Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God....Eph. ii. 8.

SLEEP is the image of death; every morning we awake is a kind of new life. In sleep, how insensible of danger! how unable to prevent it! The Lord's mercies are renewed every morning; his watchful providence is our safety. Reflect, O my soul, upon the unmerited love of thy God! Happy for thee, daily to awake and arise from thy bed of slumber with the sense of free grace and sovereign love upon thy heart! Temporal mercies are heightened and improved by a sense of spiritual and eternal blessings. Disciple, thou livest in a space of time in which thou mayest look back upon eternal love, look forward to eternal glory, and look upon thyself and see what wonders gráce has done. Thou art this day called to consider how thou ART saved. First, in the purpose of thy God, ere thou hadst a being, everlasting love which gave thee existence, decreed thy salvation. Secondly, in accomplishment, grace provides a LAMB for thy ransom; in the fulness of time, a Saviour is born in human flesh; he lived for sinners, died for sin, "made an end of sin," made reconciJiation for iniquity, brought in an everlasting righteousness; his expiring breath proclaimed, salvation work is FINISHED; but thy poor soul lay in nature's darkness, in the sleep of death, and would have slept on till the arch-angel's dreadful sound of the trumpet had wakened thee to everlasting shame and confusion; but impossible this being saved in love's decree, being redeemed by blood divine, grace challenged thy soul. Therefore, thirdly, thou art saved in enjoyment "through faith;" called by the word of truth; quickened by the Spirit of grace; Jesus's salvation become the desire of thy soul; God gave his Son for thee; the Spirit gave faith to thee: hence Jesus became precious, sin hateful, thyself vile, holiness lovely in thine eyes and to thy heart; thus sinners ARE saved by grace through faith; they have no hand, no share, no glory at all in this matter; in the believing, abiding views of this grace, this salvation, consist all our peace, love, joy, holiness, heaven. Why then, O believer, art thou not perfectly, uninterruptedly happy and holy? Verily, because thou art still in the flesh; thy old man is still alive; nature's pride and sinfulness daily resist the glory of grace and the exercise of faith but in opposition to all, thou art to abide confident in the belief of the truth, daily study the love of thy God and Saviour; this tends to sink thee in humility; daily consider thy deserts to be hell, and adore the riches of sovereign grace; this will, through the blessing of the Spirit, keep thee from boasting in self, and cause thee to glory in the Lord only. "Salvation is of faith, that it might be by grace."....Rom. iv 16.

[blocks in formation]

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upont us, that we should be called the sons of God....1 John iii. 1.

Ir a poor insolvent debtor, who sees no hope but to end his miserable life in a loathsome gaol, yet is unexpectedly called to hear the will of a loving friend, whereby an ample provision is bequeathed him, fully to satisfy all his wants, how must this rejoice his heart! How, in the ecstacy of his joyful mind, would he be ready to call upon every one around him to behold the delightful testament! This is but a faint view of the inestimable riches of glory and honor bequeathed to ruined sinners by New Testament love, ratified and sealed by the blood of Jesus. Upon the view of this, how should we be filled with wonder, fired with ecstacy, and our transported hearts should not keep silence! Angels see and admire, saints behold and adore the marvellously great, the inexpressibly glorious, the wonderfully discriminating love of the Father of Jesus! amazing to tell! comforting to believe! transporting to feel! Love, the love of God the Father hath made its way to sinful man; his love flows through the heart of a crucified Jesus; his love hath reached my poor heart. What terms have we fulfilled? What conditions have we performed to procure this invaluable blessing? O, the very question startles the truly gracious soul! It is a concern to his generous heart to hear such proud, vain notions taught; he rejects the thought with abhorrence and cries, 'Pride, thou busy foe, begone.' All, all is freely given, richly bestowed.

