through Jefus Chrift our Lord: through whom we have access into this grace wherein we ftand, Rom. v. I, 2.

5. He is theirs, to hear and answer their prayers, and supply all their wants.

How wretched and deftitute foever be our cafe; tho' we may be poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked, he hath gold tried in the fire to enrich, white raiment to clothe and adorn, and eye-falve to enlighten and ease. In him, it hath pleased the Father all fulness should dwell; that of his fulness, his members may all receive, and grace for grace.

6. Laftly, He is theirs, to over-rule all things for their good, guide them by his counsel even unto death, and afterwards receive them to glory.

For this, he hath all power in heaven and earth, and compaffion enough to employ it; fo that none of his charge fhall ever perish, neither fhall any pluck them out of his hand. He is able to keep them from falling, and will not fail to do so, till he present them faultless before the prefence of his glory with exceeding joy. How great is the happiness of the true believer, who can fay, My Beloved is mine, to fuch purposes as thefe !

But he is not to ftop here: having faid, My Beloved is mine, he is moreover to add, and 1 am bis. And thus the believer is Chrift's.

.

1. Humbly to liften to, and learn of him, what he is to know, believe and do, in order to falvation. The command is express, Mark ix. This is my beloved Son, hear him.

7.

This, O my foul, is he that lay from eternity in the bofom of his Father, a teacher come from God to fhew us the way, and lead us back to him. Never man fpake as he fpake; and tho' I was once difobedient, no longer would I be fo. My ear, my heart fhall be open to him. If he tell me of the cross, I would not go back if he utter high and tranfcendent myfteries, I would receive them upon his teftimony, as truth itself, and not proudly afk, How can these things be? I do not expect to be perfonally taught by him, as was the privilege of his difciples whilft he was upon earth; but as the gofpel is his, I would chiefly regard him by my attendance on those he fends. O that I may hear the voice of my Beloved fpeaking in his word, and feel the enlightening, warming influences of his Spirit! His doctrine defcends as the rain, and his fpeech diftils as the dew, his words flow like honey, and are far more sweet to the taste.

Thus the believing foul delights to fit at Christ's feet, and to any motion of leaving him, or going away, answers with Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou haft the words of eternal life.

2. They are his, to obey and please him, as the end for which they were redeemed by him. Having received Chrift Jefus the Lord, they are practically to own his authority, by doing the things that he enjoins. Hence, this is the believer's language, To me to live, is Chrift. My life is devoted to his fervice, and shall be spent in it. His will would I regard, as the rule of

my

my actions, and make his glory the scope of my defires and aims. To this I am conftrained by his dying love, being not my own, but bought with a price; and therefore, am to glorify him with my foul and body, which are

his.

3. They are bis, intirely to depend upon him for all that they need or hope for, as to this world or another, Ifaiah xlv. 24, 25. Surely Shall one fay, In the Lord have I righteousness and ftrength, &c. In the Lord fhall all the feed of Ifrael be juftified, and fhall glory.

Lord, how miferable fhall I be, if thus I am not thine? Being laden with guilt, and wounded in fpirit, I have none else to whom to go: being liable to juftice, and the divine difpleafure; afraid, and in danger of everlasting burnings, I betake myself to thee, my only refuge. Thy blood alone can wash away all my fins, and answer all the demands of juftice: thy righteousness alone can cover all my fpots, and give me acceptance in the fight of God: thy merit is all that I have to plead, to be delivered from the wrath to come, and obtain falvation with eternal glory. I expect no mercy, but for thy fake, as the purchase and fruit of thy obedience and fufferings. I therefore commit my finful finking foul unto thee: I caft my everlasting hope upon thee, to form me for thy praise, fit me for thy fervice, and bring me at last to thy kingdom and glory. Lord, fave me, I am thine.

4. Having thus given themselves up to be the Lord's, they are his, faithfully to employ what

ever talents they have received from him, as those that must be accountable to him.

Though my bleffed Lord be gone to heaven, it is to receive a kingdom, and return. In the mean time, he has fet me to work for him below; and if any wonder, a believer so constantly, fo delightfully labours, whether present or absent, to be accepted of him, his anfwer is ready, It is as waiting for my lord, whose I am, and whom I am bound to ferve.

5. They are his, to fight under him as the captain of their falvation against all that oppofe his faving defign. The Redeemer must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet; and if he puts the queftion, Who is on my fide? This is the answer of every fincere believer, Lord, I am thine.

I would have the fame friends and enemies with thee, the fame objects of love and hatred. In thy ftrength, would I mortify indwelling corruption, resist furrounding temptations, tread down an evil world, and make my way thorough it: patiently waiting, till by dying I overcome, and enter into that ftate, where the wicked ceafe from troubling, and where the weary are at reft.

6. Lastly, They are his, to love and delight in him whilft they live, and earnestly long to fee and be with him above. Who can fay, My Beloved is mine, and I am his, and not have his heart enflamed with love to him, feeing he is altogether lovely? And which way should love work, but in defires after him? And where can thofe

I

thofe defires be filled up, but in his prefence, and when with him in glory.

As therefore he proclaims from heaven, Bebold I come quickly, well may the Spirit, and the Bride, or the Spirit in the Bride, fay, Come, make hafte my Beloved, and come away; and every particular faint fay, Amen, even fo, come, Lord Jefus.

APPLICATION.

And now, as the Use of all,

1. How wonderful is the grace of God in the method of falvation by Jefus Chrift! That the eternal Son of God fhould not only be given for us, but given to us! That we should be ranfomed by him, as dying in our room and ftead; brought into the nearest union to him, as our recovering head, and that any of us, children of wrath, should be admitted to say of the Lord of glory, My Beloved is mine, and I am bis!

2. From the mutual endeared relation between Chrift and believers, Let it be remembered, that he observes what is done for and against any one of the number, and takes it as done to himself. They are his, fo as that he rejoiceth and fympathizeth with them, in all their comforts and all their fufferings. They bear his image, are always under his eye, and near his heart. In all their afflictions, he is afflicted: he that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye: and as he pities them, he will not fail, in the fittest season, to fend them relief ; as he is their Beloved, and they are bis. VOL. II.

3. As