by his coming; remembering on the one hand, that "if we sin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries":❞ and constantly trusting on the other hand, not in any fancied righteousness of our own, but in the merits of our blessed Redeemer; being well assured that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"," but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To whom, in the Unity of the Father and the Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, be all honour power and glory for ever!

z Heb. x. 6, 7.

a Acts iv. 12.

VOL. I.

I

SERMON VI.

THE LOVE OF GOD THE MOTIVE TO MAN'S SALVA

TION.

ROM. V. 7, 8.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

66

IN my last discourse, I endeavoured to lay before you in detail the purpose for which Christ suffered; namely, as generally expressed in his own declaration, that he might save that which was lost." I propose on this occasion to consider the motive, which impelled him to undertake those sufferings in order to the salvation of mankind. Various scriptures concur in ex

pressly assigning the salvation of mankind to the divine love as its motive. "God commendeth his love towards us, in that Christ died for us;" as we read it in St. Paul's declaration in my text. "In this was manifested the love of God towards us," saith St. John, "because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." And again, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.” And our blessed Lord himself tells us, that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Such are the declarations of scripture, expressly asserting "the love of God" to have been the moving cause of our salvation: and the representations, which it gives us of our own lost condition, cooperate with these declarations in assuring us, that there was nothing in us which could deserve so gracious an interposition;-nothing in us,

с

a 1 John iv. 9. b 1 John iii. 16. • John iii. 16.

which could move him, to undertake our salvation, and to bestow upon us everlasting life; unless it were our very forlorn and desperate condition itself, which by depriving us of all other hopes of restoration, rendered us fit objects for the exercise of almighty love.

66

For what expectation could we have of the divine favour; what could we claim, but a sentence of condemnation ; ; what could we merit but death, everlasting death;-we, who were already" dead in trespasses and sins";"-we, who are altogether corrupt and abominable"," corrupt by inheritance of our nature and abominable by our actual iniquities;-we, who were "the children of disobedience';"-we, who were the willing slaves of Satan; and "alienated from the life of God" ?" Surely whatever blessing was conferred on creatures, whose situation is thus described by the word of truth, it could not have been conferred upon them for any quality,

d Eph. ii. 1. 8 Eph. iv. 18.

e Psalm liii. 1.

f Eph. ii. 2.