A Goodly Heritage

In the sacred oracles five objects especially are called precious. The redemption of the soul is precious. The blood of Christ is precious. Christ is precious to His ransomed people. The promises of the gospel are great and precious. And in our text faith is called precious. That is accounted precious which is of an excellent quality, especially if it be rare. Gold is preferred to brass, moral virtue to gold; but the faith of God's elect infinitely surpasseth these, and every acquisition below the sun. And in its operations and effects it is most excellent. What tends farther to raise the value of saving faith in our esteem is — 1.  The manner in which we are made partakers of it, namely, by the gracious and sovereign disposal of heaven. 2.  That the weakest real believers share the blessing together with the strongest apostles themselves, greatly magnifieth our idea of its worth. I.  First, saving faith consists in THE CREDIT THE HEART YIELDETH TO THE TESTIMONY OF...

1.  "Declared" may signify decreed or determined. But with what propriety could Christ be said to be decreed to be that which He was from eternity. That which is the proper object of decree or destination is something future; but that which was eternal cannot be imagined in any period of time to be future. Those who deny the eternal godhead of Christ, and date His Sonship principally from His resurrection, are great friends to this exposition. But the word also means to declare, show forth, or manifest, and this signification carries a most fit and emphatic opposition to "He was made of the seed of David," which word imports the human constitution that did not exist before; but here, since He had from eternity been the Son of God, it is not said of Him that He was made, but only declared or manifested to be so. 2.  "With power"; which, though some understand of the power of Christ, as it exerted itself in His miracles; yet here it signifies rather the ...