Читать книгу Plain Parochial Sermons, preached in the Parish Church of Bolton-le-Moors онлайн

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I need not attempt to go further; certainly none of us will deny the unsearchableness of the riches of Christ. Certainly every one of us is ready to exclaim, O that I may be partaker of them; all this world, nay, a thousand worlds are nothing in comparison. These riches are now offered to you: they are waiting your acceptance; receive them with all your heart, and they are yours; you do not expect them to be forced upon you; you do not expect this happy portion without choosing it, without prayer and without striving for it; ask earnestly, seek diligently, and it shall be yours; your inexhaustible treasure, in time and to eternity.

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Genesis vi. 6. 7.

It repented the Lord, that He had made man upon the earth and it grieved Him at His heart; and the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.

The expression in the former clause of the text has, to some persons, afforded matter of surprise; and certainly the language is remarkable; representing the Almighty as repenting of the work of creation, and grieved at the heart, not merely on account of the wickedness of man, but that he was ever made. Yet the language, when properly considered, is no more remarkable, than that of numberless other passages in Holy Writ; it is stronger perhaps; it may carry the customary mode of speech somewhat further; but that is all. We are perfectly aware, that the Godhead is incapable of being affected and changed by contrary passions, as we are; the purpose of Jehovah is fixed, upon the basis of infinite wisdom, from everlasting to everlasting; nothing can occur, of which He was previously ignorant; nothing to afford any grief or uneasiness; “known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world;” [39] and it is impossible for us to interpret the text, or any similar phrase, according to the sense in which we understated such words, when applied to creatures like ourselves.