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given caution that his word fhall be good, &c.; he gives the earneft of his word, the holy fpirit of promife, &c.; he has added his oath to it, &c.; he has attefted it by the three that bear record in heaven, &c.

I advise you to take up the promife as delivered and indorfed unto you: "To you is the word of this falvation fent: The promife is unto you, and to your feed," &c. Heb. iv. 1. "Let us fear, left a promife being left us," &c.

Take up the promife as the genuine thought and picture of his heart, and that he really thinks as he speaks; for unbelief is ready to fuggeft, that he fays one thing, and thinks another. Be aware of this, it is an imputation upon man to do fo, and the use of words is loft if men do not think as they fpeak: far lefs are we to imagine that there is any difingenuity in a God of truth; no, no, his words corre fpond to his mind, &c.

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Be perfuaded that it is an easy thing for God to fulfil his promife. There is no fuch distance between God's faying and working, as we are ready to imagine, Pfal. xxxiii. 9. He fpake, and it was done," &c. Unbelief reprefents the promise as a thing difficult or hard to be performed; but it is quite otherwife: saying and working is all one with God; he commands" things that are not, as if they were."

In pleading the promise, beware of limiting the holy One of Ifrael. To clear this, take these two cautions. 1. Beware of being peremptory in expecting what is not abfolutely promised, &c. 2. Do not always expect a prefent accomplishment of the promife, but wait; for "the vifion is for an appointed time,” &c. "He that believeth, does not make hafte," &c.

When faith cannot get fixt upon the conditional promise, then let it go to the abfolute, where the condition mentioned is ay to be found, &c.

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Take care that, in acting faith upon the promise, you always remember the relation between Chrift and the promise; for all the promises are in him yea, and in him amen.” Many break their necks upon the promife, by feparating between Chrift and the promise; Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all the promises.

Queft. What is the relation between Chrift and the promife?

Anfw. 1.Chrift is to be confidered as the first heir of all the promifes. Adam was the heir of the promise of life made in the first covenant, while he continued in his obedience; but he loft his heirship to himself and his whole tribe by the fall: Chrift, as the second Adam, steps in, and fulfils the command.

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of the first covenant, and undergoes its penalty in our room; and fo he becomes a new heir to the promife of eternal life, and of every thing pertaining to it. Now, our title to the promise comes in through him, through his obedience, and death, his everlafting righteoufnefs; fo that in believing the promise, we must at the fame time fubmit to his righte oufnefs.

2. Chrift is to be confidered as the great bleffing contained in all the promises; hence called in a way of eminency, "The mercy promised to the fathers." What was the first promife in paradife, but Chrift the feed of the woman? What was the promise to Abraham, but Chrift, "in whom all the nations of the earth were to be bleffed?" And when he is promised, all is promifed; for he is all in all. There is not a promise in the Bible, but has lefs or more of Chrift in it. In a word, Christ himself, as contained in the word of faith, draws all the bleffings of heaven and a long eternity after him.

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Christ is to be confidered as the glorious fountain and treafury, in whom all the promised bleffings are hid. He it is in whom all the treasures of grace and glory are hid; and it is out of his fulness that we receive all promifed grace, &c.

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4. Chrift is the foundation and ground upon which they all ftand. The believer and the promise ftand upon the fame foundation:"Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation." And all the promifes are founded upon him, upon his blood and fatisfaction, without which never a promife had been given out by God to any of the children of men. And faith, in improving the promise, leans upon this foundation, stands upon this ground: juft as a man leaning upon a ftaff, he fets the ftaff upon the ground, and fo leans upon the staff: for except the ftaff lean to the ground, it will not fupport us; fo unless the ftaff of the promise be fet upon Chrift as its proper ground, it will do us no fervice. And I fear a defect here is the ruin of many gofpel-hearers: they pretend to lean to God's promife, but in the mean time they do not fet the ftaff of the promife upon Chrift, and his fatisfaction and interceffion; and fo they and their faith fall into hell together in the end. Thus I have given you fome advices, in order to your improvement of the promifes in a way of believing.

Queft. 2. How is faith to act upon Chrift in the promise, or by virtue of the promise? for, as I told you, all the promises are in him, and he is in all the promises.

For anfwer to this, I would have you know, that in every promife of the word, Chrift is reprefented as cloathed or vefted with one or other of his mediatory offices of prophet, priest, or king; he is made of God unto us wisdom as a prophet, righte

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cufness as a priest, and fanctification as a king; and in one or other of these offices he gives out all the fure mercies of David, all the bleflings of a covenant of grace. And therefore, in order to your living by faith upon Chrift in the promife, take the few following advices.

1. Study to be well acquainted with the perfon and offices of Chrift. Study, I fay, to be well acquainted with the dignity and excellency of his perfon as he is "Emmanuel, the Word made flesh, God manifefted in the flesh;" for upon the excellency of his perfon, depends the validity of the whole of his undertaking as our Redeemer. Without this be kept in the foul's view, it cannot but wander in the dark, without knowing where to fix; we will be fair to mistake a fhadow inftead of a fubftance, without we have becoming views of the excellency of a Redeemer's perfon. But then, I fay, we muit study to know him, not only in his perion, but in his offices wherewith he is vefted; for faith, or truft, has a respect unto a person vested with fome office or other. As when you employ an advocate, you trust the perfon as cloathed with that office; when you employ a physician, you trust the perfon as cloathed with that office; and when you employ a minifter, you truft his person as cloathed with the minifterial office; fo here when we employ Christ, or lean upon him, we truft him as cloathed with his prophetical, priestly, or kingly offices. And therefore, in order to the life of faith, study to be well acquainted with the person of Christ as vested with these offices, and what it is that we are to expect from him as cloathed with thefe offices.

