No.ff.l.. 18p3 This Book belongs to -o-- If thou art borrowed by a friend, Right welcome shall he be, To read, to study—not to lend, But to return to me. -o- Read carefully, pause frequently, return duly, with the corners of the leaves not turned down. 'v‘ vif? vis;- RHH ■■■•ML *-r "'£ ■ ,.; &•“■?* f!.-" • : .V, •?$•> .v-:* ^’..W ■. #$*%• , *>v«sfjjES5 h i ■ A Islw ! K 1 llllf MmOV,'-! - 'vi-JiV-t* Htori ■ ••■r v-y k 1 >,2’ A% 'tS[T iV .wf >. * -rfe’, ■PHI E^gSGRg ■Miy Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/seriesofdiscoursOOsavi V \ SCS \ c ( \ A SERIES OE DISCOURSES ON THE PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF REVELATION. BY THE LATE REV. DAVID SAVILE, A. M. EDINBURGH, AUTHOR OF DISSERTATIONS ON THE EXISTENCE, ATTRIBUTES, AND MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD, &C. &C. EDINBURGH: Printed by James Clarke, Coze gate, AND SOLD BY BROWN AND CROMBIE, EDINBURGH AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, & ORME, LONDON. 1810 . I ; :; . ! ■; TO i'WL'iOD.Wd ru >< >■/ sj.'I ■ r.'i , . V : , V 1 .• \l r v - that she might not avail herself of the counsel and direction of her husband.—- He began with persuading her to disbelieve the solemn threat of the Almighty. The Almighty had declared to Adam ;— 44 in the 32 The Fall of Man. 44 day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt 44 surely die —but the Tempter, replete with guile, 44 said unto the woman ;—Ye 44 shall 7iot surely die. The tree, he insinu- 44 ated, is most inviting to the sight, and can 44 produce the most glorious effects upon the 44 mind. Perhaps, for this very reason, it 44 is forbidden you by God. He wishes to 44 keep you in low subjection ; but only taste 44 of this fair and beautiful fruit, and, in- 44 stantly, ye shall be divinely wise : raised, 44 in every way, far above all other crea- 44 tures.—Ye shall be as gods : your natures 44 perfect, and your happiness unmeasurable 44 and independent/’—The woman, lured by the hope of superior wisdom, and unmea¬ surable and independent happiness, fell a prey to the Tempter’s wiles. Her curiosity was excited, her desire was inflamed, her reason was blinded, and in an evil moment, she put forth her hand, 44 she plucked, she ate.” Earth felt the wound, and Nature from Ijer seat, ** Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe, iC That all was lost.” She herself, however, did not, as yet, feel her case so desperate. Still deluded with The Fall of Man. 33 the absurd hope of being so much more in¬ telligent, and independent and happy, she held forth the fruit to her husband, and in¬ vited him to be partner in the baneful deed. Ah ! temptation is but too successful with the mind, when the person who presents it, is tenderly beloved. Adam too easily yield¬ ed. Eve, at once betrayed him, as she her¬ self was betrayed by Satan. When she of¬ fered the fair enticing fruit, he, hapless man ! rather than see her, whom he loved,—- who was his dearer self, perish alone, chose to eat with her, and be involved in the same common ruin. “ Earth trembled from her entrails, as again t( In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan ; “ Sky lour’d, and muttering thunder, some sad drops “ Wept, at completing of the mortal sin ” Mortal, indeed, it was: it intercepted the favour of God, deprived the unhappy pair, who committed it, of all their pristine joys, and exposed them to that “ fiery indigna- “ tion which shall devour the adversaries.” Let none then, in the wantonness and wick¬ edness of their hearts, dare to make light of it. They are fools, and worse than fools, who “ make a mock of sinand what c 34 The Fall of Man. then must they be, who make a mock of this original sin, which we can safely say, is fruitful and inclusive of every other. How¬ ever it may appear to the shallow and care¬ less thinker, it certainly includes in it, pride, infidelity, intemperance, ingratitude, injustice, and cruelty : a frightful assem¬ blage !—and such, that surely we need not wonder at its being branded with the most signal marks of the Divine displeasure. This original sin included in it pride .— Our first parents seemed impatient of con¬ trol and ambitious of independence. They could not brook that submission which, as creatures, they owed to their Creator ; but in the true spirit of Lucifer, the first grand apostate, ate of the forbidden fruit, that they might rise to an equality with the Creator himself. Their sin included in it, likewise, infideli¬ ty .—God strictly prohibited them from eat¬ ing of 44 the tree of the knowledge of good 44 and evil;” promised them, if obedient, all the happiness which his bounty had pro¬ vided ; and threatened, if disobedient, to drive them from his presence, and doom 35 The Fall of Man. them to destruction. But they disbelieved his word, and, like infidels of later times, treated both his promise and his threaten¬ ing with contempt. And when they ceased to hearken to Him, to whom did they com¬ mit themselves ? To 44 the Prince of dark- “ ness,”— 44 the Father of lies, and the Ene- “ my of all righteousness.” Their sin included in it, intemperance .— They gave loose to their irregular desires, and indulged them, though in direct oppo¬ sition, not only to the command of God ; but to the voice of their own conscience. And why ? — Disgraceful intemperance ! merely because the tree seemed 44 good for 44 food, and pleasant to the eyes.” They were guilty of the blackest ingra¬ titude. God had assigned them a distin¬ guished place in his works, made them only a little lower than the angels, adorned them with his own image, and poured around them the varied delights of paradise. But they were base enough to forget this vast munificence, and join even the devil himself against their most bountiful benefactor - and that, too, because one baneful tree in c 2 / 36 The Fall of Man. the garden was graciously forbidden them, —When we consider this, well may we blush for our nature, and with the Psalmist exclaim,—“ Lord, what is man !*’ Our first parents were likewise guilty of gross injustice . They put forth their hand to what was notoriously not their own, and what they were peremptorily prohibited by their righteous God. And who does not see their monstrous cruelty f For the momentary gratification of a foolish and wicked desire, awakened and inflamed by an infernal foe, they were so unnatural as to bring ruin upon them¬ selves, and entail it, dreadful inheritance! upon all their posterity. Let none, then, presume to say, that theirs was a trifling or a venial sin. It was committed against the fullest knowledge of duty, and the strongest obligations to obe¬ dience. It was an act of the most horrid presumption in man, and of the most im¬ pious rebellion against his Maker.—It is, indeed, in all circumstances, in every pos¬ sible case, “ an evil and a bitter thing to 37 The Fall of Man . 48 sin against God ;” and it hath passed into an unalterable decree, that under his go¬ vernment, “ though hand join in hand, sin “ shall not pass unpunished.”—A question here, then, evidently occurs,—What was the punishment which followed the sin of fall of our first parents ? Thus, are we naturally led, after having considered the orignal sin itself, to attend, as was proposed, in the second place, to its direful consequences. And here, what a dismal scene is pre¬ sented to us !—The authority of God con¬ temned, his law broken, and its dreadful penalty incurred !—Ah ! will Satan now make good his bold assertion ?—“ Ye shall “ not surely die.”—Alas ! Alas ! in this he triumphs, that he has deluded the unhappy pair, and “ brought death into the world, “ and all our woe.”—What a melancholy contrast does their present state of guilt ex¬ hibit to their former state of innocence ! Formerly every thing conspired to make them happy ; but now every thing is con¬ spiring to overwhelm them with misery.— All nature is changed. The elements be^ 38 The Fall of Man. gin to jar: storms and tempests break loose ; the earth, for their sake, is cursed with barrenness, and the serpent, the great agent in this calamitous revolution, is him¬ self sentenced to the vilest degradation. Our first parents, the victims of his malice, already feel their utter wretchedness. They already feel themselves disrobed of all their primitive glory, and honour, and dominion. They feel the elements of infirmity, and disease, and death, working in their frame. They feel foul and unruly appetites and passions disturbing the harmony of the soul. The heart, that, once, was the seat of innocence and peace, now palpitates with guilty fear; and the face that 44 shone like 44 the face of an angel,” is covered with sin¬ ful shame. The corrupted pair are afraid of God, and seek to flee from his presence. But He summons them trembling before him, charges them with their guilt, and leaves them without excuse. They are, therefore, expelled the garden of Eden, and at the east of it, are placed, 44 cherubim 44 and a flaming sword, turning every way, 44 to keep the way of the tree of life.” Thus guilty, and exiled and fallen, they are doomed in sorrow, and in the sweat of their 39 The Fall of Man. brow, to eat their bread, till they return to the dust, from which they were taken. Death is the wages of sin ; and death too, consisting not only, in the dissolution of the body ; but in the dissolution of the union between God and the soul. What then re¬ mained to our first and rebellious parents, but “ indignation and wrath, tribulation “ and anguish,” had not their injured God spared them, and, O astonishing mercy! Himself found out a ransom. But did the Fall and its direful conse¬ quences terminate in Adam ? Alas ! sin, and sorrow, and death, have ever since cleaved to all his children. Every man, the man Christ Jesus excepted, has been deeply polluted with sin. For proof of this, we need not ransack the page of history, or enter into any laboured discussion. The melancholy truth lies open to common ob¬ servation, and is acknowledged in every breast by the voice of conscience. We “ go astray as soon as we are born. The “ imaginations of our hearts are evil con- “ tinually.”—Sin is, almost, the constant employment of the impenitent; and the sad remains of its power, are felt, and daily 40 \ The Fall of Man. mourned over, even by the Christian.— “ O wretched man, that I am ! (even he is sometimes forced to exclaim,) who shall 66 deliver me from the body of this death ?” —In short, had any one the effrontery to say,—“ I have no sin, he would only be “ deceiving. himself, and the truth would “ not be in him Besides sin, we also inherit sorrow. Sor¬ row is the necessary consequence of sin; and we are born to sorrow “ as the sparks “ fly upward/’ The voice of weeping is heard from the birth, and fallen man sighs on through every • stage of future life. Either his own sufferings, or the sufferings of others, claim the tear of grief, nor is the claim remitted, or does the tear cease to flow, till it be dried up in the dust of the grave. The grave is the house appointed for all living. Death too, is the consequence of sin, and “ death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”—And if sin is odious to God and ruinous to the soul, by * 1 John, j. 8. 41 The Fall of Man. separating it from Him, the great Foun- tain of Life, then without embracing the salvation offered in the gospel, we must die also the second death. We are by sin, as the Apostle awfully expresses it, “ the chil- “ dren of wrath obnoxious to “ everlast- “ ing destruction from the presence of the “ Lord.” Now, that all this sin and sorrow, and death, are derived from the fall of Adam, is evident from this, that till Adam fell, sin, and sor¬ row, and death, had no existence ; but that ever since, they have, invariably existed. And if we know nothing of cause and ef¬ fect, but that the one invariably follows the other, are we not bound to admit the scrip¬ ture account, and warranted to conclude, that, in this instance, the fall of Adam has been the destructive cause, and sin, and sor¬ row, and death, the dismal effects. Various objections, I know, have beea^ raised against this doctrine of the Fall; but all of them are as futile, as they are presumptuous. They can never, with fair¬ ness, be urged particularly, against this doctrine, as it is revealed in the Bible ; for 42 The Fall of Man. they hold equally strong against any sys¬ tem, whether of religion or philosophy, which embraces the origin of evil. Surely it was not the Bible that introduced evil ; why then should the Bible be, exclusively, blamed for its introduction ? Though there had never been a Bible, evil, both moral and natural, and the same quantity of both, at least, would have existed in the world, that exists now. Let not, then, the existence of evil be brought forward as an objection to our holy religion, since this is, by no means peculiar to it; but common to all religious and philosophical systems whatever *. But the truth is, that all those who com¬ plain of our subjection to moral and natural evil, as inconsistent with the wisdom and goodness of God, proceed upon this absurd idea, that all his creatures should be per¬ fect. Now observe, for a creature to be perfect, he must be infallible, and conse¬ quently, omniscient; for where there is any defect of knowledge, there is not only the * See Bishop Sherlock’s Second Dissertation, annexed to his admirable work, entitled —The Use and Intent or Prophecy, in the Several Ages of thf. World. 43 The Fall of Man . possibility, but the probability of mistake, and consequently of sin ; and sin, we know, is necessarily connected with suffering. Now, if to be perfect; free from the possi¬ bility of sin and suffering, a creature must be omniscient, then it follows that he must also be omnipresent, and if omnipresent, then self-existent, that is, the creature must become the Creator. But this is a palpable absurdity : it is nothing less than a contra¬ diction in terms. Still, however, it may be said, though a creature cannot, indeed, be naturally and absolutely perfect, yet ought not he to have been kept from sin by “ the mighty power “ of God,” like the angels in heaven ?—To this I answer, that some even of these were permitted to fall into sin, and are now suf¬ fering its punishment. But without dwell¬ ing upon this, I would only observe, that the question really amounts to nothing less than the following:—Why is there any grada¬ tion or difference in the divine works ? Why was not man an angel, and the angel an archangel ? Nay, why was not the clod of the valley raised into animal life; and why 44 The Fall of Man. were not all animals raised to the highest rank of created intelligence ? But let it be well considered, that these are questions, the foundation of which can¬ not be removed ; for had the good commu¬ nicated by God to all his creatures, been ever so great , we might still have asked, why was it not greater ?—Those who put such questions, instead of shewing, as they pretend, a laudable desire of knowledge, only evince their intolerable presumption and impiety. The truth is, that imperfec¬ tion, and consequently liableness to moral failure, seem to be inseparable from the con¬ dition and character of creatures. The pos¬ sibility of the existence of evil in the crea¬ tion, could not, perhaps, be properly pre¬ vented.—Let us, however, rest satisfied with this, (which necessarily follows from the perfection of the Divine Nature,) that the present system of things is, upon the whole, the best , and will be ultimately pro¬ ductive of the greatest possible happiness .— At any rate, it is beyond dispute, that what seems wrong here, will be rectified hereafter, and that the pain now felt, will be vastly 45 The Fall of Man. overbalanced by succeeding pleasure. The fall of man is only an introductory part of the great and glorious scheme, which em¬ braces his final exaltation. “ As in Adam “ all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.—God willeth not, that any should “ perish ; but that all should come to re- “ pentance ;—turn to him and live.” We should do well, then, to study this subject, not with the spirit of presumptuous cavil¬ lers, but with that of patient and humble inquirers.—Shouldst thou, worm of the dust! expect fully to comprehend the stu¬ pendous plan of infinite wisdom ? Shouldst thou ever dreafti of setting up thy own vain imaginations, in opposition to the counsels of the Almighty, or of u finding him out “ unto perfection ?” Shouldst thou dare to “ Snatch from his hand, the balance and the rod, “ Rejudge his justice 5 be the God of God ?” How little of the scheme of Providence, now comes within mortal ken! We can now only see a few links of the great chain ; but at a future period our views shall be ineffably extended ; “ we shall see even as “we are seen, and know even as we are 46 The Fall of Man. “ known.” Meanwhile, we should consider all the difficulties which here meet us in speculation, as destined for the same sa¬ lutary purpose, for which temptations are in practice ; namely, to form within us ha¬ bits of attention and discipline, that we may be qualified for the pure and perfect state, which will be hereafter and for ever.—But without continuing any longer in the illus¬ tration of this subject, we shall now direct our attention to the proper improvement of it. * From the doctrine of the Fall, we may learn to beware of temptation; to think of the baneful effects of sin ; to be deeply im¬ pressed with a sense of the necessity of holiness, and to embrace, with ardent grati¬ tude, the proffered salvation of Jesus Christ. Let us learn to beware of tempta¬ tion. Temptation is the prelude to sin. It was the cause of the first and great trans¬ gression. Our first parents, being tempted, ate the forbidden fruit, and entailed disor¬ der, and sorrow, and death, upon all man¬ kind. Let us keep then our hearts with diligence, and abstain even from the ap- 47 The Fall of Man. pearance of evil. Let us pray for grace to help us to resist the solicitations of sense, for the 44 carnal or sensual mind is enmity “ against God —and to resist also those ambassadors of Satan, wicked men and se¬ ducers, whose way, notwithstanding their “ fair speech,” is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. When sinners then entice us, why should we ever consent ? We should nobly dare to hold fast, unto the end, our integrity, even in the midst of a degenerate world. But there is one class of wicked seducers, who in 44 these 44 dregs of time,” too generally obtain, and against whom, we should be particularly on our guard :—I mean the pernicious herd of unbelievers. They speak evil of what they do not understand ; they reject what all the wise and the worthy have cordially received, and they wish us to be partakers of their li¬ centiousness and folly. They madly des¬ pise the denunciations of God ; they would have us despise them too, and they try tojlat- ter us with the hope of escaping with impu¬ nity. It was by this very device which they employ, that Satan gained his advantage in paradise, and his constant language to sin¬ ners still is— 44 ye shall not surely die.”— 48 The Fall of Man . But to such an infernal wile, let us not lis¬ ten for a moment; but put on the whole armour of God, resist and rise to heaven, overcome, and live for ever. 44 Blessed is 44 the man that endureth temptation ; for 44 when he is tried, he shall receive the 44 crown of life, which the Lord hath pro- 44 inised to them that love him # .” From this doctrine of the Fall, let us LEARN ALSO, TO THINK DULY OP THE BANE¬ FUL effects of sin.— O Sin ! what hast thou done ! What ruin hast thou spread among our race ! By thee, man, who once stood so high in the favour of God, is now sunk low indeed, and without redemption, must sink lower still; sink into the fa¬ thomless abyss of misery. May we sorrow then for sin after a godly sort, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. O that our head were waters, and our eyes a foun¬ tain of tears, that we might weep day and night for our transgressions ! Let us be deeply impressed with a sense of the absolute necessity of holi- ) ' *■ James i. 12. 49 The Fall of Man . ness. While the angels who fell, continued holy, they were happy ; but as soon as they fell they became miserable. And while our first parents continued holy, they too were happy ; they enjoyed Eden with all its riches and glory ; but when they sinned, they were immediately covered with shame, and felt themselves obnoxious to punish¬ ment. God expelled them 44 the garden of 44 Eden, and placed at the east of it, cheru- 44 bim and a flaming sword, which turned 44 every way to keep the way of the tree of 44 life.”—If then we would ever be happy, let us be holy. This is the commandment of God—Be ye holy, as I am holy.” Finally, Let us embrace with ardent GRATITUDE, THE PROFFERED SALVATION OF jesus Christ .— 44 Christ is all in all,” and without him we must perish. There is no other name but the name of Christ, by which we can be saved. Christ came into the world to free us from the curse, to seal to us the remission of our sins, to quicken us from spiritual death, and to raise us to a higher and happier life, than even that which we have’forfeited. Let us not ne¬ glect then so great salvation; but pray D 50 The Fall of Man. without ceasing that we may be accepted through Jesus ; “ be made kings and priests “ unto God, purified as his peculiar people, “ zealous of good works,” and received, at last, into his immediate presence, where there is “ fulness of joy and pleasures for “ evermore.” Our state shall then be more glorious than it is possible for the tongue to express, or even the mind to conceive.— We shall eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life, in the paradise of God : “ And there “ shall be no more curse, but the throne of “ God and the Lamb shall be in it, and “ his servants shall serve him ; and they “ shall see his face, and reign with him for “ ever and ever # .” Rev. xxii. 3 —5 THE CORRUPTION of HUMAN NATURE GENESIS VI. 5 . And God saw that the wickedness of man zvas great in the earth , and that every imagination of the thoughts of his hearty is only evil con¬ tinually. While man continued in the state in which God created him, he was perfectly innocent, and consequently happy. All was harmo¬ nious and serene : no pain afflicted his body ; no wrong thought ever entered into his mind; all “ the imaginations of the 14 thoughts of his heart” were continually holy. But in this state of honour and happiness, man did not continue. There was a certain tree in the garden in which God had placed him, the fruit of which he D 2 52 The Corruption of Human Nature. was forbidden to taste ; and this restriction was intended as a pledge of his subjection, and an exercise of his obedience. If he continued obedient, he was to have glory, and honour, and immortality; but if he should be disobedient, he was to become subject to ruin and death,—to incalculable misery.—He became disobedient, and, in one moment, lost his uprightness and his happiness together. He incurred all that is included in that awful penalty,— 44 In the 44 day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely 44 die.”—And his mortal sin did not affect himself only ; but likewise all his posterity. Sorrow, in numberless forms, has, ever since, been in the w r orld, and sin which is the cause of sorrow. Instead of being bright with knowledge, and amiable with virtue, human nature is now sunk in igno¬ rance and bloated with vice. Let us ob¬ serve what passes around us ; let us observe also, what passes within us, and then, doubtless, this is the mournful conclusion that will be drawn ;— 44 The wickedness of 44 man is great in the earth, and every ima- 44 gination of the thoughts of his heart (be- 44 fore he is converted by divine grace) is 44 only evil continually.’* The Corruption of Human Nature. 53 This view of human nature is, I know, very different from that given by heathens, and even by many who call themselves Christians. The heathens, generally, repre¬ sented man as naturally disposed to good¬ ness, and as capable, by his own exer¬ tions, of rising to the sublimest height of moral excellence. And strange as it may seem, there have been, and there still are many, who “ name the name of Christ,” and with the Bible in their hands, venture to hold similar language. This, perhaps, never obtained more, at any time, than in the present centfiry, and never more in any part of the world, than in our own coun¬ try. Many, both divines and moralists, hold up, what they call, 44 the fair side of 44 human nature,” and if they allow any thing wrong at all, they do not choose to give it the offensive name of sin; but smooth it over with the softer name of frailty or imperfection. Now, if such a representa¬ tion be just, men have suffered little or nothing from the fall of our first parents ; but are still, as at the beginning, only 44 a “ little lower than the angels.” Suppose then, for a moment, that we are ready to admit this representation, what must we do 54 The Corruption of Human Nature . with our Bibles ? They too, like most things here below, most submit to change: we must expunge from them, for ever, this, and all similar passages ;—“ the wickedness 44 of man is great in the earth, and every “ imagination of the thoughts of his heart 44 is only evil continually.” But whatever others do, let us hold fast the form of sound words. Let us believe that God is true, though every man should be made a liar. Now, this representation is not the repre¬ sentation of man, but of God.—Let us, therefore, state more particularly the evi¬ dence which we have for believing it.—We can adduce our evidence from the Scrip¬ tures, from all History, and from Expe¬ rience. " The doctrine now to be discussed is not one of those light things which we may believe, or not believe, at our pleasure. If we do not believe, and be not deeply im¬ pressed with a sense of the depravity of human nature, we cannot embrace, and be¬ lieve, as we ought to do, the Gospel of “ God 44 our Saviour.” Without believing that there is disease, we shall never apply for a remedy. The Corruption of Human Nature. 55 First, Let us consider what evidence we have, from the Scriptures , for believing in the depravity of human nature.—We can¬ not open the Sacred Volume without find¬ ing evidence of this woful fact meeting us in, almost, every page. Before Adam him¬ self was depraved, the sacred historian in¬ forms us, that he was in the Divine likeness. But when recording events posterior to the Fall, he varies his style, and when speaking of Adam having a son, remarks, that he begat him, not in the Divine , but in his own likeness : And that the most careless reader might advert to the melancholy change, Moses marks it by an emphatical repetition : He adds, after his image. u Adam lived an 44 hundred and thirty years, and begat a 44 son in his own likeness, after his image in contradistinction to the image of God, after which he himself was created. The phrase appears still more striking, when we recollect, that this is affirmed, not of Cain, but of Seth, the most excellent of Adam’s children, and the father of the holy seed. Does it not imply, that in consequence of the Fall, every child of Adam is the heir * Gen. v. 3. 56 The Corruption of Human Na ture . of corruption ? It unquestionably does, and accordingly we find this original corruption spreading with the human race ; infecting the heart and polluting the practice of every mere man, without one single exception. Even prior to the flood, we find Almighty God himself declaring, “ that the wicked- " ness of man was great in the earth, and “ that every imagination of the thoughts of “ his heart, was only evil continually :— “ And it repented the Lord that he had “ made man on the earth, and it grieved “ him at his heart # .”—This, I confess, is a gloomy picture of the human mind ; but though a gloomy, it cannot be an unjust one. No, for it came from that Hand which painted the canopy of heaven, and touched all the pictures of nature into such inimitable perfection. But lest this account of mankind should be thought to have no reference, but to the generation then existing, we find God re¬ peating the charge, and bringing it forward against those also, who survived the deluge. ■—“ I will not again, curse any more the * Gen. vi. 5 , / The Corruption of Human Nature. 57 “ ground for man’s sake, for the imagina- 4< tion of man’s heart is evil from his “ youth # —that is, depravity cleaves to his nature ; even judgments the most severe will not correct him; he will not learn righte¬ ousness ; he is stubborn, and will go on in the error of his ways.—And the farther we proceed in the Bible History, we find the evidence of human corruption constantly accumulating. Israel is still prone to evil. Their whole history is a history of rebellion against the Lord.—“ Ye have been rebel- “ lious against the Lord, since the day that “ I knew you,” says Moses. They were, as holy Stephen expresses it, “ stiff-necked “ and uncircumcised in heart and ears, and “ did always resist the Holy Ghost.” Let us hear too, the sad confessions of even their most illustrious characters. What saith David ? “ I was shapen in iniquity, and in “ sin did my mother conceive me.”—What saith Isaiah ? “ Woe is me ! for I amun- “ done, because I am a man of unclean u lips.”—What saith Jeremiah? “ The heart “ is deceitful above all things, and despe- “ rately wicked ; who can know it ?”—And - '* Gen. viii. 21. 58 The Corruption of Human Nature let us remember the words of our Lord, Je¬ sus Christ,—of him who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins. 44 Out of the heart 44 proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 44 fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blas- 44 phemies.” And it is thus divinely ac¬ counted for :—“ that which is born of the 44 flesh, is flesh.” Like produces its like. We inherit corruption from our first pa¬ rents. 44 In me, (declares Paul,) that is, 44 in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”—- 44 And you, (says he to the Ephesians,) hath 44 he quickened, who were dead in trespasses 44 and sins, wherein, in time past, ye walked 44 according to the course of this world, 44 according to the prince, the power of the 44 air, the spirit that now worketh in the 44 children of disobedience, among whom 44 also we all had our conversation, in times 44 past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling 44 the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, 44 and were, by nature, the children of wrath, 44 even as others.”— 44 There is no difference, 44 for all have sinned, and come short of the 14 glory’ of God # .” Who that duly con- * Ps. li. 5. Is. vi. 5. Jer, xvii. 9. Matt. xv. 19. John iii. 16-. Rom. vii. IS. Eph. ii. 1, 2, 3. Rom. iji. 22,'23. The Corruption of Human Nature. 59 siders the passages now adduced; who con¬ siders that they are parts of the Bible, and that the Bible is an inspired hook, can deny, or even doubt, for a moment, the de¬ pravity of human nature # ? But we admit this doctrine, not merely from the repeated declarations contained in the Bible, but also from that capital doc¬ trine which runs through it, and for the sake of which its precious contents were revealed: I mean the doctrine of our re¬ demption by Jesus Christ. If we are not naturally depraved, why did Jesus Christ suffer and die, to regenerate and purify us “ a peculiar people, zealous of good works If we are not naturally guilty and obnoxious to punishment, why is He represented as 44 redeeming us from the curse of the law, * Even the Heathens themselves were sensible of this de¬ pravity. One of the most eminent of them owns, that “ no “ man is born without vices; and another, that “ we are born “ liable to as many disorders of mind as of body.” Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur. Hob. Sat. Hac conditione nati sumus, aqimalia obnoxia non paucioribus animi quam corporis morbis. Seneca de Ira. hO The Corruption of Human Nature . “ being made a curse for us ?” If we are not naturally averse to our duty, and unfit for happiness, why did He die, as the Scrip¬ tures tell us, “ the just, for the unjust, to “ bring us to God ?”—to incline our back¬ ward minds to what is our true interest, and thus make us meet for the heavenly in¬ heritance ?—But to enlarge farther on this head is unnecessary. We must give up the Bible as not worth being attended to, if we can deny the doctrine of human de¬ pravity. Secondly, We can bring evidence of' the truth of this doctrine, not only from the Scriptures, but also from all History . What is history but a lengthened record of follies and crimes ? Deduct this disgraceful sum, and how very little will remain ! For the truth of this, I appeal, not merely, to those nations which are called ignorant and bar¬ barous ; but even to those which have, con¬ fessedly, been the most enlightened and re¬ fined.—What was Rome ? The theatre of jealousy, and ambition, and violence, and discord.—What was Greece ? It was famed, we know, for its superior politeness and The Corruption of Human Nature. 61 wisdom ; yet were even its inhabitants ex¬ ceptions to the humbling doctrine with which we are now endeavouring to impress the mind ?—Rivalry and discord, ignorance of the true good, neglect of religion, and flagrant violation of the rights of their fel¬ low creatures are, (who can deny it ?) in¬ delible stains upon their history. “ Pro- “ fessing themselves wise, they became “ fools.” Alas ! to both Greeks and Ro¬ mans, we may but too justly apply the stricture of the Apostle ;—“ they did not “ like to retain God in their knowledge, and w he gave them up to a reprobate mind.”— And what have those nations been whom God had favoured more highly than even these—those nations who have been blessed with the revelation of the Gospel of Christ ? Has their improvement in virtue, in good prin¬ ciples and good practice, borne any propor¬ tion to their invaluable privileges ? Vices that would have disgraced the heathen, they have indulged in, without shame, and with¬ out remorse. They have been indifferent to the most affecting considerations, and resisted and contemned the most powerful motives. How little zeal for righteousness which exalteth a nation, and what fatal 62 The Corruption of Human Nature. propensity ; what parricidal eagerness to commit sin which is the disgrace and ruin of every people ! Behold in them, the in- bred depravity of human nature ! They have enjoyed the light; but they have “loved “ darkness rather than light, because their <£ deeds were evil.” Sin then, it would seem, appears where- ever men appear. It invariably springs up in every heart. It is not, as some would have us believe, the rare, casual production of the soil; it is inbred, universal.—But if this is not strictly and uniformly true, let some glorious exceptions be produced. Where, I ask, was there ever found a mere man who never harboured an evil thought, who never uttered an evil word, who was never guilty of an evil deed ; but who, in all his thoughts, and words, and deeds, proved himself perfectly innocent, and holy, and good ? Could there have been any one so audacious as to come forward and say,—“ I am the man,”—to such a one, well might it have been said,—“ Guilty “ fool ! out of thy own mouth, thou “ condemnest thyself. Thou couldst not “ hold such language wert thou not The Corruption of Human Nature . 68 • 4 really, what thou, presumptuously, de- 44 niest that thou art: wert thou not both 44 ignorant and wicked, were not the eyes 44 of thy understanding fatally blinded, and “ thy wretched heart hard and insensible 44 indeed.—God have mercy upon thy poor soul, and give thee both sight and feeling 44 ere it be too late.” But to the honour of human nature, there seldom or never, I believe, has such notorious presumption existed. He would not be fit to be rea¬ soned with, he must be mad, who could deny that 44 we have all sinned and come 44 short of the glory of God.” Finally, The depravity of human nature appears, not only from the Scriptures and from all History; but likewise from Expe¬ rience.—\\ r e have proceeded, but a few steps in the journey of life, before we meet with trouble. 44 Man is born to trouble, as the 44 sparks fly upward.” The complaints of the poor, the repinings of the discontented, the cries of the afflicted, and the groans of the dying, are heard on every side. What is the world often, but a Bochim, a place of weeping, where sorrow comes after sorrow, faster than Job’s messengers of evil ? Now, 64 The Corruption of Human Nature. is not the existence of so much and so va¬ ried sorrow a plain and striking proof of our being all tainted with sin ? Were we not all sinners, we should not all be thus sub¬ jected to suffering. “ God is love,” and never afflicts, willingly, the children of men. But He afflicts us, and afflicts us, not only in consequence of our own sin, but in con¬ sequence of the sin also, of our first parents. —Stand by the cradle of that dear afflicted little one; hear its doleful moans ; see its last, mortal strugglings, and ask, whence this severe chastisement ? The babe has no actual sin ; why then does it suffer and die ? Suffering and death are the conse¬ quence of sin. How then are we to solve the difficulty ? Only by admitting this doctrine which is so authoratively delivered to us ;—that by Adam’s sin all his race, even the youngest, as well as the oldest, are ma¬ terially affected. Here I pretend not to explain ; the fact is evident, and cannot be accounted for, upon any other hypothesis. We daily see that the direful effects of the follies and crimes of parents are suffered by their hapless posterity ; and why then, should we wonder, that, in a modified sense f the words,—“ the iniquity of our prime- The Corruption of Human Nature. 65 “ val parent should be visited upon his “ children ?” And while we have experience of the ef ' feds of sin, we have also abundant expe¬ rience of sin itself. Behold, how iniquity abounds ! Shall I mention those crimes which affront the sun ?—swearing, blasphe¬ my, sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, cham¬ bering, and wantonness. Because of these, the land mourneth, and by these, “ multi¬ tudes, which no man can number,” are daily courting disgrace, and plunging into irre¬ parable ruin ; while many more decently corrupt themselves in wealth’s unwearied chace, in honour’s empty show, and plea¬ sure’s thoughtless throng. All seem prone, by nature, to forget their true interest, to mind the things of earth more than those of heaven ; in one word—to worship the creature, more than the Creator.—But are there not some, it may be said, who are even by nature, and without the grace of the Gospel, humane, amiable, and honour¬ able, and who seem to have escaped the gross corruption, so much complained of, in the world ? There, undoubtedly, are. E 66 The Corruption of Human Nature. But even such humane, amiable, and ho¬ nourable persons, when tried by the Divine law, and brought to the test by Him who is unspotted holiness, will be found to be depraved likewise. Humane, amiable, and honourable as they are, they can for¬ get God, be ungrateful for his love, live and die, without believing in “ Jesus Christ whom “ he hath sent,” and without “ observing all “ things whatsover he hath commanded.” And are not those who act such a part, vile, depraved indeed?-What depravity, what perverseness, impatience, passion, does not the tender mother find even in her darling child ? Even in that much-loved little one, she may see that we are all trans¬ gressors from the birth; that “ we go “ astray as soon as we are born.—There is 4t none who doeth good and sinneth not; “ no not one # .” * It is notoriously true, that to be convinced of the corrup¬ tion of our nature, we need only observe little children. Those perverse passions which afterwards in life break forth, and fill our houses with violence, appear then in embryo. What anger may you remark in their little breasts when crossed or contradicted ! What obstinacy and self-will, do they show when under correction! What envy at favours done to others! The Corruption of Human Nature. 67 The Christian himself has mournful ex¬ perience of sin. Even in his most sacred moments ; when his whole heart should be fixed upon God, he feels and laments his weakness and distraction. Though “ re- “ newed in the spirit of his mind,” two op¬ posite principles so struggle within him, “ that when he would do good, evil is pre- “ sent with him.”—“ O wretched man that “ I am! (he is often forced to exclaim,) “ who shall deliver me from the body of this “ death ?” If we seriously ponder what has been stated, can we any longer retain a doubt of our moral corruption.—Will any man have the hardiness to affirm,—“ I have made my “ heart clean: I am pure from my sin ?” From the preceding induction of particu¬ lars then, we find that there has been none And scarce have they begun to speak, but they begin to lie, and disingenuously and artfully, like Adam, seek to conceal their transgressions. So true it is that " the wicked are estranged tc from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies * *. M * x * Psal. lviii. 3. E 2 68 The Corruption of Human Nature . without sin, the Son of God only excepted. And from sin being universal, we must in¬ fer that it is inbred, that the whole of it is not merely by slow degrees, acquired , (for then many would totally escape its pollu¬ tion;) but natural; an evil necessarily aris¬ ing from our present constitution.—That a thing is natural , when we find it to be uni¬ versal, is an inference which we usually draw in other cases. I find that all men discover a propensity to take food, that they all discover a propensity to avoid pain, and pursue pleasure; and I infer that this propensity, from being universal ', is not merely acquired , but natural. Did I see a particular species of trees always bearing a particular kind of bad fruit, however they were managed, and in whatever soil they were planted, I should then infer that it was natural for such trees to bear such fruit. Or to employ a more apposite illustration; if I saw a particular family uniformly af¬ flicted with a particular disease ; if the dis¬ ease descended from father to son, from generation to generation, whatever might be the place of their abode, and whatever might be their circumstances, I should cer- The Corruption of Human Nature 69 tainly infer that this particular disease was natural to this particular family; that it was not acquired by accidental infection, but inherent in their constitution. May I not infer, then, with equal justness, that the strong propensity to sin, so apparent in all our race, in all ages, in all places, and in all circumstances, is natural likewise. If our depravity is not natural , how is it acquired ? —Is it by education f Ah ! how many chil¬ dren do we see, who have received a vir¬ tuous education, become as bad as those who have received a vicious one! How many parents, after all their wisest and kindest efforts, have reason to exclaim with the great Parent of the universe, 44 What 44 could have been done more to my vine- <4 yard that I have not done in it ? Where- 44 fore, when I looked that it should 44 bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild 44 grapes*?”—And if not by, what we com¬ monly call, education, is it then wholly ac¬ quired by example ? To account for it by example, would be accounting for depravity, by depravity itself. How come depraved * Isaiah v. 4. / 70 The Corruption of Human Nature . and depraving examples to be so prevalent; and how come we to be so apt to receive their baneful influence ? Were there not something radically wrong, we should not be so strongly and invariably inclined to follow what is evil, rather than what is good.—If our depravity then is not origi¬ nally acquired ether by education , or ex¬ ample ., I still ask, how is it acquired ? Per¬ haps, some will say, being driven to this as their last resort, that it is acquired from the frame and constitution of the world in which we live. Our nature, it may be said, is, in itself, innocent and good ; but the world ex¬ hibits such scenes, and is full of so many and so strong temptations, and these have so powerful influence upon such weak crea¬ tures as we are, that the result is a pro¬ pensity to sin and misery. But what is this but a full confession of the humbling truth which I am now endeavouring to establish. What is it but a full confession that we are much more inclined to yield to temptation than to resist it, and that we are totally un¬ fit to act our part aright in the station as¬ signed us by the Deity ? In other words, is it not justifying this language of inspira¬ tion ;—-the wickedness of man is great in the The Corruption of Human Nature . 