lows, in the second place, that man is, by nature, miserable; not only as suffering loss by sin, but part of the portion of Hell was bestowed upon him; sin spread a death, darkness and guilt upon his mind, at once stripped him of communion with his Maker, rendered him obnoxious to his wrath, and plunged him beneath the curses of the law. And what adds, in the third place, to his misery is this, he is poor, a poor bankrupt, having nothing to pay that vast debt of love, praise and obedience, he owes to his Maker; nothing to recompense for the wrongs he has done: poor indeed! and well he may, when sin and Satan united all their force, to spoil and mar the joys of his state by creation, and so robbed him of every treasure that rendered him happy as a creature. Man was rich in Paradise, but made comisserately poor by sin, devastation upon the mind, degraded from a prince, upon creation's throne as Lord of all, to a beggar upon a dunghill; all the heights of created felicity, the consummate happiness of man by creation, was lost by his disobedience to his Maker's command, which renders him miserably poor, though he owes to Gop more than ten thousand talents of obedience to his law, of satisfaction for disobedience, of praise and love for innumerable mercies: Thus man is, by nature, poor, and has nothing to boast of, but a legacy of hell that sin and Satan has left him. This leads me to add, that he is not only poor, but blind; the depths of man's misery lies in his being blind, not seeing his danger, having, as the prophet says, eyes but see not; upon which account the apostle says, 2 Cor. iv.3, 4. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not; he hath, says our dear LORD, blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts; blindness is a great loss, to be deprived of sight is a mournful complaint; but the misery of it lies in not apprehending the danger of that state; a blind man may think himself safe upon the edge of a precipice, not apprehending his danger, till he blindly steps, alas! but where? craggy rocks, or great deeps can best tell; broken bones, if not dying groans, bespeak his misery, too late for a remedy: This is the very case of the sinner by nature; he is in the broad way to destruction, just upon the precipice of eternity, spiritually blind, sees not his danger, therefore it is that be unconcernedly goes on till he drops, alas! but where? into that pit from whence there is no redemption. Bear with me, my dear Friendly, and I'll close my description of your state by nature. You will then remember that our dear LORD does not only declare it to be blind, but naked; man has lost, by sin his original righteousness, that beauty and perfection he

had by creation is entirely defaced; his created state was holy, heavenly, pure, agreeable to the law of his Maker, there was no darkness in the understanding, nor corruption in his will, nor alienation in his affections, but a perfection of obedience; every adequate to the law of his MAKER flowed from his heart; he could commune with his GoD with the same familiarity as angels in glory do: But sin has robbed man of all this enjoyment, and spread a gloomy darkness, the shades of Hell upon his mind, where, by creation, there was the light and life of heaven; enmity and reluctancy in the will, where, in his state of innocency, there was the greatest alacrity and readiness of obedience; alienation and estrangement in his affections to the author of happiness, where there was, as created in the image of GoD, the most ardent affections and superlative delight. Thus man is stript naked by sin, that he has no righteousness of his own to appear before God, and such is the purity and spirituality of the divine law, that no righteousness, or obedience, but what is answerable to the perfections of its nature, and commensurate to all its demands, is acceptable with GOD. Such is the spirituality of the law of God in its nature, that it requires every thought to be holy, every desire to be spiritual, every action in life to be perfect; for the law, says the apostle, is spiritual, Rom. vii. 14. and such is the extent of the law of GOD, that it requires a constant, perpetual perfection of obedience in thought, word, and deed; therefore the language of the law is, Thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: And the apostle James saith, he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all; hence we conclude with the apostle that we all offended and stand guilty before GOD, and that by the deeds of the law can no flesh be justified, Rom. iii. 20. therefore the apostle argues with such invincibility, ver. 19, we know that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: If au enquiry should arise, what does the law say? To them the answer is, Gal. iii. 10. for as many as are of the works of the law, (or are under the law) are under the curse; therefore it follows, that since the law is broke by mankind, no spiritual or eternal blessing can be enjoyed by our obedience to it. For three reasons: First, because the law was never intended to give life and peace to transgressors; for by the law, says the apostle, is the knowledge of sin. Secondly, because man by sin is in an utter incapacity to yield that obedience to the law that it requires. And Thirdly, man can never, to all eternity, give that satisfaction to the law that is due for the breaches thereof--thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil,the fruit

of the body for the sin of the soul, will not suffice for an atonement, nor answer an infinite demand. Now, my dear Friendly, according to divine truth, I have described your state and condition by nature. What think you of it?

Friendly. Your arguments bear such a connection with scripture, such solid testimonies therefrom, that they come to my mind with an energy as forcible as when God said, Let there be light, and there was light; which makes me cry out with the Apostle, Rom. iii. 10. There is none (by nature) righteous, no not one; and with regard to my own case, I am ready to say, with the Prophet Isaiah, Woe is me for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips; I should now languish in despair, and spend my day sin a solitary path without hope, did I not call to mind your promise and engagement, that in opening my state and misery by nature, you promised thereby to enhance, and endear to me, my recovery by grace; therefore, forgive the intense desire of my mind, the earnest importunity of my soul, a third time, that you would make known to me the way of enjoying a portion in that happiness you have been describing to me, as my life, my peace, my joy, my all in all.

