fion, I give place to you; when hope will fay to fruition, I give place to you; when grace will fay to glory, I give place to you; when partial communion will fay to perfection, I give place to you; when short paffing blinks will fay to uninterrupted everlasting joys, I give place to you! Little wonder then, believers long to be wholly within the vail; (but I infist not on it) for then indeed he fully enters into the holiest by the blood of Jefus.

Thus you see the two great ends for which the vail was rent, namely, that way might be made for Chrift's entering into the holy of holies, and fo for our entering in alfo through him, and after him. But I come

now to

V. The fifth thing, viz. the Application. Is it fo, that Christ hath by his death rent the vail that interpofed betwixt God and us, and obftructed our access to him? Then, first for information: hence we may fee,

1. What a full feast of love we have to feed upon on a communion-day, namely, the love of Christ, not only in dying, but in rending the vail, that he might enter into the holieft for us. The apoftle fays, that Chrift loved us; and how does he prove it? Eph. v. 2. He gave bimfelf for us, an offering and a facrifice to God for a fweetfmelling favour: this favoury and fweet-fmelling facrifice, was the offering of incenfe; and where was the incenfe offered under the law? why, it was offered within the vail. God tells Mofes, that Aaron fhould take his handful of fweet incenfe beaten fmall, and bring it within the vail, Lev. xvi. 12. Now, Chrift having given himself an offering and facrifice to God without the camp in this world, he rends the vail, and goes to heaven, and offers himself as incenfe within the vail. Perhaps you have feen and thought upon the love of Chrift, in his dying upon the crofs, in his making himfelf a facrifice; but, O fee his love alfo in his incenfe within the vail. We feed too fparingly upon Chrift; and therefore our faith is weak: we eat, for the most part, but of one difh, Chrift, as the pafchal Lamb flain on the cross, but we fhould learn to feed upon Chrift as

a Priest

Our

a Priest gone in within the vail: our faith fhould not tarry on the cross, but we should carry it further, even after Chrift, within the vail, into heaven itself. faith fhould flee for refuge, to lay hold upon all the hope that is fet before us: the anchor of our foul will not be fo fure and stedfast, as it might be, except it enter within the vail, Heb. vi. 19. As the apostle fays of patience, Let it have its perfect work, fo we fay of faith, let it have its perfect work; let us follow Christ within the vail, and view him, not only fhedding his blood, but entering into the holy of holies within the vail, and fprinkling his blood upon the mercy-feat and before it, Lev. xvi. 15. The priests under the law sprinkled the mercy-feat, which was within the vail, all over, and when Christ went to heaven within the vail, he did that in substance, which the priests did in ceremony, in order to make a full atonement: and when faith is acted upon all this, then the believer is faid to be come to the blood of fprinkling; and we act not our faith far enough, when we act it no further than the death of Chrift; for the atonement was not actually perfected, though it was made fundamentally on the crofs, yet not formally, till upon the rending of the vail, our High-Prieft entered into the holy place, and fprinkled the mercy-feat with his blood; by which act mercy and justice are actually met, and kifs each other.

2. If the vail of the temple be rent, hence we may fee the glory of the New-Teftament difpenfation, beyond that of the Old; the vail of the covering is rent, the darkness of that difpenfation removed by the death of Christ, and Old-Teftament myfteries unvailed; fo that now, he that runs may read the meaning of them. Now we fee clearly, that the mercy-feat fignified Chrift, the great propitiation; the pct of manna fignified Chrift, the bread of life. Now we all with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, as in a glafs, which helps the fight as the vail hindered it; and that the vail of the temple was rent, it may give us ground further to expect, that the vail fhall be taken away from the hearts of the Jews; for even to this day, when Mofes is read, the vail is upon their hearts; nevertheless when it all

VOL. I.

turn

turn to the Lord, the vail fhall be taken away, 2 Cor. iii. 15.

