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of that redemption, are first promifed in the covenant to him, and then to us in him, upon his fulfilling the condition of perfect obedience. Is juftification promised? It is firft to him, and then to us in him, Iia. liii. 11. By his knowledge, [or, by the knowledge of him,] fhall my righteous fervant juftify many." Is fanétifica tion and the Spirit promifed? It is firit to him, and then to us in him; verfe firit of this chapter, "I will put my Spirit upon him, and he fhall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Is glorification promiled? It is firft to him, and then to us in him; Rom. viii. 17. "If chil dren, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Chrilt." He and the people are all in one and the fame covenant: he, as the glorious Head, Surety, and Reprefentative, having all fulness in him, both of grace and glory, for our ufe and behoof; and we, as members of that body whereof he is the head, and in a way of union to him by faith; for, "All the promifes, not only fome, but all the promifes of God are in him, Yea; and in him, Amen;" twice in him: importing, That as the covenant of grace, which is the covenant of promife, is made jointly with him and us; fo in the conftitution of the covenant, the promises are all made to him; and in the application of it, they are made to us in him: primarily, and immediately, they are made to him; fecondarily, and immediately, to us in him.

4. Hence the Fourth thing remarkable, imported in the text, is, Chrift is the centre, in whom all the lines of the covenant do meet and fo by an ufual figure, of the part for the whole, he bears the name of the whole covenant; "I will give him for a covenant of the people :" the covenant of grace is faid not only to be made with him, but he himself is the covenant. And this leads me to,

II. The Second thing, To fhew how Chrift is the covenant, and in what refpects he bears that name?

We reply, 1. Chrift is the covenant of the people radically and fundamentally, being the root, bafis, and foundation upon which the covenant of grace ftands; the alone foundation; "Other foundations can no man

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lay than that is laid, which is Jefus Chrift," 1 Cor. iii. II. He is the fure foundation that God hath laid in Zion, Ifa. xxviii. 16. The covenant of works, being built upon fomething in man, it was not fure work, and fo the fabric tumbled down: but the covenant of grace and mercy is built upon a never-failing foundation; it is fure. work to eternity; and therefore fays God, "Mercy fhall be built up for ever; why? I have made a covenant with my chofen." Chrift is the antient and eternal foundation of the covenant; no other foundation is laid i in Zion in time, but that which was laid in the counfet of peace from -eternity. God hath promifed nothing to us in time, but what he purpofed and promifed in Chrift from eternity; "He has chofen us in him before the foundation of the world," Eph. i. 4. and promised eternal life in him before the world began, He is the foundation of all the bleffings and privileges of the covenant, "Being made of God unto us wifdom, and righteousness, fan&tification, and redemption." He is the foundation of all the promiles, graces, and comforts of the covenant. This were a large field, but I go on.

2. Chrift is the covenant relatively, in refpect of the relations he comes under to it: we find in feripture, that he is called the Mediator of the covenant, Heb. ix. 15. Why? he brings God and man, that were at variance, to meet amicably by the price of his blood, he brings God to us; and by the power of his Spirit, he brings us to God, and makes up the difference.--He is called the Teftator of the covenant, Heb. ix. 16. "Where a teftament is, there is the death of the Teslator:" He hath figned all the articles of it with his own blood, and fo confirmed it, and made it a teftament.-He is called the Meflenger of the covenant, Mal. iii. r. When God would communicate his mind to us, it is in Chrift; when we would communicate our mind' to God, it is in Chrift: whatever meffage God hath to us, or we to him, Chrift bears it, and makes the travel, be the journey never so dangerous; "For this is he that came by water and blood," 1 John v. 6. He came by fea, by a fea of water for our fanétification; "For, if he wash us not, we have no part in hiin; and by a fea of blood for

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our juftification; for, " Without fhedding of blood there is no remiffion." A dangerous voyage for bearing the meffage. He is called the Witnefs of the covenant, Ifa. lv. 5. "I will give him for a witness of the people." He is the true and faithful Witnefs. As he was an eye and ear-witnefs to the whole tranfaction of the covenant from eternity; fo he fets his feal to the articles of it in time, and bears witnefs by his word, by his blood, by his Spirit. This he does effectually, fometimes in the hearts of his people, when he conquers all their unbelieving doubts and jealoufies of his word, and fufpicions of his love, or of his Father's kindnels. He is called the Surety of the covenant, Heb. vii. 22. He is the Surety both for debt and duty: Surety for debt; the law demanded of us a debt of infinite fuffering, the juft de merit of our fins, which, if laid upon us, would fink us for ever; for, "The wages of fin is death:" And alfo it demanded a debt of perfect obedience and universal holinefs and righteoufnefs. Now, we are infolvent debtors, drowned in debt, and unable to pay a farthing; and unlefs there be a Surety for us, we cannot efcape the prifon of hell, and the everlafting wrath of the omnipotent God. Behold, the Surety fleps in, even in this hopeless state. we are fallen into, pays the debt to the last farthing, and puts his name in our bond: He was made under the law, to redeem thofe that were under the law. And then he is Surety for duty, promising to put his Spirit within us, and caufe us to walk in his ftatutes. He is Surety for both fides of the covenant; Surety that all that God, hath faid and promised fhall be accomplished; and Surety that all that we are obliged to do, fhall be done for us, and in us. Ofweet and gracious covenant! In a word, he is the Servant of the covenant: "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, Ifa. xlii. 1. Wift ye not, fays he to. his parents that were feeking him, that I must be about my Father's bufinefs?" What bufinefs? What fervice? The hardest service that ever was, even to satisfy juftice, to fulfil the law, to conquer Satan, to purchase heaven, to fave an elect world, to endure the contradiction of finners against himself, in accomplishing this fervice. He is the Performer of the covenant; yea,

