seph ruler over Egypt, and when the famished people cried to him for bread, he bade them go to Joseph, Gen. xli. 55.; fo God has dealt with the Mediator, and tells us by the gospel, Pfal. lxxxix. 24. My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. If we look into the ruins of the fall, we may take them up under four heads, an, fwerable to which there are remedies in Christ.

(1.) Man is ignorant naturally of the way to true happiness: he has loft God, and knows not how to find him again. Falling into the hands of Satan, he loft his two eyes, like Samfon; gropes for the way of happiness, but cannot find it, like the Sodomites at Lot's door. Some remains of knowledge found in the ruins of the fall were improved in the world, by study, observation of the works of God, and in fome by external revelation, which yet the natural darkness of the mind did pervert. And these notions thus improved they called wisdom. But the way of happiness by works, the only way naturally known by Adam, being blocked up by his fall, it was impoffible for them by their wisdom to fall on the other way, unless we should say that fallen man's natural knowledge could reach farther than his natural knowledge when it was whole and entire before the fall, So man's wisdom is his folly.

For remedy of this, Christ is made wisdom. The treafures of wisdom and knowledge were lodged in him, Col. ii. 3. and he is constituted the grand Teacher of all that mind for eternal happiness. Therefore the philosophers and rabbi's must lay by their books as infufficient to point them the way to happiness, and study that body of divinity, Jesus Chrift, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily. The wife men of the world must renounce confidence in their natural abilities, draw a black score over all their attainments in their Christless state, and fit down at Christ's feet, as knowing nothing, and learn of him: and those of the shallowest capacities giving up them

selves to him, shall get the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iv. 6.

(2.) Man is unrighteous, and cannot stand before a righteous God. His guilt binds him over to wrath, and makes him miferable before a just God, a revenger of fin. And this is so impressed on the hearts of men, that even a natural confcience sometimes makes terrible heart-quakes within him, knowing the judgement of God, that they who commit fuch things are worthy of death. Now, the natural man, for remedy of this, goes about to work out a righteousness of his own, to spin a righteousness out of his own bowels, and to appease the anger of God, and gain his favour, by his obedience. But when it appears in the light of the holy law, it is nothing but as a nasty, rotten, moth-eaten garment, that cannot cover the foul before the Lord, f. lxiv. 6. Let them stretch it as they will, the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than he can wrap himself in it.

For remedy of this, Christ is made righteousness. He, by his obedience to the law's commands, and fuffering the wrath it threatened, hath brought in everlafting righteousness, which is a large garment, able to cover all that betake themselves to it, for it is the righteousness of God; a beautiful garment, found in every part, for it is white raiment, without the least stain, being the righteousness of the Son of God, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, feparate from finners. Therefore the most refined moralists must lay afide, in point of confidence, their highest attainments in morality, as filthy rags before the Lord; and the stricteft professors and livers on earth, who follow after the law of righteoufness, must renounce their inherent righteousness, and fit down naked before the Lord, to receive the imputed righteousness of Chrift. And the vilest of men coming to him, shall find a righteoutness in him to be communicated to them; to that they that are from righteousness shall be wrapt up in

a perfect righteousness, if they will take Christ to them as God has made him.

(3.) Man is unholy, unfit for communion with a holy God here or hereafter. His foul is dead in fin, his lusts live and are vigorous in him; so that he is no more meet for heaven than a fow for a palace. The natural man, to help himself in this point, calls together his natural powers as in a folemn day, and endeavours to fet about his duty, and turn the stream of his life and conversation into the channel of the law, Some prevail this way to the reformation of their outward conversation; but there is as much difference betwixt true holiness and their attainment, as betwixt a living body and an embalmed corpse. Others find all their endeavours to no purpose, and so they come to despair of sanctification, and therefore even lay the reins on the necks of their lufts, Jer. ii. 25. And how can it be otherwise in either of them? for, like fools or madmen, they go into the mire to wash themselves clean; the house that must be razed from the foundation, they go to patch up and repair; for in their attempts for holiness they act as if they had need of nothing but activity to use and improve their natural abilities for fanctification; which is as opposite to the doctrine of the gospel, as to say, the cripple needs but to fet himself to rife and walk, and he will be cured, is contrary to common sense; for our natural abilities will ferve us no more for fanctification, than the cripple's legs will ferve him to walk. Let men learn from Job, that where the whole body is all full of boils and fores, their hands are not fit to scrape the fores on the reft of their body, being as ill themselves as any other part: therefore he took a potsherd, and scraped himself. And while to the unbelieving there is nothing pure, but their very natural powers are defiled, they can never purify the man in holiness.

