As a King, he is a law-giver, (Ifa. xxxiii. 22.) and has appointed an external government, difcipline and cenfors, to controul the unruly, and to keep his profeffed fubjects in order, to be exercifed by officers of his own appointment, Matth. xviii. 17, 18. 1 Cor. xii. 28. 1 Tim. v. 17. Heb. xiii. 17. But these are the great eye-fores of the carnal world, who love finful liberty, and therefore they cry out, "Let us break their bands afunder, and* caft away their cords from us," Pfal. ii. 3 Hence this work is found to be, in a fpecial manner, a striving against the stream of corrupt nature, which, for the most part, puts fuch a face on the church, as if there were no King in Ifrael, every one doing. that which is "right in his own eyes.", govern EVID. 3. However natural men may be brought to feign fubmiffion to the King of faints, yet lufts always retain the throne and dominion in their hearts, and they are ferving divers lufts and pleasures, Tit. iii. 3. None but thefe in whom Chrift is formed do really put the crown on his head, and receive the kingdom of Chrift within them. His crown is "the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his efpousals.” Who are they, whom the power of grace has not fubdued, that will allow him to fet up, and to put down, in their fouls, as he will? Nay, as for others, any lord fhall fooner get the rule over them, than the Lord of glory: they kindly entert ain his enemies, and will never abfolutely refign themselves to his ment, till conquered in a day of power. Thus ye may fee, that the natural man is an enemy to Jefus Chrift in all his offices. But O how hard is it to convince men in this point! They are very loth to take with it. And in a special manner, the enmity of the heart against Chrift in his priestly office, feems to be hid from the view of most of the hearers of the gospel. Yet there appears to he a peculiar malignity in corrupt nature against that office of his. It may be obferved that the Socinians. thefe enemies of our bleffed Lord, allow him to be properly a Prophet, and a King; but deny him to be properly a Prieft. And this is agreeable enough to the corruption of our nature for under the covenant of works, the Lord was known as a Prophet or Teacher, and also as a King or Ruler; but not at all as a Priest: fo man knows nothing of the mystery of Christ, as the way to the Father, till it be revealed to him: And when it is revealed, the Will rifeth up against it; for corrupt nature lies crofs to the mystery of Chrift, and the great contrivance of falva ion, through a crucified Saviour, revealed in the gospel. For clearing of which weighty truth, let thefe four things be confidered. FIRST I FIRST, The foul's falling in with the grand device of falvation by Jefus Chrift, and fetting the matters of falvation on that footing before the Lord, is declared by the Scriptures of truth, to be an undoubted mark of a real faint, who is happy here, and fhall be happy hereafter, Matth. xi. 6. " And blessed is he, whofoever shall not be offended in me," 1 Cor. xxiii. 24" But we preach Chrift crucified, unto the Jews a ftumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishnefs: but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Chrift, the Power of God," and the Wisdom of God." Philip. iii. 3. For we are the circumcifion which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Chrift Jefus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Now how could this be, if nature could comply with that grand device? SECONDLY, Corrupt nature is the very reverfe of the gospel contrivance. In the gofpel, God promifeth Jefus Christ as the great means of re-uniting man to himfelf: he has named him as the Mediator, one " in whom he is well pleafed," and will have none but him, Matth. xvii. 5. But nature" will have none of him," Pfal. lxxxi. 11. God appointed the place of meeting for the reconciliation, namely, the flesh of Chrift; accordingly, God was in Chrift, (2 Cor. v. 29.) as the tabernacle of meeting, to make up the peace with finners, but natural men, though they should die for ever, will not come thither, John v. 40. And ye will not come to me, that yo might have life.” In the way of the gofpel, the finner must ftand before the Lord in an imputed rightecufnefs: but corrupt nature is for an inherent righteoufnefs: and therefore, fo far natural men follow after righteoufnefs, they follow after the law of righteoufnefs, Rom. ix. 31, 32. and not after the Lord our righteoufnefs. Nature is always for building up itself, and to have fome grounds for boafting: but the great defign of the Gofpel, is to exalt grace, to deprefs nature, and exclude boafting, Rom, iii. 27. The fun of our natural religion is, to do good from and for ourselves, John v. 44. The fum of the Gospel religion is, to deny ourfelves, and to do good from and for Chrift, Philip. i. 21. THIRDLY, Every thing in nature is against believing in Jefus Christ. What beauty can the blind man difcern in a crucified Saviour, for which he is to be defired? How can the Will, Baturally impotent, yea, and averfe to good, make choice of him? Well may the foul then say to him in the day of the fpiritual fiege, as the Jebufites faid to David in another cafe, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come Staté II. come in hither," 2 Sam. v. 6. The way of nature is to go into one's felf for all; according to the fundamental maxim of unfanctified morality,-That a man fhould trust in himself:which according to the doctrine of faith, is mere foolishness; for fo it is determined, Prov. xviii. 26." He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool," Now faith is the foul's going out of itfelf for all and this nature, on the other hand, determines to be foolishness, 1 Cor. i. 18, 23. Wherefore there is need of the working of mighty power, to caufe finners to believe, Eph. i. 19. Ifa. liii. 1. We fee promifes of welcome to finners, in the Gospel-covenant, are ample, large, and free, 'clogged with, no conditions, Ifa. lv. 1. Rev. xxii. 17. If they cannot believe his bare word, he has given them his oath upon it, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And for their greater affurances, he has appended feals to his fworn covenant, namely, the holy Sacraments. So that no more could be demanded of the most faithless person in the world to make us believe him, than the Lord hath condescended to give us, to make us believe himself. This plainly speaks nature to be againft believing, and thefe who flee to Chrift for refuge, to have need of ftrong confolation, (Heb. vi. 18.) to blame their strong doubts, and propensity