71 earthy and the imaginations of his heart are , naturally , evil. But here, the self-righteous may object, that granting that all mankind are de¬ praved, and naturally depraved, yet can they be so much so, as they have now been represented ?—I reply to this, that the goodness of a moral being, is the sum total of all the moral qualities which should be¬ long to that being ; and as in the natural body, when one member suffers, the whole body suffers with it, so when one of those constituent qualities is either lost or im¬ paired, the whole moral system is disorder¬ ed. He who offends in one point, is guilty of all. He who contemns the authority of God in one instance, can never be said, while he does so, to hold it in due reverence i ’ in any other. And if Divine grace prevent not, this moral disease must not only always exist, but increase. The corrupt heart can never regenerate itself: without the inter¬ position of God, all its imaginations must continue to be evil # . * Bat here it may be said,—Is not this statement of the uni¬ versal depravity of human nature inconsistent with the neon- 72 The Corruption of Human Nature. But surely man did not originally come, as he now is, from the hand of his Creator. A good God could not have made him ori¬ ginally evil. Accordingly, the Scriptures tell us that He made him good ; in his own image, adorned with knowledge, and righte¬ ousness, and holiness. But Adam rebelled against God, lost his primeval innocence and glory, subjected himself to punishment, and with himself, all his offspring. Is this trovertible opinion of the best and most enlightened men who, from their enlarged views of the Divine goodness, and their just estimate of the human character, maintain that there is not only more happiness than misery in the world; but likewise more virtue than vice ?—To this, I answer, that the inconsistency is only apparent, for there may be more virtue than vice in the world, and yet, commonly speaking, more vicious than virtuous characters in it.—Moral character is the sum total of moral habits; and jfor a character to be accounted virtuous, all the habits must be on the side of virtue, whereas to make a cha¬ racter be reputed vicious, though not perfectly so, only one vi¬ cious habit is necessary.—In the worst character the number of virtuous actions greatly exceeds that of vicious ones. For in¬ stance, the greatest liar speaks truth much oftener than false¬ hood, and the most cruel character acts oftener kindly than he does cruelly.—Hence, it is abundantly evident, that there may be more virtue than vice in the world, and that notwithstanding this, the number of vicious characters may vastly preponderate over the virtuous ones.—This explanation, I trust, will give, to the considerate, complete satisfaction. The Corruption of Human Nature. 73 to many a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence ? It is so, without reason. We must, doubtless, suppose, if we believe in the infinite benevolence of Deity, that the evil introduced by the Fall was permitted for the ultimate eduction of the greatest possible good. Accordingly, the fall of Adam was immediately followed by the pro¬ mise of salvation through Jesus Christ. Without entering, then, at present, into any abstruse reasoning on this head, let us, at once, admit this plain, scriptural solution of the difficulty.— 44 Where sin abounded, 44 grace did much more abound. As in “ Adam, all die, so in Christ shall all be a made alive. As by one man, sin entered 44 into the world, and death by sin, so the 44 grace of God hath abounded unto all 44 men, through Jesus Christ.’* Thus are the woful effects of the Fall, to be more than countervailed by a universal and glorious remedy. Besides, let it be suffi ciently remarked, that this transmission of sin, this entailed disaster in the moral world, is in perfect harmony with what we daily observe in the natural 74 The Corruption of Human Nature . world. How often do we see the prodi¬ gality and vice of the parent entail poverty and disease both upon himself and his pos¬ terity, in the very same manner, as Adam’s disobedience has made us sinners and ob¬ noxious to misery ! With what reason, then, can the doctrine of hereditary corrup¬ tion be ever urged, exclusively, as an ob¬ jection to the truth of Revelation ? Men, vain, and ambitious to be “ wise above what “ is written,” may dispute and cavil against this doctrine, as long and as keenly as they please, but their disputations and cavils can never annihilate the fact, that we are all naturally sinners, and disposed to trifle with our dearest, our everlasting interests. —Sin, like an inveterate disease, rankles in our frame ; instead then of disputing and cavilling, wisdom bids us haste to the great Physician of souls, resign ourselves into his hands, and, with humility and faith, impli¬ citly follow his divine directions.—Sin is the ruin of our nature ; it is a mad attempt to defeat the purpose of God, and disturb the peace and order of the universe. While then we continue in sin, we are enemies to God ; and how awful, to be in a state of The Corruption of Human Nature. 75 * enmity to Him ! We are, every moment, exposed to all that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, which he hath threatened against every soul that doeth evil. What, then, shall we do to be saved ? Let us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we shall be saved ; let us be fully convinced of our own sins, and of his excellence ; let us cordially receive the glad tidings of mercy which he hath brought, and we shall never perish; all our iniquities shall be blotted out; we shall be made pure in heart; we shall see God, and inherit eternal life. Christian ! thou who hast seen the ma¬ lignity of sin, and hast often wept for it, in secret, before God, be not discouraged. That precious “ blood of sprinkling,” to which thou hast applied, will soon cleanse thee from every stain. Once thy wicked¬ ness, too, was great in the earth, and the imaginations of thy heart evil; and still thou groanest, being burdened with the sad remains of sin within thee ; but keep the faith ; be patient and endure unto the end, and when “ He who cometh quickly shall (i come,” thou shalt be completely holy and 76 The Corruption of Human Nature . completely happy. Angels shall “ joy over “ thee with singing Christ himself “shall “ see of the travail of his soul, and be satis- “ fied” in “ the glory that shall be reveal- < £ ed” in thee :—a glory great as the extent of thy capacity, and lasting as the days of immortality. THE NATURE OF THE LAW, AND OF SIN THE TRANSGRESSION OF IT. 1 JOHN III. 4. . Sin i‘s the transgression of the laze. The Apostle John, in addressing his Chris¬ tian brethren, exhorts them, with much earnestness and affection, to beware of every thing that might lead them to the com¬ mission of sin. For this purpose, he re¬ minds them of the dignity of their present character, and the magnificence of their fu¬ ture hopes.—“ Beloved, now are we the “ sons of God, and it doth not yet appear “ what we shall be : but we know that when “ He shall appear, we shall be like him, for u we shall see him as he is.”—But how in- 78 The Nature of the Law , and of consistent are the Christian’s dignified cha¬ racter and elevated hope, with the commis¬ sion of sin ! He who is now a son of God, and hopes, one day, to dwell with Him and enjoy Him for ever, ought, surely, to puri¬ fy himself, even as God is pure. But sin, the Apostle adds, is not only inconsistent with Christian character and hope, it is also a daring rejection of the Divine authority. “ Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth “ also the law, for sin is the transgression “ of the law.” • But though these words of John had, primarily, a reference only to Christians, they may form a subject of meditation pro¬ fitable to all. All are indispensably bound to abhor sin, and love the law, of which sin is the transgression. All, naturally, seek happiness, and avoid misery ; but we can¬ not avoid misery, without avoiding sin, for sin infallibly subjects to misery. And why has sin this pernicious power ? Because it is rebellion against God ; because it is “ the “ transgression of his law.” Let us now consider, First, The nature ®f the Divine Law ; Secondly, The nature / Sin the Trangression of It. 79 and demerit of sin, which is the transgres¬ sion of it; and Then, The improvement to be derived from the subject. First, Let us consider the nature of the Divine Law.—Law, when founded on wis¬ dom and goodness, may be defined, an au¬ thoritative institution, claiming the strict observance of all those to whom it is made known, and designed for their improvement and happiness. Now, the laws which God, who possesseth infinite wisdom and good¬ ness, hath given to his creatures, are of three kinds ; th e judicial, the ceremonial , and the moral law.—The judicial law was given to regulate the civil polity of the Jews ; the ceremonial law, to regulate their ablutions and sacrifices ; in one word, all their religi¬ ous rites and observances. The moral law, again, which is the law now to be explained, has for its subjects no particular nation, to the exclusion of any other ; it addresses it¬ self both to Jew and Gentile ; it is founded on the nature of man and the constitution of things, and will be felt binding, while there is a mind to perceive and a conscience to judge. It was delivered on Mount Sinai, and it is written, in more or less legible SO The Nature of the Law , and of characters, by the finger of God, on every human heart. It is contained in the ten Commandments which are recorded in the hook of Exodus ; it is urged by the pro¬ phets, and explained, extended, and en¬ forced in the gospel of Christ. What it requires, are sobriety, righteousness, and godliness. 44 The grace of God, that bring- 44 eth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, “ teaching us, that denying ungodliness, 44 and worldly lusts* we should live soberly, 44 righteously, and godly, in this present 44 worldIndeed, all that the law re¬ quires, may be comprehended in one word— Love. “ Thou shalt love the Lord thy 44 God with all thy heart, and with all thy 44 soul, and with all thy mind: This is the 44 first, and great commandment; and the 44 second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy 44 neighbour as thyself. On these two com- 44 mandments hang all the law and the pro- 44 phets f.” To feel and cherish genuine and unbounded love, is to perform all our duty. 44 God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him J.” * Titus ii. 11, 12. + Matt. xxii. 37, 33, 39, 40. t 1 John iv. It). 81 Sin the Trangression of It. God beholds him with delight, and keeps him as the apple of his eye ; for such a man is the image of God, and reflects the splen¬ dour of his moral glory.—Nothing can be more comprehensive or valuable than love. It “ is the end of the commandment, and “ the fulfilling of the law.” But if our love fail, in the least, either in degree or extent, we do not fulfil the law; but transgress it, and such transgression, necessarily subjects the transgressor to punishment. The law makes no provision for guilt, and, from its very nature, cannot tolerate even the slight¬ est defect. It requires us to fulfil it in every respect,—and to fulfil it from the heart, and to persevere in fulfilling it.—The law of God requires nothing short of per¬ fect obedience : it does not, like human laws, extend only to outward conduct; it extends even to our thoughts and intentions: and, like its Divine Author, it is without shadow of change. The law of God requires perfect obedience. Could we suppose that it admitted any thing less, we must suppose that it admits the violation of itself. We must suppose that it requires obedience, and yet counte- F 82 The Nature of the Law , and of nances disobedience, that is, that it is weak* contradictory and absurd, and consequently, any thing hut the law of God.—Again, God the Lawgiver, is infinitely excellent, and therefore entitled to all our regard ; to all the fervour of our hearts, and all the ser¬ vice of our lives. To withhold from Him, then, any, even the least, portion of this regard, is to withhold from Him his due ; and to suppose Him admitting this, is to suppose Him admitting what is wrong : admitting sin which “ is the transgression “ of His law,” which is contrary to His na¬ ture, and abominable in His sight.—Re¬ collect too, that God is infinitely good, and must, therefore, have originally designed his children for perfect happiness. The law, then, which He gave them, must have re¬ quired perfect obedience, (and it still requires it, for it has never been repealed,) because nothing short of perfect obedience is com¬ petent to the design of producing perfect happiness. All beings, from the Almighty Father himself, to the least and lowest of his intelligent offspring, are happy, in exact proportion, as they are holy. As He then, who is infinite goodness, could not but ori¬ ginally design his creatures to be perfectly Sin the Transgession of It. 83 happy, that is, as happy as their natures would allow ; perfectly free from pain, and receiving pleasure without alloy; He must have required them to be perfectly holy; in other words, to yield perfect obedience to His holy law. To suppose him to accept less, would be supposing Him to design men for perfect happiness, and imperfect happiness, I may say misery , at one and the same time. But who does not repudiate this, as the grossest and most impious con¬ tradiction ? We may sooner suppose any absurdity ; a kingdom, for instance, divided against itself, and yet that kingdom stand, or Satan to cast out Satan, andyet his kingdom stand, than suppose a perfect God to give a perfect law, and yet require only imperfect obedience to it; or to design his children for perfect happiness, and yet require only that, which, when yielded, necessarily prevents the enjoyment of it.—Now this, though it may seem to be a severe doctrine, is in strict harmony with, even, the requisition of human laws. They too, require perfect obe¬ dience. Though we obey them, in num¬ berless instances, yet if we fail in but one point, we become transgressors and ob¬ noxious to punishment.—If we examine. f 2 84 The Nature of the Law , and of we shall find this doctrine, to be in strict harmony likewise, with our own individual sentiments. Are we not so constituted, as to find ourselves entitled to expect, in the common relations of life, a species of perfec¬ tion from our fellow men ? Have we not reason to expect a Judge to be perfectly up¬ right ; a servant to be jierfectly honest ; a friend to be perfectly faithful; and a child to be perfectly dutiful ; and when any of these characters, respectively, is not per¬ fectly upright, perfectly honest, perfectly faithful, perfectly dutiful ; are we not of¬ fended with them, and do we not impute, to them, blame ? —And why ? Because, we naturally feel, that the law, by which we estimate their characters, demands perfection. Thus our position, that the Divine law, demands perfect obedience, is justified even by the conclusions of reason. What then is the language of Revelation ? Is any cer¬ tain degree of transgression, allowed thee, O man ! in the book of God ? Does it al¬ low thee to be guilty of impurity, of blas¬ phemy, or perjury, to a certain degree f No. It commands thee, to “ crucify the flesh, £< with its affections and lusts, and to per- Sin the Transgression of It. 85 “ feet holiness in the fear of the Lord.'" Does it allow thee to indulge in malice, or anger, or envy, or lying, to a certain degree ? No. It commands thee to 44 put away from 44 thee, all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, “ and clamour, and evil speaking, with all 44 malice.” And it commands thee to ab¬ stain, not only from all evil; but even from the appearance of it; to follow His steps who knew no sin, and who had “ no guile 44 found in his mouth.” It commands thee to be 44 perfect even as thy Father in Hea- 44 ven is perfect.” N. And while the law of God requires perfect obedience, it does not, like human laws, extend only to the outward conduct, it ex¬ tends even to our thoughts and intentions. Outward conduct, however good in itself, cannot be good in regard to him who main¬ tains it, if it do not proceed from a good motive. Nay, though good in itself, it must be considered as actually bad, in re¬ gard to the individual, if it arise from un¬ hallowed intention. It is the goodness of the motive only, that can sanctify our ac¬ tions, the best of which, separate from this, can, properly speaking, have no moral ex* I 86 The Nature of the Law , and of cellence. Unless good conduct be produced by good disposition, we cannot depend on its continuance; and, this perhaps, is the simple reason, why, in our estimate of mo¬ ral character, we always think it necessary to take the latter in such strict connection with the former.—The law of God, then, must reach, not only outward actions : but, also, the temper of mind , from which they originate, and which characterizes them in relation to the agent, as either good or bad. Human laws, indeed, take cognizance only of outward actions, because human legisla¬ tors can have no access to the heart; but God knows the heart, and the most secret J • thought which can ever rise there. The mere external forms of devotion cannot be acceptable to Him. He cannot be deceived by the treacherous smile, the unfelt thanks¬ giving and the mimic prayer. He pene¬ trates the inmost recesses of the human breast; He discerns the exact correspond¬ ence between the heart and the counte¬ nance, the thoughts and the professions ; and His displeasure cannot but be excited by the unmeaning oblations of a counter¬ feited piety. This great God, then, who searcheth the hearts of the children of men. Sin the Transgression of It. 87 must require the heart, to enliven every work which we do, and to make grateful, every offering which we bring.—“ My son, “ (says he,) give me thine heart.—If we “ regard iniquity in our heart, the Lord will “ not hear us.—Who shall ascend into His “ hill, and who shall stand in his holy “ place ? He that hath not only clean “ hands, but a pure heart.—God is a Spirit; “ and they that worship Him, must worship “ Him in spirit and in truth.” And while the moral law requires perfect obedience, and extends not only to our out¬ ward conduct, but even to our thoughts and intentions, it is, also, like its Divine Author, without shadow of change. The transcript of Himself, it is immutable and eternal.— “ It is easer, (declares the Book of God,) “ for heaven and earth to pass away, than “ for the least title of the law to fail.”— 44 The carnal mind,” I know, rises up in enmity against this doctrine : it vainly at¬ tempts to persuade itself, that this law, in its full rigour, God will never execute; that its severity is now softened ; that since the coming of Christ it is even repealed, and a milder law substituted in its stead, 88 The Na ture of the Law and of requiring only sincere, though imperfect obedience, and declaring that all who yield this, shall, therefore be accepted, and enter into life. Vain device of the carnal mind, which may, for a season, lull the conscience asleep ; but which has no foundation in truth, and will not stand in the judgment! «—The law cannot be repealed ; and, at any rate, the idea of such a repeal as is here pled for, the least reflection will not suffer us to admit. The moral law, I say, cannot be repealed, tl results, necessarily, from our constitu¬ tion, and from the relation in which we stand to God, and to one another. While, then, our natures, and these relations con¬ tinue, the law resulting from them, must continue also. Can there ever be a time, when it shall cease to be our duty, to love God, supremely , and to love sincerely and ar¬ dently, our fellow creatures, and to “do “ good to them, as we have opportunity ?” Can there ever be a time, when, it shall cease to be our duty, to do all that we ought to do ? Then, and not till then, can we expect any repeal of the Divine law. 89 Sin the Transgression of It. At any rate, the idea of such a repeal, as is here pled for, the least reflection will not suffer us to admit. According to this idea, perfect obedience is dispensed with, and sincere, though imperfect obedience, is now accepted as the condition of our enter¬ ing into life.—But what is sincere, though imperfect obedience ? It must mean some¬ thing short of what is perfect: But how much short ? Is it one half, or one quarter, or one fiftieth, or one hundredth part of my duty, or what is it ? A condition, and, especially, the condition of my salvation, must be precisely defined, else, I can never know when I perform it, or when I fail in performing it. But the phrase, sincere , though imperfect obedience , is something vague and indeterminate indeed, and having no tendency but to give loose reins to the sen¬ sual appetite, to erect a strong hold for the deist, to embolden the profligate, and make the holy law of God “ of none effect. 5 ’ While other false doctrines will slay a thousand, this most pernicious one will slay ten thousand. It cannot be too amply re¬ futed, or too strongly reprobated. I SO The Nature of the Law , and of Besides, if sincere though imperfect obe¬ dience be all that is now requisite, then this obedience ceases to be imperfect: it is by supposition, all that this new remedial law demands ; and when yielded, the law is, therefore, satisfied, and consequently, the obedience is perfect .—Thus, it appears, that this imaginary law converts imperfection itself into perfection ; that is, that it is full of absurdity and contradiction.—Upon the whole, it is evident, that such a new law, supposed to be introduced by Christ, tole¬ rates, and even sanctions what is wrong, and so makes “ Christ the minister of sin,” though He “ knew no sin,” but came for the express purpose of abolishing sin. The law of God, then, is holy, and just, and good, and can never be repealed.—It requires perfect obedience; it does not, like human laws, extend only to outward con¬ duct ; it extends even to our thoughts and intentions ; and like its Divine Author, it is without shadow of change . Such is the nature of the Divine law; let us now consider, Secondly, the nature Sin the Transgression of It. 91 and demerit of sin which is the trnsgres- sion of it. Here, we should give all possi¬ ble attention and seriousness, for, in pro¬ portion to the sense which we have of the nature and demerit of sin, will be our an¬ xiety to avoid it, and to embrace the means appointed by God, to deliver us from its pollution and its punishment.—If the law of God is an authoritative institution, claiming the strict observance of all those to whom it is made known, and designed for their improvement and happiness, then we are guilty of sin, whenever we neglect this law, attempt to resist its authority, or overlook any thing, tending to make us wise, and good, and happy. Does the law require perfect obedience, and not like hu¬ man laws, extend only to outward conduct; but even to our thoughts and intentions ; and is it, like its Divine Author, without shadow of change f Then we are guilty of sin, when we are chargeable, even, with the least defect; when the heart does not mingle with the sacrifice ; when love does not prompt our offering ; when we do not perse¬ vere too, in what is right; when we “ con- “ tinue not in all things which are written “ in the book of the law to do them.” We 92 The Nature of the Law , and of are guilty of sin, both when we venture to do what we ought not to do, and also when we forget, or leave undone, what we ought to do. In either of these cases, how great is our demerit! What degradation and misery, do we not deserve !—To be duly impressed with a sense of this, let us con¬ sider, against Whom sin is committed; the humiliation and sufferings appointed, and submitted to, in order to atone for it, and the dreadful consequences which still result from it. To he duly impressed with a sense of the evil of sin, let us, first , consider against Whom it is committed.—It is committed against God, and, therefore, its demerit is infinite, that is, it subjects us to an infinite, an unmeasurable punishment. This, I think, is demonstrably evident.—Sin is the breach of an obligation ; in other words, it is doing something contrary to what we ought to do; and the greater the obliga¬ tion which is broken, the greater, in exact proportion, must be our guilt. But our obligation to love and honour any being, is great, in proportion to the loveliness and excellence of that being. We are, surely, 93 Sin the Transgression of It. under a greater obligation, to love and ho¬ nour a being more lovely and excellent, than one less lovely and excellent. It follows, then, that if a being be infinitely lovely and excellent; (and God is that Being,) we are under an infinite obligation to love and honour him: And if our guilt increases with our obligation, then when we fail to love and honour Him, we contract infinite guilt; we subject ourselves to incalculable punishment. But it may be said, does not this reason¬ ing lead to an absurd conclusion ? Does it not confound all our notions of guilt by making all sins equal, the least as well as the greatest; because all are committed against an infinite God ? I answer, that we do maintain that all sins, from the obligation of the sinner to obedience ; necessarily subject him to infinite or incalculable punishment. How¬ ever formidable the difficulties which meet us here, we cannot but admit this, for the reasoning is direct and conclusive. But when we affirm that all sins subject to in¬ finite or incalculable punishment, we mean 94 The nature of the Taw , and oj V that the punishment is infinite or incalcu¬ lable only in one respect—in respect of con¬ tinuance. Though the same in this one respect—its continuance ,—future punish¬ ment will and must vary in another,—its degrees of intenseness. Its duration , in every case, may be the same, while its severity may be very different.—Every sin, and especially every habit of sin, to say the least of it, produces eternally injurious conse¬ quences. The sinner is eternally retarded in the path of improvement and happiness; or in other words, every sin he commits, makes his condition eternally worse than it would, otherwise, have been.—Hence appears, plainly, the infinite evil of every sin, and the absurdity and impertinence of the objec¬ tions that have been often so triumphantly made to the possibility of the infinite dura¬ tion of its direful effects.—Though, in one view, every sin is an infinite evil, yet it does not follow, that the evil, in every case, and in all respects, is precisely the same.—We see then, that the above reasoning, by no means confounds our notions of guilt, by making all sins, the least as well as the greatest, issue, as the objection supposes, in exactly the same penal consequences. Sin the Transgression of It. 95 Again, shall it be said, that if from God’s being infinitely great and excellent, our sins, therefore, have infinite guilt, then it will follow, that our obedience , for the same rea¬ son, ought to have infinite value ? I answer; the very reverse seems to be true, for though our guilt increases with our obligations, the value of our obedience diminishes, in the same proportion. This will appear evident, by adducing a plain, familiar example.—I am more bound to be just, and pay my lawful debts, than to be charitable and relieve my necessitous neigh¬ bours. Yet in the former case, my conduct is less valuable than in the latter.—How ? Merely from my being under a much greater obligation to be just, than to be generous. —If then, the merit of our obedience, in¬ stead of increasing, decreases, in proportion to the greatness of our obligations, it fol¬ lows, that the merit of our obedience to God, to whom our obligations are infinite, must be infinitely little ;—that is, we can have no merit at all. But if we dare to withhold this obedience, our guilt, like our obligation, is infinite, it passes all bounds; we justly expose ourselves to that misery 96 The Nature of the Law , and of which is said to be prepared for the devil and his angels. It is impossible, fully to conceive what it is to sin against God, to set up our own wills against His, to violate the order of the world, to transgress the law of the universe.—- 4< Shall I not visit for “ these things ? saith the Lord.—And who 44 knoweth the power of his anger ?—Ac- “ cording to his fear, so is his wrath The vast demerit of sin appears also from the humiliation and sufferings appointed, ‘and submitted to, in order to atone for it. —So obnoxious was sin to God, that when ft entered into the world, it was necessary, either that the sinner should perish, or that the Son of God himself, should become our ransom. Accordingly, in the fulness of time, astonishing to be told ! he was made 44 manifest in the flesh and be¬ came 64 a man of sorrows and acquainted 44 with grief.” To finish the work of our salvation, 44 he was oppressed and he was 44 afflicted,” and died, at last, an accursed death.—If we would see, then, the evil of sin, let us consult his tragic history ; be- * Jeremiah v. 9. Psalms xc. 2. 97 Sin the Transgression of It. hold him in the garden, and on the cross ; behold him pouring out his precious blood, and drinking the cup of unutterable woe.— Ah ! how destructive that, from which no created arm could save : which nothing but the blood of the Son of God could expiate ! —From this tremendous effect of sin, we may judge of the nature of sin itself. But to be duly impressed with the de¬ merit of sin, consider not only Him against whom it is committed ; and the humilia¬ tion and sufferings appointed, and submit¬ ted to, in order to atone for it; consider, also, the dreadful consequences which still result from it.—Sin is the frightful source of every evil which embitters our lot. It, at first, expelled man from paradise, and made him subject to all those unnumbered troubles, to which he is now, as naturally born, “ as the sparks fly upward.” It is this which mingles with our sweetest com¬ forts, fear and disappointment, and vexa¬ tion of spirit. It is this which racks the body with pain, and the soul with remorse : which produces all the evils of envy, and hatred, and strife, and violence ; which em¬ broils society, kindles the flames of war, and unsheathes the sword of persecution. G 98 The Nature of the Law , and of which takes away peace from life, and hope from death, which brought forth death, at first, and which has, ever since, cloathed it with all its terrors ; which arms nature, and the God of nature against us.—It is on account of this cruel enemy, that “ the “ whole creation groaneth and travaileth in “ pain together until now and that even Christians, “ groan within themselves, wait- “ ing for the adoption, that is, the redemp- “ tion of their body/’ To have a still deeper sense of the malig¬ nity of sin, let us consider, what would be its consequences, did it universally prevail. Into what a dreadful state of anarchy, would it convert the world ! How soon would it blast the beauty of God’s works, and involve all nature in desolation and ruin ! Now every instance of sin, is a ten¬ dency to this. It is that begun , which, if carried much farther , would issue in this fatal consequence.—We cannot, then, in¬ dulge an irregular desire, or a wrong thought, without taking a step to all that is terrible; without contributing to deface the beauty of the creation, and overturn all law, and order, arid happiness. Sin the Transgression of It. 99 Yet the effects of sin, in the present world, however awful, are nothing, when compared to those, which shall take place hereafter; when the righteous and the wick¬ ed shall be completely separated, and every one receive according to his deeds. What shall be the punishment of sin, then, we can¬ not, now , possibly imagine. But when we seriously consider its horrid nature and tendency, we can hardly entertain too dreadful apprehensions of the loss which it may entail, or be too anxious to remove all the remains of it from our tempers, and to escape to as great a distance, as possible, from the danger with which it threatens us. For what danger can be so hugely great, or so truly terrifying ? The corruption of the soul, the thorough depravation of the moral principle exposes man to misery, the great¬ est in degree, and the longest in duration. Here, indeed, there is cause for wailing the most bittter, and affliction the most unre¬ strained.—-The impenitent sinner, shall be excluded from the favour of God, and thrust into the “ outer darkness,” to have his dwelling with infernais.—“ It is a fearful “ thing to fall into the hands of the living “ God,—Who can dwell with devouring 100 The Nature of the Law , and of “ flames ; who can lie down in everlasting 44 burnings ?” Is sin so hateful to God, and is it followed with such awful punishment ? and shall we be still at ease, and go on in the commis¬ sion of it ? Shall we be guilty of such mon¬ strous folly ? Shall we be so ungrateful to God, and cruel to our own souls ? Shall we thus receive the offers of tender mercy ? Are we expectants of a future life, and are we content to live in future misery ? Fu¬ ture, incalculable misery, must be our fate, if we continue in sin. And we are all sin¬ ners ; 44 if we say that we have no sin, w r e 44 deceive ourselves and the truth is not in 44 us.” Our sins are more than we can number, and every sin, without being for¬ given, 44 bringeth forth death.”—How then, shall we be forgiven ? How shall we be saved? We cannot save ourselves; the highest angel in heaven cannot save us. To Jesus Christ only, can we look for help in this time of need.—And surely no person, who duly reflects, can object to this part of the Christian economy. What are we here taught, but to expect blessings, spiritual and eternal, through the instrumentality of Christ ? And, certainly, 101 Sin the Transgression of l'L there is no difficulty in understanding this, for here the economy of grace seems to be perfectly analogous to the economy of na¬ ture ; to what we, continually, witness and experience. AVe daily see and feel, that one man is made instrumental in conferring, the blessings of providence, upon another ; and we are even told, that the angels them¬ selves, are appointed “ ministering spirits “ to minister for them who shall be heirs of “ salvation.” May we not easily believe, then, that the Son of God was appointed to be the agent of his Father’s love ; that through his obedience, and sufferings, and death, “ sin—the transgression of the law,” —was to be abolished, death to be over¬ come, and all the blessings of redemption fully obtained ?—The Gospel graciously reveals him as “ the end of the law for “ righteousness, to every one that be- “ lieveth.” He has satisfied its demands, and, if we believe, redeemed us from its u curse,—being made a curse for us.”— Let us all then draw nigh to him, by faith/ plead his sufferings and death, and resign ourselves to his government. If by faith, we do draw nigh to him, and “ confess our “ sins, God is faithful and just to forgive “ ns our sins, and to cleanse us from all 102 The Nature of the Law , $c. “ unrighteousness.” Thus, though trans¬ gressors of the law, we may be “ justified “ by faith—have peace with God, and joy li unspeakable, and full of glory—receiving “ the end of our faith, even the salvation of “ our souls.” Sinners, turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die ? Haste, haste, from the tents of sin ; break the chains by which you are held, and be not covetous of thraldom and of misery, Christians, “ be of good cheer, for your “ sins are forgiven you.” Only watch and pray, and go on, with determined mind, in the path of duty. Continue followers of that which is good, and nothing shall, even- tully, harm you. God is for you, and who, or what can ultimately prevail against you ?—The power of sin shall be destroyed ; your hearts shall be perfectly hallowed ; every angel shall be your friend ; God shall he your portion, and Heaven shall be your home.—O Heaven ! thou habitation of the just: thou city of the living God ! Into thee, “ nothing that defileth can enter.” Thy pleasures are pure and unalloyed ; per¬ fect, and eternal! DEATH, THE WAGES OF SIN. ROM. VJ. 23. The wages of sin is death. The Apostle Paul, while addressing the Christians at Rome, endeavoured to im¬ press upon them, a just sense of the obliga¬ tions which they were under, and of the precious privileges to the enjoyment of which they were graciously invited. They professed to be the disciples of a crucified master, and they were, therefore, bound to die to the love and practice of sin, as He died to deliver them from its punishment ; and as he not only died ; but “ rose again “ for their justification,” so they were also bound to rise from the grave of corruption, and walk with him “ in newness of life.— 104 Death, the Wages of Sin. “ Reckon ye yourselves,” says he, “ to be “ dead indeed unto sin ; but alive unto “ God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let “ not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal “ body, that ye should obey it in the lusts “ thereof.”-“ What ? shall we sin be- “ cause we are not under the law, but un- “ der grace ?—God forbid !” Conduct like this, would not be more inconsistent with our Christian profession, than destructive of our “ blessed hope for let us attend to this solemn declaration of the Holy Spi¬ rit—“ The wages of sin is death.” Were any one, to ask me, what is the worthiest object of our most ardent pursuit, and what we should give the greatest pos¬ sible diligence to obtain ; I should answer— holiness ; because it comprehends all that is great and good— its end is everlasting life .— Were any one, again, to ask me, what should be our utmost dread, and what we should give the utmost diligence to avoid ; I should answer— sin ; because it compre¬ hends all that is base and wretched, and ne¬ cessarily excludes us from everlasting life . To the same degree that holiness is bene¬ ficial and lovely, sin is pernicious and de- 105 Death , the Wages of Sin. testable. It is of essential malignity and ill desert, and will, sooner or later, be seen by all, to be the greatest evil with which our nature can be afflicted. Other evils, such as disease and poverty ; losses and ca¬ lumny, affect only what is external and fo¬ reign to us ; but they need not disturb our minds , nor can they do the least injury to what is truly ourselves; but sin pierces and wounds, and ravages ourselves. It hurts, not so much, the body, the reputation or fortune, as the man ; it plants anguish, de¬ solation, and ruin, in the soul itself. Other evils may, in the end, prove useful to us, but this is eternally and unchangeably evil; the bane of every heart into which it enters, and the destruction of all those who are not rescued from its power, and delivered from its punishment.—The wages of sin is “ death.” All that I, at present, propose, is merely to consider the nature and extent of the punishment, which, under the government of God, sin is appointed to entail, and which is denominated death The wages of sin is death.” 106 Death , the Wages of Sin . Now, in the first place, this punish¬ ment evidently implies corporeal death.— This death, which consists in the separation of the soul from the body, the heathens considered as the necessary result of the constitution of our frame. The Scriptures, however, teach us a very different doctrine. They inform us that man, though partly composed, indeed, of corruptible materials, and therefore capable of dissolution, was originally designed to be incorruptible ; to be a stranger to disease, and weakness, and decay, and to flourish in immortal youth and vigour. But this felicity he was to enjoy only upon condition of his conti¬ nuing perfectly innocent, and yielding un¬ reserved submission, and spotless obedience to the will of God. If the condition should, in the least, be broken, then instantly, this happy constitution of things was to be changed, and immortal man appointed to die. Alas ! the condition was broken, and we all see and feel, and deplore, the cala¬ mity which has followed. The awful pe¬ nalty has, ever since, been inflicted.—“ By one man, sin entered into the world, and “ death by sin ; so death passed upon all 66 men, for that all have sinned.”—The fa- 107 Death , the Wages of Sin. tal sentence has gone forth, and none can elude its execution. “ The living know (t that they shall die.”—Go to the house of mourning ; there behold your fellow-crea¬ ture extended in mortal agony; pale and ghastly, bidding the world adieu ! That same change, remember, must take place in you also.—Descend next into the cham¬ bers of the tomb,—there behold the putre¬ fying flesh, and the mouldering bones, and there, remember, shall, one day, be your dreary dwelling.—“ I know that thou wilt “ bring me to death, and to the house ap- “ pointed for all living.”—And why is this rueful change decreed ? Why is this terri¬ fying punishment inflicted ?—We have all sinned, and “ the wages of sin is death.’* May we all be sensible of this before it be too late ! Whenever we witness death, may we think of sin ! There was no such thing as death in the world till sin made its en¬ trance. Before this, there was no existing cause to produce death; nothing by which the human frame could be disordered or im¬ paired. Minute philosophers !—mean half¬ thinkers ! Ye may repudiate and smile at this ; but still our faith shall stand ; for it rests on the sure basis of Scripture ; on the 108 Death , the Wages of Sin. unerring word of God. And 44 Jet God be 44 true, and every man a liar.” But the punishment here denounced, in¬ cludes not only corporeal; but spiritual death.—As the body has no life, but when united to the soul, so neither can the soul enjoy any thing that deserves the name of life, but when it is united to God; that is, when its will accords with His; when it feels the animating and comforting in¬ fluence of his grace, and has all its faculties consecrated to his service. Then the soul enjoys a divine life; it inhabits an upper region ; it dwells with God ; receives His light; bears his image, and is 44 satisfied 44 with his likeness.”—But when the soul forsakes God, it forsakes its only true hap¬ piness, sinks into baseness and impurity, and feels influenced by nothing, but by the most sordid, narrow, and contemptible con¬ siderations. It becomes the aversion of all wise and good beings; the mere creature of this perishing world ; content to bury, here, all its high celestial hopes, and be, as the Scriptures awfully expresses it, 44 dead 44 in trespasses and sins.”—Most deplorable ease !—When I commit my beloved friend 109 Death , the Wages of Sin. to the dust, I can, scarce, bear up, under the afflictive stroke ; and hasten, in silence and in solitude, to give vent to the fulness of my sorrow. But had he lived, and yet been dead to the fear and love of God; dead to all concern about his soul, and its eternal salvation, my heart should, then, have been pierced with far keener anguish. —How did such a case, affect and melt the heart of the holy and compassionate Jesus ! He cried, and wept while he cried ; —“ If thou hadst known, even thou, at “ least in this thy day, the things which be- “ long unto thy peace !—but now, they are “ hid from thine eyes Yet, how many such pitiable characters, do we daily meet with on every side !—Be¬ hold that slave of wealth ! His whole time and attention are engaged in seeking what he may never obtain ; and which, though obtained, can neither abide with him long, nor yield him real satisfaction during its abode. Suppose him to have, even, all the success which, in this vain world, can be enjoyed;—suppose him continually adding * Luke xix. 42 . 110 Death, the Wages of Sin. “ house to house and field to field;” yet will all this make him truly happy ?—No, —there is still an aching void, which the whole world can never fill. His heart is severed from its proper object. Disappoint¬ ment, and anxiety, and fear, prey upon his spirit. He is “ without hope, and without “ God in the world.” He liveth in sin, and is dead while he liveth . Behold, again, the man of pleasure ! He covets only the coarse gratification of his senses. Terrene passion is indulged with¬ out controul, while heaven-descended rea¬ son seems neglected and forgotten. Where is the boasted dignity of his nature ; what worth does he display, and what true plea¬ sure does he enjoy ?—Loathsome wretch ! I see only a walking monument of folly and shame ; of pollution and guilt.—-He too, is “ without hope, and without God in the “ world.” He too, liveth in sin, and is dead while he liveth. Behold, also, the slave of ambition ! His sole object is earthly honour. To be talked of, to be applauded, to acquire, what is cal¬ led, a name , he will plan, and labour, and Ill Death , the Wages of Sin. sacrifice every thing. Egregious folly !