PAGE JOHN V. 28, 29.-Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil MATT. xxv. 31-34, 41, 46.—When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall sepa- rate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on the right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed, &c.— Unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, &c.-And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life MATT. XXV. 34.-Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the MATT. xxv. 41. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, A VIEW OF THE COVENANT OF GRACE FROM THE SACRED PSALM 1xxxix. 3.-I have made a covenant with my chosen; 1 Cor. xv. 45. ... 464 471 PERIOD I. Before union with Christ.-1. The promise of preservation, 475.— PERIOD II. From union with Christ until death, 481.-1. The promise of ... PERIOD III. From death, through eternity, 510.-1. The promise of victory over death, 511.-2. The promise of everlasting life in heaven, 512.-In- ference from the promise of eternal life, 516.-No proper penalty of the Sinners of mankind the objects of the administration of the covenant, MAN'S FOURFOLD STATE. STATE I. THE STATE OF INNOCENCE. ECCLES. vii. 29, Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.. THERE are four things very necessary to be known by all that would see heaven: 1. What man was in the state of innocence, as God made him. 2. What he is in the state of corrupt nature, as he hath unmade himself. 3. What he must be in the state of grace, as created in Christ Jesus unto good works, if ever he be made a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. 4. What he will be in his eternal state, as made by the Judge of all, either perfectly happy, or completely miserable, and that for ever. These are weighty points, that touch the vitals of practical godliness, from which most men, and even many professors, in these dregs of time, are quite estranged. I design, therefore, under the divine conduct, to open these things, and apply them. I begin with the first of them, namely, the State of Innocence: that beholding man polished after the similitude of a palace, the ruins may the more affect us; we may the more prize that matchless Person whom the Father has appointed the repairer of the breach; and that we may, with fixed resolves, betake ourselves to that way which leadeth to the city that hath immoveable foundations. In the text we have three things: 1. The state of innocence wherein man was created. "God hath made man upright." By "man" here we are to understand our first parents; the archetypal pair, the root of mankind, the comVOL. VIII. A pendized world, and the fountain from whence all generations have streamed; as may appear by comparing Gen. v. 1, 2, "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him: male and female created he them; and blessed them," as the root of mankind, "and called their name Adam." The original word is the same in our text. In this sense, man was made right, (agreeable to the nature of God, whose work is perfect,) without any imperfection, corruption, or principle of corruption, in his body or soul. He was made "upright," that is, straight with the will and law of God, without any irregularity in his soul. By the set it got in its creation, it directly pointed towards God, as his chief end; which straight inclination was represented, as in an emblem, by the erect figure of his body, a figure that no other living creature partakes of. What David was in a gospel sense, that was he in a legal sense; one "according to God's own heart," altogether righteous, pure, and holy. God made him thus: he did not first make him, and then make him righteous; but in the very making of him, he made him righteous. Original righteousness was created with him; so that in the same moment be was a man, he was a righteous man, morally good; with the same breath that God breathed into him a living soul, he breathed into him a righteous soul. 2. Here is man's fallen state: "But they have sought out many inventions." They fell off from their rest in God, and fell upon seeking inventions of their own, to mend their case; and they quite marred it. Their ruin was from their own proper motion: they would not abide as God had made them; but they sought out inventions, to deform and undo themselves. 3. Observe here the certainty and importance of these things; "Lo, this only have I found," &c. Believe them, they are the result of a narrow search, and a serious inquiry, performed by the wisest of men. In the two preceding verses, Solomon represents himself as in quest of goodness in the world; but the issue of it was, he could find no satisfying end of his search after it; though it was not for want of pains, for he "counted one by one, to find out the account. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher,to wit, "That," as the same word is read in our text, "yet my soul seeketh, but I find not." He could make no satisfying discovery of it, which might stay his inquiry. He found the good very rare, one as it were among a thousand. But could that satisfy the grand query, "Where shall wisdom be found?" No it could not: and if the experience of others in this point, run counter to Solomon's, as it is no reflection on his discernment, it can as little decide the question, which will remain undetermined till the last day. But, amidst all |