tells them, that if they continued in his doctrine, did not only yield a prefent affent, but firmly embraced it, and framed their life and practice according to it, then they would be his difciples indeed, and they fhould know the truth; they would come by degrees to a more perfect knowledge and understanding of it, and the truth would make them free. At this expreffion of being made free, they were fomewhat of fended; because they took themselves to be the freest people in the world, and, by virtue of God's cove nant with Abraham, from whom they were defcended, to have many privileges and immunities conferred upon them, above the reft of mankind, ver. 33. They answered him, We be Abraham's feed, and were never in bondage to any man: how fayeft thou, Ye Shall be made free? They took this for a great af front to them, and an infinuation that they were in flavery and bondage. But they mistook our Saviour, who did not fpeak of an outward and civil fervitude; and yet, if their pride and conceit of themselves would have fuffered them to confider it, it was true likewise in that fenfe, that they had loft their liberty, being at that time in great bondage and fubjection to the Romans. But that was not the thing our Saviour meant; he fpake of a fpiritual fervitude, which if men were truly fenfible of, is far more grievous than that of the body and the outward man: ver. 34, 35. Jefus answered them, Verily, verily I fay unto you, whofoever committeth fin, is the fervant of fin. And the fervant abideth not in the house for ever; but the fon abideth for ever: that is, a fervant hath no right to any thing, but is perfectly at the difpofal of his mafter, being a part of his goods, which he may ufe as he pleafeth; but the fon hath a right to the inheritance, and is as it were Lord of the eftate; and then it follows, If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye fhall be free indeed.

In which words our Saviour feems to allude to a custom which was in fome of the cities of Greece, and perhaps in other places, whereby the fon and heir had a power to adopt brethren, and to give them the liberty and privilege of the family. If the Son of

God

God fet you free from this fpiritual flavery and adopt you to be his brethren, then are you free indeed; not only in a vain opinion and conceit, as you take yourfelves to be by virtue of being Abraham's children: but really and in truth, ye fhall be afferted to a truer and more excellent kind of liberty, than that which ye value yourselves fo much upon by virtue of being Abraham's feed. Then shall ye be free indeed.

So that our Saviour's meaning is plainly this; that the doctrine of the Chriftian religion, which the Son of God came to preach to the world, heartily embraced, does affert men to the trueft and most perfect kind of liberty. I know this is but a metaphor, whereby the benefits and advantages which the do&trine of God our Saviour hath brought to mankind, are expreft and fe: forth to us: but it is a very easy and fit metaphor, and does convey the thing intended very fully to our minds, and hath a great deal of truth and reality under it. And to the end we may understand it the better, I fhall do thefe two things:

Firft, Obferve to you in the general, That the Spirit of God, in the holy fcriptures, delights very much to fet forth to us the benefits and advantages of the Christian religion, by metaphors taken from fuch things as are moft pleafant and defirable to men.

Secondly, I fhall fhew particularly in what refpects the Son of God by his doctrine makes us free. For when the Son is faid to make us free, we are to underftand that it is by his doctrine; for that our Saviour had exprefly faid before, Ye shall know the. truth, and the truth fhall make you free.

First, I fhall obferve to you in the general, that the Spirit of God, in the holy fcriptures, delights very much to fet forth to us the benefits and advantages of the Chriftian religion, by metaphors taken from fuch things as are moft pleafant and defirable to men; more efpecially by thefe three, of light,. life, and liberty; than which nothing can be named that is more delightful and valuable to men.

By light of which Solomon fays that it is fweet, and a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the fun. Hence our Saviour is called the Sun of righteousness,

Mal.

Mal. iv. 2. and the light of the world. And ver. 12. of this chapter, I am the light of the world; he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness. And chap. i. 9. he is called the true light; That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world; or, as the words fhould rather be translated, which coming into the world, lighteth every man. He is faid to give light to them that fit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, Luke i. 79. To be a light to lighten the nations, Luke ii. 32. And the doctrine which he preached is called a light, John iii. 19. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. And 2 Cor. iv. 6. the gofpel is called the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jefus Chrift.

