ftrength: men may believe that way with a cradle faith, a natural faith, a common faith, and believe unto perdition; but will never believe to the faving of their fouls. True faith is a fpiritual act, under the conduct of the Spirit of faith; and therefore faith is called a fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22.; and of the power of the Spirit, even the exceeding greatnefs of his mighty power, Eph. i. 19. It is a fruit and effect of the day of God's power, and the revelation of his arm, Ifa. liii. 1. It is the gift of God, and a fruit of his free grace; and hence we read of fome that through grace believed, Acts, xviii. 27. The power of the Spirit of Chrift creates it where it is not; and that fame power of the Spirit excites it where it is. It is a fpiritual act.

2. This act of receiving Chrift is a judicious act, in oppofition to darkness and confufion. The man being acted by the Spirit of faith doth act judicioufly and diftinctly, as in a matter of the greatest concern, with judgment and understanding, faying, as John vi. 68. "To whom fhall we go, thou haft the words of eternal life? We believe and are fure, that thou art that Chrift, the Son of the living God." The man believes the promife, and the doctrine of grace and falvation fo judiciously, that, as his judgment approves it as a truth, fo the will accepts it as a good; "This is a faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jefus Chrift came into the world to fave finners, of whom I am the chief," 1 Tim. i. 15.

3. This act of receiving Chrift is a warrantable act, in oppofition to prefumption and delufion. True faith acts upon a fufficient warrant. It acts upon the warrant of an objective fufficiency; there is a fufficient Chrift prefented to him. O the fufficiency of his perfon, being God-man, in one perfon! the fufficiency of his offices, whether his general offices, as a Mediator, a Surety, a Redeemer; or his particular offices, as a Prophet, Prieft, and King: the fufficiency of his righteoufnefs, his doing and dying, his obedience and fatisfaction; the fufficiency of his power, being able to fave to the uttermoft; the fufficiency of his will, while he proclaims his good-will towards men, and that God is in Chrift reconciling the world to himself. Besides, faith acts upon

the

or receiving of Chrift, is held forth in the fcripture, but I confine myself to the text. Receiving of Chrift is " a going out of the whole foul, to clofe with Chrift for "complete falvation to a man's felf, as he is offered in "the gofpel;" and fo the language of faith is, Here is an offer made by God to me myself; and therefore I receive Chrift for falvation to myfelf, according to the of fer, and that with my whole heart and foul; for, "With the heart man believeth unto righteoufnefs: My heart trufted in him, and I am helped," faid the pfalmift. Some make faith to be only an act of the will, that they may exclude from the nature of faith that perfuafion which yet cannot be excluded. In oppofition to fuch we assert, That, according to fcripture, faith is an act of the whole foul; the understanding, will, and affections: and hence these and the like fcriptures, make faith to be an act of the foul, Pfal. Ivii. 2. “O my God, my foul trusteth in thee." Pfalm xvi. 2. “O my foul, thou haft faid unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. O my foul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. My foul maketh her boaft in the Lord. My foul thirfteth for the living God. Return to thy reft, O my foul." All eminent expreffions of faith. Now, I fay, this receiving of Christ is the foul's clofing with him; the foul's going out toward him; or going in to him as offered, fo as to become one with him. As you see how grafts are knit to the stock, fo as to become one with the ftock, and one in the stock, or else it cannot live in a vegetative manner; fo the foul is by faith knit and unite to Chrift, the root, to be one with him, and one in him: for true faith fo closes with Chrift, as not merely to have a Chrift without the man, but a Chrift within him; and therefore the foul by faith, goes in to Chrift, fo as not only to unload his debt, and leave his fin and guilt upon him, but also to furrender himself into his poffeffion and property.

But that I may further open up this act of receiving Christ, I would,

(2.) And more particularly confider the nature thereof, in the following qualities of it.

1. This act of receiving Chrift is a fpiritual act, in oppofition to all natural acts done by natural wit and

ftrength:

ftrength: men may believe that way with a cradle faith, a natural faith, a common faith, and believe unto perdition; but will never believe to the faving of their fouls. True faith is a spiritual a&t, under the conduct of the Spirit of faith; and therefore faith is called a fruit of the Spirit, Gal. v. 22.; and of the power of the Spirit, even the exceeding greatnefs of his mighty power, Eph. i. 19. It is a fruit and effect of the day of God's power, and the revelation of his arm, Ifa. liii. 1. It is the gift of God, and a fruit of his free grace; and hence we read of fome that through grace believed, Acts, xviii. 27. The power of the Spirit of Chrift creates it where it is not; and that fame power of the Spirit excites it where it is. It is a fpiritual act.

2. This act of receiving Chrift is a judicious act, in oppofition to darkness and confufion. The man being acted by the Spirit of faith doth act judicioufly and diftinctly, as in a matter of the greatest concern, with judgment and understanding, faying, as John vi. 68. “To whom fhall we go, thou haft the words of eternal life? We believe and are fure, that thou art that Chrift, the Son of the living God." The man believes the promife, and the doctrine of grace and falvation fo judiciously, that, as his judgment approves it as a truth, fo the will accepts it as a good; "This is a faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jefus Chrift came into the world to fave finners, of whom I am the chief," 1 Tim. i. 15.

