as objects of faith; they are not set length and breadth, and depth and imperfection of our present faculties. in some of its details, to which our the text.

I. ETERNAL LIFE IN ITS NATURE.

before us in all their height, because of the Such is the subject, attention is directed in

1. It will be a life of perfect freedom from suffering. The present is a life of trial, with which uninterrupted prosperity and enjoyment would be inconsistent, suffer there fore we must. In the passing away of this state of trial, there will pass away also, all occasion of suffering. In that future, to which the believer in Jesus is hastening, no sorrow can exist; no complaint be heard. The storm of life has ceased for ever, and all is light, and glory, and God. 2. A life of social enjoyment.

Society in its present state is in many instances a source of pain; but in heaven it will be the source of unmixed enjoyment. The characteristics of that society, are divine knowledge, divine benevolence, divine immortality. It is made up of the wise, the holy, and the good.

3. A life of unspotted holiness.

The present life is mixed up with much infirmity, and is marked by many sins; but before entering there, the soul must experience a great moral change, which change must be effected here. No sinful or polluted thing can enter there. Everything of imperfection will be done away. The image of God will be perfectly reflected by every human spirit.

4. A life of unwearied activity, and of endless improvement. The multitude, seen in the apocalyptic vision by the favoured disciple, serve God in his temple day and night, without weariness, without ceasing. There will be then a continual growth in the knowledge of God and of Christ. A constant progression in the knowledge and likeness of the infinite God.

5. It will continue for ever.

All the enjoyments of heaven will continue with unabated degree for ever. For ever! here the mind is bewildered; this is a subject it cannot sustain; in every attempt at a conception of eternity we utterly fail.

II. ETERNAL LIFE IN ITS FREENESS.
It is the "gift of God."

1. The promise of it was not obtained by importunity. When Jesus Christ was promised, and eternal life in him, there had been no petition offered, no desire expréssed, or felt.

2. It is not the reward of merit.

It is frequently called a reward, but this is of grace. Man does merit hell, he cannot possibly merit heaven.

III. THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH IT FLOWS.

The Redeemer was given that men might be put in possession of eternal life; for this he laboured; for this he died. His death is the source of our life; it is so, for he died to procure our pardon. In consequence of his death, every believer receives a free and full pardon; in consequence of the personal union between Christ and the believer, the result of faith in his death, the believer obtains the meetness for, and the possession of, eternal life.

R.

LXI.

THE GOSPEL.

ROMANS X. 8, 9. -"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart that is the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

The gospel of the grace of God which bringeth salvation, commends itself to man's attention and acceptance, because of its meetness to his circumstances, and its adaptation to his wants.

Let us consider it,

I. IN ITS NECESSITY.

1. The necessity of the gospel is found in the ignorance of

man.

In what an awful state of "gross darkness," about the things which are most intimately connected with his wellbeing, is man without the light of Divine revelation. How crude, how imperfect, how erroneous, how destructive, are his conceptions of God. How vain, how feeble, how utterly

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worthless, are his ideas of moral obligation. How misty, how bewildering, his thoughts of another life, and of a future judgment.

2. The necessity of the gospel is found in the guilt of man. That men are guilty before God, is not a discovery of revelation; the feeling and conviction of guilt are universal. The word of God increases the conviction, discovers more of its extent and heinousness, but the feeling is found everywhere. How this guilt is to be removed, how its consequences are to be averted, nature does not discover, reason cannot find out. Whether it be possible to propitiate God or not, is not to be inferred from anything in our condition or circumstances; and if this could be, we are equally at a loss for the mode which would be most availing and acceptable.

3. The necessity of the gospel is found in the depravity of

man.

Human depravity is so great that there is no desire after God, but positive enmity towards him. Man is totally unlike God in dispositions, habits, and practice.

He has no

desire for reconciliation with God, and no love to his character, but quite the reverse. He has an inherent love of sin-the thing which God hates. So that of himself he would never seek after the knowledge of God, nor inquire after a way of reconciliation with him.

