It should be obvious to everyone that they need a religion, though so many today profess to have none. It should also be obvious that the religion one follows needs to be true, not false – in spite of the contemporary assumption that all religions are equally true, that they all point in basically the same direction. Yet large numbers of people in the Western world assume, at least in practice, that all religions are false and that life will turn out best if they reject all ideas of God and live as atheists, or at least as agnostics. Let us examine the idea of true religion in a series of steps:
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Christianity is the true religion. The followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26). But the term has been used much more widely over the centuries to describe anyone who, in some sense, claims a degree of allegiance to Christ – to be a follower of Christ, no matter how tenuous that person’s connection with Him might be. Only followers of false religions, along with atheists and agnostics, are excluded from this definition. This sense of the word has its uses, but we need to come closer to what those disciples understood was being conveyed when they were first called “Christians”.
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True religion involves taking the Bible seriously. The Bible is a revelation from God; it tells us what we should believe and how we should live. Many people think they are taking the Bible seriously although their ideas of doctrine and practice are very different from what the Bible actually teaches. One main reason for rejecting Roman Catholicism is that, while it claims to respect the authority of Scripture, it effectively denies that authority by giving at least an equal place to “unwritten tradition”. Their tradition includes, for instance, the immaculate conception of Mary: the false idea that she was free from original sin. This is contradicted by her reference, recorded in Scripture, to “God my Saviour” (Lk 1:47), and only a sinner needs a saviour. If Mary “rejoiced in God [her] Saviour”, as she did, it was true of her, as of every other merely human being, that her mother conceived her “in sin” (Ps 51:5).
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True religion seeks to be faithful to the Reformation understanding of
the Bible in doctrine, worship and practice. Much of present-day religion is seriously flawed because it rejects the infallibility of Scripture and readily accepts that it contains errors. But true religion includes the “full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority” of Scripture (Westminster Confession of Faith 1:7). This Confession is the best summary of how Scripture should be understood; it is the subordinate standard of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which was obliged to separate from the nineteenth-century Free Church of Scotland when that body became unsound on the doctrine of Scripture, as well as on other teachings. When a denomination gives up a firm grasp of the perfection and authority of Scripture, it is likely to slide further and further from the doctrines, and even the morality, that God has revealed. Of this there are many examples today.
If we are to be safe for eternity, we must retain clear scriptural teaching about sin – that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) – and also about the consequences of sin. We must also hold fast the scriptural teaching about the one remedy for both the guilt and the power of sin and we must not depart in any degree from the Reformation insistence on the absolute necessity of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, if sinners are to be accepted by God and delivered from a lost eternity.
- The focus of this article, however, is intended to be on heart religion. People may adhere to all that has been said in the previous paragraphs about true religion, without obeying the gospel or living godly lives. But “this is [God’s] commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 Jn 3:23). It is perfectly possible to profess warm attachment to the truths of God’s Word while continuing in heart rebellion against the authority of God. Such people have never been born again; they do not have the fear of God in their hearts – that is, their way of life is not based on a holy respect for God and for His commandments.
Yet this fear is what Solomon, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, considered “the conclusion of the whole matter” that he had written about in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). Matthew Henry comments, “The root of [true] religion is the fear of God reigning in the heart, a reverence of His majesty, a deference to His authority, and a dread of His wrath”. He goes on to state that the call, “Fear God”, also implies, “Worship God, give Him the honour due to His name, in all the instances of true devotion, inward and outward”. Henry further emphasises, “The rule of religion is the law of God revealed in the Scriptures. Our fear towards God must be taught by His commandments (Is 29:13), and those we must keep and cheerfully observe.
Wherever the fear of God is uppermost in the heart, there will be a respect to all His commandments and care to keep them. In vain do we claim to fear God if we do not make conscience of our duty to Him.”
