On the Method by which Christ declares His love to His people, demonstrates it to us in salvation and providence, and draws us to Himself.

Intro.
There is a heated controversy in these our days in which the mockers of true religion disparage, and insult the beloved of God by claiming that if they are submissive to God’s will and decree in salvation, they are no more than blocks of wood or robots. The debate regarding the nature of the will has been going on for many ages, even to the days of Isaiah, and Jeremiah who have strong words to say regarding it, and Paul also says “as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” (Gal. 4:29) The natural man being blind to the things of the Spirit cannot comprehend how God can maintain His sovereignty both in decree, and in moral commandment, and so many remain in darkness and blindness to this day. The chief purveyors of this destructive doctrine of free will accuse the righteous of antinomianism because we declare the riches of free grace. However, nothing could be more absurd than this, for no one lives according to the law of God more closely, and delightfully than those who magnify the grace of God in them. As Paul says, “I labored more abundantly, yet not I but the grace of God.” [1 Cor. 15:10]
But even though the accusations against us are malicious and false, and although their protests against the doctrines of grace have no foundation, and fall apart by their own profession, yet it is right for us to bring to our defense right and wise arguments, that we might combat their attempts to dethrone God, and that we might defend His name on earth which is doubtless our duty. We live in the world among so many devils, atheists, hypocrites and false professors who have no heart for true religion, but live to make sport of it one way or another, and are not satisfied with true devotion, but would make use of their intellect by defiling their minds with vain, and superstitious imaginations regarding the nature of the will with the ultimate goal of setting it above God. But we must be valiant for the cause of truth, and although they throw their fiery darts at us, we must be ready to defend our doctrine with the shield of faith, and the breastplate of imputed righteousness, that beginning from the foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we might be ready to give everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in us, and sound reasons for the truth of our doctrine. Though they mean evil by it, God means it for good, that our minds might be taken off the vanity of this world, and might do spiritual combat against the forces of darkness, and error. Even if the leaders of our days have no interest in defending the truth of the gospel against heresy, and are willing to compromise with them for the sake of erroneous unity, we must be even more on our guard, and search the scriptures for weapons by which we might defend the gospel, and also assault the vicious attackers of God’s sovereignty, laying siege to their very heart, and opening their condition before them showing them that apart from the free grace of God in Christ, man is a lost creature, and has no hope. That being said, this discourse will be a defense of Christ’s Lordship over the will, a declaration of His great love for us, and hopefully will clear up in our mind any fog regarding the subject.
1. The nature of the will.
As man was created in the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and with a mind, will, and affections as capacities suitable to receive these influences of God yet by the fall, he lost those divine gifts and his nature became wholly and entirely corrupt. His mind became darkened in complete ignorance, his will disobedient in full rebellion, and his affections wholly disordered in self-love, delighting in himself- in his own understanding, and his own will. The apostle calls this state, “enmity with God.” The devil being full of all malice, and envy and seeing in man that which God delighted in planned to destroy man and efface that glorious image of God which was bestowed on him at creation. By deceiving man and tricking him to sin, he alienated man from God, and defiled the entirety of his notable faculties with which he was previously in communion with God. Man who was originally made a living creature became dead inside and full of all malice, envy and hypocrisy like the devil who deceived him. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” [John 8:44]  Yet the full destruction of the soul of man is not accomplished until death. When man’s soul therefore is separated from his body in death, then is the soul having been wholly corrupted by sin finally subjected to the punishments which God has reserved for all sinners -eternal death in hell. In order therefore for God to recover man from His lost state He must overturn the work of the devil, stamp out and crush his image which man had taken upon himself, make satisfaction for sin, and overcome and destroy death itself. [Heb. 2:14-15] For,  “Death came through sin.” [Rom. 5:12]

The restoration of the image of God in man is not entirely positional, but must by necessity of the nature of it be practical. Man must not only be restored by reconciliation, but he must needs be made again to know his Creator, enabled to do His will, and enlivened to worship and love Him as He ought to be known, obeyed  worshiped and loved. This is accomplished by the gospel alone, and this is one of the chief purposes of redemption which display in full color the majesty, holiness, wisdom, love, goodness, justice, and truth of God.

