be communicated are also precisely such as his necessities re- quire : he has nothing to do, but simply to look to Christ by faith ; and all these blessings shall flow down into his soul pre- cisely^ health did into the bodies of the dying Israelites, the very instant they looked to the brazen serpent. The only difference between them shall be, that, whereas the Israelites looked but once, and had their health completely restored, the sinner must look to Jesus continually, and derive from him such gradual and progressive communications as his necessities require. All " this, I say, is by faith, that it may be by grace, and that the promise may be sure to all the seedf."]
3. In appointing a salvation so conducive to his own glory —
[By this wonderful device, the substitution of God's only dear Son in the place of sinners, God not only prevented any dishonour accruing to himself by the exercise of mercy, but actually secured more glory to himself than he ever could have derived from any other source. Justice would doubt- less have been honoured, if the whole human race had been consigned over to the curse which they had merited. But how much more was justice honoured, when God's co-equal, co-eternal Son was subjected to its stroke ; not because he had committed sin himself, but because he had taken upon him the sins of others ! How highly was it honoured, when not the smallest measure of its claims could be set aside ; but Jesus, as our representative, was constrained to pay the utmost farthing of our debt, before one single soul could be liberated from its obligations to punishment ! And how was the law honoured ! It would have been honoured, indeed, by the obedience of man : but how was it honoured by having God himself, in an incarnate state, subjected to its dominion ; and by the deter- mination, that not any child of man should ever be saved, except by pleading Christ's obedience to the law, as his only ground of hope ! Well does the prophet say, " He hath mag- nified the law, and made it honourable *." As for holiness, O how bright it shines, in this mysterious dispensation. Not a sinner shall be saved, that does not acknowledge his desert of everlasting perdition ; and that has not a perfect righteous- ness wherein to appear before God ; or that does not plead for mercy at the Saviour's hands as much for the smallest de- fect in his best deeds, as for the most flagrant transgression that he ever committed. I may add, too, that truth is no less honoured, seeing that, rather than there should be the smallest departure from it, God's only dear Son should have its utmost denunciations fulfilled in him, and not a sinner be saved, who
f Rom. iv. 16. e Isai. xlii. 21.