an empire at that day, which had been before begun by Nim-
rod at Babel. And as it was the honor of kings in those days
to build new cities to be made the seat of their empire, as ap-
pears by Gen. x., 10, 11, 12; so it is conjectured, that he had
gone forth and built him a city in Elam, and made that his
seat; and that those other kings, who came with him, were his
deputies in the several cities and countries where they reign-
ed. But yet as mighty an empire as he had, and as great an
army as he now came with into the land where Abraham was,
yet Abraham, only with his trained servants, that were born in
his own house, conquered, subdued, and baffled this mighty
emperor, and the kings that came with him, and all their army.
This he received of God as a pledge of what he had promised,
viz. the victory that Christ his seed should obtain over the na-
tions of the earth, whereby he should possess the gates of his
enemies. It is plainly spoken of as such in the 41st of Isaiah.
In that chapter is foretold the future glorious victory the
church shall obtain over the nations of the world; as you may
see in the 1st, 10th, and 15th verses, &c. But here this victo-
ry of Abraham over such a great emperor and his mighty
forces, is spoken of as a pledge and earnest of this victory of
" Who
the church, as you may see in the 2d and 3d verses.
raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his
foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over
kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven
stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely;
even by the way that he had not gone with his feet."

Another remarkable confirmation Abraham received of the covenant of grace, was when he returned from the slaughter of the kings; when Melchisedec the king of Salem, the priest of the most high God, that great type of Christ, met him, and blessed him, and brought forth bread and wine. The bread and wine signified the same blessings of the covenant of grace, that the bread and wine does in the sacrament of the Lord's supper. So that as Abraham had a seal of the covenant in circumcision that was equivalent to baptism, so now he had a seal of it equivalent to the Lord's supper. And Melchisedec's coming to meet him with such a seal of the

covenant of grace, on the occasion of this victory of his over the kings of the north, confirms that that victory was a pledge of God's fulfilment of the same covenant; for that is the mer cy that Melchisedec with his bread and wine takes notice of; as you may see by what he says in Gen. xiv. 19, 20.

Another confirmation that God gave Abraham of the covenant of grace, was the vision that he had in the deep sleep that fell upon him, of the smoking furnance, and burning lamp, that passed between the parts of the sacrifice, as in the latter part of the 15th chapter of Genesis. The sacrifice, as all sacrifices do, signified the sacrifice of Christ. The smoking furnace that passed through the midst of that sacrifice first, signified the sufferings of Christ. But the burning lamp that followed, which shone with a clear bright light, signifies the glory that followed Christ's sufferings, and was procured by them.

Another remarkable pledge that God gave Abraham of the fulfilment of the covenant of grace, was his giving of the child of whom Christ was to come, in his old age. This is spoken of as such in scripture; Heb. xi. 11, 12. and also Rom. iv. 18. &c.

Again, another remarkable pledge that God gave Abraham of the fulfilment of the covenant of grace, was his delivering Isaac, after he was laid upon the wood of the sacrifice to be $lain. This was a confirmation of Abraham's faith in the promise that God had made of Christ, that he should be of Isaac's posterity; and was a representation of the resurrection of Christ; as you may see, Heb. xi. 17, 18, 19. And because this was given as a confirmation of the covenant of grace, therefore God renewed that covenant with Abraham on this occasion, as you may see, Gen. xxiv. 15. &c.

Thus you see how much more fully the covenant of grace was revealed and confirmed in Abraham's time than ever it had been before; by means of which, Abraham seems to have had a more clear understanding and sight of Christ the great Redeemer, and the future things that were to be accomplished by him, than any of the saints that had gone before. And therefore Christ takes notice of it, that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and he saw it, and was glad, John viii. 56.

So

great an advance did it please God now to make in this building, which he had been carrying on from the beginning of the world.