The gospel therefore restores to man what was originally given to Him in creation, and taken from him by the fall. Man was created by God a good, and reasonable creature, but made himself evil and debased by his disobedience. By the powerful operation of the Spirit God renovates man’s faculties which were not irrevocably destroyed by the fall. For though he lost all his knowledge, yet not his mind. Though He lost all his righteousness, yet not his will, and though he lost all his love for God, yet not his affections, which when renewed by regeneration are again made to serve God in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Apart from the work of the Spirit, man is utterly displeasing to God and unable to glorify him as he was created to do. Though man by the fall made himself worthless, hateful to God and liable to all the judgments of hell, yet God by the grace of the gospel enables him once again to give Him glory by redeeming him from sin, calling him, renewing him, and restoring him to Communion, that man might once again offer to Him the spiritual sacrifices of the mind, will and affections.

2. The nature of fallen will.
The human will is bent only toward destruction, and apart from divine grace, it has no power to move toward good. By nature we are a most hideous thing in God’s eyes, utterly abhorrent to Him, being full of sin, iniquity, lusts, envy, carnal pleasure, self-love, and every evil thing that is directly opposed to the nature of God. If there is anything in this world that is opposed to another, as light, and darkness, heat, and cold, sweet and bitter, nothing is more opposed to anything than the heart of man is toward his creator. We are born both speaking lies and believing lies, and have no heart for the things of God. Did any man in any heathen country who has never heard the gospel, though all nature sings in united harmony that God is One ever worship Him as the true God, reject the world, reject their philosophy, reject their lusts, and live for Him? It cannot be, for mankind though he live so close to the light of nature, yet his will is enslaved to his lusts, and to the will of the devil. Man by nature is a most unlovely creature, and has nothing in himself whereby he might attract the God of heaven towards him. There are many things we take into consideration when admiring beauty: its shape, its color, its light, its use, its sophistication, its unity, its likeness to our image, and many other such things by which our minds appreciate the beauty in the world that God has so delicately painted before us. However, though man by creation was a most glorious creature endowed with knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and was very lovely to God, yet man by corruption has become a most odious and hateful being, defiling every faculty of his members with sin. Rather than knowing God which his mind was made for, man is ignorant of God -even past a demonic degree.
The demons believe in one God, and tremble! Yet man in his bloated arrogance says in his heart, “there is no God.” He was given his intellect as a most noble faculty that he might comprehend the things of God, and rather than this, he spends his time delighting in wickedness, and vanity. See how devoted the heathen are to attaining to knowledge of vanity! They pursue knowledge that they might increase their wickedness, and atheism! Can there be a more destructive use of the mind?
His will was given to him to do the things that please God, but he has defiled it by walking in ways which the LORD hates. “A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood…” [Prov. 6:16-19] And again, “They have all turned aside.” [Ps. 14:3] How soon did Israel turn from the commandment delivered to them to idolatry, and debauchery! How soon does the human will rush headlong into destruction! Yea, how much sooner would it rather venture damnation than submit to its creator? How evil is the will of man, and how unlovely is he by nature. He has nothing in himself to attract the God of heaven to love him. Man was also given affections in order that he might love God with all of it, and worship Him in spirit and truth, fully delighting in it, but he defiles his heart with wanton lusts, carnal delights, and worst of all himself. He rejects God’s worship by false religion, and self-love, and he corrupts and defiles God’s worship by worldliness and idolatry. Man’s heart was made for him to love God and yet instead of loving His Maker, which is the most reasonable endeavor of the soul, he loves himself instead, although he has nothing in himself worth loving. Man is a hateful creature to God, and cannot reconcile himself to God by himself, yea he has no desire to. Not only is man ignorant of God by nature, but separated from God, and not only so but also at enmity with God, and even more, he loves his enmity with God, and would keep it that way, and if he ever should be confronted with the will of God, he will reject it, and put himself above Him, whether His immutable decrees, or righteous laws. Man is most unlovely, and has nothing in himself to draw God unto him, but only that which God abhors, and promises to punish with eternal destruction.
3. The nature of God’s love.
But although we are by nature so estranged from God, so pitiful, helpless, abominable, and detestable, yet God in His matchless and infinite mercy has taken pity on our race, has sent His own Son into the world to take upon Himself our flesh, redeem for Himself a people, and demonstrate the boundless nature of His own love to His beloved, that how man has fallen into a bottomless pit, God might reach there and pull us out of it, even to the very gates of hell itself. “God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) We see then, that in order to understand the love of God we must understand our own nature, and sin, and be taken to the very bottom of our hearts to see our inherent evil, that we might be broken for it, repent, and be healed. Christ the Bridegroom has delighted to save us from this great death by virtue of His own death and resurrection, and now He calls His people with His voice to come to His marriage supper, and feast with Him! “Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones!” (Song. 5:1) For us to be delivered from wrath, Christ must call us out of darkness, and we must obey His voice willingly! But how does this come about? How is the mind which is darkened in total ignorance made to know His Creator?
