SERMON XIX.
None Excluded from Hope.
Rom. i. 16.—The Gospel of Christ,—it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We have seen the gospel of Christ vindicated in the former discourses on this text, and the glorious doctrines of it guarded against the various reproaches of an unbelieving world: We have heard what a powerful instrument it is in the hand of God for the salvation of perishing sinners. We have been taught the way to partake of this salvation, and that is by believing; and we have learned what influence our faith has in this sacred concernment. I proceed now to the last thing which I proposed, and that is to shew the wide extent of this blessing of the gospel; for it brings salvation to every one that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Where the word Greek is used in opposition to the Barbarian, as it is in the fourteenth verse before my text, it signifies the learned part of mankind, as distinguished from those that are unlearned; the Greeks being the most famous among the nations for wisdom, knowledge, or learning in that day: But when this same word stands in opposition to the Jew, as it does here in my text, then it includes all the heathen world, so that when the apostle says, the gospel brings salvation both to the Jew and the Greek, he shews the extent of this benefit to all mankind that hear and receive it.
It may be worth our while to spend a few hints upon the order in which the apostle represents the communication of this blessing, viz. to the Jew first, and then to the Greek or Gentile.
When he describes, in the second chapter of this epistle, the terms or conditions of the covenant of works, he sets mankind in the same order; he pronounces indignation and wrath upon every soul that doth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. So when he declares the blessings of the covenant of grace or the gospel, he brings the salvation first upon the Jews, and then upon the Gentile nations: And one reason of it may be this, that the Jews having been favoured with an earlier and more express discovery of the nature and will of God than the heathens, they seem to stand fairest for the participation of divine blessings and that, even by the law of works, if life and righteousness could have been obtained by it, as well as by the covenant of grace, or law of faith. But if they abuse their knowledge, and their sacred advantages, to the neglect of God and godliness, faith and works, they justly fall under a more severe condemnation every way, because their guilt is greater.
But there may be some special reasons given why God thought it proper, in the course of his providence, to send the notice of this salvation by Jesus Christ among the Jews, before he sent it to the Gentile world.
I. The Jews were the chosen people of God, the sons and daughters of Abraham, his friend, the first favourites of heaven, considered as a family and a nation: and as he first preached to them the purity and perfection of his law, whence they might discover their own sin and misery, so he published his gospel of grace by Jesus Christ first among them, and sent his Son with the messages of peace and forgiveness first to their nation. The great God thought it becoming his equity to publish his abounding mercy first toward them, amongst whom he first published his law, to shew them their guilt and misery through the abounding of sin: “By the law is the knowledge of sin; and where sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded;” Rom. iii. and v.
II. The Jews had this same gospel preached to them many ages before in types and emblems, in sacred ceremonies and dark prophecies. Now it was fit, that the types and prophecies should be explained and the grace contained therein revealed first to them; for hereby the gospel obtained a great confirmation, and established its own truth, when it appeared in all the parts of it so exactly answerable to the ancient figures, and to the predictions of many hundred years. It was fit that the Messiah should appear among them first, where his character add picture had been drawn for many ages before, that so he might be known and distinguished whensoever he should visit the world. It was fit that his doctrine should be first published in plain language, where it had been long written and spoken in metaphors. Thus the gospel went forth first from Jerusalem, that it might be preached and proclaimed with more glorious evidence among the rest of the nations.
III. Jesus Christ, who is the subject and substance of the gospel, was himself a Jew, of the seed of Abraham, of the nation of Israel. He was born, he lived, he died amongst them. All the great affairs of his birth, his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection, were transacted in their country, and in the midst of them. It was fit the benefit thereof should be first offered to them.
If this gospel of Christ had been first preached to the gentiles, while it was kept silent and secret amongst the Jews, there might have been reason to suspect that there was some fraud or falsehood at the bottom, and that this doctrine would not bear the light in the country where these things were done, and that it would not stand the test of examination in the land of Judea, and therefore the story was told first among strangers: And thus the gentiles might have found some difficulty to receive it, and been prejudiced against the belief of it. But now, when it is published through all the land of Israel, and the apostles appeal to their own countrymen for the truth of these transactions; when it has stood the test of public examination there, where the things were transacted, it goes forth to the rest of the nations with brighter evidence and glory.
