^ 
 
a^B 
 
SERMONS, 
 
 INTENDED CHIEFLY 
 
 FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES 
 
 BY 
 
 THE HON. GERARD T. NOEL, M.A. 
 
 CURATE OF RICHMOND, SURRY; AND LATE VICAR OF RAINHAM, 
 
 KENT. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY. 
 1827. 
 
3^6 133 
 1821 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 With one or two exceptions, these Sermons 
 were written and delivered on the continent, 
 chiefly to the English residents at Florence, 
 Geneva, and Tours. Hence they refer to the 
 most elementary points of Christianity. The 
 specific impression which the author wishes to 
 leave upon the minds of his readers, is the in- 
 dissoluble connection between holiness and hap- 
 piness. He considers Christianity to be a voice 
 from a higher world, which invites the guilty, 
 the weary, the forlorn, to link their hearts and 
 their hopes to Jesus Christ, in whom alone they 
 can find true and unbroken rest. 
 
 The author is deeply conscious of the faint 
 and most inadequate conceptions which he 
 has been able to delineate of the great sub- 
 
 l 287 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 jects connected with eternity. He wishes 
 they were more worthy of the public attention. 
 If, however, a single heart in a single family 
 should feel any additional warmth or consola- 
 tion from his suggestions, he shall bless God 
 in gratitude and praise. To his power and 
 grace he desires to entrust this humble effort 
 to do good. To him he would refer every 
 result, 
 
 Whose frown can disappoint the proudest strain, 
 Whose approbation prosper even his. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 SERMON l. 
 
 ' THE RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 
 
 Acts iii. 26. 
 
 '* Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent 
 him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from 
 his iniquities." . . . . 1 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 ST, PAUL'S CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST. 
 
 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 " For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded 
 that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
 him against that day." . , . .17 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 Philip, ii. 12. 
 '^ Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.*' 34 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 2THESS. ii. 16, 17. 
 
 " Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our 
 Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting 
 consolation and good hope, through grace, comfort your 
 hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." 49 
 
VII 1 CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 TiTUS ii. 11—14. 
 
 " For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath ap- 
 peared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness 
 and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed 
 hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and 
 our Saviour, Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us, that 
 he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
 himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." 65 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 
 
 Heb xiii. 14. 
 
 ** For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to 
 come." ....... . 83 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 THE NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 
 
 Heb. iv. 1. 
 
 " Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of enter- 
 ing into his rest, any of you should seem to come short 
 of it." . . . . . . 95 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE BLESSINGS AND DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL, A SACRA- 
 MENTAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 Rev. i. 5, 6. 
 
 " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins, in 
 
 his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
 
 God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for 
 
 ever and ever. Amen.** . . . .108 
 
CONTENTS. 'X 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 Num. xxiii. 10. 
 " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end 
 be like his." . . . . . J 25 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 THE TENDERNESS AND CONSTANCY OF CHRIST. 
 
 Isaiah xlii. 4, 
 '' He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judg- 
 ment in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his 
 law." 142 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH-. 
 
 Heb. xi. 5. 
 
 '' By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see 
 
 death, and was not found, because God had translated 
 
 him : for before his translation he had this testimony, that 
 
 he pleased God." . . . . . 159 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 LIBERTY OF HEART PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 
 Psalm cxix. 32. 
 
 " 1 will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt 
 enlarge ray heart." . . . .175 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 
 Heb. xi. 6. 
 ** But without faith it is impossible to please God ; for he that 
 cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is 
 the rewarder of them that diligently seek him." 190 
 
 I 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 Heb. xiil. 13, 14. 
 
 " Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing 
 his reproach ; for here have we no continuing city, but we 
 seek one to come." .... 207 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 RELIGION ATTACKED UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 
 
 Acts i. 26. 
 *' And the disciples were called Christians first in An- 
 tioch." . . . . . . 228 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 A PERCEPTION OF CHRIST'S LOVE THE EFFECTIVE SOURCE 
 OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 
 
 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 
 " For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus 
 judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead ; and 
 that he died for all, that they which live should not hence- 
 forth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for 
 them and rose again." .... 240 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 Matt. xvi. 24—27. 
 " Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come 
 after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, 
 and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose 
 it; and whosover will lose his life for my sake, shall find 
 it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 
 world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give 
 in exchange for his soul ? For the Son of Man shall come 
 in the glory of his Father, with his angels ; and then he 
 shall reward every man according to his works." 255 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 SERMON XVllI. 
 
 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MORAL CHARACTER AND 
 HAPPINESS OR MISERY. 
 
 Gal. vi. 7, 8. 
 ** Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a 
 man soweth, that shaU he also reap. For he that sowetli 
 to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that 
 soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life ever- 
 lasting.'' ...... 273 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 Matt. v. 6. 
 " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righte- 
 ousness, for they shall be filled." . . . , 290 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 Psalm xc. 12. 
 " So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our 
 hearts unto wisdom." . , . , 306 
 
 SERMON XXI. 
 
 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 2 Peter iii. 15. 
 " And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salva- 
 tion." . . . . . 323 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 Luke xi. 13. 
 '* If ye being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give 
 his holy Spirit to them that ask him." . . . 339 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 50 — 53. 
 " And he led them out as far as to Bethany ; and he lifted 
 up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, 
 while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and 
 carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and 
 returned to Jerusalem with great joy ; and were continu- 
 ally in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen." 355 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 John xvi. 8, 9. 
 
 '* And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin- 
 
 because they believe not on me." . . . 372 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 THE VINDICATION OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 John xvi. 8 — 10. 
 " And when he is come, he will reprove the world of 
 
 righteousness because I go to my Father, and ye see 
 
 me no more." . , 387 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 
 
 Acts iii. 26. 
 
 " UNTO YOU FIRST GOD, HAVING RAISED UP HIS SON JESUS, SENT 
 HIM TO BLESS YOU, IN TURNING AWAY EVERY ONE OF YOU 
 FROM HIS INIQUITIES." 
 
 A RESTLESS pursuit of happiness is visible on 
 every side. Is this happiness ever attained ? 
 Is the blank in the heart ever filled up ? Is 
 the soul ever satisfied ? The answer to this 
 question vs^ill probably vary according to the 
 age, the animal spirits, the outward lot of the 
 person to whom it may be proposed. It may 
 be doubted, whether in any case the answer 
 will be entirely affirmative. The history of 
 man on this side the grave, is like the history 
 of the natural world : the seasons change ; if 
 the winter chills, the summer warms ; if dark- 
 ness wraps in its shade, light cheers with its 
 brilliancy. Thus joy and sorrow, hope and 
 fear, satisfaction and perplexity are mingled 
 
 B 
 
2 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 together. In some minds the cheerful, in others 
 the gloomy preponderates ; in every case the 
 two are mingled, and all men will probably 
 agree that the lot of each admits of addition, 
 both to its comforts and its deprivations. 
 Under these circumstances, it is very material 
 to know whether there be any mode of defend- 
 ing ourselves against such an increase of sorrow, 
 and of insuring to ourselves such an increase of 
 comfort. It is very material to know the pos- 
 sible extent both of our misery and of our con- 
 solation. In every age many have occupied 
 themselves in collecting facts, in examining 
 evidence upon this matter ; and they have fre- . 
 quently given to the world the result of their 
 inquiries. Among these inquirers, those who 
 have not possessed any direct information from 
 God, and those who have neglected to avail 
 themselves of such information, have lament- 
 ably failed as to the extent of the resources Mvhich. 
 they have opened to mgtnkind. They have nei- 
 ther probed deep enough the wounds, nor ad- 
 ministered widely enough to the sorrows of 
 man. They have too much left him the enigma 
 which they found him, and all their best pre- 
 cepts have been impotent to shield him from 
 the severities of his condition. It is the Bible 
 alone which tells him wherefore he is mise- 
 rable, and how he may become happy. He 
 may read volumes on all the controversies of 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 3 
 
 science ; he may surround himself with all the 
 prosperity, the honour, the emolument, the 
 rank, the taste, the genius, the wealth of the 
 earth, and he will still remain weak, inconstant, 
 and the ultimate prey of death. On the other 
 hand, by the unfeigned belief of one sentence 
 of the Scriptures, we are put in possession of 
 present peace and of eternal life ! Oh who can 
 tell the value of the single verse now before 
 our eyes ! " God having raised up his Son 
 Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away 
 every one of you from your iniquities." Here 
 is a chart to the wanderer, a light to the be- 
 nighted, a shelter to the forlorn, a certainty to 
 the dubious ! Here is information which has 
 often placed a child on an infinitely higher 
 level than that on which the proudest philoso- 
 pher has ever stood ! Would to God that each 
 had a heart to receive it ! It points out pre- 
 cisely the source of human wretchedness, and 
 the full remedy of which that wretchedness 
 admits. The misery of man lies chiefly in the 
 circumstances of his moral condition ; he is 
 wretched under the effects of his imquities. 
 His remedy must be found in the return of his 
 affections to God; God sent Christ to bless you 
 by turning you away from your iniquities. 
 
 The sorrows of man mainly issue from the 
 depravity of his affections. He is guilty before 
 God. He is under a curse; himself and the 
 
 B 2 
 
4 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 earth on which he dwells. God made man 
 innocent and happy, and surrounded him with 
 every thing adapted to his situation ; but he 
 believed the opinion of his foe rather than the 
 decision of his friend. The fatal counsel pol- 
 luted his heart and destroyed his peace. In 
 that hour his nature received a tremendous 
 wrench. He became obnoxious to the penalty 
 of death, while the law of holy love no longer 
 bound him to his God or to his kindred. 
 What is the human history from that hour to 
 this? Can we do otherwise than sicken 
 over the details of human conduct? A few 
 rays may occasionally gild the pages as we 
 turn them over ; but the narrative, in general, 
 is dark and unfriendly. It is a narrative in 
 which individually man appears continually to 
 prey upon man, and collectively nations to 
 oppress nations. It is a narration of crimes 
 and of blood. It were obvious to ask what 
 those wdio deny the depravity of man can make 
 of his history, and of the inefficacy of all his 
 municipal regulations ? Certainly his passions, 
 earthly and selfish, spurn every barrier when 
 occasions exasperate their movements. To re- 
 strain them under such excitements is as im- 
 practicable, as, by the weight of the dew^s of 
 heaven, to chain down the fiery matter which 
 a volcano is about to cast forth. 
 