And am I, vile and unworthy as I am, the called, the real son of God, by adoption, through the faith of Jesus? O thou heavenly paraclete, thou divine sanctifier; influence, daily influence my heart, my tongue, my life, to glorify my Father, my Saviour, my God! Though I have done nothing to procure this inestimable privilege, yet, enjoying this rich grace, love and gratitude demand corresponding fruits, a holy walk, worthy of the vocation wherewith I am called. Hence assuredly will spring another evidence of God's children; therefore, "the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." Though our dear Saviour "went about doing good," yet even this could not gain him the approbation and esteem of the world. Never let disciples expect to be above their master'; the more we follow Jesus and are conformed to him as obedient children, stronger evidence shall we have of the world's enmity, and of our Father's love; let us rejoice to follow Jesus, and be glad to imitate him to do good, though we suffer evil.

Behold what wond'rous grace

The Father hath bestow'd On sinners of a mortal race, To call them sons of God!

'Tis no surprising thing,

That we should be unknown;
The Jewish world knew not their king,
God's everlasting Son.

I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand....John x. 28.

"I give my

THUS excellently speaketh the immortal Hervey, "What words are these! And did they come from him who hath all power in heaven and earth? And were they spoken to every unfeigned, though feeble follower of the great shepherd? Then omnipotence itself must be vanquished before they can be destroyed either by the seduction of fraud, or the assault of violence.". The followers of the Lamb want no proof of the divinity of their Lord and Saviour; it is plain from the word of truth; they believe it in their hearts. "The gift of God is eternal life," saith St. Paul....Rom. vi. 23. sheep eternal life," saith Jesus; therefore Jesus is both Lord and God. To give temporal life is not in the power of a finite being; he who gives eternal life, must be, as our Jesus is, the infinite and eternal Jehovah over all, God blessed for evermore. How full of grace and glory is this text! What consolation may the children of faith draw from it! Here is their mercy; they are in the hands of their precious Saviour; hence they are safe and secure. NEVER perish," saith Jesus, who is THE TRUTH. pluck them out of my hand," saith he who hath all power in heaven and earth. "I give," saith the Saviour, Now, at this present....what? Grace into their hands, which, if they improve well, shall entitle them to glory? Infinitely more; nothing less than life, spiritual life, eternal life, the life of their immortal soul; this glorious gift is enjoyed by faith. "This is life eternal, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent."....John xvii. 3.

"They shall "None shall

[ocr errors]

Thus is Christ precious, salvation certain, and eternal life secure to every believing soul; but as to the knowledge and enjoyment of this life, in the experience of saints, they often find great abatements of its vigour and comfort. Hence the various frames they are exercised with. Spiritual life, in its knowledge, comfort and enjoyment, is opposed by a life of sense in the christian, and spiritual opposition from within and without him; the devil, the world, and the flesh, strive to pluck Christ's sheep out of his hands. Corrupt teachers give the lie to our Saviour, and say such a thing may be: hence the hearts of his sheep are distressed; impossible for any of Christ's sheep to perish; if he doth not give eternal life to them all, then his truth must fail; the covenant-oath, promises of the God of truth, must all be broken; our faith is void, the gospel is of no effect; our comfort and joy arise from our being simple in heart, firmly relying upon our Saviour's declaration, living upon his word, looking to him, and expecting, without the least doubt, we shall most certainly be "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.".... Pet. i. 5.

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?....Acts ix. 6.

SUCH are the effects when sovereign grace reacheth a sinner's heart. When the light of truth shines in the conscience, it makes the stoutest heart to tremble. When Jesus.is manifested to the soul, it causes astonishment and creates love. Transient convictions of sin often beget horror of conscience, and they often pass away as the morning cloud and early dew. Such conversions are very common; sinners are frequently turned from one sect and system of opinions to another; yea, also their lives and practices may be reformed, and they may seem to be converted; and often, where is the least cause, there is the greatest confidence; especially, if such persons are confirmed in their hopes by great pretensions to experience, and can talk much of ecstacies and raptures, visions and revelations, which they suppose came from God: while many continue poor, trembling, self-emptied, and low-abased souls, they know and feel nothing but sin and helplessness in themselves; yet from a discovery of the glory of Jesus and the perfection of his salvation, seek all in him, and expect all from him; but yet they remain diffident of their state and doubtful of their conversion; they are exercised with great perplexity of mind at times concerning themselves. In both cases time only manifests the truth of conversion. Effects best prove their cause.

