; And Men play the fool egregiously, in preferring other things to Him, who is infinitely worthy of the Preference u ••• , and of the Preheminency above them all. A 2d. Evidence of Love is, the hearts longing and panting after the enjoyment of Him, and after the enjoyment of Him, as the most excellent Object, quite surpassing all other Objects; And when the thirst and longing of the Soul is so carried out after Him, as it cannot be satisfied without Him, which is to be Sick of love for Him, as it is Can. 2:5. and 5. v. 8. To be in a manner swooning and f • inting because of His absence, and even greening (to speak so) for His presence, to have the bent of the Souls Designes, and Desires towards making • f that Glorious Conquest, whereof the Apostle speaks, Philip. 3. Even to count all things to be but loss and dung, and to cast all things as it were over Board, to win to him, and to be found in him; To count of Him, as the pearl of price, and as the treasure hid in the field; For the sake of which, ye would strip yourselves to the Skin, and sell all that ye have to buy it. 3. This Love to Christ Jesus hath in it a Satisfying Delight in Him, and the Souls blessing of itself in Him, it's contenting itself with Him? and it's rejoicing in that Sweetness which it findeth to be in Him, as being the only Attractive Object, that hath such a Loveliness in it, as breeds Satisfaction; Which Satisfaction begets a Kindly Warmness in the Heart to Him again, even till the Soul be put in a Holy Low, or Flame of Love to Him; more of this Love would make Christ and the Gospel much more Sweet, and would make everyone of these words, that expresseth His Love in His Sufferings to be like Marrow and Fatness, and would also make the Promises to be like Breasts full of Consolation; It would withal cause, that there would not be such mistakes of Christ, nor such gaddings and whorings from Him, and such preferrings of Idols to Him, as alas! there are; Where this Love is not, there can be no other thing that will be acceptable: We shall say no more for the time, but only this, That we do appeal to your Consciences, if there be not here an excellent and non-such Object of Love, and if there be not here much reason to be in Love with that Object? A very Heathen will return Love for Love, and should not we much more do so in this case? God Himself kindle this Love in us, and make us know more the great advantages of it.

SERMON XLV.

THe Work of Redemption is a business that was very gravely and very seriously contrived and prosecuted, in respect of God, and of the Mediator, there was much earnestness in it as to them; and yet notwithstanding (which is a wonder) Men whom it concerns so much, whose Salvation depends on it, and to whom the benefit of it redounds, are but very little serious in their thoughts of it; Our Lord Jesus was in Travel, Soul-travel, sore Soul-travel to bring about this Work; and that the Gospel might be Preached to Sinners, that they might have thereby a ground to their Faith, to expect Life and Remission of Sins through Him; Is it not then sad, that we should speak and hear of it, and be in a manner, like the stone in the wall, no more, or little more affected with it, than if it were a matter that did not at all concern us? The Reading and Hearing of these Words will doubtless be a great Conviction to secure Sinners, that our Lord Jesus was at such pains, and put to such sore Soul-travel, and Suffering, and that yet such Sinners were never stirred, nor made serious, to have the Application of this Purchased Redemption made to them.

The Scope of these Words is to show the great inward Soul-travels, Conflicts, and Straits that our blessed Lord Jesus had and was put to, in throughing of the Work of Redemption, and in paying the Price due to the Justice of God, for the Sins of the Elect; It's a wonder that ever we should have it to speak of, and that ye should hear of this Subject, which is the very Text, (to say so) and Sum of the Gospel; And therefore, before we leave it, we shall speak a little more to the Use of it; and truly if we make not use of this Doctrine, we will make use of none; though I confess it is a great practique how to draw it to Use, and to conform ourselves in our practice to the Use of it.

We proposed some things the last day which we could not then prosecute; As 1. something for Exhortation. 2. Something for Reproof, and Expostulation, which rising clearly from the Doctrine drawn from the Words, we may now insist a little in them.

1. For Exhortation, Considering Christ's Sufferings and the extremity of them, and that they were undergone for Sinners, we would exhort you to love Him as ye ought; There is ground and warrand here to require it of you, seeing that Love in His bosom came to such an hight, that He was content to lay down His Life, yea, seeing He was in such a hot flame of Love, that the Cup of Wrath did not quench it, but His Love drank and dried it up, Greater love then this hath no man; It is a most wonderful Love considered with all the circumstances, whereby it is hightened; And there is ground here to excite and stir you up, to give Him a kindly meeting, and to welcome His Love with Love; It will sure be a great shame, if our Lord's Love stood at nothing, so that He might do the Fathers will, and finish the Work committed to Him, which was the perfyting of the Work of Sinners Redemption, the Redeeming of His lost Sheep; It every triffle, or any triffle, shall quench Love in our hearts to Him; O! What a shame will it be in the Day of Judgment to many, when this Man shall be brought forth loving this Idol, and another Man loving that Idol more then Christ, this Man loving his Lust, that Man his Ease, and another Man h • s Wealth or Honor, and preferring them to Christ, and when it shall be found, that they would not quit nor part with their right Eye, nor their right Hand (which are not worth the name of Members, being called so, because they are Members of the Body of Death) out of Love to Him: Think Folks what they will, that native impression of the obligation that lies upon them to love Christ, is wanting, and that Divine, and Soul-ravishing Influence, that His Love should have on hearts; It is true, ye all think, that ye love Him, unless it be some of them who indeed love Him; but if ye could reflect upon your selv • s, ye would find that ye have little or no love at all to Him indeed: And therefore, for undeceiving of you, beside what we said the last day, take two or three Characters of kindly love to Christ, 1. This Love is never satisfied with any degree, or measure that it hath attained, so as to sit down on it; It hath these two things in it, A desire to be further on in Love, and a weightedness that it cannot win at growth in Him; The loving Soul is disposed to think, that it's Love to Christ is not worthy to be called Love, and it breaths after it, even to have itself warmed therewith to Him, and to be brought to a further nearness to Him, as we may see through the Song of Solomon, And particularly Chap. 7. at the close. There will I give thee my loves; And Chap. 8. O that thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother; Kindly Love to Him puts the Soul to long for an opportunity to vent it's Love towards Him. 2. Where this Love is, the Soul will be as serious in praying for it, that it may attain it, as if it wanted it, and it will be as much affected for the want of the lively exercise of it, and will be as much challenged for coming short in it, as it will be for any other Sin; There is no benefit that it seeks more after, then to have the heart circumcised to love Him, and O! but it will be accounted a great benefit, to get love to Christ; And as it's one of the things that it seeks in Prayer, so it's one of the things that it eyeth in Repentance; It's much affected with the want of it, confesses it to Him, and aggredges the Sin thereof against itself, from this ground, that it loves nor Christ as it should: I know not if there be much of this among us many will be sorry if they fall in drunkenness, or in any other gross Sin, but O! how few repent of their want of Love to Christ, and that He gets not His own room in the heart. 3. Where this Love is, it is ever Su • picious and Jealous lest the heart cliver an • cleave to some other thing, and give it room to the pr • judice of Christ: It's a sad thing, when folks let their affections go our at random, and are not afraid, lest they out-shoot themselves in loving the World, their Pleasures, their Credit, &c. But rather they are like the whore in the Proverbs, who says come and let us take our fill of loves, Love to Christ, hath a Weanedness from these things, and a Jealousy least they usurp a room in the heart, that is not due to them; Because, as John says, There is not a consistency betwixt the love of God, and the love of the world in the heart, and therefore it's the watchful care of a poor B • liever, to keep out inordinate love of the World, and of these things that the heart is given to go a whoring after; H • nce David prays, Psal. 1 • 9. Incline my heart to thy law, and not to covetousness, and Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; There is in too many a sort of r • oted confidence, that they love Christ, and they n • ver suspect themselves of the cont • are, when yet some other thing hath his room.

2dly. There is ground here to exhort you to believe on Him, as the Prince of Life, and a Savior that is well fitted and qualified to give Repentance, and Remission of Sins; And this is the very native Use that flows from this Doctrine, even to lay a solid ground of Faith to a Soul lying under the sense of Sin, to step forward to God • Bar, with confidence, Considering Jesus Christ Crucified, and put to Soul-travel for Elect Sinners, who should betake themselves to Him; Which if it had not been, there had not been any ground for Faith; And the lower He came in His Sufferings, we have the more native and broad ground of Faith, and the stronger motive to draw us to take hold of Him, and to found and fix our Faith on His Satisfaction. To clear this Branch of the Use a little. 1. Consider here a ground for Faith, in a fourfold respect, And 2. The force of the motives that arise from these grounds, pressing a sensible Sinner to exercise Faith on them, or on Him by them; And 3. The necessity that we are under, so to do.

For the First, 1. In general, There is ground here to bring the heart to be through in the Historical Faith, of what is spoken concerning the Truths of the Covenant; For, doth not this Soul-travel of Our Lord, say, That Men are lying Naturally in a sinful Condition, and obnoxious to Wrath? That there is a Covenant past betwixt the Father and the Son, for delivering of Elect Sinners out of that Condition, and that by the Sufferings of the Mediator; And that by our betaking of ourselves to Him, we may be fred from Sin and Wrath? Otherwayes, why did the Mediator come thus low; except it had been true, that man was under a Debt that he could not p • y; And why • id the Father send His Son, except He had been really minded, that He should offer Himself up a propitiatory Sacrifice to God for Mans Sin? And His accepting of the Satisfaction, tells plainly, that He was content, that the Cautioners Payment should stand for the Principal Debtors: All this supposeth a Covenant, which is as real, as if we had seen, and had been Ear-witnesses of the reading over of the Covenant in all the Articles of it; we wish that many were come this length, as to be confirmed in the Historical Faith of the General Truths of the Gospel, summed up in Christ's Suffering • ; And there cannot be any serious R • ading, or Hearing of Christ's Sufferings, but the • e must also be some considering of their Ri • e and End; if it be otherwise, we do but superficially run over them. 2. As this shows the Lord's Seriousness in pressing the offer of Redemption on Sinners, so it calleth you to be Serious in accepting of it, According to that in John 12. When I am lifted up, I will draw all men after m • ; Where Christ's lifting up is made an Attractive to draw lost Sinners after Him; And can their be a greater ground of Faith, or a stronger motive to persuade a Sinner to be reconciled to God, and to rest upon Christ's Satisfaction, in order to that, then this, That Jesus Christ hath purposely laid down His Life, and undergone Suffering, even to such an extremity, to bring it about. 3. When we say that Christ's Soul-travel calls for Faith; It requires this, and gives ground for it, That they that betake themselves to Christ for Justification before God, may confidently commit themselves to His guiding in all other things; For will He not be tender of them in these, when out of respect to them, when there was not a Covenant betwixt Him and them (though they were mentioned in the Covenant of Redemption) He laid down His Life, and Suffered such things for them? May we not from this Reason, as the Apostle doeth, Rom. 8. He that spared not his own son, but gave him to the death for us, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Can there be a greater ground for Sinners that fear to give Him credit, to trust Him with all things that concern them, then this? That He suffered so much for them. 4. Having betaken ourselves 〈◊〉 Him, it serves to confirm our Faith, and to bring us to the quieting of ourselves in resting on Him, and acquiescing in Him; For what more could we require for ou • settlement and quieting then this, That H • hath come so low, and condescended so fa •• for the behove of poor Sinners? Therefore in all these respects, let me exhort you, and in His Name, Who was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, Obtest you, not to keep at distance from Him, but take with your Sin, by Faith to fl e unto Him and to the efficacy of His Blood; O! Yield yourselves by Faith to Him for use making of Him for your Ju • tification: And a little more particularly, let me here speak a word to two so • ts of Persons. 1. To them that are yet strangers to God. 2. To them that are looking towards Christ; And 1. For you that are strangers to God, whose hearts were never yet • ffected with the Conviction of the necessity of believing, who can lie down and rise up without serious thoughts of your Souls estate, or of the necessity of making sure your Peace with God; I beseech you, lay to heart your Condition, and bewar of trampling the Blood of the Covenant under your Feet, let not the Grace that is offered to you in this Gospel be heard and received in vain, but by the acknowledgement of Sin, and of God's Justice to which ye are liable for the same, timeously betake yourselves to Christ's Suffering for a shelter from the Wrath of God, that will be as a Storm against the Wall: Thus we press as the great Use of this Doctrine upon you, that ye improve the Cup of Wrath that the Medi • tor hath Drunken, for your exempting from the Curse that is due to you, and that Cup that ye deserved to have D • unken Eternally. 2. For you, who under the Conviction of Sin, are looking towards Christ, let me entreat you not to stay on this side of the City of refuge, but step forward and improve this Soul-travel of the Lord for your Spiritual Ease, Setlement, Quiet and Comfort, as well as from keeping you from Wrath, other ways it will bring bitterness in the End; If ye make not use of Christ's Sufferings, if ye betake not you • selves to Him, and do not trust Him for Justification and Life, ye will make yourselves guilty o • His Blood, and will be found traders of it under Foot.

And therefore, let me here speak a Word to the Second thing proposed. That is the Grounds, or Reasons, or Motives, that should press you to make Use of these Sufferings, and of the Grounds of Faith, that they hold out unto you; And 1. In General, let me ask, Is there not need that ye should do so? Is there not Guilt, and hazard of Wrath, because of Guilt? and if • o, Why stand ye at a distance • rom the Savior? If it were Sinless, Saints and Angels that were exhorted to make Use of H m, it would be the le • s wonder, that there were so little thinking of a Mediator, but when it is Sinners that are called upon, and Sinners in such eminent haz • rd, it's indeed a wonder that there i • not greater flocking unto Him, and pressing on Him; If there had no • been need, would the Father have so pursued the Son? or do ye think that it was for a Complement that He laid down His Life? Which sure He would not have done, if Salvation could have been had another way. 2dly. And more particularly, As ye would consider the marvelous Grounds that He hath laid down for Faith to rest upon, so ye would consider the many Motives that ye have to press you to rest on these Grounds, which we shall draw to these Four. 1. The Fulness and Sufficiency of the Ground that is given to Faith in Christ's Sufferings, which the deeper they draw on His Soul, Fa • th hath the Fuller and Better Ground to make Use of them. 2. The Power and Ability that are Conspicuously in Him, to make Application of His Purchase; He hath encountered Wrath and hath overcome; He is Absolved and Justified before God, and is exalted to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins; And having Satisfied Justice, and defeated the Devil, and being thus exalted He can bring through, and land fate, such Sinners as betake themselves to Him; And these two, to wit, A sufficient Price paid for the Debt of the Elect; And a sufficient Prince and Savior able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through Him, and who is Exalted, and sitteth at God's Right Hand, to make Intercession for us, as they are a solid Ground for Faith to rest on, so, a strong Motive to press believing. 3. The great Faithfulness of God, that Brightly Shines, and Wonderfully appears here, who, according to the Covenant, sends His Son, and pursues the Quarrel against Him, and in so doing, keeps the Promise made to Abraham; And the great Faithfulness of the Meadiator, in coming and perform • ng all that He undertook for the Elect; Both of them are so faithful in performing all that was Covenanted to the least io • a thereof, as is eviden • , by what our Lord says, I have finish • d the work which thou gavest me to do; Seeing therefore there is such exact Faithfulness in Keeping, and Fulfilling of all that passed in the Covenant of Redemption, and of all that was Promised to the Fathers; And seeing the Mediator hath said, that of all that come unto him, he will cast out none, nor put th • m away, is there not here a strong Motive to believing? Will not the Lord Jesus be as Faithful, in keeping the Promise made to Comers unto Him, as the Fa • her and He have been in performing of what was Covenanted concerning their Redemption? The 4th. Is the great Love of God, and of the Mediator, that eminently shined here, in their willingness to make the Application; As He is Faithful, so is He willing to be employed, and what greater evidence of Love would we have, then this, That Our Lord Jesus hath delighted so much in the Salvation of Sinners, that He laid down His Life, and endured much more Soul travel for this very End? We beheld (says John, Chap. 1.14) his glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son, of the Fatherfull of grace and truth; In His Humiliation, He was G orious in both these, Glorious in His Truth, making His Faithfulness to shine, in exact keeping of what was Aggreed upon, and Promised: Glorious in His Grace to poor Sinners, in making Application of His Purchase, Freely and Fully; yea, the more that He was obscured by His Humiliation, the more did His Grace sh • ne forth; how much more Glori • us will He be in these when He is now exalted. 3dly. If these two persuade you not to believe on Him, To wit the Grounds that He hath given for bel • eving and the powerfully pressing Mo • ives to make Use of these Grounds; consider the absolute necessity that ye lie under of making use of these Grounds, without which ye will never be able to shift the Wrath of God; Is there any that can give God a Recompence? The redemption of the Soul is precious, and ceases forever, as to you; Or, if any could have been able, Why did the M • di • tor come thus low? And where should have been the Glory of Grace and Truth, that hath shined so Radiantly in His Sufferings? And therefore from all these be ex • orted, to give Him the Credit of your S • lvation, by making Use of His Righteousness • , and by founding your Plea before God on His Sufferings as ever ye would have your Souls saved; Otherwayes ye can expect nothing, but to fall under the Rigour of Justice, and to be made to satisfy for your own Debt, to the uttermost farthing, and when will that be? Dar • the most innocent amongst you step in to satisfy Justice for themselves? if not, is there not a necessity to make Use of His Sufferings for that End? Which He ha • h made attainable, by His Tearing of the Vail of His own Flesh, that Sinners may step in with humble boldness to the Holy of Holies; This is the End of all our Preaching, and of your Hearing, which, when it is not simply Aimed at, and Endeavoured to be Reached, we are Useless in both.

