Son of man shall give unto you: For him hath God the Father sealed. He hath consecrated him, set him a-part to be the bread of life, and giver thereof. This now I would only branch out in two particulars.

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1st, Christ as the way to heaven maketh us bold in entering by him; he is consecrated for this end. There is a boldness of faith, that in the day of God's power is practicable. At first believing some have found it. I will not say very many. The very first adventure of a sinner, that has been despairing of all relief before, may trust with a great confidence upon Jesus Christ, as the consecrated way to heaven. But, say you, I do not know that he has been consecrated for me. I know that he is consecrated to be the only way to heaven; but is he consecrated for me? I answer, (1.) No man ever did, and no man can, and you never will be able to know that Christ is consecrated for you, till you be in him. This is the great wisdom of God. God's great book of life, I say, is not to be read by any eyes, but the eyes liever; and when he reads the book, he can only read his own name in it. But indeed Paul, by an apostolic spirit and discerning charity, might speak as he did, Whose names are written in the book of life. The book of election, and the book of Christ's sheep, can be read by no eyes but the eyes of a believer; and this is enough, we need no more. be enough to confound all things in the church of Christ, if so be that the secret books of God's purposes were visible unto and legible by believers. If I may so speak, there would be no living in the world, if men knew who were elected, and who not. The very doctrine thereof, you see how many tumults it raises; how much more would it be, if they saw the thing? Take heed, remember that Christ is consecrated to be the way to heaven; he is consecrated to be so for a particular number of men; no man can know himself to be of that number, but a believer, and every believer may. Whenever a poor creature can assure his heart before God, that he, in the sense and plain conviction of his deserving hell, and of his being utterly unable to do any thing to bring him to heaven, takes Christ as God's appointed way, and ventures his all upon the slain Son of God, this man is a believer, and the way was VOL. III.

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consecrated for him; as soon as he is in it, he

may know it. Make but your calling sure, and you make your election sure thereby. (2.) Whatever darkness there be about this, whether the way was consecrated for you, you have encouragement to venture upon the way by all the scripture. It is not the doctrine of the purpose of God on the death of Christ, that is the ground of our faith; it is the doctrine about the sufficiency of Christ's death; it is the doctrine of the gospel, wherein the tender of the Saviour and great salvation is brought to every man's door so closely, that the issue must be either an acceptance unto salvatiou, or a refusal with the great aggravation of condemnation; and so will the judgment at the last day proceed.

2dly, In using Christ as the way to heaven, we must not only, because he is consecrated for this end, venture on him boldly, but we must walk in him confidently.

(1.) Without fear of enemies; I do not say without apprehension; there is an apprehension of enemies, that is an act of wisdom and faith, in order to prepare for the encounter. Take ye the whole armour of God, we have need of it, for there are great enemies; not flesh and blood only, but greater enemies we have to fight with. Remember this, that you cannot get to heaven in that road that the devil does not haunt; there is no path lies to heaven that the devil cannot meet a walker in it. We must not expect to get to heaven without meeting him by the way; but let us remember this, I am upon consecrated ground; if I be in Christ, Satan cannot prevail against me: And the more confidence we have of our security in Jesus Christ, the more courage and strength. we have against Satan.

(2.) Fear not miscarrying at last, if ye be in Christ. It is a pitiful case that a great many believers are in; there are believers, God help them, that are so weak, they believe all their days, and they unbelieve all their days; they walk on in Christ, and fear they shall never come to the end. What, art thou in Christ, and yet fearest thy missing heaven? Whither can Christ the way lead a believer, but home to himself? Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given.

me: For thou lovedet me before the foundation of the world, John xvii. 24. I will not lose a bit of them, I will not lose the man, notwithstanding his temptations, corruptions, and weakness in grace. I will make the poor creature get good of all. It will be seen when our Lord has perfected his work, that he has lost nothing of all that was given him.

