am come to accomplish my promife that I made to them concerning their feed; therefore I will be known now to them by the name, I AM THAT I AM. I have all Being in myfelf from eternity, and can give a being to my promife. Here is a good ground for their faith. If we look not to this ground, the greatnefs of the promife will overfet our faith, while the man fays, O! it is too good news to be true? It is too great for me! and fo we reafon ourselves out of our faith: But, O! fee who fays it, and that it is the word of JEHOVAH, and here is firm footing for your faith.

V. The Fifth thing propofed, was the Application of this doctrine, in fome Inferences. Is it fo, that Chrift, the eternal Son of God, did thus cordially engage himfelf to approach unto God in the work and bufinefs of our redemption! Then hence we may infer the following particulars: We may fee,

1. The greatness of our ruin by nature, and the fad cafe that mankind is in; that not one of all the pofterity of Adam can or dare approach unto God, or come under engagements for this end. If we do, we engage ourfelves to what is impoffible to perform, and we approach to a fiery tribunal, where we are doomed to eternal death, unless we come under the wings of this glorious Engager and Approacher to God. This God will fhew no regard to any perfonal bond or engagement of ours: for our perfonal credit is cracked and broken, not only originally in Adam, by the violation of the covenant of works, but actually in our own perfons: we never kept a word that we promised to God; we never kept our engagements to God one day to an end and therefore God will not truft us. I am far from difallowing of perfonal covenanting and engaging, when it is put in its due place; that is, after a man hath once closed with Chrift, as the principal Engager; and then vows, through his grace, and under the covert of his engagement, from gratitude, to ferve the Lord, and walk in his ways: but for all other kinds of engagements, let us know, that God will take none of our bonds without a cautioner. And we are blind, if

we

we do not fee that our credit is cracked: look to our national engagements; our CoVENANTS, NATIONAL and SOLEMN LEAGUE; and fure our national credit is cracked and broken: never a nation was more folemnly engaged to God, and yet never any national engagement was more folemnly broken and buried; the credit of our minifters and people, of our nation and church, are funk into the depth of defection, divifion, error, fecurity, and carnal compliances. And whereas our forefathers tranfmitted to us their pofterity, precious truths, and pure Confeffions of Faith, worthy of the name of Reformers; how are we like to transmit to our pofterity a world of trafh and lumber, inftead of precious treasure? While, among other things, old Reformation principles and doctrines are like to be carried down to fucceeding generations after us, under the tash of wildnefs, new schemes, and Antinomian-cant *.

And

This affair may be feen cleared up, Vol. I. Ser. IV. p. 232. Ser. XX. p. 175. the whole of Ser. XXIII,-XXVII. particularly P. 304, 305. Although among the many peculiarly important and fingularly interefting doctrines of Chriftianity there is fcarce any that hath a greater tendency to promote holiness, than the believer's being freed from the law as a covenant, in point of juftification, in virtue of the meritorious obedience of Chrift in his room; yet, in regard this doctrine is eminently calculated to advance the glory of God, in the manifeftation of the freedom of his grace, and to debafe the creature, in levelling pride and self-confidence, there is hardly any that is more fpurned at than this, in the age we live in, and by none more than the felf-fufficient Legalift, who prides himself in, and vaunts mightily of his legal righteoufnefs: and fo fpeaks, writes, and reafons against the Scripture-doctrine of free juftification through the merits of Chrift: yea, fo much is he in conceit with his legal turn of mind, and external conformity to the law, that he fticks at nothing that he thinks will bring a reproach upon his opponents; and therefore, let their abili ties be never fo great, and their character never so high, he is determined to calumniate their naine, and depreciate their reputation : for this purpose he hesitates at nothing he imagines will gain his end: and hence we find, that introducers of new schemes in Divinity, difturbers of the peace of the church, enemies to holiness, friends to licentiousness, advancers of Antinomianifm, and what not, are the ufual epithets and appeilations we meet with conferred upon them. But what period of the church produced more eminent divines, greater lovers of our Reformation-principles, truer patrons of genuine piety, more fhining examples of true holiness, greater promoters of external purity, and stronger oppofers of licentiousness, than the friends to VOL. II.

the

And as we ought to be humbled this day, for the breach of our National Covenant and Solemn League; fo we may fee what is neceffary, in order to the reviving of a Covenanted Work of Reformation, and of our Solemn Engagements, even that the generation be brought to acquaintance with Chrift, as the firit and foremost Engager in their room; and then, that, under the acceptable covert of his engagement, they come under obligations, through his grace, to approach unto God, by returning to him and to their duty. O that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Chrift, were poured out for this end! However, as our national engagements are fadly broken, fo look to your baptifmal engagements, your communion engagements, and all your other particular engagements to duty; and fee, that as our national, fo our perfonal credit is cracked; for an evil heart of unbelief caufes your departure from the living God, every hour of the day. And this is fuch an univerfal difeafe, that there is not one of Adam's race that God can now trust, without a cautioner, nor allow to approach to him, without a mids-man.