3. This act of receiving Chrift is a warrantable act, in oppofition to prefumption and delufion. True faith acts upon a fufficient warrant. It acts upon the warrant of an objective fufficiency; there is a fufficient Chrift prefented to him. O the fufficiency of his perfon, being God-man, in one perfon! the fufficiency of his offices, whether his general offices, as a Mediator, a Surety, a Redeemer; or his particular offices, as a Prophet, Prieft, and King: the fufficiency of his righteoufnefs, his doing and dying, his obedience and fatisfaction; the fufficiency of his power, being able to fave to the uttermoft; the fufficiency of his will, while he proclaims his good-will towards men, and that God is in Chrift reconciling the world to himself. Besides, faith acts upon

the

the warrant of a general difpenfation of grace, through Chrift, in the external revelation of the word, where the elect are not characterized more than others, but life and falvation through Chrift held out to finners of mankind, without diflinction of nation, ftate, or condition, and fo in an indefinite way. Thus run all the promifes, except thefe that are made to believers, or fuch as have grace already; to them indeed the promifes are definite, as alfo they are definite to the elect in the purpose of God; but in the external difpenfation of the gofpel, they are indefinite and general, Acts ii. 32. Rom. ix. 4. And as the promife is indefinite, fo the call is univerfal, whether by exhortations, invitations, counfels, or commands, to all and every one to come and receive Chrift, and all his fure mercies, freely. And upon fuch like warrants as thefe does faith act.

4. This act of receiving Chrift, it is an adventuring act, in oppofition to defpondency, diffidence, and diftruft: hence it is called a boldnefs; "We have boldnefs to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jefus." It is a venturing our fouls, our life, upon the blood of the Son of God, and upon the promife of God in Chrift. To receive Chrift, and believe, is in effect to fay, I adventure my foul upon nothing in the world, but upon the promife of a God that I have provoked, and been an enemy to, all my days; I have nothing but the word of this God, and yet I muft venture upon it my everlafling all. It is an adventuring grace, like Peter upon the boifterous water, with this in his mouth and heart, "Mafter, fave me," Mat. xiv. 30. To venture upon the promife of a provoked God, and to believe him to be a God in Chrift reconciled, according to his word, upon the account of the ranfom he hath found out, and the propitiation he hath set forth; here is the boldnefs of faith: It is a venturing act.

5. This act of receiving Christ,, it is an evangelical act, in oppofition to a legal faith. It is evangelical in the ground of it: legal faith acts upon the ground of a legal inherent ftrength, and perfonal righteoufnefs; but true faith upon a borrowed ftrength, and an imputedrighteousness of another, faying, "Surely in the Lord

only

only have I righteoufneis and ftrength;" and it is a felfemptying grace, ftripping the man of his own righteoufnefs, of his own ftrength, and taking him intirely off his own bottom. It is evangelical in the order of it, receiving him as a Jefus, and then as a Lord; firft for juftification: legal faith perverts that gofpel-order, feeking fanctification first, that upon that bottom it may build its juftification; "Seeking righteoufnefs, as it were, by the works of the law," Rom. ix. 32. It is evangelical in its fruit; legal faith is a fruitlefs faith, it brings forth no acceptable fruit, either from a right principle or to a right end; and fo all its fruits of good works are rejected, as unprofitable and vain: but true faith, brings virtue and good from its object; fuch as, eafe to the confcience, quiet to the mind, holinefs to the heart, and holy luftre to the whole life: when faith touches, if it were but the hem of Chrift's garment, virtue comes out, and heals the foul; grace comes forth, and purifies the heart; yea, it brings forth all the good fruit of gofpel-grace; "Out of his fuluefs have we all received, and grace for grace," John i. 16. Faith is the receiving grace, and other graces are received by it; it fetches them out of Chrift's fulness; it brings out repentance, and then it is a penitential faith: gofpel-repentance is in it, and with it, and after it, but not before it. As true faith is a penitent faith; even fo it is a humble faith, a joyful faith, a thankful faith, an obediential faith, a working faith; yea, faith is the root of all these fruits that natively grow upon it, and go along with it.

6. This act of receiving Chrift, it is a particular, appropriating, fiducial act, in oppofition to the general doubtfome faith of the Papifts, which we have abjured in our National Covenant. The man that believes, truly believes applicatively. The man that receives Christ rightly, receives him with a particular appropriation to himself; juft as a man eats and drinks for his own particular benefit; and hence faith is called an eating of the flesh, and drinking of the blood of the Son of God; that is, he takes home Chrift, his merit, righteoufnefs, mediation, and the benefits thereof to his own foul. And thus it is also a fiducial act, importing an affured confi

dence,