save us. He came to restore us to the favour of God; to reconcile us to ourselves, and to each other; to give us peace and joy in life, hope and triumph in death, and after death glory, honour, and immortality. For he came, not merely to repair, and to restore, but to exalt; not only "that we might have life," the life we had forfeited, but "that we might have it more abundantly," John x.; that our happiness might be more exalted, our title more firm, and our possession more secure, than the state of Adam in Paradise could boast, or than his posterity could have attained unto, if he had continued unsinning upon the tenor of the first covenant.

Now, could we suppose it possible, that a set of innocent beings, without any default of their own, had sunk into a state of misery, we must confess it would have been great grace and favour in the Lord Jesus to save them. But let us not forget the stress laid in the text upon the word sinners. He came to save, not the unfortunate, but the ungodly; Rom. v. How then should every heart glow with love to him, who hath thus loved us! If any of us can hear or speak of this subject with indifference or disgust, it is to be feared we are quite strangers to the nature, or the necessity, of that salvation with which God has graciously visited his people. Let us no more usurp the sacred words of generosity, sensibility, or gratitude, if this astonishing instance of divine goodness leaves us cold and unimpressed; especially if to this we join the consideration of the third point I proposed to speak of, By what means Jesus Christ effected this salvation for sinners.

In the passage before us, it is only said, that he came into the world on this account; which teaches us, this was the sole design of his advent; and that, coming on set purpose for this, he would leave nothing undone that

was necessary to accomplish it. He emptied himself of that divine glory and honour he possessed with the Father from eternity. "He bowed the heavens, and

came down" to our earth; and that not with an external glory, as a celestial messenger, to constrain the attention and homage of mankind, "but was made of a "woman," Gal. iv. ; not of high and noble extraction in the judgment of men, "but in the form of a servant;" born in a stable, laid in a manger, brought up in an obscure and contemptible place, and reputed no higher than the son of a carpenter. "He was despised and rejected of men: there was no form or comeliness in "him," Isa. liii. to attract a general regard: on the contrary," he came to his own and his own received him not,” Johni. Further, as he was made of a woman," he was made "under the law;" the one in order to the other; for this was the way divine wisdom had appointed, and which divine justice required, to make salvation possible to sinners. Eternal truth had pronounced tribulation, wrath, and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. All men in every age and place, "had corrupted their ways "before God;" yet his mercy had designed, "that where "sin had abounded, grace should much more abound," Rom. viii. Jesus Christ was the grand expedient, in whom " mercy and truth met together," Psalm, lxxxv. and the inflexible righteousness of God was brought to correspond and harmonize with the peace of sinful man. That justice might be satisfied, truth vindicated, and sinners saved, "God so loved a lost world," that when no inferior means could avail, when none in heaven or earth were willing, or worthy, or able, to interpose," he gave his only-begotten Son," John iii. Jesus Christ,

the brightness of the Father's glory, and express image of his person, "so loved the world," that he assumed

our nature, undertook our cause, bore our sins, sustained our deserved punishment; and, having done and suffered all that the case required, he is now gone before, "to

For

prepare a place," John xiv. for all that believe in him and obey him. Man lay under a double incapacity for happiness; he could neither keep the law of God in future, nor satisfy for his past breach and contempt of it. To obviate the former, Jesus Christ performed a perfect unsinning obedience in our stead. To remove the latter, he became "the propitiation of our sins;" yielded up his life as a prey into the hands of murderers, and poured forth his precious blood, in drops of sweat in the garden, in streams from his side upon the cross. this he endured the fiercest temptations of the devil, the scorn, rage, and malice of men, and drank the bitter cup of the wrath of God, when it pleased the Father to bruise him, and make his soul an offering for sin. His love carried him through all; and when he had finally overcome the sharpness of death, he opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. In few words, he lived and died for us when upon earth; nor is he unmindful of us in heaven, but lives and intercedes on our behalf. He continually executes the offices of prophet, priest, and king, to his people; instructing them by his word and Spirit; presenting their persons and prayers, acceptable to God through his merits; defending them, by his power, from all their enemies, ghostly and bodily; and ordering, by his providence, all things to work together for their good, till at length they are brought home, to be with him where he is, and to behold his glory.

II. From what has been said, we may justly infer, in the first place, that "this is," as the apostle styles it, "a faithful saying." When man first fell, God, in the midst of judgment remembering mercy,'

declared, unsought and undesired, "that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," Gen. iii. In every succeeding age, he confirmed his purpose by types, promises, prophecies, and oaths. At length, in the fulness of time, Christ," the desire of all nations," came into the world, fulfilled all that had been foretold, and encouraged every humble penitent sinner to come unto him, that they might have life, pardon, and peace. To doubt, or to deny, his readiness to save, is, so far as in us lies, to "make the word of God of none effect;" it is "to charge God foolishly," as though, like the heedless unskilful builder in the Gospel, he had begun to build that which was not to be finished. If after all that is set before us, it is possible for any soul to miss salvation that sincerely desires it, and seeks it in God's appointed way, it must be because the Lord Jesus Christ either cannot or will not save them. That he cannot, is flatly false; for "all power is his in heaven and in earth,” Matth. xxviii.; and it is particularly said, that " he is "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God

by him," Heb. vii.: and that he will not, is as false; for he himself hath said, "Whosoever cometh unto me, "I will in nowise cast out," John vi.

We may infer, secondly, that this doctrine is not only faithful, but "worthy of all acceptation." And here, methinks, I could begin anew. A point so much mistaken by some, and neglected by most, rather requires a whole, or many discourses, than to be passed over in few words. The most high and wise God has esteemed the redemption of mankind so precious, "that "he spared not his only Son," Rom. viii.-And are there any amongst us, in a land of Gospel light and liberty, where the words of wisdom are sounding in our ears every day, that dare make light of this message, VOL. II.

2 P

just give it a hearing, and return to their farms, their merchandize, and their diversions, as though this unAlas! speakable grace of God called for no return? "How shall we escape, if we neglect this salvation?" Heb. ii. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy." It was dangerous, it was destructive, to refuse him that spoke upon earth; take heed how you trifle with him "that speaketh from heaven!" To such as neglect this, "there remains no other sacrifice "for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of fiery in"dignation, that shall devour the adversaries," Heb. x. Let none of us think it is well with us, merely because we were born and educated in a Christian country, have means of instruction in our hands, and enjoy frequent opportunities of presenting ourselves before God in public worship. To thousands these, so far from being advantages, will greatly aggravate their condemnation, and point the sting of the never-dying worm. were it for us to have been inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, Luke x. yea of Sodom and Gomorrah, than to appear in judgment with no better plea than this. Neither let us speak peace to ourselves, because we are not so bad as others, but perhaps live decently and comfortably, are useful, in society, and perform many things that are commonly called good works. If these works spring from a true love of God, if they are framed according to the rule of his word, if they are performed by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, they are undoubtedly good, and shall be rewarded before men and angels; if otherwise, you have already your reward, in the complacence of your own minds, and the approbation of friends and acquaintance. The Christianity of the New Testament imports more than all this. It is, to believe in Jesus Christ; so to believe in him, as to obey him

Better