BX 1233 University of California Berkeley Dr. Colmaris SERMON ON THE Unfpeakable Gift. February i. 1735* THE - Unfpeakable Gift of GOD; A right Charitable and ^Bountiful Spirit TO THE Poor and Needy Members O F JESUS CHRIST, A S E R M O N Preached at the publick Letfure in Bofton-) February i . 1739. By benjamin Colmttn, D. D. . xxii. 9. He that bath a bountiful Eye jhall le blejjed) for be giveth of his Bread to the Poor. Rom.v. 17. They which receive Abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteoufnefs, Jhall reign in Life by Jefus Cbrift. BOSTON: Printed by J. DRAPER for H. FOSTER in Cornlil. 1739. ;. < i A ! THE Unfpeakable Gift, II. CORINTHIANS, ix. 15. Thanks le to GOD for bis unfpeakable Gift. HANKS is the leaf that can be rendered for any Gift ; and unfpeak- able Thanks the leaft for a Gift that is unfpeakable. Let us confider the particular Gift here fpoken of, and the Honour here done it, the Glory put upon it. Some would have it to mean CHRIST Himfelf, who is indeed thegreateft Gift of God to fallen Man, ineffa- ble, inconceivable. John iv. 10. If t ho;* knewejl the Gift of God ! Eph. iii. 8. What is tie Height and Depth, and Length and Bffadth of tbe Love of Chrrji, which pajjefh Knowledge, Some fay Grace, the regenerating Grace of God ; or (which is the fame) the HOLY SPIRIT of God in all his favin% Gifts, Graces and Comforts : And indeed all the fruits Ml.80806 The Unfpeakable Gift. + , >**)/ ike Spirit (a) are unfpeakable Gifts, " Love, Peace, Joy, Longfuffering, Goodnefe, Meeknefi, &c. My Context (b) fpeaks of this Gift, " God is able to make ALL GRACE to abound to you, that ye always having an Mfufficiency in all things, may abound to every good Work . But after all, The Grace and the Gift by Grace here fpoken of, is neither more nor lefs than the particular Grace of Charity zn&Liberality to the Poor and Needy ; an enlarged Heart and open Hand to relieve and fup- ply them in their Wants and Neceffities. The whole Chaffer is on this fingle Subject and Argument, touching Miniftring to the Saints, v. r. as a Mafter of Bounty, v. 5. f owing bountifully, v. 7. giving to the Poor, v, p- fupplying the Plants of Saints, v. 1 2. liberal Di- jlribution to all Men : This is the exceeding Grace and unfpeakable Gift, for which Thanks is here given to God . And great is the Honour and Glory done it, in the Epithet UNSPEAKABLE, and in the THANKSGIVING to God for it. " fVoo can by fearching find out GOD, or any Gift of His, unto Perfection ? Who cunjhew forth all his Praije ? All is comprehended in the one Word LOVE. Yet my Text means not to dignify a Spirit of Liberality a- bovethe <#/w Exercifes of Grace, fave only as the Great- eft of all is Charity (c), which is but perfected at Death antl abides for ever, when faith and Hope are fwallow'd up in Vifioh. Neveithelefs it muftbe added, that Love in this particular Mode and Miniftration, of which my Text fpeaks, \v\\\foonfail ; for there are no Objects of Charity in Heaven, none poor or needy r there : How- ever, Benevolence, the Soul and EJJence of Charity, reigns there in Glory for ever and ever. Bleffed be GOD that we have fimcthing and fo much of it on Earth, in our Way to Heaven : " Thanks to Him for it, fays my Text. The Glory is God's, for it is ( a ) Gal. v. 22. ( b) Ver. 8. ( c ) i Cor. xiii. 13- Us *fbe Unfpeakalk Gift, 3 *><'': fas Gift, 8c this is the Glory of the Gift that it is Ms ; this makes it the unfpeakable thing it is : Divine, Heavenly, Infinite, in its Origine, Influence and endlefs Effects. GOD is the free and bountiful Author of this Grace in any, He gives it to Thofe that have it ; the Ability and the Heart to do kind and liberal Things is from Him ; He puts it into the Heart, and he enlarges it. " Even Power to eat our Bread b from Him, how much more to give of it to others, to f even and alfo to eight (d). The lileral Man is God's Gift to the World ; to the Place where he lives, to diftant Places alfo, if he have a Hand full *\\&ftrong eno' to fcatter far and near. Some in the Churches of Macedonia were thus made to differ and excel : God