— But thus he lives, and thus he dies, and with a few vain words inscribed upon his grave-stone, he sinks into the dust and is no more seen. But, is this acting the part of a rational being ? Is this living the life of an immortal ?—It is grasping the shadow, and neglecting the substance. It is for¬ feiting true glory and honour, and courting disgrace, and degradation, and ruin.—Ah ! infatuated man ! thou too, art 44 without 44 hope, and without God in the world.” Thou too, livest in sin, and art dead whilst thou livest. In the same melancholy, dreadful state, are all those, of every description, who 44 mind earthly things,” and neglect the improvement and salvation of the soul,— who neglect the 44 one thing needful.” They are far from God, the source of good, the Fountain of life ; and while far from Him, they must perish. Distance from God im¬ plies sin ; and 44 the wages of sin is death.” * ^ But this death becomes far more awful, when extended to a future world. It is, then, called 44 the second death.” Then, 112 Death, the Wages of Sin . there is not only deprivation of happiness ; but positive infliction of incalculable mi¬ sery. In every attentive and feeling mind, this must give rise to the most painful and melancholy reflections.—Millions of rea¬ sonable beings, naturally immortal and ca¬ pable of infinite improvement, bereaved of all their hopes ; cast away from God and bliss, and sunk in destruction !—What can be imagined more shocking ? But here, even imagination fails. Presumption itself, dares not attempt description. It is as impossible to paint the horrors of hell, as the joys of heaven. When an object is in¬ finite, the mind sinks under it, absorbed and confounded. This is an awful subject, and it demands deep and serious reflection.—How should it rouse the careless ; alarm the hypocrites, and stimulate even Christians ! How SHOULD IT ROUSE THE CARELESS !- Strange! that any should be careless of their souls ! of their immortal happiness Were we not all daily witnesses of the fact, we could not believe that a rational being could be careless, when life and death depended. 113 Death , the Wages of Sin. —Yet how many live, as if religion was no concern of theirs !—as if there was no God ; no judgment; no heaven ; no hell.—They may, sometimes, have their convictions that all is not right; they may, sometimes, have their fears, that “ sin shall not pass unpunished,” and that as they are sinners, their state is awfully dangerous ; but soon again, they stifle their convictions ; dismiss their fears ; lull their consciences asleep, and flatter themselves, that however ini¬ quitous their conduct, “ the Lord will not “ see ; the Lord will not regard it.” “ But “ be not deceived, God is not mocked; “ whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he “ also reap.—To them, who by patient con- “ tinuance in well doing, seek for glory, “ and honour, and immortality, eternal “ life ; but unto them that are contentious “ and do not obey the truth, but obey un- “ righteousness, indignation and wrath, tri- “ bulation and anguish.”—“ The wages of “ sin is death.”—Let us all then fly from sin, as we would fly from destruction, and follow Jesus, who alone can cleanse us from its pollution and free us from its guilt. “ Let the wicked forsake his way, “ and the unrighteous man his thoughts, H 114 Death, the Wages of Sin. “ and let him return unto the Lord, and “ He will have mercy upon him, and to our “ God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Sinner, return then, and plead for pardon and 44 eternal life.” Return, and linger not in the territories of destruction. Mercy calls upon thee, and refuse not the call of mercy. Escape, before the long night set in, and the thick darkness overwhelm thee. Come penitent, to God, and let this be thy humble, ardent prayer—“ Lord, cast me 44 not away from tin' presence ! be merciful “ to my unrighteousness, and my sins, and 44 iniquities, remember no more ! I am, 44 indeed, unworthy : but worthy is the 44 Lamb that was slain !—*0 through Him, 44 may, even, I be accepted and blessed, 44 and obtain an inheritance among them 44 that are sanctified L” Let this subject alarm also the hypo¬ crites. Brethren, “ The wages of sin is 44 death,” and however you may impose upon others,or even upon yourselves, remem¬ ber, I beseech you remember, that your sins are not blotted out. You talk, in¬ deed, much and loud about religion ; but it is mere talk: you are not 44 trans- w tt formed by the renewing of your mind.” 115 Death , the Wages of Sin. You make a blazing profession ; but you bring forth none of 44 the fruits of the spi- 44 rit.” You have neither righteousness, nor mercy, nor faith. You have the form of godliness ; but you never felt its power. Your character is more loathsome and abo¬ minable than even that of the profligate himself. You attempt to deceive, not only men, but God. You insult his omni¬ science, and bring a disgrace upon religion, which no other character can bring. How then, shall you stand in the judgment! Instantly, abandon your 44 refuge of lies;” renounce 44 the hidden things of dishonesty : 44 repent, and believe the Gospel, and bring 44 forth fruits meet for repentance.” Do this, if you wish the salvation of your souls : for God is a God of truth, and 44 the word 44 hath gone out of his mouth,”— the hope of the hypocrite shall perish. —The wages of his sin, is death, indeed. But while this subject should rouse the careless, and alarm hypocrites, it should, likewise, stimulate even Christians.— Christians, you are blessed among men ! Over you, sin hath lost its dominion. To you, 44 there is no condemnation—You are h 2 116 Death , the Wages of Sin . 44 in Christ Jesus, and walk not after the “ flesh, but after the spirit.” But still, the remains of sin are within you ; you have not, as yet, reached perfection. Be not then 44 high minded, but fear,” and guard against every temptation to evil.— 44 The 44 wages of sin is death.” You, however, 44 shall never perish :” you are the heirs of 44 eternal life ;” but remember, it is possible for you, by your blacksliding, to 44 grieve 44 the Holy Spirit,” and lower yourselves in the scale of existence.—Every sin, into the commission of which you suffer your¬ selves to be surprised, is a stain upon your character, and a diminution of your joy. Through all eternity, your happiness shall, exactly, correspond to your holiness. Hate, then, sin , the opposite of holiness, with an ever-growing hatred ; be emulous of the highest bless, and therefore, be 44 instant in 44 prayer to the God of peace,” that He may 44 perfect what is lacking in your faith ;” that He may 44 sanctify you wholly, and preserve 44 your whole spirit, and soul, and body 44 blameless, unto the coming of our Lord 44 Jesus Christ,” when you shall emerge in glory, to sorrow and die no more ; but to enjoy 44 eternal life,” everlasting felicity! THE GIFT OF GOD, ETERNAL LIFE, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. ROM. VI. 23. The gift of God is eternal life 3 through Jesus Christ our Lord . What astonishing folly is daily shown by the human race ! They seem, too often, to be averse to every thing that is their true interest. They generally covet the appro¬ bation and applause of man, while they as generally neglect the approbation and ap¬ plause of God. But what are the approba¬ tion and applause of man, that they should engross our minds, and become almost the sole object of pursuit ? Can they make us either truly great, or truly happy ? Can they ward off the arrows off affliction, or 118 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , bail us from the arrest of death ? But God, whom we too often neglect for “ that “ which profiteth not,” is an almighty and never failing Friend. He is not far off when trouble is near. He is ever ready to bind up the broken heart, and to heal the wounded spirit. He withholds from all them, who ask in faith, nothing that is truly good He gives them 44 eternal life through 44 Jesus Christ our Lord.” Of those who are carnally minded, and set their affections upon worldly objects, we may well ask,— 44 What fruit shall you 44 have in those things of which you have 44 reason to be ashamed ; for the end of 44 those things is death ?” But to those who are Christians, who are spiritually minded, and set their affections upon the things that are above, we may justly say— 44 Flail, ye blessed of the Lord !”— 1 The Lord is their shepherd, and they shall not want. He will lead them to the green pastures, and beside the still waters : his banner over them is love. He is a sun and a shield ; He hath given them grace, and He^ will give them glory. They are the heirs of all that is included in the promise 119 Through Jesus Christ . of “ eternal life.”—Yes, they may rejoice and be exceeding glad, for while “ the “ wages of sin is death, the gift of God is “ eternal life through Jesus Christ our « Lord.” Let us now consider what this exceeding great, and precious gift includes : whence it originates, and what is the appointed me¬ dium through which it comes. First, let us consider what this exceed¬ ing great, and precious gift includes.—It is “ eternal life.” The death denounced as “ the wages of sin,” evidently includes not only the separation of the soul from the body ; but also its separation from God; its separation from the saving influence of his grace and truth here, and its separation from his blessed presence hereafter ; a se¬ paration which constitutes hell. The “ life,” therefore, which we are now considering, and which stands opposed to the “ death” denounced, must have an equally extensive meaning. It must include deliverance not only from the power of temporal death ; but also a revival from the grave of sin, of moral corruption, a resurrection into new- 120 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , ness of life, and the full enjoyment of this life, in all its perfection, in the kingdom of heaven.—As the death of the soul does not consist in the extinction of its being, but in the depravation of its powers and facul¬ ties ; in the loss of its native pleasures, and the endurance of merited punishment; so its life does not consist merely in existence, but in the sanctification of all its powers and faculties, in its exercising them accord¬ ing to the will of God, in its bearing his image, being holy as he is holy, and perfect as he is perfect.—This is the true life of the soul, and from this life only results a happiness suited to its nature. All those who are strangers to this life, the Scrip¬ tures represent as dead. They stiil live, indeed, in this material world ; but their connexion with the spiritual world is dis¬ solved ; they neither breathe its desires, nor engage in its employments, nor experience its heavenly pleasures. “ There is no “ peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” They are wounded with a sense of guilt, and through fear of death, “ the wages of “ sin,” they are, “ all their life time, subject “ to bondage.” Every thing beyond death, Wears an aspect ofhorrour. Nothing “ re- Through Jesus Christ. 121 “ mains but a fearful looking for of judg- “ ment, and fiery indignation.” What shall then be their misery, we do not now know, we cannot now conceive,—and, O God ! may none of us ever feel! But the Christian, he to whom is gifted 44 eternal life,” need fear no evil. Even the king of terrours has nothing to appal his heart; this last enemy, to him, is van¬ quished, for his iniquity is pardoned, and God is his gracious Father, his everlasting Friend. 44 Fear not, saith God, to go down 44 to the grave ; I will go with thee, and 44 bring thee up again.—O Death !” may the Christian therefore, triumphantly ex¬ claim, 44 O Death ! where is thy sting ? O 44 Grave ! where is thy victory ? The sting 44 of death is sin, and the strength of sin is 44 the law ; but thanks be to God who 44 giveth me the victory through our Lord 44 Jesus Christ.” Accordingly, the Christian endeavours to walk worthy of his blessed hope. Re¬ deemed from his past vain conversation, he 44 walks not after the flesh, but after the spi- 44 rit.” The spirit helps his infirmities, scat- 122 The Gift of God, Eternal Life , ters his fears, dissipates his darkness, and keeps alive and operative, in his mind, the belief of the truth. Happy man ! the Holy Spirit fills him with peace and hope; to him “ there is no condemnation “ the law “ of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath “ made him free from the law of sin and “ death.” Sin, indeed, often prevails against him, but he suffers only a temporary defeat; he is not finally overcome. He may stum¬ ble, but he soon recovers ; he falls, but he shall never perish; for he is kept by the mighty power of God ; “ he is born again, “ not of corruptible seed, but of incorrupt- “ ible, which liveth and abideth for ever.” The fruits which he brings forth, are love, and peace, and righteousness, and truth, and these beginnings of “ eternal life,” which he now feels and enjoys, shall, at last, be made per¬ fect in the kingdom of his Father. Then the painful conflict, now endured, shall be finally over. Nature shall no longer revolt from the dominion of grace ; every corrup¬ tion shall be uprooted from the heart; every fear banished from the mind, and every enemy laid prostrate on the field. The saints have overcome, through the^ blood of the Lamb, and “ are set dowa 123 Through Jesus Christ . 6i with Him on his throne, even as he over- “ came, and is set down with his Father on “ his throne. They then behold his face “ in righteousness, and are satisfied with “ his likeness. They see, even as they are “ seen, and know, even as they are known*.” The felicity thence arising, is unalloyed with apprehension or pain ; it is pure and perfect ; and not only pure and perfect; but, ravishing thought ! it is eternal. Un¬ like our present giddy joys, which are often but the raptures of an hour stolen from sor¬ row, this is an enjoyment of endless dura¬ tion. The heavens shall pass away, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and this great globe itself, with all its works, shall be dissolved ; but the felicity of the righteous shall then be but just com¬ mencing. And when millions of ages have elapsed, and when ten thousand times ten thousand millions more have gone, it shall have suffered no diminution, but rather be found to have been ever on the increase,— fairer, brighter, nobler than at the begin¬ ning. O ! blessed Eternity ! when faith can draw aside the veil and look into thee, what scenes rise to the astonished eye ! Y\ e be- * Rev. iii. 21. Ps. xvii. 15. 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 124 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , hold joy above joy, and glory above glory, till the imagination is overcome with the view ;—is lost in the boundless contempla¬ tion. This is “ eternal life,” and when we consider what we now are, do we sometimes fear that it is too great; too angelic, for us to enjoy ? Does it seem a life to which it is, almost, incredible, that mortals will be raised ?—a gift too transcendent for sinners such as we are, ever to receive ? We are indeed, unworthy even of our present life, and deserving only of punishment, but from what we know of God, we have reason to be¬ lieve that his gifts are not proportioned to our deserts, but to his own boundless muni¬ ficence. Great and glorious then, as the gift of eternal life is, and unworthy as we are to receive it, it is, surely, not too great and glorious to be conferred by divine, in¬ finite goodness.—But the difference be¬ tween what the Christian now is on earth, and what he may expect to be in heaven, has something analogous to it in the amaz¬ ing difference of the states which he has passed through already. How great the difference between what he was, when a child, and what he was before being born! 125 Through Jesus Christ. How great, again, the difference between mere childhood, and full maturity ! He who once had no existence, passes into what scarcely deserves the name; he became a helpless, unthinking, mere breathing infant, and he is, now, a wise, benevolent, and righteous man ;—bearing the image of God, and partaking of the nature of Jesus Christ. Let us duly consider the greatness of this change, and we shall be prepared to admit, as a doctrine consonant to reason, the reality of an unspeakably superior state, into which he shall be introduced by his last change, when he shall be delivered from all sin and sorrow ; when he shall be made perfect; when he shall dwell with God ; when “ this corruptible shall have “ put ©n incorruption, and this mortal im- “ mortality.”— But this is a doctrine, not only consonant to reason ; but confirmed by well attested Revelation. The Holy Spirit hath declared, that “ the gift of God “ is eternal life.”—and “ eternal life” is said to be what God, who cannot lie, pro¬ mised before the world began.—“ Father! “ (said Jesus,) I will that they also, whom 6< thou hast given me, be with me, where I “ am, that they may behold my glory, which 126 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , “ thou hast given me.” They then, (the Scriptures assure us,) enter into fulness of joy, receive a kingdom which cannot be moved—an inheritance incorruptible, unde- liled, and that fadeth not away. Secondly, after examining what this ex¬ ceeding great and precious gift of God in* eludes, let us next consider whence it ori¬ ginates. It is evidently the effect of grace, and not the reward of merit. It originates from pure and disinterested love. It is styled “ the gift of God but were it, in any degree, the reward of merit, it would partake of the nature, not of a gift, but of a debt. That it is wholly of grace, appears, whether we consider the gift itself, or Him who bestows it, or the persons on whom it is bestowed, or the express declarations of Scripture on the subject. Let us consider the gift itself. It is “ eternal life the glory and immortality of the heavens. Now, what man living can have a title to this? We enjoy even our animal life by mere favour. It is because God’s tender mercies fail not, that we are not consumed. From what then, but 127 Through Jesus Christ . pure favour, but unmerited and infinite mercy, can we receive what is incomparably more excellent,—spiritual and eternal life —the life of angels,—the highest and noblest life with which a creature can be inspired ? Let us think also of Him who bestows i • this gift. It is God ; He who is eternally independent and glorious, and the source whence all being flows. Now, who can merit from God ? Can any creature “ be “ profitable” to his Creator ? Can his goodness extend unto him ? For the air we breathe, for every good disposition we feel, for every hope, for every present and temporal enjoyment, we are all debtors to the unsearchable riches of His grace. But besides having temporal enjoyment, we are also, if Christians, the heirs of “ eternal “ life.” And what are we , to whom this wondrous grace is shown ?—Sinful dust, and ashes ; traitors to God, and enemies to him by wick¬ ed works ! Now, if God “ chargeth even his “ angels with folly,” and if “ the heavens are u not clean in his sight,” what is man, “ man 128 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , “ who drinketh iniquity like water,” that he should be accepted and saved; that he should inherit “ eternal life ?”—Lord ! we receive all from thy boundless mercy ; and “ not unto us ; not unto us, but unto Thee 64 be the glory ?” And let us attend to the express declara¬ tions of Scripture. — 44 By grace are ye 44 saved, through faith, and that not of 44 yourselves, it is the gift of God.—Not by 44 works of righteousness which we have done; but according to his mercy, he 44 saved us, by the washing of regeneration 44 and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. 44 —Without me ye can do nothing.—God 44 hath, from the beginning, chosen you to 44 salvation.—It is your Father’s good plea- 44 sure, to give you, the kingdom —Hard sayings these ! for the vain sons of Adam, who would always find something in them¬ selves of which they may boast; but faith¬ ful sayings! which they must humble them¬ selves to receive, if they would ever enter into life, and have an inheritance among them who are sanctified. *Eph.ii. 8. Titus iii. 5. John xv.5. 2Thess.ii. 13. Lukexii.23. 129 Through Jesus Christ. Thirdly, as we have now seen, what this “ gift of God” includes, and likewise whence it originates, let us next consider the appointed medium through which it comes. It comes, “ through Jesus Christ “ our Lord.”—God is love ; he is infinitely good, and must therefore ever wish to com- municate all possible happiness ; but being, at the same time, infinitely righteous and wise, he can communicate happiness only in the best possible way. The way in which he communicates it, must vary ac¬ cording to the state and character of those who are designed to receive it. While the obedient receive it, in one way, the disobe¬ dient must, surely, receive it in another. When creatures have broken the divine law, and become obnoxious to punishment, and if, after all, they shall receive “ eternal “ life,” there must, at the same time, be some signal expression given of the Divine displeasure against their sin, so that, while mercy is shown, the rights of Deity may he vindicated, and the order of the Divine government maintained. Now, this is pre¬ cisely our case : We are all sinners, and i 130 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , naturally obnoxious to punishment ; and though God loves us, and willeth not, that any of us should perish ; but that all should receive 44 the gift of eternal life yet we can receive it only through the sufferings and death of 44 Jesus Christ our Lord.” None but He was qualified to appear in our behalf, to avert the threatened ven¬ geance, to dissipate moral darkness, to abolish sin, and 44 bring in an everlast- 44 ing righteousness.” Accordingly, when we were the prisoners of justice, the chil¬ dren of wrath, and the heirs of hell, our gracious Father appointed Him as our ran¬ som. The Son of God, willingly under¬ took our cause, and in the councils of hea¬ ven, said— 44 Lo ! I come ; in the volume 44 of thy book it is written of me ; I delight 44 to do thy will.”—Accordingly, 44 though 44 he was in the form of God, and thought 44 it not robbery to be equal with God,” yet that we might obtain 44 eternal life,”— 44 he 44 made himself of no reputation, took upon 44 him the form of a servant, and being 44 found in fashion as a man, humbled him- 44 self, and became obedient unto death, 131 Through Jesus Christ . “ even the death of the cross.”—And he not only died, but rose again from the dead, to prove that his work was finished, that his sacrifice was accepted, and ascended up in¬ to heaven, that the Holy Comforter might come, to renew us in the spirit of our minds, and purify us even as he is pure.— Thus did he fulfil the law, magnify and make it honourable, and show God to be both just, and yet the justifier of the un¬ godly,—“ O ! the depth of the riches, both “ of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Sin is thus punished, and yet the sinner is saved : death, “ the wages of si is fully inflicted, and yet, “ eternal life” is freely be¬ stowed.—And while it is bestowed “through “ Jesus Christ our Lord,” we are required to receive it by faith,—believing all that Christ hath done and suffered on our ac¬ count ; trusting, with unsuspecting confi¬ dence, that “ He is faithful who hath pro* “ mised. If thou shalt confess with thy “ mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe “ in thine heart that God hath raised him “ from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Who* 132 The Gift of God, Eternal Life , 44 soever believeth in him, shall not perish, 44 but have everlasting life —the life of angels, the eternal vision and enjoyment of God. Resting on this sure foundation, the believer may, at all times, have peace, and 44 abound in hope through the power of the 44 Holy Ghost.”-— 44 Behold, God is my sal- 44 vation, I will trust and not be afraid. 44 Nothing, neither death nor life, nor angels, 44 nor principalites, nor powers, nor things 44 present, nor things to come, nor heighth 44 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 44 he able to separate me from the love of 44 God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.— 44 I am now ready to he offered up, and the 44 time of my departure is at hand ; I have 44 fought a good fight, I have finished my 44 course, I have kept the faith : henceforth, 44 there is laid up for me a crown of righte- 44 ousness, which the Lord, the righteous 44 Judge will give me at that day ; and not 44 to me only, but unto all them also that 44 love his appearing. Jesus ! into thy 44 hands, I commit my spirit, for thou hast 44 redeemed me, O God of truth. How 44 great is the glory now to he revealed ! Through Jesus Christ. 133 44 How unspeakable is the gift of eternal 44 life !” Have we any reason to believe that we are the heirs of 44 eternal life ?” Is this life the supreme object of our desire, and do we feel it already begun in our souls ? Is it our earnest wish to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness ? Are we in¬ deed dead unto sin, and alive unto righte¬ ousness through Jesus Christ our Lord ? Are we animated by his love, and purified and comforted by the Holy Spirit ? Are we quickened together with him, and do our hearts ascend; are our affections placed where he sitteth, at the right hand of God ? Then, however poor and mean we may be in the eyes of the world ; still we are rich, we are great indeed. We have a possession which the world knows nothing of. Silver and gold, we may have none ; but we have what is infinitely preferable—spiritual trea¬ sures never to be exhausted. All things are ours which are worthy of an immortal mind. We are more than monarchs ; we are the children of God, destined for heaven, assured of 44 eternal life.” i 3 134 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , But howawful,how truly affecting the case of those, whose character is directly oppo¬ site ; who are still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity ; who are spiritually are not only without all the hopes and enjoyments of 44 eternal life but are continually liable to the vengeance of Almighty God. It is only because He is infinitely merciful, that they are not immediately consigned to hell. If their eyes were not blinded ; if their consciences were not seared by him who ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience, they would 44 awake to righteousness and sin 44 not.” They could not, for an instant, delay their escape from 44 the wrath that is 44 to come.”—May the Holy Spirit open their eyes, alarm their consciences, and convince them 44 of sin, of righteousness, 44 and of judgment !” They would then become 44 new creatures,—turn unto God, 44 and keep his commandments, and do 44 them.”—Ah ! better we had never been born, if we be not 44 born again.” Our present animal life, the only life which we have, if we be not born again, is not a bles^ dead. They 135 Through Jesus Christ. sing but a curse. To make it a blessing, we must be “ sanctified through the truth, “ —yield ourselves unto God, and be “ established in every good word and work. “ —Awake then thou that sleepest; arise “ from the dead.—Hear these words of our Lord—“look unto me and be saved.”—Mer¬ ciful being ! He still bears with all thy re¬ bellion and ingratitude, and invites, nay pleads with thee, to accept “ the gift of “ eternal life.” Is this “ gift of eternal life” really of¬ fered to us ? It unquestionably is. May we, then, cordially receive it ! May we be made like unto God, and be partakers of his happiness !—What gratitude should fill our hearts ! How should we love him who * hath thus loved us, and prepared for us this vast inheritance ! Let us show our love by yielding to the motions of his spirit, and “ observing all things whatsoever he hath “ commanded us.” Let us go up through the world, in his strength, “ girding up the “ loins of our mind, and building up our- “ selves in our most holy faith.——I pray 136 The Gift of God , Eternal Life , fyc. 4£ God that our whole spirit and soul, and “ body, be preserved blameless unto the “ coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!—Now “ unto him who is able to keep us from “ falling, and to present us faultless before “ the presence of his glory, with exceeding ^ j°y 5 to the only wise God our Saviour, “ be glory, and majesty, dominion and “ power, both now and ever, Amen.” THE DIVINE EXCELLENCE of CHRIST, PSALM XLY. 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men. 'The person who is the subject of the forty- fifth Psalm, is, doubtless the Messiah. In support of this idea, we can quote no less authority than that of an inspired Apostle. Paul, in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrews, applies directly to the Messiah a very striking passage of this Psalm, in order to prove him to be not merely a hu¬ man, inferior nature ; but one who was ex¬ alted and divine. Evidently referring to the sixth verse of this Psalm, the Apostle represents the Father as thus addressing 138 The Divine Excellence of Christ. the Son :—“ Thy throne, O God! is for 44 ever and ever; a sceptre of righteous- 44 ness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” We are surely justified, then, in applying to him this laudatory ascription likewise,— 44 Thou art fairer than the children of “ men.” The sacred writers seem to travel round the whole compass of language in quest of words sufficiently expressive of the dignity and worth of Jesus Christ. 44 Rejoice 44 greatly, O daughter of Sion ; shout, O 44 daughter of Jerusalem ; behold thy king 44 cometh unto thee ; he is just and having 44 salvation.” To win our affections, as well as excite our reverence, .they, at other times, represent him by more tender and familiar names. He himself teaches us to regard him, as our Friend. 44 Ye are my friends, 44 if ye do whatsoever I command you.” He is even our Brother. 44 He is not ashamed 44 to call us brethren.” The Church is taught to claim him as her Head, and Husband. 44 I have espoused you to one husband,” says the Apostle, 44 that I may present you 44 as a chaste virgin to Christ.—Thy Maker 44 is thy husband ;—The husband is the The Divine Excellence of Christ. 139 4< head of the wife, even as Christ is the “ Head of the Church.” But lest these names, primarily and strictly applicable only to men, should obscure his divinity, and lead us to consider him merely as human, the holy and elevated Psalmist declares his superior glory, and as if he saw Him whom his soul loved, and whom he was about to celebrate, just standing before him, he breaks out in this language of extatic ad¬ miration :—" Thou art fairer than the child- “ ren of men —that is, in general, Thou art superior to every, even the most exalt¬ ed creature; Thou art truly great, and holy, and pure, adorned with the indescrib¬ able effulgence of the Divine Nature. Now to show that I am warranted to take this expression ;—“ Thou art fairer c ‘ than the children of men,” in this gene¬ ral sense of pre-eminence , it is necessary to consider only, how degrading indeed, it would be to the Messiah, to apply it merely to his bodily appearance. To give it a suf¬ ficiently dignified sense, we must apply it to the mind of the Man Christ Jesus, and to the Godhead with which it is united. Now what is the beauty of mind ? Is it 140 The Divine Excellence of Christ. not power, and wisdom, and goodness ? And what is the deformity of mind ? Is it not weakness, and ignorance, and vice ? God is infinitely wise, and powerful, and good, and is therefore the “ fairest” and most beautiful Being in the universe. Sa¬ tan, on the contrary, is represented as hav¬ ing no goodness, and as having power and wisdom only to do evil; in one word, he is desperately wicked, and is therefore the foulest and most deformed being in the uni¬ verse. Viewing beauty then, as applicable, chiefly at least, to spiritual existence, I cannot be thought to stretch too far these words :—“ Thou art fairer than the child- “ ren of menif I consider them as ex¬ pressive, in general, of the idea of pre-emi¬ nence. Our Lord Jesus Christ is 44 fairer “ than the children of men He is un¬ speakably eminent above every human be¬ ing, in all that can command our esteem, or excite our affection.—The pre-eminence of our Lord Jesus Christ is, at all times, an appropriate subject of meditation. In pro¬ portion to the high ideas which we enter¬ tain of him, will be the confidence, and comfort, and joy, which will fill our souls. —Let us consider then, First, Whence The Divine Excellence of Christ . 141 this pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, here de¬ clared by the Psalmist, appears; and, Se¬ condly, What effect such a view of him should produce on our temper and practice. Let us, First, consider whence the pre¬ eminence of Jesus Christ appears.-It appears from the excellence of his person : and from the works performed by him. It appears from the excellence of his per¬ son.—There is evidently a gradation of being in nature; one creature rises above another in excellence. A vegetable excels a stone, an animal excels a vegetable, a ra¬ tional being excels a mere animal, and so on. This idea is preserved in Scripture; 44 there are celestial bodies, and there are 44 terrestrial bodies ; but the glory of the 44 celestial is one, and the glory of the ter- 44 restrial is another.” The Scriptures as¬ sign to man, a place above all other animals, and below angels .— 44 Thou hast made man 44 a little lower than the angels, thou hast 44 put all other beings under his feet.”—- Now Jesus Christ was a man ; he was born of a woman ; he was 44 made in the likeness 44 of men, and appeared in the form of a ser- 142 The Divine Excellence of Christ . 44 vantBut there never was such a man. Though he was man, yet he was superior to, or as St. Paul expresses it, he was 44 much better than the angels.” He is mentioned even as 44 the brightness of the 44 Father’s glory, and the express imag£ of 44 his person.—He is Immanuel,—God with 44 us.” Isaiah expressly calls him 44 the 44 mighty God .”— 44 Unto us a child is born, 44 unto us a son is given, and the govern- 44 ment shall be upon his shoulders, and his 44 name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- 44 lor, the mighty God.”—Thomas calls him, 44 my Lord and my God ;” and he is commended for his faith.—John calls him 44 the true God and eternal life,” and extols his love to mankind by saying, 44 hereby * The passages of Scripture in which Christ is represented as a man, and in which he is said to have been born, are often triumphantly produced by those who disbelieve his Divinity. But the enumeration of such passages can make nothing for their cause ; for according to all opinions, Christ was truly a man, and is properly so called in the Scriptures. But is He re¬ presented as nothing more ? Had He been called a man, and had it been added, that He was nothing more than a man, the doctrine of, what has been styled, His “ simple humanity,” would have been evident, and there could have been no room for controversy on the subject. But, to me, it appears, that the Scriptures plainly assert the very contrary. The Divine Excellence of Christ . 143 M perceive we the love of God, because he 44 laid down his life for us.”—Paul says, he was 44 God manifest in the flesh and af¬ firms that 44 as concerning the flesh,” he sprang from the fathers of the Jewish na¬ tion ; but that, in another view, he 44 is 44 over all, God blessed for ever.”—What shall I say more ? Christ himself assumes the incommunicable name of God, and thus declares, 44 before Abraham was, I am. All 44 things whatsoever the Father hath, are 44 mine—I and my Father are one.—No 44 one knoweth the Son but the Father, nei- 44 ther knoweth any one the Father but 44 the Son —And here, I confess, there is contained a mystery which I cannot un¬ derstand ; but am I therefore hastily to dismiss it from the articles of my faith ? The wisest of men do not understand any one object in nature perfectly, and are they therefore to believe nothing ? They must then disbelieve their own existence ; for no man perfectly understands even his own being. 44 Great, indeed, is the mystery of * Heb. i. 3. Matt. i. 23. Isa. ix. 6. John xx. 2S. 1 John v. 26. Rom. ix. 5. John viii. 58. John xvi. 15. John x. 30. Matt. xi. 27. 144 The Divine Excellence of Christ. “ godliness, God manifest in the flesh blit still I must believe it, since it is con¬ tained in the Scriptures, and since I have evidence for believing the Scriptures to be the word of God. It would be easy to prove that this was the plain way in which the first Christians received this doctrine. They, with pious humility, received the simple testimony, just as revelation gave it. It would have been well for their successors, had they strictly followed this example. But, alas ! about two hundred years after Christ, men began the art of explaining what they did not understand, and thus produced strange, novel notions, and with them, vain disputes, absurd creeds, abo¬ minable proscriptions, cruel persecutions, bloody wars, and other calamitous circum¬ stances, which have disgraced Christianity, and distressed Christians from that day to this. But we rejoice that our faith rests not on the wisdom of man. We have only to search and know the Scriptures, and with¬ out any human explications, simply believe, what that inspired book expressly tells us, that Jesus Christ is Divine.—Blessed being! his very enemies could never “ convince him of sin,” or discover in him any imper- The Divine Excellence of Christ. 145 fection. All who truly saw him, could bear witness for him, that he was the image of God. They “ beheld his glory, the glory “ as of the only begotten of the Father, full “ of grace and truth.” Who of mortals can be likened unto him ? All mortal ex¬ cellence vanishes before him, as the vapour before the sun. He is even superior to the highest angel who stands before the throne. “ The fullness of the godhead dwelleth in u him. O Lord, our God, how excellent is “ thy name ! Thou art, indeed, fairer than “ the children of men *.** But the pre-eminence of Christ appears * Many passages ofj Scripture, such as those now quoted, have either no meaning or a very absurd one, if Jesus Christ is not truly Divine. Hence, to explain them away, Socinians have recourse to all the arts of minute criticism. But is our faith here, to rest on minute criticism ? Then the Gospel loses one of its chief characteristics— universality. It is fit only for the learned : it is designed only for a few, and not for the mil¬ lion : it is a riddle-book, and not a revelation.—" Cannot one “ know, (says an excellent writer,) that the Socinian interpreta- " tion of the texts relating to Christ’s Divinity, is not the mind “ of Scripture ? Yea, one may know it as certainly, as that a “ counter is not the king’s coin, or that a monster is not a man.” K 146 The Divine Excellence of Christ . not only from the excellence of his person; but also from the works performed by him. —His works, like his person, are unspeak¬ ably glorious. He “ is wonderful in coun- “ sel and excellent in working.”—He cre¬ ated the worlds, and while in this world of ours, he evinced himself Lord of its laws ; he enlightened and still enlightens its in¬ habitants ; he blotted out their sins ; he sanctified and still sanctifies their natures ; and secures for them unutterable and eter¬ nal happiness. He CREATED THE WORLDS. -“ All tilings, “ (saith the voice of Inspiration,) were made “ by. him, and without him, was not any “ thing made, that was made.—By him “ were all things created that are in hea- “ ven, and that are in earth, visible and in- “ visible, whether they be thrones, or domi- “ nions, or principalities or powers ; all “ things were created by him, and for him, “ and he is before all things, and by him all “ things consist.” Whatever then, we dis¬ cover, as great and wise and good in crea¬ tures, is but a faint image of the great- The Divine Excellence of Christ . 147 ness and wisdom and goodness of Jesus Christ And as He is thus the maker of the worlds, and the source of all their excel¬ lence, so while in this world of ours, He EVINCED HIMSELF LORD OF ITS LAWS. He but spake, and it was done. The filthy leper was cleansed in a moment, and the eye opened that was born blind. The waters heard his voice, and the raging tempest was still at his reproof. The very tomb confessed his power, and at his command inexorable death gave back his captive. * Being once gravely asked by a zealous, conscientious Uni¬ tarian, “ Whence the Nicene Fathers, and the Christians be¬ fore them, derived their faith in the Divinity of Christ ?”—I immediately answered, alluding to the passages just now quot¬ ed ,—“ From the writings of the beloved Disciple who lay on the Saviour’s bosom, and of that great Apostle who had been caught up into the third Heaven.” John i. 3. Coloss, i 16.— This circumstance 1 would not have mentioned here, had it not been that in my respectable friend’s case, this simple answer proved satisfactory, and was followed by the most important consequences. Were such ready, fearless appeals to the plain language of Scripture more frequent, a stronger impression would probably be made, than by slow, tedious argumentation. 148 The Divine Excellence of Christ. When Iiq himself died, darkness covered the land ; the rocks rent, many of the dead awoke, and all nature was troubled, till, by his own power he triumphantly rose again, ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and thus showed himself Lord both of the dead and of the living, and therefore high, indeed, above “ the children of men.” But even this influence over external na¬ ture, was surely not more glorious, than his influence over what is unspeakably supe¬ rior, the immortal mind. While he con¬ trolled the world’s laws, he did infinitely more,—he enlightened its inhabitants. Be¬ fore his coming, the nations were sunk in the grossest ignorance and superstition. They wandered unacquainted with God, aud unblessed with the hope of eternal life. But when he appeared, moral darkness scattered before him. He poured full day upon the sightless mind: God and glory appeared, and “ the Gentiles came to his “ light, and kings to the brightness of his “ rising.” And still do his followers enjoy the blessings of his word, and can tell how The Divine Excellence of Christ. 149 profitable they feel it for doctrine and con¬ solation. 44 Oh ! (they exclaim) how we 44 love thy law ! Had it not been our de- 44 light, we should have perished in our af- “ fliction.—Lord ! teach us more of thy 44 truth ; show us more of thy glory ; for as 44 the heavens are high above the earth, so 44 is thy truth above human wisdom, and “ thy glory above that of the children of 44 men !” And while Jesus, by his word and spirit, thus dissipates our darkness, he, at the same time, blots out, as one vast cloud, all our sins. The whole world lay guilty before God, and exposed to 44 the wrath which is 44 to come.” No man could redeem his bro¬ ther, or even avert, for a moment, his awe¬ ful doom, when, lo ! Jesus Christ offered to become our ransom: He was, literally, our Saviour ; he “ was made sin for us, though 44 he himself knew no sin, that we might be 44 made the righteousness of God in him.” His sufferings were efficacious, his sacrifice was accepted, and all who hear his voice and believe in his name, 44 shall never pe- 150 The Divine Excellence of Christ. 44 rish, neither shall any be able to pluck 44 him out of his hand.” What are we to think, then, of Christ ? Thus mighty and willing to save, is he not our beloved and our friend, and from finishing such a stu¬ pendous work, can he be less than Divine ? Hath he not a name high above every name? Is he not 44 fairer than the children 44 of men ?” But to rise still higher in our conceptions of his excellence, let us consider that he not only enlightens our minds, and blots out our sins, He also sanctifies our corrupted natures. The mind that was earthly and grovelling, delighted only with the objects of sense and time, he purifies from the pol¬ lutions of the world, elevates to things above, and adorns frith righteousness and true holiness. Now this wonderful change, the Scriptures represent as a resurrection from the dead ; as a new birth ; as a new cre¬ ation. And who, tell me, but He who cre¬ ated man at first, can thus create him again ? Here then, behold and adore the glory of our Saviour ! He spake the widow’s son The Divine Excellence of Christ. 