Lastly, Walk confidently in Christ, and do not fear wandering. Believers have the promise of the Spirit to lead them into all truth. If they be in Christ, Christ will keep them. I do not say, but many believers may be left to great mistakes and errors about several things of smaller moment. But every believer that is in Christ, as to greater matters, is kept in the truth as it is in Jesus. O that this were duly minded! How wisely does the apostle speak of this point, Eph. iv. 14, 15, 16. compared with ver. 19, 20. and onward of Col. ii.? The thing that I observe from both these places is, the instruction the Holy Ghost gives us of the spring of error in the church. The apostle cautions us, that we be not overtaken with the cunning craftiness of them that lie in wait to deceive. How shall we know them? would the poor man say. Know them? Always by this, they do not hold the head, says he: Not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God, Col. ii. 19. As long as a believer is in Christ as the way, he can never miscarry, never wander totally; he may mistake in something in his way, but he is in the right way in the great matters of salvation, and shall be safely landed at last.

SERMON XVII.

HEBREWS X. 20.

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh.

THIS is the second encouragement, that the apostle, by the direction of the Spirit of God, gives in encouraging Christians to approach to God. They are all drawn from Christ Jesus ; and all our encouragements for faith are in Christ alone; nothing that is in him, but is encouraging to faith; and nothing that can encourage faith is out of him, or any where else to be had. The first is, That there is an entrance allowed to us by the blood of Jesus Christ, ver. 19. The second is, That there is a way prepared, and consecrated for us through the vail; that is Christ too. And the third encouragement is, That we have an High Priest himself, set over the house of God.

Upon this second encouragement from the 20th verse, I have been several days speaking upon this truth, That the way to heaven is through the vail of the slain Son of God, it is through the vail of his flesh; and upon it, at several times, I have shewn, what is meant by Christ's flesh; it is his human nature offered in sacrifice to God for the salvation of his people, with all its spirit, and power, and virtue. Next, I shewed, why this flesh is called the vail. It hid and covered the glory of his Godhead, and yet makes a passage unto us by faith to approach to God; for an immediate approach to God, now that sin hath entered in to the world, is impossible; therefore all our approaches must be by a mediator, and this Mediator did mediate mainly by his blood and sacrifice. What sort of a way this is, has been spoke to, both in general, and according to the three properties of it in the text: That it is a new way, a living way, and a way of Christ's own consecrating for us; and upon each of these some little application has been made suitable to the doctrine that has been discoursed to. I design now, as I promised, to make

some more large application of this great truth, That our Lord Jesus as slain is the way to heaven: though I know the apos tle makes the grand application in the 22d verse, for he points forth the use we should make thereof, to draw near to God.

I will, notwithstanding, as the Lord shall help, speak something of application previous unto that; and it shall be only in two particulars.

First, If Christ be the way to heaven, we may plainly see how fatally and wofully the greatest part of the world are mistaken about the way; and if mistaken about the way, they must miss of the end, If one do not take the right way to heaven, he can never come at it. This is an inference that is very plain, and very sad. There are two false sorts of religions in the world, I mean that almost all the rest are reducible to two. There is natural religion; and there is the Antichristian one, which is but a grand corruption of Christianity, and a changing of it some way into the old Pagans natural religion, and many gross things therein. I would speak but briefly unto both of them, and reduce what I mean mainly to warn you of, as inferences from thence.

1. There is natural religion. I call it by that name, because something of it is every where, and it is only what remains in that fallen state that man is come into. We will see now what this is made up of, what are those principles that are so deeply engraven in the hearts of men, that they do fill all the inhabitants of the earth with some form of religion. Wherever travellers have come, and observations have been made, among the most savage people, there is something left of some notions of religion; forms of it, though very sorry ones they be, it is acknowledged. You had need consider this, for this kind of religion is in every one of your hearts; but unless the grace of God, and the light of the gospel expel it, and plant something better in its room, you are lost for ever. Natural religion has in it these particulars.

1st, Some notion of the being of a God, that there is a God, and that this God is to be worshipped, and served, and obeyed, All the world own something of this. The invisible