was not rebellious; it was his delight to do his will; and in compliance with the divine will a great matter of his consecration stood; by the which will we are sanctified; the Father's will willing him to come, the Son's will willing him to come willingly.

2. By his dying. Our Lord Jesus died willingly, in another manner than any of us either can or should. He laid down that life that he could keep, if he would; he laid it down as an act of great obedience unto the will of his Father; he died cheerfully, and died willingly. See what he says of it before-hand: And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth, John xvii. 19. What is that sanctifying of himself? A sacrificing of himself, devoting of himself to be a sacrifice for the saving of his sheep. They could never come to that sanctification, by gospel-devotedness to God, unless our Lord Jesus had devoted himself to death.

Lastly, He consecrates and devotes himself by the consequent practice and exercise of his office. Every poor sinner upon whom our Lord Jesus puts forth his skill in saving him, is a display of his authority to save, is a further declaration of the power and might that he was clothed with in bringing men to glory. Therefore, says the apostle, it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings, Heb. ii. 10. He was made perfect through sufferings, to the end that he might bring many sons to glory; and the more he brings, this perfection is the more evident in him.

The third thing in the words to be explained is, For whom is this consecrating of Christ? The apostle says, he has consecrated this way for us, for a particular sort of people, for some of the children of men. Christ did not consecrate and make himself a way to heaven, and send the gospel into the world, that men, according as cy incline, and according to the direction of their fr-will, might come in and get life and salvation by him. Our Lord Jesus went about his work more knowingly, more fixedly than that; he knew what would

come of it. It is done, I say, for particular persons. Consider, with respect to this,

1. That all the springs of salvation are towards particular

persons.

2. That the covenant, the charter of salvation, is with, and for, and to particular persons.

3. The possession of it is by, and for particular persons.

1. The great springs of salvation are all for particular persons; the three grand springs of salvation, are the election of the Father, the redemption of the Son, and the sanctification of the Holy Ghost. Now, all these are determined towards distinct and particular persons. 1st, The election of grace is upon persons; there is no election of qualifications, the election is of persons. Wherever it is spoken in the word, it is spoken of persons: He has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to cbtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. The election is all of persons.

2dly, The grace of redemption by our Lord, with his redeeming love, is of persons: He laid down his life for his sheep, and, I know you are not of my sheep, says our Lord. That was a not Christ could speak; but none of his servants must ever offer to speak after him; never was there an apostle could say so in an assembly of people concerning one particular person, I know they are none of Christ's sheep, that is only for the great shepherd to say. The chief shepherd can only tell his sheep exactly.

3dly, The sanctification of the Spirit, which is the great spring of salvation, as it is begun in us, is of persons. There is a devoting of the whole church, the body of Christ. But as it is a work on particular persons, this work must piss upon particular men; the springs must work in every man that is called to this salvation. For que ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and picasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. So that we find, I say, that the springs of salvation are ai! about particular persons. The springs run in one disti ct channel towards particular persons, and always auswer the

grace of the Fa

same. Every one that is elected by the ther, is redeemed by the blood of his Son; every one that is elected and redeemed, is sanctified by the inhabitation of the Holy Ghost: they are not equally visible, but equally cer

tain.

2. The charter of salvation is to particular persons. Every one must have God's covenant made with himself. None are saved by a general covenant of God with a body of people. A church covenant under the gospel signifies nothing at all in matters of salvation; it may be of good use in church-order. But every one in particular must have salvation come to him, through the channel of a particular covenant betwixt God and him: He has made with me, says David, an everlasting covenant. If it had been only with Israel in general, it had been a cold business for a dying man's comfort; but he has made with me, as particularly with me, as if there were not another man in all the world that God covenanted with.

3. The possession of salvation is by particular persons. People are not saved in crowds and corporations. There are bodies of Christian churches, as they are called, that are te attend to the means of grace and mutual edification, according to the Lord's appointment; but when we come to partake of begun, or of complete salvation, every one must have it for himself; no other body's salvation can serve him. This is the substance of the meaning of this word, that our Lord as slain is consecrated, and hath consecrated himself to be the way to heaven for his people.

