But would God have opened this fountain, if any other would have sufficed?- How lamentable that there should still be such cause for those expostulations *! Let those who say like Peter, remember the answer given him -] 3. To those who doubt whether they may come to this fountain [Many imagine that the greatness of their guilt is a bar to their acceptance Put the fountain was opened for sin, and for uncleanness-What would have been the effect of such hesitation at the pool of Bethesda ?—— Be it remembered that all, who have a need, have a right to wash Let every one then press forward, lest he lose the blessing-] ་་ 4. To those who have experienced its cleansing efficacy [It is in you that the efficacy of this fountain must be seen Let it appear that it has cleansed you from earthly and sensual desires But still you have need to wash in it daily" This do, and you shall soon join in that triumphant song b] a We contract defilement every step we take. z John v. 4, 7. Bishop Beveridge justly observes "Our very tears need to be washed, and our repentances to be repented of." b Rev. i. 5, 6. XC. MEN'S DISREGARD OF THE GOSPEL. Hos. viii. 12. I have written to them the great things of my law, and they were counted as a strange thing. MEN judge of sins often by their outward appear ance But God takes into consideration its several aggravations Nothing more aggravates our guilt than our contempt of the means used to deliver us from it Hence Hence God, in criminating his people, whom he was about to punish, particularly charged upon them their disregard of his word I. What are the great things of God's law The "law" is here used for the word in generalThe " great things" of it are its fundamental truths, some of which we shall specify- 1. That man is by nature totally depraved [The rite of circumcision and many plain passages declared this a-] b 2. That Christ offered himself a sacrifice for our sins [This was exhibited in the types and prophecies -] 3. That the Holy Spirit will renew and sanctify our souls [This was intimated by all the ceremonial lustrations, and promised in the most express terms -] These things are more fully set forth in the New Testament And God himself has written them to us II. In what respects they are called "great" 1. As being deeply mysterious e [How inexplicable the mystery of original sin! How marvellous the substitution of God's only Son in our stead!- How incomprehensible the renewal of our souls after God's image! Well might "the angels desire to look into these things"-] 2. As being of infinite importance [Every one must feel his depravity, rely on Christ, and experience the renewing influences of the Spirit On these things our everlasting state depends; since without them we cannot have true penitence, or genuine faith, or a meetness for heaven-] III. What regard is shewn to them We might expect that men would be constantly occupied about these great things a Gen. vi. 5. Jer. xvii. 9. Ps. li. 5. b Lev. xvi. 21. Isai. liii. 5, 6. Ezek. xxxvi. 25—27. 4 See Eph. ii. 3. e 2 Tim. iii. 16. Heb. ix. 13, 14. Tit. iii. 5. 2 Pet. i. 21. But But "they are counted as a strange thing' They are judged uninteresting [Public news or private interests will engage attentionBut God's law is read and heard with indifference-] They are thought absurd [They were judged so by the church of old Christ and his apostles were despised for declaring them— INFER g grace 1. How great is the blindness of natural men! [Men have explored the wonders of creationBut the wisest are offended at the doctrines of Let us then seek a sense of our blindnessLet us pray for divine illumination, as Davidh, or Paul1We can have no wisdom while the truths of God appear strange to us] 2. How inestimable are the privileges of God's people! [They are taught of God, and find delight in his word Hence they are often constrained to say with the apostle- Let us guard against remaining ignorance and unbelief— f Isai. viii. 18. Jer. xx. 8. Ezek. xx. 49. The doctrine of man's depravity is reprobated as gloomy: salvation through Christ is supposed injurious to morality: and the called enthusiasm. influences of the Spirit are i 1 Eph. i. 18. Ps. xxv. 14. 1 Pet. ii. 9. Jer. xv. 16. k Jer. viii. 9. XCI. THE DUTY OF TRUSTING IN GOD. Jer. xvii. 5-8. Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river; and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. EVERY created being derives its existence and support from God Yet man is prone to depend on the creature rather than on hin Though constantly disappointed, he still leans on an arm of flesh But such conduct is justly reprobated in the strongest terms We shall consider I. The characters that are contrasted Every man by nature "trusts in man, makes flesh his arm, and in his heart departs from the Lord". We need not go to heathens or infidels to find persons of this description We need only search the records of our own conscience [In temporal things, we never think of looking above the creature If they be prosperous, we trust in uncertain riches, and take the glory to ourselves— If adverse, we lean to our own understanding and exertions, or rely for succour on our friends— In spiritual things, we seek to establish a righteousness of our own We expect to repent and serve God by our own strength-] The true Christian "trusts in the Lord, and makes the Lord his hope" [He trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as the God of providence He commits his affairs to him, expecting his promised aid He trusts also in Jesus as the God of grace— He renounces all hope in his own goodness or resolutions He cordially adopts the language of the church of old2-] These marks afford a sure line of distinction between the nominal and real Christian a Isai. xlv. 24. VOL. I. LL [Both [Both may be moral, charitable, and attentive to religious duties But the regenerate alone trust simply in the Lord Not that all the regenerate are alike delivered from selfdependence Nor do the same persons always exercise their graces in the same degree There are remains of self-righteousness, &c. in the best of men But the unregenerate allow these things which are abhorred by the regenerate-] Nor is this difference between them of trifling import II. Their respective conditions Men's eternal state will be fixed with perfect equity The conditions of the characters before us are strongly contrasted 1. Simply; "blessed," &c. "cursed," &c. [What can be more important than these declarations ?They are not the dictates of enthusiasm, but the voice of God; "Thus saith the Lord" And may we not adopt Balak's words in reference to God b? And what can be more reasonable?- God has given his Son to be our Saviour; but while some confide in him, others, by not trusting in him, reject him: how reasonable then is it that a curse should attach to these, and a blessing to those! Such a difference in their conditions seems the necessary result of their own conduct— Spiritual life or death are dependent on our trust in the Lord, just as the life of the body is on our receiving or rejecting of animal food Let every one then enquire, which of these conditions he has reason to expect?-] 2. Figuratively To mark the contrast more clearly, it is further observed, that both the blessing and the curse shall be Abundant 1. [The unbeliever "shall be like the heath in the desert"He shall be left in a state of extreme barrenness and wretchedness 1 b. Numb. xxii. 6. And |