Now, it is very true that these motives may be apprehended only by his infinite wisdom, and that those motives may be approved only by his infinite benevolence. And why? Because we have no wisdom to see them, and because we have no love to perform and to delight in them; but still, GOD ❘ sees them all, and although now they may be unseen by us, they may be brought to light in heaven, and, perhaps, they are the perfect light of day to those spirits that are in glory. GOD, whenever he acts as a sovereign, acts perfectly-he is good to all he is unjust to none he gives every being in the universe his right. Why? because he must give himself his right. He is benevolent and gracious, and merciful, in the acceptation of the text. Why? Because he can do this, without at all infringing the rights of his own throne, without at all sullying the lustre of his eternal perfections. mercy. Now what is mercy? Mercy, of course, supposes that the person who receives it has no right to it. There is no meaning in saying you are bound to show mercy. We may, with great propriety of language, say, You are bound to give me my rightyou are bound to pay me my debtyou are bound to discharge my obligation; but it is incompatible with the very essence of language, to say, you are bound to shew mercy. Why? Because mercy implies spontaneousness in its offer, and destitution of rightful claim in the recipient of it. If that be true, we come to this conclusion, that if men now are saved by mercy alone, and if mercy implies the want of claim on the part of man, God might not have saved one soul, and yet have been just. I wish this to be written on every mind. This is the impression, and the impression is very natural to us in the present state of being, that God is bound to show Now, respecting the sovereignty of mercy. Man foolishly says, what! GOD, allow me to observe, that the not kind! A parent not showing very perfections of the Deity qualify mercy! What is that to the point? him to act as a sovereign. He needs If God had only a parental character, not the instruction and direction of there would be something in that the mind; he acts from his own spon- mode of reasoning; but the Parent of taneousness. What! can a Being of man is the Judge of man-the parent of infinite wisdom ask counsel of those man is the Lawgiver of man-the Pawhom he charges with folly? Can rent of man is the keeper of order the eternal Fountain of Light receive throughout the whole universe: and any accession of knowledge from it indicates a want of benevolence those whose minds are comparatively in a parent to show mercy to a perdark, and whose minds his own know- verse and foolish and angry child, ledge kindles? Certainly not; and thereby bringing blame on the whole GOD, having thus no external being family. When the benevolence of to counsel him-God, having the dis- Deity shines forth; it treats man, as position to act us a sovereign, draws a man; and while he does this in his forth the excellence of his own cha-complex character as a righteous racter. As I have said, we may not judge, and likewise as a merciful see it now; but it will be seen. His Saviour, God might have left us, as very nature and being are guarantees he left angels, to perish. And what to us now, that all he does is right, is the declaration of the Bible respectand all he does is benevolent. ing them? GOD hurled them down to chains and darkness, reserved until the great day; and can any spirit in darkness say, I have been unkindly Hence, I observe, in the second place, that God might not have exercised any sovereignty in the way of treated? Not one; they acknowledge, ❘ is a real exercise of sovereignty, and I loved this, I pursued this, I have of sovereignty alone, in the salvation brought this on myself, I have re- of man, is evident, not only from belled against the authority of heaven, scripture doctrines, but from scripture and thus I am deservedly punished. facts. Allow me to name a few; and But, thirdly, in reference to the those few, I consider, will throw some sovereignty of GOD, I observe that it light on the whole subject. The chadoes real positive good. So that there ❘racters shall be quite familiar. Take, is an actual increase of excellence and of happiness in the universe, on account of it. Suppose, for one moment, that God had not exercised his sovereignty as he might have done; there was nothing in his nature to bind him to act as a sovereign; but in that he has done it, we observe, that the consequence is, an actual increase of real happiness and of real excellence in the universe. There are more excellent characters in consequence of this; and as there are more excellent characters, there are likewise more contented and more happy beings, in point of number, in the universe of God. It has been often remarked, and, allow me to reiterate it now, what has sovereignty done? Injury to no demon, injury to no mortal man; good to all, because GOD, when he promotes good, must aim at producing a good which will have, ultimately and indirectly, a respect to the whole of his government. for example, Manasseh, perhaps one of the most unlikely crowned heads in Jerusalem to be a candidate for heaven. He was religious and educated; he had early instruction; butnotwithstanding this he opposed GOD, he demolished his altars, he persecuted his prophets, he actually set up an image in the house of God; filled the streets of Jerusalem with innocent blood, he went on with madness to destruction, until, all at once, this man turns repentantly to the God whom he opposed, and whose altars he had demolished, and