Chrift hath done all for us; that we must be juftified and fayed by the Imputation of his Righteoufnefs, which is made our perfonal Righteouf nefs, whereby we are righteous before God; and that nothing but Faith, and our Truft and Affiance in Chrift for Salvation, is neceffary to make his Righteoufness ours: That it is very injurious to the Grace of God, and to the Merits of Chrift, to make our own Righteousness and good Works any Condition of our Juftification. I will not difpute this now, but will attribute as much to Free-Grace of God, and the Merits of Chrift, in the Juftification and Salvation of Sinners, as any Man fhall do, without turning the Grace of God into Wantonnefs, and making Chrift the Patron of Wickedness, as well as of wicked Men. The best Man in the World cannot merit the Pardon of his Sins, and Eternal Life, by any thing that he can do; this we entirely and perfectly owe to the Free-Grace of God, and the Merits and Mediation of Chrift, in whofe Name, and for whofe Sake alone we are accepted, with God; and all, whom he will own for his Difciples, and Members of his Body, fhall be owned by God. And this is all Free-Grace, and our own Righteousness and Works have no Share in it; and this all belongs to the first Part of the Covenant, The Lord knows them that are his. But tho' this attributes all to the Free-Grace of God, yet it gives no Encouragement to wicked Chriftians, if they confider the fecond Part of the Covenant, Let every one that nameth the name of Chrift depart from iniquity.

And I hope, that Covenant of Holiness and Obedience, which Chrift makes with all those whom he will redeem, and who wou'd be redeemed by him, does not leffen the Free-Grace of God, in the Covenant of Redemption. It is the Name

and

and Merits of Chrift alone, which recommends us to God for the Forgivenefs of Sins and Eternal Life; but Chrift will recommend none to his Father in his Name and as his Difciples, but those who obey him, who depart from all Iniquity. That we are all juftified in the Name of Chrift, and wholly for his Sake, is an evident Proof of God's Free-Grace to Sinners, and of the Merits and Power of Chrift to fave us: But that he will not own any for his Difciples, nor impute his Merits to them, but only thofe who obey him, is a glorious Manifeftation of his Love to Holinefs, and of admirable Wisdom, in the Redemption of Sinners. Now if thefe be the two Parts of this Covenant, as I have already fhewn, and this Foundation of God ftandeth fure, and can never be changed or alter'd; then none can be faved, but those whom Chrift owns for his, and Christ will own none but those who depart from Iniquity: This excludes all Infidels and wicked Chriftians from all Hopes of Salvation; for Infidels are not his, and wicked Chriftians he will not own.

I need not enlarge on this, which is fo very plain, that it may convince all Men who will but confider it, that the Name and Merits of Chrift will stand them in no ftead, without an univerfal Obedience to his holy Laws. For if Christ will not know, and own them at the laft Judgment, as he certainly will not, notwithstanding the FreeGrace of God, and the Merits of Chrift, they muft perifh for ever.

This is the Covenant of Redemption, which God has made with his Son Jefus Chrift, and, in him, with all Mankind. And can we poffibly have a greater Affurance of the Forgivenefs of Sins, and Immortal Life, than an exprefs Covenant and Promife Seal'd with the Blood of the Son of God? I obferv'd before, that an exprefs Promife of Immortal

mortal Life gives us a much greater Security, tham any other Arguments can do without a Promise: But a Promife confirmed with all the Solemnities of a Covenant, efpecially with fuch a Mysterious Solemnity as the Blood of the Son of God, has a more Sacred and Inviolable Sanction than a bare Promife.

