as were revealed in his word, could not be known but by his own Spirit; so that though revealed, yet they remain still unrevealed, till the Spirit teach within, as well as without; because they are intelligible by none, but by those that are the private scholars and hearers of the Holy Ghost, the author of them; and because there are so few of these, therefore there is so little real believing amongst all the noise and profession that we make of it. Who is

there (if you will believe them) that believes not? And yet truly there is too much cause to continue the Prophet's regret, Who hath believed our report*.

Learn then to suspect yourselves, and to find out your own unbelief, that you may desire this spirit to teach you inwardly those great mysteries that he outwardly reveals, and teaches by his word. Make use of that promise, and press the Lord with it, They shall be all taught of God".

But, II. There is here the matter of this doctrine which we have in three several expressions, 1. That which is repeated from the foregoing verse, it is the Doctrine of salvation, that is the end of it. 2. The Doctrine of the sufferings and glory of Christ, as the means. And 3. The Doctrine of grace, the spring of both.

1. It is the doctrine of salvation, the only true doctrine of true happiness, which the wisest of natural men have groped and sought after with much earnestness, but with no success: they had no other than the dark moon-light of nature, and that is not sufficient to find it out; only the Sun of Righteousness shining in the sphere of the Gospel, brings life and immortality to light". No wonder that natural wisdom, the deepest of it, is far from finding out the true method and way of cure, seeing it cannot discover the disease of miserable mankind, vis. the sinful and wretched condition of mas ture by the first disobedience.

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Salvation expresses not only that which is nega* Isa liii. 1. y Isa. liv. 13. and Joh. vi. 45. 2 Tim. i. 10.

tive; but implies likewise positive and perfect happiness: thus forgiveness of sins is put for the whole nature of justification frequently in scripture. It is more easy to say of this unspeakable happiness, what it is not, than what it is.There is in it a full and final freedom from all annoyance; all tears are wiped away, and their fountain is dried up; all feeling and fear, or danger of any the least evil, either of sin or punishment, is banished for ever; there are no invasions of enemies, no robbing or destroying in all this holy mountain, no voice of complaining in the streets of the new Jérusalem. Here it is at the best but interchanges of mornings of joy, with sad evenings of weeping: but there, there shall be no light, no need of sun nor moon, For the glory of the Lord shall lighten it, and the Lamb shall be the light thereof.

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Well may the Apostle, (as he doth here throughout this Chapter) lay this salvation to counter-balance all sorrows and persecutions, and whatsoever hardships can be in the way to it. The soul that is. persuaded of this, in the midst of storms and tenpests, enjoys a calm, triumphs in disgraces, grows richer by all its losses; and, by death itself, attains this immortal life.

Happy are they that have their eye fixed upon this salvation, and are longing and waiting for it, that see so much of that brightness and glory, as darkens all the lustre of earthly things to them, and makes them trample upon those things which formerly they admired and doated on with the rest of the foolish world. Those things we account so much of, are but as rotten wood, or glow-worms that shine only in the night of our ignorance and vanity: so soon as the light beam of this salvation enters into the soul, it cannot much esteem or affect any thing below it; and if those glances of it that shine in the word, and in the soul of a christian, be so bright and powerful, what then shall the full sight and real possession of it be?

2. The Gospel is represented as the Doctrine of the sufferings and glory of Christ, as the means of salvation. The worker of this salvation, whom the prophets and Apostles make the sum of all their doctrine, is Jesus Christ, and the sum of that work of redemption (as we have it here) is his humiliation and exaltation; his sufferings, and the glory that followed thereupon. Now, though this serve as an encouragement to christians in their sufferings, that this is the way by which their Lord went into his glory, and is true also of Christ mystical, the head with the members, as the scriptures often teach us; yet I conceive it is here mainly intended as a sum→ mary of the work of our redemption by Jesus Christ, relating to the saivation mentioned, ver. 10. and as the cause for the effect, so it is put for it here. The Prophets enquired, and prophesied of that salvation. How? By searching out, and foretelling the sufferings and glory of Christ: his sufferings then, and his after glories are our salvation. His sufferings is the purchase of our salvation, and his glory is our assurance of it, he as our head having triumphed, and being crowned, makes us likewise sure of victory and triumph. His having entered on the possession of glory, makes our hope certain; this is his prayer, That where he is, there we may be also, and this his own assertion, The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them", this is his promise, Because I live ye shall live also. Christ and the believer are one; this is that great mystery the Apostle speaks of. Though it is a common known truth, the words and outside of it obvious to all, yet none can understand it but they that indeed partake of it. By virtue of that union, their sins were accounted his, and Christ's sufferings are accounted theirs, and by consequence, his glory, the consequent of his sufferings, is likewise theirs; there is an indissoluble connection betwixt the life of Christ, and of a believer, Our life is hid with Christ in God; and therefore while we remain there, our life

