Inf. 3. Is Christ, the mercy of mercies, infinitely better than all other mercies f then let all that be in Christ be content, and well satisfied, whatever other inferior mercies the wisdom of God sees ft to deny them. You have a Benjamin's portion, a plentiful inheritance in Christ ; will you yet complain ? Others have houses, splendid and magnificent upon earth ; but you have " an house made without hands, eternal in the heavens,1' 2 Cor. v. 1. Others are clothed with rich and costly apparel, your souls are clothed with the white, pure robes of Christ's righteousness. Isa. lxi. 10. "I will greatly re-
* Valde protest rj us sujn, me voile sic ab eo satin i Luth.
f For then the devouring flame burns up those whom carnal pleasure pollutes
THE METHOD OF GRACE. SEItM. XI,
" joice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he " hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, he hath covered " me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh him- " self with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels." Let those that have full tables, heavy purses, rich lands, but no Christ, be rather objects of your pity, than envy : it ik better, like store-cattle, to be kept lean and hungry, than with the fatted ox, to tumble in flowry meadows, thence to be lead away to the shambles. God hath not a better mercy to give than Christ, thy portion ; in him all necessary mercies are secured to thee, and thy wants and straits sanctified to thy good. O ! therefore, never open thy mouth to complain against the bountiful God.
Inf. 4. Is Christ the mercy, i. e. he in whom all the tender mer- cies of God towards poor sinners are ; then let none be discouraged in going to Christ, by reason of the sin and unworthiness that are in them : his very name is mercy, and as his name is, so is he. Poor drooping sinner, encourage thyself in the way of faith ; the Christ to whom thou art going, is mercy itself to broken hearted sinners moving towards him in the way of faith ; doubt not that mercy will repulse thee ; it is against both its name and nature so to do. Jesus Christ is so merciful to poor souls that come to him, that he hath received and pardoned the chiefest of sinners; men that stood as remote from mercy as any in the world, 1 Tim. i. 15. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Those that shed the blood of Christ, have yet been washed in that blood from their sin, Acts ii. 36, 37. Mer- cy receives sinners, without exception of great and heinous ones. John vii. 37. " If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." Gospel invitations run, in general terms, to all sinners that are heavy laden, Mat. xi. 28. When Mr. Bilney the martyr heard a minister preaching at this rate, O thou old sinner, who hast been serving the devil these fifty or sixty years ; dost thou think that Christ will receive thee now ? O ! said he, what a preaching of Christ is here ? Had Christ been thus preached to me in the day of my trouble for sin, what had become of me ? But, blessed be God there is a sufficiency both of merit and mercy in Jesus Christ for all sinners, for the vilest among sinners, whose hearts shall be made willing to come unto him. So merciful is the Lord Jesus Christ, that he moves first, Isa. lxii. 1, 2. so merciful, that he up- braids none, Ezek. xviii. 22. so merciful, that he will not despise the weakest, if sincere, desires of souls, Isa. xlii. 3. so merciful, that nothing more grieves him than our unwillingness to come unto him for mercy, John v. 40. so merciful, that he waiteth to the last upon sinners to shew them mercy, Rom. x. 21. Mat. xxiii. 37. in a word, so merciful, that it is his greatest joy when sinners come unto him, that he may shew them mercy, Luke xv. 5, 22.
SERM. XL THE METHOD OF GRACE. £13
Object. But yet it cannot enter into my thoughts that I should obtain mercy.
Sol. First, You measure God by yourselves, 1 Sam. xxiv. 19. "If a man find his enemy, will lie let him go well away ?" Man will not, but the merciful God will, upon the submission of the enemies to him.
Secondly, You are discouraged, because you have not tried. Go to Jesus Christ, poor distressed sinners ; try him, and then report what a Christ thou findest him to be.
Object. But I have neglected the time of mercy, and now it is too late.
Sol. How know you that ? Have you seen the book of life, or turned over the records of eternity ? Or do you not unwarrantably intrude into the secrets of God, which belong not to you ? Besides, if the treaty were at an end, how is it that thy heart is now distress^ ed for sin, and solicitous after deliverance from it ?
Object. But I have waited long, and yet see no mercy for me. Sol. May not mercy be coming, and you not see it ? Or have you not waited at the wrong door ? If you wait for the mercy of God through Christ, in the way of humiliation and faith, and con- tinue waiting, assuredly mercy shall come at last.
Inf. 5. Hath God performed the mercy promised to the Fathers, the great mercy, the capital mercy, Jesus Christ ; then let no man distrust God for the performance qf lesser mercies contained in any other promises qf the scripture. The performance of this mercy- secures the performance of all other mercies to us. For,
First, Christ is a greater mercy than any other which yet re- mains to be performed, Rom. viii. 32.
Secondly, This mercy virtually comprehends all other mercies, 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23.
Thirdly, The promises that contain all other mercies, are ratified and confirmed to believers in Christ, 2 Cor. i. 20.
Fourthly, It was much more improbable that God would bestow his own Son upon the world, than that he should bestow any other mercy upon it. Wait, therefore, in a comfortable expectation of the fulfilling of all the rest of the promises in their seasons. Hath he given thee Christ ? He will give thee bread to eat, raiment to put on, support in troubles, and whatsoever else thy soul or body stands in need of : The blessings contained in all other promises are fully secured by the performance of this great promise; thy pardon, peace, acceptance with God now, and enjoyment of him for ever shall be fulfilled : The great mercy, Christ, makes way for all other mercies to the souls of believers.
Inf. 6. Lastly, How mad are they that part with Christ, the best of mercies, to secure and preserve any temporal lesser mercies to
214 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. XII.
themselves ! Thus Demas and Judas gave up Christ to gain a little of the world ; O soul-undoing bargain ! How dear do they pay for the world, that purchase it with the loss of Christ, and their owh peace for ever !
Blessed be God for Jesus Christ ; the Mercy of mercies.
Containing a third Motive to enliven the general Exhor- tation from a third Title of Christ.
Cant. v. Part of Verse 16. Yea, He is altogether lovely. r