How is the will which is corrupted by sin made able and willing to come unto Him? How are the affections which are so bent to vanity restored to worship the true and living God who is an invisible Spirit? I say with the apostle, “By grace are ye saved.”
i. God’s love is set upon us.
The first thing we should take note of is that God’s love is particularly set upon His own people. It is God who first loved us. How can we come to God if He has not first loved us and is drawing us to Him? The mind of God is eternal, and was set upon His people with love and goodwill from eternity. His decrees have been ordered to our eternal benefit since before the world was even formed. We cannot boast of merit when God was minded to deliver us from our sinful state before we were born, yea before we fell! Peter writes in His epistle, “He [that is Christ] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you”. [1 Pet. 1:20] Christ was foreordained to be the Savior of His people before the world was formed, and was manifested in these last times to demonstrate what He has been purposed to do from all eternity. We ought to marvel that we have the distinguishing honor of being placed in these times of the glory of the Messiah, and are bid to come to Him by His tender voice and effectual calls. We are born into the natural realm which respects time, but we are saved out of it by Christ, who has loved us from eternity, and will love us in heaven for eternity. Eternity does not respect time. Though we are born into a world where the sun rises, and sets, and people go about their business in the day, and many things revolve around time and schedule, yet all is coming together as God has planned, and through Christ, we are translated into His eternal kingdom that shall never pass away, which has day that has no end. There will be no use for time in heaven. But Christ has manifested Himself in the world, and in time to reveal to us His tender love which transcends time, and has been set upon us for ages and ages past, yea into eternity. We love Him because He first loved us. If His mind is not set upon us favorably, there can be no offering of receiving of grace. We must also affirm with the apostle that the love of God is not universal. Though God so loved the world of mankind, even so much that He gave His only begotten Son for their sins, [John 3:16] yet this does not respect all men. The text reads that God loved the world, which is proved by Christ’s intercession for man. Nowhere in scripture do we get any idea that God loves every soul. Jesus proves this in the following verses by saying that, “all men are condemned.” If all men are condemned, then it follows that if they are to be absolved from this condemnation, God’s love must be set upon them. If we are to be saved, God must be purposed to do it.
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11)
ii. God’s love is demonstrated to us.
Such matchless love and favor which has been set upon us from eternity is also gloriously demonstrated to us by the cross of Jesus Christ. Not only does God love us, but He demonstrates it in the most epic, dramatic, powerful, and glorious manner fathomable, such demonstration of love that man has not nor could ever conjure, no, not in his most ardent overtures of love. The apostle Paul says as much when he writes to the Romans, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Rom. 5:6-8]
The text does not read, Christ died for the godly, or Christ died for those full of good works, Christ died to give everyone a chance, or Christ died for all men, but Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners, even for us. Christ demonstrates His love by sacrificing Himself for those previously His enemies, and He reconciles us to Himself by love. Though we hated God by nature, yet by demonstrating His love to us, He woos our souls, and draws us to Himself that we might behold His glory in the cross. Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” [John 12:32] Jesus said this, not only prophesying that He would be crucified, and lifted up from the earth, but that by doing so, in demonstrating full of majesty and glory, His love for His people, it would draw them to Him. Those who have the glory of Christ revealed to them, and behold Him as He is revealed in scripture cannot do otherwise but take up their own cross, and follow Him. Jesus says again in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” We that behold Christ’s glory in the cross do hope and look forward to that day when we shall see His glory in the celestial city; For grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected. So saith Watson, and Edwards. Therefore we see that not only does Christ set His love upon us before we were ever lovely, but demonstrates His love to us while we were yet enemies, and altogether hateful, drawing us to Him by His gracious love and favor.
iii. God’s love is favorable to us.