I would make some little use of this at this time, and reserve the more general application of this slain Christ, as the way to heaven, unto another opportunity. Two things I shall infer from hence, and speak to at this time.

1. Is Christ a consecrated way to heaven, and hath he consecrated himself for his people? Then behold how he loved them! If the Jews said so of Christ's weeping at Lazarus's grave, what must we say of our Lord's consecrating himself to the death for us, that he might make a way to heaven for us? Jesus wept, John xi. 35. The Jews said, Behold how he loved him! We find most frequently in the word, when either this great devoting of Christ to death is spoken of in general as to

churches, or applied in particular to particular persons, it is still ascribed to love as its spring. Husbands, says the apostle, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, Eph. v. 25. He loved me, and gave himself for me, says the apostle, Gal. ii. 20. Great must that love be, when the love-gift is so great. It must be a strong love that must give so great a gift, Who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Rev. i. 5, 6. The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, &c. 2 Cor. v. 14. This I would speak a little to in a few particulars, this consecrating himself to be the new and living way to heaven.

1st, Our Lord Jesus did consult the necessity of his people out of mere pure love. He was upon the Father's counsel from eternity about the way of saving man; he is the wis dom of God, and hath an interest in the contriving of it; the eternal purpose was purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: The contrivance was, What way may poor fallen sinners be brought well and safe to glory? They are fallen by sin, conquered by Satan, proclaimed rebels by God, attainted and con-. demned by God's holy law, are beggared and impoverished, and cannot pay a farthing to divine justice. The law must not be broken, justice must not be affronted, God's power cannot be resisted: How then can man be saved? It is impossible but only this way; here is the mystery of our Christianity. It is impossible that a man can be brought up to God, until God come down to man, and become man for him; and that God-man is made the great mean to bring all his people up again to God; the sacrifice of the man, and the power of God, and the merit of that sacrifice of that God-man, is made an everlasting chariot, that will carry all that believe on him certainly safe to glory. He consulted, I say, our necessity in great love. He consulted not his own conveniency at all: Even Christ pleased not himself, &c. O what an argument is here! The apostle brings the sweetest arguments sometimes to press the easiest ordinary duties. Let us not please ourselves, but every one another, for edification; that is wholsome advice, but the argument is beyond it, even Christ pleased not himself.

2dly, Our Lord's love in being thus a consecrated way ap pears in this, that he draws all his redeemed to himself. Christ being the way to heaven is no man's way till he be in it; no man is brought to heaven by Christ, till he be in him. Therefore our Lord, knowing this, draws them to himself: And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to me; that is, all that I have laid down my life for.

3dly, This love appears not only in drawing them, but in preserving them to the heavenly kingdom. We do not fall out with ourselves so much as we ought; but we were in a bad case if Christ should fall out with us, as often as we do with ourselves; if the Lord Jesus had had the same thoughts of us, that we ought to have of ourselves, where had we been? But he pities and spares in his great love, and by his great might keeps his poor people in the way, and gives them the crown in the end, Rev. ii. 7. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Sirs, Christ's love is a blessed thing. If a poor believer can but see it through a glass darkly, and perceive something of the stream of it, he is joyful. But Christ's love as a Saviour will never appear in its glory, till the crown of glory comes out of his own hand; when a believer, if I may so speak, kneels before the throne of God and of the Lamb, and receives the crown of eternal life; our Lord may well say then, Hereby thou mayest know how I have loved thee. Christ consecrated himself to be the way to heaven, and a great demonstration of his love we should gather out of it. See Rev.

iii. 9.

2. Did Christ consecrate himself to be the way to heaven? Then surely men may boldly use him as the way; he is devoted for this end. There are two grand abuses of consecrated things, When they either are not used for that end they were consecrated for, or when they are abused to another end.

Is our Lord consecrated to be the way to heaven? Men must boldly by faith make use of him. See our Lord's own argument, John vi. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the