THat a Being infinitely Perfect shou'd delight in the work of its own hands; that Goodness it self shou'd have Incli­nations of Tenderness and Love for a Creature made after its own Image, Just and Upright; is but what that Creature might reasonably ex­pect from the consideration of God's Nature, and of its own. But that a reasonable Crea­ture, fall'n willfully from that Uprightness, [Page 2]given over to Sin, and polluted with Wicked­ness, shou'd with all those spots and stains about it be the Object of God's Love, to such a degree, as that he shou'd give His Only Son a ransom for it; the Son of his Love, for a Miserable Wretch, the greatest contradiction to his Infinite Purity, and the hopelesly devo­ted Sacrifice to his Everlasting Vengence. This were enough to startle a forward Faith, were it not that he has said it who cannot fail, he has spoken it who cannot be deceiv'd, who is himself both the Gift and the Assurance of it: who to the manifold expressions of his Good­ness to us has added, That of even this oppor­tunity of reviving the dying Images of our shatter'd, and on every side assaulted Faith; and inflaming our Hearts with a warm and pe­netrating sense of his astonishing and unboun­ded Love, with a sense which is not to be had but by the means of Faith, the only proper In­strument for exciting it: as it is the only con­dition of attaining that Everlasting Life, which is thus offer'd to our acceptance. For God so lov'd the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shou'd not perish, but have Everlasting Life.

There are two things eminently remarkable in these words, The Gift God gave to the [Page 3]World, His Only Begotten Son; and the End for which he gave it, that whosoever believeth in Him shou'd not perish, but have Everlasting Life: And if we duly reflect upon the Principle from which that Gift proceeded, and the Means appointed for applying it to the End; there will arise from thence some noble and useful considerations towards the right acknowledge­ment of the One, and the full attainment of the Other.

In the first place it will concern us to in­quire how Our Saviour is the Gift of God? For The Three Divine Persons, in the adora­ble Trinity, being Coeternal and Coequal, it may seem inconsistent with that Equality, that One of 'em shou'd have Power or Authority over the O­ther. For equal Powers will be in a capacity of making equal Resistance, and Powers Eternally to will be for that Reason ever above all Force from each other. Yet there is nothing more common in Holy Scripture than the Expres­sions of this subordination, and Dependance, this Mission, and Gift of the Son by the Father. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, says he, Isaiah 61.1. (for he applies that Text to himself in the 4th of St. Luke ver. the 18th) The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the Meek, he hath sent me [Page 4]to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound. So the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says ( Heb. 5.5.) That Christ glorify'd not himself to be made an High-Priest: but he that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.

On this account it is necessary for us to di­stinguish between their Natural and their Oeco­nomical State; for there is a very great diffe­rence between the one and the other, and a Subordination and Inequality induc'd by the vo­luntary acceptance of Offices Ministerial to the great work of Our Redemption, which is not found­ed in the Divine Nature, consider'd simply and abso­lutely in it self; but in the Relation only which their Personal Properties bear to each other, and not with respect to the differen [...] and unequal Charges they have graciously been pleas'd to take upon 'em, for the compassing that End.

Consider'd in their Natural State, they are all equally God, Infinite in Being, Power and Per­fections; and being equal in Essential Power and Dominion, are as such by consequence, not subject or subordinate to one another: from whence St. Paul says of Our Blessed Saviour; that, being in the form of God, he thought it no rob­bery to be equal with God. But in the Dispen­sation [Page 5]of our Redemption they have voluntarily taken upon 'em the Adminstration of Ʋnequal Offices.

The Father being the Fountain of the God­head, and in Relation to the Eternal Generati­on of the Son, First in Order of Nature; took upon him the Office of the supreme Governour of the World. The Protector of his Laws, and the first Director in the work of our Salvation. In his Infinite Wisdom and Mercy he laid the Plan of our Redemption, and design'd that in­estimable Victim for us, which alone cou'd satisfy his offended Justice. And the Office of the Fa­ther being thus, by the very Nature of its Fun­ctions, more excellent in the Pre-eminence of Power and Dignity, it was fit that the Son, who was to be the Mediator between God and Man, shou'd receive his Commission for that Office from the Father, upon whose good pleasure only, the receiving satisfaction to infinite Justice from any other hands, than those of the offenders them­selves, intirely did depend.

