bour as thyself. On these two commandments bang all the law and the prophets*. Moreover to these two tables answer the tables of the beart and mind, on which the law is re-inscribed in regeneration and converfion; according to the promise in the covenant of grace, I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and though the mind and heart are in effect the fame, yet they are diftinctly mentioned, and as it should seem with reference to the two tables of the law; and the apostle, when he puts in contraft the tables of stone on which the law was written, and the fleshly tables of the heart on which the epiftle of Chrift is written, ufes the plural number'.

3dly, The writing on them, what it was, and whofe it was; what was written on the tables, were the decalogue or the ten words; the fame which the Lord spoke with an audible voice on mount Sinai, in the hearing of the children of Ifrael; the fame he wrote on two tables of stone, plainly and legibly, that they might be easily read, and that even be that ran might read them, and that they might remain and be read in after ages; for litera fcripta manet; and that they might remain unalterable, as Pilate faid, concerning the infcription he put on the cross of Chrift, What I have written, I have written"; fignifying that it fhould continue as it was, and not be altered; fo what God has written, he has written, and it fhall remain fo without any alteration; and this writing, both on the former tables and on these latter tables, were the Lord's own writing, written by the finger of God himself; Mofes wrote nothing, he only brought the two tables hewed, but quite empty and deftitute of any thing on them; what was written was by the Lord himfelf: fo the re-infcription of them on the hearts of men in regeneration is the Lord's own work, according to his promise; they are the epiftle of Chrift, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God"; it is not men nor minifters that infcribe these things on the fleshly tables of the heart, but the Lord himself; it is not by might or power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts: and what was written on these renewed tables of ftone, was exactly the fame that was written on the former; the fame laws in the fame words and in the fame letters. The law of God is the fame, let it be where and when it will: the fame law as moral was written on the heart of Adam in innocence; and the remains of the fame law are to be obferved in the Gentiles, fince they do by nature the things contained in the law, which shew the work of the law written in their hearts: and the fame is written again by the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people in converfion; and it is the fame law which was in the heart of Chrift, and he became fubject to, and is the fulfilling end of, for righteoufnefs to thofe that believe in him.

4thly, The form of them; they were flabs of marble, hewed and formed into tables by Mofes; but, the matter of them was still the fame: they were tables of ftone, denoting the fame things as before, and which have been obferved; and the hewing of them by Mofes may denote the greater polishing of the law, or the brighter edition of it by him; it is but a rough draught of it, which is found written on the hearts of the Gentiles; but the law, as delivered to Mofes, and given forth by him, was fuch as no nation under the fun had, befides the Ifraelites; What nation is there fo great, fays Mofes, that bath statutes and judgments fo righteous, as all this law which I fet before you this day? The Pfalmift David likewife takes notice of the diftinguishing kindness of God to Ifrael, in giving them his word, statutes, and judgments, which he did not to others; and for which therefore they had reason to praise the Lord, and which he thus expreffes: He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his ftatutes and his judgments unto Ifrael. He bath not dealt fo with any nation; and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praife ye the Lord". And the apostle Paul enumerating the peculiar privileges of the children of Ifrael, reckons among them the giving of the law, and the fervice of God; in the enjoyment of which they had the advantage and the preference to the nations of the world..

III. I proceed to fhew what the putting the tables into the ark fignified. And this denotes,

ift, The being of the law in the heart of Chrift, of which he himself says to his God and Father, Thy law is within my heart; where it was in a much higher fenfe than it was in the hearts of the Gentiles, who by nature do the things in it, or than it was in the heart of Adam in his innocent ftate; or than it is in the heart of a regenerate man. And its being in his heart, is expreffive of the perfect knowledge he has of it: as a divine perfon, he is omniscient and knows all things, as mediator; the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him; and the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counfel and knowledge rest upon him; as man, he was filled with wifdom, and increased in it; and as he spoke fuch words of wisdom and grace as never man did, being full of the doctrines of grace and truth, fo he had fuch knowledge of the law as never man had. This appears from his ready answer to the fcribe, which he delivered in fo full and concife a manner, when he questioned him about which was the greatest commandment in the law, before obferved. It denotes also his ftrong and cordial affection for it. David defcribes a good man, and some think the Messiah, as one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night; and of himself, and from his own experience, he could fay,

N n 2

fay, O how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day; in which, as in other things, he was a type of Chrift: and if every man that is born again delights in the law of God after the inward man, and takes pleasure in obedience to it, much more must Christ, whose meat and drink it was to do the will of him that fent bim2 ; one part of which was to obey and fulfil the law of God. Yea this includes and supposes complete conformity of heart and nature, of life and conversation in Chrift unto it. There is a most perfect agreement between him and that. Is that holy? fo was he in heart and life. Is that juft? he is Jefus Chrift the righIs that good? he is good, and did good, and went about conftantly doing good. Does the law require a holy nature perfectly free from sin? it is to be found in Chrift, who is boly, barmless, undefiled, and separate from finners; free from the spot of original fin, and from any blemish of actual transgression. Does it demand and infift on finless obedience? This is to be met with in none of Adam's race, only in Chrift, who did no fin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

teous.