miniftredym/ to them and they lowed plentifully ; God enriched them unto all Bountiful nefs, and the 'fhankfgiving was abundant to Gcd. The Praife is not to the charitable Perfon, who de* vifes the liberal Things, but to God who gives him the Heart. The good Man will be/#r from taking any of the Praife to himfelf, but to God's Name he gives the Glory. " It is not in me^ faid the Princely Jofeph y when Pharaoh asked him of the unfpeakalle Gift he heard was in him ; " God Jhall give Pharaoh anAnfwer of Peace (*) : He honoured himfelf the more in the Sight of Pharaoh and his Princes by afluming nothing to himfelf ; " Can wefindfuch a Man as this (faid the King) in uhom the Spirit of God is ? for as much as God hath Jhewedthee all this, there is none fo difcreet and wife as Thou art. We muft have a great Care not to idolife thofe whom God pleafes to honour, by facrificing to them inftead of God, who alone is to be worlhip'd. Yet the Man who is God's Hand, and his Gift, comes in for a civil Honour and Refpect, a grateful Acknowledgment of his own Goodwill in mewing the KindneJJes of God Of which our Context is full, " For to their Power and beyond (.d } Ecck, iii, 13. xi. 2. ( e ) Gen. xli. 38. they 4 he Unfpeakable Gift. ' they were willing efthemfelves, praying us to receive " the Gift and take on us the fellowfoip ; a Where- " fore fhew before the Churches the Proof of your Love, " and of our boafting on your behalf ; for I know the " Forwardness of your Mind, and your Zeal has provo- " kedmany: " As it is written, He has difpers'd abroad, " he has given to the Poor, his Righteoufnefi endureth " for ever, his Horn fhall be exalted with Honour (f ) " While by the Experiment of this Miniftration they " glorify God for your profeiTed Subjeffion to the Gof- " pel; longi?ig after you for the exceeding Grace of God " in you. Having thus fet my Text in its true and beft Light, I lhall endeavour to ipeak to this DocJrine from it, cc That a right charitable and liberal Frame of Spirit to the poor and needy is an unfpeakablc Gift of God ; for which great Thankfulnefs is due to his glorious Name^ and abundant Thankfgiving Ihould be fervently render'd in the Churches of the Saints" I am therefore to fhew, r. What we are to understand by a right charitable and liberal Spiri: ? 2. That it is an unfpeakalle Gift of God. 3. The abundant Thank/giving; to be render'd for it in the Churches of Ghrijl. I. By a right charitable and liberal Spirit, I underftand a Mind and Heart prone and large-) free and ready in Proportion to our Ability and the Occafions occurring to us, to pity and relieve the Wants of the Poor-) more e- fpecially of the virtuous and religious Poor. It is the relfeiotff Exercife of the Grdce of Charity, which we are to preach to you from the Go/pel of Chrift < (f) Pfalm C3fii. p, and! *fke VnfpeaJtdble Gift. g and my Context- confines me to this Confederation of it, " as the Grace cf God beftowed en the Churches., and the Fellowjhip ofminiftring to the Saints. So that a Principle of Grace in the Heart, and the Excrcife of it in the Life, are here fuppofed ; That is to fay, a giving to the poor and needy from faith in Chrift and his Word, from Love to Him and his People, upon the Commandment and Pro- mi ft s of the Gofpel ; in Obedience to the one, and Hope in the other. It is not therefore meerly a humane, tender, generous natural 'Temper, or acquired Difpofition towards a neceffc tons or compaffionable Object ; and yet this is a diftin- guiftiing Gift of Providence to fome more than others^ which renders 'em more lovely and of a fuperior Spirit ; but we muft'fuppofe a Soul of this Difpofition fantfified, and acting upon religious Principles and Motives ; or one of another Difpofition changed by the Power of Di- vine Grace into this ; and then what rais'd and enobled Souls do the one and other become ? all their Things 'being done with Charity ! from a reigning Love to God and Goodnefs as fuch, as there is Opportunity unto a/I Men, but efpecially unto the Houjhold cf Faith, proving their Love before the Churches. In this Cafe a fpecial