By these means many are tempted to defer their religious exercises But to yield to the temptation is to increase the diffi culty-] While we are engaged in prayer [The world is never more troublesome than at such seasons Something seen or heard, lost or gained, done or to be done, will generally obtrude itself upon us when we are at the throne of grace— The flesh also, with its vilest imaginations, will solicit our attention Nor will Satan be backward to interrupt our devotions -] After we have concluded prayer [When we have prayed, we should expect an answerBut worldliness may again induce a forgetfulness of GodImpatience to receive the desired blessings may deject usIgnorance of the method in which God answers prayer may cause us to disquiet ourselves with many ungrounded appre hensions Unbelief may rob us of the benefits we might have received m Whatever obstructs God's answers to prayer, disqualifies us for the future discharge of that duty-] APPLICATION [Let us not expect victory without many conflictsLet us remember the effect of perseverance in the case of Moses n Above all, let us attend to the parable spoken for this end So shall we be kept from fainting under our discourage ments And God will fulfil to us his own promise P-] or, "it is pre"it is He has various devices whereby he strives to accomplish his purpose. He will suggest" it is needless to pray:' sumption for so great a sinner to ask any thing of God:" or, hypocrisy to ask, when the heart is so little engaged." Sometimes he will inject into the Christian's mind the most blasphemous and horrid thoughts; and at other times tempt him to admire his own fluency and enlargement in prayer. Such are the " fiery darts" with which he often assails the soul, Eph. vi. 16. m James i. 6, 7. n Exod. xvii. 11—13. par Mic. vii. 18-20. Who is a God like unto thee, that doneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. sea. EVERY work of God should lead our thoughts up to its great author The prophet had prayed that the Jews might be restored to their own landa— God had promised that he would grant them such a deliverance from Babylon as he had before given to their ancestors from Egypt The prophet immediately elevates his thoughts from the deliverance to the author of it, and breaks forth in admiration of his mercy His devout acknowledgments lead us to consider God's mercy I. In its rise God has had at all times a "chosen remnant" in the world [They were very few in the days of Noah, or of Abraham d In our Lord's day they were but a " little flock "— [He "passes by their transgressions" with much longsuffering Though he feels anger against them, "he retains it not for He "pardons their iniquities," giving them repentance unto life-] a Ver. 14. e Ps. ciii. 10. Ver. 15-17. d Ps. xxxiii. 12. f Ps. vii. 11. In In so doing he is actuated only by his own love and mercy [There is not any thing in his elect that can merit his favour But he "delighteth in mercy," and would gladly exercise it towards all — The iniquities of the wicked are a burthen to him h He deliberates long before he casts them off. When he rejects them finally, he does it with reluctance He is often so troubled for the obstinate, that he resolves for his own sake to reclaim them by a sovereign exercise of almighty power" When he has prevailed on a sinner, he exults for joy And thus it is that he saves the remnant of his heritage What reason then have they to exclaim, "Who is like unto thee?"-] The mercy thus freely manifested is worthy of admi ration also II. In its progress God continues to act with astonishing forbearance towards them [They are, alas! too prone to backslide from him They often provoke him to withdraw himself from them P But he leaves them not eternally to take the fruit of their misconduct He" has compassion on them," remembering they are but dust - He "turns to them again" after hiding himself for a little He restores to them the light of his countenance How interesting and endearing is this description of his character! How must every saint adopt the church's confession $ !-] He pledges himself not only to pardon, but to "subdue their iniquities 21. [He will not suffer sin to have dominion over them t He Judgment is called " his strange work, his strange act," Is. xxviii. Ezek. xxxiii. 11. i Isai. xxx. 18. m Jer. iii. 19. k Hos. vi. 4. Amos ii. 13. 1 Luke xix. 41. h Isai. i. 14, 24. Zeph. iii. 17. See also the parables of P Deut. xxxii. 20. the shepherd, the woman, the father, Luke xv. a Ps. ciii. 14. Isai. liv. 7, 8. See a striking declaration to this effect, Is. lvii. 16-18. S Lam. iii. 22. * Rom. vi. 14. He hides his face in order to embitter sin to them-2 He turns to them again to encourage their opposition to it He renews their strength when they are fainting" And gradually perfects in them the work he has begunWho can survey this progress of mercy, and not exclaim "Who?" &c.-] But the full extent of God's mercy can only be seen III. In its consummation Sin cleaves to the Lord's people as long as they are in the body Hence they have daily occasion for renewed forgive ness But soon their pardon shall be final and complete [God overthrew the Egyptian host in the Red Sea"There was not so much as one of them left So will God" cast his people's sins into the sea He will cast them "all" without one single exceptionAnd that "into the depths" from whence they shall never rise If the Israelites so rejoiced in seeing their enemies dead on the shore, how will Christians in their final victory over sin!-] God will fulfil to them his promises in their utmost extent [The promises as made to Abraham and his seed were mercy The confirmation of them to Jacob and to the church was "truth" They have been established with the sanction of an "oath And these" promises" will be fulfilled" to all the seed"Soon will" the head-stone be brought forth with shoutings,". &c.* How will every glorified soul then admire the divine mercy! What energy will a sight of sins forgiven, of backslidings healed, of glory bestowed, give to the exclamation in the text! May this view of the subject be realized in our experience!-] APPLICATION [Let the careless consider against whom their sins are committed Isai, xl. 29-31. * Zech. iv. 7. Will Will they never pause, and exclaim, like Joseph"?——Let the penitent reflect on the descriptions given of God in Scripture a Nor let them judge of him by the dictates of sense Let the sincere believer apply to himself that congra tulation b And let him adopt that triumphant boast -] XCVI. THE CHARACTER, DUTY, AND PRIVILEGE OF CHRISTIANS. Col. ii. 6, 7. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. THE greatest joy of a faithful minister is to see his people flourish The apostles were eminent examples to us in this respecta St. Paul was as solicitous for the welfare of those whom he had only heard of by report, as for those who had been converted by his ministry b Hence he took occasion from what they had attained to urge them on to increasing watchfulness and assiduity I. The Christian's character Christ is the great gift of God to mankind When we believe on him we are said to receive him d The distinguishing character of Christians is, that they have received him Freely [The pride of our hearts makes us backward to accept God's offers- We ix. St. Paul was no less comforted with the piety of some, 2 Cor. vii. 4. than he was grieved with the want of it in others, Rom. 2, Gal. iv, 19. See also 3 John 4. a John i. 12, |