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put my foul only upon thy only Son, whom I take to be my facrifice, him I offer up unto thee as my propitiation, I have finned, but thy Son hath dyed for my fins: I have provoked thee; but thy Son hath pacified thee, Ihave wronged thee, but thy Son hath fatisfied thee; he did not die for his own fins, but for my fins, he was not made a curse for himself, but for me, I lay hold on his blood to be my peace, and fatisfaction and falvation. As if a man were like to be carried to prison for debt, and hunting up and down for a friend to ftand for him, at length he findes one only man and him he brings to the creditor, and faith here's a man will pay you and ransome me; fo faith for a troubled and obliged finner to God, it findes out Chrift, and faith, Lo Lord here is thy Son, who is my furety, he will discharge, he is my ransome.

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SECT. IV.

Or Chrift as a Saviour and King and Prophet and Lord what is the exercife of faith there? I tell you what I think of

It is a work of a believing heart, whereby it doth accept of Chrift, to be the fole teacher and ruler of heart and life, and refigre up himself wholly to him, to be fashioned as it were and. guided by him. A man never comes to the truth of beleeving, but he hall finde this, that faith will charge his Master: For faith changeth the heart, and the heart being once changed. will quickly change its Lord So that to believe on Christ as a King, as a Lord, as a Propbet, it is to admit him to give him up. the whole man into his hands to his holy and spiritual Government; as if the heart fhould fay thus much, thou art a Holy Cbrift and thou art he who art to reigne, now I take thee to be my Holy Lord, and I refigne up my felfe, I paffeover my felfe unto thee, I will have no Lord but thee, and I do with all my heart accept of thee to make me Holy, as thou art Holy, and to fubdue this vile heart of mine, and to rule in me, by thy bleffed and mighty Spirit,

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SECT. V.

Hus briefly of the immediate object of faith, on which faith immediately looks (viz) the perfon of Jefus Chrift: to take and receive Chrift, as Lord and Saviour. This is true faith; yet by the way note a few things.

First, that this taking is with all the heart, it is not a pretended taking, a diffembled work; there is a taking of Chrift with the tongue, and a taking of him with the heart: O no, when true faith takes Chrift, it brings in the very ftrength of the foul: O Lord Jefus, I do embrace thee, accept of thee with all my foul, with all my might, and with all my affections.

Secondly, this taking of Christ is of all Chrift, of Lord as well as Jefur: when the heart is made fenfible of fin and Satan, and world, and Chrift, and now falls off from them, I will have no more to do with you, I will ferve you no longer, Chrift only shall be my Saviour, and he only fhall be my Lord, I will put may foul under his Scepter and Government.

Thirdly, this taking of Christ is onely of Chrift. For it is a conjugall taking, which confifts of unity: one (they fay in the Metaphyficks) is divided in it self, and divided from all befides it felf; fo is it in faiths taking of Chrift, One Faith, One Lord, faid the Apoftle Fph. 4.It takes Chrift so as none with Chrift, or befides Chrift: The Patriarchs had most of thema wife,and a con cubine, it is not fo here, Faith doth match with an abfolute ex clufion of all other matches. It is not the foul, and Christ, and fin: nor the foul and Chrift, and the world: nor the foul, and Chrift, and the Devil: it is not the foul and Chrift in chief, and finne in fervice as a deputy,or a corrivall, a secondary thing, &c.

Fourtbly, this taking is freed from mistaking. Faith knowes: what it doth, it fees its way it understands, 1. Who that is whom it takes. 2. Upon what termes he will be taken. 3 Its grounds of taking.

Firft who it is, (viz.) the Son of God, God and man, a moft ho ly perfon, a mighty Redeemer, and Saviour.

Secondly, upon what termes, (viz.) He will not come in by the by,he will not be taken as a vaffaile,as a captive,as a drudge: be will not be taken for bafe and changeable reafons, meerly to

ftop

ftop a gap in the conscience, or only in faire weather, but he will be taken as Lord and King, to command all the heart, to dif pole all the wayes, to rule our very thoughts, he will be taken for his own fake, out of a judicious love and eftimation of his perfon, he will be taken with all the estates and conditions that befall on the croffe crucified, as well as in the way to Hierufalem magnified; as one perfecuted and diftreffed on earth, as well as one raised and glorified in heaven; and thus true faith takes Chrift.