sought for mercy. Please to account for it. There are others as familiar to your mind. The malefactors who had the honor of suffering at the same time as our Saviour suffered on the cross-we may naturally suppose in the beginning, though I would not carry on the supposition, we may naturally suppose in the beginning that they were similarly situated at their birth. This is a fact, both were criminals; this is a fact, both were detected: this is a fact, both were condemned; this is a fact, both were crucified; this is a fact, both upon the cross reviled the Son of God, who stood between them; and this is a fact, that one confessed his crime, justifies the character of the Lord Jesus, reproves his companion, asks for mercy, and dies in the full assurance of salvation. How is this to be accounted for? There is another instance as familiar, and, perhaps, more so still, I mean Saul of Tarsus; his character is known to us all. He was brought up at the foot of Gamaliel, and so imbibed all the But, finally, we observe, that there | prejudices of the Jewish religion. Fourthly, I observe, that while it does this good, it leaves the sinner just where he was. Some men, as the Apostle in the ninth of Romans intimates, quarrel very much with the sovereignty of God, which is well; but why should this be the case? We ask the question again. Has it injured any one? If that cannot be proved, why should any one complain against it? Angels in heaven do not; but, in accordance with the benevolence of their nature, it is said, that they rejoice when one sinner is converted. The sinner is converted in consequence, and on account, of the exercise of sovereignty. Now, without advancing one argument more, let me ask you simply, do you think you have the resources of salvation under your own control? Here is another question-do you really think that GOD is bound to save you? Is it your decided opinion that unless GOD brings you to heaven he will act very inconsistently with his own character? I have heard with horror, some say that they stand on a higher basis than GOD, in consequence of what they call the covenant of redemption, and that GOD is bound to save them. Such theology is not to be found in the Bible. a covenant, and he will accomplish the whole covenant. But what is the basis of the covenant? We come back to that; if we look to the des God made He soon began to persecute Christianity; he was proof against arguments, against persuasions, and against entreaties; and he was mad in trampling on the peace of the church, and in opposing the counsel of heaven, as it appears afterwards. But we see the very same individual publishing the Gospel, which he had himself opposed with so much violence. Now, where is the cause for it? For there must be causes for effects in the moral world, as well as in the physical world. There cannot be an effect without a cause—there is the effect, what is the cause? The cause must exist: this is a principle in morals as well as in physics. Sir Isaac Newton founded his whole system on this. Here is the effect; it must have a cause; and then does the cause ex-cription given to it by the prophet of ist or not? Here is a most astonishing effect, which has thrown light on the whole Christian dispensation, and has written two-thirds of the New Testament! Here is a miracle of grace! Here is an effect! Show me the cause! Was it the persuasion of friends? No, they persuaded him not to change his religion. Was it the fear of his enemies? He threw contempt upon them, and had a thought of extirpating them all. Was it the love of gain? Nothing but dark poverty, with a meagre countenance, looked him in the face-nothing but the frown of his own companionsnothing but persecution-nothing but the flames of martyrdom. What was My brethren, GOD is a Sovereign, it then? Methinks I hear him from the and I hesitate not, though I tremble throne of heaven, pouring forth his with awe when I say it, GOD might voice in reply to the question, as he this instant blot out the whole unionce said in this world, "By the grace verse, and go back to his own eterof God I am what I am." And is not nal solitude, in which he was, before that plainly the case? And that is not the earth was made. Pride in an a peculiar expression, you have it angel ruined him; pride in man will throughout" By the grace of GOD I ruin him too; and we have not yet am what I am;" and pointing to his learned the nature of the Christian own wicked character, as a sinner, he system, unless we have learned to say adverts, again and again, and glories"Grace, grace, grace," from beginin the grace of God. Isaiah, he says; "It is the loving kindness of GOD." It is the loving kindness of GOD which is the great pillar on which the economy of redemption stands; and unless we are led to seek the mercy of GOD, as the means and the end of our salvation, we take decidedly hostile views of GOD. I should like to know what is the difference between this view of GOD, and some of the physical views which were maintained by philosophers, saying, that GOD was bound to do this thing, and bound to do another thing, in the state of the universe, he was bound to act by laws which he himself had made. ning to end. And if my salvation be a doctrine of grace, let me fear the goodness of the Lord; it becomes me to fear eternally. "We having received a kingdom that cannot be moved; let us have grace that we may worship GOD with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." seven days, you have sinned another month, and another month; you have sinned for three hundred and sixtyfive days; and heaven