We are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. ROM. iii. 24, 25. See also JOHN iii. 16. OW sweet are the words "By grace (without merit) ye are saved." Here is an overflowing fountain of comfort and divine strength. But how little are the generality of vain and worldly people, who still feed upon husks, acquainted with these words. How little are they relished by our self-righteous moral Christians. But O! how deliciously does a poor hungering sinner fare upon them! There is hardly anything less known and understood, as to the power and experience, than the mystery of CHRIST'S suffering and dying for us, and justification by faith in him; though it is the only paradise and element of believers, and the greatest jewel restored by the Reformation. Such talking and representations of sin as only strike the imagination, are not sufficient; but we must also feel the mortal wounds of sin, by which the flesh is mortified, and be actually healed by the stripes of CHRIST. GOD, the great GOD, that rules the skies, The gracious and the just, Makes his own Son a sacrifice, And here lies all our trust. Here rest, my faith, and ne'er remove: Here let repentance rise, While I behold his bleeding love, His dying agonies. With shame and sorrow, here I own How great my guilt has been; This is my way t' approach the throne, See that ye fall not out by the way. GEN. xlv. 24. JOSE havingen, dismisses them with this OSEPH, having shown himself fully reconciled needful caution, "See that ye fall not out by the way." He knew that they were but too apt to be quarrelsome. One might say, "It was you that first upbraided him with his dreams;" another "It was you that said, Let us kill him;" &c. Thus their journey to their father's house would be very uncomfortable, if this spirit of quarrelling and upbraiding once got possession of them. Fellow Christians, What a lesson is here for us! what says our LORD JESUS to us? Love one another, live in peace: whatever occurs, "Let us not fall out by the way." Are we not all brethren? Have we not all one Father? Are we not all subjects of free and sovereign grace? Are we not all agreed in essential points? Are we not all sinners by nature and practice? Have we not all one object of faith? Are we not all travelling the same road? O then, why should we fall out by the way? Suppose we be of different denominations, yet holding the same Head, why cannot we love as brethren? Let not the strong despise the weak, nor the weak judge the strong. Suppose our way should part a little as to externals; yet all setting out from the same spiritual Egypt, all under the same Leader, why may we not all hope to meet at last in the true Canaan? Satan, false professors, and the ungodly world, are unanimous in their opposition to us: let us be united, that they prevail not against us. Phil. ii. 1, 2. Our JESUS is the Prince of Peace, Who made GOD's quarrel with us cease; But quarrel not as they go home. The Sinner's Prayer.-Where shall I find rest? Divine Answer. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see; and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. JER. vi. 16. Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. MATT. xi. 28-30. IN our own ways there is nothing but trouble; but giving ourselves entirely up to be guided by GoD at his own pleasure, we may always be easy, since we know that by every step he brings us nearer to heaven. The only way to rest is the way of repentance and faith; in which we consider ourselves from the beginning, even to the end of our Christian life, as utterly lost and condemned by the law, but as perfectly reconciled and justified through CHRIST. Thus to abide in him, to let him work alone, and be truly resigned to his ways, will certainly have the desired effect; whilst, by the righteousness and workings of our own hearts, we can never attain to it, and, which is worse, may be lulled into a false rest. LORD, I believe a rest remains To all thy people known, A rest, where pure enjoyment reigns, A rest, where all our soul's desire Is fixed on things above; Where grief, and pain, and fear expire, Cast out by perfect love. This is the feast of saints on high, But I may taste below; And sweeter tastes GOD will supply, As into CHRIST I grow. Ye are complete in him. COL. ii. 10. The Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 TIM. iii. 15, 17. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. JOHN i. 16. THINK, O believer, with wonder and amazement, reflect with gratitude and love, that, whilst thou art deploring the common ruin of human nature, and mournfully feeling its sad effects upon thy own soul, thou mayest yet look through all thine imperfection, frailty, and unworthiness, to thy glorious Representative, and see thyself complete in him. The law which would condemn thee, he has completely satisfied: the obedience which it requires, in order to thine acceptance with GOD, he has completely paid; and that eternal life, from which thy sinful imperfections must have for ever barred thee, is now become thine unalienable inheritance, as the reward of his righteousness, who lived and died for thee. Go forth then, and glorify him in heart and life. The more thou believest in him, the more wilt thou love him; and the more thou lovest him, the better wilt thou serve him; and till he shall remove thee from this vale of sin and sorrow, let thy song in the house of thy pilgrimage be this, "Complete in him.” To all my vileness CHRIST is glory bright; Sight to my blindness, to my meanness wealth; Will ye speak wickedly for God, and talk deceitfully for him? JOB xiii. 7. Thy word is truth. JOHN xvii. 17. WHEN Moses saw an Egyptian and an Israelite striving together, he killed the Egyptian and saved the Israelite. Exod. ii. 12. But when he saw two Israelites striving together, he laboured to reconcile them, saying, "Ye are brethren, why do ye strive ?" So when we read, or see, the Apocryphal Books, or Heathen Story, or Popish Traditions, contradicting the Scriptures -as for instance, Jacob curseth the wrath and anger of Simeon and Levi, for murdering the Shechemites, Gen. xlix. 7; and Judith blessed GOD for killing them, Judith 9;-here, and in such-like places, let us kill the Egyptian, but save the Israelite; set a value on the Scriptures, but slight the Apocrypha. But when we meet with any appearance of seeming contradiction in the canon of Scripture, as where it is said, "GOD tempted Abraham," Gen. xxii. 1; and "GOD tempted no man," James i. 13;-here now, and in many other places, we must be reconcilers, and distinguish between a temptation of trial, which is from GOD, and a temptation of seducement, which is by the Devil; and these two seemingly differing friends will appear to be brethren, and agree well. The Spirit breathes upon the word, And brings the truth to sight; A glory gilds the sacred page, It gives a light to every age, It gives, but borrows none. The hand that gave it still supplies |