with which, one day, he fhould be clothed; whereupon, mortality would be totally fwallowed up in life. But he knew that people would impute fuch confidence to any thing rather than folid reason and argument; and it feems they had upon other occafions, looked upon it, and reprefented it as the effect of infanity. He therefore here shows, that it was an inference rifing from the nature of their doctrine, by the foundeft reasoning and argumentation. For that the love of Christ, in acting the part of a mediator and fubftitute, included and comprehended him, and made him a party in all he did. He and the other apostles, he says, reasoned thus If one died for all; why then, of neceffity all died and fo we must be included. And if one rose for all, then all rofe from the dead, and are paffed into a state of immortality: therefore we, Paul, John, James &c. must be included. So that we now know no perfon left in the flesh, in a mortal ftate; but Chrift comprehended and carried us down to death, and rofe, landing himself and us on the other fide in the power of an endless life.

When the apostles looked about them, they faw all men in the flesh; finful, fick and dying: but they

they did not walk by fight, but by faith. For faith, is good fenfe and ftrict reafoning. A fool takes things always as they appear upon the furface, at firft fight; but he that lives by reason, searches into the bottom and views things far off. This was the cafe with the apoftles; they reafoned very deep and argued clofe; and their faith was the refult of good fense, reasoning and demonstration. And thus they rofe in confidence of a happy futurity, by arguing and reasoning upon the nature and property of the mediator's character and office. That as he, so are we, paffed into the power of an endless life.

This paffage might fuffice to fupport the truth under confideration, but I fhall add another. Eph. I. 19. 20. chap. 2. 1. — 4. 5. 6. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power; which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and fet him at his own right hand in heavenly places; and you, who were dead in trefpaffes and fins.

mercy, for his great love

God, who is rich in wherewith he loved us,

even when we were dead in fins, hath quickened us together with Chrift; and hath raised us up

together,

together, and made us fit together in heavenly places in Chrift Jefus. In the words, we find Chrift first dead in the grave; then the dead body is reanimated and cometh to life; after that, it is raised up and appears among the living; next afcends to heaven; and laftly, fits down in the celeftial glory. And in all these fteps, from the grave to heaven, and from death to the height of life, it is afferted that we were in him. Every step was of a complicated and public nature. All men had a kind of mystical presence and existence in him, in every thing. He neither lived, nor died, nor rose, nor afcended alone. We were in him in his mortal ftate in the flesh, in him when he expired, in him rifing, in him ascending, and in him fitting now in glory. This is our myftical state of existence, called a newness of life. And it is as yet out of fight, an entire object of faith, to be held in contemplation and reafon; but in due time will be made manifeft, and will exceed all the ideas that can be now formed of its greatness.

Our prefent condition then, is a state of glory in disguise. We are already raised from the dead, and paffed into a state of immortality and glory in a

mystery

myftery. For if one acted for all, as a general substitute in these things, his condition is the condition of all, the publick exhibition of which is reserved for the last day. We may therefore justly admire our prefent ftate though under a veil, and with the apoftle fay, 1. John 3. 1.- Behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the fons of God! Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the fons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we fhall fee him as he is.

The fubject of admiration here, is what we have mentioned already, our prefent condition. We are the fons of God by nomination; or, as it is expreffed elsewhere, adoption. We are made fons in the son, whofe entire character is by the above appointment, become ours, by which means we become the fons of God in the highest sense. Nominally and characteristically, by the contrivance and appointment of divine charity, we are every thing that he is. The world being ignorant of the real character of the Son of God, must therefore

of

of neceffity be in the dark concerning the ftate of christians, who by faith fall in with, and confent to this decree of divine love. Unless they know him, his character and life, with the holiness and excellencies which adorned it; unless they know this, and the scheme of mercy which God was executing thereby, they never can know us at all. For we are not to be estimated according to what appears in us, but according to what we are in him by nomination. It doth not yet appear what we are nor what we shall be, by any thing which may be feen in us, for we are under a veil. But when he fhall appear, this fhall be removed, and what now remains an object of faith, will become an object of fight. We fhall then be externally like him in a perfonal form and figure. If any one afks, how fhall we be certain at that time, that there will be a real perfonal likeness between him and us? may not he put on an appearance like ours, and yet be very different from us? This nobody can deny; but fays the apoftle, we fhall fee him as he is. He will make a fincere and undisguised exhibition of himself for the purpose; and as it were, fay, look at me critically and view me, and compare me with yourselves, and fay, have I deceived you?