SERM. reconcile them to Himself, by dying in their stead, and so CXIX. to be the Mediator between God and Man; and accord

ingly you must believe and trust on Him, on Him alone, to restore you to the favour and kingdom of God; and you must love and honour Him with all your hearts for it. He that doth not this, doth not come unto the Son, and thereJohn 8. 24. fore cannot come unto the Father by Him, but must "die in his sins;" but God hath that infinite love for his Son, that whosoever loveth and believeth in the Son, is, for that very John 16. 27. reason, beloved by the Father: "The Father Himself," saith He, "loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God."

But then you must express this your faith and love unto John 14. 15. the Son, by serving Him, and doing whatsoever He hath commanded. And, for that purpose, you must keep close Col. 3. 17. to the rule laid down by the Apostle, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him;" that is, whatsoever ye do, do it in obedience to His commands, for His sake, trusting and believing in Him to direct and assist you in it, and to intercede with the Father to accept of it. This is to serve the Lord Christ indeed; and therefore, 1 Pet. 2 5. whatsoever is thus done, is acceptable to God through Him; and they who thus serve the Son are so highly in the favour of God the Father, that He honours them for it: John 12. 26. "If any man serve Me," saith the Son," him will my Father

honour."

Especially in all your addresses unto God, for any grace or blessing you desire, ye must be sure to ask it only in the name of His Son Jesus; for ye who have so often offended God, would never have been capable of any favour from Him, unless His Son had merited it for you. And now He hath merited all ye can desire; ye have no ground to expect any thing, unless ye desire it in His Name and upon the account of His said merits, and the Mediation which, by virtue thereof, He maketh for you; but that way ye may come to God, so as to obtain any thing that is good for you; for ye John 16. 23. have His Own Word for that, saying, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you." And therefore in all your prayers, ye must not only make use of

Christ's Name, as we do in all our Collects, but ye must keep your minds and your faith fixed wholly upon Him, firmly believing, that God, for His sake, will grant whatsoever you ask that is really good for you, and then ye will be sure to have it, as sure as God's Word is true; so powerful is the Name of Christ with Almighty God. He is the Son of His love, with Whom He is well pleased, and in Whom He is therefore pleased with all those who come to Him in His Name: so that although no man can come unto Him any other way, yet any man may thus come unto the Father by the Son.

And we, as well as any other; let us, therefore, now resolve to do so; as ever we desire to go unto the Father, SO as to be happy in the enjoyment of His love and favour, let us first go unto His Son the Lord Jesus, so as to become His Disciples indeed, believing and practising all that He hath taught us: and let none of us doubt but He will accept of us, seeing He hath said, " him that cometh to Me I will John 6. 37. in no wise cast out." In humble confidence whereof, let us therefore, by a quick and lively faith, apply ourselves to Him, and take all opportunities that we can get, of waiting upon Him in His house, and at His holy table, that He may dwell in us, and we in Him; that believing and depending steadfastly upon Him, we may, by Him, get up and come to God the Father, so as to have Him to be our God, and our Father. How happy shall we then be! We shall then be "fellow-citizens with the Saints, and of the house- [Eph. 2. hold of God:" we shall then abide under the shadow of 19.] the Almighty, and have His "truth to be our shield and [Ps. 91. 4.] buckler;" "His grace will be always sufficient for us," and [2 Cor. 12. His Spirit ready to assist and direct us in all our ways. He "will never leave us nor forsake us," but guide us by His [Heb. 13. counsel, till He receive us into glory. So "that all things [Rom. 8. shall work together for our good," through the whole course of our pilgrimage upon earth, and then we shall come to God in Heaven, and there live with Him, behold Him, adore Him, and enjoy Him for ever: and all through Him, by Whom we come unto Him, even the ever blessed Jesus, our only Mediator and Advocate. To Him be glory now and for ever.

9.]

5.]

28.]

SERMON CXX.

CHRIST A SAVIOUR BEFORE HIS INCARNATION.

SERM.

CXX.

[Acts 10.

38.]

JOHN V. 17.

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work.