So that in respect of that Designation and that Commission from the Father, our Saviour may be said to be his Gift, though fully equal to him in all the inherent and essential perfections of the Godhead: He may truly on that score be said to be sent by him, though he voluntarily [Page 6]enter'd into that Covenant, and accepted of that Office; though He gave Himself a Ransom for all.

Now a Gift in its own Nature must be free, independent on any Law that may oblige to it, or any Merit that may deserve it: and such in all respects was this of our Mighty Deli­verer.

In vain do we search for any thing in God's Nature, or our own, for any Laws or Principles of Nature or Reason, that might oblige him to it on his part, or incline him on ours.

There was not any tye upon him to this Gift, in respect of his own Nature; from any Natural, from any Moral, or Political Necessity. For of all the Operations of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Generation of the Son, and the Eter­nal Procession of the Holy Ghost alone, have in 'em any proper and natural necessity: All other extra­neous things are the Works of God's Free Pleasure, which he orders according to the Counsel of his Will; that is, so as it was free for him from all Eternity not so to order 'em as he does. There can be no natural necessity in God to pro­duce or order any thing without him; for then that Production, and that Order, must neces­sarily have been from all Eternity, must have been as Eternal as himself.

There is a Moral Necessity indeed in God, ac­cording to which his External Actions, though free in themselves, are determin'd, as to their Qualities, by the standing and unchangeable Rule of his Infinite Perfections. But he was not a Debtor to Man on account of any of these, to find a ransom for his Sins, who had made himself a contradiction to all those Perfections, and the natural Object of God's hatred and wrath. His Power and Goodness he had shewn in Creating him; it was now time to vindicate his Justice and Truth in awarding his Punish­ment, and verifying his Sentence. He had pos­sess'd him with Integrity, and left him free in his Choice, had set Life or Death before him, Happiness or Misery equally proportionable; and when the fatal Transgression had deter­min'd our Lot, God had been Eternally and Infinitely Good as well as Just, though he had pass'd us by in our Sins unregarded and unas­sisted, and left us to the deserv'd Issues of his Everlasting Indignation. For his Justice can no more destroy his Goodness, than his Good­ness can defeat or disarm his Justice. What the Case may be as to a Political Necessity, seems at first sight indeed of a something diffe­rent consideration; and vain presumptuous Man naturally affecting independency in all [Page 8]things, will be apt to flatter himself with Ar­guments drawn from the Nature of Government, that this Gift of God is not so free as we pre­tend; and that he being the supreme Magistrate and Governour of the World, was bound for that reason, not to give up the whole body of his Subjects to the severity of His Laws, which demanded their final and universal Destruction: But that by the very Nature of his Office he was oblig'd to find some way of preserving them with whom that Relation of Government might still subsist and continue.

For the End of all Laws and Government being the Preservation of the Society to be go­vern'd by 'em, though the safety of that may well be provided for in the Destruction of such Private Men, as by their crimes intrench upon it: Yet in the Case of an univeral Defection of all his subjects, when the Lives of the Whole are forfeited to the Laws; it wou'd be con­trary to the End of those Laws, for a Prince to take the forfeiture; and the reason and in­terest of Government, as well as his own Good Nature wou'd force him to a Pardon.

But the vanity of this imagination in Relati­on to God's Government, will manifestly ap­pear if we consider the very great difference there is between Divine and Humane Laws; and [Page 9]the vast disproportion between the Nature of the Sovereignty of God, and that of the Mightiest Princes upon Earth.

The Laws of Men 'tis true are made for the benefit of Society; and 'tis but just therefore that they shou'd give way to the good of it whenever they happen to come in competition. But the Laws of God were not made for the sake of Men; on the contrary the whole Society of Men was made for those Laws. The Glory of God was the End for which Man was made, and that Glory consists in the observation of his Laws, which are founded on the essential and immutable Perfecti­ons of his Nature, and which justly and necessa­rily call for the Ruin of a Society that has broke 'em, when it was made on purpose for their ob­servation.

