By Thomas Brooks, 1675 Christ our representative and surety
So in our law an attorney appears in the behalf of his client, and so Christ is said to be gone to heaven as our attorney, to appear in the presence of God for us, Heb. 9:24. The Greek word signifies to appear as a lawyer appears for his client, opens the cause, pleads the cause, and carries it. The word appear is verbum forense, an expression borrowed from the custom of human courts; for in them, when the plaintiff or defendant is called, their attorney appears in their behalf; so 1 John 2:1. You know that the Levitical priest was accustomed to appear before God in the people's name. Now he was but a figure; in Christ is the solid truth, and full effect of the figure. Or as taking possession, livery, and seizing by an attorney is all one as if done by the person himself who is represented, and is valid. Just so, the Lord Jesus, he is a common person by an act of God's sovereignty, representing the persons of all the elect of God, being designed and appointed by God to be a second Adam. And as the first Adam did represent all in him, so the second Adam does represent all in him also. And therefore as judgment came upon all who are in the first Adam, so righteousness comes upon all who are in the second Adam. We all transgressed the royal law in Adam, we were all in Adam's loins; what he was, we were; what he did, we did. Although we did not in our own persons either talk with the serpent, or put forth our hands to take the fruit—yet we did eat the forbidden fruit as well as he, and so broke the holy law, and turned aside in him; for he was not a single person, standing for himself alone—but a public person, standing in the room and stead of all mankind. Therefore his sin, being not merely the sin of his person—but of the whole nature of man, is justly imputed to us all. If Adam had stood fast in his uprightness, in his primitive purity, glory and excellency, we would all have shared in his happiness and blessedness, Eccles. 7:29. But he falling and forfeiting all, we must all share with him in his loss and misery. Ponder upon Romans 5:12, "In whom all have sinned." As the murrain infects the whole flock, so sin and the curse seize upon all the whole world, as well as upon Adam and Eve. And verse 19, "By one man's disobedience, the many are made sinners." "The many" is here put for "all," as "all" elsewhere is put for "many," 1 Tim. 2:3. All sinners are tainted with Adam's guilt and filth. Adam was the head, all his posterity the members. If the head plots and practices treason against the state—is not this judged the act of the whole body? Adam was the tree, we the branches; when the tree falls, all the branches fall with it. When Christ died on the cross, he did stand in our room, and place, and stead; for he did lay down his life for us as a ransom. Now when one dies for another in way of ransom, he does not only die for the benefit and profit of the ransomed—but in the place, and room, and stead of the ransomed; and thus Christ died for us, as himself testifies: "The son of man came to give himself a ransom for many," Mark 10:45. Christ rose as a common person, representing all his elect; and Christ was sanctified as a common person, representing all his elect; and Christ was justified as a common person, representing all his elect. Look, as we were condemned in Adam, as he was a common person; just so, are we are justified by Christ, as in a common person also; so that every believer may well look upon himself as acquitted, in his justification, from the guilt of his sins, they being laid upon the head of his surety, Heb. 9:28. It is a very great part of a Christian's wisdom to be often looking upon Christ as a representative-head, as one in whom he died, in whom he rose, in whom he is sanctified, and in whom he is justified, Eph. 2:6. How would such a daily eyeing of Christ scatter a Christian's fears, arm him against temptations, support him under afflictions, weaken his sins, strengthen his graces, cheer his soul, and mend his life! It is very observable, that in the Levitical expiatory sacrifices there was the substitution of them in the place and stead of the offenders themselves. The people's sin, and the punishment due to them thereupon, was laid upon the poor animals which died for them. I might multiply scriptures to evidence this—but I shall only hint at one or two plain, pregnant texts to clear it. Take Lev. 17:11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." Mark here, the blood is to make atonement for the souls of the people of Israel—that is, in the room and stead of their souls, and accordingly it did make atonement for their souls; so that in the blood sacrificed, which was a type of the blood of Christ, there was soul for soul, life for life; the soul and life of the sacrifice—for the precious soul and life of the sinner. Now here you see substitution of the one in the room of the other. The transferring of the guilt and punishment of the people's sins over to their sacrifices in those