all the fullness of God," he not only adverts to the subject which I am about to bring before you, but declares that "all saints in the universe ought in some good measure to comprehend it." It is obvious on the most superficial view of these words, that the Apostle saw a glory and excellency in the Gospel, beyond what it was in the power of language to express, or of any finite imagination fully to comprehend; and that he regarded a discovery of that excellency as the appointed means of accomplishing in men the whole work of Divine grace, and of ultimately filling them with all the fullness of God. Hence it will be seen how appropriate these words are to our present subject; wherein I am to set before you, as God shall enable me, the Gospel of Christ, in all its excellency, and in all its glory.

In the prosecution of this great object, I will endeavor to exhibit the Gospel, as "honoring God's law;" as "glorifying His perfections;" and as 'laying a foundation for greater happiness, both to men and angels, than either of them could ever have enjoyed, if man had never fallen.'

First, I am to set it forth as honoring God's law.

This is a point of view in which it deserves the most attentive consideration. For, if we proclaim a free and full salvation, and that simply by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we immediately appear to men to set aside the Law. And more particularly, when we state, that the law cannot justify any man-that it is not to be observed with any view to obtain justification by itthat we must not so much as lean to it in the slightest degreeand that the placing of the smallest dependence upon it will invalidate the whole Gospel-we are supposed to be downright Antinomians in principle, whatever we may be in practice; and our doctrines are represented as quite dangerous to the community. Now it must be remembered, that St. Paul's own statements were, in the judgment of many, obnoxious to this very reproach; and that he was, "therefore," constrained to vindicate them from this charge: "Do we, then, make void the Law through faith? God forbid;" says he: "yea, we establish the law."

The law, you will remember, requires perfect obedience to all its commandments, and denounces a curse against every one who shall violate even the least of them, in the smallest possible degree. Now, it is manifest that we have broken them in ten thousand instances, and are consequently obnoxious to its heaviest

judgments: and yet we say to those who believe in Christ, that they have nothing to fear; for that "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Here, then, we seem to set aside the law altogether, both in its commanding and condemning power. But the truth is, that we establish the law in both respects: for the Gospel declares, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, was "made of a woman, made under the law," on purpose that, in his own person, he might fulfill the law which we had broken, and endure the penalties which we had incurred; that so not a jot or a tittle should pass from the law, till the whole of it, in every possible view, should be fulfilled. This work He both undertook and executed. He obeyed the law, in its utmost possible extent; and he endured the wrath due to the sins of the whole world. Now, consider how greatly the law was honored by this. It would have been henored, if all mankind had obeyed it: and it would also have been honored, if they had all been consigned over to the punishment they had merited by their disobedience. In either case, its authority would have been displayed and vindicated. But where the Lawgiver himself, the Mighty God, becomes a man, and puts himself under its authority, and obeys all its precepts, and suffers all its penalties, and does this on purpose that the law may be honored, and that the salvation of man may be rendered compatible with its demands, this puts an honor upon the law which it would never have obtained by any other means, and must for ever render it glorious in the eyes of the whole intelligent creation.

But it is not in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, as our Head and Representative, that the law is honored: the Gospel engages that every sinner who is interested in its provisions shall himself also honor the law in his own person. For every one, at the time that he comes to Christ for mercy, must acknowledge, that he is justly condemned by the law; and that, if, for his transgressions of the law, he be cast into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone it will be no more than his just desert. And this must he acknowledge, not in mere words only, that carry not the heart along with them: no; he must feel that he is actually in danger of this very punishment; and that nothing but a most wonderful act of mercy can ever deliver him from it. He must go to God, as one that sees this very punishment awaiting him; and must,

from his inmost soul, cry out with Peter, when sinking in the

Morcover, in his supplicasufferings of the Lord Jesus

waves, "Save, Lord, or I perish!" tions for mercy, he must plead the Christ in his behalf. He must not even desire that the authority of the law should be made void; no, not even for the salvation of his soul: he must found all his hopes on the honor done to the law by the sufferings of Christ; and must desire, that those sufferings may be put to his account, as if he himself had endured them: nor is his own mind to be satisfied with any thing which does not satisfy the law, and put honor upon the law. Nor is this all: for he must acknowledge, that without a righteousness commensurate with the utmost demands of the law, he never can be, nor ever ought to be, accepted of his God. He must deeply lament his utter inability to keep the law in this manner; and must renounce all hope in himself; assured that nothing but perfect obedience can ever be received by God, or be acknowledged by him as honoring his law. A man rightly instructed would deem it an insult to the law, to desire that his partial and worthless performances should be regarded as answering its demands: and, in this view, renouncing all hope in himself and his own works, he will plead the obedience which his Incarnate God has paid to the law, and trust in that alone for righteousness and salvation. He will not even wish for acceptance with God on any other terms than those of having rendered, either in himself or in his Divine Surety, a perfect obedience to the law: in a word, he will regard the Lord Jesus Christ as "the end of the law for righteousness to the believing soul," and trust in Him altogether under that character, "The Lord our righteousness." Thus you perceive that the Gospel provides for the honor of the law, not only in showing that it has been honored by the obedience and sufferings of our Incarnate God, but in requiring every sinner in the universe, to honor it in his own person, by founding all his hopes on that very mediation by which the law has been so greatly honored. Nor have we yet attained a full view of this part of our subject: for the Gospel yet farther requires, that all who in this way have found acceptance with God, shall endeavor to honor the law by their own obedience to it, in every respect. True, indeed, the believer feels that he cannot perfectly obey it: he feels, too, that he can never, by his best attempts to obey it, recommend himself to God, so as to obtain a justifying righteousness before

