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Occafioned by the Death of Mr EDWARD LUDLOW. Preached Jan. 1, 1749.

2 THESS. II. 16.

And good hope through grace.

HREE things the apoftle does in the context: he defcribes the happy state and condition of the perfons he writes to; he exhorts them to ftand

faft in the faith, and hold faft the truth; and he prays for them.

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First, He defcribes their happy state, in oppofition to the followers of the man of fin, the son of perdition, who were given up to believe a lie, that they might be damned. First, by their character, as Brethren; of Chrift, of the apoftle, and of one another, in a spiritual relation; and as beloved of the Lord, or of God, as fome verfions; of God the Father, who had fo loved them as to give his Son for them; of the Lord Jefus Chrift; who had given himself for them; and of the Lord the Spirit, who had quickened and fanctified them: and he further describes them by their election of God, for which he thought himself bound to give thanks to God for them; the date of which is, from the beginning, or eternity; the means, fan&tification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; the end, salvation; the evidence, the effectual call of them by the gospel to the enjoyment of that glory, which Chrift is in the poffeffion of, and is preparing for them.

Secondly, He exhorts them to ftand. faft in the faith of the gofpel, and not be moved away from it; feeing they were fo much in the favour of God, were chofen of him, and called by him and to hold fast the traditions they had been inftructed in, both by word of mouth and by letter: not the traditions of the Jewish elders; nor fuch like unwritten traditions the Papists plead for; but the truths and ordinances of the gofpel; fo called, because delivered by Christ to his. apostles, and by them to the churches, either by fpeech, or by writing; and are the evangelical cabala, which ought to be held fast till Chrift's fecond coming. Thirdly, He prays for them, as being moft affectionately concerned for their welfare; and therefore he follows his exhortations with petitions; well knowing.

this.

this was the most effectual way to have them fucceed. The objects addreffed are, our Lord Jefus Chrift himself, and God, even our Father; two divine perfons in the godhead and seeing our Lord Jefus Chrift is equally prayed unto as God our Father; and the fame things are asked of him as of the Father; and the fame gifts and bleflings of grace are afcribed to the one as to the other; yea, he is mentioned in the addrefs before his Father; we may conclude his perfect equality with him, and fo his true and proper deity; or prayer, which is fuch a confiderable branch of worship, would not be made to him, nor would he be placed on an equal foot with his Father, and much less be set before him. The things prayed for are, that thefe divine perfons would comfort their hearts; with fresh difcoveries of their love to them; with renewed applications of pardoning grace and mercy; with the exceeding great and precious promifes of the gospel; by the word and ordinances of it; and by granting them fellowship with Father, Son, and Spirit, in private and in public: and alfo, that they would ftablish them in every good word and work; in every truth of the gospel, and in the practice of every duty. It is a good thing for a chriftian to have his heart eftablished in the doctrines of grace; and it is his honour to be fedfaft and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: and though the faints are in a firm and stable ftate, as being interested in everlasting love, fecured in the covenant of grace, and safe in the arms of Chrift; yet they have need of establishment in the prefent truths, that fo they may not be carried away with the error of the wicked; and in the exercise of grace, that they may not fall from the stedfaftness of their faith; and in the difcharge of duty, that they be not drawn off from it. Now there is abundant reafon to conclude that these petitions would be heard and answered,

1. From the characters of the perfons addressed, our Lord Jefus Chrift himself; he who is our Lord, not by creation only, as he is Lord of all; but by redemption, having bought us with his precious blood, and therefore are not our own, but his; and by virtue of a marriage-relation to us, he having-efpoufed us to himself in righteoufnefs, mercy, and loving-kindness; and therefore, is our Lord, and we should worship him and moreover he is Jefus, our Saviour and Redeemer, who has faved us from our Sins, and from wrath to come, with an everlasting falvation; and is the Chrift of God, anointed to be Prophet, Priest, and King, which offices he fuftains and executes for us; and therefore may it: not reasonably be concluded that whatsoever is afked of him and in his name, will be granted? The other perfon is God even our Father; not by creation merely, as he is of all men, who are his offspring, and the care of his providence; but by adoption, through Jefus Chrift: he who is Chrift's God is our God, and he who is Christ's Father is our Father; which relation is owing to his

free

free favour and love; and if earthly parents are ready and willing to give good gifts to their children to the utmoft of their power; will not our heavenly Father give every good and needful thing to his children, fo near and dear to him? and which may be further concluded,

2. From the love each perfon bore to thofe for whom the petitions are prefented which hath loved us; which relates both to God our Father, and to our Lord Jefus Chrift, who have both loved us; such who were by nature children of wrath, enemies in their minds by wicked works; and were far from having any true love to God or Chrift; fo far from it, that they were enmity itself unto them, and yet loved by them. Matchlefs, unparalleled Grace! The Father loved them, and therefore appointed them not unto the wrath they deserved, but to obtain falvation by Jefus Chrift; loved them, and therefore made a covenant with them in Chrift, ordered in all things and fure, full of precious promises and spiritual bleffings, fuited to their cafes and circumftances; loved them, and therefore made them the care and charge of his Son, put them into his hands, and laid up grace and glory for them; loved them, and therefore fent his Son in the likenefs of finful flefh to be the Saviour and Redeemer of them; loved them, and therefore fpared him not, but delivered him up into the hands of justice and death for them; loved them, and therefore begot them again to a lively hope, and quickened them when dead in trefpaffes and fins ; loved them, and therefore justified them, pardoned them, and adopted them into his family, and made them heirs of himself, and joint-heirs with Christ. And our Lord Jefus Chrift himself loved them with the fame love his Father did, and as early; and therefore in eternity became their furety, and espoused their persons and cause; loved them, and therefore in time affumed their nature, bore their forrows, took upon him their fins, and fuffered for them; loved them, and therefore gave himself an offering unto God for them; loved them, and therefore shed his precious blood for the remiffion of their fins, and washed them from them in it; loved them, and therefore is gone to prepare heaven and happiness for them, and will come again and take them to himself, that where he is, they may be also. Now, from perfons of fo much love, and who have given such strong proofs of it, what may not be expected? And which may be ftill further concluded,

