THE PRIVILEGES AND ORNAMENTS OF THE CHIL- COL. iii. 12, 13.--Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, EPH. v. 1, 2.—Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to PHIL. ii. 14-16.-Do all things without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice HOLINESS UPON THE BELLS OF THE HORSES. ZECH. XIV. 20, 21.—In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. PSALM Xxvii. 13, 14.-I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. THE CHRISTIAN'S CONSOLATION UNDER DARK JOB Xxiii. 8-10.-Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. SERMON I. MESSIAH'S GENERAL PROCLAMATION. ISAIAH xlv. 22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. How delightful is the voice of mercy! And how pleasing the consideration, that, whilst every part of truth must be opened in due order, judgment is the strange work of God, but that he does good "with his whole heart, and with his whole soul!" that when he punishes," he cometh out of his place*; but he sits upon his throne "waiting to be gracious!" This the Holy Scriptures abundantly declare. They are the revelation of the mercy of God to a fallen world;—of a mercy flowing in such rich abundance, that whoever contemplates it may exclaim, with the Prophet, *Isaiah xxvi. 21. B + Isaiah xxx. 18. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity! He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy*.' Whilst manifesting this Divine attribute, the Divine oracles clearly shew how this mercy is exercised, --in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith in him. For in the most explicit manner it is declared, that "God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life †." And again, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Not satisfied, however, with these plain declarations, by a variety of emblems it enforces this truth in the most lively manner. For such is the formation of the human mind, that objects clothed with sensible representations are more easily understood, since they engage the outward sense whilst they occupy the powers of the mind. Hence belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is expressed by various corporeal acts. Sometimes it is called "laying hold of" Christ where the emblem is taken from the hand fastening itself upon the object which is to secure the body; as a drowning man closely clinging to a rock. Sometimes it is called *Micah vii. 18. + John iii. 16. ↑ Acts xvi. 31. |