IV. I might add in the last place, that it was fit it should be first published to the Jews, who seemed to have the first claim to it; that since they refused it, it might be offered to the poor gentile nations with greater justice and equity, even the Jews themselves being judges. Such are the frequent hints given by St. Paul; Acts xiii. 46. It was necessary that the word of God should have been first spoke to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it; Acts xxviii. 28.
When we think of that poor unhappy nation, the Jews, scattered abroad among all the kingdoms of the earth, banished from their own promised land for their rejection of Christ, and yet hardened in their unbelief, methinks we should send out a groan of pity for them; for they are the sons and daughters of Abraham, the first favourites of our God. Jesus our Saviour was their Messiah, their kinsman, and their rightful king. We should send up a kind wish to heaven upon their account, “How long, O Lord, how long shall Israel be cast off? How long wilt thou be angry with the children of Abraham, thy friend? When shall the day come for the opening of their eyes, that they may look on Jesus whom they pierced, and believe and mourn? When shall the veil be taken off from their hearts, that they may read the books of Moses, and trust in Jesus of Nazareth, whom their fathers crucified?”
When we see one and another of the Jewish nation in this great city, and think of their blindness and their zeal for the idle traditions of their teachers, and observe their ignorant rage against our blessed Saviour: when we behold the vain superstitions of their worship, the thick darkness that hangs upon them under the brightest beams of gospel-light, and their wide distance from salvation, we should let our eyes affect our hearts, and drop a tear of compassion upon their souls. “These were they to whom the promises of salvation did first belong, and to whom the first news was brought, that Jesus the Saviour is born. These are they to whom the gospel was first preached. God himself dwelt in the midst of them, and the Son of God was their brother, their flesh and their blood. Though they are for a season cast off for their infidelity, yet God has told us, that he has a secret love for that nation still for their father Abraham’s sake; Rom. xi. 28. and this love shall break forth in its full glory one day. Make haste, O deliverer, who didst come out of Zion, make haste to fulfil thy promises, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Let the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in, and let all Israel be saved. Bring them back from all the lands whither thine anger hath scattered them. Release thy ancient people from their long captivity to Satan, and their bands of thick darkness. Be thou, O Jesus, who art the light of the Gentiles, be thou also the glory of thy people Israel.”
But I would endeavour to make a larger improvement of this general head of discourse.
Does the gospel bring salvation to every one that believes without exception: to all ranks and characters, and degrees, and orders of men? then let this grace be spread far abroad: And let not the more polite and nicer hearers grow tired, or drowsy, or disdainful, while I amplify a little and diffuse my thoughts into various particulars, pointing out the variety of the subjects of this grace; for I would, as it were, mention every sinner by name, that they may not be left only to unaffecting general notions, but being especially addressed they may all come and partake of this salvation by believing this gospel.
A glorious and extensive gospel indeed, and a wide-spreading salvation? To every one who believes! None excluded from this blessing!
1. It is not confined to one nation, or one family, not to one tribe or kindred of mankind, as the law of Moses was. Go preach the gospel, says our Lord, to every creature; Mark xvi. 15. Preach repentance and remission of sins in my name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem; Luke xxiv. 47. To the Jew first, but let not this grace be confined to them: Publish this blessed doctrine also to the sinners among the Greeks and Gentiles. You that are afar off from God, even in the ends of the earth, ye are called to look unto Christ: and be saved; Is. xlv. 22. It is no matter, O sinner! what thy father was, or what thy kindred are! if thou art but a believer in Christ, thy soul is happy, thy sins are pardoned, the gospel is the power of God to thy salvation.
