they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Thus both the chief butler and chief baker were released at the same time, and from the same confinement-the one to be advanced, and the other to be executed. The grave, to the believer, is an avenue to heaven. It is the dress-chamber, in which the church puts on her beautiful garments, to arise and meet the Lord in the air. But to others, it is the condemned cell in which the malefactor is lodged till he is led out to punishment. That can hardly be called a deliverance, that releases a man from a bad condition and consigns him to a worse. It would be well if the bodies of the wicked could remain where by death they are deposited: but this is impossible. The bodies-those bodies which you have so indulged, so pampered, so adorned: the bodies which death delivers to the worms, the resurrection will deliver to the flames! And where are you now? Take the hemp or the steel, and destroy yourself. Ah! this too is impossible. The soul is instantly before God. You have got rid only of one part of you. And even the part you have demolished, will be re-animated and rendered invulnerable-and you shall seek death, but shall not find it; and shall desire to die, but death shall flee from you. we are assured by one who was well qualified to judge, "They were vain in their imaginations: their foolish heart was darkened. And professing themselves wise, they became fools." They had, indeed, their surmisings concerning a future state; they brought forward some strong probabilities in its favor; and aided in their reasonings by hints of unacknowledged tradition, some fine and worthy sentiments escaped from them. But they never taught life and immortality as a doctrine; they never employed it as a principle and motive. They had no authority to publish it to others: and not one of them was sure of the thing in his own mind, And, as Paley well remarks, "Conjecture and opinion are not knowledge: and in religion, nothing more is known than is proved." Thus the world by wisdom knew not God; and if this was the case with the wise and the learned, what was it with the common people, with the old, with children, with the busy and engrossed, who could only eat their bread by the sweat of their brow? The apostle, therefore, speaking of the Gentiles, says, they were left, "If haply they might feel after Him, and find Him"-an expression borrowed from the blind, who grope for their object, and their way, uncertain of success, and in danger of hurting themselves by their own efforts. worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, although my reins be consumed within me." But did not the Jews know ? We make no -But why do I thus address you? It is that, by scruple to say, they did. To them pertained the awakening your consciences from a fatal security, oracles of God. He gave his word unto Jacob; his I may in time dispose you to ask, "What must statutes and his judgments unto Israel; and dealt do to be saved?" I am sure of this, that I would not so with any other people. David said, "Thou not have enlarged upon your awful condition, had shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward reI not believed that there is hope in Israel concern- ceive me to glory." Jacob, even in death, was ing this thing; and that none of you are excluded "waiting for the salvation of God." How explicit from it, unless those who exclude themselves. But was the profession of Job, "I know that my Reso it is. The Saviour stands before you in all the deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter combined forms of power and of pity. He is able-day upon the earth; and though after my skin he is willing to save unto the uttermost. Seek him while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Wait for no qualifications to recommend you to his gracious notice. He requires none. If Paul and Silas were here, they would say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Plead not, as an objection, your unworthiness. This should only increase the earnestness of your application. Behold the number and the character of those who have obtained mercy. Read his word: and hear him not only allowing, but inviting and commanding you to approach, with the assurance, "him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." Obey his voice. Commit your selves into his hands. And you shall never come into condemnation, but shall pass from death unto life. And though even then, if you wait, the grave is your house, it will only be a peaceful and temporary residence to sleep in; and you will finally enter another house-a building of God, a house not made with hands-eternal in the heavens. -How, then, could "life and immortality be brought to light through the gospel ?" We answer. The word gospel may be taken two ways. The one more general, for revelation at large; and thus it is to be understood when it is said, "The gospel was preached to the Jews, but the word preached did not profit them." And thus it is to be understood when it is said, "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed." The other is more restricted, and signifies the evangelical dispensation: commencing with the ministry of our Lord, and including not only the discourses which he personally delivered, but all the inspired communications of the apostles. Now, if we take the word gospel here in the former sense, the meaning is, that it brought life and immortality to light really. But if taken in the latter sense, then the meaning is, that it brought life and immortality to light pre-eminently. And it must be confessed that this is the more common acceptation of the term, "Who hath brought life and immortality to light and so it is required to be taken in the passage be LECTURE XII. THE CHRISTIAN, IN HEAVEN. through the gospel."