ply the place, or make up for the want of the light and warm beams of the sun. Though the mind of man was originally the candle of the Lord, it is blown out by sin into a stinking snuff. Witness the stench of idolatry and superstition the world hath for so many ages past been filled with. Neither is the standard, we should lift up, that of Antichrist; which is fire and fagot, with all the instruments of cruelty which a raging devil could invent, or a bloody inquisition make use of; who, in making converts, prove themselves to be none of Christ's disciples, who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Rome's cruelties are the reverse of Christ's bowels. Neither is the standard we are to lift up, that of Mahomed, whose weapons were carnal, and not spiritual; such as flattery, and the force of arms, polygamy, and a carnal paradise; who, instead of foretelling sufferings, promised victory; and instead of working miracles, was full of debaucheries. Neither is the standard we are to lift up, that of the Jews; which is that of fables, and romantic traditions, of which the Talmud, and their other writings, are full; who, though they have the Old Testament entire, and the free use thereof, yet it is to them as a sealed book, the veil of their hearts not being taken away. This they kept for us, as we do the New Testament for them. In a word, the standard we are to lift up, is not that of any party, in opposition to Christ, whose written word is the touchstone of all we preach, and of all we print. To this one and only standard of truth, and warrant of the reformation, we are ready to bring all our sermons, confessions, catechisms, and bodies of divinity: by this we endeavour both to preach and to pray, to walk and to worship.

2. Having thus returned a negative, I shall return a positive anwser to this great inquiry; What is the standard which such as preach the Gospel should lift up? To which I answer; The same, for substance, which Moses and all the prophets lifted up, under the Old Testament, which was Christ, in type or figure; and which the Apostles and Evangelists lifted up, under the

New, which was Christ without a veil: Christ, as he is God's salvation: or the truth, as it is in Jesus, is the standard we should be lifting up. This, like the canopy of heaven, is of a vast extent, and would employ the mind of a Solomon, to the years of a Methuselah, in the study thereof; as it hath done for a longer space of time, the minds of angels; and yet we are told, for their comfort and encouragement, who are babes in Christ, that whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, 1 John v. 1. Now, where this new birth is, there will be a following on to know the Lord; to which end, such a book as the Bible, is put into every believer's hand, and the Spirit promised, to teach us the right use thereof. Now, in lifting up this standard, against the impenitent and unbelieving world, we should preach, as the Apostle Paul did, repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts xx. 21. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not sufficient for us, who preach the Gospel, to teach the duty of repentance, unless we tell our hearers where, and from whom, the grace of repentance is to be had; That Christ is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins, Acts v. 31.

In lifting up this standard against the Arians and Socinians, we should enlarge on the true and proper Divinity of Christ; and let our hearers know, that there is not that name in Scripture, by which the living and true God is known and distinguished from dumb idols, but is given to the Lord Jesus Christ: Neither is there that Divine perfection mentioned in Scripture, by which the living and true God is distinguished from lifeless idols, but is ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ: Neither is there any act of Divine worship mentioned or commanded, in Scripture, to be paid to the living and true God, and forbid to be given to idols, but is commanded to be given to the Lord Jesus Christ: Neither are there any works, either of nature or of grace, be it creation work, or that of preservation, or the disposals

of Providence, or redemption work, be it renovation of the soul or the resurrection of the body, or the judging of the world, or the making of all things new; but they are ascribed, in Scripture, to the Lord Jesus Christ; which is full and abundant proof, that, according to his Divine nature, he is one in essence with the Father not a mere creature, though the first of all creatures, but the Most High God, manifested in the flesh. To say, that in the Bible such things as these are ascribed unto a mere creature, would be to place that book of God below the Alcoran.

We should also, in lifting up this glorious standard against the Pelagians and Arminians, enlarge on the love and grace, on the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ; and let our hearers know, how able he is to save, to the utmost of God's mercy and of the sinner's misery, all that come to God by him; in making elect sinners first a wise, and a willing, and so a pardoned, justified, reconciled, adopted, sanctified, and, at last, a glorified people.

