“Do we begin again to commend ourselves to you, or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?” No, ye are our epistles; you were written on our hearts, we travailed in spirit for your conversion, and all could see the change made in you, it was so clearly manifested to be the writing of Christ, which we preach; the impressions made on you could not be erased from the mind, and which will be seen in the last great day. So runs the Text which we will proceed to notice in the following order: first, the writing; secondly, the means; thirdly, its publicity: “Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” We shall first consider the writing. First, the writing: Our covenant, God has promised that he will write his laws on the hearts of his people; that he will write on them his new name and the city of God. These blessings in the heart are the writings he himself will own it is his own image and the superscription to this image all the elect people of God are divinely predestinated; there never was but one image in which the great Jehovah expressed his delight, namely, “Behold, my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth.” This is the image and all others he will surely despise: this image is the pattern model exemplar, it is Christ’s holy nature and as the elect head of his family, possessing all divine and human excellencies, graces and qualifications; these excellencies shining in the human nature even in the seven-fold operations of the holy spirit that was upon him, this was the image in which God made man: “in the image of God made he man.” In this he delighted even from eternity, for Adam was formed the shadow of him that was to come, from this image Adam fell, and to this we are brought again by the renewing influences of the Holy Ghost: hence the Apostle says, we all with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, this image the Apostle declares is wisdom, righteousness and true holiness, it is an experimental knowledge of Jesus and a covenant God in him. Our dear Lord is called wisdom. God made man and endued him with wisdom and we are made wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus, this image is love; the Saviour is love also; Adam had it, and it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us; this image is righteousness: this is another name our Lord bears; in righteousness the first Adam was created and our privilege is to know that in the Lord we have righteousness and strength; this image is true holiness, it is the holy spirit that makes a man holy a spirit of light, life and love, this holy spirit breathed into Adam the breath of life,—rested on the Redeemer and takes up its abode in every believer’s heart—all holiness besides this is false—this is writing on us, this is stamping the image of Jesus: love to this image wherever we see it,