But

the children of wrath, even as others. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Here is an encouragement for the worst of sinners to approach God, and the reason is given in the eighth and ninth verses, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." Not of his own works, certainly-for man by nature is indisposed to good works; and as certainly evil works can purchase nothing from God but punishment, which is their due; and through the work of Christ alone is the sinner convinced of sin.

I. The text leads us to consider in the first place THE PURPOSE OF GOD. We never should witness any good work, unless God had first purposed it: good works flow from the bosom of God, and evil works from that of the creature. Some persons are afraid of the purpose of God, but no evil can proceed from it; can darkness inhabit the sun? The only method of proving that God has purposed evil, is by proving that he has done evil. Again, others dread the idea of dwelling upon the purpose of

God, lest it should militate against the freedom and responsibility of the creature; but responsibility involves freedom, and that in the highest degree: the freedom of intellectual accountable beings is included in the purpose of God. of God. Unless we allow to individuals perfect freedom from all constraint to evil, and restraint from good, we cannot call them responsible moral agents, but be it remembered, the abuse of this freedom does not proceed from the Almighty, it is exclusively the creature's. The purpose of God is necessary, and that, for many reasons. Indeed no intellectual being acts without a purpose, though it may be an imperfect one: and if any person were to say he did anything without intending it, we should blame his carelessness. The perfection of any purpose is according to the nature of the person who forms it: God being infinitely perfect, his purpose must be so likewise; he is the only being who can say, "I have purposed, and I will bring it to pass; " and he is the only one who could crush the aggregate of universal being, if it were opposed to him. Many persons form resolutions, and afterwards reverse them. But what God purposes, he invariably brings to pass.

Without God's purpose, nothing could have existed. Psalm cxxxix. 15, 16.

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My sub

stance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them." Every thing done by an intellectual being proves that a purpose must have first existed. To reject the purpose of God, is to reason most absurdly. Man not only fears real, but imaginary evils. Whoever considers the purpose of God, and does ample justice to the subject, will find that it conveys most valuable doctrinal and experimental truths.

1. The divine purpose is necessary to prevent the universal conquest of sin. It would have ruined every moral agent, but for the purpose of God. When we see the ravages of the enemy opposed, and perseverance given, we trace it, without the possibility of error, to God. All our worship comprises this truth : -Why do we ascribe glory to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but because the Triune Jehovah is the author and preserver of every thing which is good? how valuable then is the purpose of God; it comprises every thing we expect to receive from him, both in providence and grace.

2. The purpose of God is necessary to preserve

innocent beings in a state of purity; it will be necessary for ever. A consciousness of this truth constitutes the loveliness of an intelligent being; he feels that he is not only dependant on God for being, but for his wellbeing also; not only for his existence as a creature, but as a holy creature.

3. We shall behold the purpose of God unfolding itself in all its glory in heaven: it discovers itself in renewing the soul, in strengthening the weak, in conquering unbelief, leading it on from battle to battle, and from victory to victory in this world, to reap the fruits and enjoy the glory of that victory for

ever.

All good works have their source IN THE PURPOSE OF GOD. Wherever therefore we find obedience to God's holy law, it must be traced to the divine purpose; and wherever we find disobedience and misery, they must be traced to the creature. The obedience of Christ himself must be traced to the purpose of God; and in this respect only, he is on a perfect level with his brethren, all the glory of independent being in one who is dependent. All works are not good which appear so, as many particles which glitter in the sun may be mistaken for jewels until we approach them. But wherever we find good works they must be traced to God,

because they never could have inhabited the bosom of men, more than that of the devil, unless God had purposed it should be so.

II. Secondly, I shall consider THE PLAN PURPOSED. The purpose of God implies a plan, and as the purpose of God is perfect, his plan must necessarily be so too. A plan was necessary to bring the sinner into a state of reconciliation with God-it even entered into the covenant of Father, Son and Spirit. Infinitely great and glorious as the plan was, still there was nothing in it unnecessary. Our state as Christians calls for every thing the Almighty has purposed for our salvation. We read nowhere so well as in the work of Christ, the impotence and desert of a sinner. A previous plan was made in eternity to take pure humanity into the Godhead, "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord," Eph. iii. 9-11. These are truths which overwhelm man with a sense of his own unworthiness and