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judgment to the Gentiles."-His fittedness for us, and our neceffities, is of God: for, " Of God he is made unto us righteousness, fan&tification, and redemption."-His work of doing and fuffering is of God; and his warrant to do and fuffer for us, is ofGod; "He is the man of God's righthand, whom he made strong for himself;" and who could fay," I have power to lay down my life for my fheep, and power to take it up again: this commandment have I received of my Father."-His approbation in this work is of God, who fays, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleafed:" and Chrift fays, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again."-His fatisfactory facrifice, that he offered to justice, is of God; for," It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He fpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all: and the facrifice was of a fweet-fmelling favour unto God."-His being a ranfom for us is of God, who fays, "I have found a ranfom; therefore deliver his foul from going down to the pit."-His being a propitiation for us is of God; for he hath fet him forth to be a propitiation thro' faith in his blood.-His death, which we commemorate this day, is of God, whofe holy hand over-ruled the wicked hands of men in crucifying him at Jerufalem: for, "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken," fays the apofile, "and by wicked hands have crucified and flain;" and, they did whatfoever his hand and his counfel determined before to be done.-His refurrection from the dead is of God; "Ye killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witneffes, Acts iii. 15. He did not fuffer his holy One to fee corruption."-His exaltation and glorification is of God; for, "Becaufe he humb led himself, and became obedient unto death, therefore God hath highly exalted him, &c.;" and, " By him we believe in God, who raifed him from the dead, and gave him glory," I Pet. i.21.-His bleffed tongue, by which he pleads for us in heaven, and fpeaks in to our hearts on earth, is of God; for Chrift fays, "The Lord hath given. me the tongue of the learned, that I may fpeak a word in feafon to the weary." And he hath made him a Prieft for ever. His headship over the church is of God; for," He

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hath given him to be Head over all things to the church." His Lordfhip is of God; therefore faith the apoftle, “Let all the houfe of Ifrael know affuredly, that God hath made that fame Jefus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Chrift."-His univerfal dominion is of God; "All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me," fays Chrift.His principality and Saviourfhip is of Ged, "Who hath exalted him with his right-hand to be a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Ifrael, and remiffion of fin."And, as his coming in the fleth is of God; fo his coming in the clouds of heaven, his coming to judgment is of God; "Because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteoufhefs, by that man whom he hath ordained," A&s xvii. 31.-And till that awful day come, his coming in the Spirit, from time to time, is of God; "I will pray the Father, fays Chrift, and he fhall give you another Comforter, that hall abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth," John xiv. 16. See alfo John xv. 26. "I will fend him unto you from the Father."-All his ufefulness to us is of God, who fays to him, "I will give thee for a covenant of the people, a light to the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prifoners from the prison, and them that fit in darkness out of the prifon-houfe, Ifa. xlii. 6,7.; and to be my falvation to the end of the earth," Ifa. xl. 6. His gifts and graces, for our use, are of God; "He hath received them for men, even for the rebellious.”—In a word, all things that he hath, are of God; The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." Why then, All things are of God: all things that are in Chrift, are of God.-O what a precious Chrift is this! O what of God is in this Chrift! He is the Chrift of God, the Son of God, the Sent of God, the Sealed of God, the Gift of God, the Word of God, the Wisdom of God, the Power of God, the Lamb of God, the Image of God, the centre of all the perfections of God; My faithfulnefs and my mercy fhall be with him, and in my name fhall his horn be exalted." Surely then, all things relating to the new creation in Christ, are of God, becaufe all things, relating to redemption and reconciliation in Chrift, which is the foundation of that new creation, are of God.

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4. Another reafon of the doctrine is, All things are of God, relating to the new creation in Chrift, becaufe he is a reconciled God in Chrift; fo fay the words following the text, "All things are of God, who hath re conciled us to himself by Jefus Chrift, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Chrift reconciling the world to himfelf." Now, all things are of him, and from him, as he is, and because he is a reconciled God in Chrift: if he were not fo, we could expect nothing, we could have no ground of hope; but because he is reconciled in Christ, pacified and appeased in him; therefore we have ground of faith and hope for all things contained in the covenant of reconciliation in Chrift, who, having fulfilled the condition of that covenant, hath paid the price of them all to his infinite fatisfaction: and therefore is ready to give out all things we need freely to us, upon the ground of that righteoufnefs, through which his grace reigns to eternal life. And hence, in the context here, God, as a reconciled God in Chrift, is reprefented to us,

(1.) As a giving God; giving to us the word of reconciliation, that we may give it to you; and that you may take it upon his word, that he is a reconciled God.