151 from the bier, and Lazarus from the tomb, and he also awakes millions of souls, dead in trespasses and sins, and makes them “ holy in all manner of conversation.” Tru¬ ly, this is the Son of God with power ! Let us give unto him, the glory due unto his name. Fall down and worship him, ye “ children of men # !” * Here, I may be permitted to mention a thought which has often occurred to me.—Had Christ been a mere man, had he not been truly divine, it would be impossible to account for his present, sudden exaltation. After his resurrection, we are told. He became Lord both of the dead and the living. Angels and Archangels, principalities and powers, thrones and dominions, all things both in heaven and earth were made subject to him. He was even constituted Judge of the world; appointed to finish the Divine government, by rendering to every man according to his works. But had Christ been nothing more than a crea¬ ture, had he been merely a man; his present, sudden and glo¬ rious exaltation, would be contrary to all that has ever been ob¬ served in the Divine procedure. Do not all beings seem to rise gradually , one acquisition laying the foundation for another, and preparing for higher acquisitions? Could we believe a person, who came and told us, that a certain child, instead of gradually growing, had instantly started into manhood, and was appointed to govern, and actually did govern, both wisely and well, a most extensive empire ? It is impossible; and yet it would be infinitely easier to believe even this, than to believe, that a creature, a mere man, perhaps, should be raised, at oncc f 152 The Divine Excellence of Christ. But the time would fail me, though I had adequate powers of expression, to give all the displays of the excellence of Christ. I shall now only state, in general, that while he enlightens the minds of his followers, while he blots out their sins, while he sanc¬ tifies their natures, He secures for them UNUTTERABLE AND UNENDING HAPPINESS.— The mind of man can be happy only in the infinite Being who made it. Nothing else is adequate to its celestial nature. And this happiness, our Lord Jesus Christ does not reserve merely for a future world ; even in the present world, he bequeaths to his dis¬ ciples peace. “ Peace, I leave unto you, to be the Director and Judge of the universe.—Surely, those who have entertained such an extravagant notion, have not suf¬ ficiently attended to the analogy of nature. Many of them, (I do believe, without intention,) have done much, to render not only the Scripture unintelligible; but Christianity itself incre¬ dible. Hoiv Christ could be both human and Divine, has often been made the subject of laborious inquiry; but ignorant as we, confessedly, are of the Divine Nature; knowing, as we do, that it is far beyond our comprehension, every such inquiry should be abjured, at once, as, to the last degree, both absurd and pre¬ sumptuous. The Divine Excellence of Christ. 153 44 my peace I give unto you ; not as the 44 world giveth, give I unto you.—In the 44 world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of 44 good cheer ; I have overcome the world. 44 I have the keys of hell and of death.” His disciples rely upon his promise, and they have peace indeed. 44 Great peace 44 have they, and nothing shall offend them.” They 44 depart in peace ; they rest from 44 their labours, and their works do follow 44 them.” Every request is answered, every desire is gratified ; Jesus receives them to himself, and gives them this most delight¬ ing, most ennobling plaudit :— 44 Well done, 44 good and faithful servants, enter into the 44 joy of your Lord.”—But I will not at¬ tempt a description of this celestial joy. That which is imperfect must be done away, and that which is perfect must be come, before we can know the joy of hea¬ ven. 44 Eye hath not seen, ear hath not 44 heard, neither have entered into the heart 44 of man to conceive, the things which God 44 our Saviour hath prepared for them that 44 love him.” \\ hat a great, what a good, what a glorious Being! The universe is 154 The Divine Excellence of Christ. not so superior to 44 the small dust of the “ balance,” as He is to “ the children of 44 men. Accordingly, every possible praise, every possible honour is readily rendered to him. Even the eternal and omniscient Father proclaims him his beloved Son. 44 This is 44 my beloved Son, in whom I am well 44 pleased.” And when he brought him in¬ to the world, he commanded the very hosts of heaven to worship him. 44 Let all the 44 angels worship him !” Angels hasted to obey, and this was their joyful ascription ; 44 Glory to God in the highest, and on 44 earth peace, good will towards men.”— And now that he has returned to dwell among them, angels love and adore him still. His glorious name sounds from all their harps, and his love is the subject of their everlasting song. Their number is ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou¬ sands of thousands, and all these are heard, day and night, 44 saying with a loud voice, 44 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 44 receive power, and riches, and wisdom, The Divine Excellence of Christ. 155 44 and strength, and honour, and glory, and 44 blessing.”—And shall not we, though but the inhabitants of earth ; though hut 44 the 44 children of men,” rejoice to join them ? Shall not we adore the excellence of Jesus, and 44 go on in his name, making mention 44 of his righteousness, even of his only.”— Can we ever be so insensible as not to he charmed with his grace ; not to love him with all our hearts, and savingly feel what he hath told us ;— 44 If ye love me, keep my 44 commandments.”—The angels are the ministers of his will; and shall not we too be angels, swift messengers to fulfil his pleasure ? Shall not we, whatsoever others do, gladly show forth his praise, and live and die devoted to his service ?—Yes, will every ardent Christian say ;— 44 My soul doth glo- 44 ry in Christ, and will ever avouch him to ■V 44 he my Lord. He is my only Saviour, and 44 all my dependence is upon him. I count 44 all things but loss, for the excellence of 44 the knowledge of him. I count not even 44 my life dear to me, that I may finish my 44 course with joy, and be welcomed into 44 paradise by him. Whom have I in hea- 156 The Divine Excellence of Christ. 44 ven but him, and there is none upon earth 44 that I desire besides him. Salvation un- 44 to the Lamb ! I would love him ; I would 44 trust in him, and long to be with him, 44 and to be like him. He is all, and in all, 44 purer than the angels of God, and 44 fairer 44 than the children of men # .” But if Christ possesses such unrivalled excellence, if he possesses every thing that can kindle our love, or excite our venera¬ tion, what shall we say, what shall we think of those who, though invited and pressed to contemplate his character, and to love and venerate him, yet continue unmoved * So strongly does the language of Scripture express the Di¬ vine excellence of Christ, and the propriety of worshipping him, that even the ancient Socinians acknowledged its force, and ad¬ mitted that Christ was an object of religious worship. To admit this was, doubtless, very inconsistent in them ; it was a conces¬ sion directly hostile to their system ; but most friendly to ours, who believe in the Divinity of Jesus.—The following are their words: Christus ad dextram Dei in ccel is collocatus etiam ab angel is adorandus est.— Catacliesis Ecclesiarum Polonicarum. Sect. 4. -Omnem in coelo et in terra potestatem accepit \ et omnia, Deo solo excepto, ejus pedibus sunt subjecta. Ibid. The Divine Excellence of Christ. 157 by all that we can say of him ? They “ dis- u cern no form, nor comeliness, nor beauty, “ that they should desire him.” They are “ enemies to him by wicked works.” They do not glory in his cross, nor prize his sal¬ vation. They turn a deaf ear to his words, violate his holy laws, and blasphemously say by their conduct, at least, that they will not have him to rule over them. Most infa¬ tuated men! They have “ sent them strong “ delusion to believe a liethey are blind¬ ed and “ led captive by the devil, at his “ will.” Strange! they are in love with sin ; they are greedy of death, and rapa¬ cious of ruin. May the Lord have mercy upon them ! May he rectify their disorder¬ ed minds, and “ give them repentance to “ the acknowledging of the truth.” O Thou “ who commandedst the light to “ shine out of darkness, shine in their “ hearts, to give them the light of the “ knowledge of the Divine glory in the “ face of Jesus Christ!” Turn away their eyes from beholding vanity ; induce them to behold the glory of Him, who is so glorious above “ the children of men.” 162 The Divine Excellence of Christ . Happy, most happy they ! who by the eye of faith, already behold him ! The transforming sight, even now, purifies and elevates, and delights their minds; and what effects it shall produce, at last, tran¬ scends conception. “ It doth not yet ap- “ pear what they shall be but this we know,-—they shall bid farewell to sin, join the first-born sons of light, reflect the lustre of heaven, and be, themselves, “ fairer than “ the children of men.” THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. HEB. II. 10. For it became him, for ivhom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. In the preceding chapter, the inspired Apostle informs the Hebrews of the digni¬ fied person and character of the blessed Jesus. He is represented as the Son of God—as the Maker of the worlds—as the Almighty supporter of every thing that exists. All things both in heaven and earth are subject to his dominion. Even angels and archangels, those exalted and 160 The Sufferings of Christ. happy spirits, bow down and worship him. And worthy is He to receive the honours which are paid him—for he is “ the first “ born of every creature.”—“ The bright- “ ness,” saith the Apostle, “ of the Father’s “ glory, and the express image of his per- “ son.” Wonder then, O heavens ! and be astonished, O earth ! when it is told, that this divine, this exalted being, condescended to assume our nature, and to lead a life of pain, of poverty, and affliction for our sakes. When degraded man fell from the dignity of innocent nature, and became obnoxious to death and destruction, and when on his behalf, as patron or intercessor, there was none to appear, mercy and love beamed on the countenance of the Son of Man. Un¬ sought, unimplored, he compassionated the misery of our fallen state, and in the as¬ sembly of heaven declared his willingness to “ carry our sorrows,” and suffer for our sins.— The ’Almighty Father ac¬ cepts his gracious proffers, and makes the counsels of men and the ministry of angels subservient in preparing the way for the appearance of this Captain of our salvation. At length the long wished for period ar- The Sufferings of Christ. 161 rives—The Son of God—the Saviour of the world descends, not surrounded with pomp and affluence, as a misjudging world might expect, but humble and lowly 44 in the 44 form of a servant.” He who was the Lord of Angels, becomes 44 despised and 44 rejected of men.” He who from eternity inhabited the dwellings of glory, submits to be 44 a man of sorrows and acquainted with 44 grief.” Instead of being bred up amidst the grandeurs of a court and the splendours of a palace, he is 44 born in a stable and 44 laid in a manger.” Instead of being fol¬ lowed and honoured by the great ones of the earth, he is, even in his infant years, persecuted and cruelly sought after to be slain. And the farther he advances in life, the more grievous and the more multiplied do his afflictions become. Descended from the meanest origin, and placed in the humblest station, he learns the occupation of his supposed father, and is obliged to earn his bread with 44 the sweat of his brow.” Though heir of all things , he is exposed to every species of want and distress—afflicted without a comforter—persecuted without a protector, and wandering about, according to his own pathetic complaint, because he 44 had not where to lay his head.” And L 162 The Sufferings of Christ . after thus passing through scenes of the deepest sorrow, he is at last put to a cruel and an ignominious death. Betrayed by one of his own disciples, and in the hour of extremity deserted by all, the blessed Sa¬ viour of the world is dragged away by a lawless multitude, insulted by a ruffian soldiery, and like a common malefactor nailed to the accursed tree.—This poor- persecuted life and ignominious death of our Saviour, while it affected his friends with the most pungent grief, confirmed his enemies in their hatred and their prejudices. The Jews, that infatuated race, seduced by carnal views, and impelled by ambitious hopes, had always indulged the vain expec¬ tation of a temporal Messiah—who was to assume the character of a mighty prince— was to free them from the Roman yoke, and lead them forth amidst the triumphs of con¬ quest and the splendours of dominion. To them, therefore, the humble afflicted state of Jesus was a stumbling block, which their misguided minds could not get over. Though he “ spake as never man spake,” and did works of wondpr which never man did, yet because he lived amidst poverty and reproach, and in the end died upon a cross, they rejected him with disdain and 163 The Sufferings of Christ . abhorrence. The heathen philosophers, also, concurred with the Jews in viewing the meanness and sufferings of Jesus, as an objection against his divine authority too powerful for any argument to outweigh. In their eyes nothing appeared more un¬ reasonable than to suppose, that the spot¬ less, innocent Son of God, should suffer and die, and that by his death and crucifixion, life and immortality should be purchased for men. This story seemed to them, as it does to some of their neighbour-infidels of the present day, so ridiculously framed as to carry its own refutation along with it. But blind and miserably deluded mortals, what they accounted an insurmountable objection to Christianity, was really an ar¬ gument in its favour. What to the Jews was a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, was really the 44 power of God, 44 and the wisdom of God.” This the Apostle expressly declares to the Hebrews. Instead of being offended at the humilia¬ tion and sufferings of our Lord, or viewing them as inconsistent with our conceptions of Deity, he represents them as the appoint¬ ment of heaven—as a most wise and effec¬ tual method devised by the Almighty for l 2 164 The Sufferings of Christ. the salvation of men.— 44 We see Jesus, 44 says he, who was made a little lower than 44 the angels, that he by the grace of God 44 should taste death for every man, for the 44 suffering of death crowned with glory and 44 honour.” 44 For it became Him for whom 44 are all things, and by whom are all 44 things, in bringing many sons into glory, 44 to make the Captain of their salvation 44 perfect through sufferings.” To make good this position of the Apostle in opposi¬ tion to the rude clamours of the infidel, will be the object of this discourse. Far from considering the afflicted life and reproach¬ ful death of our divine master, as derogat¬ ing from the justness of his claims, I shall endeavour to shew, that they were highly proper and expedient, nay, that, according to our views, they were necessary. First, To put beyond suspicion the truth of his mission. « , Secondly, To exhibit him as a perfect pattern of virtue to his followers. Thirdly, To make him a proper propi¬ tiation for our sins. The Sufferings of Christ. 165 « Fourthly, To make room for his bring¬ ing more fully to light, a future state of immortality and glory. And, Lastly, To give us full assurance, that he knows and sympathizes with our frailties, and our sorrows, and will therefore mercifully intercede with the Father in our behalf. For all these different reasons, it will ap¬ pear, that it behoved the Captain of our salvation to be “ made perfect through “ sufferings.” i l k r ,. * n •. i ! p , And, first, it was expedient, in order to leave no room for suspecting the truth of his mission. / Had the Messiah appeared as a powerful and illustrious prince, the bulk of mankind could not have had an opportunity of freely examining his credentials. Almost none, but the great and the mighty, would have dared to come into his presence: or if they did venture to approach him, they would undoubtedly have been filled with dread and perturbation. Dazzled with his splendor L 3 166 The Sufferings of Christ, ' 3* # I : • |v , , ^ ( . f, , .. and his glory, they could not have main¬ tained that calm dispassionate state of mind, which is necessary for judging of the pretensions of a messenger from heaven. And had the Gospel been ushered into the world in this splendid manner, what a ground of exultation would it have afforded to the infidel and profane! Would they not have long since triumphantly said, that the Christian faith was not a rational homage to the truth, but a blind submission to earthly influence and authority. But by appearing in the lowliest scene of poverty, Jesus shewed, that he desired to take no unfair advantage of the weakness of the human mind. Unawed by external pomp and splendour, the meanest as well as the fiighest had access to his person, could with freedom examine the right which he had to the authority which lie claimed—-judge of the doctrines which he taught, and the miracles which he performed. And as the humble, suffering state of Jesus, encouraged the free examination of his credentials, it also shewed to those who examined them— that he was, not as a deceiver would have been, directed by any carnal, ambitious views, but was, in every thing which he said 16? The Sufferings of Christ and did, upright and sincere. If he was a deceiver, truly, he was the most extraordi¬ nary one the world ever saw. For as his doctrine every where required an inviolable regard to truth, and a contempt of all tem¬ poral interests, when brought into competi¬ tion with our duty, so the poor, painful life which he lived, and the cruel excruciating death which he died, demonstrated that he sacredly observed himself, what he so point¬ edly required of others. They shew, that he breathed nothing of the spirit of this world, or of those impostors who have an interest in deluding mankind. Intent only on promoting the spiritual and eternal hap¬ piness of human nature, he spent his days in the deepest affliction, and ignominiously ended them on a cross. This is what we are certain no deceiver ever willingly did. Men may have sometimes, indeed, suffered and died for what was false, but never if they themselves were conscious of the falsehood. Now, if the claims of Jesus to the character of the Son of God, and the Messiah of the Jews, were not founded in truth, he himself must have known them to be so. But when the most bitter agonies, nay, even death itself, and that, too, of the most 163 The Sufferings of Christ . frightful kind, were full in his view, he never, in the least, retracted what he had said, but iirmly supported to the last his doctrine and his innocence. But had he not sub¬ mitted to that humiliation and those suf¬ ferings which he actually did, our most holy faith would have wanted one of the strongest pillars which support it. But its Author not being placed above suspicion, the best believers would have had often reason to tremble for their hope. But besides, while the mean, afflicted condition of our Lord, thus strongly evi¬ dences the truth of his religion, it also ren¬ ders that evidence more palpable and strik¬ ing by the glory and success with which the religion was afterwards attended. The weaker and more contemptible our Saviour appeared in the eyes of men, the more vi¬ sibly did the outstretched arm of Omnipo¬ tence appear in his behalf.—That those who are invested with great power and authori¬ ty, may perform many illustrious deeds, and fill the world with the noise of their names, is a circumstance which we can easily sup¬ pose. When, for instance, we read that the famed Conqueror of the East, at the head 169 The Sufferings of Christ. X of a veteran and victorious army of Mace¬ donians, extended his empire, and made sur¬ rounding nations bow down before him, we receive the story without ever deeming it in the least improbable. And equally easy do we find it, to account from natural causes for the ferocious prophet of Arabia being able, with wealth and power upon his side, to propagate his imposition in a weak and an ignorant age.—But that one of an ignoble rank—an obscure Galilean—a poor carpenter’s son should publish his doctrine in the face of the most violent opposition— that, in a short time, he should overturn the most firmly established institutions among the nations—that “ the foolishness “ of his preaching” should triumph over the prejudices of the Jews—the superstition of the Gentiles—and all the learning of the heathen philosophers—in a word, that he, who like a slave and a traitor was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, should soon come to be revered all over the enlightened earth, as the Prince of life, and the Lord of Glory, this is an unparalleled event, which we must acknowledge surpasses all the power and ingenuity of man : This is after a pe¬ culiar manner “ the Lord’s doing,” and it 170 The Sufferings of Chrisf. appears “ marvellous in our eyes.” But had not Jesus dwelt among men in an hum¬ ble and an afflicted state, it must be al¬ lowed, that the universal spread of our re¬ ligion would not have been conspicuous, nor its evidence appeared so striking. We should have been deprived of an argument the most powerful for silencing the objec¬ tions of his enemies, and confirming the faith of his friends: And this we may ven¬ ture to assign, as one reason, w r hy his suf¬ ferings are represented as so indispensable in the divine scheme of the Gospel. But, Secondly, The sufferings of Jesus were not only indispensable, or expedient for producing in our minds an unsuspecting confidence of the truth of his mission; they were also proper for exhibiting him as a perfect pattern of virtue to his followers. That example is preferable to precept, is a maxim the truth of which has been felt and acknowledged by every one. It is of all others by far the most pleasing and most powerful method of instruction. While the soundest abstract reasoning, and the most salutary counsels are often 171 The Sufferings of Christ . productive of no effect, a virtuous and a good example scarce ever fails to draw our attention, and make a vivid and a lasting impression upon our minds. It speaks to our hearts, and operates on our sympathy. It shews, that what was practised by others, is likewise practicable by us, and thus while it charms, it, at the same time, transforms the soul. Well acquainted with the truth of this, our blessed Lord, in the days of his flesh, always exhibited, in his own charac¬ ter, a most perfect patern of that obedience which he required of his disciples. His precepts were recommended by his practice —his doctrines were illustrated and en¬ forced by the purity and perfection of his own life and manners. But had not Jesus submitted to the common sufferings of hu¬ manity, his example would not have been so instructive and interesting. Not placed in the same situation with ourselves, we could not have had so great an inducement to copy the perfections which adorned his character. The idea would have soon en¬ tered into our minds, that the example of one whose nature was so distant from our own, it could neither be necessary, nor yet profitable for us to imitate. But when we 172 The Sufferings of Christ . behold the Saviour of men placed in like circumstances with ourselves, subject'to all our sinless infirmities—submitting to the most unmerited indignities—exposed to the most bitter and unrelenting persecu¬ tion, and even patiently enduring the cross, despising the shame—when in the midst of these distresses and difficulties, we behold him acquitting himself so gloriously, we dwell, with delight, upon the, at once lovely and admirable character, and feel ourselves naturally prompted to give all diligence to make it the pattern of our conduct. And as the sufferings of Christ were thus necessary to make the virtues of his life appear fitted for our imitation, so with¬ out these sufferings there would have been many divine and heavenly graces, which his life could not have exhibited. Those which are commonly denominated the pas¬ sive virtues, and which we account the most hard to practise, could then have had no place in his character. For where there are no difficulties and no dangers, there caii be no display of fortitude and perse¬ verance. Where there is no unmerited reproach—where there are no wrongs—no 173 The Sufferings of Christ. injuries sustained, there can be no proof of a meek, a merciful, and a forgiving mind. And where there are no calamities and af¬ flictions to be borne, there never can be any scope for the exertion of patience and resignation, those striking features in the Christian character.—-It is true, indeed, that Jesus, though he had not submitted to sufferings himself, might have delivered the most perfect instructions for bearing them to his followers; but then these instructions, by not being exemplified by their Author, would soon, it is to be feared, have been re¬ garded but as the plausible speculations of a moralist, which might indeed amuse him and his disciples in theory, but which if was impossible to reduce to practice. Thus, his purest precepts, being yiewed only as so many fine sayings, but useless rules, could have had little or no influence upon human conduct. But when delivered, as they were, by one who himself, in the most perfect manner possible, exercised theim—by one who himself peacefully groaned under all the sinless miseries of life, and even, for those who were his enemies, poured out his innocent soul unto death, when delivered by such a one, they have their proper 174 The Sufferings of Christ, weight and authority, and come home to our souls “ in the demonstration of the 44 spirit and of power.” But not only were the sufferings of the Messiah requisite to make his example both of sufficient influence and extent, they w;ere requisite also to render that example mpre exalted and illustrious than it could other¬ wise have been. They ennobled and per¬ fected the graces of his characterThey called forth to public view, in a substantial and living form, that consummate and un¬ shaken integrity, which never, before nor since, appeared among men. A consider¬ able degree of moral excellence may indeed be shewn in the midst of affluence and pro¬ sperity, but surely it cannot be then so confirmed, and so conspicuous as it might be rendered, were it brought to the test by sufferings. Virtue, like gold, never appears so pure and so brilliant, as when it is severely tried in the furnace. Though man led the most blameless life—though he were even adorned with all the perfections of which humanity is capable, yet if he never met with misfortunes—if he was never stretched upon the bed of sorrow, or doomed to drink 175 The Sufferings of Christ. the bitter draught of affliction, there would still be room for the tongue of calumny to allege, that though his life was fair, yet his principles were neither stable nor sincere, and that he now adhered to his duty, only because he found it friendly to his happi¬ ness.—“ Doth Job serve God for nought ?” was the foul surmise thrown out by the first Traducer of virtue against the servant of the Lord, when visited only with the smiles of prosperity. And indeed in such a situa¬ tion we can never certainly know, what share the motives of the world may have in directing his conduct. But let this fa¬ vourite of fortune be cast down from the height of his happiness—bereave him of all his earthly comforts, and make his head bare to every blast of adversity, and still let him maintain his integrity and hold fast the profession of his faith without wavering, and for suspicion or detraction, no room will be left. So glorious will the character ap¬ pear, that even from the reluctant lips of malice herself, it will extort the well-merited tribute of admiration and praise. Had not Jesus then been afflicted and persecuted even unto death, the efficacy of his life would have been lessened—his sphere of 176 The Sufferings of Christ. activity would have been narrowed, and the excellence of his nature less visibly dis¬ played. Accordingly, his example would have wanted much of that transcendent, triumphant, illustrious beauty which now adorns it. The garden of Gethsemene, the judgment-hall of Pilate, and the hill of Calvary were necessary to give the finish¬ ings to his character, and render him that spectacle of greatness and of glory, which the armies of heaven, as well as the inhabi¬ tants of earth, will for ever contemplate with the blended emotions of delight and wonder. But, besides, considering our Lord as the Author of a new religion, and as the pat¬ tern of all perfection and excellence, let us in the third place consider him as a Priest who was to make an atonement for our sins, and in this view also, the propriety of his sufferings will evidently appear. That Jesus suffered and died that he might be a proper propitiation for the of¬ fences of mankind, is the plain and uniform language of Scripture. He himself de- 177 The Sufferings of Chi 'ist. dares, that his # blood was shed for the re¬ mission of 44 sins.” 44 He suffered,” says the Apostle, 44 the j* just for the unjust, that by 44 expiating our guilt he might bring us “ to God.” 44 He was wounded for our 44 transgressions, he was bruised for our u iniquities, the chastisement of our peace, 44 or the punishment necessary to obtain 44 our peace, was inflicted upon him, and 44 with his stripes we are healed if.” This doctrine has given much offence to some superficial or rather presumptuous minds. Considering the divine perfections only in a particular view, they have boldly pronounced as absurd and incredible, that it should ever be requisite for the Son of God to suffer and expire for the iniquities of men. But let such remember, that upon subjects on which we can never think with too much reverence, nor judge with too much caution, nothing can be more foolish, than for a short-sighted creature like man, to rely upon the combinations of his own imagination, and adopt these as the dic¬ tates of reason and of truth. Revelation * Mat. xxvi. 28. f 1 Pet. iii. 18. i Isaiah liii. 3 . 31 178 The Sufferings of Christ. ought certainly here to be our guide, and when taken as such, the submission of Christ to sorrow and death as an atonement for sin, will appear to those, at least, of humble and attentive minds, neither incon¬ sistent nor irrational. For to which of our ideas of the Divinity does it seem contra¬ dictory to say,—that in the great extensive scheme of Providence, of which the wisest see but a small part, it became fit, perhaps unavoidable, that an extraordinary degree of sufferings should befal a holy innocent person, that he by his patient enduring of them, might be the appointed means of averting those dreadful evils, which an apostate race had deserved, and of pro¬ curing those divine blessings, to which, cf themselves, they were not entitled. Far from being incompatible with our concep¬ tions of the most High, this appears in the highest degree consistent and reasonable. For, recollect, when God created man, and gave him a law by which to regulate his conduct, did he not, at the same time, as an all-wise legislator, threaten him and his posterity with death, in case of disobe¬ dience ? How then could any saviour or surety deliver them, but by taking the 179 The Sufferings of Christ. punishment, or the sufferings which they had incurred, upon himself, and paying “ the rigid satisfaction, death for death.” Therefore it was, that the divine Jesus, who lay in the bosom of the Father, and knew the counsels of heaven, says,—“ the Son 44 of man must be lifted up.” There was a necessity for his poverty, his pain, but especially his crucifixion; because these were stipulated in the covenant of peace, between him and the Father, when in glory together, before the world was. Some, in¬ deed, there may be, absurd enough to imagine, that the Supreme Being, without the infliction of sufferings, might have easily passed an act of indemnity, and not permitted what they call the severity of law and justice to obstruct the current of his grace. But how can we think, that God would ever dispense with the exercise of that which was holy, and just, and good ? How can.we suppose, that He who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, would ever suffer, under his government, sin to pass unpunished ? The Apostle Paul is most explicit upon this important point : He informs us,—not that God set aside the rights of his law and justice,—but that he 31 2 180 The Sufferings of Christ. 6£ set forth Jesus to be a propitiation, “through faith in his blood*;” with this express design, adds the Apostle, “ that he 44 might declare his righteousness,”or, which is the same, that lie might demonstrate not only his clemency, but his justice—that Sovereign justice, whose essential character it is, not only to reward obedience, but to punish transgression. Had not Christ then suffered and died, we could never have reasonably hoped for the remission of sins. For had pardon been dispensed by the Almighty to his offending creatures, without exacting the penalty due to their crimes,—how would the glory of the divine perfections have been displayed, and the majesty of the divine government maintained ? Who would have regarded its authority, or feared to violate its com¬ mands ? Sinners would have been em¬ boldened to multiply their transgressions, and tempted to suppose, that the God of unspotted purity—the God of unchangeable veracity, was altogether such a one as themselves. Nay, the evil might not have * Rom. iii. 25. 181 The Sufferings of Christ. been confined to eartli alone ; but might even have spread its baneful influence among the principalities of heaven. Be¬ holding sinners violating the rules of right¬ eousness with impunity, intellectual Beings of a higher order might have been led to entertain disadvantageous notions of their Sovereign Legislator, and at length been induced, like men, to rebel against his rightful supremacy. But when in the councils on high, it was solemnly declared by the Father, that nothing less than the sufferings and sacrifice of the 44 brightness 44 of his glory,” and the 44 Beloved of his 44 soul,” could remove the dreadful forfei¬ ture, and expiate the deadly guilt which fallen man had incurred, the majesty of heaven was awfully proclaimed, and while grace was freely shewn—the order and ends of the divine government were fully secured. The honour of the law was vin¬ dicated, and the immaculate purity of the Lawgiver declared : the demands of justice were amply satisfied, and the extent of mercy copiously displayed. And while the highest degree of glory thus redounded to all the perfections of God, everlasting light, and life, and joy were conferred upon the 182 The Sufferings of Chi 'ist. returning children of men. The gates of the heavenly paradise were again set open; the guardian cherubim who stood by the “ Tree of life,” were removed; the flaming sword which turned every way to defend it, was sheathed: to his erring creatures, a voice from the Eternal said, “ Turn ye, turn “ ye, why will ye die ? Here take, and eat, “ and live for ever.’’ * * Thus have I endeavoured to demonstrate, that the sufferings of the blessed Jesus, in¬ stead of lessening the lustre of his charac¬ ter and the justness of his claims, must seem rather, to every impartial and reflecting mind, to perfect and confirm them. First , By their putting beyond suspicion the truth of his mission ; Secondly , By their exhibiting him as a pattern of virtue and all perfection to his followers ; And, Thirdly , By their making him a proper propitiation for our sins. There are still other views in which we proposed to make the expediency of these sufferings appear. But the il¬ lustration of these, and the inferences to be deduced, from the whole, shall be reserved 183 The Sufferings of Christ. for the subject of another discourse. Allow me now only to observe, that since the suf¬ ferings of our Lord, appear to form so essen¬ tial a part of the wondrous scheme of our redemption, God forbid, that we should ever be ashamed of them! Rather, like Paul of Tarsus, let us learn to glory in them. Nay, impressed with so deep a sense of their value and importance, let us also, like this wise and pious Apostle, learn to glory in nothing else. / i THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. HEB. 2 . 10 . : Rom. iii. 23. + Rom. iii. 10. + Rom. vii. 18. jj Job ix. 20. § 1 John i. 8. Psal. cxix. 17S. Psal. cvi. 6. tt Ezek. xviii. 1. 259 Only Through Christ. should be our heart’s desire and prayer to God ? What, but that we may be saved ? But if ever we be saved, we must be saved wholly by grace; and consequently, must receive the blessing of pardon. Without pardon, we are still “ in our sins,” and ne¬ cessarily subject to punishment. Now, pardon secures deliverance from punish¬ ment—from all the direful consequences of sin: pardon, therefore, is implied in the very nature of salvation. But, secondly , that we may be saved, not only must our sins be pardoned—ample re¬ paration, also, must be made to the divine law, which we have violated. Though grace, the most abundant, were shown to any being or class of beings, yet were it shown at the expence of justice, wis¬ dom could not applaud, nor even cease to condemn it: for, in this case, it would be undeserving of the name of grace : it would not only be inconsistent with the divine nature, but ultimately tend to ruin the order and felicity of the universe ; because the order and felicity of the universe must al¬ ways depend upon the moral rectitude that R 2 260 Salvation to be Obtained obtains in it. But moral rectitude consists in obedience to “ the law of the Lord and “ the law of the Lord,” like the Lord himself, “ is perfect,” and admits of nothing short of perfect obedience. Did it admit of imperfect obedience, it would admit of the transgression of itself. But dare we thus to fasten contradiction on the law of God ? Dare we to consider it as encouraging or tolerating the least degree of sin ? No :— It denounces “ indignation and wrath, tri- “ bulation and anguish,” against every, even the slightest transgression. Hear its awful language ! “ Whosoever shall keep “ the whole law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all # .” “ Cursed is every “ one that continueth not in all things “ which are written in the book of the law “ to do them *.” Can there be a law with¬ out sanctions—without promising a reward to the obedient, and threatening punish¬ ment to the disobedient? And what are these sanctions, unless they be carried into execution ? Whatever reason there be for God to threaten punishment, the same reason holds for his inflicting it, when the * James ii T VO. f Gal. iii. 10, Only Through Christ. 261 infliction is merited. If it was reasonable to threaten, would it not be a departure from reason, if the threatening were not ac¬ complished ? God threatens nothing but what righteousness requires. And shall not 44 the righteous Lord” ever love, and adhere to righteousness ? Is he “ a man, “ that he should lie, or the son of man, that 44 he should repent ? hath he said, and shall 44 he not do it ? or hath he spoken, and shall 44 he not make it good ?” Whatever he hath said, wisdom and truth, and goodness itself, require him to perform. Before, then, we can be saved, things which seem to be he¬ terogeneous, must combine : things which seem to be irreconcilable, must fully har¬ monize :—Sin must be punished, and yet the sinner be redeemed : the law must be magnified and made honourable, and yet pardon be extended to the guilty: 44 mercy 44 and truth must meet together; righte- 44 ousness and peace kiss each other God must be just, and yet the Justifier of the ungodly. \ • Thirdly, That we may be saved, not only must our sins be pardoned, and ample reparation made to the divine law, which $62 Salvation to be Obtained we have violated; we ourselves, too, must be made holy—made meet for the presence and enjoyment of God. Salvation is deliverance from misery, and restoration to happiness. But we cannot be happy, that is, we cannot be saved , unless, we be holy. Holiness constitutes our chief resemblance to God; and unless we resemble him, we cannot have the happiness of those “ whom hechooseth,and causeth to approach “ unto him, that they may dwell in his “ courts, and be for ever praising him.” To be happy, there must be a correspondence between the faculty that enjoys, and the object enjoyed. It is natural for a beauti¬ ful object to please the eye; but it must be an eye fitted to receive a pleasing im¬ pression from such an object. It is natural for harmonious sounds to please the ear ; but it must be an ear fitted to distinguish and relish the charms of music. In like manner, it is natural for all men to desire happiness ; but that true happiness may be enjoyed, there must be a correspondence between the mind, and the object from which its happiness is derived. Now, that object is God, and holiness forms the re- 263 Only Through Christ. quisite correspondence. Happiness is of too refined a nature to arise merely out of local circumstances. In the being who is to en¬ joy it, there must be qualities and disposi¬ tions fitting him to receive it. An unholy man would be miserable in heaven itself. There is nothing there, that could gratify the desires of his corrupted mind. 44 With- 44 out holiness, no man shall see the Lord. 44 Blessed” only 44 are the pure in heart.” Who, but the 44 spiritually minded,” can 44 enter into life ? Verily, verily, I say unto 44 you,” (these are the words of Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith)—. 44 verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a 44 man be born again, he cannot see the 44 kingdom of God.” Thus, then, it appears necessary to our being saved —that our sins be pardoned ;— that ample reparation be made to the divine law, which we have violated ;—and that we ourselves be made holy : made meet for the presence and enjoyment of God. But how can all this be effected ? Can it be effected by ourselves , or by any , even the most exalted creature in the universe f 264 Salvation to be Obtained 1. It can never be effected by ourselves . We are all confessedly sinners: and con¬ sidered as such, surely we can have no claim to the divine favour. If we could, as sin¬ ners, have such a claim, then farewell to the sanctions of the divine law, to the doctrine of divine providence, and to all the order and purity of the divine government. Now, if considered merely as sinners, we can have no hope—how shall we be saved f -There are two expedients which man has devised —Sacrifice and Repentance. But of what avail are the most costly sacrifice which man can offer ? 44 Where- 44 with shall we come before the Lord, and 44 bow ourselves before the high God ? Shall 44 we come before him with burnt-offerings, 44 with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord 44 be pleased with thousands of rams, or with 44 ten thousands of rivers of oil ? Shall we 44 give our first-born for our transgression, 44 the fruit of our body for the sin of our “ soul * ?” Is it reconcilable with reason or common sense, to suppose that any, or all of these, can ever expiate moral guilt, ap- * Micah vi. 6, 7. 265 Only Through Christ. pease the wrath of an offended God, or pro¬ cure a title to his forfeited favour? The truth is, sacrifices, considered in themselves —considered as prescribed only by human reason (if they can be so considered), and without any regard to divine institution, serve only as an expression of conscious¬ ness that punishment is deserved. But can the mere consciousness of deserving punish¬ ment, necessarily imply a well-grounded hope of escaping it ? A more absurd ima¬ gination can scarcely enter the human heart. Shall we then from sacrifice have recourse to repentance ? God, it hath been said, is merciful; and with him, the tears of re¬ pentance, issuing in a life of reformation and obedience, will be accepted as a suffi¬ cient compensation for our sins *. It is certainly our duty to repent: with¬ out repentance, we cannot be saved; but to suppose that we shall be saved merely on * That Repentance is of itself efficacious to propitiate God, is asserted by all Infidels; and even by some, who have as¬ sumed to themselves the name of Rational Christians £'66 Salvation to be Obtained account of our repentance, is an idea as false as it is dangerous. God, indeed, is merci¬ ful ; but he is also wise, and holy, and just: wise, and holy, and just, likewise, are all his commandments. We are therefore in¬ dispensably bound to obey them: and for the same reason that we are bound to obey them at one, we are bound to obey them at every period of our lives. How then can obedience during one period, compen¬ sate for disobedience during another ? The obedience of each period, however strict, is nothing more than requisite for that indivi¬ dual period: How then shall present or future obedience be pleaded as an atone¬ ment for past transgressions? As well might the debtor plead the exactness of his present or future payments, as an argument for his creditor absolving him from past arrears. If on no other subject men would employ such foolish reasoning, why then employ it on the subject of religion ? Besides, the idea of repentance being a sufficient atonement for sin, is as contrary to fact as it is to reason. Look around you in the world, and you will see men who have been thoughtless, extravagant, and 267 Only Through Christ. dissipated, suffering the penal consequences of their thoughtlessness, extravagance, and dissipation, long after they have confessedly become serious, sober, and reformed. The truth of this is so evident, as to require but little illustration.