1

III. The next thing that I would take notice of here, is God's preserving the patriarchs for so long a time in the midst of the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, and from all other enemies. The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were those of whom Christ was to proceed; and they were now separated from the world, that in them his church might be upheld. Therefore in preserving them, the great design of redemption was upheld and carried on. He preserved them and kept the inhabitants of the land where they sojourned from destroying them; which was a remarkable dispensation. of Providence. For the inhabitants of the land were at that day exceedingly wicked, though they grew more wicked afterwards. This appears by Gen. xv. 16. "In the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Canaanites is not yet full :" As much as to say, Though it be very great, yet it is not full. And their great wickedness also appears by Abraham and Isaac's aversion to their children marrying any of the daughters of the land. Abraham, when he was old could not be content till he had made his servant swear that he would not take a wife for his son of the daughters of the land. And Isaac and Rebecca were content to send away Jacob to so great a distance as Padan Aram, to take him a wife thence. And when Esau married some of the daughters of the land, we are told, that they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebecca.

Another argument of their great wickedness, was the instances we have in Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zẹboim, which were some of the cities of Canaan, though they were probably distinguishingly wicked.

And they being thus wicked, were likely to have the most bitter enmity against these holy men; agreeably to what was declared at first, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed." Their holy lives were a continual condemnation of their wickedness. And besides, it could not be otherwise, but that they must be much

!

in reproving their wickedness, as we find Lot was in Sodom;
who, we are told, vexed his righteous soul with their unlaw-
ful deeds, and was a preacher of righteousness to them.

2. And they were the more exposed to them, being strangers
and sojourners in the land, and, having no inheritance there as
yet. Men are more apt to find fault with strangers, and to be
irritated by any thing in them that offends them, as they were
with Lot in Sodom. He very gently reproved their wicked-
ness; and they say upon it," This fellow came in to sojourn,
and he will needs be a ruler and a judge ;" and threatened
what they would do to him.

But God wonderfully preserved Abraham and Lot, and Isaac and Jacob, and their families, amongst them, though they were few in number, and they might quickly have destroyed them; which is taken notice of as a wonderful instance of God's preserving mercy toward his church, Psal. cv. 12. &c. «.When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm."

This preservation was, in some instances especially, very remarkable; those instances that we have an account of, wherein the people of the land were greatly irritated and provoked; as they were by Simeon and Levi's treatment of the Shechemites, as you may see in Gen. xxxiv. 30. &c. God then strangely preserved Jacob and his family, restraining the provoked people by an unusual terror on their minds, as you may see in Gen. xxxv. 5. "And the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob."

And God's preserving them, not only from the Canaanites, is here to be taken notice of, but his preserving them from all others that intended mischief to them: As his preserving Jacob and his company, when pursued by Laban, full of rage, and a disposition to overtake him as an enemy: God met him,

and rebuked him, and said to him, “ Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad." How wonderfully: did he also preserve him from Esau his brother, when he came förth with an army, with a full design to cut him off! How did God, in answer to his prayer, when he wrestled with Christat -Penuel, wonderfully turn Esau's heart, and make him, instead of meeting him as an enemy with slaughter and destruction, tó meet him as a friend and brother, doing him no harm!

And thus were this handful, this little root that had the blessing of the Redeemer in it, preserved in the midst of ene mies and dangers; which was not unlike to the preserving the ark in the midst of the tempestuous deluge.

IV. The next thing I would mention is, the awful destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbouring cities. This tended to promote the great design and work that is the subject of my present undertaking, two ways. It did so, as it tended powerfully to restrain the inhabitants of the land from injuring those holy strangers that God had brought to sojourn amongst them. Lot was one of those strangers; he came into the land with Abraham; and Sodom was destroyed for their abusive disregard of Lot, the preacher of righteousness, that God had sent among them. And their destruction came just upon their committing a most injurious and abominable insult on Lot, and the strangers that were come into his house, even those angels, whom they probably took to be some of Lot's former acquaintance come from the country that he came from, to visit him. They in a most outrageous manner beset Lot's house, intending a monstrous abuse and act of violence on those strangers that were come thither, and threatening to serve Lot worse than them.

But in the midst of this, God smote them with blindness; and the next morning the city and the country about it was overthrown in a most terrible storm of fire and brimstone; which dreadful destruction, as it was in the sight of the rest of the inhabitants of the land, and therefore greatly tended to restrain them from hurting those holy strangers any more; it doubtless struck a dread and terror on their minds, and made: