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There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus....Rom. viii. 1.

Mr. BURKITT observes, 'this chapter is a summary of evangelical duty, and a magazine, of christian comfort: it begins with no condemnation to believers, and ends with no separation from the love of God.' It is natural to conceive, if we had never sinned there would be no condemnation against us; but, that now we are, sinners, and naturally under the condemning sentence of God's holy law; that yet there is now no condemnation to us; this our carnal reas son cannot conceive, and therefore opposes it. But it is God's truth and the joy of faith.. This unfolds the great mystery, that we are one with Christ: viewed, beloved, and chosen in him. This gloriously displays the attributes of Jehovah's justice and holiness; while a full and ample discharge from all condemnation is obtained from his righteous law, to all Christ's members. Therefore, that blessed name Jesus is above every name to us. In this, and every other matter of salvation, to him every believer's knee will bow, and his heart confess, Christ is all in all. Rich privilege to be in Christ Jesus! Unspeakable happiness to be freed from all condemnation! Blessed effects of covenant-union with Christ! Joyful experience of the grace of faith in him! To have such a knowledge, and pass such a judgment upon thy soul, O christian, is just and right. It is thy duty and privilege at all times. Practice it.

As to Jesus, how readest thou? "The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all."....Isa. liii. 6. "Christ bore our sins in his "Christ suffered, the just

own body on the tree.".... Pet. ii. 24. for the unjust."....1 Pet. iii. 18. "We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin." Can we read all this without singing a triumphant challenge, "Who then shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? God that justifieth? No: Who is he that condemneth? Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?"....Rom. viii. 33, 34. Here is the glorious triumph of faith. Thou art "carnal, sold under sin."....Rom. vii. 14. In thy flesh dwelleth no good thing; though thou hast no reason for confidence in the flesh, yet always abundant cause to rejoice in Christ Jesus: for in him thou art perfectly righteous; in him for ever freed from all condemnation. O believer, thou art called ever to rejoice in this liberty, and to evidence it by walking, "not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Strange mystery of wond'rous grace!

I'm full of sin, yet not condemn'd!

I stand in Jesu's righteousness;

By him from ev'ry sin redeem'd.

O, may the precious faith of this,

Daily enliven all my pow'rs,
To run the road to heav'nly bliss,

In Christ rejoicing all my hours. M,

I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me....Jer. xxxii. 40.

I WILL and they SHALL. Such is God's gracious way of saving his people: while proud legal hearts and self-righteous spirits, puft up with notions of free-will, are ever contending for terms and conditions to be performed by dead sinners in order to be saved; or by creatures, insufficient of themselves to think a good thought, to secure and make effectual salvation to their own souls. But this fear of God is a blessing of the covenant of grace. Naturally the fear of God is not in our hearts. It is one black mark of an unregenerate person, "he has no fear of God before his eyes." How awful! how deplo rable is this! Yet, naturally we fear not the power of the Lord, nor dread his wrath: nor are we at all sensible of our danger. What wonder of love! What matter of thankfulness, that the Lord hath put his fear in thy heart, O christian! The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is perfectly consistent with the strongest faith, the most inflamed love, and the highest spiritual joy. Though by faith in Jesus we are delivered from a servile, slavish fear of God, which fills us with legal terrors; yet we are possessed of a filial, loving fear towards him, as to a tender and affectionate father.

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This fear shall dwell in the hearts of saints all their days. This fear keeps souls from sinning against the God of love. The blessed effect of it is, "that they shall NEVER depart from me," saith the Lord. Thy soul, believer, being rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus, by the holy Spirit, expecting life and salvation, through faith in him, shall NEVER DEPART from this good old way of the Lord, into bye-paths of human errors and destructive ways of total apostacy and final unbelief. The Lord's fear shall preserve thee in thy Lord's truth. Though thine enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, should surprise thee into sin against thy Lord; should draw thee from sweet communion with him; yet shalt thou fear to "lie down in thy shame, while confusion covers thee." Thou shalt remember, Jesus ever lives to save to the uttermost all sinners who come unto God by him. Thou shalt fear to seek to any other object but him; so shalt thou return by faith and repentance to him. "Happy is the man that feareth always."....Prov. xxviii. 14.

Salvation is for ever nigh

The souls that fear and trust the Lord;
And grace descending from on high,
Fresh hopes of glory shall afford.

Christ's righteousness is gone before,
To give us free access to God;
Our wand'ring feet shall stray no more,
But mark his steps and keep the road.

For we which have believed, do enter into rest....Heb. iv. 3.

WHEN Christ is known and believed on in the heart, ease and rest are enjoyed in the conscience. Therefore Jesus is esteemed a precious Saviour. The operations of the Spirit prove that he is the COMFORTER, by thus leading us to Christ. Hence faith and experience go hand in hand. There remaineth for the people of God a rest, perfect and uninterrupted in glory. We have the earnest of the inheritance of it on earth: by faith we enter into it: and while we abide in Jesus we enjoy rest. Who is able to conceive? Who can describe the tumult of conscience, the distress of soul, under a feeling sense of sin and fear of wrath? None can, but the heart which knows its own bitterness. Who can express the sweet peace, the calm repose of that soul who finds rest in Jesus? It is a joy which a stranger intermeddles not with.

