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Having shewn what evangelical obedience is, let me point out to you,

II. The blessedness attached to it

To understand this aright, we should look to Adam in Paradise

[He, whilst he continued in a state of innocence, had liberty to eat of the tree of life, which was to him a sacramental pledge, that, when his obedience should be completed, he should enter into the Paradise above. But when he had sinned, he was debarred from all access to the tree of life; because it could no longer be available for the benefits which, during his state of innocence, it assured to him. He might have ignorantly had recourse to it still as the means of life, if he had continued in Paradise: and therefore God drove him out from thence, and placed cherubims with a fiery sword at the gate of Eden, to prevent him from making any such rash attempt; that so he might be shut up to the salvation which was now revealed to him through the promised Seed".

Now the privilege which he forfeited is, through Christ, renewed to us or rather, I should say, the privilege which he enjoyed in the shadow, is now imparted to us in the substance. He possessed his by obeying the commandments written on his heart; and we enjoy ours by obeying the commandments revealed to us in the Gospel. He possessed not his by any claim of merit, but by the free and sovereign gift of God: nor do we obtain ours but in a way of sovereign grace. Yet, as in his case, so in ours, the work and the reward are inseparable: and the very "right" conceded to him by works, is vouchsafed to us by faith. The very word which we here translate right," is, in another part of the same author's works, translated "power:" "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name "." There is between this passage and our text a perfect identity of import. In both cases, access to Christ, as the tree of life, was given by faith; and that access to Christ, and consequent participation of his benefits, was a pledge of eternal life.

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True, in order to a full enjoyment of the final reward, there must be, as in Adam's case, an obedience also to the moral law. But, in both cases, the reward is ultimately and equally of grace. What would have been vouchsafed to him without a Mediator, if he had continued obedient to God's commands, will be vouchsafed to us through a Mediator, notwithstanding

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our past disobedience; provided we comply with the requisitions of the Gospel, by a life of faith, and by a life of holiness.] In both cases, obedience is equally a condition of eternal life

[Persons are apt to take offence at the word condition. But the word is proper or improper, according to the sense we annex to it. Strictly speaking, obedience would not have given to Adam in Paradise any claim to heaven, any further than heaven had been promised to him as a reward, in the event of his continuing faultless throughout the whole period appointed for his probation. But to a person seeking salvation by the law, it would actually give ground for boasting, because he would demand salvation as a debt. But under the Gospel, however obedient we be, our hope of salvation is founded on Christ alone; and to all eternity must the glory of it be given to him alone. Hence, when we speak of obedience as a condition of eternal life, we mean no more, than that without it no salvation can be attained; obedience being the necessary fruit of faith, and the only possible evidence of our meetness for heaven. In this, its true and only proper sense, we most cordially adopt the language of our text, and say, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to eat of the tree of life, and enter in through the gates of the city." Whatever was accorded to Adam in Paradise, during his obedience to the law, shall be vouchsafed to us, if we be obedient to the Gospel. Was he strengthened and comforted by the tree of life? so shall we be, by a life of faith on Christ Jesus, who is the tree of life which beareth twelve manner of fruits-the summer-fruits of prosperity, and the winter-fruits of adversity, according as the necessities of his people shall require. And, as the heavenly Paradise would have been his; so will that city, described in the foregoing chapter, be ours, with the freest participation of all its riches and of all its honours.]

APPLICATION-To all then I SAY,

1. Perform your duties

[Come to Christ, every one of you, as sinners, that you may be saved from wrath through him And endeavour to live altogether to His glory, shewing forth, in all things, your faith by your works

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2. Enjoy your privileges

[Go to the tree of life; take of it freely; and eat of it every hour of your lives. You are told, that "the very leaves of that tree are for the healing of the nations." What then shall its fruits be? Verily, a life of faith in the Son of God, as having

loved you and given himself for you, shall richly supply your every want; and be not a pledge only, but a foretaste also, of heaven itself. And go now, and survey the heavenly city, its foundations, its walls, its gates of pearls, its very pavement of the purest gold: it is all yours; yours by "right," by title, by the strongest of all possible claims-the promise and the oath of God. Live in expectation of it now, and you shall soon enjoy it for evermore.]

MMDXXXIII.

CHRIST THE MORNING STAR.

