tor, than many are apt to imagine; yet furely our world is the great theatre of divine grace. The fame infinite benignity which fhews itself in heaven in favour to the worthy, is displayed on earth, to the aftonishment of heaven itself, in mercy to the guilty. Suffer me, my brethren, to embrace this op portunity of obferving, that nothing is more groundless than the accufation of men of cor. rupt minds, against the doctrine of divine grace,. as encouraging to fin. It hath the very contra ry effect, and that on these two accounts. (1) It is fo mortifying to human pride, that the power of fin must be broken at least, before it can be truly and cordially received. There is not fo difficult a duty in the whole compafs of the moral law, as an unfeigned denial of our own righteousness and strength, and being willing to count all things but lofs for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. To receive forgivenefs as mere mercy to thofe who had deferved to perish, without any complaint either against the ftrictness of the law, or the feverity of the fanction, is not so easy as many feem to imagine, and what no man is brought to but by the Holy Ghoft. (2) As the finner must be really fubjected to God the Creator, before he can lay hold of his mercy through Chrift the Redeemer; fo it is plain, that the most effectual measures are taken to continue and perpetuate this fubjection. It is plain, that the infinite unmerited love of God to his foul, is the moft powerful and operative 03 principle principle of obedience that can dwell in the human heart: 2 Cor. v. 14. 15. "For the love of "Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, "that if one died for all, then were all dead; "and that he died for all, that they which live, "should not henceforth live unto themselves, but "unto him which died for them, and rofe again." Such confidence has the fame apoftle in the ftrength of this principle, he bids defiance to all trials and oppofition: Rom. viii. 35. "Who "fhall feparate us from the love of Chrift? Shall "tribulation, or diftrefs, or perfccution, or fa"mine, or nakednefs, or peril, or fword?" And again, ver. 38. 39. "For I am perfuaded that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor prin"cipalities, nor powers, nor things prefent, nor "things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor a ny other creature, shall be able to separate us "from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus "our Lord." These great principles of fan&tification are new to the angels. When therefore they fee the holiness of God fhining in the free justification of finners through Chrift, it will add new force and new meaning to that fong of praise which they are reprefented as finging, Rev. iv. 8. And they reft not day and night, "faying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, "which was, and is, and is to come." 4. In the last place, Another circumstance in the mystery of the gofpel which will be matter of wonder to the angels, is the application of redemption, or the manner and means of tranf lating finners" from darkness to light," and " from "from the power of Satan unto God." Before the plan of divine grace with regard to fallen man was opened to them, they had feen no examples of finners but the fallen angels. From their irreversible fentence, and blafpheming rage in their torment, thofe who remained in their happy ftate, would be apt to conclude, that there could be no recovery for a creature who had once departed from his integrity at all. But when they learned fomething of the divine purpose for the falvation of fallen man, especial ly the amazing and unfpeakable grace that ap peared in the appointment of the Mediator, and the universal unlimited offer of falvation in his name, what would be the effect? I dare fay they would certainly conclude, that it would be received with the highest tranfports of joy, by all thofe unhappy criminals who were lying under the curfe of a broken law. Accordingly the angel, in his meffage to the fhepherds, calls it good tidings of great joy to all people. What then must have been their additional furprife, when they heard the prophet saying, If. liii. 1. "Who hath believed our report? and to "whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" when they faw that this gracious Saviour was " defpi"fed and rejected of men?" when they obferved fo many turn a deaf ear to the most impor tunate calls of the gofpel? when they found them cavilling themselves out of eternal happinefs, and advancing their own blinded and bewildered reason in contempt of the infinite wifdom of God? What must those holy angels, who ARG are filled with gratitude for creating goodness, think of those heirs of hell, who pour contempt upon redeeming love? I cannot touch upon every thing that rifes here to our view, but I am perfuaded that the administration of the covenant of grace is as full of mystery to the celeftial fpirits, as any part of the plan. Instead of every finner humbly imploring reconciliation with an offended God, our Redeemer, as a Sovereign Lord, as the Prince of Peace, first conquers thofe as enemies, whom he afterwards cherishes as friends. He is endued with all power for this great work; and the Pfalmift gives a beautiful description of its influence and effect, Pfal. xlv. 3. 4. 5. Gird thy fword upon thy thigh, "O moft mighty; with thy glory and thy ma"jefty and in thy majefty ride profperously, be"cause of truth, and meeknefs, and righteouf"nefs; and thy right hand fhall teach thee ter"rible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the "heart of the king's enemies, whereby the peo"ple fall under thee." He hath fent forth his Holy Spirit as an almighty agent, to reconcile Linners unto God. Is there not also a depth of divine fovereignty to be feer in the choice of the veffels of mercy? The apoftle Paul in the midst of the fury of perfecuting zeal, Mary Magdalene from the midft of the flames of unclean luft, Zaccheus from the heart-hardening crimes of covetoufnefs and oppreffion, and many others of the chief of finners, have been made the trophies of divine grace, and may say, in the words of their great example the apostle Paul, 1 Tim.i. 15. 15. "This is a faithful faying, and worthy of "all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the "world to fave finners, of whom I am chief." It deferves alfo particular notice, that faith itself is faid to be the operation and the gift of God: Eph. ii. 8. "For by grace are ye saved, "through faith; and that not of yourselves: it "is the gift of God." And indeed the change in general which conftitutes the new nature, is confidered as a birth or creation from above : John i. 13. "Which were born, not of blood, "nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of "man, but of God." It appears plainly, from many express declarations of scripture, from the power necessary to overcome their obftinacy, and from the feat of the disease itself, which lies in the will, that finners, while they continue so, inftead of defiring, refift their recovery. What a fubject of contemplation prefents itself to the angels here! What an unknown view is given them of the infinite evil and malignity of fin! What a humbling fenfe of created weakness ! What a leffon of caution for their after conduct! It hath been conjectured, not without apparent reason, and fome countenance from fcripture, that the great purpose which the human fyftem is intended to ferve in the univerfal kingdom of God, is to be an everlasting monument, that a rational creature who has once departed from its innocence, and obedience to its Creator, never can again return to the fame ftate, but by his own almighty power and fovereign grace. Upon the whole, |