Know, then, what a foundation you have for your hopes towards God. Know that Christ is a sufficient " propitiation for the sins of the whole world;" that " his blood will cleanse from all sin;" and that " all who believe in him shall be justi- fied from all things."]
2. The efficacy of his grace —
[The Lord Jesus Christ, in his exalted state, is appointed " Head over all things to the Church ; " every member of which is to look to him for a supply of all his wants, both temporal and spiritual. But, if he be a creature only, how can he exe- cute this trust ? At the very same instant that you are crying to him here for the relief of your necessities, there are millions of others spreading their wants before him in every quarter of the globe : and how can he attend to all ? Ubiquity is the prerogative of God alone : a creature cannot be every where present at the same time : it is God alone thatfilleth all things: so that, if he be not God, you have no assurance that he can help you under your difficulties, and afford you the desired relief. In what a distressing state would you then be left ! and what painful anxieties must corrode your breast! But when you know that he is God as well as man, your fears are all dispelled ; for he can hear your every cry, and satisfy your every want. There can be nothing impossible to him, if he be " the Mighty God :" and consequently, whilst living by faith on him, you are assured that " his grace shall be sufficient for you," and that " no weapon that has been formed against you shall prosper."]
3. The glory and excellency of his salvation —
[On any supposition, if Christ be only a man, and have by any means effected our salvation, we are unspeakably in- debted to him, and to God for him. But still, methinks, he is richly repaid, in having his sufferings for so short a time compensated with such a reward as the everlasting salvation of millions of the human race. But, if he be God equal with the Father, eternally happy and glorious in himself, and abso- lutely incapable of being rendered either more happy or more glorious by any acquisition of happiness to us, what do we then owe him for all his inconceivable condescension and love 1 It is this which constitutes the glory of redemption ; the in- carnation of God's co-equal, co-eternal Son ; his substitution in the place of sinful man ; his vicarious sacrifice upon the cross ; his completion of salvation for us by his own obedience unto death ; his ascension to heaven, as our fore-runner ; his investiture with all power in heaven and in earth, that he may perfect both for us, and in us, the work he has begun : this, I say, it is which renders the whole plan of redemption so