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his public ministry, than the people who heard him were astonished at his doctrine; as they perceived that," he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." At another time, "All bore him witness and wondered at the gracious words, which proceeded from his lips." "Even the officers who were sent to take him acknowledged, Never man spake like this man." And they certainly spoke the truth; for the greatest among the prophets could only say to the people, "Thus saith the Lord," but Christ could say, Verily, verily, I say unto you.

4. Christ must be set forth, not only as teaching the people while here upon earth, but the necessity of his spiritually teaching us now, must be insisted upon; as it is written in theprophets, " And they shall all be taught of God," or as our Lord hath said, "He who hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me." Such is the blindness of the human heart, that none can enlighten it, but God himself; therefore he who in the beginning commanded light to shine out of darkness, must shine by the bright beams of his Spirit, into our hearts, or we shall never be made wise unto salvation. Nicodenius was not a little surprised, when our Lord said, "Except ye be born again, ye cannot enter Into the kingdom of God:" And many at this day, are as much surprised, to hear the necessity of divine illumination insisted upon, and are ready to say, "How can these things be?" One might suppose that such persons had never read the words of St. Paul, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." If the natural or unenlightened man cannot know the things of God, for this plain reason, because they are spiritually discerned; and if it is absolutely necessary to salvation, that we should know, and be acquainted with the things of God, it must follow, that every one should be taught of God, or divinely illuminated. If it be asked, "How can these things be "The answer is easy; our blessed Lord before he left this world, gave his disciples this promise: "And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end." I will be with you, in the power and demonstration of my Spirit, and not only with you, but with all your successors till time shall be no more. Thus he sent St. Paul to the Gentiles, "To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light," &c. But he could not do this of himself, he could only preach the gospel to their outward ears, and while he did this, the Holy Spirit applied

⚫ the word with power to their hearts, and they were divinely illuminated, and made wise unto salvation. Thus it is at this day; for as the same veil is still upon the hearts of men, and as none can take it away but God, it remains an undeniable truth, that every man living must be taught by him., This is generally done while a person is attending upon a lively heart-searching ministry; Divine light shines into his mind, and he sees that his state is just what the Scriptures, bear witness concerning it. That he is fallen from God, defiled with sin, and is therefore an object of his displeasure. Being guilty he sees the necessity of obtaining redemption in the blood of Christ, and being defiled with sin, he sees the necessity of experiencing divine grace, that he may be renewed in righteousness and true holiness.

By this means he not only gains the knowledge of his disease, but of the cure also. He sees that the Lord hath Jaid help upon one that is mighty to save, and strong to deliver. That Jesus hath pardon and peace, redemption and salvation to bestow upon all who feel their want of him: And when he is possessed of these inestimable blessings, our Lord will still act towards him in his prophetic character. If he retains that simplicity of mind, that earnest desire to be wholly devoted to God which he enjoyed when he was first brought into glorious liberty; then he will be led into every necessary truth, and to know the whole will of God, so far as it concerns his present and eternal salvation; for as divine light will shine upon his mind in reading and hearing the word of God, so he will also be taught many useful lessons, more immediately by the Holy Spirit: New ideas which he never received from any man, nor read in any book, will spring up in his mind, and he will be made more deeply acquainted with the things of God. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." This Spirit will unfold the whole mystery of redemption to him, and especially it will lead him to look for the accomplishment of all the promises of God, and that all his gracious designs may be fulfilled in him.

Those who neglect the word of God, thinking they must be wholly led by the Spirit, are certainly as far wrong on the one hand as they are on the other, who see no necessity of being led by the Spirit, because God hath revealed his will to us in his word: For as we cannot try the spirits, as the Apostle directs us, but by the word, so on the other hand, we can only understand the word by the assistance of the Spirit; and every faithful minister of Christ will find while

bearing a faithful testimony for his master, that new light will frequently flow in upon his mind, so that he will not only see increasing beauty in divine truth, but will be enabled to explain and enforce it in such wise, as he could not have done by any wisdom or power of his own.

5. Christ our Redeemer was also anointed as our great High Priest; as it is written, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." And as the Jewish High Priest offered up sacrifices and burnt-offerings for the sins of the people; so our blessed Redeemer offered up himself a spotless sacrifice for the sins of the whole world: For it pleased God to lay upon him the iniquity of us all, and by the shedding of his blood he hath obtained both present and eternal redemption for us. He then who would faithfully preach Christ, must set him forth as a propitiation for sin, that through faith in his name, all our sins may be freely and fully pardoned: And must strongly insist upon the absolute necessity of every one being brought to enjoy a clear sense of the pardoning love of God in his own soul. He who rests short of this, rests short of gospel salvation, and is not savingly acquainted with Christ. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection," saith the Apostle. But what does that man know of the power of Christ's resurrection, who is not raised from the death of sin, to a life of righteousness by him? We are exhorted to "give all diligence to make our calling and election sure. But how can this be made sure, till we are blest with a clear mani. festation of the love of God in Christ Jesus to our own souls? This is the lowest degree of the gospel of salvation, and a man can neither be in a safe, nor in a happy state till he enjoy it. Let Christ be preached and redemption through his blood, that every poor sinner may fly for refuge to the only hope set before him in the gospel.