Exercife of proper Evangelical Faith with Love is fuppofed, as in the Frame of Spirit, fo in the chofen Objects, poor Saints and Members of Jefus Chrift, for His fake, and as unto Him, and as He will accept and reward another t>ay ; " re did it unto Me. This is Chrijt formd in us, his Spirit ruling in ug, a nsw Nature given to us, acting in new Manner, on new Principles, Ends and Motives ; fuch as the meet 1 ' iiatural Ma,n perceives not, in equal or greater Benefac- tions j a Sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. It is eafy to the Power of God and worthy of his Merrfj jo to change the 1 Heart of the natural \y Niggard & grudg- ing, into this Riches of Benignity and Beneficence, whereof there feem to have been many Inflances in the firfl Days of the Gofpel, upon the pouring out of the Spirit } when the Multitude of them that believed \vefe B of 6 The Unfpeakable Gift* of one Heart and Soul ; neither faid any of them, that ought of the things they poflefled were their own, but they had all things common, Acts iv. ult. An extraordinary Spirit of Love, at an extraordinary Time and Occafion ! a wonderful Effbfion of the HOLY GHOST, from the late crucified and attended JESUS. The like therefore has not been known in ordinary Times, nor is it the Jtanding Exercife of the Spirit in the fandtified. But the Want of what fliould be common among Chriftians at all Times, is a fad and dark Teftimony of the Poverty of Grace ; for there certainly are among us People of high Profeffion, who have no Heart to do almoft any thing at all, in a way of Dijlribution to the Poor, or for pious Ufes ; no not a known Inftance for Years together ; while God is liberally giving' to them, and they can lay up and lay out and make Purchafes ! but if you fpeak of giving, they hide them f elves from their own Flejh, even tho' they be efteemed Members of Cbrifi alfo. Let us always fee to it, that our Principle and End be right before God, genuine and truly Chrijtian ; that neither Vanity, Affectation or Oftentation, nor yet meer Humanity and good Nature, be pafs'd on God for gra- cious Charity, on Whom it cannot ; nor yet on Men, nor on our felves, which alfo is next to impoflible under our Illuminations by the Gofpel. Wherefore our Lord, according to the infinite Wifdom and Sandtity of God in Him, has warned us to take heed how we do our Alms, fell: we have no Reward from our Father in Heaven, Matth. vi. II. I am now to fhow, that. this Evangelical Chriftian charitable Frame of Spirit is an Unfpeakable Gift of God. And here, i. Literally true it is, that no Tongue of Man can duely fpeak of it, or enough praife and celebrate it. It is above all our Thoughts and Words, we can neither think or fpeak of it as it merits. Such is every IVork and Gift of God in the Kingdom of Nature and Providence. " See Unfpeakalle Gift. 7 O the Pleafure of yeilding them their Dejire, when it is pious and juft, and the Power be in our Hand, and our Heart be big enough ; or" if I caufed " the Eyes of the Fndow to fail ! If / eat my Morfel " aisne, and the Fatherlefs did not ftiare with me ! for " from my Tuuth I was his Father* and Widow's Guide. '* I tell you, that as the Heart knows its own Bitternefs y fo only the Heart of a Job knows the Comfort of a Con- fcioufnefs of fuch a Frarm and Exercife, as this which his own Words have fpok.en,and who can add to them * How did all the Good he had ever done to the Poor re- turn into his own Bofom y andjftw out of his Lips from the ,tte Unfpeakable Gift. rr the Abundance in his Heart ! The Gbje&s of Charity were always to him as his own Bowels, and how were his Bowels refrejh'd hereby, at the Time and long after. He felt the ruling Power of Grace, and had Confidence toward God. The Joy of Faith and Hope accompanied and follow'd the Exercife of Love and brotherly Kind- nefs. 2, But the Great and laft, the infinite and eternal Re* wards of Grace, to the charitable and godly Man, are in the BlefTednefs and Glories of the World to come, and thefe render the Gift of Grace to him and in him - fpeakable. " Eye has not feen this, nor Ear heard it, " nor can it enter into our Hearts to conceive of it. " When the Son of Man {hall come in his Glory, and " fafhion his E/^?and Merciful Ones after Hi cwnglori- " ous Body, and fay to 'em in the Hearing of all hisboly " Angels,- " Come ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the " Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the " Wor'd ! for 1 was hungry and ye gave me Meat, &c. O with what Rapture will they make the humble An- fwer, " Lord, when faw we thee hungry and fed thee, or tbirftyznd gave thee Drink ?