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This gift of justification is, as we have seen, received through the instrumentality of faith. But I must remind you, Brethren, of the nature of this faith, which thus apprehends the righteousness of Christ: what it is truly to believe in Jesus.-We must be sensible of the rigorous exactions of the divine Law-be deeply convinced of the depravity of our nature-and the exceeding sinfulness of our practice. We must sincerely and heartily repent of our sins, and confess them before God, owning the just judgment of the Almighty in the punishment of impenitent transgressors. We must be cast down from self-applause and self-confidence: all excuses must be abandoned,-all conceit of our own ability, or our own goodness must be mortified -all dependence upon our own righteousness, upon the merit of our prayers, of our repentance, or of our works of any kind, or measure, or degree, must be overthrown, and we must feel that we lie wholly at the mercy of God, and that he may justly cast us off for ever! Thus filled with self-despair, we shall clearly perceive that there is but one way to salvation, and that is, to believe in Christ as the sole propitiation for our sins, and in God as "the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."4 We shall then gladly and heartily receive Him as our only Saviour, and "lay hold upon the hope set before ‚” and cheerfully accept the free and unlimited invitation of the Gospel, to "come and buy without

us,

4 Rom. iii. 26.

5 Heb. vi. 18.

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money of real faith, involves in it feelings and actions of the soul, which are so totally contrary to its natural principles, that a supernatural influence must be exerted to produce them. We have considered the helplessness of man-his utter ignorance of the one thing needful "-his evil propensities—and the blindness of his heart to its own deceitfulness and diseased condition-all effectually hindering him from seeking of himself the remedy provided for his spiritual cure. Being blind, he cannot see his own deformity; professing himself to be wise, he becomes a fool; thinking himself whole, he perceives not his need of the Physician of souls,o These very feelings and acts of the soul, must, therefore, be all the gifts of God; for, if they are necessary to salvation, they must be good, and, consequently, they must come from God; for "every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh "down from the Father of lights." What says the Scripture of this faith ?—it expressly declares it to be the gift of God."" It is his especial gift, through the intercession of his own Son. And thus I am led to notice, briefly, the means by which these, and all other gifts of God, are communicated It is by the "Holy Spirit of promise."— He is the chief gift that God now continues to bestow on his rebellious creatures. It was for this

and without price." Now this description

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to us.

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purpose, as well as to attest the efficacy of his death, that his own Son was raised again from the dead; for this, " He ascended up on high, and led "captivity captive," namely, to receive the " pro"mise of the Father," the Holy Spirit; and to send him to his church, as the enlightener, the comforter, the guide, and the sanctifier of his redeemed people. Observe, then, the force of the Apostle's reasoning-" It is Christ that died, yea, "It "rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." His own Son who had "learned obedience by the things which he had suffered,"-the once crucified Jesus, is now receiving the reward of his bumiliation and obedience unto death. Having re-assumed his essential glory that he had with the Father" before the world was," and having acquired, by virtue of his sanguinary purchase, the mediatorial glory promised to him: he is given "to "be head over all things to his church," exercising kingly authority, and continuing at the same time his priestly office, ever living" to make intercession "He sits and rules upon his throne,

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for us.

18

4 Psl. Ixviii. 18. Eph. iv. 8.

5 Acts i. 4. Luke xxiv. 49.

6 John xviii. 5. 7 Eph. i. 22. Col. i. 18.

8 Heb. vii. 25.

* This was the concluding act of his Priestly office. As the High Priest under the law, after he had entered into the Sanctuary with the sacrificial blood and the incense, interceded in behalf of the people, and obtained a blessing for them; so Christ, as the great Antitype, is "passed into the heavens" with the offering of his own blood and the incense of his merits, to intercede with his Father for his redeemed people. On this depends our

"and is a priest upon his throne." It is by this act of his priesthood, that he procures for us the grant of all the benefits of his redeeming sacrifice.