But for remedy in this, Christ is made fanctification. There is a fulness of the Spirit of holiness lodged in him, to be communicated to the unholy; and to him God

fends the unholy finner, that out of his fulness he may receive, and grace for grace. Therefore the most sober natural man and strictest profeffor, who has hammered out of his mere natural abilities, assisted by external revelation, a life blameless before the world, being estranged still to the life of faith, must know that he has but put a new face on the old man, which Christ never intended to repair, but to destroy, Rom. vi. 6. and must begin anew to attain true holiness, from and by him whom the Father has made sanctification to us. And the most polluted sinner, whose lusts are most raging, may confidently try this grand method of fanctification, which can no more fail him, than God's device can fail to reach the end he designed it for.

(4.) Man by the fall is become mortal, liable to many bodily infirmities and miseries, and at length must go to the grave, the house appointed for all living. Nature could find no remedy for this. The learned Athenians mocked at the refurrection of the dead, Acts xvii. 32. the Sadducees among the Jews denied it, Matth. xxii. 23. The unrenewed part of the world, who, by the benefit of external revelation, have embraced the doctrine of the refurrection, and particularly of the happy refurrection, have no other way to attain it, but what they follow to attain righteousness and sanctification; and that being infuflicient to attain them, must be so also in this respect; for all their Christless endeavours leave them still under guilt and corruption, these bonds of death, wherewith the second death will draw them down into the pit, when they are raised out of their graves at the laft day.

But man's salvation cannot be complete without a remedy for this; therefore Christ is made redemption, who will give in due time deliverance to his people from mifery and death, which is called the redemp. tion of the body, Rom. viii. 23 And in this sense he calls himself the refurrection and the life, John xi. 25. So our redemption is in him in so far as he has got above death and the power of the grave by his refurrection, and that as a public person, thereby ensuring the happy refurrection of all that are in him. Therefore, if ever we would get our heads above these waters, we must come to him for it.

2. That all who partake of this falvation, must partake of it in him, by virtue of union with him: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, &c. As the stock is stay, strength, and sap to the branches; so is Christ wifdom, righteoufsness, sanctification, and redemption to them that are in him, or unto sinners united to him. The sap of the stock is not conveyed to branches that are not in it; neither is Christ wisdom, &c. to any but those that are in him. He is the Saviour of his body, and we must partake of his falvation as members of his body. In the old world when the deluge came on, some without the ark getting up on the tops of trees or mountains, might be safe for a while; but none but those who were in the ark were safe to the end: fo men that are out of Christ may get common temporal favours from the Lord; but none but those in him receive that wisdom, &c. which is the great falvation. The loft world is the first Adam, and the natural branches of that stock. The faved world are fuch branches as are taken out of that dead and killing stock, and ingrafted into Christ the true vine.

This then is the grand device of falvation, that Chritt shall be all to finners, and that they must partake of all in him; which is quite opposite to our natural imaginations, and exalts the free grace of God, depressing nature. (1.) They do not help themfelves, their help is in another: He is made wisdom, &c. (2.) They do not so much as help themselves to their helper; for it is of God by the power of his grace that they are brought to be in him. It is not the branch itself, but the husbandman that ingrafts it. The doctrine I observe from the words is,

DOCT. God's device for the fanctification of an unholy