act of worship, but by the mediation of the Son; and put all your prayers as into his hand, that he may present them to the Father.'

There is no hoping for any thing from God to sinners, but by Christ: and therefore there is no speaking to God but by him not only in his name, but also by his mediation: and this is the exercise of his priesthood for us, by his heavenly intercession, so much spoken of by the Holy Ghost in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need;" Heb. iv. 14. 16.

Direct. 10. Hear every word of Scripture precept; and ministerial exhortation (consonant to the Scripture) as sent to us by Christ, and from the Father by him, as the appointed Teacher of the church.'

Hear Christ in his Gospel and his ministers, and hear God the Father in the Son. Take heed of giving only a slight and verbal acknowledgment of the voice of Christ, whilst you really are more taken with the preacher's voice, as if he had a greater share in the sermon, than Christ hath. The voice in the holy Mount, which Peter witnesseth that he heard, was, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him;" 2 Pet. i. 17. "And it shall soul which will not hear that prothat pass, every phet, shall be destroyed from among the people ;" Acts iii. 23. Matt. xvii. 5. "When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which worketh effectually in you that believe;" 1 Thes. ii. 13. "The sheep will follow him, for they know his voice: a stranger they will not follow ;" John x. 4, 5.

come to

Direct. 11. Take every mercy from God as from the hand of Christ; both as procured by his cross, and as delivered by his Mediatory administration.'

It is still supposed that the giving of the Son himself by the Father to this office, is excepted as presupposed. But all subsequent particular mercies, are both procured for us, and given to us, by the Mediator. Yet is it nevertheless from God the Father, nor doth it ever the less, but

the more fully signify his love. But the state of sinners alloweth them no other way of communication from God, for their benefit and happiness, but by one who is more near and capable to God, who from him may convey all blessings unto them. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in things heavenly in Christ;" Ephes. i. 3. “He that spareth not his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom. viii. 32. Through the knowledge of him, the Divine power giveth us "all things that pertain to life and godliness;" 2 Pet. i. 3. God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son; 1 John v. 10, 11. All things are delivered into his hand; John xiii. 3. xvii. 2. Therefore receive every particular mercy for soul and body, as from the blood, and from the present Mediation of Christ, that you may rightly understand it, and have it as sanctified and sweetened by Christ.

Direct. 12. Let faith take occasion by every sin, to renew your sense of the want of Christ, and to bring you to him, to mediate and grant you a renewed pardon.'

Therefore entertain not their mistake, who tell men that all sin, past, present, and to come, is fully pardoned at once (whether it be before you were born in God's decree, or Christ's satisfaction, or at the time of your conversion) nor their's who teach that Christ pardoneth only sins before conversion, but as for all that are committed afterward, he doth prevent the need of pardon, by preventing all guilt and obligation to punishment (except mere temporal chastisement.) The preparation which Christ hath made for our pardon, is in itself sufficient, yea, and effectual as to that end which he would have it attain before our believing : but our actual pardon is no such end: nor can sin be forgiven before it be committed; because it is no sin. Christ never intended to justify or sanctify us perfectly at the first (whatsoever many say to the contrary, because they understand not what they say) but to carry on both proportionably and by degrees, that we may have daily use for his daily mediation, and may daily pray, " Forgive us our trespasses. There is no guilt on them that are in Christ, so far as they "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit;" nor no proper condemnation by sentence or execution at all; because

their pardon is renewed by Christ, as they renew their sins of infirmity but not because he preventeth their need of any further pardon.

Therefore as God made advantage of the sins of the world, for the honouring of his grace in Christ, that grace might abound where sin abounded; Rom. v. 12. 16, 17. So do you make advantage of your renewed sins, for a renewed use of faith in Christ; and let it drive you to him with renewed desires and expectations of pardon by his intercession: that Satan may be a loser, and Christ may have more honour by every sin that we commit. Not that we should sin that grace may abound; but that we may make use of abounding grace when we have sinned. It is the true nature and use of faith and repentance to draw good out of sin itself, or to make the remembrance of it to be a means of our hatred and mortification of it, and of our love and gratitude to our Redeemer: not that sin itself doth (formally or efficiently) ever do any good: but sin objectively is turned into good: for so sin is no sin; because to remember sin is not sin. When David saith, (Psal. li. 3.) that "his sin was ever before him," he meaneth not only involuntarily to his grief, but voluntarily as a meditation useful to his future duty, and to stir him up to all that which afterwards he promiseth.

Direct. 13. In all the weaknesses and languishings of the new creature, let faith look up to Christ for strength.'

