them the displeasure of the Supreme Being, at tranfgreffion and guilt.

• From what hath been faid, continues our Author, we may likewise fee, how the voluntary fufferings and death of our Saviour, have an influence and efficacy, as the means of our ob¬ taining forgiveness of fin: they have this efficacy, as they were the most confpicuous acts of our Lords's confummate merit, and by which it was compleated, and he was perfected. As the Apoftle obferveth, Heb. ii. 10. It became him by whom are all things, and for whom are all things, in bringing many fons and daughters to glory, to make the Captain of our falvation perfect through fuffering; and being made perfect, he became the Author of eternal falvation to all them who obey him."

It is our Saviour's confummate unequalled merit, which, by the Father's good pleafure and appointment, lieth at the foundation of all this fcheme. And as the laying down his life was that act which did the highest honour to the Father, and finished our Saviour's merit, it is therefore fpoken of in Scripture, as our ransom, as the atonement for us, and in other fuch expreffions; all which feem to fignify, that this laft act of the fcene was that which was moft of all confidered; and upon which our Saviour's exaltation, as a Prince and a Saviour, followed.

Our bleffed Lord tells us, that he shed his blood for the remiffion of fin; that he gave his life a ransom for many; and we are taught, that he offered himself a facrifice for fin, that he is the propitiation for our fins; and that we are washed from our fins in his blood; with many other fuch phrases; fome of which are plainly figurative, and cannot be taken in a strictly proper fenfe, without great abfurdity. But with respect to facrifices, it seems to have been the original intention of them to do honour to God; they were, indeed, a part of religious worship. Sacrifices for penitent offenders, were offered as a folemn confeffion, on the part of the offenders, of their guilt; and perhaps as an external expreffion, and memorial, of what, in strictness of law, they deserved. Sacrifices were confumed and deftroyed; this has given fome perfons an occafion to fay, that the facrifice underwent the destruction which the tranfgreffor deferved. Whatever the Jews thought in this matter, which it is not easy for us to know with certainty; yet we are fure it bears no fort of application to our Saviour; who, fo far from perifhing in his death, was, as the reward of his fubmitting to it, advanced to the highest and most important station in the kingdom of God: wherefore, the facrifices under the law could bear no refemblance to him in this refpect. We are alfo fure that nothing

can

can be pleafing to God, or do him honour, but what is morally excellent and worthy. So that, tho' he was pleafed with the facrifices under the law, when they were offered with fincere hearts, and in obedience to him; yet we certainly know, that he could not be pleased with the blood of bullocks and of goats. That which rendered the death of our Lord fo pleafing and meritorious in his fight, was its having been a most conspicuous ac of obedience; the most honourable and worthy conclufion of a life in all refpects perfect. As was faid before, our Saviour was perfected by it. Thus obtained he power to forgive fin, and to be the Author of eternal falvation. Therefore, fo far is his death to be looked upon as a facrifice for fin, as thereby he obtained power to pardon, to proclaim peace and reconciliation to the guilty. And that fuch illuftrious merit may be confidered under the notion of atonement, will appear plain from a very remarkable paffage in the book of Numbers, chap. xxv. When Phineas the Prieft inftantly put to death an Ifraelite who had brought a Midianitish woman into his tent, in direct and most prefumptuous tranfgreffion of the law of God; I fay, that when Phineas had put them both to death, this his zeal for the divine honour was fo accepted of God, that he thus fpoke to Moses; "Phineas the fon of Eleazar, the fon of Aaron the Priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Ifrael, (while he was zealous for my fake among them) that I confumed not the children of Ifrael in my jealousy. Wherefore fay, behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he fhall have it, and his feed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Ifrael," who all of them, we fee, reaped the happy fruits of this man's diftinguifhed zeal. How much more do we reap the fruits of our Lord's most perfect merit! whom God hath therefore crowned with authority to forgive us our fins; and to pronounce us, on the terms of faith and repentance, in favour with our Maker.

The great thing to be attended to in this whole matter, is, that the greatest honour is done to the Father of all; and to righteousness and true holiness: now this honour certainly is the true intention of all facrifices; as it alfo is the intention which the Authors of fome fchemes, with respect to our redemption by Chrift, have professed to purfue: who yet, by their explanations, without warrant from the holy Scriptures, have laid Chriftianity, in their fenfe of that word, open to great objections, fome of which feem unanswerable; by a miftaken zeal for the laws and the juftice of God, explaining things fo as to make him appear most terrible; as treating his offending creatures, in all the ftrictness and rigour of law and juftice; fo that

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penitent

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penitent pardone! finners are, indeed, under great obligations to their Mediator and Surety; but, properly speaking, in the point of juftification, meet with no clemency from their fupreme Lord and Judge, who is represented as exacting to the utmost they speak, accordingly, of penalties, of vindictive juftice, of equivalent vicarious punishments, of proper fatisfaction to juftice, and fuch other things, rather after the manner of human governments, and human courts; without properly attending to it, that this is not the way in which the Father of mercies proceeds with his frail offending creatures. Thus do they involve themselves in inextricable difficulties; ftill, however, profeffing that it is only the honour of God, and of his laws, which is intended to be fupported and illuftrated. But it will be evident to all who seriously attend, that the ftrong figurative expreffions of the New Teftament, on which fuch human fchemes of redemption are founded, were intended to be used in an allufive, and not at all a strictly literal fenfe; many of which, taken in fuch a fenfe, would lead us into the groffeft abfurdity. It is hoped, that the true meaning and defign of them hath been already declared in this Difcourfe, namely, that God chofe to pardon penitent offenders by the mediation of our Saviour, as a moft folemn teftimony to the intellectual and moral creation, of his regard and love to the highest moral excellence and merit of our Saviour; at the fame time, as a standing memorial of his displeasure at tranfgreffion and fin; and that his counsel and defign was, to imprefs on the minds of men this fense of these matters as deeply as poffible.