 But to come to mdividual experience. From 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 
 
 whence does the largest portion of his suffer- 
 ings arise ? Is it not from the disordered state 
 of his affections ? Is there not a disease of the 
 heart, which is widely prevalent, and which no 
 skill can heal ? Are not envy, jealousy, hatred, 
 revenge, discontent, ambition, licentiousness, 
 avarice, the love of pleasure, and various other 
 appetites dreadfully predominant ? What painful 
 contentions, what fearful results do these pro- 
 duce upon the mind ! His affections now with- 
 drawn from God are fixed on what is sordid and 
 shifting. In the pursuit of these objects, he is 
 subject to ten thousand disappointments, and to 
 many a bitter and unavailing struggle. And 
 even beneath the sunshine of their attainment, 
 the mere inadequacy of earthly things to fill the 
 capacity of the mind produces something very 
 like to a sensation of absolute misery ! The ab- 
 sence of God from the affections is in itself an 
 essential source of unhappiness, which would 
 ever operate painfully even if no direct penalty 
 were attached to the violation of God's law. 
 There is, in fact, an indisputable connection 
 between misery and the rejection of God from 
 the affections. To reproduce happiness in a 
 sinful being requires, therefore, a remedy appli- 
 cable to the inward disease of his mind ; a re- 
 medy which not only respects a new and favour- 
 able relation on the part of God, but also a new 
 and holy state of the affections on the part of 
 
6 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 man. In other words, the happiness of a sinner 
 will depend first, upon the conviction that 
 God has pardoned him, and secondly, upon the 
 consciousness that he loves the Being who has 
 thus tenderly dealt with him. That God has 
 pardoned him is a thought which will remove 
 all his fears, hush the tumult of his conscience, 
 cast a brightness over the events of providence, 
 extract the sting from death, and render the 
 prospect of eternity brilliant. That he loves 
 God will be a consciousness derived from the 
 now accordant state of his feelings with God's 
 benefits ; from a delight in the method of God's 
 dealings with him, from a recoil of gratitude, 
 from an approbation of God's character, from 
 a sympathy with God's views and intentions, 
 from an acquiescence in God's estimate of good 
 and evil, and from an internal, holy, and inti- 
 mate communion between God and his soul, in 
 which he cleaves to God as his friend, his 
 father, and his refuge. The presiding power of 
 the universe is thus his shelter ; the Almighty 
 mind is in contact with his own ; the eternal 
 attributes of God gleam around him, as so many 
 suns to cheer and to refresh him ; mercy and 
 purity and love seem to encompass him, and 
 there is no evil which can ultimately wound 
 his peace. He is travelling through a wilder- 
 ness, but under infallible guidance, and under 
 unassailable protection ; and he will soon reach 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 7 
 
 his home, his heritage in the fair regions of 
 eternity. Thus a sense of pardon, and a sense 
 of love to that holy mercy which has forgiven 
 him, bring him into tranquillity and safety. 
 He is therefore happy. 
 
 It is not conceivable that an intelligent, but 
 sinful creature, could be happy in any other 
 way, while living under the administration of a 
 holy God. 
 
 Now the remedy which Christianity brings 
 forward to the view of him who believes it, is 
 exactly of this kind. " Jesus Christ came to 
 bless you, by turning away every one of you 
 from his iniquities.'''' God might have left us to 
 reap the harvest of our rebellion. He might 
 have left us to the unchecked operation of our 
 wild and earthly passions ; and had any mes- 
 senger arrived from heaven, he might well have 
 brought tidings of long and of final calamity. 
 But '' God's ways are higher than our ways, 
 and his thoughts than our thoughts." In re-- 
 ference to his church it is ever true, that ** He 
 hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain 
 salvation, by our Lord Jesus Christ." He 
 sent him to bless and not to curse, to save and 
 not to destroy. He sent him to expiate our 
 sin, and to render his mercy lovely in our eyes. 
 He holds out to us pardon and peace, and he 
 gives us the disposition to love the nature and 
 the heart from which that pardon flows ! 
 
W HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 In this complex operation the means of 
 human happiness are unfolded. The pardon 
 of sin is complete and free, unclogged with any 
 condition or qualification. *' Return unto me, 
 for I have redeemed thee." *' I have blotted as 
 a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud 
 thy sins." *' When v^e w^ere enemies we were 
 reconciled to God by the death of his Son." 
 *' God so loved the world that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish but have everlasting life." 
 
 The guilty but penitent offender may now 
 look upwards and read the unequivocal decla- 
 ration of pardon and redemption. The way is 
 again open to God^'s mercy-seat. The great 
 High Priest stands before the throne to inter- 
 cede for the criminal. *' There is no more 
 condemnation," but perfect reconciliation and 
 grace. 
 
 Now the belief of this truth, under the agency 
 of the Spirit, conveys healing to the heart. The 
 discovery of this act of conciliation to any soul, 
 is in the highest degree purifying. It is im- 
 possible that the soul should retain its enmity, 
 its reluctance to God's service, in the face of 
 all this holy mercy. Sin becomes loathsome 
 and odious when its consequences are thus 
 made visible in the personal sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ, and obedience to the will and mind of 
 God then becomes identical with peace and 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 9 
 
 happiness. Thus Christ blesses by turning 
 away from iniquity, by procuring at once the 
 pardon of sin, and by healing the disease of 
 sin ; by restoring peace in the relations be- 
 tween God and man, and by making God's 
 character the glowing object of attractive imi- 
 tation. 
 
 We may here perceive the strange mistake 
 into which many run who set up faith against 
 works or works against faith. Does the faith 
 of the Scriptures really exist in any heart which 
 it does not more or less heal ? Or can works be 
 valuable in God's sight except they flow from 
 faith in his character? The mistake in this con- 
 troversy lies here. Men often account ** salva- 
 tion" to be a mere deliverance from the penal- 
 ties of the law — the shutting of the gates of 
 hell ; whereas salvation is a complex term, com- 
 prising deliverance from the multiplied effects of 
 sin, of which the most disastrous are to be 
 found in the sensual and earthly and selfish 
 passions of the heart ; and hence, the conver- 
 sion of the heart, the return of the affections to 
 God, is in very truth salvation. Imagine a crimi- 
 nal about to be executed for his offences, and 
 at the same time to be wasted and tormented 
 by the jail-fever. It is evident, that if his 
 crime were pardoned he would still be miserable 
 were his disease still to hang about his frame. 
 And thus it is with the offender against God. 
 
10 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 The moral leprosy would degrade and sadden 
 and destroy him, even under an oblivion of his 
 oiFences on the part of God. The expiation of 
 sin by Christ, and any opinion he might have 
 as to that expiation, would leave him ultimately 
 wretched, if his heart remained the abode of 
 impurity and of selfishness. He believes that 
 Christ died to deliver him from the wrath of 
 God ; ineffectual notion, except he believe also 
 that Christ died to render sin odious and to tear 
 out its roots from his soul ! He can only be 
 happy as he regains God's image in his soul; 
 as his will is reduced into a conformity to the 
 will of God ! What a senseless controversy 
 then is this of faith and works ! ** Now abideth 
 faith, hope, and charity," these three. They 
 live, they bloom together. The belief of God's 
 mercy excites the hope of its enjoyment, and 
 both endear the munificent Benefactor to the 
 heart. The discovery of the holy goodness of 
 God, and the wretchedness of alienation from 
 him, carries captive the affections, and upon this 
 discovery, under the power of God, is founded 
 the superstructure of moral virtue. Thus Christ 
 blesses — thus Christ saves by turning away 
 eyery one from his iniquities. 
 
 This statement may not, however, be deemed 
 conclusive. The necessity for a *' healed heart" 
 to produce happiness, may perhaps be ques- 
 tioned. It may be said, that men have found 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 11 
 
 a very large measure of enjoyment without a 
 religious mind. To meet such an assertion is, 
 however, not very difficult. If it pleased God 
 always to withdraw himself from our notice, 
 and to encircle us with objects adapted to our 
 lower appetites, a large amount of enjoyment 
 might certainly be found separated from religion. 
 But if God has declared, that the moment fast 
 approaches when he will summon us to his bar, 
 and force our consciences to a tribunal from 
 which there is no escape, it will then directly 
 follow, that we cannot long be happy if our 
 minds are unprepared for such a scrutiny. Sup- 
 posing conscience to sleep during the present 
 life, it will at least awake at the moment of the 
 resurrection, and the result will be inconceiva- 
 bly dreadful. An infinite force will then sur- 
 round the unbeliever, and he will find himself 
 to be opposed to the direction in which that 
 force acts ; he must, therefore, of necessity be 
 thwarted and unhappy. 
 
 The reluctance of his mind to God's moral 
 government would, in fact, be even as hell to 
 him. " There is no peace, saith my God, to 
 the wicked." '' They are like the troubled sea, 
 whose waters cast up mire and dirt." This is 
 surely a very intelligible statement of the ulti- 
 mate misery of sin, and a statement which en- 
 tirely justifies the necessity for conversion of 
 heart in order to reproduce happiness, while it 
 
12 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 corrects the strange delusion of mere notions 
 without works. God is the governor of the 
 world, and the principles of his government 
 will one day become apparent to our view. We 
 can, therefore, only be happy as our aims and 
 affections are conformed to those principles. 
 ** All things," says the Biblcj ** work together 
 for good to those who love God," and the reason 
 is, that all things connected with their destiny 
 will one day be adjusted to the steady opera- 
 tion of his moral government, and their delight 
 will arise from the full accordance of that ope- 
 ration with their own principles. Then sorrow 
 and sin will be for ever removed from them, 
 and they will dwell in the blissful presence of 
 God for ever ! 
 
