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CHRIST'S ABILITY IS OUR SAFETY.

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'My goodness, says Christ, extends not itself to my Father, but to my saints; my Father has no need of my goodness, but my saints have; and therefore it shall reach forth itself for their help, in whom is all my delight.' "And O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!"

It is therefore that which tendeth to get Christ a name, a fame, and glory, to be able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him.

But some may say, 'What is the meaning of this word, "able?" "Wherefore he is able to save." "He is able to save to the uttermost." How comes it to pass that his power to save is rather put in than his willingness? For willingness, saith the soul, would better have pleased me.' I will speak two or three words in answer to this question. And,

1. By this word "able" is suggested to us the sufficiency of his merit; the great worthiness of his merit: for, as intercessor, he sticks fast by his merit. All his petitions, prayers, or supplications, are grounded upon the worthiness of his person as mediator, and on the validity of his offering, as priest. This is the more clear, if you consider the reason why those priests and sacrifices under the law, could not make the worshippers perfect: it was, I say, because there wanted in them worthiness, and merit in their sacrifices. But Christ, when he came and offered his sacrifice, did by that one act "perfect for ever them that are sanctified," or set apart for glory. Wherefore this man, after he had offered up one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down on the right hand of God.

When Moses prayed for the people of Israel, he thus said, "And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken." But what had he spoken? "The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy,

forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt, even until now.'

2. Has he but power, we know he is willing, else he would not have promised: it is also his glory to pardon and save. So then, in his ability lies our safety. What if he were ever so willing; if he were not of ability sufficient, what would his willingness do? But he has showed, as I said, his willingness by promising, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out;" so that now our comfort lies in his power, in that he is able to make good his word. And this also will then be seen, when he hath saved them that come to God by him; when he hath saved them to the uttermost; not to the uttermost of his ability, but to the uttermost of our necessity. For to the uttermost of his ability, I believe he never will be put to it to save his church; not that he is loath so to save, but because there is no need so to save. He shall not need to put out all his power, and to press the utmost of his merit for the saving of his church. Alas! there is sufficiency of merit in him, to save a thousand times as many as are like to be saved by him. "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." Measure not therefore what he can do, by what he has done, doth, or will do; neither do thou interpret this word "to the uttermost," as if it related to the uttermost of his ability, but rather as it relateth (for so it doth indeed) to the greatness of thy necessity: for as he is able to save thee, though thy condition be, as it may be supposed to be, the worst that ever man was in that was saved; so he is able to save thee though thy condition were ten times worse than it is.

What! Shall not the worthiness of the Son of God be sufficient to save from the sin of man? or shall the sin of the world be of that weight to destroy, that it shall put

A THOUSAND-FOLD ABILITY IN CHRIST.

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Christ Jesus to the uttermost of the worth of his person and merit, to save therefrom? I believe it is blasphemy to think so. We can easily imagine that he can save all the world, that is, that he is of ability to do it. But we cannot imagine that he can do more than we think he can. But our imagination and thoughts set no bound to his ability: "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think;" but what that is, I say, no man can think, no man can imagine. So then, Jesus Christ can do more than ever any man thought he could do, as to saving: he can do, we know not what.

This therefore should encourage comers to come to him, and them that come to hope. This, I say, should encourage them to let out, to lengthen and heighten their thoughts by the word, "to the uttermost;" seeing he can "save to the uttermost them that come to God by him."

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CHAPTER III.

SOME IMPORTANT INFERENCES.

AND now I come to the third thing that I told you I should speak of, and that is, of those inferences that may be gathered from these words.

1. Are they that are justified by Christ's blood such as have. need yet to be saved by his intercession? Then from hence it follows, that justification will stand with imperfection. It doth not therefore follow, that a justified man is without infirmity; for he that is without infirmity, that is, perfect with absolute perfection, has no need to be saved by an act yet to be performed by a mediator, and his mediation.

When I say justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean, that it will allow, countenance, or approve thereof; but I mean, there is no necessity of our perfection, of our personal perfection, as to our justification, and that we are justified without it; yea, that that imperfection in justified persons remains.

Again, when I say that justification will stand with imperfection, I do not mean that as to our justification we are imperfect; for in that we are complete: we are complete in him who is our justice. If otherwise, the imperfection is in the matter that justifieth us, which is the righteousness of Christ; yea, and to say so, would conclude that wrong judgment proceedeth from him that imputeth that righteousness to us to justification, since an imperfect thing is imputed to us for justification. But far be it from any (that believe that God is true) to imagine such a thing: all his works are perfect, there is nothing wanting in them as to the present design.

SINFUL IMPERFECTIONS OF SAINTS.

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But what then do we mean when we say, justification will stand with a state of imperfection?

Answ. Why, I mean, that justified men are yet sinners in themselves, are yet full of imperfections, yea, sinful imperfections. Justified Paul said, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing." While we are yet sinners, we are justified by the blood of Christ; hence again, it is said, he "justifies the ungodly." Justification then, only covereth our sin from the sight of God; it maketh us not perfect with inherent perfection. But God, for the sake of that righteousness which, by his grace, is imputed to us, declareth us quit and discharged from the curse, and sees sin in us no more to condemnation.

And this is the reason, or one reason, why they that are justified have need of an intercessor; namely, to save us from the evil of the sin that remains in our flesh, after we are justified by grace, through Christ, and set free from the law as to condemnation. Therefore, as it is said, we are saved, so it is said, "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

The godly (for now we will call them the godly, though there is yet abundance of sin in them) feel in themselves many things, even after justification, by which they are convinced they are still attended with personal sinful imperfections. For example,

(1.) They often feel unbelief, fear, mistrust, doubting, despondings, murmurings, blasphemies, pride, lightness, foolishness, avarice, fleshly lusts, heartlessness to good, wicked desires, low thoughts of Christ, too good thoughts of sin, and, at times too great an itching after the worst of immoralities.

(2.) They feel in themselves an aptness to incline to errors; as to lean to the works of the law for justification; to question the truth of the resurrection and judgment to come; to

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