—How often do we see one rash step followed by a train of evils, from which no future consideration can ever recover the unhappy victim! How often do we see the penitent spendthrift, notwith¬ standing his acknowledged change of mind, involved, through life, in penury and ruin ! How often do we see the reclaimed debau¬ chee, notwithstanding his return from sin and folly, still suffering the effects of his guilt—still afflicted with disease and pain, and even entailing the sad inheritance upon his unfortunate offspring ! If then repen¬ tance does not avert the consequences of misconduct here, what reason have we to think, that it will have sufficient efficacy of itself to avert the direful consequences of sin hereafter ? Have we not every reason to conclude, that God maintains an inviola¬ ble harmony between his natural and his moral government ? But still it may be urged, that as sin is the only ground of the divine displeasure. 268 Salvation to be Obtained therefore relinquishing sin, and returning to holiness, or, which is the same thing, re¬ pentance, must be sufficient of itself to ob¬ tain the divine favour. I grant, that sin is the only ground of the divine displeasure ; but I deny the con¬ clusion, that relinquishing sin, and return¬ ing to holiness, or, which is the same thing, repentance # , must therefore be sufficient of itself to obtain the divine favour. When a man returns to his duty, he may so far be the object of approbation. But supposing him to be approved of for the present ; upon the very same principle, he must still re¬ main an object of blame, and, consequently, obnoxious to punishment for what is past. Surely, what is criminal in the act, will not cease to be so after it is committed. The mere circumstance of time —the mere cir¬ cumstance of its being past, does not change the nature of sin: It is still “ the abomin- “ able thing that God hateth.” If, from the mere circumstance of its being past, sin * Repentance means a holy change of mind, evidencing itself by a corresponding change of conduct. Now, this change, let the advocates for human merit remember, cannot be accomplished by ourselves, Repentance, like faith, “ is the gift of God." 269 Only Through Christ. ceased to be punishable, then there could be no punishment at all, for every punish¬ ment has necessarily a retrospect: it is the infliction of an evil, on account of an evil done. And if there could be no punishment, then no pardon would be requisite. Par¬ don is absolution from punishment; but when no punishment can be inflicted, the very possibility of pardon becomes neces¬ sarily excluded. But admitting that repentance were suffi¬ cient of itself to obtain the divine favour, yet what repentance is meant ? Surely, a repentance absolutely perfect; for if it be debased with frailty and sin, how can it ob¬ tain the divine favour, since every, even the least degree of sin is confessedly a cause of the divine displeasure ? But is an absolutely perfect repentance the repentance of imper¬ fect beings ? Is it the repentance of sinful man ? Alas! his very repentance needs ** to be repented of." Still, however, we are told, that God is gracious : that he remembers our frame; remembers that we are so formed, as to be not only liable, but likely to sin : that we 270 Salvation to be Obtained are born with strong propensities to vice, and surrounded with innumerable tempta¬ tions. All, therefore (it is added,) that he can require of us, is only to do what we can, and when we have done this, then have we every reason to believe that he will accept and save us, without any other atonement or propitiatory sacrifice. In answer to this, we might well ask, Why then does the law require perfect obedience ? Why does God exact what neither we can perform, nor he himself intends us to per¬ form ? But passing over this, I would only observe, that even, by this proposed rule of judgment, none of us would be able to stand; for ignorant and weak as we all are by nature, yet none of us have done our duty even to the utmost of our power. Who can lay his hand upon his heart and say, that he has been as diligent as he could ; as frequent and fervent in prayer as he could ; as watchful against sin as he could; as vigorous in the performance of any one work of righteousness as he could f Is he willing to stand forth on the last day of ac¬ counts, and, on this ground, to plead for acceptance ? Out of his own mouth would Only Through Christ. 271 he be condemned. With shame and con¬ fusion of face would he not rather have reason to pray, 44 Enter not into judgment 44 with thy servant, O Lord ! for in thy 44 sight shall no man living be justified * ?” -Besides, salvation implies, not only deliverance from punishment, but admit¬ tance to the perfect and eternal enjoyment of heaven. What extravagance ! what pre¬ sumption then, to suppose, that, by our own doings, we can ever obtain this vast and divine inheritance ! We merit nothing but 44 the wages of sin,” which is 44 death.” | , , • ' 4 • • . : : •• , : *, * 2. If then our salvation cannot be effected by ourselves , can it be effected for us, by any , even the most exalted creature in the universe f No:—The salvation of but one soul, and far more that of a whole world, is a work infi¬ nitely too arduous for any creature to at¬ tempt to accomplish. No creature—not even the highest angel around the throne, can merit for himself; far less can he ever merit for others. The greater the excel¬ lencies with which such a being is ennobled, the more is he indebted to Him from whom * Psal. cxliii. 2. 272 Salvation to be Obtained they are derived ; for the highest angel is, in this respect, like the meanest of the children of men : he can plead the posses¬ sion of nothing which he has not received. Nay, his services, however great, must, through all eternity, be disproportioned to the amazing blessings which he freely en¬ joys. How absurd, then, to think that any such being, who can do nothing to merit even for himself, should be capable of meriting forgiveness, and everlasting hap¬ piness, for a whole world of perishing sin¬ ners ! He who shall be our Saviour, must be Independent and Divine. He must have no obligation of his own to fulfil, that he may be capable of meriting for others. In one view, indeed, he must be a partaker of our nature, that he may obey and suffer in our stead ; but, in another view, he must be 44 God blessed for ever,” that his obedi¬ ence may be of value sufficient to be a pro¬ pitiation for the sins of the world. In a word, he must be capable of “ laying down 44 his life,” and have, what no creature can have, power of himself to lay it down, and, 44 power to take it up againand thus be 44 able to save to the uttermost, all who 44 come unto God through him.” Now, Only Through Christ . 27 S such is the Saviour who is revealed in the gospel. He is God as well as man. As man, he obeyed and suffered as our Sub¬ stitute ; and being God as well as man, his obedience became of value sufficient to atone for the sins of men. “We are redeemed, “ not with corruptible things, as silver and “ gold ; but with the precious blood of “ ChristHe, “ by his eternal Spirit, “ offered himself up without spot to God j*.” God, say the Scriptures, “ hath purchased “ the church with his own blood J.” The Godhead, indeed, was incapable of suffering; yet the Person, who was God as well as man, might suffer, just as though the soul is imperishable , yet man, who is compounded of body and soul, is nevertheless mortal. “ This,” then, “ is a faithful saying, and “ worthy of all acceptation, that Christ “ Jesus came into she world to save sin- “ ners || ”—to seek and “ to save that which “ was lost §.” Through him we may now “ come boldly to the throne of grace, and “ obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the “ time of need ^[.” We may obtain the * 1 Peter i. IS, 19. f Heb. ix. 14. % Acts xx. 28. j| 1 Tim. 1. 15. § Mattb. xviii. 11. f[ Heb. iv. 16. 274 Salvation to be Obtained pardon of sin, and that, too, in a perfect consistency with the order and majesty of the divine government; because, by our glorious Substitute, the threatened punish¬ ment hath been endured, and “ all righte- “ ousness fulfilled.—Christ hath redeemed “ us from the curse of the law, being made “ a curse for us He was delivered for “ our offences, and was raised again for “ our justification j\ For it pleased the “ Father, that in him should all fulness “ dwell; and having made peace through “ the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile “ all things unto himself j:.” Through the sufferings and death of Christ, we may also obtain the regenerating influence of the holy Spirit—salvation, not only from the guilt, but from the love and practice of sin —establishment “ in every good word and “ work,” and a meetness for the inheritance “ of the saints in light.—Yes: “We are “ not only justified; we are also washed — “ we are sanctified in the name of the Lord “ Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. “ Where,” then, “ is the wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the disputer of this * Gal iii. 13. | Rom. iv. 25. I Col. i. 19 } 20. 275 Only Through Christ. 44 world ?” Let him come forth with his strong reasons against the gospel, and point out, if he can, another foundation for our hope. 44 Hath not God made foolish the 44 wisdom of this world ?” Christ is 44 the 44 wisdom of God.” Ah ! 44 to whom can 44 we go but to Him ? he hath the words of 44 eternal life. There is salvation in no 44 other: there is none other name under 44 heaven, given among men, by which we 44 must be saved.”—But we cannot be saved even by Him, unless we believe in Him. “ By grace are we saved ;” — but it is 44 through faith # . Without faith , it is im- 44 possible to please God f. He that be- 44 lieveth , and is baptized, shall be saved; but 44 he that believeth not, shall be damned O may we all lay this seriously to heart! May we be convinced of sin, gladly listen to the calls of mercy, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Then shall we be saved : we cannot perish : we are heirs of everlast¬ ing life. Thus, my friends, have I endeavoured to illustrate and confirm the declaration of my * Fphes. ii, 8. f Heb. xi, f). S 2 + Mark xvi. Ib. 276 Salvation to be Obtained text. I have shown you, what is requisite to our being saved :—Our sins must be par¬ doned :—ample reparation must be made to the divine law, which we have violated :— and we ourselves made holy ; made meet for the presence and enjoyment of God, I have shown you, that nothing of this can * be effected by ourselves, nor by any, even the most exalted creature in the universe : That it can be effected only by the Son of God : That “ there is salvation in no other: “ none other name under heaven, given “ among men, whereby we must be saved.’' What shall become of the Heathen world, who have not, like us, been favoured with the knowledge of Christ, I would not be so presumptuous as to determine. This however I know, that they are in the hands of a gracious God, who is acquainted with their state,.and who will not exact from them the improvement of means which he hath never bestowed. He is not “ a hard” master, “ reaping where he hath not sown, “ and gathering where he hath not strawed.” What he requires, is never unjustly pro¬ portioned to what he hath given. Those, of the Heathen, then, who are to perish, / Only Through Christ. 277 will not perish from their disobedience to the gospel, of which they have been involun¬ tarily ignorant ; but from their wilful and habitual disobedience to that eternal and universal law which is 44 written in their 44 hearts.” The Heathen, like all other men, shall be judged according to the light, and opportunities of improvement, with which they have been favoured ; and none of them shall ever perish, but those who are confessedly 44 without excuse”—who are condemned by their own conscience, as well as by Him 44 who is greater than their con- science, and knoweth all things.” But though none of them shall be condemned, for not knowing and believing the gospel, which they never heard; yet whoever, among them, is saved, must be saved by the grace which the gospel reveals—and by the * 4 one Mediator,” too, 44 between God and 44 man, the man Christ Jesus.” And this is not mere positive appointment: it is cer¬ tain and unalterable as eternal truth. God himself hath declared, that 44 there is sal- 44 vation in no other: none other name 44 under heaven, given among men,” but the name of Christ, 44 whereby we must be 44 saved.” But how men can be made par- 278 Salvation to be Obtained takers of this salvation, which was never re¬ vealed to them, I pretend not to explain: “ Secret things belong to the Lord.” Whatever our little minds are unable to comprehend, shall we dare to pronounce im¬ possible : We should be ashamed of such guilt and folly. What are we—creatures of dust, worms but of yesterday—that we should limit the “ holy One of Israel ?” What! merely because we are ignorant how the Heathen can be saved, shall we there¬ fore adjudge them all to irretrievable ruin ? Were we warranted to do so, then we might safely conclude, irretrievable ruin to be the frightful destiny of many good men, also, who lived in the Old World, and, in subse¬ quent times, under the Jewish dispensation. For who will undertake to prove, that these men, highly favoured as they were, possessed a clear, distinct, and explicit knowledge of Christ, as the propitiation for the sins of the world? We know, that even the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord, previous to the day of Pentecost, were strangers to this knowledge. Accordingly, Peter, instead of knowing and believing that his Master was to die, deprecates the event as unbe¬ coming and unnecessary : Be it far from 279 Only Through Christ. ei thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee The Apostles and Disciples of Christ, dur¬ ing his personal ministry, seem to have had only a vague and general view of him as some great deliverer :—of the particular nature of the deliverance which he was to bring, and of the manner in which it was to be accomplished, they seem to have been grossly ignorant. Shall we suppose, then, that what even they did not understand, was better, or so well understood, by those who lived in still more unfavourable circum¬ stances—by the good men who lived in the Old World, and, in subsequent times, under the Jewish dispensation f. But are all * Matth. xvi. 22. f Some, perhaps, may here object, Did not Job believe in Jesus Christ as his Redeemer , who was to stand on the latter day upon the earth ? And did not Isaiah clearly predict his birth, the manner of his life, the design of his death, and the triumph of his kingdom ? I answer: Job, and a few such eminent characters, might, in some bright hours, have been elevated above the level of the dispensation nnder which they lived ; but it will be difficult in¬ deed to prove, that they, even in their brightest hours, had a clear, distinct , and explicit knowledge of Christ, in all his dif¬ ferent offices; particularly, in that of our great High Priest, who was to offer himself up to God as our atoning sacrifice* Isaiah himself cannot well be pleaded as an exception. Perhaps, his own ideas were very indistinct, though the predictions 2S0 Salvation to be Obtained the Patriarchs, and ancient Worthies, doom¬ ed to suffer everlasting destruction ? . • Remember too, that the state of all infants and irrationals is, in this instance, precisely similar to that of the Heathen. Infants and irrationals neither have, nor can have a which he uttered were minutely accurate. We know, that the Prophets were often little more than mere vehicles of the truths which they communicated.—They evidently appear to have considered Christ, only in the general view of some great and glorious deliverer. Had their views been more luminous and determinate, then these views would have been more extensively communicated : a clear, distinct, and explicit knowledge of Christ would have been much more generally prevalent. Now, if this knowledge had been prevalent, how is it possible to account for the ignorance of the very Apostles and Disciples of our Lord, previous to the day of Pentecost? The above train of reasoning is by no means intended to prove, that all the Heathen will be saved (this I dare not main¬ tain ;) but only to expose the gross absurdity, and impious presumption of those who consign them all to everlasting des¬ truction. Such a savage theology shocks the best feelings of the heart, and unnecessarily excites a prejudice against the glori¬ ous gospel. It so shocked the minds of some of the Christian Fathers, that they revolted to the opposite extreme. St. Clement of Alexandria affirmed, that Philosophy was that to the Greeks which the law was to the Jews —a schoolmaster to bring men unto Christ. (Strom, lib. i. p. 282. edit. Par.)—St. Chrysos¬ tom said, that they who, despising idolatry, adored the Creator before the advent of the Messias, were saved without faith, (Horn, xxvii. St. Matth.)—Even St. Augustine, that strenu¬ ous advocate for orthodoxy, declared it as his opinion, that the Erythrean Sybil was in heaven. (Vide Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. / I Only Through Christ. 281 clear, distinct, and explicit knowledge of Christ. But yet are they all, when they die, doomed to suffer everlasting destruc¬ tion?-The very thought is horrible!- Let us not, by indulging it, incautiously strengthen the hands of the Infidel. Let us abjure a doctrine which impiously reflects on the character of the Supreme. Never let our religious speculations be disgraced by the horrid spirit of cruelty and presump¬ tion. Never let us so speak and reason, as if the unavoidable and eternal misery of un¬ numbered millions of our fellow-creatures in hell, were necessary to our full and eter¬ nal enjoyment of heaven. Instead of con¬ signing, in cold blood, more than two-thirds of all who ever lived to the vengeance of eternal fire, let us rather be zealous to cap. 23.)—And Zuinglius, one of the Reformers, in a letter to Francis I. King of France, assigns Theseus, Hercules, Numa, Aristides, Cato, and the ancestors of the King, a place with the Patriarchs, the Virgin Mary, and the Apostles. (See his Epistle, at the beginning of his Exposition of the Christian Faith.)—How many are there, who ignorantly quote these Christian Fathers as venerable authorities, who would not only blame, but anathematize any contemporary, who should venture to advance some of the opinions which even these Christian Fathers advanced ? Had such persons a little more knowledge and consistency, it would be better for them. 282 Salvation to be Obtained 54 work out our own salvation with fear and 44 trembling.” Palliating circumstances evi¬ dently exist in the case of the Heathen, and which, with reason, may be pleaded by them, but which cannot be pleaded by us, if we continue in ignorance and sin. Our lot is cast in a land of light: to us the gos¬ pel is clearly revealed ; and our attention to it, as the only means of our salvation, is daily and earnestly solicited. If then we ne¬ glect it, our neglect is inexcusable: to us 44 there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.” Almighty goodness itself cannot consistently save us: we necessitate our own destruc¬ tion. This God hath declared, and it is no arbitrary declaration ; the truth of it neces¬ sarily arises out of the immutable rectitude of his being. 44 To-day,” then, 44 while it is 44 called To-day, let us hear his voice, and 44 harden not our hearts.” Jesus is 44 the 44 way, and the truth, and the life.” There 44 is salvation in no other : none other name 44 under heaven, given among men, where- 44 by we must be saved.” Such being the case, what remains but that I shortly direct you to the proper improvement of this in* teresting subject ? 233 Only Through Christ. My friends, we may here see the folly and danger of infidelity ;—the inestimable value of the gospel;—the necessity of seeking for ourselves the salvation which it reveals; —and the obligations under which we lie, to propagate the knowledge of it among our fellow-creatures. We may here see the folly and danger of infidelity.— Infidelity is a mad resistance of the truth, though accompanied with the strongest evidence. It is rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves. It is contemning and blaspheming the name of Christ, though “ there is salvation in no “ other: none other name under heaven, “ given among men, by which we must be “ saved.”—The folly of Infidels is equalled only by their danger. They are “ fighting “ against God,” and they cannot prosper. Without a particular interposition of that very grace which they contemn, how can they escape the damnation of hell ? Happy for such men, had their lot been cast in some dark corner of the world, where the Sun of righteousness hath never risen J They might then have pleaded as an ex¬ tenuating circumstance, their unavoidable 284 Salvation to be Obtained ignorance of the divine will; but what can they now plead, while they live, and act, and reason like Heathens, in the meridian light of the gospel ? Their glorious privi¬ leges will aggravate their doom. Ah ! “ this “ will be their condemnation, that light is “ come into the world, and they have loved “ darkness rather than light, because their “ deeds are evil.” We see here the value of the gospel. We are all naturally desirous of happiness; and it is the gospel only that can inform us how true happiness can be found. There is no true happiness to the soul, burdened with a sense of guilt; ignorant how it may be expiated ; and having, therefore, nothing but “ a fearful looking for of judgment.” Now, this is precisely the case of everyone of us by nature. Chargeable with in¬ numerable sins, we are all by nature the children of wrath. And no sooner are we made sensible of our situation, than we ex¬ claim with anxiety and alarm, “ What shall we do to be saved !” Here the gospel comes in seasonably to our aid. It proclaims the most gladsome tidings that ever reached our listening ears. It proclaims to us the - 285 Only Through Christ . name of Jesus : it tells us of “ redemption u through his blood, even the forgiveness * 4 of sins, according to the riches of his 44 grace.” It reveals to us a provision for our happiness every way worthy of infinite goodness; a happiness that not only sup¬ plies our wants, and satisfies our desires, but surpasses our very wishes—transports us with wonder, and fills us with everlast¬ ing praise. Inestimable system ! I am not surprised that it is styled, 44 The glorious 44 gospel of the blessed God.” Let us dili¬ gently search it: let us love and admire it, and make it the subject of joyful meditation both day and night. And while w*e see, from this subject, the inestimable value of the gospel, we may see also THE NECESSITY OF SEEKING FOR OUR¬ SELVES THE SALVATION WHICH IT REVEALS. It is a precious salvation; salvation from sin, restoration to the divine favour, and an irrevocable title to everlasting glory. To accomplish this salvation, God 44 spared not 44 his own Son,” but 44 delivered him up” to death 44 for us all.” Yet how seldom does this wondrous grace occupy our serious attention! We give it a transient thought, 286 Salvation to be Obtained or a casual hearing; and then return 64 to “ our farms and our merchandise”-—to our different pursuits and diversions, as if these were matters of more momentous concern. But is this the conduct of an ingenuous, reasonable mind ? Do we thus requite the Lord ? Ah ! “ how shall we escape, if we “ neglect so great salvation ? He that des- “ pised Moses’ law, died without mercy.” It was dangerous, it was destructive to re¬ fuse him that spoke upon earth : take heed, then, how you trifle with him “ that speak- “ eth from heaven! There is salvation in “ no other : there is none other name under “ heaven, given among men, whereby w r e “ must be saved.” Give, then, I conjure you, my beloved brethren, no sleep to your eyes, and no slumber to your eyelids, till you have come to him, and found rest to your souls ; till you esteem him, and cleave to him, as your only portion ; till you have made your calling and election sure, and have good hope, through grace, of a blessed immortality. And having this hope in you, purify yourselves even as God is pure. Abstain from even the appearance of evil. Endeavour to live, in all things, as the disciples of Jesus; to keep his holy precepts, 287 Only Through Christ. and imitate his glorious example. Thus justify your profession : thus fight the good fight of faith, and adorn the doctrines of the gospel: Thus 44 let your light shine 44 before men, that they may see your good 44 works, and glorify your Father which is 44 in heaven.” And 44 fear not, nor be dis- 44 mayed,” for “ thus saith the Lord, My 44 grace is sufficient for you: for my strength 44 is made perfect in weakness. Ask, and it 44 shall be given you: seek, and ye shall 44 find : knock, and it shall be opened unto 44 you.” The eyes of the Lord will be upon you : his ear will listen, delighted, to your cry: he will give his angels charge con¬ cerning you : he will guide you by his counsel, and afterward receive you to glory. All things shall be yours ; for you shall be 44 Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” But while we see here the folly and dan¬ ger of infidelity ; the inestimable value of the gospel ; and the necessity of seeking for ourselves the salvation which the gospel reveals ; we may see, too, our obligations ZEALOUSLY TO PROPAGATE THE KNOWLEDGE OF IT AMONG OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. If we saw any of our fellow-creatures wretched, 288 Salvation to be Obtained \ and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, would not the common feelings of humanity impel us instantly to administer relief? But is not the immortal soul infinitely preferable to the mortal body ? How eager then should we be to pour divine instruction into those who are perishing for lack of know¬ ledge! They are, in the worst sense, wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. They are “ without hope, and without God “ in the world.” They are ignorant of Him through “ whom only they must be saved.” Is there a man who can behold such persons without concern? Tell me not of his otherwise blameless character, and of his fair profession. He is the worse for his profession. He cannot be a Christian. “ How dwelleth the love of God in that “ man ?” If we be Christians, as God hath loved us, so shall we love, and be all zeal to do good, as we have opportunity to our perishing brethren. As we have received mercy ourselves, we shall be constrained to show mercy to others. We shall become workers together with God himself, and do every thing we can to diffuse the light of truth, and enlarge the empire of benevo¬ lence. And not satisfied with increasing 289 Only Through Christ . i the enjoyments, and diminishing the mise¬ ries of the present world, we shall extend our regards to the immortal soul, and strive daily to exalt our brethren to the percep¬ tion—the pursuit—the possession of eternal perfection and happiness.-My intelli¬ gent and respected hearers, you have al¬ ready anticipated the character which I might here give of the Venerable Society for propagating Christian Knowledge # . But they require no applause of mine. Their works are the works of God ; and the re¬ port of them hath “ gone through all the “ earth, and to the ends of the world.” Need I detail to you their history, or tell you of their success? Need I inform you, that near 16,000 are now educating at their schools ; and that above 300,000 have been educated by them since the commencement of their labours, of whom many have risen to useful and even eminent stations in life, and many, by the divine blessing on the Society’s efforts, are now rejoicing in heaven before God and the Lamb ? But I dwell not upon the past: I call your attention to * This sermon was preached before the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge, 290 Salvation to be Obtained , §c, the present. This Christian Society 44 wea- 44 ries not in well-doing.” They are still, as in former times, both erecting schools, and watering the churches. A most inter¬ esting work now engages their attention. Listening to the call of thousands, who have not the Scriptures in their native tongue, the Society is employed, at this moment, in publishing, at a vast expence, the Word of life, in the Gaelic language. Have you a principle of benevolence ? Have you a spirit of patriotism—any love for the souls of men—any 44 bowels of mercies ?” Be persuaded to come forward, and give this Society your aid. Let not your prayers only, but your alms—your charit¬ able contributions, come up in grateful me¬ morial before God. Come and help the Society, to point out to your fellow crea¬ tures—your countrymen—your brethren, the way of life ; to teach them 44 the excel- 44 lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus 44 the Lord”—of Him by whom only they 44 must be saved.” THE NATURE OF THE LORD S SUPPER. 1 cor. x. 16, 17, 18. The cup of blessing which we bless , is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ?—the bread which we break , is it not the communion of the body of Christ ?—For zee being many are one bread , and one body , for zve are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the fesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar ? In this chapter the Apostle exhorts the Corinthians to stedfast perseverance in the profession of their faith, and consequently to a strict abstinence from every thing in¬ consistent with that profession. And with this view, he reprehends them for a practice, T 2 - 292 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper . which was then, it seems, prevalent, namely, their entering into the unhallowed temples of the heathen, and there partaking of the feasts offered to false gods. Such conduct he clearly demonstrates to be totally in¬ compatible with the pure and undefiled re¬ ligion of Christ—nay, to be a virtual re¬ nunciation of their fellowship with the true God, and a professed act of communion with these idols. And that their partaking of idol feasts, really implied a communion of this kind, he makes evident from the nature of that communion implied in the participation of the Lord’s Supper, that great feast solem¬ nized by Christians; and also from that communion which was always understood to be implied in the participation of those sacrifices offered by the Jews.— 44 I speak to you,” says Paul, 44 as to wise men—judge 44 ye what I say.—The cup of blessing which 44 we bless, is it not the communion of the 44 blood of Christ ?—the bread which we 44 break, is it not the communion of the body 44 of Christ? For we being many are one 44 bread, and one body; for we are all par- 44 takers of that one bread. Behold Israel 44 after the flesh, are not they which eat 44 of the sacrifices partakers of the altar ?” —■But if, under the law, those who ate of The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 293 the sacrifices were partakers of the altar; and if now, under the Gospel, those who sit down at the table of the Lord profess to hold communion with their Saviour, then the Apostle’s conclusion is manifestly just —that the Corinthians, by partaking of idol feasts, did practically and openly profess themselves to be in real communion with their idols, in honour of whom those feasts were instituted.—Such is the place which the verses now under consideration hold in the Apostle’s reasoning. They are introduced to illustrate and confirm the charge which he here brings forward against some of the Christians at Corinth. A careful examin¬ ation of them, will perhaps aid us in form¬ ing distinct and accurate ideas of the na¬ ture and design of the Lord’s Supper. Let us in th q first place, then, endeavour to ascertain the precise meaning of this por¬ tion of Scripture, and, In the next place, consider what support itgives to the various opinions held con¬ cerning the Lord’s Supper. We are first , then, to ascertain the precise meaning of this portion of Scripture. 294 The Nature of the Lord's Supper. The cup in the sacrament is here styled “ the cup of blessing,” in allusion to a custom observed by the Jews in the celebration of the Passover, and their other public festi¬ vals. When the guests were sat down, it was usual for the master of the feast to take bread and “ bless” if, that is, to give thanks to God for it, and beg his blessing to accompany it, and then break it and distri¬ bute it amongallwhowerepresent. After sup¬ per, healsotook acupof wine, andafter having blessed it and drunk of it himself, he handed it to the guests to drink of it likewise. Hence came into use this phrase— the breaking of bread —and hence, too, the particular phrase of which we are now speaking—“ the cup of blessing.”—The cup in the Lord’s Supper receives with propriety the same denomina¬ tion, for in taking it, we give thanks and bless the Lord for his redeeming love to the children of men. By solemn prayer we hallow, we consecrate it, and beg of God to bless it for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.—This cup of blessing which we bless, and the bread which we break, are said by the Apostle to be the com - munion of the body and blood of Christ. The original word *, here translated Communion 2 * xeivvyix The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 295 would have been better translated, Parti¬ cipation ; because the English word Com¬ munion, generally involves fellowship one with another; whereas the orignalexpresses only each particular Christian believer’s fellowship with Christ. It does not signify a joint partaking , or the partaking of several together, but simply each individual’s par¬ taking. And when several persons or things are spoken of as partaking of any thing, this word does not of itself express collectively the joint participation of all; but simply the distinct participation of each; that is, it expresses the general idea of participation alone : and here the soul’s participation of the comforts and joys of salvation. In addition to this remark on the word trans¬ lated communion , or as it ought to be, parti¬ cipation , it may be proper also to observe, that though the Apostle inserts it only in the latter part of the questions which he here puts to the Corinthians, yet the meaning evidently implies that it should be under¬ stood in the former part of them also. The cup in the Lord’s Supper is called the com¬ munion or partaking of the blood of Christ. But it must be the partaking of the cup, that is, the partaking of the blood of Christ. 296 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper. The bread is styled the partaking of the body of Christ; but it must be the partak¬ ing of the bread, that is, the partaking of the body of Christ. The Cup and the Bread , then, must mean the partaking of the Cup and the Bread , in order to answer to the phrase —partaking of the body and blood of Christ , which immediately follows. In verse 17th it is added— 44 for we being 44 many are one bread and one body, for we 44 are all partakers of that one bread.” Now r , though some sort of meaning may be ga¬ thered from these words ; yet they seem to be an obscure and mistaken interpretation of the original. In their present form, they do not so properly connect either with the verse that precedes or with that which follows them. Besides, the metaphor by which communicants are styled 44 one bread,” is rather a strange and unnatural one. Ac¬ cordingly, St. Paul has never before intro¬ duced it in the course of his reasonings; but has always employed that plain, significant figure, by which Christians are called one body. But the meaning will be plain and unembarrassed, if the verse be translated thus, as it certainly ought to be,— 44 Since The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 297 “ the bread is one , we who are many, or we “ all, are one body, for we all partake of the “ one bread”.—The object of our participa¬ tion being one , we all become knit together as the constituent members of one frame. \ “ Behold Israel, (adds St. Paul,) after the “ flesh,”—that is, consider the Jews under their carnal dispensation,—“ are not they “ which eat of the sacrifices partakers of “ the altar ?”—Do they not by feasting upon the remainder of the peace offerings present¬ ed upon it, publicly profess their adhe¬ rence to it?—publicly avow that they revere that altar as holy, and therefore that they worship and hold communion with that God to whom it'is dedicated, and participate of its benefits. Doubtless such persons are just¬ ly viewed, as approving and cordially em¬ bracing the whole Jewish religion !—That this is the true import of the verse, will ap¬ pear still more evident, if w^e consider what Josephus and other writers inform us— namely, that it was held lawful for persons who were not wholly converts to the Jewish religion, to offer sacrifices in the Temple of Jerusalem. But though they were not worshippers of other gods : yet that to such 298 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper. it was not granted to eat of the sacrifices which they themselves had presented. This was granted to none save those whowereful- lythe disciples of Moses, and the unreserved worshippers of the God of the Jews. Whoever therefore partook of the victims offered on the altar, thus testified that he worshipped at no other altar, and consequently held communion with no other God than the God of Israel, to whom the altar was raised. And this interpretation of the verse admi¬ rably corresponds with the subsequent veses, in which the Apostle shows, that par¬ taking of idol feasts in the heathen temples was an overt act of idolatry—a declared fellowship with false gods : and therefore peculiarly inconsistent and unlawful in all those who embraced the Christian faith. The sum, then, of the Apostle’s reasoning is this,—that Christian proselytes should not partake of idol feasts; for such par¬ taking was a professed act of fellowship with those idols. This he illustrates from the Lord’s Supper, where the partaking of the sacred elements is a public profession of fellowship with the Lord Jesus—and the whole body of believers of which the Lord The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 299 Jesus is the Head—the real participation of all those spritual blessings, of which the sacred elements are the appointed signs and seals >—-just as those who, under the law, partook of the sacrifices, were accounted partakers of the altar—accounted as hav¬ ing their fellowship with that God in whose altar the sacrifices were offered. •—O that we may all have clear views of the holy Ordinance of which the Apostle speaks ! May all, not only know its nature, but feel its blessed effects—feed by faith on Him who is the living bread—the life and food of our souls—and go on our way strengthened, satisfied, rejoiced ! Having thus, my friends, endeavoured to ascertain the obvious and natural mean¬ ing of the passage before us ; let us now, in the next place, consider what counte¬ nance, what support it gives to the various opinions held concerning the Lord’s Supper, to which it alludes. We here learn, that communicants at the table of the Lord, partake of the body and blood of Christ, but with regard to the nature of this participation, the opinions of men have been widely different in the 300 The Nature of the Lord's Supper . Christian world. Some have been so ab¬ surd, as to maintain, that it means the par¬ taking of the real body and blood of Christ. Others, that it rather means the participa¬ tion of all those effects, or benefits, which the breaking of this body, and the shedding of this blood, procured : or, which is the same, that it is of the nature of a feast up¬ on a sacrifice :—Others, again, viewing this rite, in a still simpler point of view than either of these, consider the phrase, com¬ munion of Christ's body and blood , as meaning only the communion of the memorials of his body and blood. What we judge the true doctrine, and the doctrine of our Church’s confession of faith on this head, we shall briefly explain and illustrate, after examining those which we have already stated. The first of the opinions now mentioned, is that of the Church of Rome. It is too well known to need any fuller statement, and too monstrous, and too shocking to reason and common sense, to be honoured, at this time of intellectual day, with a seri¬ ous and formal refutation. For who would not be ashamed gravely to demonstrate, that at the institution of the holy supper, The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 301 Jesus Christ did not hold his own body in his hand, and give it to be eaten by his disciples ? Who would not disdain formally to prove, that in every celebration of this sacred ordinance, the whole body of Christ is not in every particle of the bread, and his whole blood in every particle of the wine, which the communicants receive. For to believe the contrary, is an error which our very external senses may correct. It is blasphemy, which one would think no man in the use of his sober senses, could incul¬ cate or maintain. It is nonsense, which, were we not assured of the fact, we should not believe could be swallowed even by the weakest of the multitude. But without following out any farther, the absurdities of this doctrine, which no power can recon¬ cile, we shall only here, as the most proper place for the purpose, observe, that in the celebration of this institution, the sacred elements undergo no miraculous transmu¬ tation, nor have any mystical powers or virtues whatever infused into them. They remain in themselves, just the same bread and wine after consecration as they were before. The only change that takes place, is, not in the elements, but in the mind of 302 The Nature of the Lord's Slipper. the receiver. Instead of viewing them a& common bread and wine, he regards them as the sacred symbols of the body and blood of Christ. And this is all that we mean by that relative holiness, which any thing is said to receive by consecration. Holiness is a moral attribute, and can only reside in a moral being. When, therefore, we say that any thing inanimate is holy, we only mean that it is the instrument to moral agents, for performing religious acts, or for inspiring holy and devout thoughts. When, for instance, we affirm that the seventh day of the week was hallowed, or consecrated by God ; we cannot mean that that portion of time was itself made holy , or that any portion of time is holier than another: we mean only that the Sabbath was set apart, for the performance of holy and religious duties: Again, when we say that any particular place, or building, is consecrated to God, we do not mean that that particular place or building is itself holy—or that God is more essentially pre¬ sent there than he was before, and than he is always in every part of space ; but only, that it is devoted to religious purposes, is the promised place of the divine manifesta* The. Nature of the Lord's Supper. 