PART r. SERMON VIL 101 his eldest son too; being pleased with his tall and comely figure, andto saywithin himself, " It is' apity that Eliabwas not made a king." But David was God'sbeloved. If the question were put to ùs, Who are the persons that are fit to stand in the court of God above, to be the inhabitants and ornaments of heaven ? We should be ready to say, the beautiful and the ingenious, the souls of a sweet disposition, and the persons ofgraceful behaviour. We are temptedto think that the well;born,'the wise, the affable, and the well-accomplished, should all be made saints, and the favourites of God buthe sees withother eyes, he determines his special love by other principles, and makes another sort of distinction by his sovereign saving grace, unguided and unallured by the' merit of man. 1 Cor. i. 26, 27, 28, 29. " Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men 'after the flesh, not many mighty, not manynoble, are called But God bath chosen the foolish things ofthe world, to confound the wise ; and God bath chosen the weak things Of the- world, to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of theworld, and things which are despised, bath God chosen : yea, and things which arenot, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory inhis presence.' What would becomeof the morose, the rough natùral tem- pers, if God loved none but such as were lovely in our eyes ? What would become ofall the deformed and the most uncomely pieces of human nature; the clownish, and the weak, and base things of this world, if God should chuse none but thefair, and the well-bred, the well-figured, and the honourable ? If this were the rule ofhis conduct, what dismal distinction would light upon thousands, and some good men too, who must wear in their faces, inthis world, the dreadful sentence of their damnation in- the next ? But the greatand sovereign God actsby other mea- sures ; he lays down to himself divine rules, that are to us un- known, and must befor ever unsearchable. Some, who are endowed with native excellencies, he adorns with heavenly graces, and they shine as jewels set in rings of gold : Others, who have scarce any thing in them amiable by nature, are the objects of divine lové, and made vessels ofgrace ; though these do never make so charming an appearance among men. Moses the meek and obliging, Jonah the rough and the, peevish, were both beloved of God ; for he made saints and pro- phets of them. Abraham the rich, and Sarah the beautiful ; Peter thepoor fisherman, and Paulthe man:ofmean aspect, and contemptible figure ; were all belovedof God, and made heirs of eternal Life. The conduct, of the great God, in this mat- ter, is so various, and his reasons so sublime and impenetrable, that it is in vain for us to attemptto trace outhis rul?s ofaction. a 3
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=