us in darkness? Well, Chrift makes a reftitution of that; for he comes forth as the bright and morning ftar, to give light to the darkened world, which may make us all fing and fay with Zacharias, Luke i. 78. "Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us." Pfal. cxviii. 27.-29. "God is the Lord, which hath fhewed us light; bind the facrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

Again, Hath fin robbed us of life, and left us among the congregation of the dead? Chrift makes reftitution of that; for he is "the refurrection and the life :" and having recovered life by his own death, John xiv. 19. he keeps it in his hand and heart, and binds up our life with his "Because I live, ye fhall live alfo. Our life is hid with Chrift in God."

Again, Did fin rob us of our liberty? Chrift makes reftitution of that; he buys our liberty at the hand of justice, and then takes the excecutioner and binds him, and spoils him of his power over the poor captive; and having purchafed liberty, he goes forth and "proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening the prifon-doors to them that are bound."

Again, Did Satan and fin fpoil us of our wifdom, infomuch that ever fince we are infatuate, and like fools, spend our money for that which is not bread, and our labour for that which cannot profit us? Well, Chrift reftores wisdom unto fools and babes; he is "made of God unto us wisdom ;" and when we are determined to come to him, he makes us wifer than our teachers; wife to know the myfteries of the kingdom that are hid from the wife and prudent of the world, and revealed unto babes: "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," &c.

And then again, Did fin spoil and robe us of our original righteoufnefs? Chrift makes reflitution of that; for he himfelf is "the Lord our righteoufnefs, and he was made fin for us, he who knew no fin, that we might be made the righteoufnefs of God in him."

Did fin fpoil us of the beautiful image of God? Chrift makes reftitution of that; for that very moment that a poor finner looks unto him with the eye of faith, he gets the print of the fecond Adam drawn again upon his foul, and it is by beholding his glory that we are changed into the fame image.

Did Satan and fin rob us of, and take away our health? Well, Chrift, he comes to make reftitution of that: for he is

the

the Physician of value, and there is no difeafe fo obftinate as is able to ftand the virtue and healing power of this Phyfician; fo that, if we perifh with our difeafes, we need not do it with that word in our mouth, "Is there no balm in Gilead, and no physician there ?"

Did Satan fpoil us of our peace? Well, Chrift makes reftitution of that; for "he is our peace." Peace on earth was one of the articles of the angels praife," Peace on earth, and good will towards men." Sin robbed us of our peace with God. Chrift restores that; for "God is in Chrift, reconeiling the world unto himself." Did fin rob us of our peace of confcience? Chrift reftores that; "Peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you," &c.

Did fin kindle a fire of war and of ftrife betwixt man and man? Well, when Chrift comes with the fceptre of his power, he makes them beat their fwords into ploughfhares, and their fpears into pruning hooks; he makes the wolf dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid.

Did fin rob us of our ornaments? Chrift reftores thefe, he makes the King's daughter all glorious within; he brings us a far better garment, even the garment of falvation, and a robe of righteousness to adorn us.

Did fin take away our riches and treafures? Chrift opens up a far better treafure, even unfearchable riches; and he tells us, that "riches are with him, yea, durable riches and righ teoufnefs."

Did fin rob us of our God, and leave us without God in the world? Chrift makes reftitution of that; for what is Chrift? He is Immanuel. And what is that? He is God with us. That may make our hearts rejoice indeed; our God is come back to us, and is faying, "I am the Lord thy God; I will be their God, and they fhall be my people." It is a God in Chrift that fpeaks in fuch a dialect to poor finners. Thus you fee, that Chrift reftores to man, what he took not away from him. I might enlarge much on this fubject.

Sin robbed us of our title and charter to eternal life; whenever the covenant of works was broken, our charter was gone. But Chrift reftores a better charter, even the covenant of grace; he himself is "given for a covenant to the people," and is the Alpha and Omega of the covenant; all the promifes and bleflings of it are "in him yea and amen." The covenant of works was a frail covenant, a Dippery fecurity; but the covenant of grace, and the charter granted unto us in Chrift, it is a lafting charter: If. liv. 10. "The mountains fhall depart, and the hills be removed, but my

kindnefs

kindness shall not depart from thee, neither fhall the covenant of my peace be removed, faith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee."

In short, Chrift reftores beauty and order again to the whole creation. Whenever man finned, there fell fuch a dead weight upon the creation, that the whole creation was like to crumble to its original chaos; but the thing that prevented it was, the Son of God bought this earth as a theatre, on which his love to finners might be difplayed; therefore he will uphold the theatre till the fcene be acted; and when it is acted, he will commit it to the flames: there is a word to that purpose, If. xlix. 8. "I will preferve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to caufe to inherit the defolate heritages." The theatre of this earth was giving way under the weight of the wrath of God; but Chrift being given as a covenant of the people, he upholds the earth and all things by the word of his power, as it is, Heb.

i. 3:

Thus much for the third thing, which was, to let you fee how Chrift makes reftitution of these good things which he never took away from God or from man.

IV. The fourth thing propofed was, to inquire into the time when Chrift did all this: when did he restore that which he took not away?