For we muft obferve, that this Covenant is originally God's Covenant with his Son, not a mere Promife to us: And we cannot fufpect that God will break his Covenant with his own Son. Thus God exprefly promises in the 53d Chapter of Ifaiah; When thou shalt make his Soul an Offering for Sin, he fhall fee bis Seed, he shall prolong his Days and the Pleafure of the Lord ball profper in his Hand. He fhall fee of the travel of his Soul, and fhall be fatisfied: by his Knowledge hall my righteous Servant justify many, for he shall bear their Iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a Portion with the great, and he fhall divide the Spoil with the ftrong; because he hath poured out his Soul unto Death: and was number'd with the Tranfgreffors; and he bare the Sins of many, and made Interceffion for the Tranfgreffors; v. 10, 11, 12. This is God's exprefs Covenant with his Son, that if he fhould become Man, and die a Sacrifice for Sin, he could redeem Mankind from Death, and be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that believe. This Chrift has actually done, and therefore is by Covenant and Promise the Saviour of Sinners. And God has already in part accomplish'd that Promise he made him, that he should fee of the Travel of his Soul, and be fatisfied, in the Converfion of fo great a Part of the World to the Faith and Obedience of the Crucified Jefus. Thus as a Reward of his Obedience, God promises to advance him to great Power and Glory; Yet have I fet my King upon my holy Hill of Sion. I will de

clare

clare the Decree: The Lord hath faid unto me, Thou art my Son, this Day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I fhall give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and the utmost parts of the Earth for thy Poffeffion; Pfal. ii. 6, 7, 8. The like we find in the 110th Pfalm: The Lord faid unto my Lord, fit thou at my right Hand, until I make thine Enemies thy footflool. The Lord fhall fend the Rod of thy Strength out of Sion; rule thou in the midst of thine Enemies. Thy People fhall be willing in the Day of thy Power, in the beauties of Holiness; from the Womb of the Morning, thou haft the dew of thy Youth. The Lord hath fworn, and will not repent, thou art a Prieft for ever after the Order of Melchifedeck; v. I, 2, 3, 4. And this we fee alfo actually accomplifhed in the Refurrection of Chrift from the Dead, and his Afcenfion into Heaven, where he fits at the Right Hand of God, and lives for ever to make Interceffion for us. All Power both in· Heaven and Earth is committed to him; for God hath raifed him from the Dead, and fet him at his own right Hand in the heavenly Places, far above all Principality, and Power, and Might, and Dominion, and every Name that is named, not only in this World, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his Feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is his Body, the Fulness of him that filleth all in all; Ephef. i. 20, 21, 22, 23. This is a great deal more than a mere Covenant and Promife; for here we see the actual Accomplishment of this Covenant in all its Parts, as far as it can be accomplished before the Day of Judgment. Chrift has made his Soul an Offering for Sin, and God hath raised him from the Dead, and fet him at his own Right Hand; exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour, a Prieft for ever after the Order of Melchifedeck. And when we fee the Atonement and Expiation made, and our

Saviour advanc'd to great Glory and Power, to protect and govern his Church on Earth, and to be the Judge both of the Quick and Dead; no Man can poffibly doubt, whether he will at the last Day raise the Dead, destroy all the Enemies of his Kingdom, and reward all his faithful Difciples, as he has promised, with Eternal Glory.

But befides this, we fee the actual Redemption of Human Nature in the Perfon of Chrift, in what he hath done and fuffered for us; which is more than a mere Covenant and Promise to redeem Sinners: We fee the Reconciliation of Human Nature to God, in the Incarnation of Chrift; we fee the Law fatisfied, and Death conquered, in the Death and Refurrection of Human Nature in the Perfon of Chrift; as I have fhewn at large.

Thus the Afcenfion of Chrift into Heaven in Human Nature, as the Reward of his Death and Sufferings, fhewed how far the Expiation of his Death reaches; for he carries his Blood into Heaven, the True Holy Place, there to appear in the Prefence of God for us, as our great High-Prieft.

When we know that our Saviour is afcended in Human Nature into Heaven, this affures us that we also fhall afcend into Heaven, and be where he is, and behold his Glory. Human Nature in the Perfon of Chrift is already in Heaven; and why fhould Human Nature afcend into Heaven, if good Men fhould never follow? For Chrift told his Disciples, that he should go before to Heaven, to prepare a Place for them, and would come again and receive them to himself, that where he is, there may they be also.

This is the Gofpel-Evidence of Immortality: And whoever heartily believes the Gofpel, hath little lefs than an ocular Demonftration of Immortal Life. For we see our own Immortality in

the