III. His mediatorial title, the King of glory.

IV. His authoritative entrance into the holy place.

I. MESSIAH, who humbled himself to the death of the crofs, is the Lord of hofts He is fo, if the fcripture be true; I attempt no other proof. This is a point not referred to the difcuffion of our fallen reafon, but proposed by the authority of God in his word, as the foundation of our faith and hope. He is the husband of the church, and the husband of the church is the Lord of hofts *. It was the Lord of hofts whom Ifaiah faw, feated upon a throne, his train filling the temple t. The vifion filled him. with astonishment, and he cried out, Wo is me, I am undone ; for mine eyes have feen the Lord of hofts. But the Apostle John affures us, that when Isaiah faid these things, he faw his glory and fpake of him ‡. This is the title of God in the Old Teftament; or, as fome chufe to fpeak, of the Supreme Being. And it is afcribed to MESSIAH in many places. Therefore if he were not the Lord of hofts, the fcripture would be chargeable + Ibid. lxi. 3. ↑ John xii. 41. B 3

*Ifa. liv. 5.

with

with authorizing, yea with enjoining idolatry. But he is the true God, and eternal life* ; *; and they who give him the honour due to his name, have every thing to hope, and nothing to fear.

II. He is the Lord, ftrong and mighty in battle. It was in his human nature, he engaged in battle with his enemies and ours, But the battle was the Lord's. Therefore, tho' he trod the wine-prefs alone, and of the people there was none with him †, his own arm brought him falvation. He is conqueror of fin, fatan, and death. We were under the power of thefe, therefore, for our fakes, he engaged in conflict with their united force. He fought, he bled, he died, but in dying, he conquered. The ftrength of fin is the this ftrength he subdued, by obeying the precepts of the law, and fuftaining the penalty due to our tranfgreffions. He deftroyed death and difarmed it of its sting. He deftroyed him that hath the power of death, fatan. He hook, he overturned the foundations of his kingdom, broke open his prison-doors, released his prifoners, delivered the prey out of the hand of the mighty, * 1 John v. 20, + Ifa. Ixiii. 3.

law;

and

and having spoiled principalities and powers, be made a fhew of them openly, triumphing over them in it, that is, his crofs. The Apostle alludes to the manner of a Roman triumph, in which the conqueror was drawn in a chariot of state, attended by his officers and foldiers; the principal prifoners followed in chains, and all the treasures and trophies gained from the vanquished enemy, were displayed to adorn the proceffion. Thus MESSIAH fubdued the ftrength and policy of the powers of darkness, in the hour of his loweft humiliation, when he hung and expired upon thecrofs, and triumphed over them, gloriously leading captivity captive, when he afcended on hight. Satan, though ftill an enemy to his church. and cause, is defpoiled of his dominion; his power is only permiffive, and in his fiercest affaults, he is limited by bounds which he cannot pafs; by a chain which he cannot break. And all his attempts are controlled and overruled, to the furtherance of the cause which he would fupprefs, and to the good of the perfons whom he would worry and deftroy. They are made acquainted with his devices, furnished with armour fufficient + Pf. lxviii. 18,

* Col. ii. 15

to repel him; and they fight under encouragement of a fure promife, that the God of peace will shortly and finally bruise satan under their feet. As MESSIAH their king. has conquered for them, fo they in due time, fhall be made more than conquerors, by faith in his blood, and in the word of his teftimony.

III. The title of King of glory, I underftand as peculiarly applicable to him in the character of mediator. The glory of his divine nature is effential to him. But in confequence of his obedience unto death, he obtained in the human nature, a name that is above every name *. He fuffered as a man, yea, as a malefactor; there was no appearance of glory, in that form of a fervant which he affumed for our fakes. Though without fin, he was made in the likeness of finful flesh, subject to poverty, difgrace, and death; but the fame man who was crucified, dead, and buried, received glory and authority at his refurrection, and was highly exalted to the administration of all dominion and government. Perhaps the word glory is not easily defined. We conceive it as expreffing bright nefs and fplendour. The glory of Solomon

* Philip. ii. 9:

was

was the combined effect of his wifdom, power, and riches; which distinguished him in his character, conduct, and appearance, from other men. The glory of the fun, is his effulgence and influence. The word glory, when applied to the bleffed God, feems to denote that manifeftation of himfelf, by which his intelligent creatures are capable of knowing him; for in himself, he is infinite, inacceffible, and incomprehenfible, and dwelleth in that light which no man, which no creature, can approach unto *. Of this manifeftation there are various degrees. His glory fhines in the creation. Not only do the heavens declare it by their immenfity, and furnish us with an idea of his unfpeakable greatnefs, who has fent forth ten thousand worlds to tell us, that he refides above them all; but the smallest of his works, the grafs and flowers of the field, and the infects which creep upon the ground, bear an impreffion of his wifdom and goodness, an inimitable criterion of his wonder-working hand, which fo far difplays his glory. To an attentive and discerning mind, his glory fhines in his providence; in his preferving the world which * 1 Tim. vi. 16. + Pf. xix. 1. † Pf. civ. 24, 25.

he