days, was the reason why the sacrifices were said to bear the iniquities of the people, Lev. 16:22, and 10:17, etc. And it is observable that at the great expiation, Aaron was to lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and to confess over him all the sins of the children of Israel, etc., Lev. 16:21. By this ceremony of imposition of hands, is signified the transferring of their sins upon the goat. Herein was a type of Christ—upon whom God "did lay the iniquity of us all," Isaiah 53:6. Certainly the main thing that is held forth by this rite—namely, Aaron's laying both his hands upon the head of the live goat, is the translation of the sinner's guilt to the sacrifice, and the substitution of it in his stead. Typically, the very sins of the people were imposed upon the goat, who herein was a type of Christ who did in fact, bear our sins. Yes, the Hebrews [Maimonides] themselves hold that the scapegoat made atonement for all their sins, lighter and greater, presumptuously and ignorantly committed. Certainly the scapegoat was a most lively type of our blessed Savior— (1.) In that "the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all," as the sins of Israel were laid upon the head of the goat. (2.) As the goat was carried away, so Christ was "cut off from the land of the living, his life was taken from off the earth," Isaiah 4:3, and 53:8. (3.) As this goat was not killed, so "Christ through the eternal Spirit offered up himself," whereby he was made alive after death, Acts 9:33; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 3:18. Though Christ Jesus died for our sins according to his humanity—yet death could not detain him nor overcome him, nor keep him prisoner, Hosea 13:14—but, by virtue of his deity, he rises again and triumphs over death and the grave, and over principalities and powers, Col. 2:15. (4.) As this goat went into an inhabitable place, so Christ went into heaven—"where I go you cannot come," John 13:33. Christ speaks this not to exclude his disciples out of heaven—but only to show that their entrance was put off for a time, verse 36. Saints must not expect to go to heaven and rest with Christ until they have "fought the good fight of faith, finished their course, run their race," and "served their generation." [2 Tim. 4:7-8; Heb. 12:1; 1 Cor. 9:24; Acts 13:36; John 14:1-3.] Christ's own children, by all their studies, prayers, tears, and endeavors, cannot get to heaven unless Christ comes and fetches them there. Christ's own servants cannot get to heaven presently nor of themselves, no more than the Jews could do. Now if you cast your eye upon the Lord Jesus, you will find an exact correspondence between the type and the antitype, the one fully answering to the other. Did they carry substitution in them? that eminently was in Christ. He indeed substituted himself in the sinner's room; he took our guilt upon him, and put himself in our place, and died in our stead; he died that we might not die. Whatever we should have undergone, that he underwent in his body and soul; he did bear as our substitute all the punishments and torments that were due to us. Christ's suffering, dying, satisfying in our stead, is the great article of a Christian's faith, and the main prop and foundation of the believer's hope. It is founded, as an eternal and unmovable truth, upon the sure basis of the blessed word. Substitution, in the case of the old sacrifices, is not so evidently held forth in the law—but substitution with respect to Christ and his sacrifice is more evidently set forth in the gospel. Ponder seriously upon these texts: Romans 5:6, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly;" verse 8, "For God commends his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Herein God lays naked to us the tenderest affections of his Fatherly compassions, as in an anatomy. [This shows us the greatness of man's sin and of Christ's love, of Satan's malice and of God's justice. And it shows us the madness and blindness of the popish religion, which tells us that some sins are so light and venial as that the sprinkling of holy water and ashes will purge them away.] There was an absolute necessity of Christ's dying for sinners, for, (1.) God's justice had decreed it. (2.) His word had foretold it. (3.) The sacrifices in the law had prefigured it. (4.) The foulness of man's sin had deserved it. (5.) The redemption of man called for it. (6.) The glory of God was greatly exalted by it. Just so, 1 Pet. 3:18, "For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." To see Christ the just suffer in the stead of the unjust, is the wonderment of angels and the torment of devils! 