 How stupendous is this mystery of grace ; 
 how munificent is this mission of mercy to the 
 guilty ! 
 
 ** Unto you first God, having raised up his 
 Son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning 
 away every one of you from his iniquities." 
 
 The resurrection of Jesus Christ, it may be 
 here observed, is an important part of this 
 statement, '* God sent him to bless you, having 
 raised him up," that is, from the dead. 
 
 The ultimate blessings of salvation are said 
 to be purchased for the redeemed by the suffer- 
 ings and death of Christ. *' He gave his life a 
 ransom for many." Hence he went down, in 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 13 
 
 their behalf, to the grave: but he went down 
 as a conqueror : '* O death, I will be thy 
 plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruction." 
 He rested the truth of all his assurances to 
 mankind upon the event of his resurrection : 
 '* If Christ be not raised ye are yet in your 
 sins," and the doctrines of hope and of eter- 
 nal life are fables and a dream ! 
 
 ** But now is Christ risen from the dead, 
 and become the first fruits of them that slept." 
 '* He was delivered for our offences and was 
 7^aised again for owv justification.'''' Glorious and 
 momentous truth ! What language can illus- 
 trate the full force of such an expression ! It 
 becomes, however, here a question of unspeak- 
 able importance, what sympathy has each in 
 his own bosom with this event? He may safely 
 judge of the actual interest which he himself 
 has in the resurrection of Christ, by the moral 
 effect which the belief of it has produced upon 
 his mind. Has he regarded it as the seal which 
 God has affixed to the truth of every doctrine 
 delivered by Jesus Christ to man ? And as 
 such, does he behold in it the pledge to himself 
 of eternal mercy, the assurance of forgiveness, 
 and of his own resurrection to everlasting feli- 
 city? Does he connect with it the continual 
 mediation and friendship of the Son of God in 
 his behalf? Does he contemplate him as near 
 to the throne of God exercising uncontrouled 
 
14 HAPPINESS DEPENDENT ON THE 
 
 power, and this in his favour? ** Lo I am with 
 you always even unto the end of the world." 
 '' I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold 
 I am alive for evermore and have the keys of hell 
 and of death." " Come unto me, and I will 
 give you rest." '^ Whosoever believeth on me 
 shall never die." *' Let not your heart be 
 troubled, I will come again and receive you unto 
 myself, that where I am there ye may be also." 
 What influence have these and similar declara- 
 tions upon his moral and spiritual existence ? 
 Religion is not a ceremony or a name. It is a 
 deep sympathy, binding down the soul of the 
 believer to allegiance and to love. It is the cure 
 of his heart, the consecration of his faculties 
 and of his affections to the Benefactor by whose 
 hands he was created, and under whose benig- 
 nant influence he still *' lives and moves and 
 has his being.^' And as such it is a matter of 
 distinct consciousness. What man doubts of the 
 existence of his affection and of his fidelity as 
 exercised towards his fellow creatures? And 
 why shall not this aflection and this fidelity be 
 as much the subject of certainty and of con- 
 sciousness when exercised towards God ? 
 
 It is such ; and at this moment, amidst all 
 the shades of human character in Christendom, 
 there are but two classes of men, those who 
 love Christ and those who love him not. Those 
 who love him, act in the main as reasonably 
 
RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 15 
 
 towards him as they do towards others. Be- 
 cause they love him they think of him, they 
 study to please him, they draw their strength, 
 their hope, their tranquillity, their purity from 
 his inexhaustible fulness. It is not with them 
 a matter of indifference whether or not his 
 name be profaned, his regulations be set at 
 nought, or his cause on earth be opposed. 
 '* Unto you which believe he is precious." 
 Hence with such persons godly anxiety is a 
 reasonable sensation, and the hopes of eternity 
 enter into all their calculations of human 
 felicity. 
 
 But with those who love him not, no such 
 godly anxiety exists. They have no sympathy 
 with his views, no delight in his service. To 
 lull the reproaches of conscience, and to throw 
 some rays upon the darkness of the future, they 
 may often appear as his worshippers ; yea, they 
 may kneel at his altar, and partake of the em- 
 blems of his body and of his blood ; but they 
 have no real attachment to his person and to 
 his cause. They live happily with his foes, 
 they sport with his laws, they make their con- 
 venience or their pleasure the standard of their 
 religion! They sometimes say, "■ Loi*d, Lord," 
 but they make no heartfelt effort to do the thing 
 which he says. But how fearful is the delusion 
 which such worldly religionists practice upon 
 themselves ! What a cruel pang of disappoint- 
 
16 RETURN OF THE AFFECTIONS TO GOD. 
 
 ment will one day fasten upon their souls ! 
 '* God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth 
 that shall he also reap." 
 
 If the Bible be the record of God's ultimate 
 dealings with mankind, then the eternal destiny 
 of men rests alone upon their connection with 
 their Saviour! It is not an opinion, it is faith, 
 it is service, it is allegiance, it is loyalty to 
 Christ, which God demands. 
 
 If these be yielded, all is ultimately safe. 
 Then, amidst the sadnesses of life, the soul may 
 often rise to the tone of grateful and exulting 
 anticipation, ** Blessed be the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to 
 his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a 
 lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible 
 and undefiled, and that fadeth not away !" 
 
17 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 ST PAUL'S CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST. 
 2 Timothy i. 12. 
 
 *' FOR I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED, AND AM PERSUADED 
 THAT HE IS ABLE TO KEEP THAT WHICH I HAVE COMMITTED 
 UNTO HIM AGAINST THAT DAY." 
 
 The declared and deliberate judgments of good 
 and great men, in a good and great cause, have 
 been ever held important and interesting by 
 mankind, more especially if the opinions which 
 they expressed have stood firm beneath the test 
 of scorn and of persecution ; if the objects which 
 they have had in view became more luminous 
 and valuable, in proportion as the outward cir- 
 cumstances under which they were pursued 
 became obscure and perplexed. We have ever 
 felt, that such men excited our veneration, and 
 deserved our sympathy. We have gone along 
 with them in the generous struggles which they 
 endured for human interests, and we have 
 wished that such minds and such hearts had 
 been multiplied ten thousand fold ! The views, 
 
18 ST. PAUl/s CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST. 
 
 the labours, the sufferings of the great Evan- 
 gelist to the Gentiles, are exactly of this kind, 
 while their essential interest is augmented by 
 the light which eternity sheds over those strug- 
 gles for human welfare. The cause in which 
 he toiled was not limited in its scope to sublu- 
 nary interests. It casts its radiance beyond the 
 barriers of the grave. The struggle which he 
 maintained was for the immortality of his 
 species. It was not the struggle for rights 
 which death will ere long annihilate, but for 
 rights which mortality cannot touch; "the 
 right to feed upon immortal truth, to be divinely 
 free, to soar and to anticipate the skies." How 
 great is such an aim, how generous is such an 
 effort! How it lifts a man from the dust to 
 connect him with such a cause ! The apostle 
 was at this time the intrepid and veteran defen- 
 der of Christianity, and in that Christianity 
 he perceived to be bound up all that is dear, 
 and sacred, and important to man. After 
 many years of anxious experiment ; after the 
 severest scrutiny to which he had applied it, 
 under all the forms of conflict and of danger, 
 he could still say, ** I am not ashamed ! I am 
 little disposed to flinch before the frown which 
 would awe it into silence, and thus compromise 
 the happiness of the church. I know well the 
 character and dignity of its blessed founder. 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 19 
 
 and under that knowledge I have confided to 
 him the never dying interests of my soul, in the 
 full belief that ere long He will re-appear to 
 render the high cause of truth and righteousness 
 finally triumphant in the earth." 
 
 But let us contemplate a little more minutely 
 this avowal of the apostle. It points out to 
 our notice, 
 
 I. A DEPOSIT WHICH HE HAD MADE. 
 
 II. The person with whom he had en- 
 trusted IT, AND 
 
 III. The time when he expected to 
 
 RECEIVE IT AGAIN. 
 
 I . He speaks j^r^^ of a deposit which he had 
 made, '* I am persuaded that he is able to 
 keep that which I have committed unto him.'' The 
 expression is very general, but the nature of 
 the subject renders it particular. It could 
 be no earthly interest to which he alludes, for 
 he knew that these were quickly passing away. 
 The objects usually dear to mankind, such as 
 wealth, reputation, power — these were posses- 
 sions far too precarious to excite his anxiety. 
 The great, the absorbing interest to which he 
 ever bent his attention, was eternal happiness, 
 *' This one thing I do, forgetting those things 
 which are behind, and reaching forth unto those 
 things which are before, I press * towards the 
 mark for the prize of the high calling of God 
 
 c 2 
 
20 ST. Paul's confidence in chrtst. 
 
 in Christ Jesus." *' To me to live is Christ 
 and to die is gain." 
 
 Such was the language which he was accus- 
 tomed to employ, and when to this we add the 
 expression of another apostle, '' Commit the 
 keeping of your souls unto God as unto a faith- 
 ful Creator," we shall be at no loss to under- 
 stand the nature of the deposit to which the 
 apostle here refers. The interests of his soul, — - 
 his hopes and expectations for eternity, — his 
 deliverance from guilt, and the enjoyment of 
 God's eternal favour and friendship, — these 
 comprised the amount of that trust which he 
 had confided to God's care. 
 
