to his mind, he could not but pour out his soul before God in praises and thanksgivings in their behalf.
It is our intention at present to shew,
I. What there was in his ministry among them which occasioned such incessant thankfulness to God —
His success among them was great, not only as to the number of his converts, but especially in the spirit which they manifested. In ministering to them the Gospel, there were two things in particular which filled him with joy and gratitude ; namely,
1. The manner of its reception —
[They did not consider his word as a system, like that of different philosophers, invented by man, and standing only on human authority ; but they regarded it as the word of God himself, even whilst it was delivered to them by a weak instrument, " a man of like passions with themselves." They looked, through the messenger, to Him whose ambassador he was ; and every word that was uttered by him was received as if it had been spoken from heaven by the Deity himself: they received it as proceeding from his love, as sanctioned by his authority, and as assured to them by his truth and faithfulness. The great wonders of redemption through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus were not looked upon " as a cunningly devised fable," but as a most stupendous effort of divine wisdom, planned from all eternity in the councils of the Father, and executed in due season by his only-begotten Son, and applied to their hearts by the agency of the ever-blessed
Spirit They felt not themselves at liberty to reject
these overtures of mercy, or to cavil at them as exceeding the comprehension of our feeble reason ; they considered that they had no alternative, but to believe, and live: or to disbelieve,
and perish But their acceptance of these overtm-es
was not a matter of constraint : they saw that the veracity of God was pledged to fulfil every promise which the Apostle made to them in Jehovah's name ; and that it was as im- possible for a penitent believer to perish, as it was for God to
lie How could he be otherwise than thankful, when
his word among them was thus received ?]
2. The manner of its operation —
[Truly his word among them was " quick and powerful ;" and most effectually did it work upon them in their first con- version, in their subsequent support, and in their progressive sanctification. He speaks before of " the entrance he had had