A SERMON,

&c.

ROMANS, CHAP. VIII. VER. 32.

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered "him up for us all, how shall he not with him "also freely give us all things ?"

THIS, Brethren, is a most important and comprehensive passage of Scripture. Herein are contained "the principles of the doctrine of Christ,"— the foundation of all that a sinner's necessities require the substance of all that a believer can hope for, the spring of all the Christian's expectation, solace, and support. "He that spared "not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, "how shall he not with him also freely give us "all things?"

The Apostle Paul was a sinner," even as others:" but he was a converted sinner: he was a true believer-a real disciple of Christ-a redeemed one. In this character, then, and in the name of all who "joy-ed in God through our Lord Jesus

3

? Acts ix. 1-22. 2 Cor. xii. 1-12. Rom. i. 1,5. 1 Tim. i. 12, 13. 2 Tim.i. 11, 12.

"Christ, by whom (they had) received the atone66 ment, "he indited, by Divine inspiration, the encouraging words of the Text; which unfold to us the free grace of God in man's Redemption, and its everlasting benefits.

These words naturally divide themselves into two parts:

First," He that spared not his own Son, but "delivered him up for us all."-And here we are directly led to the consideration of

1. The Necessity,

2. The Cause, and

3. The Method of man's Redemption.

The Second part is grounded on the former, viz. -"How shall he not with him also freely give us "all things ?"-Here we have also three points of inquiry, viz.

1. What are the gifts included under the

expression "all things?"

2. How these are bestowed? and

3.

To whom they are given?

In the First Part are included the words, "He "that spared not his own Son, but delivered him

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up for us all.”—And here, as just stated, we are directly led to the consideration of the Necessity, the Cause, and the Method of man's Redemption. 1st. The Necessity. This, although not expressly declared in the words before us, is nevertheless plainly understood. Deliverance implies

4 Rom. v. 11.

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extrication out of a state of thraldom or captivity --and salvation implies freedom from perdition. If God then "spared not his own Son, but delivered "him up for us all"—our previous state of misery and inevitable ruin must be consequently inferred. And more than this-if the extent of misery in which we were involved is to be estimated by the price that purchased its removal, truly then must that misery be immeasurably great, and the necessity of deliverance from it most peremptory.

Behold, then, the last and noblest achievement of God's creating power-fashioned in his Maker's image, endowed with every natural perfection of soul and body adequate to the end for which he was designed; behold this upright being," the object of his Creator's love, falling from his high estate! With a liberty of will to choose the good and avoid the evil-he, in a luckless hour, preferred the latter, and by a wilful violation of the Divine command, forfeited his right to God's favor, fell under his heaviest displeasure, and incurred the threatened penalty of disobedience-" thou shalt "surely die." The consequences of man's apostacy and rebellion were immediate.-He became corrupted in every faculty of his soul, and consequently subject to the everlasting wrath of God. death which had been denounced as the preventive punishment of sin he now justly merited. "The wages of sin is death:" death not only of the 5 Gen. i. 27. 6 Eccles. vii. 29. 7 Gen. ii. 17. 8 Rom. vi. 23:

B

The

body, not merely a temporal dissolution, but an eternal loss of all that inconceivable felicity which the soul had been rendered capable of enjoying.

Not confined however to the original transgressor, the effects as well as the consequences of sin were transmitted to all his posterity. "By 66 one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that "all have sinned." Therefore "in Adam all die.”

For we read that "Adam begat a son in his own likeness"-in his own defaced resemblance, with a will averse to the Divine law, his desires sensual, his inclinations earthly, and his ability to please God totally lost. All his descendants must therefore partake of the same corrupt qualities, for "who can bring a clean thing out of "an unclean? not one." Accordingly the Scriptures universally declare the carnality of the soul -its enmity against God, and the consequent guilt and condemnation of which all are naturally the inheritors. Hear the description of the state of mankind before the flood, as given by the inspired Historian: "God saw that the wickedness of man "was great in the earth, and that every imagina“tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil "continually." Again-God himself declares that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from "his youth;" an asseveration which indisputably

9 Rom. v. 12.

3 Job xiv. 4.

11 Cor. xv. 22.

2 Gen. v. 3.

4 Gen. vi, 5. 5 Gen. viii. 21.