for himself: but, though they might write it on parchment, they could not inscribe it on their own hearts. This however God engages to do for all who embrace the new covenant. He will make all the laws which he has revealed, agreeable to us : he will discover to us the excellency of them ; and " cause us to delight in them after our inward man." He will make us to see, that the moral " law is holy and just and good," even while it condemns us for our disobedience to its commands ; and that " the law of faith " also (that is, the Gospel) is a marvellous exhibition of God's mercy and grace, and exactly suited to the necessities of our souls. He will engage our wills to submit to his ; and dispose our souls to put forth all their energies in obedience to his commands. This he has repeatedly promised b;" and this he will fulfil to all who trust in him.]
2. To establish a relation between himself and us — [By nature we are enemies to him, and he to us. But
on our embracing of this covenant, he will " give himself to us as our God, and take us for his people." In being our God, he will exercise all his perfections for our good ; his wisdom to guide us, his power to protect us, his love and mercy to make us happy, his truth and faithfulness to preserve us to the end. In taking us for his people, he will incline us to employ all our faculties in his service. Our time, our wealth, our influence, yea, all the members of our bodies, and all the powers of our souls, will be used as his, for the accomplishment of his will, and the promotion of his glory. We may see this illustrated in the life of the Apostle Paul. God took as much care of him, as if there had been no other creature in the universe ; and he devoted himself to God, as much as if his faculties had not been capable of any other use or application. The effects of this relation are not indeed equally visible in all the Lord's people : but the difference is in the degree only, and not in the substance and reality.]
3. To give us the knowledge of himself —
[There is a knowledge of God which cannot be attained by human teaching; a spiritual experimental knowledge, a knowledge accompanied with suitable dispositions and affec- tions. But this God will give to those who lay hold on his covenant : " He will reveal himself to them, as he does not unto the world." He will " put them into the cleft of the rock, and make all his glory to pass before their eyes ;" and proclaim to them his name, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious0, &c. He has promised, that " all his people
b Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. c Exod. xxxiii. 18—23. and xxxiv. 5—7.