partial in comparison of those wliich are given to the Christian Church : so that none of us need to draw back from tl;e greatest ■work; since the weakest of true Believers may say, " I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me*^."]
3. More certain assurances of the forgiveness of our sins —
[Doubtless the vision, and that one promise given him in it, were sufficient to satisfy his mind. But in the New Testament we have promises without number, " exceeding great and pre- cious promises ;" so "great," that they comprehend every possible state that can be imagined ; and so " precious," that they bring US into a participation of the divine nature', and " fill us with all the fulness of God*^." I can have no hesitation in saying, that were an alternative offered to any true Christian, to receive for his comfort the personal and particular promise that was given to the prophet, or to have given him for his dependence the broad and general promises of the New Testament, he would do well to rest on those broad promises, which engage that " all manner of sin shall be forgiven unto men," and that " all who believe shall be justified from all things."]
Say, then, whether we be not bound to imitate the prophet, in his surrender of himself to God ?
[Doubtless, if mercies vouchsafed are motives to obedience, tve, who have received such transcendent mercies, ought to " present our whole selves as living sacrifices unto God ; wliich, as it is a holy and an acceptable, is also a most reason- able, service^" ]
It may be proper, in conclusion, to reply to a ques- tion which will probably be asked, Hozv shall I know zvhether any particular call to any special service is really from the Lord ? [I readily grant, that that is a point very difficult to be determined. There is no difficulty at all in determining that we are every one of us called to devote ourselves to God. The difficulty lies in reference to those particular acts which are required only of few. And here I must say, that no rules can be given which shall apply to all cases ; nor perhaps any rules that shall be perfectly satisfactory to every mind. And pro- bably, instead of giving a direct ansiver to the question, the best answer will be, to suggest a caution against those workings of mind which render the full solution of the case so difficult. Moses, we know, was called to go to Pharaoh, and to bring the Lord's people out of Egypt. Now, in opposition to this call, he urged his oion unworthiness of such an office'"; the impro-
h Philip, iv. IS. i 2 Pet. i, 4. k Eph. iii. 19.
1 Rom. xii. 1. m Exod. iii. 11.
868.] f^'OD THE ONLY PROPER OBJECT OF FEAR. 513
hahility of succeeding in his attempt^ ; his own utter unfitness for the work assigned him°;" and his desire that it slioidd he transferred to some one else^\" Nay, he further adduced his oion experierice of disappointment in less arduous labours, as a certain ground for apprehending that he must of necessity fail in a matter of so much greater difficulty^. But what were all these objections ? They were, in truth, only so manij excuses, urged to cover his oivn backwardness to U7idertake the work. Had he been in the frame of mind which the prophet mani- fested in my text, all these difficulties would have vanished ; and he would have engaged in his work as Paul did, who was " not disobedient to the heavenly vision," but " preached at once the faith, which, till that moment, he had laboured to destroy." To any one, therefore, who desires an answer to the question that has been proposed, I say, Get your soul filled with love to Christ ; and that will answer ten thousand difficulties, and constrain you to engage in any thing whereby the kingdom of the Redeemer may be advanced in the world. You will depend on your Lord and Saviour for " grace sufficient for you""," and expect that " strength shall be given you according to your day^"