2. It is not confined to one sex only, or to one age. The children are called as well as the fathers, and men and women are invited to partake of this blessing together in Christ. There is neither male nor female, neither young nor old, neither Greek nor Jew, that have any distinction put upon them, to exclude them from this grace; they are all one in Christ Jesus; Gal. iii. 28. Children, have you seen the evil of your sins, and the danger of hell? Do you long for pardoning and saving grace, and are you willing that Christ should make your peace with God, that he should enable you to serve him upon earth, and prepare you for heaven? Come then, trust in this gospel, give up yourselves to Jesus Christ the Saviour in the manner I have spoken, and the salvation is yours. Nor let old sinners thrust away this mercy from them, under a pretence that they have long abused it. You are now under the joyful sound of the gospel; you sit now under the language of inviting love: Are you willing to be made new creatures before you die, and to accept of a deliverance from hell, though you are upon the very borders of it? Behold power enough in this gospel to deliver you: The blood of Christ can wash out stains of the longest continuance; The Spirit of Christ can change the skin of an old Ethiopian, and create an old inveterate transgressor into holiness. This gospel could save the thief upon the cross, and ensure paradise to him. It can rescue a dying rebel from eternal death; for it gives life and salvation to every one that believes.
3. It is not limited to one rank or condition of men in the civil life, but reaches to persons of every circumstance. The rich and the poor, the master and the servant, the prince and the peasant, must partake of salvation by the same faith in the Son of God. The barbarian and the Scythian, who seem to be born for slaves, and the Romans who are lords of the earth, the bond and the free, have all an equal call to receive this salvation; Col. iii. 11. Ye are all rich enough to obtain it: There is no purchase of these blessings by any other price but that of the blood of Jesus. Silver and Gold, and the treasure of kings, are all contemptible offers in so sacred a concernment as this is. The benefit is too valuable to be bought at any meaner rate: Christ, who paid for it, will bestow it freely on all. If the rich will receive it, they must come without money, and without price, and accept of the free gift of God, as humble petitioners at his footstool; and the poor that have no money, come ye and buy; Is. lv. 1, 2. Let the vilest, meanest creature come to this treasury of grace, and with thankfulness receive the salvation, for it is bought already. You are called only to trust in this gospel, to surrender yourselves to this Saviour, and the salvation shall be yours. Ye that are mean and low and base in this world, there are many of your brethren already joined in the fellowship of this gospel: Come, enter yourselves into the blessed fraternity. To the poor the gospel is preached, and the poor receive it. But there are some noble, there are some great, there are some rich, that have felt the power of it too: There is Philemon the master, and his servant Onesimus, joined in the same faith, and partakers of the same salvation; Philem. 16.
Again, 4. It is not confined to persons whose intellectual excellencies are superior to their neighbours, or who exceed others in understanding and the acquirements of the mind. St. Paul was debtor both to the wise and the unwise; to the learned Greek, and to the ignorant and unpolished barbarian; Rom. i. 14. He preached the gospel to all of them: For Christ had a chosen number amongst them all. If the witty, and the wise, and the learned will lay down their pride, and submit to the doctrine of Christ crucified, and not call it foolishness: If they will humble their understandings to receive the sacred mysteries of our religion, God manifest in the flesh, and put to death for the sins of men, and will place the concerns of their eternal welfare into the hands of him who hung bleeding upon the cross: If they are willing to be converted and become as little children, there is a door for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And as for you, whose understandings are weak and unpolished with human learning, this is a doctrine and a gospel exactly fitted for your character: It is no business of great sagacity, no ingenious matter to become a christian. Believe the truths that are plainly revealed concerning your own sin and misery, and the power of Jesus Christ to save you; bewail your own wretchedness and guilt, and entrust yourselves in the arms of his grace, that ye may be made holy and happy, and ye also shall become possessors of the same kingdom. Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, that though these things may be hidden from the wise and the prudent, yet thou hast revealed them to babes; Mat. xi. 25, 26.
But I pursue the distributions of this grace yet farther:
5. No particular tempers or constitutions of men, no different qualities of soul or body, can exclude those that believe from the grace or blessings of this gospel. Let not the strong man glory in his strength, nor the comely figures of human nature boast themselves in their beauty. Let not the weak be overwhelmed with despair, nor the deformed or uncomely stand afar off and abandon their hopes; the same Saviour proposes the riches of his grace to all. Learn therefore to look upon all your natural advantages, and all your natural discouragements, with a negligent eye in the matter of your salvation. If you would be strong to win heaven, you must borrow all your strength from Christ and the gospel. If you would appear comely and honourable before the face of God, you must be clothed in the robe of righteousness, and the garments of salvation, which he has prepared; Is. lxi. 10.
