And are not these great points, of a very sublime nature, containing the very vitals of gospel revelation ? Can ministers preach, print too much of them ? Can private Christians hear, read, meditate too much of them ? Oh, they are the to, ^cWt], ' the deep things of God/ in which is manifested the 7ro\v7rolKiXo<; ao(f)ia, ' the manifold wisdom of God/ which ' the angels desire to look into/ which are the wonder
416 TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
and astonishment of heaven, which put such a transcendent excellency upon the knowledge of Christ. iShould we not, therefore, thankfully receive and diligently peruse all discourses that may clear up our light in and about these profound mysteries ? I hope the consideration hereof will make these sermons acceptable to many gracious souls. They all hanging upon this string, and pointing to this argument (of what Christ is, has done, suffered, and procured for believers), they are not unfitly put together, and printed by themselves, in this small volume.
Several of the points mentioned are controversial ; for a long track of time there has been hot disputes about them. What volumes pro and con have been written, both by ancient and modern divines, about them ! But our reverend author does not so much concern him- self in what is polemical and controversial, but chose rather in a j^lainer way (as best suiting with sermon-work) to assert and prove the truth by scriptural testimonies and arguments : and that he has done to the full.
Eeader, whoever thou art into whose hands these sermons shall come, let me assure thee they are the genuine work of the person whose name they bear. They were copied out from, and according to, his own notes, by one who I am sure would be as exact therein as possibly he could. But how earnestly could I wish, if God had not seen it good to order it otherwise, that the author himself might have lived to have reviewed and polished them ; for what hand so fit to polish the stone as that which cuts it ? But now what is amiss must be left to the understanding reader to discover, and to the candid reader to pardon.
Christian, I commit thee to God ; may he bless thee, and all the labours of his faithful servants (whether living or dead), to the pro- moting of thy spiritual and eternal good. Which he ardently desires, who is, —
Thine to serve thee in our Lord Jesus,
Tho. Jacomb.
REDEMPTION BY CHRIST.
SEEMON I.
In ivhom ice have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. — Col. I. 14.
The apostle, in the former verse, had spoken of our slavery and bond- age to Satan, from which Christ came to deliver us ; now, because sin is the cause of it, he cometh to speak of our redemption from sin : * In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.' Here is — I. The author. II. The benefit.
III. The price.
The point is this : —
Doct. That one principal part of our redemption by Christ is re- mission of sins. Here I shall show you : —
1. What remission of sins is.
2. The nature of redemption.
3. That remission of sins is a part, and a principal part of it. First, What remission of sins is. Both terms must be explained—
what sin is, and what is the forgiveness of sin.
For the first, sin is a violation of the law of the eternal and living God : 1 John iii. 4, ' Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.' God is the lawgiver, who hath given a righteous law to his subjects, under the dreadful penalty of a curse. In his law there are two things — the precept and the sanction. The precept is the rule of our duty, which showeth what we must do, or not do. The sanction or penalty showeth what God will do, or might justly do, if he should deal with us according to tlie merit of our actions. Accordingly, in sin, there is the fault and the guilt.
[1.] The fault : that man, who is God's subject, and so many ways obliged to him by his benefits, instead of keeping this law, should break it upon light terms, and swerve from the rule of his duty, being carried away by his own ill-disposed will and base lusts. It is a great and heinous offence, for which he becometh obnoxious to the judgment of God.
[2.] The guilt : which is a liableness to punishment, and that not VOL. I. '2d
418 KEDEMPTION BY CHRIST. [SeR. I.
ordinary punisliment, but the vengeance of the eternal God, who every moment may break in upon us. Where there is sin, there will be guilt ; and where there is guilt, there will be punishment, unless we be pardoned, and God looseneth the chains wherewith we be bound.
Secondly, Forgiveness of sin is a dissolving the obligation to punish- ment, or a freedom, in God's way and method, from all the sad and woful consequences of sin. Understand it rightly.
[1.] It is not a disannulling the act, as it is a natural action ; such a fact we did, or omitted to do ; factum, infactum fieri nequit — that which is done, cannot be undone. And, therefore, though it be said, Jer. 1. 20, ' The iniquity of Jacob shall be sought after, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found ; for I will pardon them whom I reserve ;' yet that must not be understood as if God would abolish the action, and make it as if it had never been, for that is impossible. But he would pass by, and overlook it as to punishment.