The gospel discovers the true character of God; it reveals him in his nature, John iv. 24; in his attributes, as just, holy, righteous, merciful and good; in his government, natural, providential, moral, and spiritual. The gospel discovers the true character and state of man; in his relations to God, to time, to eternity, to heaven, and to hell. It shows the depth, the greatness, the extent of his sin and guilt. It discloses the true nature of his depravity. The gospel reveals the resurrection, the future judgment, the final decision respecting the destiny of every created spirit. 2. In its provisions.

(1.) There is provision for the guilt of man.

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This is by the way of propitiation and atonement. The gospel reveals a Saviour, Thou shalt call his name Jesus.' "God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Here there is the endurance of the actual penalty due to our guilt: here there is a sufficiently valuable victim put in our stead; here there is a meeting of all the requirements of the Divine law. Sin is expiated, Divine justice satisfied, the law magnified, the authority of God upheld. By virtue of this atonement God can be just and the justifier of the believer in Jesus. Through the sufferings of the Redeemer. " repentance and remission of sins are preached in his name," the most guilty who believe in him, "have redemption in his blood, even the forgivenessof sins."

(2.) There is provision for his depravity.

For its removal. This is accomplished by the restoring and renewing grace of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can reach the depravity of the human heart, of all the means and agencies connected with the gospel, if the Spirit withhold his grace. The love of God, great as it is, and so adapted to subdue the enmity of the heart, would fail in its object, were it not presented by the Almighty Spirit. The truth of God, so stirring in its nature; so intimate in its connexions with man's best interests; so fearful in its revelations, fails to affect man, only when employed by the Holy Spirit. It is the promise and gift of the Holy Spirit, that makes the other provisions of redemption of any value to man. Of what use would be the atonement of Christ, or of the intercession of Christ if man were left to the obduracy of his will; to the depravity of his heart; to the full operation of dislike to God, and to all those other evil influences by which he is surrounded? Blessed be God it is not so! He has made provision for all the circumstances in which man can possibly be placed. The Holy Spirit enlightens the darkness of the mind, awakens the sensibilities of the soul, arouses its fears, convinces of guilt, overcomes the obduracy of the will, and leads the sinner, penitent, and heart-broken, to the cross for salvation.

3. In its promises.

"Come and

There are promises of mercy to the guilty. let us reason together, saith the Lord, and though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool; though they be red

There are

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like crimson, they shall be white as snow.” promises of repentance. "Him hath God exalted to give repentance unto Israel." There are promises of the awakening power of the Holy Spirit for the impenitent. shall convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of a judgment to come." In a word, there are promises adapted to every condition of man as a fallen, guilty, depraved, and unholy being. The whole Bible is a book of promises.

III. IN ITS REQUIREMENTS.

"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Faith is the great instrument of salvation. "Faith in the blood" is essential to the possession of pardon, regeneration and eternal life. This faith to be genuine, requires,

1. Confession of Christ.

There must be acknowledgement of him as the only Saviour. Every other hope must be abandoned, all other ground must be forsaken. This is one of the most difficult tasks to human nature. None but the holy Spirit could drive the sinner out of the various refuges to which he flees. It is no easy thing to shut up the sinner to faith in Christ, to place him in a position in which he shall see that there is no other avenue of escape from coming wrath but this. Yet it must be done. No faith can be exercised until this is the state of the sinner, until he is compelled

"To groan the sinner's only plea,

God be merciful to me."

This faith, to be genuine, requires,

2. That Christ shall be its object.

66 That God hath raised Jesus Christ from the dead." Here the resurrection of Christ is put for the whole of his mediatorial work. The resurrection of Christ stands more immediately connected with the whole of his mediatorial work, than any single doctrine of the gospel. "If Christ be not risen, then is your faith vain, ye are yet in your sins." Christ as having risen again for our justification, is to be the sole object of the sinner's faith. In his resurrection we have the evidence, that his atonement was sufficient for our guilt, we have also the testimony of the Father's acceptance