:

mises, God will strengthen to wait—this is clear from Psalm xxvii. at the close, Wait on the Lord and when we are Hagar-like, casting away the child of hope, he will open our eyes, and give us refreshment, by which we may be supported under our disquietment, and he shall strengthen thine heart. And there is this, 3. There shall be a speedy accomplishment of the promises: it is not long before all the mercies that ever the Lord hath promised, and thou hast believed, shall be told down to you, as it were, in one sum, principal and interest; as is clear from Hab. ii. 3, where he positively asserteth, That the vision shall come, and will not tarry. There is indeed a pleasant seeming contradiction in that verse; he had said before, that the vision would tarry, and yet here he saith, that the vision will not tarry, but will surely come; in which we may see the divinity both of sense and faith, and that noble contradiction that is between their assertions. Sense asserteth, that the promise doth tarry too long; and faith crieth out,-it will surely come, it will not tarry,-which is set down, 2d Pet. iii. 9, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. 4. Promises that come unto us through the most strong and lively exercise of faith, and that are expected and longed for by us before they come, are most relishing and sweet, and those mercies come unto us with a binding tie of love-this is somewhat pointed at in Isa. xxv. 9, where the Church crieth out, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, we will be glad, and rejoice in his salvation. Their waiting and expecting the promise to be accomplished in its time, is there the fountain of their song, and of their spiritual joy. I think sometimes a Christian is like that misbelieving lord, 2d Kings vii. 2, that though he meets with the accomplishment of a promise, yet he does not taste of the sweetness that is in it, because he did not believe the word of the Lord.

I

The second duty that we would press from what we have spoken is, that Christians would close with the promises for their everlasting inheritance; since the promises of the covenant are exceedingly great, and exceedingly precious, and the advantage that lieth in them is unspeakable. O! should not these things proclaim aloud unto us,-close with the promises as your portion for ever? think, one that hath a right unto the promises, and hath entered himself heir unto the vast inheritance, may sometimes rejoice in that threefold mystery of the gospel, that, to a natural man, can hardly appear other than a contradiction :-1. He may say sometimes,-I have nothing, and yet, I possess all things: for, when he looketh unto his being in the world, he is a poor Lazarus, having no place whereon to lay his head; but when he casteth his eyes upon his spiritual inheritance, then he beholdeth his treasure, and is constrained to cry out,-I possess all things. 2. Sometimes he may cry out, I am rich, and yet I am exceedingly poor: he may be rich in hopes, and yet be poor in his possessions. There is much of a Christian's treasure that lieth in hope: hope is that thing that will make a Christian sweetly quit all other in comparison of that: that is the motto of a Christian, spero meliora, which he holdeth up in his flag, even in the greatest storm, and at length he findeth it

true, that hope maketh not ashamed. 3. Sometimes the Christian will cry out,-I am always sorrowing, and yet always rejoicing: when he casteth his eye upon himself, he will sit down and water his couch with tears; but when with the other eye he reflecteth upon Jesus Christ, he will rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. A Christian can both weep and rejoice at one time, and again he can rejoice and weep. No doubt, the reflecting upon the immense hope, and that everlasting crown, will make a Christian rejoice under all his disquietments and anxieties in the world-he can look to the back of time, and behold a glorious inheritance. Christians have the eye of an eagle, that can behold and discern things afar off.

The third duty that we would press upon you is, to long for the day when all the promises of the covenant of grace shall receive their complete accomplishment, and when ye shall be entered into the everlasting fruition of all the things wherein your blessedness lieth. There is a threefold come that Christ speaketh to the soul that is united unto him, all which it sweetly obeys. There is that first come, which is in Matth. xi. 28,-Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden. And there is that second come, Isa. xxvi. 20,-Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, which is to entertain that excellent correspondency with him in troublesome times. And there is that third matchless come, when Christ shall say to his own in that day of their standing before the tribunal,Come, O blessed of my Father. Shall we say it, that if we had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, we would cry forth,-why are his chariots so long in coming? And did we relish, or make a high account of the matchless promises of the boundless covenant, we would cry forth,-O that our time would flee away, as the ships of desire! I shall say no more but this,-Christ is gone up with a shout unto heaven, and shall come again with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises,-sing praises unto our God, sing praises.

The last thing that we would press upon you is, that ye would mark the time of the accomplishment of the promises. And as to this, I shall say but these:-1. That ordinarily the time of the accomplishment of the promises is in the time when sense, reason, and probability do most contradict them: this is clear from Ezek. xxxvii., in fulfilling of the promises that were passed to Judah in their captivity. Was it not when they were as a valley of dead bones, and their hopes were, in a manner, cut off for their part?. from the 11th verse of that chapter, compared with the 12th. 2. That the time of the accomplishment of the promises ordinarily is from Daniel ix. 2, 3, and from Jer. xxix. 12, compared, a praying time: this is also clear with the 10th and the 12th,-Thus saith the Lord, the time when he shall visit them, and perform his good word unto them, in causing them to return, shall be a time, when they shall call upon me, and shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto them. 3. The time of the accomplishment of his promises, is a time when our thoughts of the promises are high and large; when once we begin to value our mercies, this is a sign that our mercy is near, and bringeth forth. However, it is our duty to wait

on him, who can give a being unto his word, and sweetly perform his promises. We ought not to limit infinite wisdom, nor to say to him that is infinite in strength, how can such a thing be? But answer all objections of misbelief with this,-God hath spoken it, and he will also do it; and draw all objections of misbelief in that glorious and mysterious name of his,-I AM THAT I AM. To Him be praise.