knows it, you know it, and you have not wept three hundred and sixty-five times for sin; you have not prayed fervently from the heart that God may save your soul three hundred and sixty-five times. And oh, let me add, if this be your situation, to-night, let it be borne in mind, that there is a great probability, as I intimated a little time ago, in discussing this subject, that you will die soon. Sinner, pause! sinner, pause! GOD, I repeat it, is not bound to give you mercy when you like to ask for it. Who, seeing a pit, would not say, "Deliver me!" I never saw a man in my life, with a few exceptions, who in dying became not anxious for his soul. Now this is not the cry of love, it is the terrific cry of slavish fear. Is this the cry of a child to a father? No, it is the cry of a criminal, daring the frowns of his judge. Is this the cry of a soul that is anxious to ascend up to enjoy heaven? No, but it is the cry of a soul that dreads eternal torment. Brethren, let us ask for mercy while it may be had; God is near to-day, he may not be to-morrow. Tomorrow, you say; to-morrow to read our Bible-to-morrow to pray-tomorrow to repent.--To-morrow you may have other work to do-tomorrow you, perhaps, may have to stretch your limbs on your bed and die-to-morrow you may, perhaps, have to leave us, and appear before the tribunal of Christ-to-morrow you may be weeping in misery, or singing in glory.-"To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." And oh! thou God of compassion and love, send down thy Spirit and melt the heart, that there may be new hearts, and that the grace of Jesus may be magnified in And let me conclude this subject, by saying, LET US FEAR, THEN, BECAUSE OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS AWFULLY AUGMENTED. Our gratitude to GOD ought to correspond to the character of the blessings which we have received. Our exertions for the good of others ought to correspond to the value of the blessings that we enjoy; and the account which we must give to God, at the last judgment, will precisely correspond with what we now possess. Soon, brethren, we must all stand there; and oh, let me say-and I hope I say it with a degree of compassion for those who are, perhaps, still this very night, strangers to the gospelif you are determined to go to perdition, which I hope is not the case, you cannot do it without trampling on the highest attribute of divinityyou cannot do it without spitting in the face of the Son of God-you cannot do it without crucifying him afresh -you cannot do it without treading under foot the very blood which he shed. And oh! let those remember that do despite to the spirit of grace, and do trample on the blood of the covenant, that there is nothing but an awful fury of indignation for them; and that they are treasuring up wrath against the last great day, the day of the righteous judgment of God. You have sinned for one day, you have sinned the next, and your sin increases in, what may be termed, a compound ratio; not only is there an increase of sin, but to-day you have more motives to repent than you had yesterday, tomorrow, and so on for ever. So that if a man thus continues to add sin to sin, how great a catalogue is there! You have sinned one day, you have sinned | us, living and dying. Amen. DELIVERED BY THE REV. WILLIAM PULLEN, Α.Β. AT HENDON CHURCH, DECEMBER 23, 1832. Isaiah, v. 12.-"The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts ; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands." If there be any thing that can add to ❘ our wickedness in being insensible to the tender mercies and loving kindnesses of the Lord, it is the encouragement of that insensibility at a time when we are more peculiarly called upon to remember them. Now, of all the possible events which an imagination the most brilliant can conceive to be among the blessings showered down from an offended GOD to his rebellious creatures, there is none, which the most impassioned poetry can depict, or the deepest philosophy discover, that will not be for ever lost and forgotten in the stupendous scheme-the glorious manifestation of love, which brought down from on high, the only begotten of the Father, to tabernacle in the flesh, to suffer and to die-in order that we, redeemed and pardoned by the terrible sacrifice, might be rendered once more fit for the Paradise from which our own wicked and apostate nature had driven us: that the dominion of Satan in our hearts, might be destroyed; and, our souls rescued from the habitation of the fallen, we might VOL. V. rise from the grave with him, who is "the resurrection and the life," and dwell forever with him in the mansions of never failing blessedness. From the foundation of the world-from the casting forth from Eden of our disobedient ancestor, has this mountain of mercy stood alone, unshaken and unchanged, amidst the deluge of the earth, the ruin of empires, and the furious but baffled assaults of the Prince of darkness. Alone and isolated, undiminished of one iota of its brightness, its glory, or its strength, it shall stand amidst the breakings up of a rent and shattered world: and while the shrieks of the damned shall be rising above the tumult of destruction, there will be clinging to it then. The multitude who, in faith, are clinging to it now; and who, with garments purified in the blood of the Lamb, and hosannahs bursting forth from their gladdened hearts, shall, then, unscathed, unhurt, await the promised summons that shall join them for ever to their Lord! O, brethren, here was a love manifested for sinners!-a love of which sinners L |