But we should also take note and observe also that God after demonstrating His love to us, applies it to us, and pours His love into our hearts that we might be enabled, enlivened, and encouraged to henceforth live only for Him. Paul goes on to say in his letter to the Romans, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Rom. 5:9-10) Christ having risen from the dead has sealed for us all the benefits of His love and redemption, and after showing it to us gives it to us. How can we not receive such great and awesome a love from so great and awesome a Savior? He has been minded to, purposed to, and determined to reveal to us all the great riches of His love and mercy which have been stored up for us in His counsels for eternity. Paul says in Ephesians, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4-7) Here we see that Paul is saying exactly what we are here discussing. That God who is rich in mercy, and love towards His elect has stored up for them an infinite measure of kindness, goodness and favor which He is most delighted to show to us in the ages to come, unto eternity. Wonder it is that so many Christians can remain so grieved at the loss of things in this world when there is so much stored up for them, promised to them, and will be given to them in the world to come! God has set His love upon us, demonstrated it to us, and pours it out into us, and will be ever glorious and wonderful to us. What words can express the unfathomable riches of God’s love for His people? What tongue can sing praises enough to Him who bled for us, and so willingly offered Himself for us, and has purchased for us such a glorious title even to be called the sons of the most High God? The paradise that Adam enjoyed for but a day which was the result of the labor of God’s creative power was nothing compared to the glories that will be enjoyed by the saints in heaven for eternity which are the fruits of God’s redemptive power in Christ Jesus. Having now died for us, and rose for us Christ has made all things sweet for us- even death itself. There will be no bitterness in death, but only the joys as of going to a wedding feast. The holy martyrs of the Marian persecutions kissed the stakes on which they were burned, because they saw them as the flaming chariots that took them to be with Christ in the heavens. Such a mind should we all have towards loss, or sorrow or death. Christ has sanctified them by His own suffering, and now draws us to Himself by them. There can be no loss so great, no sorrow so grievous, nor death so ignominious, but Christ will effectually draw us to Himself by it. Seeing these things to be true, and apprehending them by faith, how can we not be overcome with love for our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How can we not be drawn by this magnitude of mercy and love? Paul says to the Romans that this love being poured out into our hearts is the substance for all our hope. What joy could we have in tribulation if God’s love were not favorable to us?
He says, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:3-5)
We see then that by loving us, Christ draws us to Himself, causing us to surrender to His love, and He captivates us, and turns us to Him, so that we have no more desire to cry up our own will, but are quite satisfied being saved, delivered, and now live for His will.
Moreover this love is the basis and foundation for all our hope. The Psalmist says, “And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in Thee.” [Ps. 39:7] Therefore let us with constant gaze, and fervency of spirit, fix the eyes of Faith upon the mercy of God, apprehending His love for us, receiving grace from His hand, and endeavoring to serve Him in truth in love, knowing that hope can never disappoint if it’s object is Christ’s love.

Doctrine.
I. Christ draws His Beloved to Himself by Grace.
This leads us to the doctrinal substance of the argument which is that Christ draws His beloved to Himself by grace. Grace is the cause for all the love and gladness in a believer’s heart. It is the setting of God’s affections on us, who are an unworthy people, and could never merit nor deserve such love and pity. Grace is the crowning jewel of salvation, the sacred oil of consecration, the sweet wine of God’s favor, and the white robes of the saints. Without grace we are nothing, but with grace we are given all that we could ever ask and more, because with grace is Christ. Though we were dead in sins, ignorant of God, alienated from Him by a life of vanity and wickedness, in His matchless mercy, and pity He redeemed us by sending us a Savior to deliver us from our sins and offer us mercy. This is grace unknown and pity unheard of. The Lord of all the earth, the glory of heaven, the sovereign creator, the almighty God who is holy, awesome and righteous, and who was infinitely offended by our transgression, was pleased to take pity on us, and more so, have mercy on us, and more than that redeem us, and even more – love us and offer us the best of all His gifts, which is His grace. In giving us grace, God gives us Himself. He gives us understanding to know Him, a will to do His commandments, and a heart to love and worship Him. Why should we cry up our own will when God’s will is so much dearer to us?
Our will is inconstant, and backward, but God’s will is perfect, and glorious. It was His will to plan out our salvation, and offer us this tremendous gift, and shall we refuse grace simply because we wish to have our own will? What madness! What frenzied self-righteousness! God’s gift of grace is freely given, and though we obtain heaven through faith, and also many good works that flow from our justification, yet heaven itself is also a gift freely given, for our justification, adoption, sanctification and glorification are all wrapped up in this blessed gift of grace. Therefore let us observe some of these means by which Christ draws us to Himself in giving us grace.