Besides, there is a vast disproportion between the Sovereignty of God and that of Earthly Princes and Magistrates.

A King cannot destroy the whole Body of his Subjects however Criminal, but at the same time he must extinguish his own Sovereignty and Dominion, and be himself, by that means, reduc'd to a private Capacity.

But the Sovereignty of God depends not up­on Men, that it shou'd be extinguish'd, even with the whole race of 'em, Thousands of An­gels [Page 10]wou'd still stand before him, and ten thousand times ten thousand minister unto him. The Heavens wou'd still declare the Glory of God, and the Firma­ment shew his handy-work. Or if he shou'd de­stroy the whole Creation, it were still in his Power to make a new one, and re-establish that External Glory and Sovereignty which is nei­ther any way necessary to his Being, nor does add in the least to the internal and essential splendour and Majesty of a God that is infinite­ly happy, and self-sufficient.

It is plain therefore, that a God of infinite Holiness and Justice (though it was free for him to make, or not make, such a Creature as Man, capable of choosing Good or Evil, yet as he was pleas'd to make him such) cou'd not in consequence of those Attributes but establish an inviolable Relation between that Good or Evil, and rewards or punishments, and that not any Natural Powers, not any Moral Perfections, or Political Capacity of his own, cou'd lay a­ny necessity upon him not to accomplish that establishment in the Destruction of the Misera­ble Offenders.

But it was his good pleasure to provide a Ransom for us; and if it appear farther, That there was nothing in Man which cou'd deserve it from him, there will every circumstance be [Page 11]found to concur, which is necessary to make a Gift intirely and absolutely Free.

And what was there in Man that cou'd de­serve any thing from his Maker? If we were righteous, what give we to him, or what receiveth he at our hands? Can a Man be profitable unto God, as his righteousness may profit the Son of Man? There is too great a distance between God and his Creatures, too great a dependance and debt on the one side, to allow of any capacity of de­serving from the other. The very best use Man makes of the Gifts of God, cannot discharge the Debts with which those very Gifts have loaded him: How then can he possibly bring any thing to the account of Merit, who is at best so far short of a just Payment? But alas! This Argument turns upon a supposition by much too favourable! For he was so far from deserving any Good from God, that his Merit was Hell, and his Desert Damnation: He had sold himself to Sin, and given himself up to Vanity; his ways were perverse before the Lord; Paradise it self cou'd not tempt him to be honest a little while, but he wou'd needs serve the Devil as soon as God had made him. This was the condition of lost Man, when yet God so lov'd the World, that he gave his only be­gotten Son, to the end that whosoever believeth in [Page 12]him, should not perish, but have Everlasting Life.

2. An End truly worthy of God! Worthy his Infinite and Almighty Beneficence! Men in Prison are sometimes unexpectedly set free; but often free only to starve abroad in the open Air. Men sunk in Debt have their bonds of­ten cancell'd by the Compassion of Government; but are many times only by that Means at li­berty to contract new ones, without any pro­bable condition of support. But Man by this Gift was not only rescu'd from perishing Ever­lastingly, but Eternal Glory and Happiness was purchas'd for him. For the End God propos'd in giving his Son was not narrow and short, ac­cording to the weak measures and imperfect Projects of humane Benefactors: It was not li­mited barely to the freeing us from Punishment, it extended to the enstating us in Life Everlasting; and however these two are commonly mistaken or confounded, one for, or with another; yet they are distinct Effects, in different regards de­pending equally on the same Gift, and both to­gether making up the great End of it, the Sal­vation of our Souls.