3. If by the death of Chrift the vail be rent, that interpofed betwixt God and us, hence we may fee what is the way to heaven, and what access we have this way; why, We have boldness to come to the holieft by the blood of Jefus, by that new and living way, that he hath confecrated through the vail. We may come boldly to the throne of grace, for the vail is rent; by the blood of Jefus, the way is open. How fhall the unholeft of finners venture to come into the holiest of all, or to God's prefence? Yea, fays the Holy Ghost, by the blood of Fefus, by the rent vail. There are many mistakes about the way to the holy place; it is a dreadful thing to think, that many who have heard the gofpel, it may be, ten, twenty, thirty years, if they be afked of the way to heaven, they will fay, why, if we do justly, live honestly and civily, and do as we would be done to, we fhall furely be faved. But I tell you, you fhall furely be damned, if no more be done. O fad, that after all the light that hath fhined about the way of falvation by the flain Son of God, that civility that is to be found among heathens, is all the title that a great many have to eternal life. Others, they hope to get to heaven by a better righteousness, but it is a righteousness of their own; they fay they will do as well as they can; they must read, and pray, and hear, and the like, and fo they find out a way to heaven for themselves: fome cannot endure to hear any thing fpoken against felf-righteoufnefs, as if no perfon were in danger to be ruined by it; whereas this is a great part of the ftrong man's armour, whereby he keeps poffeffion of fouls. I tell you, Sirs, your falfe righteoufnefs, is fo far from being the way to heaven, that true holinefs itfelf is but the bufinefs that people have to do who are in the way; there will never be another way to heaven but Chrift: holinefs is the walk, Chrift is the way in which we walk, Col. ii. 6. As ye have received Chrift Jefus the Lord, fo walk ye in him. I am the way, no man comes to the Father, but by me. This is the new and living way, confecrated thro' the vail. The vail of the temple is rent, and the way to the holieft lies thro" the rent vail. Every perfon thinks, that is very hard

to

to get to heaven, and that it will coft a great deal of time, and pains, and ftruggling: but, fays one, here is the mifchief of it; people do not know, that it is hard to know the way to heaven, and that flesh and blood cannot reveal it, till God himself send in a beam of light upon the heart, and give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Chrift, who is the way, having by his death rent the vail. O this way is little known, and yet we affure you, that there is free accefs for you all this way; and nothing to hinder your accefs to God and heaven this way, if it be not your own ignorant unbelieving heart; nothing to hinder your entering into the holieft, for the vail is rent, the law is fulfilled, juftice is fatisfied, holinefs vindicated, fin is expiated. Will you go to heaven this way, man, woman? for the door is open for you, the vail is rent for you; to you is the word of this favation fent: to you, man, woman, young or old; whofoever hears me, to you is the way to the holieft made patent: and whofoever will, let him come and enter in; and him that cometh he will in no wife caft out. What in all the world is to hinder you from coming in? The law, however holy, needs not hinder you, here is a righteoufnefs; juftice, however awful, needs not hinder you, here is a fatisfaction; your fins, however great, need not hinder you, here is a facrifice: all these vails are rent, what should hinder? Are there any other vails to be rent? O, fay you, the vail of darkness, ignorance, enmity, and unbelief that is upon my heart. Well, let me tell you, that needs. not hinder you neither to come to Christ, and employ him to rend these vails on your part; that is but little for him to do, who could rend fuch great vails as were on God's part. O Sirs, he is good at rending vails; give him work, and the work is done. Did he not rend a greater vail, when he fatisfied infinite juftice, and flopt up the flood-gates of divine wrath? and if he hath done the greater, O will you not employ him to do the lefs? Why, fay you, if I knew that he rent that great vail for me, I would not fear, but he would rend the leffer: why, man, the vail was rent for finners, and why not for you? Chrift came to fave finners. But fay you, all fhall

Q 2

fhall not be faved and brought within the vail, and perhaps not I. We anfwer, Some fhall be faved, and why not you? wherefore are not all that hear this gofpel faved, but because they will not give employment to Christ to fave them? Through unbelief they think he meant no favour towards them, when he rent the vail, and fo stand aloft from him, faying, It was not for me; but I declare in his name, it was for you, man; for you, woman; whoever will have the benefit of it. The gofpel notifies in general, that the vail is rent for you all, fo far as that God calls and commands you all to come in to the holiest by this way, this new and living way confecrated through the vail, and if you do not, you fhall be damned for your neglect of it. But as for your particular perfonal knowledge of your actual intereft in the benefit of this rent vail, it is impoffible for you to have it, till you come to Chrift and fue for it: therefore, let nothing hinder you to enter, fince the vail is rent, and the way patent: you have nothing to do your felf, for you cannot rend any vail; all that you have to do, is to confent that Chrift fhould rend all vails betwixt God and you; for he will be a complete Saviour; he will not leave a rag of the vail for you to rend, but with his own hand will rend all in twain from the top to the bottom. O fay, Amen to it, that he may get all the work, and all the praise,

Ufe fecond, for examination. Try what intereft you have in this privilege: if the vail be actually rent from the top to the bottom, with refpect to you; try whether or not you have gone in within the rent vail of the temple, to the holy of holies. The vail was rent fundamentally, when Chrift gave up the ghoft; it was rent formally, when he entered into the holieft. The vail is rent objectively, in the preaching of this gofpel; and now the question is, if the vail be rent fubjectively, and fo as you have the actual faving benefit of it in your own perfon. It is not enough that the vail is rent doctrinally for you, fo as you have liberty to go into the holy place, but whether is the vail rent effectually to you, and in you, fo as you have ftept in to the holieft by the rent vail? And,