And therefore, 2dly. May we not expostulat with you, that are hearers of this Gospel, and yet continue Strangers to Christ, that can hear of His Sufferings, and of His having been in an Agony for this very End, that Sinners might have a warrand to their Faith, and yet have never to this very hour Actually fled unto Him to find shelter? I know that m • ny will not take with this, and therefore in more close Application of this Use (seeing here lieth the great Treasure of the Gospel, which, if it be not, what can be improven to any purpose?) We shall speak a Word to two Sorts. 1. To the Generality of Hearers, who are S • rangers to the right Use-making of Christ's Righteousness; And though ye may think this to be a hard Charge, and cannot well endure to be expostulated with as Unbelievers, yet let me ask you. 1. Do ye think that all of you will go to Heaven? If not, but that it is a Truth, that the most part of the Hearers of the Gospel will Perish; Then, sure all are not Believers; for all Believers will go to Heaven, and not one of them shall Perish, and though ye wi • l not now believe this, The Day is coming, when ye shall, if Grace prevent not, see and find it; When Believers will be taken in with Christ, and others shut out; Many of you may think that this Doctrine is needless, The more needless that many of you think it to be, it is so much the more needful, and useful to be insisted on with you. 2. If ye say ye have Faith, I ask you, whence came it, and how got you it? I know, many of you will say, We believed always, since we had understanding to know Good by Ill; yet, when ye are put to tell what it is, ye know not how to answer, nor can ye give the least Satisfying Account of it; And yet ye question not, but it will be well with you, and never once feared to go to Hell; And is that Faith think ye? Alas no, It's a plain Counterfit, and a very Cheat: Others are ready to say, we believed not always, yet we believe sometimes, to wit, when we do some Duties, and abstain from gross Evils; But when Challenges come, for the Neglect of Duties, and for the Commission of Sins, we want it, and have nothing of it; And when Death comes, such are forced to say, we fear we have been beguiling ourselves; Whence comes this? But even from this Ground, that they would never suffer it to light, but they had Faith, which yet will never be accounted to be Faith, because it hath not Christ's Righteousness for the Ground of it, and therefore, when any Challenge is awakened it's a seeking, and quite gone; whereas True Faith will in some measure stand it out against a Challenge, and will abide the T • yal of a Challenge, on the account of Christ's Righteousness fled to. 3. We ask you this Question, Are ye sure of your Faith? Ye will say, we hope so and believe so, and this is all ye can say which in effect comes to this, we Groundlesly presumed so; And it's observable, That if ye be put to a Second Question, What ground have ye for your Faith? ye have none at all; If ye be asked, whether ye be certain, that ye are Believers, ye will answer, nobody is certain, God knows that; Is not this strange? And hath it not in it an utter inconsistancy? That Men and Women should confidently assert, and maintain their Faith, and yet when they are put to prove it, they will tell you, that they are uncertain, and that none can be certain of it; Therefore, think it not strange, that we expostulat with you, that ye have been so long hearing of Christ, and that yet ye have little, or rather, no Faith at all in the Use-making of His Righteousness: But to make this the more convincingly clear, We shall give you four Characters, whereby True Faith may be tried, and known, which will serve also to discover the Unsoundness of the Faith of many. 1. It may be tried by the Ground that it leaneth upon; solid Faith hath for the Ground of it Christ's Righteousness, and Satisfaction, His Sufferings, the Price that He paid to Justice for Sinners Debt; That He who knew no sin might become sin for us, As it is 2 Cor. 5. ult. Ye that say ye hope to come to Heaven, and will assert strongly, that ye believe, Try it, I beseech you by this, What is it that warrands you to believe, or, whereon is your Faith founded? Is it Christ's Righteousness that gives your Faith a Ground? ye will say, yes, And who do other ways? Are there any, but they expect Life through Christ? But deceive not yourselves; There are many that have some sort of respect to Christ, who do not at all rightly respect His Sufferings; many will look upon Christ as a Sovereign, and as one that can pardon them their Sins, and will pray to Him for Pardon of them, who yet never seriously lay the weight of their obtaining Pardon on His Death, but expect Pardon immediately, without an intervening Satisfaction; Yea, they never look upon that as needful: Others again, look only to Christ's ability to save, and will pray to Him as to an able Savior; And here also by such; His Righteousness and Merit is shut out, as if it were superfluous, and unnecessary: A third sort look to His mercy, and think that He is very K • nd and Gracious, and that as one Man forgives another, so will He forgive them; And do not Respect His Righteousness, nor found their Faith and Expectation of Pardon upon Him, as upon one that hath Satisfied Justice by the travel of His Soul, that Pardon might come to them, who come to Him: But where true Faith is, the Soul begins to look on itself, as arraigned bebefore the Tribunal of Justice, and libelled as unable to pay its own Debt, Judges itself, and hath not only some piece of exercise to be fred from a Challenge (which is all the Faith that many have) but hath serious exercise, how to have the Challenge answered, by betaking itself to Christ's Satisfaction; from these Grounds that a Satisfaction is given, that this Satisfaction is made Offer of in the Gospel, and that the Soul is content to make use of it, and thereupon it draws the Conclusion anent Pardon: It hath intervening betwixt the Consideration of its Guilt, and its Application of Pardon, both the Covenant of Redemption on God's side, and the Covenant of Reconciliation on the Sinners side, which the Soul doth eye, as that which gives it warrand to lay hold on Christ's Suffering; which the other who presums, doth not; The Believing Soul says, If this Satisfaction had not been, I could never have expected mercy. 2. In the solid Faith of a Believer, there is, as an Use-making of Christ Crucified allenarly, as the meritorious Cause of Justification and Life, So he is exercised in this to be allenarly settled on Him as such; As for presumptuous Souls, as they find it easy to believe, so they find it easy to believe, and to rest on Him only; but as the true Believer hath it for one Piece of Exercise to Him, how to win to Christ, so it's a Second Piece of Exercise to Him, to get Him rested on only, and to get Him as Crucified, made the Ground of his Faith, As the Apostle insinuates, when He says, 1 Cor. 2.2. I determined to know nothing among you, but Christ Jesus, and him crucified, Where we have three Grounds of S • ving Faith, or Knowledge. 1. Jesus Christ. 2. Him as Crucified. and 3. A determining to know no other thing, but Him to rest upon for Life and Salvation; It's in this Respect that the Apostle, Philip. 3. Doth count all things to be but loss and dung and cast, as it were, all over board, that he may w • n Christ, and be found in Him: Many find it no difficult business to rest on Christ only, and to keep out other things from being joined with Him, and never once suspect themselves in this by anything; But the Believer, (as I just now said) hath here an Exercise and Difficulty to get Christ alone rested on, so that nothing else be in the least rested on; Because he knows nothing else to be a sure Foundation, and because he knows that it's natural to him to rest on other things beside Christ. 3. The true Believer is taken up, not only to have a sure Ground to build on, but also to have his own Gripping at, and Building on that Ground made sure; It's his exercise to have it out of question, that his Faith is true Faith, and not Presumption or Guessing; To have the Grace of Faith Actually and Really taking hold of, or apprehending Christ; Whereas another that presumeth, and hath only an Opinion, or Conjecture in place of Faith; As he is in his own Opinion easily brought to Christ, so he finds it easy to exercise believing on Him; he will, it may be, grant, that he cannot Sanctify the Sabbath-day, and yet he can believe, as if Believing, were less difficult then to Sanctify the Sabbath; So, many will grant, that they cannot Pray, and therefore do decline Worshipping of God, in their Families, who yet will confidently say that they can believe, and that they do believe always, as if believing were less difficult, then to Pray for a quarter, or half a quarter of an hour; But where solid Faith is, the exercise of it is a difficult thing, and the Person that hath it, hath a holy Jealousy of it; And the experience of many others, and of himself, sometime telling him, that he may be mistaken, he is often trying it, and doth not, nay, he dar not trust much to it, and is put often with that Man spoken of, Mark 9. To cry, and sometimes with tears, Lord I believe, help my unbelief; He dar not trust much to his own Grip, and therefore hath recourse to Christ to get it sickered, and to have Him taking and keeping the Grip of his Grip, as it was with the Apostle, Phil. 3.12.4. When Believers have betaken themselves to Christ, they have a new Exercise, to know that it is so indeed; It's not only an Exercise to them how to Ground their Faith right, how to quite all other things, and to betake themselves to Christ only, and to cast their burden on Him; But it's an exercise to th • m to clear that it's Christ indeed, that they rest on, or to be clear, that they have rested on Him: It's no good token, when folk are soon Sati • fi • d with their Believing, and never put it to the Try • l; And this is it that m • kes many go on guessing, till they come to Death, which makes a devorce betwixt them and their fancied Faith, and discovers it to be but a Delusion; Whereas it is Believers Work, to try whether they have, and to know that they have believed, which they win not soon to know; and the Reason is, because the sense of Sin, the apprehension of Wrath, and their love to God, and to Christ the Mediator, with their desire to enjoy Him, suffer them not to be quiet till they be sicker: We may see all the Four together, Philip. 3.7, 8, 9, 10. Where the Apostle speaking of his case, when he was a converted Christian, in opposition to what it was when he was a Pharisee, and thought himself to be very well, and a strong Believer, saith, What things were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ, yea, doubtless I count all things to be 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 d • ng that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, &c. The o • j • ct he would be at, is Christ, The manner how, is, Not having mine own righteousness, The me • n through wh • ch, is, Fa • th in Him; This is it that brings him to Union with Him; And then he would know experimental • y, that he doth know Him savingly, as a Believer in Him, By finding the power of his resurrection by having fellowship in his sufferings, And by being made conformable unto his death Whereby he would prove, and make out, to his own Quieting and Consolation, that he is indeed a Believer: The B • liever is never right till he be in Christ, and its his Exercise to be quit rid of all other things, and to rest upon him alone; neither doth he rest here, but he must be clear, that he is in Him, and that he hath fellowship in His Sufferings and Conformity to His Death: This we would recommend to you as your main study, as ever ye would comfortab y evidence to yourselves, your believing in Him.

SERMON XLVI.

THE Bargain of Redemption is a great Bargain, and we may say, that it is a good Bargain, wherein the greatest things that ever were imagined are transacted; The sum whereof is in these two. 1. What shall be the Satisfaction, that must be given to the infinite Justice of God, or what shall be the amends that must be made to God for the Satisfying of His Justice, for the Sins of all the Elect? and that is compended in these Words, The travel of Christ's soul, That is the condition, or these a • e the Terms, on which only the Lord Jehovah will Tryst, (to speak so) and He will Tryst on no other Terms. 2. What shall be the Satisfaction that the Mediator shall have for all His Sufferings, and Soul-travel? And this is summed up in these Words, He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied, Upon which two stands the Covenant of Redemption; And hence it is, That all things relating to the Salvation of the Elect, are to sicker and fi • m, that there is no possibility of the misgiving, or failing of whatever is here trans • cted upon.

We have spoken somewhat of the Price, which the Son, the Mediator was to give, and of the Soul-travel which He underwent in the paying of it: We shall now speak of the Words as they hold out th • Promises made to the Mediator, and it's twofold. 1. He shall see of the travel of his soul, Which Words being an Explication of the former, and looking also to these which follow, there is a Word to be supplied, which will •• k in both, and it is fruit, He shall see the f • uit of the travel of his soul, That is, He cannot but have a Seed, and a numerous offspring, because of His Soul-travel, in bringing them Forth; and so the Promise in this respect shows the certainty of the eff ct, that is, that He shall most certainly bring forth in H s travelling. The 2. Promise is, That He shall see the Fruit of His Soul-travel; or His Seed; It's much to have a Seed, but it's more to see it; it's not only this. That Christ shall have a numerous Is • ue, but that He shall Outlive Death, to see and over-see, and be a a Tu • or to them, though by His Death He Purchase Life to them.

We shall from the first Promise take two Observations, The 1. is this, That our Lord J • sus, by His Suffering and Soul travel, shall c • rtainly attain the Fruit He aims at in it; His Death and Sufferings shall not be Fruitless, but shall certainly have the intended Fruit; Whatever we take the Fruit to be, whether we take it our of the former Words, it's a Seed that he shall see, or have; Or whether we take it out of the following Words, It's the Justifying of many; Both these come to the same thing, and it shall certainly come to pass, and be made effectual in the Up-shot of it; As the Lord Himself saith, John 12.24. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth mu • h fru • t, Where He compares His own Death, to the sowing of Seed, which, when sown doth rot? and then springs up, and hath Fruit, so (as if He had s id) my Death shall be a Seed, or Seed-time, whereon abundant Fruit shall follow for the Good and Salvation of many: This Doctrine supposes, 1. That our Lord Jesus had a respect in the laying down of His Life, to the Salvation of H • s own Elect People, or thus, that our Lord Jesus, in the laying down of His Life, had a design and purpose to save the Elect; as often He saith, I lay down my life for my sheep; And here, they are called a Seed, and Fruit, and such as are Justified in due time. 2. That this purpose should by His Sufferings be certainly made effectual; this being the Fathers Promise to Him, He shall see His seed, or the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied. It cannot be frustrated; And we may further confirm it from these Grounds. 1 Because it is a Covenanted, and Transacted business betwixt the Father and the Son, and is here Promised; If therefore there cannot be a failling of the Transaction and Bargain it must certainly have the full eff • ct. 2 Because the Mediator hath faithfully • ulfilled His part of the Covenant; And if He ha • h been so faithful on His side; Then Jehovah on the other side of the Covenant, who hath in it promised Satisfaction to Him, for the travel of His Soul, cannot but perform His part also; The Mediator performed His Part, even till it c • me to these sweet Words uttered by Him on the Cross, It is finished; And therefore as I said, the other part, That he shall see the fruit of his Soul-travel, must also be performed. 3. It's also clear from the End and Design of the Covenant of Redemption, betwixt the Father and the Son, and of Christ's laying down His Life, which was to bring about Life unto, and to make it forthcoming for all them that the Father had given Him, and to, and for no more, nor to, and for no fewer; Therefore He saith, All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me, And, I give them eternal life, and will raise them up at the last day; Now, this being the End of the Covenant, and of Christ's Death, and the mean whereby the Glory of Grace is manifested, that Life might not only be Purchased to the Elect, but also actually conferred on them, according to the Fathers and the Mediators design in the Covenant; Christ Jesus cannot but have the Promise made good unto Him, there being an engadgement of, and on the God-head (to speak after the manner of Men) as to the Reality, Certainty and Success of the performance, and for making out this Promise to the Mediator.

The 1. Use Serves for Instructing and Clearing of us, in several things contraverted by unsound men; For, if this be a Truth, That our Lord's Sufferings and Soul-travel cannot but have Fruit, and the Fruit that He aimed at therein, then, 1. There is a definite particular, and certain number Elected, to partake of the Benefit of Christ's Sufferings; because there is only such a particular number that is given to Christ, to be Redeemed by Him, and that do actually partake of the Benefit of His Sufferings, which cannot fail. 2. That Christ's Sufferings are not intended as a Price and Satisfaction for the Sins of all and everyone; for so He should not see the Fruit of the Travel of His Soul, but should in a great part miss and loss it, if He had intended, that the Travel of His Soul should have been undergone for Judas, as well as for Peter. 3. There is here a Ground, for the Certainty, and Efficacy of the Grace of God in converting Elect Sinners, for Christ Jesus cannot loss these who are committed to Him to be Redeemed, more then He can loss the Fruit of His Suffering, then sure Faith is not left pendelous on Mans Free-will, but is put out of question, as to all His own, through His undertaking, As He saith, That no man can come to me, except the Father draw him, so He saith, These that are given me, shall and must come to me; There is a Put, or Powerful Draught of the Spirit of God, which is nothing else, but the efficacy of His Grace, by which this is made infrustrably sure, and not left contingent. 4. See here the Truth of the Perseverence of Elect, and Regenerat Saints, who are appointed to be the Fruit of His Soul-travel, and a Satisfaction to Him for the same; For, if they should fail, and not persevere to the End, The Promise here made to the Mediator should be cast loose, and not be necessarily performed, and fulfilled. 5. See here how the Salvation of Elect Sinners depends on the ingadgement betwixt God and the M • diator; Their Redemption depends on H • s paying of the Price, and their attaining the benefit of it depends on God's ingadgement to the Mediator; Therefore we are said, 1 Pet. 1. To be keeped by the power of God through faith unto salvation: It serves withal to clear the Sovereignty of God, and the Freeness of His Grace, when Sinners cannot pretend to have any hand in the Work, to mar the Beauty and Efficacy of Grace that shine therein.

Use 2. There is here, 1. something for the encouragement of such as would fain believe in Christ. And 2. Somewhat for Comfort to, and for Confirmation of them, who have betaken themselves by Faith to Christ. 3. It serves withal, to encourage them, who would be at believing, and find difficulty in the way, while they are breathing after Him: It's certainly promised, that He shall have a seed, and shall see of the fruit of the travel of his soul, such therefore may expect, that they shall come speed, who would fain be at that which is the fulfilling of God's ingadgement to the Mediator; for it was Transacted in the Covenant of Redemption, that His Suffering should be for the good of Elect Sinners, and that the Father should make Application of His Purchase made thereby to them; I say, 2dly. It serves to Comfort, Encourage and Confirm such as are fled to Christ, and find their own difficulty, how to win through, for they haye a good Cautioner to make out their Faith, and what concerns their Salvation; God's Promise to the Mediator shall not be for naught, nor in vain, but shall have it's accomplishment; if poor sinners were le • t to their own guiding, the bargain should never take effect, nor be made out; but it may encourage, and comfort the poor Believer, though it should also humble him, that the business is put in another and better hand then his own; This hath strengthened the wavering hearts of many Believers before, that both sides of the Covenant, as to their forthcoming, and performance, depend on the Father, and on the Mediator; the Mediator undertaking the payment of their Debt, and the Lord Jehovah undertaking to draw them in to the Mediator, and by His Power to bear them through, till they get all that the Mediator hath Purchased for them, conferred on them.

2dly, Observe, That all the benefits and advantages that any have ever gotten, or shall get, that lead to Life Eternal, and which concur to promove the Work of their Salvation, are the Fruits of Christ's Purch • se, by His Soul travel; is a Sinner brought to B • lieve? I 's a Fruit of His Suffering; i • a Si • ne • Glorified? It's the Fruit of the same; And therefore, when in the one woe • d it is said, He shall see his seed, It's • aid in the next word, He shall see of the fruit of the travel of his soul; To show, that a Souls ingadging to Christ by Faith, whereb • the Person becomes one of His Seed, flows from His Suffering, and is a F • u • t of the Travel of His Soul, As it is, 2 Cor. 5. ult. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God th • ough him, or in Him; Where our righ • eousness, and what conduces to our Ju •• ification, is derived from His being made Sin or a Sin-off • ring for us; And Gal. 3.13. It' said, that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come on us gentiles; Whatever is comprehended under that B • essing as taking in both the l nd a • d Me • ns by which we come by it, flows from His being a curse for us, and from His being brought under sad Suffering, and sore Soul-travel for us: In this Doctrine, ye would consider something for clearing of it, or rather take the Doctrine itself several ways, and it will help to clear it elf. 1. Then, when we speak of the Fruit of Ch ists Sufferings, we mean, not only t • at our Justification, the Pardon of ou • Sins, and our entry into He • ven, are Fru • ts of it; But that our Believing, Repen • ance, Hol • ness, and everything that leads thereunto, are Fruits of it also; Therefore it's promised to Christ Psal. 110.3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power: And that these that are given to Christ shall come, is a Promise • s well as it's a Promise, that these that come shall be Justified, and the one fo • lows upon Christ's Ingaging, and performing of the Ingagement as well as the other. 2. If we take the Doctrine thus, That there is nothing tha • a Sinner gets that leads to Life and Salv • tion, but it's a F • uit of Christ's Purchase; We get neither Repentance, nor Faith, nor Holiness, nor any other such thing, but on the account of Christ's Satisfaction. Or 3dly. Take it thus, Whatever is needful for completing of them that are Ch • ists Seed, whom He hath Purchased, whatever they want, or stand in need of, whether Righteousness, Holiness, Repentance, Faith, H • pe, &c. All are purchased by Him, and are the Fruits of His Death, and Sou • -travel; This riseth clearly from the Words, He shall see of the fruit of the travel of his soul, That is He shall see Sinners believing on Him, and repenting for sin, as well as H • sha • l see them Glorified: which will be clear, if we consider these two Reasons. 1. The nature of the Covenant, wherein all the Promises concerning Sinners Salvation are comprehended; there being but one Covenant of Redemption, and that being a Promise of this Covenant, to circumcise the heart to love God, and to writ his law in it, as well as to pardon Sin; and all the Promises of the Covenant depending on Christ's S • ipulation, and these things in the Promises flowing from the Covenant betwixt God and the Mediator, Sinners can have no Right to anything that is Promised, but by a. Covenant, neither can they have any access to them, but through Christ's Suffering 2. It's clear from the End of the Covenant that whatever Sinners have need of, they must be in Christ's common for it; now, if we had Faith, or Repentance, or any other Grace from ourselves, or on our own account, we should not be in His Debt, and Common for all that we need, as indeed we are, according to that, 1 Cor. 30, 31. He is made of God unto us, wisdom, to be our Guide, and Teacher, righteousness, to be our Justifier, and the meritorious Cause of it, sanctification, To be the Worker and the Procurer of it; and in a Word, complete Redemption; and this is subjoined as the Reason of all, That he that glories, or rejoices, may glory, or rejoice in the Lord; that is, Whether there be a looking to Faith, or Repentance, or any other Grace, there may be no cause to be Vain or Proud of it, but that knowing these to be from Christ, and Fruits of His Purchase, all the praise of them may be to Him alone.

The Use of this is large, it speaks something more generally to them that are Strangers to Christ, and who think that they would be at Him; and something to them that are in Him; and something to both: And the 1. thing that it speaks is this (which we have often heard of, but cannot hear of it too often,) Even the great and glad Tydings, and very good News, which we have to speak of through Jesus Christ, That Redemption is Purchased by Him to poor Sinners, and that through Him there is access to Life, and Peace, and Reconciliation with God, from which through Sin we had fallen, and run ourselves, under a Forefaulture of, and from which we had been barred up Eternally except He had Suffered; There was a will of Separation, and Partition standing betwixt God and us, which by His Sufferings was demolished and broken down, and thereby a door of access to God struck up, even through the veil of his flesh; These should be refreshing and fresh News to us every day, as indeed they would be, if we rightly knew, and believed the benefit of God's Friendship, and what were our hazard, in lying still in nature, and what was the Price that Christ laid down to Purchase for Sinners Friendship with God, and delivery from His Curse; that it behooved to cost Him sore Soul-travel, ere any special Grace could be bestowed on Sinners; and that this same Gospel that is Preached to you, is a Fruit of the Travel of His Soul; and that in making the Covenant of Redemption, this same was a part of the Indenture (to speak so) That these good News might be Published in this same place, and these glad Tydings spoken of among you: And therefore 2. Put a greater Price on the Means that may further your Salvation; on Repentance, Faith, Holiness, Peace with God, &c. For they are the Fruits of a very dear Purchase, and the Results of a great and sore Conflict, which the Mediator had with the Justice of God, ere there could be access for a Sinner to any of them; There was not so much paid to get the World Created, as was paid to buy Faith, Repentance, Access to God, and an Entry to Heaven, to Run-away Sinners: Nothing was paid for the one, but a mighty great Price for the other: And therefore, 3. We would expostulat with many of you, How it comes to pass, that ye think so little of these things that Christ hath Purchased, that ye think so little of Faith in Him; and that so many of you take a counterfit for it; try not if you have it; trouble not yourselves though ye want it; and that other things of little value are much esteemed of, and over-valued by you. Is there anything comparable to that, which Christ hath put such a Price on, that He gave His own Life for it, and that God hath put such a Price on, that He promised it to Christ, as a part of the Satisfaction for the Travel of His Soul? And yet its lightly valued by many, yea, by most Men and Women; The day will come, when ye will think Faith to be of more value, and will think the Pardon of Sin, and an interest in Christ's Blood, to be valuable above the whole World, though ye had it, when ye shall be brought to reckon with God for the slighting thereof. And therefore 4ly. Seeing this is a Truth, that everything that leads to Life Eternal, is a Fruit of Christ's Purchase, take the right way to attain it; The exhortation implies these two, 1. That ye make a right choice of, and put a just value on these things, that ye should choose and value. 2. That ye take the right way for attaining of these things. 1. Then, Would ye know what is to be valued and chosen? It's certainly these things, that God and the Mediator esteem of, and that the Congregation of the First-born esteem of; The things that Christ hath Purchased, and which are the Fruits of the Travel of His Soul, are most excellent; and therefore, Mind, Study, and Seek after these things, that may lead your Souls in to Life Eternal; seek after Faith, and Repentance, to have your peace made with God, to have the heart purified, to be of a meek and quiet Spirit, Which in the sight of God are of great price, as the Apostle Peter speaks; to have Pardon of Sin, and Holiness, for adorning the Gospel of God, and to have Glory, that ye may see God and enjoy Him; these things are the best things, this is undoubtedly the better part which will never be taken from them; Whose choice through Grace it is; God will give great Estates, Countries and Kingdoms in the World, to Men, to whom He will not give so much Faith as is like a grain of mustard seed, nor a dram of true Holiness; because He thinks much less of the one then of the other, and because the one is not so like God, nor will it have such abiding Fruit as the other.