Joh. xvii. 22. 24. . Joh. xiv. 19. d Eph. v. 30. 32.

is there, though hid, and when he who is our life shall appear, we likewise shall appear with him in glory. Seeing the sufferings and glory of our Redeemer are the main subject of the Gospel, and the causes of our salvation, and our comfortable persuasion of it, it is a wonder that they are not more the matter of our thoughts. Should we not daily consider the bitterness of that cup of wrath he drunk for us, and be wrought to repentance and hatred of sin, to have sin imbittered to us by that consideration, and find the sweetness of his love in that he did drink it, and by that, be deeply possessed with love to him? These things we now and then speak of, but they sink not into our minds, as our Saviour exhorts, where he is speaking of those same sufferings. O! that they were engraven on our hearts, and that sin were crucified in us, and the world crucified to us, and we unto the world by the cross of Christ'.

And let us be frequently considering the glory wherein he is, and have our eye often upon that, and our hearts solacing and refreshing themselves frequently with the thoughts of that place, and condition wherein Christ is, and where our hopes are ere long to behold him; both to see his glory, and to be glorified with him, is it not reason? Yea it is necessary; it cannot be otherwise, if our treasure, and Head be there, that our hearts be there likewise.

The third expression here of the Gospel is, That it is the doctrine of grace. The work of redemption itself, and the several parts of it, and the doctrine revealing it, have all the name of grace; because they all flow from free grace; that is their spring and first cause.

And it is this wherein the doctrine of salvation is mainly comfortable, that it is free, Ye are saved by grace". It is true God requires faith, it is through faith; but he that requires that gives it too; That Colos. iii. 3, 4. f Galat. vi. 14. g Matth. vi. 21. Col. iii. 1, 2. h Eph. ii. 8.

is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It is wonderful grace to save upon believing; believe in Jesus for salvation, and live accordingly, and it is done; there is no more required to thy pardon, but that thou receive it by faith. But truly nature cannot do this; it is as impossible for us of ourselves to believe, as to do. This then is that which makes it all grace from beginning to end, that God not only saves upon believing, but gives believing itself. Christ is called not only the Author and finisher of our salvation, but even of our faith

Free grace being rightly apprehended, is that which stays the heart in all estates, and keeps it from fainting, even in its saddest times; what though there is nothing in myself but matter of sorrow and discomfort? It cannot be otherwise; it is not from myself that I look for comfort at any time; but from my God, and his free grace. Here is comfort enough for all times; when I am at the best, I ought not, I dare not rely upon myself; when I am at the worst, I may, and should rely upon Christ, and his sufficient grace. Though I be the vilest sinner that ever came to him, yet I know he is more gracious than I am sinful; yea, the more my sin is, the more glory will it be to his grace to pardon it; it will appear the richer: doth not David argue thus, For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity for it is great: but it is an empty fruitless notion of grace, to consider it only in the general, and in a wandering way. We are to look upon it particularly, as addressed to us, and it is not enough that it comes to us, in the message of him that brings it only to our ear, but that we may know what it is, it must come into us, then it is ours indeed; but if it come to us in the message only, and we send it away again, if it shall so depart, we had better never have heard of it; it will leave a guiltiness behind it, that shall make all our sins weigh much. heavier than before,

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1 Psal. xxv. 11.