A    PRECIOUS   PLENITUDE.  261

Not  one  of  them  could  do  without  receiving  it;  i.ot
one  of  them  could  receive  it  from  any  other  hand
than  that  of  the  Divine  Benefactor.  They  earned
it  not.  They  accepted  it.  They  received  it  of  Jesus
Christ,

This  is  peculiar  to  the  saints.  While  it  says,  "  Of
his  fulness  have  all  WE  received,"  manifestly  a  certain
body  of  people  have  become  partakers  of  a  privilege
which  it  is  no  less  evident  that  all  men  have  not  re
ceived.  What  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands
there  are  who,  when  invited  to  the  gospel  feast,  re
ject  the  call,  "  make  a  wretched  choice,  and  rather
starve  than  come  ! "  "  All  we  !  "  that  is,  all  of  those
who  have  believed.  And  who  are  " we"  or  what
are  "  we"  that  such  grace  should  be  given  to  us  in
preference  to  anybody  else?  Ah,  brethren,  little
cause  enough  have  we  for  self-satisfaction  !  On  the
score  of  desert  no  choice  had  ever  fallen  on  us.
We  were  the  vilest,  the  least  worthy,  the  least  at
tractive,  and,  in  some  respects,  the  least  hopeful !
Oh,  grace!  it  is  thy  wont  into  unlikeliest  hearts  to
come,  and  it  is  the  glory  of  love  Divine  to  find  in
darkest  spots  a  home !  "All  we;"  we  who  were
once  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;  we  who  were  once
lost  like  the  prodigal  son,  lost  like  the  wandering
sheep,  lost  like  the  piece  of  money;  we  who  needed
seeking,  needed  finding,  needed  saving;  yet  of  his
fulness  have  all  we  received.  Recollect  that  the
reception  is  peculiar  to  believers;  it  does  not  go  be
yond  them.
Be  it  clear,  however,  that  there  is  and  must  be  a


262  7V7.fi:    PRESENT    TRUTH.