303 tions, and ought therefore to impress us, when we enter it, with more than ordinary sentiments of holy reverence. In like man¬ ner, when the elements in the sacrament are blessed, or consecrated, there is no change made on the elements themselves ; they are only set apart, from a common to a holy use, and viewed by worthy com¬ municants, as representing the death of their Redeemer, and confirming their union with Him, as members of his mystical body. After thus pointing out the absurdity ©f those, who suppose the communion of the body, and blood of Christ , in the sacrament, to mean the communicating of his real body and blood—let us now consider the opinion of those, who explain it, to be the communicating of all the effects of his death and satisfaction. By such, the Lord’s Supper is viewed as of the nature of what is called a feast upon a sacrifice. And they found their opinion upon this very passage, into the import of which we have been now inquiring. As to eat, say they, of the sa¬ crifices under the law, was to share in all the benefits or effects of those sacrifices, 304 The Nature of the Lord's Supper. and as to eat of the things offered up in sacrifice, was to share in all the effects of those idol sacrifices, so to partake of the body and blood of Christ, in the Lord’s Supper, is a real communicating of his death and sacrifice ; that is, of all the ef¬ fects and benefits of it: or, in other words, they maintain, that the Lord’s Supper is a feast upon a sacrifice, of the same nature with the feasts upon the Jewish sacrifices under the law, and with the feasts upon the things offered to idols, among the heathens. Now, that there may be another good meaning put upon the passage, is clear, I think, from the interpretation already given of it, and that this latter cannot be its meaning at all, will appear from the follow¬ ing observations. What has led some to imagine, that the Christian feast has in every respect one common nature with the Jewish and Pagan feasts, is the supposition, that this absolute sameness is essential to the Apostle’s argu¬ ment. But the supposition is groundless; for though the rites compared be not speci¬ fically the same, yet, if they agree in any me particular, the reasoning concerning The Nature of the Lord's Supper . 305 them, may be just and conclusive. And if St. Paul’s argument, does not require the three rites in question, to be exactly, and in every respect parallels; then it affords no just ground for concluding, that the Lord’s Supper is exactly the same kind of rite in the Christian religion, that the Jewish and Heathen feasts upon sacrifice, were in the Jewish and Pagan religions— that is, we have no ground for concluding that the Lord’s Supper is specifically a feast upon a sacrifice. But not only is the idea of the Lord’s Supper being a feast upon a sacrifice not necessary to the Apostle’s reasoning ; it is also utterly inconsistent with the very nature and first principles of the Christian religion. And upon this ground can we de¬ monstrate that it must of necessity be false. Every rite instituted by the author ,of any religion, must be consistent with and agreeable to the first and leading principles on which his religion rests. Now, the Lord’s Supper is a rite of the Christian religion ; therefore, it must be conformable to the fun¬ damental principles of the religion itself. But if the nature of the Jewish and Pagan u 306 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper. feasts upon sacrifice be unconformable to these fundamental principles, then it follows, that the Lord's Supper, and these Jewish and Pagan feasts, must be entirely different in their nature and origin, or, which is the same, the Lord’s Supper cannot be like them, a feast upon a sacrifice.—And that the nature of those Jewish and Pagan feasts is really incompatible with the genius and leading principles of Christianity, every one must he sensible who is acquainted with the Scriptures. For among the Jews, many sacrifices were appointed to he offered on account of particular legal offences, and for such offences these sacrifices were viewed as sufficient expiations. Amongthe Pagans, also, particular sacrifices were offered for particular sins, and considered as expiatory of these sins. And as among both, those who portook of the feasts which followed those sacrifices were always understood to partake of all the benefits procured by the sacrifices ; therefore, the partaking of those feasts was viewed both by Jews and Pagans, as a complete expiation of the particular offences for which the sacrifices were offered,* Were then the Lord’s Supper of the nature of a feast after a sacrifice, it would follow, The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 307 that our partaking of this feast, the very action itself, would convey to us an imme¬ diate and plenary absolution of all our sins. But this is not a doctrine contained in the Scriptures. No action whatever is there appointed for us to perform under the idea of an expiation of, or atonement for our offences. All forgiveness of sin is there attributed solely to the merits and media¬ tion of Jesus. To suppose, then, that the devoutly receiving of the sacrament is able to do away our guilt and procure the remis¬ sion of our sins, is both a dangerous and unscriptural doctrine. It is attributing to a single ordinance a power and efficacy quite foreign to its nature. It is ascribing too much to one duty, and depreciating, or rather superseding, the necessity of all others. It is undervaluing the Christian character, by representing grace and remission as ca¬ pable of being acquired by the operation of man. It is entertaining too light an opinion of the guilt and demerit of sin, to suppose that the preformance of a single action, the celebration of a single rite, will cleanse us from moral impurity, blot out all our offences, and instantly restore us to the friendship of Him who is unspotted u 2 308 The Nature of the Lord's Supper . Holiness.—Since, then, both the Jewish and Pagan feasts upon sacrifice, were understood by those who partook of them to be ex¬ piations or means of forgiveness of those particular sins for which the sacrifices were offered : And since in the Christian religion, there is not any duty or rite, the perform¬ ance or celebration of which can of them¬ selves procure for us the forgiveness of any sin, then it follows, that there is not any rite of the Gospel exactly parallel to the Jewish and idol feasts, and consequently that the Lord’s Supper is not exactly parallel to them :—Or, in other words, it is not what some have maintained it to be— specifically a feast upon or after a sacrifice . If then communicants, in this sacrament, can be said to partake neither of the real body and blood of Christ, nor yet of all the eff ects of his death and sacrifice :—let us now consider the opinion of those, who explain the communion of the body and blood of Christ , here mentioned, to mean nothing more, than the communion or participation of the memo - rials of his body and blood. The Lord’s Supper, say they, is a simple commemora¬ tive rite, the celebration of which has no The Nature of the Lord's Supper. 309 internal, spiritual communications accom¬ panying it, more than any other of the lolemn duties of our most holy religion. Now, this doctrine is at least plain and in¬ telligible, which is more than can be said of some other doctrines upon this subject. It throws off from this ordinance, that thick veil of mysticism, which has too often se¬ parated religion from reason. It tends to free it from that darkness, and superstition, whose untimely fruit, at best, is but a lifeless and rubrical piety. But this doctrine, plain and rational as it may seem, is viewed by many Christians, and particularly by our Church, as not giving a true and complete account of this solemn institution. The sacred elements, say they, are not only me¬ morials of Christ’s death, they are also signs and pledges of the conveyance of certain spiritual blessings, which that death pur¬ chased. And consequently, all those who worthily communicate, or partake of these outward elements, communicate or partake, at the same time, of those internal and spiritual blessings, which these outward elements exhibit. And what the nature of these spiritual blessings is, which communi¬ cants in this ordinance receive, may be un- 310 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper . derstood, from the nature of those very ele¬ ments which represent them. As bread is the staff of life ; as it nourishes and sup¬ ports the frame, and as wine enlivens and gladdens the heart, so the communications of the Spirit, which believers in this ordi¬ nance receive, invigorate, comfort, and de¬ light their souls. Now according to this opinion, Christ, though not corporally , is really and spiritually present in the Sacra¬ ment of the Supper, and those happy aids, and influences, which that holy presence imparts, are the benefits, and the comforts with which true Christians are then favoured. And, it is by these aids, and these influ¬ ences which the Saviour’s presence conveys, that the divine life in the soul is cherished and maintained. As vegetables and ani¬ mals can live only by their connexion with the earth or material system, from which they spring, so a sense of piety and re¬ ligion in the mind, can be preserved, and strengthened, only by the support and agency of that divine Being who gave it birth. But though it be allowed, that the influences of the Spirit are absolutely ne¬ cessary to the comfort and the support of the believer, yet, it may be alleged by some, The Nature of the Lord's Supper, 511 that the participation of these dots not seem to be the natural and obvious mean¬ ing of the phrase, 44 Communion of the ** body and blood of Christ.” Now, to this we reply, that 44 partaking of his body 44 and blood,” is a mode of expression em¬ ployed by Jesus himself, in the very same sense in which we are now supposing St. Paul to employ it. In a discourse, recorded in the 6th Chap, of the Gospel by St. John, Jesus says to the Jews, in the synagogue .at Capernaum, u Verily, verily, I say 44 unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the 44 Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have 44 no life in you. Whosoever eateth my 44 flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 64 life, and I will raise him up at the last 44 day : for my flesh is meat indeed, and 44 my blood is drink indeed. He that 44 eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 44 dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the 44 living Father hath sent me, and I live by 44 the Father, so he that eateth me, even 44 he shall live by me.” Now, these remark¬ able expressions, have a most striking re¬ semblance to, (indeed they are almost the very same with,) the language of the in¬ spired Apostle, concerning the Sacrament, 312 The Nature of the Lord’s Supper . in the passage before us; and their mean¬ ing evidently is, that no man can maintain the dispositions, and lead the life of a true Christian, unless he be united to Christ, as his spiritual head, unless he receive the communications of his grace, and the com¬ forts and aids of his spirit. And the reason why the receiving of these aids, and com¬ forts of the Spirit, is called the 44 eating of 44 Christ’s body, and the drinking of his 44 blood,” or in other words, 44 the com- 44 munion of his body and blood,” is because the breaking of his body, and the shedding of his blood, was the great event to which we are indebted for receiving them. Now, since 44 the communion of the body and 44 blood of Christ,” means the communi¬ cating of the blessed influences of his spirit; and since the Apostle declares, that Christians do actually enjoy this com¬ munion in the Lord’s Supper ; then, it is obvious, that this ordinance is not merely a commemorative rite, in the celebration of which communicants receive no spiritual blessings ; but that on the contrary, it is a heavenly feast, where Christians enjoy de¬ lightful, unutterable intercourse with their Saviour, are enlivened with his spirit—are The Nature of the Lord's Supper . 313 comforted with his love. Christ’s spiritual presence supplies all their wants, and satis¬ fies all their desires. Under the sacred symbols of bread and wine, they have the best and the richest blessings conveyed. Those wdio hunger and thirst after righ¬ teousness, find themselves filled. Here strength additional is imparted to the strong, support to the weak, consolation to the afflicted, and a seal of a blessed immor¬ tality given unto all. This is the jubilee of the saints of God. These are the hap¬ py moments, when their hearts burn with¬ in them, and experience a secret bliss, be¬ yond the power of the whole world to pur¬ chase. Rising to heaven on the wings of faith, the rays of divine light and love beam upon their souls. Filled with ec- stacy and sublimed to rapture, they feel a present deity, they taste the joy of God, and already begin to drink of those rivers of pleasures, which for ever flow from beneath his throne.-Are these the privileges of worthy communicants ?—are these their holy, heartfelt joys ; then let us be anxious to feel the kindling flame of ambition to attain them, glowing in our breasts.—Let us wait upon the Lord, and 314 The Nature of the Lord's Supper . beg the bland influence of his grace. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits ! O that his high praises were ever in our mouths! O that we more rejoiced to come into his presence, and worship in his courts ! They that are far off from Him shall perish ; but they who “ are made nigh by the blood of Christ,” shall never perish; they shall have ever¬ lasting life. And happy the people who are in such a case, yea, happy that man whose God is the Lord.— Amen . THE GRACE OF GOD. ROMANS V. 20, But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. One of the great objects of the Epistle to the Romans, is to set forth the superior excellence of the Christian above the Mosaic, and every prior dispensation. Ac¬ cordingly, after a general salutation to the brethren at Rome, and a declaration of his undissembled and ardent affection for them, we find the Apostle expressing his eager¬ ness fully to unfold to them the Christian scheme, and to diffuse, as widely as pos¬ sible, the knowledge of it among them, be¬ cause it, and it only, he assures them, was the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. And to vin** 316 The Grace of God. dicate and demonstrate its excellence in this view, he proceeds to point out the ex¬ treme and indispensable necessity, under which the whole world lay of cordially em¬ bracing it. The Gentiles having no law, were a law unto themselves, and the Jews, misinterpreting the oracles of heaven, were seeking for salvation by the law of Moses. But both, he declares, were confessedly sin¬ ners : By the Gentiles, he clearly shows, that the law of nature, had been, times and ways without number, broken, and thf,t of the law of Moses, the Jews themselves were, undeniably, most heinous transgressors. This being the case, he justly infers, that the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, could never, with reason, look for acceptance with their Maker, by any obedience they could render to the law. Nay what is more, in¬ stead of looking for the Divine acceptance by the deeds of the law, he boldly affirms, that, in this way, they could look only for wrath and condemnation; for he adds, “ the law entered,” not to remove, “ the offence”—not to absolve men from its guilt, not to redeem them from its punishment; but on the contrary, “ that the offence might abound,”—that its guilt might be 317 The Grace of God. more deeply aggravated, that the horrible evil of it might be more fully demonstrated, and that the burden of it upon the con¬ science might be made heavier and more grievous to be borne* “ But where sin, “ by the entrance of the law, was thus made “ to abound, there, declares the Apostle, “ did grace much more abound—or, in other words, while sin, by the law, became thus more “ exceeding sinful,” and the fears arising from it more awful and over¬ whelming, then did the value of that grace which offered deliverance from it appear more magnified, and its riches become more copiously displayed.—The interests of the Gospel of this grace, the Apostle, it appears from the brief view now given of the con¬ text, has been all along pleading, and this last, this endearing circumstance relating to it, he here mentions to the persons whom he is addressing, with a view to recommend it the more to their cordial reception ; for to be cordially embraced, he well knew that Divine grace needed only to be fairly re¬ presented and fully made known.-—We too, if we would hope for salvation, must em¬ brace this grace of God, and to embrace it cordially, we too must study worthily to apprehend it. 318 The Grace of God . I shall now, therefore, in pursuance of the design of the Apostle, endeavour, First, to illustrate the nature and abundance of this Grace : Next, guard the grateful doctrine against the abuse that may be made of it; and then, direct the mind to the proper improvement of it. I shall, first, then, endeavour to illustrate the nature and abundance of this Grace.—> The term Grace, is generally employed to denote that favour which is conferred, both, without any compulsion on the part of the Giver, and also, without any merit on the part of the Receiver. Both these circum* stances, I apprehend, necessarily enter into the notion of grace. For if the giver act, in any wise, under the influence of com¬ pulsion, what he gives, may be called a benefit; but can never, with justice, be denominated grace; because it wants that entire freedom from constraint, which the only idea we have of grace always implies. Or if, on the other hand, what he gives, be merited on the part of the receiver, far from being the same with what we under¬ stand by the term grace, its nature is directly the reverse. It is, in this case, 319 The Grace of God. but giving what the donor was under an obligation to give ; for, to use the language of the Apostle, 44 to him that meriteth, the 44 reward is not of grace, but of debt.”—* The true and only notion, then, which we have of grace, is gratuitous favour given and received ;—unforced from him who gives, and unmerited by him who receives. The particular display of grace to which the Apostle refers, is the grace of God, in sparing not his only begotten and well-be¬ loved Son, but delivering him up to death for our offences, and then raising him again for our justification. Now this great, this unspeakable gift of God, exactly corresponds to the two leading circumstances just now mentioned, as necessarily entering into the idea of grace. It was uncompelled on the part of our heavenly Father who gave it, and totally unmerited on the part of us his rebellious children, who are invited to receive it. It was uncompelled on the part of God. —To think of compulsion being possible to be used over the Almighty, is an idea not only perfectly blasphemous, but to the last 320 The Grace of God. degree glaringly absurd. Clothed with ir¬ resistible power, the combined energy of all created beings could never control the ope ¬ rations of his hand : and possessed of infi ¬ nite knowledge and unerring wisdom, all the policy of the universe would never be able to induce Him to effect what it was not, previously, his pleasure to accomplish. —Hence, it is abundantly evident, that the unspeakable gift of Christ, like all the other gifts of God to the children of men, could not be the forced effect of a constrained and reluctant beneficence; but was the spontaneous fruit of an eternally pure and disinterested love. It was also grace unmerited on the part of man.—To be capable of meriting from any one, it is necessary both that we be independent of that one, and also that we be able to do him some essential good. But if both these be requisite to merit, how is it possible for us to merit of our Maker ? As creatures, it was from his infinite good¬ ness alone, that we were brought into ex¬ istence ;—and as sinners, it is because his compassions fail not, that we are not con¬ sumed. For almost every thought of our 321 The Grace of God . hearts, and every action of our lives, we have reason, rather to sue for pardon than seek for reward. We are unworthy of any, even the smallest of the ordinary gifts of God’s providence, and surely much less worthy are we of his greatest and best gift —that of his only begotten Son. Thus doth it appear that Christ, and the benefits through Him to be obtained, are, in the strictest and properest sense of the term, denominated grace ; for they are, on the one hand, bestowed by God, without the least compulsion, and, are on the other hand, to be received by man, without the slightest claim to them, as his reward. But, besides thus barely considering the nature of this grace, let us also attend to its uparalleled abundance. And truly we can say, that, in this view, it appears to be un¬ speakable. It surpasses all the powers of language to express, and, I may safely add, even the powers of imagination fully to con¬ ceive.—The circumstances which tend most to enhance the value of any particular in¬ stance of grace, must surely be the surpas- x * 322 The Grace of God. sing worth of the gift itself; the high rank of him who bestows it; the expense at which it was bestowed, and the meanness and ill-desert of those upon whom it is be¬ stowed.-—Now, all these enhancing and en¬ dearing circumstances, we cannot but be sensible, conspire to increase to us the value of the riches of that grace, which we are now endeavouring to contemplate. For let us only think of the incomparable bles¬ sings which it confers : of the dignity both of that Being who originally designed, and of Him who was appointed to confer them; of the unprecedented humiliation and suf¬ ferings submitted to, in order to confer them;—and to crown all, let us think of the low condition and guilty character of those upon whom they are conferred.-—Let all this be duly meditated, and I am fully persuaded, that even the most prejudiced and unfeeling will be ready to join the Apostle and say, that “ where sin abound- “ ed, grace did much more abound.” To aid our conceptions upon this subject, we are first to consider the incomparable blessings which this grace confers. \ 323 The Grace of God. Now, of these incomparable blessings, one of the chief is, the forgiveness of sin .— We are all the descendants of a rebel, and are therefore, by nature, the children of wrath. We are all rebels ourselves, and therefore justly deserve to have our portion in the lake of torment with the angels who fell.—But “ to them who are in Christ “ Jesus, there is no such condemnation.”— “ Be it known unto you, therefore, men and “ brethren, (declares the Apostle,) that “ through this Man is preached unto you “ the forgiveness of sin —From sin, whether open or secret; from sin, whether remembered or forgotten ; from all sin, however circumstanced, or however aggra¬ vated, doth this grace of God bring us sal¬ vation. And O ! my soul! my guilty soul! how great, how precious is this salvation ! With it, all the kingdoms of this world, and all the glories of them, are not worthy to be compared. But this, great and precious as it is, is not the only blessing which is offered us. * Acts xiii. 38. X 2 324 The Grace of God. The gift of reconciliation accompanies the blessing of pardon.—“ When we were ene- “ mies, say the Scriptures, we were recon- “ ciled to God by the death of his Son # .” Not only were our offences forgiven ; but our persons accepted as righteous, hot Only were we made free from condemna¬ tion ; but restored to favour, and visited with love :—restored to that favour which is better than life, and visited with that love which passeth understanding. And thus pardoned, and thus reconciled, we are also sanctified , made holy in all man¬ ner of conversation. Let none ever think that the grace revealed in the Gospel is hostile to the interests of true morality . Mo¬ rality is the very image of God, and is charmingly delineated through the whole of his Sacred Word. It is only when men cordially “ receive the grace of God,” that they become truly moral. After dry in¬ structions • or abstract reasonings, have proved to be of no avail, then “ the grace “ of God” appears, and invites, urges, con- * Rom. ?. 10. The Grace of God. 325 strains us to abstinence from vice and to the practice of virtue. Then 44 the flesh 44 is crucified with its lusts, and the spirit 44 adorned with righteousness and true ho- “ liness. Old things are past away ; be- 44 hold, all things are become new. The 44 Spirit regenerates our affections : Christ 44 dwelleth in our hearts : We are rooted 44 and grounded in love : We are filled with 44 all the fulness of God.” » And so freed from sin, and at peace with God, what is there on earth of which we need to be afraid ? The afflictions of life need not move us; even death itself need not alarm us ;—for to us, 44 to live is Christ, 44 and to die, is gain.” We then enter in¬ to our rest; we sit down with Jesus upon his throne, receive from Him the crown of life, and shine like the stars, for ever and ever, in the kingdom of our Father. And O! what a great, what an unspeakable privilege is this! Where is the tongue of mortal man, that can describe its surpas¬ sing value ? Language fails, nay, thought itself is overpowered, when we attempt so high a theme. Great surely was the bles¬ sing to be brought from nothing into exist- 326 The Grace of God. ence, and greater far does the blessing be-* come, when our existence is long continued, and its comforts richly multiplied. But to have our existence continued evermore, to enjoy it in the company of Jesus, and the immediate presence of God ;—freed from every imperfection, exalted with every honour, and surrounded with every joy ;— this is a blessing such as no tongue can express, and for which no heart can be suf¬ ficiently grateful. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared, in heaven, for the righ¬ teous. Such are some of the chief of those in¬ comparable blessings, which Divine Grace confers. But to raise our conceptions, on this subject, still higher, let us next con¬ sider the dignity, both of that Being who originally designed, and of Him who was appointed to confer them. Our idea of any gift is magnified, not only by the superlative value of the gift it¬ self, but also by the real, or supposed great¬ ness of the giver. The same favour con- 327 The Grace of God . ferred by an inferior, or even an equal, ac¬ quires, in our estimation, a more than double excellence, when it comes to us from one whom we regard as more than ordi¬ narily superior. But who in greatness can be likened unto God ? Who among the sons of the mighty, can be brought into comparison with Him ? He createth worlds by the word of his mouth ; the nations are as the dust of the balance before him, and he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. Yet He, great, Almighty and unequalled as he is, condescended to visit with his grace the abodes of men. He it was who condescended to remember us in our “ time of need,” and devise the wrondrous scheme of redeeming us from iniquity. But wherewithal shall this redemption be accomplished ? Will the blood of bulls or of goats, or of the cattle upon a thousand hills, be accounted a sufficient offering ? Alas! weak and worthless to the last de¬ gree, considered in themselves, are all such beggarly oblations. Shall then one of the angels of light, descending from on high, be commissioned with this work of mercy ? Alas ! in the councils of heaven, the angels 328 The Grace of God. themselves cover their faces with their wings, and stand back as unequal to the arduous undertaking. .But still, God wil- leth not that any of his children should perish, and His own arm brings them de¬ liverance. He himself finds out a ransom. r and lays our help upon him, who is mighty to save. But who is this who is mighty to save, and in the councils of the Eternal ap¬ pointed to deliver us ? The dignity of him also, conspires with the dignity of the Father to increase, if possible, the abundance of the grace. No less a person was he, than “ the Son of God,—the only begotten Son “ of God, in whom dwelleth all the fulness “ of God. Angels indeed are called the “ sons of God; but unto which of the angels, “ said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee ?”—In this then was manifested the love of God to¬ wards us, because he spared not his own Son, his only begotten Son, but freely gave him up to death for us all. Surely if the love of the giver, appears magnified by the worth and excellence of the gift, never, never, we can safely say, was there love like that with which the father hath loved us. Had He sent but one of the angels, who 329 The Grace of God. surround his throne, to effect this work of salvation, and one who could have fulfil¬ led his purpose, doubtless we should have had reason to celebrate this goodness with everlasting songs of praise;—but to send the Son of his bosom, the only begotten of his love,—One who was infinitely more pre¬ cious than all worlds,—to send Him on this errand of grace ;—here the subject becomes too high for the human faculties to reach, and too overpowering for the mental eye to behold. Able, O God! only to say, that “ this is not the manner of men,” we must, humbly and at a distance, adore what we shall never be able fully to comprehend. But if the blessings of redemption are thus enhanced to us by the dignity both of the Being who designed, and of Him who was appointed to confer them, these bles¬ sings cannot but be still more enhanced, when we reflect, also, upon the unparalleled humiliation and sufferings submitted to, in order to confer them. If the redemption of the world was to be accomplished, and if no less a person than the Son of God was fitted to accomplish it, might not he with the same ease with which 330 The Grace of God. he created, have also redeemed us ? In re¬ deeming us, was it indeed necessary that he should leave the mansions of bliss, and the armies of heaven, to live on earth and tabernacle among men ? Yes, to stoop so low as this was deemed necessary for the Captain of our Salvation. He left the heavens and came down, and, with conde¬ scension unparalleled, dwelt among us. But though he did thus humble himself and dwell among us, yet was not he clothed with the ensigns of celestial majesty, or did not he appear to the world environed with some visible glory ?—No, for us men, and for our salvation, even every thing like this he was willing to lay aside for a season. Though he was the Lord of angels, and the Maker of the worlds, yet was he made, in all things, like unto his brethren. Though he was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet was he found in fashion as a man, and made in the likeness of sinful flesh !—And here is contained a mystery of grace, which the prying mind may desire to look into, but which its feeble eye cannot penetrate. It is a mystery which will employ the thoughts 331 The Grace of God. of the most exalted seraphs, and be the ex¬ haustless source of their highest admira¬ tion, “ world without end.” But though the Son of God did thus de¬ scend into the vale of mortality, and divest himself, for a while, of that glory with which he shone from the beginning, yet might he not, at least, have come forth in the pomp of an earthly sovereign; with all that ma¬ jesty and magnificence which captivates the attention, and raises the esteem of men? ■—No, even this also, did it please the Father that the Son of his love should forego. His first appearance was in the midst of dis¬ grace and obscurity, and from his cradle to his grave we behold but one melancholy scene of ignominy and oppression, of poverty and of pain. He was born, we are told, in a stable, and laid in a manger. And when he grew up, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He wandered about from place to place, and though heir of all things, had not where to lay his head. By some, he was reproached as a sower of sedition; by others, reviled as an impostor ; oy some, he was accused as a blasphemer ; by others, even branded as a sorcerer and 332 The Grace of God. a devil. And thus through every stage of his life, was the innocent Jesus doomed to 44 bear the contradiction of sinners against 44 himself.” Butfollow him to the last scene; —follow him to the scene of his sufferings and death, and things yet more wonderful will open to our view. Behold the Lord of Glory dragged as a felon and condemned as a slave,—behold him prostrate upon the ground in in agony,and extended with rack¬ ing torture upon the cross.—Behold him, in the garden of Gethsemene, sweating, as it were, great drops of blood, and on the hill of Calvary bowing his head, pouring out his soul, and giving up the ghost,—and then 44 ask of the days that are past, which were 44 before thee, since the day that God created 44 man upon the earth, and ask from the one 44 side of heaven unto the other,” whether there was ever sorrow like that sorrow which was endured by the Saviour of the world, or such an abundance of grace shown as was then shown to the children of men. But that this abundant grace may appear in its fullest extent, and be displayed in all its lustre, let us also reflect upon the cha¬ racter and condition of those upon whom it 333 The Grace of God . was thus freely and immeasurably bestowed* Was it upon those who did justly and loved mercy, and walked humbly before God? Was it upon those who never once offended him, but who rejoiced always to fulfil his pleasure? Or was it even upon those who, though they had offended him, yet mourned for their offence, and on their bended knees were imploring his forgiveness ?—Wonder, O heavens ! and be astonished thou earth ! for it was upon those whose character was directly the reverse that Divine Grace conferred salvation. It was upon the ungrateful and rebellious ; upon those who had not God in all their thoughts, who were as far from imploring his mercy as they were from deserving it, who were running blindfold upon their own ruin, and by their wicked works sinking themselves deeper and deeper in the bottomless gulph of wretch¬ edness and woe ;—it was for these, for the redemption and everlasting happiness of these, that the Most High over all the earth, laid bare his own almighty arm, spared not his only begotten Son, but laid upon him the iniquities of us all, delivered him up to contempt and persecution, to agony and torture, to death and the grave.—This is 334 The Grace of God. the grace of God, and it surpasseth know¬ ledge. This “ is the Lord’s doing, and it “ is wondrous in our eyes.” But lest this abundance of grace, which the truly pious soul will ever remember with gratitude, and delight to glory in, should by any, be perverted into an occasion of li¬ centiousness, I should now proceed to guard men against the abuse that may be made of it, and direct their minds to the proper improvement of it. But upon this I forbear, at present, to enter. Suffice it now for me to say, that if this unparalleled grace dwell not upon our minds, if it win not our af¬ fections, and sweetly constrain us to obey and to love, we must be insensible to the charms of goodness, and lost to every finer feeling of the human heart. We are a dis¬ grace to our nature, we are stains in the creation, we are the monsters of our kind. Heaven will blush, the earth, gross as it is, may be shocked;—yea, hell itself may be ashamed to witness our ingratitude. THE GRACE OF GOD. ROMANS V. 20 . But where sin abounded , grace did much more abound. The chief end of the Apostle, in writing this epistle to the Romans, is to convince them of the great superiority of the gospel above the legal dispensation. The law de¬ nounces the sentence of death ; but the gospel, he informs them, delivers the words of eternal life. By the law, the whole world is concluded under sin, and declared ob¬ noxious both to present and future punish¬ ment ; but from this sin and its necessary punishment, the grace of God, published in the gospel, provides a complete redemption. This redemption, indeed, there were some who expected to be obtained by the law; 336 The Grace of God. but all such expectations, the Apostle clearly proves to be not only vain but pre¬ posterous ; for the law entered, he adds, not to remove “ the offence,” not to free men from its guilt, or ransom them from its punishment, but, on the contrary, “ that “ the offence might abound,” that its guilt might appear more aggravated, and the awful punishment annexed to it, more justly merited. But where sin, by the entrance of the law, was thus made to abound, there did that grace which is manifested in the gospel much more abound :”—its amazing extent more fully appeared, and its un¬ searchable riches became more copiously displayed. This grace of God which the Apostle himself always gloried in, and which he is here at so much pains to illustrate to his brethren, I too would, after his example, earnestly recommend to all, as a most im¬ proving subject of thought, and as a doc¬ trine worthy of the most cordial accepta¬ tion. To state, therefore, the nature and abun¬ dance of this grace ; then, to guard men against the abuse that may be made of it; and next, to direct their minds to the pro- 337 The Grace of Gocl. per improvement of it, is what I have pro¬ posed in the discussion of this subject.— To the elucidation of the first of these topics only, I have, as yet, confined my attention. —The term grace*, it has been observed, is employed to denote that favour which is con¬ ferred, both without any compulsion on the part of the giver, and also without any me¬ rit on the part of the receiver. And the grace of God, in delivering up his only be¬ gotten Son for our offences, and raising him again for our justification, which is the grace here meant, exactly corresponds, it was re¬ marked, to the two leading circumstances in this definition. It was uncompelled on the part of our Heavenly Father who gave it, and totally unmerited on the part of us, his rebellious children, who are invited to receive it. And after thus defining its na¬ ture, I proceeded to illustrate its unparalleled abundance. Accordingly,to aidour concep¬ tions upon this subject, I solicited devout at¬ tention, first, to the incomparable blessings which this grace confers ; next , to the digni¬ ty both of that Being who originally design¬ ed, and of him who was appointed to confer them; then to!the unprecedented humiliation and sufferings submitted to, in order to con- Y 338 The Grace of God. fer them ; and, lastly, to the mean condition and guilty character of those upon whom they are conferred ;—I solicited, I say, de¬ vout attention to all these enhancing and endearing circumstances, and if such atten¬ tion has been given them, I may now be permitted to ask, if this grace doth not ap¬ pear truly astonishing ? Doth not its great¬ ness exeeed all our powers of utterance ? Nay are w r e not constrained to acknowledge, that its abundance is such, as neither man nor any finite being can adequately con¬ ceive. But as the greatest and best of blessings may be abused, and as they are the greatest and best of blessings, which are generally most abused, I now proceed, in the second place, to guard men against the particular¬ ly dangerous abuse, which, by the ignorant and wicked, may be made of this grace, which, “ where sin abounded, did much “ more abound.” So corrupt is human nature, that the more kindly we are dealt with, the more ungrate¬ ful, often, do we become. We immoderately presume upon the generous and forgiving spirit of our benefactor, and instead ofendea- 339 The Grace of God. vouring to deserve his favour; and to act agreeably to his will, we, frequently, make no ceremony of neglecting what he com¬ mands, or of even wilfully doing what he has positively forbidden.—Now the same base and disingenuous returns which men make to their earthly benefactors, they have the unaccountable vileness, also, to make to their Heavenly Father, only with this difference; that to Him, their base and disingenuous returns, are much more numerous, and in¬ finitely more deeply aggravated. As it is upon his goodness, that their existence is wholly dependant, so it is with his num¬ berless blessings, that this existence is glad¬ dened and adorned. Yet instead of making these blessings the means of their own true happiness, and of the promotion of his glory, they, to their disgrace, frequently make them the means of oppression, and devote them to the purposes of iniquity. And of none of his blessings, of no particu¬ lar instance of his grace, has the abuse been more notorious than of that grace which he hath manifested to us in the gos¬ pel of his Son. Because it hath abounded, men have, often, made their sins also to abound. Because it hath been slow to Y 2 340 The Grace of God. punish them, therefore have they been, of¬ ten, so unnatural as to harden their hearts, and indulge themselves in their crimes. Even so early as in the days of the Apostles, the primitive preachers of this grace, did there appear some who, in this way, turned it into licentiousness. Mark how St. Peter de¬ scribes their character, and in these empha¬ tic words, pronounces their guilt and con¬ demnation. “ The Lord, (says he,) knoweth “ how to reserve the unjust to the day of “judgment to be punished; but chiefly “ them that walk after the flesh, in the lust “ of uncleanness—They shall utterly perish “ in their own corruption, and shall receive “ the reward of unrighteousness : they “ count it pleasure to riot in the day time : “ spots they are and blemishes, sporting “ themselves with their own deceivings ;— “ having eyes full of adultery, and that can- “ not cease from sin, beguiling unstable “ souls ; an heart they have exercised with “ covetous practices ; cursed children !—to “ whom the mist of darkness is reserved “ for ever ; for when they speak great “ swelling words of vanity, they allure, “ through the lusts of the flesh, through “ much wantonness, those that were clean 341 The Grace of God. u escaped from them who live in error. 44 While they promise them liberty, they 4f themselves are the servants of corruption ; 44 for of whom a man is overcome, of the same 44 is he brought in bondage. For if after 44 they have escaped the pollutions of the 44 world, through the knowledge of the Lord 44 and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again 44 entangled therein and overcome, the lat- 44 ter end is worse with them than the be- 44 ginning; for it had been better for them 44 not to have known the way of righteous-, 64 ness, than after they have known it, to 44 turn from the holy commandment deli- 44 vered unto them ; but it is happened un- 44 to them according to the true proverb,— 44 The dog is turned to his own vomit again, 44 and the sow that was washed, to her wal- 44 lowing in the mire And to correct a similar abuse which some were then making of the grace of the gospel, St. Jude also states as the reason which induced him to write his epistle .— 44 It was needful for me 44 to write unto you, and exhort you, (said 44 he, to the Christians whom he addressed,) 44 that ye should earnestly contend for the J 4 faith which was once delivered unto the * 2 Peter, chap. ii. 9. &c. &c. 342 The Grace of God. , I 44 saints, for there are certain men crept in 44 unawares, who were before of old ordained 44 to this condemnation; ungodly men turn- 44 ing the grace of our God into lascivious- 44 ness Before the first preachers of Christianity had sealed their testimony with their blood, there were many known by the name of Gnostics and Nicolaitans, who had entered the Church, persons who were base preten¬ ders to the faith of the gospel, who talked loudly indeed of its free grace, but abused what they affected to praise, by making it a handle for giving way to the most crimi¬ nal indulgencies. They had the audacity, for instance, openly to maintain, that lewd¬ ness was lawful, that to equivocate was jus¬ tifiable, and that to conform, occasionally, to the ceremonies of the heathen, perfectly harmless: and embracing such abandoned principles, they, as might naturally be ex- dected, followed after all manner of vice and villainy with greediness. And this their impious and abominable system, they in¬ herited from Simon Magus, the father of, almost, every heresy. That daring impos- ■f* T" 1 ' 1 ■ . — *-— -—— ——--—T*— * Jude, 3, 4 343 The Grace of God. tor, that “ child of the devil, and enemy of “ all righteousness,” never ceased to per¬ vert the good way of the Lord, but abused the freedom of the Gospel, and indulged in habits of the most avowed impurity. And the enormities which he himself was not ashamed to commit, he had the more than common flagitiousness, not only openly to defend, but even eagerly to invite his ad¬ herents to practise. From the injunctions of the ancient Scriptures, he told them that they needed not be under the smallest re¬ straint ; for these, he profanely asserted, were no longer, in reality, the oracles of God, and consequently were unworthy to be regarded.