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324
HOFE
EXCLUDED FROM
IiOPE.'
`SERJ
.
XIX.
no
business
of
great
sagacity,
no
iugenio:us
matter
to
be
-..
come
a
christian.
Believe the
truths that
are plainly re-
vealedi
concerning your
own
:
sin
and
misery, and:
the
power:
of
Jesus Christ
to
save you
;
bewail
your
own,
wretchedness and
guilt,
and intrust
yourselves
-in
the
arms
of
his
grace,
that
ye
maybe
made holy
and
happy,
and
yé
also shall
become possessors
of
the
same
kinñ
dom.
Father,
I
thank
thee,
Lord
.of heaven
and
earth,.
that
though.these
things may
be
hidden
from
the
wise
and
the prudent, yet thou hast revealed
them
to babes,
Mat.
xi. 25.
But
I pursue
the distributions
of
this
grace yet
farther.
5.
No particular tempers or constitutions of
men,
no
different qualities
of
soul
or
body, can
:exclude
those
that
believe from
.
the grace or
blessings
of
this gospel.
Let
not
the strong man glory
in his
strength, nor the
comely figures
of,
human nature boast
themselves
in
their
beauty.
Let
not
the weak
be
overwhelmed with despair;
nor
the
deformed or uncomely
stand afar
off
and aban-
don.
their-hopes.; the same Saviour proposes the riches
of
his
grace to
all.
Learn therefore
to look
upon
all
your natural
advantages,
and
all
your
natural
discou-
ragements,
with
a negligent
eye
in the
matter
of
your
-
salvation.
If
you would be strong., to
win
heaven, you
must
borrow
all
your strength
from
Christ and
the gospel,
:If
you would
appear
comely and honourable
before
the
-face
of
God,
you
must
be
clothed
in
the
robe,
of righte,
ousness,
and
the.
garments
of
salvation, which
he
has
prepared,
Is.1xi..10.
Nor
can any difference
in the
.natural qualities
of
the
soul forbid
any person
who
believes
in Christ
to
hope
for this salvation: Those
who
are
by
nature proud
or
peevish, sullen or-passionate, angry or revengeful, have
been
ruade
partakers
of
this
grace,
as
well as
those
who
by,
the
complexion
of
their
animal
frame,
and the origi-
:nal temper of
their
minds, have
had more
of
the,
natural
virtues belonging
to them
;
such
as
gentleness, meekness
of
spirit,
good
-
humour and
kindness.
Those
who have
something
in
their
very
frame
that
is
sly
and
crafty,,
or
covetous, wanton, and
intemperate,
have felt the power
of
this gospel,
as
well
as
those
that
have
been generous
and
sincere, modest, chaste, and
abstemious; for the
grace
of
the gospel, which
was
typified
by
the
ark of