views of it : lie said, " I know that this shall turn to my sal- vation : " nor was he less confident that good would accrue from it, also, to the Church of God : yea, he saw, even whilst in bonds, the beneficial results of his imprisonment ; and declared, that, instead of obstructing the progress of the Gospel, it had " tended rather to the fm-therance of the Gospel," since many had been emboldened by it to preach the word with greater courage and fidelity-"^. Thus does God compose the minds of all his faithful people. They may indeed, for a season, be ready to complain with Jacob, " All these things are against me;" but he whispers in their ears, that " All things are working together for their good^;" and that, eventually, they shall have as much reason to bless him for the darkest dis- pensations as for those which were more gratifying to flesh and blood.]
Passing by many other secrets, I will proceed to set before you,
II. That more particular view of his covenant which is the crown and summit of them all —
From all eternity did God enter into covenant with his Son ; as it is said, " The counsel of peace was between them both^" And to this covenant God leads the minds of his people,
1. As the source of all their blessings —
[Certain it is, that, whatever grace has been bestowed upon us, it has been conferred, " not on account of any works of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ^" But this is a great secret; a secret utterly unknown to the world at large : and one which not all, even of righteous persons, are able to receive. There is, in the minds of many, a prejudice against it, as though such an idea would necessarily puff up the mind with pride and conceit : whereas, there is nothing in the world that so much tends to humble and abase the soul as this : for it takes from man all ground of self-preference, and leads him to give all the honour of his sal- vation to God alone. Believer, how wonderful is the thought, that God, from all eternity, set his heart on thee ; ordained thee to be born in a country where the light of Revelation shone, and where the means and opportunities of conversion should be afforded thee ! How wonderful, too, that this grace, which so many receive in vain, should be made effectual for
X Phil. i. 12—14, 19. y Rom. viii. 28.
^ Zech. vi. 13. a 9 Tim. i. 9.