Fifthly, The righteousness of God is in Christ, by which only a poor guilty sinner can be justified before God, 2 Cor. v. 21. we are "made the righteousness of God in him t11 he is lapis mn* " the Lord our righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 6. i. e. " * the author " of our righteousness," or the Lord who justifies us ; by that name he will be known, and called by his people, than which none can be sweeter.
Sixthly, The love of God is in Christ ; vea, the very yearning bowels of divine love are in him : What is Christ, but the love of God wrapt up in flesh and blood ? 1 John iv. 9, 10. " In this Avas " manifested the love of God towards us :" and herein is love, that God sent his Son ; this is the highest flight that ever divine love made ; and higher than this it cannot mount. O love, unparal- leled and admirable !
Seventhly, The mercies and compassions of God are all in Christ, Jude, ver. 21. Mercy is the thing that poor sinners want, it is that they cry for at the last gasp ; it is the only thing that can do them good. O what would they give to find mercy in that great day ? Why, if you receive Christ, you shall with him receive mercy ; but out of him there is no mercy to be expected from the hands of God ; for God will never exercise mercy to the prejudice of his jus- tice ; and it is in Christ that justice and mercy meet and embrace each other.
Eighthly, To conclude, The salvation of God is in Christ, Acts iv. 12. " Neither is there salvation in any other."" Christ is the door of salvation, and faith is the hey that opens that door to men. If you therefore believe not, i. e. if you so receive not Jesus Christ, as God hath offered him, vou exclude yourselves from all hopes of salvation. The devils have as much ground to expect salvation as you. You see what is in Christ to induce you to receive him.
Next, I beseech you, consider what there is in the offer of Christ to sinners, to induce you to receive him. Consider well to whom and how Christ is offered in the gospel.
First, To whom is he offered ; not to the fallen angels, but to you ; they lie in chains of darkness, Jude, ver. 6. as he took not their nature, so he designs not their recovery ; and therefore will have no treaty at all with them : but he is offered to you, creatures of an inferior rank and order by nature ; nor is he offered to the damned, the treaty of peace is ended with them : Christ will never
* Auttremjustitice nostrce, Calv. in loc.
SEItM. VII. TITE METHOD OF GRACE. 137
make them another tender of salvation ; nor is he offered to millions as good as you, now living in the world. The sound of Christ and salvation is not come to their ears, but he is offer- ed to you by the special favour and bounty of heaven ; and will you not receive him ? Oh ! then how will the devils, the damned, and the Heathen upbraid your folly ! and say, had we had one such tender of mercy, of which you have had thousands, we would never have been now in this place of torments.
Secondly, Consider how Christ is offered to you, and you shall find that he is offered,
1. Freely, as the gift of God, to your souls ; you are not to pur- chase him, but only to receive him, Isa. lv. i. " Ho, every one " that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no " money, let him come,11 &c.
2. Christ is offered importunately, by repeated intreaties, 2 Cor. v. 20. " As though God did beseech you, we pray you in Christ's " stead, be ye reconciled to God.1"' O ! what amazing conde- scension is here in the God of mercy ! God now beseeches you, will you not yield to the intreaties of your God ? O then what wilt thou say for thyself, when God will not hear thee, when thou shalt intreat and cry for mercy ? Which brings us to
Motive 3. Consider the sin and danger that there is in refusing or neglecting the present offers of Christ in the gospel, and surely there is much sin in it ; the very malignity of sin, and the sum of all misery lies here ; for in refusing Christ,
1. You put the greatest contempt and slight upon all the at- tributes of God that is possible for a creature to do : God hath made his justice, his mercy, his wisdom, and all his attributes to shine in their brightest glory in Christ. Never was there such a display of the glory of God made to the world in any other way.
O then, what is it to reject and despise Jesus Christ, but to offer the greatest affront to the glory of God that it is possible for men to put upon it ?
2. You hereby frustrate and evacuate the very design and im- portance of the gospel to yourselves ; you " receive the grace of " God in vain," 2 Cor. vi. 1. As good, yea, better had it been for you, that Christ had never come into the world, or, if he had, that your lot had fallen in the dark places of the earth, where you had never heard his name ; yea, good had it been for that man if he had never been born.
3. Hereby a man murders his own soul. " I said therefore " unto you, that you shall die in your sins ; for if ye believe not " that I am he, ye shall die in your sins," John viii. 24. Unbe- lief is self-murder ; you are guilty of the blood of your own souls ; life and salvation were offered you, and you rejected them. Yea>
138 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. VIT.
4. The refusing of Christ by unbelief will aggravate your dam- nation above all others that perish in ignorance of Christ. O, it will be more tolerable for Heathens than for you ; the greatest measures of wrath are reserved to punish the worst of sinners ; and among sinners, none will be found worse than unbelievers.
Secondly, To believers, this point is very useful to persuade them to divers excellent duties ; among which, I shall single out two principal ones, viz.
1. To bring up their faith of acceptance, to the faith of as- surance.
2. To bring up their conversations to the principles and rules of faith.
1. You that have received Jesus Christ truly, give yourselves no rest till you are fully satisfied that you have done so ; acceptance brings you to heaven hereafter, but assurance will bring heaven into your souls now. O, what a life of delight and pleasure doth the assured believer live ! What pleasure is it to him to look back and consider where he once was, and where he now is ? To look for- ward, and consider where he now is, and where shortly he shall be ! I was in my sins, I am now in Christ ; I am in Christ now, I shall be with Christ, and that for ever, after a few days. I was upon the brink of hell, I am now upon the very borders of hea- ven ; I shall be in a very little while among the innumerable com- pany of angels and glorified saints, bearing part with them in the song of Moses, and of the Lamb, for evermore.