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was foon to leave them, and the heavens must receive him, until the times of reftitution of all things; whilft in his divine nature he would be present with his churches to the end of the world.

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It is thus in the cafe before us; Chrift had an inferior and created nature, as to which he was one of us; and with refpect to this nature he obeyed, and suffered, and wrought out righteousness. But then he likewife had another and fuperior nature, with refpect to which he thought it no robbery to be equal with God, and was over all, God blessed for ever. And as to this nature he was eternally exalted above all poffibility of obeying, or fuffering. Now as. Chrift was thus a complex Perfon conftituted of two natures fo vaftly different, we find thofe things predicated of him with respect to his fufferings and death, which were, and could be only true of him as to one of those natures. So we read, that God purchafed the Church, with his own blood· that the Lord of glory was crucified and that God laid down his life for us. Not that Chrift as God fhed his blood, or was crucified and laid down his life, that were blafphemy to fuppofe; but he that was God as well as man, did this. By vertue of the near and infeparable union of the two natures in the Perfon of our Immanuel, what belonged to one nature only, belonged only to the finite, paffible, mortal nature, is predicated of the other; the fufferings of the one nature are spoken of as the fufferings of the other, or rather, as I faid, of the Perfon constituted

of

of both *. The divine nature not only fupported him in all his fufferings, but influenced into them. All along the union between the two natures fubfifted, so that, not the divine

nature

* We have no union in our world, that can be fuppofed to come up to this myfterious and adorable union of the divine and human nature in the one Perfon of the Mediator. What feems to bear the nearest refemblance to it, is the union of foul and body, a material and an immaterial principle, in man. And this, I apprehend, may in fome meafure affift our conceptions as to what I was taking notice of above, the having fuch very different things predicated of the Perfon of Chrift. For by virtue of the union of foul and body in man, the properties of foul and body which are fo very different, are affirmed of the Perfon, though agreeing only to one of the principles, of which he is conftituted. Thus, for inftance, we fay of Peter, that he is fair, well-proportioned, &c. though only fo with refpect to his body; and that he is learned, wife, thoughtful, &c. tho' only fo with refpect to his foul: That is, we affirm that of the perfon, which only agrees to one of the conftituent principles of his nature confidered by itself. In other inftances we affirm that of the perfon which agrees to neither of the conflituent principles of his nature confidered alone, and is only true of the man as conftituted of both; as when we tay of Peter, that he ferved his country with honour, purchafed fuch an eftate, &c. here we attribute that to Peter, which belongs neither to foul or body confidered alone, but only to the man as compounded of both. And thus it is with respect to Chrift, by virtue of the wonderful union of two fuch diftinct natures in his perfon. When we fay of him, that he fuffered and died, we mean it of his human nature only: when we fay of him, that he thought it no robbery to be equal with God, that he is omniscient, omniprefent, &c. we mean it only with refpect to his divine nature; and when we

fay

nature by itself, nor the human by itself, but the Perfon conftituted of both was the principle of all he did, and fuffered as Mediator.

And as actions and fufferings must be eftimated by the dignity of the Perfon whose they are, what must be the excellency and efficacy of the obedience and fufferings of the Son of God? This made Chrift's death a perfect atonement, and his blood an all-fufficient ranføm; derived fuch a value upon all he did and suffered, as made it equal to all our guilt, and meritorious of every bleffing. Hence we read, that there is an infinitely fuperior efficacy in the blood of Chrift to that of all the facrifices under the law; because through the eternal Spirit, he offered himself without fpot to God, Heb. ix. 14. And that by himself he purged our fins, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his Perfon, Heb. i. 3. So we are faid to have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of fins, who is the image of the invifible God, Col. i. 14, 15. and it is mentioned

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fay of him, that he is the Mediator, the Redeemer, and Saviour of finners, we mean it of his Perfon conftituted of both natures. And as this union of the two natures, the human and divine, in the one Perfon of the Media tor does thus evidently lay a foundation for the feveral things, which are affirmed of him, and were done by him in the economy of our falvation, this fhould fatisfy us with refpect to the conftitution of his Perfon without indulging too nice and curious enquiries about the nature and modus of this union; things which God has not feen fit to reveal, and which we have the higheft reafon to believe are infinitely above our grafp. Vid. Brown's fermons, page 113. Examinat. of Bishop Burnet's Expofit. of the 2d Article, page 36.

as his divine and most glorious name, that he is Jehovah our righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 6. and this feems to be strongly intimated in the text, in the Lord, [in Jehovah] have I righteousness. And again; In the Lord [in Jehovah] ball all the feed of Ifrael be juftified. It is probable that upon this account, among others, the righteoufnefs which we have in Chrift for our justification, is defcribed as the righteoufness of God, Rom. i. 17. x. iii. and the righteoufnefs of God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrift, 2 Pet. i. 1. As the righteousness which God appointed, fo the righteoufnefs which God wrought out in the Perfon of the Mediator. The righteoufnefs of him, who is God as well as man. The ful ness of the Deity influences into it, and gives it a fuperlative and everlasting dignity and efficacy.

And how affecting, and at the fame time how eftablishing to faith is this? It is Jefus the Son of God, and who is himself over all God blessed for ever, that obeyed and fuffered that he might furnish out this righteoufnefs. Not that he did this in his divine nature, that was eternally above all fufferings and forrows, but in a nature that he affumed on purpose, that he might be in a capacity for it *.

Come,

Ad hanc paffionibus dignitatem conciliandum non requirebatur, ut ipfa Divinitas, vel Chriftus qua Deus pateretur: Sufficiebat eum pati qui Deus eft. Omnes enim actiones & paffiones funt perfonæ, & a dignitate perfonæ æftimantur, ac denominationem accipiunt, ut a principio quod, licet pro harum conditione attribuendæ fint naturæ ex qua ortum habent, ut principio quo. Witf. in Symbol. Exercitat. XV. Sect. 7.

Come, my foul, and adore this mystery, tho' thou must never think to grafp and comprehend it! To fee the eternal Son of God, obeying his own law; the Lord of glory crucified; The fellow of the Lord of hosts fmote by the sword of his juftice; Him, whom angels worship, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain, wrapt up in the meannefs of our natures, and there dying that he might fatisfy justice, work out righteoufnefs and obtain eternal redemption for us! Let the enemies of his crofs, and of his glory, rend his Deity from him, and then expect falvation by him: How is it conceivable that he, who is but a mere creature however dignified, fhould take fuch a load of guilt upon himself, meet the wrath of an Almighty God, ftand up under it, and give infinite juftice all that it did or could ask? How is it poffible that the strength and righteoufnefs of a creature fhould be the object of my faith, or a foundation on which to reft the weight of my eternal hopes? But what a rock do I feel under me, when I anchor upon the strength and righteoufnefs of one, who is God as well as man? Who had a human nature, that he might receive the - wrath due to fin; a divine nature that he might ftand up under it. Was man, that he might obey and suffer; God, that he might add an infinite merit to his obedience and fufferings. "What shall I fay? Was man, that he might have a life to lay down for us; God, that the power of laying it down and taking it up again might be in his own hands. Was man, that he might die; God, that by death he might deftroy him that had the power of death. Man, that

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