1 Pet. 4:1, "Forasmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh," etc., that is, in the human nature, for the expiation and taking away of our sins. 1 Pet. 2:21, "Because Christ also suffered for us." John 10:11, "I lay down my life for the sheep." This good shepherd lays down life for life, his own dear life for the life of his sheep. John 11:50, "You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." Caiaphas took it for granted, that either Christ or their nation must perish, and, as he foolishly thought, that of two evils he designed the least to be chosen, that is, that Christ should rather perish than their nation. But God so guided his tongue that he unwittingly, by the powerful instinct of the Spirit, prophesied of the fruit of Christ's death for the reconciliation and salvation of the elect of God. Heb. 2:9, "That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man," or, for every creature. Who all these are, the context shows— (1.) Sons, who must be led unto glory, verse 10; (2.) Christ's brethren, verse 11; (3.) Such children as are given by God unto Christ, verse 13. In all which scriptures the preposition is used, which most commonly notes substitution, the doing or suffering of something by one in the stead and place of others, and so it is all along here to be taken. But there is another preposition that proves the thing I am upon undeniably: Mat. 20:28, "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto—but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." A ransom signifies a redemptory price, a valuable rate; for it was the blood of God with which the church was purchased, Acts 20:28: 1 Tim. 2:6, "Who gave himself a ransom for all." The Greek word signifies a counterprice, such as we could never have paid—but must have remained everlasting prisoners to the wrath and justice of God. O sirs! Christ did not barely deliver poor captive souls—but he delivered them in the way of a ransom, which ransom he paid down upon the nail. When their ransom was ten thousand talents, and they had not one farthing to lay down, Christ stands up in their room and pays the whole ransom! Mat. 18:24. Christ gave himself as a ransom in the room and stead of sinners. John 2:28-29. Certainly no head can invent, no heart can conceive, nor no tongue can express more clear, plain, pregnant, and appropriate words and phrases for the setting forth of Christ's substitution, than is to be found in that golden chapter of Isaiah 53. In this chapter, as in a holy armory, we may find, had I time to go through it, many pointed daggers, and two-edged swords, and shields of brass—to arm us against the corrupt notions and opinions of the blinded and deluded Socinians, who fight with all their might against the doctrine of Christ's substitution. Verse 4, "Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," etc.; verse 5, "The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed;" verse 6, "The Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all;" or, "the Lord has made the iniquity of us all to meet on him;" verse 7, "He was oppressed and he was afflicted," verse 8, "For the transgression of my people he was stricken;" verse 11, "For he shall bear their iniquities;" verse 12, "And he bore the sin of many." All men of worth and weight conclude that all this is spoken of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what more clear and evident proofs can there be of Christ's assumption of the sinner's guilt, and of his bearing the punishment due for it? The priests of old, you know, are said to bear the iniquity of the people: Lev. 10:17, "God has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord." The sinner bears his iniquity subjectively, the priest typically, and the Lord Christ really! Exod. 28:38, "That Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things." Herein the high priest was a type of Christ; answerable to which, the prophet Isaiah tells us that Christ, our high priest, had the iniquities of all believers laid upon him, and that he bore them in his own person, Heb. 4:14-15. Just so, the apostle in Heb. 9:28, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many," etc. It is an allusion to the priests who carried up the sacrifice, and with it the sins of the people, to the altar. Christ our priest did carry up the sins of his people upon the cross, and there made satisfaction for them, in their room or stead, by the sacrifice of himself. That scripture is more worth than the Indies—namely, 1 Pet. 2:24, "Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree," "he bore them aloft"—namely, when he climbed up his cross, and nailed them thereunto, Col. 2:13-15. Christ in the human nature, when he was upon the cross, did suffer all the punishments and torments that were due to our sins; he cancelled all debts, annihilated the curse; in which respects he is said "to bear our sins in his own body on the tree." But to prevent wordiness, I shall produce no more scriptures, though many more might have been produced, to prove Christ a common person, a representative head of all his elect; and that he did really substitute himself in their room, and took upon himself their guilt, and put himself in their place, and did undergo whatever they should have undergone. Now from all these considerations, a child of God may form up this sixth plea as to these ten scriptures, [Eccles. 