Nor can any difference in the natural qualities of the soul forbid any person who believes in Christ to hope for this salvation. Those who are by nature proud or peevish, sullen or passionate, angry or revengeful, have been made partakers of this grace, as well as those who by the complexion of their animal frame, and the original temper of their minds, have had more of the natural virtues belonging to them; such as gentleness, meekness of spirit, good-humour and kindness. Those who have something in their very frame that is sly and crafty, or covetous, wanton, and intemperate, have felt the power of this gospel, as well as those that have been generous and sincere, modest, chaste, and abstemious; for the grace of the gospel, which was typified by the ark of Noah, takes in all manner of animals, clean and unclean, and saves them from the deluge of divine wrath that shall come upon an ungodly world. But there is this blessed difference, that the brutes went out of the ark with the same nature they brought in: but those who come under the protection and power of this gospel by faith, they are in some measure changed, they are refined, they are sanctified. The wolf that came in, is turning into a lamb, and the raven by degrees becomes a dove, surely, the gospel has begun to make them so, for it has begun their salvation.
I will grant indeed, that the perverse temper of blood and spirits, and the very make of the man, as to his natural and vicious qualities, is seldom entirely altered by the grace of God here on earth. There will be some sallies of animal nature, some out-breakings of the irregular fire that is pent up in the constitution; and these will too often mix themselves with our conduct, and interline our acts of virtue and duty. But the holy soul, who believes in Christ, will be humble, will mourn, will accuse and chide itself before God in secret, and will be importunate and restless in prayer for the victory. The christian will not suffer himself to be carried away willingly by the stream of vicious inclinations; for he that is born of God sinneth not; 1 John v. 18. and it is in vain to talk of the gospel and salvation of faith and grace, if we give up the reins to vicious nature, and bid a careless farewell to any one virtue.
But to proceed yet farther in reckoning up the various characters of men, whom the gospel makes christians by the grace of faith.
6. As no persons are excluded because of their natural constitution, so neither are any forbid the blessing of salvation because of their former ill characters in the moral life. Not the greatest of sinners are shut out from this blessing, if they repent and believe the gospel. Not the Jews who crucified the Lord of glory: Not the Gentiles or Greeks, who were slaves to superstition and idolatry, and drenched in most infamous and abominable practices; the Greeks, who gave themselves up to work uncleanness with greediness without God, and without hope in the world. One gospel has saved them all. No former follies or faults, no, not the greatest of sins against man, or against God himself, ought to shut up a humble soul under despair; for this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came to save the chief of sinners; 1 Tim. i. 15. And that is a word of most extensive grace which our Saviour speaks; Mat. xii. 31. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.
You who have enjoyed a happy education, and had pious parents to boast of, as the Jews boasted of Abraham; you who have many shining works of sobriety and righteousness, you are called to come and trust in this gospel: But you must renounce all your pretended merit, and accept of pardoning grace, or you can never be saved. And you that have nothing that looks like a good work to glory in, sinners as bad as the worst of Gentiles, come, and believe this gospel, and surrender yourselves to Jesus the Prince and the Saviour; his blood is all-sufficient for the pardon of your sins, his righteousness is all-sufficient for your justification; and his Spirit can purify your sinful natures. Where sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded; Rom. v. 20. It is to the everlasting honour of the gospel of Christ, that it has appeared to be the power of God to the salvation of multitudes of such as you: Such were some of you, saith the apostle to the Corinthians; 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; 1 Cor. vi. 11.
And surely if great degrees of sin cannot exclude the penitent soul from the benefit of the gospel; then, 7. Neither shall any person be excluded because of the weak degrees of his faith; Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye; for Christ has received him; Rom. xiv. 1-3. Read that kind condescending promise, and believe it; Mat. xii. 20. He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, nor suppress, nor despise the least, the lowest desires of grace: He will encourage the youngest and the feeblest acts of sincere repentance and true faith, though struggling under much sin and darkness, till it break out into evident and active flame. The little tender seed of grace under his heavenly influences shall bud, and blossom, and spring up into full glory.
