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you muft embrace each other; and, if this gofpel be hid to you, then after that, hell and you will meet together, and the flames of divine wrath and you will embrace each other to eternity; and the motto written upon the door of your hell will be, The vengeance of truth and righteousness, for the abufe of mercy and peace. Let this word of terror fink into your confcience, O graceless, chriftless, unbelieving foul, that never faw the glory, nor felt the virtue of this bleffed meeting, and, Gallio like, care for none of these things. But on the other hand,

9. Hence, from this doctrine, fee ground of comfort to all believers in Chrift, who have seen the glory, and felt the virtue of this harmonious meeting of divine attributes in Chrift. This doctrine is as comfortable to you, as it is terrible to others. Can you fay before God, That these last two marks are your experience? Then I can fay, that all the comforts, that iffue from that glorious meeting in Christ, belong to you; and God allows you firong confolation, who have fled for refuge to the hope fet before you For that city of refuge to which you have fled, is the centre of the meeting, and the place appointed, where they kifs one another harmoniously. Why fay you, What concern have P in their meeting and embracing each other? O believer, they met together for your fake, and kissed: one another out of kindness to you: For there was no real jarring among them, but all the apparent jarring was about you, and how they thould be glorified in your falvation; and when infinite wifdom found the ranfom, and fo the way how they should all be glorified in your eternal happiness, then they hugged each other in their arms, as it were in a

rapture

rapture of joy, for your fake, Prov. viii. 31. His delights were with the fons of men. It was not one attribute only, that had its delight, fatisfaction and glory, 'tis delights in the plural number; for all the attributes of God had their delights: And about what was it? Why, the counsel of peace was concerning you; for his delights were with the fons of men. And you having feen the glory of this device, and felt fomething of the virtue thereof, God and you have met together, and Chrift and you have kiffed each other; he hath embraced you, and you have embraced him; and that embracement is a pledge and earneft, that he and you will meet together in heaven, and embrace each other to eternity. This meeting and embracement is founded upon the harmonious meeting and embracement of the divine attributes in Chrift; and therefore it shall be fure, abiding and everlasting; and all thefe attributes are engaged for your comfort and fupport, and this glory of the Lord you shall for ever behold: For Chrift, in whom all thefe glorious perfections meet together, hath prayed for it, John xvii. 24. Father, I will, that thefe whom thou hast given me, &c. Here then, believer, is ground of comfort to you, in every cafe: comfort against defertion. Is it long fince Chrift and you met together, and kiffed each other? Behold, here is the reason, why, he will never altogether leave you, nor forfake you; but ftill meet with you now and then, when he fees it fit, and give you the other kifs of his infinitely bleffed lips, and embrace of his arms, till you come to the intimate, immediate embrace. ments of his love in glory; why, because mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kiffed each other. So fure as mercy and truth VOL. II. X

are

are met together, as furely will the Lord meet with you. Here is comfort against the law, when it comes in as a covenant upon your confcience, faying, Pay what thou oweft, or otherwife thou art curfed, and must go to bell; and the law, fpeaking in the name of truth and righteousness, feems terrible: But you may foon anfwer by faith, and fay, O law, the demand is just indeed, and agreeable to truth and righteoufnefs; but you mistake the perfon: For truth and righteousness have already met with mercy and peace, in the perfon of Chrift my husband, who endured all my hell, and became a curfe for me; and therefore I have no ground to fear the bell thou threatnest, nor the curfe thou denounceft, nor any liableness thereto. Here is comfort against Satan and his temptations: For this bleffed meeting in Chrift did concert his ruin, and the bruifing of his head. Here is comfort against church-divifions and commotions: When neither ministers nor private christians do meet together, or embrace one another with love and amity; is this fad and afflicting to you? Here is a meeting, that may give you comfort in that cafe: For no member of that meeting will ever fall out among themselves, or fall out with you. Here is comfort against your jarring with friends: What do I know but there is fome here that cannot get lived in peace with fuch a friend or relation, nor their chriftian liberty enjoyed, because of their frowns? And may be they are as aliens to you, not in speaking terms with you; you cannot meet together with them cordially, nor embrace one another amicably: But let this be your comfort in that cafe, mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace bave kiffed each other; and you have got a kifs by the by, and that is better than all the kind

nefs

H

I

nefs of all the friends in the world. Here is com-
fort against publick calamities that seem to be ap-
proaching, or perfonal trials that may be coming
upon you, Here is a cordial, though affliction and
you meet together; though, in a little, death and
you meet together; yet this meeting of divine at-
tributes in Chrift, your glorious head, fpeaks com-
fort and safety to you in every cafe. Though you
fhould die distracted, this meeting cannot be dif
folved; and you, having feen the glory, and felt
the virtue thereof, fhall be fure to enjoy the bene-
fit of it to eternity: Yea, furely goodness and mercy
fhall follow you all the days of your life, and
fhall dwell in the houfe of the Lord for ever.

you

10. The last inference is, Hence fee the duty of all that hear and know this joyful found. Never was there a sweeter found in heaven, or in earth: And what is the duty of all you that hear it? Surely, the news of fuch a glorious and harmonious meeting of the divine perfections, about the falvation of finners in and by Chrift Jefus, fhould be joyfully received. Here are the good tidings of great joy to all people, Luke ii. 10. When Elifabeth the mother of John, and Mary the mother of Jefus our Lord, met together and faluted each other, the babe leapt in Elifabeth's womb for joy. Behold, here is yet a more wonderful meeting and falutation among the jarringlike attributes and perfections of God; and furely, if the babe of grace be in your womb, it will leap for joy, when you perceive fuch a bleffed meeting and falutation. O may it not bring our heart to our mouth, and make it flutter within us, when we hear of fuch a falutation as this, mercy and truth are met together! &c. And again, What is your duty, believer, who not only hears, but knows this X 2

joyful

in

joyful found? Your duty is, not only to rejoice in this matchless harmonious conjunction of divine attributes in Christ, but to exemplify the fame, by an harmonious conjunction of graces and holy virtues you. Let mercy and truth meeting together, as divine attributes, in Chrift, be exemplified by mercy and truth meeting together, as divine virtues in you: Let righteoufness and peace kiffing each other in him, be exemplified by righteousness and peace kiffing each other in you: Let the meeting of mercy and truth engage you to be merciful and true; mer ciful, because your heavenly Father is merciful, and true, because he defires truth in the inward parts. Let the embraces of righteousness and peace engage you to be righteous and peaceable, that is, to be ftudents of purity and peace: For the wildom that is from above, is firft pure, and then peaceable, Jam. iii. 17. It is declared in the verse following our text, that it is the defign of these perfections of God, looking down harmoniously from heaven, to make fuitable graces fpring up from the earth : Truth fhall Spring out of the earth, and righteousness fhall look down from heaven. When the Son of righteoufnefs, in whom all the excellencies of God do fhine, looks down; then as the natural fun, hedding its influences, makes fruit to fpring up from the earth; fo the Sun of righteoufnefs looking down, and fhedding abroad his influences, makes truth, and all the reft of the fruits of the fpirit, to fpring out of the earth, out of the heart, the foil where they are fown, in regeneration. O does mercy look down from heaven to you, in friendship with truth; fhall not this mercy make you merciful to the bodies and fouls of others, by doing them all the temporal and fpiritual good that you can?

And

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