This gift however is bestowed only " through the Lord Jesus Christ" —
[All possibility of regaining happiness by the covenant of works was prevented by the very terms of that covenant : in token of which, the way to the tree of life was obstructed by a fiery swordg. But another, and a better " way, is opened to it through the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we may have boldness, and access with confidence" into the presence of our Godh. Through him, as a Mediator, God can exercise mercy towards us in perfect consistency with his own honour ; and through him, as the appointed channel, God will convey to us all the blessings of grace and glory. But then he expects that we come to him through Christ, and receive his blessings from Christ: for, as there is no other way unto the Father but through the Son', so neither is there any way of obtaining from the Father, but by receiving out of the fulness which he has treasured up for us in Christ Jesus k.]
Address —
e Gen. Hi. 24.
k Col. i. 19. John i. 16.
e Isai. lv. 1.
f Gal. v. 2, 4
" Heb. x. 1<), 20.
' John xiv. (i.
1. Those who are living in any allowed sin —
[We will suppose you are free from any gross immorali- ties ; but that you are neglecting the great concerns of your souls, or attending to them with only a divided heart. Con- sider then, I beseech you, what you are doing: you are earning wages every day, every hour, every moment: whether you think of it or not, you are earning wages, and the day of reckoning is near at hand, when they shall be paid you by a just and holy God. Every act, every word, every thought is increasing the sum that shall be paid you : and who can calcu- late the amount of a debt which has been increasing with awful rapidity from the first moment that you began to act ? Yes, you have been doing nothing throughout your whole lives, but earning wages that shall be paid you to the full, or, in other words, " treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath1." Consider, if the desert of one sin is death, What must be your desert, whose sins are more in number than the sands upon the sea-shore ? Reflect on this, while there is an opportunity of cancelling the debt, and while the mercy of God can be ex- tended to you. But remember, that you must not attempt to discharge the smallest part of this debt yourselves : if you take but one single sin upon you, you must suffer death for ever. Go therefore to Christ, and through him unto the Father : go with the guilt of all your sins upon you ; cast yourselves en- tirely upon the mercy of your God; plead nothing but the merits of his dear Son ; and " look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life"1."]
2. Those who have obtained mercy, and deliver- ance from sin —
[Numberless are the considerations which should excite your gratitude for the mercies you have received. Consider the greatness of the guilt that has been forgiven you ; the riches of the glory which has been conferred upon you ; the freeness with which it has been bestowed ; and, above all, the means which have been used in order that you might be par- takers of these benefits, even the appointment of God's only- begotten Son to be your dying Saviour, and your living Head. Consider these things, I say, and then judge what ought to be the frame of your minds. What an abhorrence should you have of sin ! What gratitude should you feel towards that God who exercised such mercy towards you, and towards that adorable Jesus, through whose mediation alone it could ever have been communicated ! Stir up yourselves then to " render unto God according to these benefits ; " and exert yourselves to the uttermost to " glorify him with your bodies and jour spirits, which are his"."]