11:9, and 12:14; Mat. 12:14, and 18:23; Luke 16:3; Romans 4:10; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27, and 13:17, and 1 Pet. 4:5.] that refer to the great day of account, or to a man's particular account. "O blessed God, Jesus Christ was a common person, a representative head: I am to be considered in him, who is my surety, and therefore he is bound to pay all my debts: and as he is a common person and stood in my stead, so the satisfaction that is made unto your justice by him, is legally to be accounted mine, as really as if my attorney should pay a debt for me. Therefore, I must rest satisfied that the debt is paid, and in law shall never be exacted of me; though it was not paid by myself in person—but by another who did substitute for me in that act, and did it for me and in my behalf. Christ was a common person, personating as a second Adam, the first Adam and all his posterity; offering the same nature for sin, which fell by sin from the pattern of perfection, God himself. "By man came death, and by man came the resurrection from the dead," 1 Cor. 15:21, man for man, person for person, nature for nature, and name for name. There are two roots out of which life and death springs. (1.) As all who die, receive their death-wounds by the disobedience of the first Adam; so all who live, receive life from the obedience of the second Adam. (2.) As all die who are the sons of the first Adam by
natural generation; so all live, who are the sons of the second Adam through
spiritual regeneration. "O holy and blessed God, you have set up Jesus
Christ as a common person, as the representative head of all your elect, and
I am to be considered in that common head. All that he has done as my head,
and in my stead and room—is to be reckoned to me—as if I had done it in my
own person, and by this plea I will stand, rejoice, and triumph. Upon this
God accepts of the plea, as sound and good, and says to him who pleads it,
"enter into the joy of your Lord!" Mat. 25:21. VII. The seventh plea that a believer may form up, as to the ten scriptures formerly cited, which refer to the great day of account, or to a man's particular account, may be drawn from the consideration of Christ's suretyship. Christ is called a surety: Heb. 7:22, "Jesus has become the surety of a better covenant." A surety is one who willingly promises and undertakes to pay and discharge the debt, if the debtor fails, and is not able to make satisfaction himself. Thus Paul willingly and spontaneously, from the love he had to his new convert Onesimus, promised and undertook to make satisfaction to Philemon, for any wrong that Onesimus had done him: Philem. 18, 19, "If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, charge it to my account; I Paul have written it with my own hand, I will repay it." That is, account Onesimus' debt to Paul, and Paul's satisfaction or payment to Onesimus; which answers the double imputation in point of justification, that is, of our sins or debts to Christ, and of Christ's satisfaction to us. Consider Christ as a surety, and so he has fully paid all our debts, and set us perfectly free forever. A surety is one who enters into bond, and engages himself for the debt of another; and so Christ is become our surety. Therefore he was bound by our bond, and engages himself for the debt of another. For our debt he was made under the law, and so as a sacrifice, he stood in the stead of a sinner, and the sacrifice was to be offered for the man.And so some expound that verse, "He was made sin for us," 2 Cor. 5:21, that is, a sin-offering; therefore he does take our sins upon him as his own, Isaiah 53; and so the Lord does impute them and lay them upon him as his own: verse 6, "He did make to meet upon him the iniquities of us all." The original word here used comes from a word in its native propriety intends a kind of force or violence—they met with all their violence upon him, and therefore "he was made sin for us," that is, as a surety in our stead, "he did bear our sins in his body upon the tree; he was delivered for our transgressions." Our surety has paid all our debts. "The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and it pleased the Father to bruise him," Isaiah 53:5, 10. The original word signifies to break him to pieces as in a mortar. By the great things that our surety has done for us, and the great things that he has suffered for us—he has given most perfect and complete satisfaction both to his Father's law, and to his Father's justice; and this pleased the Father. Weigh well Col. 2:14, "He canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." Christ has crossed out the black lines of our sin, with the red lines of his own blood. The written code, some do take here for a writing written with God's own hand in tables of stone, as the law of the ten commandments were, Exod. 34:1; and this is by them understood of the moral law, or of the ten commandments, which are said to be against us, in respect of their strict requiring of perfect obedience, or in default thereof, by reason of its curse, which