2. How desirable is it to possess an interest in Christ !
[It surely is not necessary to prove that we are ungodly, since we have all sinned, times without number, in thought, word, and deed, against the Divine Majesty. Whither then shall we go for the remission of our sins ? How shall we get our iniquities blotted out from the book of his remembrance? Our tears, even if we could shed rivers of tears, will never avail for this end : nothing but the blood of Jesus can ever cleanse us from the guilt of one sin : and, if we be not washed in that fountain, we shall die in our iniquities, and lie under the guilt of them for ever. Let us then seek an interest in Christ. Let us never attempt to substitute any repentance or reformation of our own, in the place of his meritorious blood and righteousness : but let it be our one desire to " be found in him," and to obtain from him those garments of salvation, which alone can " cover the nakedness" of our guilty souls*.]
P Rev. xvi. 7. i ?X0«. r 2 Thess. ii. 2.
« Phil. iv. 5. Jam. v. 0. ' Rev. iii. 18.
3. M ith what confidence and comfort may be- lievers look forward to the coming of their Lord!
[Y\ horn will they have for their judge but the very person who bought them witli his blood? the very person in whom they have believed ; and to whom they cleaved with full pur- pose of heart ? Be it so then ; the catalogue of their sins shall be produced, a catalogue reaching, as it were, from heaven to earth ; and they shall not have one word to offer in arrest of judgment: yet, will the Saviour pass a sentence of condemna- tion upon them? Will he not himself stand forth and testify, " I saw their deep contrition; I treasured up their tears in ray vial ; I was witness to their frequent sighs and groans, and to their cries for mercy through my atoning blood :" " Deliver them from going down into the pit; I paid their ransom:" they were mine; and they manifested that they were mine", by their obedience to my will, and their conformity to my image: " Come, ye blessed children of my Father, inherit my kingdom prepared for you ?" Fear not then, ye weak and trembling saints ; but rather " be looking for and hasting to the coming of the day of Christ x :" ye shall surely stand before him with joy; while they, who once justified their un- godliness, and thought, that to be among the godly was a fit matter for derision, shall bewail their folly, and confess the equity of the sentence that fixes you in heaven, and themselves in hell. Remember then with gratitude that you are to have Jesus for your judge; and when he says, "Behold, I come quickly," let your hearts reply, " Even so, come Lord Jesusy."]
u God represents himself in this very light. Jer. xxxi. 18 — 20. x 2 Pet. iii. 12. y Rev. xxii. 20.