The rights of government, which ought ever to be held faered, are inviolably maintained. An equitable conftitution is established, upon the foundation of his infinite merit alone, for the juftification and acceptance of the believing finner. And, in a word, effectual provifion is made for the rich effufion of all the great bleffings of religion, as they have been illuftrated and explained. * And that these were the great objects of his mission, fcripture clearly teaches. He is the Mediator between God and us the Lamb of God, which taketh away the fins of the world † ; no man can come unto the Father, but by him; he was fet forth to be a propitiation for fin, through faith in his blood ||; in him God is reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trefpaffes to them §; for his fake be forgives us our fins ¶; by his obedience many are made righteous **; in him we are accepted ††; be is able to fave them to the uttermoft, who come unto God by him, feeing he ever liveth to make interceffion for them ‡‡'; and, to add no more, by him grace reigns through righteoufnefs unto eternal life | So that you fee the bleffed God can now converfe with men, and men may be permitted, without the leaft dishonour reflected upon the divine attributes or law, to converfe with God.. But to bring the matter ftill nearer to the point we have immediately in view. Scripture reprefents the mediation of Christ, as the actual and proper fource of all the divine knowledge, hope and joy, and of all the real virtue, purity and religion, which is in the world. He is faid to be entrusted with thefe great bleffings, and to difpenfe them as he pleases. He hath life in himself, and gives it to whomsoever he will §§. It pleafed the Father that in him all fulA 3 nefs *Tim. ii. 5. † John i. 29. § 2 Cor. v. 19. tt Eph. i, 6. + John xiv. 6. Eph. iv. 32. ‡‡ Heb. vii. 25. §§ John v. 21, 26. Mat. xi. 27. nefs fhould dwell*; and of his fulness we receive, and grace for grace +. In him are hid all the treasures of wif dom and knowledge ‡. When he afcended up on high, he received gifts for men, yea even for the rebellious, that the Lord their God might dwell among them. And, in a word, he was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repen tance unto Ifrael, and forgiveness of fins §. Through this channel, therefore, we may be fure, they who flourished in the earliest ages, dark as their notions 'might be of the Meffiah, derived all the piety they poffeffed. And whatever there may now be of real religion, even in those parts of the world on which the gofpel hath fhone with the feebleft rays, it most certainly owes its exiftence to the mediation of Chrift. No fpiritual bleffing is there difpenfed to perfons of any age, country, character or condition among men, but in this way. Chrift is not the God of this or that fet of profeffing Chriftians only, nor is he the author of divine benefits to us alone, under the prefent administration, but the head of the whole church, and the Saviour of every individual member of it. His reli gion, therefore, in this view of it, is not topical or limited to any particular fpot, for wherever the true love and fear of God is, there is a pledge and fruit of his mediation and grace; and of all good men it may be affirmed, though their means of knowledge and experience may greatly differ, that they are created in Chrift Jefus. He is the author and the finisher of their faith. Nor is there any name given under heaven, by which they either actually are or can be faved, but his. In fhort, all fuch as are the workmanship of God, in this fublime and spiritual fense, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner flone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, and becometh an habitation of God through the Spirit ¶• He *Col. i, 19. + John i. 16. Col. ii. 2. He then is at the head of this new creation, of which indeed at prefent we have but very inadequate conceptions. He reigns fovereign over this empire, established in the hearts of thousands, in the most remote ages and distant parts of our earth. And now, what a ftriking and exalted idea does this give us of the dignity and importance of our Saviour's divine and mediatorial character! And with what fentiments of gratitude and love should our breasts be inspired, amidst these reflections on his condefcenfion and grace! Will God indeed dwell with men? not only fend down his Spirit to refide in their hearts, but his own Son to take flesh, and tabernacle among them? How astonishing the thought-God incarnate! He who made the world, an infant of days !— He who rules the universe, walking about the streets of Jerufalem, in the habit of a poor despised man!