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nearness of the relation teaches us, as it were, to fuppofe fome reluctance in beftowing him; in allufion to which there is a beautiful expreffion of the apoftle Paul," He "that fpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how fhall he not with him alfo freely give us all things?" The very fame thing fhews, with equal clearness, his abhorrence of fin. However ftrongly dif pofed to fave finners, he would have fin to be expiated, though his own Son fhould be the victim: if any thing could have made him difpenfe with it, this fhould furely have had the effect: and therefore the condemning of fin feems to have been as much in view as the falvation of the finner.

Every light in which we can view this fubject, contributes to fet before us the evil of fin. I fhall only mention further, the greatness and severity of the sufferings of our Redeemer, as they are represented both prophetically, to fhew how much was exacted, and hiftorically, to fhew what was paid. As the whole of his life was to be a state of humiliation and forrow, it is faid, "As many were af "tonifhed at thee, his vifage was fo marred more than "any man, and his form than the fons of men." Again, "He is defpifed and rejected of men, a man of forrows "and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our “faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him "not." Once more, Once more," He was wounded for our tranf greffions, he was bruifed for our iniquities: the chaf"tifement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes "we are healed." In the hiftory of his life in the NewTeftament, we fee all this verified, in the meanness of his birth, and the continued infults and reproaches thrown upon him during the courfe of his life. There is one remarkable paffage, John viii. 57. "Thou art not yet fifty “years old, and haft thou feen Abraham?" The meaning of this is hardly obvious, unless we suppose that his natural beauty and bloom was fo wafted and decayed by forrow, that he seemed to ftrangers near twenty years older than he really was.

*Rom. viii. 32.

+ I lii. 14. liii. 3, 5.

In the close of the gofpel, we have an account of the laft fcene of his fufferings in the garden and on the crols. "He was fore amazed, and very heavy.-His foul was "exceeding forrowful, even unto death.-His fweat was "as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the "ground." He was at laft ftretched on an accurfed tree, where the pain of a tortured body was but fmall to the anguish of an overwhelmed fpirit, which conftrained him to utter this heavy complaint," My God, my God, why "haft thou forfaken me?" Let the Chriftian ftand at the foot of the crofs, and there fee the evil of fin, which required fo coftly an expiation. Let him there fee the holinefs and juftice of God in its punishment. Let him hear the most High, faying, "Awake, O fword, against "the man who is my fellow." And let him thence learn, how much fin is the object of divine deteftation.

Hath a believer then a firm perfuafion of all these truths? Are they the frequent theme of his meditations? And must they not neceffarily fill him with an abhorrence of fin, inflame him with a hatred of it, and excite in him a self-lothing on its account? Thus it is faid in the prophetic writings, "They fhall look on me whom they have "pierced, and they fhall mourn for him, as one mourneth "for his only fon, and fhall be in bitterness for him, as "one that is in bitterness for his firft-born."* And muft not a repetition of the fame views ftill ftrengthen the impreffion, so that, as the apoftle Paul tells us of himself, "The world will be crucified unto him, and he unto the "world."t

I am fenfible that these things will have no fuch effect upon the enemies of the gofpel, who difbelieve them, or upon those Chriftians, if they deferve the name, who dif guife, explain away, or give up the fatisfaction of Chrift; or even those who have a strong tincture of a legal fpirit, and are for contributing fomewhat toward their acceptance with God, by their own merit and defective obedience. Such cannot relifh these sentiments; and therefore it may feem improper, in reafoning against enemies, to bring ↑ Gal. vi. 14.

* Zech. xii. 10

them at all in view. But let it be remembered, that however little many believe fuch things, they may yet perceive, if they will attend to it, their natural operation upon those who do believe them. And let And let any moderni adept in the science of morals fhew in his account of the foundation of morality, and the nature of obligation, any thing that hath a force or influence equal to this: or, will the nominal felf-righteous Chriftian, who thinks Chrift only made up fome little wants which he finds in himself, or that his death had only fome general expediency in it, ever be equally tender in his practice, with him who fees fo much of the purity of the law of God, and his deteftation of fin, as to efteem all his own righteousnesses but as filthy rags, and bottoms his hope of acceptance wholly upon the perfect righteousness of his Redeemer?

