IT is a common, but certainly a very true observation, that the wishes
and hopes of men are often very inconsiderate, and of such a nature
that the Divine government, in its wisdom, cannot gratify them, and
that a very small portion of happiness would fall to our share, if God
were content with merely fulfilling our wishes. The fact is well known
and requires no proof. But it is not the less true, that the benefits
which Divine Providence really bestows on us, are seldom discerned in
their full dimensions, and valued according to their actual worth. True
as this two fold observation is, concerning the wishes which we
entertain in respect of our earthly affairs and prosperity, and a
multitude of Divine benefits, which we, on this account, are accustomed
to call the unknown benefits of God; it is true also, of such as have
reference to our higher and spiritual felicity, as those for which the
Divine government is not less watchful and active, than for our
temporal welfare. Amongst these spiritual blessings, for instance,
there is none of greater magnitude, and of more inestimable value, than
the Redemption which God has ordained through Jesus Christ. It was the
greatest of all the benefits which the Jewish nation once implored of
God, and it is the greatest which we Christians glory to have received
from God: and this with the most perfect right. But the Jewish nation
limited their desire almost entirely to a temporal deliverance;
comprehended not, in its full extent, the blessing which God would
impart to them through Jesus; and for the most part actually scorned it
when offered to them, because it was not agreeable to their wishes. We
Christians value the Redemption of Jesus higher; but I fear that even
we sometimes limit it too much, and are desirous of its being such as,
indeed, is scarcely possible. This appears to me, for example, to be
the case with all those who confine it simply or chiefly to a
deliverance from the penalties of sin, inasmuch as, according to the
Holy Scripture and to truth, it extends much farther, and is in
particular a deliverance from sin itself. I have, therefore, resolved
to address you to-day on the right estimation of the redemption of
Jesus. Our Gospel for the festival presents us with an unsought
occasion, in the wishes and hopes of the disciples of Jesus. God only
grant that we may form right notions, and thereby be led to a just
estimation of it!