-He whom angels worship, languishing on a cross! We are loft in wonder. Nor are these facts alone the ground of our astonishment. The ends proposed are truly great and noble, and the contemplation of them fires our breasts with admiration and joy. What an illustrious display have we here of all the divine perfections, while we, at the fame time, reap the richeft fruits from this unparalleled condefcenfion and goodnefs! God is glorified, and we are made happy. His honour and our interest are united in the man Christ Jefus. Exult, Chriftians, with joy unfpeakable, while you refle& on these things. Behold the great Prophet of the church, fhedding divine light upon your dark and ignorant minds, healing your mental diseases, and pouring life and joy into your dying fouls. Behold the great High Priest of your profeffion, offering himself a facrifice to divine justice for your fins, and then pleading the merit of his death for your pardon and acceptance. Behold your King, fwaying his fceptre over univerfal nature, fubduing all the powers of darkness by his omnipotent arm, and conquering your hearts by by the charms of his love and grace. View him in these, in all the characters he fuftains, and then fay how refplendently the divine glories fhine in the face of Chrift, and what infinite obligations you owe to his mercy and goodnefs. To his mediation then is to be ascribed the existence of religion, and all the bleffings which refult from it; on which account it may be truly faid, that we are created in him. Again, II. The vital powers of religion are communicated to the foul by the influence of his Spirit. The agency of the bleffed Spirit in regeneration hath been confidered at large in the preceding difcourfe. All that is neceflary therefore to be obferved here, is, that the defcent, inhabitation and influence of the holy Spirit, are the happy fruits of the mediation of Chrift. Hence he is ftyled the Spirit of Chrift. He is faid to be given in his name t. And our Lord tells his difciples, that on his departure be would fend him to them . And the apostle de-clares, that he is bed on us abundantly through Jefus Chrift our Saviour. Since therefore, that divine power by which our hearts are renewed and made meet for Heaven is obtained for us by the death and interceffion of Chrift, it may on this account, with good reafon be said, that we are created in him. But the confideration on which I fhall chiefly enlarge is, III. That the faith of Chrift, that is, of his doctrine and the revelation made in the Bible concerning him, is the main inftrument by which religion is produced, nourished, and improved in the heart. I live, fays the apoftle, yet not I, but Chrift liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave bimfelf for me §. Now it will be neceffary, in order to fet this matter in its proper light, to anatomize the heart of the Christian, and fo, by laying open the religi ous affections of the foul, to fhew how they are excited, moved and influenced by the faith of the gofpel. To begin then, FIRST, With Humiliation for fin. This is an eminent branch of piety. There can be no intercourse between us and an offended God, without a deep fense of our apoftacy, ingenuous forrow for our tranfgreffions, a fincere defire of reconciliation, and an unfeigned refolution of future obedience. But the inftructions and motives which the light of nature furnishes to these ends are evidently defective. We may indeed from thence, clearly collect in the general, that we are guilty, that it is highly fit we should be penitent, that the favour of God is most defirable, and that, fince he does not inftantly proceed to extremities, he may poffibly have thoughts of mercy concerning us. Yet, the mind and confcience are fo darkened and depraved by fin, that we do not fully difcern the aggravations of our guilt and mifery; and the ways of providence are so perplexed and various, that we cannot thence derive fuch notices of his mercy as are neceffary to excite filial grief and penitence. Some farther discoveries therefore are requifite, in order to fix a deep impreffion on our hearts of our true state and condition, and to light up at least such a spark of hope there, as fhall at once shew us our bafenefs, and caufe us to relent ingenuously for our fins. Now these discoveries the gospel affords, and in a perfection that is truly amazing. In fubferviency to this great defign, a new edition of the law is in the first place given us; the publication of which, on account of its immediate and neceffary connection with the gospel, is to be confidered as having the most useful and falutary tendency. It is given that the offence may abound, as the apostle expreffes it, and that by reviving the dictates of confcience which were nearly obliterated, we may fee our need of all that grace the gospel reveals. While therefore the finner beholds the divine law delivered from mount Sinai, |