1

2dly, The putting the two tables of the law into the ark, fignifies Christ's subjection to the law, which was not only in him, but he was under that. As a Jew, he was under the civil law: a Jew he was by birth; the Shilab that was to come, and did come from the tribe of Judab; from which tribe the whole body of the nation were denominated Jews. He was of the family of David, which was of that tribe. He was born at Bethlehem Ephratah, or Bethlehem of Judab: so that as the apoftle fays, it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judab'; and was a native of that land, and strictly and properly a Jew; and as fuch was fubject to the laws of his country; and even when it was reduced to a Roman province, and obliged to pay tribute to the Roman governors, and which he did not refufe to do; for as he taught men to give to Cæfar the things which were Cafar's, he did the fame himself, and even wrought a miracle to perform it for when the receivers of tribute came to Peter for it, he ordered him to caft his hook into the fea, and out of the first fish that came up, to take a piece of money, and pay the tribute for him and himself; fo far was he from being chargeable with the imputation laid upon him, that he was an enemy to Cafar, a ftirrer up of fedition, a perverter of the nation, and forbad the people to give tribute to Cæfar. As he was a son of Abraham, he was under the ceremonial law, and fubject to that; fo he was throughout the whole course of his life: he was circumcifed the eighth day, prefented by his parents to the Lord in the temple at the proper time, and went up to Jerufalem with them to keep the pass-over, when but twelve years of age; we often hear of him at the Jewish festivals in their fynagogues and temple, attending the fervice of them; and one of the laft actions of his life was keeping the pafs-over with his difciples before he fuffered.

fuffered. The ceremonies of the law were shadows of him, of which he was the body and fubftance, and had their accomplishment in him. As a creature, as a man, he was under the moral law, and fubject to that, as every man is and ought to be being made of a woman, or born of one, he was in courfe made under the law; and being found in fashion as a man, he was in the form of a fervant, and under obligation to do duty and fervice, to fear God and keep his commandments, which is the whole duty of man, or the duty of every man " : especially he was under this law, and obliged to obey it, as he was the furety of his people. That he became their furety is certain; hence he is called the furety of a better teftament: he engaged in the covenant of grace, which is the better teftament, to be the bondsman of his people, to pay their debts for them, to fatisfy divine justice, to redeem and fave them, to bring them back, and restore them, and set them before his divine Father; all which could not be done without fulfilling the law. This was a principal part of the will of God, which he agreed to do, faying, Sacrifice and offering thou didst not defire, fuch as were of a ceremonial kind, they being infufficient to atone for fin, and take it away; but the facrifice of himself, body and foul, he did defire, which was typified by the fin-offerings and burnt-offerings under the law; Then faid I, Lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O my God; which was to offer himself a victim to divine juftice, and be subject both to the precepts and penalty of the law, which as a furety for finners he was obliged to be, and was: he was fubject to the precepts of the law, and strictly obferved them; he did always the things which pleased his Father, and all things that were pleasing to him, even his whole will and pleasure, and omitted nothing which he commanded and required; by which means he was fit to be a facrifice for fin, fince in him was no fin: he was not guilty of any breach of the law, in thought, word, or deed, and hereby became a proper pattern and example for his people to copy after; for though they are not able perfectly to conform to him as fuch, yet he is worthy of their imitation in all they can; and it becomes them to walk even as he walked', though they can only do it in an imperfect manner and befides the precepts of the law, as the finner's furety, he was fubject to the penalty of it; for though, as a mere creature, and a sinless man, he was only bound to keep the commands of the law; yet as a furety for finners he was obliged to bear the penalty of it in their room and ftead, which they through difobedience to the law were liable to, which penalty is death, In the day thou eateft thereof thou shalt surely die"; which is not only true of the first sin

of man, but of every other, for the wages of fin is death"; not death corporal only, but death eternal, or the wrath of God, which comes upon the children of disobedience, even on every one that has no fhare in the furetifhip of Chrift; but for whomfoever he became a furety, for them he became obedient unto death, and bore the curfe of the law and wrath of God, and thereby delivered them from it.

3dly, The putting the tables into the ark, fignified Chrift's fulfilment of the law in the room and instead of his people. He not only had it in him, and was made under it, but he perfectly fulfilled it. This it became him to do as a furety; it became him indeed to fulfil all righteousness, civil, ceremonial, and moral, but especially the latter; fince his work and business was, as a furety, to bring in everlasting righteousness for the juftification of his people, and thereby justly and truly merit and claim the character of the Lord our righteousness. He came into the world in our nature, to fulfil the moral law and the righteousness of it: Think not, fays he, that I am come to deftroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil°. Some of the Jews thought that Chrift was an Antinomian, as these words plainly fhew; juft as fome ignorant persons now reckon the faithful minifters of the gospel to be: and if our Lord himself was fo ill thought of, it need not feem ftrange that his faithful followers should have Tuch a brand of infamy faftened upon them: but certain it is, that Chrift came not with fuch an intent, nor did he do any thing in doctrine or practice which tended to deftroy the law, but every thing which served to fulfil it; being sent in the likeness of finful flesh, and for fin condemned fin in the flesh, that the righteoufnefs of the law might be fulfilled in us, as reprefented by him. And this is done, and effectually done; he is become the end of the law, the fulfilling-end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. This is completely done; it is finished, and was finifhed when he died the death of the cross: and hereby the law is magnified, and made honourable; more fo by the obedience and sufferings of the Son of God, than by the obedience of angels in heaven, or of Adam in paradife, or by the fufferings of the damned in hell to all eternity; the obedience and fufferings of thefe being that of creatures, whereas the righteoufnefs that Chrift has brought in and yielded to the law, is the righteousness of God; not only what is approved of by God, and accepted with him, and imputed by him to his people, but is what was wrought by him, who is God as well as man: and though his suffering the penalty of the law was in the human nature, yet in that nature as in union with the Son of God: whence the law has had fuch a glory put upon it, and an honour done it, it never otherwife could have had; wherefore we should look not to our own righteoufnefs as juftifying, which is

Rom. vi. 23.

• Rom. x. 4.

o Mat. v. 17. 'Ifai. xlii. 21.

Rom. viii. 3, 4.

but