21S FAITf IN ITS LOWEST DECREES. DISC. VII. word óf God never sounds ; Ye that have lived hitherto like wild heathens in the ends of the earth, ifany such are present in this assembly, remember you are this day called as it were by the prophet from heaven, and by the word of the living God, from the lips of his ministers on earth, to look to God in Christ, as reconciling the world to himself; to look to Jesus the Saviour, in whom all the fulness of the godhead dwells. The third enquiry proceeds thus : What is this salva- tion to which we are invited ? It is the same salvation that Israel shall enjoy, the Israel of God, the people of his love': They shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. ver. 17. In general, it is a salvation from sin, and all the dismal consequences of it. This is the reason of the name Jesus, or. the Saviour; Mat. i. 21. " Ile shall save his people from their sins." And it is the same Jesus, " who delivers us from the Wrath to come ;" 1 Thess. i. 1O Particularly, (1.) It is a sàlvation from the guilt of past sins, which exposes us to divine vengeance, and a restoration of the person to the present love and favour of God, to peace of conscience, and to the hope of eter- nal life. (2.) It is a salvation and recovery from the power of sin to the power of holiness. It is a deliverance from vile affections and sinful practices to the practice and the love of all piety and goodness : It is a recovery' of our nature from the lusts of the flesh, and the life of a brute, to the reasonable and becoming life of a man Or an angel. It is a rescue of the soul from the tyranny of its own lusts, and the foul image of Satan, to a sweet and sacred liberty, to a religious self-government, and to the image of God. (3.) It is a deliverance from all the future punish- ments due to sin, from the everlasting misery of hell, together with the conveyance of a right and title to the everlasting happiness of heaven. It is a blessing that runs through this world and the world to come. It is a total and complete deliverance from all that you feel, and all that you fear. It is all -sufficient and eternal sal- vation. Whatsoever your ruin, your distress, or your danger be, there is something in this salvation that is suited to 5
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