will be ready to tell you, that they obtained mercy. Now, the same mercy that saved them, is as ready to save you. You do not doubt that Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and other saints who are now in glory, had sufficient warrant to believe. Sirs, you have the same grounds of faith as ever they had, the same God, the same Saviour, the same Bible, the same covenant, the same promises, the same faithfulness, of God to lean to, as ever they had; and these grounds of faith are so firm, that they never disappointed any that leaned to them: and therefore be encouraged to believe, as they did. O how will it for ever gall and torment unbelieving sinners in hell when they see others, who believed upon the same grounds that were common to them also, sitting down in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves shut up in utter darkness, with devils and damned spirits, because of their unbelief! And how will the devil himself upbraid unbelievers in hell, when fallen under the same condemnation with himself, that they had such fair warrants to believe in Christ, which he never had!

Object. 2. You tell me embrace Christ; but, alas! he is far away out of my reach: Christ is in heaven, how shall I win at him?'

Ans. Secing you cannot come up to Christ, Christ is come down to you; and we bring him near to you, in "this word of salvation which we preach :" Is. xlvi. 12, 13: "Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry." And therefore," say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above;) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead ;) for the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach," Rom. x. 6-8: Sirs, Christ is in this gospel, this word of faith and grace, which we, in the name of God deliver to you: and your faith must terminate immediately upon this word, otherwise you can never embrace him. As I believe or trust a man by his verbal or written promise; so I embrace Christ by the word of faith, or promises in the gospel. Suppose a responsible man residing in America, should send me his bill for any sum of money, that man and his money are brought near to me by his bill and security which he sends me so here, though Christ be in heaven, and we upon earth, yet the word of faith, which we preach, brings him, his kingdon, righteousness, salvation, and whole fulness, nigh to every one of us, so that we need not ascend into heaven, or descend into hell, in quest of him.

Object. 3. My arms have been so defiled with the embraces of other lovers, that I am afraid Christ will never allow me

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to embrace him.' For answer, I only refer you to Jer. iii. 1: Though thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord." But,' say you, my sins are highly aggravated.' Ans. Is. i. 18: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Object. 4. You tell me embrace him; but, alas! I want an arm; I have no power to embrace him.' Answ. If thou hast a will to embrace him, the great difficulty is over, for there lies the principal stop: "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Where God gives to will, he gives also to do of his own good pleasure. You say, you want the arm to embrace him; then do as the man with the withered hand did, attempt to "stretch it forth," in obedience to the command of Christ. Believing is a thing we must be essaying, even before we can find the Spirit of God working it in us effectually. We cannot pray, we cannot sanctify the Sabbath, we cannot think a good thought, till the Spirit of God work it in us; and yet we do not forbear these duties because we have no power to do them; so, although we have no power to believe, yet we should be trying to believe. The way that the Spirit of God works faith in the souls of the elect, is, by making them sensible of their own inability, that they may turn the work over upon his own hand, who "worketh all our works in us, and for us."

Object. 5. Let me aim at believing as much as I will, I shall never be able to effect it, if I be not among God's elect; for it is only they that are " ordained to eternal life," that " do believe." Ans. This is an ordinary sophism of the grand enemy of salvation, by which he discourages sinners from believing in the Lord Jesus: and the fallacy or weakness of it will easily appear, by applying the objection to the ordinary business of human life. When meat is set before you, do you decline to take or use it, for this reason, that you do not know whether God has ordained it for you? Do you not say, Meat is for the use of man, and this meat is set before me, and therefore I will take it. You do not say, I will not plough or sow my ground, because I know not if ever God has decreed that it shall bring forth; or, I will not go home to my house, because I know not if ever God has decreed I should come the length. You would reckon a man mad, or beside himself, who would argue in this manner, in affairs of this nature. Why, the case is the very same: as the secret decrees of Heaven lie quite out of the road in the management of the affairs of this life; so neither are they at all to be the measure or rule of our actings in the great concerns of eternity: "Se

cret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed, belong unto us, and to our children.' And the ground of your condemnation at the great day will not be, because you were not elected, but because you would not believe. The reprobate Jews were cut off, "because of their unbelief," Rom. xi. 7 and 20. I shall only add, that as you cannot know that the meat set before you is yours, in possession, till you take it: so neither can you ever know that Christ was ordained for you, till you take him into your possession by faith. And therefore, you must believe in Christ, before you know your election; otherwise you shall never know it, and shall never believe either. So much by way of exhortation.

I shall conclude this discourse with a short word to two sorts of persons.

First, To you who, like Simeon, have got him in the embraces of your souls, and who perhaps can say, to your sweet experience, with the spouse, "I have found him whom my soul loveth." All I say to you, shall be comprised in these two or three words.