How large and glorious is the salvation that attends faith in this gospel! How extensive is the grace of God our Saviour! How unsearchable are the riches of his mercy! O the heights and the depths, the lengths and the breadths of the love of Christ, that pass all knowledge! None of the sons or daughters of Adam the sinner, are excluded from this salvation, where the gospel is preached, but those who exclude themselves by stubbornness and unbelief. Persons of every kind, every character, condition and quality, amongst men, have found this gospel become the power of God to their salvation, when they have fled to this refuge, and believed in this Saviour.
What improvement now shall I make of the last part of this discourse, this wide extent of salvation bestowed on all who believe? Has every single believer this salvation in some measure conferred on him, and wrought in him? Then here is a plain and evident test, whereby to try our faith, or a certain sign whereby we may judge, whether we are true believers, or no.
The gospel is the manifestation of the power of God for the salvation of every one that believes. What have you found of this salvation begun in you? What have you felt of your own guilt and wretchedness by reason of sin, and of your danger of eternal death? Have you seen the death of Christ as an effectual atonement to procure the forgiveness of an offended God? Have you beheld the power and grace of Christ sufficient to renew your sinful natures, and to form them after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness? Have you found your conscience resting upon the sacrifice of Christ, and your souls humbly expecting pardon and peace there? Are your hearts turned away from every sin? Is the temper of your mind made divine and heavenly, and suited to the business and blessedness of the upper world? This is the salvation of Christ which the gospel proposes, and bestows upon all that believe.
Upon such solemn enquiries as these, I am persuaded there is many a soul must take up this heavy complaint, “Alas! I fear I am no believer: I have sat long under the sound of the gospel, and I have heard the doctrine of Christ crucified many years to no purpose; for I have never found this gospel attended with any such powerful impressions as to begin salvation in me. I have been too thoughtless about the guilt of my sins, and about the forgiveness of them in the court of heaven. Nor have I found my sinful nature changed, nor my affections sanctified. I have very little of these spiritual desires and delights which have been before described as part of my salvation, I feel the inward workings of my soul vain and carnal still; I am not prepared for the heavenly world, and surely then I have never truly believed in Christ, nor received his gospel.”
To such complaints as these, I would propose these three several answers:
Answer I. It may be so indeed. All this complaint may be just and true; and perhaps thou art an unbeliever still, dead in trespasses and sins, and exposed every moment to the stroke of death, and to everlasting misery. This is the case of many a thousand beside thyself: Even the greatest part of those who are called christians, are yet afar off from God and from salvation, and have no just ground to suppose that they are believers in Christ. But it is of infinite concern for thee, O sinner, to busy thyself about this enquiry. There is not any one act in thy life, in which thou canst be engaged, that is of greater and more awful importance than this; for thy heaven or thy hell depends upon it.
Some sit all their days under the gospel, and hear nothing but the outward sound, always unmoved, unawakened, and unaffected; slumbering and nodding upon the borders of eternal fire; while others hear the voice of the Son of God, arise from the dead and receive a new, a divine life. Some in the same family, perhaps of thy own kindred, thy flesh and blood, or some that are upon the same seat in the public assembly, are convinced and converted, believe in Christ, and are saved; while thou remainest a hard and impenitent sinner under the voice of the same grace, and the preaching of the same salvation.
And if this be thy case, it is a dreadful one indeed. Consider, how will thy condemnation be aggravated, that thou hast heard the gospel published with so much glorious evidence in such a land, and such an age of light as this is, and yet thou abidest in the state of impenitence, and unbelief, and death. Thou hast had the blessings of heaven offered at thy door, and hast hitherto refused to receive them. Thou hast sat, as it were, on the banks of the river of life, and never desired to taste the living water. Thou hast dwelt near the shadow of the tree of life, but art an utter stranger to the fruit. O! with what a stupid and a careless ear hast thou heard the things of thy everlasting peace! Think of it therefore, and be horribly afraid: If the gospel be not powerful for the salvation of thy soul, it will become through thy own impenitence, a powerful means to increase thy damnation, to make thy hell hotter, and thy eternal sorrows more intolerable, Wo to thee, Capernaum! Wo to thee Bethsaida! Wo unto you, O sinners of Great Britain, ye have been exalted to heaven in divine favours, and ye shall be thrust down to hell, if ye continue in unbelief. It shall be more tolerable in the day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for you; Mat. xi. 21.