I fhall not ftay upon this; I pointed at it in the explication. I told you that it was in a state of humiliation that he made this reftitution. I cannot ftand to tell you of the feveral steps of his humiliation whereby he reftored what he took not away. We have a fummary defcription thereof, in that queftion of the Catechifm, Wherein did Chrift's humiliation confift? The answer is, In his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miferies of this life, the wrath of God, and the curfed death of the crofs; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time. By thefe fteps of his humiliation, he brought about the bleed project of redemption. Then was it that he restored what he took not away: Gal. iv. 4. 5. " In the fulnels of time, God fent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of fons." But I do not stay npon this; I haften forward.

V. The fifth thing propofed was, to inquire a little into the reafans of the doctrine. Why was it that our Lord reftered what

he took not away? Why did be restore thefe goods that fin and Sa

tan took away both from God and from man? In anfwer to this, I only fuggeft thefe few particulars.

1. Chrift made this reftitution, because it was his Father's pleasure that he fhould do it; he did always these things that pleafed his Father: "No man taketh my life from me (faith he), but I lay it down of myself. This commandment have I received of my Father."

2. He restored what he took not away, because it contributes very much to enhance his mediatorial glory. Gen. xiv. there you read of what Abraham did, he armed his men, and went in queft of the five kings that had plundered Sodom; he purfues them, takes them captives, and recovers the fpoil, and restores what not he, but the enemy, had taken away; and this was much for Abraham's honour. So it is to the immortal honour of our glorious Immanuel, that he purfued, and spoiled principalities and powers, who had robbed God and man; and then reftores unto both what they, not he, had taken away. Upon this account, "God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name," &c.

3. Chrift restored what he took not away, out of regard that he had to the holy law of God. The holy law was violated, and the fovereignty of God in it was trode down: but Chrift had a-mind to maintain the dignity of the law, it being an emanation of the holiness of God; therefore he will reltore a perfect obedience to the law, and bring in an everlafting righteoufnefs that answers it to the full, that fo a foundation may be thereby laid for our legal inveftiture in the privileges of children we had loft by fin.

4. Because his delights were with the fons of men. Sirs, Chrift had a bride in Adam's family to efpoufe to himself for ever. God the Father gave him a bride. And when he faw her in the devil's clutches, he arms himself with divine power, and rescues the bride: "He loved me, and gave himself for me.". And then, Chrift reftores what he took not away, that fo the glory of grace might be exalted in the falvation of loft finners; and that none glory in themselves, but that they that glory may glory in the Lord. It is not we, but he only, that makes the reftitution, and grace reigns to us through that restitution that he made.

5. and lastly, Christ restores what he took not away, that he might "till the enemy and the avenger," as the expreffion is; Pfal. viii. 2.; "the enemy and the avenger," that is the de vil. Sirs, when the devil robbed man, he thought the day was his own, and triumphed as if the world, and the glory VOL. III.

T

thereof

made up to wonderful advantage. And if fo, whatever appeared gain to you formerly, will be esteemed lofs for Chrift; yea, doubtless, you will count all but dung and lofs for Chrift, that you may know him, win him, and be found in him. You will be dead to the law, and the works of it, being married to a better husband, whose name is, "The Lord our righteousness;" for "in him fhall all the feed of Ifrael be justified, and shall glory." Again, if you have found reparation in Chrift, you will wage a continual war with fin and Satan; you will refift the devil, and refift even unto blood, ftriving againft fin. These robbers, they never come but to spoil you of fome good, whatever disguise they may appear in. And if you have received any love-tokens from the Lord on this occafion, you may lay your account with an attack; the pirates purfue and attack the fhip with the richest cargo. Lastly, Whenever the enemy has prevented and twin'd you of your comforts, you will fly to Chrift for reftitution, faying, with David, "Reftore unto me the joy of thy falvation," for he it is who reftores what he took not away.

I close with a word of Exhortation.

Sirs, I have a proclamation to iffue forth in the name of the LORD IMMANUEL. Be it known unto men, by these prefents, That whereas two great robbers have entered into the world, viz. fin and Satan, and have ftolen away all the valuable goods which once pertained to Adam and his family, whereby they are all reduced to the utmost poverty and mi-. fery; it has pleafed God the Father, from the love he bears to mankind-finners, to fend his only begotten Son into the world, to repair all their loffes, and to restore what he took not away. Accordingly, the eternal Son of God hath come into the world, and having armed himself with the human nature and divine power, he hath gone forth and pursued the robbers, and taken Satan captive, and bruifed his head, and destroyed that deftroyer of mankind; he hath finished tranfgreffion, and made an end of fin, and hath brought in a robe of righteoufnefs, and hath recovered all the goods that the robbers had taken away, all the goods and gear men loft, hath recovered them with wonderful advantage; and the goods are all in his hand, and he hath fent out us, who are his ambaffadors, to caule all mankind fee what loffes they have fuftained; and whoever have loft any thing, their God, and their fouls, heaven and happiness, he is willing to restore it to mankind, and that without any fafer; for he will do it without money and without price. Come, and get your own again; for Chrift hath received gifts for men, for the fons of

men.