2dly. What way may folk win to make this choice, and to attain these best and most valuable things? no other way, but that which this Doctrine holds out; If all things that lead to Life and Salvation be Fruits of Christ's Purchase, then sure it is by virtue of Christ's Purchase alone, that ye must come by them, Pardon of Sin comes by the Blood of Sprinkling, Peace with God, Grace and more Grace, the exercise of Grace, and growth in Holiness, Faith in all its exercises and advances, and every other Grace, come by His Sufferings, as also doth Glory; because He hath purchased these Graces of the Spirit, as well as Pardon of Sin, and Heaven: often Christ is misken • , and passed by here; many think that they shall obtain Pardon of Sin, and go to Heaven without Him; others, though they will not own that, yet fail in the second, and would make use of Him for Pardon of Sin, and for paying of their Debt, if they could Repent and Believe in Him; but till they find these in themselves, they scar to come unto Him whereas the Sinner that is convinced of Sin and of His hazard, would lay down this as the first step of his way in coming to Christ, any Repentance and Believing, and the making of the heart willing to close with, and to cleave to Him, is the Fruit of Christ's Purchase, and I must be in His Common for it, for there is no other possible way to get it; The first airth (to speak so) that a wakened and sensible Sinner should look unto, for Pardon and Peace, for Repentance, Faith, and all things, would be to Christ, and His Sufferings, whence all these come; Sinners at first are disposed to take too far a look, and so mistake in the order of things, Therefore, when the sense of Sin pinches them, and they set about to believe, and find that their hearts are very averse from believing, and can hardly be brought to it, then they are fainted, when they consider, and find that, if it stood but on this, even to consent to take Christ, they cannot do it, but then, and in that case, the Lord minds, that they should be much in His Common for Faith, and Repentance, and for a soft and tender Heart, and that they should seek these from Him, as well as Pardon of Sin, considering, that all this is Christ's Purchase; and that there is a possibility to win to it this way, when they can win to it no other way; If ye would take this way, even to eye and look to Christ as the Author, and Finisher of Faith, and be in His Common for it, through His Grace it should go better with you; This is it which the Apostle hath, Heb. 12. Where he calls to Lay aside every weight, and the sin that easily besets, and to run the race with patience that is set before us; and if it should be said, how shall that be done, even by Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of ou • faith; And then follows, who, for the joy that w • s set befo • e him endured the cross, and • ispis • d the shame; Thus leading Folk into His Suff • rings, as the solid Foundation of th ir F • ith.

Use 2. See here ground for quashing the natural pride that is amongst M • n an • Women as to Spiritual things; How so? Where is the ground for this, here it is, because all is Christ's Purchase; Which may also give a check to these, who, because they have nothing in themselves, think not that they shall come speed upon this ground; as i • doth to these others, who have gotten something, and are proud of it: To clear it a little, we would consider, that there is a pride in Folks, ere they come to Christ, they cannot well endure to be in Christ's Debt for everything; They will take Pardon of Sin from Him, but they would have Faith and Repentance of themselves, as some Money in their Purse to bring with them to Him, that they may buy it; But, where will you, I pray, get Faith, or Repentance, if not from Him? Are they not Hi • Gifts, and Fruits of H s Purchase? which, if it were well considered, there would be no access to the proud reasonings of U • belief; D • t ye say, but these things are the Fruits of Christ's Sufferings, and His Gifts? and if so, must ye not be in His Common for them? And as it silenceth the Reasonings of Unbelief, so it stops the mouth of the Sinner, and humb • es him much more, then if he had these things in or from himself, and were only to be in His Common for Righteousness and J • stification. 2. We would consider, That there is often some Pride, and Conceit in them that have Faith, disposing them to think themselves to be better then other Folks; But, if ye have Faith, whence is it? or who hath made you to differ? Is it not a Fruit of Christ's Purchase? and will ye be Vain, or Conceity of that which is the Purchase of another? This is a Spiritual poor Pride, that stinks in the Nostrils of the Holy Lord, so to abuse His goodness, as to be proud, because He hath Bought and Bestowed that which ye could never have procured, nor attained yourselves; If then Folk have no • hing, it is good to mind this, That Christ hath purchased, what Sinners stand in need of, and that it may be had in and from Him; And if Fo • k have anything, they should not be proud or conceity of it, but mind that what they have, is a Fruit of Christ's Purchase, and that therefore there is no ground to be proud of it.

The 3. Use Serves to show, what great Obligation lies on S nners, that get any special good from God, I 's Christ that hath purchased a • l and therefore they ought to improve all that they have gotten for Him who hath bought all; As it is 1 Cor. 6.20. Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your bodies, and in your spirits which are God's; Whatever ye have of Faith, o • Repentance of Holiness, or of ability to serve • nd honor God in your Station, it's bought with a Price, and a dear Price and therefore Glorify God in the right Use-making, and manadging of it: We would think it no little Progress and Advancement in R ligion, if ye were brought to walk under the suitable impression o • your engagement to Christ, as holding all that ye have, and that serves for your through-bearing of Him; For, what do we, or can we do? It's Christ that buys all, and that confers all; we can do nothing of ourselves but abuse His Purchase, And were it not, that the sickerness and sta • i • ity of our Covenanting depends on the first Covenant, even the Covenant of Redemption, transacted betwixt these two Responsal Parties, Jehovah, and the Mediator, we would quit mar, and break all the Bargain betwixt God and us, and cast all loose every day, if not every moment.

The other Promise is, that He shall see his seed, and as we hinted before, It's one thing to have a seed another thing to see a seed; The former Promise looks to His having of a Seed, and this to His seeing of that Seed; Whence Observe, That not only is there a Seed Promised to Christ, but also the Seeing of a Seed, not only Fruits, but the Improving and Manadging of these Fruits; Or thus, That not only is there a Seed P • omised to Christ, but the overseeing of that Seed is also Promised; He shall have no other Tutor (to speak so) to leave His Children to but Himself; He shall Die, and shall by His Death beget a Seed, and yet by His Death He shall become the overseer of that same Seed, that by His Death is begotten: There is much of the Dignity of Chri •• 's Office, and of the comfort of Believers here, That J • sus Christ is not only the procurer of our Life, but the overseer of i • ; Hence is • hat Conclusion of the Apostle, Heb. 7.25. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, forasmuch as he lives forever to make intercession for them; He hath not only Purchased Life, and many good things to Believers, but He is living to make the Application of His P • rchase to them; And therefore is able to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by Him: Indeed, if He had been prevailed over by Death, there might have been great hazard and Doubt, if not utter Dispair of • ver attaining His Purchase, and a great crack (to say so) or breach in our Consolation, but when He is Executor of His own Testament, and b • His Spirit makes the Application, what is, or can be wanting? We shall say no more, but that here it is clear, that we have a living Mediator as Himself says, Revel. 1.18. I was dead, and am alive, and live for evermore; And therefore Sinners stepforward to His Sufferings, and seek the Application of His Purcha • e, since He lives to make it, it will, no doubt, be great ground of Challenge against you, who slight His Sufferin s, and keep at a distance from Him, since He is alive and since, what is much accounted of by Him, even the Fruit of His Sufferings, is by you set at naught who Neglect, R • fuse, or Despise Him, and the • en • fi • of His Sufferings; O! what an aggr • v • tion of your Guilt will this be? when He is looking on, to s • e what comes of the Fruit of His Sufferings, and Soul-travel; To be found thus to sl • ght, and in a manner to affront Him? He knows and takes notice of the breathings of Faith, where they are; and is well pleased with them, and with the least mintings at it; He knows also, who despise Him, and refuse to believe in H m, and hath all put on record. God give us wisdom, to make the right chose.

SERMON XLVII.

AS it is a most wonderful Work that Our Lord Jesus hath in hand, and a mighty great Bargain, that cost Him the Travel of His Soul; So it may be thought, that it must be a very great Price that Our Lord Jesus hath to expect, as His Satisfaction for all that sore Labor and Travel; This is it that the Text holds forth, He shall see of the fruit of the travel of his soul; Which in Sum is this, He shall see poor Sinners getting good of Him, Justified by His Grace, and admitted to friendship with God, and that to His Satisfaction, as the Words following clear, He shall be satisfied, to wit, as to that Fruit, and shall acquiesce in it, as His Satisfaction for all the Travel of His Soul.

We told you, that there were three things in these Words, 1. The Price that is called for from the Mediator, in performing the Work of Redemption, and making Reconciliation betwixt God and Sinners, to wit, The travel of his soul, The sad and sorely pinching Straits, and Pressures that He was put to, and brought under, not only in His Body, but also in His Soul. 2. The Promise made to Him upon His undertaking, and paying of the Price, He shall see of the travel of his soul, That is, the Fruits and Effects of His Soul travel; It shall not be for naught, but shall certainly have Fruit, He shall have a numerous Seed and Issue. 3. There is here holden forth the Mediators acquiescence in the Bargain so proposed, That He undertaking the Condition of laying down His Life, on these same Terms, that He shall see a Seed, He requires no other Satisfaction, and therefore He accepts of it, and acquiesces in it, as the Result of this Design, and shall be satisfied.

Having spoken of the former Two, We come now to speak of the Third, And we may consider it, in these three Respects. 1. As it looks to Christ's Design, Who is like to one that is running a Race, and hath the Prize before him, and in his eye; and this is implied here, That He hath something before Him, in laying down of His Life, which He shall not miss, but shall reach and be Satisfied in it; so many are given Him, for whom He enters Cautioner, on Condition, that His Righteousness shall be made furthcoming to them, and that none of them shall be without, or want it. 2. As it looks both to the number, and certainty of the Effects, and Fruits in respect of them that are given to Him; He shall be satisfied, He shall have, though not all Men and Women, yet a sufficient number, even as many as shall satisfy and content Him, And whatever was intended by Him, in the laying down of His Life, He shall want nothing of it, but shall be satisfied in it; and thus the Words are to be Actively understood, to wit, of God's Actual performing of that which shall be Satisfying to the Mediator. 3. It may be looked on as the Effect and Consequent following upon the former Promise; and so it is to be understood Passively for the delight that He takes in the Fruit of His Sufferings, and in the seeing of Sinners getting the good of them; and the so meaning is, That He shall be fully contented, and thoroughly well Satisfied with, yea, even delighted, and (to speak so) comforted in this, for all the Travel of His Soul, when many shall be brought to believe in Him, and to get good of Him.

To clear it further, We may take the Words as alluding to several Similitudes, As, 1. To that of hungry and thirsty Persons, who are said to be satisfied, when their hunger and thirst are removed, by meat and drink; which implies, That Jesus Christ in His pursuing and performing the Work of Redemption, had a Holy Hunger and Thirst, and this His Hunger and Thirst Is Satisfyed in their Salvation, and what leadeth to it; As Himself saith. John 4.32. (Where He makes use of this same Similitude) I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 2. It may allude to a Man's taking pains in planting of an Vine-yard, or Orchard, to whom it is a Satisfaction when all the Trees grow, thrive well, and bear Fruit; and so the meaning is, That Our Lord Jesus shall be at vast Expence, and great Labor and Pains, in making Sinners to become Trees of righteousness, but that all these for whom He Suffered, and was at all this Expence and Pain shall hold so well, and be so Fruitful at length, that He shall be fully Satisfied in them, and think all well bestowed; Or, 3. We may take it in allusion to a Woman in Travel, who is said, John 16.21. To have sorrow, while her pains are upon her, but so soon as she is delivered, she no more remembers her sorrow, for joy that a man child is born; And this Similitude is here especially alluded unto, therefore Our Lord's Sufferings are called Travel, because of the Pains that He was put unto in them, and because the End of them was to bring forth Children, before called His seed; As if the Prophet had said, Our Lord Jesus shall be put to great Sorrow in Suffering, but He shall bring forth; And as a Woman hath Joy in the Man-child brought forth, so shall He have more comfort and delight in the bringing forth of Believers, then He had sorrow in the procuring of Life to them, though that was very great.

From the Words thus considered and explained, take these two Observations, 1. That Our Lord Jesus is exceedingly delighted, satisfied, and well-pleased with poor Sinners, making use, and getting good of His Sufferings; It's a thing most Satisfying, and Well-pleasing to Him. 2. That seeing Our Lord Jesus is so well-pleased with Sinners making use of Him, there is all equity and reason for it, that He should have this Satisfaction; and this follows not only on the former, but clearly riseth from the Words; For this Satisfaction is allowed Him for His Soul-travel; and as it's Just, that they that Labor should partake of their Labor, and that the Hirling should have his hire, so, it's not only Satisfying to Christ, that Sinners get good of Him, but it's Just, He having Purchased it at so dear a Rate.

For the First of these, That Our Lord Jesus is exceedingly delighted and satisfied with Sinners making use, and getting good of Him; If there were no other Scripture to confirm it, this same is sufficicient; Would ye then know what Christ aims at in His Sufferings, what will content and satisfy Him, as a Recompence for all His Soul-travel? It's even this, To see the of fruit of the travel of his soul, To have Sinners getting good of Him, and saved by Him, and there is nothing but this that will Satisfye Him; It were a great matter to have the Faith of this Settled, and Rooted in our Hearts; if we could rightly take up what He hath Suffered, how low He hath condescended to come, even to be a Man, and a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, To be reproached and mocked, to take on Him the Curse, and to be in Pain and Soul-travel; And then if we could rightly take up what He aimed at, and designed in all this, and what He accounted to be a recompense to Him for it all; even this, That when His Gospel is Preached, such and such poor Sinners under hazard of Wrath and Challenges for Sin, should, through closing with Him, be brought to answer all their Challenges by this; Our Lord Jesus hath satisfied Justice for Sinners; and when poor Sinners are under the sense of a hard heart, that they should cast their Eye on the same ground for a remedy of that Spiritual Malady, and Plague, even His Sufferings, which have purchased the mollifying of the heart, as well as Justification, and Pardon of Sin; And when a Sinner is disconsolat, and dejected, because of Sin, and Divine Displeasure that He should be Cheered and Comforted in His Sufferings; This, even this is refreshing, and is delightsome to Him: We say, it were much to get this thoroughly believed; That Sinners are not half so fain to come in under His Sufferings for shelter and refreshing, as Our Lord Jesus is, (to speak with reverence) to see them Sheltered, Refreshed, and Thriving; The very mentioning of this ought to be as marrow to the bones.

But for further clearing of it, we would speak a Word. 1. To what this Delight, and Satisfaction is, 2. To some grounds to confirm the truth of it, that Our Lord Jesus is indeed delighted to see poor Sinners coming to Him, and getting good of Him

For the First, of these, We did, when we was speaking of these Words, v. 10. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, Shew, how it was a delightsome thing to Jehovah; And now speaking of it from this 11. v. in reference to the Mediator, we shall take it up in these particulars. 1. There is in Our Lord Jesus, not only a delight in Sinners getting good of Him, as it is a thing He calls for, and is agreeable to His revealed will, and as being required of them as their Duty, in which respect it's acceptable to God, and cannot but be acceptable and well-pleasing to Him; neither, 2. Is this delight only in respect of the End of His Sufferings, which were undergone to make a way for, and to strick open a Door to the Throne of Grace, through the Vail which is His Flesh; that poor Sinners might come to a Fountain and wash, and have access to God through Him; Which being the End He had before Him in His Death, cannot but be acceptable to God, because it was His End in the giving of His Son to Die; and so it's delightsome to the Mediator; but also 3dly. It is so in these two respects further; Sinners coming to Him, resting on Him, and getting good of Him, is His delight. 1. In respect of the Honor that is done unto Him; when a Sinner believes on Him, He counts it the putting of the Crown on His Head, As it is Cant. 3 11. see also to this purpose, John 5.23, 24. And though there could have been a possibility of honoring of God before, yet there is no Honouring of the Mediator, till Folk make use of His Sufferings by Faith; And it is on this ground that Christ complains when He is not made use of; and therefore, when Sinners give Him credit, by committing the saving of their Souls to Him, and by making use of His Offices for that End, and for His performing in them that wherefore they were appointed, it cannot but be acceptable and well-pleasing to Him. 2. In respect of that Sympathy that Our Lord Jesus hath with His own Members; For though the Mediator be now glorified in H aven, yet He hath a hum • ne Heart, and affection still, though inconceivably glorious, and so a kindly Sympathie with them, and is some way affected with both their good and their ill; And considering Him thus, He hath a delight in the good and well-fare of His People, and their being delighted in, and satisfied with Him, proves a Delight and Satisfaction to Him.

For the next thing, to wit, the clearing and confirming of it; It might be cleared and confirmed from many Grounds, but we shall only touch on some, that may make it out most convincingly, that it's most delightsome to Jesus Christ, to see Sinners making use of Him, and getting good of His Sufferings; And this His Delight may be drawn from Eternity, and carried on to Eternity, 1. In the making of the Covenant of Redemption, it was delightsome to Him to enter in it, As is clear Psal. 40. I delight to do thy will, O my God; The Bargain was no sooner proposed (if we may speak so to that which is Eternal) But heartily it was closed with by Him; And this is confirmed, Prov 8.32. Where the Substantial Wisdom of the Father is brought in, saying, Then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my delights were with the Sons • f men; Our Lord Jesus, before the World began, was delighted in the forethought that such a thing was a coming, that in such and such parts of the World, such and such poor Sinners should be called by His Grace, and get the good of His Suffufferings; As a Man in a long Journey, or Voyage, may be delighted in the Forefight of the End of it, before He come at it. 2. Look foreward to H • s • xecuting of His Office of Mediator, an • to His going about the work of R • demp •• on, and we will find that He does it with delight, Therefore, John 4. When H • is sitting on the Well side, and is weary with H • s Journey, and hath neither to eat nor to drink, He falleth a Preaching • o a poor sinful Woman, and when the Disciples would fain have refreshed Him with that which they had bought, He says to them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of, And when they begin to wonder what that could be, He says further to them, It is my meat to do my Fathers will, and to finish his work, And what was that, a poor whotish Woman is spoken to, by Him, and brought by His speaking to acknowledge Him to be the Messiah, and to accept of Him as such; And by that blessed Work, His Hunger and Thirst were Satisfied: So Luke 22.15. He saith to His Disciples, with desire have I desired to eat this passover with you, before I suffer: And Luke 12.50. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished? Though he drinking of that Cup was terrible to Him, and though mockings and reproaches were not pleasant in themselves, yet the love that He had to Sinners good, mastered all the bitterness that was in these, and made them sweet. 3. There is nothing that He more complains of, nothing angers and grieves Him more, then when He is not made use of, Ye will not (saith He, John 5.) come to me, that ye may have life, To show, that the best inter • ainment that they could give Him, was, to come and get Life from Him; And it's told us, that He was angry and grieved for the people's unbelief, and hardness of heart; Yea, He weeps over them because of this, Luke 19. All which prove the great delight that He had, and hath still, in Sinners getting good of Him; And frequently in the Song, as Chap. 2, and 6. He is said to feed among the lilies; There is all His entertainment that He gets in the World, He feasts only on the Fruits of His own Spirit in them that welcome Him: I shall name but one place more, and that is, Psal. 147.10.11. He delights not in the strength of a horse, nor in the legs of a man, but in them that fear him; The following Words clear it more, what it is that delights Him, In them that hope in his mercy, that is, in them that draw into Him by believing, He delights in these, Beyond all the World.

Use, 1. It were a desirable thing to be believing this; Are there any so profane, but are ready to think, that if they knew what would please God, or Christ, they would do it? The Question is here answered, that this is pleasing, and only pleasing to Him; If this be wanting, there is nothing that will please Him, even that ye make use of Christ's Sufferings, and employ Him in His Offices, for getting the good that may be had by them; This is it that ye are c • lled to, and which delighteth Him; and if this be not, though ye would give Him thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil, yea, the first born of your body for the sin of your souls, it will not satisfy Him, nor be accepted; because this alone is the Satisfaction that He will have for His Soul-travel.

