his Son; he gives all things with him. The Gospel allows no place for merit of our own in any respect. There was no moving cause in us, unless our misery may be deemed such. Our deliverance, in its rise, progress, and accomplishment, must be ascribed to grace alone; and he that would glory, must "glory "in the Lord," 1 Cor. 1.

him as

2d, Let us observe the apostle's phrase. He says not absolutely for all, but for us all; that is, those who are described in the former part of the chapter, "Who are led by the Spirit of God, who walk not "after the flesh, who are delivered from the bondage of corruption," who have liberty to call God, Abba, Father," and prove their relation by following "dear children." Christ is "the author of "eternal salvation to those only who obey him," Heb. v. It cannot be otherwise, since a branch of that salvation is to deliver us "from our sins," and "the present evil world," Gal. i.; to "purify us "from dead works, to serve the living God." "Be "not deceived, God will not be mocked; whatsoever "a man soweth, that shall he reap. He that soweth to the flesh, shall," notwithstanding all that Christ has done or suffered, yea, so much the rather, “ of the "flesh reap corruption," Gal vi.

The text having declared, that God spared not his Son for our sakes, proceeds to infer, that "with him he "will assuredly give us all things." Here we may take notice, first, that the words all things must be limited to such as are needful and good for us. It may be said of many of our desires, "Ye know not what ye ask," Matth. xx.: in such cases, the best answer we can receive is a denial. For those blessings which God has promised absolutely to give, such as pardon,

grace, and eternal life, we cannot be too earnest or explicit in our prayers; but in temporal things we should be careful to ask nothing but with submission to the divine will. The promises, it is true, appertain to "the life that now is, as well as that which is to come,' 1 Tim. iv. "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; "all are ours, if we are Christ's," 1 Cor. iii. But the particular modus of these things God has reserved in his own hands, to bestow them as best shall suit our various tempers, abilities, and occasions. And well for us that it is so: for we should soon ruin ourselves if left to our own choice: like children who are fond to meddle with what would hurt them, but refuse the most salutary medicines, if unpalatable; so we often pursue, with earnestness and anxiety, those things which, if we could obtain them, would greatly harm, if not destroy us. Often, too, with a rash and blind impatience, we struggle to avoid or escape those difficulties which God sees fit to appoint for the most gracious and merciful purposes--to correct our pride and vanity, to exercise and strengthen our faith, to wean us from the world, to teach us a closer dependence upon himself, and to awaken our desires after a better inheritance.

Again, as God, by his promise freely to give us all things, has not engaged to comply with the measure of our unreasonable short-sighted wishes; so neither has he confined himself as to the time or manner of bestowing his gifts. The blessing we seek, though perhaps not wholly improper, may be at present unseasonable in this case the Lord will suspend it, till he sees it will afford us the comfort and satisfaction he intends us by it; and then we shall be sure to have it.

Sometimes it is withheld to stir us up to fervency and importunity in our prayers, sometimes to make it douSo likewise bly welcome and valuable when it comes.

as to the manner. We ask one good thing, and he gives us an equivalent in something else; and when we come to weigh all things, we see cause to say his choice was best. Thus David acknowledges: "In the day "that I called, thou didst answer me, and strengthen"edst me with strength in my soul," Ps. cxxxviii. David asked for deliverance from trouble; the Lord gave him strength to bear it; and he allows his prayer was fully answered. A parallel case the apostle records he besought the Lord thrice, 2 Cor. xii. for the removal of that trial which he calls "a thorn in the "flesh;" the answer he received was, " My grace is "sufficient for thee." Such an assurance was more valuable than the deliverance he sought could be. Sometimes we seek a thing in a way of our own, by means and instruments of our own devising. God crosses our feeble purposes, that he may give us the pleasure of receiving it immediately from himself. It were easy to enlarge on this head: let it suffice to know, our concerns are in his hands who does " all "things well;" and who will, and does appoint

to work together for our good."

"all

From the latter clause, thus limited and explained, many useful directions might be drawn. I shall only mention two or three, and conclude.

1st, Since we are told, that God freely gives us all things, let us learn to see and acknowledge his hand in all we have, and in all we meet with. When Jacob was returning to Canaan after a long absence, Gen. xxxii. the fear of his brother Esau occasioned him to divide his family and substance into separate compa

nies; and, comparing his present situation with the poor condition in which he had been driven from home twenty years before, he breaks out into this act of praise, "I am not worthy, O Lord, of all thy mercies; "for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now "I am become two bands!" How pious and how cheering was this reflection! And afterwards, Gen. xxxiii. when his brother Esau asked him concerning his sons, "They are the children, (said he,) which God "has graciously given thy servant." Such a deep and abiding persuasion of the Most High God, ordering and over-ruling all our concerns, would, like the light, diffuse a lustre and a beauty upon every thing around us. To consider every comfort of life as an effect and proof of the divine favour towards us, would, like the feigned alchymist's stone, turn all our possessions to gold, and stamp a value upon things which a common eye might judge indifferent. Nor is this more than the truth: "The hairs of our head are all numbered," Matth. x. "The eye of divine providence is upon every

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sparrow of the field ;" nor can we properly term any circumstance of our lives small, since such as seem most trifling in themselves do often give birth to those which we judge most important. On the other hand, to be able to discover the wisdom and goodness of our heavenly Father, through the darkest cloud of troubles and afflictions; to see all our trials appointed to us, in number, weight, and measure; nothing befalling us by chance, nothing without need, nothing without a support, nothing without a designed advantage: what a stay must these apprehensions he to the soul? Take away these, and man is the most forlorn, helpless, miserable object in the world; pining for every thing he has not, trembling for every thing he has; equally

suffering under the pressure of what does happen, and the fear of what may; liable to thousands of unsuspected dangers, yet unable to guard against those which are most obvious. Were there no future life, it would be our interest to be truly and uniformly religious, in order to make the most of this. How unhappy must they be to whom the thoughts of a God ever present is a burden they strive, in vain, to shake off! But let us learn " to acknowledge him in all our "ways,” and then " he will direct and bless our paths, Prov. iii.

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2d, Since all we have is the gift of God, let this teach us," in whatever state we are, therewith to be ❝content." "Our heavenly Father knoweth what we "have need of before we ask him," Matth. vi. "The "earth is his, and the fulness thereof," Ps. xxiv.; and his goodness is equal to his power; a proof of which we have in the text. He has already given us more than ten thousand worlds. Are you poor? Be satisfied with the Lord's appointment. It were as easy to him to give you large estates, as to supply you with the bread you eat, or to continue your breath in your nostrils; but he sees poverty best for you; he sees prosperity might prove your ruin; therefore he has appointed you the honour of being in this respect conformable to your Lord, who when on earth, "had not "where to lay his head," Matth. viii. Have any of you lost a dear friend or relative, in whose life you "Be still, and

thought your own lives bound up?
"know that he is God," Ps. xlvi. It was he

gave you

that friend; his blessing made your friend a comfort to you; and though the stream is now cut off, the fountain is still full. Be not like a wild bull in a net; the Lord has many ways to turn your mourning into joy.