ftrength of enmity, the ftrength of unbelief, the ftrength of other fins ftand in the way; for the ftrength of fin is. the very reafon for which Chrift is offered to you, and the very thing which he is offering to take away by his almighty ftrength. What, fay you, can he not do it without me? Yea, but he will not do it without your confent it is his ftated method of faving; he does not fave any against their wills, but by making them willing, and gaining their confent. And, what is the meaning of this free offer, but to gain your full confent?

Well then, O finner, is it come to this with it, What wilt thou that be fhould do unto thee? Wilt thou have Chrift to pull down the ftrength of fin, and of all your lufts and idols? Is your heart faying, O welcome, Jefus, to fave me a poor finner, not only from the guilt of fin, by thy pardoning grace; but from the firength of fin, by thy fanctifying grace? Why then, there were ground to conclude the work of power is begun : " Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power." If you have no manner of will that Chrift fhould fave you from the firength of fin, alas! then, who is to blame that you die in your fin, and perifh under the power of it?

But, perhaps, the cafe of fome one perfon or other may be this, Alas! I not only feel the ftrength of fin that you have been speaking of, but also a ftrength of unwillingness to be faved from it; and if I were willing, and fo and fo difpofed, I might be welcome: but while it is not fo, is there any hope for me?

I answer, 1. This ftrong Redeemer is offered to all the hearers of the gofpel without an if. The covenant of works is a covenant of ifs; if you do, you shall live; if you be fo and fo qualified, you fhall be fo and fo bleffed but it is not fo in the abfolute promise of the covenant of grace. And as the promife of the covenant is without an if; fo the offer of the gospel is without an if, to whofoever will, whofoever pleafes. It is true, he only that believes fhall be faved; but as they are different queftions, Who they are that fhall be faved? and, Who they are to whom falvation is offered? So, feeing falvation is of faith, that it may be by grace, the mean

him by faith, Chrift would never be prefented to you as the author of faith, as well as the object of it. There fore, when you are called to believe, you are not called to bring ftrength out of yourself for that end, but to fay, with your foul, Oh! I have neither righteousness nor ftrength; but, "Surely in the Lord have I righte oufnefs and ftrength." And tho' it be almighty power alone that can make you fay that with the heart, and believingly; yet, while you cannot fay it, though God be offering Chrift to you for your righteoufnefs and fìrength, you are faying, in effect, It is a lye that God fays; I cannot believe it; he is not offering any fuch thing to me; I cannot take it to me; I cannot truft his word for it and fo, by unbelief, you make him a liar.

Oh!. Sirs, call yourselves on the Lord Jefus, for falvation from fin, and from all your fins, and from the ftrength of all your lufts; for he is freely offering himfelf and all his grace to you, faying, "Ho, every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk, without money and without price." Why, what means this, Ho, every one? Why it is even as Chrift fhould fay, Ho, every guilty perfon, come to me for pardon; Ho, every filthy finner, come to me for cleansing; my blood only cleanfeth from all fin; Ho, every naked finner, come to me for a robe of righteoufnefs to cover you; Ho, every needy finner, come to me for fupply out of my infinite fulness; Ho, every faithless, unbelieving finner, come to me, as the author of faith, that I may give. you faith, and help your unbelief, and then increafe your faith; Ho, every impenitent finner, hard-hearted finner, come to me, as to a Prince exalted by the righthand of God, to give repentance, and to give you the heart of flesh promifed in the covenant; Ho, every great finner, come to me for the great falvation from your great fins, and from God's great wrath; Ho, every graceless finner, come to me for grace and glory, and eternal life. Why will you not come to me, that you might have life? To come to Chrift for life, fuppofes death; and, how can the dead come to him for life? Why, it is his call, who is the Lord of life, and can make the dead

dead to hear and live; therefore, Ho, every powerlefs finner, in whom the ftrength of fin and lufts is ftronger than hell and the devil, come to me for ftrength, and look to me for ftrength; "For I am God, and there is none elfe." None elfe but the mighty God can fave from the might of fin, which, if he fave you not, is mighty to defile you, and mighty to deftroy you. But, what is the Mediator's name? His name is, Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God; and never did he appear more mighty than in deftroying mighty lufts, and subduing the ftrength of fin: all the ftrength of men and angels could have done no more against fin, or the wrath of God that it brought on, than if you fhould fet a piece of paper against a mighty flame. Such is the wrong that fin hath done to God, that all the created power of heaven and earth coming in betwixt God and man, to fatisfy for that wrong, had been but like a piece of dry thin paper, betwixt you and a mighty devouring flame. But, behold, Chrift, who undertook to remove the ftrength of fin, and the power of wrath that it entails, is the mighty God, the infinite God, able to expiate that infinite wrong that fin had done to God: and as he hath discovered his ability, by pouring out his blood to fave meritorioufiy; fo he is ready to difcover his ability, by pouring out his Spirit to fave efficacioufly. Ho, every powerless finner then, here is a powerful Saviour, ready to fave you freely, without money and without price; having no merit but only this, that you merit hell and damnation: having no power but this, that you are under the power and ftrength of fin. If you could merit any good, you would have no need of Chrift to fave you by price; if you had power to help yourself, you would have no need of Chrift as a Saviour to fave you by power: and, therefore, it is even becaufe you have no merit, no power, no grace, no good, that this allfufficient Saviour is offered to you, and boding himself upon you fo freely.

