never

though never any who was a sinner, either through the corruption of nature or actual transgression, hath attained to the joy and happiness of heaven, but only through the pardoning grace and mercy of God; yet he, who was the Greatest Sinner (as Luther made bold to call him, and so he was by imputation) is now triumphing in those regions of bliss, crowned with glory, and arrayed with infinite majesty, whose sins yet were pardoned, nor ever had he the least free grace or mercy shewn him; but, whatsoever he hath obtained either for himself or for us, the possession of it for himself and the possibility and assured hopes of it for us, he hath most dearly bought and purchased. Yea, indeed, in respect of this purchase made by Christ, we receive nothing at all of free grace from God; but, whatever we have or expect is paid for to the very utmost of what it is worth: for, as we ourselves are bought with a price, so is every thing we enjoy: even the most common and vulgar blessings, that are promiscuously distributed among the sons of men, all flow to us in a stream of blood.

But, yet,

2. In respect of ourselves, our redemption, pardon, and salvation, and all the mercies we enjoy, are of mere free grace.

No merit, no price is required from us: but all is excluded on our part, besides a grateful acknowledgment and an humble expression of our duty, by that rich mercy, which requires these from us; not as the price of our redemption, but only as a testimony of our love and ready obedience. Alas! could we pray, till our knees took root in the earth; could we weep whole rivers, and, after our tears were spent, drop our eye-balls too; could we fast ourselves into ghosts, and sigh away our souls into air; should we give all our goods to the poor, and our body to the flames: yet all our prayers, and tears, and fasting, and alms, and all the stock of our own righteousness, yea should it be supposed that a tax and subsidy should be levied upon the good works of all mankind and put into one common treasure for the use and benefit of any one particular soul, yet it would not be found a price rich enough for its redemption, nor at all available to buy off the guilt of the least sin. For, whatsoever is required of us, is but debt and duty; and therefore cannot be meritorious and, whatsoever is not required of us, is but willworship and superstitious devotion; and therefore cannot be acceptable. So, then, it is no derogation at all from the free grace of God, that he pardons and saves us upon the intervention

of a price; that our pardon is bought, and our inheritance is purchased: for we ourselves have not been at any part of the charge: we have not so much as cast in one mite into this treasury; but all is as freely and gratuitously bestowed upon us, as if it had never been purchased at all.

And, again,

3. The relaxing of the rigour of the Covenant of Works, so far forth as to take off our personal obligation to punishment by the commutation of persons, accepting the substitution of another, of a Surety, of a Redeemer, is an act of infinite free grace and rich

mercy.

For, by the letter of the Law, Do this and live, implying the contrary threatening of death in case of disobedience, every sinner stood bound to suffer the whole curse and penalty in his own person and God might for ever have refused to recede so far from his own right, as to admit of any satisfaction made and tendered by another; but might have seized upon us, who were the transgressors, and bound us over to answer it at the great assize before his dreadful tribunal, and to suffer for it eternal torments in hell. Now, O Sinner, though God hath received a price and ransom for thy soul at the hands of another, is this any diminution of the absolute freeness of his grace towards thee? Dost thou envy that he receives satisfaction for thy sins, since he receives it not from thyself? Or, dost thou grudge and repine that he should glorify his justice and severity upon another, since he intends only to glorify his mercy and grace upon thee? "Yea," you will say," this indeed is something of mercy and free grace, that God hath stricken my name out of the bond, and put in my Surety's, whereas he might justly have exacted. the forfeiture from myself: but, had it not been a more glorious, demonstration of free grace, absolutely to have forgiven the whole debt, and to have required no payment, no satisfaction at all? We see that, among men, he is accounted most bountiful, that forgives the surety as well as the principal. For, what singular act of mercy is it, to release the debtor, and yet rigorously to prosecute his sponsor and undertaker, from whom he is sure to recover all his right and demands? If God had been pleased thus totally to part with his right, and neither exact it from us nor our Surety, had not this been a far more generous mercy, and a more glorious demonstration of his infinite free grace?"

I answer, No. And therefore assert,

4. That God's free grace is more gloriously demonstrated in the redemption of the world through a price, than it would have been, if he had only freely and arbitrarily remitted to them their offences and delivered them from eternal death, without requiring any satisfaction.

And this will appear most clearly, if we consider but these Two things.

(1) Who the Person is, that is appointed our Surety and our Ransom.

