"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." - Rom. v. 21.
Pause, my soul, and put forth thy fullest thoughts in the contemplation
of those two united sources of thy felicity, marked in this verse: the
Father's eternal purpose, in the reign of grace; and the everlasting
efficacy and infinite value of thy Jesus's righteousness, to eternal
life. None but God himself can know the fullness and extent of either.
I am persuaded, that angels of light can never entertain adequate
conceptions of either. The eternal purpose of God hath bounded the
reign of sin; it is but unto death. But those purposes give a further
extent to the redemption from death and sin, by Jesus; for the glory of
Christ's person, and the worth of his salvation, possess in both a vast
over plus, a redundancy of merit, which brings the redeemed into favour
and acceptance in Jesus, and with such a title to everlasting felicity,
as eternity itself can never exhaust- no, nor fully recompense nor pay.
Oh for grace to contemplate the love of the Father, and of the Son, by
this standard; and the love of God the Holy Ghost, through whose
gracious influence we enjoy both. Lord, I would be lost, I would be
swallowed up, day by day, in the unceasing meditation! Dearest,
blessed, precious Jesus! give me to think of nothing else, to speak of
nothing else; but by faith to possess in anticipation, the joys of thy
redeemed, until I come, through thee, and in thee, to the everlasting
enjoyment of them, in thy kingdom of glory.
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