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most part by resemblances taken from earthly things. (2.) To her freedom from that bondage under the New Tes tament, in the words of our text. Where we have,

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1. The season in which this freedom or redemption was brought about: When the fulness of the time was come, says the apostle, God wrought this deliverance for his people in the time that he had pitched and resolved upon, as the most fit and proper for it.

2. We have the means of this deliverance, namely Christ's incarnation, and manifestation in the flesh; God sent forth his own Son, made of a woman. He sent his own Son into the world, the second person of the glorious and adorable Trinity, who was incarnate in a miraculous way, being conceived in the womb of a virgin, without the

man.

made

company of a 3. We have the condition in which Christ came; under the law. Being made flesh, he subjected himself to both the precepts and curse of the law. He fulfilled all righteousness, and gave complete satisfaction to all the demands of the law in the holiness and integrity of his life, and he bore the punishment threatened for sin, in the bloody and cruel sufferings which he endured in his death.

4. The freedom and deliverance itself: God sent forth his Son, thus qualified, to redeem them that were under the law; that is, to free all the elect from the curse and punishment that was due to them for the transgression of it. Hence it is said, Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.' He freed the whole church from that rigour and servitude under which she was as to her outward state. And hereby also was procared to believers the adoption of sons: by which we are to understand, not only the benefit of adoption itself, which was the privilege of believers under the Old Testament as well as now under the New, but also and chiefly a clearer manifestation of that privilege, and a more free use and fruition of it. They have now a more full and plentiful measure of the Spirit than believers had under the old Testament dispensation.

The doctrine arising from the text is,

DocT. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.'

In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall,

1. Shew that the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. Illustrate this grand truth, that Jesus Christ, being the eternal Son of God, became man.

III. Prove that Christ is God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person.

IV. Deduce some inferences.

I. I am to shew, that the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ,

First, Let us consider the titles and names of our Redeemer.

1. He is called Lord, because of his absolute and universal sovereignty and dominion over all the creatures. "He is Lord of all,' says the apostle, Acts x. 36. His dominion extendeth to all things in heaven, earth, and hell; He hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all,' Psal. ciii. 19. He is the sole monarch of the whole world, and all the princes and potentates in the earth are but his deputies and vicegerents. He is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,' as the apostle justly styles him, 1 Tim. vi. 15. He hath a natural and essential right and authority over all things as he is God, equal with the Father; and he hath a delegated authority as Mediator. The government belongs to him originally as God, and derivatively as God-man, Mediator. He holds his crown by immediate tenure from Heaven. He is declared to be King by the decree and appointment of the Father, Psal. ii. 6. God hath invested him with a royal authority over all the creatures. It is said, that he hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be the Head over all things to the church,' Eph. i. 22. He rules from sea to sea, and to the ends of the earth, yea, to the utmost bounds of God's creation. All the creatures are subject to his dominion, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, angels, devils, men, seas, storms and tempests, all obey him. But in a special manner he is King in Zion; he reigns and rules in the church, and sways his royal sceptre there. He is Lord of all the creatures by creation, of the elect by redemption, and of believers by their voluntary resignation and surrender of themselves unto him.

2. He is called Jesus, because he is the Saviour of the elect

world, and delivers them from sin and wrath. This was declared by an angel to the virgin Mary before his conception in her womb, Luke i. 31. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus.' This was revealed to Joseph in a dream, Matth. i. 21. The name Jesus is there interpreted to signify a Saviour; and the angel of the Lord, a messenger sent from God, is the expositor. Christ was sent by his Father to be the Saviour of the elect. Now, a Saviour in the proper signification of the word, is one that delivereth from evil. Accordingly Christ not only saves his people from the worst of evils, but bestows upon them the greatest of good. He delivers them from the guilt, stain, and dominion of sin, the wrath of God, the malediction and accusations of the law, and eternal death and misery; and he gives them grace and righteousness, eternal life and glory. He is a Saviour to protect and defend, and a Saviour to bless and save them, Psal. lxxxiv. 11. He is the only Saviour of lost sinners, and there is no salvation bút through him, Acts iv. 12.