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salvation. Our redemption was obtained by his sacrifice and death: his blood was the price of the soul, the ransom that was paid for our pardon and acceptance with God. But, besides this satisfaction, made to God by the sacrifice of Christ, for the souls that had sinned, there required a continuation of the sacrifice, in order to render it completely efficacious. That sacrifice was himself, and therefore it could be only once offered." He offered it but once, and yet he is a Priest for ever. "Thou art a Priest for ever." (Psl. cx. 4.) His intercession, then, explains this apparent contradiction. "He ever liveth to make intercession for us." Heb. vii. 25. He first offered the sacrifice, and then, with his own blood, he entered into the holy place, (Heb. ix. 12.) and remains for ever before the mercyseat. There he pleads our cause, and confers upon us the blessings of salvation. He is now perfectly "able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him,"-and why? because "he ever liveth to make intercession for us." We were reconciled in his death, but "much more being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life,"—(Rom. v. 10.) that is, not simply by his life—by his living for ever, but by the blessings we receive from his life "by his living for ever (as Charnock expresses it) in an unchangeable Priesthood-the end of which unchangeable Priesthood is intercession."-Now Christ intercedes only in his capacity of Mediator: out of that character it is needless for him to treat with God the Father, being equal to him in power, Majesty, and eternity; and therefore able to bestow as God, all the blessings which he intercedes for as Priest. But he is in heaven as our " Advocate," and in this character pleads our cause with God the Father, who is the fountain of all goodness. For the Son, as "Mediator between God and men," can bestow nothing on us in his own right, independently from the Father; otherwise, he would not be performing the office of a Mediator-the great business of which is to reconcile opposite parties, and to obtain, through his interest, pardon and grace for the offenders. This office, then, God's own Son is now fulfilling: he is in heaven "for us," (Heb. ix. 24.) and obtains from God, by his continual intercession, the gifts of pardon, and all things necessary for life and Godliness. This act of intercession, as already stated, is performed by the continuation of his sacrifice, that is, by the continual presentation

9 Zech. vi. 13.

But the greatest of these, as just stated, is the gift of the Holy Spirit; for it is this "unspeakable

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gift" which contains the substance of all the

of his sacrificed body to the Father in heaven. For having ascended into heaven, he is there "until the times of restitution of all things," (Acts iii. 21.) till he comes again with power and great glory to judge the world. His continuance, therefore, in heaven is a continual oblation. For he is there always presenting his sacrificed body before the mercyseat. It is in this manner that he intercedes-a manner suitable to his Kingly dignity and exalted state. As Mediator, he is obliged to intercede for us; but as our Redeemer, he claims for us, by the right of his purchase, all those blessings which he prays for. His atoning sacrifice being continually before the throne of God, must be of continual power. And this is the reason why the Apostle says that he is now "able to save to the uttermost, seeing (or because) he ever liveth to make intercession for us." Therefore it is through him that we are said to "have boldness to enter into the holiest (that is, to draw near by prayer unto God,) by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way," Heb. x. 19, 20.

I shall now proceed to establish, as before-mentioned, the Personality and Divinity of the Holy Ghost, the third Person in the ever-blessed Trinity—a truth if not so abundantly revealed as is the Personality and Godhead of the first and second Person, the Father and the Son, is, nevertheless, as satisfactorily evident. The proofs of this doctrine are as clear and as sufficient for our belief and consolation, and the complete refutation of all the objections that can be raised to it, as if they were equal in number to the evidences of the Father's Deity, and the Son's co-equality. Now, although the word Spirit, as it signifies a being which is purely spiritual, incorporeal, and distinct from all matter, is equally applicable to the divine nature of all the persons in the adorable Trinity; yet it is more frequently used to denote the third Person exclusively. Thus, Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit-the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of the Lord, mean one and the same Person. He is called the Spirit, with reference to his nature and substance, which he has in common with the other Persons. He is called the Spirit, also, on account of the manner of his subsistence— proceeding from the Father and the Son by an eternal emanation, as the breath of God. (John xv. 26. Matt. x. 20. 1 Cor. ii. 10. 12. Gal. iv. 6, Rom. viii. 9. 1 Pet. i. 11. Phil. i. 19.) He proceedeth from the Father and the Son, being equally the Spirit of them both whence he is called

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