A

SERMON

CONCERNING THE

USEFULNESS OF FAITH,

IN ADVANCING

SANCTIFICATION.

ACTS xxvi. 18.-To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in

me.

WHEN first we did begin our discourse upon the precious and excellent grace of faith, we told you that we intended to speak of it under a twofold notion and consideration. First, As it layeth hold upon Christ for justification; and of this we have spoken to you at some length, as ye have heard. Secondly, As it closeth with Christ for sanctification; and of this we are now to speak, which is a part of that excellent oration and discourse that Paul had before Agrippa in his own defence; in which oration and discourse of his, ye may behold these four things eminently shining :—1. That godliness and good manners are not inconsistent, nor contrary one to another; therefore, ye will see, in the second and third verses of this chapter, Paul acting the part of a courtly orator; and believe it, there is more good manners to be learned by being seven days in the school of Christ, than by being seven years in all the courts of France. 2. That innocent policy he made use of in the deliverance of this oration, which likewise doth appear in the second and third verses of this chapter, where he endeavours to insinuate and ingratiate himselfin the favours of the person before whom he had stood. I confess piety is the best policy-that policy that is taken up in entertaining piety. Howbeit, true policy may move in one orb and sphere with piety; and the one is not contrary to the other in some cases. This shineth in that discourse, even the spiritual boldness Paul had, in giving an excellent confession of his faith, and declaring him to be God, even Jesus Christ, in whom he did believe: Christ witnessed a glorious confession before Pontius Pilate for him, and he would witness a glorious confession before Agrippa for Christ; that since Christ had not denied him in that notable day, he would not

3.

now deny precious Christ in this day; and this is from the begin. ning and all along. Lastly, This shineth in the words that Paul doth set forth, the matchless freedom and unspeakable riches of Christ, not only toward himself, in that he did cast the lot of everlasting love toward him, but likewise toward the Gentiles, to whom he was sent as a preacher, and that he did gloriously condescend to visit the dark places of the earth, and to have the morning and the day-spring from on high, arising on the habitations of cruelty. And in this verse which we have read, you may behold these five glorious ends of the preaching of the gospel, for the attaining of which, ministers are made instruments under God.-The first is, To open the eyes of the blind, which, in short, is even this, to give those that are ignorant of God the spiritual knowledge of the deep mysteries of the Father, and of the Son: so that, from this ye may see, that the gospel hath a kind of omnipotency in producing effects above the power of nature.

The second we may see in these words, to remove them from darkness to light; which importeth these two:-1. The removing of persons from an estate of misery, unto an estate of excellent joy. 2. The removing of persons from an estate of iniquity, unto an estate of holiness: darkness in Scripture pointeth out sin, and light in Scripture pointeth out holiness. Thirdly, The bringing us from under the power of Satan unto God,—the making a blessed exchange of captivity and bondage; that those who were under the captivity of Satan, may be under the captivity of love; that those who were under the bondage of sin, may be under the sweet obedience of Christ, whose yoke is easy, and whose burden is light, Matth. xi. 30. Fourthly, That persons may receive the remission of sin, and the forgiveness of their iniquity: this is the great voice of the gospel,come to a crucified Christ, come to a pardoning Christ, come to a glorified Christ, who hath the pardon of iniquity in his own hand, and the riches of himself in the other. And these are the great motives by which he studieth to persuade us to come. And the last is in the close of the verse, that persons may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me; that is, that they may have a share of that glorious mansion, of that excellent kingdom that Christ hath purchased, and hath gone before to prepare. And withal, in this verse, as the words are set down, ye may see the excellent and orderly method that the gospel keepeth in conquering souls, and you may see these excellent allurements, these persuasive arguments, that Christ holdeth forth to conquer you: as it were, Christ cometh not to us clothed with the robes of majesty, but clothed with the robes of love and advantage, knowing that in this posture he shall most gain our hearts.

Now, in speaking unto that last end of the preaching of the gospel, we shall only, according to our present purpose, take notice of this one thing from it, (not intending to prosecute it, as it is an end of the gospel, but as it is a property of faith,) and it is that,—faith in Jesus Christ hath a noble, excellent influence upon the growth of sanctification, and the attaining of holiness:- They are sanctified, saith he, through faith in me. We shall not stand long to clear