1. By Regenerating Our Minds.
In order for us to receive the gift of grace we must be fitted for it.
God does not bestow His rich gifts of grace and mercy to all men. There is a defining principle which separates the children of God from the men of the world. This principle is faith.
“By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
(Eph. 2:8) These two – grace and faith can no more be separated than light can be separated from the sun, or heat from fire. The grace of God always produces faith. Why so many men who lack faith? They lack grace. They lack God’s favor because He does not give it to them. But although we were children of disobedience just like them, it is granted to us to believe in God. This is the first work of grace upon us. God offers us grace, and enables us to receive it! Faith is the receiving of grace. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace.” [Rom. 4:16] God has a mind to bestow His rich mercy and love upon His people, and therefore for this to occur, they must be atoned for, and they must receive it through regeneration. He does not perform His work, and leave it in the dark as to how it should apply to us, but He brings it to pass and brings it to light and most effectually declares His grace and favor towards us in the gospel, and through the communication of His Spirit with the word, we are made to understand and believe it with our whole mind and heart. By this principle God restores the communication of His knowledge to man’s mind which was previously at enmity to Him by ignorance.
By giving us faith, God opens our eyes, and shows us the glories of His majesty, the goodness of His person, the graciousness of His will, and the greatness of His power. We were once darkness, but now God has shone the light of His love into our hearts and minds in the face of Jesus Christ. We are now enlightened and enabled to behold Him. How can we not repent of our ill towards Him, how can we not receive Him as our Prince and Savior, and how can we not love, adore and obey Him seeing that we see Him with the eyes of faith which He Himself gave us? We were darkness- a proper metaphor for a people so destitute of goodness. If we are to see the light therefore, it must be granted to us by Him that has power over light, yea who Himself is light. James calls Him the Father of lights! We can no longer remain in the darkness of our sins and the night of our doubt when Christ’s light shines upon us, but we rise out of the shadows and walk in the light as He is in the light, and we are victoriously drawn into His love by the light. “Now you are light in the Lord! Walk as children of light.” [Eph. 5:8]
2. By Renovating Our Will.
Christ also draws His beloved to Himself by renewing their wills and enabling them to come to Him.
“Who were born not of the will of man, but of God.” [John 1:13] Christ calls out to men in the preaching of the word, and if we are not renewed in the Spirit by the power of God, we are like a dead carcass- both foul, and odious and also unable to act according to His will having no living principle nor sincere desire to order it so. By nature we have a will, and when that will is our own it is entirely inclined to sin.
“We have turned, every one, to his own way.” [Is. 53:6] We have no power to come to Him because we have no understanding of Him, and no affection for Him. Our wills are slaves to this earth, and if we are not renewed in heart and mind by the power of God, we will perish utterly, and be cast from God’s presence into hellfire. Corrupted nature would have us crawl on our bellies in the dust of this world- a slave to our lusts and pleasures. “On your belly you shall go.” This was a curse fit for a devil.
But divine grace gives us wings to fly. “They shall mount up with wings as eagles.”
Divine grace is a gift fit more for angels. Nay, it is more than angelic. It lifts us above nature, above reproach, above the curse of the law and above the punishment that is coming upon the world. It bids us to fly to Christ and fly to heaven and gives us power to do the same. Grace renews the will, and shapes it according to God’s will. We are bid to walk, but we have no legs. We are bid to run, but we have no feet. But grace gives us wings! God does not violate the will by grace, but renews and restores it to its greatest freedom! By this God restores the communication of His righteousness to the will which was previously at enmity to Him by rebellion. He offers us grace, and opens our hands to receive it! He commands us to obey, and enables us to do it! He gives us His love, and opens our hearts to requite it! He bids us to run in the ways of His commandments, and empowers us to fly by His gracious command. We are emboldened by God’s law, not discouraged. Our wills our made His own by grace. The saints could have no greater joy than to do the will of God and forsake their own. There may be times when we stumble into sin, but by God’s grace we can never stumble into hell. Grace enlightens our minds, renews our will, regenerates our affections, and preserves us in the same unto eternity.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17)
“ You have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” (Col. 3:10)
The old ways of serving our own lusts and pleasures is past, the shadows of darkness are more and more being expelled from our souls by the light, and we who are sanctified by grace, and shaped and renewed by the Spirit of God are made willing to do His own will.
3. By Renewing Our Affections.
“My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” (Song 2:10)
Christ woos us and draws us to Himself by opening our hearts to love Him. He does this by declaring His love to our souls, and renewing our affections by His marvelous grace.
