life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. Nor are these uncertain promises; they are all Yea and Amen,in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The CHIEF BLESSING of the New Covenant is its securing to us an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, (2 Peter i. 11.) This is the inheritance of the saints in light, Col. i. 12, 13; this is the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, which they inherit when our Lord comes in his glory, (Matt. xxv.)

The new covenant, therefore, gives the believer great SECURITY. It is well ordered in all things and sure, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. While it eminently tends, by the way in which its blessings are bestowed, to manifest the divine glory, and yet to promote the happiness of man; it also most effectually provides for obedience to the holy law of God. What God, as a righteous Governor, justly demands from us as his creatures, he now, according to the beneficent tenor of the new covenant, bestows as a gracious Benefactor. Is, for instance, obedience to his laws his command as our God, and our duty as his creatures? he promises in the dispensation of grace to write his laws in our hearts, Heb. viii. 10. Is repentance equally required from us as sinful creatures? he grants repentance unto life, Acts xi. 18. Is faith in his Son requisite for our salvation? unto us it is given to believe in his name, Phil. i. 29. Thus it is well ordered, as it guards against the weakness and corruption of our nature, which would otherwise prevent our obtaining its blessings. The happiness of Adam in paradise, depending on the fidelity of the creature, failed; the national blessings granted to Israel, through their disobedience, were forfeited; but in

the better covenant, the fidelity of God is concerned, and he engages to work in us all that he requires of us. He promises not only not to depart from us, but that we shall not depart from him. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear into their heart, that they shall not depart from me. Jer. xxxii. 40; see also Isaiah liv. 9, 10, 17. True it is, that many who have had right notions of religion, and have made a fair profession, do afterwards make shipwreck of faith; and this should guard us against presumption and self-confidence, and make us watchful and humble; but the Apostle assures us on this head, they went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, 1 John ii. 19.* True it is, the

*The author would confirm his own sentiments by the following extract from Bishop Jewell's Exposition to the Thessalonians, fol. ed. 1611, p. 143, on 2 Thess. ii. 13.

ever.

"God hath chosen you from the beginning: his election is sure for The Lord knoweth who are his. You shall not be deceived with the power and subtilty of Antichrsit. You shall not fall from grace, you shall not perish. This is the comfort which abideth with the faithful, when they behold the fall of the wicked. When they see them forsake the truth, and delight in fables; when they see them return to their vomit, and wallow again in the mire; when we see these things in others, we must say, Alas! they are examples for me, and they are lamentable examples. Let him that standeth, take heed that he fall not. But God hath loved me, and hath chosen me to salvation. His mercy shall go before me, and his mercy shall follow His mercy shall guide my feet, and stay me from falling. If I stay by myself, I stay by nothing. I must needs come to the ground. Although all the world should be drowned with the waves of ungodliness, yet will I hold by the boat of his mercy, which shall safely preserve me. If all the world be set on fire with the flame of wickedness, yet will I creep into the bosom of the protection of my Lord, so shall no flame hurt me. He hath loved me, he hath chosen me, be will keep me. Neither the example nor the company of others, nor the enticing of the Devil, nor mine own sensual imaginations, nor sword, nor fire, is able to separate me from the love of God which is

me.

sincere servant of God may fall into sin, in which case his transgressions will be punished with fatherly chastisements; yet the promise even in this case is, Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail; my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips, Psalm 1xxxix. 30-34.

Who that knows and believes such gracious declarations, can help admiring the infinite goodness and condescension of God, entering into such promises and engagements with his weak and sinful creatures! What heart but must be touched and melted with such wonderful love! O how can we hate sin enough, and love our God enough, after all that he hath done for us.

The new covenant eminently displays the glory of DIVINE GRACE. The great end to which it tends, is the praise of the glory of his grace; for this end vile and miserable sinners are chosen and called, justified and adopted, sanctified and glorified. Their whole salvation is of grace. Christ is a free gift; the Holy Spirit is a free gift; eternal life is a free gift. The dispositions, such as repentance, faith, and holiness, to which pardon and eternal life are promised, are free gifts. From the foundation of the spiritual building, Christ Jesus, to the top-stone, we must say, Grace, grace unto it! And that this may be the more illustriously manifested, even the very chief of sinners have been chosen, and even the very best of saints have, after conversion, fallen into most grievin Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the comfort of the faithful; so shall they wash their hands in the blood of the Lamb." He then shows how this security is seen and felt "through sanctification of the Spirit and faith of the truth. These are the tokens of God's election."

ous sins, and been recovered again from their backsliding. O how illustrious is that grace which selects from a ruined race, pardons, purifies, and, finally, for ever blesses a fallen, wretched, polluted creature, and gives to him holiness here, and eternal life hereafter! The 17th Article of our church, which contains the genuine doctrine, not only of our own church, but of the whole body of the Reformers, and of the pure church of Christ in all preceding ages, states this subject most scripturally, devotionally, and practically. The doctrine of our free salvation is indeed, to the awakened and enlightened mind, both humbling and consolatory, both holy and encouraging, filling the heart of man with love to God, and yet for ever shutting out all boasting, and giving all glory to his name, to whom alone all glory is for ever due.

Such is the blessed nature and character of the new covenant. We have farther to consider OUR DUTY WITH REFERENCE TO THIS GRACIOUS DISPENSATION; so that we may become interested in it, and partakers of its blessings. Every believer in Christ has a personal interest in the new covenant. We gain an interest in its blessings, when we seek them in the way of God's appointment. It is the divine invitation, Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.—Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near, Isaiah lv. 3—7. Our duty then plainly is, earnestly to seek, and gratefully and believingly to accept, the offered salvation, to observe its ordinances, and to adorn in all things the doctrine of God our Saviour. If we are truly convinced of our lost condition, and

of our sinful character; if we are truly desirous of such a salvation as that which is exhibited to us in the gospel, God will freely grant to us the blessings of his grace, when we seek them in the name of Jesus Christ, and in a humble reliance on his atonement. The great Mediator will then plead our cause, and obtain for us whatever is needful for present or future happiness. The Father hath committed all things into the hands of Christ, (Matt. xxviii. 18; John v. 22; Eph. i. 22.) and when we come to him, and entrust our souls wholly to him, (2 Tim. i. 12.) he gives us the blessings of this covenant, even as if it had been made solely and individually for us.

Surely we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? It is evidently just and right that those who refuse to receive and submit to so gracious a dispensation, should not have its blessings; that those who reject the remedy, should remain under the disease. We live now indeed under the full establishment of the new covenant, whether we accept it or not; but we are not partakers of its blessings, unless we are seeking for salvation, as guilty and helpless sinners, through Jesus Christ. Nay, if we reject, and persevere in our rejection, of this only way of salvation, we shall perish with aggravated guilt, and in a more tremendous ruin than those who never heard the grace of God.

Thus has God so ordered it, that none shall inherit eternal life, but in the way of repentance, faith and holiness; and yet none shall boast or glory in his sight. The future blessedness is so proposed and pro