—“ Believe in me, (said he,) and “ live as you please; mind not the threat- “ enings of the law ; remember that the “ salvation of the Gospel is wholly of grace, u and that the practice of good works, a “ grievous imposition of the law of Moses, “ is now abolished by the cross of Christ.” These are the paradoxes which this man of sin advanced, and by some weak and wicked minds they were greedily received. They flattered themselves with what they called liberty, and they made themselves the ser¬ vants of sin ; for seduced by their leader’s 344 The Grace of God. example, and ensnared by his pernicious persuasion, they denied themselves the gratification of no darling lust, but became voluntarily bound in the ignominious shack¬ les of every species of corruption.—But such persons would have done well to have considered, that the doctrine of grace could never have been intended by a holy God, to be established upon the ruins of virtue. Accordingly the economy of grace was in¬ troduced to abrogate, not the moral , but only the ceremonial law.-—The moral law necessarily arises out of the nature of things, and therefore cannot be abrogated. It is immutable as the Divinity himself. It exist¬ ed in his will, before the foundations of the earth were laid, and it shall continue to exist, when the heavens are rolled up like a scroll, and the elements melted with fer¬ vent heart. But though this is unques¬ tionably true, yet it appears equally true, that as soon as the wondrous grace of the gospel was promulged, mankind showed themselves prone to abuse it,—so prone, we see, that the abuse of it was one of the gross abominations introduced by the very first heretic who ever infested the true followers of Jesus.—And, would to God ! that this impious abuse bad been confined entirely 345 fhe Grace of God . to those early ages. Would to God ! that we could say, that such detestable characters had no existence in these latter times. But, alas! it is a melancholy truth, which we must confess, that still there is “ a generation of vipers” who infest the Christian church, and turn the grace of God into wantonness. They seem to be zealous in proclaiming its praise; but by their deeds they show themselves to be utter strangers to its power. They pretend to be high admirers of its unsearchable riches ; but their unsanctified temper and conduct clear¬ ly demonstrate that they have neither lot nor part in the matter. However boasting- ly they may talk, they are still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, no less than Simon was, the first founder of their impiety : For if any man be under the influence of divine grace, we have the divine authority itself for saying, that he is then dead unto sin, and lives unto right¬ eousness. Created again in Christ Jesus, he walks not after the flesh ; but after the Spirit. It must be admitted and lamented, that there have been some dreaming Antino- snians so absurd and impious as pertinaci. 346 The Grace of Gocl. ously to maintain, that grace is a special ex¬ emption from moral obligations. Perverting to the worst of purposes this declaration of the Apostle, that we are not under the law but under grace, they have made the igno¬ rant believe that grace supersedes and an- nulls the necessity of practical holiness. Now it cannot, indeed, be denied, that he who is under grace, that is, he who knows, and feels duly grateful to God for his re¬ deeming love, and manifests his gratitude by his unreserved and habitual obedience, is so far not under the moral* law, as that he is not subject to its condemnation, for “ against such there is no law;” but he is and must for ever be under that law, so far as he is not exempted from its obligations. For, between being free from the condemnation of the moral law, and being released from obedience to it, there is a wide difference. A 4 i man maybe free from the penalties of inj u stice, but can never be privileged from the duties of justice: he may, by his goodlife and conduct, not be obnoxious to civil punishment; but he cannot, therefore, be exempted from the prohibition to steal or to slay.—Those who are “ led by the Spirit,” are said to be “ not under the law ;”—and why ? because they “ walk in the Spirit, and fulfil not 347 The Grace of God . “ the lust of the flesh*.” They are anxious to abstain from those sins which exclude men from the kingdom of heaven, and zealous to cultivate that holiness which issues in eternal, and eternally increasing happiness. —Thus grace does not grant an exemption from any of the duties which the law requires, but rather stimulates to their performance. Nay, by the most powerful motives, and the most interesting persuasions, it impels us to do those things which the spirit as well as the letter of the law commands. Under the law, we are strictly prohibited from do¬ ing evil ; but under grace we are constrain¬ ed to do good; the law ordains justice,grace inspires charity, which is the bond of per¬ fectness. The law inculcates duty from motives of reverence and fear; but grace from those of gratitude and love.—What! shall we sin then, because “ we are not “ under the law, but under grace ?”—God forbid ! This cannot be ; because when we receive the grace of God, we are supposed to be : dead to sin, and how shall they “ who are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?” We cannot, in the scriptural sense of the words, be “dead to sin,” without becoming the servants of righteousness f. * Gal. v. 16—IS. &c.- f Rom. vi. 1. 348 The Grace of God. A viler and more unfounded calumny, then, the father of lies himself could not have invented, than that the grace of the gospel relaxes, in the least degree, the obligations of morality. But in the refutation of this calumny, it seems necessary to be still more par¬ ticular. Let us consider, therefore, the genuine nature of this grace, and also the sentiments which it is calculated to inspire; —and if the god of this world has not totally blinded our eyes, we shall immediately per¬ ceive, that nothing but the most diabolical perversion of mind, could ever have induced men to stain so fair a doctrine with so foul an imputation. f ■ What then is the nature of this grace, or, in other words, what are those inestimable blessings which it confers ? The chief of these, I have formerly said, are—pardon of sin—reconciliation with God—sanctifica¬ tion of heart and life—victory over death, and an entrance into the pure and everlast¬ ing enjoyments of heaven.—But is there a man living who will have the effrontery to say, that any, or all of these, afford the 349 The Grace of God. smallest encouragement to licentiousness ? Because to every one who sincerely repents, his sins are promised to be pardoned ; can this imply that he need not repent, that he may sin on, for his sins shall pass unpu¬ nished ? Because believers are declared to he reconciled to God, and admitted to all the privileges of his children ; can this ever he an inducement to them to let go their in¬ tegrity, and again render themselves abo¬ minable in his sight ? Because the gospel comes to sanctify our hearts, to renew us in the spirit of our minds, and to assure us that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin ; is this leading us to indulge in fleshly lusts, and to count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing ? Or because besides being supported and comforted through life, we are likewise promised to have dominion in the dread hour of death ; will this be said to be a reason also for going on in presump¬ tuous sin, when sin, we know, and above all, presumptuous sin, is the very monster that arms death with its sting, and gives the grave its victory ? But not only do be¬ lievers triumph in death ; an entrance, after death, is ministered to them abundantly, into the immediate presence of the Lord, and 350 The Grace of God , into all the fullness of the joys of eternity* Now that this glorious privilege, in particu¬ lar, which is indeed the completion of all the other privileges of the “ elect of God,” can¬ not, in the nature of things, afford any, even the least plea for looseness of conduct, I am confident, there is not one who will have the audacity to deny ; for all who reason¬ ably expect to behold the face of God, in heaven, naturally purify themselves, evenas God is pure. Their hope of happiness, is connected indissolubly with a conviction of the necessity of holiness ; for “ without ho¬ liness, no man can see the Lord.” While glory, honour, and immortality, are the fu¬ ture portion of all who patiently continue in well doing,—indignation and wrath, tri¬ bulation and anguish, must, unbounded as the grace of God is, be the miserable fate of every soul who doeth evil. But as in order to heighten our ideas of the grace of God, we considered not only the blessings which it confers, but like¬ wise the character both of that Being who originally designed, and of him who was appointed to confer them, together with the unprecedented humiliation and sufferings 351 The Grace of God. submitted to, in order to confer them, and the low condition and guilty character of those upon whom they are conferred; so let us here also take into view these additional considerations, and we shall, if posible, be still more convinced, that this grace, ren¬ dered thus more abundant, can neverthe¬ less give no encouragement to the workers of iniquity.—For was it God who devised this gracious scheme of our salvation, and can the scheme which he devised be favour¬ able to licentiousness ? Perish the impious thought!—for 44 the righteous Lord loveth 44 righteousness,” and sin and sinners are an abomination in his sight. Or when this gracious scheme of salvation was de¬ vised, was it Jesus, the Son of God, who was appointed to carry it into effect ? And is it possible that the work which was then given the blessed Jesus to do, was a work which loosened the obligations of virtue, or superseded the necessity of holiness ? The idea is too full of absurdity, too big with horrible blasphemy, for the mind, even for a moment, so much as to conceive. For this would be making Christ, 44 the mi¬ nister of sin,” who himself 44 knew no sin,” —nay, who was manifested in the flesh, 352 The Grace of God. for the express purpose of abolishing sib, and “ bringing in an everlasting righte- “ ousness.” And if we add to this, the deep abasement to which he submitted, the excruciating pains which he bore, and the indescribable agony which he patient¬ ly endured, the blasphemous supposition, that he could thus be manifested for a contrary purpose, become tenfold more blasphemous.—The guilty character, and forlorn condition of the persons to whom this grace of the gospel is extended, has been mentioned as an additional proof of its unparalleled abundance ; and it may here he introduced as an additional proof also, that it could never be intended to give the smallest countenance to vicious indul¬ gence. Sin is the exhaustless source of mi¬ sery, and it was by man’s becoming a sinner, that he became “ poor and wretched, and “ blind and miserable.” The hand therefore that shall deliver him from misery, must first deliver him from sin. The grace of the gospel holds forth this deliverance, and upon this ground, also, are we waranted to say, that it is hostile to the practice of iniquity. For were it not hostile, but favourable, as the ignorant or ungodly have sometimes 353 The Grace of God. averred, then, insteadofbeing grace, itwould rather be condemnation : instead of restor¬ ing us to happiness, it would rather, by augmenting our sin, augment our misery: instead of delivering us from going down to the pit, it would rather, by adding to our guilt, sink us deeper and deeper in wretch¬ edness and woe. Thus do we see, from considering the very nature of this grace, how abhorrent it is of all manner of licentiousness.—But be¬ sides reasoning, in this way, from its nature, let me now, to make the argument, if possible, still more complete, appeal to the sentiments which the grace revealed in the gospel is calculated to inspire.—Love, we know, naturally begets love ; and is it then natural for divine grace to beget ingratitude ?— A multiplicity of unexpected blessings be¬ stowed naturally produce a most intimate and inviolable friendship ; and is it natu¬ ral for the very richest and highest bles¬ sings which heaven has in store, only to in¬ crease neglect, and prompt to disobedience ? Much happiness imparted, and many splen¬ did honours freely conferred, naturally in¬ cline the feeling soul to impart happiness 354 / The Gi •ace of God, and render honour in return ; and is it then really natural forthe grace of God, which of¬ fers no less a happiness than the happiness of angels, which honours with no less an honour than the crown of immortality;— is it natural for this grace,thus richly bles¬ sing, and thus highly honouring, to make men only slight the authority of its adorable Author; to make them “only crucify afresh” his beloved Son, and, by their wicked works, put him to open shame ?—Ye who are the children of this grace, I appeal to you, for you know its value:—I appeal to you, and tell me, if, of all things impossible, this, if I may so express myself, seemeth not the most impossible. Tell me, O Christians ! for ye can tell me from experience, if this grace of God, instead of leading to carnal liberty and criminal indulgence, doth not rather incite the mind to repentance, and compel it, in the multitude of its thoughts, thus to say ;—“ God hath saved me; Christ “ hath died for me : I am then no longer “ mine own ; I am bought with a price, and “ therefore will live no more to myself, “ but to God who saved me, to Christ who “ died for me and rose again. And now 6i let my right hand forget its cunning, and 355 The Grace of God. “ let my tongue cleave to the roof of my “ mouth, if I adhere not to this purpose “ which I have formed, if I devote not my- “ self for ever to the Lord, if I live not “ in his service, if I die not in his fear, and “ if, living or dying, I be not the Lord’s.” These are the blessed effects which, I am persuaded, the grace of God, revealed in the gospel, is naturally fitted to produce ; —and to show a becoming solicitude, that they may feel it producing these blessed effects upon their minds, is the proper im¬ provement which I would earnestly pray every one of my fellow-creatures to make of it. To urge them to comply with this request, and to point out particularly the manner in which their compliance should be manifested, is an important part, which I must not attempt, at present, fully to execute, but reserve as a separate subject of discussion. It is most foolish needlessly to fatigue, and, perhaps thus to offend, when our avowed object is to interest and to edify. Yet I cannot conclude without expressing my ardent wish, that I myself and all mankind would duly ponder the glorious doctrine which has been now stated, z 2 <356 The Grace of God. would think often and maturely upon the nature and abundance of the grace of God, and upon the great and wondrous things which it hath done for our souls. And while we think often and maturely of this, may we think also of the grateful and ad¬ miring sentiments which we ought to feel, and “ what manner of persons we ought “ to he in all holy conversation and godli* “ ness.”—“ To whomsoever much is given, “ of him shall be much required.” To us much grace hath been given, and, of con¬ sequence, proportionally great, will be the account, which, at the general judgment, we must render. O that we were wise, that we seriously considered this!—considered the indispensable obligations which we are under, and the multitude of mercies which we are daily invited to enjoy !—And as a proof that we consider them aright, may we plead for the pardon of our numberless sins, and for grace to help us in every time of need;—to help us to forego all earth- born cares, to abstain from all fleshly lusts, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. This is the great, the best, and indeed the only indubitable evidence which we can give the world, that we have received the 357 The Grace of God. grace of God, in reality. “ By this, (saith “our Lord himself,) shall all men know that “ ye are my disciples, if ye keep my com- “ mandments.” Henceforth then, let us walk, “ not as other Gentiles walk, in the “ vanity of their mind;—but walk worthy “ of the Lord, and be followers of him as “ dear children. Let us be blameless and “ harmless, the Sons of God, without re- “ buke, in the midst of a crooked and per- “ verse nation, that among them we may “ shine as lights in the world, holding forth “ the word of life.—Finally, whatsoever “ things are true, whatsoever things are “ venerable , whatsoever things are just, “ whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever “ things are lovely, whatsoever things are “ of good report;—if there be any virtue, “ and if there be any praise, let us think “ on these things,” and pray to God, with¬ out ceasing, that we may faithfully practise them. And happy for us, shall it be, if we prove wise enough to do so. Great grace shall be multiplied upon us; the joys of salvation shall visit us; so long as we live, we shall live in comfort; when we come to die, we shall die in peace ; and after death, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, * 358 The Grace of God. we shall also, with myriads of his saints, appear with Him in glory.—What an ex¬ hilarating, what an enobling prospect, this ! —Hope followed by fruition ; earth ex¬ changed for heaven; grace, abundant grace, and then an exceeding, an eternal weight of glory !!!—Amen, and Amen !—So be it, Lord Jesus!! THE GRACE OF GOD. •Romans v. 20. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Sin naturally fills her votaries with remorse, and renders them obnoxious to inevitable misery. Accordingly, no sooner did the fal¬ len angels rebel against their Lord, than they forfeited their seats in the abodes of happi¬ ness. They were cast down from their radi¬ ant thrones in heaven, and consigned to the gloomy horrors of the lowest hell. Man, too, on the same fatal day on which he lost his primeval innocence, and transgressed the law of his God, was expelled the bowers of paradise, subjected to misery and de¬ voted to death. And, in this his awful doom, were included, not only the sorrows 360 The Grace of God. of a present life, and the pangs of a natu¬ ral dissolution, but also those indescribable torments of a remorseful conscience, and those terrible inflictions of divine wrath re¬ served for apostates in the world to come. Such are the direful sufferings which, it was threatened, sin should entail, and which therefore man, when he became a sinner, might justly expect to bear. But behold the goodness of indulgent Heaven ; behold the tender mercies of the everlasting God ! He who spared not the angels when they fell, remembered our frame, and was moved with compassion for our guilty race. When man expected vengeance, divine love only was shown: when his sin abounded, the grace of God, to the astonishment of the universe, did much more abound : its ex¬ tent became peculiarly manifested, and its unsearchable riches, though not in reality increased, yet to our wondering view, were much more copiously displayed.—Indigna¬ tion and wrath, tribulation and anguish, were justly merited ; but deliverance from guilt, restoration to the favour of God, and admittance to those eternal joys which are at his right hand, w'ere freely conferred. •—And this deliverance from guilt, this 361 The Gt '(ice of God. restoration to the divine favour, and ad¬ mittance to eternal joy, God himself, who foresaw our fall, from all eternity ordained. Before he created the world, before he com¬ manded the light to arise, ere ever his spirit had moved upon the face of the waters, his thoughts of mercy were towards the child¬ ren of men. And when the fulness of time was come, (blessing, and honour, and glory be to his name;) He sent forth no less a person than Jesus, his only begotten Son, to carry into effect this gracious purpose, which from the beginning he had formed. Him he appointed to descend from heaven to tabernacle upon earth, to feel our infirmities, to remove our guilt, todie for oursakes. And in fulfilling this arduous work which was given him to do, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of life, declined no act of humiliation, turned aside from no face of danger, refused submission to no form of suffering, which it pleased the Father, that as the Saviour of a lost world, he should undergo. Though his name was high above every name, yet did he make himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he hum- 362 The Grace of God. bled himself, and patiently bore all the griefs, and carried all the sorrows which sinful man was heir to. He lived surrounded with disgrace and persecution ; and when he died, it was under the accumulated load of igno¬ miny and torture, of inexpressible agony and excruciating pain.—All this, O Chris¬ tian ! hath God, in his grace, done for thy soul. Duly and frequently contemplate this grace ; contemplate the wonders which it hath wrought, and the immortal hap¬ piness which it confers,—and then say if it is not grace without a parallel; say if its height and depth, and breadth and length, surpass not all the powers of the highest intelligence even to conceive. So amazing indeed is its extent, so incomprehensible its abundance, that some there are, who have thence been furnished with a pretence for disputing its existence, nay representing it as incredible. 44 Wherefore, (say they,) 44 so many and so inconceivable blessings 44 conferred upon us ? What is man that he 44 should be so wonderfully favoured ; or 44 what is the son of man, the creature of 44 dust, the worm but of yesterday, that he 44 should be visited with such abundant 44 grace?”—But in reply to this, we need t 363 The Grace of God. only observe, that it is enough for us to be assured of the fact, though we be not able to comprehend all the reasons upon which it is founded. Among other reasons, how¬ ever, there is one that appears sufficently obvious, namely, that all this hath doubt¬ less been ordained with a view to maintain the order and dignity of the Divine govern¬ ment, and, at the same time, to secure, as far as was possible, the restoration of human happiness. It was, doubtless, with a view signally to demonstrate the malignity of sin, and allure to the practice of holiness. It was, doubtless, with a view to overcome our evil with good, and to draw us with the cords of love and the bands of a man. It was, in short, with a view, both to render it meet for God to bestow, and also to qualify us, his distressed and fallen children, to receive all that fulness of joy which he had prepared for us in heaven before the world existed, before time itself began.— And to inspire the mind with an earnest desire ; to excite it strenuously to endea¬ vour, that this wondrous display of grace may accomplish the blessed end designed by it, is the great and only object which I now propose to prosecute. 364 The Grace of God. I have already had occasion to illustrate sufficiently the nature and abundance of the grace of the gospel, and also to guard men against the fatal abuse which the ig¬ norant and the wicked may be disposed to make of it. All, therefore, that now re¬ mains for me to do, is to entreat my fellow creatures rightly to receive, and wisely TO IMPROVE IT. And in the first place, I must aver, that it is our duty, that it is the least return we can make for the grace of God, to cherish in our breasts the most admiring gratitude. This, we all know, is an amiable sentiment which, upon the experience of great and unmerited goodness, spontaneous¬ ly arises in the generous soul. Its nature is such as invariably to felicitate and adorn its possessor, to make him command our approbation, and necessarily prompt us to love him, and, as much as we can, to do him good. But the man, in whose bosom this lovely sentiment never glows,—-it is not enough for us to say, that we behold him with indifference ; we mark him with de¬ testation. We deny his kindred with hu- N manity; we sink him below the level of the 365 The Grace of God. brutes. For even “ the ox knoweth his own- “ er, and the ass his master’s crib.” What then is the man who is a stranger to grati¬ tude ? What is he who receives blessings without being sensible of them, or who en¬ joys them without once acknowledging him who confers them ? Duller than the ox, more stupid than the ass, that man doth not know, that man doth not consider *. Thus comely and necessary, we main¬ tain, is gratitude, even to an earthly bene¬ factor : how comely, how necessary then, to that Benefactor who is divine, and whose love is as high above the love of any earth¬ ly benefactor, as the heavens are high above the earth. We cannot sufficiently admire 1 and extol his creating and preserving good¬ ness ; what then shall we say of his re¬ deeming grace ? This is the most wonder¬ ful of all his works, and to us, infinitely the most important that distinguishes the annals of time. If we attempt its praises, we find them indeed unutterable ; and this * Si ingratum dixeris, omnia dixeris, says the Latin maxim : —if you call a man ungrateful, you have called him every ■Tiing that is base ; you need say nothing more^ 366 The Grace of God. only can we say, that it is easier for the mind to conceive, than the tongue to ex¬ press the gratitude we should feel. O bless then the Lord, all ye his saints ! Bless the Lord, O my soul! O let us bless and mag¬ nify his holy name; rejoice for ever in Jesus whom he hath sent, and burn with love to Him, who suffered, and bled, and died from his love to us ! And if the grace of God ought thus to kindle in our breasts the purest flame of gratitude, let me ask, in the next place, if it ought not also to inspire us with the most unbounded confidence ?—“ Yes, will “ every true Christian say, with the un- “ suspecting confidence of a grateful child “ to an indulgent father, will I now raise “ mine eyes to heaven, and rely upon the “ God of my salvation. He hath already “ shown me his abundant grace, he hath “ promised me, hereafter, an eternal weight “ of glory; and therefore do I now rest as- “ sured that he will withhold no good thing “ from me, or from any of those who sin- “ cerely love him.”—This is the faith of the Christian soul; and is it not a faith rational and well-founded ? For let there be 361 The Grate of God. mentioned but a single reason of distrust, which the grace of God, upon which this faith rests, is not more than sufficient com¬ pletely to remove. Does the believer ever fear that the blessings which he requires, are too valuable for heaven to bestow, or for him to receive ? This he need never fear ; for “ the unspeakable gift” which has been already given him, is greater far, than any thing he can now ask; infinitely greater than all that his heart can desire. Or if he fear not that the blessings themselves are too valuable, yet is he ever afraid, that God is too exalted a Being to bestow them; too high and lofty to regard such a sinner’s wants, much more so, to condescend to re¬ lieve them ? This suggestion, the grace of Heaven, displayed in our redemption, proves also to be groundless; for those whose souls God sent no less a person than Jesus jto redeem, he must ever be ready to sup¬ port and to deliver. “ Can a woman forget “ her sucking child ? Can she cease to have * l compassion on the son of her womb ?” Yes, she may ; but the Lord will never for¬ get, the Lord will never forsake any of his children. “ Nothing, neither life, nor death, £i nor things present, nor things to come, 368 The Grace of God . 44 shall be able to separate them from his « love. For whom he once loveth, he loveth “ unto the end; and they shall never perish, “ neither shall any be able to pluck them « out of his hand. Fear not then, little 6i flock ; fear not, for God is with you ; be “ not dismayed, for he is your God. He “ will strengthen you, yea, he will uphold “ you with the right hand of his righteous- “• ness.” But while the grace of the gospel ought thus to lead us to commit, with unbounded confidence, our souls and all our concerns to the protection and guidance of God, it ought also to prompt us to imitate his cha¬ racter, by being mild , and mercif ul, and graci¬ ous to one another .—This amazing grace, we are ready to acknowledge, commands our liveliest gratitude; we should, at this mo¬ ment, experience it kindling within us a never-dying flame of love. But how can we be grateful to Heaven, if we be unfeel¬ ing to our brethren ? How can we love God, if we hate his children ? It is a con¬ tradiction : It is impossible. Can light have fellowship with darkness ? Can ever Christ have concord with Belial ? Their, 369 The Grace of God. and not till then, may gratitude to the Lord consist with want of brotherly kind¬ ness and charity towards men. Whomso¬ ever we sincerely love, we must desire to please, and delight to imitate. If then we really love God ; if hisr abundant grace ex¬ cite within us the genuine sentiments of gratitude, we must be zealous to imitate this goodness which we adore ; we must delight to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful, and perfect as he is per¬ fect. Hath he been slow to anger against ns ? Then, surely, we ought to suffer long and be kind to our brethren. Hath he ransomed our race from death, and pro¬ claimed pardon and peace to all, even the chief of sinners ? Then surely ought we to put on, as the elect of God, holy and be¬ loved, bowels of mercies, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, even as God, through Christ, hath forgiven us. Hath he restored to our souls joy through life, ena¬ bled us through faith in Jesus to triumph in the hour of death, and prepared for us per¬ fect and immortal happiness in heaven ? Then, doubtless, we are pressed, in a man¬ ner impossible to be resisted, to imitate, to the utmost of our power, this diffusive, 370 The Grace of God. boundless beneficence ; to study unity of will and design with our supreme Benefac¬ tor, and with our whole heart and strength, to pursue, with him, the perfection and fe¬ licity of the universe. Unless these celes¬ tial dispositions be in us and abounding, we have received the grace of God in vain. Alas! alas ! it hath profited us nothing. For what say the Scriptures ? “ In this “ the children of God are manifest, and the “ children of the devil;—whosoever doth “ not righteousness, is not of God, neither “ he that loveth not his brother. If a man “ say I love God, and hateth his brother, “ he is a liar ; he is a murderer, and ye “ know that no murderer hath eternal life “ abiding in him.” Let us take heed then, that an evil, malignant heart be not within us. O ! let all bitterness and wrath, and anger and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from us, with all malice, and if there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, O ! let us fulfil the royal law, be of one accord and of one mind, and as God hath loved us, so let us love one another. 371 The Grace of God. But let the grace revealed in the gospel, not only make us grateful, not only make us confide in heaven, not only make us love and do good, as we have opportunity, to our brethren ;—let it not confine its influ¬ ence to these, or to any other particular class of sentiments or duties ; but let it operate upon the general tenor of our conduct: let it constrain us carefully to observe all things , whatsoever God hath commanded us. If the marvellous graceof the Lawgiver prompt us to keep any one part of the law, let it also prompt us to keep the whole. As all its precepts come enjoined to us from the same gracious authority, let them all, therefore, receive the same sincere and uniform re¬ gard. By this, however, I mean not to say, that from the unspeakable grace with which we have been favoured, it is expected that our services should be perfect. Alas ! there is not a perfect man upon the earth ; none “ that doeth good and sinneth not.” I mean only to say that our obedience, though necessarily defective, must nevertheless be faithful and general, be cordial and unre¬ served. If we profess to be the children of God: if like them we profess to be grateful for the grace which he hath given us, though we may be surprised into the com- 2 a 2 372 * The Grace of God. mission of a fault, yet we must never habi¬ tually offend. Though, through ignoranee or weakness, we may fall into occasional transgressions; yet we must keep our hearts with diligence, we must ponder our paths, and never go on in presumptuous sin; but take delight in keeping every one of the commandments. If, then, at any time, we fall, let us not obdurately remain in that state; if we transgress, let us imme¬ diately repent, and let not our repentance be a transient effervescence of compunc¬ tion ; but a lasting renewal of integrity. Then shall “ the beauty of the Lord our 44 God be upon us: He will establish the 44 work of our hands.” He will bless us with the richest communications of his grace; we shall 44 rejoice and be glad all our days.” —Come then, all ye faithful servants of the Lord ; all ye who prize the exceeding riches of his grace; come let us now praise his blessed name, and without a moment’s de¬ lay, and without the least reserve, let us give up ourselves to his government. Like good and grateful subjects, let us stand at his footstool, in everlasting readiness to fulfil his word; to do whatever he com¬ mands, and to bear whatever he inflicts ; to 373 The Grace of God. live and zealously maintain his cause, or, if necessary, cheerfully to suffer and die in its defence. These are the pious sentiments which the grace of the gospel should inspire, and these are the duties which it should incite us to perform.—It should fire us with gratitude, and fill us with confidence ; it should in¬ spire us with mutual charity, and prompt us to universal and everlasting obedience. And blessed indeed, are all those upon whose souls this divine grace produces such effects ! Who would not congratulate them upon the happiness of their state ? They are the friends of God ; 44 the excellent of the earth.”— 44 There is none like unto you, 44 O people! saved by the Lord. Truly 44 the lines have fallen to you in pleasant 44 places; you have a goodly heritage ;— 44 for all things are yours, whether Paul, or 44 Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life or 44 death, or things present, or things to come, 44 all are yours ; and ye are Christ’s, and 44 Christ is God’s.”—O praise Him then, for his wondrous benefits ; make melody with his angels who excel in strength ; swell with 374 The Grace of God. them the choral song of gratitude, and be glad and rejoice in the house of your pil¬ grimage. But, perhaps, there are some serious, well disposed persons, with the state of whose souls, the voice of joy does not accord ; the address of congratulation is not suited to them, and with any exhortation to gladness, they tell us, that in their circumstances, it is impossibe to comply. The grace published in the gospel, they know, is indeed abundant; but they dwell upon the criminal abuse which they have already made of it; they dwell upon the impious and unnatural returns which they have so often rendered to the Author of it,—and this abundant grace, instead of filling them with joyful hope, only pierces their hearts with keenner sorrow. They go mourning as one who mourneth for an only child ; they are in bitterness as he who is in bit* terness for his first born, and they turn aside, and refuse to be comforted. Broken hearted, and disconsolate men ! ye do well to be sorrowful, for godly sorrow worketh repentance,; but, O! why do ye 375 The Grace of God. sorrow as they who have no hope? Your iniquites may indeed be great and number¬ less; hut the Lord is merciful and gracious, and will abundantly pardon. Because men were sinners, he sent his Son to die, and though you be the chief of sinners, he is both able and willing “ to save you to the “ uttermost.”—“ The blood of Jesus Christ “ cleanseth from all sin, and by him all that “ believe are freely justified from all things.” Come then to God, through Christ, and he will in no wise cast you out. Come unto him, weary and heavy laden, and, from his grace, you shall find rest unto your souls. “ Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall “ be as white as snow; though they be red “ like crimson, they shall be as wool. “ Awake, and sing then ye that dwell in “ dustand let the tongue of the dumb sing forth the Almighty’s praise ! “ Sing, “ O heavens ! and be joyful, O earth ! and “ break forth into singing, O mountains ! “ for the Lord hath comforted his people, “ and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” Thus then, do we congratulate the good, and thus can we console the penitent. We congratulate the good, because they have 376 The Grace of God. improved the grace of God so wisely, and we console the penitent, because now with "broken and contrite hearts, they lament that they have improved it so ill. But what shall we say to those who never think of improving it at all ?—who, to this hour possess none of the feelings which it is in¬ tended to excite, nay, who scornfully reject all the precious blessings which it offers to bestow.—Perverse and obdurately wicked men ! surely you know not what you are doing. Surely you know not the aggra¬ vated guilt which you are, at present, in¬ curring, and the awful punishment to which, if you repent not, you shall hereafter be doomed. You are despising the greatest salvation that can be offered you ; you are grieving the Holy Spirit who strives with you ; you are denying the Lord who bought you, slighting all his labours of love, tread¬ ing under foot his precious blood, and put¬ ting him to open shame. And for all this be assured, presumptuous sinners! that God will bring you into judgment. Now is the season of his grace, and as yet he is slow to anger, and of great mercy towards you. But this season of grace will expire, the great day of hjs wrath will come, and 377 The Grace of God. then shall he who hath so long waited to be gracious, he revealed in flaming fire, to take vengeance upon you, and all who obey not the gospel. With Judas, and the sons of perdition, you shall be driven from his presence and 44 turned into hell.” There, like them, you shall be tortured with re¬ morse ; like them you shall be convulsed with agony, and like them, you shall wish that you 44 had never been born.”—-Know¬ ing these terrors of the Lord, we persuade men. We, as ambassadors from Christ, pray them in Christ’s stead, to be recon¬ ciled to God. God himself beseeches them, by us : therefore to day, may they hear his voice, and harden not their hearts ! May they turn from the evil of their ways, come into his gracious presence, like returning prodigals, cast themselves at his feet, and thus pour forth their penitent hearts before him ! 44 Father in heaven ! we have hei- 44 nously sinned against thee in times past, 44 but strengthen us by thy grace, that we may do so no more. Work in us both to 44 will and to do thy good pleasure. Of our- 44 selves, we are, indeed, weak and insuffi- 44 cient; but, O Father ! we will depend up- 64 on thee ; we will go on in thy strength, 378 The Grace of God. 44 making mention of thy righteousness, 44 even of thine only. O ! through Jesus, 44 may all our sins be forgiven us ; through 44 him may we now receive numberless to- 44 kens of thy abundant grace, and be ad- 44 mitted at last into eternal glory.” If the wicked thus forsake their ways, if thus shall become the state of their hearts, if this shall be the pious purpose of their souls, then both the saints on earth, and the angels in heaven will rejoice at their conversion ; they will rejoice at their re¬ turn to God, and hail them as his children. God himself will thus speak peace to their troubled souls ;— 44 Fear not, for it is my 44 good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” i THE STRENGTH AND VICTORY OF BELIEVERS. i JOHN V. 4. Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The Apostle, in the context, reminds the Christians to whom this epistle is addres¬ sed of their divine origin ; that they were “ born of God and thence infers their obligation to love and do good to one another, as children of the same heavenly Father. He at the same time naturally reminds them of their duty in general; for whatever reason there is for our being con- 380 The Strength and scientious in the discharge of any one duty, there certainly is for our being conscienti¬ ous in the discharge of every other. If we be Christians, God is our reconciled God and Father: we ought therefore sincerely and ardently to love him, and 44 this is the 44 (evidence of) the love of God that we keep 44 his commandments, and his command- 44 ments (adds the apostle) are not grievous.” They are all both reasonable in themselves, and adapted to promote both our temporal and eternal interests. But if we would keep the commandments of God, there is one thing we should never forget—and of which the apostle here puts us in remembrance, the necessity of rising superior to the dangerous motives and considerations pre¬ sented by the world. 44 Whatsoever is born 44 of God overcometh the world; and this 44 is the victory that overcometh the world, 44 even our faith,” If we have just views of this world, we shall consider it not as a place of rest; but as a field of labour and conflict ; not as a scene where we may gratify without re¬ straint our appetites and passions ; but as a probationary state, where we must with ■ Victory of Believers. 881 unremitting zeal aspire after the improve¬ ment of our intellectual and moral natures. We may “ use the world;” but we are to use it as “not abusing it.” We must never be enslaved by its maxims, its manners or its pleasures: this slavery is the degrada¬ tion and ruin of the immortal mind. It offends God, and necessarily disqualifies us for being received into the inheritance of the saints in light. Hence we are ex¬ horted “ not to love the world ; neither the “ things that are in the world: if any man “ love the world, the love of the Father is not “ in him.”—Inordinate attachment to this world, is incompatible with ardent desires after that better world which is to come.—- We cannot serve both God and Mammon. Accordingly, victory over the world is cha¬ racteristic of the Christian. He “ is bom of “ God,” and “ whatsoever is born of God “ overcometh the world; and this is the “ victory that overcometh the world, even “ our faith.” These striking words call for our serious attention : In discoursing from them there¬ fore, let us consider the noble character which is here mentioned—the formidable 382 The Strength and enemy whom he contends with and conquers —the successful weapon which he wields, and the glorious felicity which follows.— May the Lord now take the direction of our minds, and accompany what shall be said with his rich and effectual blessing. I. We are first to consider the noble cha¬ racter which is here mentioned. It is a character, the greatest and most illustrious that can adorn the earth. The Apostle is speaking of one who is the chosen offspring of heaven-—of one who is 44 born not of the 44 will of the flesh, nor of the will of man ; 44 but of Godand who is therefore an 44 heir of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus 44 Christ.” To be 44 born of God,” is to rise out of the ruins of a fallen nature to the glory of a redeemed one. It is to die to Adam and to live to Christ. It is to see, and feel, and, forsake our own weakness, and vanity, and sin, and adhere to the strength, and suffici¬ ency, and righteousness of the Captain of our Salvation. He then who is 44 born of 44 God” is 44 brought out of darkness into 44 marvellous light.” He strives tocompre- 383 Victory of Believers. hend, with all saints, 44 what is the breadth, 44 and length, and depth, and heighth of the 44 love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ;” and this infinite love constrains him to yield a sincere, habitual, and filial obedience. Renewed in the spirit of his mind, he hates sin which he once loved, and loves holiness, which he once hated. Once his mind was enmity against God, and bent only upon ful¬ filling the desires of the flesh ; but now he crucifies the flesh with its affections and lusts ; endeavours to abstain even ? from all appearance of evil, and, in imitation of our blessed Lord, counts it as his meat and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. He is 44 born of God,” and you may easily see from his dispositions and deportment, that he is indeed a partaker of a divine na¬ ture. Observe his devout humility and re¬ verence— 44 I acknowledge my transgres- 44 sions, and my sin is ever before me.”— Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and 44 done this evil in thy sight.” 44 Lord, 44 what is man that thou art mindful of 44 him ? and the son of man, that thou vi- 44 sitest him ?” Listen to the delightful language of his grateful heart. 