spiritual comfort now!" But, alas, there will be none, no, not in Christ himself, for any unbeliever. It is children's bread, the saints' privilege; comfort and grace are undivided. Let him retire into himself, search his own conscience for comfort, and say, "O conscience! thou art more than a thousand witnesses, and thousands have been comforted by thee; where thou speakest comfort none can speak trouble; hast thou no consolation for me in my deepest distress?" Alas, no; if God condemn thee, wherewithal shall I comfort thee? I can speak neither more or less than the Scriptures put into my mouth, and I find not one word in all the book of God warranting me to be thy comforter. Believe it as an undoubted truth, that the state of unbelievers, even at the best, is a sad and dismal state.

2. Let all believers draw their comfort from Christ, who is the Consolation of his people. We rejoice, says the apostle, in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. That is the true temper of a believing soul: take heed that you live not partly upon Christ and partly upon the creature for your comfort; and beware that you forsake not Christ, the fountain of living waters, and hew out cisterns for yourselves which can hold no water, Jer. ii. 13. If you make any creature the fountain of your comfort, assuredly God will dry up that spring. If your souls draw their comfort from any creature, you know they must outlive that creature, and what then will you do for comfort? Besides, as your comforts are, so are you. The food of every creature is suitable to its nature. Sensual men feed upon sensual things, spiritual men upon spiritual things; as your food is, so are you. If carnal comforts can content thy heart, it must then be a very carnal heart. Yea, and let Christians themselves take heed that they draw not their consolations from themselves instead of Christ. Your graces and duties are excellent means, but not the foundation of your comfort; they are useful buckets to draw with, but not the well itself in which the springs of consolation rise. If you put your duties in the room of Christ, Christ will put your comforts out of the reach of your duties.

3. If Christ be the Consolation of believers, what a joyful life should all believers live in the world! Certainly, if the fault be not your own, you may live the happiest lives. If you would not be a discomfort to Christ, he would be a comfort to you every day, and in every condition, to the end of your lives. Your condition abounds with all the

helps and advantages of consolation. You have the command of Christ to warrant your comforts, Phil. iv. 4. You have the Spirit of Christ for a spring of comfort; you have the Scriptures of Christ for the rules of comfort; you have the duties of religion for the means of comfort. Why is it then that you go comfortless? If your afflictions are many in the world, your encouragements are more in Christ. Your troubles in the world have been turned into joy, but your comforts in Christ can never be turned into trouble. Why should troubles obstruct your comfort, when the blessing of Christ upon your troubles, makes them subservient to promote your happiness? Rom. viii. 28. Shake off despondency then, and live up to the principles of religion. Your dejected life is uncomfortable to yourselves, and of little use to others.

4. If Christ be the Consolation of believers, let all that desire comfort embrace Jesus Christ, and get real union with him. The same hour you shall be in Christ, you shall also be at the fountain-head of all consolation: thy soul shall be then a pardoned soul, and a pardoned soul has all reason to be a joyful soul. In that day thy conscience shall be sprinkled with the blood of Christ; and a sprinkled conscience has all reason to be a comforting conscience. In that day you become the children of your Father in heaven, and he that has a Father in heaven, has all reason to be the most joyful man upon earth. In that day you are delivered from the sting of death; and he that is delivered from the sting of death, has the best reason to be happy in life. O! come to Christ: till you come to him, no true comfort can come to you.

Blessed be God for Jesus Christ, the Consolation of Israel.

SERMON XVI.

FIRST BENEFIT PURCHASED BY CHRIST-THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.-Eph. i. 7.

Six great motives have been presented from the titles of Christ, to draw the hearts of sinners to him; more are now to be offered, from the benefits purchased for believers by Christ, by all means to win the hearts of men to him. To this end I shall, in the first place, open that glorious privilege of gospel remission, freely and fully conferred upon all that come to Christ by faith, "in whom we have redemption through his blood."

1. In these words, we have a singular benefit or choice mercy bestowed, namely, redemption, or the remission of sins: this is a privilege of the first rank, none more desirable among all the benefits that come by Christ. And, therefore,

2. We have the price of this mercy, even the blood of Christ, "in whom we have redemption through his blood." Precious things are of great price; the blood of Christ is the meritorious cause of remission.

