contrary, the more sensible we are of our defects, the more hopeful is our state before God. Let us then search out our defects to the uttermost ; and then learn from them,
1. To be thankful for the Gospel —
[O ! what glad tidings does the Gospel proclaim ! Sal- vation ! Salvation for sinners, even the chief! Salvation for those who have broken the law ! yes, and have despised the Gospel also ! and have lived hitherto only for themselves ! — What thanks can we render to God, that we are permitted to hear this joyful sound, ere the curses of the broken law come down upon us, and we are shut up in that place of torment, where the voice of mercy never sounds, nor one ray of hope can ever enter ! Verily, Brethren, if you will not now bless your God, " the very stones will cry out against you." What, if king Belshazzar could have a proclamation of mercy to his soul, what feelings would it excite in him ? But it is observa- ble, that no call to repentance was given to him ; for his day of grace was past. This, however, is not your state : to you the Saviour says, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ! " " Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden ! and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Rejoice then, and leap for joy; for in Christ you have your every defect cancelled, and your every want supplied.]
2. To walk humbly before God —
[Be it so, that your iniquities are pardoned, and your sins are covered :" still, how can you do otherwise than lothe and abhor yourselves, when you contemplate your daily walk before God? What might not be expected of one who has been redeemed from death by the blood of God's only dear Son ? What admiration, and love, and gratitude would you suppose must fill the soul of one who has been bought with such a price, and, from a child of Satan, been made a child of God, from an heir of wrath, an heir of everlasting glory? You would naturally suppose that he would not have so much as a thought but how to praise and glorify his Benefactor. But, alas ! not even the wonders of redeeming love can pro- duce upon us all the effect that might be wished. We still are in a great measure carnal, looking too much to the things which are visible and temporal, and too little to the things which are invisible and eternal. In truth, our very best ser- vices furnish us with but too just occasion for penitence ; our very tears needing to be washed in the blood of Christ, and our repentances to be repented of. Let this lesson then be learned ; To walk softly before God, in the remembrance of your sins ; and, when you have done all that is commanded,
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still to say, " We are unprofitable servants ; we have done that only which it was our duty to do."]
3. To be preparing daily for the scrutiny that awaits you at the last-day —
[God will come shortly to judge the world ; and will call every secret thing into judgment, whether it be good or evil. Then will innumerable defects, which here you overlooked, be brought to light; and every counsel of the heart, whether good or evil, be made manifest. Should you not, then, be preparing for that day? Should you not get every evil of your heart mortified, and every good thing matured within you? Bel- shazzar, when he received his warning, had but a few hours to live : for that very night was his soul required of him. And may it not be so with you also ? And if it should, in what a pitiable state will you be, as unprepared for your great account ! Yet, go you must, and be weighed also in the ba- lance of God's sanctuary ; and, if found wanting, like light or reprobate silver, be cast away. Think, I pray you, of the representations given of that period by our blessed Lord : some, as wheat, will be treasured up in the granary of heaven ; but others, as chaff, be cast into the fire of hell, even the fire that never shall be quenched. " The net, at present, drags to land both good fish and refuse : but then the good will be gathered into vessels, and the bad be cast away." Well, thanks be to God ! there is yet time to prepare for that day ; and time to have every defect of your souls supplied. The Lord Jesus Christ is both able and willing to accomplish in you his good work : and if you truly and unfeignedly commit yourselves to him, he will " perfect in you the work he has begun," and " preserve you blameless unto his heavenly kingdom."]