-2 Tim. i. 10. DID the heathen then know nothing of life and immortality before? They had their schools and their philosophers. Some of them acquired great distinction and fame. Their sagacity and learning were deep and extensive. They were enriched by a long succession of preceding discoveries and improvements. In the various arts and sciences they much excelled; and he that would see a fine piece of statuary must fetch it from the ruins of Greece and Rome. But, as to the things of God, fore us. not heard them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." Therefore, while for a knowledge of life and immortality we repair to the Scripture only, we must look peculiarly into the New Testament, where we are furnished with clearer decisions, and ampler representations; and above all, with illustrations and pledges, in a risen and glorified Saviour.Here again, the unrivalled excellency of Christianity appears. How unsatisfactory, how cold, how mean, how gross, how absurd, how disgusting, are the intimations of Deism, the Elysian fields of Pagan poetry, the rewards of Hindooism, the paradise of Mohammedism-when placed by the side of the "life and immortality brought to light through the gospel!" Of the full disclosure of the heavenly world, there is a moral and a natural prevention. It would not be proper, if it were possible; and it would not be possible, if it were proper. Let us explain. The only wise God has attempered even our senses to our present condition. The measure in which we possess them, is admirably fitted to the functions and enjoyments of life. It is easy to perceive that if our feeling was more exquisite, it would annoy us; and that if our hearing was increased, it would prove our inconvenience; and that if our eye was to become microscopic, we should be afraid to move. It is precisely the same with our knowledge. This is adjusted in conformity to the claims of our present sphere of action and happiness. We are now in a mixed state, where sorrow is necessary as well Through the discoveries of this gospel we are as pleasure; and darkness as well as light. Some going to finish our series of Lectures, by viewing duties, if they do not entirely result from our ignothe Christian in his final destination. You have rance, are enforced by it. Witness the admonition seen him-In CHRIST, the source of all his princi- of the Saviour: "Watch, for ye know not the day ples, and consolations, and hopes. You have seen or the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." him-Withdrawing into his CLOSET, and dealing We are in a course of trial and discipline; where much with God alone. You have seen him-Leav- the grand principle of our training is confidence; ing his retirement, and stepping into his FAMILY, where we are to walk by faith, and not by sight; and with his house serving God. You have seen for we are to honor God by trusting in him; and him-Joining himself to God's people; and walk- to follow the example of our father Abraham, who ing in the CHURCH in all the commandments and "by faith, when he was called to go out into a place ordinances of the Lord blameless. You have seen which he should afterwards receive for an inherithim-In the WORLD, but not of it. You have seen ance, obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither him-Safe and sanctified in PROSPERITY. You have he went "-satisfied with his Guide, and the assurseen him--Supported and comforted in ADVERSITY. ance he had received; and leaving all the inquiries You have seen him--In his SPIRITUAL SORROWS which restless curiosity, and proud reasonings, and hanging his harp on the willows. You have seen-conferring with flesh and blood, would have genderThe Joy of the Lord his strength. You have sur-ed, as unworthy a thought. veyed him--In the valley of the shadow of DEATH; We may venture to affirm, that if heaven was and have seen that his end is peace. You have seen him though--Laid in the GRAVE, not left there; but rising into newness of life. And now you are to view him--In HEAVEN. Four things will engage your attention. The I. REGARDS THE DEGREE OF OUR PRESENT KNOW LEDGE OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD. Have you never, my brethren, when perusing the sacred writings, been struck with a kind of contradiction? Here, in one place, you say, I read that "life and immortality are brought to light;" and in another, I am told of "the glory that shall be revealed." In one I am assured, that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." And yet in another it is said, "God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." But this apparent contradiction supplies us with the fact we are remarking; and the apostle John has fully expressed it when he says, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but this we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." That is, we know something of it; but much, very much, remains concealed. We have some developments in the sacred pages, and in the illuminations of the Holy Ghost Yet we are able only to survey now fully land open to our view, it would be so impressive and engrossing, as to render every thing here insignificant and uninteresting, and