vey spiritual inftruction; that it was a token of his acceptance of their facrifices, and of his accounting them as innocent as the victims they had offered, as their faith, by means of thefe, terminated on the spotlefs innocence of the promised feed. We must view this act of God as a fymbolical, but folemn, teftimony, that he had provided for them" a robe of righteoufnefs, and garments "of falvation." Did" the LORD God make" this covering? And is not the raiment, provided for us in the gofpel," the righteoufnefs of God?" Is it not a righteoufnefs fulfilled by a divine Perfon?

This covering was made by God, inftead of that which our firft parents had themselves provided. It may thus be viewed as expreffive of the excellency of our Redeemer's righteousness, as oppofed to our own; and as denoting the gracious work which God performs towards the vesfels of mercy, in bringing them to renounce all their righteousneffes as filthy rags. They "made "themselves aprons" only; but God "made "them coats." This might be meant to fignify both the extent of their guilt, and of the Suretyrighteousness of Jefus. They looked only to the bodily nakednefs, and provided a covering for thofe parts alone, over which modefty draws a veil. But God teftifies at once the imperfection of their views, and of their raiment. He declares that the whole man is defiled by fin, and that we cannot appear before him, without raiment that

fhall

For any covering,

fhall completely cover us. that the finner can provide for himself, is "nar"rower than that he can wrap himself in it ." Their aprons were of fig-leaves, and therefore could neither defend them from the ftorm, nor laft for any length of time. The coats that God made were of kins; and fitly represented that righteousness, which proves a complete defence, and which endures for ever. By this gracious action, then, our divine Surety, who appeared in Paradife after the fall, fymbolically fupplied them with "white raiment, that they might be clothed, "and that the fhame of their nakednefs might "not appear."

This covering was provided for both. "Unto "Adam, and to his wife, did the LORD God make "coats." Had he meant merely to inftruct them in the proper mode of providing a covering for their bodily nakednefs, or defending themselves from the inclemency of the weather; it had been enough to make raiment for one, and thus to leave an excitement to diligence. But here alfo we perceive the mystery of the divine conduct in this action. Both had finned, and thus loft the garment of original righteoufnefs; therefore, both needed a complete covering. Both believed the promise concerning the feed of the woman, and in the faith of this promife, concurred in offering facrifice; both, therefore, received the fame token of acceptance. "The righteoufnefs of God," which this raiment prefigured," is unto all and A a 3

"upon

66 upon all them that believe; for there is no "difference. For all have finned, and come short "of the glory of God ." Here" there is neither "male nor female; for we are all one in Chrift Jefus ."

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The LORD God not only made thefe coats for our first parents, but clothed them. This doubtlefs prefigured that work which our gracious God ftill performs, when he " juftifieth the ungodly." He it is who clothes them with the garments of falvation, who covers them with the robe of righteousness". It is not enough that he hath made this garment for us, and brought it near in the gofpel. Still will we prefer our wretched coverings of fig-leaves, unless God himself put it on us. It is the work of the Father, in his economical character as "the Judge of all," to impute the righteoufnefs of the Surety to the finner, legally to account it his. It is the work of Chrift, as our Kinfman-Redeemer, to caft his skirt over us. This gracious work he performs in relation to his Church, as he teftifies to her; "When I "paffed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold,

thy time was a time of love, and I fpread my "fkirt over thee, and covered thy nakednefs "."

It was in confequence of the faith of our first parents, that they were thus covered. When it is faid, Unto Adam alfo, and to his wife, did "the LORD God make coats," there may be a reference, in this connective particle, to the promife

s Rom. iii. 22, 23. y Ruth iii. 9.

t Gal. iii. 28.

w Ezek. xvi. S.

previously

u Ifa. lxi. 1o.

previously revealed, as well as to their faith. For in the verse immediately preceding, we are informed, that" Adam called his wife Eve, because fhe was "the mother of all living:" and this furely expreffes his faith in the promise of life by the feed of the woman; and fignifies, that he viewed her as the mother of all who fhould be made alive unto God. For, otherwife, he might rather have. called her the mother of all dying; in correfpondence with the account elfewhere given of himfelf. Now, it is only by faith that we are interefted in this righteousness. It is indeed put upon us by God. But it is " But it is "upon them" only "that believe." Therefore it is faid to be "by "the faith of Jefus Chrift."

Here I fhall only obferve further, that this whole tranfaction, both of Adam's offering facrifice, and of God's clothing him with the skins, has been viewed as the origin of that ordinance afterwards given to the Ifraelites; "The priest "that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the prieft fhall have to himfelf the skin of the burntoffering which he hath offered."

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11. He, who according to the law had been formerly accounted a tranfgreffor, was, in confequence of the inftituted atonement, legally viewed as innocent. What was done by the priest, with refpect to leprofy, feems to have a special refpect to the blefling of juftification. He was to pronounce the perfon clean or unclean. Now, juftifi

cation

z Lev. vii. 8.

cation is a legal declaration, that a person is righteous in the fight of God. Even when the plague was already healed, the priest could not pronounce him clean who had been leprous, until he made atonement for him by blood. Seven times was he to sprinkle blood "upon him that was to be "cleanfed;" which fignified the imputation of the righteousness of Chrift to the finner, and the perfection of his juftification, in confequence of this fprinkling. The rite of sprinkling is indeed generally understood, as if it had exclufively denoted our fanctification; but improperly, we apprehend. For the blood of Chrift is called "the "blood of sprinkling," and said to “speak better 'things" than that of Abel; where its justifying efficacy is evidently meant, as opposed to the condemning cry of the other. And when the blood of Chrift, as typified by "the blood of bulls and "of goats," is faid to purge our confcience "from dead works b;" juftification is intended as well as fanctification: for thefe works, as dead, are not only defiling, but damning.

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Was the priest not only to make atonement for the leper, but to pronounce him clean? This fitly reprefents the work of our royal High-prieft, who is exalted" to give-forgivenefs of fins c." He not only pronounces the fpiritual leper clean : but he does fo, in confequence of an act of his own fovereign pleafure. He fays, "I will, be "thou clean d."

When

a Lev. xiv. 7.

b Heb. ix. 14, 15.

c Acts v. 31.

d Matth, vii: 3.