 The expression, *' committed unto him," de- 
 notes the anxiety of mind, the distinct and 
 precise feeling with which he had made this 
 deposit. It had not been a matter on which 
 he had to the last hesitated — on which his 
 affections had finally hung but in doubtful 
 balance. It had been rather a matter on 
 which his mind had been fully made up ; on 
 which his judgment had become mature, and 
 which he had contemplated with indescribable 
 solicitude. It was the care and anxiety of one, 
 who having amassed his most precious posses- 
 sions, wished to place them beyond the reach 
 of peril. 
 
 Now these circumstances are well worthy 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in cmrist. 21 
 
 of attentive observation. The world and hea- 
 ven, time and eternity, have the same relative 
 value at present as in the days of the apos- 
 tle. The one is as fleeting, the other as perpe- 
 tual. Nor have the relations in v^hich men 
 stand to them undergone any change. They 
 are still connected with both worlds as directly 
 and as certainly. Responsibility is still asso- 
 ciated with the brevity of the one, and happi- 
 ness or misery with the duration of the other. 
 If then the apostle directed his deep and em- 
 phatic attention to the legitimate use of this 
 world, and to the preparation for a better-, and 
 if he did this under the strong influence of a 
 divine light they are surely called upon, if they 
 value their eternity, to yield to the same in- 
 terests the same sort of attention. It cannot 
 be to them a matter of indiff*erence whether or 
 not these interests be provided for, or be left 
 to extreme hazard. It is not here sufficient to 
 reply, that every man has his own opinion, 
 and that proselytism i« not religion. It re- 
 mains still a solemn and heart-stirring ques- 
 tion, ** Have I acted seriou dy w^ow this point — 
 have I rendered to my eternal repose any thing 
 like the justice of an effective and solicitous 
 effort ? Has eternity been with me a matter of 
 heart-felt importance ; and am I conscious of 
 any distinct, honest, and abiding transaction 
 between me and God ? Can I say with sin- 
 
22 ST. Paul's confidence in chuist. 
 
 cerity and precision that I have committed the 
 interests of my soul to God ? That as a crea- 
 ture made by his power, and sustained by his 
 providence, I feel my relation to Him to be 
 near, incessant, and responsible ? Do I value 
 his favour at a high price ? Do I seek my hap- 
 piness, my honour, my dignity as a reasonable 
 being at his hand ? Does the habitual remem* 
 brance of God affect my mind and influence 
 my actions ? Do the solemn events of death 
 and of judgment to come associate themselves 
 with all my notions of good and evil : or am 
 I living at random as to these immortal in- 
 terests ?" 
 
 ** Can I say that I have committed to God 
 the care of my immortal welfare ? that I have 
 surveyed my condition as a guilty, weak, and 
 dying creature ? and that I have calmly and 
 deliberately sought my refuge in Christ Jesus ? 
 Have I shrunk before my own utter insuffi- 
 ciency to grapple with the possible events of 
 eternity, and have I sought to hide me beneath 
 the shield of God's omnipotence ?" And no 
 man can act thus, without a consciousness of 
 this anxiety for the future. Such a communion 
 with God, is the result of knowledge, of medi- 
 tation, and of prayer. It argues a spiritual 
 frame of mind, tenderly alive to its relation 
 with God. It is the result of anxious enquiry 
 as to the dangers to which we are exposed. 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in ciirist. 23 
 
 and as to the value of the possessions which we 
 desire to have guarded. It is, under all these 
 circumstances, a deliberate choice of God's 
 protection ; a reception at once grateful and 
 ardent, of his promised grace and mercy, 
 through Jesus Christ. It is the cheerful con- 
 fidence of faith in the full view of all the 
 changes, and evils, and sins of life ! 
 
 II. But in the second place, this deposit 
 is made by the apostle with special reference to 
 the character of the Saviour in whose 
 
 CARE HE PLACED IT. " I KNOW whoUl I havC 
 
 believed, and I am persuaded that He is able 
 
 TO KEEP THAT WHICH I HAVE COMMITTED 
 UNTO HImT 
 
 Faith in God's promises is a reasonable prin- 
 ciple, not an enthusiastic sensation. We con- 
 fide where we know that virtue, and power, 
 and integrity, and goodness, prevail in the 
 character upon which we wish to lean ; and 
 such scrutiny into character will be the more 
 strict if the deposit we wish to make be very 
 valuable. To confide in any one for eternity, 
 requires a strong evidence of ability to sustain 
 our interest. The world beyond us is unknown. 
 It is vast and untravelled ; while the results of 
 the tribunal before which we must there stand, 
 are in every respect gigantic and overwhelm- 
 ing. Now in reference to this awful - future, 
 the apostle confided in Jesus Christ. He 
 
24 ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 
 
 knew him — ** I know whom I have believed ;" 
 I have not an equivocal conjectural confidence 
 which the unfolding of future events may scat- 
 ter to the winds. I know well the character 
 of the person to whom I have coniided the mo- 
 mentous interests of my eternity. I know him 
 to be the Son of God, ** the same yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever." I know him to be the 
 atonement provided for my sin. I know him 
 to be '* the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sin of the world." I know him to have 
 ** the keys of death and the grave." I know 
 him to be the incessant voice of truth, which 
 cries in the hearing of the wretched, ** Come 
 unto me, and I will give you rest." If there 
 be veracity in God ; if the administration of 
 the universe be in the hands of equity and of 
 love, I know that I am safe. I know that the 
 death and advocacy of Christ is a rock of ada- 
 mant to my soul, from which no evolution of 
 ages can force me away. 
 
 ** I am persuaded that he is able to keep 
 that which T have committed unto him." Abi- 
 lity to save arises from the union of goodness 
 and of power. If the mind of a benefactor 
 towards any object of suffering be kind, and 
 his arm be strong, the relief he can impart is 
 certain. Now Christ unites these qualities in 
 his o\^ai person; ** All power," he says, ** is 
 given unto me in heaven and in earth;" and 
 
ST. TAUl's confidence in CHRIST. 25* 
 
 ** him that coiiieth to me, I will in no wise cast 
 out." This twofold declaration warrants the 
 most entire confidence. He is thus fully able 
 to guard that which his servants commit to 
 his care. The knowledge of his character is 
 every thing as to this confidence. On the 
 reality and on the efficacy of his mediation 
 with God, they rest the whole weight of their 
 expectations. They renounce this world as 
 their heritage, and they anticipate in heaven 
 a possession bought and secured to them by 
 this munificent interposition of God. Such 
 was the conduct, and such the anticipation 
 of the apostle; " He hiew whom he had be- 
 lieved." 
 
 The knowledge of Jesus Christ has travelled 
 down to our days, and will still transfer its 
 blessing to the end of time. It will still be 
 the strong asylum for a sinner's hope. Jesus 
 Christ, and Him crucified, is still the anchor 
 to which he clings. If then the former ques- 
 tion were important^ '* Have I committed the 
 care of my soul to God," the present question 
 is as important, '* Have I done this as God 
 requires me to do it, through the mediation of 
 Jesus Christ ?" Is He the channel to me of 
 peace, of strength, and of confidence ? Do I 
 rely entirely upon the merits of his blood ? Do 
 I claim to be heard, pitied, ransomed, saved, 
 on the ground of his pouring out his soul as 
 
26 ST. Paul's confidence in chrtst. 
 
 the sacrifice for my guilt, and on this ground 
 exclusively ? Do I daily cultivate and cherish 
 that train of thoughts, and feelings, and de- 
 sires which correspond with the condition of a 
 poor frail offender, who expects all his present 
 and future happiness from the free kindness 
 and rich love of God the Saviour? Do I know 
 Jesus Christ as my advocate, my force, my 
 confidence ? Am I persuaded that he is able to 
 uphold my interests and to support me through 
 the trials of life ? Am I persuaded that I may 
 safely rest my dying head upon his promises, 
 and go down into the grave cheered by the 
 conviction '' that because he lives I shall live 
 also." Or do I rather trust to my own inte- 
 grity, to my own kindness of heart, and to 
 the indiscriminate and unauthorised mercy of 
 God? 
 
 No man appears to have availed, himself of 
 the knowledge imparted by the gospel dispen- 
 sation, who does not know whc^refore he is safe, 
 or in what manner he can meet his God in 
 peace. In Jesus Christ he is safe, because 
 God has appointed Christ to be his mediator and 
 advocate. *' By this man, and through his 
 name is remission of sins," authoritatively pub- 
 lished to the world. But he who builds up 
 another hope, will not be able to sustain that 
 hope in eternity. Respectability, honour, kind- 
 liness of character, in reference to man are 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in Christ. 27 
 
 not adequate ground on which to stand before 
 God. The esteemed citizen of earth may be 
 very unfit for the purer jrealms of heaven. Oh 
 let a man beware of trusting lohere God teaches 
 him to despair, or of refusing to trust where 
 God commands him to confide, Happy is that 
 man, who through a knowledge of Christ's 
 work of reconciliation, has found the peace 
 which nothing can disturb ! He knows whom 
 he believes. He advances along the pilgrimage 
 of earth with firm and assured steps. He 
 enters the valley of the shadow of death, and 
 *' fears no evil," not because no evils lurk 
 there, but because the Son of God is his shield, 
 his champion, and his guide ! 
 
 ni. But in making this distinct committal of 
 his eternal interests to Jesus Christ, the apostle 
 refers to a period when the faithful care 
 OF HIS Redeemer would be more espe- 
 cially manifested. '' I am persuaded that 
 he is able to keep that which I have committed unto 
 him against that day.'' The apostle often speaks 
 '' of the day of the Lord;" ^'of the day of 
 Christ's appearing :" and what day is this, but 
 the final day of his triumph? ''Behold he 
 Cometh, and every eye shall see him." ** Who- 
 soever shall confess me before men, him shall 
 the Son of Man also confess before the angels 
 of God." It was needful that Christ should 
 
28 ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 
 
 be humiliated that he might expiate sin. Hence 
 his kingdom was not of this world, was not 
 composed of the elements of temporal gran- 
 deur. But he will not always remain under 
 this apparent degradation. He will return to 
 complete the victory which he hath achieved 
 over sin, death, and hell. He will return to 
 vindicate the cause of truth, and to render the 
 dominion of godliness prevalent in the. world. 
 Then will his disciples share his triumph and 
 partake his bliss. ** Our conversation," says 
 St. Paul, ** is in heaven, from whence also we 
 look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ : 
 who shall change our vile body, that it may be 
 fashioned like unto his glorious body, according 
 to the working whereby he is able even to sub- 
 due all things unto himself." *' When Christ 
 who is our life shall appear, then shall we also 
 appear with him in glory." 
 