loosen and detach us from all our present engagements. St. Pierre tells us of his returning to France in a ship that had been absent several years in the East Indies. "And when," says he, "the crew approached their native country, they were all eagerness to discern it. Some of them mounted the rigging: some of them employed the glass. By-and-by an exclamation was heard, Yonder it is!' Then they became thoughtful, and listless. But when they drew nearer and began to discover the tops of the hills and towers, that reminded them of the spots on which they had been brought up; they knew not how to contain themselves. They dressed themselves in their best apparel; they brought out the presents designed for their connections. But when the vessel entered the harbor; and they saw their friends and relations on the quay, stretching forth their hands to embrace them, many of them leaped from the ship, and other hands were employed to bring it to its moorings." from which you were born, and to which you are Ah! Christians, could you see the better country bound-could you behold your connections there, ready to receive you; your station would soon be deserted, and other agents would be wanted to carry on their concerns. We go further! and we say that the full disclosure of heaven would not only derange the present order of things, but endanger, injure, and destroy the very being to whom it was presented. Our physical powers have their limits; and from many instances in the Scriptures, we see the effects of an excess of excitement or impression. Accustomed sight of Solomon's glory, had no more spirit in her. as she was to grandeur, the queen of Sheba, at the Jacob fainted away when he saw the wagons to convey him to his son Joseph. When the angel approached Daniel, there was no strength in him, for his comeliness was turned in him to corruption. And though John had often reclined on his bosom, when the Saviour appeared to him, he fell at his feet as dead. No; we have not eyes to see that brilliancy now; we have not ears to endure that melody now; we have not frames to bear up under that weight of glory now. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." rience in passing from death unto life. Now are they the sons of God; and they have the Spirit of adoption. They have tasted that the Lord is gracious; and they know the things that are freely given them of God. But though the sacred writers view grace and glory as inseparable, and indeed consider them as the same in kind, they remark the difference there is in degree. Here the new creature is in its infancy; there it comes to the meawe are faithful over a few things; there we are made rulers over many things Here we are saved by hope; there we possess the reality. Here we walk by faith; there by sight. Now we have the first-fruits of the Spirit; then the whole harvest. Now we have the earnest; then the inheritance. The Christian is therefore led from his present experience to his future attainments; and there is no way of his conceiving of heaven so affecting, as to take his best views and frames now, and to imagine them perfect and perpetual. He can learn more from one hour's communion_with God, than from all the books he ever read. There are ordinances, in the use of which he is sometimes filled with all joy and peace in believing; and he can say, The full knowledge, therefore, is no more practicable than it is expedient. We have no adequate medium of receiving the communication; and heaven entering the mind now, is like the sun en-sure of the fulness of the stature of Christ. Here tering the house through a few little crevices, or the sea flowing through the hollow of a straw.There is an amazing force in language, as we see in some most powerful and affecting works: but words, however chosen, can no more express heaven, than paint can do justice to light, or heat, or joy. All our modes of apprehending and feeling, are not refined and exalted enough to take a complete hold of an object so peculiar and spiritual.Even our thoughts, that seem to "leave dull mortality behind," here labor and strive in vain: and one of the sublimest understandings that ever soared, even also when inspired, could only exclaim, "Oh! how great is the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee." This, however, is not to be taken absolutely. With all our deficiencies, we are not ignorant of the reality of this glory; nor are we unfurnished with such a degree of information concerning it, as our duty and our welfare allow and require.And we proceed, "If such the sweetness of the streams, Where saints and angels draw their bliss There are spots in his walks rendered sacred by II. To observe how the SCRIPTURE AIDS US IN CON- his meeting his Lord and Saviour, and talking with CEIVING OF A SUBJECT SO DIFFICULT AND VAST. It does this four ways. him as a man talketh with his friend. In his vernal or autumnal retreats from the haunts of men, he has sat beneath the branches of his favorite tree, First, It enables us to conceive of it negatively and has felt a perfect sympathy with all that is inThus it tells us what it is not, removing from it every nocent and beautiful around him; and every thing thing we know and feel to be dreadful, or trying, or earthly has been reduced to its just level in his redistressing. And such representations we are pre-gards; and the world has been conquered, having pared to understand and to feel, by a sad and common experience. For often in a world like this, our