- The Day muft reveal it, what the Joy of the Lord and of his Members will then be ! then they ihall be recompenc'd, at the Refurreflion of the Juft. It is worth waiting for the Joys of that blefled Day, which will be given \nfultMezfure,prejffed down and running over. " Then he that has fown boun- " tifully Ihall reap bountifully : Then not a Cup of " Water given as to a Difciple of Chrift fhall be for- " gotten. The Rewards of free Grace will be found " nothing lefs than a Crown and Kingdom, a Crown of Glory eternal in the Heavens. How unknown, unjpeak- able, unfearchable is this ! it is high as Heaven^ what can'ft thou know? Infinite as GOD Himfelf, who is thy SHIELD and exceeding great Reward; O Seed of ge- nerous Abraham ! It is afar exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory.- We find and fee many temporal things un- fearchable, how much more thofe that are uxfeen and cternaL Wherefore, 'm^^^M :*^>;^^ III. The 12 'The Unspeakable Gift. III. The fagheft Thankfgivings are due from us to thef lleffed, God, for this his unspeakable Gift to any of the Children of Men ; and mould be fervently render 'd to Him in the Churches of his Saints. " Thanks be to God for his unfpeakable Gift. But (as was faid before ) what Thanks can we ren- der, when the Gift is unfpeakable? O 'tis above all our Praifes and Bleffings ! Yet as the Levites faid to the Auguft Congregation, Nehem ix. 5. " Stand up and blefs the Lord your God for ever and ever ! and blejf- ed be thy glorious Name which is exalted above all Praife. I fhall only fay two Things here", i. They that receive the Gift mould be very thank- ful to God for it. The charitable Perfon fliould him- ielf give Thanks to God for making him fo, while yet he abafes himfelf before the Lord, as an unprofitable Creature, and behaves humble and lowly before Men. Yet ought he to glorify God for any Heart to do good, and for any Means to do it. He mud affume nothing to 'himfelf-) but afcribe all to God -, of Whom and to Whom are all things. " For what haft thou which is not receiv- ed ? and if received, whereof haft thou to glory ? The Glory belongs to Him who has given to thee, that thou may 'ft give to others. As, fuppofe a rich and charitable Perfon puts into my Hand a Sum or Sums of Money to diftribute unto others in Want ; it is his Gift and Bounty, and not mine ; and / ought to be thankful to Him to- gether with thofe to whom I diftribute. In like man- ner if GOD give Tou Ability and a Heart to do good ta others, you owe the^r/? Thanks to God, and ihou'dbe ready to fay with the Church, " Not unto us, Lord, not to us, but to thy Name be Glory. . Ton, my Brethren ! that are honoured of God to give unto the poor, might have been your felves, and fo your Families, among the indigent and neceflltous ! You might have been Receivers of the Charities of others, the Ob- jedts of their Compaffion, Of UrifpeakaMe Gift. 13 Or yet worfe, You might have been among the nig- gardly and covetous in the midft of Riches ; not able to eat of your own Bread, and lefs to give unto others ! An Evil too often feen and felt, aMifery too common under the Sun, which yetfhines liberally on the niggard Soul. Or ftill worfe, You might have been among \kz frau- dulent and unjuft, the Cheat, the Theif and the Robber ; or (which is little better) the Gripe andtheExtortioner^ the Spoiler of the Widow, t; e motherlefs and fatherlefs ! But who has made you to differ ? made Thee a Bene~ fatter and Bleffing to the World, among thefe Plagues and Curfes in it ? GOD, who is rich in Mercy, and So- uere'gn in his Gifts and Grace to Men, He has done it ! " Who has Mercy becaufe he will have Mercy. H that made Abel Cain's Brother, and gave to Abraham and Job and Mofes their Grandeur of Heart, ' ; ; & Let free Grace therefore have all the Glcry ; as the Apoftle teaches us, Ephef 3. 