 These prospects cheered the heart of the 
 apostle. The brightness of this day gleamed 
 upon his hours of toil, of captivity, of bereave- 
 ment. He lived by faith in God's assurances, 
 and hence he was never ashamed of fidelity to 
 this now despised cause. He habitually con- 
 templated the moment when the number of 
 Christ's followers would be complete ; when 
 the humble, and the pure, and the redeemed 
 of every tongue, and kindred, and people would 
 
ST. Paul's coxfidekce in christ. 29 
 
 be contemporaries ; when the wisdom of their 
 choice would become apparent ; when their 
 side would appear the strong side, and their 
 Saviour would be recognised in the presence 
 of triumphant multitudes as '* King of kings, 
 and Lord of lords/' 
 
 But has the anticipation of the apostle ceased 
 to be reasonable through the silent lapse of 
 years? Has the flight of time shaken in any 
 measure the purpose of God as to the final hap- 
 piness of his servants ? Has the glory of hea- 
 ven wrought in the bosom of Christ any for- 
 getfulness of the expectations which he has 
 excited in his people ? No ; he will assuredly 
 keep that which they have committed to him 
 until or against that day! That day, so long 
 desired by the aching eyes of thousands who 
 sicken at the sins and sorrows of the world, 
 will dawn at last ! The sincere Christian of the 
 present time confides in the approach of this 
 final appearing of his Lord even as did the 
 Christians of old ! The hopes of the gospel 
 descend from age to age. They are the patri- 
 mony of the righteous, and they fade not with 
 the expectations of earth. What then are the 
 habitual anticipations of each one as to this 
 day ? There are many whose ideas are com- 
 pletely obscure as to the future revelation of 
 Jesus Christ! They have a certain indistinct 
 
30 ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 
 
 notion of a day of judgment, of a day of sepa- 
 ration, between the righteous and the wicked ; 
 but they care little to ascertain the nature of 
 the decision or of the qualities of mind which 
 in that day will be identified with happiness. 
 Such it is to be feared live in a dreadful forget- 
 fulness of the nature and end of Christ's mis- 
 sion to the world. Such are exclusively occu- 
 pied with the cares, pleasures, sciences, profits 
 of the present scene, and harmonize but little 
 in their plans with the views and aim of him 
 who came to purify a peculiar people, that he 
 might be eternally glorified in their imitation of 
 his holiness ! 
 
 But how terrific will be the vision of eternity 
 to those who have never sympathised with the 
 wishes or clung to the promises of the Son of 
 God ! What a fatal and dread discovery will 
 such make, of the nakedness of religion, when 
 the time to clothe themselves with the robe of 
 redemption shall have for ever passed away ! 
 Oh for the warning voice which might plead 
 effectually God's cause in their bosoms and 
 awaken them from the dream of levity and 
 of self-indulgence ! Awake, awake thou that 
 sleepest in thy sins, and *' Christ shall give 
 thee light." '* Repent and believe the gospel." 
 Use the present moment. Seek the courage 
 which belongs to wisdom — the courage which 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in Christ. 31 
 
 human ridicule cannot daunt, nor many inward 
 conflicts destroy. Dare to be on God's side. 
 Pursue as the great end of life, the salvation of 
 the soul. In a few fleeting years, all that now 
 attracts the attention- and beguiles the imagina- 
 tion will disappear. Death will introduce the 
 soul to new scenes and new modes of existence. 
 Oh be prepared for such a change. Live in the 
 contemplation of eternity. Take pains to be 
 happy, and make serious efforts to be safe. 
 Dread the benumbing influence of continual 
 society, and of dissipation of mind, which leaves 
 no time, and robs the soul of all inclination for 
 solitary intercourse with God ! Remember 
 wherefore God has warned, wherefore Christ 
 has died, wherefore the Spirit of God has 
 urged. Baffle not the high and generous aim 
 of the gospel. Perish not with all the means 
 of grace, and all the invitations of love, and all 
 the instruments of bliss within your reach ! 
 Read seriously, and deliberately, and habitually 
 the sacred Scriptures, and abide by their ever- 
 lasting decisions. Kneel with contrition of 
 heart before the throne of God, pleading through 
 the merits of Jesus Christ, that your strength 
 may be the strength of Jehovah, and your hope 
 the hope of the just ! 
 
 But are there not some, who by the power of 
 divine grace have already felt much of the in- 
 
32 ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 
 
 ward joy arid elevation which the prospect of 
 eternity communicates to the redeemed ? Are 
 there not some who have already joined with 
 the apostle in the strain of exultation, with 
 which he looked onward to the future ? Like 
 him they know whom they have believed, and 
 they often muse upon their approaching flight 
 to his felicity. They have resolutely, though it 
 may be with unequal steps, taken their part with 
 his servants, and they are ready to abide the 
 consequences of such a decision. They are 
 ready to take up their cross, whatever be its 
 weight; to face, if needful, the world's ridicule 
 and to seek their happiness in God's salvation. 
 They have actually deposited their all in his 
 hands, and their belief is that he will not betray 
 their confidence. 
 
 He will not, he cannot. The promise lies 
 unrepealed in both Testaments, *' I will never 
 leave thee, nor forsake thee." Let such en- 
 dure and wait the result. They may be ha- 
 rassed by temptation, they may be assailed 
 by poverty, they may be wounded in the 
 dearest of earthly expectations, but they shall 
 never be wounded where their true felicity 
 is concerned. O let them live much in the 
 thoughts of eternity, and break resolutely from 
 every unholy shackle of the present world ! 
 Let them cleave closely by faith unto Christ, 
 
ST. Paul's confidence in christ. 33 
 
 and advance daily some steps on the road 
 to heaven! Let them renew again and again 
 their confidence at the foot of the cross, and 
 when *' their flesh and their heart fail, God 
 shall be the strength of their heart, and their 
 portion for ever !" 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 Philippians ii. 12. 
 
 " WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING." 
 
 It is deemed very uncharitable to decide upon 
 the religious character of others, and without 
 doubt great caution is here requisite, because 
 we discern but a part of the character which 
 we judge. But while our Saviour has said, 
 " Judge not, that ye be not judged," he has 
 likewise said, " By their fruits ye shall know 
 them," and that *' out of the abundance of the 
 heart the mouth speaketh." 
 
 The inner character of the mind is evidently 
 discernible to God alone, and must be referred 
 to his decision, but that decision is already 
 recorded as to open acts of irreligion; no un- 
 charitable judgment, for instance, is passed upon 
 lips which profane God's holy name, if the 
 Christianity of such a blasphemer be ques- 
 tioned. It is by the visible fruit that he is 
 judged, nor is it the part of genuine charity to 
 suppose in the face of opposing evidence, that 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 35 
 
 all is necessarily right between a man and his 
 God. There is perhaps no greater practical 
 cruelty than that unholy courtesy which labours 
 to interpret that to be right which God has un- 
 equivocally pronounced to be wrong. A habit 
 of exercising such false judgments seduces the 
 understanding, and hardens the conscience. 
 Hence springs the melancholy and fatal secu- 
 rity of thousands, whom a habit of fair inquiry 
 would warn of tremendous evils to be averted 
 and of substantial blessings to be gained, but 
 who are now reckless of the future, or buoyed 
 up by its visionary expectations ! 
 
 How different from such a security of mind 
 is the caution urged by the apostle, " Work 
 out your salvation with fear and trembling." 
 '* Pursue, that is, your inward cure, gain full 
 evidence that God is healing your soul, and 
 preparing you for the possession of real felicity. 
 It may happen that the disease is yet unarrested, 
 and that the affections of the heart are all dis- 
 ordered and defiled 1 It may happen that no 
 one feeling of solicitude ever yet exerted even 
 a momentary influence upon the mind ! It may 
 happen that up to this moment the most entire 
 estrangement exists between God and your 
 soul." Let us now propose some test whereby 
 to judge of religious anxiety. '* Work out your 
 salvation with fear and trembling." 
 
 It will be surely conceded that the honest 
 
 d2 
 
36 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 pursuit of any valuable object will be mani- 
 fested by the unequivocal use of those instru- 
 ments which are professedly given in order to 
 secure its attainment; so that the real wish 
 to attain it may be fairly doubted when those 
 means are either wholly overlooked or very 
 negligently employed. Now amidst many 
 others which God has revealed for the healing 
 or salvation of the diseased heart of man, three 
 very palpable instruments of mercy may be 
 found in the required use of the Scriptures, of 
 prayer, and of the sabbath-day. 
 
 Let an inquiry then be instituted into the 
 actual use generally made of these means to 
 salvation. The result of such an inquiry may 
 prove very alarming to the condition of many, 
 yet may such an alarm be medicinal and sa- 
 lutary ! 
 
 I. Let us ask, in the first place. What is the 
 actual use made of the sacred Scriptures ? 
 
 All our practical knowledge of God is com- 
 prised in the Bible, all that we can know of 
 our Creator, of our relation to him, of his will, 
 of his intentions concerning us, of our prospects 
 after death, all such knowledge we derive from 
 this source. The Bible then ought to be to 
 man that which the chart and the compass are 
 to the mariner on a stormy ocean ; he has ab- 
 solutely no other guide, no other directory to 
 his course. In what light then do numbers 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 37 
 
 practically regard the Bible ? Is it not enough 
 to possess the Scriptures, to have been instruct- 
 ed out of the Scriptures in infancy, to hear 
 them read in public worship, to have a general 
 approbation of their contents ? Would it be 
 satisfactory to the mariner merely to possess a 
 compass on board his vessel ; to have received 
 information as to its use in infancy, to admire 
 its utility, or to discourse sometimes publicly 
 of its merits ? meanwhile he is driving on, it 
 may be, to .rocks, to shores, to sands, or quite 
 away from his course. Must he not use his 
 compass, must he not trace the bearings of his 
 way, must he not have his eye attentively upon 
 the needle ? 
 
