92 SERMONS upon Serm. XIV. There are two forts of Promifes, fome that do affure of neceffary affiftance, fome that fpeak of arbitrary affiftance, as Ezek 38. 26, 27. A new heart a fo will I give you, and a new fpirit will l put within you I will take away the finny heart out of your iefh, and I will give you an heart of f'!,. And 1 will put my Spirit within you, and caul you to walk in my fiatutes , and ye (hall keep my judgments, and do them. Now fuch Promifes mull be improved , for the Covenant of God is the ground of our (lability: Adam had a feed of Grace , but it was not fecured by Promife , and therefore he finned it away ; the Vi- Etory is affbred to us by Promife, Rom. 16. 20. The God of peace fhall bruite Satan under your feet fhartly. In ordinary Confido it is a good Rule , Non aquè glorietur accinelue ac difciñllue; but aChrifkian may triumph before the Victory , for all thole who are really and earneftly ftriving againfl fin, are fure to conquer : thefe Promifes may be pleaded to God , as his own words, by which he hath invited our hope; and to our felves in cafe of fainting and difcouragement, that we may not coldly fee upon the pra- dice of Chriftianity. Let us depend upon Gods Promife , as Paul, 2 Tim. 4. 18. And tbe.Lord(ball deliver me from every evil work, and will preferve me unto hit heaveny king- dom, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen. 5. There are certain Ordinances, whereby this Grace is conveyed to us. The Spirit joyneth his power and efficacy with the proper infkituted means for the fubduing of fin. The Word is a powerful inftrument, which the Holy Ghofk ufeth for the cleanfing of the Soul from fin , Ph. i 5. 3. Now ye are clean through the word which I have fpoken unto you : yea for the killing of fin, therefore it is called The Sword of the Spirit. When we come to hear , tome new confederation is Rill given out for the further fandifying of the heart , oh. s7. 57. Saniiifre them through thy truth, thy word is truth. In Prayer we come to ad Faith and Repentance , looking up to God for help ; and with brokennefs of heart mourning over our corruptions , Zech. I2. to. I will pour upon the haufe ofDa- vid , and upon the inhabitants of Jerufalem the Spirit of grace and fupplicatioioo , and they Jhall look upon him whom they have pierced , and they (hall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only fon , and fhatl be in bitternefi for him, as one that is in bitternefs for his firji- born. By every Prayer offered in the brokennefs of our hearts , fin receiveth a new wound. So the Sacraments ; as in the Old Te(tament, Circumcifion fignified a fandify- iog of the heart , Deut. 30.6. And the Lord thy God will circumcife thy heart , and the heart of thy feed , to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and with ail thy foul, that that thou may fi live : and the Pafchal Lamb was a Type of Chrifl, Who taketh away the fns of the world , Joh. r. 29. So Baptifm and the Lord Supper. Baptifm fignifìeth the waffling away of fin, Allr 22. 16. Arife and be baptized, and waft; away thy fins, and he that liveth in fin forgetteth, that is, negledeth his Baptifm, 2 Pet. I.9. Re bath forgot- ten that he was purged from his old fins; as forgetting the Law is neglecting the Duty of it, Pfal. 119. r 5 3. I do not forget thy Law, he carrieth himfelf as if he were never bapti- zed, for Baptifm is a vowed death to fm. So for the Lords Supper. Every ferious remem brance or meditation of ChriflsDeath fbould quicken us anew to crucifie fin;and to make it hateful to our Souls. (i.) As it reprefenteth the great Ad of Chrifis éondefcendingg Love, which is a moving forcible Argument to perfwade us to denyour inordinate felf.- love : 2 Cor. 5. 14, 15. For the love of Chrifi contiraineth se, becaufe we thus judge , that if one dyed for all, then were all dead, and that he dyed for all, that they which live, fhoulct not henceforth live unto themfelves,but unto him which dyed for them, and rote again. (2.) It is a viewing the heinoufnels and odioufnefs of fin there reprefented to us in the Agonies and Sufferings of Chrift, the more we confider of them, the greater apprehenfions (hould we have of the evil of fin , the exadnefs of Gods Juftice , the terrour of his Wrath, Rom. 8. 3. For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flefh, God fending his own Son , in the likenefr of fnful flefb and for fin condemned fin in the ftefh. Chrift was made fin for us, and then endured thefe things, 2 Cor. 5.21. He bath made him to be fin for na, who knew no fin, that we might be made the righteoufnefr of God in bim. When we look upon fin through Satans Spectacles, or the cloud of our own Paf- fions, or carnal Afledions, we make nothing of it; but it is a terrible fpedacle to fee the fruit of fin in the Agonies and Sufferings of Jefus Chrift, which are there reprefent- ed to us, as if he were crucified before ostr eyes, Gal. 3. 1. O never have flight thoughts of fin more ! (3.), As it implieth a folemn mutual Surrendry between Chrift and us : Cant. 2. a6. 1 am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. Chrift giveth himfelf and his Grace to us, as our Redeemer and Saviour ; we accept Chrift and his Benefits upon his own Terms, and furrender our (elves to him, as his redeemed ones, with thankfulnefs for fo great a favour and benefit : Rom. 12. I. I befeecb you, brethren, by the mercies of God,
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