However great this mercy is, we are at no loss to assign II. The reason of it - God is the Covenant God and Saviour of his people [God has given himself to his people by covenantk. Hence he assumes the titles "the God of Israel," "the Holy One of Israel". This implies that all his perfections shall be employed for their good--] This is the reason of his peculiar care for them On account of this relation he feels for them [God represents himself as tenderly feeling for his people His compassion towards them is like that of a parent' He bears them, like a nursing mother, in his armsm_ He considers every injury done to them, as done to himself He sympathizes thus on account of his relation to them—] On this account also he is interested in them [He has purchased and redeemed them by the blood of his Son Hence he calls them his "purchased possession" He regards them as his "peculiar treasure," the "lot of his inheritance" He promises to take care of them as his vineyard?— Hence Moses made God's interest in his people a plea for his forbearing to destroy them— Hence David also urged this plea on his own behalf] [God has pledged himself that "he will not forsake his people" He has assured them, that no weapon formed against them shall prosper He never will break the covenant he has entered into3— The church of old urged it as a reason for his return to them And every believer may adopt the patriarch's plea"—] INFER 1. Of what importance is it to know that we are interested in Christ! * Jer. xxxi. 33. 9 Exod. xxxii. 11. 1 Ps. ciii. 13. • Jer. xxxi 20. r Ps. cxix. 94. m Isai. lxiii. 9. [We cannot claim God for our God unless we have believed in Christ If therefore we have not an evidence that we have indeed believed, we can derive no comfort from these promises Yea, rather, we have reason to fear that we shall be overwhelmed with God's wrath, and be made to "dwell with everlasting burnings"- Let us then not leave this matter in doubt and suspenseLet us "flee to Christ for refuge, as to the hope set before us”. We may then assuredly expect these promises to be fulfilled to us-] 2. What consolation does the gospel of Christ afford! [Every man must expect to "pass through fire and through water"— It is our appointed way to the kingdom of heaven In the hour of death, if not before, we shall feel need of support But God has provided in the text abundant consolation— We need not fear any thing whilst we can rest on this pro mise Let us then adopt the triumphant language of the Psalmisty-] Acts xiv. 22. y Ps. xxiii. 1, 4. XII. 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 towards 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 Deitya The exercise of these perfections is peculiarly grateful to himb There is an inexhaustible fountain of them in the heart of Gode They have flowed down upon the most unworthy of the human race They 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 impulse of compassion towards him Hence was it that the Son of God was sent into the worlds 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― · a Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. d 1 John iv. 8. b Mic. vii. 18. c Rom. x. 12. e In this view, God's solicitude to find Adam, and his affectionate (perhaps plaintive) enquiry after him,'Gen. iii. 9. are very striking. f We may conceive of God as expressing himself in the language of the prophet; Hos. xi. 8, 9. s John iii. 16. God has " sins" quickened us even when we were dead in [What is meant by "dead in sins," appears from the preceding verses We were walking according to the course of this worldWe 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 ourselvesh Yet even then did God look upon us in tender compassion1— He quickened us by that 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 thronetheir hearts, their conversation, their rest, is in Heaven" How has he thus verified the declaration of 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 h Rom. v. 6. This may be illustrated by Ezek. xvi. 4—6. k Compare 1 Pet. iii. 18. with Rom. viii. 11. m Col. iii. 1, 2. Phil. iii. 20. 1 Sam. ii. 8. 1 Eph. i. 19. 20. • Rom. xi. 36. 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 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 God's kinkness" 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 operations 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-] P Eph. i. 6. XIII. THE DANGER OF NEGLECTING OUR SALVATION. Heb. ii. 3. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great MANY suppose that morality is sufficient for our acceptance before God Morality, indeed, if it proceed from faith in Christ, shall be amply rewarded— |