Thus, though we know from the light of nature, the goodnefs and clemency of God, and are affured of them, yet the gift of the Son of God, to fuffer and die for us, is an illuftra tion of that goodness and clemency, which wonderfully raises our fenfe of it, and giveth great gladnefs of heart; fo, in like manner, though by the light of nature,we know the excellence of moral rectitude and goodness, and the regard of the Father of all to it, with his difpleafure at willful tranfgreffion; yet this illuftration which we have of both, by the method of our falvation through Chrift, may anfwer the worthieft end, by exciting in us fuch fentiments of thefe things, and by affecting our minds to fuch a degree, as we fhould not have otherwife known. Let it be attended to, laftly, that this particular end of the mediation, the fuffering and death of our Saviour, is never to be confidered as detached from the other great purposes which are ferved by it; fuch as, the confirmation and establishment of his religion; the giving us a moft glorious and perfect example, in human nature, of every thing good and worthy; the doing honour to a ftate externally low and afflicted; with fuch other things

as

as are to be taken into the account, in confidering the defign of this great transaction, and in illustrating the wisdom of it."

In the ninth Sermon, the Doctor confiders what the fentiments of Angels concerning our prefent ftate may be supposed, to be, and the motives which arise from hence, to conduct life wifely and virtuoufly. In the tenth, he enquires how far the cares of human life may be fuppofed to ceafe in a future ftate; and fhews how this confideration ought to regulate and moderate them at prefent. In the eleventh, he fhews that the prefent ftate has a plain reference to a future invisible one, unfpeakably greater and more auguft; and that in both, the fame glorious defign is uniformly carried on.

The subjects of the remaining Difcourfes of this volume, are -The infinite importance of the love of God;-the great importance of not being enflaved by any defire;-our abfolute dependence on God;-what is imported in keeping the heart, and the best means of doing it.

The firft Sermon of the third volume, we are told by the Editor, is one of a very full fet upon the Chriftian life, all of which are excellent; but the number of them is fo great, he fays, that it is thought beft, in the prefent want of taste for fuch writings, to give but a few of them to the public. The fubject of this Sermon is,-A good taste in the conduct of life, with the means of acquiring it.-The ferious Reader will perufe the whole Discourse with great fatisfaction.

In the fecond Sermon, the Doctor treats of virtuous refolution, and the means of attaining it. In the third, he recommends integrity of character. In the fourth, he confiders our relation to univerfal nature, and the fentiments and duties arifing from it.

The fifth Sermon contains reflections on the happiness of the righteous, with fome very judicious practical observations, a few of which we fhall lay before our Readers.

Firft we may fee, fays our Author, how admirably the chief end and fupreme good of human nature is fuited to the powers of the mind, and the defires which are planted in the heart. Thefe, in their natural tendencies, reject and defpife every thing little, and mean, and narrow, and pursue those objects which are the greatest and most unlimited. Human defire is, indeed, a vaft, an unbounded thing; it is fo in its nature; it was intended to be fo. Let any man try himself, and with respect to that which is the object of his ftrongest affection, or, in other words, his chief good, he will find defire infaliable; fo that he never poffeffes fo much but he would ftill have more.

The

The man of pleasure is ftill for more of it, or higher refinements in it; the man whose idol is greatness and power, is never fo high, but that he would be yet higher; the fordidly covetous, who knows no God but mammon, never fays it is enough. Look into the nobler pursuits of life; did ever man attain to fuch degrees of learning, that his defire after knowlege was perfectly fated; or, when was the eye fatisfied with feeing? This infatiability of human defire, when the object is unworthy, and no ways commenfurate to it, is, indeed, a great and moft fatal vice, and is often feen to betray men into great guilt, as well as bring them into ruin; fo that it is neceflary, in all cafes in which there can be excefs, to reftrain defire. But ftill, in fact, whatever is fixed upon by the heart of man as the chief good, and the object of the higheft delight and joy, there it is in vain to speak of reftraint: men are still training forward. And, indeed, this vaft extent or compass of defire, when well directed, is fo far from being culpable, that it is always approved by the reflecting mind; it fpeaks a certain greatnefs of foul, which is, indeed, moft pleafing. Whoever found fault with himself for vehemence of defire after moral excellency, after higher degrees of it than have been yet attained? who ever accounted moderation in this refpect a virtue? who ever blamed himself for the strength of defire after the pure joys which are annexed to virtue, and greater measures than he was ever yet in poffeffion of? If the mind refts in fuch objects as good, and what make men truly happy, it seems impoffible not to defire as much of that good and happiness, as men are capable of enjoying; and how far this capacity may reach, who can determine?

But from this it is an obvious confequence, that nothing could ever be intended as the chief good of man, in the fruition of which excess is at all poffible. And hence we evidently fee, that all temporal objects, all fenfual delights, all the objects of covetous defire, are at once excluded. In thefe pursuits there is, confeffedly by all, great, and culpable, and ruinous excefs; they cannot then be the highest enjoyments of a Being who has defires, in the very nature of them, illimitable; who feems to be made for progrefs in perfection and happiness, to which imagination can fix no certain bounds. Whereas, when we turn our thoughts to knowlege, to moral excellence, to the vifion of God; here, indeed, an unbounded profpect lies before us, and we can set no certain limits to our poffible attainments in the duration of an eternal age. In thefe objects then our chief good muft lie; there is a greatness, an infinity in them, fuited to defires which know no bound. This is the voice of reason, it is the language of our own frame directing us. But how admirably