Those who have true religion in their hearts are learning to be dependent on the Lord. The Apostle Paul realised that even God’s people, himself included, are not “sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves”. Paul’s sufficiency was not from himself, even as to his thinking, and that was also true of what he did and what he said. But to know his insufficiency did not leave him helpless and hopeless; the source of his help and hope was the Most High; Paul wrote further: “Our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor 3:5). No doubt he was learning this increasingly as life went on and as, by the work of the Holy Spirit in his soul, he grew in grace; yet there was no need to despair. So it is with all God’s children, though some have become more dependent on the Lord than others; they have all been learning to commit themselves, and what they do, to the One who is able to strengthen them for duty and to keep them from sin.
This dependence is expressed in prayer. David’s desires found expression at the throne of grace. For instance, from a consciousness of ignorance, he cried out to the Lord, the one safe source of help: “Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me” (Ps 25:5). He could not presume that he would proceed safely through life if he looked to himself for direction; only God could lead him on safely, in the light of revealed truth, and it was God alone who could apply that truth to David’s understanding. It is the same with all God’s children today; it is God who must apply to them the truth that is relevant to a particular situation. They must be dependent on His teaching if they are to escape being influenced by the false ideas that have become so influential in contemporary society and bear down on them from so many directions.
It is surely important then that each of us should follow the religion that is true – the religion whose teachings reflect the reality of what really exists and not what is false. But it is not sufficient to believe the facts revealed in Scripture – in particular, that God exists; that He is holy; that by nature we are all in rebellion against Him; that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world to save sinners; and that all who believe in Him will not perish in a lost eternity but will enjoy eternal blessedness in heaven. It is tremendously important to believe these facts, but we must also be born again, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls, and live by God’s grace according to the precepts of true Christianity as made known in Scripture. We desperately need true religion, in every sense of the term. Let us seek it earnestly, and urgently, from the Lord Jesus, who is able and willing to save lost sinners, and to save them “to the uttermost” (Heb 7:25).
A Coronation Sermon (1)1
John Flavel
Song of Solomon 3:11. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
A crown is the top of earthly glory. No one aspires to be above it, unless the man of sin, who affects to sit in the very throne of God, and exalts “himself above all that is called God” (2 Th 2:4). When God puts a crown upon the head and a sceptre into the hand of a man, He engraves upon that man (in a qualified sense) the living letters of His Majesty and authority: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are the children of the Most High” (Ps 82:6). Yet there is always a reservation to the divine prerogative, to set the crown on whatever head He shall please: “Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown . . . exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high”.
Though dominion is not founded in grace, grace embellishes and secures the dominion of men. The princes of the earth owe homage to Jesus Christ (Ps 2:10-12), and had some of them been more subject to His laws, their kingdoms would have flourished. The coronation day of a king is, in a sense, the marriage day between him and his people, and is accordingly solemnised with demonstrations of joy and gladness. Thus when the crown of Israel was set on Solomon’s head, Scripture represents their exuberant joy: “All the people came up after him; and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them” (1 Ki 1:40).
Carnal men rejoice carnally, and spiritual men should rejoice spiritually. The most glorious part of the solemnity of such a day consists in: (1) praises and prayers for those that wear the crown; (2) a spiritual application of the action to ourselves.
(1.) Praises and prayers for the king whom God has set over us. Your prayers and praises reflect more glory on the crown than all the jewels and sparkling stones with which it shines. So I am persuaded our king will account it, according to Zechariah 12:5: “The governors of Judah shall say in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God”. Praise thy God, O England, for setting thy crown this day upon the head of a Protestant prince, who did not account his treasures or blood dear to him, to redeem the interest of Christ out of the dangers that were ready to swallow it up. Pray fervently for your king this day, for the concerns of
1Preached at Dartmouth when William and Mary were crowned in 1689. Taken with editing from Flavel’s Works, vol 6.
the people of God are so great in relation to him that they call for the uttermost importunity in prayer from all the saints:
[1] That God would cleanse the crown of England from all that guilt and pollution it contracted under former governments [in particular, of Charles II and James II], so that the sins of the crown may not descend with it. [2] That the royal head on which it shall be set this day may be filled with the wisdom of God, and matched with a holy heart, inflamed with love to God and zeal for His glory. [3] That as soon as men have set the crown upon his head, he may cheerfully take it off again and cast it at the feet of Jesus Christ, as the 24 elders did (Rev 4:10). [4] That God would make the crown sit easy and long upon his head – easy, because crowns are usually lined with thorny cares; and long, for the Church’s peace and tranquillity.
