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them to ourselves or to society, must render them amiable in our eyes. But, as the text limits our views to the honour which accrues from them to God, we shall content ourselves with observing, that the change effected by the gospel is to the Lord

1. An occasion of praise

[None who are quickened and renewed by the word ever take the honour to themselves: all with one voice cry, "He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God; therefore, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise." The greater the change that is wrought in any person's heart, the less will he be disposed to arrogate any thing to himself on account of it: and most of all, "when the top-stone of the spiritual building shall be brought forth, will he shout, Grace, grace unto it." From his first acquaintance with divine truth will he begin to speak of God with love and gratitude. His own experience will furnish him with an inexhaustible fund of praise and thanksgiving. Nor will his acknowledgments any longer be a dull recital of an established treed, but the lively effusions of a grateful heart.

Now if that be deemed excellent, which causes the name of any human being to be held in estimation, and to be transmitted to posterity with honour, how much more must that be excellent, which makes the name of God to be reverenced and adored!]

2. A monument of glory

[It is not in this world only that God is glorified by the dispensations of his grace: at the day of judgment every saint will" be to him for a name, and for a praise and for a glory." "Christ will come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all that believe." How sovereign will the grace of God appear to every one amongst them, when each sees himself as a brand plucked out of the fire! What stupendous wisdom will be discovered in the plan, whereby he has effected their restoration to his favour! What marvellous patience will he appear to have exercised towards them under all their backslidings; and what unbounded mercy in pardoning their multiplied transgressions! Nor will his power be less an object of admiration, when it is seen how wonderfully it has been exerted in converting their souls, and in preserving them unto his heavenly kingdom. Yea, as long as there shall exist one glorified saint in heaven, so long shall the perfections of the Godhead be most eminently displayed in the salvation of sinful man.

How excellent then must that change be, which to all eternity shall be the brightest monument of the divine perfections! The work of creation is excellent, though it is so

soon to pass away: but that, glorious as it is, has no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth in the new creation.]

INFER

1. What encouragement have men to hear the gospel! [As a person who had never seen the face of nature but in the depth of winter, would scarcely conceive it possible that so great an alteration could take place in it as is annually made within the space of a few weeks, so are many ready to imagine, that their hard and barren hearts are incapable of experiencing such a change as God requires. But his word is as powerful as ever: it is still "like fire, or like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces:" and though "it runs not, nor is glorified" to the same extent as in former days, yet wherever it is preached in sincerity and truth there are some to attest its efficacy, and to prove that "it is the power of God to the salvation of men." Let none then despair: for though" the treasure be put into an earthen vessel, God will display the excellency of his power by means of it:" he will plant the firtree and the myrtle where nothing grew but thorns and briers; "he will make the wilderness like Eden, and the desert like the garden of the Lord."]

2. What a sure criterion have we whereby to judge of our state!

[An insensibility with respect to spiritual things charac terizes the natural man; and a quickness of perception with respect to them marks the person in whom the word of God has taken due effect. Have we then surrendered up our false peace, and our carnal joy? and have we attained to a scriptural "joy and peace in believing?" Have the creatures all around us been led, as it were, to sympathize with us, and congratulate us on the change? Look then next to the tempers and dispositions of the soul: have the low groveling desires of the carnal mind been made to ascend to heaven; and the natural aversion to holy exercises been exchanged for an unfeigned delight in them? In short, is God now glorified in the whole of our deportment, so that, whosoever beholds our spirit and conduct is constrained to admire the grace of God in us? Doubtless, this change is not perfect in any; nor can we expect it to be so, while we carry about with us this body of sin and death; but is the change begun? and is it carrying on towards perfection? O that on considering these questions we might have the testimony of our consciences that things are so! But if there be no evidence of these things, let us beware, lest, instead of being eternal monuments of God's love, we be objects of his everlasting displeasure.]

CCXII. THE CHANGE TO BE WROUGHT BY THE

GOSPEL IN THE LATTER DAY.

Isai. xi. 6-9. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shail lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down togethers and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,

as the waters cover the sea.

THE happiness and prosperity of kingdoms depends much on the wisdom and equity of those who govern. Yet the best of rulers cannot always secure their people either from the turbulence of faction, or from the assaults of foreign enemies. Thus it is with the kingdom of Christ on earth. He, the Lord and governor of all, is endowed with every qualification for the discharge of his regal office, and executes that office with consummate equity and wisdom: yet, through the infirmities of his subjects, and the malice of his adversaries, his kingdom is far from enjoying the full advantages of his administration. There will, however, be a time, when his dominion shall be extended over all the earth, and perfect peace shall reign throughout all his empire.

