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Sermons, Doctrinal and Practical, to Which Is Prefixed a Short Memoir of the Author [ed. by J. Brown].
Sermons Doctrinal and Practical to Which Is Prefixed a Short Memoir of the Author - ed. by J. Brown Author:James Gray General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1829 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: 30 SERMON II. ETERNAL LIFE. " But the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Cluist. our Lord." Romans vi. 23. There are few men to be found perhaps, in a civilized country, who, if they believe in the existence of a God at all, will refuse to admit that he is a Being of unbounded sovereignty and power. That the Creator should be independent of the workmanship of his hands, is a statement so entirely in unison with common sense, that he must be nothing short of a downright idiot who witholds his assent from it. But while this is granted -- while that part of the Scripture testimony which speaks of the absolute nothingness of man, as contrasted with the omnipotence of Jehovah, is willingly embraced, there are at the same time two ruinous mistakes entertained in reference to the connexion that subsists betwixt them; mistakes by which the majesty of the one issought to be upheld, and the pride of the other preserved unshaken. First. There are many who imagine that man, even now, stands in the same relation to his Maker as the faithful servant does to the ruler of the household. The hireling is, strictly speaking, a dependent. There is an obvious inferiority in his character compared with that of his lord. Let him be ever so attentive to the trust reposed in him, he cannot, so long as he is subject to another, render himself independent. Faithfulness is every way essential to the performance of the task he has undertaken, and from it alone he is entitled to the name of a servant. But then his obedience puts him in the possession of claims he can advance with propriety. The fulfilment of the engag...« less