great Zerubabel. On him God the Father has laid the iniquities of all that fhall truly believe; and in his own body he bare them on the tree. There, there, by faith, O mourners in Sion, may you fee your Saviour hanging, with arme ftretched out, and hear him, as it were, thus fpeaking to your fouis; "Behold how I have loved you! Behold my hands $6 and my feet? Look, look into my wounded fide, "and fee a heart flaming with love: Love ftronger "than death. Come into my arms, O finners, come "wash your spotted fouls in my heart's blood. See "here is a fountain opened for all fin and all un"cleannefs! See, O guilty fouls, how the wrath of "God is now abiding upon you: Come, hafte away, "and hide yourselves in the clefts of my wounds; "for I am wounded for your tranfgreffions; I am "dying that you may live for evermore. Behold, as "Mofes lifted up the ferpent in the wilderness, so I << am here lifted up upon a tree. See how I am become a curfe for you: The chaftisement of your peace is upon me. I am thus fcourged, thus "wounded, thus crucified, that you by my stripes "may be healed. O look unto me all ye trembling "finners, even to the ends of the earth! Look unto "f me by faith, and you shall be faved: For I came "thus to be obedient even unto death, that I might "fave that which was loft."

And what fay you to this, O finners? Suppose you faw the King of glory dying, and thus fpeaking to you; would you believe on him? No, you would not, unless you believe on him now: For though he is dead, he yet fpeaketh all this in the fcripture; nay, in effect, fays all this in the words of the text, "The "Son of man is come to feek and to fave that which "was loft" Do not therefore any longer crucify the Lord of glory: Bring thofe rebels, your fins, which will not have him to reign over them, bring

them out to him: Though you cannot flay them your felves, yet he will flay them for you. The power of his death and refurrection is as great now as formerly. Make hafte therefore, make hafte, O ye Publicani and finners, and give the dear Lord Jefus your hearts, your whole hearts. If you refuse to hearken to this call of the Lord, remember your damnation will be juft: I am free from the blood of you all: You must acquit my Mafter and me at the terrible day of judge. ment. O that you may know the things that belong to your everlasting peace, before they are eternally hid from your eyes! Let all that love the Lord Jefus Chrift in fincerity fay, Amen.

SERMON X..

THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION.

PHILIP. iii. 10.

That I may know him and the power of his refurrection.

HE apostle, in the verses before the text, had been cautioning the Philippians to beware of the concifion, Judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to fubvert them from the fimplicity of the gospel, by telling them, they ftill ought to be fubject to circumcifion and all the other ordinances of Mofes. And that they might not think he spoke out of prejudice, and condemned their tenets because he himself was a stranger to the Jewish difpenfation, he acquaints them, that if any other man thought he had whereof he might truft in the flesh, or feek to be juftified by

the outward privileges of the Jews, he had more: For he was circumcifed the eight day; of the stock of Ifrael (not a profelyte, but a native Ifraelite ;) of the tribe of Benjamin (the tribe which adhered to Judah when the others revolted ;) an Hebrew of the Hebrews (a Jew both of the father and mother's fide;) and as touching the law, a Pharifee, the stricteft fect amongst all Ifrael. To fhew that he was no Gallio in religion, through his great, though misguided zeal, he had perfecuted the church of Chrift; and as touching the righteousness of the law (as far as the Pharifees expofition of it went) he was blameless, and had kept it from his youth. But, when it pleafed God, who separated him from his mother's womb, to reveal his Son in him, What things were gain to me (he fays) thofe privileges I boafted myself in, and fought to be juftified by, I counted lofs for Chrift. And that they might not think he repented that he had done fo, he tells them, he was now more confirmed than ever in his judgment. For, fays he, yea doubtlefs," (the expreffion in the original rifes with a holy triumph) " and I do count all things but "lofs for the excellency of the knowledge of Chrift "Jefus my Lord." And that they might not object that he faid, and did not, he acquaints them, he had given proofs of the fincerity of thefe profeffions, becaufe for the fake of them, he had fuffered the lofs of all his worldly things, and ftill was willing to do more; for, "I count them but dung (no more than "offals thrown out to dogs) fo that I may win (or "have a faving interest in) Chrift, and be found in "him (as the manflayer in the city of refuge) not

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having my own righteoufnefs, which is of the law," not depending on having Abraham for my father, or on any works of righteousness which I have done, either to atone or ferve as a balance for my evil deede, but that which is through the faith of Chrift,

the righteousness which is of God by faith, a righteoufness of God's appointing, and which will be imputed to me, if I believe in Chrift, "that I may "know him, and the power of his refurrection;" that I may have an experimental knowledge of the efficacy of his refurrection, by feeling the influences of his bleffed Spirit on my foul. In which words two things are implied.

First,That Jefus Chrift did rife from the dead. Secondly, That it highly concerns us to know the power of his rifing again.

Accordingly in the following difcourse I shall endeavour to fhew,

First, That Chrift is rifen indeed from the dead; and that it was neceffary for him so to do; and, Secondly, That it highly concerns us to know and experience the power of his refurrection. First, Chrift is indeed rifen.

That Jefus fhould rife from the dead was abfolutely neceffary.

1. First, On his own account. He had often appealed to this as the last and most convincing proof he would give them that he was the true Meffiah. "There fhall no other fign be given you, than the "fign of the prophet Jonas. And again, Deftroy "this temple of my body, and in three days I will "build it up" Which words his enemies remembered, and urged it as an argument, to induce Pilate to grant them a watch, to prevent his being ftolen out of the grave. "We know that deceiver faid, "whilst he was yet alive, after three days I will rife again." So that had he not rifen again, they might have juftly faid, we know that this man was an impoftor.

2. Secondly, It was neceffary on our account, "He "rofe again, fays the apostle, for our juftification:" or that the debt we owed to God for our fins, might be fully fatisfied and discharged,

It had pleased the Father (for ever adored be his infinite love and free grace) to wound his only Son for our tranfgreffions, and to arreft and confine him. in the prison of the grave, as our furety for the guilt we had contracted, by fetting at nought his commandments. Now had Chrift continued always in the grave, we could have had no more affurance, that our fins were fatisfied for, than any common debtor can have of his creditor's being fatisfied, whilft his furety is kept confined. But he being released from the power of death, we are thereby affured, that with his facrifice God was well pleased, that our atonement was finifhed on the cross, and that he had made a full, perfect, and sufficient facrifice, oblation, and fatisfaction for the fins of the world.

3. Thirdly, It was neceffary that our Lord Jefus fhould rife again from the dead, to affure us of the certainty of the refurrection of our own bodies.

The doctrine of the refurrection of the body was entirely exploded, and fet at nought among the Gentiles, as appears from the Athenians mocking at, and calling St. Paul a babbler, and a fetter forth of strange doctrines, when he preached to them JESUS, and the refurrection. And though it was believed by moft of the Jews, as is evident from many paffages of Scripture, yet not by all; the whole fect of the Sadducees denied it. But the refurrection of Jefus Chrift put it out of dispute. For as he acted as our reprefentative, if he our Head be rifen, then muft we alfo, who are his members, rife with him. And as in the firft Adam we all died, even fo in him our fecond Adam we must all, in this fenfe, be made alive.

As it was neceffary, upon these accounts, that our bleffed Lord fhould rife from the dead; fo it is plain beyond contradiction, that he did. Never was any matter of fact better attested; never were more precautions made ufe of to prevent a cheat. He was