said the Apostle John, "gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." "Henceforth," said Christ, "I call you not servants, but friends. Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory; and the glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." Amazing condescension indeed, that a wicked son of apostate Adam should be raised to this high dignity! Yet so shall it be done to him whom the King of kings delighteth to honour. Hath the Lord said, will he not do it? hath he promised, and will he not make it good?

The Christian beholds believers, in consequence of this reconciliation, obtaining a place in the tender affection, and unceasing care of the great Jehovah, and all his glorious and infinite attributes employed in promoting their interests. He sees the Almighty guiding them by his counsel, and guarding them by his power; correcting their iniquities, yet feeling for their distress as with the compassion of a parent; his angels encamping around them, and the Lord of hosts himself their shield

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and exceeding great reward. If it is a blessing to be able to stand unappalled before the Sovereign of heaven; if it is a blessing to be the object of his patient and indulgent regard; if it is a blessing to bear the character of one of his meanest servants, what must it be to have the great God himself for our friend, our inheritance, and our portion?

But the blessings proposed in the gospel not only affect our state and character before God, but respect the temper of our minds, and the conduct of our lives. The salvation which Christ bestows upon his people includes in it deliverance from the power, as well as from the fatal consequences of sin. It is to be freed from the most abject servitude, to have reason reseated on its throne, and the passions and appetites reduced to subjection. It is to be renewed in our minds, to be conformed to the will of God, to love him as the supreme good, and to delight in his ways with the whole heart. It is to hold on the narrow way that leads to everlasting life, to grow daily in grace, and to be stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. It is, in short, to render to God that submission, that trust, that ardent love, and exalted

piety which he requires; to our fellow-men, that justice, charity, and affection, which the gospel enjoins; and with regard to ourselves, to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in a present evil world. Can a nobler blessing be enjoyed upon earth than this sanctification of heart and life, which evinces to ourselves and others our interest in the favour of God, and our experience of the power of his grace; which promotes the glory of the divine perfections, and prepares the Christian for the employments of the heavenly state.

VOL. II.

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SERMON

SERMON XI.

THE GOODNESS of GOD DISPLAYED IN CREATION, PROVIDENCE, AND REDEMPTION.

DEUTERONOMY iv. 32.

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

In the former discourse we spoke of the oc

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casion on which Moses delivered these words to the children of Israel; we have shewed with what justice we might adopt them, when we meditated on the works of creation and providence; and we proposed, in the

third place, to consider them as the language of the Christian, when contemplating the wonders of redeeming grace. It is to the farther illustration of this third particular, that we propose chiefly to direct your attention in the present discourse. The first consideration taken notice of, as affecting the heart of the Christian, was the greatness of the blessings of redemption.

I proceed to observe, secondly, That when the Christian considers the real characters of the persons who are the objects of redemption, feelings of gratitude and devotion, similar to those expressed in the text, cannot fail to be excited in his soul.

The angels who kept not their first estate, are reserved under chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day: They have none to pity, and none to save them. For them the Son of God did not interpose his mediation, nor give his life a ransom. Man is, by his original constitution, inferior to angels. He was therefore a less exalted object of the divine attention and regard, and less able, even when a partaker of mercy, to show forth the glory of God, and to yield that spiritual and elevated service which his creatures owe him.