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from corruption among their hands; efpecially if they, by reafon of their gifts, parts, and authority in the church, bear a confiderable fway therein. Others are tainted with corruption, though truly gracious, and carried down with the ftream of carnal confultation, while any faving knowledge of Chrift that they have is fo fmall, that flesh and blood hath the afcendant; or, if their knowledge of Chrift be great in one refpect, yet it is defective in other refpe&ts. So Peter, for example, he was greatly enlightened in the knowledge of Chrift, as the Son of the living God; a moft glorious fundamental article of faith, Matth. xvi. 16.; but yet his knowledge of Chrift was defective, and exceeding dark concerning Chrifl as a facrifice, a ranfom; and hence he takes upon him, forfooth, to reprove Chrift, when he spoke of his fuffering at Jerufalem, verse 22. faying, "Far be it from thee, Lord; this fhall not be done unto thee;" for which Chrift calls him a devil, faying, "Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou favoureft not the things that be of God, but thofe that be of men." Though he was extraordinarily enlightened in the knowledge of Chrift, in one refpect; yet he was extremely ignorant of Chrift, in another refpe&; and hence in that matter favoured of flesh and blood, and confulted with carnal eafe, and carnal reason, under colour of zeal for his Mafter's fafety and honour. Hence we will find fuch corruptions creeping into the church of Chrift, both among good and bad; fo that we may fee perfonal credit, acting under the colour of zeal for God. Men will pretend zeal for God's honour, the credit of the miniftry, the honour of ordinances; and vent themfelves hotly and tenacioufly, under this view,, while yet it is perfonal credit, reputation, and applause that is acting under that covert, and hiding under that mask.— Thus the difciples fought to be avenged on the place, that would not receive Chrift, by fire from heaven; why, it seemed to be zeal for their Mafter's honour that fwayed them; but perfonal credit was their motive; and they were not under the conduct of God's Spirit, but of their own flesh and blood; therefore faith

Christ, "Ye know not what Spirit ye are of," Luke
See also ver. 59.

ix. 54.

8. Hence fee, what is the best antidote against corruption, both in minifters and people; and the best antidote against the power of corruption, in any particular perfon it is even a transforming revelation of Chrift. A day of power is necessary for this end, making a difplay of God's power and glory in the fanctuary.— When God builds up Zion, he will appear in his glory: and there is no hopes of getting evil amended, till the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Chrift, be poured out. And therefore we fhould be at no reft, yea, fhould give God no reft, till he fend the Spirit, Ifa. lxii. 6, 7. O cry with the pfalmift, faying, "O fend forth thy light and thy truth."

-And with

Mofes, "I befeech thee fhew me thy glory:" that fo, beholding the glory of the Lord, we may be changed into the fame image; and that each of us, for our own part, may have it to say with Paul here, "It pleafed God to reveal his Son in me; and immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."

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SERMON XXIII,---XXVII.

LAW DEATH, GOSPEL-LIFE: Or, The Death of Legal Righteoufnefs, the Life of Gospel Holiness*.

GALATIANS . 19.

I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto

God.

A GODLY life is what we are all obliged to live,

efpecially if we have been at the Lord's table; but it is a mystery that very few understand in their experience, if they will judge their experiences, by comparing them with this of Paul in our text, "I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God."

Our apostle, in this epiftle, is vindicating himself from the bafe afperfions caft upon him by the falfe apoftles; with refpect to his calling, as if he had been no apostle; and with respect to his doctrine, as if it had been falfe and erroneous. From the beginning of this chapter, to ver. 11. he tells us what he did at Jerufalem; how strenuously he oppofed the falfe brethren, that he might maintain the truth of the gospel, which they fought to overturn. From the 11th verfe to the 17th, the apostle tells us what he did at Antioch; how

*This was the fubftance of four Difcourfes, the first two whereof were delivered upon the administration of the facrament of the Lord's fupper, at Carnock; the other two were an enlargement upon the famé fubject, on an occafion of the fame nature, at Orwel. The precife time when these discourses were delivered, cannot be pofitively afcertained; however, from fome paffages in the Difcourfes themselves, it is probable they were preached some time in the year 1724. and the first edition being printed that year, feems to determine it.

