the world shall perish; but they shall be " saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation''." What were the deliverances of God's people from Egypt and Babylon, but typical exhibi- tions of that redemption which God has vouchsafed to us in Christ Jesus? In this light they are imiformly set forth in the holy Scriptures; and from them we learn never to despair''
What were all the miracles of our Lord, but so many
emblems of the spiritual blessings which shall be imparted unto us by the Gospel ^ Above all, what was the resurrec- tion of our blessed Lord, but a pledge, yea, a shadowy repre- sentation also, of that restoration to a new and spiritual life, of which all shall partake who believe in Christ'' ? ]
2. By express promises —
[Where shall we begin, or where shall we end, our enu- meration of the " exceeding great and precious promises" which are given us in the Gospel? Though we should confine our- selves to the precise idea of the text, and contemplate the promises solely as relating to our deHverance from spiritual enemies, we might easily collect passages almost without num- ber^ These are made, like that in our text, even to the
most unworthy of mankind.]
3. By the declarations and examples of dying saints —
[Behold Jacob on his dying bed^; or the aged Simeon with Jesus in his arms'*: see St. Paul, in daily expectation of mar- tyrdom ; how bright his prospects, how heavenly his frame* ! In such passages as these we see death entirely disarmed of its sting, and the triumphs of heaven, as it were, begun. But we need not go back to the days of old : we may hear for ourselves precisely similar declarations, if we will frequent the chambers of sick and dying saints. In all such instances, the departing saints bring the matter home to our own feelings, and " put, as it were, their hands upon ours," to teach us how to shoot, and to encourage our efforts'^: and God himself instructs us, what we also may expect from him in a dying hour ]
Amidst so many gracious intimations from God, we should inquire,
II. Whence it is that we profit so httle by them ?
^ 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21. = Isai. xl. 4, 5.
^ Isai. XXXV. 5, 6. John ix. 39. e Compare Eph. i. 19 — 22. with Eph. ii. 4—7. f Sin, Rom. vi. 14. Satan, Rom. xvi. 20. Death, 1 Cor. iii. 22. Hell, John iii. 15, 16. or all in one, Luke iv. 18.
g Gen. xlix. 18. ^ Luke ii. 29. * 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8.
'^ See ver. 10.
374. J elisha's reproof to joash. .521)
The fault is in ourselves alone, just as it was in the king of Israel —
1. Our desires are faint —
[We do not long for the blessings of redemption as we ought to do: we should " pant after them, as the hart after the water-brooks^." But instead of this, we are satisfied with low attainments : and, if we can, as it were, just get within the door of merc}^, we have no ambition either to glorify God on earth, or to obtain an augmented weight of glory in heaven. The people of this world put us utterly to shame : they are never satisfied : the more they obtain, the more their desires are en- larged. O that it were thus with us ; and that we were deter- mined " never to be satisfied, till we awake up after the perfect image of our God™!"]
2. Our expectations low —
[We do not actually deny the truth of God in his pro- mises ; but we do not view them in their breadth and length, and depth and height. God says to us, " Open thy mouth • wide, and I will fill it : " but we have no enlargement in prayer. " We are not straitened in him ; but we are straitened in our own bowels." God tells us, that " according to our faith it shall be unto us:" but we, instead of raising our expectations in proportion to the ability of the Giver, are ever limiting his power and grace ; and on every occasion we ask, Can he do this thing ? or Will he do it for me ? This is a fault even amongst eminent saints. It was for this that Jesus reproved the sisters of Lazarus : he had told them, that their brother should rise again : and, when he went to the grave to raise him, they thought that the circumstance of his having been dead four days was an insurmountable obstacle to his restoration to life : but Jesus replied, " Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Tliis reproof most justly belongs to us. If when we attended the ordinances of religion, or read the word of God, or opened our mouths in prayer, we really expected such manifestations of God's power and love as he has given us reason to expect, what might we not obtain at his hands ? But God does not perform, and, if we may so speak, cannot perform, all that he would for us, because of our unbelief".]