Thirdly, upon what grounds,viz. upon Gods offer of Christ and promife, that whosoever believes on him, c. and on his commandment, that we should believe on the Name of his Son; whereupon faith brings in the foul to Chrift, it believeth that God faith true, that he doth not call upon men, he doth not command men, he doth not promife men, and all this to delude men; so that if you fhould ask faith what warrant had you to bring in fuch a foul to Chrift? Why faith faith,God revealed, and offered his Sonne, and commanded me to believe,and promifed not to caft off any that come, &c. "

Fifthly, this raking is refolved against untaking. All takings are not of the fame force and power; if I take a fervant, I take him fo, that upon good reafons and occafions I can put him off againe; but if I take a wife, there can be no untaking on my part, unless God takes her,I must never forfake her.Faith takes Chrift this way, to be a Saviour for ever, to be a Head, an Husband, a Lord for ever: I oblerve that there are two kindes of taking Chrift to be a Lord, one is computfory and violent, as when an enemy is made to rule, a man in a fickneffe, in a terror of cons fcience, in a day of wrath, in an expectation of death, he will take Chrift to be his Lord, he will fay, Oh!finne is vile, I abhor it, I will become a new man, I will have none but the Lord Chrift, and he only fhall be my Lord, and hereupon the man fet's about the work of fhewing that Chrift is his Lord, he will commande his fervants to pray, to heare, to read, to keep the Sabbath, &c. Yet this man as foon as Gods hand is off, as foon as ever he is freed from his bands, he will like a lewd apprentise, break loofe from his Lord and Master, he will ferve Chrift no longer, he will to his fins again, to the world again,to his bafe fociety again &c. Why? because this accepting was only violent, and no actions.

are:

are ftedfaft, or conftant, whofe caufes are compelling and violent.

Another is ingenious of faith, and this taking of Chrift, is grounded onely in Chrift, in its excellencies, beauties, perfections, which are not like the light of a candle, this houre very cleare, and the next,none at all, but like light in the Sunne, ftill abiding and remaining; and therefore, when a man doth by faith, take Christ, he takes him for ever: for faith can never change for the better, and it fees fted fast reason in Chrift, to cleave to Chrift.

Now I come to the confequent object of faith, and that is, remiffion of finnes and righteousnesse, and whatsoever good comes from Chrift,

For thus it is, faith doth order its motions, or actions according to the word; Now the word reveales, and offers Chrift firft, and then the benefits next. It is not, whosoever beleeves eternal life fhall have Chrift the Sonne of God, but whosaever beleeves on the Sonne of God, shall have eternal life; Nor is it, whosoever beleeves the remiffion of finnes, fhall, have Chrift, but whosoever beleeves in Christ, shall have the Remiffion of finnes.

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Yet when faith hath made the foule to take Chrift, it goes then from the perfon to the portion, from Chrift to the good in Chrift, and by him; for if Chrift be ours, all is ours,saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 2.

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SECT. VI.

Will therefore speak a word of faith, as conversant about, First, Remiffion of finnes. Secondly, Righteousnesse.

For the first of thefe, viz. the pardon or remiffion of finnes, Confider,

That remiffion of finnes, is an Action of God, acquitting the gile and the punishment, so that he will never reckon with the foul a ny more in a judicial way for thofe finnes which are pardoned. As when the King throughly pardons a Malefactor, he dif

chargeth

chargeth him, and takes off the gilt, (we speak of it in respect of redundancy) that it fhall not now prejudice the perfon any longer; fo doth God, when he pardons finne: Though he doth not in this annihilate the finne, (that is) make that to be no finne, which was finne, yet he doth prejudice fin(that is) he takes off the guilt, that it fhall never redound to the damnation of the finner, no nor to his dammage.

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Jefus Chrift hath procured remiffion or pardon of finne for us, hence, Ephef.1.7. In whom you have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveneffe of your finnes. His blood was fhed for many for the remission of finnes, Mat. 26. (that is) he did die, and by his death hath merited, and procured our pardon and difcharge: God offering Chrift, offers with him the purchase of Christ, viz. the pardon of finnes; If you will take my Sonne, will pardon your fins. Now faith inclines the foul, which is fenfible of its finful guilt, to put it felf on Jefus Christ for the discharge of them: As the wife looks for none, and goes to none but to her husband to discharge her debts; fo faith, goes to none for to procure remiffion of finnes, but only to Chrift, and on him doth it reft. O Lord Chrift, faith Faith, thou didst take thefe my finful debts upon thee, and thou didft undertake to fatisfie for them, and to get them to be blotted out, yea, and I know that thou didst make a full fatisfaction. Now I renounce all hope of pardon from any thing in me, and do reft my foule on thy precious blood, trufting that it was fhed for the remiffion of my fins; I have taken thee to be my Chrift, and therefore I commit the anfwering of my finful debt, to thy full fatisfaction and fufferings. Put the cafe to a beleeving heart, you have many finful debts to answer for, finnes before converfion, and finnes after converfion; fins of ignorance, and finnes of knowledge; thefe finnes have that in them, which bindes you over to wrath and curfe, now to whom doth it belong to pardon these finnes; your foul answers, to God, who can forgive finnes but God only? And I,even I am he that blotteth out thy fins,&c.yea,but for whofe fake will God pardon them? the foul anfwers, onely for Christ Jefus fake, for he did fhed his blood for their remiffion, and therefore faith goes with the foul to Chrift, and faith, O blef

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