3. Of growth and stability —
[The Gospel does not merely beget souls to God, but fosters and nourishes them to their latest hour ; so that they progressively advance, from " babes to young men, and fathers," in the Christian Church. Under its influence they " proceed from strength to strength, till in due time they appear before their God in Zion." Wonderful beyond all conception are the truths which it reveals to their minds ; reveals, I mean, as far as they have a capacity to comprehend them. What astonish- ing views does it exhibit of the fulness, the excellency, the glory of Christ, and the sufficiency of the work wrought out by him ! What discoveries does it give of the Divine perfections, as harmonizing and glorified in the work of redemption ; — of the Divine counsels also, as planning every thing respecting it, and as infallibly accomplished in the salvation of God's elect ! What views does it afford them of the Lord Jesus Christ, as having undertaken to justify his people by his blood, to sanc- tify them by his Spirit, and to " keep them by his own power through faith unto everlasting salvation!" These truths, brought home with power to the soul, tend to " establish, strengthen, settle it ;" and to create a holy confidence in " Christ, as the Finisher, no less than the Author, of his people's faith." It is from such deep and enlarged discoveries as these that they are enabled to say, " If God be for us, who can be against us?" " WTho shall separate us from the love of Christ? I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Not that they expect the end with- out the means : they know that they can never attain " sal- vation but through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth :" they know that " without holiness no man shall see the Lord :" but they know also that the grace of Christ shall be sufficient for them, and that he will " carry on and perfect, in them the good work he has begun," suffering " none to pluck them out of his hands," nor any to bring them into condemnation.]
From this view of the blessings which the Gospel is intended to impart, we pass on to mark,
II. The subserviency of the ministry to the commu- nication of them —
The Apostle felt assured that he should be an instrument to convey these blessings wherever he should go —