2. Hence fee the glorious excellency of Chrift, and the fufficiency of this wonderful Engager for his people, in that he was able to approach to an offended God, and able to ftand there in the finner's ftead, and to plead for their good; able to ftand the trial of infinite holiness and impartial juftice, and, where nothing was to be forgiven, was able to fatisfy all that the law and juftice could demand, and to finish every thing that was neceffary to be done, in reference to man's falvation, and the work of redemption. O fee his glory! fee his glory! O glorious Engager, glorious Approacher! Behold his glory, and the glory of God in

him!

the Marrow-doctrine, of dying to the law, in point of juftification, in order to living unto God in point of fanctification were, who were, and still are thus in peached?-But they being fully perfuaded, that this is a doctrine agreeable to the infpired Writings, and peculiarly calculated to promote holiness, [Gal. ii. 19. Titus ii. 11, 12.] they bore all this unjust calumny and defamation patiently, accounting it their greatest honour to suffer reproach for the truth's fake.

him! If you fee any thing of this glory to captivate you, then, The God, who commanded light to fhine out of darknefs, hath fhined in your hearts, to give you the light of the knowledge of his glory, in the face of Jefus Chrift."

3. Hence fee what is the gofpel-way of a finner's engaging to duty, and approaching to God: Why, it is jult to take on with this Engager, and fo to engage under him; and to take on with this bleffed Approacher, and to approach to God in him. In the old covenant of works, man got a flock of created grace in his own hand; and if he mil-fpent his flock, and became bankrupt, he was to anfwer for himfelf; he had no furety or cautioner to ftand up for him, or to pay his debt, or to approach to God for him: but the covenant of grace is better ordered than fo, and therefore called a better teflanrent, whereof Chrift is the Mediator, in whofe hand the principal flock is; and whatever fmall measure of grace believers have beftowed upon them, yet their flock can never be fpent, and they can never break, or become liable to a law-purfuit, for the Cautioner keeps them and their flock both; and he being the Engager, they may engage to do any thing, yea, all things, upon this score; " I can do all things, through Chrift ftrengthening me:" and he being the leading Approacher to God, they may approach to God with boldnefs, when he goes before them; "We have boldness to enter into the holieft, by the blood of Jefus. Here then is a teft of right engagements; you cannot be trufted, if you engage alone; you must match with one that can make good your engagements. In your common affairs in the world, you know that no man will take a perfon's bond or engagement for a fum of money; for example, if he know the perfon to be infolvent, that can never make payment, but rather is always taking on more and more debt; but if that perfon, be he never fo poor himfelf, will provide you a fufficient cautioner, that will give his bond of furetifhip for him, then you will accept of the perfon's bond under this cautionry; becaufe, though the principal, whom you have good ground to fufpect, fhould break the next

Cc 2

hour,

hour, and become utterly infolvent, yet you are fecure, because you can pursue the cautioner when you will, upon his engagement and bond of furetiship. Well, juft fo is it here; poor broken bankrupt that thou art, there is no trufting of thy bond or engagement; God will not truft any of the race of Adam; fince the time that he brake, when he violate his firft covenantengagement. Nay, the Lord knows, you are so far from being able to pay your debt, that you are but every moment taking on more and more; but, be you never fo poor and infolvent, if you once accept Chrift for your Cautioner, then God will accept of any bond off your hand, that hath his name as the Engager in it; for, if you fail, your Cautioner is liable, and he is a rich and opulent Cautioner, fponfable enough; and God feeks no better than his bond, though you be never fo unable to pay: yea, God reckons himfelf fecure, and that all fhall be well enough paid, when Chrift is the Cautioner and Engager, accepted by you. He is fecured of his honour; obedience to his law is fecured, fatisfaction to his juftice is fecured, glory to all his attributes is fecured: and herein lies the triumph of faith, over all charges and challenges from the law or justice of God, Rom. viii. 33, 34. What is the charge? Why, fays the law, you owe me a debt of obedience; yea, says justice, and you owe me a debt of fatisfaction, because of your difobedi. ence nay, but fays bold faith, you may produce what charges you will, but there is a discharge to counterbalance it. If you had my fingle perfonal bond for payment, then I confefs I would be liable; but as I can elude any law-purfuit against me, with the defence of my Cautioner's full payment in my room, fo if you have any thing further to say against me, go to my Cautioner, who is engaged for all: he is able to answer all that you can fay: and therefore let all challengers and him reckon the matter betwixt them.-In a word, right engagement is to engage upon Chrift's engagement.-What is that? It is juft, as it were, to lay a wager upon Christ's head. I will wager upon his head, that I will get to heaven, in fpite of all the devils in hell; I will wager upon his head, that the head of the ferpent fhall be bruifed; I will

wager