1. O bless God, as Simeon did, for such a privilege; "let the high praises of God be in your mouths." I told you already, of several songs you have ground and reason to sing, which I shall not stand to resume. Only, to engage you to bless him, consider, that this is all the tribute he expects from you. Who will ever bless him, if not the "people that he has formed for himself?" Consider again, that this is the way to have blessings multiplied upon you; the thankful beggar is best served at the door both of God and man. The trumpeter loves to sound where there is an echo, which brings back the sound to his ears; so God loves to bestow his blessings, where he hears of them again in songs of praise and gratitude. Praise is the work of heaven, through a long eternity: now, they who are bound to that land afar off, should be lisping out the language of the land before they reach there.

2. Have you got Christ in the arms of your souls? Othen improve your golden season and while you are allowed to ride with the King, in the chariot of the wood of Lebanon, improve your interest with him, both for yourselves and others; particularly, entreat him, that he would revive his own work, which is under such a sad decay in our land at this day; study to "bring him into your mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived you."

3. Have you got him in your arms? Then follow the spouse's practice, Cant. iii. 4: "I held him, and would not let him go." O keep him in the embraces of your souls; his presence dispels clouds, and turns the shadows of death into

the morning; it is like oil to the chariot-wheels of the soul: light, life, liberty, peace, pardon, and plenty, are his continual attendants. And, remember, that his departure is of a very dangerous consequence. It is true, his real presence shall never depart; but yet his quickening, strengthening, and upholding presence may be withdrawn to such a degree, that you may go "mourning without the sun :" and if, through untenderness, you provoke him to withdraw, the quarrel may be pursued even to the gates of hell; so that you may be made to cry out, "The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me," Job vi. 4.

And, in order to your keeping him in the embraces of your souls,

1st, Beware of every thing that may provoke him to withdraw; particularly beware of security, which made him to withdraw from the spouse, Cant. v. 3, and 6, compared. Beware of pride; for "God resisteth the proud," and "beholds them afar off." Beware of worldly-mindedness: "For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him," Is. lvii. 17. Beware of unbelief, that root of bitterness, which causes to "depart from the living God." Distrust and "jealousy is the rage of a man;" much more is it provoking to God. Under the law, God appointed porters to keep watch at the door of the temple, that nothing might be suffered to enter, which might defile the dwelling-place of his name; thy soul and body, believer, is the temple of God; therefore guard against every thing that may defile the same.

2dly, If you would hold Christ in the embraces of your souls, keep grace in lively exercise; for these are the spikenard and spices that send out a fragrant smell for his entertainment. Keep the arm of faith continually about him; let the fire of divine love burn continually upon the altar of thy heart; let the anchor of hope be fixed within the veil; let the fountain of evangelical repentance be still running; and under your greatest attainments be humble, and take care to set the crown upon Christ's head, saying, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory."

The second sort of persons I would speak a little to, are those who, perhaps, are complaining of hidings and withdrawings, and are perhaps saying, I came to the temple to see if I could get Christ in my arms, but I am disappointed; yea, matters are come that length with me, that I am ready to raze foundations," and to conclude that I am an utter stranger to him. All I have to offer to you, shall be comprised in these two or three things, with which I conclude.

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1. Allow me to ask, If there be not a void and emptiness

in thy heart which the whole creation cannot fill, till Christ himself come and fill it? Are not ordinances, ministers, word, and sacrament, empty without him, like dry breasts? That says, thou art not altogether a stranger to him. And, therefore, do not entertain harsh thoughts of thyself; thy case is not at all unprecedented. What think ye of David, Psal. xiii.; of Asaph, Psal. lxxvii.; of Heman, Psal. lxxxviii. ; yea, of Christ himself, who, through the withdrawing of his Father's love, was made to utter that heart-rending cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

2. Know, for thy comfort, that thy hiding Lord will return again: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning," Psal. xxx. 4, 5: Isa. liv. 7, 8. The very breathings and longings of thy soul after him, are a pledge of his return; for "he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.'

3. When you cannot get Christ himself embraced, study to embrace his word of promise, as the Old Testament saints did, Heb. xi. 13. As a loving wife will lay the letters of her absent husband in her breast, and perhaps kiss his hand-writing; so lay the sweet promises of thy best Husband in thy bosom, and between thy breasts, until he himself return.

4. Lastly, Maintain your claim to him on the ground of the covenant, when you cannot maintain it upon a ground of sense; as a wife will maintain her relation to her husband, though he be both angry and absent. The Lord loves to have his people pleading kindness, and maintaining their claim upon the marriage contract of the new covenant, when they "walk in darkness, and see no light," Is. 1. 10; and such a carriage as this, commonly lands in a happy meeting betwixt Christ and the souls of his people; for after believing, comes sealing.

SERMON X.

ON THE THRONE OF GRACE.

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.—PSAL. LXXXIX. 14.

THIS psalm elegantly describes God's covenant of grace made with Christ, and his spiritual seed in him, under the type of God's covenant of royalty with David and his posterity; as is plain from many passages of the psalm, which are too