lieve on the Name of the Son of GOD, and that believing we might have Life through his Name: For they prophefied of the Grace that was to come unto us at the Revelation of JE SUS CHRIST, and to us is the Gofpe here preached as well as unto them that lived then, and more clearly; they had it but in dark Shadows, we behold as in a Glafs the Glory of the LORD,

In the Beginning of this Chapter we have the LORD JESUS CHRIST fet forth by Four of his moft glorious Titles; the great and good Shepherd, the Branch, the King of his Church, and the Lord our Righteousness; it is the last of thefe I am now to speak to.

In the Words then you may obferve these fol lowing Things.

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ft. His Efential Character, (He is the Lord, or Jehovah, as the Word is rendred by fome, which is the incommunicable Name of GOD Speaking his Eternity, and Self-Exiftence; and fo carries in it a confiderable Proof of the Deity of CHRIST: For whereas Angels and Men, tho they are everlasting, and fo hall have no End, yet they are not Eternal, they had a Beginning, but CHRIST is the fame Yesterday, To-day, and for ever, He which is, which was, and which is to come; and whereas all Creatures have their Being from the Creator, CHRIST is independent, hav ing his Being in and from himself.

2d. Here is his Mediatorial Character, he is our (Righteoufnefs) he hath not only a Righ

teoufnels

leoufnefs as GOD, but as Mediator: For by making Satisfaction to the Juftice of GOD for the Sin of Man, he hath brought in an everlasting Righteousness; and that not for himself but for us.

ev 3d. Here is the Propriety that Believers have

this Righteoufnefs, it is (Our) Righteousness, It is not called his Righteoufnefs, but Ours, it is for Us, it is ordain'd to be Ours: As much Ours to fave us, trufting in it as his own, to glo

fie himfelf by it; Ours, not for himself, he had no need of it, being GOD bleffed for ever→ more; Ours, not the Angels; neither the Good, for they needed it not, having never fallen; being juftified by their own Righteousness; nor the Bad, for they are referved in Chains of Darkness to the Judgment of the Great Day but Ours who are the Sons of Men; Ours, if we receive Reft, and rely upon it alone for Juftification, and Salvation.

"

4th. Here's the Manifestation and Declaration of it, (This is his Name whereby he shall be called) i. e. he fhall not only be fo, but be known to be fo: God the Father fhall call him "by this Name, as having appointed him to be Our Righteoufnefs. Ifrael, or every true Believer fhall call him by this Name, or glory in him under this Title above any other, as fetching the greatest comfort and Confolation

"from hence.

And this is his Name whereby he fhall be called the LORD our Righteoufnels. This glorious Text is an entire Propofition of

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it felf,

felf, and in fpeaking to it, I fhall obferve this Method.

1t. Shew what is implied in CHRIST's being our Righteoufnels.

d. Shew what Righteoufnefs of CHRISTit is, which is made ours.

3d. Shew how the Righteoufnefs of CHRIST comes to be Ours.

4th. Lay down fome Properties of this Righ teoufnefs which is made Ours.

And then improve the whole by way of Application.

1. The firft Thing propofed, is to is to fhew what is implied in CHRIST's being Our Righteousness.

(1) It implies that there is no appearing before GOD without a Righteousness: For we are all guilty before G O D, and fhall be con demn'd as guilty, if we have not a Righteouf nefs wherein to appear before him.

Had we ftood, and not fallen in our firft. Father Adam, our Innocence would have been our Righteonfaefs; but being fallen, we must have fomething elfe wherein to appear, even 'the Righteousness of another, or, we fhall not be able to ftand before the Juftice of GOD.

And the Reafon is evident from the very Nature of GOD himself, who is just as well as merciful; and in the Juftification of a Sinner, acts as a GOD of Justice, 1. John I. 9. He is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins, and to cleanfe us from all Unrighteoufnefs: Elle where he is called a juft GOD, and a Savi

he will not pronounce Men Righteous en they are not, nor accept of them with ta Righteoufnefs, either in themselves, or in ir Surety. Thou and I therefore must have Compleat Righteoufnefs wherein to appear be e GOD, or we fhall ftand Speechlefs the Great Day, Mat. 22. 11, 12. "And en the King came in to fee the Guests, he faw re a Man which had hot on a Wedding Gar nt: And be faid unto him,‹ Friend, how camef ain hither, not having on a Wedding Garment ? d he was speechless.

(2) There is thus much implied, That we have Righteoufnefs of our own wherein to appear fore GOD. Hence the Apoftle, when he uld prove the general Depravity of all the ildren of Men, both Jews and Gentiles, He otes a Paffage out of the Fourteenth, and fty third Pfalms wherein, after the LORD ad taken a particular View of, and Infpection to the State of fallen Man, He concludes at they were univerfally, and without Excep on, corrupted: There is none Righteous, fays =no, not one, Rom. 3. 10. What was there. ot one of all the fallen Race, that had efca Ed the Contagion? No, not one.

(1) We have no natural-Righteousness, of our n. Adam indeed had a natural Righteoufnes, ing created in the Image of GOD, which partconfifts in Righteoufnefs; GOD made Man pright, with a Divine Rectitude in all the Pow sand Faculties of his Soul; fo that it was S natural to him to be Righteous, as now it is to

his

his Pofterity to be unrighteous; but Adam fin ed and defiled our Natures, and now our Natures defile us: So that even thofe, whe thro' Grace are justified, and fan&tified, wer none of them righteous by Nature: Righteou nefs is not born with us, or inherent in u no, even the Man after G O D's own Heart owned himself fhapen in Iniquity, and in Sin com ceived, Pfal. 51. 5. And the Apoftle tells us tha we are all by nature, Children of Wrath, Eph.2

2d. We have no Legal Righteoufnefs whic ean juftifie us before GOD. By a Leg Righteousness, I mean an exact Conformity Heart and Life, to the Moral Law, whic was at firft written in Man's Nature, an is fummarily contain'd in the Decalogue of Ten Commandments, Rom. 10. 5. For Mo defcribeth the Righteoufnefs which is of th Law, that the Man which doth these thing fhail live by them. This Righteousness indee Adam had before he finned, his Heart, and Law answered, as Face anfwereth Face in Glafs And this Righteoufnefs our LOR JESUS CHRIST had : For he answered theLay in all it's requirements. And if we had nere finned, our Obedience to the Law would ha been Our Righteoufnefs, do this and live: Bu having finned, and being corrupted, nothin that we can do can attone for our former guil and procure divine Favour : divine Favour: Becaufe we a not able, in a strict and legal Senfe, to kee the whole Law, which requires perfonal, perfe and perpetual Obedience,