Christ as our surety has borne for us on the cross, and delivered us from it, Gal. 3:10, 13. But others by this written code do understand the law of the ceremonies of the Old Testament. In the general, it was something that God had against us; to show or convince, or prove, that we had sinned against him, and were his debtors. I suppose that this written code was principally the moral law, obliging us unto perfect obedience, and condemning us for the defect of the same, and likewise those ceremonial rites, which, as Beza observes, were a kind of public confession of our debts. Now these were against, and contrary unto us, inasmuch as they did argue us guilty of sin and condemnation, which the moral law threatened and sentenced, etc. But says the apostle, "Christ has canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." That is, Jesus Christ has not only abrogated the ceremonial law—but also the damnatory power of the moral law, as our surety, by performing an act of obedience which the law did require, and by undergoing the punishment which the law did exact from the transgressors of it. And so Christ doing and suffering, what we were bound to do and to suffer—he did thereby blot out the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Therefore we may safely conclude, that the creditor is fully satisfied, when he gives in his bond to be cancelled. The bond is cancelled, blotted out—and can no more be read than if it had never been; the obligatory power of the law as a covenant is taken away. God delivered his people from Pharaoh by force, and from Babylon by favor—but that deliverance that Christ, as our surety, hands out to us, from sin, from wrath, from hell, from the curse, and from the moral law as it is a covenant of works—is obtained by paying a full price; by which one becomes satisfied, and another thereupon delivered. Heb. 9:26, "He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;" to put away sin, Dan. 9:24, is to abolish or make void the guilt or obligation of sin, whereby it binds over unbelievers to condemnation. To put away sin is to abrogate it, it is to bind it up in a bundle, to seal it up in a bag, to cast it behind him, as cancelled obligations, Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19; it is to blot out the black handwriting with the red lines of his blood drawn over it; so that sin has no force, no power to accuse or condemn, or shut such poor souls out of heaven—who have that Jesus for their surety—who made himself a sacrifice to put away sin. Christ as our surety laid down a satisfactory price, not only for our good—but also in our stead or room: 1 Pet. 3:18, "Christ also has suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." What the unjust sinner should have suffered, that the just Christ suffered for him: 1 Cor. 5:21, "He was made sin for us;" that is, an offering, a sacrifice in our stead, for the expiation of our sins. "Christ was made a curse for us," Gal. 3:13. Now Christ's becoming a curse for us stands in this, that whereas we are all accursed by the sentence of the law because of sin, he now comes into our room, and stands under the stroke of that curse which of right belongs to us; so that the curse no longer lies on the backs of poor sinners—but on him for them and in their stead; therefore he is called a surety, Heb. 7:22. The surety stands in the room of a debtor, malefactor, or him who is any way liable to the law. Such are Adam and all his posterity. We are, by the doom of the law, evildoers, transgressors; and upon that score we stand indebted to the justice of God, and lie under the stroke of his wrath. Now the Lord Jesus Christ seeing us in this condition, he steps in and stands between us and the blow; yes, he takes this wrath and curse off from us unto himself; he stands not only or merely after the manner of a surety among men in the case of debt, for here the surety enters bond with the principal for the payment of the debt. Christ Jesus does not expect that we should pay the debt ourselves—but he takes it wholly upon himself. As a surety for a murderer or traitor, or some other notorious malefactor who has broken prison and is run away, he lies by it body for body, state for state, and undergoes whatever the malefactor is chargeable with, for satisfying the law. Even so the Lord Jesus stands surety for us runaway malefactors, making himself liable to all that curse that belongs to us, that he might both answer the law fully, and bring us back again to God. As the first Adam stood in the room of all mankind who are fallen; so Christ, the second Adam, stands in the room of all mankind who are to be restored. He sustains all those who spiritually descend from him, and unto whom he bears the relation of a head. When God appointed his dearest Son to be a surety for us, and charged all our debts upon him, and required an exact satisfaction to his law and justice, insomuch that he would not abate the Son of his love one farthing-token of the debt—he demonstrated a greater love to justice than