I shall a li • tle explain this, and then prosecute the Use of it; Ye will ask then, What is the Fruit of Christ's Soul-travel that satisfies Him? I answer, That we take in under it not only, 1. That ye should aim to be at Heaven, nei • her 2. • his, That ye be serious in the Duties of Holiness, as if these were Well-pleasing to God, without respect to Christ's Sufferings; but it is the Use-making and improving of Christ's Sufferings for attaining of these; When Folk by this midse, by this New and Living Way step forward to Heaven, and seek to be Seri • us in the study of Holiness; when they that could not walk in the way of Holiness, do now walk in it, leaning on their beloved, and study to live by Faith in Him, T • is is it mainly wherein His Delight and Satisfaction doth lie, even when a poor Sinner is brought to make Use of Him for Peace and Reconciliation with God, for through bearing in all called for Duties, for his Consolation, and for his Admission to Heaven in the close: And therefore they do not only fail here, who are Profane, living securely, never minding Heaven, their Peace with God, nor the study of Holiness: Neither only these, who cast the Law and its Reproofs behind their backs, (th • se are loathsome to God and to Jesus Christ,) but by this, These are also reproved, that do not improve the Sufferings of Christ for Peace and Reconciliation with God, for Righteousness, and for Strength, for Comfort, and encouragement, and who hope not in H •• Mercy; The Reason is, because, though it were possible they could make progress in H • liness, and attain to Comfort and Peace • hat • ay, yet it would not be thus, The Fruit of the Trav • l of Christ's Soul, He being pa •• by, and • o could not be Satisfaction to Him: Bu • where a poor Sinner sees that he ca • no • c • me to God of himself, cannot make his Peace, nor can He walk in the way of Holiness, so, as to please God, and so flies to Christ for refuge, and make use of His Purchase; there lieth Christ's delight, to see such a Sinner come and hide himself under the sh • ddow of His Sufferings; and in this respect, the more hardly a Sinner is put at, it is the more satisfaction to Him, that He in His Death and Sufferings be made use of, because this way, the Sinners Life is more entirely the benefit of His Sufferings; and that such a Person hath any Strength, Comfort or Peace, and is admitted to Heaven, It is allenarly through the Travel of His Soul, which is His great Satisfaction.

And therefore, we would, 2dly commend to you, That as you would do Christ a favor, (to speak so with reverence; And, O! what a motive is this for vile Sinners, the dust of His Feet, to be put in a capacity to do Him a pleasure) Endeavor this especially, that as to you, Christ may see the Fruit of the Travel of His Soul, and be satisfied, and that all His kindness offered to you may not be Fruitlesse; This is the great hing of the Gospel, as to that which is pressed upon you, and this is the wonderful motive that is given to press it, That it's delightsome to Christ, and therefore ye should believe on Him: It were encouragement enough that it's profitable to yourselves; But if ye had hearts of stone this should move you to it, That Our Lord Jesus seeks no more Satisfaction from you for all His Soul-travel, but that ye make use of His Sufferings, that ye do not receive this Offer of His Grace in vain, nor be Fruitless under it: In a word, we have here laid before us (and think upon it) the most Wonderful, Inconceivable, and Inexpressible Sute and Request of Him who is the Creator, to us poor sinful creatures, and what is it? I have been (says He on the matter) in sore Travel and Pain for you, now I pray you let it not be for naught, let me see the Fruit of it; And (to speak it with reverence of the Majesty of God) It would say this to you, let not Our Lord Jesus rue of His Sufferings; for as many as hear of this Offer, and do not credit Him with their Souls, they do what they can, to make Him repent that ever He became Man, and Suffered so much, when He is thus shifted, and unkindly requited by them, to whom He makes the Offer; and this is very home and urgent, pressing of the necessity of making use of Him, when such an Argument is made use of, for thus it stands with you, and His Offer speaks this; Either make use of Christ, and of His Soul-travel, for saving of your Souls, that so He may be satisfied; or, if ye slight Him, ye not only destroy, and cause to perish your own Souls, but ye refuse to Satisfie Christ for His Soul-travel, and do what in you lies to mar, and defeat the End and Design of His Sufferings; and is not this a great and strongly pushing dilemma? The result of your receiving, or rejecting of Christ will be this, if ye receive Him, ye satisfy Him, if ye reject Him, ye say ye are not content that He should be satisfied; and what can be expected to come of it, when Christ Suffered so much, and when all that was craved of you, was to make use of Him, and when it was told that, that would satisfy Him, and yet that was refused? What a horrible challenge will this be in the Great Day? And therefore to press this Use a little, we shall show you here, 1. What it is that we exhort you to, And 2. What is the force of this Motive, 1. We would commend to you in general, that ye would endeavor the Salvation of your own Souls, This is it, He cries to you, Prov. 1.22. How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity, and ye scorners delight in scorning, turn ye at my reproof, &c. He aims at this, that ye should get your Souls saved from Wrath, and this should not be prejudicial, nor at the long run unsatisfying to yourselves, and it will be very satisfying to Him. 2. It is not only to aim at Salvation simply, but to aim at it by Him, to aim at Pardon of Sin, and Justification through His Righteousness and Satisfaction; And that ye would bring no other Argument before God to plead upon, for your Peace with Him, but this; and that ye would aim at Holiness, as a Fruit of His Death, He having purchased a peculiar people to himself to be zealous of good works, As it is, Tit. 2.14. And that ye would aim to do holy Duties, by His strengthening of you; and that ye would live by Faith in Him, which is your victory over the world, and the very Soul of the practice of all holy Duties; And 3. That ye aim to have a Comfortable, Refreshfull, and Chearfull Life in Him, and by what is in Him, as if it were your own, it being legally yours by Faith in Him; To be stoping your own mouth, as having nothing in yourselves to boast of, and, (as I just now said) to be cheering and delighting yourselves from that which is in Him, And as it is Psal. 147. Even to be hoping in his mercy; In a word, It is to be studying peace with God through Him, to be studying Holiness in His strength, and to be studying a Comfortable and Chearfull walk through the grounds of joy that are given you in Him, which is very reasonable; would ye then do Him a favor, and have Him Delighted and Satisfied, do but this, give Him your Souls to be saved by Him, in His own way; come to Him sensible of Sin, and founding your Peace on Him, though weak in yourselves, yet strong in Him, On whom as the mighty one God hath laid help; And studying holiness in His strength; drawing virtue from Him, only to moritify your lusts; That it may be known that Christ hath died, and is Risen again, because Grace shines in such a Person; And be Comforted in Him, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord, having given up with Creature-comforts, and Confidences, with your own Gifts, Parts, Duties, &c. And having betaken yourselves to the Peace, Strength and Consolation that are in a Mediator, and which run through the Covenant of Grace, and flow forth from Him, as the Fountain from whom all the Grace, and Comfort that come to us are derived. 2dly. For the force of the Motive, consider seriously, if this be not a pinching strait that ye are put to; if this be it wherein Our Lord's Satisfaction lies, and wherein the Salvation and Edification of your own Souls consist; we pose you, if it be any great difficult, or unreasonable thing, that is called for from you? and if the Motive whereon it is pressed be not most just and reasonable? that these who have, or profess to have the Faith of this, that it will be Satisfaction to Him for all His Soul-travel, that Sinners make use of Him, should yield it to Him; And whether in the Day of the Lord it will not be a most heinous, shameful, and abominable Guilt, that when the business of your own Salvation stood on this, even on your Satisfying of Christ by yielding, ye refused, disdained and scorned it, and would not make use of Him for your Peace, and would no • in His strength study Holiness, though your own Souls should never be saved, nor He satisfied or His Soul-travel; This, of all other Challenges will be the sharpest, and most bitting; and upon the other hand, it may be most comforting to a poor body that is sensible of Sin, and afraid of Wrath; is there or can there be hazard to do Christ a pleasure by believing on Him? It's a thing delightsome to Him, and therefore, let this be one great Motive to press believing in Christ, among the rest, which, though it be cross, and thwarting to the unbelieving heart, and may look like presumption to look a Promise in the Face, and to offer to make application of it to the poor Sinners self; Yet seeing it's a thing so pleasing to Christ, that it satisfies Him for all His Sufferings, essay it upon this very account, remembering always, that He delights in them that hope in his mercy; and to him be praise, forever.

SERMON XLVIII.

IT's a great Work that Our Lord Jesus h • th undertaken, in Satifying the Ju • tice of God for the Sins of t • e El • ct, and He hath at a dear Ra • e; and with great Expence, and Travel performed it; Now, it is but reason that He should again be satisfied, that so Jehovah's Satisfaction, and the Mediator's Satisfaction may go together, and that is the thing that is promised here in these Words; What this Satisfaction is which is promised to Him, as the great thing in which He delights, and by which He is satisfied, in the undertaking, and performing of the Work of Redemption, it's also set down here, He shall see of the fruit of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied, Which in a Word is this, He shall see many who had perished, if He had not Suffered, getting good of His Sufferings, and to be benefited by them; Who, by His taking on Him the Curse, and by His undergoing this Soul travel, shall be fred from the Curse, and made to partake of the Benefits, Privileges, and Comforts that He hath bought by so great and precious a Price.

We proposed this, as the main Doctrine from the Words the last day, That it is great Satisfaction to Our Lord Jesus, to see Sinners making use of, and getting good of H • s Sufferings; Or thus, That Sinners making use of Christ's Sufferings for their good, is His Satisfaction, for all the Soul-travel, and Sufferings • hat He endured; He shall see of the Fruit of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied; I shall insist no further in clearing and confirming this, but come close to the Use of it; And if any Point of Doctrine have Use, this may have, and hath it, to the Glading and making Joyful and Fain the Hearts of lost Sinners; That Our Lord Jesus should Suffer so much, and seek no more Satisfaction • or it all, but to see Sinners improving His Sufferings for their good, to have a Seed brought forth by His Soul-travel, and to have them getting Life by His Death, and the Blessing by His bearing of the Curse, and yet this is it, that this Doctrine bears forth.

We may draw the 1. Use to these Four, from, and by which we may learn, and know in some measure, how to answer this Question; seeing we have heard so much of Christ's Suffering • , and Soul travel, what shall we give to Christ for all that, how shall we satisfy Him? • f there w re any affected suitably with thankfulness from the hearing of Christ's being brought so low, by His sad Sufferings; This would be, and could not but be their Question; H • re is an Answer to it, That Our Lord Jesus seeks no more as a Satisfaction for all His Sufferings, but that ye improve them for your good; This will Delight and Satisfie Him, ye cannot do Him a greater pleasure, no • hing will be • ore acceptable, nay, nothing will be acceptable to Him, nor taken off your h • nd but thi • , even to see you coming in to Him, and making use of His Sufferings for your own good, That as to your particular, His Sufferings may not be in vain, and for naught, but that, ye improve them, and so improve them, as ye may not Live and Die in the Case that ye would have been in forever, had He not Suffered, That is, under the dominion of Sin and Satan, under the W • ath and Curie of God in an anxious heartless Life, without God, and without Hope in the World; It is even this, in a Word, That hearing of His sad Sufferings, and of the Design of them, ye may betake yourselves to Him for Pardon of Sin, for Sanctification in both the Parts of it, and for Consolation and that in the end, ye may get your Souls • aved, on the account of His Sufferings and by virtue thereof: 1. then, ye would seek to be reconciled to God, as the Apo •• le, 2 Cor. 5.20, 21. exhorts, We as ambassadors for • hrist and in his stead, beseech you to be reconciled to God; And the Argument whereby it is pressed, is the same that the Doctrine holds forth, For he was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him; Hence it follows also, Chap. 6.1. We beseech you, receive not this grace of God in vain: Are there • ny of you, who are convinced, that Christ should be Satisfied, and that He should not be at all this Travel and Pains for naught? And that think ye would fain Satisfie Him, if it were in your power? Behold, Our Lord hath told you what will satisfy Him; It is not thousands of Rams, nor ten thousand Rivers of Oil, but that His Sufferings be so improven by you, as the native F • ui • s of them may follow and be found in you; That, considering the woeful case ye are in by Nature, ye may make use of His Satisfaction to Divine Justice, as as the alone Atonement, and may by Faith, take hold of it as the Ground of your Peace; if this be not, C • rist will be to you as if He had never Suffered. 2dly. It calls for Holiness, and Mortification of Sin; This is much pressed, Rom. 6. from v. 2, to 14. And by this same Argument, to wit, That seeing Christ died for Believers, we should die with Him, That being it wherein the Power of His Death kythes, even in the Mortification of our Lusts, which He came to destroy: But when Folks live as they had wont to do in their Profanity, and Looseness, th • re is nothing of the Fruit of the Travel of His Soul to be seen in them. 3 Christ Travelled for the Consolation o • His People; And this is another Fruit of His Death and Suff • rings, that these who have betaken themselves to Christ may comfort themselves on • his Ground, Th • t once and that ere long, they will get the M • stery over a body of Death, and will get both Satan, and it bruised under their Feet through Him; Who was delivered for our offenses, and rose again for our justification and, who hath blotted out the hand writing of ordinances that was against us, nailing it to his cross; And that through the veil, which is his flesh, there might a way be made. Patent to us unto the most holy, And that with confidence we might approach to God, and in His Sufferings dr • wn all our Challenges: And indeed Believers are behind, and greatly at a loss, who have betaken themselves to Christ, and yet live as Anxiously and Uncomfortably, as if they had not a slain Mediator to comfort themselves in, who by His Sufferings, Soul-travel, and Death, hath made a Purchase of so great things for them. And in a Word, The up-shot of His Sufferings, is, to get the S • uls of Believers in Him, carried unto Heaven, and keeped there perfect, till the Body be ra • s • d; and in a perfect • ate be Re • un •• ed to the Soul, at the Great D • y, according to that of the Apostle. Eph. 5.26, 27: He gave himself for his church, that he might sanctify and cle • nse it, and present her to himself a glorious church without spot and wrinkle, or any such thing; And when Souls are not taking the right way to heaven, he hath nothing of the Travel of his Soul from such, more then if he had not undergone it, or not Suffered at all.

Use. 2. If this be Christ's Satisfaction for all the Travel of his Soul, that he see Sinners getting good of his Sufferings, Then, if any Motive be weighty to move People to give Him their So • ls to save, this must sure have weight with them, even that thereby he may have Satisfaction for all his Soul-travel; And therefore we would exhort you on this ground, to give Him your Souls to be saved by Him, in order to His Satisfaction: And what is spoken in common, take it as spoken to everyone of you in particular, Men and Women, Old and Young, Rich and Poor; If ye would do Christ a favor, and pleasure, give Him employment for Pardon of Sin, for Peace with God, for Sanctification, for Consolation, and for Access to Heaven; Or, if ye would know what motive we would use to persuade you to make Use of this Gospel for all these, take this for one, and a main one, That it will Satisfie, and even (to speak so with Reverence) comfort Christ for all the Travel of His Soul, and for all the hard Labor that He endured; even as it Satisfies a wooer for all his Pains and Patience, in waiting on after many refusals and slights, when he gains the Woman's Consent, and when the Match is made up; So it will Satisfie Him, when He sees Souls, by virtue of His Sufferings, brought to believe on Him, and to lay the weight of their Salvation upon Him, for then He sees it was not for naught that He laid down His Life; And truly if this Motive prevail not, I know not what Motive will prevail.

But to make it the more clear and convincing, consider these things, 1. What it is that Christ seeks, when He seeks Satisfaction for the Travel of His Soul, He even seeks your benefit, and good; If He had sought that which would have been painful to you, ye would, I suppose, have judged yourselves obliged readily to have gone about it, had it been (as we use to speak) to have gone through the fire for Him; But now, when this is all that He seeks, that by making use of His Sufferings ye may be Justified, made Holy, comforted in your Life, and brought to Heaven at your Death, should it not much more engage you to give Him this Satisfaction? 2. Who seeks this Satisfaction, and to whom is it to be given? Is it not to Our Lord Jesus Christ? There is very great weight in this Part of the Argument, that by believing on Him, and making use of His Sufferings, we not only satisfy and save ourselves, but make Glad the heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who being considered as God, needs no Satisfaction, neither is capable of any Additional Satisfaction from Creatures. He being infinitely happy, and fully Satisfied in the enjoyment of His own All sufficient Self; Nothing from without can be added unto Him; yet He having condescended to become Man, and Mediator betwixt God and Man, to reconcile lost Sinners to God, He is graciously pleased to account it Satisfaction to Him for all His Soul-travel, to have Sinners making use of Him for their good; and if their be any weight in the Satisfaction of one that is Great and Good, and good to us, This hath weight in it, that our doing so, will satisfy Him, that is Matchlesly Great and Good, and superlatively so to Sinners. 3. Consider the Ground on which this Satisfaction is pleaded for, and it will add yet more weight to this Argument; it's Satisfaction to Him for His Soul-travel; And can any find in their hearts to think, but He should be Satisfied on this account? Is there not reason for it? Who (as the Apostle says, 1 Cor. 9.7.) goeth a warfare on his own charges? who plants a vineyard and eats not of the fruit thereof? or, who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Ah! Should Our Lord Jesus bestow all this Labor and Pains for nothing? And further, 4ly. Whose Satisfaction is it that is sought? (This consideration is somewhat diversified from the 2. And would not therefore be looked on as any Tautology,) is it not His who is Lord of all, and who will one day be Judge? When, if we had all the World would give it to please Him; And who will pronunce the Sweetest or the Sadest Sentence upon us, according as we have Satisfied Him in this, or not; Considering that it is He who desires this satisfaction from us, should there not be an holy Diligence, Eggerness, and Zeal to get that performed, that will Please and Satisfie Him? Especially when the improving of His Sufferings may do it? But 5ly. From whom requires He this Satisfaction? Is it not from them, who like sheep have gone astray? From these who have many iniquities lying on them, and are lying under the Curse of God by Nature? From these, who must either be healed by His Strips, or else they will never be healed, but will die of their Wounds? may not this make the Argument yet the more strong, that He is not seeking this Satisfaction of strangers, but of His own People, nor of Righteous Folks, but of Sinners, who are lying under the Curse, and whose happiness lies in giving Him this Satisfaction? And when it is thus with you, That either your Sins must be taken away by Him, or else ye must lie under them forever; That either He must bear the Curse for you, or ye must bear it yourselves; If these things be obvious, as indeed they are, O! give Him the Satisfaction that He calls for, and let Him not be put to say, as it is, Isai. 49.4. I have labored in vain, and spent my strength for naught, and in vain.