. It was God's command under the law, "When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war for one year."....Deut. xxiv. 5. This is sometimes the case with the children of faith. When they

are first married to the Lamb, and have just entered into his rest, the sound of war is not heard in their camp for a season. Jesus keeps their souls in undisturbed repose: no enemy is suffered to annoy them. The joyful sound of the jubilee-trumpet proclaims in their heart full freedom and sweet liberty from the guilt of sin, the bondage of the law, and the tyranny of satan. Hence they are apt to conclude their enemies are all dead, and they shall see war no more; but it is not so; our enemies live and are mighty. Bless Jesus for rest; fear not thine enemies; know thou must continue in the militant state whilst in the flesh; but here is the mystery of faith, to triumph in the victory of Jesus. Whilst all are in arms against the soul, though troubled, distressed, perplexed, on every side; fightings without, fears within: although there is no rest from any other quarter, yet it is the sweet privilege of disciples to rest in Jesus. Saith Paul to his dear children, "You, who are troubled, rest with us."....2 Thess. i. 7. Abide in Jesus; rest satisfied: shortly your Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, to destroy all your enemies, and to make you forever happy in his rest in glory. Disciple, indulge not a murmuring thought against thy sovereign; expect no rest any where but IN HIM. If the world smiles, it is pleasing to the flesh, but it often proves a snare to the soul; therefore saith thy ever-loving Jesus, " In the world you shall have tribulation;" that is his legacy, Here is thy rich, thy never-failing portion, "IN ME you shall have peace."....John xvi. 33.

Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foun dation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a Assuré foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste....... Isa. xxviii. 16.

A DAY is coming when every man's work shall be tried. The foundation of the Lord stands sure; but every other foundation shall be destroyed. He who is built on Jesus, and derives all his hopes of life and salvation from him, is safe in time, and secure to all eternity. Before men begin to build, they draw a plan; and every wise builder looks carefully to the foundation; for on this depends the safety of the super-structure.

The plan of salvation was drawn in the eternal council. It is founded in the love of the Father; effected by the obedience and sufferings of the Son, Jesus. Hence what was contrived in infinite wisdom above, is laid as a sure foundation in the church below, by the love and power of the Spirit, the comforter. It is his peculiar office to lay this foundation in Zion, and to manifest and make known to the prophets and apostles, teachers and saints, that Jesus is the only foundation. As a stone, for strength; a tried stone, approved of by the Father, and by his children in all ages; a precious cornerstone: the ornament and beauty, as well as strength and security of the whole church. Precious is Jesus in all his offices to them that believe; a sure foundation, sure to all the seed; certain to all the

purposes of their salvation. And as the Lord the Spirit lays this foundation in the church, in the truth of doctrine, so also in the faith and experience of redeemed souls.

What the word speaks of Jesus, that we prove and find him to be. This is our mercy. "He that believeth shall not make haste." Such is his serenity and composure of mind, that he shall not be frightened in times of distress and calamity, to quit his confidence in Jesus....he shall not be ashamed of his hope in the Lord. Being well satisfied that Jesus reigns, that the government of his church is upon his shoulders, and the residue of the Spirit is with him, he 'will patiently wait, and quietly hope for the fulfilment of every promise. Sin and satan shall not overcome the believer in life; in the awful article of death, he shall not be confounded, because his heart standeth fast, believing in the Lord; and when Jesus his friend appears, he shall stand forth with boldness, and shall find an abuṇdant entrance into the presence of God and the Lamb, to live, and love, and reign in glory for ever and ever.

O, for a strong and lasting faith,
To credit what th' Almighty saith,

To build upon God's only Son,
And call his righteousness my own.

But the Comforter who is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, und bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you....John xiv. 26.

OUR blessed Lord here gives us the clearest discovery of the ever-glorious three persons, in covenant, for the salvation of lost sinners. In this knowledge lies all our hope; from this belief springs all our comfort. In the love of this, our heaven is begun upon earth; for the knowledge, belief, and love of this truth in our hearts, we are wholly indebted to the comforter. He teaches all things. Not by any new lights or fresh revelations; but he graciously instructs our minds and comforts our hearts by the same light of truth and love which beamed forth in the first promise, and which shone brighter and brighter in prophecies, types and shadows of the covenant, until the substance, Jesus, was come. Then the canon of revealed truth was completed by the apostles, under the teaching of the holy Spirit; the substance of which is, the things which Jesus spake, did, and suffered on our account, as our substitute, and for our salvation.

It is the peculiar office of the Spirit to glorify Jesus, and to sanctify our souls. This he doth by the word of truth; teaching our minds the Father's electing love, as centering in Jesus, and directing our eyes to him, as made of God to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Let no man deceive us with expectations of any new revelation from heaven, of new truths to comfort us; but ever hear Paul, "Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."....Gal. i. 8. Let us prize and study God's word; in and by that the Spirit teacheth and comforteth our minds; in everlasting love and the most ancient truth he establisheth us; we are poor sinners from day to day: we feel many things in and around us to deject and distress us. When we remember what sin hath done to us, brought upon us, and exposeth us to, our hearts are in fears and doubts what will become of us. O, then the comforter brings to our minds and consciences the transcendantly rich love of Jesus; what he undertook, spoke, and did in life, suffered in death, and still lives to plead in our behalf before the throne. O, the heartfelt joy of this! So he relieves our minds and refreshes our spirits, through the faith of Jesus, in the knowledge of the truth; sò he teaches us self-despair, animates us with courage to go on in the path of holiness, and fortifies our minds to withstand all that is against us. "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."....Ephes. iv. 30.

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