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zealously he oppofed and reproved even Peter himself, for his diffimulation, in compelling the Gentiles to Judaize giving thereby fuch offence, that the Jews were confirmed in their Judaifm, ver. 12. "Other Jews dif fembled with him, and Barnabas alfo was carried away with their diffimulation;" and hereby occafion was given both to Jews and Gentiles, to defert Chrift, to deny grace, to return to the law, and feek juflification by the works thereof. So that we may fee here, that great and good men may diffemble, and do much hurt. by their dillimulation, both among minifters and people. We have here a wonderful example of it in the greatest of men, and fuch as were pillars of the church; but it would feem that Peter and Barnabas, and other Jews here, did not fee their fault and fin, but thought they did right enough; but Paul faw it, verfe 14. "When I faw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gofpel," &c. This might feem a very bold and impudent attempt, for Paul, the youngest of all the apostles (I mean, of whom Chrift was last feen, as of one born out of due time) for him to take upon him to accufe and condemn Peter as well as Barnabas, and the Jews for their practical error, not walking according to the truth of the gofpel. But we fee, that as people may have the gofpel, but not the truth of the gofpel; fo thefe that have the truth of the gospel, may be guilty of not walking according to the truth of it, even as Peter, Barnabas, and others here, whose diffimulation did not confift with the truth of the gospel, which they preached, but tended to establish the law, and fo to overturn the gofpel. But God hath fometimes very few witnefles to ftand up for the truth of the gospel; here Paul was alone, Peter was against him, and Barnabas, his own intimating affociate, was drawn away with the diffimulation; Jews and Gentiles were infected, and therefore Paul alone muft fight againft them all, for the caufe of Chrift, and the doctrine of the gofpel, which was endangered. "I faid unto Peter before them all," &c. Not by teaching of any erroneous doctrine did Peter err, for that is a principle we maintain, that the apoftles never erred in teaching,

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or in their doctrine delivered to the church; but his error was in practice, compelling the Gentiles to Judaize; whereby he gave them occafion to think, that the obfervation of the law was neceffary to juftification: whereas he adds, "We that are Jews by nature," &c. ver. 15, 16. We apoftles, might he fay, though Jews by nature, yet we feek not juftification by the works of the law; and therefore we ought not to drive the Gentiles to the obfervation of the law, that they may feek righteousness and juftification thereby. Why? because 1. We know that a man cannot be justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Chrift. 2. Because therefore having renounced the law, in point of juflification, we have embraced Christ by faith; that thro' him we may be juftified. 3. Becaufe by the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified.

Now, from verfe 17. and downward, the apofile returns to the Galatians; having told how he reproved Peter, and what he faid to him concerning juftification without the works of the law, he now comes to fhew this doctrine to be no wife oppofite to the doctrine of fanctification, but of abfolute neceffity to true holiness, ver. 17, 18. q. d. If we Jews, who lived formerly under the law, and now feek righteousness in Chrift alone, are thus accounted as finners, when we followed the law, it would feem that Chrift did disapprove the law, and approve fin: "God forbid," fays the apofile; this he denies, and rejects with abhorrence.To object thus, might he fay, against the doctrine of free juftification, were egregious blafphemy against the Son of God, as if he were the minifter of fin, who came to destroy fin, and to destroy the works of the devil; and by this golpel which I preach, might he fay, Chrift is held out as the Lamb of God, that taketh away the fins of the world; not to take away righte oufness, truly fo called, unless it be that falle vizard of legal felf-righteoufnefs, with which we formerly covered and mafked ourfelves: nay, he came to bring in everlasting righteoufnefs, a true and perfect righteoufnels for juftification; he came to make an end of fin,

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