[2.] Come we now to that pleasing view of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' Where we find a twofold design of Chi'ist in his death and bufierings — (1.) He had a noble design/oj- us ; he dealt with God, gave himself for us to him. (2.) He had a design upon us too, that he might purify us to himself. He redeems us from this present world, as well as from wrath to come, Gal. i. 4. Eedeems us from ourselves, as well as from sin and Satan ; takes us not only out of the hands of the law and justice, but out of our own; ' that they who live, should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him that died for them, and rose again,' 2 Cor. v. 15.
Secondly, Because faith is a grace that has always the labouring oar, a grace that bears the heat and burden of the day, that has the world and the evil one to overcome ; and that it may be victorious over those, must first learn to lay hold on God's own strength, and over-
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come him too. And because this grace unites us to Christ, and then draws virtue from Christ to maintain that union, and support the spiri- tual hfe ; and because it ventures far, flies high, and runs great risk, and has therefore great need of good security, let us again read our author's glorious discourses upon Heb. vi. 18, ' TJiat by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.' A word from a God that cannot lie is a sufflcient security for faith to rest upon. Upon this single security we might safely ven- ture the weight of all our souls, the stress of all our concerns. It is upon this alone the apostle, Titus i. 1, 2, encourages us to lay ' the hope of eternal life,' even upon the promise of him that cannot lie. But our gracious God, knowing the weakness of our faith, the fears and jealousies of guilty souls, has added his oath to his word, that from such double security we might have strong consolation. 0 happy souls, for whose sakes God will vouchsafe to swear 1 0 miserable sinners, who will not give credence to a swearing God ! a God that swears by himself, because he has *no greater thing to swear by. Had he sworn by the heavens and earth, they shall perish, and with them the security had perished ; but he swears by himself, ' As I live, saith the Lord ! ' and faith, having got this ground to place its engine upon, is able to overturn the world. What has it not been able to suffer, when divine truth is its warrant? What has it not been able to do when the same truth is its security ? It has ' subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, grew strong out of weakness, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of aliens,' Heb. xi. 33, 34. I will add, it has routed legions of devils, triumphed over death, the grave and hell, challenged the whole world to come in, and 'lay anything to the charge of God's elect ; * for it has a God to justify the believing sinner ; a Christ that died for the sinner once, and ' lives for ever at the right hand of God, to make intercession for him,' Eom. viii. 33, 34. Now then, let faith know its security The oath of man, when yet every man is a liar, puts an end to all controversies amongst men. Let the oath of God, who can no more lie than he can die, put an end to our slavish feai-s, perplexing doubts, all our suspicions of God and his word ; and let the soul return to its rest, for God has dealt graciously with it.
But I have forgot myself, and wronged thee too. Christian reader, whilst we wander, and lose ourselves in these pleasing anticipations. For more abundant satisfaction in these and many important truths,
1 refer thee to the following discourses ; only have patience to be advertised of two or three smaller matters —
1. Best fully assured that; though these pieces are posthumous birth.s, they are not spurious, but the legitimate and genuine offspring of the same father with those that were first-born. They carry the lineaments, the signature, the image of their elder brother, and have been compared line by line, word by word, with the author's manuscripts, by an un- questionable voucher.
2. Let it not offend thee that the same truths, and perhaps in the same words, are repeated, which frequently happens in the course of
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any man's ministry, when the same subject has been formerly handled ; and yet care has been taken, as much as could possibly be, to prevent all nauseousness ; yet sometimes it could not be done, without dis- jointing and mangling the sermons.