II. As spreading from one to another.
III. As covering the earth.
I design to close these considerations with a plain practical application.
I. And first, let us consider Christianity in its rise, as beginning to exist in individuals.
Suppose then one of those who heard the apostle Peter preaching repentance and remission of sins, was pricked to the heart, was convincedof sin, repented, and then believed in Jesus. By this faith of the operation of God, which was the very substance or subsistence of things hoped for, the demonstrative evidence of invisible things, he instantly received the Spirit of adoption, whereby he now cried Abba, Father! Now first it was that he could call Jesus Lord, by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit itself bearing witness with his spirit that he was a child of God. Now it was that he could truly say, I live not, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2. This then was the very essence of his faith, a divine ἔλεγχος[16] of the love of God the Father, through the Son of his love, to him a sinner, now accepted in the Beloved. And being justified by faith, he had peace with God, yea the peace of God ruling in his heart: a peace, which passing all understanding, (πάντα νοῦν, all barely rational conception) kept his heart and mind from all doubt and fear, through the knowledge of him in whom he had believed. He could not therefore be afraid of any evil tidings; for his heart stood fast believing in the Lord. He feared not what man could do unto him, knowing the very hairs of his head were all numbered. He feared not all the powers of darkness, which God was daily bruising under his feet. Least of all was he afraid to die; nay, he desired to depart and bewith Christ; who through death had destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil; and delivered them who through fear of death, were all their life-time, till then, subject to bondage.
3. His soul therefore magnified the Lord, and his spirit rejoiced in God his Saviour. He rejoiced in him with joy unspeakable, who had reconciled him to God, even the Father: in whom he had redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He rejoiced in that witness of God’s Spirit with his spirit, that he was a child of God: and more abundantly, in hope of the glory of God, in hope of the glorious image of God, the full renewal of his soul in righteousness and true holiness; and in hope of that crown of glory, that inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.
4. The love of God was also shed abroad in his heart, by the Holy Ghost which was given unto him. Because he was a son, God had sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father! And that filial love of God was continually increased by the witness he had in himself, of God’s pardoning love to him, by beholding what manner of love it was, which the Father had bestowed upon him, that he should be called a child of God. So that God was the desire of his eyes, and the joy of his heart; his portion in time and in eternity.
5. He that thus loved God, could not but love his brother also; and not in word only, but in deed and in truth. “If God, said he, so lovedus, we ought also to love one another.” Yea, every soul of man, as the mercy of God is over all his works. Agreeably hereto, the affection of this lover of God, embraced all mankind for his sake; not excepting those whom he had never seen in the flesh, or those of whom he knew nothing more than that they were the offspring of God; for whose souls his Son had died; not excepting the evil and unthankful, and least of all his enemies, those who hated, or persecuted, or despitefully used him for his Master’s sake. These had a peculiar place both in his heart and his prayers. He loved them even as Christ loved us.
6. And love is not puffed up. It abases to the dust every soul wherein it dwells. Accordingly he was lowly of heart, little, mean, and vile in his own eyes. He neither sought nor received the praise of men, but that which cometh of God only. He was meek and long-suffering, gentle to all, and easy to be intreated. Faithfulness and truth never forsook him; they were bound about his neck, and wrote on the table of his heart. By the same Spirit he was enabled to be temperate in all things, refraining his soul even as a weaned child. He was crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him: superior to the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. By the same almighty love was he saved, both from passion and pride, from lust and vanity, from ambition and covetousness,and from every temper which was not in Christ.