nothing to tempt and nothing to terrify; and even most lively apprehension of good is the removal of death has been frownless; and, ready to be dissolved, evil; and our most inviting notion of joy is the he could sing, God cessation of grief. Hence the sacred writers assure "O that the happy hour was come, To change my faith to sight! Finally, It helps us to conceive of it positively.Telling us plainly, "That the upright shall dwell in his presence. That blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. That when He who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory. The righteous shall go away into life eternal."what does this mean? What does it include? III. Are THE PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS OF THE HEAVENLY STATE. Here we will not trifle, or pry into things which we have not seen. We shall not therefore enlarge on many topics which have commonly been connected with the subject; and the reason is, either because they are not so explicitly revealed, or because they are not so important in themselves, as those articles which we are going to enumerate. Secondly, It enables us to conceive of it figuratively. Figures are like dress; they are now used for ornament, but they were introduced from necessity. They were originally used not to embel-Yet lish, but to explain; and we want them for the And what same purpose still. How can the mind, while incarnate, any more discern than operate, but through the senses, the mediums of all sensation and reflection? How can we reach the distant, but by the intervention of what is near? How can we understand what is difficult, but by the application of what is familiar? How can we hold communion with things unseen and eternal, but by means of those which are seen and temporal? What wonder therefore that the wisdom of God should have levied a tax on all that is inviting in the intercourses of life, and in the productions and appearances of nature, to afford us emblems and illustrations? What wonder that we should read of rivers of pleasure: of trees of life; of robes and crowns; of feastings and mirth; of treasures and triumphs-and a thousand other images serving to hold forth a little of the better and enduring substance? It has been asked, Are there degrees in glory?— We are persuaded there are. All analogy countenances the conclusion. We see diversities and inequalities pervading all the works of God. We know there are gradations among angels; for we read of thrones and dominions, principalities and powers. And though all Christians are redeemed by the same blood, and justified by the same righteousness, Thirdly, It helps us to conceive of it compara- we know that there are degrees in grace. We know tively. It is a blessed change Christians now expe- Í the good ground brought forth in some places thirty It has been asked, Shall we know each other in heaven? Suppose you should not; you may be assured of this, that nothing will be wanting to your happiness. But O, you say, how would the thought Perfect purity. This announcement has little affect me now! There is the babe that was torn attraction for those of you who never saw the beaufrom my bosom; how lovely then, but a cherub now. ty of holiness, and never abhorred yourselves, reThere is the friend, who was as mine own soul, penting in dust and ashes. But O! to a Christian with whom I took sweet counsel, and went to the it is worth dying for, to leave behind him the body house of God in company. There is the dear minis- of this death; this law in the members warring ter-whose preaching turned my feet into the path against the law of his mind; this inability to do the of peace-whose words were to me a well of life.- things that he would; this presence of evil ever with There is the beloved mother, on whose knees I first him; this liableness, this proneness to sin, even in laid my little hands to pray, and whose lips first his holy things-tarnishing every duty, wounding taught my tongue to pronounce the name of Jesus! his own peace, and vexing and grieving the Spirit And are these removed from us for ever? Shall of his best Friend. To be freed from the enemy, we recognize them no more?-Cease your anxie- and to have nothing in me that temptation can ope ties. Can memory be annihilated? Did not Peter, rate upon! To be incapable of ingratitude, and James, and John know Moses and Elias? Does unbelief, and distractions in duty! To be innocent not the Saviour inform us that the friends, benefac- as the first Adam, and holy as the second !-What tors have made of the mammon of unrighteousness, wonder, the Christian exclaims, with Henry, "If shall receive them into everlasting habitations?this be heaven, O! that I were there."