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the garden in the cool of the day, and the guilty criminal being examined in open court, behold, mercy and truth meet together in the happy fentence that was pronounced, The feed of the woman Shall bruife the head of the ferpent, Gen. iii. 15. Behold righteoufnefs and peace kiffing one another in the righteous vengeance that was to be executed upon the devil and his works, in order to effectuate a happy peace between God and man. This meeting was gradually cleared up under the old teftament, and in the legal facrifices, pointing out the great propitiatory facrifice.

3. Another remarkable period is their meeting together at Bethlehem-Ephratah, upon Chrift's Incarnation, Micah v. 2, 4, 5, &c.

4. Another remarkable period is their meeting together at the banks of Jordan, when Christ was baptized, Mat. iii. 13, 16, 17, &c.

5. Another remarkable period is their meeting together in the garden of Gethsemane, when Chrift, being in an agony did fweat great drops of blood, under the preffure of avenging juftice; every drop of blood was an ocean of mercy: And, while he was preft in the wine-prefs of God's wrath, mercy was expreft. No mercy to Chrift; for God spared not his own fon, even when he cried, mercy, mercy, God's mercy; faying, Father, if it be thy will remove this cup from me. No, no, no mercy was shewn to him, otherwise no mercy had been shown to us: Juftice must have its due from him, that mercy might have vent towards us; and fo here mercy and truth meet together.

6. Another remarkable period is their meeting on mount Calvary, where Chrift was crucified. It was upon the cross of Chrift that, mercy and

truth

truth meet together, that righteousness and peace kif fed each other; for there it was that he paid all the elects debt to the laft farthing that truth and righteousness could demand, until he cried with a loud voice, and faid, It is finished. Having done all that the law could enjoin, he suffered all that the law could threaten, fo as it cannot crave a farthing more. It is finished; all that was ftipulated for with the Father in that federal tranfaction; all that was promised in that eternal compact is finished every article agreed to in the counsel of peace was finished. The bargain that he had figned with his hand he now fealed with his blood; and in his appearance upon the crofs, or in his obedience to the death, did all the attributes of God meet, as in a centre: And on this account was mount Calvary more glorious than mount Sinai : for in mount Sinai God appeared in his terrible Majesty, making the mountain to tremble, and the earth to fhake; but here in mount Calvary he appeared, not only in his terrible majefty, but in his tender mercy; in his terrible fury against fin, and in his tender favour towards the finner; and now, the controverfy betwixt juftice and mercy feems at a crifis. Here was the critical juncture, wherein their different demands behoved to be decided; and it was done with fuch a folemnity, as made the whole univerfe, as it were to tremble and quake: For them did God fake, not the earth only, but also heaven ; for, when Chrift was under the mighty load of this terrible wrath in the finner's room, there was a great earthquake, and the heavens grew black, the fun was eclipfed, and that at a time contrary to the common rules of nature; which made a heathen philofopher, at a distance, cry out, That

either the frame of nature was on the point of dif folution, or the God of nature was fuffering: And indeed he was fuffering unto blood, and unto death. Behold the living and eternal GOD here, in our nature, wounded to death, and bleeding out his life, to be a facrifice for fin, that juftice might be fatisfied, and mercy might be magnified, and all the attributes of GOD glorified to the higheft. O wonder, that Golgotha, the place of a fcull, fhould be fuch a famous meeting-place for the divine perfections? It was a place of the greatest shame and ignominy; but in him who endured the cross, and defpifed the fhame, it was made a place of moft refplendent glory: For, in the crofs of Christ, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace met and embraced each other. God's attributes did harmoniously join together, fo as the one does not blacken, but illuftrate the glory of the other, while they fhined gloriously in the face of Chrift crucified, as a beautiful and bright constellation; for he was fet forth to be a propitiation, to declare the righteoufnefs and juftice of God, together with his other glorious names.

7. Another remarkable period is their meeting. together at the bar of GOD's great justice-court in heaven, within the vail, whither the forerunner hath for us entered, even Jefus, Heb. vi. last. When Chrift was upon the cross, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and a way was made for entering into the holy of holies. And as the priests under the law were not only to offer the facrifice without the camp, but after that were to enter the holiest of all, not without blood, but with the blood of the facrifice, to prinkle the mercy-feat, Lev. xvi. 14, 15. Even fo Chrift,

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having offered himself a facrifice, and fuffered with-
out the gate, Heb. xiii. 12. he is entered into the
boly place by his own blood, Heb. ix. 12. there to ap-
pear as our high-priest, in the power and virtue of
his blood to make a full atonement, and fprinkle
the mercy-feat. Hence believers are faid to be
come to Jefus the mediator of the new covenant, and
to the blood of Sprinkling. And where is this? Even
in heaven, as you fee in the context, Heb. xii. 23,
24. Now, in this work, Chrift carried the price
of his blood into the very presence of God for us,
Heb, ix. 24. and paid it down before him
; and,
in this act juftice hath its fatisfaction brought
home; and, by this act, mercy and juftice actu-
ally are met: For hereby Chrift fprinkled the very
mercy-feat with blood all over, both upon it, and
before it, as the forecited Lev. xvi. reprefents: For
the mercy-feat of old ftood fo, that it could be
feen but two ways, namely upon it, and before
it as a table next to the wall; and fo this points
out, that whatever way we look to mercy by faith,
we may see mercy and blood mixt, mercy and
juftice met together, and all forts of mercy con-
veyed through the blood of Chrift, top-mercies,
and fide-mercies, upper-mercies of a fpiritual na-
ture, and lower mercies of a temporal nature;
for the mercy-feat is fprinkled with the blood upon
it, and before it, and whatever way you look to
it. The facrifice was finished on the crofs, and
all facrifices finished therein; but the blood of the
facrifice behoved alfo to be carried within the vail
in order to the full atonement, that what was writ-
ten in blood upon the crofs, might be fealed in the
prefence of God at the heavenly bar: And we act
not our faith far enough for redemption, unless we

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follow Chrift from the cross to the bar of God's jufftice-court in heaven, to fee all fealed and fecured there within the vail, where this blood is expofed, as it were, and pled at the bar; where mercy and juftice meet together and embrace each other.

8. Another remarkable period is their meeting together at the bar of confcience, God's lower court on the day of actual reconciliation betwixt God and the finner: For then, the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, did offer himself without spot to God, doth purge the confcience, Heb. ix. 14. And the blood of fprinkling, wherewith the conSciences purged from dead works to ferve the living God, doth put forth its purgative power and virtue by a certain internal speech; and what doth it fpeak in the confcience? It speaks better things than the blood of Abel, that fpeaks vengeance, but this fpeaks mercy and peace, in conjunction with truth, righteousness and juftice: For, where-ever justice fatisfying blood cries for mercy and peace, there mercy and truth, righteousness and peace meet, and embrace each other. This blood is the cement whereby they are joined together. Before this blood be applied, the confcience of the convinced finner is all in a flame, like mount Sinai; thunder and lightning, and smoke and darkness, and fear of hell and vengeance, compaffing the foul about, while it is arraigned at the inftance of the fiery law, to pay the double debt to the mandatory and minatory part of the law, that is, perfect obedience upon the pain. of eternal death and damnation. The finner finds himself loft and undone for ever by this law: But then, whenever the blood of fprinkling comes in, and appears at the bar of confcience, it fpeaks better things; it is a better speaker than the law: And

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