ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Dear brethren, remember this transition; and let every syllable that records it fill your souls with gratitude to your almighty Saviour and Deliverer.] 3. What attention should be shewn to the welfare of the rising generation [They are "all by nature children of wrath." And should they be left in that awful state? Should no means be used to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God? . O parents, look at your dear offspring; and whilst fondling them in your arms, or delighting in their progress, remember what they are, and cry mightily to God for them night and day. Be not contented with their advancement in bodily strength, or intellectual power, or temporal condition; but seek above all things to behold them turning to God, and growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let all your plans for them have respect to this one point, the changing of them from children of wrath to children of the living God. Let those also who have the care of childrent endeavour to get their own minds impressed with the thought, that their office is not so much to convey instruction in worldly knowledge, as to lead the souls of the children to Christ, that they may be partakers of his salvation: and let them engage in their work with hearts full of tender compassion to their scholars, and of zeal for God. And, my dear children, let me address also a few words to you. Think me not unkind if I remind you of what you are by nature. If I speak to you as children of wrath, it is not to wound your feelings, but to stir you up to improve the opportunities that are afforded you for attaining a better and a happier state. What would you do, my dear children, if you were shut up in a house that was on fire, and a number of benevolent persons were exerting themselves to rescue you from the devouring element? would you not strive which should first be partakers of the benefit? Know then, that this is a just representation of your state: you are children of wrath, and are in danger of dwelling with everlasting burnings: and the object of your instructors is, to shew you how you may flee from the wrath to come. O listen to their instructions with all possible care; treasure up in your minds all their exhortations and advice; and beg of God, that through those Scriptures which they explain to you, you may be made wise unto salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.] ver. 4, 5, 11—13. t If this be the subject of a Sermon for Sunday Schools or Charity Schools, the Instructors in particular may be here addressed. MMXCVIII. THE RICHES OF DIVINE GRACE DISPLAYED. Eph. ii. 4-7. But 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 and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. WHAT an accumulation of sublime ideas is here presented to our view! Well might the Psalmist say that the meditation of God was sweet to him. We scarcely know whether to admire more the grace of the Benefactor, or the felicity of those who participate his blessings. But the text requires us to fix our attention on that most delightful of all subjects, the riches of divine grace. The Apostle has in the preceding verses described the state of the unregenerate world. He now displays the grace of God towards the regenerate, I. In its source God is "rich in mercy," and "abundant in love”— [Mercy and love are, as it were, the favourite attributes of the Deity and the exercise of these perfections is peculiarly grateful to him". There is an inexhaustible fountain of thei in the heart of God: they have flowed down upon the most unworthy of the human race; and will flow undiminished to all eternity. While he retains his nature, he cannot but exercise these perfections".] These are the true sources of all the grace displayed towards fallen man [Man had nothing in him whereby he could merit the attention of his Maker. He was fallen into the lowest state of guilt and misery: but the bowels of his Creator yearned over him. God felt (if we may so speak) an irresistible a Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. Rom. x. 12. b Mic. vii. 18. e In this view, God's solicitude to find Adam, and his affectionate (perhaps plaintive) inquiry after him, Gen. iii. 9. are very striking. impulse of compassion towards him. Hence was it that the Son of God was sent into the world: hence also were so many offers of mercy made to man; and to this alone is it owing that so much as one has ever found acceptance with God.] But, to judge how great the love was wherewith he loved us, we must trace it, II. In its operations The grace of God has been displayed towards us in ten thousand ways; but we must confine our attention to its operations, as they are set forth in the text. God has "quickened us even when we were dead in sins" [What is meant by "dead in sins," appears from the preceding verses. We were walking according to the course of this world; we were the willing servants of Satan; we were indulging all kinds of "filthiness, both of flesh and spirit;" we were demonstrating ourselves to be "by nature" as well as practice, "children of wrath;" and we were utterly destitute of all power to help and save ourselves h. Yet even then did God look upon us in tender compassioni: he quickened us by the same Spirit whereby he raised Christ from the dead. In so doing, he united us "together with Christ," and rendered us conformable to him as our Head. What an astonishing instance of divine grace was this!] He has also "raised us up, and enthroned us together with Christ in heaven" [The Apostle had before expatiated on what God had wrought for Christ': he now draws a parallel between believers and Christ. What was done for Christ our head and representative, may be considered as done for all the members of his mystical body. In this view Christians may be considered figuratively as risen with Christ, and as already seated on his throne: their hearts, their conversation, their rest, is in heaven m. How has he thus verified the declaration of f We may conceive of God as expressing himself in the language of the prophet. Hos. xi. 8, 9. John iii. 16. h Rom. v. 6. This may be illustrated by Ezek. xvi. 4-6. Compare 1 Pet. iii. 18. with Rom. viii. 11. 1 Eph. i. 19, 20. “ quickened, raised, enthroned." m Col. iii. 1, 2. Phil. iii. 20. Hannah"! How has he thus discovered "the exceeding riches of his grace!"] How worthy of God such a stupendous display of grace is, we shall see if we consider it, III. In its end God is not only the author, but also the end of all things; nor would it become him to do any thing but with a view to his own glory. The manifestation of his own glory was the express end for which he revealed his grace", and this end is already in some measure attained— [All ages, to the end of time, must admire the grace of God towards both the Jewish and the Gentile world. Every one, who partakes of that grace, must of necessity admire it: the "exceeding riches of it" are unsearchable. God's "kindness" too is infinitely enhanced by flowing to us "through Christ Jesus." The price paid by Christ will to eternity endear to us the blessings purchased: at present, however, the design of God in revealing his grace is not fully answered.] But it will be completely answered in the day of judgment— [Then, how exceeding rich and glorious will this grace appear! Then the depth of misery, into which we were fallen, will be more fully known; the spring and source of that grace will be more clearly discovered; and all the ope rations will be seen in one view. Then Christ, the one channel in which it flows, will be more intimately revealed to us. How will every eye then admire, and every tongue then adore! Surely nothing but such an end could account for such operations of the Divine grace; let every one therefore seek to experience these operations in his own soul. Let those who have been favoured with them glorify God with their whole hearts.] 1 Sam. ii. 8. • Rom. xi. 36. P Eph. i. 6. MMXCIX. SALVATION BY GRACE NOT HOSTILE TO GOOD WORKS. Eph. ii. 8-10. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ALL God's works, of whatever kind they be, are designed to praise him. His works of creation proclaim his wisdom and his power: his works of providence display his goodness: his works of redemption magnify his grace. It is of these last that the Apostle is speaking in the preceding context, even of all that God has done for us in the Son of his love; and he declares that it was all done, "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." The Gospel is too rarely viewed in this light it is by many scarcely distinguished from the law; being considered rather as a code of laws enforced with penalties, than as an exhibition of mercies confirmed with promises. But it is as an exhibition of mercy only that we ought to view it; precisely as it is set forth in the words before us: from which we shall take occasion to shew, I. That salvation is altogether of grace By "salvation" I understand the whole work of grace, whether as revealed in the word, or as experienced in the soul: and it is altogether of grace: 1. It is so [Trace it to its first origin, when the plan of it was fixed in the council of peace between the Father and the Son": Who devised it? who merited it? who desired it? It was the fruit of God's sovereign grace, and of grace alone. Trace it in all its parts;-the gift of God's only-begotten Son to be our surety and our substitute; the acceptance of his vicarious sacrifice in our behalf; and the revelation of that mystery in a Zech. vi. 13. |