Is it an angel? truly, if it were, this had been wonderful love, that God should part with so bright and glorious an attendant, 'send him down to earth, cruciate and torment him for the sins of such vile worms as we are. But, oh astonishment! when, not an angel, but the God of Angels: not a servant, but a Son, yea the Son of his Eternal Love and Delights, is, by the Father himself, appointed to such unspeakable miseries and dolours; and thrust under the sword of justice, when it was just falling upon us, only that he might ward off the blow, and save us from so great and inevitable a ruin, though it was to the death and ruin of his Only Son! Now judge, yourselves, whether it be not infinitely more expressive of the divine love, to save us by devoting his Own Son to be an execration and a sacrifice for us, than if he had only, out of his absolute prerogative, pardoned our sins, and, without more expence or difficulty, received us up into glory. This, indeed, had been grace; but it had been more thrifty and sparing, than that method, which God hath now designed for our salvation, through the blood and sufferings of Jesus Christ. And, therefore, the Scripture every where lays an accent and emphasis upon this: Rom. viii. 32. He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all: and, John iii. 16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son to save it. God lay under no necessity of saving us at all, and much less lay he under any necessity of saving us in so chargeable a manner as by the death of Christ: but yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; to make his soul an offering for sin; and to cause to meet together upon him, all our iniquities and all his plagues and curses. And wherefore was this? not only that justice might be satisfied, but that mercy might also be satisfied; and free love and grace might be glorified in such a stupendous expression of it. The divine wisdom approves of this way of redemption, because divine love dictates it to be most advan tageous to commend itself unto us; and that ever-adored design

of a Mediator took place in God's eternal councils, that it might be a means, as well for the demonstration of mercy, as for the satisfaction of justice.

And consider,

(2) That God himself furnished and enabled our Redeemer to pay down the whole of that price, which he exacted from him.

For the Son of God had not been passible, had he not become the Son of Man. He had not been wounded, nor buffeted, nor crucified, nor bled, nor died: he had not had any stock nor treasury of merits to have ransomed us; had he not taken upon him the form of a servant, had he not appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh. And, whence had he this, but only of God's providing? Heb. x. 5. A body hast thou prepared me. Now is it not as much free grace, to furnish our Surety with means and abilities to make satisfaction, as to forgive us without requiring any satisfaction at all? Yea, let me add, that free grace is much more glorious, inasmuch as the price with which our Redeemer is furnished, is more than sufficient to pay the debt.

I

And thus you see, that the intervention of a price is no derogation at all from the freeness of God's grace; yea, rather, this method of redeeming us mightily enhances his mercy, and makes it more rich and glorious. And therefore it is very observable, how the Scripture joins these two together, Free Grace and the Purchased Redemption, as if it would on purpose stop the mouths of those, who, by pleading the inconsistency of these, seek to undermine the greatest support of all our faith and hope, and the most dear and precious truth of the Gospel, mean the satisfaction of Christ for our sins. See Rom. iii. 24. We are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: and, Eph. i. 7. In him we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. What can be more express, to reconcile the grace vouchsafed by God, with the price paid for it by Christ? it is free grace, that justifies us; but yet we are justified through redemption: we are redeemed through his blood; but yet this is likewise according to the riches of his grace. And indeed both are easily accommodated: it is of price and purchase, in respect of Christ; but it is of gift and free grace, in respect of us: free, in that God was pleased to accept a Surety for us; and much more free, in that this Surety was his Son.

And, so much, for the Third Inquiry.

iv. The Fourth is, WHAT WE ARE REDEEMED FROM, by that price, which Jesus Christ hath paid down for us.

This I shall briefly shew you, in these following particulars. 1. We are redeemed from the dread Wrath and Vengeance of God.

And what an inestimable mercy is this! Vengeance follows a sinner close at the heels, pursues him through all the threatenings of the Law, brandishes its flaming sword over his head, and is ready every moment to plunge it into his very heart. The poor guilty sinner trembles, under the direful expectation of that fiery indignation, which will for ever consume him: he flies, but knows not whither; is destitute of hope, as he is of help. Now, in this forlorn and desperate condition, for one that might shew unto him a City of Refuge, and guide his trembling steps, and his amazed soul into it! now, for a messenger of peace, an interpreter, one of a thousand, that might declare unto man his righteousness! It is done, O soul: Christ Jesus meets the avenger of blood in his pursuit of thee, offers himself to his sword, falls and dies under his hand; whilst thou fliest into thy refuge, and art free both from thy fears and dangers. We find the high-priest, under the Law, a notable type of Christ in this particular: for the slayer was to abide in the City of Refuge till the death of the high-priest, and then to be set at liberty: Numb. xxxv. 28: so, by the death of Jesus Christ our High-Priest, we are set at liberty, and may walk in safety, being secured and warranted from the wrath of the avenger. Indeed, the wrath and justice of God is the most dreadful and formidable enemy we can have; but, even this enemy, thy Saviour hath satisfied and reconciled: he hath bought out thy peace for thee; and now thou mayest safely treat with justice itself, as thy friend and patron. The divine wrath is pacified; and God is more contented and recompensed by what thy Redeemer hath suffered for thee, than if he had haled thee forth to suffer in thine own person. God infinitely more acquiesceth in the sufferings of his Eternal Son, than he could have done in thine: for thine could have paid his justice but by small parcels at a time, and therefore must have endured eternally; but Christ Jesus paid down the whole sum and debt at once, so that justice could no longer be so if it did not perfectly free us who believe from any farther obligation to wrath and punishment. It is Jesus, saith the Apostle, who hath