We should also, in lifting up this standard, enlarge on the incarnation of Christ, and on those royalties which belong to him, as he is God's essential Word made flesh of which royalties you have a short, but a most incomparable account given by Paul to the Colossians, Col. i. 15, &c. That Christ is there spoken of as incarnate, is evident, because thus considered, he hath blood; of which you read, chap. i. 14. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." Then follows, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature; for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." As more of God is to be seen in one man, especially in the first Adam, than in all the beasts of the field, or birds of the air; so more of the glory of God is to be seen in the face or person of Jesus Christ, than

in the whole world of angels, as well as of men; or in ever so many worlds of mere creatures, ever so varied or diversified. Mathematicians, can easily tell how many ways the letters of the alphabet may be disposed, or how many millions of words may be made out of four and twenty letters; but who can say how many worlds may, by the power of God, be formed out of so much matter as this earth, and the visible heavens contain? But let their possible numbers be what they will, it may be said, for the glory of our Emmanuel, that his face will out-shine them all; for, God manifested in the flesh, must be, and is the top manifestation God ever did, or will make of himself, either to men or to angels. Accordingly, we are told, Psal. 1. 3. that out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined; so shined, as to out-shine all other discoveries; just as the natural sun out-shines the moon and all the stars; and in the gift of Christ to be the Head of the Church, and Saviour of the body, he hath abounded towards us, in all wisdom and prudence, Eph. i. 8. Wherein he hath abounded towards us, in all wisdom and prudence; a like place with this, Col. ii. 3. In whom, or wherein, are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. There seems to me to be a like difference between God manifested in the flesh, and all other manifestations, which there is between the print of a man's foot, and his personal presence. How little of the man is to be known by the print of his foot, if compared with what may be known by personal converse? One in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, must vastly out-shine all the inhabitants of heaven, how glorious soever they may be. Thus is our Emmanuel the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his Person, as he is God-man Mediator; for thus considered the Apostle speaks of him, Heb. i. 3, &c. For the purging of our sins there mentioned, was made by the shedding of his blood, who, as incarnate, had blood to shed; blood, so his own, as no other blood was or could be. By his Word, to be made flesh, God made the worlds; by him, as incarnate, he upholds and governs them: Thus considered, he is a Head

of confirmation to elect angels, and an Head of redemption to the elect among the children of men. The royalties belonging to Christ, as he is the Word made flesh, should no more be passed over in silence by us, in lifting up this standard, than the temple at Jerusalem should be left out in the history or map of that city. We may safely say it, that had not our Emmanuel, thus considered, been laid in the purposes of God as the foundation of the whole creation, this world would have been like a house built upon the sand; in which sense he may well be called, and is, the firstborn of every creature.

V. I shall now give you some account of the design' of this Lecture; which is truly great, and such as becomes us Protestant dissenters to engage in; for it is no other than in Christ's name, and under the influences of his Spirit, to lift up a standard against error.

There are great evils, which not barely threaten, but are actually coming in like a flood upon us.

1. There is the horrible evil of Atheism, introduced by a number of Free-thinkers, whom the Word of God calls fools, Psal. xiv. 1. who out-sin the devil, in going about to persuade themselves and others, that there is no God. Of these I am credibly informed there are several clubs in this great city; and yet it is no less certain, that there must be an eternal, unoriginated Being, than it is that there is any being at all; for as certainly as something now is, something hath always been; which eternal unoriginated Being is God. It is also certain, that the several species, or kinds of beasts, of birds, of fishes, and of insects, as well as the children of men, could not at first come into this world, as they now do; the first man, for instance, could have no father, but must, by some superior power, be immediately formed, and brought forth, not in a state of helpless infancy, but able to help himself. Thus, the first of beasts must not need the dug; nor the first of birds be from an egg, or need the nest, or the wing: as lumps of paint ever so well mixed, though they may

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