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ward our fellow men, have we lived answerably to the great change we profess to have experienced? We are all doubtless sensible that we come short in these things. But are we contented to come short, flattering ourselves that we are christians, and therefore resolving to hope at any rate, no matter what may be our conduct? This ought not to be; for this is not the nature of true grace. True grace, in all our short-comings, will be attended by four things which may evidence its sincerity. If we indeed possess it,

(1) We shall at least be desirous of being holy. Some do not desire to be holy. The safety of the christian they desire, but they care not for his holiness. But if we are true christians we shall eagerly desire to be holy. We shall strive for holiness, using to this end all the means of grace, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

(2) We shall be grieved that we come short of perfect and entire obedience and holiness. The spirit will ever be working against the flesh. It will be our grief and burden that we so often sin against God. And with the apostle we shall often be ready to cry out, "O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death."

(3) We shall ever feel our dependence on the Holy Spirit, and lie low at the throne of grace asking for divine strength. At the throne of grace we shall feel is our proper place; and the more we see our own deficiencies and weakness, the more constantly and humbly shall we cast ourselves on God for assistance, and for grace to help in every time of need.

If we are truly possessed of shining light growing brighter Now clouds may be about us,

(4) We shall make progress. grace, our path will be "as the and brighter to the perfect day." and now mists may gather upon our way, but on the whole we shall go forward. From period to period we shall find that we are growing in grace, and becoming more and more like Christ. 3. The last use I would make of this subject, is that of exhortation. And,

(1) It exhorts sinners at once to enter on the practice of holiness. It is the service of God to which you are called; and will you not enter it? He is your creator, and has he not a right to your services; your sovereign, and does he not demand them; your constant benefactor, and are you not bound by every tie of gratitude to render them? If you refuse to obey, you will go on to live, as you are now living, in the service of satan and sin. And is not God's service better than these? Will it not give you more joy and happiness here, and be better rewarded here

after? By every duty then here, and by every prospect hereafter, are you not bound to enter it, that your souls may live?

(2) It also exhorts those who are saints. The cause of God is at stake, and how much will it be dishonored by unfaithfuluess on your part! Many are ready to disbelieve all religion; and your conduct may do much to remove their doubts and convince them of the reality and excellence of your faith, or to impede their progress and place stumbling blocks in their way over which they may fall and perish. Your own character as christians, and even as men of truth and honor, are involved. You profess great things, and your profession has been public and most solemn. It is a sacrament;-an oath. Be diligent then, that you walk worthy of your high and holy calling, and that you put no occasion of stumbling or falling in the way of others. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Thus "shall your light so shine before men, that they shall see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven."

SERMON XXVI.

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.*

1 TIMOTHY 1: 11.—“ The glorious Gospel of the blessed God."

To celebrate the gospel, is the universal practice of all who profess the christian name. Those who cannot endure the law, will, in the fullest and strongest terms, commend the gospel; and those who openly declare that they cannot away with an absolute God, are most lavish of their praises of a merciful Redeemer. Even those who are at sword's points in almost everything else, yet agree in this, to speak highly of the gospel and of the Savior. They all agree that it is a glorious gospel, and that he is a glorious Savior.

But how and why is this? Is it that the gospel and the true character of the Savior are things agreeable to the natural taste and relish of the hearts of men, which yet are at enmity against God, and not subject to his law? Or is the gospel, rightly understood, any more agreeable to the corrupt heart of man than the law is; or the character of Jesus the Savior, than the character of God the lawgiver and judge? No; if we consult the apostle we shall find that these, viz. the law and the gospel, God the father and lawgiver and Christ the Son and Savior, are in no wise opposed to each other, but are in all things perfectly harmonious and consistent. For, says he, "Do we then make void the law through faith," i. e. through the gospel? And the answer which he himself directed by inspiration gives, is, "God forbid; yea, we establish the law." The law and the gospel, therefore, according to the apostle, are not at all opposed to each other, but being built on the same foundation, do mutually establish each other. Again, the same apostle speaking of Jesus the Savior, says, that "he is the brightness of the father's glory, and the express image of his person.' But if he is such a perfect image of the father, surely those must act a very inconsistent part who love and rejoice in the image, while they have no complacency in, but hate and reject the original. And the same is true of those who

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* Preached in 1771.

rejoice in the gospel which establishes the law, and yet hate and oppose the law itself.

