DISC. tV.1 IN HIS SAÌNTS. 397 in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off; and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, Heb. xi. 13. They died in the hope of this salvation, and they shall arise in the blessed pos- session of it. Behold Abraham appearing there, the father of the faithful, who " saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced ,to_ see it," John viii. 56. who trusted in his Son Jesus two thousand years before he was born.: His elder family, the pious Jews, surround him there, and we, his younger children among the gentiles, shall standwith him as the followers of his faith, who trust in the same Jesus, al- most two thousandyears after he is dead. How shall we both rejoice to see this brightest day of the Son of man, and congratulate each other's faith, while our eyes meet and centre in him, and our souls triumph in the sight, love, and enjoyment of him, in whom we have believed How admirable and divinely glorious shall our Lord him- self appear, on whom every eye is fixed with unuttera- ble delight, in whom the faith of distant countries and ages is centered and reconciled, and in whom " all_ the nations of the earth appear to be blessed," according to the ancient word of promise, Gen. xii. 3. and xviii. 18. Secondly, It is a further occasion of pleasing wonder, "That, so many wicked, obstinate wills of men, and so many perverse of èctions should be bowed down, and submit themselves to The holy rules of the gospel." This is another instance of the grace of Christ, and shall be the subject of our joyful admiration. Every son and daughter of Adam, by nature, is averse to God, inclined to sin, a child of disobedience and death, Elite. ii. (2, ;. There is a new miracle wrought by Christ in every in- stance of converting grace, and he shall have the glory of them all in that day. It is a first resurrection from the dead, it is a new creation, and the almighty power shall then be publicly adored. Then one shall say, " I was a sensual sinner, drenched in liquor and unclean lusts, and wicked in all the forms of lewdness and intemperance: "The grace of God my Saviour, appeared to me, and taught me to deny worldly lusts," Tit. ii.. 11, le., which I once thought I could never have partedwith. I loved my sins as my life, but he has persuaded and constrained me tocut off a right-hand,and
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