The Pardon of our sins, and deliverance from Death, was due to our Blessed Saviour's Infinite Satisfaction: But our claim to Eternal Life de­pends wholly on his Merit, as all those Gifts [Page 13]and Graces do, which conduce to our obtaining it. For to frame an exact Notion of the Essential Parts, of the Causes and Principles of our Sal­vation; the Sacrifice of Christ is to be consider'd in two respects; either as a punishment inflicted by divine Justice on that Victim which was offer'd in our stead; or as a Voluntary Oblation which Christ made of himself to purchase for us an inheritance in the highest Heavens, by Vertue of that Covenant which he made with the Father as Mediator between God and Man, it is his satisfaction which respects the Guilt of our sins, and the Divine Justice naturally and necessarily demanding their Punishment; and the consequence of that can reach no farther than putting us in a state of Impunity. But it is the Merit of our Blessed Saviour which respects our Natural want and incapacity of Eternal Hap­piness; and the Formal Effect of that is, not the Delivering us from Hell, which the satisfaction has perform'd already; but the acquisition of Heaven for us, which is an End above and beyond what that satisfaction was determin'd to. Not that the Merit or Satisfaction in the Sacrifice of Christ can any way be separated or divided from it (it cou'd not satisfy if it were not Meri­torious; it cou'd not Merit if it did not satisfy) but still when we speak properly and clearly [Page 14]they are two distinct and different things, and produce distinct and different effects.

For though God having made Man at first Just and Innocent, and put him in Possession of that Happiness which he lost by Sin, it may seem probable, that the Satisfaction made for that Sin shou'd of it self re-instate him in that Hap­piness, and supersede by that means all manner of necessity of any farther purchace to be made for him. Yet if we consider well the nature of the Happiness which the Gospel directs us to aim at and expect; it will be found to be such as Man cou'd lay no claim to from any natural right, and therefore such as cou'd not any way be due to him upon and from his restitution to his natural State.

For his natural State consisted in the enjoy­ment of an Earthly Paradise, and depended, as to its duration, on his continuance in Innocence. But the Life Eternal of the Gospel is a superna­tural Gift, not an animal felicity in its own Na­ture capable of change, however conditionally lasting. 'Tis a happiness which will make us like the Angels of God, in a state unchange­able and indefeasible, giving Immortality to our Bodies, and impeccability to our Souls; and requiring therefore a new right (beyond the simple pardoning of our Sins, on account [Page 15]of the ransom paid for us, beyond the restoring us to the State from which we were fallen) which might acquire to us an Everlasting Inhe­ritance in the Kingdom of God, by the infinite Merits of the voluntary oblation which our Blessed Saviour made of himself, unconstrain'd by any Power, unoblig'd by any Law, un­engag'd by any Merit of ours that cou'd de­serve it.

3. Which leads us to the consideration of the Principle, upon which God was pleas'd to be­stow this Gift, his Infinite and unbounded Love and Compassion.

Infinite and Ʋnbounded indeed had that Good­ness need to be, which cou'd extend it self to the World in that condition which it was sunk in­to! For Sin is a State of Rebellion and Defiance against God; and he that has once put off and renounc'd his Allegiance, cannot rationally ex­pect or hope for the benefits of that Government which he refuses to submit to, how mild and compassionate soever the nature of the Power may be, or however good and beneficent the So­vereign Administration of it. A Love only without limits cou'd pursue us so far as effectu­ally to overtake us, when we were set at a wider distance from him by our Sins, than we were by our Nature; when all the Characters [Page 16]of his Perfections in us were blotted, or eras'd; all the Faculties of our Souls disorder'd and re­vers'd; and the whole Body of Sin reign'd in triumph over us.

But though his Almighty Love reach'd us in this State of Sin and Wickedness, it was not un­der this consideration that it did so. Such an imagination wou'd be abusive and unworthy of God; inconsistent with his Infinite Holiness and Purity, and irreconcileable to his Justice, which demanded their Vindication. It was the Misery of Man alone which mov'd the Divine Compassion; a Misery too great for any Natural Powers to redeem him from, too intense for a­ny Creatures Pity to abate or relieve. For no Man can by any means redeem his Brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: for it cost more to redeem their Souls; so that they must let that alone for ever. And Misery indeed is the proper object of Pity, and helpless Misery of a Divine Beneficence, a Misery hopelesly such of an Almighty one! On this account, notwithstanding we were dead in our trespasses, and on that score the wretched Objects of Divine Justice; it was not inconsi­stent with the inviolable Majesty of God's Laws, and his immutable Decree of punishing Sin, that God shou'd have inclinations of rendring himself placable to Mankind; that he shou'd be [Page 17]mov'd with compassion to such a degree as to procure us the means of Reconciliation; since even those means, by the satisfaction given, serv'd but yet more to raise the Glory and Ho­nour of his Government, as well as to purchase for us Everlasting Happiness and Communion with him, by the most exalted flight of inesti­mable Love. A Love worthy our warmest attention to all the endearing circumstances of it! worthy our utmost acknowledgments and gratitude for so infinite an Obligation!