him: yet he regards the law as "holy, and just, and good;" and endeavors to fulfill it, as much as if he were to be saved altogether by his obedience to it. "The grace of God, which bringeth salvation," teaches him this; it teaches him, that, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, he should live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present world." Whilst, therefore, he embraces the promises of the Gospel as the one ground of hope, he will make use of those promises as an incentive to "cleanse himself from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God."

Now, this effect of the Gospel is not produced only in a few particular instances: it is universal: nor is there so much as one sinner that ever finds acceptance through Christ, without having this experience realized in his soul. If any person under heaven profess to have obtained salvation through Christ, without having this humiliation under a sense of sin, this conviction of his lost estate-this acquiescence in the justice of God as consigning him over to perdition-this consciousness of his inability to repair his breaches of the law-this persuasion that the law ought to be honored, both in its commanding and condemning power-this hope in Christ, as having so honored it in both respects-this utter renunciation of every other hope--and, in addition to it all, this desire to obey the law, and this determination to honor it in every possible way-I say, if any person without this, as the deep and abiding experience of his soul, should profess an expectation of salvation by Christ, we should not hesitate to say of him, what the Apostle said of the self-deceiving Jews, that, however he may be "seeking righteousness, he neither has attained it," nor ever will attain it in the way in which he is proceeding: he is yet a stranger to the law, and the glory of the Gospel is yet hid from his eyes. He has yet to learn, that, as the Gospel honors the law, so every one that is saved by the Gospel, does, and must, in every possible way, and to the utmost extent of his power, contribute to this good work of "magnifying and making honorable the law of God."

The next point of view, in which the excellency of the Gospel is to be shown, is that it glorifies all the perfections of the Deity. That there was a difficulty in making the salvation of man to consist with the honor of the Divine perfections, was mentioned in a former discourse; wherein were shown the wisdom of God in

contriving a way, the power of God in effecting it, and the grace of God in accommodating it to all the wants and necessities of fallen man. My present point will lead me to show, not merely that this consistency is secured, but that all the perfections of God are more glorified in this way, than they could have been in any other. For instance, suppose that man, with all his descendents, had been consigned to misery: the justice of God would have appeared; and his truth also would have been seen; but it would not have been known that there existed in the Deity, any such attribute as mercy; or that, if it did exist in Him, it could ever find a scope for exercise; since the exercise of it must, of necessity, involve in it some remission of the rights of justice, and some encroachment on the honor of the law. On the other hand, if free and full remission of sins had been granted unto man, it would not have been seen how such an act of grace could consist with the rights of justice, and holiness, and truth. But, in the method of salvation which the Gospel reveals, not only are these perfections reconciled with each other, but all of them are exceedingly enhanced and glorified.

I will now confine myself to three of the Divine attributes— Justice, Mercy, and Truth; and show how a ten-fold lustre is reflected upon them in the Gospel salvation, beyond what could ever have beamed forth in any other way.

Justice, as I have said, would have been seen in the condemnation of the human race. But what shall we say of it as exhibited in the Gospel? Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is "God over all," puts himself in the place of sinful man, and undertakes to endure for man, all that the sins of the whole world had merited. But what will Justice say, when it finds our sins transferred to Him? Will it venture to seize on Him? Will it exact the debt of Him? Will it draw forth the sword against Him, who is "Jehovah's fellow?" Methinks the sword, stretched out, would fall from the hand of Justice, and refuse to execute its appointed work. But, no: sin is found on our Incarnate God. True, it is in Him only by imputation: yet, being imputed to him, he must be made answerable for it, and must himself endure all that it has merited at the hands of God. Behold, then, for the honor of God's justice, the cup is put into the hands of our blessed Lord; and the very dregs of the cup of bitterness are given him to drink; nor is he released from his sufferings, till he can say, "It VOL. II.-81