(2.) A spiritual application to our own instruction and spiritual advantage, and this will be much more glorious than all the triumphant arches, royal robes, thundering guns, and loud acclamations of the people. To this purpose, I have chosen this text for spiritualising the duties of the day.
The parts of this Song of Solomon are sung by the heavenly Bridegroom and the bride. The matter of it is most spiritual and weighty, the style of it rapturous and lofty, the intimate union and communion of Christ and the Church are elegantly illustrated in an allegory of marriage; but nothing here is light or obscene. It is a crystal stream of pure spiritual love sliding sweetly between two pleasant banks, Christ and the Church.
In verses 9 and 10, you have the description of a triumphant chariot prepared by King Solomon for the daughters of Jerusalem: “The pillars thereof of silver, the bottom of gold, the covering of purple, and the midst thereof paved with love”. A chariot is designed for easy, safe and honourable conveyance. This chariot is the covenant of grace, fitted by Christ to transport His bride, the Church, safely and honourably through this world to her glorious mansion in the highest heavens.
But however stately and magnificent this royal chariot may be, He that designed it is much more glorious to behold. Therefore in the next words, which are my text, believers are summoned to behold and contemplate Christ, who designed it. In its words we have: (1.) The spectators summoned; (2.) The spectacle they are invited to see.
(1.) The spectators invited: the daughters of Zion. By Zion, understand the Church; and by the daughters of Zion, the members of the Church, or every particular believer. These are here invited to go forth, from their entangling, diverting temptations, and to behold – by the eye of faith – this most glorious and heart-delighting object.
(2.) The spectacle they are invited to behold and contemplate: King
Solomon with his crown – the most illustrious, glorious and delightful sight that ever the eyes of men did, or shall, behold. By King Solomon, understand Christ; of whom Solomon, in this Book, is the figure or shadow; yet He is One to whom Solomon, in all his glory, was but a painted sun on a signpost, when compared to the sun in the heavens at midday, shining in all its glory.
And by His crown, do not understand a material crown, as Solomon’s was, but the glory and honour that is put upon Christ, the king of Zion – of which glory a crown is an emblem. Interpreters are not all agreed about what crown is meant here; some would have it understood of our human nature, with which His mother Mary, from whom He took it, crowned Him. But though this assumption of our nature put such a crown of glory upon it as it never had before, it was rather an obscuring of Christ’s glory than any addition of glory to it. Others interpret it of the crown of thorns with which His mother (the Jewish church or synagogue) crowned Him in the day of His passion at Jerusalem; but this seems to be as difficult a sense as the first.
The most judicious expositors are agreed on a third sense: by the crown on Christ’s head, we are to understand that glory and honour which believers put upon Christ, when in the day of their espousals to Him by faith, they renounce Satan, sin and all that had exercised dominion over them before. They then reject all dependence on any righteousness of their own, and give their deliberate, full and hearty consent to Christ alone reigning over them for ever. They say, “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king”; Christ is “the Lord our righteousness”, and in all things we will obey Him. Christ esteems this as a crown of glory put on His head, in the day of His espousals, and in the day of the gladness of His heart. There is no such honour, no such pleasure a poor sinner can give to Christ, as to believe in Him; this is as the putting of a crown of glory upon His head. It is true, it adds no glory to Him, but it is the greatest manifestation of His glory that we are capable of making.
Objection. In what sense can believers be tolerably styled Christ’s mother? For the text tells us that it was the crown His mother put upon Him.
