mercy and would not come to him, nor fought nor enquired for his falvation; when he comes, thefe unjust and unholy men fhall be unjust and unholy ftill; an eternal judgment must pass upon them, and they be found unworthy to ftand before the Son of man. As they would not come under the shelter of his crofs and out-ftretched arms, which were ftretched out as the wings of an hen over her young, when the ftorm was coming, they must bear the tempeft and perish in their fin; they hearkened to the enemy, and must be his fervants: 66 they loved not bleffing, therefore it shall be far from them; they delight in curfing, therefore it fhall happen to them; and thefe fhall go away into everlasting punishment." May none here be of that unhappy number! I have now spoken freely of the first principles of Chriftianity, fuch at least as the apoftle mentions to the Hebrews; and will only obferve, that though these are true doctrines, and of great fervice to fuch as are children of God, in that they preferve them who have learned them of the Lord from being toffed about with every wind of doctrine, but they hold fast the form of found words, and are established; yet to have these principles in the head only, and not to know in the heart what true repentance is, faith in our Lord God Jefus, the baptifm of the Holy Ghoft, &c. all his knowledge and foundness of judgment, fhall rather be a hurt to him than a bleffing. My dear brethren, I wifh you heartily to weigh all that has been faid, and to enter into your closet and shut the door after you, and there hold an affize in your own breast before the Lord; examine yourfelves, if you have turned to him unfeignedly and with your whole heart, and repented of your past fins and dead works: If you have indeed left the VOL. II. D world world and its lying vanities, and are dead to all its pleasures, honours, and enjoyments, and with bitternefs have fought forgiveness at his hands against whom you have finned wantonly: or if you know what it is to fee all felf-righteousness a mere Babel, and infufficient to make a foul happy, or clothe its nakedness before God and the angels, and have repented of all your pride in that way, fo that you blush at the remembering your former high thoughts of your goodness and fobriety, and are ashamed in your inmoft heart at the good opinion you have had of yourfelves and of your eftate in Christianity, and of the low and mean thoughts of Jefus and his blood and fufferings, and how you have flighted his love, and neglected to make fure your calling and election, your title and interest to his reft and kingdom :-Yes, my brethren, enter into judgment with your own fouls, and let no one lefs than the Holy Ghoft be your comforter, but fink as poor condemned and guilty criminals before the feet of Jefus Chrift, and there pour out your prayers and tears, there open your afflicted and grieved minds, and let him refresh you; let his Spirit teach you to believe to the faving of your fouls; let him lay his hands on you and bless you; let him fprinkle you from all your idols and cleanse you from all your filthinefs, and make you new and clean hearts, of all which he will be in you the faithful and true witnefs, that fo having repented of dead works, obtained faith in Chrift, and been baptized into his death, &c. ye may cheerfully expect the refurrection and judgment to come, and therein ftand bold as a lion, or as a bride waiting for the bridegroom; till then, prefs forward to know more and more of Jefus and his great facrifice, which is perfection, and in which ye fhall ftand complete in the day of his coming, with great joy, and be found to his glory for ever. Amen. O thou great Bishop and Apostle of our profeffion, whofe doctrines fhall be dearer to me than gold, and more precious than fine gold, inftruct me rightly in all things which concern my eternal fafety. Let me fo hear all thy words and fayings as becomes a believer. Let no human wisdom bias me, or lead me afide from crediting implicitly all thy fcriptures. Let thy Spirit teach me inwardly the true meaning of all thy doctrines; let him write them upon my heart and mind, and give me to ex perience thy truth and faithfulness in all thy gra cious promifes. Grant me true repentance. Make my heart foft and tender and like melted wax, that it may receive every impreffion of thy love. Let me never be disposed to go back into the world, or conform any more to their manners. O rather transform my heart, and let it be devoted wholly to thee. Make me in love with thee. Give me a living faith in thy death and divinity, and let me live affured of thy favour, and die, or rather depart rejoicing in thy falvation. Have a particular care of me, and fo blefs and endue me with thy Spirit, that I may be led fafely, and dwell alone and only for thee in the world. Give me also a part in the firft refurrection, and let not the judgment to come hurt me. Grant this, my good and dear Mafter and Minister Jefus, for thy name fake, that my foul may bless thee for ever. Amen. DISCOURSE XXIII. THE SUFFERINGS AND SATISFACTION OF CHRIST. ISAIAH liii. II. He fhall fee of the travail of his foul, and shall be Satisfied. THE prophet, out of whose writings I have chofen this text, is remarkable for his profound knowledge of an infight into the falvation which, he forefaw, as well as other men of God, who, under the law, fearched diligently what the Saviour fhould be, and what manner of falvation and glory fhould follow the fufferings of Chrift. In this refpect he was highly favoured, and fpoke as if he had been present and cotemporary with our Saviour, and not as one who lived in the days of king Uzziah, and fo far off from the days of the Son of man. The title of the evangelical prophet was not beftowed upon him by the fathers for nothing; for a good part of all his prophecy is the pure gofpel; and there, as well as in the New Teftament, we find all the bleffed doctrine of Jefus Chrift. "Ifaiah faw his glory, and spake of him." This whole fifty-third chapter is well known in Christendom, and relates to the humanity, fufferings and glory of the Meffiah; and as "he was wounded for our fins, and bruised for our tranfgreffions, and by whose stripes we only can be healed," let us now now attend to this weighty fubject, and learn the riches of his grace and everlasting love to us, from the doctrine of his falvation. In the text there are three things to be confidered: First, To fhew who this perfon is, of whom alk these things are spoken. Secondly, What is meant by the travail of his foul. And, Thirdly, What must we understand by his being fatisfied. We frequently meet with expreffions of this kind among the prophets; thus in Daniel we read, "He fhall be cut off, he fhall finifh iniquity." In others, "He fhall redeem Ifrael; he shall dip his cloaths in the blood of grapes, and wash his garments in wine. He thall live; and unto him thall be given of the gold of Arabia. Prayer fhall be made ever unto him; and daily fhall he be praifed. He fhall fprinkle many nations; he fhall be a man of forrows;" and in the text, "He fhall fee of the travail of his foul." All thefe, and many more, certainly relate to the fame perfon; and all the scripture, the law, and the prophets, point to him in every place. This is the glorious He, of whom all have teftified and spoken! The Defire of all nations! The Hope of Jacob! The Meffiah! The King of Ifrael! He, for whom the twelve tribes waited two thousand years, and who was daily expected in his temple to help and fave his people. But who is he? and what is his name? He is the Lord from heaven; his name is Jefus Chrift; or, as Luther fung, 'Tis Jefus Christ indeed; I do not wonder that the Jews had such confused D 3 ideas |