-You may Does not Paul tell the Thessalonians, that they are reckon upon his hope, and joy, and crown at the coming of our The most delightful associations. We are formLord Jesus Christ? ed for society. Much of our present happiness reSome would ask, Where is heaven? The uni-sults from attachment and intercourse. Who knows verse is immense; but what particular part of it is not "the comforts of love?" Yea, and who knows assigned for the abode of the blessed, we cannot de- not its sorrows also? We must weep when the ob termine. It will probably be our present system jects of our affection weep. The arrows that pierce renovated. May we not infer this from the words our friends wound us also. We tolerate, we excuse of the Apostle Peter"Looking for and hasting their imperfections, but we feel them. And the unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the thought of absence-separation-death-is dreariheavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the ele-ness, pain and anguish. Hence, some have been ments shall melt with fervent heat-Nevertheless, ready to envy the unrelated, unconnected individual, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens whose anxieties and griefs are all personal. But it and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." is not good for man to be alone in any condition.But is it a place? Our Lord has a body like our It is better to follow the course of providence; to own; and this cannot be omnipresent; and wher- cherish the intimacies of life; to improve and to ever he is corporeally, there is heaven-" Where I sanctify them; and under the disadvantages which am, there shall also my servants be." Enoch and now mingle with them, to look forward to a state Elias have bodies; all the saints will have bodies; where the honey will be without the sting, and the and these cannot be everywhere. We read of "the rose without the thorn; and attachment and interhope laid up for us in heaven." Of" entering into course without the deductions arising from pain, the holy place." "And I go," says Jesus to his and infirmities, and pity, and fear. In the Reveladisciples, "to prepare a place for you." But though tion, heaven is always presented as a social state.it is really a place, we must chiefly consider it as a You have now few holy companions; the many are state. Even now, happiness does not essentially going another way. But, says John, "I beheld, depend on what is without us. What was Eden to and, lo a great multitude, which no man could Adam and Eve, after sin had filled them with number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, shame, and sorrow, and fear? But Paul in prison and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the was infinitely happier than Cæsar on the throne of Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their the nations. Jed W hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salyation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." And you will have access to them all. You will there have the most endeared society; -Pre-eminent knowledge. This is a world of ac- for it will include those to whom you were so tention rather than of science; and the wiser men are, derly related by nature, or pious friendship, and at the more readily will they confess, that their present parting with whom you sorrowed most of all, that knowledge is unspeakably less than their ignorance. you should see their face and hear their voice no In whatever direction they attempt to penetrate, more; and also those you left behind you with rethey are checked and baffled. Laboriousness at-luctance and anxiety in a world of sin and trouble. tends every acquirement; and doubts and uncer- With these, your fellowship, after a brief separation, tainties diminish the value of every possession. will be renewed, improved, and perfected for ever. The difference between the knowledge of Newton and the most illiterate peasant, will be far exceeded by the difference between the knowledge of the Christian on earth and in heaven. "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold as the light of seven days, when the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Now they understand as children, then they will know as men. The society will also be the most dignified; and without its present embarrassments. There are now personages so superior, that you seem reduced to nothing at the thought of them. You esteem and admire them; and wish to hear, and see, and mingle with them; yet you shrink from the presence of such genius, wisdom, and goodness. But you will feel nothing of this, when you sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and with prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, and reformers in the kingdom of God. Nor will saints only be your companions; but those glorious beings who never sinned; who excel in strength; who are proverbial for their wisdom; who are your models in doing the will of God on earth; who are your ministering spirits, invisibly watching over you in your minority-the innumerable company of angels. And though they will not be able to say, He hath redeemed us, unto God by his blood; they will cry with a loud voice-though you will endeavor to be louder "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."-You may reckon upon lace. Then you will be with him: you will "walk with" him "in white;" you will "eat and drink at his table in his kingdom;" you will "be for ever with the Lord." It is hardly necessary to say, that you may reckon upon -The most exquisite enjoyment. This will spring abundantly from all the foregoing sources, and especially the last. It will far transcend every feeling we have had of delight and ecstacy here. The state itself is expressed by it. "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Jude says, we shall be "presented before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy." And says David, "In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." For you may reckon upon The perpetuity of all this. Permanency," says the poet, adds bliss to bliss." But here it is abso -The most glorious employment. I should as soon think that heaven was a nursery of vice, as a state of inaction. Indolence is no more irrecon-lutely indispensable even to the