For ever happy those who in that day have been justified by believing in Jesus, they shall then bless the day that ever they were born; they shall bless especially the day in which they heard of the free justification by Christ Jesus: for the Lord the righteous judge, namely, their own dear Lord and Saviour, shall pass the eternal judgment in their favour. No iniquity shall be seen in them for his name's sake, in which they have trusted; "they shall be saved with an everlasting salvation;" and for his death's sake, in which they have believed, he shall save their souls and bodies for ever alive. As they loved him in the world, so they shall be with him in the worlds to come, and shall see his face, be his bride and wife, his children, his brethren, his favourites, his first-born; and like as in the earth his crucified body was their happiness, and they delighted in looking on him, his reproach and shame and sufferings were dear to them, and they could venture upon him body and soul, and chose him for their Lord God alone, so shall he continue their glory eternally. They shall not be disappointed; they shall follow him whithersoever he goeth, and go no more out of his temple.

It shall not be so with unbelievers, and men who have been fearful and could not trust the Lamb of God, they shall be ashamed at his coming; and all such as have loved their sins more than the Redeemer, who did despite to the Spirit of grace, and who would not be led by him to the Saviour; but, contrary to all his tender calls and loving convictions, rushed forward, trampling upon the blood of the Son of God and slighting it as if it had been a common thing; such will rue and repent that behaviour; so will they who have rather trusted their own works than his obedience, who denied his divinity and Godhead, and all who have resisted his

mercy

and would not come to him, nor sought nor mercy enquired for his salvation; when he comes, these unjust and unholy men shall be unjust and unholy still; an eternal judgment must pass upon them, and they be found unworthy to stand before the Son of man. As they would not come under the shelter of his cross and out-stretched arms, which were stretched out as the wings of an hen over her young, when the storm was coming, they must bear the tempest and perish in their sin; they hearkened to the enemy, and must be his servants: "they loved not blessing, therefore it shall be far from them; they delight in cursing, therefore it shall happen to them; and these shall go away into everlasting punishment." May none here be of that unhappy number!

I have now spoken freely of the first principles of Christianity, such at least as the apostle mentions to the Hebrews; and will only observe, that though these are true doctrines, and of great service to such as are children of God, in that they preserve them who have learned them of the Lord from being tossed about with every wind of doctrine, but they hold fast the form of sound 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 Jesus, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, &c. all his knowledge and soundness of judgment, shall rather be a hurt to him than a blessing.

My dear brethren, I wish you heartily to weigh all that has been said, and to enter into your closet and shut the door after you, and there hold an assize in your own breast before the Lord; examine yourselves, if you have turned to him unfeignedly and with your whole heart, and repented of your past sins and dead works: If you have indeed left the

world

world and its lying vanities, and are dead to all its pleasures, honours, and enjoyments, and with bitterness have sought forgiveness at his hands against whom you have sinned wantonly: or if you know what it is to see all self-righteousness a mere Babel, and insufficient to make a soul happy, or clothe its nakedness before God and the angels, and have repented of all your pride in that way, so that you blush at the remembering your former high thoughts of your goodness and sobriety, and are ashamed in your inmost heart at the good opinion you have had of yourselves and of your estate in Christianity, and of the low and mean thoughts of Jesus and his blood and sufferings, and how you have slighted his love, and neglected to make sure your calling and election, your title and interest to his rest and kingdom Yes, my brethren, enter into judgment with your own souls, and let no one less than the Holy Ghost be your comforter, but sink as poor condemned and guilty criminals before the feet of Jesus Christ, 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 saving of your souls; let him lay his hands on you and bless you; let him sprinkle you from all your idols and cleanse you from all your filthiness, and make you new and clean hearts, of all which he will be in you the faithful and true witness, that so having repented of dead works, obtained faith in Christ, and been baptized into his death, &c. ye may cheerfully expect the resurrection and judgment to come, and therein stand bold as a lion, or as a bride waiting for the bridegroom; till then, press forward to know more and more of Jesus and his great sacrifice, which is perfection, and in which ye shall stand 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 profession, whose doctrines shall be dearer to me than gold, and more precious than fine gold, instruct me rightly in all things which concern my eternal safety. Let me so hear all thy words and sayings as becomes a believer. Let no human wisdom bias me, or lead me aside from crediting implicitly all thy scriptures. 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 experience thy truth and faithfulness in all thy gracious promises. Grant me true repentance. Make my heart soft and tender and like melted wax, that it may receive every impression 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 assured of thy favour, and die, or rather depart rejoicing in thy salvation. Have a particular care of me, and so bless and endue me with thy Spirit, that I may be led safely, and dwell alone and only for thee in the world. Give me also a part in the first resurrection, and let not the judgment to come Grant this, my good and dear Master and Minister Jesus, for thy name sake, that my soul may bless thee for ever. Amen.

hurt me.

DISCOURSE XXIII.

THE SUFFERINGS AND SATISFACTION OF CHRIST.

ISAIAH liii. 11.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.

THE prophet, out of whose writings I have chosen this text, is remarkable for his profound knowledge of an insight into the salvation which he foresaw, as well as other men of God, who, under the law, searched diligently what the Saviour should be, and what manner of salvation and glory should follow the sufferings of Christ. In this respect he was highly favoured, and spoke as if he had been present and contemporary with our Saviour, and not as one who lived in the days of king Uzziah, and so far off from the days of the Son of man. The title of the evangelical prophet was not bestowed upon him by the fathers for nothing; for a good part of all his prophecy is the pure gospel; and there, as well as in the New Testament, we find all the blessed doctrine of Jesus Christ. "Isaiah saw his glory, and spake of him."

This whole fifty-third chapter is well known in Christendom, and relates to the humanity, sufferings and glory of the Messiah; and as "he was wounded for our sins, and bruised for our transgressions, and by whose stripes we only can be healed," let us

now