 But how many a man lives in this precise 
 manner as to his use of the Scriptures. Day 
 passes after day, week after week, month after 
 month, year after year, and he ponders not 
 this .chart of life ! Politics, science, poetry, 
 history, it may be lighter productions, these 
 can arrest his attention and interest his mind ; 
 but the Bible which notifies the way-marks to 
 eternity, this excites no interest. He knows 
 and believes, or at least he professes to know 
 and believe, that God has kindly and plainly 
 spoken to man in the volume of inspiration with 
 which he is most imperfectly acquainted, yet 
 he forbears to listen to those accents of truth. 
 He overlooks God's counsels ; he prefers to 
 
38 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 these the dictates of human wisdom, and even 
 the suggestions of his own heart. 
 
 Is it true, or is it not, that men thus deal by 
 the Bible? that they arQ contented to have 
 heard, or occasionally still to catch from other 
 lips the testimonies of eternal truth ? And yet 
 such persons perhaps expect God's favour — 
 expect to reach the harbour of endless peace, 
 and never even dream of the probability of in- 
 tervening shipwreck ! Mournful and inconsis- 
 tent expectations ! Is this to '* work out salva- 
 tion with fear and trembling ;" is this to honour 
 the statutes of the Sovereign of the universe ; 
 is this to value the counsels of a heavenly parent 
 and benefactor ; is this to betoken anxiety for 
 the blessings of his great salvation ? 
 
 Many, however, are to be found, who are by 
 no means chargeable with this entire neglect of 
 the Scriptures. Some have, from infancy, ac- 
 quired regular habits of reading the Bible, and 
 peruse as a daily, or at least as a weekly task, 
 their allotted chapters. But they do this often- 
 times without anxiety, and without progress in 
 religious knowledge. The fact of reading is 
 to them more important than the contents which 
 they read. They manifest no submission of the 
 heart to God's teaching — no godly diligence to 
 lay up in the soul the statutes and promises of 
 the Lord. Eternity fastens not upon their 
 thoughts — the wonders of redeeming love attract 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 39 
 
 not their affections. They read with coldness, 
 and languor, and unconcern. There is no in- 
 ward solicitude whether they understand, whe- 
 ther they feel, whether they remember, whe- 
 ther they obey — whether or not that mighty 
 record of truth dispel falsehood, and tear away 
 sin from their souls. There is no scrutiny as to 
 the effect of their knowledge, as to the conformity 
 of their views, and sentiments, and habits with 
 the decisions and intentions of God ! There is no 
 listening of the soul, no delight in the accents of 
 God ! The heart makes no progress in its voyage 
 — it is no nearer to God — no nearer to the dis- 
 positions of heaven than it was many years ago ^ 
 
 Think again of the mariner — his eye glances 
 daily upon his compass — or once a week he 
 fixes his look upon the needle ; but he uses 
 not the helm — he brings not the vessel into the 
 prescribed course ! As well then might the 
 compass be cast into the depths of the sea! 
 Now it is evident that this is not the use of the 
 Scriptures which God demands — this is not to 
 possess any anxiety as to the knowledge of 
 God's will. Those who thus neglect, or thus 
 imperfectly respect the Scriptures, are not 
 among those who *' work out their own salva- 
 tion with fear and trembling." 
 
 II. Let us proceed to the second great 
 source of strength and mercy opened to man 
 ** the privilege of prayer to God:'' and let us 
 
40 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 observe in what manner numbers avail them- 
 selves of this instrument of good. We delay 
 not here to ask v^hether any persons live v^^hoUy 
 without prayer; whether there be any who de- 
 pend in no measure upon God ; who lie down 
 at night, and go forth in the morning uncon- 
 scious of any wish for divine protection, or of 
 any need of divine mercy ; who walk in the 
 profound darkness of irreligion, and whose 
 steps are uncheered by a single ray from hea- 
 ven. If any such there be, their cqndition and 
 their prospect may well call forth the deepest 
 compassion ! But it is to be feared that num- 
 bers are sadly ignorant of the nature and use 
 of prayer, who yet occasionally, or even con- 
 stantly engage in it. The force of educational 
 habits is great, and the custom acquired in 
 childhood stays by a man ; and disposes him 
 still in maturer years periodically to use a form 
 of prayer. A sense of weakness and a certain 
 conscientious awe of God force upon his mind 
 the idea of Providence, and forbid him to shut 
 out entirely God from his soul. Others go 
 beyond this, and think prayer a decided duty ; 
 and under circumstances especially afflictive, 
 they have a strong notion of dependence upon 
 the goodness and care of the Supreme Being. 
 But both classes of persons now noticed appear 
 to be entirely ignorant of the spirit and mode 
 of prayer. As to the spirit, they do not appear 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 41 
 
 to be aware that prayer is the intercourse of 
 affection and of confidence — the channel of 
 divine mercy — and that it can exist only in the 
 heart which delights and rejoices in God. It 
 is a spiritual exercise which is the result of a 
 renewed and holy state of the affections. It is 
 the breathing forth of holy wishes and of ge- 
 nerous aspirations — it is the actual approach of 
 the soul to God. It will therefore be an inter- 
 course with which other acts of the individual 
 will harmonize. There will be a holy charac- 
 ter, and a holy conduct, where prayer really is 
 in exercise. When does a child have happy 
 intercourse with a parent ? it is when that child 
 is loving and obedient. When does a child re- 
 pose upon the wisdom and care of a parent ? it 
 is when the child values parental controul. 
 When does a friend enjoy an interchange of 
 fellowship with a friend ? it is when kindred 
 sentiments and tastes unite them to each other. 
 It may confidently be asserted, that whatever 
 may be the language adopted, no man really 
 prays to God who does not love God. No man 
 can justly pray whose affections are exclusively 
 worldly, whose taste is depraved, whose ac- 
 tions are voluntarily hostile to the known pre- 
 cepts of God. Prayer, in such a case, may 
 blind his conscience, but cannot heal his heart. 
 God accounts prayer a mockery, which is not 
 the result of faith, the expression of love — the 
 
42 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 expression of contrition, of allegiance, of purity 
 of intention, and of heavenly wishes. Does 
 that person pray, to whom true godliness is 
 perhaps a subject of ridicule ? whose happiness 
 is drawn from human objects exclusively — to 
 whom Christ, and heaven, and salvation, are 
 names which excite no sensation of desire in 
 the soul ! 
 
 These persons are ignorant also of the mode 
 of prayer. They have little conception of the 
 breach which sin has made between God and 
 man. They have no sense of the evil of sin, or 
 of the necessity of a Mediator between God 
 and man. In their prayers they are uncon- 
 scious that they have forfeited God's regard — 
 that the way into his presence is closed, but as 
 opened by Jesus Christ. Hence they think 
 well of themselves, and seem to attach a notion 
 even of merit to prayer ; they call themselves 
 virtuous and honest, and they anticipate God's 
 approbation of their prayers. Alas they know 
 not that prayer is the confession of a sinner — 
 the cry for pardon — the breathing of a forlorn 
 heart — the plea to be heard through the blood 
 of the cross — the hope of faith in the interces- 
 sion of Jesus Christ ! Alas they know not that 
 a genuine suppliant values at a high price the 
 permission to cast himself before his God ; and 
 that he comes to the throne of his offended 
 Lord in prostration of his own merits, and 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 43 
 
 with the publican's deep-felt acknowledgment, 
 *' God be merciful to me a sinner !" 
 
 Prayer is, in fact, that which the Scriptures 
 call '' fellowship with God." It is the lively- 
 expression of love, and of confidence, and of 
 union with God. It is intended of God to 
 strengthen, and refresh, and recruit the spiri- 
 tual faculties of the soul. It is in prayer that 
 God enlightens, purifies, exalts, and consecrates 
 the Christian to himself. And God never men- 
 tions the subject of prayer in the Scriptures, 
 but as the greatest of our privileges and our 
 blessings. ** When thou pray est, enter into 
 thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, 
 pray to thy Father which is in secret." Thy 
 Father, thy Benefactor, thy friend, thy Saviour ! 
 Oh solemn, and holy, and affectionate, and free, 
 be thy intercourse with such a Being! Art thou 
 a child of God ? Then thou hast to do with him 
 who loved thee to the death, who bled on the 
 cross for thy eternal peace, and who lives to 
 intercede for thy interests ! But can he call that 
 proffered language prayer, which comes forth 
 periodically from lips yet untouched by fire 
 from heaven, and from a heart yet devoted to 
 time, to sense, to earth ! It cannot be. '' God 
 is a spirit, and they that worship him, must 
 worship him, in spirit and in truth." 
 
 Can he then be said *' to work out his own 
 salvation with fear and trembling," who values 
 
44 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 prayer at so poor a price — who finds in it no 
 holy enjoyment — who is soon wearied — who 
 brings no cordiality to the exercise — who is in 
 no alarm as to his spiritual condition — who sees 
 no evil in the inroads which the intercourse of 
 the world makes upon his conscience — and 
 whose prayers are therefore the same to-day 
 as yesterday; the same cold, dull, dead offer- 
 ing of words which convey little meaning, and 
 draw forth no sympathy in his soul ! Such an 
 one never exemplifies the precept of the text ! 
 