3dly. To press this yet a little more (Although it should be sad to us, that there should be need to press that so much on us, which is so profitable to us, and Satisfying to Him) even that we would make use of Him, for our Spiritual Good and Advantage; These considerations will add weight to the Argument. 1. What esteem Christ hath of it; He thinks it as it were to be Payment, and a sort of Compensation for all His Labor and Sufferings; The Price was not Gold nor Silver, nor any such thing, which He gave for Sinners, but it was His Precious Blood, His own Life, who was the Prince of Life, and the Prince of the kings of the Earth; And O! what a vast and infinite disproportion is there betwixt His Life, and all our Lives; and yet He accounts it a sufficient Reward, if we will but give Him our Souls to be saved by Him, in His own way, and will make Use of His Death and Sufferings for that End; And if it were possible, that we could think little of our own Salvation, and much of Christ's Satisfaction for His Soul-travel, ought we not to think much of our own Salvation, in reference to His Satisfaction; And now, when he hath joined these together, so that we cannot please, nor satisfy Him, except we give Him our Souls to save, and cannot satisfy Him but that in doing so, our Souls shall be saved; Should it not induce us to make Use of Him for that End? If He had commanded us to run here and there, and to undergo some long and very toilsome Voyage, or some hard piece of Labor, or to bestow of our Means and Substance, yea, all of it to please Him, it had been very reasonable on His part to have demanded it, and most unreasonable on ours to have refused it, But our Lord lays weight on none of these things, as separated from the laying the weight of our Souls on His Righteousness; The Reason is, because the making use of His Righteousness, and the improving of His Sufferings for our Justification and Salvation, shows, that He in His Sufferings is esteemed of, and He seeks no more but that. 2. Consider how good reason ye have to satisfy Christ, and yield to Him, and to improve His Sufferings for your own Salvation; Is there any that dar say the contrary? Will not Historical Faith say that there is good reason for it? if there be any Love to Him, or to your own Souls, will it not plead for this? If ever ye think to be Pardoned, is there any other name given whereby ye can expect it? Is there any Holiness, or Comfort but from Him, any hope of Heaven, but through Him? and will not this bind the Conscience of any that is not desperate, to judge, That He from whom all this comes should be Satisfied? 3. Consider at what a rate He hath Purchased these benefits of the Pardon of Sin, of Peace with God, of Sanctification, of the hope of Heaven, &c. And how He hath brought them about; Did He not engage in the Covenant of Redemption, and hath He not performed all that He engaged for? in taking on our Nature, in being in an Agony, in Sweating drops of Blood, in being Buffeted, Mocked, Reproached, and in Dying, to procure Life and Peace to Sinners? If we could rightly discern His Sufferings, and the benefits that we have by them, it would say, that there is good reason, that He should have a kindly meeting, who hath done, and Suffered so much to obtain these to us. 4. Consider the cheerful way of His Suffering, and of His laying down of the Price, how well-pleased He was to undergo all for His People, so that He saith, John 10. No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself, and take it up again; Psal. 40. I delight to do thy will, O my God; And, Luke 12. I have a baptizme to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished? And, Luke 22. With desi • e have I desired to eat this passover before I suffer: He opened not his mouth, in order to His delivery so well did He love the Salvation of Sinners: Now, What if a mere and ordinary M • n had done something to the hazard of His Life, for you, would it not plead with the most Carnal Persons, having the least measure of Natural, or Moral Inginuity to give Him a meeting; Very Heathens will love these that love them, much more ought ye to satisfy Him in what He requires, who h • th done so much for Sinners. 5. Consider what He seeks as a Satisfaction, (hinted at before) If it were a great matter, or which were to your prejudice, there might be some shadow of a ground to Refuse, but when it is no more but to make use of His Sufferings, for your own good, how can it be refused? It's in this Case, as if the Patients health would sati • fie the Physician, as if a Poor Mans receiving of a Sum of Money would satisfy the Rich Friend, who is pleased to bestow it; Or, • s if one that is naked would satisfy another, by putting on the Cloaths laid to his hand by him; What reason is there to refuse such Offers? And yet this that Christ calls for, is, even as if the Physician should say to his dying Pa • ient, I will be sati • fied greatly, if thou wilt take this Potion that is for thy Recovery, • ealth, and Cure, and I will not be content if thou take it not, though the Ingredients stand myself very dear, besides that, it is for thy good, and will Recover thee; Or, as if the Father should say to the Child, I will not be content, if thou put not on such a fine Suit, that stood me so much Money; In a word, That which makes the Divour Sinner happy, is, that which satisfies Him. 6. Consider, if Jesus Christ get not this Satisfaction, what will come of it, if ye please Him not in this, He will be highly displeased, no other thing will Satifie Him, though ye should Pray and Weep an hundred years, and do many good Works, if He get not this Fruit of His Soul-sufferings, To wit, that ye improve them for your Souls good and Salvation, He will be continually displeased; Therefore it's said, Psal. 2. Kiss the Son, least he be angry; And that is not • ing else, but to make Use of H • m in His Offices; and it says, that there is no way to please Him, and to eschew His anger but this; And indeed if ye anger Him, ye anger Him that can be your best Friend, and your greatest Foe. 7. Consider further, how Our Lord Jesus seeks, and presses for this Satisfaction from you; He • ends for •• His Friends, and Ambassadors to woo • n His Name, and to beseech you • o be reconciled, and to tell you that it will not be thousands of Rams, nor your fir •• -born, that will do the business but that ye must humble yourselves, and walk with God, which necessarily suppo • eth the Use-making of Christ; If there had been no pleading with you in His Name, there had not been such Sin, in not imp oving H s Satisfaction; But when He pleads so much and so often for this, and intreats everyone in particular to Satisfie Him, saying, as it were, let Me see of the Travel of My Soul, 〈◊〉 Me have this much Satisfaction for all M Sufferings, that ye will make Use of My Righteousness; and when He is so very serious, in Beseeching and Intr • a • i g, it should, no doubt, make us the more willing, to grant Him what He seeks. 8. Ye would look upon this, not only as a discourse in the general to Si • n • rs, but ye would also look on it, as addressed to everyone of you in particular; And therefore remember, that ye will all be called to give an account of this matter, and it will be sked you. What became of such and suc • an offer of Grace, and whether ye gave Him • he Satisfaction that He called for, or not; According to that Word, Act. 17.31. e hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained, Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead; He would have Judged the World though Christ had not come; But He will have a day wherein He will call all the hearers of the Gospel to an account, especially as to this, To wit, What welcome they have given to Christ: And seeing such a day is coming, when Folk will be called to an account, what Use they made of Him, with what face will many come before Him, when it shall be told them, That He craved no more Satisfaction from them, for all that He Suffered, but that they would have improved His Sufferings for their own good, and that yet they would not give Him that much? Doeth not this say, that their is need, that we should look well what Fruit there is of His Sufferings, that there may be more then if He had not Suffered at all. 9. Consider the great weight that will be laid on this Sin, of refusing to believe, and to Satisfy Him in this, to wit, in improving of His Sufferings, above all other Sins; This is a Sin that will be found to be against Equity, Thankfulness, and Ingenuity, that when He had done and Suffered so much, He was so ill requited; Yea, it will be found to be a willful and malicious Sin, That, when your Good and His Satisfaction were joined together, ye would rather choice to destroy yourselves, then to Satisfie Him, in saving yourselves, through Use-making of His Sufferings: There are two remarkable Words to this purpose, Heb. 6.10. In the 6. Chap. it's said of such, That they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame; That is, they do displease and anger Him, and do what in them lies to cast reproach upon Him, as if He were no Savior at all, or an insufficient Savior; to put Him to Suffer over again, in His wanting of Satisfaction for His Sufferings; As it is a great pain for a Mother to be in Travel, but it's another, and in some respect, a greater pain, if the Child die in the bringing forth: In the 10. Chap. v. 28. It's called, A trading underfoot the son of God, and an accounting the blood of the Covenant to be an unholy thing, And in the 26. v. Before it's said, There remains no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment; And it's upon this very account; As we did at another occasion, make use of these two Scriptures to a like purpose, and did thus Caution our Application of them against mistakes) For what greater indignity can be put on Him, then, when His Satisfaction depends on the improving of His Sufferings, yet people will not do it? As nothing pleases Him better then to improve His Sufferings, so, on the contrary, There is no Sin that doth displease Him more, then when they are not improven: And if ye will not now believe this to be a Truth, yet, when the Lord shall call you to count for it, ye will find it to be a most certain and sad Truth; That He called you to believe, and that ye would lie still in your Unbelief, Ignorance, and Profanity; That ye destroyed your own Souls, and made His Sufferings as useless, as to you, as if there had never a door been opened to Sinners, to Heaven, by them. Is there any of you that will be able to answer to this challenge? If not, Then let Him have this Satisfaction, by improving of His Sufferings, that He may find (to say so) that His Death hath not been for naught, as to you: Study to have Him great in your esteem, and to have your Souls saved by the virtue and efficacy of His Sufferings, other ways the challenge will be unanswerable; Considering, that He declared, that this would satisfy Him, and ye knew that it would have pleased Him, and removed the quarrel, and saved yourselves; And that withal, by this means, a comfortable sentence at Judgment might have been procured to you; And that yet ye disdained to do it: And therefore, since it stands so with you, be entreated to make earnest, and greater earnest of believing, and of the great work of getting your own Souls saved, which He hath thought so much of; else it had been better for you, that ye had never had a delightsome hour in the World; And sad will the encounter be, that ye will have with Him, and with your own Conscience in that Day, when it shall have this to tell you, that ye cannot now expect any Good, or Favor from the Judge; Because, when He would have saved you, ye would not have it so, but would needs run on your own damnation; And therefore we say again, either give Him Satisfaction, by improving of His Sufferings, and by making Earnest of the business of your Salvation, Or, resolve to meet with a most terrible Pursuer of the Quarrel against you; The Wrath of God is dreadful, but much more the Vengeance of the Mediator, who, because ye would not give Him His will in your Salvation, He shall have it in your Ruin, and Destruction.

4. There is here a sweet Word of Consolation to poor Souls, that fallen would have Sin taken away, and are afraid to presume; Our Lord will never be angry, that ye make use of His Sufferings for your own good; Nay, He accounts it a Satisfaction to Him, that ye improve them; That when ye find yourselves Arrested for Sin, ye put it on His Score, and draw a Bill on Him to pay your Debt; That when you find yourselves under that, which to you looks like the dominion of Sin, ye look to His Cross, for Virtue to Crucify, Kill, and Subdue it: If therefore (as I have often said) ye would do Him a Favor, or Pleasure, make use of Him; Be assured, that the more weight ye lay on Him, ye do Him the greater pleasure; And this is all the amends that He seeks for all the wr • ngs ye have done to Him, and all the Satisfaction that He seeks, for all the good turns He hath done to you, That ye come to Him thus to make use of Him; And it is good Reason, even all the Reason in the World, that He get this amends made to Him, and this Satisfaction granted to Him.

SERMON XLIX.

THere are two things of great Concernment for Men to know, for sinful Men to know (if anything be of Concernment) The one is, how the Justice of God that is provoked may be Satisfied, or what it is, by which provoked Justice is Satisfied: And the other is, What the way is, how we come to get that Satisfaction applied to us, or, what is the way to get the Benefit of it made ours? And both of them are Answered in this v. clearly and shortly; The first is holden out in the first part of the v. To be the travel of Christ's soul, Which hath a special look to the Covenant of Redemption, and to the Condition on which it is Accomplished and Performed, That is, His Soul-travel, under which all His Sufferings are comprehended; The other is, in the Latter Part of the verse; By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities; This holds forth in short, the Gospel, nay, how a Sinner may be brought to get the Benefit of Christ's Satisfaction; These two being the Sum of the Gospel, To wit, Christ's Purchase, and the Application of it to Sinners.

In this last part of the verse, We have these Five things to be considered, which express this, 1. The great benefit that flows from Christ's Sufferings, and it is Justification, Which in a word is this much, To be Absolved, Acquited, and set Free from the Guilt of Sin, and from the Curse of God, Justifying here being opposed to Condemning; So that when its said, They shall be justified, The meaning is, that these that were before obnoxious to the Curse, and that were by the Law to be Condemned (according to that Word, Gal. 3.10. Cursed is everyone that abids not in all things written in the law to do them ) Shall now, through the benefit of Christ's Sufferings, be declared Free, and set at Liberty, even as a Debtor is set Free by the intervening of a Responsall Cautioner 2. The Parties made partakers of the Benefit, And they are called, Many; though they are few, being compared with the World, yet in themselves they are many; They shall come, or many shall come; From the east, and from the west, and from the south, and from the north, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; And comparing this Word with the last Words of the v. It says, That they are as many as these are whose iniquities He bare, and the payment of whose Debt He undertook; It is not to be taken Universally for all, but for some singular Selected Persons, whose iniquities He bare. 3. The Fountain from which, or from whom this Benefit flows to many; It's the Lord's righteous servant, he shall justify many; Where the effect is attributed alone to Him. 4. The way how Christ Justifies; its not simply, by forgiving (as He indeed hath power to forgive Sins,) But meritoriously, To wit, by His Satisfying for them, Therefore it is added, For he shall bear their iniquities; He shall take on their Sins, and pay their Debt; And therefore, when they come before the Tribunal of God, the Guilt of their Sins is taken off them through His Merit: 5. The great Midse, or Mean, by which this Benefit is derived to these many, it is by his knowledge, Which is not to be taken Subjectively, for the Knowledge that He hath. But Objectively, That is, He, by making Himself known by believing; Or, it's by his knowledge, not Actively, but Pasively taken, not His Knowledge, whereby He doth Know, but that whereby He is Known; It's in a word, by Faith, According to that, Philip. 3.8, 9, 10. I account all things (saith the Apostle there) loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, &c. And he expones what that is in the next Words, That I may be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is according to the law, but the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of him: These may afterward be more fully cleared, as we come to speak to them more particularly.

There is here then a brief Compend of the Gospel, and of the way of Sinners Reconciliation with God; So that if ye would know, 1. How a Sinner is Justified, or wherein it consists? here it is, It consists not in the infusing of Grace, nor in the Sanctifying, or making of a Profane Person Holy, Though that doth accompany always, and follow Justification; But in the absolving of a Sinner from the Guilt of Sin, or in acquitting the Guilty. 2. Would ye know the Ground on which this goeth, or how it comes to pass, That the Just God can Justify an ungodly Sinner? It is because of Christ's Righteousness? and of His Satisfying of Justice, or paying of the Sinners Debt. 3: Would ye know, how it comes, that this Man, and not another, comes to get Christ's Satisfaction made his, and hath his Debt thereby taken off? It is by His Knowledge, and by Faith in Him, ( called knowledge; here, Because it necessarily presupposes the Knowledge of Him;) It is by acknowledging of Him in His Offices, and by submitting, and betaking of ourselves to Him by Faith; Because it is Articled in the Covenant of Redemption, That His Righteousness shall be made forthcoming to all them that by Faith betake themselves to Him for shelter; So that hereby the ungodly are declared Righteous, because, through the Cautioners Payment, and Satisfaction, their Sin is not imputed to them, and they are declared Free, because of His paying of their Debt for them. 4. Would ye know the Reason of this, how it comes, that Faith Justifies in it's resting on Christ? It is not because of any worth in itself, nor because of any account that is made of it's Worth, but because it rests on Christ's Righteousness, and takes hold of the Benefit of Christ's Purchase; Therefore it is added, Because he shall bear their iniquities, because by Faith they take hold of His Sufferings, and Satisfaction, whereby their Sin is taken away, and God becomes well-pleased with them for His sake: This then is a most material place of Scripture, and we had need in entering upon it, to have an Eye to this Righteous servant, That He would be pleased to make the Meaning of it known to us, and to give us the right understanding of this great Mystery.

First, In general Observe here, in what Estate Men are Naturally, and as Abstracted from Christ; They are unjustified, and lying under God's Curse, obnoxious to His Wrath, This is supposed, Consider Men then in their Natural Estate, this is it, They are even obnoxious to the Wrath and Curse of God, which is ready to ceize upon them, for their breach of God's Covenant, and for provoking of Him by Sin; if Men thought seriously on this, how could they sleep, or have peace; not knowing when they may be Arrested, and put in Prison, till they pay the uttermost Farthing, which will never be; O! that ye knew and believed this, who are ready to defy any that will offer to charge you with one penny of Debt, and who walk up and down without all fear of your hazard; Lay your Natural Estate to heart, and ye will have quite other thoughts of yourselves.

2dly. Observe, The way how freedom from this Debt of Sin, and lyableness to the Curses derived; And to this, many things concur, each of which hath it's own place. 1. The Mediator and His Satisfaction, This is the Ground of the Freedom. 2. The Covenant of Redemption, and the Promise made to the Mediator in it, He shall see his seed, &c. He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied, By his knowledge shall many be justified, &c. Wherein it is Articled, That these for whom He Suffered shall be Pardoned and set free; And it is this that gives Sinners access to expect the Benefit of Christ's Sufferings; other ways, though Christ had Suffered, they had not been the better of His Sufferings, if this Covenant had not been, which gives them warrand to lay hold on the same; Ere Faith can Act on Christ's Sufferings, it must have this Ground laid down, That it hath a warrand by Virtue of this Covenant to lay hold on them. 3. The knowledge and offer of this Mysterious Contrivance of Grace, is also necessary, and doth concur to bring about the Freedom; This must be manifested, that there is such a Savior, such a Satisfaction, and such a Covenant, wherein the Ground is laid down, and a Warrand given, by Virtue of this Covenant to make Use of Christ's Satisfaction, and to come by the Benefit of it; This is implied in that Word, His knowledge; So, Rom. 10. It's said, How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, which says plainly, That there cannot be Faith, except knowledge precede; I observe this the rather, because many think to come to Heaven without Knowledge, and so continue still in their Ignorance; But ere their can be sound Faith, there must necessarily be some measure of Knowledge of these things, that are necessary to be known; As, that we are Sinners, and that we are lost in ourselves; That Jesus Christ is the alone Propitiation for Sin, and that according to the Covenant of Grace, they that believe on Him shall be Absolved, and set Free. 4. There is a concurring of Faith▪ for taking hold of this Benefit of Offered-salvation through Christ; how Faith concurs with Christ's Satisfaction, in order to the making of our Peace with God, We shall not now stand to speak particularly, only in general, it is by His Knowledge that it Justifies; For, though He have sufficient Righteousness, and though the Covenant give warrand to take hold of it, yet, if there be not an actual taking hold of it, It will not profit us; Therefore, Rom. 3.22. and 9.30. It is called, The righteousness which is by faith in him; And Rom. 4.5. The Apostle saith, To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness. It is not Faith without it's Object Christ, nor the Object Christ without Faith; But it is Faith taking hold of Him as it's Object, by which we have access to plead for Absolution; without Christ, our Faith will do us no good, and without Faith Christ will not profit us; For without Faith we have no Title to Christ: And each of these would be put in their own Room and Place; Christ in His Room, and Faith in it's Room, as the condition on which His Purchase is made offer of to us.

More particularly, Let me, First, consider the Title that Christ gets in these Words, He is called the Lord's Servant, and His Righteous servant.

1. As for Servant, It looks to Him as Mediator, as this whole Chapter with Chapter 42.1. and 52.13. do abundantly clear; Christ Jesus then as Mediator, is the Lord's Servant, or He, in performing the Office of Mediator, is His Fathers Servant, so the Lord calls Him, Psal. 89.19. When He says, I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have found David my servant, &c. For He is there speaking of Jesus Christ, with whom the Covenant of Grace, as with the head of the Confederated Party, is principally made: It imports these Four, which may be as so many Reasons of this Designation. 1. An Humiliation, and Inferiority, in respect of God, as it's said, Phil. 2. He humbled himself, and became of no reputation; In which respect, He Himself says, that the Father is greater then he; And that He is sent, That He came not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him; This holds forth a great Wonder, in the dispensation of Grace, That the Fathers Fellow and Equal, He that was Lord and Master of all, should become a Servant in the Work of Redemption, for the saving of Souls; This must suit be a great Work, wherein the Son becomes a Servant, As it must be a greater Wonder, that Grace so far condescended, as to make Him, who is the Prince of Life, to become a Servant; And we would look at it, as a much greater, and far more momentuous business, then we use to do, to get a Soul saved. 2. It imports His Prerogative, as being Singularly and Eminently God's Servant; He is called, Heb. 13.20. The great shepherd, So may He be called the great Steward, and Deputy over all the Lord's House; So then, He is a Singular Choise, and Non-such Servant; Behold, says Jehovah, Isa. 42.1. My servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; Though all be God's Servants, yet in this respect, He is Singularly, and Solly a Servant, as He is Great Lord Deputy, made head over all things to the Church, who was before all things, and is preferred to all things; This is very Comfortable to Believers, to consider, that though Our Lord Jesus be a Servant, yet He is a Choice and Singular Servant, Administrator, and Steward for their Good, it being for them that He becomes a Servant. 3. It imports the particular Task, or Work that is laid on Him, and the Commission that He hath gotten, to follow forth, and prosecute that Work, which is the main Reason of this Designation of a Servant, Because He is entrusted with carrying on the Great Work of the Redemption of Elect Sinners; Therefore He says, I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work; And I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; Because He is particularly entrusted with the bringing about of that Work, He hath gotten so many given Him to Redeem, and Save, to whom He is appointed a Shepherd, a Head, and Overseer, or Bishop, Therefore He calls Himself the good shepherd; And is called by the Apostle; the Shepherd and Bishop (or Overseer) of Souls; And of all that are given Him He loseth none, but maketh accompt of them all: And this is yet more Comfortable, when we consider that Christ is not a Servant simply, but a Servant Commissionat to gather in Souls, to bring home the lost Sheep of the House of Israel; This is His Office, and Service, even to satisfy for the Sins of such, to destroy the power that the Devil hath over them, and so subdue Sin in them. 4. It imports this, that the Work which He performs in the Redeeming of Souls is so acceptable to God, and doth so mightily concur, and Co-operat to the promoving of His Design, that the Lord owns everything that He performs, as performed by His Great Ambassador; and by Him, who hath the Trust of all the affairs of His House committed to Him, So that Our Lord Jesus, in performing the Work of Redemption, cannot but be acceptable to Jehovah, because it is a performing of that with which He hath entrusted Him. Therefore, John 4. He says, that it is his meat to do his fathers will, and to finish His Work; And to this purpose, He says to His supposed Father, and to His Mother, Luke 2.49. wist ye not that I must be about my fathers business? It's His Bussiness, because it is so on the matter, it's so accounted of, and comes to be so, in the end, and therefore, in the 10. v. of this Chap. it is said, The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

