before, now they are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all their delight.

Lesson 11. All that come to Christ are taught of God, that whatever difficulties they apprehend in religion, they must not, on pain of damnation, be discouraged thereby, or return again to sin: "No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God," Luke ix. 62. Ploughing work is hard work; a strong and steady hand is required for it: he that ploughs must keep on, and make no balks in the hardest ground he meets with. Religion is the running of a race, 1 Cor. ix. 24; there is no standing still, much less turning back, if we hope to win the prize.

The devil, indeed, labours in every way to discourage the soul by representing the insuperable difficulties of religion; and young beginners are but too apt to fall into despondency; but the teachings of the Father encourage them, and they are carried on from strength to strength against all the oppositions they meet from without, and the discouragements they find within them. To this conclusion they are brought by the teaching of God: "We must have Christ, we must obtain pardon, we must strive for salvation, let the difficulties and sufferings be never so great or so many." As one said, "It is necessary that I go on, it is not necessary that I live;" so says the soul that is taught of God. It is easier for me to dispense with ease, honour, relations, yea, with life itself, than to part with Christ, and the hopes of eternal life.

Lesson 12. They that come to Christ are taught of God, that whatever unworthiness they discover in themselves, and whatever their fears as to acceptance; yet it is their wisdom to venture themselves upon Jesus Christ, whatever be the issue. Three great discouragements are usually found in the hearts of those that come to Christ in the way of faith:

1. The greatness of guilt and sin. How can I go to Christ, that have been so vile a wretch? And here measu

ring the grace and mercy of Christ by what it finds in itself or in other creatures, the soul is ready to sink under the weight of its own discouraging thoughts, 1 Sam. xxiv. 19.

2. The sense they have of their own insufficiency to do what God requires: "My heart is harder than adamant, how can I break it? My will is stubborn and obstinate; the frame and temper of my spirit are altogether carnal and earthly, and it is not in the power of my hand to change

it; alas! I cannot subdue any one corruption, nor perform one spiritual duty, nor bear one of those burdens which religion lays upon all that follow Christ." This also proves a great discouragement in the way of faith.

3. And, which is more than all, the soul that is coming to Jesus Christ has no assurance of acceptance with him, if it should venture itself upon him. It is much more probable, if I look to myself, that Christ will shut the door of mercy against me.

But, under all these discouragements, the soul learns this lesson from God, that, ungodly as it is, it is every way its duty and concern to go on in the way of faith, and make the great venture of itself upon Jesus Christ. And of this the Lord convinces the soul by two things:

(1.) The soul sees an absolute necessity of coming. Necessity is laid upon it; there is no other way, Acts iv. 12. God has shut it up by a blessed necessity to this only door of escape, Gal. iii. 23. Damnation lies in the neglect of Christ, Heb. ii. 3. The soul has no choice in this case; angels, ministers, duties, cannot save me; Christ, and none but Christ, can deliver me from present guilt and the wrath to come. Why do I delay, when certain ruin must inevitably follow the neglect or refusal of gospel offers?

(2.) The Lord shows those under his teaching the probabilities of mercy for their encouragement in believing. And these probabilities the soul is enabled to gather from the general and free invitations of the gospel, Isa. Iv. 1, 7; Rev. xxii. 17-from the conditional promises of the gospel, John vi. 37; Matt. xi. 28; Isa. i. 18—from the vast extent of grace beyond all the thoughts of men, Isa. lv. 8, 9; Heb. vii. 25-from the encouraging examples of other sinners, who have found mercy in as bad a condition as they, 1 Tim. i. 13; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13; 2 Cor. vi. 10, 11from the command of God, which answers all the objections of unworthiness and presumption in them that come to Christ, 1 John iii. 23; and from the changes already made upon the temper of the heart. "Time was when I had no sense of sin, or sorrow for it; no desire after Christ, no heart to duties. But it is not so with me now: I now see the evil of sin so as I never saw it before; my heart is now broken in the sense of that evil; my desires begin to be inflamed after Jesus Christ; I am not at rest, nor where I would be, till I am in secret mourning after the Lord Jesus surely these are the dawnings of the day of mercy;

:

lepers at the stay here, I Hence beThus you

let me go on in this way." It saith, as the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings vii. 3, 4, "If I perish" If I go to Christ, I can but perish. lievers bear up against all discouragements. have the lessons which all who come to Christ are taught by the Father.

Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ.

SERMON XXIII.

99

NECESSITY OF BEING "TAUGHT OF GOD' -CONTINUED.

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. John vi. 45.

IN the last discourse we considered the great truth, that the teachings of God are absolutely necessary to every soul that cometh unto Christ in the way of faith. I have shown, (1) What is implied in the teachings of God; and (2) What those special lessons are which believers hear and learn of the Father. It remains to show, (3) What are the properties of Divine teaching; (4) What influence they have in bringing souls to Christ; and (5) Why it is impossible for any man to come to Christ without these teachings of the Father.

III. What are THE PROPERTIES OF DIVINE TEACHING? Concerning the teachings of God we affirm in general, that though they do not exclude, yet they vastly differ from all human teachings: as the power of God transcends all human power, so the wisdom of God in teaching transcends all human wisdom.

x. 4.

1. God teaches powerfully. He speaks to the soul. When the word comes accompanied with the Spirit, it is mighty, through God, to cast down all imaginations, 2 Cor. Now the gospel comes not in word only, as it was wont to do, but in power, 1 Thess. i. 4, 5; a power that makes the soul fall down before it, and acknowledge that God is in that word, 1 Cor. xiv. 25.

2. The teachings of God are sweet. Men never relish the sweetness of truth till they learn it from God: His name is as ointment poured forth, Sol. Song i. 3; "His mouth is most sweet," Sol. Song v. 16. O how powerfully, and how sweetly, does the voice of God slide into the hearts of poor broken-hearted sinners! how dry and taste

less are the discourses of men compared with the teachings of the Father!

3. God teaches plainly. He not only opens truths to the understanding, but he opens the understanding also to perceive them. In that day the vail is taken away from the heart, 2 Cor. iii. 16; a light shines into the soul, a beam from heaven is darted into the mind, Luke xxiv. 45. Divine teachings are satisfying; the soul doubts and hesitates no more, but acquiesces in what God teaches, and is so satisfied, that it can venture all upon the truth of what it has learned from God: as a martyr once said, "I cannot dispute, but I can die for Christ." See Prov. viii. 8, 9.

4. The teachings of God are infallible. The wisest of men may mistake, and lead others into mistakes; but it is not so in the teachings of God. If we can be sure that God teaches us, we may be as sure of the truth of what he teaches; for his Spirit guideth us into all truth, John xvi. 3, and into nothing but truth.

5. The teachings of God are abiding; they make everlasting impressions upon the soul; they are ever with it, Psa. cxix. 98. The words of men vanish, but the words of God abide: what God teaches, he writes upon the heart, Jer. xxxi. 33, and that will abide. It is usual with those whose understandings have been opened by the Lord, to say, many years afterward, "I shall never forget such a Scripture which once convinced, such a promise which once encouraged me.”

6. The teachings of God are saving, they make the soul wise unto salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. There is much of other knowledge that goes to hell with men; but "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," John xvii. 3. This is deservedly styled the light of life, John viii. 12. In this light we shall see light, Psa. xxxvi. 9.

7. The teachings of God make their way into the weakest capacities: "The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly," Isa. xxxii. 4. Upon this account Christ said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes," Matt. xi. 25. It is admirable to see what clear illuminations some illiterate Christians have in the mysteries of Christ and salvation, which others, of great abilities, deep