 III. Let us briefly now touch upon the third 
 great instrument of spiritual improvement, the 
 use of the sabbath-day. And let us mark in 
 what manner this is actually employed. The 
 institution of the sabbath is one of the most de- 
 cided tokens of God's care for man. Sin pro- 
 duced the sad necessity for incessant labour in 
 the general framework of human society ; a ne- 
 cessity, under existing circumstances, most fa- 
 vourable to social welfare ; but to cheer the 
 hopelessness of toil, and to guard against the 
 moral evil of being thus occupied in the things 
 of earth, God gave a day of repose, and a day 
 of spiritual employment. He seems to have 
 said, ** rest from your work, and remember me ; 
 consecrate your time as well as your heart to 
 me on this day, and you shall meet the labours 
 of life with safety and with comfort." 
 
 What a blessing to an ignorant, what a spi- 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 45 
 
 ritual succour to a sensual world ! But how is 
 it regarded ? As a day of rest to the poor, the 
 artisan, the tradesman, certainly in very many 
 cases the relief is valued and used. But how 
 is it used by the rich ? Of these, numbers make 
 no effort to consecrate it to God ; the duties of 
 public worship are by them wholly neglected ; 
 their ordinary amusements suffer no check ; the 
 employment of their hours knows of no altera- 
 tion ; God's institution is utterly and deliber- 
 ately despised. Religion has no charms for 
 them; '' they are without God in the world." 
 Oh that they knew the day of their visitation ; 
 while yet the door of mercy is unclosed against 
 them ! 
 
 But many certainly attend public worship on 
 the sabbath ; many make it a matter of duty 
 thus far to remember to keep the sabbath-day 
 holy ; yet their conduct during the remainder 
 of the day evinces that they have no anxiety for 
 spiritual improvement; that they are by no 
 means eager to guard themselves against the 
 seductive influences of the world ; and that it 
 little enters into their notion of evil to efface 
 every solemn impression by the frivolities of 
 life! 
 
 How vain is sabbath prayer and sabbath in- 
 struction to that person, who ere the sounds 
 of religion have well died upon his ear, hurries 
 to scenes of amusement and of levity, and 
 
46 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 passes the hallowed evening of God's day in 
 publicity and idle mirth! We speak here of 
 the inconsistency between such a religious exer- 
 cise and such an irreligious society. Is there 
 any holy anxiety for the progress of the soul in 
 godliness under such circumstances ? Is the 
 sabbath-day productive of the end for which it 
 was given when thus employed ? is not divine 
 worship a mockery, if the heart be not offered ? 
 and if the heart were offered, would there not 
 be a harmony in the conduct ? would men thus 
 build up with one hand that fabric of sensations 
 and of affections which they seem to wish to 
 destroy with the other ? Rather have they not 
 reason to suspect themselves of hypocrisy, and 
 of ungodliness, who can cast off in a few mo- 
 ments the solemnity of the sanctuary, and rush 
 with unholy heart into all the giddy and en- 
 slaving customs of the world ! The sabbath- 
 day is, in truth, widely profaned; it is not 
 used as by those, who knowing the depravity 
 of their nature, and dreading their exposure to 
 the malignant agency of evil, " work out their 
 salvation with fear and trembling." 
 
 But it may be said, if not thus profaned, the 
 sabbath would be to men a day of gloom and 
 of dreariness! alas it would! and why? Sim- 
 ply because the heart is uninterested — the 
 affections are untouched by religion. It is a 
 yoke, a bondage, a salvo to conscience, a bribe 
 
RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 47 
 
 that would fain hush every voice of eternity to 
 rest. Hence, to get rid of this yoke, to pay 
 this bribe as cheaply as possible, is essential to 
 tranquillity! What a mournful confession is 
 this! 
 
 And here may we not discern the true source 
 of the outcry against what is called, with very 
 little intelligence in those who use the term, 
 methodism, or real godliness. Sincere Chris- 
 tians ask for a spiritual religion, for the service 
 of the heart, for the love of God, for attach- 
 ment to Jesus Christ, for consistent conduct, 
 and for pure and holy affections. Men have 
 not those qualities to give, and hence they cry 
 down the gift if any others wish to yield it. 
 
 They tolerate religion as far as it trenches 
 not upon the ordinary pleasures and profits of 
 life; but when it asks for any sacrifice of these, 
 it is calumniated and maligned. And its de- 
 mands must be silenced, lest the merchandize 
 of mirth should be diminished ! But shall this 
 unholy calumny be approved? shall this calum- 
 ny prove habitually satisfactory to men as rea- 
 sonable and intelligent beings standing on the 
 brink of eternity ? 
 
 Travelling to the tribunal of Christ, shall 
 they continue to miscal that pleasure which 
 disqualifies the soul for that last and terrific 
 scrutiny! shall they continue to miscal that 
 happiness which can bring no consolation in the 
 
48 RELIGIOUS ANXIETY. 
 
 hour of death, and can send forward no cheer- 
 ing anticipations into a brighter scene! Strange 
 folly and insensibility of mind ! Surely time, 
 circumstances, events speak aloud and tell them 
 of a wiser counsel ! 
 
 Every thing here is fleeting and insecure ; 
 death strikes when we think not. Youth is no 
 barrier against its seizure. The man strong to 
 day lies cold in the grave to-morrow. Oh for 
 those affections with which death and eternity 
 are strongly and directly associated ! Happy 
 alone is he who believes in Christ, whose soul 
 is healed, whose reconciliation with God is felt, 
 whose hope is firm, whose spiritual discipline 
 is in lively and healthful exercise, and whose 
 joy shall abide for ever ! '' Let me live the life 
 of the righteous, and let my last end be like 
 hisr 
 
49 
 
 SERMON IV, 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF GOD, 
 ^ Thessalonians ii. 16, 17, 
 
 " NOW OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, AND GOD, EVEN OUR 
 FATHER, WHICH HATH LOVED US, AND HATH GIVEN US EVER- 
 LASTING CONSOLATION, AND GOOD HOPE THROUGH GRACE, 
 COMFORT YOUR HEARTS, AND STABLISH YOU IN EVERY GOOD 
 WORD AND WORK." 
 
 Although the real opposition to godliness lies 
 in the alienation of the affections from God, 
 there are undoubtedly many accompanying cir- 
 cumstances which perpetuate and augment that 
 alienation. Among these may be noticed igno- 
 rance of the true character and intentions of 
 God, in that revelation of his will which he has 
 deigned to make. It is not conceivable, that if 
 God were known he would not be loved, and 
 his favour be preferred to the friendship of every 
 other being. Men form to themselves false 
 notions of religion, and then denounce its requi- 
 sitions as burdensome and unsuitable to the 
 current events and propensities of society. 
 There are few men who do not connect with 
 the notions of strict religion something cold, 
 repulsive, and monastic — -something which sheds 
 
50 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 a chill over the warmth of domestic and social 
 life. Many take their views of Christianity 
 from systems of theology, or from the negative 
 practices of those who are denominated religious. 
 But this is a great evil ; the Scriptures them- 
 selves are the only legitimate interpreters of 
 the divine will : were these honestly and per- 
 severingly studied, how different would be the 
 impression stamped upon the mind ! If there 
 be an object calculated to arrest and interest 
 man, it is surely the scriptural character of his 
 God ! If there be any sympathy with what is 
 great, and generous, and beautiful, and good — 
 if there be any intuitive recoil from what is dark 
 and destructive — if there be any desire for pro- 
 tection, rest, and joy, then is Christianity pre- 
 cisely adapted to the wants and aspirations of 
 the human heart ! '' Acquaint thyself with 
 God," saith Job, '* and be at peace. Judge not 
 of God," that is, *' by a portion of his laws, but 
 judge of him by the harmony of his actions, and 
 by the tendency and design of all his institu- 
 tions, and you shall have rest." 
 
 But the passage of Scripture selected as the 
 text, is yet more strikingly illustrative of this 
 subject. Let any man weigh the character of 
 God as it is here briefly delineated, and then 
 let him say, if he can find in all the varied con- 
 templations of nature, science, art, or friend- 
 ship, any object so directly suited to engage 
 
THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 51 
 
 the whole force of his sympathy and affection. 
 The apostle spoke under immediate inspiration, 
 and he thus describes God, in reference to his 
 people: '* He is not only the Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," but in Him ** likewise their 
 Father ; " and as their Father, '* He hath loved 
 them, and hath given them everlasting consola- 
 tion, and good hope through grace :" and his 
 direct design in the manifestation of this grace, 
 is/' to comfort their hearts, and to establish 
 them in every good word and work." 
 
 Can language more emphatically express a 
 character of beneficent compassion ? Can ima- 
 gination furnish an object of higher attraction 
 and sympathy ? It may fairly be replied, that 
 it cannot. Why do men then withhold their 
 veneration and affection from such a Benefac- 
 tor ? It is most unreasonable, but they know 
 him not as such, they believe not his word, 
 they ponder not his kindly attributes ; they are 
 entombed as it were in the blandishments of 
 sense ! But it is otherwise with the Christian. 
 His faith is joyous and productive. 
 
 Let the present half hour be employed in the 
 attempt, 
 
 I. In the first place, to illustrate 
 
 THIS CHARACTER OF GoD IN REFERENCE TO 
 HIS CHILDREN, AND THEREBY 
 
 II. In THE SECOND PLACE, TO ENFORCE HIS 
 DESIGN TO PROMOTE THEIR HAPPINESS. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 I. The true character of God to his church 
 is evidently comprised in the language of the 
 text: **Our Lord Jesus Christ," and **God, 
 even our Father, w^ho hath loved us, and hath 
 given us everlasting consolation, and good hope 
 through grace." The use of the term Father, 
 is in itself in a very high degree, significant of 
 the, mind of God towards his children. We 
 attach the strongest notion of anxiety, sympa- 
 thy, and affection, to those parental instincts 
 with which God has endowed our nature. Hence 
 in adopting this term Father, he refers at once 
 to the feelings with which he has made us fa- 
 miliar, and which afford great encouragement to 
 us to regard him with respect and gratitude. 
 Our Saviour uses the same epithet, when he 
 teaches us to pray. He directs us to address 
 ourselves as to our Parent and our Friend. 
 Were this relation a matter of mere conjecture, 
 adopted by the eager wish of those who feel 
 their weakness, and who take shelter from this 
 weakness in the notion of a paternal providence, 
 it were less remarkable. But when expressed 
 as the matter of a direct revelation, it gives in- 
 stantly an aspect the most pleasing and attrac- 
 tive to the idea of God. What may we not 
 expect from a Being, who to unlimited power, 
 adds the warmth and tenderness of a Father ? 
 Would it not be strange to shrink from inter- 
 course with such a Being ? to imagine the 
 
THE CHAllACTKR OF GOD. '53 
 
 qualities of other creatures to be more rich in 
 their capacity to yield enjoyments than are his 
 parental attributes ? 
 