To make us out of nothing was an Act of kind­ness, to which God had on him no antecedent Obligation; but to redeem us from what was worse than nothing, out of Eternal Slavery to Sin and Death; how wonderfully does it in­crease and indear the Benefaction!

Life it self was a favour which we had no title to; it cou'd not be our due, when we had not a being to claim it in, we cou'd not expect it when we were not so much as even in ex­pectation. How enlarg'd then and unexhausted is that bounty which gives us Life Eternal in Hap­piness Everlasting!

The Infinite Majesty of God, and our own Ʋnworthiness, had set him at a distance from us wholly insurmountable; his brightness forbad all approach, and his anger all hopes of access: [Page 18]yet he gave his Son, his only begotten, to take upon him our Nature, that he might draw it into an intimate, an endless and inseparable Union with his own.

He gave the Son of his Love for Rebels and Enemies; from the Throne of his Glory, above the Heavens, to be born among Beasts, and to die among Thieves: He gave him for Ʋs, when he pass'd by the fall'n Angels: Those once Blessed Spirits that fill'd his Presence, and left 'em banisht for ever from the Joys of it, bound up in Chains of Everlasting Darkness. For verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2.16. That in him all the Nations of the earth might be blessed.

So universal and unconfin'd was the good­ness of God, as unlimited in the reach of it, as intense in degree! It was not restrain'd to one Family or People; within the private Enclosure of the House of Judah, or the narrow bounds of the Land of Canaan: It spread it self wide among the Nations, The Inhabitants of the Isles may be glad thereof. It took in all Kindred, Tongues and People; it extended to the uttermost parts of the Earth. For God is no narrow selfish Being, with partial regards and contracted Bounty; no Arbitrary Dispenser of a groundless Choice, but an absolutely Free and general Benefactor. [Page 19]The World which God so lov'd comprehends all Mankind, and the value of the ransom he gave for it is sufficient to satisfy for as many Worlds as the wantonest Philosopher can imagine, or the gayest Conquerour can wish for. He wou'd that all Men shou'd be sav'd and come to the knowledge of the truth: 'Tis Infidelity alone which frustrates and makes useless to us all the graci­ous offers of Infinite Compassion. For God so lov'd the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, shou'd not perish, but have Everlasting Life.

4. Which brings me to the condition appointed for making this Gift of any use or advantage to us, even Our faith in Christ; without which it is impossible for us to attain to that Salvation which he came to purchase.

For we must not dream of a Covenant with­out a condition, or expect the benefit of the one without performing the other. God did not so love the world as to send his Son to carry Men to Heaven against their wills: But he sent him to make Men capable of going thither, and to en­able 'em to perform what he requires of 'em in order to it. And he requires nothing but what was fit for him to propose, nothing but what is necessary for us to perform. Shou'd God have propos'd severe and arbitrary Terms to [Page 20]us, in order to our Deliverance from the Misery we were fallen into, we must have had very shallow apprehensions of that Misery, to have been capable of thinking any possible means of escaping it insupportable; but when the condi­tion he enjoins is suitable to his Nature and to ours; agreeable to his Divine Perfections, and in its own Nature necessary to our Happiness, we have reason, with Joy, to accept the gracious offer, and with a grateful alacrity to perform the Condition.

Now it is very suitable to God's Nature, that he should make our Faith in his Son this Condi­tion; for it is an acknowledgment of many of his Divine Perfections, and a homage naturally due to 'em, when they are once discover'd to our Minds. Men may attempt to perswade our Belief, but God alone has a right to command it. He has an absolute Authority over our Souls and all their Faculties, over our Thoughts and Understandings, to pull down strong holds, and cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ. So that we are to believe what he teaches us of himself, and what he promises to us, with­out demanding other proofs or farther reasons: our judgments are no longer at our own com­mand, [Page 21]we have no right to examine and can­vass the natural grounds or modes of those Myste­ries he requires us to believe; but our Minds are led Captive, and given absolutely up to the Power and Force of his Authority alone.

