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Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemp tion that is in Christ Jesus....Rom. iii. 24.

WHO are in this happy state? Men, apostate men, who have alike "sinned and come short of the glory of God." But are impenitent, unbelieving sinners justified? Who will dare avouch this? Paul fully contradicts it: he expressly says, "the righteousness of God (that one righteousness which God appoints, accepts and approves) which is by faith of Jesus Christ, (received by that faith which Jesus is the author and finisher of....Heb. xii. 2.) is unto all and upon all THEM WHO BELIEVE. But unbelievers reject this glorious righteousness of Christ; therefore they are not in a state of justification. Doubtless God had in his heart secret and eternal purposes to justify all them who shall believe; therefore he gives them faith in time. Then what was eternally decreed, effectually takes place in their souls; then they come as condemned malefactors, to plead this act of free grace at the bar of justice, at the footstool of mercy; and from the ground of their hearts give God the glory of it; for God is just, while he is the justifier of him WHO BELIEVES IN JESUS. O happy believer in Jesus; THOυ, even thou, though in thyself a miserable sinner yet art freely justified: thou art as fully freed from all condemnation for sin as though thou hadst never committed a sin. You are as perfectly righteous before God as if you had never sinned; infinitely more so than if Adam had never fell and you had been born an innocent creature: for you are arrayed with the glorious righteousness of the Jehovah-man, Christ Jesus. Why are you not always happy and joyful in this? Pride is in your nature: that says it cannot be, I must have some hand in procuring it. Legality works in you: that says I must perform some condition to obtain it. Unbelief sets itself against it, and says it is impossible it should be true. All the evil that is in your fallen nature opposes free and full justification by the grace of God: it is your grand business to oppose the truth of God against all, and to believe in opposition to all. Fix, O fix your constant eye on the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; free grace sets that before you: glory only and alone in this; for by this you are delivered from captivity to sin, satan and the law; and have a full and everlasting title to heaven: all grace and glory comes from free grace through this. O, be strong in faith and give Jesus the glory of this; and while you look at and glory in your blessed privileges, be careful of your walk: consider how highly you are favored of God, and how you ought in all things to study to please God, and ever fear to offend him; for "God is LOVE."....1 John iv. 8.

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This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death....Psalm xlviii. 14.

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HERE is, 1st. The joyful claim of faith. THIS GOD: just as though the sinner saw him as visible, pointed to him and exulted in him...." Is our God." It is our special mercy we do not serve an unknown God: our God has manifested himself to us: is known by us: we have felt his sovereign grace and almighty power within us. Hence we own him, come to him, and rejoice in him, as our covenant God in Christ. He came from heaven to earth to seek and to save us; he has given us hearts to ascend from earth to heaven: there we view our reconciled God and Father at perfect peace with us: our God Redeemer ever living to save us: our God and comforter bringing the joys of salvation into our hearts, and thereby sanctifying us unto eternal glory: "this our God, ever rests in his love to us.' .Zeph. iii. 17. "He will never turn away from us to do us good."....Jer. xxxii. 40. For, 2d. He is " our God for ever and ever:" not only yesterday and to-day, while our frames are warm and lively, and our comforts strong; but through every revolving period of time, and in every distressing circumstance. O, cutting thought, if God were ever to cease to be our God! Some say, God may be our loving God and Father to-day, but tomorrow may cast us off in his wrath and become our implacable enemy for ever. What! does God beget children for the devil? Has Christ redeemed souls by his blood which may be damned in hell? Does the Spirit quicken and sanctify souls who may inhabit the bottomless pit? O, this is not the language of scripture and faith, but of ignorance and unbelief: it comes from devilish pride, thinking we do something to cause God to be our God: it tends to dreadful presumption, thinking we can do something to keep him our God: it ends in awful desperation; for if we fail on our parts, we lose God and our souls for ever. No: but 3d. O joyful truth; our God will be our guide even unto death." Then we cannot sin our souls out of his hands; "for Christ's blood cleanseth from all sin."....1 John i. 7. "We cannot forfeit his mercy, it endureth for ever."....Psalm cvi. 1. "He will guide us into all truth." John xvi. 13. His truth forbids all sin: his everlasting love constrains from it: his promises excite to all holiness; and we are filled with all joy and peace in believing him, when he says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you."....Heb. xiii. 5.

The God we worship now
Will guide us till we die,

Will be our God while kere below,
And ours above the sky.

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And the Lord went his way as soon as he had left communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place....Gen. xviii. 33.

Love is the bond of friendship. Unless love be mutual, friendship cannot subsist: the sweets of friendship are enjoyed in free communications: friends are delighted with each other's presence; long absence causes pain: this is true between God and the soul. If you feel concern at the absence of God, you love God; you are a friend of the Lord's: the Lord stoops to earth; he takes our flesh; he visits and converses with us as friends: this same Lord communes with Abraham. Consider, 1st. Abraham was a poor sinner as we are; he could no more behold the essential glory of the Godhead without a mediator, than we can; nor can God, in his essential glory, as perfectly holy and righteous, draw near to fallen man without a mediator, but sudden destruction must be his awful doom: therefore it was Jesus the Lord, the sinner's friend, mediator, justifier and Saviour, that communed with Abraham. It is Jesus "with whom we have to do." "He is the word of God to us."....Heb. iv. 13.. This revives and refreshes our dejected spirits. 2d. Though this visit and communion with the Lord was precious, yet it did not last long. THE LORD WENT HIS WAY. Do not you frequently find it so? Christ comes and pays a love-visit to your soul; he sweetly communes with you; he warms your heart; he comforts your soul: it is but for a season; he goes his way; you cannot but be sorry; you reckon those moments tedious that intervene between one loving visit and another: you say with the disciples, "Did not my heart burn within me?"....Luke xxiv. 32. And with others. "O thou hope of Israel the Saviour, why shouldst thou be as a wayfaring man, who tarries but a night!"....Jer. xiv. 8. But faith lives upon Jesus, though sensible comforts are wanting. 3d. Abraham returned to his own place: to the tents in MAMRE: which signifies rebellions or bitter: he must again feel the rebellions, and taste the bitter of his fallen nature: there is love in this as well as in the Lord's visits and communings.. Wisdom prescribes this portion; love administers it; grace makes it profitable. Says our dear Lord, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."....John xiii. 7.. Our Lord's love is ever the same; his affections change not: though he may leave off communing with thee below, yet he never ceases praying for thee above. This is precious to the faith of our hearts. Do we come unto God by him? He is able to save us to the utter most; "he ever lives to make intercession for us."....Heb. vii. 25.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of....2 Cor. vii. 10.

