Sermon 6. THE BLESSED EFFECTS OF THE LOVE OF GOD IN THE SOUL. Romans, 5th Chap. 5th Verse. And hope maketh not ashamed: because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Sermon 7. THE BELIEVER'S WARFARE. Judges, 8th Chap. 4th Verse. Faint, yet pursuing. Sermon 8. Page 145. Page 183. THE COMING OF JESUS AS THE SAVIOUR OF HIS PEOPLE. Philip. 3rd Chap. 20th Verse. From whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, Page 219. ERRAT A. Page 54 line 4, for characters he, read character she. 61 line 9, for have been, read have. 108 line 17, for there, read their. 215 line 12, for weakness, read weaklings. Sermon 1. ALL BLESSINGS TRACED TO THEIR John, 15th Chap. 16th Verse. Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. THERE is nothing more gratifying to the mind, than when in the enjoyment of any one given blessing, we are able to trace it to its source, and can discover, both the author of it, and his kind intentions in giving it. If I am made happy, in the possession, of even one of the most common mercies of life, that mercy, be it what it may, is made doubly sweet, when the hand of GOD is seen in the appointment. It is a mercy then, twice blessed. A First, First, in respect to its own nature, and secondly, as coming to me, with a peculiar, and personal direction, from God. The Traveller, who, on some sultry mountain, discovers unexpectedly a cooling stream, to asswage his thirst, will drink of it, with a tenfold pleasure, if in the moment of enjoyment, he considers it as flowing for his refreshment, from the immediate gift of heaven. Nay, will it not be allowed, that, in the pleasing intercourse of social life, our felicities are all heigthened, from the consciousness of the good will with which the kindnesses of our friends are accompanied. If then in natural things, our enjoyments receive an increase from such causes, what an accession of happiness must it be in spirituals, when we are enabled to trace them up to him, and to his special appointment, who is the predisposing cause of all? If I enjoy the gracious operations of the Holy Ghost in my soul; if the person, and gifts, and righteousness, of the Redeemer be dear to my heart; if I know what it is, to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ; will not these distinguishing mercies be yet abundantly increased, both in sweetness, and in value, when they are discovered to be the result of that everlasting love, wherewith God hath loved his people, before the foundation of the world? Such views, serve to confirm, and no less at the same time to explain, the meaning of that saying of the Apostle's, when speaking of a divine appointment in all our mercies, he re fers fers the whole into God's sovereign will; who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.* And moreover, beside the enjoyment of the blessing itself, in those distinguishing properties of it, there are several other very interesting qualities, folded within its bosom. What method can be as effectual under GoD, to induce all the practical fruits of the gospel, as when, from pointing to the source, from whence all grace issues, is necessarily implied, from whence, all must be looked for? And is it not, of all possible arguments, the strongest, and the best, both to saint, and sinner, to manifest that He, who is the Author, and Finisher, of salvation, is the only Being, from whom every good and every perfect gift must come? Tell me, you, who from a clear conviction of your own unworthiness, are ever ready, to ascribe your recovery, from sin, to salvation, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made you accepted in the beloved, tell me, what motive do you find equally powerful in prompting you to shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, as the consciousness, that God hath chosen you in Christ before the foundation of the world, that you should A 2 * 2 Tim. 1. 9. |