Rev. xxii. 16. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

THE Revelation which had been made to John, contained predictions of an uninterrupted series of events from that time even to the end of the world. They had indeed been made to him through the instrumentality of an angel: but they were nevertheless as certain, as if they had been delivered immediately by God himself; seeing that the angel had received his commission and instructions directly from Jesus, who is "THE LORD OF THE HOLY PROPHETS." It seems to have been with a view to assure John, together with the saints in all succeeding ages, of the truth and certainty of all that had been spoken, that Jesus gave this description of his own character: in which we may see,

I. His personal character

That Jesus was "the offspring of David," is obvious enough

[He was to be so according to the Scriptures: and that he was so, both by his father's and his mother's side, the genealogies that are given of him expressly affirm. Indeed Divine Providence so ordered it, that, in consequence of a taxation decreed throughout the Roman Empire in the time of Cæsar Augustus, his reputed father was under the necessity of going up to Bethlehem, to be taxed there: by which means there was a public enrolment of the name of Jesus, (who was b Isai. xi. 1.

a

Compare ver. 6. with the text.

e Matt. i. and Luke iii.

born there at that time,) as belonging to the house and lineage of Davidd."]

But He was no less "the Root" also of David

[How this could be, was but little understood, till after the day of Pentecost. Jesus did indeed often speak of himself as God; but still his Disciples did not clearly apprehend his meaning. Yet that the Messiah, who was to be "a Child born and a Son given," was also to be "the Mighty God," even "God with us," was fully and distinctly revealed in the prophetic writings. But the most learned of the Jewish Rabbins, when a remarkable prophecy to this effect was adduced from the Psalms by our blessed Lord, were unable to solve the difficulty proposed to them: they could not explain how David's Son could possibly be David's Lord'. Nor can our modern Socinians ever return a satisfactory answer to our Lord's question; which can only be answered by acknowledging, that Jesus is God as well as man; the Creator of all things in his Divine nature, though himself a creature according to his human nature. It is in this sense that he was "the Root," at the same time that he was also "the Offspring," of David: and to this agree the most decided testimonies of Holy Writs- -]

Our Lord proceeds to mention,

II. His official character

The voice of prophecy announced him as "a Star that should come out of Jacob"." But in our text he designates himself as "the Morning star." Now it is the office of the morning star, not merely to give light, as others do, but to usher in the day: and in this particular view the title assumed by our Lord should be exclusively considered. We observe then, that,

1. By his first rising in the world he introduced the Gospel day

[Previous to his appearing, there were some faint glimmerings of light, by means of the types and shadows of the Mosaic law: but as soon as he entered on his ministry, he diffused a light around him; dispelling the mists by which the

d Luke ii. 1—6.

e Isai. ix. 6. and Isai. vii. 14. with Matt. i. 23.

f Ps. cx. 1. with Matt. xxii. 41-46.

8 John i. 1, 14. Rom. i. 3, 4. and ix. 5.

h Numb. xxiv. 17.

Pharisees had obscured the law, and exhibiting in his own person a perfect pattern of that obedience which the law required. By his death he accomplished the prophecies, and shewed more clearly what were the designs of God respecting the redemption of the world: and by his resurrection and ascension, and sending down the Holy Ghost to testify of him, he gave to the benighted world the light of perfect day. Then he appeared as "the Day-spring from on high," even as "the Sun of Righteousness, that had arisen with healing in his wingsk."]

2. By his rising in the heart he now introduces the day of salvation into the soul

[That there is to be a manifestation of Christ to the hearts of men, different from any thing that is vouchsafed to the unregenerate soul, is certain1: and St. Peter speaks of it expressly as "the day-star arising in our hearts." What kind of a manifestation this is, may be conceived from the history of Zaccheus, to whose soul it was made, and who experienced the instantaneous benefits arising from it"-This change was by no means peculiar to him; it is wrought in all who truly embrace the Gospel, though, in respect of suddenness, it may greatly vary. The distinguishing effect of this manifestation is, that the glorious character of Christ, which was before hidden from our eyes, is now distinctly seen ; and he is embraced, as the most valued treasure of the soul, the ground of ineffable and eternal joy'.]

3. By his present light he gives us an assured prospect of yet a brighter day even in this world

[It is certain that there is a day approaching, when the light now vouchsafed to the Church shall be greatly increased; when "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of many days." This will surely take place in the Millennium, when "the Lord will bind up the breach of his ancient people the Jews, and heal the stroke of their wound." Then the whole Gentile world also shall be made to behold his glory: and "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as completely and as deeply as the waters cover the sea." This idea seems to be peculiarly referred to, inasmuch as the morningstar is the sure forerunner of a brighter state under the influfluence of the rising sun. In this view, all that has hitherto

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