1he All-{afficiency of Chrifl --------~-------- Grace, Eph. 4· 7· Is i~ peace with God? We have it\~ith hi~ through Chrill:, Rom. 5· 1. We httve peace wah God through our Lord Jefus Chrift . Is 1t peace of Confcience? ~Vhy the peace of. God whicl1 paf{tth t~!lun.dcr.[tanding Jhail keep you~ hearts and minds through Chrift 'Jefu.r, Phd. 4· 7· Indeed Chnft 1s fuch an overfiowtng Fountain of all Good that fills the empty, fatisfie'S the thirfty, and all that rely upon him; He is able to Jave to the uttermoft all that come unto God by him. 4· Another Dcmonitracion of Chrifl:'s AU-filfficiency to li1vc appears in this in that he is able to fave when none elfe can; he appears to fave thoiC that cam~ to God by him, when neither Man nor Angels dare ftand up in their behalf. and if they did, they could not rel~eve or help them, then Chrifl: intcrpofcth; 'and as Chrifl: <i.lone procures Salvauon for US1 fo he alone can apply that Salvation to us : And this he doth more efpecially at Two SeajOns, when all others arc bu t Miferable Helpers or Comforters to us. As, 1. When the dreadful Terrors of the Almighty furround us, when God bran· diJbes his Sword over our Heads, when he makes deep Wounds, and inftcad of Balm pours into our raw Confciences F ire and Brimftonc. Oh! what Saviour can then deliver us? Then when thofe infolent Hopes and vain Confidences of Salvation, with which we formerly fupport~d our fclves, then when Ol~r own Righteonfi1efs, in which we formerly trufted, Is as filthy Garments, or l1ke a Searcloth increafeth our Torments; when all the Pleafures and Debaucheries of the \Vorld that Men have formerly delighted in, is only to them as if a Perfon ftung with Wafps fhould apply Honey to afi"wagc the fmart ;. fa truly when their Wafpilh Confciences fting them with the guilt of Sin, they ftick to the Honey, to the fweet Delights and Pleafures of the World. But now thi1 Honey is turned into Gall and Wormwood, God and they arc Enemies, he bath dipt his Arrows in the Lake which burns for ever, and bath !bot them all flaming into their Sonls, fo that they are all of them bnt one Wound1 and what relief is there for them? A woundtd Spirit wh~ can bear? Yet Chrift bore it upon the Crofs whe11 he cried, My God, my God, why haft thou forfakm mt? And he that cured himfelf can alfo cure another. This Blood poured into thefe Wounds is prefent Remedy, and gives· prefent Eafe and Relief. And therefore he deligns to make peace between God and us, fa likewifc between Man and himfelf, giving in that Peace of Confcience which quiets and appcafeth, !fa. 61. 1. It is no lcfs work to reconcile Man and Confcience together upon good and warrantable grounds, than to reconcile God and Man together; and it is only Chrift's A\1-fufficienc:y that can do either. 2. Another Seafon is, when we !ball appear before the Tribunal of God at the Lilt and terrible Day. What a dreadful fight will it be to behold and fee Heaven and Earth a\1 wallowing in Flames, and Angels flying through the Air, and drieving whole fhoals of Men before them to Judgment, the Judge being fet, the Books opened, God, Confciencc, and the Devil accufing, and all the World crying our, Guilty, Guilry, and the Sentence palling on them accordingly, and Millions of therr, dragging to Execution from the Bar where they were Condemned? You cannot then cry to your Honours and Dignities to favc you, for you muftall ftand upon the fame equal level; it is not your Righteoufnefs can then fave you; no, the defeas of it then fha\l be found part Of your Charge. What then is there to fave you? Your Guilt is manifeft, your Judge impartial; and if one Sentence is paft, the Execution is fpecdy: And certainly now iris time for an All·fi1fficient Saviour to appear, when the whole World is burning about them, and Hell under them, God frowning in their very Faces, and the Devil attending them at their Backs ready to hurry Eheltl. away to Torments. And now when there is no pity to be expe(\:ed from Angels or Mm, lhcn Chrift appears to be an Advocatt to an~wer for his, and lilence all the Accufations produced againft the"'m, and by his Sausfa· B:ion and perfeCT: Righteoufnefs he b1 ings them off with fhouts, and the applaufe of Glorious Angtls, and Saints. And thus it appears he is able to fave them when none elfe can. 5· And laftly, Chri.ft iJ able to fave to the uttermoft, iN that he is able to fave t~fo that condemn thcmfolves, llfrtd think thtir own Salvation A thi.,g impo.Jlible. There IS a Twofold judging and Condemning of one's felf, one in point of Merit and Defert, the other in point of lffue and Event; the one judgeth himfelf as one now dcferv~ ing Condemnation, the other that he muft futfer ic; the one a) due, the other as unavoidable; now Chrift faves from both thefc, and that glorioufly. 1. He
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