The prophecy on which this observation is grounded, will naturally lead us to shew

I. The change that shall be wrought on men in the latter day

Men in their intercourse with each other too much resemble the brute creation

[It is indeed humiliating to compare man with venomous and ferocious beasts: but there is scarcely any beast, however savage, to which God himself has not compared us. Nor is it by figurative representations only, but by plain and express declarations, that God has marked the evil dispositions of our fallen nature. And if we either look around us or

b Ver. 5.

a Ver. 1-4. • He likens us to foxes, Song ii. 15.; serpents and vipers, Matt. iii. 7. and xxiii. 33.; wolves, Matt x. 16; wild asses, Jer. ii. 24.; wild boars, Ps. lxxx. 13.; wild bulls, Isai. li. 20, &c. Rom. i. 29-31. 2 Tim. iii. 2—4.

within us, we shall see that his descriptions are by no means exaggerated. Let any one observe the proud and envious, the wrathful and malicious, the selfish and covetous workings of the heart, and he shall soon perceive that, if man were unrestrained by human laws, he would prey upon his fellow-man with as much ferocity as the beasts themselves.]

But in the latter day universal harmony shall prevail

[Then this beautiful description shall be fully realized. Men shall dwell together as the beasts in the ark, none attempting to hurt or destroy another: or rather, they shall dwell together as the beasts in Paradise; none having so much as a disposition to hurt; but all filled with gentleness and love.

This event is foretold in other passages of holy writ; and it shall surely be accomplished at the appointed season: "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."]

To confirm our expectation of this universal change, let us consider

II. The means by which it shall be effected.

It is beyond the power of any human efforts to accomplish it

[However civilization may have changed the manners of men, it is but too evident that their hearts are the same as ever. In proof of this we need only appeal to the bloody wars which nations wage with each other; to the duels which are fought on account of the most trifling injuries or insults; and to the execrable traffic in slaves, which to the disgrace of the Christian name, yea, to the disgrace of humanity itself, is carried on amongst us, in spite of all the efforts that have been made for its abolition. If further proof were necessary, we may all find it very abundantly in the various circles in which we move: for there is scarcely a society, or even a single family, in which feuds, dissensions, quarrels, do not frequently arise: yea, the very relatives most interested in cultivating love and harmony, are often most at variance. Does not this shew how untamed we are, notwithstanding the restraints of wholsome laws, and the instructions given us in the word of God?]

But the gospel of Christ, when universally received,

shali soon effect it

[Men continue like wild beasts, because "they know not the Lord." The knowledge of Christ, and of his salvation, would produce a wonderful change on their spirit and conduct. Behold, what it wrought as soon as ever the gospel was

e Isai. lxv. 25.

f 1 Sam. ii. 12.

preached! Thousands of blood-thirsty murderers were transformed into the most lovely and loving of the human race. And, wherever it is received, its tendency is the same. It renews all after the same image;h brings all into the same family; unites all in the same interests;k and forms all into one mystical body: how then can it fail of producing harmony and love? This knowledge shall at a future period be universally diffused; and these effects shall as universally result from it."]

Let us LEARN from this subject

1. The nature of true conversion

[Conversion does not consist in embracing any tenets, however scriptural, or important. The knowledge of Christ is indeed, as has been before observed, the means of converting us; but conversion itself consists in a thorough change in all our tempers, dispositions and conduct, and in a renewal of our souls after the divine image. The lion must become a lamb: we must "become as little children, if ever we would enter into the kingdom of heaven."]

2. The excellency of the gospel

[In vain is the moral fitness of things insisted on; yea, in vain are the terrors of hell displayed, for the conversion of men: nothing but the knowledge of Christ crucified can ever operate on the soul of man, so as to produce in it a radical and universal change. But, where Christ is known aright, there the whole man will assume a new character: and in proportion as his glory is seen by us, we shall be transformed into his image. Let not the gospel then be despised as fanatical, or be defamed as licentious; but let it be revered and embraced with our whole hearts.]

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3. The blessedness of those who know the Lord

[It is to be lamented that the knowledge of Christ does not produce in these days the full effects that were visible in the apostles. But the fault is in us, and not in the gospel. Nevertheless there are many, who, even in this age of vice and infidelity, are monuments of the power and grace of Christ; and who, from having been as despiteful towards each other as Jews and Gentiles, are living in the sweetest communion with each other, and with their God. Happy they, whose views are thus rectified, whose passions are thus subdued, and

8 Acts iv. 32.

Eph. ii. 19. 2 Cor. vi. 18. 11 Cor. xii. 20, 21, 25, 27.

n Isai. ii. 4. and Tit. ii. 11, 12. P Matt. xviii. 3.

h Eph. iv. 22—24.
* Eph. iv. 4, 5.
m Hab. ii. 14.

o 2 Cor. v. 17.

2 Cor. iii. 18.

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