Answer. They may be so styled in two ways: (1) Because Christ is formed in every believer; He is (in a spiritual sense) conceived and formed in their souls, as the child is formed in its mother’s womb. So the Apostle speaks, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you” (Gal 4:19). (2) Because of the dear affection Christ bears to every soul that believes in Him. No man loves his brother, sister, or mother, as Christ loves believers. When He was told that His mother and brethren were seeking Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother”
(Mk 3:34). The day when a sinner consents to come under Christ’s government is the day of his espousals (2 Cor 11:2). And the day of a sinner’s espousals to Christ is the day of the gladness of his heart (Lk 15:32).
Doctrine. The day of a believer’s espousals to Christ by faith is to Christ as the day of a king’s coronation is to him, the day of the gladness of his heart.
What we find in Luke 10:21 is very remarkable; there the Spirit has carefully recorded one hour of joy in the life of Christ, for He did not have many, being a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. “In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit.” What hour was that? It was when the seventy returned with these joyful tidings to Him: “Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name”, when Christ saw Satan falling as lightning from heaven (vv 17,18), his kingdom tottering, his forces routed by the gospel, his subjects running away to Christ from his cruel bondage, and made willing to come under His government. This was joyful news to Christ; it was the day of the gladness of His heart. He now had a new throne in the souls of poor sinners, over whom the devil and sin had reigned; this was a crown of glory to Christ.
I shall discourse on these three things: (1.) In what respects a sinner’s espousals to Christ resemble the day of a king’s coronation. (2) How these two days differ from each other. (3.) Why it is the day of the gladness of Christ’s heart. And then I shall apply it.
1. The resemblances between the day of a king’s coronation and the day of a sinner’s espousals to Christ by faith. This will appear in six respects:
(1.) A king that is duly crowned over his subjects has a lawful right to govern them. Solomon had his title to the kingdom by descent from his royal father David, who appointed him to be his immediate successor upon the throne of Israel (1 Ki 1:35). But David had his title by the voluntary election of the people (2 Sam 5:1-5). The Roman Caesar’s title to the kingdom of Judah was by conquest. Christ recognised it, when He said, “Render . . . unto Caesar the things that be Caesar’s” (Lk 20:25). But Christ has a right to reign on the throne of our souls by His Father’s decree, “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion” (Ps 2:6); by conquest, for He wins it by the sword of His Spirit before He possesses it (2 Cor 10:4,5). He casts down by spiritual weapons all that oppose Him and brings every thought into obedience to Him. And He has a right also by consent: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Ps 110:3).
(2.) On the coronation day, kings appear in all their royal robes, glittering jewels, and all the lustre that can be put upon them; they shine in the eyes of the people more gloriously than all that are about them. Much more does Christ excel all others in beauty and glory, in the eyes of those that choose
Him for their Lord and King: “Unto you . . . which believe, He is precious” (1 Pet 2:7); He is honour itself: “He is before all things” (Col 1:17), not only in time, or in order, but real dignity, solid glory and excellency. So His spouse pronounces, “Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips” (Ps 45:2), and, “My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand” (Song 5:10). Examine and mark all the creatures in both worlds, angels and men; they bear no more proportion to Christ in glory than a glowworm to the sun.
(3.) On the coronation day, the consent of the people is demanded, and given. So, when Christ is crowned King over the soul, His right is asserted and their consent demanded by His ambassadors. The believer gives his hearty consent. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power” (Ps 110:3). He reigns over all that are made truly willing to receive Him and invests them with all the privileges of His kingdom (Jn 1:12). The unbeliever is not willing to come under Christ’s government: “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life” (Jn 5:40). And the result of their unwillingness is their eternal ruin: “Those Mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before Me” (Lk 19:27).
