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the threats and promifes of the law. The wildom of it, is in two regards hid in the Lord Jefus. 1. As to the truth of it. 2. As to the manner of it.

1. For the truth of it; and fo in and by him it is confirmed, and that two ways. I. By his death.

2. By his refurrection..

1. By his death. God in the death of Chrift, punishing and condemning fin in the flesh of his own Son, in the fight of men, angels and devils, hath given an abundant affurance of a righteous and univerfal judgment to come; wherefore, or upon what account imaginable, could he be induced to lay fuch load on him, but that he will certainly reckon one day with the fons of men for all their works, ways and walkings before him? The death of Chrift is a moft folemn exemplar of the laft judgment. Thofe who own him to be the Son of God, will not deny a judgment to come.

2. By his refurrection, Acts xvii. 31. He hath given faith and affurance of this thing to all, by raifing Chrift from the dead, having appointed him to be the Judge of all, in whom, and by whom he will judge the world in righteoufnefs. And then,

Laftly, for the manner of it; that it fhall be by him who hath loved us, and given himself for us; who is himself the righteousness that he requires at our hands; and on the other fide by him who hath been, in his perfon, grace, ways, worship, fervants reviled, defpifed, contemned, by the men of the world, which holds out unfpeakable confolation on the one hand, and terror on the other: fo that the wifdom of this alfo is hid in Chrift.

And this is the fecond part of our first demon stration. Thus the knowlege of ourfelves in reference to our fupernatural end, is no fmall portion of our wifdom.

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wisdom. The things of the greatest concernment hereunto, are fin, righteousness, and judgment, the wisdom of all which, is alone hid in the Lord Jefus, which was to be proved.

3. The third part of our wifdom is to walk with God. Now that one may walk with another, five things are required. 1. Agreement, 2. Acquain

tance, Strength,

Boldness,

An aiming at the fame end. And all thefe, with the wisdom of them, are hid in the Lord Jefus.

1. Agreement. The prophet tells us, that twe cannot walk together unless they be agreed, Amos iii. 3. Until agreement be made there is no communion, no walking together. God and man, by nature, or whilft man is in the ftate of nature, are at the greatest enmity. He declares nothing to us. but wrath, whence we are faid to be children of it, that is, born obnoxious to it, Eph. ii. 3. and whilst we remain in that condition, the wrath of God abideth on us, John. iii. 36. All the discovery that God makes of himself unto us, is, that he is inexpreffibly provoked, and therefore preparing wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of his righteous judgments; the day of his and finners meeting, is called the day of wrath, Rom. ii. 5, 6. Neither do we come fhort in our enmity against him, yea we first began it, and we continue longeft in it. To exprefs this enmity the apoftle tells us, that our very minds, the best part of us, are enmity against God, Rom. viii. 7, 8. and that we neither are, nor will, nor can be fubject to him, our enmity manifefting itself by univerfal rebellion against him, whatever we do that feems otherwise, is but hypocrify or flattery, yea it is a part of this enmity to leffen it. In this ftate the wisdom of walking

with God muft needs be most remote from the foul; he is light, and in him is no darkness at all; we are darkness, and in us there is no light at all. He is life, a living God; we are dead, dead finners, dead in trefpaffes and fin. He is holinefs and glorious in it; we wholly defiled, an abominable thing; he is love, we full of hatred, hating and being hated. Surely this igno foundation for agreement or upon that, of walking together, nothing can be more remote than this frame from fuch a condition, The foundation then of this, I fay, is laid in Chrift, hid in Chrift; He, faith the apoftle, is our peace, he bath made peace for us, Eph. ii. 14, 15. he flew the enmity, in his own body on the crofs, ver. 16.

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1. He takes out of the way the cause of the enmity that was between God and us; fin and the curfe of the law, Dan. ix. 24. He makes an end of fin; and that by making atonement for iniquity; and he blotteth out the hand-writing of ordinances, Col. ii. 24. redeeming us from the curfe by being a curfe for us, Gal. iii. 13.

2. He destroys him who would continue the enmity, and making the breach wider, Heb. ii. 14. through death he deftroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and Col. ii. 14. Spoiled principalities and powers.

3. He made reconciliation for the fins of the people, Heb. ii. 17. he made by his blood an atonement with God, to turn away that wrath which was due to us, fo making peace: hereupon God is faid to be inschrift, reconciling the world unto himself, z Cor. v. 19. being reconciled himself, ver. 18. he lays down the enmity on his part and proceeds to what remains, to flay the enmity on our part, that we also may be reconciled; and this alfo

4. He doth; for Rom. v. 11. by our Lord Jefus Chrift we do receive the atonement, accept of the peace made and tendered, laying down our enmity to God, and fo confirming an agreement betwixt us in his blood. So that through him we have. an. accefs unto the Father, Eph. ii. 18. Now the whole wifdom of this agreement, without which, there is no walking with God, is hid in Chrift: out of him God on his part is a confuming fire: we are as ftubble fully dry, yet fetting ourselves in battle array against that fire; if we are brought together we are confumed. All our approachings to him out of Christ, are but to our detriment: in his blood alone have we this agreement: and let not any of us once fuppofe that we have taken any step in the paths of God, with him, that any one duty is accepted, that all is not loft as to eternity, if we have not done it, upon the account hereof.

2. There is required acquaintance alfo to walking together. Two may meet together in the fame way, and have no quarrel between them, no enmity, but if they are meer strangers one to another, they pass by, without the least communion together. It doth not fuffice that the enmity betwixt God and us be taken away, we must also have acquaintance given us with him: our not knowing of him is a great cause and a great part of our enmity. Our understandings are darkned, and we are alienated from the life of God, &c. Eph. iv. 18. This alfo then must be added, if we ever come to walk with God, which is our wifdom. And this alfo is hid in the Lord Christ, and comes forth from him. It is true there are fundry other means, as his word, and his works, that God hath given the fons of men, to make a discovery of himself unto

them,

them, and to give them fome acquaintance with him, that as the apostle fpeaks, Acts xvii. 27. They should feek the Lord, if haply they might find him; but yet as that knowlege of God, which we have by his works, is but very weak and imperfect, fo that which we have by the word, the letter of it, by reafon of our blindness, is not faving to us if we have no other help: for though that be light as the fun in the firmament, yet if we have no eyes in our heads, what can it avail us? No faving acquaintance with him, that may direct us to walk with him can be obtained. This alfo is hid in the Lord Jefus, and comes forth from him, 1 John v. 20. He hath given us this understanding, that we should know him that is true. All other light whatever without his giving us an understanding, will not do it. He is the true light, which lighteth every one that is enlightened, John i. 5. Luke xxiv. 45. he opens our understandings that we may understand the fcriptures; none hath known God at any time, but he hath revealed him, 1 John 18. God dwells in that light which no man can approach unto, 1 Tim. vi. 26. None hath ever had any fuch acquaintance with him, as to be faid to have feen him, but by the revelation of Jefus Chrift. Hence he tells the Pharifees, that notwithstanding all their great knowlege which they pretended, indeed they had neither heard the voice of God at any time, nor feen his Shape, John v. 37. they had no manner of spiritual acquaintance with God, but he was unto them as a man whom they had never heard, nor feen. There is no acquaintance with God, as love, and full of kindness, patience, grace and pardoning mercy, on which knowlege of him alone we can walk with hirt,

but

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