But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased....Heb. xiii. 16. 7. THROUGH the artful wiles of Satan, the corrupt reasonings of deceitful nature, and the doctrines of false teachers, disciples are in danger of errors on the right hand and on the left. Because good works do not merit God's favor, and entitle us to his acceptance, therefore, say some, 'We cannot do any thing that is good and well-pleasing in the sight of God.' So if Satan cannot blind us by false hopes and legal confidences, he strives to poison our minds with detestable, licentious notions, dishonorable to Jesus, contrary to faith, subversive of love, and destructive of the holiness and peace of the gospel. But it cannot be so when Jesus is beheld and rejoiced in as our sacrifice and atonement for sin, as our beloved, in whom our persons are accepted. "By him we are made priests unto God." He is our altar, on which our sacrifices are offered, and which consecrates our gifts. Are we exhorted to do good, and to please our gracious God and loving Father? Faith excites most powerfully; love binds with strongest cords; and hope animates with the most prevailing pleas to this. "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Such was his love. In gratitude for such love, to sacrifice our all to him is ever our bounden duty. Shame to us that we should be prone to forget this. Exhortations remind us that we are apt to this; and of what our Lord expects from us. God hath not forgotten to be gracious to us. Jesus never intermits in his suit for us. Shall we forget our duty, and neglect at any time to do good on earth? Not study daily to please him who is our portion, our all in time and eternity? Doth the glorious Jehovah condescend to assure us, I am well pleased with your beneficence, your communicative goodness to my creatures, and your brethren for my sake? and shall we ever be unmindful of, and indifferent about this matter? Forbid it, Lord! animate us with more of the fire of love! To live without prayer and praise, argues insensibility and ingratitude; not to study to glorify God in our actions, shews the want of love; and where the spirit of prayer, praise, love and obedience is wanting, where, alas, is our evidence that we are the children of the gracious God, members of a compassionate Saviour, and influenced by the Spirit of love! Thron'd on a cloud our judge shall come, By the Redeemer's sacrifice, Bright flames prepare his way, Thunder and darkness, fire and storm, Lead on the dreadful day. Now gather all my saints (he cries) Who seal'd it with his blood. Their faith and works brought forth to My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word....Psalm cxix. 25. ONE would dread that state most of all others, which St. Paul describes, "being past feeling."....Ephes. 4. 19. True, there is this alleviation, such are insensible of their deplorable condition. But if the great trumpet of the gospel awakes not the soul in this life to spiritual sense and feeling, verily the loud archangel's trumpet will awaken it to hear its awful sentence and feel its dreadful doom in the last day. O what a miracle of grace to be quickened, to know one's misery, to feel one's wants, to believe the remedy, and cry for relief! This blessed work is not of the will of the flesh. No man can quicken his own soul; it is the sovereign work of almighty power; it is equally ascribed to the loving Father, the redeeming Son, and the sanctifying Spirit....John v. 21. and vi. 63....therefore gracious souls give all the glory to the ever-blessed trinity. Free-will is the child of pride, it dwells in the heads of almost christians, and is only boasted of by the enemies of truth. " I am come, that my children might have life," saith Jesus. He quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins; and then they cry to him to have life more abundantly. Here is the wisdom of heaven-born souls; they deny themselves of the vain pleasures, carnal delights, and sensual gratifications of this world. They know these things oppose the life, interrupt the peace, and damp the joy of their souls. Their only happiness centers in Jesus....in life and love communicated from him; therefore they study to avoid such things as are contrary to his mind and will: and as they too often find a cleaving to dust, to the sensible, earthly, vain enjoyments of this world, this alarms them....it is a burden and grief to them: they pour out their complaints to their beloved Jesus, with, 'Master, let it not be thus; quicken my drooping spirit, enliven my declining heart, cheer my languishing soul, according to the word of thy grace, the truth of thy promises.' Here is the blessed confidence of faith. His word is our plea; by that we have assurance of being heard and answered. The precepts of his word teach us his will; and we cannot feel a want but God's word promises to supply; therefore that is the warrant of faith, a light to direct our feet; and so also it is our best directory for prayer. So Christ prays for all his, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."....John xvii. 17. My soul at times cleaves to the dust; O keep them ever fix'd on thee, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.... Heb. xiii. 12. SIN viewed in the glass of God's holy law, fills the soul with terror, works wrath in the conscience, and leaves the sinner under the curse without hope: but while the infinitely precious sacrifice of Jesus is beheld, sin appears exceeding sinful; the sinner is truly humbled, sin is loathed, Christ is cleaved to, and hope springs up in the sin-distressed conscience. In the tabernacle of old, as there were no windows in it, a lamp was to burn always, that the house of God might not at any time be in darkness: this the Lord ordained unto the children of Israel.... Exod. xxvii. 