2. As for His being the Lord's righteous servant; He is not only a Servant, but an excellent Servant; not Righteous simply, as He is God only, nor Righteous, simply as He is Man; But Righteous in the Administration of His Offices, and in the Discharge of the Great Trust committed to Him. Whence Observe, That Our Lord Jesus, in performing of the Office, and Work of Mediation and Redemption, is most Trusty, and Faithful: There is not any the least Fault or Failling in His performing of it; He is the Lord's Servant, that never wronged His Master, who never miscarried in His Commission, nor Mismanaged it in the least; Saith He, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. If we look a little to the qualifications, that shine eminently in the Administration of His Offices, they will make out this; For He Administrats them. 1. Wonderfully Wisely. 2. Very Tenderly. 3. Most Diligently, and Effectually. 4. With all Faithfulness: Thus doth He Intirely, and Holily, without the least touch of unrighteousness perform all the Trust committed to Him, and that both towards God, and towards the Sheep; So as He is eminently, by the Lord's own Testimony, His righteous servant, with whom He is well pleased, and cannot but be well pleased: It will not be needful to separate these qualifications of His Service, in the Administration of His Offices: In speaking to them, we shall only desire you to take notice of some few Places of Scripture that hold them out; The first whereof is that, Isai. 40.11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Never shepherd was so careful of his Flock; for He seeds them, and in Feeding them waits diligently on them, and takes them to these places where it is best for them to Feed; He thinks fit now and then, it's true, that Dogs be hunded at them, yet He is so warm to, and tender of them, that He gathers them with His Arm, and He is so dexterous, and skillful in Conducting them, that He gently leads them that are with young; that is, such of them as are in Pangs of the New Birth, He will by no means over-drive: To speak it with reverence; He is as a skillful Midwife, to make these who are with Child safely to bring forth; Well then may He get this Name, of the Lord's righteous servant. The next place is, Isai. 42.1, 2, 3, 4. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgment to the gentles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth, &c. Is there not here a wonderful commendation that the Father gives to the Son, and that the Gracious Master gives to the Righteous Servant in His Office. He is His Elect choice Servant, in whom His Soul delights, He does not cry, nor lift up His voice; He is bussier about His Work, then in making any din about it; there is no frowardness in His way, but He is tender of Souls that are like to a bruised Reed, and smoking Flax; He will not break the one, nor put out the other; Where a Soul is weak or wounded, He will not break nor bruise it, by a rough touch, or word; and where there are the least breathings of sincere desires after Him, He will not quench nor stiffle them; and though the Task be great, that He hath in hand, He fails not is going through with it, He sits not up, nor is He discouraged under it, notwithstanding all the Wrath He hath to meet with in His way; Therefore, when the Cup is put in His hand, at which His holy human Nature some way shrunk and skarred, yet He takes it pleasantly, saying, But for this cause came I unto this hour; and prosecuteth His Work Courageously, and Constantly, till He bring forth Judgment to Victory, and till He gain His Point; This shows Him to be a most Choise and Faithful Servant. A 3. Place is, Isai. 52.13. Behold my servant shall deal prudently. &c. It cannot be imagined, what a Spiritual, Cannie, and Dexterous way He hath in the saving of Souls, and how Wisely, and Prudently He pursues that Work: There is a 4th. Place, Psal. 89.19, 20. I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people, I have found David my servant. The enemy shall not exact upon him, &c. He is so Dexterous and Powerful, that the Devil shall gain no ground of Him, but He shall gain ground of him, and defeat him; so that we come after only to gather the Spoil. He is able to save to the uttermost, (as it is, Heb. 7.26.) all that come unto God through him; And near the close of that Chap. It is said, Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, separate from sinners, made higher then the heavens. These are His qualifications, He is an holy and harmless high Priest, a sweet (and to say so) illesse Mediator; by whom there was never any hurt; His ill was never heard of, in the place where He was; He is Undefiled, Pure and Spotlesse, in the management of all the Trust committed to Him; there was never anything done by Him, of which it could be said, that it might have been done better; He is separate from Sinners, and so another kind of high Priest then these who were before Him; And all this, both as to God, so as He could say, and go to Death with it, It is finished; And as to them that were entrusted to Him, so as He cou • d say, Of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none; he makes a Full and Faithful accompt of all committed to Him.

This is a plain, and yet a most useful Truth: For Use of it. Behold here, and wonder at the way of Grace, that not only gives a Mediator, but such a Mediator, who (as it is Heb. 3▪) is faithful over the house of God: This is the very Life of our Consolation, that we have an able Mediator, a good Shepherd, a Wise, Prudent, Tender One, and Faithful; and indeed it would well become us to wonder more, that the Lord, in the way of His Grace hath thus condescended; and it should exceedingly provocke us to be thankful on this accompt, that not only there is a way of Grace, but such a way of Grace found out, and established, whereby we have such an high Priest, that manages all so Well, and so Dexterously. O! have ye ever suitably Prized this, That God hath given such a Righteous and Faithful Mediator, and Servant? I fear many suffer this most observable Dispensation to pass without due Observation; Though the Lord Jehovah speaks not of Him without commending Him; yet wretched and ingrate, we can, Alas! speak of Him, and hear Him spoken of, with hearts very little affected: Believers may be ashamed of this; we think lamentably little of Him, we esteem not suitably of Him; when we see Him, there is scarce any Form or Beauty seen in Him, wherefore we should desire Him, we do in a great measure undervalue this way of Graces Administration, that should be in a special manner Ravishing to us, that we are thereby brought under such a Tutory:

The 2d. Use, Is for Believers Comfort, and Encouragement; O! but they are happy, that have committed themselves to Him, as to a Faithful Shepherd and Overseer▪ They may be sure that He is a notable and non-such Overseer: As might be more fully cleared, if we would descend to the particulars of Believers need: Have they little Grace? Is it scarce smoking? He is not a rigid Task-master, like to the Egyptians, nay, nor like to the Law, He quenches not the smoking Flax- Are they staggering, because of apprehended or real Weakness, and their hearts shaking as the Trees in the Wood, or rather like so many Straes? They may with Comfort give Him the Over-sight of them, He will not break the bruised Reed, He will bear the heaviest end of His own Yoke. Have they a straying Disposition? Are they like young wanton Lambs leaping out from the rest? He will gather them with His Arm; and when He takes a rougher way, yet Grace shines still in it; Are they Fainting and Swooning? He will take them into His Bosom; He will lead the Blind, He bears the Weak, He hath a way of Supporting His own that is most Tender. My grace (says He to Paul) is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness. Are their any of them with Child (to speak so) Or is their bringing forth quick and lively? He gently leads those that are with young, and will not suffer them to miscarry, in the bringing forth; He will not put new wine into old bottles, he will not cause to travel, and not make to bring forth; The Lord hath given Believers such a Servant as they stood in need of, even a Righteous Servant, suited every way to their Condition, who will not be behind, nor wanting in looking to the lest wrigling, (to speak so) under His Care and Oversight.

It serves therefore, In the 3d. Place to reprove the Suspitions, and Jealousies that Believers have often of Christ, who are disposed to say with the Psalmist, Psal. 77. I said, my hope and my strength is perished from the Lord, will the Lord cast off forever? will he be favorable no more? is his mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail for evermore? hath he forgotten to be gracious? &c. Nay, the Jealousy, and Misbelief of some serious Souls, will sometimes talk it this Rate, I may give it over, this work will never go with me; beware, I beseech you of this; for the language of it is, That Our Lord is not a Righteous Servant; Let therefore your Spirits be calmed, and pray the Lord to command a calm in them which are committed to Him. Bespeak your Souls as David did his, Psal. 42. Why art thou cast down O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Trust in God; For He is Faithful (as if he had said,) that hath the oversight of me. And essay with Paul, to be in case to say, I know whom I have believed; and so shall not be ashamed; I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him, against that day. I know that He is such a Christ, that I commit myself to, who is so Skilfull, Dexterous, Tender and Faithful, in keeping that which is given Him. And is not this most comfortable; and a notable ground of quietness; That Our Mediator is such as cannot miscarry; And may it not shame Believers, when either they adventure upon anything their alone without Him; or, when they commit themselves to Him, and yet do not so entirely Trust Him, but entertain Suspitions and Jealousies of Him, and think, because their Spark is not a Fire, or a Flame, but Smoaks only, that therefore it will die out, and be utterly quenched, as if He could not keep it in, and increase it; and because they cannot guide themselves, think that they will utterly miscarry, as if He had not Arms to carry them; indeed Presumption is to be abhorred; but such as are fled in to Him, would trust in Him so far, as to keep up their hearts in Him, and would study to be cheerful in Him, and to walk up and down in His strength; this is certainly called for from you; therefore be content to be born by Him, where ye cannot go your alone.

Use 4. Is He such a Righteous Servant? Then let me say, are there any of you that need to fear, or to have the least hink, or hesitation, to commit yourselves to Him? And should it not be a Motive to press you to give Him credit? For He says, John 6.39, 40. That it's His Commission and Service to keep them, which are committed to Him, and to raise them up at the last Day, and to give them Eternal Life; And He is Righteous and Faithful in Performing of it; If so, then credit the Salvation of your Souls to this Righteous Servant; Commit your souls in well-doing to him, as unto a faithful creator; Never be at peace, nor at ease, till ye be under His Charge and Keeping, and though ye be as little Lambs, as weak Wriglings, or heavy with Young, it's the less matter, if ye be of His Flock, ye shall be preserved: Is it possible that ye can be right if ye be from under His Care and Custody? Nay, it's utterly impossible, that ye can be secure, but under His Care; And it's as impossible, but that ye must be safe, if ye be under His Care and Oversight: And therefore endeavor to be within the reach of it, and to count yourselves happy, when ye do sincerely give Him credit; and to believe that ye are in greatest hazard, when ye take most on yourselves. What a shame will it be to many, who have heard that Christ was such a Servant, and yet they would not take His Service to bring them through to heaven? Thus it stands with you, to whom He is spoken of in the Gospel, ye shall be found either to have accepted or rejected Him, according as by Faith, ye yield yourselves to Him, or by unbelief, ye refuse to close with Him: Let not this word slip, as many have done. And the Lord Himself make you wise, to make choice in time of the Service of this Righteous Servant, for your Justification and Salvation.

SERMON L.

IF we had such thoughts of the Salvation of our own Souls, as the Lord had, and still hath of the Salvation of Souls, we could not but be more seriously concerned about them, and more taken up, how to get them saved: This Work of the Salvation of Sinners did before the World was (to speak so with reverence) take up the Persons of the Glorious Godhead; and was singled out, and made choice of, as an employment worthy of the Son of God, who was chosen for this very Work; that by Him many might be Justified and Saved; For the accomplishment of which, He became a Servant: Must it not then be an excellent Work, that none but He could be trusted with, who is Heir of all things, and by whom the World was made?

We show you the meaning of these Words the last Day, and Observed two things from this Designation, that Our Lord gets here. 1. That Our Lord Jesus, in the Work of Mediation, and of the Redemption of Sinners, was God's Servant, not so much to denote His being inferior, as Mediator to the Father; as to hold forth His being Commissionated for this Service, and the Lord accepting of Him in it. 2. That Our Lord Jesus did excellently discharge this Trust committed to Him. Therefore He is not only called a Servant, but my righteous servant, as having most Faithfully acquitted Himself, and as being fully approven, and accepted in the Trust committed to Him. When the Lord speaks so of Christ, It ought mightily to engage us to be much in love with God, who hath given such a Faithful Mediator and Servant, and with Jesus Christ, that condescended to take the Trust of poor Sinners Salvation, and that doth so kindly discharge it. There are some things here, that may be passingly hinted at, and then we shall come more closely and particularly to the Words.

1. Then Observe, That it is a Privilege and Prerogative to be God's Servant; Therefore it's mentioned here as a Piece of the Mediators Privilege; It is true, He was Singularly, and Eminently a Servanr even the Lord's Choice Servant, in whom His Soul delighted, and does delight, above what any others can be capable of; yet to be a Servant to God, to take direction from Him, to do His Will, to seek His Honor, to give obedience to Him, in what He calleth for, is certainly a Privilege, and a great one; yea, it is spoken of as a Privilege of Glorified Saints in Heaven, Revel. 22.3. His servants shall serve him, And if it be a Privilege in Heaven, we would think it so here on Earth; and yet if the Language of our hearts were known, there would be found a secret disdaining of, and repyning at service to God, and a saying on the matter; Let us break his bonds asunder, and cast away his cords from us. But know ye what ye are doing? Even disclaiming and despising that which is your great Privilege; all those that are in Heaven, and all those who are in a right frame on Earth, count it their Privilege to be His Servants; and we are commanded to pray; Thy will be done on Earth as it is done in heaven. Or, be thou served on Earth, as thou art in Heaven: Therefore, it ought to be accounted of, as a Privilege, as a great and glorious Privilege to be His Servants.

2. Observe, That the Lord can tell exactly and infallibly, how every Servant carries himself; Who are ill and slothful, and who are good and faithful Servants; Who are righteous Servants according to their measure, and who not. Will He take notice how Christ carries Himself in His Service, and Trust, and will He not take notice of others? Most certainly He will; and therefore, Matth. 25. and Luke 19. He calls the Servants to a Reckoning, to whom the Talents are given; and as they have made use of them, and improved them, or not; so doth He commend and reward them, or not: There are none of us, but have gotten someone Talent and Trust, or another, and no doubt, there will be much to Reckon for; I am afraid, that when He calls us all to an accompt, though there will be some to whom it will be said, Well done good and faithful servant; There will be many to whom it will be said, Thou evil and slothful servant; and the Sloathful servant will be found to be the Ill Servant, and amongst other Aggravations of his guilt, this will be one, that he was unlike to Christ the Righteous Servant.

3. Observe, That the right improvement and discharge of the Trust committed to us, and of our service to God; is a commendable and honorable thing. It is Recorded here to Christ's Commendation, that He was a Righteous servant, even Faithful over the House of God, in all things; and Proportionably is the Commendation of the ordinary under-servants, when they, in their Places and Stations perform their Service honestly and faithfully, so as they may be accepted of God on His account: The day is coming, when every man's work will be rewarded; and as we Sow, so shall we Reap; In that Day, if we had all the World, we would give it, to hear that Word from Christ's mouth, Well done thou good and faithful servant. But iew will get that Testimony: ye think it much now, to get a name of Fidelity amongst Men, and to be esteemed such as keep your Word, and will not break your Promise, nor Parrol (and it's good in so far, that it be so) but many such will be found to have broken many a Word to God, and falsified many a Promise; think upon it, and lay it to heart, that it will be better to have a Word of Testimony from God in that Day, and to have it said to you, by Him, Faithful Servant thou improved well the little that I gave thee, it was laid out, and expended not so much to buy, and to put on brave Cloaths, nor to buy or build fine houses, as it was for Me, and for My Honor; Whatever Place, Station, Capacity, or Employment thou was in, thou endeavored to do good in it; and when thou couldest not do for my Work, for my People, and for my Honor, thou was Praying for them; and when thou had an opportunity to hear my Word, thou didst not slight, nor let that slip. This, I say, will be better than a great Name, and Testimony from, and amongst Men: But alas, we fear that it shall be said of many, ye had many opportunities of getting, and doing good, but what use made ye of them? It had been better that ye had never had them; it had been better that ye had never had a Groat or two Pence, then to have had all these Riches; and to have had none rather then to have had such and such a Lucrative, or Gainfull Place and Employment which ye improved not for God: It's a sore matter, that we should Preach, and ye should hear these general Truths of the Gospel, from day today, and that yet they do not sink into your hearts. Ye will not readily den • , that there is a day of Reckoning coming; and that it will be a great favor to be commended of Him, in that day; and yet how few do by their Practice evidence, that they lay weight on it? It's very sad that Religion should be so triffled in; Many of you will come to the Church, and seem there, and in your other carriage, as if ye were going to Heaven, when, in the mean time, ye have few serious thoughts, either of Heaven or of Hell; But in that Day wherein ye shall stand trembling before His Tribunal, and shall there receive the Sentence of an evil and slothful Servant, ye will find to your cost, That there was weight in these Truths, that now ye take but little notice of.

4ly. In General, Observe, That it's Singular, Proper, and Peculiar, to Our Lord Jesus to be God's Approven Servant; so as to be without all ground of Challenge, in the Discharge of His Duty, and Trust; and indeed there is no Righteous Servant, in this sense, but He only, who, according to the very Rigor of the Law, was such; the Law could not charge Him with any the least violation of it, or want of Conformity unto it; For He fulfilled all righteousness. We spoke to this, on v. 9. and shall not now insist on it; Only it's a sore matter, that this Truth should be called in question, and called an untruth in these days; and that Men should say, that this Designation and Title is not proper to Christ, but that it's common to all true Christians, as if they were all free of Sin; and that not by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness to them, but by their own doing of Righteousness: Lord save us, what a high injury is this to the Son of God? And what gross ignorance is here of the corruption of Mans Nature, which in the best and holiest of mere Men, is never in this Life finally expelled, as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament most convincingly clear, and what a wronging is this of the Truth of God, which holds forth Our Lord Jesus, as singled out to be, and who is designed by this Name, The Lord's righteous servant; Now if there were any moe properly so called, we could not say that it were meant of Him. But it's not very profitable to insist in speaking of these Dottages and Foolries.

But to come more particularly to the benefits that flow from, and come by this Righteous servant, and from the service entrusted to Him, and so faithfully managed and discharged by Him; By his knowledge, (saith Jehovah) shall he justify many: That is, His Service is to absolve Sinners, and set them free from the guilt of Sin, and from the Curse that Naturally they are under and liable to.

Looking on these Words in the Connection with the former, we shall O • serve Three or Four things, ere we come to the more close and particular Consideration of the Words in themselves.

The 1. of which is this: That the Justifying of many Sinners, even of all the Elect, is the special Trust, committed by Jehovah, to the Mediator. It is in this especially, wherein His Service consists: Would ye then know, what is the employment of this, Righteous Servant? It is even this, He shall justify many. He shall procure their Absolution from the Guilt of Sin, and from the Curse of God, and shall set them free from the Judgment which the Law hath against them, whereby they are obliged to the Curse, for disobedience thereunto: This we may consider. 1. As it relates to God; and so it imports, that the justification of a Sinner is very acceptable to Him; For it is that for which He hath given a Commission to the Mediator; and what He hath Commissioned Him in, the performance of it must needs be acceptable to Him: Therefore that which is here called the Lord's Service, is called The Lord's pleasure. v. 10. To wit, to see a poor Sinner brought in by the Mediator, and on the accompt of His Satisfaction Justified, He is pleased with, and takes it well. 2. It may be considered as it looks to the Mediator; And so it speaks out the Mediators Design and Work; it's that wherein He is employed, and with which He is taken up, even to get Elect Sinners brought from under the Curse of God, and freely Justified through Himself; So that if ye would know what is the Sum, and Effect of Christ's Errand, and Work in the World, here it is, He came to save sinners; as it is, 1 Tim. 1.15. He came to seek and save that which was lost; To bring home the lost sheep on His shoulder; to seek and find the lost Groat, to reclaim Prodigals; As it is Luke 15. This is His Meat and His Drink, His Work and Business; as Himself says, John 4.34. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. And, Luke 2. Know ye not that I must be about my Fathers business? Which is to rescue poor Sinners from the Devil, and to engage them to God, that their Sins may be Pardoned. 3. It imports the Mediators Meetnesse for this Service, that He is Furnished, Fitted and Qualified for, as well as taken up with the Justifying of Sinners, and setting them free before the Throne of God; He hath a full Purse (to speak so) to pay their Debt; Therefore, Revel. 3.19. He bids Sinners, Come and buy of him eye-salve gold, and white raiment. He hath Eye-salve for the Blind, Gold to Inrich the Poor, Garments for the Naked; and in a Word, everything that is needful for Sinners. It is comfortable to hear that Christ is a Servant; But to hear that this is His Service, to Justify Sinners, and that He is so well fitted for it, makes it so much the more comfortable: And were we suitably sensible of Sin, and did we thoroughly believe this Truth, our hearts would Laugh within us, as Abraham's once did, to know that this was given to Christ in Commission, to Justify Sinners, and that He is so well fitted for this Business, that He is Commissioned about, and employed in; especially now, when He is so bussie about His Work, and Employment, for though He be ascended on high, yet He hath received gifts for, and given them to men, even for the rebellious, that God the Lord might dwell among them; As it is, Psal. 68. compared with, Ephes. 4. This is the End of the Ministry and Ordinances, even to further this Work of the Justification of Sinners, that by acknowledging, and making Use of Christ, this Work may be brought about, and this Effect made to follow; this is the End of Fasts and Communions, even to Arrest perishing Sinners a while, to Tryst, and Treat with Him, about the concerns of their Souls; these are special seasons for putting Him to exerce His Office in Justifying of them; and this day, this Scripture is fulfilled in your ears, and ye should let it sink in your hearts, that Our Lord Jesus is pursuing His Commission, and performing His Service, keeping up the Treaty, and inviting, and persuading Sinners to come to Him, that the pleasure of the Lord may prosper in His hand. And therefore know assuredly that this is it, that Christ is employed in, and taken up with, even to get sinners fred from the Guilt of Sin, and from Wrath by His Righteousness; It is not only, nor mainly to get them brought to the Church, and to His Supper, or to get them made Formal, and to abstain from Cursing, Swearing, and Profanity, (though these will follow of will) but it is to get them brought in to Himself, and Justified. And we have these two Words to say to you further in this matter. 1. There is here good ground of encouragement to a poor Soul, that would fain make Use of Christ for Pardon of Sin; This is even it that Christ is entrusted with; It is for this end that He is Legated and Commissioned of the Father; And will He not, thinks thou, do that which He is entrusted with, and for which He is mainly sent? This is, saith He, John 6.39. the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth on him should have everlasting life, and that I should raise him up at the last day. Which is in Sum, That by his knowledge many should be justified. And it's added, For he shall bear their iniquities, To anticipat and answer an objection: For a sensible Sinner might say, how can I be justified, that have so many Sins? Here is a Solution of that doubt, He shall satisfy for them: All these Words are, (as it were) big with Child of Consolation, being the very Heart and Life of the Gospel, as anything that comes so near to Christ's Commission, and unfolds so much of it is. A 2d. Word is this, That ye mistake Christ's Errand, Work and Service very far, who think to content Him, and put Him off with this; who would give Him the Name of a Savior, and yet would be at the saving of yourselves without Him, who would complement Him, as it were with fair Generalls, but will have none of His Phisick, or of His Cures, nor will renunce your own Righteousness, and make use of His, for your Justification: This says one of these Four, Either that He is not Commissionated, and Trusted for this end, or that He is not meet for that Trust; or, that He is not Faithful in it; Or else that ye can do your own turn without Him, and that there is no need of His Office; And which of all these can abide the Trial before God? And yet it shall be upon one of these that ye shall be found to have cast at Christ, and to have refused to permit Him, (so far as ye could hinder, and abstruct) to do His Fathers business; and if ye Just not accounts with Him, there will be a most dreadful Reckoning betwixt God and you.

