na was complaining that he was a poor contemptible congregation, not fit for him to take any notice of. Well faith he, fear not; I know thy poverty whereof thou complaineft; but thou art rich; that is my judgment, reftimony, and fentence concerning thee and thy condition. Such will be his judgment at the last day, when both those on the one hand and the other, fhall be furprifed with his fentence; the one with joy at the riches of his grace, the other with terror at the feverity of his juftice, Matth. xxv. 37, 38, 39, and 44, 45. This cafe is directly stated in both the places mentioned in the entrance of this difcourfe; as in that for instance, Ifa. xlix. 14. Zion faid, the Lord hath forfaken me. That is Zion's judgment of herfelf, and her ftate and condition; a fad report and conclufion: But doth Chrift agree with Zion in this fentence? The next verse gives us his refolution of this matter; Can, faith he, a woman forget her fucking child, that she should not have compaffion on the fon of her womb; yea they may forget, yet will not I forget thee. The ftate of things in truth is as much other wife as can poffibly be thought or imagined.

To what purpose is it for a man to be paffing a judg ment upon themfelves, when there is no manner of certainty in their determinations; and when there proceeding thereon will probably lead them to further entanglements, if not to eternal ruin. The judging of fouls as to their spiritual state and condition is the work of Jefus Chrift; especially as to the end now under enquiry. Men may, men do take many ways to make a judgment of themselves: Some do it on flight and trivial conjectures; fome on bold and wicked prefumptions; fome on defperate atheistical notions, as Deut. xxix. 17. fome with more fobriety and fenfe of eternity, lay down principles, it may be good and true in themfelves; from them they draw conclufions, arguing from one thing unto another; and in the end oft-times either deceive themselves, or fit down no less in the dark, than they were at the entrance of their felf-debate and examina

tion. A man's judgment upon his own reafonings is feldom true, more feldom permanent. I fpeak not of felf-examination, with a due difcuffion of graces and actions, but of the final fentence as to ftate and condition, wherein the foul is to acquiefce. This belongs unto Chrift.

Now, there are two ways whereby the Lord Jefus Chrift gives forth his decretory fentence in this mat

ter.

1. By his word. He determines in the word of the gofpel of the ftate and condition of all men indefinitely. Each individual coming to that word, receives his own fentence and doom; he told the Jews that Mofes accufed them, John v. 45. his law accufed and condemned the tranfgreffors of it. And fo doth he acquit every one that is discharged by the word of the gospel. And our felf-judging is but our receiving by faith his fentence in the word. His procefs herein we have recorded, Job xxxiii. 22, 23. His foul, (that is of the finner) draweth near to the grave, and his life to the deftroyers; this feems to be his ftate; it is fo indeed; he is at the very brink of the grave and hell. What then why, if there be with him, or ftand over him, in the (Heb.) the angel interpreting, or the angel of the covenant, who alone is in the (Heb.) the one of a thousand; what shall he do? He fhall fhew unto him his uprightnefs. He fhall give unto him a right determination of his intereft in God, and of the ftate and frame of his heart towards God; whereupon God fhall fpeak peace unto his foul, and deliver him from his entanglements, verfe 24. Jefus Chrift hath, in the word of the gofpel, ftated the condition of every man. He tells us, that

finners of what fort foever they are, that believe, are accepted with him, and shall receive forgiveness from God, that none fhall be refufed or caft off that come to God by him. The foul, of whom we are treating, is now upon the work of coning unto God for forgivenefs by Jefus Chrift. Many and weighty objections it hath in and against itself, why it fhould not come. Pp 2

why

why it shall not be accepted. Our Lord Jefus, the wifdom of God, forefaw all these objections; he foreknew what could be faid in the cafe, and yet he hath determined the matter, as hath been declared. In general, mens arguings again ft themfelves arife from fin and the law. Chrift, knows what is in them both. He tried them to the uttermoft, as to their penalties; and yet he hath fo determined as we have fhewed. Their particular objections are from particular confiderations of fin; their greatnefs, their number, their aggravations, Chrift knows all these alfo; and yet ftands to his firmer determination. Upon the whole matter then, it is meet his word fhould ftand. I know when a foul brings itself to be judged by the word of the gofpel, it doth not always in a like manner receive and reft in the fentence given. But when Chrift is pleased to speak the word with power to men, they fhall hear the voice of the Son of God, and be concluded by it.