When Christ is revealed to the heart; when the soul, by the eye of faith, "sees him who is invisible," it is manifested by holy mourning and godly sorrow for past conduct, humble hope and scripture confidence of salvation: and this excites prayer to Jesus for instruction, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" The soul desires to obey his will in truth and love. The habitual frame of the soul to Christ, his salvation, his truths and commandments, is a stronger evidence of real conversion than all the visions, ecstacies, borror or transports which the passions can yield. So St. Paul's after conduct to Jesus and his cause, fully proved that he had felt the power and tasted the sweetness of a Saviour's love. Though every conversion is not produced in the same extraordinary manner Paul's was, yet the soul of every believer is turned to the very same object, Jesus, for whole salvation. Thus "Jesus, the exalted Prince and Saviour, gives repentance and forgivness of sins. The witness of this is the Holy Ghost, whom God gives to them who obey him."..... Acts v. 31, 32.

As new-born babes desire the breast,
To feed and grow and thrive;
So saints with joy the gospel taste,
And by the gospel live.

Not by the terrors of a slave,

Our souls obey Christ's will;
But with the noblest pow'rs we have,
We love and serve him still.

1

Go back again: for what have I done to thee?.... Kings xix. 20.

It seems marvellous that the simple act of Elijah casting the skirts of his mantle upon Elisha, should cause him to leave oxen and plough, parents and habitation, to run after a stranger. Doubtless there is a mystery of the Spirit under the history of the letter; the outward act of Elijah could not have had this effect, unless the inward power of the strong Lord had accompanied it. So Peter might have cast his net and toiled all his days ere he had taken a fish with a piece of money in its mouth, unless the Lord Jesus had effected this by his power.

Elijah's passing by Elisha and casting his mantle upon him, and the effect that followed, is a striking resemblance of the Lord, strong in power and wonderful in grace, passing by us poor sinners, and casting his mantle of love over us. Call to mind, disciple; endeavour daily to remember that time of love when thy precious Saviour passed by, saw thee polluted in thy blood, immersed in busy care, when worldly hopes and carnal delights engrossed thy whole concern; no eye, no, not thine own, pitied thy precious immortal soul; thou neither saw its misery, nor feared thy danger. But, saith thy Saviour, "when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was a time of love."....Ezek. xvi. 8. O the mighty charm of divine love! How is the heart attracted and drawn after Jesus, as Elisha to Elijah. So says the smitten soul to Jesus, "I will follow thee:" and, like him, its affections are drawn from worldly objects, and acts as the woman of Samaria when she found the Messiah; she forgot her errand, and left her water-pot behind her.

"What manner of man is this," said the disciples of Jesus in astonishment, "that even the winds and the seas obey him?" Surely we may cry out in admiration with St. John, "What manner of love is this?" What a mighty God is Jesus, that the power of his love attracts our stubborn hearts, and causes us to follow him! What cause ever to admire the power, and adore the freeness of Jesus" love! It found us ere we sought it. Little did Elisha think, in the hour of his ploughing, of being called to the high honor of being the Lord's prophet. Ah, what was thy employ when Jesus first cast his mantle over thee? Perhaps, like Saul, sinning with a high hand, employed in the devil's drudgery, in open rebellion against a loving Saviour, and yet priding thyself in the filthy rags of thine own righteousness; but now this is the joy and rejoicing of faith; where God casts the mantle of his love, that soul he clothes with the robe of his Son's righteousness. So "grace reigns by Jesus Christ unto eternal life."....Rom. v. 21,

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »