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intercession for them." The crown is

upon his head to denote that he is an everlasting Conqueror, and an everlasting Saviour. All power in heaven and in earth is given unto him, that he may be able to do us good. The names of his people are deeply engraven upon his breast-plate, and upon the palms of his hands; so that he cannot possibly be unmindful of their concerns and interests. And he is continually presenting the sacred memorials of the wounds received by him in the day of the Lord's fierce anger, when "he was stricken, smitten of God; and afflicted." And it is from Christ

as a priest upon his throne, that every spiritual blessing comes down unto us. From this throne he blesses his people'; -from this throne he pours down his Spirit upon them; and he is ever upon the throne ready to hear their requests, and to grant them such supplies of grace as they need, and to afford unto them all needful assistance. May we look to Jesus as our Priest upon the throne! May we study his priestly work and office! And may we love him, and look to him, and

live upon him, as our High Priest, called of God, and made an High Priest for ever, by him, who sware, and will not repent, saying, "Thou art a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedeck." Amen.

168

SERMON IX.

PSALM LXII. 12, 13.

FOR HE SHALL DELIVER THE NEEDY, WHEN HE CRIETH: THE POOR ALSO, AND HIM THAT HATH NO HELPER. HE SHALL SPARE THE poor and NEEDY, AND SKALL SAVE THE SOULS OF THE NEEDY.

THE Lord God created man in his own image, in righteousness and true holiness, and placed him in a state of happiness and honour, from which he fell by the mutability of his own free-will. By his fall he corrupted the whole fountain of human nature, and opened the floodgates of sin and corruption, which have deluged and overflown the whole human race. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that, or in whom, all have sinned." (Rom. v. 12.)

Sin is the greatest of all evils, and it hath introduced into the moral world all

sorts and kinds of evils and miseries, it bath brought a sinful defilement and corruption upon every faculty of the soul, and every member of the body, and it deserves God's curse and wrath in this life, and in that which is to come; "For the wages of sin is death." (Rom. vi. 23.) Death of the body, and death of the soul; death temporal, and death eternal. There is no pain we feel, but it is the fruit and effect of sin. There is no suffering the damned sustain in hell, but sin is the cause of it. Immediately upon the fall, the Lord God was pleased to manifest himself in the following manner. Jehovah the Son, probably in an human form, appeared to the guilty criminals, erected his tribunal, and cited them to appear, when he solemnly interrogated them concerning the shameful fact, convinced them of their exceeding sinfulness, pronounced upon them, and their whole posterity, the sentence of condemnation, aud then, threatening-wise to the devil in the serpent, let drop some intimation of grace to elect sinners, saying, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the ser

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pent's head." Thus light shone out of darkness, and where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. This was the first dawn of everlasting light and life, and laid the foundation of the first faith in Christ, which was the sole fruit and effect of this sacred, mysterious, and wonderful revelation of Christ's person, incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and victory over sin and Satan, death and hell.

The Lord in his transcendant grace and mercy went on age after age, to shine more brightly upon this revelation, and upon the minds of the believing Patriarchs, who, through the Holy Spirit's grace and influence, embraced Christ in this word of grace, and trusted in him for their everlasting salvation. The two grand points of doctrine the Lord taught them, were original sin and redemption by Christ. They learnt from the teachings of the Holy Spirit, that by Adam's fall and sin, and our fall and sinning in him, we have contracted that exceeding sinfulness of nature, which deserveth the curse of God, and eternal damnation.

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