(2.) He is reprefented alfo as a pardoning God; not imputing our trefpaffes to us, but imputing our fin to Chrift, and his righteoufnefs to us, that he might be fin for us, and we the righteoufnefs of God in him.

(3.) He is reprefented as a praying God; praying us to be reconciled to him, because he is reconciled and well-pleafed in Chrift; "As though God did befeech you by us, we pray you, in Chrift's ftead, be ye reconciled unto God." And,

(4.) He is reprefented as a God powerfully effecting this reconciliation, and ready to make us yield to this treaty of peace: for, whereas it is said, verse 20. “He hath committed to us the word of reconciliation ;" in the margin it is, put in us. He hath put it in us, that by us he may put it in you, even in your heart, and cause your heart to yield to the word of reconciliation.

As all things are of him, fo this among the reft, that

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he makes finners to believe the gofpel of his grace, kills the natural enmity this way, and actually makes up the peace. It is he who inclines the hearts of finners to hearken to the offers of Chrift, to believe the word of reconciliation, and fo to be at peace with God, and reconciled to him, who, being reconciled to us in Christ, gives out all things needful through him. And why is it that finners get fo little from him, that hath all things to give out through Chrift, but because we cannot believe, that he is a reconciled God in Chrift? We take him to be no friend, but an enemy; and therefore can have no confidence in him: but, O Sirs, we might come good speed at his hand this day, if we could believe him to be a reconciled God in Chrift. Whatever good caufe he hath to be angry at us, and to give us nothing; yet he is well-pleafed in, and hath no caufe to be angry at Chrift, in whom he hath all good things to give. Thus you fee, why all things, needful to make us up this day and for ever, are of God.

IV. The fourth Head propofed was, To offer fome Inferences for application. Is it fo, That all things relating to the new creation in Chrift Jefus are of God? Then,

1. Hence we may fee, the fubitance of the facramental fupper, which we have here before us, both as to the matter and Maker of it. The matter of it, is all things. Christ, and all good things with him, called, a feast of fat things. The Maker and Mafter of the feaft is God; All things are of God, as a reconciled God in Chrift; all things that relate to the new creation, the new covenant that ftands fast in Chrift, are of God. Here is the fum and fubftance of the facramental feast.

2. Hence fee, that we are equally obliged to the whole glorious Trinity, for all things that belong to the new creation in Chrift Jefus; for, All things are of God; all things are of God the Father, in the Son, by the Holy Ghoft. Think not diminutively of the Father's love and grace, befides that of the Son of God, our Saviour; for, the Father fent him, the Father fealed him, the Father anointed him with the Holy Ghost for that great work. Chrift is the ordinance of God for

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our recovery from the pit of fin and mifery. All things are of God.

3. Hence fee, if all things be of God, then nothing is of man. Let all boafting be excluded; and, "Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord:" for, not only all our temporal outward bleffings are of God, our life, and health, and liberty, and comforts; as the very heathens could fay,

O Melibee, Deus nobis bac otia fecit;

but alfo all our fpiritual bleffings are of God, fo as the Chriftian fhould fay, My new life is of God, my righte oufnefs is of God, my ftrength is of God, my faith and hope is of God. Let Arminian doctrine be doomed and difclaimed by all that would have God glorified, and their fouls faved. Let the doctrine of man's freewill and natural powers fall before the ark of God, the doctrine of God's free grace, and of his divine power; for, All things are of God. Let none affume a deity to themfelves, as if they were gods; but come down and ly in the duft: Let the haughtinefs of man be brought down, and the loftinefs of man laid low, that the Lord alone may be exalted," Ifa. xlvii. 1. O that he would ftain the pride of man!

4. Hence fee a strong motive to the use of means. Indeed, the language of proud nature, upon hearing that All things are of God, is, Then we may ramble at our pleafure, and need ufe no means, for God must do all: but, though all is of him, in point of power; yet there is fomething incumbent upon us, in point of means; and the language of fcripture bears this as the greatest encouragement to ufe the means, that the blefling of them depends on God. This you fee in outward affairs of life. What encouragement hath the labouring man to plow and fow the ground? Why, God hath promised feed-time and harvest, and he ufually gives it; and, if man had not that encouragement, he needed not put to his hand: fo, in fpirituals, we are called to work out the work of our falvation with fear and trembling. Why? what encouragement have we, fince nothing is of us? The encouragement follows, "It is God

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