Page:The works of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., late fellow of Lincoln-College, Oxford (IA worksofrevjohnwe3wesl).pdf/74

 till having wrote it in the hearts of all his children, and put all his enemies under his feet, he shall deliver up his mediatorial ''kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all''.

11. And this law which the goodness of God gave at first and has preserved through all ages, is, like the fountain from whence it springs, full of goodness and benignity: It is mild and kind; it is (as the Psalmist expresses it) ''sweeter than honey and the honey-comb''. It is winning and amiable. It includes ''whatsoever things are lovely or of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise'' before God and his holy angels, they are all comprized in this: wherein are hid all the treasures of the divine wisdom and knowledge and love.

12. And it is good in its effects, as well as in its nature. As the tree is, so are its fruits. The fruits of the law of God written in the heart, are ''righteousness and peace and assurance for ever''. Or rather, the law itself is righteousness, filling the soul with a peace which passeth all understanding, and causing us to rejoice evermore, in the testimony of a good conscience toward God. It is not so properly a pledge, as an earnest of our inheritance, being a part of the purchased possession. It is God made manifest in our flesh, and bringing with him eternal life: assuring us by that pure and perfect love, that we are sealed unto the day of redemption: that he will spare us as a man spareth his own son that