21. As the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth, we see Jesus, who is the altar, the sacrifice, and the priest, by and through whom we are sanctified. This truth is to be kept daily burning bright in the lamp of faith, in the temple of the heart. The man Jesus, upon whom all the sins of the elect were laid, was made a curse for them; he cheerfully devoted himself, his holy body, his precious blood, his innocent soul, as a sin-offering for them in the great day of atonement. "By his one offering he hath for ever perfected all them that are sanctified;" that is, separated by the choice of the Father as the objects of his love. They are all consecrated to God by the blood of Jesus. As the bodies of the beasts, under the law, were burnt without the camp, and their blood brought into the holy of holies, and sprinkled on the mercy-seat, so our dear and ever precious Jesus suffered all the inexpressible agonies of soul and body, from the fire of God's wrath, due to our sin; bore all the scandal, curse, and reproach of it "without the gate of the city," as an alien and outcast of the people. His own most precious blood having once purged, expiated, and taken away the guilt of sin, and made perfect reconciliation for his people, it ever speaks in their behalf, and pleads their cause before the throne; averts all wrath from them, and obtains all blessing for them: thus we are purged from the guilt of sin; thus we are consecrated unto God. In the faith of this, " we have boldness to enter into the holiest, even by the blood of Jesus." Thus purged, thus consecrated, every believer is a priest unto God; he is encouraged to draw nigh to God with confidence of access; and it is his high and peculiar honor "to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."....1 Pet. ii. 5. We see the blood of Jesus shed, By this we're sanctify'd to God, Μ. The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things he shall stand (or be established)....Isa. xxxii. 8. We all naturally act from selfish principles, and with mercenary views, because we are under the legal covenant, " Do this and live." Hence saith one, 'If doing righteousness and performing good works will not justify and save me, as good sit still and do nothing, no matter how wicked I am.' Saith another, 'To be sure, we are justified by faith only, but then I must fulfil the terms and conditions of the gospel, for my holiness and obedience secures my salvation.' Such poor creatures reason carnally; their principles are only selfish, their views are mercenary. God is not served at all, but pride and self are at the bottom of all they do; to establish a righteousness of their own is their chief aim. The glory of God is not sought; his grace is overlooked; Jesus is depreciated in his work and office, as though all his toils and sufferings, holy life and bitter death, had only procured salvation upon a better bargain and easier terms for us. Such principles are servile, base, and dishonorable to a God of grace and love. Vain the talk of such about working for God; they do nothing for God, but want to earn something from God for themselves: take away the idol SELF from them, and then all working is at an end with them. 6 But the liberal soul acts from gracious principles, and deviseth liberal things. He sees salvation is all of free grace and free gift by Jesus. He is our all: he hath done all, suffered all, obeyed in all things; prevails for all things, and makes all effectual to the soul's perfect, complete, and final salvation. The Saviour is in mine eye; he is in mine heart; he is my Alpha and Omega, my first hope and last stay. My views are to his glory. O when I deserved nothing but hell, love, electing, everlasting love looked on me with pity, and was manifested to me through Jesus by the word and Spirit: therefore it is I long, I love, I delight daily to glorify the evergracious and ever-loving triune God. I cheerfully devote my all to him who hath done all for me, who hath loved me and given himself for me. My life of faith, of hope, of love, of holiness, centers in Jesus, and is from him. If I have but a cup of cold water to give, I give it in my dear Lord's name, in love and gratitude to him.' Such are the generous sentiments of the liberal soul; and, saith wisdom, "By liberal things he shall stand." Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made him free. He shall be established on the firm foundation of eternal truth, against the power and subtlety of Satan, and all the human systems and precarious schemes of man's devising. "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his; and let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."....2 Tim. ii. 19. 4 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them....2 Cor. v. 19. THE only living and true God, the great and essentially glorious Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit is manifested to sinners, as dwelling in the man Christ Jesus. This is the peculiar and precious truth of the gospel. A glorious mystery known only to believing souls. All other pretended knowledge of God is but vain speculation, and pompous ignorance, which dwell in men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth. But the new-born soul draws all his comfort, peace, joy, and holiness from this inexhaustible fountain of truth and consolation. From hence ariseth his love to God and delight in him. He beholds God, in Christ, loving and embracing poor sinners of the human race. God is well pleased with them, and delighteth over them to do them good. Thus saith Luther: 'Mark this well in the matter of justification: when any of us shall have to wrestle with the law, sin, death, and all other evils, we must look upon no other God, but only this God incarnate, and clothed with man's nature.'....Ephes. ii. 18.... Col. i. 15...20. Thus God and man unite in the one man Christ Jesus; in this faith only is the mind of a christian easy and happy; for the cause of all distress and sorrow is taken away. Amazing grace! wonderful love! Canst thou read it? canst thou believe it without transport of joy? God is perfectly reconciled; he doth not impute trespasses. Unto whom? Verily, the world, the elect world of Gentiles as well as Jews; ALL sinners of the fallen race whom the Father hath given to his Son Christ Jesus. God is reconciled to them. In faith and love they shall be reconciled to him: to his covenant transactions, electing love, justifying grace, scheme of salvation, and hope of eternal life by Jesus only. As the Father gave their persons, so he imputed their sins to Jesus, he bore them away, God chargeth not trespasses to them, they are free from sin, as viewed by God in Christ. To this truth the Spirit bears witness, through the faith of Jesus. So, believer, thou art to reckon of thyself. Though black as hell, polluted with guilt, defiled with sin, yet in Christ "thou art all fair, without spot;" fully reconciled to God, and standest without trespasses before him. What a free access hast thou ever open to God! what cause for triumph in him, and love to him! what assured hope of eternal enjoyment of him! O my soul, what reward shall I render to the Lord for all his mercies! Till God in human flesh I see, His name forbids my slavish fear, T |