Queft. What has faith to expect from Chrift as a prophet?

Anfw. As a prophet he reveals his Father's will by his word externally, and by his Spirit internally; and therefore faith eyes him for inftruction in the things of God, &c. As a prophet," he received gifts for men, and gives apostles, prophets, paftors, and teachers ;" and therefore faith looks to him for "paftors according to his heart," and for his bleffing upon the word and ordinances difpenfed by them, for the edification of his body, &c. As a prophet, he received the Spirit, and all his influences; and therefore faith looks to him in this office for the Spirit to "lead into all truth," to rend the vail, difpel darkness, and to lead in the way we know

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Queft. What has faith to expect from Chrift, as a priest? Anfw. As a priest, he fatisfies juftice, redeems from the curfe of the law, from hell and wrath. As a priest, he "brings in everlasting righteousness, and makes interceffion for VOL. II.

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the tranfgreffors, opens the way to the holieft." And hence faith has ground to expect from him the benefits of his purchafe, every mercy of the covenant, as the price of his blood, and the fruit of his interceffion.

Queft. What has faith to expect from Chrift as a king?

Anfw. As a king, he gives forth his laws, and a heart to obey them; and therefore faith expects that he will mould heart and life in a conformity to his will, according to that promise, "I will write my laws in their hearts," &c. As a king, he fubdues his and his people's enemies; and therefore faith looks to him for victory over fin, Satan, and the world, &c. As a king," the government is upon his shoulders," and he rules in the midft of his enemies: and therefore faith expects that all fhall be well, according to his promife, Rom. viii. 26. "All things fhall work together for good, to them that love God," &c. As a king, he gives peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghoft, increafe of grace, and perfeverance therein to the end; and therefore faith expects all these things from him, as vefted with a kingly office. Thus you fee what excellent matter faith has to work upon, when it views the person of Christ, as cloathed with his prophetical, priestly, and kingly offices. Now, in order to your living by faith on him, ftudy to have a clear uptaking of his perfon, God-man cloathed with thefe offices.

2. Another advice I give you, confequential to the former, is this, Study to know and be perfuaded, that thefe offices of Christ are purely relative, that is, they are not for his own, but for our advantage; it was for us that he took these offices upon him, and it is for our benefit that he exercises them. Yea, in fome respect, these offices depend on us as one relation depends upon another; for as there cannot be a father without a child, fo Chrift could not be a prophet without there were ignorant finners to inftruct; he could not be a priest, without there were guilty tranfgreffors for whom he might fa tisfy and intercede; he could not be a king, without fubjects to govern. So that thefe offices of Christ are purely relative; he is a prophet for us, a priest for us, and a king for us: hence, 1 Cor. i. 30. he is made of God unto us (not to himself, but to us) wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." Oh what strong ground has faith to lean upon, when these offices of Chrift are taken up in this view and relation to us! Oh, will faith fay, I will truft him for illumination and inftruction, because he is a prophet for to inftruct the ignorant; I will truft him for pardon, peace, and reconciliation, because he is a "prieft ordained for men in things pertaining to God;" I will truft him for fanctification, and victory over death, and

fin, and Satan, and the world, because he is given for a commander and king to the people: he will instruct me, he will justify me, he will fanctify, and fubdue mine iniquities, because he is my prophet, priest, and king.

3. Be perfuaded, that Chrift executes all thefe offices as a duty or a trust committed to him. When a man is cloathed with any office, he is obliged to discharge the duties of that of fice; and he is unfaithful to his truft, if he do it not. His Father's commandment is upon him to this purpose, and therefore called his Father's "fervant: This commandment (as a fervant), he received from the Father." And not only his Father's command, but his own voluntary engagement, Pfal. xl. 6. "Mine ears haft thou bored." Now, is it to be once thought or imagined, that Chrift will fail in the duties of his offices, which the Father commanded him, and which he himself has voluntarily engaged with?

4. Let faith begin first to act upon the priestly office of Christ; for this is the bafis and foundation of the other two, If. liii. at the clofe, Phil. ii. 8-10. Pfal cx. laft. The priest. under the law, he had the Urim and Thummim in his breaftplate, and a crown upon his head; to learn us, that the kingly and prophetical offices, of which these were the badges, were both founded on the facerdotal or prieftly office. So then, study to improve Christ, as a priest and propitiation, set forth in the glorious gofpel, to be applied by faith; and then it will be eafy to believe that he is thy prophet and king. If thou canst believe that he suffered and satisfied for thy fins, it will be eafy for thee to believe, that as a prophet he will wash thee, and as a king he will fanctify, and subdue thine iniquities. Yea, know, Sirs, for your encouragement, that the very end why Chrift purchased grace and glory by his blood was, that it might be offered unto all, and actually applied unto every foul that believes in him. So then, let faith ground first upon the priestly office of Chrift, and upon that foundation claim the benefit of his other offices.

5. Remember how affectionately Chrift executed these offices upon earth, and this will be a strong ground to believe that he will not neglect them, now that he is afcended into heaven. He had a great defire to be facrificed, Luke xii. 50. "I have a baptifm to be baptifed with, and how am I ftraitened till it be accomplished!" He longed to be dipt in the Red fea of his Father's wrath. The word fignifies that his foul was big or fwelled within him with defire. He had not only defire, but delight in his mediatory work: "I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, he rejoiced in spirit when the time of his fuffering drew near. Now, may faith argue,

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