receiving of Christ, is the respect that this act of acceptance hath unto the terms upon which Christ is tendered to us in the gospel J, to which it is most agreeable, 1 Cor. xv. 11. " So we preach, and " so ye believed :" Faith answers the gospel-offer, as the impress upon the wax doth the engraving in the seal ; and this is of prin- cipal consideration, for there is no receiving Christ upon any other terms but his own, proposed in the gospel to us; He will never come lower, nor make them easier than they are for any man's sake in the world ; we must either receive him upon these, or part with him for ever as thousands do, who could not be content to agree to some articles, but rather chuse to be damned for ever than sub- mit to all : This is the great controversy betwixt Christ and sinners; upon this, many thousands break off the treaty, and part with Christ, because he will not come to their terms ; but every true believer receives him upon his own, i. e. their acceptance of him by faith, is in all things consentaneous to the overtures made of him in the written word. So he tenders himself, and so they receive him ; as will be evident in the following particulars.
First, The gospel offers Christ to us sincerely and really, and so the true believer receives and accepts him, even with a faith un- feigned ; 1 Tim. i. 5. If ever the soul be serious and in earnest in any thing, it is so in this : Can we suppose the heart of him that flies for his life to the refuge city, to be serious and in earnest to escape by flight the avenger of blood who pursues him ? Then is the heart of a convinced sinner serious in this matter ; for under that notion is the work of faith presented to us, Heb. vi. 18.
Secondly, Christ is offered to us in the gospel entirely and undi- videdly, as clothed with all his offices, priestly, prophetical, and regal ; as Christ Jesus the Lord, Acts xvi. 31. and so the true be- liever receives him ; The hypocrite, like the harlot, is for dividing, but the sincere believer finds the need he hath of every office of Christ, and knows not how to want any thing that is in him.
His ignorance makes him necessary and desirable to him as a prophet: His guilt makes him necessary as a priest : His strong and powerful lusts and corruptions make him necessary as a king: and in truth, he sees not any thing in Christ that he can spare ; he needs all that is in Christ, and admires infinite wisdom in nothing more than the investing Christ with all these offices, which are so suited to the poor sinner's wants and miseries. Look, as the three offices are undivided in Christ, so they are in the believer's acceptance ; and before this trial no hypocrite can stand ; for all hypocrites re-
f Rom. iv. 17. viryxkaarz hi zx. xaoSiag ag ov tfaptdvfyre rvrrov bthayjis. The will like melted metal, is delivered into the gospel-mould, where it receives the same form and figure that the mould gives.
SEEM. Vr. THE METHOD OF GRACE. Hi
ject and quarrel with something in Christ ; they like his pardon better than his government. They call him indeed, Lord and Master, but it is but an empty title they bestow upon him; for let them ask their own hearts if Christ be Lord over their thoughts, as well as words ; over their secret, as well as open actions ; over their darling lusts, as well as others ; let them ask, who will appear to be Lord and Master over them, when Christ and the world come in competition ? When the pleasure of sin shall stand upon one side, and sufferings to death, and deepest points of self-denial, upon the other side? Surely it is the greatest affront that can be offered to the Divine Wisdom and Goodness, to separate in our acceptance, what is so united in Christ, for our salvation and hap- piness. As without any one of these offices, the work of our sal- vation could not be completed, so without acceptance of Christ in them all, our union with him by faith cannot be completed.
The gospel-offer of Christ includes all his offices, and gospel- faith just so receives him ; to submit to him, as well as to be re- deemed by him ; to imitate him in the holiness of his life, as well as to reap the purchases and fruits of his death. It must be an entire receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ *.
Thirdly, Christ is offered to us in the gospel exclusively, as the alone and only Saviour of sinners ; with whose blood and interces- sion nothing is to be mixed ; but the soul of a sinner is singly to rely and depend on him, and no other, Acts iv. 2. 1 Cor. iii. 11. and so faith receives him, Psal. lxxi. 16. "I will make mention of thy " righteousness, even of thine only."" Phil. iii. 9. " And be found " in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, " but that which is through the faith of Christ" To depend partly upon Christ's righteousness, and partly upon our own, is to set one foot upon a rock, and the other in a quick-sand ; either Christ will be to us alj in all, or nothing at all, in point of righte- ousness and salvation ; he affects not social honour ; as he did the whole work, so he expects the sole praise ; if he be not able to save to the uttermost, why do we depend upon him at all ? and if he be, why do we lean upon any beside him ?
Fourthly \ The gospel offers Christ freely to sinners as the gift, not the sale of God, John iv. 10. Isa. Iv. 1. Rev. xxii. 17. and even so faith receives him. The believer comes to Christ with an empty hand, not only as an undeserving, but as an hell -deserving sinner ; he comes to Christ as to one that justifies the ungodly, Rom. iv. 5. " Unto him that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifieth
* A man may as lawfully join saints or angels in his mediation with Christ, as graces. It is gross idolatry to make the works of God a God, and it is but a more subtle idola- try to make the works of Christ a Christ. Burgees de Lege.
112 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. VI.
" the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Where by him that worketh not, he means a convinced, humbled sinner, who finds himself utterly unable to do the task the law sets him, i. e. perfectly to obey it ; and therefore in a law sense is said not to work ; for it is all one as to the intent and purpose of the law, not to work, and not to work perfectly. This is he convinced of, and therefore comes to Christ as one that is in himself ungodly, ac- knowledging the righteousness, by which alone he can stand be- fore God, is in Christ, and not in himself, in whole, or in part ; and by the way, let this encourage poor souls that are scared and daunted for want of due qualifications, for closing with and em- bracing Christ. There is nothing qualifies a man for Christ more than a sense of his unworthiness of him, and the want of all excellencies or ornaments, that may commend him to divine ac- ceptance.