18. To me, who am lefs that* the leafl of all Saints is this Grace given. So thou " by " the Grace of God art what thou art, dhd his Gfiice " given thee has not been in vain ! And if you labour " more than others, yet not you, but the Grace of God " in You.- So when David had done a kingly part$ and his Princes a very princely one, in way of Offer- ings out of their Eftates ; then David faid before the? Lord, i Chfon. xxix. 14. " But who am I Lord God? u and what is my People, that we Jhould be able to offer " fo willingly after this fort ! for all things come of SrW " and of thy own have we given thee. Thus they that receive the Gift) fliould give Thanks for it. a. Others, but efpecially the poor and needy, they Ihould be very thankful to God. The Charitable afg God's Gifts to Men, even to the rebellious $ ( and indeed fuch themfelves among their Brethren ) that the Lord God might dwell among us; I rhay lawfully transfer thefe Words from Minifters in the Church; to the liberal irt the Flceks 5 for it is the fame God and the fame Grac that forms both the one and the other"* td ferte the G faedi U Tae Urfpeakalle Gift. Nseds of Souls and Bodies. " We do you to wit there- fore of the Grace of God beftowed on the Churches, in both. The fame Holy Spirit that defcended on the jApnJHes in Tongues of Fire, came down on the Multi- tude of Bel'tewi* at that memorable Time, and they had all things common. And now the ordinary Gifts of your JVffarfan for the Service of your Souls, and the ordinary Spirit of Charity in our Churcher, are from the fame Fulnefs, of Cbrijt ; of Whom all do receive and Grace upon Grace. He puts the earnefl Care for Soul and Body into the one and other ; whether it be Titus or doing faithfully for the Brethren or Strangers. The Gifts and Graces of others, and the Ufe God p'eafes to make of them, fhould ^ plea f ant to us and admired by us; and we fhould rejoice in all that we fee of God in them. We fhould prize the good Examples they give us, give God the Glory of them, and be ex- cited to a holy Imitation. I. Thefr iii. 9. For what 'Thanks can we render unto God for you ? for all the Joy wherewith we jcy before our God for your fakes. The poor efpecially fhould be very thankful to for his unfpeakable Gift to them, in all the Charities of the rich and bountiful. They fhould religioufly accept the Gift of Heaven in thcfe whom they muft call their Benefatfors. They fliould look thro* and above Men un- to God, who gives by their Hands. They muft no more idolise Men, than they would bow down to an Image oi Wood or Gold ; no more than they would kifs 'the Calves, or their Hand to the Sun or Muon in their Bright- nefs ; for this were to deny the mofl high and firfl Be- nefa&or. " Way look ye fo earnefily at us ? faid Peter and John to r.e wondring and almoft worshipping Peo- ple at the Gate of the Temple, when they had in the Name of Jefus given more than Silver or Gold to the Cripple, even Feet to walk and leap. What is a boun- tiful Donor to us, but a Steward and Almoner of God, his kind and open Hand ! Who fhalJ have the Praife? the King that orders his Medals to be ftrowed among the Crowd, or the Servitor that fcatters 'em at his Com- mand ? Jacob faw the Face of God in Efau's Affection, when Tie Unfpeakalle Gift. i when he ran with open Arms and Eyes full of Tears to embrace him. So let the poor fee the Face and Hand of God, in all the Heart and Care of others for them. They are what God makes 'em, and he has made 'em fuch for you. God knows the irreligious poor, ungrateful to Him, unthankful and unholy, who receive and eat and give him not Thanks. It may be they bow to Men, and treble their Thanks to them and blefs 'em, and yet do not lift their Hearts at all to God. It may be they neither pray for themfelves or others