comfort, as well as wholesome advice and counsel, from what they have now heard; for they being conscious to themselves that they have not only offended the Lord of Hosts, the Almighty Governor of the world, already, but cannot possibly of themselves ever do any thing else but provoke him, and so "treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;" how glad must they needs be to hear it from his own mouth, that, notwithstanding all their provocations and infirmities, "his grace is sufficient for them;" sufficient not only to expiate all their former offences, but to cure them of all their distempers, to arm them against all temptations, to support them in all conditions, to carry them through the whole compass of their duty, and to reflect such a lustre upon it from the glory of his own righteousness and merits, that God himself will be well pleased with it; that "in the Lord they may have both righteousness and strength 5;" and that "his strength is made perfect in their weakness," so as to shew itself in a more especial manner, when they have most occasion for it: how can they hear this, and not sing with the prophet, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation"!"

But that we also may thus rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of our salvation, we must take special care that we do not turn his grace into lasciviousness, but that we apply and improve it to the purposes for which it is designed. Now the apostle tells us, that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation teacheth us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." This, therefore, is the lesson we must learn, this is the use we should make of the grace of God our Saviour; and for this it is sufficient in us all, as many in all ages have found by their own experience, who,

5 Isa. xlv. 24.

• Ib. xii. 2.

7 Tit. ii. 11, 12.

notwithstanding their original sin, and their natural imperfections and infirmities consequent upon it, yet by the grace of Christ became real saints while they were upon earth, and are now glorified and made equal to the angels in heaven. And why should not we be so as well as they? If we be not, it is our own fault: the grace of Christ is as sufficient for us as it was for them.

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"." Let us employ ourselves continually in the use of the means which he hath appointed wherein to bestow his grace upon us; and, whatsoever we do in word and deed, let us do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, nothing doubting, but stedfastly believing, that, according to his word, “His grace shall be sufficient for us, and his strength made perfect in our weakness; that he will wash us from our sins in his own blood; that he will preserve us from all evil, and make all things work together for our good; that he by his almighty power and Spirit will direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies in the ways of his laws, and in the works of his commandments, so as to bring us at last to that everlasting kingdom which he is now preparing for us in the highest heavens; that we may live with him who liveth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for ever."

8 Heb. iv. 16.

SERMON XIV.

FAITH IN GOD AND CHRIST, A SOVEREIGN REMEDY AGAINST ALL TROUBLES.

JOHN xiv. 1.

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."

BEHOLD here the love and care that our great Master had of his scholars and disciples! He did not love to see their heads hang down, their countenances sad, their eyes bedewed with tears, nor their hearts oppressed with grief and sadness, for any thing, no, not for his own departure from them, which was certainly one of the greatest troubles that could befal them. He had told them, in the foregoing chapter, that he must now leave them, and go to a place where they could not as yet come; and, perceiving them to be much troubled at it, he cheers them up, bids them be of good comfort; "Let not your heart be troubled," saith he: "ye believe in God, believe also in me;" and so directs them what to do, that they may keep their hearts from being troubled at any thing in the world. For though their sorrow for his departure gave him the opportunity of speaking these words, yet he did not intend them only for that particular occasion, and, therefore, takes no notice at all of it, but expresseth himself in general terms, "Let not your heart be troubled," and so signifies his will and pleasure to us, that, whatsoever

troubles we meet with in the world, yet he would not have them come near our hearts, so as to disturb and discompose them, but that we take all the care we can to keep our hearts free from all manner of disquiet and perturbation at any thing that happens in the world, that so we may be always in a fit temper to serve and honour him that made and governs it, with cheerfulness and alacrity of mind, which he therefore requires of us, and so makes it our duty, saying, "Let not your heart be troubled:" yours who are my friends and disciples, who profess to love me, and to obey me; I speak to you, not to others; for all others not only may, but ought to be troubled in heart, and must be so before they can come to me for rest; and, indeed, they have all the reason in the world to be troubled at every thing, because every thing is accursed to them: but as for you, let not your heart be troubled at any thing: "ye believe in God," and therefore need not be troubled; but, that ye may not be so, "believe also in me."

Where we may observe, that our blessed Saviour, the great physician of souls, prescribes faith in God, and in himself, as the most sovereign antidote to preserve our hearts from being troubled, and the best physic to cure them when they are so; and hath left it upon record as a general rule for all Christians to observe, at all times, in all places, in all conditions and circumstances of life, that, whatsoever happens, they still act their faith aright, and by that means keep their hearts from being troubled. But, for that purpose, they must not only believe in God, but in Christ too; not as if Christ was not God; for if he was not God, we could not be obliged to believe in him; or rather, we should be obliged not to believe in him; this being one of those duties, or religious acts, which are proper and peculiar only to God himself, and therefore not to be communicated to any creature; so that our Saviour commanding us to believe in him, as well as God, doth plainly intimate to us that he himself also is God; otherwise he would never have required so great an act

of divine worship as faith is, to be performed to himself in the same manner as it is performed to God, saying, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me."

But why, then, doth he require us to believe particularly in him, when as he being God, whosoever believes in God, must needs believe in him, who is so? To understand this, we may observe that our Saviour doth not say, Ye believe in the Father, believe also in me. If he had expressed himself after that manner, he would have thereby required us only to believe in him the Son as such, as well as in the Father, according to what he himself elsewhere saith, that "all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father';" and so would have signified no more than that the Father and the Son being both of the same divine nature, we ought to believe in both alike. But our Saviour doth not say, Ye believe in the Father, but, "Ye believe in God," or "Believe ye in God, believe also in me," and so propounds himself to be the object of our faith, not only as God the Creator and Governor of the world, but likewise as God-man, and so the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, who was now ready to offer up himself as a sacrifice for their sins, and then to go to heaven to prepare a place for them there, as he tells his disciples in the following verse; and so directs us to the most infallible remedy against all manner of troubles, both temporal and spiritual: from all temporal troubles, by believing in that infinitely wise, and good, and powerful God, that governs the world; and from all spiritual troubles, by believing in him our almighty and all-sufficient Saviour, "who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." According to which method, therefore, I shall first shew that believing in God is the most effectual means to preserve our hearts from being overwhelmed with any outward calamity that may befal us in this world; and, then, that believing Christ

1 John v. 23.

2 Heb. vii. 25.