early dew which is soon dried up, but such as will outlast the hills on which the latter shines, and outlast the skies through which the former sails; a righteousness whose merits extend to every period and every action of our lives; and when once made ours by imputation, remains, and will remain, our unalienable property. To this all the saints who in ancient generations pleased God, owe their acceptance; on this all the children of men, who in future ages hope for his mercy, must rely; by this the whole assembly of the blessed will be invariably and eternally precious in his sight. Exalted character! Can it be applicable to any thing less than the righteousness of the incarnate God? Surely none can imagine, that Daniel would speak in such a magnificent strain of any human righteousness, since in this very chapter he professedly depre. ciates himself, his fellow-saints, and all human performances whatever. I forgot in the proper place to consult the prophet Jeremiah: let us now refer ourselves to his determination. Celebrating the Saviour of Judah and Israel, he says, This is his name, whereby he shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness; a determination so clear and satisfactory, as not to leave, one would almost conclude, any room for appeal. Should the sense of the passage be questioned, I think there cannot be a more authentic explication than the preceding extracts from Isaiah and Daniel; and having the unanimous attestation of two inspired penmen, we may venture to abide by such authority, even in opposition to some respectable names. In the verse immediately foregoing, the essential holiness of the Redeemer is displayed under the character of the Righteous Branch. The sanc tity which he will impart to his subjects, is intimated by his executing judgment and justice in the earth." In the clause we have quoted, his imputed righteousness is foretold and promised. Thus the several sentences are distinct; the description of the Saviour is complete, and he appears perfectly suited to the exi gencies of a wretched world-in their worst estate enslaved to Satan, and in their best falling short of the glory of God. This therefore I take to be the grand and extensive meaning of the prophet; not barely the righteous Lord, not barely the Lord who infuses righteousness into sinful souls, but the incarnate Jehovah, whose mediatorial righteousness is by an act of gracious imputation ours, to all the intents of justification and salvation ours, as much ours for these blessed purposes, as if we had wrought it out each in his own person.t Foreseeing and contemplating these blessings, the enraptured Zechariah cries out, 'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and hav ing salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the fool of an ass." He addresses himself to Zion and Jerusalem, to the ecclesiastical and civil community. Persons of all ranks and every character are exhorted to rejoice, to rejoice greatly; nay, to express the joy of their heart by loud hallelujahs and triumph. ant exclamations. What is the cause of this general delight? what can fill both church and state with such high satisfaction? Thy King cometh unto thee;' even that glorious King who rules in heaven, and rules in the heart; whose service is freedom, and whose laws are love. 'He is just,' divinely righteous in his nature, and he cometh to fulfil all righteousness in thy stead. 'Having salvation,' hereby procuring salvation for his people, deliverance from sin, from death, and hell; from every evil thou deservest, and from every misery thou fearest. That none may be discouraged and none deterred from applying to this Prince of Peace, he is, amidst all the honours of his sovereignty, 'lowly ;' does Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. In these golden, infinitely better than -golden verses, are characterised the divine and human natures of Christ, together with his mediatorial office; the divine nature, in that he enjoys the honours of the Godhead, and possesses the incommunicable name of Jehovah: the human nature, in that he was to be raised up unto David,' and spring as a branch from his root: the mediatorial office, in that he is the righte ousness of his people, and the salvation of sinners. + Witsius, speaking of the mediatorial righteousness, has written in Latin what Aspasio expresses in English: Per illam obedientiam tota multitudo illorum, qui ad ipsum pertinent, justi constituuntur; id est, censenter jus habere ad æternam vitam, non minus quam si quilibet eorum in propria persona illam obedientiam præstitisset.' Lib. ii. cap. 5. 1 Zech. ix. 9. not abhor the basest, will not despise the meanest: to the poor his gospel is preached, and for the guilty his benefits are intended. As an emblem, as a proof of this most amiable and condescending goodness, he will ride,' not like the conquerors of old in a triumphal chariot, or on a richly caparisoned steed, but upon the most mean and despicable of all animals, an ass; nay, what is still more despicable, on a rude undisciplined colt, the wayward foal of an ass." And now, since my Theron confesses himself to be 'miserable, and poor, and naked;' since the eyes of his understanding are enlightened to see the impurity of his heart, the imperfection of his righteousness, and that he is in himself a lost undone sinner; what advice Because some profane scoffers have presumed to ridicule this very remarkable incident of our Lord's life, some interpreters of note have endeavoured to rescue it from their abusive attempts, by observing, That the eastern asses are much larger and more graceful than ours: that patriarchs and judges thought it no disgrace to ride upon them.! This observation has, I fear, more of false delicacy than of real truth or Christian simplicity. In the patriarchal ages, I acknowledge, persons of high distinction thought it no dishonour in their journeys and processions to appear on this animal: but I very much question whether the same fashion subsisted, or the same way of thinking prevailed, in the reign of Tiberius Cæsar. See Jam. iii. 3. Nay, I am strongly inclined to suspect, that this plain primitive custom was superseded even in the days of Zechariah: for, long before this time, I find that Solomon had four thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen;' and that horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and divers other countries.' 