SERMON II.

ISAIAH xlv. 8.

Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created it.

IN a former discourse upon these words it was propo sed to consider, First, Their true sense and meaning; and Secondly, To make some practical remarks upon them. Having gone through the first particular, and established the doctrine, I come now to reduce it to practice, and this I shall do, by making some remarks upon the words in the order they lay in the text.

The first remark that would occur to an attentive reader, is the state of man before righteousness is poured down upon him from on high. He is like the dry ground, which for want of rain is desolate and barren. So is man in a state of nature destitute of the heavenly influence of Christ's righteousness, he has no good thing springing up in him. Before he is made righteous, he is altogether unrighteous. Being unjust, he is an object of divine justice. The law of God looks upon him as a transgressor, and considers him in a state of condemnation. The sovereign judge regards him as a child of his wrath, and has passed the just decree, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

This is the condition of all men by nature, they are unrighteous, and condemned for their unrighteousness: and they are also helpless and without strength to attain any righteousness for themselves. And yet there is in their fallen nature a cursed pride, which never brake out with greater violence than at present, and which will not submit to the righteousness of God.

That we have no righteousness in ourselves, and can attain none by any power or working of our own, is the plain doctrine of God's word, is the very fundamental article of our established church, and it is evident from daily and melancholy experience, and it is the first practical truth in Christianity; for until we be deeply convinced of our sinfulness and helplessness, we shall see no reason to apply to Christ for his righteousness. Men must find themselves sick before they will send for the physician. Our want of righteousness is the cause of all our spiritual sickness and maladies, and the scripture speaks plainly of our want of righteousness. "We have before proved, says the apostle, both Jews "and Gentiles, that they are all under sin, as it is "written, There is none righteous, no not one." So says our ninth article: "By original sin, man is very "far gone from original righteousness, and by it every person born into the world deserveth God's wrath "and damnation." And concerning our helplessness in this state, our reformers in the second part of the homily, "On the misery of man," speak the sense of scripture in these words:

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Thus we have heard, how evil we be of ourselves, "how of ourselves, and by ourselves, we have no good❝ness, help, or salvation, but contrariwise, sin, damna❝tion, and death everlasting: which if we deeply "weigh and consider, we shall the better understand "the great mercy of God, and how our salvation com"eth only by Christ: for in ourselves (as of ourselves). we find nothing whereby we may be delivered from "this miserable captivity, into the which we are cast, through the envy of the devil by breaking of God's "commandment, in our first parent Adam. We are "all become unclean, but we all are not able to cleanse “ourselves, nor make one another of us clean. We are by nature the children of God's wrath, but we 66 are not able to make ourselves the children and in"heritors of God's glory. We are sheep that run astray, but we cannot of our own power come again

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"to the sheep-fold: so great is our imperfection and "weakness. In ourselves therefore may we not glory, "which of ourselves are nothing but sinful; neither. may we rejoice in any works that we do, all which "be so imperfect and impure, that they are not able to "stand before the righteous judgment-seat of God, as "the holy prophet David saith, Enter not into judg"ment with thy servant, O Lord, for no man that "liveth shall be found righteous in thy sight.' To "God therefore must we flee, or else shall we never "find peace, rest, and quietness of conscience in our

"hearts."

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Thus far our reformers. To the truth of their words we have all set our hands, and may God set our hearts to act agreeably to our subscriptions. Though they were our own act and deed, yet it is a matter of fact, which cannot be concealed, nor too much lamented, that many persons act directly contrary to their most solemn engagements: for how seldom do we hear any thing from the pulpit about original sin, or about there being none righteous, no not one. Instead of this antiquated doctrine, what is more common than to hear declamations upon the sufficiency of human reason in matters of religion, upon the dignity of human nature, and upon moral rectitude? And is it not the general scope of young preaching to recommend practical duties, as necessary terms and conditions of our justification before God? Is this the case, my brethren, or is it not? Certainly you know it is. Have you not heard reason extolled as a sufficient guide in matters of religion, contrary to the express word of God, which declares that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, nor while he continues a natural man, can he know them, let him pretend to reason ever so much about them? Have you not heard men lavish in the praises of the dignity of human nature, which if God's account of human nature be true, is an unrighteous dignity? What is a more common topic, than to cry up moral rectitude, which, if scripture be

true, is an unrighteous rectitude, and to recommend practical duties as terms of justification, which is setting them up in the place of Christ's righteousness, and teaching men an unrighteous obedience? Upon whatever footing this be done, it is an unrighteous attempt; whether it be upon the principles of natural religion, or morality, or any other fashionable system, it is equally unrighteous, because it is going about to establish a righteousness of man's own, and not submitting to the righteousness of God; and whoever does this, neither knows his own want of righteousness, or his inability to attain any by human means; nor does he know that there is no righteousness to be had, but what must come down from heaven, but what the heavens must drop down from above, and the skies must pour out, the application of which truth is my second remark.

The text clearly teaches us, that righteousness comes from above, as the rain does. It does not spring or grow out of the earth, for there is none upon earth righteous, no not one; but God sends it down from heaven. In like manner as the dry parched ground has not the rain in itself, but receives it from the fruitful influence of the heavens, so the barren wilderness of man's heart has no righteousness, until the holy Spirit bring it from above: for it is his office to convince the sinner of his unrighteousness, and then to convince him of righteousness, by giving him faith to apply to himself that divine righteousness, which Christ wrought out for his justification and salvation.

If any member of our church thinks this doctrine wanting in point of evidence, let him consult the articles and homilies; words cannot be plainer than those are in the beginning of the sermon, On the salvation of mankind by only Christ our Saviour, from Sin and Death everlasting. "Because all men be sin66 ners, and offenders against God, and breakers of his "law and commandments, therefore can no man by "his own acts, works, and deeds (seem they never so

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good) be justified, and made righteous before God: "but every man of necessity is constrained to seek for another righteousness of justification, to be received "at God's own hands, that is to say, the forgiveness "of his sins and trespasses, in such things as he hath "offended. And this justification or righteousness, "which we so receive of God's mercy and Christ's "merits, embraced by faith, is taken, accepted, and "allowed of God for our perfect and full justification :

for (as it follows in the latter part of the same "homily) all the good works that we can do be imper"fect, and therefore not able to deserve our justifica❝tion; but our justification doth come freely by the mere 66 mercy of God; and of so great and free mercy, that

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"whereas all the world was not able of themselves to pay any part towards their ransom, it pleased our "heavenly Father of his infinite mercy, without any "our desert or deserving, to prepare for us the most precious jewels of Christ's body and blood, whereby our ransom might be fully paid, the law fulfilled, "and his justice fully satisfied. So that Christ is now "the righteousness of all them that truly do believe " in him."

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This is the doctrine of our reformers, and if any person refuse to abide by their authority, let him consult the oracles of truth, where he may read that the righteousness by which we are justified, is not man's, but God's:-and that Christ the God-man is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth -and if he still refuse to make mention of his righteousness, even his only, the holy Spirit refers him to the fair volume of nature for further evidence. He teaches us that fallen man without the righteousness of Christ is like the earth without rain. Look then upon the face of the earth after there has been no rain for two or three summer months, and see with your own eyes the necessity of having righteousness rained down from heaven. You see the earth hath lost its verdure. The more tender vegetables are quite dead.