in fecret, altho' their Depen- dence is fo great on Providence and its Inltruments ; nor do they blefs '^od when he fends 'em in Supplies God value' the Thanks of the Poor as much as of the Rich, and they as much owe it to Him. Let 'em ie?rn the Song of Hannah, and fing it with her gracious Spirit, i Sam. 3. init " My Heart rejoices in the Lord, my Horn is ex- alted in the Lord : lie maketh poor and maketh rich ; the hungry ccafe,and the rich have hired out tbewfilves for Bread. Having thus at large conflder'd the nnfpeakable Gift of God, in a right charitable Frame of Spirit, and the ffhankfgiving and Praife due from us unto God therefor, I might naturally go into a large Ccmpafs of Meditation <>n ether the unfpeakable Gifrsof God to us, all of which are more or lefs related unto this that I have been fpeak- ing of ; and it may be I could not well go into a more proper and profitable Application of the SubjetJ. As, r. Look we within eur fek-es, into our own Souls and Bodies, fram'd as they are for Thankfgiving to God, and for all Offices of Humanity and Chanty to our Nei'bours ; what a Gift of God is this Mind and Heart, and thefe Eyes and Hands ; firft to lift up to God, and then to look and reach out to bis poor ! this focial Nature for wor- jfhippingand communicating ! In every Relation and in all Offices of Human U\te,publick and private, wherein God has plac'd us to ferve *\\& blefs one another ; what Gifts of God unfpeakable ought every One to be unto C z his 1(5 The Unfpeakable Gift. his Correlate and therein to the Community ! from the Confort, Parent and Child, up to theKing on. theThrone -, and down again from all that rule urukr Him, to the low eft Subject in the State !- What a wide Compafs of unfpeakable Bleffings wou'd every Perfon, in every Or- der, prefent us with ? all under the Law ofKitid/i.f.&nd all their Things done with Guarity. 2. W:iatai unfpeakable Gift therefore is a good G and as the ten- der Grafs fpringing out of the Earth by clear Jhining after Rain. Such Gifts from Heaven were Mofes and Jojbua, Samuel and David? Hezekiah and Nehemiah to the Ifraelot God, in their Generation. 3. What an unspeakable Gift of God to us is our Church-State j our 'fpi ritual Relation in Chrift, our Fel- lowjhip in the Gofpel, our Brotherhood^ the Vocation wherewith we are called ! to be a fpiritual Houfe, a Kixg 'om of PrieJlSi ncbcfen Generation^ a. peculiar People and Treafare^ to Ihew forth the Praif.s of our God and Saviour. Your Sabbaths^ the preached Gofpel, the Or- dinances of our God, a tid the Minjfters of Religion ; the'e are among the Gifts from the Afc ended Jefus. As it is written, "I gave them my Sabbaths for a Sign " between Me and them that I am the Lord that doth * c fantfify them ( g ) : He gave his ft 'ord unto Jacob, ** his Statutes sod Judgments untj Ifrael^ He has not " done fo by many a People : He gave Prophets, Apo- ^ ftles, Evangelifts, Paftors and Teachers, for the per- f felting of the Saints, for the Work of the Miniftry, (g ) Ezek.xx. 12. Pfal. cxjlvii. ip. Eph. iv. 8, ir, j Ccr. iv. .7. < { for The Unfpeakalle Gift. 17 for the Edifying the Body of Chrift. Enoch, Mofes and Aaron, Elijah and EHJha, Peter and John and Paul, and many after them, in their Spirit, have been inva- luable Gifts to the Church ; a Treafure in Earthen Fejp/s, that the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of Man. Nor have there been wanting in the Churches of Chrift, nor ever mail be,fuch Gifts from among their gra- c ious Members, to and of whom we may take up the //- liiflrious Words of the Apofile to the Philippians and the Thefjhlonians, in ourThankfgivings to God (h) : " I thank " my God upon every Remembrance of you, for your " Fellowjhip in the Gofpel ! and we give Thanks always " for you all, remembring without ceafing your Workef " Faith, and Labour of Love^ and Patience of Hope in ." our Ij>rd Jefus Chrift ; and ye became followers of us u and of the Lord, having received the Word with much " Affliction and Joy in the Holy Ghofl ; becaufe your " Faith groweth exceedingly, and your Charity one to " another aboundeth ; fo that we glory in You in the " Churches of God for your Patience and Faith. Thus the meaneft and poorejl, on worldly Accounts, in the vi~ ftble Church, became unfpeakable Gifts of Grace to *it ; and will be found fo in the Church of the Firft-born, whole Names are written in Heaven. < But to leave all things herefo/co/, and to afcend up far above all Heavens^ I add 4. and laftly, The unfpeakable Gift of CHRIST and of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Saviour and SancJijier of Souls ; which two are one-, equal in Godhead and Glory, Here triumph with me, my Hearers, in the adoring Contemplation of the ineffable Gift of God, his own Eternal Son^ the Only-begotten of the Father ', whofe Glory was beheld in his Miracles of Mercy to the Bodies of Men, but more in his Companions to their Souls ; his holy Miniftry, Labour ^and Suffering* for their Salvation ; to fave our Souls from fpiritual ani eternal De^ztb^ to cover a multitude of Sins, to make Reconciliation for , 3, i. , 3. 2. . 3. Iniquity, 38 ne Unfpeakable Gift. Iniquity, to bring in an Everlafting Right eoufnefs for the Justification of Sinners. The crucified Jefus is fuch a a Gift of God to the Sons of Men, as infinitely tran- fcends the Tongues of Angeh^ when they would give Him the Glory of it. They defire to look into f, and give Glory in the Higbejt. The Elders with them pre- pare new Songs for ever, and cafl their Crewns before the Tbrcse. How then fliall the Tongues of Men below be able to fpeak of the Gift of God to us in the Incarnation? Obedience, Death? Refur region and Inter cejfion ot CH RI$T, or of his Coming again in Glory for the Salvation of thofe that believe in Him ! Here all Words arefwaf- lowed up? we are ftruck mute, 8r Praife fits filent. Ifai. ix. (5. To us a Cbild is born, to us a Sen is given? and tbe Government fit all be upon bis Shoulder : And bis Name /ball be called, Wonderful, Counfellor? tbe mighty God? tbe Evcrlajting Father, tbe Prince of Peace ! This, this ( my Brethren ) is the vnfpeakable Gift of God unto us, to be in in Everlaftixg Remembrance with us in all our Worjbip before Him, lecret, private and public ; every Lord's-Day and all our Com mun ion- Days: In every Ordinance of Worfhip He is cjfer'd to us for our thankful Acceptance, to be of God made unto us Wifdoniy Rigkteoufnefs, Sanffif cation and Redemption ! and we muft be making the Offering of our Selves to Him, as bougbt with a Price, living Sacrifices^ which rs cur reafonable Service, boly and acceptable to God. Grace to do this, is an unfpeakable Gift indeed. Therefore we muft give equal Glory to the HOLY GHOST, yielding our Selves to Rim-, as the blefled Ss*8ifieiti proceeding from tbe Father and tbe Sen ! Ons with ^ the REDEEMER in Godbead and everlafling Love to Souls. John xiv. id The Comfort er^ wbom I will fend unto Tuu from tbe father^ He Jhall receive cfMine *&nd pew it unto you* This Heavenly Gift refted on Mofes and tie Elder's* Patriarch ^nd Proffer i> (andified and inipired them. He Unfpeakable Gift. 19 He has formed every Saint thro' all the Ages of the Church. But the grand Effupon was the Glory of the New Tefament, and the Promife is ftill flowing down to us : ifai. xliv. 3. " I will pour Water upon him that is " thirfty, and Floods upon the dry Ground ; I will pour " my SPIRIT upon your Seed-) and my Blejfing upon " your Offspring : And one fhall fay I am the JLorcfs, c and another fa*\\ fubfcribe with his Hand to the Lord, gcc. Souls can need nor ask more, drift has no more to offer to us. John vii. 37. In the laft and great Day of the Feaftjefusftood and cried, faying," If any Man thirft, let him come unto me and drink, and out of his Belly fhall flow Rivers ef living Water : This fpake He of the SPIRIT which they that believe on him Jhall receive. CHRIST and the HOLY GHOST are the One, infeper- able, undivided, infinite, eternal, and therefore unfpeak- able Gift of GOD. Let us wait for it as for the Rain, and open our Mouth wide for it as for the latter Rain. God/// us with this Kleffing of Bleffings. Revel, xxii. 17.