For God hath put our life into his hand, and he is our root, and hath promised that we shall live because he liveth; John xiv. 19. Do not think only of using Christ, as you do a friend when you have need of him; or as I do my pen, to write, and lay it down when I have done but as the branches use the vine, and as the members use the head, which they live by; and from which when they are separated, they die and wither; John xv. 1, 2, 3, &c. Ephes. i. 22. v. 27. 30. iv. 4, 5. 12. 15, 16. Christ must even "dwell in our hearts by faith," (Ephes. iii. 17.) that is, 1. Faith must be the means of Christ's dwelling in us by his Spirit; and 2. Faith must so habituate the heart to a dependance upon Christ, and to an improvement of him, that objectively he must dwell in our hearts, as our friend doth whom we most dearly love; as that which we cannot choose but always think on.

membereth that God standeth by: to think as one that knoweth that our thoughts are always in his sight, and to speak and do as one that forgetteth not, that he is the constant and most reverend witness of all. To hear, and pray, and live, and labour as if we saw the God who employeth us, and will reward us; Matt. vi. 4. 6. Isa. lix. 18. Rev. 12. Matt. xvi. 27. Rom. ii. 6.

XX.

Direct. 20. Faith must lay the heart of man, to rest in the will of God, and to make it our chief delight to please him, and quietly to trust him whatever cometh to pass and to make nothing of all that would rise up against him, or entice us from him, or would be to us as in his stead.'

Faith seeth that it is the pleasing of the will of God, which is all our work, and all our reward: and that we should be fully pleased in the pleasing of him: and that there is no other rest for the soul to be thought on, but the will of God and it must content the soul in him alone; 2 Thess. i. 11. Col. iii. 20. 1 Cor. vii. 32. 1 Thess. iv. 1. 2 Tim. ii. 4. Heb. xi. 6. Matt. iii. 17. xvii.5. Heb. xiii. 16. Psal. xvi. 5. lxxiii. 26. cxix. 57.

cxlii. 5.

As God is often called jealous, especially over the heart of man; so faith must make us jealous of ourselves, and very watchful against every creature, which would become any part of the felicity or ultimate object of our souls. God is so great to a believing soul, that ease, and honour, and wealth, and pleasure, and all men high and low must be as dead and nothing to us, when they speak against him, or would be loved, or feared, or trusted, or obeyed before him, or above him. It is as natural to a true life of faith on God, to make nothing of the incroaching creature, as for our beholding the sun, to make nothing of a candle. And thus is faith our victory over the world; 1 John v. 4. Jer. xvii. 5. Isa. ii. 22. 1 Cor. xv. 28. Ephes. iv. 6. Col. iii. 11.

CHAPTER II.

Directions how to Live by Faith on Jesus Christ.

So much is said already towards this in opening the grounds of faith, as will excuse me from being prolix in the rest:

and the following parts of the life of faith, are still supposed as subordinate to these two which go before.

Direct. 1. Keep still the true reasons of Christ's incarnation and mediation upon your mind (as they are before expressed) else Christ will not be known by you as Christ.' Therefore the Scriptures are much in declaring the reasons of Christ's coming into the world, as to be a sacrifice for sin, to declare God's love and mercy to sinners; to seek and to save that which was lost; to destroy devil, &c.; 1 Tim. i. 15. 1 John iii. 8. xix. 10.

Rom. v. 10.

1 John iii. 1.

the works of the Heb. ii. 14. Luke Gal. iv. 4. 6. &c.

Let this name or description of Christ be engraven as in capital letters upon your minds, 'THE ETERNAL WISDOM OF GOD INCARNATE TO REVEAL AND COMMUNICATE HIS WILL, HIS LOVE, HIS SPIRIT TO SINFUL, MISERABLE MAN.'

Direct. 2. See therefore that you join no conceit of Christ, which dishonoureth God, and is contrary to this character, and to God's design.'

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Many by mistaking the doctrine of Christ's intercession, do think of God the Father, as one that is all wrath and justice, and unwilling of himself to be reconciled unto man : and of the second Person in the Trinity, as more gracious and merciful, whose mediation abateth the wrath of the Father, and with much ado maketh him willing to have mercy on us. Whereas it is the love of God which is the original of our redemption, and it was God's loving the world, which provoked him to give his Son to be their Redeemer; John iii. 16. Rom. viii. 32. And God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing to them their trespasses; 2 Cor. v. 19. And therefore we still read of Christ's reconciling man to God, and not the phrase of his reconciling God to man: not but that both are truly wrought by Christ's mediation (for the Scripture frequently speaketh of God's hating the workers of iniquity, and of his vindictive justice, and of that propitiating and atonement which signifieth the same thing); but the reason is, because the enmity began on man's part, and not on God's, by man's forsaking God, and turning his love from him to the creature, and not by God's forsaking man; and the change of man's state and heart towards God, by true reconciliation, will make him again capable of peace with God; and as