by the gofpel; for ignorance of God, where the gospel-light fhines, will be punished with a double vengeance; Chrift will come, "in flaming fire, to take vengeance on all them that know not God, and obey not the gospel."

2. I was telling you, that this year of exhibit redemption the throne of grace is fet up among a people, and proclamations of grace iffued forth from it to the wretched, miferable, blind, and poor, and naked. And therefore, O let me befeech you to come to this throne of grace," that ye may obtain mer cy, and find grace to help you in time of need " And let not a sense of fin and unworthinefs keep you back; for a throne of grace is not made for the worthy, but for the unworthy, it is made for beggars, for bankrupts, for thefe that are undone, and the throne of grace has its ftanding by liberality.

3. This year God is planting his batteries against the high imaginations of the heart, and fummons rebels to furrender their hearts unto him. And therefore open the gates, faying, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye ever lafting doors, and the King of glory fhall come in."

4. This year Jacob's ladder is set up that reaches to heaven. And therefore let every man try if he can scale heaven by it, in order to recover that glory and happiness which we all loft, by the fin of the firft Adam.

5. This year the fountain of the great deeps of the love of God in Chrift are broken up, good-will toward man upon earth is proclaimed. And therefore let every man cast himfelf into the arms of a God of love and mercy: "How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the fons of men fhall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings."

6. This year God reveals, and brings near his righteousness to you who are guilty criminals; in this year the righteousness is revealed, offered, prefented to you. And therefore take the benefit of it, fubmit to it, put it on, that you may stand in judgement.

7. This year the fruits and leaves of the tree of life are fcattered and fhaken in our valley of vifion. And therefore ga ther, apply, and eat, that you may be filled and healed; O taste of the bunches of the grapes of the true vine, and your fouls fhall live; O apply the healing leaves of his promifes, that you may partake of the good promised.

!

8. This year the pure river of water of life runs from under the throne of God, it runs even in our streets and broad ways. And therefore "whofoever will, let him come and drink:" Oh poor dying finner, tafte but of this water, and it shall be in thee " well of water fpringing up unto everlasting life." the manna of heaven is rained down, God's

9. This

a

year

banqueting

banqueting houfe is opened, he is making to you a feast of fat things. And therefore, O ftarving finner, come and take, and eat and drink abundantly; for there is bread enough here, and to fpare: and as every man and woman in the camp had a right to gather the manna, fo has every foul a right to take Chrift, and to eat his flesh, and drink his blood, by an applying faith to make use of him for wisdom, righteousness, fanctification, and redemption.

10. This year the city of refuge is ftanding open, that every finner that has flain his foul by fin may flee in for shelter from avenging wrath. And therefore, O turn in to your stronghold, for you are prifoners of hope; you have as good a right to flee to Chrift for fhelter, as ever the manflayer had to run to the city of refuge: and, let me tell you, all refuge will fail you but this only; none of the other cities of Ifrael, nor yet the man's own home, could be a shelter to him; so here.

11. Lafly, This year Chrift's teftament and latter-will is opened, and opened to all the hearers of the gofpel, and every man allowed and required to put in for his share of the lega cies, yea, to claim the whole legacies of the teftament. And therefore, O let us enter, "left a promise being left us of entering into his reft, any of us should seem to come short of it;" O fet to your feal to the teftament by believing, which Chrift has fealed with the blood of his heart; and let not unbelief or Satan cheat you out of your fouls, when you have such a good charter for your falvation, and the command of God to use it, and lay hold on it, John v. 39. "Search the fcriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which teftify of me."

Is. lxiii. 4.-For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

THE THIRD SERMON ON THIS TEXT.

THE

HE doctrine I obferved from the words was this, That as the year of the redeemed is the joy of the Redeemer ; so he has fixed the time for refenting and avenging their quarrel in his heart. This doctrine confifts of two branches.

the

1. That

year of the redeemed is the joy of the Redeemer. 2. That

the

the glorious Redeemer has the time of avenging the quarrel of his redeemed fixed in his heart.

I have already difcourfed upon the first branch of the doctrine; where I endeavoured to speak,

I. Of the Redeemer.

II. Of the redeemed.

III. Of the year of the redeemed.

IV. Proved that the year of the redeemed is the joy of the Redeemer.

V. Applied.

I proceed now to the fecond branch of the doctrine, viz. That Chrift our glorious Redeemer has the time of avenging the quarrel of his redeemed fixed in his heart: The day of vengeance

is in mine heart.

In difcourfing this, through divine affistance, I shall endeayour to obferve the following method and order.