1 Kings iv. 26. x. 28, 29. From this period, it is probable none but the poor and inferior sort of people rode upon asses. When Isaiah prophesied, "The land was full of horses;' Isa. ii. 7. Under the Persian monarchy, when Zechariah flourished, horses were in still greater repute. Well, therefore, might the prophet say with wonder and delight, lowly, and riding upon an ass!' Was it a mean attitude; exceedingly mean, mean even to contempt I make no scruple to grant it; nay, I make my boast of it. It is for the honour of my Lord's condescension; it is for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur, and it is for the unspeakable comfort of my sinful soul. Most charming humility! most endearing gentleness! He, who rideth upon the heavens as it were upon a horse, and maketh the clouds "his chariot,' to atone for my pride, and to encourage my hope, dis dained not in the days of his flesh, to ride upon an ass. They who would dignify this action any otherwise than from its ever-to-be-admired" abasement, seem to have forgotten the stable and the manger. They who are offended at this circumstance, and ashamed to own their Lord in his deep bumiliation, have but very imperfectly learned the apostle's lesson; God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ Jesus my Lord.' cheering and salutary shall I suggest? O let him listen to an Adviser infinitely more able and compassionate; listen to him who is the Ancient of Days, and the Wisdom of God: 'I counsel thee,' says the blessed Jesus, 'to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed."Gold !' what can this denote, but all those spiritual treasures which are hid in Christ? which are in measure unsearchable, in value inestimable, in du ration eternal. White raiment!' Surely this must sig nify the righteousness of our Redeemer, which is all purity and all perfection; which clothes the soul as a most suitable and commodious garment; which covers every deformity and every sin, and presents the believer free from shame and free from blemish before the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. This, to use the delicate language and amiable images of Isaiah, this doctrine, embraced by a realizing faith, is the only pillow of rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary and heavy laden soul to find repose; and this is the sovereign cordial, prepared by infinite mercy, for the refreshment of anxious and desponding transgressors. O! let us not be in the number of those proud and refractory creatures, who, though they infinitely needed, yet would not heart the gracious news, or receive the unspeakable benefit. In this respect, and in this most eminently, is that other saying of the same sublime teacher true, the Lord of Hosts shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the residue of his people.'t Shall we tear from our temples, or reject with disdain, this unfading and heavenly ornament, in order to substitute a mean and tawdry chaplet of our own? Let me add a pertinent passage from one of our celebrated dramatic writers, which, if proper in his sense, will be incomparably more so according to our manner of application: It were contemning, Rev. ill. 18. +Isa. xxviii. 12. Ibid. xxviii. 5. I might proceed to urge this expostulation of the poet, as I might easily have multiplied my quotations from holy writ; but, studious of brevity, I leave both, without farther enlargement, to your own meditation. Yet, more studious of my friend's happiness, I cannot conclude without wishing him an interest, a clear and established interest, in this everlasting righteousness of Christ; for so, and so only, can he have 'everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.'-I am, my dear Theron, inviolably yours, ASPASIO. P. S. Opposite to the room in which I write is a most agreeable prospect of the gardens and the fields. These, covered with herbage, and loaded with corn; those adorned with flowers, and abounding with escu. lents; all appearing with so florid and so beautiful an aspect, that they really seem, in conformity to the psalmist's description, even to laugh and sing. Let me just observe, that all these fine scenes, all these rich productions sprung-from what? from the dissolution of the respective seeds. The seeds planted by the gardener, and the grain sown by the husbandman, first perished in the ground, and then the copious increase arose. Much in the same manner, a true faith in Christ and his righteousness arises-from what? from the ruins of self-sufficiency, and the death of personal excellency. Let me therefore entreat my Theron, still to take the diary for his counsellor; still to keep an eye on the depravity of his nature, and the miscarriages of his life. The more clearly we see, the more deeply we feel, our guilt and our misery, the more highly shall we value the obedience of our blessed Surety. In such a heart, faith will flourish as a rose, and lift up its head like a cedar in Lebanon, To such a soul, the great Redeemer's righteousness will be welcome, as waters to the thirsty soil, or as rivers in the sandy desert. |