Now to make a soul truly willing to accept Christ’s government and give consent to Him, four things must be done upon such a soul, by Him: (1) He must be convinced of his sin and misery; no man will be willing to change his lord, while he finds no matter of complaint. (2) He must know, and deliberate on, the terms of Christ, for an ignorant person cannot be said to consent. Christ will have all the world to know His terms, whether they like them or not. No one shall say afterwards, I was surprised, or imposed upon; had I known this, I would never have consented to be a Christian. The hardest terms of Christianity are plainly propounded, to cut off all pretences for resiling from Christ. (3) On deliberation, there must appear, to the soul that consents to Christ’s government, a preponderating good – that Christ, with all His reproaches and sufferings, is better than sin, with all its honours and pleasures: No man will change for no advantage, much less to his loss. Thus Moses saw more glory and excellence in the very reproaches of Christ than in all the treasures of Egypt, or pleasures of sin (Heb 11:25,26). The soul says, Though there are hard and bitter sufferings in the way of godliness, it is infinitely better for me to endure them for Christ than to be damned. And on balancing the gains and losses of Christianity, its conveniences and inconveniences, the soul pronounces they are not worthy to be compared (Rom 8:18). (4) Men will never heartily consent to Christ’s terms unless there is a divine, almighty influence on the will. “No man”, says Christ, “can come to Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me draw him” (Jn 6:44). God
influences the will in a way suitable to its nature (Hos 11:4), and produces consent without co-action. If the Lord shows anyone the infinite advantages that come to his soul by Christ, this very discovery does compel, as it were, that man to come in to Christ, as that word is used in Luke 14:23, a scripture vilely abused in our times. Christ compels no one to come into His kingdom, as the Spaniards did force poor Indians [in South America] to be baptized, or as others have been compelled to go to the Lord’s table. He will reign over a willing people, or not at all.
(4.) On the coronation day, a champion appears, on the king’s behalf, to challenge any that shall deny His right, or attempt to draw his subjects from their duty and allegiance: He defies the proudest enemy of the king. So when Christ is crowned King over the souls of His people, a public, formal challenge is made to all the enemies of Christ and His people: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? . . . Who is he that condemneth? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:33-35). Devils and men are defied to do their worst. Christ must reign till all His enemies are put under His feet; sin shall not have dominion over His people, for they are not under the law, but under grace. Let Satan, and all his infernal powers come; they are all defied in the name of Christ. Believers are His subjects, and none shall pluck them out of His hand.
(5.) At, or about, the coronation day, an act is passed and published, pardoning the offences the subjects had committed unto that day. Thus it is at the day of Christ’s coronation over the believer’s soul, and its espousals to Him by faith; all his sins are pardoned, new and old, great and small. And of this, proclamation is openly made in the gospel. “To Him gave all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sin” (Acts 10:43). O glorious pardon, free without purchase, full without exception, and final without revocation! Now there is deliverance from prison, the doors are open, liberty is proclaimed to the captives (Is 61:1,2). The King of Sion is a merciful King, and His subjects shall find Him so; they have gladdened His heart by accepting His government, and He will gladden theirs by His pardons. The Son has made them free, and they are free indeed.
(6.) A coronation day is a day of gladness, a day of joy and triumph; joy displays itself in the faces of all loyal subjects; only those that had rather be under another government hang their head and bite their lip. So all Jesus Christ’s loyal subjects rejoice exceedingly in His government; and it must be so, because His kingdom consists in joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom 14:17). When Zaccheus came under this King, he came down joyfully (Lk 19:6,9). When the eunuch received Christ for his Lord and King, he went home
rejoicing (Acts 8:39). When Samaria submitted to His sceptre, there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:5-7). Let the joy be what it will, the causes of joy are greater than the joy itself. But the only malcontents are those who belong to Satan’s kingdom, who love to be under the dominion of sin and hate the strictness of true religion; they fret to see Christ’s kingdom enlarged, and secretly plot to destroy it.
2. How the two days differ – no difference to the believer’s disadvantage.
(1.) It is not the privilege of every subject – nor of one among many thousands – to see the king who is crowned over them, to hear his voice, or give their explicit consent in his presence. But every subject in Christ’s kingdom sees Christ by the eye of faith: he “seeth the Son, and believeth on Him” (Jn 6:40). Seeing and believing are interchangeable terms; they all hear His voice, and give their explicit consent to have Him for their King. Union with Christ is not to be done by a proxy, or a representative, but is the result of a solemn debate between Christ and the soul.