Let the

foul then that is rifing out of depths, and preffing towards a sense of forgiveness, lay itfelf down before the word of Chrift in the gofpel. Let him attend to what he fpeaks; and if for a while it hath not power upon him to quiet his heart, let him wait a feason, and light fhall arife unto him out of darkness. Christ will give in his fentence into his confcience with that power and efficacy, as he fhall find reft and peace in it.

2. Chrift alfo judgeth by his Spirit; not only in making this fentence of the gospel to be received effectually in the foul, but in and by peculiar actings of his upon the heart and foul of a believer, 1 Cor. ii. 11. We have received the Spirit of God, that we may know the things that are freely given us of God. The Spirit of Chrift acquaints the foul, that this and that grace is from him, that this or that duty was performed in his ftrength. He brings to mind, what at fuch and fuch times was wrought in men by himself, to give them fupportment and relief in the times of depths and darknefs. And when it hath been clearly discovered unto the foul at any time by the Holy Ghost, that any thing wrought in

it, or done by it, hath been truely faving; the com fort of it will abide in the midft of many fhakings and temptations.

3. He alfo by his Spirit bears witnefs with our fpirits, as to our ftate and condition. Of this I have fpoken largely elfewhere, and therefore shall now pafs it by.

This then is our firft general rule and direction. Selfdeterminations concerning mens fpiritual ftate and condition, because their minds are ufually influenced by their distempers, are feldom right, and according to rule. Miftakes in fuch determinations are exceedingly prejudicial to a foul feeking out after relief, and fenfe of forgiveness; let Chrift then be the judge in this cafe by his word and Spirit, as hath been directed.

RULE II.

Self-condemnation and abhorrency for fin confiftent with gofpel juftification and peace ------The nature of gofpel affurance.--What is confiftent with it.What are the effects of it.

Self-condemnation and abhorrency do very well confift with gospel juftification and peace Some men have no peace, because they have that, without which it is impoffible they should have peace; because they cannot but condemn themfelves, they cannot entertain a fense that God doth acquit them. But this is the myftery of the gofpel, which unbelief is a stranger unto; nothing but faith can give a real fubfiftence unto thefe things, in the fame foul, at the fame time. It is eafy to learn the notion of it, but it is not eafy to experience the power of it. For a man to have a fight of that within him, which would condemn him, for which he is troubled, and at the fame time to have a discovery › of that without him, which will justify him, and to rejoice therein, is that which he is not lead unto, but by

faith in the mystery of the gofpel. We are now under a law for juftification, which excludes all boafting, Rom. iii. 27. So that though we have joy enough in another, yet we may have, we always have fufficient cause of humiliation in ourselves. The gofpel will teach a man to feel fin, and believe righteoufnefs at the fame time. Faith will carry heaven in one hand, and hell in the other; fhewing the one deferved, the other purchased. A man may fee enough of his own fin and folly to bring Gehennam e cælo, a hell of wrath out of heaven; and yet fee Chrift bring cælum ex inferno, a heaven of bleffedness out of an hell of punishment: And thefe muft needs produce very divers, yea contrary effects and operations in the foul. And he who knows not how to affign them their proper duties and feasons, muft needs be perplexed. The work of felf-condemnation then, which men in thefe depths cannot but abound with, is in the difpofition of the covenant of grace, no way inconfiftent with, nor unfuited unto juftification, and the enjoyment of peace in the fenfe of it. There may be a deep fense of fin on other confiderations befides hell. David was never more humbled for fin, than when Nathan told him it was forgiven; and there may be a view of hell as deferved, which yet the foul may know itfelf freed from as to the iffue.

To evidence our intendment in this difcourfe, I shall briefly confider what we intend by gospel affurance of forgiveness, that the foul may not be folicitous and perplexed, about the utter want of that, which perhaps it is already in fome enjoyment of.

Some men feem to place gospel affurance in an high unaffaulted confidence of acceptance with God; they think it is in none but fuch, as, if a man fhould go to them, and ask them, Are you certain you fhall be faved? have boldnefs, and confidence, and oftentation to anfwer presently, yea, they are certain, they fhall be faved: But, as the bleffed truth of affurance hath been reproached in the world under fuch a notion of it, fo fuch expreffions become not them who know what it is

to