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3. He is called Christ, because he was anointed unto his office by the Father. This title very fitly followeth the former. Jesus implies his office in general, and Christ his designation or ordination to-his office. He is an anointed Saviour. This is frequently expressed in the scripture, Psal. xlv. 7. God, thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' Isa. Ixi. 1. The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,' &c. Acts x. 38. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power.' From all which places we see, that Christ's anointing is not to be understood literally, but by a trope and figure, the sign being put for the thing signified. Several persons were anointed of old, as wrestlers among the Gentiles; which may be applied to Christ, who was to conflict and wrestle with all the powers of hell and the world, with all the oppositions and difficulties that were in the way of man's salvation. But this term of anointing is rather taken from the customs of the ceremonial law. There were three sorts of persons commonly anointed among the Jews; as kings. Thus Saul, David, Solomon, &c. were anointed with material oil; and hence were called the Lord's anointed.-Priests. All the priest's that ministered in the tabernacle or temple were anointed, and chiefly the high priest,

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who was a special figure and type of Christ.-The prophets. Hence God gave Elija a commission to go and anoint Elisha to be prophet in his room, 1 Kings xix. 16. As oil strengthened and suppled the joints, and made them agile and fit for exercise, so it denoted a designation and fitness in a person for the function to which he was appointed. Thus Christ, because he was not to be a typical Prophet, Priest, or King, was not typically, but spiritually anointed; not with a sacramental, but real unction; not of men, but immediately of God. There are two things implied in the anointing of Christ.

(1.) It implies the Father's fitting and furnishing him with all things necessary, that he might be a complete Redeemer to his people. As God gave him a body and human nature, that he might be capable to suffer; so he filled and reple nished his soul with all the gifts and graces of his Spirit. Hence it was promised of old concerning him, that the Spirit of the Lord should rest upon him, the Spirit of wis dom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord! The Psalmist tells us, that he was fairer than the sons of men, and grace was poured into his lips. He, 'received not the Spirit by measure,' but was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. All this was the Father's work, and therefore he saith, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth,' Isa. xlii. 1.

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(2.) It implies the Father's giving him a commission to redeem poor sinners from hell and wrath. He was invested with a fulness of authority and power for this very end. And therefore in scripture he is said to be sealed, as having his commission under the great seal of Heaven. Hence he says, Isa Ixi. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me,' &c. Every thing that Christ did in bringing about the redemption of an elect world, was given him in commission. His coming to the world in the fulness of time was by the order and appointment of the Father. So he shews, John viii. 42. I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.' The business on which he came was determined by Heaven. So in the text it is said, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, to redeem them that were under the law, &c. His death and bloody sufferings, which were the

price of man's redemption, and the ransom of their souls, were enjoined by the Father. Hence says he, John x. 18. This commandment, (viz. relating to laying down his life,) have I received of my Father.'

Secondly, We may consider his office and work in the general. He is called the Mediator, which properly signifies a midsman, that travels betwixt two persons who are at variance to reconcile them. Now, Christ is Mediator, (1.) In respect of his person, being a middle person betwixt God and man, participating of both natures. (2.) In respect of his office; being a middle person dealing betwixt God and man, in the offices of a Prophet, Priest, and King. Which will be more particularly illustrated in the sequel.

He is the Redeemer. To redeem is to buy a thing again, as the nearest a-kin was to buy again the mortgaged land, and so to rescue and deliver from poverty, and misery, and bondage: This is the import of the word in the original. The elect are the redeemed: it is all they, and they only, as was proved before.

This redemption imports, (1.) That the elect were first the Lord's by creation, his property, and bound to serve and obey him. (2.) That they were sold, and in a state of bondage, in their natural condition, slaves to sin and Satan, the captives of the mighty; prisoners to the law, and obnoxious to the justice of God. (3.) That they are recovered or redeemed from this state of vassalage, captivity and slavery, by the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are redeemed by him two ways.

1. By price or purchase, laying down his life a ransom for them. He came to give his life a ransom for many,' Matth. xx. 28; that is to die in the stead of his people. His life intervened as a price to obtain their redemption. Hence is that note in the song of the redeemed, Rev. v. 9. Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.' They were fallen under the dominion of Satan, and liable to eternal death, and could not obtain their liberty by escape, or by mere force and power; for they were arrested and detained prisoners by order of divine justice: so that till God the Supreme Judge was satisfied, there could be no discharge. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ hath procured their deliverance by his death and bloody sufferings. Hence the apostle says, Col. i. 14. We have redemption through his VOL. I. SH

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