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3. We have here, also, the impulsive cause, moving God to grant pardon to sinners, and that is said to be the riches of his grace;" where, by the way, you see that the freeness of the grace of God, and the fulness of the satisfaction of Christ, meet together without the least jar in the remission of sin, contrary to the vain cavil of the Socinian adversaries: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

4. We have the subjects of this blessed privilege, namely, believers, in whose name he here speaks: "We have redemption;" that is, the saints, and faithful in Christ Jesus, ver. i; we whom God hath chosen in Christ before

the foundation of the world, and predestinated unto the adoption of children, ver. 4, 5: we that are made accepted in the Beloved, ver. 6. Such, and such only, have redemption through his blood. Hence the

DOCT.-That all believers, and none but believers, receive the remission of their sins, through the riches of grace, by the blood of Jesus Christ.

In the illustration of this point, we shall show, that all who are in Christ, are in a pardoned state; that their pardon is the purchase of the blood of Christ; and that the riches of grace are manifested in the remission.

I. ALL WHO ARE IN CHRIST ARE IN A PARDONED STATE. And here I will first show what pardon or remission of sin is; and then, that this is the privilege of none but believers.

1. Remission of sin is the gracious act of God, in and through Christ, discharging a believing sinner from all the guilt and punishment of his sin, both temporal and eternal.

It is the act of God. None can forgive sins but God only, Mark ii. 7. Against him only, that is, principally and especially, the offence is committed, Psa. li. 4. To his judgment guilt binds over the soul; and who can remit the debt but the creditor? Matt. vi. 12.

It is an act of God discharging the sinner. God's loosing one that stood bound, the cancelling of his obligation, is therefore called remission or releasing in the text; the blotting out of our iniquities, or the removing of our sins from us, as it is called in other Scriptures. See Psa. ciii. 12; Micah vii. 18, 19.

It is a gracious act of God, the effect of pure grace done for his own name's sake, Isa. xliii. 25. Discharging us without any satisfaction at all by us; there is much grace in this. Providing a surety for us every way able to pay our debt; there is still more grace in that.

It is the gracious act of God in and through Christ. The satisfaction of Christ is the procuring cause of our remission, and so God declares himself just in the remission of our sin, Rom. iii. 25: “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, Psa. cxvi. 5. Justice and mercy meet here and embrace each other: "In whom we have redemption;" no other price could purchase this privilege, not rivers of oil or of human blood, Micah vi. 6, 7. And this gracious act of God discharges the pardoned soul both from guilt and punishment, Acts xiii. 38, 39.

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2. That this remission of sin is the privilege of believers is most apparent, for all the causes of remission are in union to procure it for them; the love of God, which is the impulsive cause of pardon; the blood of Christ, which is the meritorious cause of pardon; and saving faith, which is the instrumental cause of pardon, all co-operate for their remission, as is plain in the text. Besides, all the promises of pardon are made to them, Jer. xxxi. 34; Mic. vii. 19. And lastly, all the signs of pardon are found in them, and in them only, that love God, Luke vii. 47; such as mercy to others, Matt. vi. 14; a blessed peace in the conscience, Rom. v. 1. It is a truth, beyond controversy, that all that are in Christ are in a pardoned state.

II. The pardon of believers is THE PURCHASE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. Nothing but the blood of Christ is equivalent to the remission of sin, for this blood was innocent, the blood of a Lamb without spot, 1 Pet. i. 19; this blood was precious blood, of infinite worth and value. It was prepared for this very purpose, Heb. x. 5; prepared by God's eternal appointment; by Christ's miraculous production through the operation of the Spirit; by his voluntary sanctification of himself to this very use and purpose.

The blood of Jesus is not only innocent, precious, and prepared, but it is blood actually shed and sacrificed to the justice of God for the expiation of guilt and procurement of our discharge, Isa. liii. 5. The justice of God could put in no exception against the blood of Christ; it is unexceptionable, being untainted by sin, and dignified above all estimation by the person whose blood it was. Justice required no less, and could demand no more; and this is the price at which our pardon is purchased, and without which no sin could be pardoned; for "without shedding of blood there is no remission." Heb. ix. 22.

III. God has manifested THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE in the remission of our sins. So says the apostle : "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," Rom. v. 20. "The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant,” 1 Tim. i. 14; which will appear, if we bring our thoughts to the matter, in several particulars.

1. From the nature of the mercy, which is the richest of all mercies, except Christ, the purchaser of it. No mercy sweeter than a pardon to a condemned sinner; no pardon like God's pardon to a man condemned at his bar; all the

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