By legal preaching, setting forth the curses of the law and the terrors of hell, a sinner's conscience may be made to tremble under the dread of damnation; he may be said to repent. "Judas thus repented himself, and said I have sinned." He might be sorry for it; his sin might make his heart ache and fill his soul with horrors: but here was no GODLY sorrow; God was not in his heart: no repentance unto salvation; this was out of his sight: his repentance was unto damnation; for "he went out and hanged himself."....Matt. xxvii. 5. Natural fears and legal terrors may excite sorrow without the grace of repentance. 1st. What then is godly sorrow? It springs from God, it is excited by the views of God, it is directed to God, and arises in the heart on account of God. With David the soul cries, "against thee ONLY have I sinned."....Psalm li. 4. The heart is pierced to the very quick with anguish for having sinned against a God in Christ, a sin-pardoning, a soul-comforting, a most affectionate Father. This is the sorrow of faith; it is grateful to God. 2d. "It WORKETH REPENTANCE; it causes the soul to change its mind and its conduct. Its MIND. Sin and satan had deceived it: it foolishly fancied there were some sweet charms in sin that could make it quite happy; but it now feels the wormwood and gall of it; it looks at its sin, and looks at its Saviour, and cries, O my Lord and my God, could I ever be so mad as to turn from thee to sin! I lament my folly: Jesus pardon me. Its CONDUCT. Godly sorrow causes the soul to turn away from sin with loathing and detestation, and to turn to the Lord with humble faith, holy hope, ardent desire, and earnest cry; O my Jesu, "restore to me the joy of thy salvation: cast me not away from thy presence; take not thy holy Spirit from me."....Psalm li. 11, 12. Though sin has made me miserable, yet thou, and thou only canst make me happy. 3d. This repentance is unto salvation; it brings the soul to Jesus: "There is salvation in him and in no other."....Acts iv. 12. 4th. This is not to be repented of. O, my soul, canst thou ever change thy mind concerning the precious salvation of Jesus, by repentance unto life, from a godly sorrow for sin! Beware then of those "fools who make a mock of sin."....Prov. xiv. 9. Of those mad fools who deride godly sorrow for sin, and laugh at all repentance as downright legality: but, says Jesus, "except ye repent, ye shall all perish."....Luke xiii. 3.

'Twas for my sins my dearest Lord, Whilst with a melting broken heart,
Hung on the cursed tree,
And groan'd away a dying life,
For thee, my soul, for thee.

My murder'd Lord I view,
I'll raise revenge against my sins,
And slay the murdʼrers too.

Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine....

Tit. ii. 1.

"Like people, like priest," is a scripture adage.... Hos. iv. 9. Professors generally catch the same mind of the minister they sit under. Our Lord advises, "take heed what you hear."....Matt. iv. 24. The seeds of all heresies are in our nature; they are sooner learned than sound doctrine: hence Paul's jealousy of, and advice to Titus; he was not only to preach sound doctrine, but the things also which become it. Sound doctrine is to be highly prized, yet it is not to be alone. Good as it is to have a sound judgment in the doctrines of grace, yet we are ever to consider, they are all according to and promotive of GODLINESS. They are all of a practical and experimental nature: productive of love in the heart and holiness in the life: many err here: some make little of sound doctrine: they cry out, away with your doctrines, give us practical holiness; these cast contempt upon the word of truth, and impeach the wisdom of the Spirit of truth, in revealing the doctrines of the grace of the everlasting covenant; however they may talk of Christ, yet they lightly esteem the truth as it is in him. From such turn away: "for the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple: the statutes (or doctrines) of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes," &c....Psalm xix. 7, 8. Again, there are others who think and speak of nothing but doctrines: they care nothing about the things which become sound doctrines, such as a self-denied life, a holy walk, a careful abstaining from the very appearance of evil, living in the exercise of spiritual grace, and in the discharge of every christian duty, striving to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in ALL THINGS."....Tit. ii. 10. Alas! it is common to see such: like the wild ass they snuff up the wind of doctrine, bray it over, while their hearts are as cold and dead to spiritual communion with Christ and the life and power of godliness, as the world which lieth in wickedness: beware of such. Christianity is life as well as truth; the gospel is to be experienced in its power, as well as believed in its word; Christ is to be lived upon by faith and lived to by love, as well as talked of with the tongue. O, let us not be content with a form of sound words in our heads; but

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us cry earnestly and constantly to our Lord, for the life and power of them in our hearts to influence our lives; so shall we from precious, heart-felt experience joyfully say, "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."....↳ John i. 3,

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