thy God am holy?' Here is one that is holy as God, holy as man, and holy as God-man, who was born a holy thing, never conceived an unholy thought, never spoke an unholy word, nor made an unholy slip with his feet. "Which of you convinceth me of sin; and, if I speak the truth, why do ye not believe me?" The devil himself justified him when he said, "I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." Judas justified him also when he said, "I have sinned against innocent blood." Pilate justified him when he washed his hands and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it." His wife justified him when she said, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." The company of murderers justified him when they smote on their breasts, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God." The soldiers justified him when they declared the angels from heaven had rolled away the stone and sat upon it; and the rulers justified him when they said, "Take this money, and say that his disciples came by night and stole him away; and, if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you." God the Father justified him by raising him from the dead, and us with him; God the Holy Ghost justifies him by testifying of his resurrection, and of his righteousness, to every believer; and the Saviour justified himself by confounding every false witness at his trial, and

striking his adversaries to the ground when they came to take him, in fulfilment of the Psalmist's prediction, "When they came to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell."

When the divine Lawgiver saw such a won derful person, and such a wonderful obedience, every perfection of Deity harmonized and proclaimed a combined satisfaction. Justice says,

By the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water," and, I am faithful and just to forgive sins, and to cleanse from all unrighteousness, 1 John i. 9. While the Law says, 'Get a perfect righteousness, and I will never condemn thee;' my business is to condemn the wicked, to bring his wickedness upon his own head, but to justify the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness, 2 Chron. vi. 23. Holiness says, "I am the Lord which sanctify you," Lev. xx. 8. Verity says, Receive the truth, and the truth shall make you free, John viii. 32. Light says, I will shine on those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, Luke i. 79. Wisdom says, I lay up sound wisdom for the righteous, Prov. ii. 7; and make them wise unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. Peace says,

I proclaim" peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near," Isa. lvii. 19. Lovingkindness. says, I will never leave him nor forsake him, Psalm lxxxix. 33. Faithfulness says, I will never alter the word that is gone out of my lips; my covenant will I not break, nor suffer my faithful

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ness to fail. Mercy says, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful, and I will be built up for ever, Psalm lxxxix. 2. Omnipresence says, “And lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," Matt. xxviii. 20. And Omnipotence says, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness,' 2 Cor. xii. 9. Life says, "Because I live, ye shall live also," John xiv. 19. Eternity says, "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation," Isa. xlv. 17. Glory says, He raiseth up the beggars from the dunghill, and maketh them to inherit the throne of glory, 1 Sam. ii. 8. And the triune Jehovah says, They shall be made perfect in one, John xvii. 23; and "filled with all the fulness of God," Eph. iii. 19.

Thus we establish the law in the hand of the Lawgiver, to the honour of, and agreeable to, the joint declaration of all the perfections of Deity; while God justifies the ungodly. God having his law magnified by the Saviour's life, and justice fully satisfied by his death, the Saviour's obedience becomes the honourable basis of a throne of grace: "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before thy face." Thus God appears just, both to the precept and to the penalty of the law, even when he justifies a sinner, as it is written, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare at this time his righteousness, [or justice] that he might be just, and the justifier

of him which believeth in Jesus," Rom. iii. 25, Thus the law is established in the hand of the Lawgiver.

Secondly, we establish the law, as disarmed of its curse and condemning power, in the heart of the mediatorial king, Christ Jesus. When he came to fulfil it he said, "Thy law is within my heart," Psalm xl. 8.

As the law used to be shut up in the ark, which was a true type of Christ; so Christ, having taken the sentence which was against us, and contrary to us, out of the way, nailed it to his cross, Col. ii. 14. Hence the Lord Jesus keeps the magnified and disarmed law in his own heart, and appears both a just God and a Saviour, inasmuch as he did not save any but at the expense of his blood. "Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price," 1 Cor. vi. 20. Thus the Christian is "not without law to God, but under the law to Christ."

Thirdly, we establish the law in the heart of every real child of God, as it is written, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people," Jer. xxxi. 33. And by preaching up an imputed righteousness commensurate to the law, and the love of God that fulfils the law, we establish the law as fulfilled in the heart of a Christian. The law says nothing against a Surety, nothing against an imputed

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residence, a dwelling in the heart, because it works by love to him; "that Christ dwell in your hearts by faith." Faith is said to be "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” Heb. xi. 1. Our present and eternal portion is said to lie in it; "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?" In short, it is a grace that purifies the heart, that works by love, that overcomes the world; it has subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness has made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight all the armies of the aliens. It is a grace that empties the creature, and, as a strong hand, lays hold of Christ; as an eye, it looks to Christ; as a mouth, it feeds on Christ, and brings every supply from him and its business is to honour God, and feed the soul. Righteousness and strength, light and life, peace and joy, the blessings necessary for this life, and the glory of the next, are promised to saving faith. And it is a grace that will always shew itself by its fruits, without a person's sounding his own trumpet before him, as the hypocrites do.

I go on to prove that by preaching of faith we establish the law, and how.

First, by preaching the grand satisfaction of Christ we prove that the law is obeyed, magnified, and made honourable, by one who is equal to the lawgiver, and consequently equal to the law,