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deemer's righteousness, and a flight put upon the gofpel method of falvation.

What bleffing fo valuable, that his incomparably great and perfect righteoufnefs could not procure, feeing it was a righteoufnels, fully answering all the demands of the injured or preceptive law; a righteousness spotlefs as the fun, in refpect of its purity, confummate as the adorable Jehovah, that wrought it out, and infinitely glorious in its worth and excellency for poor finners.

3d, I now proceed, in the third place to speak of the fameness of precious faith in all that do obtain it. There are fome things in which faith is not the fame, 1ft, The faith of Abraham and all the prophets, differed from the faith of apoftles and christians, in that the former looked forward to the Meffiah to come, and the latter look backward to the Meffiah already come; yet the foundation of faith, which is the word of God,, and the promise of falvation by Chrift, was the fame to both. 2d, All men have not the fame measure or degree of faith, Abraham was strong in faith, and gave glory to God, Peter was weak in faith when he denied his Lord and mafter;** alfo the apostle John writes in his epistle, to fathers, young men, and children, and fome in every age and place are strong in faith, and live more abundantly the life of faith, while others are weak in the faith, and are toffed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

Again 3d, Faith is not the fame at all times in the fame perfon; the object and foundation of faith remain immoveable and firm, but by reafon of infirmities which cleave to, and are interwoven with our nature here below, our faith yields us

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not all times the fame joyous fenfations, nor are we fo well able to defend ourselves thereby against the enemies of our peace. What a wonderful

degree of faith was manifeft in Peter, when he faid, Lord bid me come to thee on the water, but how was it enervated and weakened, when he faw the winds boisterous and the billows foaming.

But precious faith is the fame in all that obtain it in the following things: ft. In the quality thereof, the faith of an infpired apostle, or prophet, and the faith of the vileft prostitute, now converted and believing; for whatever it may differ in the quantity and ftrength, its nature and quality muft needs be the fame, ft. Because, it is the effect of the fame fpirit, and like caufes produce like effects; no man ever believed or obtained faith in any degree by the power of his natural abilities, but it is alike in all, the gift of God, produced by that spirit who gives to every man feverally as he will. 2d, It is in all that obtain it the purchase of the fame blood and righteoufnefs, for as there is but one faith, fo this is the faith of the operation of God, and what is bestowed as the effect of the Redeemer's righteoufnefs. 3d, In whatever degree or meafu.e it is poffeffed, it has been obtained the fame way,

through the righteoufnefs of God and our Sa"viour Jefus Chrift;" for it has been proved that precious faith cannot be obtained any other way. 4th, To whomsoever precious faith is given, be its quantity or ftrength what it will, it is intended to answer the fame gracious purposes to the poffeffor; to lead him to Chrift, to caft the foul on his merits, to bring a sense of pardon to the confcience, to fill the heart with joy and peace, and

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lead the poor needy and naked finner, to take from the fulness of the Lord Chrift whatfoever it can want. Laftly, although all do not poffefs faith in the fame measure, yet all believers poffefs it as the fame precious faith; faith in the smallest meafure thereof is as truly precious, as a spark of fire has in it the nature of, and is truly fire. ftrong in faith experience more abundant confolation, but the weak in faith have their anchor fo fecurely caft, that they can never fuffer wreck. The strong in faith give more glory to God, while they dare to believe the truth of his word and promises, even when fenfe and reafon can yield them no fupply; and the weak in faith cannot give God the lye, nor fuffer their hope to be entirely cut off.

Thus precious faith appears to have been the fame in refpect to its quality, in all that have obtained it; but as a greater quantity, or more ftrong faith at once brings more glory to God, and his intereft, and makes the believer's paffage through the world more comfortable and pleasant; what reafon have we all to use the words of the diftreffed parent in the gofpel; "Lord I believe, help thou mine

"unbelief." Mark ix. 24.

2d, Precious faith is the fame as to its object; viewing nothing in any age or place, but the all perfect righteoufnefs of the fon of God, whether it was the ante-incarnation faith, or the poft incarnation, its object was the fame, viz. the futtering, fatisfying Saviour; ftrong faith and faith moft trembling and feeble have ftill viewed the fame object. When the Almighty Lord, paffed the fentence of condemnation upon the old ferpent the devil, and in the curfe of angels, held forth and

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promifed a bleffing to fallen Adam, it is not unlikely that Adam's heart in that drooping and diftreffed state, was filled with joy and peace in believing this firft gofpel fermon that was ever preached. I fay its not unlikely that Adam in that bleffed hour tafted the precioufnefs of faith built upon God's gracious word, and looking to thei woman's feed the fubject of that promife; for it ' is probable that Adam immediately began as a prieft in his family, and the then little church to of-> fer facrifices unto God, which facrifices had respect unto Jefus Christ, and as fuch justified his faith, and gave him to enjoy the comfortable fruits and effects thereof in his foul.

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Mofes informs us that the Lord God made i coats of skins, and cloathed Adam and his wife b as a grant was not yet given to live upon animal food, it is most likely those beasts were flain andɗt offered in facrifice. But be this as it will, facrifices were appointed to be offered by God himself, and the apoftle to the Hebrews tells us, that the law, (meaning the ceremonial) was a shadow of good things to come, but the thing fhadowed or fet forth by thefe, was the Lord Chrift.

God had no pleasure in the blood of a flain beast, fave as these creatures had refpect unto the lamb of God, and whenever the offerers of these facrifices, ceased to look through the figure, to the end thereof, he fignified his diflike and averfion to thefe external things: "To what purpose is the "multitude of your facrifices unto me, faith the "Lord, I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, "and the fat of fed beafts, and I delight not in the "blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats,' If i. 11. But when the flain beaft was offered in

faith, and the offerer had respect unto Jefus, the Lord alfo had respect unto him, and to his offering, for Jefu's fake; this was the cafe with Abel. When the devoted heifer was bound to the horns of the altar, it typified the covenant-engagement, with which the eternal fon was bound to do and fuffer all the law of God could justly inflict or demand, in order to fave his people.

Jefus having engaged his heart to draw near to God in the behalf of his people, Jer. xxx, 21, could not go from it, for in the volume of the book these things were recorded concerning him. When Abraham lifted up his hand to offer his beloved Ifaac in facrifice to God, he by faith faw the bleeding dying Jefus, pouring out his foul unto death to atone for fin, and in the entangled ram, which he offered in the ftead of his fon, he saw the refurrection of Jefus in a figure. Heb. xi,

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When the wood was laid in order upon the altar, and the victim divided into parts and difpofed upon the wood; the believing offerer beheld in faith the Saviour as faftened to the accurfed tree; and while the fat and the sweet incense ascended in a flame of flagrancy towards heaven, the offerer was taught that it was a facrifice of a fweet Imelling favour; and has it had refpect unto Jefus, was acceptable to God. In a word, the lowing bullock and the bleating lamb, fpake of Jefus, and in language fimilar to that of the baptift, faid, behold the lamb of God. The faith of Adam, and the faith of Paul, with all from east to weft, in the infancy of days, and in the of time, in respect to it's object, is the fame; nothing is amiable, nothing defirable, in compariQ 2

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