2dly. Observe, That this particular Trust anent the Justifying of Sinners, Our Lord Jesus doth most Righteously, Diligently, Dextrously, Tenderly, and Faithfully Discharge. It was His Fathers will, that He should be Baptized, and fulfill all Righteousness; and more especially, that He should Justify many, in this He is very Skilfull, and Faithful, and it is on this account He is called The good shepherd, and that He is said to lay down his life for his sheep; That He is called a faithful high Priest; and is said to be one that is able to save to the uttermost these that come unto God through him; and that He is Holy, harmless, and separate from sinners; fit to make Peace betwixt God and Sinners, another sort of Priest than Aaron was, or any that were before Him; He is in a word, such a high Priest as became us, and as we stood in need of, who needed not to Offer Sacrifice for His own Sins He had no more to do, but to Satisfie for us. The Prophet Isaiah, Chap. 40.11. Tells how tender he is in bringing Souls to Heaven; He gathers the lambs with his arm, he carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young. And Chap. 42.3. That a bruised reed he will not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench. And it is said, 1 John 2. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, and who is he, Jesus Christ the righteous. Righteous in the Faithful managing of His Trust, by making Sinners Peace with God. Would ye know then, in what respects, or, on what account it is, that Christ is called Servant? We answer, in these Respects. 1. Though we have failled, and broken the Law, yet He hath not; and God will not look down on Him. 2. In this Respect, That He pleads for no Sinners Pardon, but He can fully pay their Debt, and hath done it; if He seek one thing from God, He yields in another; and according to the Covenant of Redemption exactly proceeds; For He is a propitiation, He seeks nothing but he pays for it, and wrongs not him in the least who hath Trusted him; the Lord Jehovah is not a l • ser, but hath His Honor restored by Him. 3. In respect of His keeping Faith to the Persons that have need of Him, for whom He hath undertaken; He is not only faithful to the Master, but to the Children, and Servants; He owns and acknowledges them, when they come to Him under their necessities, and is forthcoming to them; every way suitable, and answerable to His Place, and Trust in doing good to Sinners.

Use. Had we sensible Sinners to speak to, Sinners groaning under a Body of Death, with pricked hearts crying out, What shall we do, for the wrongs that we have done to God? Sinners under holy fear, to spoil and mar the Bargain, and to hazard their own Souls, had we, (I say) such Sinners to speak to; There are good news here to them; the Trust of saving Souls is committed to a Faithful Shepherd, it is not committed to yourselves; for so, it had been a doleful Trust; but it is committed to Him, that hath gotten the Sheep by Name given to Him, to be kept by Him, and He will not suffer them to miscarry, nor to go quite wrong; And what more would ye have? A salvation and a Price is much, but it is more to have a Savior, to make the Application of His Purchase; a Bishop of Souls to Justify, and carry Sinners through, to make it sure before God, and to make it out; the Sinner may sleep sound, which in the sense of Sin hath betaken himself to Him, to be Justified by His Righteousness, and to be in His Debt, and Common for obtaining of Pardon, and for making the Application, of what, by His Sufferings, He hath Purchased: We can say but little to this purpose, to you, who care not for your Souls, and are not sensible of your Sin, for He came to save Sinners, and if any such do Trust Him with the S • lvation of their Souls, He is Faithful, and will not suffer them to Perish.

3dly. From comparing these Words, By his knowledge he shall justify many, with the former, He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied; We Observe, That Our Lord Jesus is never satisfied with Sinners, nor content, till He be employed by them, in this piece of Service, even to Justify them by H • s knowledge, or by Faith in Him, He gets not Satisfaction for the Travel of His Soul till this be, and this is it which satisfies Him; He cares not for Complements, great professions of respect to Religion, and Hosanna's without this; He wept over Jerusalem, notwithstanding of these, because of the want of this; He cares not for Martha's cumbersome Service, but is content of Mary's sitting down to hear and receive His Word; if He get not this employment, no other thing will content Him; as we may see in these three Parables, Luke 15. When the lost Sheep is amissing, He is not satisfied till it be brought home. The making the house clean will not please Him, if the lost Piece of Money be not found; the finding whereof brings out that, Come and rejoice with me. And when the Prodigal returns, then, and not till then, are uttered these joyful words, This my son was dead, and is alive, he was lost, and is found; Then comes the mirth, and all the Minstrels are yocked. Would ye lay the hair of your head under Christ's Feet, would ye give Him thousands of Rams, and Rivers of Oil, and the first-born of your Bodies for the Sin of your Souls; all these will not please Him, if ye get not yourselves to be Justified by His Knowledge, nothing will content, and satisfy Him but that: The Reasons are. 1. Because He gets not His Work entrusted to Him, carried on other ways (if I may speak so) for as the Father delights to see the Work, which He hath trusted Him with, prospering, so doth He: 2. Because He gets not the native Credit and Honor, of His Office, till He get this, but counts Himself to be like to an Ambassador, who comes to woo a Wife for the King, his Master, who is well Treat and Intertained; but gets a refusal of what he came for: It was the Disciples commendation, John 17. That they received his word. Though all other things could be, if this be not, He never gets kindly respect. 3. Because without this, Folk can never love Christ; for it's this benefit of Justification, and Pardon of Sin, that much engages to love and praise Him: Because (say and sing the Redeemed,) Revel. 5.9.) Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, thou art worthy to receive all praise, dominion, power, and glory: It's impossible that they can suitably esteem of Him, and love Him, who are not Justified by Him; and therefore they that believe not on Him to Justification, are called Despisers of him, and traders of the blood of the Covenant underfoot; and they fall under that sad complaint, which is made, John 1.11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not; be was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. There is then a necessity laid upon you, either to give Him employment in this, or to lie under His displeasure, and to be made countable for standing in the way, so far as ye would, of His Satisfaction. The Lord hath so molded the way of His Grace, that not only doth He invite and allure Sinners, but also He lays strong Bonds on them for their good; and leaves it not indifferent to them, to make use of Christ, or not, for their Justification; but they must either take this way, or have God, and the Mediator to be their enemies, in the greatest measure, and in the highest degree; choose you then, whether ye will Satisfie Christ Jesus or not. How shall He be Satisfied? will ye say, even by your betaking of yourselves to Him, and by improving His Righteousness, for your Peace with God, and for your Justification before Him; humbly pleading Guilty at the Bar of Justice, and Begging Pardon, and acceptance on the account of His Satisfaction, and by Faith, Extracting your Discharge, and Absolution, that so the Application of His Purchase being obtained, the Conscience may be quieted on that ground. And do ye think this a matter to cast out with Christ about? That He would have you Justified, and that ye will not; That He would have you washen in His Blood from your Sins, and that ye had rather lie still in them: Think ye this reasonable? And yet thus it stands with you, and we declare it to you, in His Name, That Christ and ye shall never be Friends, except on these Terms; That ye take with your Sins, and Natural Enmity against God, and welcome heartily the News of a Mediator, and embrace His Righteousness, trampling your own under your Feet, as to all expectation of Justification by it; That in a Word, ye do by Faith, take hold of the offer of Salvation through Him, in the Gospel, Resigning yourselves absolutely to Him, and founding your humble Plea before God thereupon. This is the Shield of Faith, that quenches the fiery Darts of the Devil, and that which gives Wings to the Soul, to flee to Heaven upon; and we wote well this is no unfriendly Message, nor evil Bargain, and ye may have it of Him; He is indeed a Dexterous, and Skilfull handler of Souls, that commit themselves unto Him. Why do you not then in His own way, hazard your Souls on Him? Were Sinners hazard known, and what solid confidence they may have, in putting their Souls in Christ's hand, they would be thronging in upon Him, to get hold laid on His offer, which is like to a Banner displayed, and spread out in this Word of the Gospel, to which everyone may put his hand; This is the very Sum of the Gospel, to pray you to be reconciled to God, to admit of the Mediator, and to give Him a Commission (to speak so with reverence,) or rather to entreat Him, to make your Peace, that is, to give Him the credit of saving you; that if Justice were pursuing you, ye might be found in Him, not having your own Righteousness, but His; and in Him, have one Answer to all Challenges; not thinking yourselves the less sicker and sure that ye have given up with your own Righteousness, and betaken yourselves to His, who knows but Souls might be getting good at such a time, if this were made use of, and believed? O! so faithful as He is,: He dar give His Word and Seal, that He will keep to you; And this is His end in Word and Sacrament, that Sinners might be brought to trust in Him, in giving Him the employment to Justify them; That they being in themselves blind, may come to Him for light; being poor, may come to Him for Gold to enrich them; being •• ked, may come to Him, for garments to clothe them; being ungodly, may come to Him, that He may Justify them: But, alas, People are for the most part senseless, and regardless of their Sin and misery, and therefore He gets no employment from them; Many sit very brave and fine here, and have no Legal Bar on them, to keep them from the Communion, who yet have sleepy and senseless Souls, and are ruining and destroying themselves; This we assure you, is the condition of many of you, who never knew to make use of Christ, and of His Righteousness, and yet will boast of your Faith, and of your good heart▪ to God; Away with your old presumptuous Faith, take with your unbelief and presumption; Say not ignorantly, that ye shall do as ye can, though ye cannot do as ye would; ye are unsound at the heart, mistaken about your spiritual state, and know that the Devil, by a deceitful heart is speaking out of you such language; For it's enemies we are Commissioned to reconcile; and it's lost Sinners that Christ came to seek, and save; and ye see not yourselves to be such, and therefore ye care not for such offers of Grace; But, ah! many of you, if Grace prevent not, will get a cold welcome from Christ at that Day; and will be made sadly to smart, for the slighting of many Precious Opportunities, which God did put in your hand, and whereof to make use, ye had no heart.

SERMON LI.

THere hath been much spoken from this sweet Scripture of Our Lord Jesus His Sufferings; and somewhat also of the Promises made to Him, that His Sufferings should not be for naught; in these Words, we have a compendiou • explication of the Effects that •• ow from them, by which He shall be Satisfied for them all; which ye may take up in these Four. 1. The great benefit it sel • that is holden out here, and that is Justification. 2. These to whom it shall come, it is many, so that His having a Seed, spoken of, v. 10. Is exponed here by this, that many shall be justified. 3. The way how this is derived to them, by his knowledge, which we show is to be understood, of Faith in Him. 4. The ground from which this flows, and on which it is built, and that confirms it; For he shall bear their iniquities; And as it's in the following v. He bare the sin of many, And therefore they must be Justified; it being but reason, that these many, whose iniquities He bears, and whose Debt of Sin He pays, should be Justified.

We may speak more particularly to the Explication of each of these, as we come to them; we shall then first expone, and give the meaning of this Word, Justification, or to Justify ere we come to the Doctrine, because it will serve to clear it, and will make way for it, and so much the rather, as it is the very hing of the Gospel, and that on which our Salvation depends, though yet but very little, and very ill understood, there being many that cannot tell what it is, though there be not many Words more frequently mentioned in the Scripture, and though it be that whereby a Person is translated from the State of Enmitie, into the State of Friendship with God.

As for this Word, To Justify, or Justification then; there are three senses given of it; Two whereof are Erronious, and the last only is according to the mind of the Spirit of God, speaking in the Scripture, which we shall Clear, and Confirm.

1. Some take this Word Physically, as if it were to make Just, by the infusing of habitual Grace, or by a Physical, and Real Change; and so taken, it is the same with that which we call Sanctification; but in all the Scripture we know not one Place, where necessarily the Word is so to be understood. Although this acceptation of the Word, is the great rise of the Popish Error, in that Controversy concerning Justification. 2dly. Others take it for God's Revealing Manifesting, or Declaring the way, how a Guilty Person comes to be Just; and so to Justify, is for Ministers to teach the way to People, how they may live holily; As it is said, Dan. 12.3. They that turn many to Righteousness, &c. By wh • ch sense, some Wickedly, and Blasphemously detract from Christ's Satisfaction; as if His Justifying were no more, but a teaching of Sinners the way how to be Ju ••• fied; to wit, by living holily and justly. But the Word that follows in the Text; For he shall bear their i • iquities, Cu • s the Throat of that Exposition; for it is by Christ's bearing of the punishment of the Elects Iniquities, and for paying of their Debt, that they come to be Justified; Therefore the one is given for a Reason of the other. 3dly. Considering the Word according to the meaning of it in Scripture, we take it for a Legal forensick, or Court Word, borrowed from men's Courts, wherein a Person arraigned for such a Cryme is either Condemned, or Absolved; And when he is Absolved, and Declared to be acquitted, or made free from that which is laid to his Charge, he is said to be Justified; so is it before God, and in His Court: Justification is the freeing of a Sinner, from the Charge that the Law giveth in against Him, and the absolving and declaring of him to be free from the Guilt of Sin, and from the punishment thereof, which by the Sentence of the Law is due to Him. The former two senses run to the making of a man to be inherently holy, or without a Fault; Which is, as if a Guilty Man, or a Criminal, being sifted before a civil Court of Judicature, were declared to be Innocent; But this true meaning of the Word, sets out a Man arraigned before God's Tribunal, and charged with Guilt, and found Faulty, but Absolved, and Acquitted, not because he wants Sin, but because his Debt is paid, and his Sins Satisfied for, by a Cautioner; Even as a Man that is called before a Civil Court, for such a Sum of Money, and is found liable to the Debt; but his Cautioner coming in, and paying the Debt for him, there is both in Reason and in Law just ground, why that Man should be absolved, and declared free of the Debt: So is it here, Christ Jesus taking on, and satisfying for the Debt of the Elect, and procuring Absolu • ion for them, for whom He paid the Price; there is Reason, and ground in Law, that they should be Justified and Absolved: All these Opinions agree in these two 1. That Men naturally have Sin, and that they must compt for it. 2. That this Jus • ification whatever it be, where it is, doth fully Absolve and Acquit the Sinner, and makes him free of Sin, as to the Guilt, the Punishment, and Consequents of it, Death and the Curse, as if he had never had Sin: But the difference lieth here, that this last acception of the Word, absolves a Man, though he have Sin in himself, by the interposing of a Surety, and Cautioner, who pays his D • bt, and procures the Sentence of Absolution to him; And in this Sense, Justification is, as if a Man were standing at the Bar of God's Tribunal Guilty, and having a witness of his Guilt in himself, and God, out of Respect to the Mediator His Satisfaction, and Payment of His Debt, which He hath laid hold upon by Faith, does pronunce that sinful Person to be Free, Absolved, and Acquitted from the Guilt and Punishment of Sin; and doth accordingly Absolve him upon that accompt: So then Justification is not to be considered, as God's Creating, and Infusing of gracious habits in us; but the declaring of us to be Free, and Acquitted from the Guilt of Sin, upon the account of Christ's Satisfying for our Debt.

This we will find to be very clear, if we consider how the Word is taken, both in the Old and New Testament, as namely, Isaiah 5.23. Woe unto them that justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. And Prov. 17.15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. Where the plain meaning of the Word can be no other then this, that when a Judge pronounces a man to be Just, although he be unjust, it is a wicked thing which the Lord abhores. And so, Psal. 51.4. That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest. That is, that thou might be declared to be so. And, Matth. 11.19. Wisdom is justified of her children. 2. We will find this meaning of the Word to be clear, if we consider Justification, as distinguished from Sanctification, For in that Popish sense, they are both made one and the same; but they are distinguished in Scripture. As 1 Cor. 6.11. Such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified. Where he looks on these two Benefits of Justification and Sanctification as disti • ct, and distinguisheth the one of them from the other; now Sanctification being the Grace that renews our nature and makes an inward spiritual change; Justification must needs be that Act of God's Grace, that takes away the Guilt of Sin, and makes Sinners to be friends with God, through Christ's Righteousness; and so is a relative change of their State. 3. It will be clear if we consider to what it is opposed in Scripture; it is not opposed to sinning, as Sanctification is, but to these two. 1. To the charging of a Sinner with somewhat unto Condemnation. And 2. To the Act of Condemning; now the opposit to Condemnation is Absolution, as is clear, Rom. 8.33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies, who shall condemn? &c. God's Justifying is put in as opposit to the Charging, and Lybelling of the Elect, and to the Condemning of them; therefore none of these can be; and so Justification there, looks both to the part of an Advocate pleading, and declaring a man to be Free, and to the part of a Judge pronouncing him to be Absolved, and Justified; which well agrees to Our Lord Jesus, who Justifies His People both ways. 4. It may also be cleared from parallel Scriptures, where Justifying is called Reconciling; As 2 Cor. 5.18, 19, 20. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed to us, &c. And how that comes to pass, is told in the last v. For he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So that to be made the Righteousness of God is to be Justified, and to be Justified is to be made friends with, or to be reconciled to God; and that not by working a moral Change; but upon the account of Christ's Satisfact on, bringing us into friendship with God. So, Eph. 1.6. Where to be Justified, is exponed, to be made accepted in the Beloved▪ And what else is that, but to be in good terms with God, to have him passing by all quarrels, as having nothing to say against us, but accepting us through Christ as Righteous? So, Acts 13.38, 39. Be it known unto you, that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins, and by him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could be justified by the law of Moses. A place that clearly holds forth, that as all the Elect are naturally chargable by the Law, as being Guilty of the breach thereof, and that they cannot be absolved from it by ought in themselves; so they are through Faith in Jesus Christ freed from it: As if the Lord had said, ye are fred from the Sentence of the Law, because, through Christ is preached unto you Remission of Sins, and there is away laid down for your Absolution, who believe, from the Guilt of Sin, and from all the consequents of it. 5ly. It's clear from the Text, because it's such a Justifying, as hath in it Christ's being Sentenced in our Room, as the cause of it; now He was Sentenced in our Room, not by having Sin infused in Him, which were Blasphemous to think, but by having our Sin imputed to Him; and therefore our Justification must be our Absolution, by having His Righteousness imputed to us, As is clear throughout this Chapter; Therefore its said, He hath carried our sorrows, and born our griefs; He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, by his strips we are healed, He laid on him the iniquity of us all, And in these words, By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities; It's a Justification that comes to us by Christ's taking on our Debt; And this we cannot imagine to be other ways, but by a Legal Change, or by a Change of Law-rooms; He coming as Surety in our Room, and we having Absolution, by virtue of His Satisfaction; So that the meaning of the Words in short is, As if the Prophet had said, would ye know what we have by Christ's Sufferings? Even this, to wit, That many, as many as whose iniquities He bore, and satisfied for, shall be Acquitted, and Absolved from the Guilt and Punishment of their Sin, through His Satisfaction; They shall be fred from the Sentence, and Curse of the Law, which they deserved; And shall be declared Righteous, through the Righteousness of their Cautioner, which they have laid hold upon by Faith.

Hence, Observe, 1. That all Men and Women, even all the Elect themselves, are by nature liable to an arraignment before the Justice-seat of God; That they are Justified, supposes a bringing of them, as it were, before His Tribunal, ere they can be Justified, and have the Sentence of Absolution past in their favors; The Apostle takes this for granted, Rom. 14.10. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; And, Heb. 9.29. It's appointed for all men once to die, and after that comes the judgment; There is a Solemn Decree past, That, as all Men shall die, so every Man shall be brought to a Reckoning, and Judgment; And Act. 17.31. He hath appointed a day in which he shall judge the world in righteousness, &c. and that cannot be ranversed; See, 2 Cor. 5.10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, We must, There is an inavoidable necessity of it. For further clearing, and confirming of this, ye would know that there are Three Courts, that especially the hearers of the Gospel are liable unto, which we would make ourselves for; They are all put together, Rom. 2.12, 15, 16. There is 1. The Court of the Word, wherein God keeps a Justice-seat, or Tribunal, Condemning the Wicked, and Absolving the Righteous: As Christ says, John 12. The word Which I speak shall judge you in the last day; And this is it that the Apostle hath in that forecited place, Rom. 2 12. As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. A 2. Court is the Court of the Conscience; And this is more broad and extensive, reaching all Men, without, as well as within the Church; Wherein God hath His own way of Lybelling and Accusing of, and passing Sentence upon Sinners; As v. 14, 15. When the gentles who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not a law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their Conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another. A 3d. Court, or Judgment-seat is that which is more Discernable, Distinct and Terrible, And that is the Judgment-seat of God, when He shall convene all and everyone before Himself immediately, and shall Judge and pass Sentence upon them; Whether this be done to a particular Person, or to the whole World, as v, 16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel.

