thy faith in the hour of trial, that thou mayest experience his faithfulness to his word. If thou put honour upon it, according to thy faith so shall it be done unto thee.

Give it credit, and thy steps will

be ordered aright. Thou wilt walk in love this day, as God hath loved thee. He will be thy portion, and the way in which he is to be enjoyed will be thy delight.

Set out then in this faith, with peace in thy conscience, and love in thy heart-trusting to thy God and Father. Look up to him for strength to maintain and to increase these gråces. And hope to receive it from his faithfulness. Now he has put a new song in thy mouth, even praise unto thy God, go on thy way believing and rejoicing. Jesus is thine with all his fulness. And he has promised

thee a constant supply of the Spirit, that thou mayest have grace for grace to enable thee to walk humbly with thy God.

Mind, then, thy walk is to be ordered according to his revealed will, and in his appointed way of obedience to it; for all rational creatures are bound to obey God. As soon as he makes known his will to them, it becomes their indispensable duty. His will is one, like himself, unchangeably the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever: for, when revealed by the Sovereign Creator, it becomes to mankind a law which altereth not. It binds angels and men every moment, in every point and circumstance. And its obligation will never cease. For all his commandments are sure, they stand fast for ever and ever. What he has commanded is as fixed as the sun before him. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.

It pleased the sovereign Creator to enforce this holy, just, and good law, by proper sanctions. Out of his mere grace he has promised life to obedience, which man engaged to perform; and he threatened death to disobedience, to which penalty man submitted. Thereby this law became a covenant of works. The promise was to him who should continue obedient in all things; for Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man who fulfilleth those things shall live by them. But if he does not fulfil them perfectly, without one failing, he then comes under the penalty which God had threatened to disobedience-" Cursed is he who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." This curse draws after it all the pains and penalties of the broken law in earth and in hell.

Under this law of works Adam was placed, and under it all his descendants are born. He and they are bound to keep the law in their own persons, if they would receive the promise; or liable to suffer the penalty, if they transgress. Adam broke the law of works, and we all in him; for in him all have sinned. We were all in his loins when he fell, and forfeited in his attainder. By the offence of that one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. The righteous Judge passed the sentence, and decreed, that by the law of works no flesh living should be saved: for he has proved in his word both Jews and Gentiles to be under the law, and under sin, which is the transgression of it. Whereby every mouth is stopped, and all the world is become guilty before God: therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

In the law of works there was no provision made for a surety; but it did not absolutely exclude one: therefore it left room for the covenant of grace, in which a provision was made in the person of Jesus Christ, for securing the divine honour of this holy law. He undertook to stand up in man's place and stead, to magnify the precepts of the law in his life, and to glorify the penalties of the law in his death, that not one jot or tittle of it might fail till all was fulfilled. And as he was God over all, blessed for ever, his life and death put everlasting honour upon the divine law. His obedience was of inestimable sufferings were infinitely sufficient to

value, and his

take away sin. Christ is now the end of the law for righteousness. He answered the end of the law for his people, by obeying and suffering for them. And every one of them can now plead by faith a perfect fulfilling of all the precepts, a perfect suffering of all the penalties in the person of their divine Surety. God the Father is faithful and just to his word and engagements with his Son; he has made known his will in the immutable record of his grace, "That whosoever believeth in Jesus should not perish, but should have everlasting life," How can he perish? Jesus died for him. He shall live with God in everlasting life; because Jesus lived for him. And this is the declared will of the Father concern. ing all that believe in his only-begotten Son,

Remember then, O my soul, that thou art not under the law, but under grace. Thou art saved from the law, under the form of a covenant of works. Thou art not bound to keep its precepts, in order to have life for thy obedience. Thy surety under

took to act and suffer for thee. He was to answer the law in its commands and demands, to every jot and tittle. And he did. Whatever it required, whatever it threatened, was perfectly fulfilled in the person of thy God and Saviour: and he has absolutely discharged thee from it, as a law of works, Thou art to have nothing to do with it in that view; nay, he has forbidden thee to keep it, in hopes that thou mayest live thereby. The irreversible decree entered in the records of heaven has enacted-"By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Thou art now to look upon the law, in the matter of justifying and giving life, as a woman looks upon her dead husband. She is freed from the marriage contract with him, and may now give her heart and hand to another: so art thou freed from the bond of the legal covenant. Thou art become dead to the law by the body of Christ, who has espoused and betrothed thee to himself, that serving him in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter, thou mayest bring forth fruit unto God. This is thy high privilege. Thy first husband is dead; happy for thee thou art lawfully married to another-thy husband is thy Maker, Jehovah of hosts is his name. The Word made flesh has paid all thy debts, suffered thy punishment, wrought out a perfect righteousness, and won a crown of perfect glory for thee. O what a divine honour has he put upon thee!

Thou art

now one with Emmanuel in a bond of everlasting love. He has given himself to thee, with all he has and all he is; and it is thy happiness now, not to be but the Lord's-not to follow thine own

thine

own,

will, but his.

The law of thy Lord is liberty. As

taught by his Spirit, and performed by faith, it is perfect freedom. Whilst thou walkest with him in obedience to it, and leanest on thy Beloved every step, thou wilt find deliverance from all spiritual tyranny and bondage, and wilt enjoy the light of his countenance, and the love of his heart. When the Son has thus made thee free, thou art free indeed— free, now thy heart is set at liberty to run with Jesus in the way of his commandments.

In this view, O my soul, thou canst look with delight at the most holy law. Attend to it closely, and study it carefully. In order to obey as a Christian, these following considerations should be well understood and digested; because, under the influence of them, every step of thy walk is to be ordered. O pray, then, for the Spirit of wisdom to teach thee practically,

1. That thy walk with God in the way of obedience, is not to fulfil the law as a covenant of works. Thou art not required to do this. Thou canst not do it. Emmanuel, thy divine surety, took it upon himself. Because it was impossible for thee, a fallen creature, to keep the law, so as to be justified by it, he therefore came in person to fulfil it. He honoured its precepts by his infinite obedience. He magni

fied its penalties by his inestimable sacrifice. this is thy justifying righteousness.

And

Through faith

in the life and death of the God-man, thou art not only freed from guilt and condemnation, from curse and hell, but art also entitled to life and glory. The law is now on thy side, and is become thy friend. It acquits thee. It justifies thee. It will give thee the reward promised to obedience.

The law in the