In the third place, he who expects juftification only through the imputed righteoufnefs of Chrift, has the most awful views of the danger of fin. He not only fees the obligation and purity of the law, but the feverity of its fanction. It is a fear of wrath from the avenger of blood, that perfuades him to fly to the city of refuge. And if we compare the fentiments of others with his, either the generality of a careless and blinded world, or those who act upon contrary principles and a different fyftem from that which we are now defending, we fhall find, that not one of them hath fuch apprehenfions of the wrath and vengeance of God due on the account of fin, as the convinced finner, who flies to the propitiation of Chrift for deliverance and refcue.

I am very fenfible, that many readers will be ready to challenge this argument as preffed into the fervice, and wholly improper upon my fcheme: they will fuppose, that every believer, in confequence of his faith in Christ, is fcreened from the penalty of the law and fheltered from the stroke of divine juftice; he is therefore no more under this fear; and its being no more a motive of action, in the future part of his conduct, is the very ground of the objection I am attempting to remove. This is no doubt plaufible; but let it be remembered, in what way it is that believers are freed from their apprehenfions of

the wrath of God; it is by their acceptance of his mercy through faith in Chrift. Before the application of this remedy, they faw themfelves the children of wrath and heirs of hell; and they ftill believe that every fin deferves the wrath of God, both in this life and that which is to come. Will they therefore re-incur the danger from which they have fo lately efcaped, and of which they had fo terrible a view? will they do fo voluntarily, even although they know the remedy to be ftill at hand, ftill ready to be applied, and certainly effectual? Suppofe any perfon had been upon the very point of perifhing in a violent and rapid fiream, and faved when his ftrength was well nigh exhaufted, by the happy intervention of a tender-hearted pallenger; would he voluntarily plunge himself again into the flood, even although he knew his deliverer were flanding by, ready for his relief? The fuppofition is quite unnatural; and it is equally fo to imagine, that one faved from divine wrath will immediately repeat the provocation, even whilst he trembles at the thoughts of the mifery of that state from which he had been fo lately delivered.

Let us only confider the strong sense which a believer ufually hews of the danger of others in an unconverted ftate, from a perfuafion of their being under the wrath of God. He warns them, intreats them, pities them, and prays for them. He would not exchange with any one of them, a prifon for a palace, or a fcaffold for a throne, How then should he be fuppofed to follow them in their practice, and thereby to return to their state?

But perhaps, here again it will be urged, that this is improper; becaufe, according to the principles of the af fertors of imputed righteousness, a believer being once in a juftified state, cannot fall from grace; and therefore his fins do not deferve wrath; and he himfelf must have, from this perfuafion, a ftrong confidence that, be they what they will, they cannot have fuch an effect: and ac-1 cordingly, fome have exprefsly affirmed, that the future uns of the elect are forgiven, as well as their past, at their converfion; nay, fome, that they are juftified from all eternity, that God doth not fee fin in a believer, that his afflictions are not punishments, and other things of the VOL. I. H

them at all in view. But let it be remembered, that however little many believe fuch things, they may yet perceive, if they will attend to it, their natural operation upon those who do believe them. And let any moderri adept in the science of morals fhew in his account of the foundation of morality, and the nature of obligation, any thing that hath a force or influence equal to this: or, will the nominal felf-righteous Chriftian, who thinks Chrift only made up fome little wants which he finds in himself, or that his death had only fome general expediency in it, ever be equally tender in his practice, with him who fees fo much of the purity of the law of God, and his deteftation of fin, as to efteem all his own righteoufneffes but as filthy rags, and bottoms his hope of acceptance wholly upon the perfect righteousness of his Redeemer?

In the third place, he who expects juftification only through the imputed righteousness of Chrift, has the most awful views of the danger of fin. He not only fees the obligation and purity of the law, but the feverity of its fanction. It is a fear of wrath from the avenger of blood, that perfuades him to fly to the city of refuge. And if we compare the fentiments of others with his, either the generality of a careless and blinded world, or those who act upon contrary principles and a different fyftem from that which we are now defending, we shall find, that not one of them hath fuch apprehenfions of the wrath and vengeance of God due on the account of fin, as the convinced. finner, who flies to the propitiation of Chrift for deliverance and refcue.

I am very fenfible, that many readers will be ready to challenge this argument as preffed into the service, and wholly improper upon my scheme: they will fuppofe, that every believer, in confequence of his faith in Chrift, is fcreened from the penalty of the law and fheltered from the ftroke of divine juftice; he is therefore no more under this fear; and its being no more a motive of action, in the future part of his conduct, is the very ground of the objection I am attempting to remove. This is no doubt plaufible; but let it be remembered, in what way it is that believers are freed from their apprehenfions of