Truth. Your constant and intense desires after true happiness, spread the wings of my affections to fly to what I had first in view, viz. the knowledge of true felicity, and the only way to enjoy a full and eternal possession thereof; you will remember, my dear Friendly, the HOLY GHOST hath made use of all the metaphors in the things of nature, to represent to you, in the most moving and pathetic manner, your miserable, weak, lost and deplorable state by sin, thereby you are under an eternal impossibility of saving your own soul, which renders you an object of pure mercy; therefore pure mercy, sovereign love, matchless kindness, makes its grand and magnificent appearance for you, Heb. x. 8. there the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Saviour of sinners, says unto his FATHER, Sacrifices and offering, burnt-offering and offerings for sin, thou wouldest not, neither hast thou pleasure therein; then said the LORD JESUS, Lo! I come. CHRIST came to undertake your cause, to wear your nature, to bear your sins, to suffer the wrath of God in your room and stead, soul for soul, body for body, that thereby he might remove the curses of a broken law from you, and open, by his death and sacrifice, the passage-way of everlasting love to your soul, that you might enjoy communion with GoD here, in a way of grace and divine favour, and a perfection of glory hereafter. C

This was, my dear Friendly, counsel-work in Heaven; to speak after the manner of men, it seemed to amaze Deity itself, that the brightness of the FATHER'S glory should engage to perform a work of such amazing condescension, such unparalleled sufferings to save sinners; therefore you find the FATHER speaks in Jer. xxx. 21. Who is this that engag eth his heart to approach unto me, saith the LORD? I, says CHRIST, that speakin righteousness, mighty to save; lo! I come to do thy will, O my God! On which account the FATHER says, Isaiah xlix. 6. It is a small thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? I also will give thee for a light unto the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth. Therefore the Apostle observes, that, when the fulness of time was come, GOD sent forth his Son made of a woman, and made under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Hence observe, that the way to that true happiness you are so earnestly seeking after, is described to you by the faithful and true witness, speaking as one having authority; John xiv. 6. there CHRIST says, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the FATHER but by me.

Friendly. Explain to me how CHRIST is the way to life and peace, to that joy and glory you have been describing?

Truth. I will, my dear Friendly, with all that life and alertness, that is due to a friend, and with all that capaciousness of mind and understanding I am master of. I would then observe to you, that CHRIST is the way to the FATHER, in his birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, exaltation, and glorification. First, then CHRIST, by his birth, is the way to the FATHER, as his birth was pure, spiritual, holy and divine, conceived without sin, and brought forth without sorrow, Isa. lxvi. 7. Secondly, CHRIST's birth was not only pure and spiritual, but accomplished by the extraordinary operations of the HOLY GHOST. Thirdly, His birth is the way to the FATHER, as it was without the assistance and co-operation of man; therefore, says CHRIST to his FATHER, a body hast thou prepared me. Fourthly, As his birth was attended with joy, Behold, says the Angel at CHRIST's birth, I bring you glad tidings of great joy. Christ, as to his birth in this four-fold respect, may be said to be the way to the FATHER; in the first place, his spiritual birth laid a sure and certain foundation for our spiritual birth, as CHRIST represented us in his birth, as well as in his death; therefore, our spiritual birth flows from CHRIST, being born for us: To us, says the Prophet,

Son is born. Not that our spiritual birth commenced when CHRIST was born, as some deluded persons affirm, but it laid a sure foundation for its commencement, in the day of his power. Secondly, CHRIST's birth was accomplished by the extraordinary operations of the HOLY GHOST; so our spiritual birth, our being born again, is accomplished, not by the ordinary or common operations of the Spirit, but by the supernatural operations of the HOLY GHOST; the exceeding greatness of his power, which is unto us-ward who believe; therefore we are said to be born of the Spirit, John iii. 8. But, thirdly, CHRIST's birth was accomplished without the assistance and co-operation of man; so our spiritual birth is accomplished by GoD alone, without our assistance, or cooperation; we are as entirely passive in our spiritual birth, as we are in our natural birth; therefore we are said to be born from above, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, John i. 13. But, fourthly, CHRIST's birth was attended with joy from Heaven, and songs of praise on earth; in this respect his birth is our way to the FATHER, as it opened a way, not only for our spiritual birth, but for divine joy and songs of praise at the commencement of our being born from above: As it is said, there is then joy, in the presence of the Angels, over one sinner that repenteth; so there is joy in the assemblies of the Saints in Zion; it shall be said, this man was born in her : praise waiteth for thee, O GOD, in Zion, Psalm lxv. 1. What greater emanations of joy can flow to the mind, than to be born an heir of Heaven, an Heir of GOD, and a joint-heir with CHRIST JESUS! an heir according to the promise! thus CHRIST's birth may be said to be a way to the FATHER. In the second place, I would observe, that CHRIST's life of obedience is the way to GoD and glory; as his life was every way adequate to the demands of an infinite law, his obedience was commensurate to all its requirements, and satisfactory to every precept; every command was to perfection obeyed, in thought, word, and deed; the law found all its divine purity in CHRIST's heart, and all its demands exemplified in his obedience; his obedience was a divine portraiture of the law of Gon, in heart and mind, soul and strength, it was his meat and drink to do the will of him that sent him; therefore, says the Prophet Isaiah, He hath magnified the law and made it honourable. The obedience of the LORD JESUS CHRIST has spread a greater glory upon, and yielded greater grandeur and magnificence to the law of GOD, than either men or Angels can do to all eternity.