Son, who became, by the Divine purpose, a propitiation for the sins of the world, that whosoever believes, and flees to Him for refuge, may plead his merits, and feel the efficacy of his pardoning blood, and escape the stroke of Divine justice. He was raised from the dead as a complete attestation of his divinity, and a satisfactory evidence that God had accepted the sacrifice He had made of himself on the cross for sinners; we must, therefore, direct our minds to Christ, and make Him our only hope and refuge. Among various instances of faith in the new covenant dispensation, there is none more evident than this, a coming to God by Christ: "Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." It is placing on Him our great concern, the salvation of our souls, by which we escape the judgment and indignation of a righteous God. We may have many fears when first awakened to a sense of our danger. We may have great terrors and apprehensions lest we should faint, and be cut off by the "avenger of blood," before we obtain the place of refuge. When we see persons who have no such anxiety or concern as to cause them to cry out, like the assembly on the day of Pentecost," Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved?" we cannot but conclude that they are in a very different situation to those who have fled, or are fleeing for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them. Let sinners be but once quickened by the Divine Spirit, and you will see them in motion, inquiring the way to the city of refuge, "with their faces thitherward," anxious how to obtain the knowledge of Christ, and to receive the remission of sins by faith in his blood. Let me ask, my brethren, how does it stand with you? Has He become your hiding-place from the storm? Has He become your refuge from the tempest? Happy would it be could we see this to be the case with all of you; but if you are strangers to these feelings, if you have never fled for refuge, so as to make it your grand concern to be interested in the redemption which the Saviour has wrought out, we have reason to fear you have no hope, and are "without God in the world." Those who are heirs of the promises, are such as believe in the name of Jesus Christ, as "the only-begotten Son of God," and have laid hold on Him by faith, and who, thereby, become entitled to the blessing. There is a Divine constitution, there is a settled plan in the Divine government, by which sinners present their plea, not founded on any merit of their own, but on the promises of God, and they are thus justified in his sight. He justifies and acquits them as a judge; for, the ransom be ing paid, God has promised and engaged that whosoever turns to Him, through a Mediator, shall become entitled to the blessings of pardon and eternal life. Jesus Christ executes the great law of grace in his kingdom, according to a settled plan and course of action, so that all the purposes of the Divine administration shall tend to exalt the wisdom and glory of the Lawgiver, and the Judge, in the salvation of the sinner. The promise is to believers, and to these persons only is it said, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world." As sinners they

are justified and made heirs of God, by the promises and covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. They are so translated out of their former state of spiritual bondage, as to become entitled to pardon and felicity; for all "the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus." But, remember, the security which a true believer has in this place of refuge does not make his obligation to obedience less, as giving him a grant or certificate to sin; on the contrary, he becomes more solicitous "to cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God."

Secondly. We are to consider the immutability of the Divine counsel, and that it is based upon "two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie," even by his promise and his oath. The counsel of God signifies that purpose of God in giving the blessing of salvation, according to the infinite dictates of his own Divine wisdom. Men are accustomed to have recourse to counsel in great affairs of difficulty, by seeking the advice of others. In the state they are called councils of state, where more than one mind is found to be necessary; but we are not to suppose that the Divine Being is ever at a loss to need consultation with himself or others, though it is so represented, in order to give a greater solemnity to the transaction. He is pleased to condescend to swear by himself. It is said in the creation, "Let us make man in our own likeness;" and when God restores man to the image of himself, which he had lost by sin, all the powers of the Godhead, its infinite attributes of wisdom, goodness, and mercy, are employed. All are represented as in council, under the guidance of his wisdom, and with a benevolence worthy of himself, to give the purpose of his love towards the human race a greater dignity in our eyes; for in the scheme of revelation to lost man, there are greater displays of the Divine character than in any of the ways of God besides. It is said, "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." He has interposed himself with an oath, on purpose to meet the anxieties of the most distressed and afflicted mind." For as I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live." And unto Abraham he said, "In multiplying I will multiply thee, and in blessing I will bless thee." The most solemn method of swearing among the Jews were these asseverations: "As I live," and "As the Lord liveth." Abraham was the father of all the faithful, who receive the grant with him of the spirit of faith, which is to all that believe in Jesus; so that they who exercise this faith become heirs of the promises made to Abraham, and heirs of God. The apostle appeals to the conscience of every Christian, in respect to the assurance of that covenant, "well ordered in all things, and sure," as that which is all their salvation and all their desire. We have the same God, we have the same provisions and stipulations of that covenant which was made with Abraham to all his spiritual seed. He pledged all that was godlike in himself, and all that is sacred in the eyes of the universe, saying, "As I live, saith the Lord, in blessing I will bless thee," viz.,

he would strip himself of his glory, if the promise were not accomplished. Not content to give us a hope of pardon, he binds himself with an oath. Knowing the diffidence of the penitent sinner, when once opposed by Satan and his own conscience, to soar to the majesty of a full faith and confidence in the Divine Being, he is pleased to use the greatest condescension, and to stoop, and, as it were, stake his life and Godhead on the fulfilment of this promise. Nothing, my brethren, but what is of the greatest consequence and magnitude, would ever have induced the great and blessed God thus to condescend; nothing but an affair of unspeakable importance, such as salvation by Jesus Christ; nothing but such a sublime subject would have led the Divine Being to have recourse to this method," that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation ;" and lest the "strong consolation," which every true believer is entitled to receive, should fail him, He gives his promise and his oath. In order to confirm it in a most extraordinary manner, He stakes his existence and blessedness on the fulfilment of his promise, not only as an assurance of the final salvation of the sinner, but for his present peace and comfort. As the happiness of a seeking sinner can spring only from spiritual relief, He gives him the most ample assurance, and he finds by experience he needs this strong consolation. Such are the difficulties that stand, like mountains, in his way to the attainment of a firm confidence in Christ.

