tribunal of God, clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, they shall then stand, rectus in curia ; they shall then be pronounced righteous, even in the court of divine justice, which sentence will fill their souls with comfort, and the souls of sinners with astonishment, Kev. XX. 12, and xii. 10. Suppose we saw the believing sinner, hold- ing up his hand at God's bar ; the books opened, the accuser of the brethren present, the witnesses ready, and the judge on the bench tlius bespeaking the sinner at the bar, Kom. vii. 12, 14, 16, and Gal. iii. 10. 0 sinner, sinner, thou standest here indicted before me, for many millions of sins of commission, and for many millions of sins of omission; thou hast broken my holy, just, and righteous laws beyond all human conception or expression, and hereof thou art proved guilty; what hast thou now to say for thyself why thou shouldst not be eternally cast ? Upon this, the sinner pleads guilty ; but withal he earnestly desires that he may have time and liberty to plead for himself, and to offer his reasons why that dreadful sentence, Go, you cursed, &c., Mat. xxv. 41, should not be passed upon him. The liberty desired being granted by the judge, the sinner pleads that his surety, Jesus Christ, hath, by his blood and sufferings, given full and complete satisfaction to divine justice, and that he hath paid down upon the nail the whole debt at once, and that it can never stand with the holiness and unspotted justice of God to demand satisfaction twice, Heb. x. 10, 14. If the judge shall further object. Ay, but sinner, sinner, the law requireth an exact and perfect right- eousness in the personal fulfilling of it ; now, sinner, where is thy exact and perfect righteousness? Gal. iii. 10; Isa. xlv. 24. Upon which the believing sinner very readily, cheerfully, humbly, and boldly replies. My righteousness is upon the bench, ' in the Lord have
1 righteousness.' Christ, my surety, hath fulfilled the law on my behalf. The law's righteousness consists in two things, (1.) In its requiring perfect conformity to its commands ; (2.) In its demanding satisfaction, or the undergoing of its penalty, upon the violation of it. Now Christ, by his active and passive obedience, hath fulfilled the law for righteousness, and this active and passive obedience of Jesus Christ is imputed to me. His obeying the law to the full, his perfect con- forming to its commands, his doing, as well as his dying obedience, is by grace made over and reckoned to me, in order to my justification and salvation ; and this is my plea, by which I will stand before the judge of all the world. Upon this the sinner's plea is accepted as good in law, and accordingly he is pronounced righteous ; and goes away, glorying and rejoicing, triumphing and shouting it out, Eighteous, righteous, righteous, righteous ; ' In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory,' Isa. xlv, 25. And thus you see that there are nine springs of strong consolation that flow into your souls, through the imputation of Christ's righteousness unto you. But,
VI. The sixth plea that a believer may form up as to the ten scriptures in the margin i that refer to the great day of account, or to a man's particular account, may be drawn from the consideration
^ Eccles. xi. 9, and xii. 14 ; Mat. xii. 14, and xviii. 23; Luke xvi. 3; Rom. liv. 10;
2 Cor. V. 10; Heb. ix. 27, and xii. 17 ; 1 Pet. iv. 5.
252 CHRIST CONSIDERED AS A COMMON HEAD.
of Christ as a common person, a representative head one that rpnrp sents another man's person, and acts the part of another accoX^^^ to the appomtment of the law, the acceptation of the jud^ so tha^ what IS done by him, the person is said to do whose persSn 'he doth represent. And so was Adam a common person, andS by L f of Gods sovereignty appomtmg him, in making a covenant with him so to be, and he did represent all mankind, Eom v 15 19 An^ hence it comes to pass that his sin is imputed unto' us and nmde ours ;i so in our law an attorney appears in the behalf of' Ms cHent and so Christ is said to be gone to heaven as our attorney to appear m he presence of God for us, Heb. ix. 24. if^cpaucad^uaT'To appear as a lawyer appears for his client, opens the cLse, plads the cTse and carries it. The word appear is verbum forense, TexpreS borrowed from the custom of human courts • for ^i. kJL ^^^J^^^}^^
naif so 1 John ii. 1. You know fbnf fha T o,r;+f i • : to appear b^ore God in the ^tte^'^oTh^^^^^^^^ m Christ IS the solid truth, and full effect of the figurj Or as tS possession, livery, and seizng 2 by an attorney is all one as if doSe bv the person himself who is represented, and is valid so the Lord Jesus, he IS a common person by an act of God's sovereLtv repre sentmg the persons of all the elect of God bein^desS «n7. pointed by God to be a second Adam. And as The filt Ad?m Ti represent all in him, so the second Adam doerr„t a^^ ^^ht^ also; and therefore as judgment came upon all in theTrst Adam .^ righteousness comes upon all in the second Adam We ^1 tmns gressed the royal law in Adam, we were all in Adam'Tloins wW he was, we were ; what he did, we did. Although wHid not 'in o^r own persons either talk with the serpent, or pu^t forth our hands to take the rmt yet we did eat the forbidden fruit as weU as he and so broke the holy aw, and turned aside in him; for he wL not a single person, standing for himself alone, but a pub ic person s?.md ing m the room of all mankind ; therefore his sin, bei^ S'mtrefv" the sin of his person but of the whole nature of man fsTust?vim puted to us all.^ If Adam had stood fast in hiruV'itne.s Tn" his primitive purity, glory and excellency, we should aTKe shar d m his happmess and blessedness, Eccles. vii. 29 ; but he lillin^ and forfeiting all, we must all share with him in his loss «nd 3cf Ponder upon Rom. v. 12, ' In whom aU have sinned ' Is thTmuT ram infects the whole flock, so sin and the curse seizeth upon alUhe" whole wor d, as well as upon Adam and Eve. And ver 19 'Bv one man s disobedience many are made sinners.' ' Many' is' he/e mft Tor all, as 'aU' elsewhere is put for 'many' 1 Tim ii -^ AliS are tainted with Adam's gui?t and filth. Mm wa\he hfad TSs posterity the members. If the head plot and practise treason atinf he state IS not ths judged the act of the whole boJy P He She
t"''wL'nVV"f.'''."^^"J^^ '''' ^^"«' ^" thebJanchfs f^Uw^k It. When Christ died on the cross, he did stand in our room,Tnd
altho;r,\Te^,l^l1f;.S'G:d"d^..::^t :r''' ^^^--^^^ ^^ -^^ ^ parlian.ent-n.an'. and Liverj ^delivery ; 'scizius' = taking possession. Law terms in use still._G.
CHRIST CONSIDERED AS A COMMON HEAD. 253