rating, sanctifying, preserving, crowning grace, are all from him, and he has made himself responsible for the salvation of all the elect. "Other sheep," says he, "have I, who are not of this fold, and them I must bring;" and again, "Of all that thou hast given me, have I lost nothing." So it is for want of looking more to Christ that believers are often perplexed about their state, and fear they shall fall short at last. They look at their own demerit, and not at the merit of Christ; to the imperfections of their own obedience, and not the completeness of his; to their own emptiness, and not his fulness; to their own weakness, and not his strength. They are sensible of their own negligence and deadness, but they forget their life is hid with Christ in God. In a word, if God were to break his covenant, with whom must he break it? not with us, for it was not made with us; but with Christ, for it was made with him. To him all the promises were originally given. "To Abraham and his seed," says the apostle; "not to seeds, as of many, but as of one; to thy seed, which is Christ." He is the first heir of all things. Our title-deeds are in his hands, all our blessings are treasured up in him, nor shall any be able to wrest them from him. He is the grand instrument and agent in all things appertaining to the redemption and salvation of his people, their present comfort, and future happiness. If he is safe, they are so; if he is glorified, they are glorified in him, and shall be glorified with him; so that they are no longer in the same slippery and uncertain condition that Adam was. "Once I have sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David; his seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me." The covenant was made with Christ, confirmed to Christ, and all the articles of it shall be fulfilled to him. God will not be unfaithful to any; surely, then, he will not be unfaithful to his Son. This leads me, III. To show what influence these seemingly contrary, but strictly harmonious, perfections of God ought to have upon us. Is God, then, terrible in himself, and yet does he keep covenant and mercy for his people? Is he so dreadful, and yet so faithful? This should produce, 1. Firm confidence, blended with filial fear. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Is God awful? We should stand in awe of him. Shall we not fear him who rules the raging sea, and setteth bounds to its tempestuous waves, which they cannot pass?" Familiarity amongst men often breeds contempt; but not so familiarity with the great God. The saints' fear of God increases in proportion to their spiritual acquaintance with him; and those always fear him most who know him best. But then, this fear should be mingled with holy trust. Fear should not exclude confidence, nor confidence annihilate fear. He who in one place cries out, "My flesh trembleth by reason of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments," in another place says, "I will hope continually;" and again, "I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever." Upon the due combination of these two graces depend very much the vigour and prosperity of the soul. Trust without fear is no better than presumption; and fear without trust will soon sink into despair. We should not cease to trust God though he speak to us by terrible things in righteousness; nor cease to fear him when he treats us with the greatest familiarity, and manifests himself in the most gracious manner to us; amidst the sweetest enjoyments we should not be self-confident; under the severest afflictions we should not be totally discouraged. 2. Profound humility, mingled with triumphant joy. We should discover the deepest self-abasement in all our approaches to God; for what is man-dependant, sinful, dying man-that he who governs all worlds, and could so easily destroy them, should be mindful of, or visit him? We should, therefore, come to him as the publican,-standing afar off, smiting upon his breast, having his eyes fixed upon the earth, and after a solemn pause, crying out, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!"-as penitents, putting our mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. God's glory is his loftiness; the creature's glory is its lowliness; and as an humble frame is our honour, so it will be greatly for our advantage. "Th' Almighty from his throne, on earth surveys DR. YOUNG. Nevertheless, our humility ought not to be a damp to our joy, but we should glory in God, even whilst we tremble before him. "I will go unto God," says David, "my exceeding joy." " Though the fig-tree should not blossom, and there should be no fruit on the vine," says Habakkuk, though I should be afflicted ever so sore, and stripped ever so bare, yet I would rejoice in the Lord, who is my strength and my salvation." That contentment and satisfaction which creatures deny, may always be had in God. 66 3. The most ardent prayers, joined with the most animated praises. Is God great and terrible? Let us turn to him with weeping and supplication, deprecate his judgments, and earnestly implore his favour. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of his anger." Doth this great and terrible God keep covenant and mercy for his people? Our hearts, then, should be inflamed with gratitude and love, and our lips overflow with praise. Yet even here we should humbly bow before him, for he who is glorious in holiness, is also fearful in praises; as his mercy is lovely, so his majesty is dreadful; and though he pardons iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet he will by no means clear the guilty. We must not, therefore, mock him, we must not trifle with him, but, as the Psalmist directs, "serve him with fear, and rejoice before him with SERMON XLIII. THE CONFESSION OF TRUE PENITENCE. DANIEL IX. 8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face. To judge ourselves is the way not to be judged; and to abase ourselves before God, to be exalted in due time. Thus the prophet Daniel, a man greatly beloved and highly honoured, whom the great God had distinguished by instances of his favour, here distinguishes himself by humility; and, speaking both for himself and in the name of all Israel, says, "O Lord, unto us belongeth confusion of face;" as if he had said, Let others boast of their virtues, be proud of their privileges, and think to appear with undaunted confidence before thy tribunal; let them challenge heaven and eternal happiness as their deserved reward; as for us, we lie down in our shame, we take it to ourselves, and when we do so we take that which belongeth to us; we are ashamed to look to thee, we are ashamed to speak to thee, or appear before thee, and it is fit that we should be ashamed; we who, if we had had our deserts, should, long ere now, have been consumed. The word confusion sometimes signifies a disorderly state of things, either in the church or world; thus God is said to be the God of order, and not of confusion: sometimes inward trouble and discomposedness of spirit; when Job says, "I am full of confusion, scc thou mine affliction:" but confusion of face always signifies ignominy and shame, which shame may be considered in a threefold light. 1. As sinful. There is a criminal shame, a being ashamed of that which is good; of God, his laws, his interest, his ordinances, and his people. As wicked men glory in that which they ought to be ashamed of, so they are ashamed of that which, if rightly attended to, would be their glory. Some are ashamed of making a profession of religion, and others are a shame to the profession they make. Some are ashamed of that company which would be improving, and fond of that company which is ensnaring. Some are ashamed of Christ here, and of them he will be ashamed hereafter. 2. This shame may be considered as penal. This sometimes takes place in this world; and those who sinned without shame, are made to inherit shame as the fruit of sin: "They shall see, and be ashamed;" and a fruitless and overwhelming shame shall be a part of the punishment of hell. We read of a shame before Christ at his coming-a troublesome companion this-nor will the wicked be able to get rid of it, for it will continue with them through endless ages, in that world where inexorable justice will fix their abode; they will look upon themselves and one another with contempt, and be the objects of scorn and derision both to good and bad angels. "Shame," says Solomon," shall be the promotion of fools;" and this, had not Christ "endured the shame" for them, would have belonged to, and been the lot of all mankind. 3. It may be regarded as penitential. The former is the shame of a guilty, this of a tender conscience. It is true the latter is the fruit of sin as well as the former, but then grace is the principle from which it proceeds, and therefore it is very desirable and praiseworthy; hence the saints choose it, and never appear more beautiful in the eyes of God than when clothed with it. "I was ashamed, yea, was confounded," says Ephraim. "Is Ephraim my dear |