being well executed? it is in all things sure, sure as God's almighty power and faithfulness can make it. What motives are here for the strengthening of thy faith! May the Lord render them effectual.

(2.) Reflect upon the undertakings of the Lord Christ, the surety of this covenant. There was nothing left out of this covenant; it was ordered in all things belonging to salvation, and Christ undertook to perform all things on the part of his Father, that his law might be magnified, and his justice made honourable and glorious; and on the part of the sinner, that he might be saved from all evil, and entitled to all good. And being God and man, united in one Christ, he was a proper surety to reconcile God to man, and to reconcile man to God. May these things then sink deep into thy heart, that thy surety has undertaken the whole of thy salvation, to do all for thee, and all in thee, and all by thee. What canst thou desire more for the settling

of thy faith?

3. Perhaps thou wilt say, his undertakings were great, but has he fulfilled them? Yes, and so perfectly, that he is able to save to the uttermost. He was called JESUS, because he was to save his people from their sins: as their surety, he was to fulfil the law for them by his obedience, and to suffer the pains and penalties of it by his death and passion. Accordingly, in the fulness of time, he was manifest in the flesh, and came to do the will of his Father. Of his obedience to that will, he thus speaks: "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." Of his suffering that will, he said, with his last breath, "It is finished." Observe, whatever he un

dertook to do in his life and death was finished; and it was demonstrated that, as man's surety, he had done and suffered every thing ordered in the covenant by his resurrection from the dead; for then did the Father declare him to be the Son of God with power. Will not all this satisfy thee, O thou of little faith? Here is one more cause of thy doubting removed; thou canst not deny but Christ has finished every thing he undertook, and in consequence thereof, he has all power in heaven and earth to bestow a full and finished salvation. What canst thou now object?

4. Does a thought arise in thy heart? It is finished, but is it so freely given that such an unworthy creature as I am may partake of it? Yes: it comes to thee in the way of a free gift; great, inestimable, and eternal as it is, yet it is all thine in receiving. Not he who worketh, but he who be lieveth is justified from all things. It is by faith that believers are justified and sanctified, are strengthened and comforted, in their walk; by faith they fight against all their enemies, and by faith they conquer, and lay hold of eternal life; and therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace. Salvation is

wrought out and finished by thy surety, given to thee freely, continued with all its blessings in time and through eternity, as a free gift, to the praise of the glory of free grace. Why therefore art thou discouraged? Hast thou nothing to buy with? Then obey the Lord's command, come and buy free salvation without money and without price. How should this motive still add to the establishment of thy faith? For there thou seest whatever thou wantest is thine

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by believing. Thou mayest have it freely by grace. It is treasured up for thee in the fulness of thy dear Saviour, and thou canst not honour him more, than to make free use of it. What dost thou say to this; hast thou any thing to object? Canst thou find any fault with the covenant of grace, or with the undertakings of the God-man in it? No, certainly, the covenant was well ordered in all things and sure; and what the surety of the covenant undertook, he has perfectly fulfilled. Salvation is finished on his part. He has glorified the law by his infinitely perfect obedience, he has made divine justice honourable by his sufferings and death, he has brought in everlasting righteousness for his people, and will bring them to everlasting glory for he has already taken possession of it for them as the head of his body the church, and he has all power in heaven and earth to save them day by day, until he make them partakers of his eternal salvation. What can thy heart wish for more than such a Saviour, and such a salvation? O! be not faithless then, but believing; and if thou hast any doubts left, endeavour to have them cleared up by reading and prayer, until thy faith be perfectly settled on the divinity of God thy Saviour, and the infinite sufficiency of his salvation. These two points lie at the very foundation of the Christian religion. They must be supposed in all its principles, and built upon in all its practice; therefore, being of universal influence, if they be thoroughly established, thy faith will be steadfast, and thy life well ordered and comfortable. Examine then, and prove thyself here before thou readest any farther. Dost thou believe Christ to be true and very God, in every perfection

and attribute equal with the Father? and is his a full and a free salvation? All the following directions depend upon, and can only profit thee, so far as thou believest these two points. Look well then to thy establishment in them. If it be strong, the life of faith will be steady and prosperous; but if it be weak, will be liable to be tossed about continually with errors, and overcome with temptations, especially with those to which a legal spirit will expose thee.

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*III. This I purpose to show under the third general head, in which is to be considered, how the little children in Christ, for want of being established in the belief of his Godhead, and of his full and free salvation, labour under many doubts: a legal spirit working with their unbelief, puts them upon reasoning continually against being saved freely by grace through faith.

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He is of a legal spirit who is under the law, and apprehends himself bound to keep it as the condition of life, requiring of him, Do this and thou shalt live. In his understanding, he sees this and no other way to life; in his will,' he is continually inclined to it, and in his heart, he loves it; because he fancies it is in his own power to attain life in this way, and he can merit it by his own works, which mightily gratifies his self-love, and indulges his pride. This legal spirit reigns over all men in their natural state, but does not discover its tyranny until it be opposed; and then, so soon as the soul is quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, it begins to fight, trying to keep the poor sinner in bondage by its legal workings and strivings, and putting him upon seeking for some good disposition or qualification in himself, on

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account of which God should love him. Thus the awakened soul, under the spirit of bondage, always seeks deliverance by the works of that law, which can do nothing more than bring him to the knowledge of sin, discover to him the exceeding sinfulness of it, and the exceeding great punishment which it deserves; by which means it is always nourishing the doubts and fears of unbelief. And after the Lord has in a measure removed them by a clear discovery of the salvation that is in Jesus, and by the gift of faith, yet still this legal spirit will be trying to bring the soul into bondage again to fear, and it too often prevails. Young believers find it the worst enemy they have to deal with. Is is a sly, subtle foe, that seems to intend them a kindness, while it is always on the side of their greatest enemy. It would appear to them to be actuated by a zeal for God, but it is to eclipse the glory of the Lord Christ, to take away all the all-sufficiency of his salvation, and to rob them of their great joy and peace in believing.

If any one should ask, how this legal spirit comes to have such power over mankind? The Scripture

informs us,

1. That all men, being God's creatures, are under the law to him, bound to keep it, or bound, if they transgress, to suffer the threatened pains and penalties. In this state man was created, and in it all men are by nature, and therefore there is in us all a continual leaning to the law, and a desire to attain righteousness by the works of it. We are all wedded to this way of gaining God's favour. The apostle says, there is a marriage-union between us and the law, and it, like a husband, has dominion over us as