If the ftrength of fin could be broken any other way, the ftrength of a Saviour would not be thus freely offered by the great God unto you: God would not expofe his great eternal Son to contempt, by offering him thus

to

ing of these words, "He that believes fhall be faved," is, He that will have falvation freely by grace, and without any if, he may have it.

2. If you feel the strength of fin, I hope the ftrength of a Saviour will be the more welcome to you; and if the ftrength of unwillingness to be faved be your plague, the healer is at hand, the ftrength of a strong and mighty Redeemer is at hand, in the offer and promife, faying, "He gives power to the faint, to him that hath no might he increaseth ftrength." Let Chrift therefore get the glory of conquering your will: put your unwilling will into his able hand, faying, Lord, make me willing; O fubdue the rebellion and refistance of my will, and fubject my will to thy will. They that are willing to have Chrift, bending and bowing their will, are both convinced of their natural enmity, and partly cured of it. However, whether your willingnefs to part with fin, and join with Chrift, be cured or not; whether you be willing or unwilling, the offer of Chrift is come to your door, infomuch, that you are invited freely to come to him. Chrift's complaint is, " You will not come to me, that you might have life;" which fays, that though they were unwilling to come, yet they were invited to come. The gofpel-invitation then is to all poor finners to come, be who they will, and be the ftrength of fin that they are under never fo great, that the Son may make them free, and then shall they be free indeed.

But if this call be flighted, I have this to tell you, that the strength of fin never exerted itself fo much in all the fins that ever you committed to this day, as it does in rejecting a Saviour. Ye may think, if fin fhould excite you to murder, and adultery, and blafphemy, and other horrid things of that fort, then the strength of fin would be great: very true, fo it would; but I must tell you, whether you think it or not, that there is a thoufand times more of the ftrength of fin put forth in your flighting of Chrift and his offered falvation, than is put forth in all the horrid villainies befides that can be committed: for, as all your fins would lofe their strength by your laying hold on Chrift for righteoufnefs and ftrength, fo your refufing Chrift to be your ftrength, is

the

the fin that is the ftrength of all your other fins; they have strength to command you, and ftrength to condemn you, because of your unbelief, which firengthens every fin; yea, and is the very ftrength of the ftrength of fin; all your departures from the living God flow from the evil heart of unbelief, Heb. iii. 12. The faith of the gofpel would be the death of fin, but unbelief keeps you under the law, which is the ftrength of fin.

Perhaps, fome may fay, Though Chrift be offered to me for righteousness and ftrength, and I am called to believe in him with application, as the Lord my firength; yet how fhall I believe thus in him for ftrength, unlefs I feel his ftrength?

Why man, to feel his firength, is fenfe and not faith, and imports the prefence of the thing believed, and the enjoyment of the thing promifed: but there is a valt difference betwixt believing the promife, and enjoying the thing promifed: to believe the promife of strength in the Lord Jefus, is to take his word, even when you want the thing promifed, or want the feeling of it; for, Faith is the evidence of things not feen, nor felt; for, if they were feen and felt, they would not be the object of faith, but the object of fenfe. Faith's proper object is nothing else but the word of the God of truth.

Why, fay you, but can I believe that Chrift will be my strength, without getting ftrength to believe.

I anfwer, Strength to believe is one thing, and to believe in Chrift for ftrength is another; ftrength to believe is God's enabling one to the act of faith; but to believe for ftrength, is faith's acting upon Chrift the object held up in the word of promife. And again, though none can believe, without getting ftrength to believe; yet it is one thing to get strength to believe, and another thing to get the feeling of that ftrength; for, though faith cannot be acted without the feeling of that power and ftrength of God within the man; yea, so far is the believer many times from feeling any ftrength within him when he believes, that he feels nothing but want and weakness, utter inability and impotency; which makes him go out of himfelf, and look to the ftrength of Chrift that lies in the gofpel-offer and proVOL. V.

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