(2.) Kings are crowned over many that do not love them but are filled with prejudice against their persons and government. But it cannot be so in the kingdom of Christ; to them that believe He is precious (1 Pet 2:7). All Christ’s subjects love Him above father or mother, wife or children, even above their own lives; otherwise they cannot be His subjects (Lk 14:27). They also delight in His governing; nothing would be more pleasant to their souls than to find every thought of their heart brought into subjection to Him (2 Cor 10:5). They dare not ally themselves with His enemies, but will choose to die rather than forsake Him.
(3.) The relation between a king and his subjects must be dissolved by death. But our King, Christ, lives for ever; death has no dominion over Him: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion shall have no end (Dan 7:13,14). Death is so far from separating Christ and His subjects that it brings them nearer together than ever; it brings them into His immediate presence (1 Cor 13:12) and fixes them there for ever (1 Th 4:17).
(4.) Kings may degenerate into tyrants, and subjects into rebels; they may undermine the laws, liberties and religion of their people. The world is too full of such instances and examples, but Christ can never oppress His subjects. “The sceptre of [His] kingdom is a right sceptre” (Ps 45:6). His “yoke is easy, and [His] burden is light” (Mt 11:30). And His true subjects can never shake off their allegiance to Him; they shall rather die than do so.
(5.) Kings will not permit their greatest favourites to sit on their thrones; it is their special honour, not communicable to any. But Christ appoints all His subjects to sit with Him upon His throne (Rev 3:21). The glory which God gave Him, He has given to them (John 17:22). What king is like Christ?
(6.) The joy and triumph at the king’s coronation is only among men, in this lower world, but the joy and triumph at Christ’s coronation, is among angels in heaven (Lk 15:7). The city of God holds a solemn triumph at the conversion of a particular sinner; what are the shouts of men to the rejoicing of angels?
3. Why Christ’s coronation over believers is the day of His gladness.
(1) It is His marriage day, at least the day of His espousals. Christ now has a new spouse, a soul in which He never dwelt before; as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so does Christ over believers (Is 62:5). Here is a new relation, with the King of kings; the angels of God rejoice exceedingly in it, but much more Christ, the blessed Bridegroom.
(2) It is Christ’s day of victory over Satan, when He has deposed him from his throne (Mt 12:29), delivered out of the power of darkness a soul of invaluable worth in His eyes, and translated it into His own kingdom (Col 1:13). The day of conquest is a day of extraordinary joy and triumph (Is 9:3).
(3) It is the day in which Christ receives the fruit and reward of His bloody travail and bitter agonies: a son, or daughter, has now been born to God, an heir born to the heavenly inheritance. It is most pleasant and joyful to Jesus Christ to see of the travail of His soul (Is 53:11). No satisfaction in this world is comparable to it. When a young heir is born to the kingdom and crown of heaven, it deserves a triumph.
(4) It is the day when Christ finds a soul that was lost. What joy it was to the father of the prodigal when he had found his lost son! (Lk 15:20). There was mirth and music, feasting and rejoicing: “This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found”. Poor sinners are lost creatures by nature; they have lost their God, and themselves too. The devil has found every unregenerate sinner. But the errand for which Christ came into the world was to seek and to save that which was lost (Mt 18:11). When the lost sinner comes home to Him by repentance and faith, He attains the purpose of His incarnation, life and death, for that soul, which must be the day of the gladness of His heart.
The day of a king’s espousals is a day of gladness to his soul, a day of conquest and dividing the spoils, after a sharp fight. It is a joy to a mother, after long and sore travail, to embrace in her arms the child for whom she endured so much. It is a joy to a father to find and recover a child that was lost and was dead to him. In a word, there is high delight and satisfaction in seeing a great purpose, on which the heart is intently set, brought at last, by orderly conduct, to the desired happy issue. If these things are so, let us allow that the day when a sinner comes to Christ by conversion is as a king’s coronation day, the day of his espousals, and the gladness of his heart.