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P4ITII
IN ITS
LOWEST
DEGREES.
DISC. VIII.
repeated'
twice,
to
confirm
our faith,
so we
can read
them
often, and dwell
upon
them with
pleasure.
All
are
yours
;
for
ye
arc
Christ's, .and Christ
is
God's
;"
1
Cor.
iii.
4
23.
Then
by
virtue
of
this
promise
we
can look to the heavens and the
earth
;
to the sun, moon,
and stars
;
to
Paul,
Apollos,
and
Cephas;
'to,
mini-
sters, and
to
angels;
to
this
world and
the
other
;
to
life
and death,
to things
presentand to
come
;
with a
hum-
ble and pleasurable belief
of
our
interest
in
them,
so
far
as
we
have need ,óf them
to make us
holy
or happy.
And
as
we
look
on
the promises
of
the
bible
with
an-
other
eye than formerly,
so
we
behold the precepts of
it
in a sweeter light
:
We read them
now
as the
rules of
our
happiness,
as
the model
of
our
new
nature,
as the
holy
transcript of
the perfections
of
God, and the
blessed
advices
of our dear
Redeemer. We look
on
his
com-
mandments, and behold
they are no more grievous to
us
for
his law
is
our delight
:
1
John
v.
3.
Ps.
cxix. 77.
As
for the threatenings
of
the book
of
God,
we
once
beheld
them, perhaps, with
a
regardless
eye,
and
a
stupid
heart;
or
if
we
were awakened
we
read them
with
ut-
most terror,
as
the messengers
of
our damnation
:
We
beheld them
as so
many angels
with flaming swords,
to
forbid
our
entrance
into paradise. But
since
we have
seen
Jesus
with an
eye
of
saving
faith, the threatenings
of
scripture
have no more such
a dreadful aspect.
Since the sword has awoke
against the
map
that
was
God's
fellow,
and
all
the
necessary vengeance
was
exe,:-
cuted
on
Christ, our surety,
we
behold
the
threatenings
as
disarmed of
their terror,
and
no
longer a bar
to
our
salvation.
4.
The
face
of God,
shining in
his
terrible attributes
of
holiness and
justice,
was
dreadful
to
our
souls,
so
that
we
could
not
look
upon
him,
and
we
turned our
eyes
away
from
God
:
As
for
his
attributes of
love
and mer-
Cy,
we
had no relish
of
them
;
for
we
had
no solid
hope
in them.
We.saw
nothing
in
God desirable and
delight-
ful to us
:
We
stood
afar off;
we
neglected
and
forgot
him
;
or
else
we
hid ourselves
from
him, as
Adam, did,
because
we
were
afraid.
But
now,.sitice
we
have beheld
God
in
Christ,
as
reconciling
sinners to himself,
now
we
can look
upon
him
is
all
his
awful and
his
peaceful
at-
tributes without dismay;
we
can survey and
dwell
upon