44 Behold, 44 what manner of love the Father hath be- 884 The Strength and O * * “ stowed upon us that we should be called 44 the sons of God !” 44 Bless the Lord, O 44 my soul, and all that is within me, bless 44 his holy name : bless the Lord, O my “ soul, and forget not all his benefits, who 44 forgiveth all thine iniquities; who heal- 44 eth gill thy diseases; who redeemeth thy 44 life from destruction ; who crowneth thee 44 with loving kindness and tender mercies.” Witness his submissive behaviour when un¬ der the heavy pressure of affliction :— 44 It 44 is the Lord,” saith he, 44 let him do what 44 seemeth him good and 44 It is good, I 44 know, for me to be afflicted : before I was 44 afflicted, I went astray; but now I have 44 kept thy word. Though afflicted, I need 44 not despond: God is with me; and 44 though the fig-tree should not blossom, 44 nor fruit be in the vines ; though the la- 44 hour of the olive should fail, and the fields 44 yield no meat; though the flock should 44 be cut off from the fold, and there should 44 be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice 44 in the Lord : I will joy in the God of my 44 salvation.” Observe, too, how he feels and acts towards his fellow-creatures. He puts away all envy, and wrath, and bitter¬ ness, and rejoices with them who do rejoice? 385 Victory of Believers. and weeps with them who weep. 44 Behold, 44 (says he,) we all are brethren, travelling 44 up through the same wilderness, and shall 44 soon come to the same end. Where- 44 fore, then, should we fall out by the way ? 44 Let us love and do good to one another 44 as we have opportunity—bearing one an- 44 other's burdens ; adding to each other’s 44 joys, and so fulfilling the law of Christ.”— But why multiply particulars? He is 44 born 64 of God,” and his constant aim is to act a part becoming the dignity of his nature, and the magnificence of his hopes. He 44 adds to his faith virtue ; and to virtue 44 knowledge ; and to knowledge temper- 44 ance; and to temperance patience; and 44 to patience godliness ; and to godliness, 44 brotherly kindness, charity ; and these 44 things being in him and abounding, he is 44 neither barren nor unfruitful in the know* 44 led«;e of our Lord Jesus Christ*” II. Such is the character here mention¬ ed ; let us next consider the opposition which, in maintaining his integrity, such a character is called to contend with and to conquer.—It is the opposition of the 44 world. He who is born of God overcome 386 The Strength and eth the world. Ah ! my friends, the very place of our reisdence is the scene of our danger. This very world, which ministers to our support, solicits our ruin. The world has always been, what it still is, an enemy to religion.—What brings “ tempta- “ tion and a snare ?” The world. What “ pierces men through with many sorrows,” and “ drowns them at last in destruction “ and perdition ?” The things of the world. What seduced the young foolish prodigal from his Father’s house into guilt, and dis¬ grace, and starvation?—The meretricious enchantments of the world. What made Demas forsake both the Apostle and the cause of Christ ? The Apostle himself shall answer,—“ Demas hath forsaken me, hav- “ ing loved the present world.” What made Judas betray his Lord? The world: he coveted the favour of the Jews, and thirty pieces of silver. And what sent Dives to the torments of hell ? The immersion of his mind in “ the good things” of this world: therefore it was, that while Lazarus was comforted, he was tormented. Ah ! what is it that still makes the multitude around us “ depart from the living God ?” What makes us all too negligent of “ the things Victory of Believers. 38 / 44 that belong to our peace ?” What but the principles ; the example ; the business ; the cares or the gratifications of this evil world. Hence it is emphatically said,— 44 Know ye not that the friendship of 44 the world is enmity with God.—Who- 44 soever therefore will be a friend of the 44 world , is the enemy of God.” He then who is a friend of God,—he .who is “ born 44 of God,” renounces, in some measure, the world. He is willing indeed to enjoy with moderation its gains and comforts; but he despises them all when they come into competition with his immortal interests. He rates at their due value the things that O are seen and temporal; and as this is com¬ paratively very low, he reserves his chief ardour for those things which are unseen and eternal. Give him but food and rai¬ ment here, and he learns therewith to be content. His desire and prayer is, that he may resemble the Apostle Paul: that like him he may be able to say with sincerity and truth— 44 the world is crucified to me, 44 and I to the world.” Thus does he deny himself, take up his cross and follow Christ. Yes, he 44 is born of God, and he overcomes 44 the world.” 2 b 9, o88 The Strength and “ Overcome the world ! metliinks, 1 hear “ some say; who can do this? Nature hath “ implanted within us appetites and pas- “ sions, and given us objects in abundance “ with which to gratify them. To lay then “ a restraint upon these, or in other words, “ to overcome the world, is surely unnatural : “ it is to make ourselves miserable, and to “ act in direct opposition to that gracious “ Being who hath constituted us such as we “ are.” True, Nature, or rather the God of Nature, hath implanted within you appe- tites and passions ; these then are natural: But who told you that their present cor¬ rupt direction is natural. God, originally, created your nature after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. He designed all your appetites and pas¬ sions to be kept under the control of right reason : he designed you to be improved and spiritualized, and thus made meet for the kingdom of heaven. Whotold youthen that God created you merely for this world , and to take up your rest on its empty perishing pleasures ?—These your wrong-directed ap¬ petites and passions are the proofs of your fall: you have them in common with the Victory of Believers. 389 beasts of the field. Your whole constitu- tionis weak and disordered, thoughyou think yourselves healthy and strong. This world is hut your temporary prison, though your diseased imagination may represent it as a palace. You are only dreaming, though you flatter yourselves that you are wide awake. You are in thick darkness, and cannot appreciate the value of surround¬ ing objects.—Let the Sun of Righteous¬ ness but dart one beam into your be¬ nighted souls, and you will soon discover the deception, and long for the power of his grace to enable you to triumph over those evil passions which you now indulge, and to overcome that world which hath been so long cheating you with visionary grati¬ fications. Rut if still you will not believe, but are determined to “ live after the flesh : “ then you shall die; but if through the spirit “ you do mortify the deeds of the body, you “ shall live ; for as many as are led by the “ Spirit of God are the Sons of God,” and being the Sons of God, “ they overcome “ the world,” “ Overcome the world !” methinks I hear even some humble, faint hearted Christian exclaim, “ I have for months and years 390 The Strength and 44 been attempting this ; but have never yet 44 been able to accomplish it. Temptation 44 carries me away. When I would stand, 44 then I fall; when I would do good, then 44 evil is present with me. Tell me then 44 how I shall increase my strength, how I 44 shall overcome the world, and what I shall 44 do to he saved.”—- Fear not, Christian, God is with you, and greater is he who is with you than all who can be against you. 44 He willstrength- 44 en you; yea, he will help you ; yea, he 44 will uphold you with the right hand of 44 his righteousnes.” But while struggling for victory, let me ask, have you duly at¬ tended to the means by which victory may be obtained ? In the Christian warfare, there is an appointed weapon which we must wield. That weapon is faith. — 44 This is the 44 victory that overcometh the world, even 44 our faith.” III. The faith here meant, respects the declarations and promises of God as he is manifested through Jesus, and implies the soul’s fixed reliance upon him for the per¬ formance. This is the faith which strength- 391 Victory of Believers. ens and elevates the mind ; which over¬ comes the world, and without which it is impossible to please God.—What is the whole of religion hut a struggle between sense and faith ? To what are we tempted to sin but by the possessions and pleasures of the present world ? And by what are we induced to the practice of holiness, but by the infinitely superior possessions and pleasures of the future world. Now, the possessions and pleasures _of the present world are the objects of sense. Through the senses they find admission to the mind, and there shed all their baneful influence. By sense then, the unregenerate man mayjustly be said to be seduced, debased, and enslaved. —Again the possessions and pleasures of the future w’orld, are evidently from the very circumstance of their being future, and consequently invisible, the objects of faith. By faith only their value is appreciated ; their influence felt, and that holiness pro¬ duced for the sake of which they have been graciously revealed.—Is it true, then, that by sense we are made the servants of sin ? Then it is equally true, that by faith we are made free from all sin ; enabled to walk dose with God, and “ overcome the world.” 392 The Strength and Now this view of faith exactly accords with thedescriptionof it given by the Apostle Paul. 44 Faith (saith he,) is the substance 44 of things hoped for ; the evidence of 44 things not seen.” Heb. xi. 1. The things hoped fox are the things of futurity—the things which according to St. Paul are not seen. Rom. viii. 24. “ We are saved by 44 hope : but hope that is seen is not hope ; 44 for what a man seeth, why doth he yet $ 4 hope for?” Now without faith their can be no hope; for if we do not believe in things future, we cannot possibly hope for them. Hope therefore is indebted to faith for all its objects ; for these objects with re¬ spect to hope, would be mere non-entities were it not for faith. Considered therefore as things hoped for , they owe their being and substance to faith. 44 Faith then is the 44 substance of things hoped for ; the evi- 44 dence of things not seen.” The things not seen , are those glorious rewards which God hath prepared for his servants in the kingdom of heaven. Now as these rewards are the objects, neither of sense nor of science; but revealed to us by the declara¬ tions and promises of God; the only evi¬ dence upon which we can receive them, is the evidence of faith. We believe that the I Victory of Believers. 393 exist, because we believe the gospel of Christ; and we believe that they shall be conferred upon the Christian, because we believe that 44 He is faithful who hath promised.'’ The Christian therefore, believing in God as he is manifested through Jesus Christ, knows and remembers that the objects of sense are awfully dangerous to his everlasting in¬ terests. He accordingly becomes habitually on his gaurd, lest they should take an undue possession of his mind. He 44 watches and 44 is sober unto the end.” He “ walks not 44 after the flesh but after the spirit,” endures hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and though without strength in himself, yet through faith in him who is Omnipotent, he holds fast his integrity, and 44 overcom- 44 eth the world.” 44 What, (he reasons with 44 himself,) what are the gains of the whole 44 world compared with the salvation of my 44 soul? What are the favour and friend- 44 ship of man, compared with the favour 44 and friendship of God ? What are all ^ the visionary gratifications of time, com- 44 pared with the unutterable perfection 44 and pleasures of eternity ? Whatsoever 44 others then do, I will serve the Lord: * 4 and in this service what difficulties should 9 dismay me ? what dangers should alarm 44 me ? I may be strong in the grace 44 which is in Christ Jesus ; I may do all 44 things through him strengthening me. 44 I will therefore go on in his name, 44 making mention of his righteousness, 44 even of his only.”—And this, my friends, is not an ideal character, which exists only in description. Thanks be unto God, we can adduce a cloud of witnesses ; an host of Martyrs and Confessors ; multi¬ tudes out of every nation, and sex, and con¬ dition, who have kept their garments unde- fded : who have overcome the world, and been always ready to embrace every form of suffering and death, rather than abandon the work of the Lord. Every new difficulty and trial tended only to make them wax stronger and stronger. They were invin¬ cible, because they believed themselves im¬ mortal. IV. Thus, my friends, have we seen the noble character which is here described : the formidable enemy whom he contends with and conquers, and also the powerful weapon which in this warfare he so successfully wields. Let us next behold the glorious fe¬ licity which follows. 44 Be thou faithful unto 44 death, and I will give thee a crown of life,” 395 Victory of Believers. is the charge of God to the Christian soldier during the period of his conflict. Death at last comes, and the exceeding great and precious promise is amply fulfilled. He falls asleep in Jesus: he “ rests from his labours, “ and his works do follow hitn.” He has no longer any reason to mourn over his frailty and sin : he no longer feels a law in his members warring against the law of his mind. Elected a citizen of Zion, he is pre¬ sented blameless before the throne. Every stain that once tarnished the robe of virtue, is now washed away. Every corruption is uprooted form the heart : every disquieting fear driven from the soul : every enemy laid prostrate on the field. The Christian is made holy as God is holy, and perfect as he is perfect. No wish is denied : no expec¬ tation disappointed. He has overcome through the blood of the Lamb; and he “ sits down with the Lamb on his throne, “ even as he also hath overcome and sat “ down with the Father on his throne.’' And as his happiness shall thus be complete -—unutterable—it shall also be eternal. The heavens shall pass away, the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth and all its works shall be dissolved ; but he who .is “ born of God,” shall flourish in life 396 The Strength and immortal. When millions of ages have elapsed, his happpiness shall seem but just commencing; and when millions more have passed and gone, it will be no nearer ending. —And as his happiness as to its duration, will never be at an end, so as to its purity and perfection, it will never be at its height. To the progress of the blessed no boun¬ dary is set. Throughout all the ages of eternity they shall be adorning themselves with new beauties ; be still improving in knowledge, stillgrowingingrace,and bright^ ening in the splendours of moral glory. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was favoured before his departure with a vision of these ransomed of the Lord. And hear, my friends, how he describes what he beheld. —“ I beheld and lo, a great multitude 44 which no man could number, of all nations 44 and kindred, and people and tongues, stood 44 before the throne, cloathed with white 44 robes, and palms in their hands : and cried 44 with a loud voice, saying,—Salvation to 44 our God which sitteth upon the throne, 44 and unto the Lamb.”—And upon inquiry what these happy beings were, and whence they came, he was told — 44 These are they which 44 came out of great tribulation, and Victory of Believers. 597 u have washed their robes and made them “ white in the blood of the Lamb: therefore “ are they before the throne of God, and “ serve him day and night in his temple ; “ and he that sitteth on the throne shall “ dwell among them. They shall hunger “ no more; neither thirst any more; “ neither shall the sun light on them nor u any heat : for the Lamb which is in the “ midst of the throne, shall feed them, and “ shall lead them unto living fountains of “ waters ; and God shall wipe away all tears “ from their eyes.” My friends, knowing that this is the glorious reward of the Christian Conqueror, shall it not be our earnest desire to inhale his spirit; to emulate his deeds ; to possess his character ? It is a character the noblest and most blessed upon earth. It assimu- lates us to superior natures, and makes them our allies and our friends. But what is of infinitely greater consequence, it is a character to which God himself is a friend : it is the seal of his children : it is a cha¬ racter which he will cherish, perfect, bless, and delight in, world without end. But remember, Brethren, that this character cannot be obtained bv the volatile; the 398 TJie Strength and idle and indifferent. It is a character the possession of which requires much thought, vigilant care, unwearied patience, and un¬ remitting exertion. — The whole of our •journey through life is attended with dif¬ ficulty and danger. Who then, that has any regard for his immortal soul, will blindly follow the impulse of unregenerate nature, walk according to the course of this evil world, and say to himself, “ peace, peace, “ when there is no peace.” Awake thou that sleepest, hear the voice of God, and harden not your hearts. He now calls you to glory and to virtue : obey his call; escape from tlie miserable thraldom of sense and passion : accept the liberty of the free¬ born sons of light: pray for faith to direct and elevate your mind ; to enable you to “ overcome the world,” and to go on from strength to strength, till you appear before God in Zion. Only let your prayer be sin¬ cere, and it shall be heard and accepted. <{ Ask and you shall receive : seek and you “ shall find.” You shall “ obtain mercy” through Jesus Christ; “ and find grace to “ help you in every time of need.” Christians, I intreat you, in particular, never to be discouraged in your spiritual 399 Victory of Believers . warfare. You have every reason to stand, and be of good courage; but none to be weary, or faint in your minds. Arduous, I know, is the work you are called to per¬ form ; but you are not called to perform it in your own strength : you have to over¬ come the world; but you are to overcome it by faith ; and faith, let me remind you, is the gift of God. Pray then to God who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not:—earnestly pray,— 1 “ Lord we believe, 44 help thou our unbelief.” There is no adversary too powerful; no work too diffi¬ cult for him who relies on the Omnipotent. David, though a stripling, vanquished with ease the giant of Gath, because 44 he went 44 out against him,” not in his own strength, but 44 in the name of the Lord of hosts; 44 the God of the armies of Israel.” The world with all its temptations and allure¬ ments, will be as easily overcome by him who is truly 44 born of God,” as the uncir¬ cumcised Philistine was by the hand of David. 44 All things are possible to him 44 that believeth.” He 44 puts on the whole 44 armour of God,” and God himself is with him, and will be with all who put their trust in him, even to the end of the world. 400 The Strength and Victory of Believers. Christians, consider this : consider too, that the same armour and the same mighty Power are yours—all things are yours— consider this, and persevere in your glorious conflict. Never 44 cast away your confi- 44 deuce, which hath great recompence of 44 reward ; but building up yourselves in 44 your most holy faith; praying in the 44 Holy Ghost; keep yourselves in the love 44 of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord 44 Jesus Christ unto eternal life .”— 44 Now, 44 our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, 44 even our Father, who hath loved us, and 44 hath given us everlasting consolation, “ and good hope through grace, comfort 64 your hearts, and stablish you in every 44 good word and work and enable you to say, with gratitude and with triumph, when your labours are ended ,— 44 I have fought a 44 good fight; I have finished my course : 44 I have kept the faith : henceforth there 44 is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 44 which the Lord the righteous Judge shall 44 give me at that day ; and not to me 44 only; hut unto all them also that love? 44 his appearing.”— Amen. THE PRESENT HAPPINESS OF BELIEVERS. ROM. XV. 13. Kuzv, the God of peace Jill you with all joy and peace in believing , that ye may abound in hope , through the power of the Holy Ghost. The first Christians not only believed in the religion of Jesus ; but were peculiarly qualified “ to give to every one that asked “ them a reason of the” belief “ that was “ in them.” At once, they referred to the heavenly doctrines which they heard their Master deliver ; to the divine life which they saw him lead; and to the astonishing miracles which they saw him perform. They referred also to “ the power of the “ Holy Ghost,” which they themselves had received from him. They were therefore 2 c 402 The Present Happiness of Believers . “ strong in faith, giving glory to God.” They felt too their faith producing the most desirable ; the most delightful effects upon their minds. They believed, and were “ fdled with all joy, and peace, and “ hope in believing.” When we consider the many and dis¬ tinguishing privileges with which, both be¬ fore and immediately after the death, re¬ surrection, and ascension of Jesus, the pri¬ mitive believers were favoured, we are apt to regret that it was not our lot to live in those happy days. We sometimes imagine that we have reason to complain of not having the same impelling motives which they had, to attach us to our holy religion. However wrong this spirit is, yet, perhaps, we have all more or less indulged it; and exclaimed like Esau, when deprived of his father’s blessing,—“ Hast thou but one “ blessing, my father •?” But such language should never proceed out of our mouth; for he who was so eminently the God of the first Christians, is our God likewise. The miraculous powers and extraordinary grace conferred upon them, tended to es¬ tablish and extend our religion, and thus to The Present Happiness of Believers. 403 confirm our faith in it. By being bestowed upon them, they were therefore indirectly bestowed upon us. Besides, God is still ready to confer upon us, in a direct manner, grace to help us in every time of need. “ Every good and perfect gift still comes “ down from the father of lights.” He still offers to “ bless us with all spiritual “ blessings, in heavenly places, in Christ.” We do not, it is true, behold at present miracles performed ; but what is far more valuable, is fully put in our power, and what, if we have but faith and zeal, we shall certainly obtain. My friends, only attend to the words of my text, and you may judge of the value of what I mean. “ Now “ the God of hope,” says the Apostle, &c. These words, give us such a beautiful and attractive picture of Christianity, and of the effects it is suited to produce, that methinks, the contemplation of it can scarcely fail to increase the zeal, the joy, and consolation of all who truly believe in it; and even provoke to a holy emulation those who have hitherto been strangers to it. O may this be the blessed fruit of the re- 2 c 2 404 The Present Happiness of Believers . flections which I am now to make, and which my text has naturally suggested,. The illustration of the three following propositions, will perhaps fully unfold to you all that is contained in the Apostle’s prayer. TheFi rst proposition is,—Faith naturally tends to fill the soul with the most plea¬ sant and delightful feelings— peace, joy, and hope. For Paul here supposes, that it is by faith that we are made partakers of these invaluable blessings. 44 God,” says he, “ fill you with all joy and peace in he - 44 lieving .” The Second proposition is,—Though faith does naturally tend to fill the soul with these pleasing and delightful feelings, yet, even true Christians do not always fully enjoy them. Hence it is that the Apostle so earnestly prays that God would increase to such, these feelings. The Third proposition is,—That if even we labour with success, to remove the ob- The Present Happiness of Believers. 405 stacle? which may prevent our full enjoy¬ ment of these feelings, we must receive the assistance of 44 the Holy Ghost,” and, like the Apostle, fervently and habitually pray for this assistance, both to ourselves and others. I. The First proposition is,—Faith na¬ turally tends to fill the soul with the most pleasant and delightful fulness, pleasure, and hope. What a different representa¬ tion this, from what ignorance or malice often give of religion. Hear the language of worldly men. They depict religion as something melancholy, gloomy, and morose —as something fitted rather to make us miserable, at least here below—than to make us happy. But whose judgment are we to prefer upon this subject—the judg¬ ment of him who knows nothing of the matter, or the judgment of one who has had mature experience—the judgment of the man of the world, or the judgment of the Apostle Paul, who “ overcame the “ world”—believed and glorified in the gos¬ pel of his Lord and Saviour, and most sen¬ sibly felt its purifying, consoling, and en¬ nobling power ?—The wise, and the candid. 406 The Present Happiness of Believers. will have little hesitation in making a de¬ cision. The Apostle Paul acquainted “ himself with God,” and found him to be a “ God of hope.” A God who gave him “ all joy and peace in believing.” And that the Apostle was under no delusion— that belief in God, as he hath graciously revealed himself to us, is really productive of these blessed effects, will appear, whether we consider the nature of this itself, or consult the experience of real Christians in all ages. Let us consider the nature of the thing itself. If I really believe that God reign- eth, and that he hath revealed himself through Jesus Christ, as my Father and my friend—if I really believe that he possesses infinite power and wisdom, and goodness, and that he is continually exercising all these perfections, for my moral improve¬ ment and final happiness, is it not evident, that this belief has a natural tendency to fill my soul with joy, and peace, and hope ? —What have I to fear wilder such a graci¬ ous government ? Am I afraid to meet the trials, and the troubles of life ? If I believe in God, I know that he sends these as The Present Happiness of Believers. 407 blessings in disguise—and will make them all work together for my good. Am I afraid of the power of sin, and of the consequences which it may entail upon me at the day of judgment? If I believe in God, I know that Christ his only begotten Son, hath “ put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” —that “ there is now no condemnation to “ those who are in Him, and who walk not “ after the flesh, but after the spirit,”—that nothing shall be able “ to separate me from “ his love—that I shall never perish, neither “ shall any be able to pluck me out of his “ hand.” In fine, am I afraid of the ap¬ proach of death, and of the awful and un¬ tried scenes to which it will lead me ?—If I believe in God, I know, that death is nothing more than a messenger to conduct me to my Father’s house, where I shall “ rest from my labours, and be followed by “ my works to my Father’s house, where I shall “ behold his face in righteousness, “ and be satisfied with his likeness.” Knowing and believing these things, I need fear no evil—I may safely trust that goodness and mercy shall for ever follow me—I may look upon death as a vanquish¬ ed foe, and take up this triumphant song, 408 The Present Happiness of Believers. 44 O death where is thy sting !—O grave “ where is thy victory !” I may indulge a hope, 44 which maketh not ashamed,” main¬ tain a “ peace which passeth all under- “ standing,” and 44 rejoice with a joy un- 44 speakable and full of glory.’’ But on this head, not only consider the nature of this belief itself; consult also the experience of those who have fully exer¬ cised it. But here a field opens far too extensive to be travelled over. How can I even name, much less describe, the hap¬ piness of all those who have lived by faith on the Son of God ? The time would fail me, to mention only those whose names stand upon the sacred record. Let me therefore, here, confine myself to the ex¬ perience of the Apostle Paul, who in the fulness of his heart, offered up the pious benevolent prayer contained in our text. His is a case perfectly in point; and it will preclude the necessity of enumerating others. He believed in God ; he believed also in his only begotten and well beloved Son—and his faith was, confessedly active and genuine. 44 He counted all things but 44 loss, &c.”—he 44 counted not even his The Present Happiness of Believers. 409 44 life dear,” &c. 44 He was stedfast and 44 unmoveable,” &c. And did not his faith bring upon him all the trials and troubles which, humanly speak¬ ing, could embitter mortal existence? You remember the words of Jesus when he called him to the Apostleship— 44 I will show him 44 what great things he must suffer for my 44 names sake.” And his whole history de¬ monstrates, that there never was a predic¬ tion more literally fulfilled.—Yet amid all these trials and troubles which befel him, and which would have made a worldly man of all creatures the most miserable, did holy Paul feel himself miserable ? Did he not find in his faith an ample recompence for his sorest tribulations ? Was not this man of God, actually 44 filled with all joy and 44 peace in believing, and did he not abound 44 in hope, through the power of the Holy 44 Ghost ?” Let the sacred monuments of his zeal—let the incomparable epistles which he has written, and in which he seems to be devoted to the salvation of his brethren, bear witness to the blessed state of his piind. 410 The Present Happiness of Believers. Hear how he there expresses his joy.— 44 Thanks be unto God, who always causeth 44 us to triumph in Christ.” 44 What thanks 44 can we render to God, for all the joy 44 wherewith we joy for your sakes ? Yea, 44 and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and 44 service of your faith, I joy and rejoice 44 with you all; for the same cause also, do 44 ye joy and rejoice with me.” 44 I know 44 whom I have believed,” &c Hear too how he speaks of his peace. 14 Being justified by faith, we have peace 44 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 44 In nothing I shall be ashamed ;—but with 44 all boldness Christ shall be magnified in 44 my body, whether it be by life or by 44 death ; for to me to live is Christ, and to 44 die is gain.” 44 And hear how he declares 44 his hope. We through the spirit, wait 44 for the hope of righteousness by faith.” 44 We trust in the living God, who is the 44 Saviour of all men, especially of those 44 ‘that believe.” 44 The Lord shall deliver 44 me from every evil work, and will pre- 2 Cor. 1. v. The Present Happiness of Believers . 411 44 serve me to his heavenly kingdom.”— 44 Behold I show you a mystery ; we shall 44 not all sleep; but we shall all be changed 44 in a moment—in the twinkling of an eye, 44 and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 44 and we shall be changed ; for this cor- 44 ruptible must put on incorruption, and 44 this mortal immortality.” And even when the hour of his departure was come— that trying hour, when every ill founded hope generally fails us; the high hope of the Apostle remained unshaken, or rather became more elevated and stedfast. He seemed to be indeed already 44 risen with 44 Christ: he seemed to be already seated 44 with him in heavenly places. He laid 44 hold on eternal life.” He anticipated the glory and felicity of that kingdom into which he was entering. Such, my friends, was the experience of the Apostle—such the divine power, which he found faith in the gospel to have on his mind. But is the experience of all true Christians the same ? Have they all uniformly such 44 joy , and 44 peace , and hope in believing ?”—No, my friends, neither the gospel nor experience authorise us to say so. Accordingly, the second proposition which we laid down for 412 The Present Happiness of Believers. the discussion of this interesting subject, was, you remember, the following : II. Though faith naturally tends to fill the soul with the most pleasant and de¬ lightful feelings, yet even true Christians do not always fully enjoy them. The truth of this proposition is, unhappily but too fully verified. It appears from the very words of the text; for Paul would not have prayed with such earnestness, that God would give the pious Romans, to whom the epistle is addressed, all joy and peace in be¬ lieving, and abundance of hope , if their be¬ lief had uniformly and fully produced these blessed effects.—It appears also from woful experience. The slightest observation of the religious world is more than sufficient to convince us, that however much faith naturally tends to yield to the soul holy quietude and pleasing expectation, yet it does not always exempt it from disquietude and dejection. How many faithful men have had occasion, amidst their spiritual anguish, to remonstrate with themselves in the language of the Psalmist. “ Why art “ thou cast down, O my soul, and why art “ thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou The Present Happiness of Believers. 413 “ in God, for I shall yet praise him who is 44 the health of my countenance, and my 44 God.” Faithful men experience this disquietude and dejection from various causes. They experience it often from their natural constitution. The body and the mind are near relations, and the state of the former must deeply affect that of the latter. Though faith then directly tends to fill a man with joy and peace , and hope, yet, an unhappy constitution of body may, in a great measure, obstruct this tendency, and cause the mind to behold, even the most comforting and enlivening objects, through a dark and gloomy medium. Again, Believers often experience dis¬ quietude and dejection from their spiritual languor and backsliding. Though they have true faith ; though undoubtedly this 44 root of the matter,” is in them, yet, when in any degree they neglect to cherish and improve it, no wonder that it does not produce in them all its 44 pleasant fruits.’* When by their foul unworthy declensions, 414 The Present Happiness of Believers . they grieve and offend the Holy Spirit, no wonder that the Holy Spirit withdraws his consoling and beautifying influences, and leaves them to go on their way sorrow¬ ing. IIow their ingenuous hearts are wrung with grief, for their ingenuousness never wholly forsakes them, when Jesus says to them, as he did to the backsliding church of Ephesus,—“ I have something “ against thee, because thou hast left thy “ first love. Remember, therefore, from “ whence thou art fallen, and repent, and “ do the first works, or else 1 will come “ unto thee quickly, and will remove thy “ candlestick out of its place, except thou “ repent.” Another cause of their disquietude and dejection, besides their voluntary spiritual languor and backsliding, are the infirmities and sins, which, notwithstanding all the care and vigilance of which they are capa¬ ble, will still adhere to them. “ There is “ not a just man upon earth, that doeth “ good and sinneth not.” Iniquities, we must all confess, cleave even to our holiest services. Consciousness of this throws a The Present Happiness of Believers. 415 damp upon the ardour of the soul, and in¬ terrupts for a while its joy and peace , and hope in believing. The last cause of the disquietude and dejection of the faithful, which I shall men¬ tion, though others might be stated, is the prevailing wickedness of the world in which they dwell. In proportion, Christians, to your own love and obedience to the law of God, which is so holy, and just, and good, must be your sorrow when you see such multitudes around you wantonly transgres¬ sing it. “ Rivers of waters,” will often “ run down your eyes,” when you see them capable of such guilt—when you see them despising their own mercies —rejecting the counsel of God against themselves. 44 What! ah what shall become of them ! 44 I am grieved in spirit at their conduct, 44 and I tremble for their doom. I cannot 44 but feel—exquisitely feel for them ; for 44 however unworthy—however ungrateful, 44 they are still my brethren—my kinsmen , 44 according to the flesh. Would that God 44 would grant them repentance to.the ac- 44 knowledging of the truth !—for except 44 they repent, they must perish.” A re- 416 The Present Happiness of Believers . flection like this, is indeed enough to give the Christian the most poignant pain, and conspires with other causes, to inte- rupt for a season, the experience of his joy, and peace , and hope in believing . But let us now proceed to the illustration of the Third Proposition, which is. We must labour to remove the obstacles which prevent our full enjoyment of the spiritual happiness supplicated in our text,—and must, if we would labour with success, re¬ ceive the assistance of the Holy Ghost— and like the Apostle, fervently and habitu¬ ally pray for this assistance, both to our¬ selves and others. Yes—-we must, undoubtedly, labour to remove the obstacles, which prevent our full enjoyment of the spiritual happiness which is here prayed for. The Apostle in¬ timates, that our spiritual happiness is de¬ rived to us through faith—“ The God, (says “ he,) of hope, fill you with all joy and peace “ in believing ”—that is, through faith. And must not we labour to increase and invigo¬ rate our faith ?—to keep it in constant action—to make it an ever-living principle The Present Happiness of Believers. 417 in our minds. The more lively and opera¬ tive this principle is, the greater shall be our happiness—the greater our joy in the Holy Ghost,—the more delighting the tes¬ timony of our own consciences—and the more ardent our hope of seeing and partak¬ ing of the glory of God. We cannot in¬ deed at present expect to have this hap¬ piness complete, because there are causes, some of which we have mentioned, con¬ tinually marring it, and which it is at pre¬ sent beyond our power entirely to remove. But though we cannot at present entirely remove them, we may certainly be always diminishing their force: and the instru¬ ment which we are to employ for this pur¬ pose, is our most holy faith. “ The just “ shall live by faith ;”—and if we would live like the just; if we would live as it becom- eth the gospel, we must daily give all dili¬ gence to improve our faith.—We are called upon to “ continue in the faith,”—to be “ established in the faith,”—to abound in “ faith—to watch and stand fast in the “ faith,” and to show the genuineness and strength of our faith, by continually ad¬ ding to it new degrees of “ virtue, know- 2 D 418 The Present Happiness of Believers. “ ledge, temperance, patience, brotherly “ kindness, and charity.” Now, unremit¬ ting attention to all this, will be found to be, not only our indispensable duty ; but our highest interest. God will lead us gradu¬ ally on to perfection, and in this moral and most honourable progress, give us increas¬ ing “ joy and peace , and hope in believ^ “ mg.” But to make our labour, in this “ work “ of the Lord successful, let it even be re- “ membered, that it is absolutely necessary “ for us to receive the assistance of the “ Holy Ghost. Without his assistance, u we can do nothing:”—it - is he who “ worketh in us, both to will and to do of “ his own good pleasure.”—This truth is so plainly, so explicitly, and so fre¬ quently declared-—that it is astonishing, that it should ever have been doubted or forgotten, by any who profess to believe the scriptures to be a divine revelation. Is it not expressly affirmed, that “ no man can “ say, that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy ^ GhostIs it not expressly affirmed, * 1. Cor. i. xxiii. The Present Happiness of Believers. 419 that 44 by grace we are saved, through faith, 54 and that not of ourselves ; it is the gift 44 of God # .”—All our virtues, and all our enjoyments have this divine origin. 44 Love, “joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, 44 goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” are all 44 the fruits of the Spirit.”—It is the same Spirit who enables us to 44 cry, Abba 44 Father f.” It is he, who 44 beareth wit- 44 ness with our spirits, that we are the chil- 44 dren of God.” It is the same holy, and blessed spirit, who 44 helpeth our infirmi- 44 ties,” and 44 maketh intercession for us, 44 with groanings, which cannot be utter- 44 ed if.” 44 The love of God, is shed abroad 44 in the hearts” of all true Christians, 44 by 44 the Holy Ghost, which is given unto 44 them J.” It is the Holy Ghost, who 44 seals them unto the day of redemption||.” But to prove this, we need refer only to the words of our text: they evidently sup¬ pose, that it is by 44 the power of the Holy 44 Ghost,” that we are 44 filled with all joy 44 and peace, and hope in believing.” * Eph. ii. 8. t Rom. viii. 2G. || Eph. iv. 20. f Rom. viii. 15. § Rom. v. 5. 420 The Present Happiness of Believers. Since, then, the assistance of 44 the Holy 44 Ghost,” is thus indispensibly requisite to our spiritual prosperity, should not all of us be instant in prayer to obtain this assis¬ tance ?—O how desirable in our pilgrimage through a troublous world, is the commu¬ nication of joy and peace , and hope. And if we cannot abound in these pleasurable feel¬ ings, or even rightly experience them at all, but by “ the power of the Holy Ghost,” say—if we should not be importunate in our supplications to God, that he may send the Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts. If we be not, we are our own enemies: we chuse despair in preference to hope, and misery in preference to happiness. But shall we be so foolish ?—God forbid !—Let us constantly, and fervently pray for divine assistance, both to ourselves and to our brethren. Let us pray earnestly, pray that every one of us may obtain the remission of his sins—be enabled, 44 with the heart 44 to believe to righteousness ;”—and not only to believe, but to have 44 all joy and 44 peace, and hope in believing.” Ye who are still aliens from God, and care for none of these things, reflect and The Present Happiness of Believers . 421 immediately turn from the evil of your ways. What a wretched choice you have hitherto made! You have chosen this world for your portion; but will you say that it is a satisfying portion for an immor¬ tal mind ?—Can it ever give you true joy , or peace , or hope ? Have not you —have not all found it to be but 44 vanity and vexa- 44 tion of spirit ?” 44 How long then, ye 44 simple ones, will ye love simplicity; and 44 ye scorners delight in your scorning— 44 and ye fools hate knowledge: Turn ye 44 at my reproof, (saith God,) behold I will 44 pour out my spirit unto you : I will make 44 known my words unto you # .” God de¬ light eth to communicate instruction to the penitent: he delighteth to pardon: he de- lighteth to give 44 the spirit of adoption,” even to 44 the chief of sinners he delight¬ eth to give 44 rest” to 44 the weary and 44 heavy laden.” O may the time come, and may it soon come, when 44 the God of 44 hope will fill even you with all joy and 44 peace , and hope in believing.” Prov. xxii. 2 3, 422 The Present Happiness of Believers* Ye who already believe, let me exhort you to he anxious after still greater con¬ formity to Him who is the great object of your belief. As your characters improve, rest assured, that your consolation shall sooner or latter proportionally abound. And, blessed be God, there is no period set to your advancement. Both through time, and through all eternity, you may be continually rising to higher and higher de¬ grees of every thing that is great and good. Never then let this animating, and enob- ling reflection “ slip out of your minds remember the high and holy vocation, with which you are called, and “ grow in grace, “ and in the knowledge of our Lord and “ Saviour Jesus Christ.” Delight in read¬ ing his word ; in meditating upon his pre¬ cepts ; in contemplating his example, and relying upon his promises. Go on through life, in his name, and devoted to his service. “ Quit yourselves like men : be strong”— “ gird up the loins of your mind : be sober “ and hope unto the end.” In due time “ you shall reap if you faint not.” “ And “ now, brethren, 1 commend you to God, “ and to the word of his grace.” May he The Present Happiness of Believers. 423 “ keep you from falling,”—and “ fill you “ with all joy and peace in believing, that “ ye may abound in hope, through the “ power of the Holy Ghost.” FINIS. James Clarice, Printer, Cowgale, Edinburgh, ERRATA. Page 168 line 8, dele but, and for its read Its. 171 line 12, for patern, read pattern. 250 line 5, for nuissance, read nuisance. ' 352 line 4 from the bottom, for uaranted, read warranted. >' j f- 4 / / 4 % TP % /}