our, seems to have been the very ground of the Father's willing him, and of Christ's consenting to drink that cup. And, indeed, is it possible to conceive why Christ should be willing to suffer what he did, or why his Father should desire it, were it not an expedient absolutely necessary, and nothing else would do, so that it must be, or not one of the race of Adam be ever saved, consistently with the divine honour? If it was not so absolutely necessary; if there was some cheaper and easier way that would have done, why did the Father will this? or how had Christ a sufficient call to undertake it? or, indeed, what need was there for him to undertake it? or what good would it do? If sin was not, in very deed, so bad a thing that it could not be pardoned without such a satisfaction, why was such a satisfaction insisted upon? why a greater satisfaction than was needful? Could a holy and wise God set so light by the blood of his dear Son, as to desire it to be shed without the most urgent necessity? Or why should the Governor of the world make more ado than was necessary, and then magnify his love in giving his Son, when mankind might have been saved without it? Did this become the great Governor of the world? or would God have us look upon his conduct in such a light? Surely no. Verily, therefore, such was the case of a rebellious, guilty world, that God looked upon them, too bad to be released, consistently with the divine honour, from the threatened destruction, unless such a mediator should interpose, and such a satisfaction for sin be made; and therefore Christ acquiesced in his will, as being wise, holy, just, and good. And this being supposed, the love of God, in giving his Son, appears even such as it is represented to be; unparalleled, unspeakable, inconceivable; so, also, does the love of Christ in undertaking. And thus, from the perfections of God, and from the scriptures, and from God's conduet in this affair, it appears that a full satisfaction for sin was necessary, in order to its being pardoned, or any favour shown to a guilty world, consistently with the divine honour.

And if we, in very deed, did stand in such need, such an absolute, perishing need of a mediator, as this comes to; if God looked upon things in such a light, then must we see this our peed of a mediator, and look upon things in this

light too, and have a sense of this great truth upon our hearts: for, otherwise, we neither truly understand what a state we are in, nor what need we have of a mediator. And if we do not truly understand what a state we are in, nor our need of the mediator God has provided, how can we be in a disposition to receive him as he is offered in the gospel, and truly and understandingly to rely upon him, his death and · sufferings; his worth and merits; his mediation and intercession, as the gospel invites us to do?

To see our need of Christ to be our atonement; to see our need of his propitiatory sacrifice to open the way for the Go venor of the world to be reconciled to us consistently with his honour, is a very different thing from what many imagine. Some fancy they want Christ to purchase an abatement of the law, and satisfy for their imperfections; and then they hope to procure the divine favour by their own goodness. Some trust in Christ and the free grace of God through him, as they think, and yet, at the same time, look upon God as obliged, in justice, to save them, if they do as well as they can. Some, who lay not so high a claim to the divine favour, yet, by their tears and prayers, hope to move the compassions of God, and, by their fair promises, to engage his favour, and would secretly think it hard, if after all, God should cast them off; and yet they pretend to see their need of Christ, and to trust in him. But these are all evidently so far from seeing their need of Christ, that, in the temper and exercises of their hearts, they implicitly and practically deny any need of him at all; to their own sense, they are good enough to be accepted in the sight of God, upon their own account. Rom. x, 3. Others who have had great awakenings and convictions, and see much of their own badness, and do, in a sort, renounce their own righteousness; they look to be saved by free grace; but, in all the exercises of their hearts, see no need of a mediator, and have nothing to do with him: they see no reason why they may not be pitied and saved by free grace, without any respect to the atonement of Christ. They do not understand that they are so bad that it would be a reproach to the Governor of the world to show them mercy, otherwise than through a mediator. Others, again, who talk much of

