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40.

XXIX.

ver. 4.

ver. 12.

SERM. to Him, even because He came into the world, not to do His own, "but the will of the Father which sent Him;" and the Father's will is, that of all which He giveth Him, the John 17.38- Son should lose nothing; "but that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, should have everlasting life." Wherefore, that He will cast out none that come to Him, is as certain as He Himself is true and faithful to Him that sent Him, in doing the work He sent Him about: which He did so effectually, that He positively asserts it to His Father Himself, saying, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." "Those that Thou gavest Me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Judas, whom He here calls the son of perdition, though he seemed to be given to Christ, and to come to Him, yet, as I observed before, he really did not; and therefore, although he was lost, as the Scripture had foretold, yet Christ's Word is still true, that He never casts out, nor loseth any that really come to Him. And as He will never do it Himself, so neither can any one force them from Him: as He Himself also John 10, 27. tells us upon another occasion, saying, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand; for My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.” From whence we may observe, that we have all the security that possibly can be given us, that Christ will never cast out any one man that comes to Him. We have His Word, we have His obedience to His Father's Will, we have His fidelity to the trust reposed in Him, we have Omnipotence itself engaged for it and all that we may firmly believe, and be fully persuaded, as we can be of any thing in the world, that as what our Saviour here saith, "All that the Father giveth, shall come unto Me," is infallibly true; so He will as infallibly perform what He here promiseth, " Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."

30.

I hope there are none here present, who think this to be matter of mere speculation; for there is nothing in the world we are more concerned in, than what we have now heard.

For we cannot but all acknowledge that we have many ways offended the Almighty Creator and Governor of the world, and are therefore liable to all the misery that He can inflict upon us in this life, and to that everlasting fire, which He hath prepared for the Devil and his Angels, in the life to [Matt. 25. 41.] come. Neither is there any way whereby it is possible for us to be saved from it, but only by Jesus Christ. But He, as we have now heard, is as willing as He is able to save us all, and every one of us; we may be confident of it, for we have it from His own mouth, that He will cast out none that come to Him, but will give them every one eternal life. And can we hear and believe this, and not rejoice with [1Pet.1.8.] joy unspeakable and full of glory? Whatsoever others may think, for my part, I think there is no comfort in the world comparable to this, that we have such a Saviour, who is thus always ready to take us under His care, and to give us all things that can any way contribute to our being eternally happy; insomuch, that if it be not our own fault, there is never a one of us, but may hereafter be a glorified Saint in Heaven, equal to the holy Angels themselves, in knowledge, in wisdom, in power, in purity, in estate, in honour, in every thing that can satiate and delight our souls for ever.

But that we may all be so, we must, as we have heard, go to Him by a quick and lively faith in Him, as our only and almighty Saviour; and for that purpose, we must walk in all the ways that lead towards Him: we must exercise ourselves in praying and praising God, in reading and hearing, and meditating upon His Holy Word, in examining ourselves, and receiving that Sacrament which He ordained in memory of that death by which He saves us. It is in the use of these means, that God usually teacheth, and draweth, and giveth us to Christ; and so we go to Him, believing, and trusting on Him as a Prince and a Saviour, to give us repentance and forgiveness of sins, and all things necessary to our obtaining eternal Salvation by Him; which He never fails to do, for those who do not fail to trust on Him for it, for He never casts out any that come to Him. But then we must take care that we do not cast out ourselves, as they do, who renounce their faith, or leave off to believe in Him, and by consequence to come to Him; for this is no transient act, to be done only

SERM.
XXIX.

John 15. 4-6.

once in a man's life; but when it is once begun, it ought to be continued as long as we live and therefore what He here calls "coming to Him," He elsewhere expresses "by John 8. 31. abiding in Him." "And if ye continue in My Word, then," saith He, "are ye My Disciples indeed." Others may seem to come to Him, and to become His Disciples, but they only are so indeed, who continue in His Word; but they who do so, are sure never to be cast out by Him, as sure as His Word is true, who cannot lie.

But why did our Lord say, " Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out?" Doubtless He said it, to encourage all men to come to Him: wherefore, in His Name, I advise and beseech you all to do so, and to do it in good earnest; come off from all indifferency in religion, from all conceit of yourselves, or your own works, from all dependance upon any mere creature, from all your former evil courses, and turn now into the foresaid ways that lead to Christ, and walk directly in them, till ye come up to Him, so as to live for the future wholly under His conduct and discipline, and with a constant belief and trust on Him; on Him only, to save you from your sins, to give you eternal life, and all things necessary in order to it. Do but this, and I dare assure you in His Name, and I may well do it, having His own Word for it, that He will not reject, or cast you out, but will take you into His own particular care, and keep you by His almighty power, through faith, unto Salvation. He will give you repentance, true repentance, not to be repented of; He will give you power to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devil; He will [Tit. 2. 12.] give you grace to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this [Phil.4.13.] present world; so that you shall be able to do all things

[2 Cor. 7. 10.]

through Christ, which strengtheneth you; and then, how many, how great soever your sins have been, He will wash you from them in His own blood: He will discharge and absolve you from them all, as perfectly, as if ye had never been guilty of any one; He will justify you before God, so that you shall for the future be accounted righteous by Him, and your duties all acceptable to Him; He will reconcile His Father to you, and cause the light of His countenance to shine continually upon you: and when you go out of this

20.]

miserable and naughty world, He will take you up to Himself, to live with Him, and His holy Angels, in perfect joy, and bliss, and glory, for ever. All this, I say, He will do ; or rather, not I, but Christ Himself saith it. He did not only say it when He was upon earth, but He saith it also now; for we being here met together in His Name, He, [Matt. 18. according to His Word, is here too, as certainly as we are here; and what He once said with His own Divine mouth, He now saith again by His unworthy servant, He saith to all here present, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." And if the words of Christ Himself, such kind and gracious words as these are, will not encourage and prevail upon you to come to Him, I am sure nothing that I can say will do it; and therefore shall say no more, but only desire you to consider of it before it be too late: and I beseech Almighty God to open your hearts, to incline and draw you to Him, that ye may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

SERMON XXX.

CHRIST THE ONLY MEDIATOR.

SERM.
ΧΧΧ.

1 TIM. ii. 5.

For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

A MEDIATOR between God and men! How can that be? God is infinite and almighty; men are all finite and infirm: God is the great, all-wise Creator of the whole world; men are little silly creatures upon earth: God is most perfectly holy and pure; men are altogether sinful and unclean: God is the Judge, the righteous Judge of Heaven and earth; men are all notorious malefactors, guilty of many horrid crimes against Him, and before Him too. Who then can mediate between them, who are at such a prodigious, incomprehensible, infinite distance from one another? What umpire, or as it is expressed in Job (chap. ix. 33), what “days-man” can be found, betwixt them, that can lay his hand upon both, and so bring them together? Verily, if we look no farther than human reason is able to reach, we cannot see the least shadow of probability that the thing is possible: and yet we have found one can do it; or rather not we, but God Himself hath found out one for us; and hath likewise directed us to Him, assuring us by His Apostle, that as certainly as "there is one God," there is also " "one Mediator between God and men;" and that we may not mistake the person, He tells us who it is, even "the man Christ Jesus."

But "the man Christ Jesus!" how can He do it? If He be only a man, He is at the same infinite distance from God as other men are; how then can He mediate with God?

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