to unbelief. Farther alfo, it may be obferved, how, in the word fent to a secure, graceless generation, their objections are answered afore-hand; and words of grace are heaped one upon another, as ye may read, Ifa. lv. 7, 8, 9. Joel ii. 13. Why? Because the Lord knows, that when thefe fecure finners are throughly awakened, doubts, fears, and carnal reafonings against believing, will be going within their breafts, as thick as duft in a houfe, raifed by fweeping a dry floor. LASTLY, Corrupt nature is bent towards the way of the Law, or Covenant of Works; and every natural man, so far as he fets himfelf to feek after falvation, is engaged in that way; and he will not quit it, till beat from it by divine power. Now the way of falvation by works, and that of free grace in Jelus Chrift, are inconfiftent, Rom. xi. 6. "And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwife grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwife work is no more work." Gal. iii. 13. "And the law is not of FALTH; but the man that DOTH them, fhall live in them." Wherefore if the will of man naturally incline to the way of falvation by the Law; fit les crols to the Gofpel contrivance. And that fuch is the natural bent of our hearts, will appear, if these following things be confidered. 1. The law was Adam's covenant, and he knew no other, as he was the head and representative of all mankind, that were brought into it with him, and left under it by him, tho" without ftrength to perform the condition thereof. Hence, this covenant is ingrained in our nature and tho' we have loft our father's ftrength, yet we ftill incline to the way he was fet upon as our head and reprefentative in that covenant; that is, by doing to live. This is our natural religion, and the principle which men naturally take for granted, Matth. xix. 16. “ What good things fhall I DO, that I may have eternal life?" 2. Confider the oppofition that has always been made in the world against the doctrine of free grace in Jefus Christ, by men fetting up for the way of works; thereby discovering the natural tendency of the heart. It is manifeft, that the great defign of the gofpel-contrivance is to exalt the free grace of God in Jefus Chrift, Rom. iv. 16." Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace." See Eph. i. 6. and chap, ii. 7, 9. All gofpel truths center in Chrift: fo that to learn the truth, is to learn Chrift, Eph. iv. 20. And to be truly taught, is to be taught as the truth is in Jefus, ver. 21. All difpenfations of grace and favour from heaven, whether to nations or particular perfons, have still had something about them proclaiming a freedom of grace; as in the very firft feparation made by the divine favour, Cain, the elder brother, is rejected; and Abel, the younger accepted. This fines through the whole hiftory of the Bible: but as true as it is, this has been the point principally oppofed by corrupt nature. One may well fay, that of all errors in religion, fince Chrift, the Seed of the Woman, was preached, this of Works, in oppofition to Free-grace in him, was the first that lived; and it is likely to be the last that dies. There have been vast numbers of errors, which fprung up one after another, whereof, at length, the world became ashamed and weary, fo that they died out: But this has continued from Cain, the firft author of this herefy, unto this day; and never wanted fome that clave to it, even in the times of greateft light. I do not, without ground, call Cain the author of it: When Abel brought the facrifice of atonement, a bloody offering, of the firstlings of his flock, (like the Publican, fmiting on his breaft, and saying, "God be merciful to me à finner :") Cain advanced with his thank offering, of the firft-fruit of the ground, (Gen. iv. 3, 4.) like the proud Pharifee, with his "God, I thank thee.', For, what was the cause of Cain's wrath, and of his murdering Abel? Was it not that he was accepted of God for his work? H Gen State II. Gen. iv. 4, 5. And wherefore flew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous," (1. John iii. 22.) that is, dont in faith, and accepted, when his were done without faith, and therefore rej &ted, as the Apostle teacheth, Heb. xi. 4And fo he wrote his indignation against juftification and acceptance with God through Faith, in oppofition to Works, in the blood of his brother, to convey it down to pofterity. And fince that time, the unbloody facrifice has often fwimmed in the blood of thofe that rejected it. The promise made to Abraham, of the Seed in which all nations fhould be bleffed, was so overclouded among his pofterity in Eygpt, that the generality of them faw no need of that way of obtaining the bleffing, till God himself confuted their error, by a fiery law from mount Sinai, which was added because of tranfgreffions, till the Seed fhould come," Gal. iii. 19. I need not infilt to tell you how Mofes and the prophets had ftill much ado to lead the people off the conceit of their own righteoufnefs. The ix. chapter of Deuteronomy is entirely fpent on that purpose. They were very grofs in that point in our Saviour's time; in the time of the Apoftles, when the doctrine of Free-grace was most clearly preached, that error lifted up it's head in face of cleareft light; witness the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, And fince that time, it has not been wanting; Popery being the common fink of former herefies, and this the heart and life of that delufion. And finally, it may be obferved, that always as the church declined from her purity otherwise, the doctrine of Free grace was obfcured proportionably. 3. Such is the natural propenfity of man's heart to the way of the law, in oppofition to Christ, that, as the tainted veffel turns the taste of the pureft liquor put into it, fo the natural man turns the very gofpel into law; and transforms the covenant of Grace into a Covenant of works. The Ceremonial Law was to the Jews a real Gospel, which held blood, death and tranflation of guilt before their eyes continually, as the only way of falvation: yet their very table, (i. e. their altar, with the feveral ordinances pertaining therto, Mal. i. 12.) was a fare unto them," Rom. fi. 9. while they used it to make up the defects in their obedience to the Moral Law, and cleaved to it fo, as to reject him, whom the altar and facrifice pointed them to, as the fubftance of all; even as Hagar, whofe it was only to ferve, was by their father brought into her mistress's bed; not without a mystery in the purpofe of God, "For these are the two Covenants," Gal. iv. 24. Thus is the doctrine of the gospel cor |