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bleffings of it, if he had but this view of matters, in the light of the Lord?

7thly, Is the law magnified and made honourable by Chrift as our Surety? Then it follows, that whatever was loft in the first Adam, is now recovered by the fecond Adam. By the first covenant, if we had continued in it, we had a title to God as our God, a title to his favour and fellowship, a title to the creatures, all things being put under our feet, and a title to a happy eternity, after the courfe of our obedience in this world had been fulfilled. By Adam's fall we loft all this, and more than I can name. But all is again recovered in the new covenant Head, by his magnifying the law and making it honourable; and the foul united to him, hath all its lofles repaired with advantage, in him; we have God in him as the Lord our God, for God is in Chrift, our God, and our Father. "I afcend (fays Chrift) to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." We have the image of God fully restored in him, and going on gradually in us. We have a complete tock of knowledge, in him, who of God is made unto us wifdom, and a beam of that knowledge that is in the head shines into the heart of every believer. We have a complete righteoufnefs in him, and we are made the righteoufnels of God in him We have a complete holiness of nature in him; for, for our fakes he fanctified himself, that we alfo might be fanctified through the truth; and, through the holinefs of Chrift the head, God looks upon all the members, and says, "Thou art all fair my love, there is no fpot in thee." We have a perfect and complete heaven of glory, and eternal life in him; for he that believes in the Son hath everlafling life and this we are affured of by the faithful word of the Trinity, 1 John v. 11. "This is the record that God hath gi ven to us, eternal life: and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son, hath life." Thus, I fay, all that was loft in the firft Adam is regained in Chrift, the fecond Adam, and all upon this ground, that the fecond Adam, as our Surety, has magmified the law, and made it honourable?

8thly, Has Chrift magnified the law, and made it honourable? Then the interceffion of Crift for us, in heaven, goes upon a folid ground, and fhall be prevalent on our behalf. Why, it goes upon the ground of that everlafting righteousness which he has brought in, whereby he has magnified the law, and made it honourable. Hence he is called " Jefus Chrift the righteous," I John ii. 1. 2. "If any man fin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jefus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our fins." Believer, do not fear, that thy cafe com

mitted to the hand of tay Advocate, in the high court above, fhall mifcarry no, he never loft a poor man's caufe, for the Father always hears him. Thy Advocate is not only well fkilled in the laws of the court, but in pleading thy caufe: he pleads it upon the footing of a law-magnifying righteousness, and therefore he must prevail in thy behalf.

9thly, Has Carift magnified the law, and made it honourable? Then there is good ground of boldness in coming "to the throne of grace, for mercy and grace to help in time of need." Why, believer, that righteoufnefs that magnifies the law, and makes it honourable, is imputed to thee, and by faith thou fhouldit go with this furety righteoufnefs upon thee; and this is the ground of thy confidence in all thy dealings with God. We are ready to think, O my prayers will be rejected of God, he will never hear them, because I cannot order my caufe before him: I cannot win to this or the other frame or enlargement of heart.' Why, believer, that is but a tang of the old legal Adam in thee, that imagines that God regards thy perfon, from thy frames and enlargements. No, no," he hath made us accepted in the beloved." You, and your best frames, graces, and enlargements, would be driven away out of the prefence of an infinitely holy God, if it were not for this caufe. that Chrift has magnified the law, and made it honourable and therefore let this be thy only ground of boldness before the Lord. "Having a great High Prieft, who is paffed into the heavens, Jefus the Son of God; let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

10thly, Has Chrift magnified the law, and made it honourable? Then it follows, that failures of obedience, on the believer's part, do not make void the covenant of grace, or the believer's title to the bleflings and privileges of the covenant. Why, the whole law as a covenant, and all the righteoufnefs and obedience that it demands, is perfectly fulfilled in his head Jefus Chrift and therefore the believer cannot fall out of the covenant, through the imperfections of his obedience. I own, indeed, that a believer fhould aim at, and endeavour no lefs than perfect obedience, in his own perfon, and for failures in obedience he fhall fmart: "God will vifit his tranfgreffions with the rod, and his iniquities with ftripes." But obferve what follows, "My loving-kindness I will not take from him," viz. Chrift, with whom the covenant is made, and whọ has fulfilled the condition of it by his perfect righteoufnefs; and therefore, "my covenant I will not break" with them, nor alter the word of promife," that is gone out of my lips."

11thly, Has Chrift magnified the law, and made it honourable? Then believers have matter of everlasting triumph and rejoicing in Chrift, and cannot receive the fpirit of bondage unto fear, except in a way of correction. Believers are commanded to rejoice evermore, to fhout for joy; and when they fee how matters are stated in the new covenant Head, they will accordingly rejoice in Christ always, even when they have no confidence in the flesh. Why, what fhould difcourage them, who have the righteoufnefs of the law fulfilled in them" through Chrift; yea, who are the righteouf.iefs of God in him? That which brings the believer at any time under a fpirit of bondage again to fear, is the unbelief and legality of his heart, which turns away his eyes from Chrift and the righteousness of the law fulfilled and magnified in him; and then indeed the terrors of the law covenant, and of an angry God, fall upon him, "He remembers God, and is troubled," and the arrows of the Almighty are within him. But while the believer can, by faith, fee the law magnified in his Head, and the Lord Jehovah well pleafed for his righteousness fake, his heart will rejoice, and his joy will no man take from

him.