By nature, we have no eyes to see Christ’s beauty, for “when we see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him” [Is. 53:2], and no heart to love Him, “they have removed their hearts far from me.” [Is. 29:13] But grace renews the affections, and gives us the eyes to see Him, “One thing have I desired, to behold the beauty of the LORD.” [Ps. 27:4], and a heart to love Him, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” [Ps. 73:25] Grace is as the light of the sun beaming down on the flowers of the field causing them to open to its tender light and offering their fragrance to heaven. As the hymn goes, “Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.” When Christ speaks to us, our ears hear Him, and when He speaks to us in love, our hearts are opened by it, and we are made to love Him in return. Is there anything too difficult for God? Can He not make the mountains shake, the sea roar, the grass grow, the trees stand firm, and the hearts of men go back from where they came from, and return into His love and embrace? By renewing our affections, Christ turns our faces from the things of this world which are base, vile, and corrupt towards Himself to pursue holiness, righteousness, godliness, and everlasting life!
By this God restores the communication of His love to the heart which was previously at enmity to Him by self-love.
Being captivated by the moral perfection and spiritual beauty that is in Christ Jesus, we follow Him wherever He leads us: into prison, into suffering, into death itself, if only we may see His face there. We have been sweetly subdued by His grace, and we can do no other than offer our hearts in worship for Him who bled for us, and calls us to love Him. “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” [Rom. 5:5]
By offering Himself a sacrifice for us, and pouring out His soul unto death, the Lord Christ effectually purchased for us this gift of grace, and the gift of the Spirit who pours the love of God into our hearts and enables us to see, know, adore, love, worship and obey Him with all our heart, mind, and strength. We ought to consider, and think deeply upon this great work, and the gifts that flow from it. All of the gifts we receive from the Spirit are the fruits of Christ’s labor, death, and resurrection. His own love is the source of our love for Him. “We love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
By showing us His love for us, He opens our hearts to requite it. Why do the wicked love this world so much, but because they have not been shown the love of Christ? Thomas Watson said, “Why are men’s affections so set on this world but because they have received no better?” God gives this world to the devil and his children. This is their world, their home, and their end. But by giving us a heart to love Christ, our affections are set upon a much greater object; one more superlatively lovely, and it is a love more richly rewarding. The children of men have their portion in this world. Our portion is in God Himself, and in setting our hope in Him, and our affections on Him, we are made heirs of life everlasting.

Application.
1. Since we are dependent upon God for grace, and cast upon His mercy for forgiveness, and He so willing to grant it to those who repent, let us come to the throne of grace humbly and boldly and beseech Him for it.
The prophet Zechariah declares that in the day of salvation the people of God will mourn bitterly, and when they mourn there will be a fountain opened for them for sin and uncleanness. This is the sin of transgression and the uncleanness of nature. God provides for us the two-fold cure! He washes away the guilt of sin by justifying us, and purges us from the dominion of sin by sanctifying us! The people of God said in Ezekiel, “If our transgressions and sins lie heavy upon us, and we pine away in them, what shall we do?” (Literally, if our sins our greatly burdensome to us.) And the prophet declares to them, “Turn from your evil ways and live! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” [Ez. 33:10-11]
God is full of grace for those who weep for sin. We are at His mercy, and He is full of mercy. He will not cast away those who come to Him in sincerity of heart, mourning for their sin and uncleanness. Therefore let us come to the throne of grace with boldness, and know that He will forgive and receive the penitent; for to this end Christ was sent into the world, that He might save His people from their sins. Those who are convicted will be comforted. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This is a sure remedy for the wounds the law makes upon a heart. “He has stricken, but He will bind us up!” [Hos. 6:1]  We are slain by the law, and renewed by grace. He breaks us with power, and restores us with tender mercies. He shows us the way of life, by revealing to us the paths of death. He shows us the pleasantness of righteousness, by revealing to us the horror of our sins. He makes us pass through hell that He might lead us to heaven.
Seeing that we are nothing, and Christ is everything, let us come to Him for mercy, knowing that we cannot find it in this world, nor in ourselves. All our hope is in God, and in God alone. “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” (Is. 45:22) Come to the fountain to receive the water of life. Come to the throne of grace to receive the benefits of Christ’s redemption. There is no work like Christ’s work, and He is most desirous that we His people glorify Him by admiring His great goodness, and apprehending His unspeakable mercy. He is a loving Father who desires to give good gifts to His children. [Luke 11:13] He is a loving husband who seeks to impress and amaze His spouse by overtures of love and affection.