Christ, and of faith, and of living by faith, and cry down works, and think themselves most evangelical, yet, after all, only believe that Christ died for them in particular, and that they shall be sved: this is their faith, and this their trusting in Christ; whereby it is evident, they never truly saw their need of Christ, nor have they any respect to him under the proper character of a Mediator. But then do persons see their need of Christ, when, from a sense of what they are, and of what God is, they are convinced that they are too bad to be par doned and accepted; so bad that any thing short of damnation is too good for them; so that it would be inconsistent with the divine perfections, and to the reproach of the great Governor of the world, to show them any favour without some sufficient salvo to his honour. Now they see their need of Christ, and are prepared to exercise faith in his blood, (to use the apostle's phrase. Rom. iii 23.) and not till now: for men cannot be said to see their need of Christ and his atonement, unless they see that in their case which renders his atonement needful; but its being inconsistent with the divine perfections, and to the dishonour of God, to pardon sin without satisfaction, was that which made an atonement needful. Therefore, sinners must see their case to be such as that it would be inconsistent with the divine perfections, and to the dishonour of God, to grant them pardon without satisfaction for their sins, in order to see their need of Christ and of his atonement. When they see their case to be such, then they begin to see things as they are; to view them in the same light that God does; to perceive upon what grounds, and for what reasons, a mediator was necessary, and why and upon what accounts they want one; and hereby a foundation is laid for them, understandingly, to have a fiducial recourse to that mediator which God has provided, that, through him, consistent with the divine perfections, they may be received to favour and so, from Christ the Mediator, and from the free grace of God through him, do they take all their encouragement to come to God, in hopes of pardon and acceptance, and eternal life.— And thus they look to be justified by free grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, which is what the gospel intends and proposes. Rom. iii. 24. And from an increasing

sense of their unworthiness and ill deserts, they, through the course of their lives, more and more grow up into a disposi tion to live the life they live in the flesh, by faith in the Son of God, always having respect to him as their great high-priest, in all their approaches to the mercy-seat, having access to God by him, who has styled himself the door of the sheep, and the way to the Father, which is the very thing the gospel proposes, and invites and encourages us unto. Heb. ix. 12. By his own blood he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Ver. 24. Into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for us. Heb. x. 19–22. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us; and having an high-, riest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. Rom. iii. 25. For hin hath God set forth to be a propitiation for sin, to declare his righteousness, that he might be just, &c.

And a clear, realizing sense of these things on our hearts will lay a foundation for us to see how the gospel-way of salvation is calculated to bring much glory to God, and abase sinners in the very dust, which is that wherein the glory of the gospel very much consists. Rom. iii. 27. Eph. i. 3—12. And we shall learn to rejoice to see God alone exalted, and freely to take our proper place, and lie down in the dust, abased before the Lord for ever. And indeed it is perfectly fit in this case, that the rebel-wretch should come down, and be so far from finding fault with the great Governor of the world, and with his holy, just, and good law, that he should rejoice that God has taken such an effectual method to secure his own honour, and the honour of his law. We ought to be glad with all our hearts that the supreme Governor of the world did put on state, and stand for his honour, and the ho nour of his law, without the least abatement; and did insist upon it that sin should be punished, the sinner humbled, and grace glorified; these were things of the greatest importance: and we ought to choose to be saved in such a way, to have God honoured, and ourselves humbled. And it is evident this must be the temper of every one that comes into a genuine compliance with the gospel. Thus much concering the ne

cessity of satisfaction for sin. But here, now, some may be ready to inquire,

Was it not as necessary that the precepts of the law should be obeyed, as that the penalty should be suffered, to make way for the sinner not only to be pardoned, but also to be received to a state of favour, and entitled to eternal life? To which I

answer,

1. It is true, we need not only a pardon from the hands of God, the supreme Governor of the world, in whose sight, and against whom we have sinned; we need, I say, not only to be pardoned, delivered from condemnation, freed from the curse of the law, saved from hell; but we want something further. We want to be renewed to God's image, taken into his family, put among his children, and made partakers of his everlasting favour and love. We need not only to be delivered from all those evils which are come upon us, and which we are exposed unto, through oar apostacy from God; but we want to be restored to the enjoyment of all that good which we should have had, had we kept the covenant of our God.

2. It is true, also, that mankind, according to the tenour of the first covenant, were not to have been confirmed in a state of holiness and happiness; were not to have had eternal life, merely upon the condition of being innocent, (for such was Adam by creation,) but perfect obedience to every precept of the divine law was required. Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 10. The performance of such an obedience, was that righteousness which was, by covenant, to entitle him to life.

3. Since the fall, all mankind are destitute of that righteousness; nor can they attain unto it. Rom. iii. 9-20.

4. But our natural obligations to love God with all our hearts, and obey him in every thing, still remain: for they are, in their own nature, unalterable. They will be for ever the same so long as God remains what he is, and we are his creatures. There was the same reason, therefore, after the fall, why we should love and obey God, as ever there was.— There was the same reason, therefore, that the condition of the first covenant should be fulfilled as ever there was. It was reasonable, originally, or God would never have insisted upon it and therefore it is reasonable now, since our aposta