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God is not upon them, nor are they taught of God out of his law. Such have never heard God's voice at any time, nor seen his shape, John v. 37. "Man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven," John iii. 27: neither law nor gospel. I shall therefore inquire now who they are that God teaches to know his laws, and to whom God has promised to apply them.

First, they are called the seed of David. "The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it, of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant, and my testimony, that I shall teach them, their children also shall sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation," Psal. cxxxii. 11-13. These are called the seed of David, which is Christ and his seed, and not the seed of the serpent; and afterwards they are called Zion, not Hagar nor Sinai; the chosen of God, and not the rejected. These God teaches to know his covenant and his testimony, but none else.

2. "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance; but judgment shall return unto righteousness; and the upright in heart shall follow it," Psal. xciv. 12-15. The characters of these people are, that they are

blessed of God, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ; that they are chastened of God, which is the lot of sons, but not of bastards; that they find rest, as all believers do, in Christ; but none believe except those who are ordained to life, They are called God's people and God's inheritance. Their chastening and teaching out of the law is called their judgment, which seems to go out against them; but it returns unto righteousness, or terminates in their justification; and then, being upright in heart, by faith that worketh by love, they follow after this righteousness. No law-men, no ministers of the letter, none of the one-talent men, no wandering stars, no citizens of this country, are to be found in all this account.

3. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more," Heb. viii. 10-12. These persons are called the house of Israel; not Israel after the flesh, but after the Spirit; prevailers with God. God is not ashamed to call himself their God, nor to claim them for his own people, which is revealing to them the covenant

he made with Abraham. They obtain the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Into the minds of these men God himself puts his laws; and by his own most holy Spirit he writes them on the fleshly tables of their hearts. These are the elect of God, Abraham's spiritual seed. No child of the flesh, no law-men, or letter-preachers, are included in this text.

4. "Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people," Isai. li. 4. These persons our Lord calls his people, they being given to him by his Father, and made his charge. They are his by redemption; and are not their own, being bought with a price. And he styles them his nation, in distinction from the nations of this world. A nation redeemed from among men, or a nation taken out of other nations. "A nation whose God is the Lord," Psalm xxxiii. 12. Called, "An holy nation," 1 Pet. ii. 9. The elect of God, and no other, are meant by this nation, as appears by what follows. "Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance," Psal. cvi. 4, 5. No law-men, or letter-preachers, are to be found in this text.

5. "Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread,

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law, among my disciples," Isai. viii. 13— 16. This lawgiver, whoever he be, is to be an offence to both the houses of Israel, and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; which, with her children, are all in bondage. But here is another set of men called disciples. A real disciple is one who sits at the Lord's feet, and receives his words. "Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand; and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words," Deut. xxxiii. 3. They are not said to hear his words only, as many do; but to receive of his words; which shews that they mix faith with the word, and so receive it into the heart in the love of it. Here is a testimony to be bound, and a law to be sealed, among these disciples. An angel from heaven tells us that, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy," Rev. xix. 10. The binding cord, that attends the reception of this testimony, is the love of God the Father, which is the bond of the covenant and the bond of all perfectness. And this love of God always attends this testimony; for God's love is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost given unto us. The law here spoken of seems to me to be the law of faith, and the

seal to be the full assurance of faith, which the Spirit works in the heart when he comes to take up his abode as a comforter. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance," 1 Thess. i. 4, 5. This law and the seal are described by Paul himself; "In whom also, after that ye believed;" there is the law; "ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise;" there is the seal, Ephes. i. 13. No lawyers, no letter-men, are to be found among this class of disciples. It is plain, from all these passages, that the elect of God are to be taught of him, and to no other are these promises made: And, further, that all the statutes, judgments, or testimonies, which he requires them to observe, he himself will teach them, and furnish them for his work. "Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God. And I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them,' Isai. lxi. 6, 8. When God gave the law he ordered it to be put into the side of the ark; and all the laws to which he requires obedience he promises to put into the mind, and to write on the hearts of his children. It is God's desire to have his laws there. "Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom," Psal. li. 6. I believe in my conscience, as firmly as I believe

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