3. From the gifts of grace, bestowed as the fruits of fuch love: and bath given us everlasting confolation; God is the God of comfort, and all true comfort fprings from him; Chrift is the confolation of Ifrael, and if there is any real, folid comfort, it is in him, and comes by him, through his blood, righteousness, and facrifice; and which is applied by the holy Spirit, through the word and ordinances, which are breasts of confolation; and by the ministers of the gofpel, who are Barnabafes, fons of comfort; and miferable comforters are all

others

others that attempt to comfort in another way. And whatever comfort is had in this way, is a pure gift of God the Father and our Lord Jefus Chrift; it is what men are undeferving of, and therefore the leaft measure of it should not be reckoned fmall; because those that share it are by nature children of wrath, as others and though this, as to fenfible enjoyment, does not always continue, but is interrupted through the prevalence of corruptions, the violence of Satan's temptations, and through divine defertions; yet the foundation of it is always, and is everlasting, as the everlafting love of God; and therefore the elect are not, and cannot be confumed; the everlasting covenant of grace, which yields. the heirs of promise strong confolation; the everlasting righteousness of Christ, by which being juftified, they have peace with God; and everlasting salvation by him, and therefore shall be faved from wrath to come; and both Christ and the holy Spirit, the other comforter, always abide, and are the fame to-day, yesterday, and for ever: and befides, as the fpiritual joy of believers is what no man can take away from them, fo it eventually iffues in everlafting confolation, without any interruption in the future ftate; when the redeemed fhall be come to Zion, they shall have everlasting joy on their heads, and forrow and fighing shall flee away. The other gift is good hope through grace; and fince God and Christ have bestowed fuch high favours upon the faints, it may be reasonably thought, that they will go on to comfort their hearts, and establish them.. And this clause in the text being what our deceased friend pointed at, and laid the emphasis upon, I shall a little more largely infift upon it, and do the following things.

First, I fhall give fome account of the nature of the grace of hope.
Secondly, Shew the original of it, that it is of God, and a gift of his.
Thirdly, Explain in what fenfe it is through grace.

Fourthly, Make it appear that such an hope is a good one.

First, I fhall give fome account of the nature of the grace of bope; and which: may be learnt in a good measure from the things with which it is converfant. And,

ft, It is of things unfeen. An object feen and enjoyed leaves no room for the exercise of hope about it; wherefore the apoftle fays, hope that is feen is not hope; that is, what is feen and enjoyed is not the object of hope; and hope can be no longer converfant with it, fince it is in actual poffeffion; concerning which the fame infpired writer in the fame place thus ftrongly reafons; for what a man feeth, why doth be yet hope for? but if we hope for that we fee not, then do we with patience wait for it. Chrift is the object of our hope, and he is unfeen by us, with our bodily eyes, is only feen by faith; he is gone to heaven, and.

Rom. viii. 24, 25.

is

is at the Father's right hand, out of our fight; but we hope and believe that The will come again and receive us to himself; and therefore we expect him our Saviour from heaven, to raise our bodies, and change them, and make them like his own, and to re-unite them to our fouls, and give us perfect happiness with him the glories of the future ftate we are hoping for, are unfeen realities; what eye has not feen, nor ear heard; eternal things we are looking at by Faith, and which are a fupport, under present afflictions, are invisible; they are within the vail, into which faith enters, and gives a glimpse of; and hope follows, and waits for a clear fight and full enjoyment of.

2dly, It is of things future, things to come: prefent things are not the object of hope; for what are prefent with us, we no more hope about; we and hope ceases, which was exercised concerning them when at a distance: nor have them, are the things of this prefent life the only objects of hope; for if in this life only we have hope in Chrift, we are of all men most miferable. Our hope indeed has to do with future things in the prefent life; we hope for more communion with God and Chrift in ordinances, and therefore wait patiently in them; we hope for further fupplies of grace out of the fulness that is in Chrift, and therefore wait upon him and for him; we gird up the loins of our minds, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Chrift: our hope reaches beyond the grave, to a future state in another world; to the refurrection of our bodies; to our standing at the right hand of Chrift; to our being juftified before men and angels; to our receiving the crown of life and glory; to our admiffion into the everlasting kingdom; and to our being with Chrift for evermore, and being like him, and feeing him as be The things we are hoping for are laid up for us to be enjoyed hereafter; we have here some pledges and foretastes now, but the main is yet to come; and therefore we keep looking for it: faith only gives those things we are hoping for a kind of fubfiftence, and realizes them to us; and therefore it is said to be the fubftance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not feen.

is.

3dly, It is of things difficult to be obtained, as future falvation is; for though the righteous are certainly saved, yet fcarcely, that is, with difficulty; by reafon of the many corruptions, temptations, and fnares in the way; and particularly by reason of afflictions, reproaches, and perfecutions for Chrift's fake: they come to the enjoyment of it through a strait gate and a narrow way, through many tribulations and forrows; and thefe try and exercife hope. And yet,

4thly, It is of things poffible; or otherwife there would be no room, nor reafon for hope; nothing but black despair would enfue, and a refolution to lay afide

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