From these things it appears that although all who would call themselves christians agree to speak highly of the gospel and of the Savior, and to call them a glorious gospel and a glorious Savior, yet it may be with many through misapprehension of their real nature, and of what constitutes their glory. That for which they love the gospel and love the Savior, and which they call their glory, inasmuch as it is opposed to the law and the character of God the father, is, in reality, not the true glory of the gospel, and of the Savior, but something which they falsely so call. That the gospel and the glory of it are not inconsistent with the law is evident, not only from the passages already quoted, but from many others; as Rom. 10: 4, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth,;" and Gal. 3: 24, "The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." These passages plainly show that the law is subservient to the gospel; and on the other hand that the gospel is, as to its spirit, though not as to the letter, a fulfilment of the law. The glory of the one, therefore, cannot be inconsistent with the other. Now that the gospel is indeed a glorious gospel, our text, as well as the whole of the New Testament informs us. Let us, then, inquire wherein consists its glory? It consists, I reply, namely in two things, the display that it makes of God's character, and the provision that it makes for man.

I. The gospel is a glorious gospel, inasmuch as in it every one of the divine attributes is set forth in a most glorious light.

This is true both of the natural attributes of God, and also of his moral.

1. It is true of the natural attributes of God. The natural attributes of God, considered as an infinite intelligence, are his power, and knowledge or wisdom. And both these are abun

dantly glorified in the plan of the gospel.

(1) The infinite power of God, was gloriously displayed in the work of creation; in producing out of nothing the heavens and the earth, the sun and moon and stars, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, and especially in producing rational intelligences, mankind with all the hosts of heaven, angels and archangels, thrones and dominions and principalities and powers. Few more sublime conceptions of power can be conceived than that of the Psalmist, "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." The production of a universe, and that by a word, was indeed a glorious display of power that is infinite.

But a far more glorious display of that power has been made, and especially at the final consummation of all things will have been made, in the prosecution of the plan of the gospel. In the creation of the universe, there was no opposition and resistance, at least none of a moral kind, for God's power to overcome. As opposed to the plan of the gospel, however, there is all the resistance that can possibly be made by earth or hell. In every sinner who is converted from the error of his ways to the wisdom of the just, God has to overcome the utmost opposition that that soul can make to his work within it. In no degree is such a one inclined by nature to fall in with this work of God for his salvation, but to resist it; for the carnal mind is ever enmity against God and all true holiness, and can only be made willing in the day of his power. And not only is the sinner himself opposed to this work of grace, but it is also, to the utmost degree of their might, opposed by the powers of darkness, the devil and his angels, the prince of the power of the air and all his hosts. And the reason why it is opposed by these, is, because by it their kingdom is assailed, and one of their subjects is likely to be taken from them, and brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And as there is opposition to the work of divine grace in the instance supposed, from the powers of darkness, so there is in every instance where any step is taken by God to carry out the designs of the gospel. And this for the same reason as has just been given, viz., that in every such step their kingdom is attacked and shaken.

Nor is this opposition small or contemptible; for these spirits, however fallen and depraved, yet are of vast power and ability, so that they are called in scripture "principalities and powers." And especially is this true of their leader, who is called “Lucifer," the sun of the morning;" intimating that before his fall he was as much distinguished among the heavenly hosts, as the morning star is among the stars of the firmament. And although he and all those that apostatized with him lost their holiness and moral rectitude, yet they lost not their natural power and strength. Now all this their power has ever been opposed to God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit the sanctifier, in every step of the work of redemption; and yet by them it has always been overcome. It is overcome in the conversion of every sinner, and in the progressive sanctification of every saint. It was overcome most gloriously in the complete triumph which Jesus Christ gained over these powers of darkness, in the signal victory which he achieved on the cross. It has been and will be overcome in every revolution brought to pass in the world in favor of

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