Use, We would have you confirmed in the Faith of this Truth, That there are none of us but we are liable to all these Courts; And therefore ye would live so, as ye may be in a posture fit for this appearing; many of us, alas, live as if we were never to be called to an account. And as if there were no Tribunal that we were to appear before.

2ly. Observe, That all Men and Women, even the Elect themselves, are naturally, and as in themselves obnoxious to Condemnation, and liable to the Sentence of it before God's Tribunal; for Jesus Christ His Justifying of them, and procuring their Absolution, implies this much, That they, as considered in themselves are liable to, and cannot receive another Sentence then that of Condemnation; It says that not only they have Sinned, but that because of their Sin, they are liable and obnoxious to Condemnation; That for their Sin, God's Curse is due to them, John 3.18.36. He that believes not is condemned already: And he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him; The Sentence is standing against Him unrepealled; even that Sentence which we have, Gal. 3.10. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them; The Sinner comes no sooner to look to the Court of the Word, nor to the Court of his own Conscience, but that Sentence is laid before him, And when he comes before God, he can expect no other thing, The Lord proceeding according to the Rule of the Word; So Rom. 3.19. We know that whatever thing the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God; Which suppons a lyableness to His Curse, and a subjection to the Judgment of God, as the Word is rendered on the Margent; There are none, as considered in their natural condition, who have a word to say against it: To clear it a little, ye would consider two things in the Law, as it is a Covenant of Works, under which all Men are by Nature, 1. The Directive or Commanding part of it, that carves out Mans Duty, and so it is the Rule of Righteousness to Men and Women, and what is not conform to the Commands, and Directions of it, is Sin, and hath a Guilt with it; This is most certain, that the Law, even as to Believers, is a Rule of Righteousness, according to which they are to walk. 2. There is in it the Sentence of a Curse, whereby the Person that Sins, is not only declared to be Guilty, but liable to God's Wrath and Curse; This may be separated from the former; The Law was no doubt a Law of Righteousness to Man in his Innocency, and is so to the Believer still, who is Absolved from the Curse of it; but yet the Believer, as considered in his Natural Condition, is not only Guilty, but stated under the Curse; And this is the meaning of the Doctrine; That Naturally, not only are all Men Sinful, but they are stated under the Curse of God; The Law says on the matter, Man and Woman thou hast not abiden in what is written, and therefore thou must die, Thou art liable to the Curse, which will light if it be not prevented: If there were any need of Reasons to prove this, they are not wanting; It is so. 1. That the Lord may humble all Flesh, as the Apostle says, Rom. 3.19. That every mouth may be stopped, and that all the world may become guilty before God. 2. It is so ordered, that His Grace may shine the more conspicuously; When the Person is found Guilty, and abnoxious to the Curse by the Law, Grace shows itself to be wonderful, in pulling the Sinner from under the lash of the Law; As Isaac was set free, and a Sacrifice was accepted in his Room; So the Sinner is set free, and the Mediator in His Satisfaction is accepted in His Room; To this purpose it is said, Rom. 11.32. God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have have mercy on all; Not that He shows mercy on all that ate in unbelief, but this is the meaning, That it might be mercy to all that should get good of the Mediator, and alone mercy to the Elect, both of Jews, and Gentiles, It's on this ground, That Ephes. 2.3. The Apostle not only saith, Ye were dead in sins and trespasses; But also turning it over on Himself, He adds, And we are all the Children of wrath even as others; Lyable by Sin to the Curse of God, if it had not been graciously prevented.

Use, 1: Let all of us take a view hereof our Natural Condition; and indeed it were the better for us that we were more frequently viewing it, What is it, will ye say? It is even this, Ye are all liable to appearing before God's Justice-seat; Ye are all guilty, and by the Sentence of the Law, under God's Curse, and Condemned already; Because God hath said, He that sins shall die; We are, I say, all thus by Nature.

Use, 2. It gives a great commendation to the Grace of God in Christ Jesus; it makes Grace wonderfully Glorious, That takes the Sinner at this ni • k, and in this pinch; We shall not dispute here; nor is it needful, nor edifying, whether God might have forgiven Sin freely, without any intervenient Satisfaction to His Justice, seeing He hath declared His mind, concerning that in His Word, Exod. 23.7. I will not justify the wicked; And Chap. 34.7. That will by no means clear the guilty; And Gen. 3. The day thou eats, or Sins, thou shalt surely die: This is it that puts Man as considered, in his Natural Condition, to be as it were in Hell, while he is on Earth, and puts Him in such a near capacity to the Wrath of God, if we may so speak, and to the actual undergoing of it; That there needs no more but the blowing out of the Breath, to put him in the pit; yea, while He is living, he is a Prisoner in Chains, till the day of Execution come; If Grace reprive him not; ye would think much of Grace. O! how very much! if ye were seriously comparing these two together; to be so near Hell, and yet as it were, to have a Ladder set up for you to ascend to Heaven by; And that in such a way, as, by Christ's becoming a Curse: They will certainly never think much of the Grace of God, and of the Love of Christ, they will never think much of their own hazard nor will they ever in earnest make use of Christ's Righteousness, who have not some quick and lively impression, and sense of this their Condition by Nature; And therefore, when ever ye go to Read, to Hear, to Pray, to Meditat, &c. Take up yourselves, as naturally arrested before the Court of God, and obnoxious to His Wrath; This would lay your Pride, and make Christ's offers in the Gospel lovely to you.

Use, 3. This shows, That these who get any good of Christ, are much in Christ's Debt and Common, and have in themselves no cause to boast of it; If this be true, even of the Elect, that they are all once under the Sentence of Condemnation, else they could not be Justified, and Absolved by Christ; Ye that think yourselves to be something, what have ye to boast of? Who hath made you to differ, and what have ye, but what ye have received? It sets you well therefore to be humble, and to put a Price upon Christ, as the Apostle doth on the same consideration, Gal. 2.20. When he says, Who loved me and gave himself for me; That makes Him relish sweetly to the Believer; And this is the ground of His Triumph, Rom. 8.33, 34. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's Elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, &c. This way of Justification makes Christ's death Wonderous Lovely, and it is on this that the Song of the Redeemed is founded, Rev. 1.5. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father, To him be glory, and dominion forever and ever amen; And of that new Song, Revel. 5.9, 10. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the Seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, &c. It is an evil token, when folk can talk at a high rate of their hope of being Justified, when, in the mean time, they have so little estimation of Christ, and their hearts are so little warmed with love to Him, who is so Lovely to Believers; And when they can so confidently make application of His Purchase to themselves, and yet cannot tell when their heart was ever in the least measure ravished with the consideration of Christ's love, neither did it ever relish to them, nor were their hearts ever in the least engaged to Him on that consideration.

Use, 4. All of you, who are lying in this Natural Condition, and know not what is your hazard, who are living in your Profanity, or at best, in your Hypocrisee, Civility, Formality, not Regenerat, or Born again, but have still the same Faith, and Love that ye were born with, and no other, what is your posture? ye are not in Christ, but lying naked, obnoxious to the Wrath and Curse of God, condemned already; And what if your breath go out in this doleful condition? What if a Palsy, or Appoplexie overtake you suddenly? What if a Stone fall upon you, ere ye go home out of this place? There is even but that much betwixt you and Hell; Ye are liable to be arrested before the Court of God's Justice, and how will it be with you, when ye come there? And when it shall be said, that such a Person hath broken the Law, and therefore God's Curse is due to him, and therefore away with him; For he judgeth according to men's works; Are there none of you afraid of this? Do ye believe it to be a Truth? O! that ye did, who are lying contentedly, and secure in your Natural Condition, and yet it does not trouble you; Will you yet lie still contentedly in this dreadful state? Is it possible that ye can be well in this condition? though ye would heap up Riches as the Sand? ye cannot look into the Bible, nor into your own heart, but it curses you; Ye cannot look to the Bar of God's Justice, but the Sentence meets you, Depart from me ye cursed; This is the Truth of God; And if ye think there be any here lying still in black nature (and we are not sure all renewed) think then upon your case, O! that ye saw your posture; The Hand-writing coming forth on the Wall, did not so afright Belshazzar, as this Curse would afright you, if it were believed: And, 2ly. If this be your Natural Condition, and if ye believe it to be truly so, we would expostulat with you, and even wonder, 1. How comes it to pass, that so many of you lie still in your Natural Condition, and endeavor not a change of your State; It will be wondered at by Angels, and by all the Elect; yea, and even by the Reprobat, that never heard of Christ, That so many heard the Gospel, and had the offer of Christ, and yet did not stir up themselves to make use of Him: Is it not a wonder that Folk can sleep secure, under the Curse of God, And bless themselves, till their iniquities be found to be hateful? To be in this condition, and to sleep quietly under it, will have a doleful wakning. 2dly. How is it that so few take pains to try how it is with them? If many of you were lying under a Decreet of an hundredth pound Scots, ye would not be so secure, till ye knew that ye were fred of it; And if it be true, that this is your Condition by Nature, to be under the standing Sentence of the Law, and the Curse of God, How is it, ye never try if ye be come out of that Condition? I ask the most Profane Men among you, were ye never under this Sentence? If ye say not, the word of God will stand up against you, and say to you, that ye lie falsely; and if ye be under it, is it not hazardous to be so? But I fear, that many of you dream, that the Curse of God, wears away as ye grow up. 3dly. Think ye never of coming to Judgment, and of God's proceeding in Judgment against you? Think ye never that ye will die, and after death come to Judgment, according to the general appointment past upon all Men? How cometh it, that ye are not thinking on it, and what may be the Judges procedour towards you? He will Judge you according to this Word, and all that are out of Christ, and not Justified by Him, will be cast into the Pit of Hell; There is no new Sentence to be past, or to be executed upon you, but that which was standing over your head before. 4ly. Know ye how long He may treat with you, or how long ye may be in Capacity to get your state changed? Are there not many taken suddenly away, of whose estate we shall not Judge, but may it not be so with you? why are ye then so secure, why decline ye the Word, and refuse to let it search you, while ye know not whether the Curse be removed, and whether the Sentence be changed, or recalled? Some of you, perhaps will say, The Lord knows that, it is not for us to know; And that says, that ye do never so much as essay to know, and to win to clearness about your state: Others of you, will it may be say, that ye hope all will be well, and yet that at the best is but a guessing, and ye would be loath to speak so of a Decreet that were past against you, about a Sum of Money, in any poor Court of Judicature on Earth; and will ye suffer this terrible Sentence to stand over your head, in the Court of God's Justice, and not study to be distinct, and at a point upon solid, and good grounds, that it is repealled? If ye did really believe that it was once so with you, and that yet ye are in hazard of this Sentence, ye would not, ye could not, I am sure, ye should not be at rest, till ye knew that it were removed; It would put you to make use of Christ in good earnest for your Peace, and to seek after an extract of the repealled Sentence, and of your Absolution, Sealed up in your Bosom: And this is the thing that we aim at in all this, even that as ye would not have a terrible meeting with God before the Bar of His Justice, that ye would seek to have the Curse that ye are naturally lying under, removed, and to have your peace made with God, and to have some well grounded clearness about it, that ye might live comfortedly, and die with solid confidence, and Christian Courage, without which ye can do neither.

SERMON LII.

THE way of Absolving a Guilty Sinner in the Justice of God, is the great sum and scope of all the Gospel; Even to show how a lost Sinner, Obnoxious to the Sentence of a transgressed Law, may, without prejudice to the Justice of God, come to be Justified; we are persuaded, that there is nothing of greater concernment to Sinners; And if we knew our Debt, and our Hazard, we would think, that there is nothing of greater concernment to us in particular: The Sum of the Covenant of Redemption runs on this, and it is the great thing aimed at, in all this Chapter, wherein the Prophet lets us see. 1. What is the great thing that Satisfies Justice; And for this end much hath been spoken of Christ's Sufferings, and Soul-travel. 2. He lets us see, what is the benefit that comes to us, by Christ's Sufferings, and that is Justification, or Absolution from the guilt of Sin, and from the Curse which it deserves. 3. He lets us see the way how this benefit is derived, And it is, by his knowledge; This, faith He, shall be the great result of Christ's Sufferings, Many shall be justified, And this shall be the way how it shall be derived to these many, and that is by his knowledge, or by Faith in Him, resting on His Righteousness and Satisfaction.

We opened up the meaning of the Words the last day, and pointed at two Doctrines from them. 1. That all Men, and Women have a Judgment to abide before God, an Arraignment, and Indictment there, to which they must answer; They must all come to get a Sentence from God. 2. That all Men Naturally are liable to the Sentence of Condemnation; This is supposed here; For in as far as Sinners are only by Faith in Christ Justified; in as far the Sentence of the Law, and of the Covenant of Works is standing against them, and over their heads, who are not by Faith united to Christ Jesus, and Justified by His Righteousness.

The 3. Doctrine (Which is almost the very Words of the Text) that now we intend to speak to, is this▪ That although all Men naturally be obnoxious to the Sentence of the Law, and to the Curse of God▪ yet there is a way laid down, how a Sinner so obnoxious, may be Justified, and fred from that Sentence; and this is by Faith in Jesus Christ only: If any Doctrine be of concernment for us to know, and to be well and experimentally acquainted with, This is of concernment to us; By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. There are Three things in this Doctrine implied, which by one, and the same labor will be proven, and therefore we shall put them together. 1. That although all Men be naturally obnoxious to the Wrath and Curse of God, yet He hath appointed away how guilty Sinners may be Justified and Absolved. 2. That the way of attaining to this benefit of Justification, and freedom from the Curse, is by Faith in Christ's Righteousness, It's by his knowledge, saith the Text. 3. That there is no other way by which a Sinner obnoxious to the Curse, can be Justified, but by Faith in Christ's Righteousness allanarly. This last branch of the Doctrine says not only, That there is no other mean to Satisfie Justice, but Christ's Merit and Satisfaction; But that there is no other way, but the way of Faith to win to the application of His Satisfaction; whereby many Questions may be Answered, and many Errors in Doctrine, and Practice confuted; But our present purpose is to show, how a guilty Sinner may be Justified.

And therefore we shall, 1. Give you a general view of the Truth of the Doctrine; by confirming it from Scripture, in all the parts of it. 2. We shall • peak more paticularly to the several branches of it. And 3ly. To the way of attaining Justification, in the several Causes of it, as it is here holden forth.

For Confirmation of the General Doctrine, ye shall 1. Look upon some Scriptures, And 2. To some Grounds of Reason.

As for the Confirmation of it by Scripture, If we look through the Gospel, it is Our Lord Jesus Christ His own Doctrine, which He preached, and the way which He laid down therein, for Justifying and saving a Sinner, So, John 3. Where it is three or four times repeated, As v. 16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have eternal life; v. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God; v. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him; And v. 14, 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life; And that is all one as to say, he that believes shall be Justified; Mark 16.16. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned: These are the terms on which the Apostles are by Christ warranded to preach the Gospel, and to make the offer of Life to every Creature; And therefore if we look forward to their Preaching, we will find it to run in the same s • rain, A Acts 13.38, 39. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and that by him, all that believe are justified, from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses; Where, while Paul is summing up the whole Message that he had to deliver, he goes upon the same ground; And wherein we have these three clearly holden forth, 1. That all M • n are liable, as in their Natural Estate, to God's Curse, and by the Law cannot be Justified. 2. That there is a way laid down, through Jesus Christ, to come by Justification, and Remission of Sins. 3. That the way how Sinners came by this, is Faith in Christ; All that believe are justified: Look to the Epistles, especially these written to the Romans and Galatians, Where this question about Justification is expr • sly, and of purpose handled, and we will find, that it is the sum of both; As, Rom. 3. Where having said, v. 23 That all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, And so, that all are liable to God's Judgment, he subjoins, v. 24. Being justified freely, by his grace, through the redemption, that is in Jesus Christ, Where is the great mean of our Justification; and then he adds, v. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood; Where we have the mean of Application, to wit, Faith; and Chap. 4.5. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness; Which place demonstrats this, That an ungodly Person, taking hold by Faith of Christ's Righteousness, may be, and is Justified, and Absolved, and fred from the guilt of Sin, as if he had never Sinned; So Gal. 2.15, 16. We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, or not without the Covenant, as they are, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified; Which place shows not only this, that through Faith in Christ, is Justification, and Life to be had, but it also excludes all other ways of Justific • tion, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith; But that which we are now speaking to, is only the positive part of the Doctrine, To show that a Guilty Sinner, obnoxious to the Curse; May by Faith come to be Justified, and made free from the Guilt of Sin, and from the Curse, as if he had never Sinned, nor been under the Curse.

For further Confirmation of the Doctrine, ye would consider these Four Grounds, and ye will see from them, good reason for it; Only remember this, That Justification looks always to a Judicial Procedour (as we hinted before) Wherein the Lord is, as it were on the Throne, and the Guilty Sinner at the Bar, pleading through Christ's Righteousness and Satisfaction, to be Absolved; which is even as if a Debtor were arrested for Debt, should plead for a Liberation, not because he is not owing the Debt, neither because he hath paid the Debt, but because his Cautioner hath paid it for him; This being supposed, and remembered, ye would, (we say) consider these Grounds, or Reasons, for confirming the Doctrine. 1. The Sufferings that Christ hath endured, and the Satisfaction that He hath made, in the Room of Sinners, as the next Words hold out, For he shall bear their iniquities; And v. ult. He bare the sin of many; Nay, this is the great scope of the Chapter; Therefore it's said, That he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows, and that the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all; This makes a Ground of Confirmation. 2. Consider, How that there is not only a sufficient price paid, but there is a Covenant of Redemption warranding Him to pay it, and accepting it off His hand as complete Payment, and Satisfaction for the Elects Debt; And except there be a look had to this Covenant, Faith hath not a sufficient Ground to rest on for Justification through Jesus His Satisfaction, because other ways we see not a Reason, why His Sufferings can be accepted for us; For, suppose, (if such a supposition may warrantably be made) Christ to have Suffered, yet it was free for God to have accepted that as a Satisfaction for our Debt, or not; But the consideration of the Covenant of Redemption removes that Doubt, and gives Faith a Ground to lay hold on Christ's Sufferings, as Satisfactory to the Justice of God; because, in the Covenant of Redemption, it's so transacted, and agreed upon, betwixt God and the Mediator; Therefore the Apostle speaking, Heb. 10.8, 9. and forward, from Psal. 40. of this Covenant, shows, That when Sacrifices and Offerings will not do the turn, Christ comes in, Saying, Lo I come in the volume of thy book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O! my God; By which will, (saith the Apostle) we are sanctified; And had there not been such a Will, His Sufferings had not been useful to us. 3. Consider the Offer that is made in the Gospel to Sinners, which is the object of our Faith; For the Covenant of Redemption is not the Ground, and Object of our Faith, though it clears the Ground and Reason of our Faith, but it's God's Offer in the Gospel, according to that place, Mark 16.15, 16. Go ye and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth, and is baptized shall be saved; He warrands them to go, and make it known to all to whom they shall Preach, that there is Remission of Sin • to be had through Faith in Christ; and this is a Ground to Faith, when God makes offer of Christ's Satisfaction in the Gospel, on condition that we believe, and accept of Him; When we by Faith close with the offer, it gives us, as it were, an Assignation to Christ's Purchase; The Gospel says, as Paul doth, Acts 13.38. Be it known to you, that through this man is preached to you remission of sins, and by him all that believe are Justified; And Faith consents to that, as giving God credit, and accordingly closes with, and rests upon it, as the ground of it's Plea before God; So that when the Question comes to be asked, What have ye to Answer the Law, and to pay your Debt with? Faith, or the believing Sinners Answers, I have nothing of my own, but there is a Satisfaction in Christ, according to the Covenant of Redemption, which is holden out, and made offer of to me in the Gospel, and is given, and allowed to me, for defense, against what the Law, or Justice can say; And I betake me to that; And this is the native and kindly Act of Faith in Justification, when it makes use of this Defense, and Trusts to it alone; This is even it that Paul hath, Philip. 3.9. compared with v. 8. I count all things loss, that I may win Christ, and be found in him; That when it shall be asked, Paul, where art thou? I may have it to say, I am here, Lord, even in Christ, and in His Righteousness; this is the ground of his Plea, having given up with his own Righteousness, as to his Justification before God, and he will have no other defense but that. 4. Consider the end of all these, to wit, of Christ's Sufferings, of the Covenant of Redemption, and of the Offer of the Gospel; It's the Praise of the Glory of His Grace, that God may make it known, that He is Gracious, and freely Gracious, without respect to anything in in the Sinner; This End is not only set out in these two peaces put together, one is,