12thly, Has Chrift magnified the law, and made it honourable? Then fee upon what an advantageous ground the believer ftands in encountring his fpiritual enemies. Why, through the law-magnifying righteoufnefs of Chrift, he has God on his fide, he has the law on his fide, and juftice on his fide, yea, Omnipotence on his fide, and therefore he may lift up his head in the day of battle, and go on with courage against all his enemies.

To inftance, (1.) When he is molested with the infurrection of indwelling fin, or of any particular luft, the believer may take courage in mortifying and crucifying it, becaufe through the righteoufnefs of Chrift, fin has no law right to reign over the believer as it hath in other men, who are under the law as a covenant. "Sin (fays the Lord) fhall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

(2.) Doth Satan harafs and moleft thee with his fiery darts ? Why, believer, take courage, for through Chrift's magnifying the law, Satan's head is bruifed, and he has no more right in law to moleft or trouble thee, than he has to moleit thy glorified Head above; and therefore put on the breaft-plate of his everlasting righteoufnefs, and refift him, "stedfaft in the faith."

(3.) Art thou affaulted with the law coming into thy confcience, craving of thee the debt of perfect obedience, as the condition of life? Why, here is a ready answer to this enemy.

Tell

Tell the law and confcience, that the law, as a covenant, has got its due, and more than it demanded, in thy new covenant Head; for he has not only obeyed it to the full, but has magnified it, and made it honourable.

(4) Art thou at any time brought under bondage through fear of death? Why, here is encouragement for encountering with that king of terrors. That which gave death its power and fting, was the violation of the law: but may the believer fay, Here is the law again magnified and made honourable, and therefore, O death, what halt thou to fay? It is true, indeed, I must put off this clay tabernacle for a while; but this I do, not as a debt due to the law, or the curfe of it, but at the will of my God and Father, I lay down my body in the grave, that I may receive it again, without any tincture or fmell of fin or death about it, in the morning of the refurrec tion. Death, may the believer fay, is no death to me; no, to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain; becaufe Chrift, my Head, has magnified the law and made it honourable, and therefore has fwallowed up death in victory; death and hell, through the righteoufnefs of my Head, are now caft back into the lake from whence they came.'

Thus you fee what unspeakable encouragement and confolation fprings out of this doctrine, that Chrift has magnified the law, and made it honourable.

THE WISE VIRGINS GOING FORTH TO MEET THE BRIDEGROOM.

MATTH. XXV. 6.-And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.

THE FIRST SERMON ON THIS TEXT.

THESE words that I have read are a part of the famous parable of the ten virgins; for clearing of which, you would carefully advert to thefe two or three things.

1t, The Bridegroom here fpoken of is none other than Chrift Jefus the Lord, the eternal Son of God, who, from all

eternity,

eternity, rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and whofe delights were fo much with the fons of men, that he first married our nature into a perfonal union with himself, that so there might be fome fort of equality in the bargain; and having made himself of our tribe, comes to betrothe us to himself for ever in a marriage-relation.

2dly, The virgins here fpoken of are the profeffors of religion, members of the church visible. The church is called the bride, the Lamb's wife, Rev. xix. 7-9. particularly profeffors, faints, and believers, at leaft in profeflion, are fo called virgins, becaufe of the beauty of holinefs that thould adorn them.

3dly, The office of thefe virgins is to meet the bridegroom. This alludes unto a common cuftom among the Jews, who confummated their marriages at night; when the bridegroom was on his way to the place of marriage, the bride with fo many virgins that attended her, went forth with lamps to meet him, in order to conduct him to the bride's chamber. Now, with allufion to this cuftom, profeffors of religion are faid to go and meet the Bridegroom.

4thly, Notice the different characters of these virgins, five were wife, and five foolish. The foolish reprefent the cafe of nominal or hypocritical profeffors, who have the lamp of a profeffion, and content themselves with a name to live, while deftitute of the life and power of religion: and, by wife virgins, we are to understand real faints, or believers indeed, who not only profefs Chrift and Chriftianity, but are Chriftians indeed, having the oil of his grace and spirit within them.

5thly, We have the common fault of both these forts of virgins, while the Bridegroom tarried, they all flumbered and flept; together with the furprifing fummons they all get to attend the Bridegroom, ver. 6. Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. It is the last clause of this verfe that I intend to infift upon, viz. Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.'

We have a key given us, ver. 13. for opening of the general fcope of this parable, "Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the h 1 wherein the Son of man cometh." Which words, though they chiefly and particularly relate unto the coming of Chrift by death, or his coming at the laft judgement; yet, as Mr Shephard and other interpreters are agreed, they do not exclude, but include, his other intermediate comings, whether in the difpenfation of the word and facraments, of ordinances, or providences, it is the duty of all to prepare for his reception and entertainment.

The

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