Transcribed from the 1819 R. Thomas edition by David Price, email [email protected]
THE GRACIOUS DESIGNS OF GOD _ACCOMPLISHED_, BY THE MALICE OF HIS ENEMIES.
Delivered on WEDNESDAY, November 24th, 1819,
Commit thy Way unto the LORD; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.—PSALM xxxvii, 5th Verse.
SOUTHWARK: PRINTED BY R. THOMAS, RED LION STREET, BOROUGH.
_But God meant it unto good_.—GEN. l. 20th verse.
THE sacred pages are designed by the God of all grace, to reveal the glorious salvation of lost, ruined, guilty man. The adorable Author of this inestimable blessing, with its amazing contrivance, and the means appointed for the knowledge and enjoyment of it—the eternal love of God as the source, the finished work of Christ, God-Man Mediator, and the gracious energy and operations of the Holy-making Spirit, are the appointed means for the accomplishment and application of this glorious salvation. This is the subject matter of the Gospel, as set forth in the word, and experienced by all who are taught of God; and while we would adore the sacred Trinity in Unity, for the revelation of his gracious will, in the matter of a sinner’s salvation from merited ruin, so we desire, at the same time, to search the scriptures for all the suited promises and encouragements therein given to the believer, in his complicated trials; and whatever may be the nature of those trials, the Bible fully assures him, that a covenant God has marked out his path in love, and in infinite wisdom; and though the hand of God may lay heavy upon him in deep afflictions, and the dispensations of divine providence may be very dark, and his trials very severe, it is a mercy to know, to believe, and be enabled to rest on the Staff of divine faithfulness; ever bearing in mind, that the grand design of every conflict, is to answer the purposes of the divine glory; and, ultimately, to bring the believer to himself, to great nearness and conformity to Christ, and, finally, to everlasting bliss. For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, worketh for us an exceeding and eternal weight glory, while we look not at the things which are temporal.
The instrument a wise and gracious Father may use, to answer these ends, may be singular; and frequently they are those who are very dear to our hearts, and nearly allied in nature, profession, or friendship. Such, alas! may be permitted to distress the mind and grieve the heart, by the exercise of malice, arising from some predominant evil disposition, and frequently without any apparent cause, save that of envy; but the Lord who has decreed to permit this, has also decreed to over-rule it, for our spiritual, and sometimes even for our temporal good. The Lord very frequently makes the evil devised against us by Satan and his emissaries, answer many valuable purposes; and so wisely manages those things, which appear to be the greatest evils, to be the greatest advantage to us, and to effect his own glory in some mysterious way. Our mercy, under every dispensation, is to lay passive in his hand, to believe in his love, and to be humbled before him, well knowing that he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will; and while the mind is thus engaged to hear, also on universal goodwill to those who may injure us, quite forgetting, and freely forgiving them, as we have been forgiven, to conceal as much as possible their infirmities, even while we plead our own innocence; and in exculpating ourselves, we cannot be too careful to avoid reflecting upon those, who have dealt so cruelly with us. This is the spirit of true religion and genuine christianity.