“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
In the secret places of the cliff,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your face is lovely.” (Song 2:14)
Christ would have us return His love with faith and praise. “Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice!” This is to look upon Christ with the eyes of faith, and to praise Him with our fervent prayers. We come to Christ to receive His love, and then go and sin no more, declaring what He has done for our soul. Jesus said to him who had been demon possessed, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” [Mark 5:19-20]
Shall Christ the most glorious of all loves be so ardent in His kindness and mercy towards us who are unworthy, and shall we not respond in requited affection for Him who is most worthy? He is ready to give, and are we not ready to receive? But oh, the unfathomable riches of free grace! “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” [Is. 55:1]
We are not bid to come with great money, wealth, riches, or even good works, but empty with an appetite to be filled! “Everyone who thirsts!” Christ said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled!” The law shows us that we have no righteousness, but Christ is full of righteousness! Christ is a river, nay an ocean of grace to convey upon wanting souls, and shall we not thirst for it? If we would be given great amounts of grace, we must come to Him who is ready to give with great amounts of thirst. “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, even for the living God!” [Ps. 42:1-2] And God says to His people,
“I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Ps. 81:10)
Let us therefore never despair, and suppose that the Lord does not supply our wants, or meet our needs. He will give to all His people everything they need for salvation, and if they should seek more, all they have to do is ask, and thirst for it. He is a just judge who will punish the wicked, but a tender Father to all who fear Him and put their trust in Him.
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
2. Since God has so enlightened our minds granting us repentance and faith, let us pursue the knowledge of God.
The prophet Hosea says, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.” (Hos. 6:3)
Here in these exhortations of the prophet is an encouragement, and a promise.
i. An encouragement. “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.”
We were given our minds to think, and although it may seem strange in these our days when so much of the world is given to willful ignorance, this ignorance will not do for God’s people. He would have us wise concerning what is good. [Rom. 16:19]
He would have us pursue knowledge of His attributes, knowledge of His decrees and acts, knowledge of His holiness, knowledge of His will, and knowledge of His beloved Son whom He gave to be our sacrifice for sin. We ought to study to know about Christ’s Person, and Work, His life and ministry, His affections for His people, His hatred of sin, His divine offices of prophet, priest, and king, the nature of His death and resurrection, His divine glory seated and enthroned in heaven, and His promise to come again to judge the world in righteousness. Every aspect of doctrinal truth is sweet and delightful to the mind sanctified by grace. Let us therefore be diligent in our studies, constant in our meditations, and sincere in our prayers for increase of knowledge. The apostle Peter says, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.” Here knowledge and grace are linked together as two companions in a race. They run together, and where one falls behind, the other suffers. If we are given grace, it is accompanied with knowledge, and when knowledge is imparted to us by God’s Spirit, it is a marvelous act of free grace enabling us to understand that doctrine which we before were blind to. All wisdom and knowledge is bound up in Christ, and wrapped in mystery throughout scripture. It is not becoming for the saints of God to remain idle in ignorance, but we must dig for the truth in the word and sacraments as for hidden treasures, as Solomon says, and be daily searching the scriptures for truth. Knowledge of scripture cannot be overemphasized, for the prophet Hosea says again, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Therefore, when the prophet says, “Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord”, he is exhorting us to attend to His word preached, where He has manifested His will. Let us therefore take up  for the ministry of the word of God, and meditate on it daily, diligently, and devotedly, that we might glean sacred truth from it, and grow in grace, as the Lord deems it good to sanctify. The word of God, like a light is a means of grace, and the way that God sanctifies us to Himself, and purifies us from every evil work.
“Sanctify them by thy truth,
Thy word is truth.” [John 17:17]
ii. A promise. “He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”
In pursuing the knowledge of God, we are not blindly groping for what we cannot see, or as deaf listening for words that may never come, but we have these promises established to us, that God will manifest Himself to us, and be present with us in our engagements, and our pursuit of the knowledge of Him. Has He promised and will He not do? “Heaven and earth may pass, but my words shall never pass away.” These promises of blessing are sure in Christ, and through Him all the promises of God are yes and amen. Are we active in spiritual duty, in reading and meditating on godly principles? God has assuredly promised to bless us by them, and come to us like rain, covering us with His love and affection, teaching us by His word, and causing us to grow thereby as the rain covers the grass, and nourishes the fields.