I. Who is the grand enemy of the redeemed, whom Christ our Redeemer hath in his eye here.

II. Inquire into the ground of the quarrel.

III. Speak a little of the vengeance of the Redeemer that lights on the enemy of the redeemed.

IV. Inquire into the stated time of vengeance, here called a day.

V. Why this is faid to be in his heart: The day of vengeance is in mine heart.

VI. Apply the whole.

I. The first thing is, to inquire who is the grand enemy that the glorious Redeemer has in his view, when he fays, The day of vengeance is in mine heart. I anfwer, The grand enemy at whom he levels his vengeance, is Satan, the great deceiver of mankind. If we obferve the current of the fcriptures, in giving an account of our Redeemer's conduct in bringing about the glorious work of man's redemption, his great contest and conflict has been with this enemy from first to last. Look we to the first promife, Gen. iii. 15. it was wrapt up in a threatening against Satan in the form of a ferpent," It, viz. the feed of the woman (Chrift) fhall bruife thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." As if he had said, Ó Satan, I will be avenged on thee for the injury thou haft done to the woman and her feed, Irefent their quarrel, and, by one born of a woman, I will bruise thy head, deftroy thee and all thy works. When Christ actually appeared upon the ftage of time, he actually entered the lifts with this enemy: Matth. iv. "He was led

into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil," and there first began to put to flight this leader and commander of the armies of the aliens. The great fcope of his doctrine was, to overthrow Satan's kingdom; and he tells us, that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven before the preaching of his difciples. Many of his miracles were juft the throwing Satan out of the bodies of men, of which he had a vifible poffeffion. His death was a fatal ftroke at the head of the ferpent. "Now (fays he) is the judgement of this world come; now is the prince of this world judged." Agreeable unto this is that which you have, Col. ii. 15. "Having fpoiled principalities and powers, he made a fhew of them openly, having triumphed over them in it." Heb. ii. 14. "Through death he deftroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." 1 John iii. 8. " Whofoever committeth fin is of the devil; for the devil finneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifefted, to deftroy the works of the devil." And Rev. xii. we fhall find, that the war is principally managed between Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels. Thus you fee who is the principal enemy that Chrift has in his view, when he says in my text, The day of vengeance is in mine heart. But now though Satan be the leading enemy, yet other enemies they come in alfo of course; for vengeance is defigned againft all the works of the devil, and against all his confederates, as well as against Satan himself, as you may hear afterward.

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II. The fecond thing is, to inquire into the ground of the quarrel that our Redeemer bath against this enemy. I fhall not ftand to inquire what was the firft fin of the devil, for which he was tumbled down from heaven to hell; though it is pretty clearly fuggefted to us, that being lifted up with pride, he fell into condemnation. But the fpecial quarrel that our Redeemer here hath in his eye, is the injury done to his redeemed; and therefore the day of vengeance and the year of the redeemed are coupled together.

Queft. What injury had Satan done to the redeemed?

Anfw. 1. Satan had deceived them. He put a cheat upon our first parents, telling them that the tree was good, and that by eating of it they should become as gods, knowing good and evil, whereas the very reverse was the truth: and this has been, and is his continued work to deceive, therefore called the great deceiver of mankind. Now, this is one quarrel for which the day of vengeance is in his heart against him.

2. By deceiving them into fin, he defaced the image of God

which he had ftamped upon man. When man first dropt out of the fingers of his Maker, he bore the lively print of his Creator's fingers, yea, his very image, confifting in knowledge, righteousness, and holinefs; but no fooner had Satan deceived us into a tranfgreffion of the divine commandment, but immediately his gold became dim; instead of being like God, as the deceiver told them, they became like devils, the hue of hell immediately appeared on them, instead of the beauty of heaven; their minds being filled with darkness, instead of knowledge; their hearts being filled with enmity against God, instead of being filled with love to him; their affections flagging, and fettling upon the earth, and licking up the duft like the ferpent, instead of towering upward toward things that were above.

3. He had made them liable unto the curfe of the law, and the wrath of God with himself. God had faid, "In the day thou eateft, thou shalt furely die; and the law faid, " Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." Now, Satan had brought them under this; for even the elect of God, as well as others, because of the breach of the law, are the children of wrath and condemnation. This is another quarrel which the Redeemer resents upon the enemy.

4. Satan had not only brought them under the curfe of God, but he had made them his own flaves, led them away as his captives to work his work, yea, had armed God's favourites, and brought them out in open rebellion against God; for "the carnal mind is enmity against God,” and we are "enemies in our minds by wicked works." He had filled their hearts and hands with weapons of rebellion against Heaven, fuch as unbelief, enmity, pride, ignorance, vanity, carnality; and their very bodily members were become inftruments of fin and unrighteoufnefs. Thus you fee what injury Satan had done to the redeemed and all this he had done out of plain malice against God himself, to rub an affront upon the Majesty of heaven, who had with his omnipotent arm caft these mighty fpirits out of their feats in heaven; and because he could not hake the throne of God, therefore he wrecks his vengeance upon God's viceroy in this lower world, whom he had crown. ed with glory and dignity, and put all things under his feet. Now, because of all this, Christ the Son of God refolves to be about with this enemy, faying, The day of vengeance is in mine

heart.

III. The third thing was, to inquire what vengeance is it that our Redeemer takes upon this enemy of the redeemed. I find this vengeance

2,