SECTION V. 141 of the Spirit, which could never have been brought in our Savi- our's life-time, we have this advantage also amongst others, that we have the gospel set in a clearer light by his apostles, in their sermons and epistles, than our Saviour himself set it in by his own personal ministry. That divine teacher explained the law clearly, and set the commands of it in their full light and beauty, partly to lead us to a more spiritual practice than the Pharisees, and the Jewish doctors of the law were acquaintedwith, and partly to shewour utter incapacity of keeping the law, or obtaining eternal life by it He also began to publish the gospel of grace, repentance and forgiveness ; but as was declared before, his sovereign wisdom didnot think proper publicly to explain and illustrate this gos-. pel of forgiveness with the doctrine of his own sacrifice, his death, his atonement for our sins, his resurrection for our justification, -his intercession for us in heaven, andhis ruling the world for' the good of his people : He ,left all this to be done by his apos- ties, when the Spirit should come down upon them and teach them many things which they could not bear in his life time, and which therefore he did not clearly teach them ; John ivi. 12. Value therefore and love the gospel, and return not to the law ofworks, as the means or ruleof your justification ; Gal. iv. 21. Tell the ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law, how it curses every. sinner, and condemns them all without remedy and without hope ? It -is the business of sinners to fly to and live upon this gospelof forgiveness; and not seek to establish their own imperfect righteousness before God. Rejoice in the way of justification by the obedience, death and resurrec- tion of the Son of God in flesh. Never hope to obtain pardon of sin, and to secure the salvation which Christ has revealed, by your own keeping the commandments of the law, for your best righteousnesses are all very defective and insufficient : But repent of sin, trust in Christ, and live upon atoning blood and pardon- ing grace, while you humbly seek after the highest degrees of holiness and conformity to the commands of the law. By this means you shall magnify the law of God, and make it honoura- ble to the sight of men, even while your hope of salvation and eternallife is entirely owing to the rich graceof God in the gos- pel of his Son Jesus : To him that has loved us, and washed .us from our sins in his blood, to him that has redeemed usfrom the curse of the law, by being made a curse and a sacrificefor us, be glory, honour and dominionfor ever and, ever. Amen.
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