Therefore, ““Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23-24)
3. Since God has renewed our wills enabling us to obey Him, let us endeavor after keeping His commandments.
David says in Psalm 119:34, “Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”
It follows then that after receiving the knowledge of the Lord, that we have a mind to walk in His ways, and observe His commandments. In truth, in this verse is the whole substance of true religion. We have here the necessity of divine revelation, the use of this knowledge in applying ourselves to His will, and the inward delight we have for God’s services. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” [Matt. 22:37] This is the great commandment of the law. However, for the sake of brevity, we will not go on to explain in detail the full exposition of this verse, though it is in itself filled with great, and diverse truths, but will set our focus on the applying ourselves to the observation of God’s commandments. For how can we do otherwise when He has set His mind on us? How can we not offer our lives for Him, when He so freely offered His for us? It is practical atheism to deny God’s sovereign rule over us, and cast His law behind us as inconsequential. The law of God is and must be of monumental importance to the Christian seeing with what agony, and pain the Lord Christ suffered to fulfill its righteous demands. And shall we not apply ourselves to it? Shall the Lord by His perfect life show us the right way to live, and shall we desire to live otherwise? May it never be!
The wise king Solomon greatly beloved of the Lord, fell into sin for a time, yet it was for the purpose that God might manifestly declare that there is nothing worth living for apart from Christ, and there is no endeavor so good for man to do with his might than obey God’s commandments in the constant fear of Him. Solomon is known for his literary temple of works, (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs) and as the temple of God is likened to the Temple of a man’s soul, he lays out in Proverbs what is profitable for the mind- which is wisdom, and truth. In Ecclesiastes, what is profitable for the will – which is obedience to God. (which is what we are here discussing), and in the Song of Songs, what is profitable for the heart – even the love of God.
Solomon lays out his argument in the whole book of Ecclesiastes saying that he tasted of this world’s pleasures, he was given honor, wealth, fame, women and whatsoever the heart naturally thinks of as worthy to labor for. But all these things are vanity, says he, and grasping for the wind. He concludes the book by saying this, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.” (Ecc. 12:13-14)
Yet, we should not receive these words only as if they came from a man who learned by experience, a wise man, or a king, but as from the Spirit of God who knows all the secrets of the heart, and communicates to us in the Word what it best for us that we might always do those things that please Him, and are expedient to the salvation of our souls.
4. Since God has regenerated our affections, let us set our hearts on Him.
The prophet declares,
“They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, And she goes from him And becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’ Would not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord.” (Jer. 3:1)
Our affections being by nature drawn to the things of this world are inconstant, and disordered. They are not only immoral, but irrational! James also boldly declares, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) What better object for the affections to desire than Christ? And yet we have played the harlot with many lovers. Yet even so, He says, “Return to me!” That is, return to me with your whole heart! “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:2-3) Christ has renewed our affections that they might be set on Him who is eternal, and not on things of this world, which are soon to pass away.
See how often in scripture affections are linked together with the world, because the Spirit knows how soon we are drawn away from religion to the things of this world.
The apostle John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) Here John even goes so far as to say that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And why so, but that when God’s love is set on a person, God sanctifies them and sets them apart from this world, giving them affections proper, and suitable for His worship. By nature we are fleshly and carnal, but grace makes us spiritual persons. We were called out of Egypt that we might offer spiritual sacrifices in the wilderness. “To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74-75)
Let us therefore worship Him in wonder, praise, adoration, in fear and in love. He has delivered us for this purpose, not so that we might enjoy the things of the world, but that we might enjoy Him. He went to the greatest lengths to restore communion with us, and to unite Himself to His people in eternal love, and shall not we who are blessed with such blessed communications of grace be slack in our worship? Shall we be more ready to delight in carnal and temporal things than in the eternal God? May it never be!
Therefore, set your hope on Christ, and on His love and mercy! Set your affection on the Lord Jesus Christ, who draws us into His love by His powerful grace! His affections for us ought to be prized, and esteemed more than gold, more than anything in this world, and we ought to return them with our own affections, with hearts full of praise, adoration, worship, love and affection for our dear Redeemer who saved us from wrath, and offered Himself for our sins, that He might by grace deliver us from this present evil world, draw us to Himself, unite us with His person, and present us to His Father blameless, and righteous through Him. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!