It is an acknowledgment of his Goodness which assures us he will withhold nothing from us that he in his Wisdom sees necessary, or even fit for our knowledge; and an acknowledg­ment of his Infallibility, as well as of his Truth; that he is as uncapable of deceiving us, as of de­signing to do so.

Thus our Faith gives to our Blessed Saviour the due Honour of these Perfections in the God­head; and whatever action of ours contributes most to the setting out the Glory of the Divine Attributes, it is most suitable to the Divine Nature to require it of us.

But it is not only agreeable to the Nature of God; it is farther in its own Nature, that is, by the natural tendency of the act it self, absolutely necessary to our Happiness.

For it is a mistake to think this an Arbitrary condition, or means of applying to us the Fruit of this Gift, which God might indifferently have chosen, or left for any other; and that it is only necessary, because God was pleas'd to make it so. It was necessary to the very nature of the [Page 22]transaction, by which our Saviour was to be­come our Pledge and our Ransom, and to repre­sent our Persons in satisfying for our Sins. For our Saviour taking upon him the Office of a Mediator, between God and Man, to make up the great difference between our Maker and his Creatures, by bearing the punishment of our Sins, in his own Person. It was not only ne­cessary, that he shou'd be authoriz'd on God's part, whose consent was requir'd to the Tran­slation of the Punishment from our Persons to his; but that we also, on our part, by our Faith, shou'd accept him as our Mediator; that by that consent of ours to his acting for us we might have some Title to the Divine Mercy and Fa­vour from the satisfaction and Merit of that Mediation with the Father. It is a vain Me­diation between Two, where the consent of one Party is wanting, and there is no possible way of expressing ours, but by resigning our Faith, our Trust and Confidence, by giving our selves up intirely to the Direction and Obedi­ence of the Son of God, who had the goodness for our sakes, to submit himself to that Office and Employment.

And what has he not done to establish that Faith? And what has he left unattempted to engage our affections? If Objects of sense alone [Page 23]can gain our attention, he made himself so to the World in the Veil of his Flesh. If signs from Hea­ven and astonishing Miracles can assert the Divi­nity of his Person and of his Doctrine, his Life was full of such arguments and assurances; and his resurrection from the Dead was an evidence as undeniable in the Fact, as convincing in the Proof.

If dark and obscure Mysteries seem to shock this Faith, the Evidence of their Truth is founded upon Facts as uncontestable as the commands for receiving 'em are positive and express.

If Reason or Interest can incline our Belief, it is by its own proper tendency and by the Law of the New Covenant, a necessary Condition of our Happiness.

And when our Faith in Christ is thus enli­ven'd and actuated; when it is enforc'd with such Tyes, and supported with such Evidence; we must be utterly lost to all that is tender or sen­sible, to all that is honest or gratefull in hu­man Nature, if we are able to resist such amaz­ing instances of the Love of God and of our Blessed Saviour, as have flame enough in 'em to raise and to transport the most degenerate and obdurate Natures.

At the returns of a generous Deliverer from our Temporal Enemies, an universal Joy and ac­knowledgement [Page 24]justly spreads it self through his People: it breaks through the wise Mans firmest compos'dness, for a Joy that is sensible will be seen; it transports the full Crouds into loud Acclamations, for acknowledgments that are real will be heard; even the rumours of fresh Enemies disturb not their chearfulness; so full are they of his Presence, and secure in his Conduct.

What bounds then can confine the excess of our transports at the coming of this Conquerour of our spiritual Adversaries! At the coming of a Conquerour assur'd of his Victory over Principa­lities, over Powers, over the Rulers of the darkness of this World, over spiritual Wickednesses in high Places. The very Angels themselves will join in the tuneful consort, and break out in­to Heavenly Songs and Hallelujahs. Glory be to God on High, on Earth Peace, Good will towards Men! For God so lov'd the World that he gave his Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, shou'd not perish, but have Everlasting Life. To Him, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, Three Persons and one God, be all Glory, Ho­nour, Power, Might, Majesty and Dominion, from this time forth for evermore! Amen.