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LECTURE VII.

THE GRACE OF THE GOSPEL AS A DIVINE GIFT.

The unsearchable riches of Christ.-EPHESIANS, III. 8.

We understand these, as the unsearchable provisions of grace, which are contained in the gospel of Christ. These provisions the Apostle Paul was sent to offer to the gentiles; and in the whole of his ministrations, he shows us the remarkable difference which there is between that view of the gospel which is the result of speculative examination merely, and that view of it which has been formed from an experience of its life-giving power. The man who examines the gospel upon its exterior, sees much in it to admire, for its beauty of moral precepts, its attractive examples of personal character, and its peculiar revelations of the existence and character of God; and upon this ground he may advocate and enforce the system of religion which he conceives the New Testament to contain.

The man who has experienced the power of the gospel to convert and sanctify, forgets these peculiar reasons for valuing its revelations, in his wondering admiration of it, as a system of unsearchable grace for the chief of sinners. Our minds will naturally dwell upon that aspect of this system, with the most constancy and delight, which we feel to be most suited to our individual wants; and if we have felt ourselves to be ruined sinners, and have sought in 'the gospel a remedy for our necessities, we shall pass over every minor

characteristic, and adore the exceeding riches of grace which Almighty God has been pleased here to exhibit.

This view of the gospel occupied the thoughts and affections of the apostle Paul. He seldom speaks of Jesus or his dispensation, except under the idea of a scheme of glorious salvation; of which, in infinite mercy, he had been made a subject, though he was before a persecutor, a blasphemer, and injurious. Paul's knowledge of the truth was the result of an experience of its power; and to the same experience, he desired to bring all to whom he addressed himself, as an ambassador of Christ. He had found a home, a resting place for his soul, dwelling in Christ; and Christ had found an equally permanent abode in his soul, dwelling in him.

No view of the gospel is so honourable to God, or so comforting and suitable to ourselves, as this to which your attention is now to be directed: the riches of its grace as a divine gift to man. The apostle states to the Ephesians, that God especially designed, in the salvation which he had provided in the gospel," to show in the ages to come, the exceeding riches of his grace in Christ Jesus;" and to further and promote this design, had commissioned him, though less than the least of all saints, to preach among the Gentiles "the unsearchable riches of Christ."

I have selected these words of the apostle as a text, because they show the fact, which it is my design to exhibit in this discourse, that the provisions of grace offered to sinners in the gospel, are truly unsearchable. They are adequate to supply every want; they are adapted to every circumstance and relation of man; they are sufficient for the necessities of the whole race of men,

. I. The unsearchable grace of the gospel is displayed in the freeness with which it offers every blessing to man. It requires nothing to be done by us in order to merit its blessings. It never puts us upon earning an interest in the mer

cies which it has provided. To the utmost meaning of the terms, every blessing of the gospel is a free gift of God to man. They are as much so as the manna which was rained from heaven upon the Israelites, or the water which followed them from the rock in their wanderings through the wilderness. Under this character, as free and unmerited gifts, the privileges of the gospel are presented through the whole inspired volume. The first promise of a Saviour is a remarkable illustration of this fact. That promise was not given in answer to any solicitations on the part of our first parents. They could hardly be supposed able to conceive of the possibility of such a promise. Indeed it was not literally given to them at all. It was included in the threatening which was denounced by God against the serpent who had deceived them, and not personally addressed either to Adam or Eve; "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The Saviour was thus a free gift of God, a gift unthought of by man; and every blessing which the Saviour brings, is as entirely a free gift as himself. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The whole amount of mercies and privileges which the gospel bestows, are unclogged with any conditions. The gracious invitations which it addresses to men, are entirely unlimited in their application. "Ho! every one that thirsteth," it says upon the high places of the earth, "and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, buy wine and milk without money and without price." And again, in the conclusion of its book of grace, it says again, "The Spirit and the bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the waters of life freely."

Now here is exhibited the unsearchable riches of the gas

pel. It comes to creatures who can do nothing to deserve its blessings, or to acquire an interest in its glorious promises, and presents itself as perfectly suitable to their wants, by offering freely and unconditionally to their acceptance, all the mercies they can desire. Fallen creatures can do nothing to restore themselves. The angels who are confined in chains of darkness can do nothing to obtain salvation from their ruin. They are utterly incapable of meriting God's favour, and we are equally so. No salvation would avail us any thing which required us to do any thing previously, to deserve its bestowal upon us.

The whole Scripture unites to caution us against the thought of earning grace: "Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? that is to bring Christ down from above; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Yes, we do preach, as the Holy Ghost preaches throughout the whole Bible, that to receive every divine blessing by faith, freely, as it is freely offered, is the only office assigned to any child of man. After we have embraced the invitations of the gospel, we have much to do to honour and adorn it in all holy conversation and godliness; yet our first reception of its blessings must be altogether free, and we must stand indebted for them solely to the sovereign grace of God.

But while I merely say the gospel shows its riches of grace in offering every blessing freely, I say too little. St. Paul expresses the greatest jealousy upon this subject. He declares

that if we attempt to do any thing, however good in itself, expecting by it, either in whole or in part, to merit our salvation, we make void the whole gospel. "Behold I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." Salvation must be wholly of works, or wholly of grace. If salvation were of works, in ever so small a degree, there would be room for boasting; for we should have done something for ourselves. Whereas, under the gospel, boasting must be utterly excluded; and salvation from first to last, must be received as a free gift of God for Christ's sake.

What unsearchable grace is this! and still more so, if you consider to whom such offers are freely made. The invitations of the gospel are presented and pressed upon the attention of beings universally depraved; beings who perversely reject all that has been done for them, who stand out to resist its gracious influence, and to fight against God, until they are subdued and led captive by a power stronger than themselves. These gracious invitations of God follow these creatures, through all the wanderings of their sinful lives, still pressing upon their attention the solemn call," Turn ye, for why will ye die." The gospel of Jesus, in the tenderness of its compassion, literally persecutes the sinner with its entreaties that he would be saved. It will not give him up. It is like a rich and noble prince, who should follow a mendicant up and down, beseeching him to accept the assistance which he offers; and thus freely offering, and perseveringly offering, unsearchable riches to sinners who could deserve nothing, who despise and reject the mercies which are presented, and weary the patience of the Most High with their perverseness, the gospel displays its unspeakable grace as a gift of God to those who are really perishing in their sins.

II. The unsearchable grace of the gospel as a divine gift, is displayed in the full and perfect manner in which it communicates its blessings to man. There is not a want in the

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