happiness itself: cilable to virtue, than perfectly incompatible with happiness. "A want of occupation is not rest. A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed." for the greater the blessedness, the more miserable we should feel if it were in danger. Who in the possession of such a prize, could exist under the thought of losing it? How careful therefore are the sacred writers never to leave out this essential All the powers conferred by a wise Creator neces-attribute, in any of their descriptions. If it be life, sarily imply their application and use: and the more it is "eternal" life. If it be salvation, it is "everlife any being possesses, the more energy and ac-lasting" salvation. If it be a kingdom, it is a kingtiveness will distinguish him, unless he is in a state dom that "cannot be shaken." If it be a crown, it of perversion or restraint. But what are the em- is a crown of "glory, that fadeth not away." ployments of heaven? Dr. Watts has speculated much on this subject. Some of his conjectures are probable, and all pleasing. But we dare not follow him. Of this we are sure, that there will be none of those mean and degrading toils which arise now from the necessities of our nature, or from luxury and pride. Neither will there be any of those religious exercises which pertain to a state of imperfection. Repentance will be hid from our eyes. There will be no more warfare and watchings. Neither will there be any more prayers with strong cryings and tears. Yet it is said, "They serve him day and night in his temple." And their powers will be equal to the work; for neither the fervency nor the duration of the service will produce exhaustion or languor. The common notion of always standing up and singing, is too childish to be entertained.-progression before us. We have no doubt but that there may be stated assemblies for adoration and praise. But Christians are said to be still praising him now; and they do this, not by acts of worship only, but by performing his will, by filling up their stations in life properly, and promoting the welfare of all around them: and his work even here is honorable and glorious. "Ah!" -On the presence and sight of the Saviour, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, you may reckon; and you will reckon-and reckon supremely if you are a Christian. says Paul, "I long to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord." What would every thing be in his absence! Could the place, the company, the harps, be a substitute for him? But here is the consummation-you shall "serve him and see his face." You need not envy those who knew him after the flesh; you will have access to him; you will see the King, and see him in his beauty. He is now with you. He knows your soul in adversity; and comes to you as a friend, and helper, and comforter. But you are now in prison. His visits, when he looks upon you through the bars, and brings you supplies, and communes with you in the cell, are relieving. They solace the confinement; you wish them multiplied; you expect them with joy. But the best of all these visits will be the last, when he will come not only to you, but for you: when he will open the doors of the dungeon, and knock off the fetters, and take you home to his pa To which we may add, that you may reckon not only on the eternity, but the increase. Who could think of being doomed to remain stationary? How irksome would any condition be, in which there could be no possibility of advance and improvement? But your faculties will not be confined to a circle of sameness: they will be free; they will break forth on every side. How much more do the angels know now than once; and yet still they desire to look into the Saviour's sufferings and glory. How often will there be new songs in heaven, or fresh exclamations of admiration and praise, from fresh discoveries and displays of the perfections of God, in his works and ways. Every finite being is capable of accession; and in knowing, and doing, and attaining, and enjoying, there will be an infinite If with this account of heaven you are dissatisfied, be assured, the Lecturer is still more so. Who, upon such a subject, can speak worthily? I will therefore no longer darken counsel with words without knowledge, but conclude by calling upon you, . IV. TO BEHOLD THE CHRISTIAN IN HIS FINAL DESTINY, AND TO REMARK THE INSTRUCTIONS AND IMPRES SIONS THAT SHOULD ARISE FROM THE CONTEMPLATION. Behold him THERE, as a monument of divine grace. What was he once? He will not be unwilling to look to the rock whence he was hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence he was digged. He will acknowledge that by nature he was a child of wrath even as others; condemned by the law of God; a fallen, guilty, depraved creature; his powers all defiled and desolate; helpless and ready to perish. But what is he now? Redeemed; justified; renewed; quickened together with Christ; raised up and made to sit with him in the heavenly places. And whence is all this? Is it by his own worthiness, or righteousness, or strength, that he has made himself whole? "This people," says God, "have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise." Here he has placed them to display in their salvation the freeness, the power, and the fulness of his grace-that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards them by Christ Jesus. And falling in completely with this design, they cast their crowns at his feet and exclaim, "Not unto us, O Lord, not |