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the Performance itself. Chrift, ftanding in all thefe re.. lations to the covenant, may well be called the covenant of the people.

3. Chrift is the covenant fubftantially, in refpect of his being the very matter of the covenant; the principal part of it, the principal promife of it. He is the fubftance of all the promiles, the first thing propofed; and whatever is promifed elfe, is for his fake. He is the promifed feed fpoken of to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David, Cen. iii. 15. Gen. xxii, 18. Luke i. 32, 33. He is the fubftance of the prophecies, "To him give all the prophets witnels," Acts x. 43He is the fubftance of all the fhadows and Old Teliament types: he is the true brazen ferpent, that heals di eafed fouls; the true manna and bread of life; the true facrifice and pafcal lamb, whofe blood, being fprink led on the door-pofts of the foul, faves from the destroying angel of all the types he is the Atitype, the fubftance of the whole Bible, and of all the fcriptures; "Thefe are they that teltify of me." It is a firange text, that a gofpel-minifter cannot find Chrift in, fince the whole fcriptures teftify of him; as if it faid nothing else. but Chrift, Christ. Thus he is the covenant fubftan- ́ tially. Again,

4. Chrift is the covenant eminently: in point of emi nency, ornament, and excellency. He is the very ornament of the covenant, the excellency and sweetness of it: he is the bleffing of all the bleffings of the covenant: the mercy of all the mercies; the foul of all the privileges of the covenant: no bleffing of the covenant is a bleffing without him, for all the bleflings come with him; "How hall he not with him freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. The covenant is nothing without Chrift, the bleffings of it are nothing without Chrift; he is the sweetness of all the bleffings of the covenant, the marrow of all the mercies of the covenant, and the fulness of all the promifes of the covenant: they are all empty without Chrift, for he is ALL IN ALL. And therefore, O empty ordinances, without Chrift; O empty facraments, if Chrift be not there; O empty minifters, if Chrift be

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not with them; yea, O empty heaven, if Christ be not there; empty enjoyments, empty comforts without Chrift.

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5. Chrift is the covenant meritorioufly, and in point of acquifition and procurement. He does all that is neceffary for the procuring the bleffings of the covenant; his righteoufnels is the great condition of the covenant, the alone condition of it, properly fo called; it is the caufe, the procuring caufe of all covenant-bleffings. All that is promifed to Chrift, or to us, is upon the account of his obedience; a. liii. 10, 11, 12. By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous:" not by the obedience of any man for himself, Rom. v. 19. He is the procurer of jullification, Rom. v. 18.; the procurer of remiffion of fin, Rom. iii. 24.; the procurer of peace, I a. liii. 5.; yea, the fum of it, for," He is our peace;' the procurer of our accefs to God, and communion with him; all that are afar off are made nigh, only by the blood of Christ; the procurer of fanctifying grace, Ifa. lii. 10. 1 Cor. i. 30. and of eternal falvation; his death is the purchase of the heavenly inheritance; and fo he is the covenant meritorioufly, in procuring all the bleffings thereof.

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6. Chrift is. the covenant efficacioufly, or efficiently: as he procures all by the price of his blood, fo he applies. all by the power of his Spirit. By this powerful Spirit of his, in the efficiency of his application, by the means of the law, he difcoyers to men their fad condition, while under a covenant of works; by the means of the gofpel, he discovers the excellencies of the covenant of grace, and alfo their claim to it, in and by the indefinite general difpenfation of the gofpel, and the promise of the covenant; fo that whoever will, may come and put in for a fhare. But this is not all; Chrift, in his efficiency, does perfuade and enable the poor foul to take hold of this covenant, of Chrift himself, as the ALL of the covenant, and that with particular application to itfelf, for its own relief; and not only to accept, but to trust to it for all grace and life, and that upon the warrant of God's word of grace, renouncing all other ways of salvation, and refting only upon this, 1 Tim. i. 15. Acts xvi. 6. Yea, after the person is brought within the

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