our bodily wants, but likewise a variety of objects and enjoyments fuited to the inferior part of our nature, our hearts cleave to them, we pursue them with eagerness, and hope to extract that pleasure from the poffeffion of them which we defpair of finding any where elfe.--Hence likewife we learn,

zdly, That nothing can avail for the cure of this idolatry, which doth not relieve from the guilt of fin, and vanquish the tormenting fear of wrath, by representing God in a light wherein we can behold him with pleasure; nay, which doth not bring an object in view that outfhines a prefent world, and will afford that kind of happinefs which is adapted to the nature, and commenfurate to the duration, of an immortal fpirit. Reason is, in all refpects, unequal to the task. It no doubt can difcover, and may defcant very plaufibly upon the vanity of the creature: but, alas! a hungry inan will feed upon husks rather than starve; nay, reafon itself will justify him in doing fo. Something must be prefented to him of real worth and excellence;

fomething

fomething that can fupply all his wants and render him contented and happy independent of the objects and enjoyments of fenfe. It muft likewife be fomething attainable; and which, when once obtained, cannot be taken from him.

Upon the whole, then, we fee, in the 3d place, the importance and ufe of faith in Christ. The facrifice he offered lays a firm foundation for the hope of pardon to the chief of finners. There we fee fin condemned in the flesh, the law infinitely glorified, and the juftice of the lawgiver, not only receiving full fatisfaction, but more illuAtriously displayed, and more highly exalted, by the fufferings of his own Son in our nature, than it could have been by the final condemnation and everlasting punishment of the whole apoftate pofterity of Adam. This hath an obvious and powerful tendency to remove thofe fears which neceffarily fpring from a fense of guilt: for when we discover a way in which God may righteously pardon the finner, then we can look up to him with hope; we are no longer compelled to flee from his prefence; the revelation of mercy

and

and forgivenefs invites our approach to him, and thereby weakens one of the strongest of those cords that bind us to a prefent world: - Especially when to the intrinfic worth and value of Chrift's facrifice, we add, that it was offered up in confequence of a divine appointment: for "Chrift glo"rified not himself to be made an high"prieft, but he who faid unto him, Thou

art my Son, this day have I begotten "thee." This ftrikes at the very root of all distrust and jealoufy. When we are well affured, that "God fo loved the world, "that he gave his only begotten Son, that "whofoever believeth on him might not "perish, but have everlasting life;" what ftronger evidence could the most suspicious mind require of his merciful nature, and kind regards to the children of men? Doth not this aftonishing act of grace, this une Speakable gift, unmerited, and even unfolicited, amount to a full demonftration of what the Apostle John repeatedly afferts, viz. GOD IS LOVE? Can any one that believes this, hesitate for a moment to draw the fame conclufion, from it that Paul did,

Rom.

Rom. viii. 32. "He that fpared not his

own Son, but delivered him up for us all, "how fhall he not with him also freely

give us all things ?"And this leads me to obferve, that Chrift's giving himself for our fins, according to the will of God, hath a mighty efficacy to feparate us from idols; not only by laying a folid foundation for our hope of pardon, and reprefenting the Father in fuch a light as cannot fail to vanquish that fear and jealoufy which render the thoughts of him painful and alarming to the finner; but further, by giving us the animating profpect, and the fullest assurance, of that incorruptible inheritance, which our great Redeemer hath purchased with his blood, and promised to bestow upon all without all without exception, who, acknowledging the original forfeiture, and the juftice of the fentence which condemns them to die, are willing to receive new life from his hand, and to hold it by his right, as a free gift to them, through the merit of his obedience unto death in their place. This world, as I formerly pbferved, vain and unfatisfying as it is,

will still appear of fome importance to men, fo long as they are unacquainted with any thing better. It is this that renders death the king of terrors; and they who cannot look with comfort beyond the grave, will not only cleave to a prefent world, but will even fubmit to the moft grievous hardships and inconveniences, rather than consent to the diffolution of thefe earthly tabernacles: "Skin for fkin, all that a man hath will he "give for his life." Nothing can reconcile us to a removal from this world but the discovery of another, where we fhall continue to live and to partake of enjoyments preferable to any of thofe we leave behind us. Now, for this discovery we are wholly indebted to the Lord Jefus Christ. Life and immortality are brought to light by his gofpel. This great object darkens the delufive luftre of all feen things. What hath this earth to offer that can ftand the least comparison with that fulness of joy which is at God's right hand? Animated by this profpect, the believing Hebrews "took joyfully the fpoiling of their goods, "knowing in themfelves, that in heaven

"they