When men are dead in trespasses and sins, they are lulled into a state of security. Satan's next device is to cast them into despair, and to obstruct their fleeing for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them. The Divine Being is aware of this device. Let me, then, address myself to those who are distressed on account of their sins, and who have fled, or are desirous of fleeing, for refuge to lay hold on the Redeemer. There is no reason for despondency in your case, my brethren, for He says, "He that believeth on me shall have everlasting life ;" and should your fears lead you to call this promise in question, He again declares, "For this is the will of Him that sent me; that every one which seeth and believeth on Him may have ev. erlasting life;" and, again, he hath "passed from death unto life, and shall not come into condemnation, and I will raise him up at the last day." Should the penitent sinner still doubt, He farther says, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Can you, then, doubt his willingness to save you? Renounce, my brethren, every other confidence. Fall at his feet, and say, "Lord, save, or I perish!" The Divine Being has done more, He has even gone farther than this promise, He stakes his all on the issue of this contest, if we may so say, without dishonour of the Divine Majesty. Accept, then, my brethren, of his pardon, for He will sanctify and bless you, if you will come to Christ. Open your hearts, He will meet you with the smile of consolation, He will sustain you in all your temptations from whatever cause, and in all your conflicts with the wicked Satan may urge that it is too late, that the evening shades have set in, that the day of grace is past; but these consolations will over

one.

power all his suggestions. The Saviour says, "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely." The promise is absolute; "for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." When the Apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthians, he expresses their depravity by enumerating their vices, adding, and "such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The apostle himself was selected, he tells us, as an example of longsuffering and forbearance--as an object of the Divine mercy-for he says, "that in me, the chief of sinners, God was determined to show all long-suffering and gentleness, for an example to them who shall hereafter believe." This strong consolation, my brethren, is admirably calculated to sustain in a dying hour, when a sinner is about to stand in his naked essence before God, and even then to enjoy such confidence in the Divine mercy as to be enabled to say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." The most serious apprehensions of death and judgment have not been able to impair this confidence; for the Church, in every age, in every scene of trouble and persecution, has stood steadfast, and even triumphant against the power of the last enemy, and there has been lighted up a sort of heaven in the hearts of believers, in the midst of the greatest sufferings, producing a joy which the world could never understandwhich it could neither give nor take away. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant."

In conclusion, my brethren, let all those who have heard this doctrine take the consolation it is intended to afford. See to it, first, that you have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before you, then cast yourselves confidently on the power and grace of Christ. Remember you cannot trust in his office of Priest alone; but in every character which He bears as a Prince and a Saviour, "to redeem you from all iniquity, and to purify you unto himself, and to present you faultless before the throne of his glory." Oh, the Divine mercy! How "of the man whose great is the "blessedness," as the Psalmist says, transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." "Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him," that make a covenant with Him by sacrifice;" ;"" and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

VOL. IV.-RR B

Blessed is the man

LXXIX.

THE ENDURANCE OF AFFLICTIONS.*

HEBREWS, xii., 9: Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”

[Preached at Broadmead, Bristol, Lord's Day morning, Feb. 25, 1827.]

THIS epistle was written to the Christian converts under affliction, when suffering persecution for the sake of Christ. There are peculiar consolations and promises addressed to such persons throughout it. As the whole Church of Christ was exposed to persecution in the first age, so that part of it which consisted of converts from the Jewish nation was peculiarly exposed to it, because the enmity of the Jews was more bitter than even that of the Gentiles against Christianity. Jewish bigotry and zeal excited all the first persecutions. This epistle was written by St. Paul, most probably, to converts of. Jewish extraction; and as they were in a very peculiar and critical situation with regard to their own government, they needed all the consolations of the gospel to sustain them under such trials.

The view here given of their afflictions, and of God's designs in them, is full of instruction and comfort to the people of God. The text, together with the context, has been a cordial in the hands of the Holy Spirit to many a fainting soul in every age of the Church. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." In the words of our text there is a case supposed, the presence of affliction and trial; and the proper endurance of it is enforced, and the spirit of resignation recommended by a powerful argument taken from the relation we are in to God as the Father of our spirits.

I. A case is supposed, and the duty of patiently enduring affliction enjoined, under the notion of chastisement. "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward." Mankind in all ages have been ingenious in inventing topics of consolation under it. But the progress in this before the coming of Christ was very slight. While the knowledge of the Divine Providence was not taught as revealed in the gospel, the mere contemplation of the state of things, and the course of events, furnished but very slender grounds of consolation, and mitigated but very little the darkness of that gloom. During this time of heathen ignorance, we have reason to think that there were very few persons who derived any substantial comfort from the topics which philosophy invented, and eloquence embellished.

But now all is known. The doctrine of the Divine Providence revealed in the Holy Scriptures is taught to mankind. We learn that all things

From the notes of the Rev. Dr. Wilson.