if he had damned as many worlds as there are men in the world. Oh, let us never cast an eye upon Christ's suretyship—but let us stand and wonder, yes, let us be swallowed up in a deep admiration of Christ's love, and of his Father's impartial justice! Ah, what transcendent wisdom also does here appear in reconciling the riches of mercy and infinite justice both in one by the means of a surety! If all the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, had been put to answer these questions, "How shall sin be pardoned? How shall the sinner be reconciled and saved? How shall the wrath of God be pacified? How shall the justice of God be satisfied? How shall the redemption of man be brought about, in such a way whereby God may be most eminently glorified?" they could never have answered the questions. But God, in his infinite wisdom, has found out a way to save sinners, not only in a way of mercy and grace—but in a way of justice and righteousness; and all this by the means of Christ's suretyship, as has been already declared. Now, from the consideration of Christ's suretyship, a believer may form up this seventh, safe, comfortable, and blessed plea as to the ten scriptures formerly cited, which refer to the great day of account, or to a man's particular account: "O blessed Father, remember that your own Son was my ransom, his blood was the price; he was my surety, and undertook to pay for my sins. I know, O blessed God, that you must be satisfied—but remember my surety has satisfied you; not for himself, for he was holy and harmless, a lamb without a spot—but for me. They were my debts he satisfied for; and look over your books, and you shall find that he has cleared all accounts and reckonings between you and me. [When a man marries a woman, he takes her debts too; just so, does Christ when he takes us to be his, he takes our sins also to be his.] The guilt of all my sins have been imputed to my surety, who presented himself in my stead, to make full payment and satisfaction to your justice." As Paul said to Philemon, verse 18, concerning his servant Onesimus, "If he has wronged you, or owes you anything, charge it to my account," so says Christ to the penitent and believing soul, "If you have any guilt, any debt to be answered for unto God—charge them all to my account. If you have wronged my Father, I will make satisfaction to the uttermost: for I was made sin for you, Isaiah 53:12; 2 Cor. 5:21. I poured out my soul for your transgressions. It cost me my heart's blood to reconcile you to my Father, and to slay all enmity!" Acts 20:28. And as Rebekah said to Jacob in another case, "Upon me, my son, be the curse," Gen. 27:13, so says Christ to the believing soul, "Why, your sins exposed you unto the curse of the law—but I was made a curse for you, Gal. 3:13. I did bear that burden myself upon the cross, and upon my shoulders were all your griefs and sorrows borne; I was wounded for your transgressions, and I was bruised for your iniquities!" Isaiah 53:4-8, 10. Therefore we are said to have "redemption and remission of sins in his blood," Eph. 1:7. "O blessed God! you know that a surety does not pay the debt only for the debtor's good—but as standing in the debtor's stead, and so his payment is reckoned to the debtor. And thus the case stands between Christ and my soul; for, as my surety, he has paid all my debts, and that very payment that he has made, in honor and justice, you are obliged to accept of as made in my stead. O dearest Father! that Jesus, who is God-man, as my surety, he has done all that the law requires of me, and thereby he has freed me from wrath to come, and from the curse that was due to me for my sins, 1 Thes. 1:10. This is my plea, O holy God, and by this plea I shall stand." Hereupon God declares, "This plea I accept as just and good, and therefore enter into the joy of your Lord!" Christian reader, I have gone as far in the opening and clearing up of those grand points of the gospel that have fallen under our consideration, as I judge fit at this time. By the title-page you may safely conclude, that I have promised much more than in this treatise I have performed—but be a little patient, and by divine assistance, I shall make sure and full payment. The covenant of grace, and the covenant of redemption, with some other points of high importance, I shall present to you in the second part, which will be the last part. In this first part I did not offer you that which cost me nothing. I desire that all the interest you have in heaven may be so fully and duly improved, that this first part may be so blessed from on high, as that saints and sinners may have cause to bless God to all eternity, for what is brought to hand; and beg hard, that the other part, which is drawn up and fitted for the press, may also be crowned with many blessings. Hereby you will put a high obligation upon the author, to do all he can, to be yet a little further serviceable to your soul and others', to your salvation and others', before he goes hence and shall be seen no more. |