WHEN our blessed Saviour was upon earth, as never man spake as He spake, so never man did as He did: He "went about doing good," the best that could be done; and that too notwithstanding all the calumnies and reproaches that were cast upon Him for it; which were so far from discouraging Him, that He turned them also into opportunities of doing more good unto the world; for we never find the Jews saying any thing against Him, but He still took occasion from thence of saying something for the better instructing mankind in the knowledge of God, of Himself, and of the way that leads to life: as particularly in this place, our Saviour having cured a sick man (as He made the world) [John 5.8.] by the word of His mouth, only saying, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk;" and this being done on the Sabbath-day, the Jews began to rail against Him, and persecute Him as one that had broken the Sabbath, the day on which God rested from all His works, and commanded men to do so too. To which our Saviour answers so as, at the same time, to reveal several great truths, which were necessary for them and all mankind to know. And He begins His answer with this Divine Saying, "My Father worketh hitherto;" as if He had said, Although God rested upon the seventh day, from all His works which He had made, so as never to create or

produce any more species or kinds of things out of nothing, yet He still worketh in preserving, governing, and disposing all things that He hath made, and that too upon the Sabbath, as well as upon other days; for He did not appoint the Sabbath for Himself, but for you to observe, by resting from your own works, not from His. You are still bound to do good upon the Sabbath-day, as He doth every day alike: "He worketh," in the present tense, and therefore continually, in every moment of time, and He thus continually worketh hitherto, from the beginning of the world to this day.

This was a sufficient confutation of the Jewish cavil. Howsoever, He, out of His abundant goodness, took this opportunity of acquainting them with two very great and necessary truths: First, that God is His Father; "My Father," saith He, which He expressed so as that the Jews themselves understood (though the Arians could not), that He thereby "made Himself equal with God:" and secondly, John 5. 18. that He Himself worketh continually as the Father doth;

66

My Father," saith He, "worketh hitherto, and I work." Whereby He gives us to understand, not only that He, as the eternal Son and Wisdom of the Father, always worketh together with Him, and doth whatsoever the Father doth, ver. 19. but likewise that He continually worketh also as He is Jesus, the Saviour of the world: for, as such, He spake these words, "And Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." As if He had said, As My Father, the Creator and Governor of the world, hath been all along doing, and still doth, whatsoever He pleaseth in it, and whensoever He pleaseth to do it; so I, the Saviour of the world, I have always been, and still am working the Salvation of mankind, continually doing all such things as are necessary to my bringing those who believe in Me to Heaven.

The consideration of which great truth being of extraordinary use, both to the informing our judgments aright concerning our blessed Saviour, and to the confirming our faith in Him in order to our Salvation by Him, I shall by His assistance, endeavour to make it as plain and clear as I can unto you, by shewing that He hath all along, from the

CXX.

SERM. beginning of the world, and so before as well as after His Incarnation, been carrying on and accomplishing the great work of man's Salvation. And for that purpose shall, first, inquire into what grounds we have to believe this truth in general, even that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of mankind, before He actually took our nature upon Him: and then shall shew more particularly what He did all along for that end, that men might be saved by Him; and so how truly He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," which being things purely of Divine revelation, in speaking to them, I must confine myself to such arguments which are to be found in God's Own Word; that is not only the most certain, but the only certain ground we have whereupon to build any article of our Christian faith.

I. Now, in order to our proving that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of mankind before He actually took our nature upon Him, we must first suppose that some men were saved before that time. This we may well suppose, it being that which all that believe the Scriptures agree in; so that we need not insist upon the proving of it. the proving of it. But this being taken, as it must be, for granted, it necessarily follows, that Jesus Christ was then also the Saviour of the world, for there never was any "other way whereby men could be saved but by Him." This we are fully assured of by St. Peter, where, speaking of Acts 4. 12. Christ, he saith, "Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved;" which words are so plain and express, that I do not see how it is possible that this great truth should be more clearly revealed to us: for if there ever had been any other way whereby mankind could have been saved, there must have been Salvation in some other besides Christ, which the Apostle here expressly denies, as well he might; forasmuch as there is no way possible for men to be saved, unless Almighty God be first reconciled to them. But there is none could ever do that but only 1Tim.2.5,6. Christ, for "there is one God," saith St. Paul, "and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all;" from whence it appears, that as there is but one God, so there is but one Mediator between God and men, to make up all differences,