So likewife by the metaphor of life; which is that which men value above all other things, John xi. 25. 1 am the refurrection and the life. And John xiv. 6. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And becaufe bread is the chief fupport of life, our Saviour is likewife fet forth to us under that notion, John vi. 32. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. And we are faid to have life through his name, John xx. 31. But thefe are written, that ye might believe that Jefus is the Chrift, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name. And the do&trine of the gospel is likewife called the word of life, Phil. ii. 16.

And to come to my prefent purpose, the benefits and advantages of the gofpel are frequently reprefented to us under the notion of liberty, and redemption from flayery and bondage, which among men is valued next to life itself. Hence are thofe titles given to our Saviour, of a redeemer, and deliverer ; and he is faid to have obtained eternal redem ption for us, Heb. ix. 12. he is faid to have given himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, Tit. ii. 14. And the publishing of the gofpel is compared to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee among the Jews, wherein all perfons were fet

at

at liberty, Ifa. lxi. 1, 2. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Upon this account likewise the gospel is cal led by St. James the royal law, and the perfect law of liberty, James i. 25.

Thus you fee that this is one of the principal metaphors whereby the fcripture fets forth to us the advantages of the Chriftian doctrine; and that it is not feldom and cafually used, but frequently, and upon defign, as that which most fitly represents to us the benefits we have by the gofpel.

Secondly, I fhall now in the next place fhew more particularly, in what refpects the Son of God by his doctrine, may be faid to make us free. And that in these two refpects:

I. As it frees us from the bondage of ignorance, and error, and prejudice.

II. From the flavery of our lufts and paffions.

I. It frees us from the bondage of ignorance, and error, and prejudice, which is a more inveterate and obftinate error. And this is a great bondage to the mind of man, to live in ignorance of those things which are useful for us to know, to be mistaken about those matters which are of great moment and concernment to us to be rightly informed in. Ignorance is the confinement of our understandings, as knowledge and right apprehenfions of things are a kind of liberty and enlargement to the mind of man. Under this flavery the world groaned, and were bound in thefe chains of darkness for many years, till the light of the glorious gospel broke in upon the world, and our bleffed Saviour, who is truth, came to fet us free.

As for the heathen part of the world, the generality of them lived in grofs ignorance of God, and pernicious mistakes concerning him. So the Apoftle, tells us, Rom. i. 21. that they were vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened:

and

145 And, Eph. iv. 17, 18. that they walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. They had grofs and unworthy, and falfe apprehenfions concerning the nature of God, by which they were mifled into horrible fuperftitions, and abominable idolatries: and in conformity to the falfe notions which they had of their deities, and in imitation of their fabulous ftories concerning them, they were guilty of all manner of lewdnefs and vice; fo that thro their mistakes of God, they were altogether estranged from that virtuous and, holy and divine life, which men ought to lead: and confidering what apprehenfions they had of God, many of their fuperftitions and vices were almoft unavoidable. And by this advantage of the ignorance that mankind was funk into, the Devil did chiefly maintain and keep up his kindgom; it being next to impoffible for men amidft fo much darknels to fee the right way, and walk in it. It was eafy for him, when he had thus enflaved their understandings, and blinded their eyes, to lead them captive at his pleasure.

Yea the Jews themfelves, though they enjoyed many degrees of light beyond the reft of the world, and had the advantage of frequent revelations, yet this was but darknefs, in comparison of thofe clear difcoveries which were made to mankind by the gofpel; by which many things are revealed to us, which were hid from ages and generations; and one of the most important truths, and of the greateft efficacy upon the minds of men, is brought to light, viz. the certainty of a future ftate, and the rewards of it. This the Apostle tells us, is made manifeft by the appearing of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 2 Tim. i. 10. Under the difpenfation of the law, the Jews had very imperfect notions concerning the divine nature, and the best and moft acceptable way of worfhipping God, which they thought to confift in external rites and carnal obfervances, in washing of the body, and in facriVOL. X.

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