But art thou indeed yet an unbeliever? Yet sleeping the sleep of death? It may be this is thy awakening time: It may be this is the hour when thou shalt begin to hear the voice of God in order to life. O cherish such important thoughts as these. Let them arise with thee in the morning, let them lie down at night with thee, and give thyself no rest, nor give rest to the God of heaven, nor to Jesus Christ the Saviour, till he has received thy soul into the arms of his love, forgiven thy sins, and made thee a new creature, that the gospel may not be to thy soul the savour of eternal death.
II. But perhaps the person who makes this complaint, may be some humble, melancholy christian, some sincere believer in Christ, and yet under dark and timorous apprehensions, concerning his own state. It may be, poor trembling soul, that thou hast found the preaching of the gospel to be the power of God to thy salvation, though thou art not able rightly to evidence it to thy own conscience.
Thou hast not the joy of pardon indeed, but hast thou not some glimmering hopes? Surely thou dost not abandon thyself to utter despair? Thou hast not assurance that Christ has accepted of thee; but art thou not sincerely willing to surrender thyself to him, to receive his complete salvation in the holiness as well as the happiness of it? Dost thou not long to be pardoned and accepted of God, for the sake of his death and obedience? And art thou not heartily desirous to give him all the honour of thy salvation? Thou hast not much power against sin, but dost thou not hate it with immortal hatred, and esteem it thy constant enemy? Does it not often cause thee to mourn before the Lord, because of thy captive state, and the working of in-dwelling iniquities? Perhaps thou dost not yet feel thyself to be manifestly saved from sin, but art thou not saved from the love of sin? It dwells in thy flesh, it may be, and raises tumults there, but not in thy desire and thy delight. Canst thou not say with the apostle; Rom. vii. 23, 24. There is a law in my members warring against the law of my mind? But it is a daily torment to me, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me? Thou dost not love God, it may be, according to thy wish and desire; but is there any thing which thou valuest more than God and his love? Art thou not truly willing to love him above all things, to be renewed and sanctified in all the powers of thy nature, to be fitted for the business of heaven, and suited to the blessedness?
If thy heart can echo to this sort of language, and the grace of God has prevailed thus far in thee, then thy salvation is begun; the gospel has shewn its divine power upon thee, and thou art indeed to be numbered among the believers.
III. But I would conclude my discourse with a word that may have equal respect to saints or sinners. If you are concerned sincerely about your eternal welfare, but can see no comfortable evidences in yourselves of the work of faith, or the beginnings of salvation, if all within you appear to be guilt and sin, and there is much of hell and darkness in the soul, yet do not cast away all hope: Arise and come to Jesus the Saviour, behold he calleth you. This is the season of the grace of the gospel, This is the accepted time, this is the day of salvation. Make haste now to the city of refuge, fly now to the hope that is set before you.
The promises are held open to thee, O soul! whosoever thou art, even the promises of light and life, of grace and eternal glory. Christ Jesus invites thee by the messengers of his gospel: If there be some darkness upon thy Spirit, do not spend all thy time in laborious and fruitless enquiries whether thou hast heretofore believed in Christ, or no; but come now with an humble sense of thy guilty and sinful circumstances, and surrender thyself to his charge and care by a new act of faith, or trust, or dependance. Plead with him to accept a vile criminal overloaded with guilt and misery, and to make thee accepted with God by a righteousness which was not thy own. Beseech him to look with pity on thy unholy soul, to sanctify and renew it, to take thy hard heart into his hand, and soften it into repentance. Plead with him, and say, Lord, art not thou exalted to give repentance as well as remission? Entreat of him to subdue thy sins, to new-mould and create all the powers of thy nature in the beauties of holiness, and to prepare thee for the heavenly state. Go and complain humbly at his mercy-seat, how long thou hast sat under the ministry of his own gospel, and felt no divine power attending it. Intrust thyself now to his care, and place thyself by faith under his divine influences. He that comes in this manner, shall in no wise be cast out, for the Lord has promised to receive him; John vi. 37. Wait on him with daily importunity, follow all the means of grace which he hath appointed, and the gospel of Christ shall appear in due time to be the power of God, even thy God, to thy salvation. Amen.