Christ our High Priest hath entered into the holy place not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, where he appears in the presence of God, making intercession for us. As the Jewish High Priest on the great day of atonement, took the blood of the sin-offering in a bason, and entered into the holiest of all, and there sprinkled the blood upon the mercy-seat, and made intercession for the thousands of Israel, who were praying without: So our divine Saviour, having finished the work of redemption, by the shedding of his blood once for all, entered into the highest heavens, there to appear as our Advocate with God. Hence, "he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him,

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seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." How strongly does the Apostle reason upon this head in these truely comfortable words: "If when we were enemies, ve were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, how much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." If when we lived in rebellion against God, such was his mercy and love towards us, that be brought us into his favour and family, by Jesus Christ, his beloved Son; how much more abundant reason have we to believe, that being now in this happy state, we shall be wholly sanctified, and eternally saved by his life of intercession for us at the Father's rights band! The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, but how much more abundantly, the prayers of the everlasting Son of God!. Here then we may have strong consolation who are savingly acquainted with him, and interested in all that he hath done and suffered; as well as in all that he is now doing, at the right-hand of God. How ought the consideration of this, to increase our faith, to raise our expectation, and to fill us with the most lively hopes of receiving at the hand of our heavenly Father, every blessing purchafed for us, by the blood of his well beloved Son. He who is favoured with clear views of the gracious designs of God, may well rejoice in hope, feeing that every promife was made with no other design, but to be fulfilled, and is yea and amen in Christ Jefus, and the Holy Spirit is ever ready to witness the fame, to every believing mind.

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The Apostle informs us that the Mofaic law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope, by the glorious gospel, did; for although the way into the holieft, was not made manifeft while the firft tabernacle was ftanding, yet now, we may have boldness to enter into the holiest of all by the blood of Jefus, by that new and living way which he hath confecrated for us through the veil, that is to fay, his flesh; and having an High Prieft over the houfe of God, let us draw near, with a true heart, in full assu ance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil confcience, and our bodies washed with pure water." It is eafy to observe, that the Apostle alludes to the vail in the Jewish Temple, which fparated between the holy place, and the holiest of al!. This was made of the strongest tapeftry, and when our blessed Lord expired upon the cross, it was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, fo that the most holy place, and all the facred things which it contained, were expofed to public view; and the way into it laid open: So now by the death of Chrift our

Redeemer, life and immortality are fully brought to light, and the way into the higheft, holieft ftate of grace clearly revealed. Hence faith the Apostle, "Chrift loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might fanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any fuch thing, but that it fhould be holy and without blemith." But notwithstanding thefe words are so remark. ably clear and expressive: many fill doubt whether it is possible, for any one to be wholly fanctified while in this world. Let us therefore consider this important fubject a little farther. The work of creation is in a peculiar manner ascribed to God the Father, and all men will readily allow.. that his work is perfect, in the highest degree: and the more minutely it is examined, the more perfect it will appear. The work of redemption is ascribed to God the Son, and every-one is obliged to confess, that his work is perfect: To entertain a doubt concerning this, would be to undermine the foundation of all our hopes, whether of present or eternal salvation: We most sacredly believe, that "he made by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world ;" so that his work is also perfect in the highest degree. The work of sanctification is in a p culiar manner ascribed to God the Holy Ghost but here alas, if we give credit to most commentators, we have nothing that looks toward perfection, but they dwindle the work of the Spirit of God upon the mind, almost to nothing. But what good reason can be given for this? It cannot possibly be either for want of ability, or for want of love to the souls of men, that his work must always remain in such an imperfect state. We learn from the sacred scriptures, that God the Father so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. In this wonderful transaction, the love of our heavenly Father is so fully manifested, that we cannot possibly doubt of his willingness to save all those who cry to him for mercy. And we are sure, that God the Son so loved us, that he not only came down from heaven to seek and to save us, but he shed the last drop of his precious. blood, to redeem us from the bondage of sin and corruption, to procure present and eternal redemption for us; so that it would be strange indeed, for any one who acknowledges this, to suppose that notwithstanding all that he hath done, and suffered; he is unwilling to impart the benefits of his death,

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