 It belongs to such a character to manifest 
 love ; ** God is love." '' He hath loved us." 
 Every pleasing quality, every natural form of 
 beauty, every ornamental moral sentiment with 
 which we are acquainted, is but a type or re- 
 flection of the same in the mind of God. The 
 whole series of created beauties are but the 
 multiplied analogies or illustrations of the attri- 
 butes of the Deity. ** He hath loved us." 
 Whence it may be asked the capacity to love 
 each other, except it be derived from God? 
 There is in the bosom of God the principle of 
 an inexhaustible sympathy and compassion. 
 How feeble an illustration of the ocean is the 
 deepest and mightiest river — and how feeble an 
 illustration of the divine love to the church is 
 the warmest throb of tenderness which ever 
 shot through a human heart! *'Can a woman 
 forget her sucking child, that she should not 
 have compassion on the son of her womb ? 
 yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget 
 thee." */ He hath loved us." He hath endowed 
 us with high and fruitful faculties ; he created 
 us in his image, and formed us for his own 
 companionship. '* Our fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 
 
 But the highest manifestation of this love is 
 contained in the effectual efforts made to with- 
 
54 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 draw his people from the misery into which 
 their folly had plunged them. *' He hath given us 
 everlasting consolation ." The expression carries 
 back our minds to the pressure of some existing 
 wretchedness. Consolation is opposed to sor- 
 row ; and our Lord refers to this discovery of 
 divine compassion, when he said, '* God so 
 loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." • 
 
 In the absence of revelation, the world won- 
 dered at its own complexion and destiny. Con- 
 science was evermore overborne by passion, and 
 misery was the result. Death at the same time 
 snapt asunder the closest ties, and the creature 
 apparently made to exercise dominion over this 
 lower world, was in fact the utter sport of cir- 
 cumstances, and the victim of disease, conflict, 
 and destruction. Revelation has disclosed the 
 mystery: *' God made man upright; but they 
 have sought out many inventions." He trans- 
 gressed the law under which he was held to 
 allegiance, and forfeited not only his right to 
 happiness, but to existence. *' In the day that 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The 
 consolation mentioned in the text has reference 
 to the clemency and interposition of God under 
 these circumstances of rebellion and of for- 
 feiture. After a period of time abundantly 
 adequate to mark out the essential misery of 
 sin, and the impotence of man to rescue him- 
 
THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 55 
 
 self from the degradation to which he had 
 sunk, God sent forth his Son, to assume the 
 nature of his children, and to carry in that na- 
 ture the burden of their griefs. The object of 
 this mission was twofold — to mark God's ab- 
 horrence of their disaffection to his government, 
 and at the same time to win back their best 
 affections. The personal sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ are effective, through the eternal Spirit, 
 to ensure this twofold result. Can it be ques- 
 tioned, that God attaches an inconceivable tur- 
 pitude to the alienation of the affections from 
 his government, when he sent Jesus Christ to 
 suffer shame and death on account of that sin ? 
 Can it be questioned, that indifference to the 
 honour and glory of the supreme lawgiver, is 
 an actual insult to his authority, destructive of 
 happiness to its possessor, when Jesus Christ 
 came by ** his own stripes to heal" the disease 
 of those, who had '* come short of the glory 
 of God V Or can any exhibition of clejyiency 
 and tenderness be imagined equal to that which 
 the cross of Christ has pourtrayed ? How 
 ardent must be that desire to retrieve the ruined 
 peace of man, which could induce the Lawgiver 
 to rest the burden of expiation upon his own 
 Son ! Let any one contemplate the holy cha- 
 racter and the unlimited power of Christ ; let 
 him contemplate the voluntary degradation to 
 which he stooped, and the trials to which he 
 
56 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 submitted, and let him ask, whether the love 
 manifested in such a transaction be not utterly 
 beyond conception ? Does not a series of such 
 actions justify the declaration that '* God so 
 loved the v^orld/^ And the discover]/ of this 
 love is surely calculated to win back confi- 
 dence, and affection, and allegiance. It is 
 conceded that this result is in every case in 
 which it takes place, the operation of the spe- 
 cial grace of God, but still that grace acts in a 
 reasonable manner. The discovery of this love 
 is the instrument by which God regains his 
 ultimate hold upon the human affections. 
 
 '* The consolation" thus expressed in this 
 act of atonement and of intercession, is surely 
 worthy of God to bestow. It extends to an 
 ultimate repeal of every penalty — to the gift 
 of a new life — to the remission of offences — 
 to the renewal of parental intercourse — to 
 the tranquillizing the conscience — to the es- 
 tablishment of peace between the propen- 
 sities and the judgment, by presenting to the 
 heart God as the first and supreme object of 
 veneration and of love ! Such a gift deserves 
 the name of /' consolation." Nor is this re- 
 medy for human misery a delusive or transient 
 blessing. ** It is everlasting," its full deve- 
 lopment requires the existence of a higher 
 scene. Here it imparts peace, hope, and secu- 
 rity ; here it fills up the blank which earth 
 
THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 57 
 
 leaves ever void ; here it draws out the sting 
 from death, and places again the soul in con- 
 tact with the riches of God's friendship in 
 Jesus Christ. But it is amidst the blessedness 
 of eternity, that it will unfold the full extent 
 of its consolation, " I am the resurrection and 
 the life, he that believeth in me shall never 
 die." . With what astonishment will a rescued 
 sinner on the morning of the resurrection con- 
 template his situation, and the means by which 
 that situation has been rendered happy and 
 eternal ! In the actual presence of his great 
 Redeemer, in the society of spirits made per- 
 fect, and in a world of righteousness he will 
 wake to a felicity such as ** eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man," but which '* God hath pre- 
 pared for them that love him." And the cir- 
 cumstance which will augment wonderfully 
 the impression of this felicity upon his mind 
 is its eternal duration. On earth he was pain- 
 fully familiar with the operation of decay ; in 
 a restored paradise, he will no longer mark 
 this tendency to destruction. There mortality 
 is swallowed up of life. God has in fact bound 
 up this life with his own eternity. ** Because 
 I live ye shall live also ;" '* So shall we be ever 
 with the Lord." 
 
 As ages roll away, additional testimony will 
 be continually afforded to the veracity of the 
 
58 THE CHAllACTEll OF GOD. 
 
 promise, and to the fulness and sufficiency of 
 the blessing. The imperfect description of 
 this eternal consolation exhausts the power of 
 earthly imagery to give it even a prophetic 
 existence, what then will be the reality ? Let 
 any child of God fairly ponder the concluding 
 pages of the Apocalypse, and he will surely 
 be overwhelmed with the illustrations of honour, 
 purity, and felicity which there crowd in upon 
 the imagination. And the time is at hand, 
 when the scenes of prophecy will become the 
 scenes of actual accomplishment. The apo- 
 stle therefore connects with this part of the 
 munificent character of God, his gift of *' a 
 good hope through grace. ^^ And it is evident 
 that the scheme of mercy would fail if it were 
 not made the subject of a present revelation. 
 If the future good had been concealed, the 
 healing operation of Hope upon the heart would 
 have been thwarted, and the consolation 
 intended had proved wholly ineffectual ; *' We 
 are saved, that is, healed," says the apostle, 
 •' by hope ;" '* There is mercy with thee, that 
 thou mayest be feared." While, therefore, 
 the objects of eternity remain concealed as a 
 matter of curiosity, as the sources of hope they 
 are sufticiently revealed. The resurrection 
 from the grave, at the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ, to a reunion with the pious dead in the 
 presence of Christy and in a world and cli- 
 
THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 59 
 
 mate of perpetual health and joy, is a matter 
 of distinct revelation which no candid inter- 
 preter can for a moment doubt. It is as plain, 
 as distinct assurances can make it. Future 
 felicity becomes, therefore, to the church the 
 subject of hope — of a hope as palpable, though 
 far more sure, than the hope which enables the 
 exile from his native land to toil for the mo- 
 ment, which is to restore him to his family, 
 with the wealth essential to promote their 
 comfort. The certainty of this hope justifies 
 the epithet '* good ;" it is in fact the only 
 '' hope which maketh not ashamed." 
 
 On earth the fairest prospect may in a 
 moment be overclouded, the most favourable 
 appearance may in a moment change its as- 
 pect, and the storm which supervenes may be 
 as unexpected as it is violent and destructive. 
 He who has collected in his memory facts 
 illustrative of the condition of man, will be 
 often startled at the fragile thread by which 
 his comforts are retained ; he will sometimes 
 hear the accents which attest the friendship 
 of those dear to him, as perhaps the last 
 which precede the stillness of death. He will 
 recollect that the fairest flower often withers 
 ere its loveliness has unfolded all its sym- 
 metry. But when his enriched imagination 
 ranges through the high objects of eternity, it 
 never thus falls back upon itself defeated or 
 
60 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 alarmed. It finds ground upon which conti- 
 nually, and with safety, to advance. God has 
 intended to make his servants happy, and hence 
 has placed their ultimate felicity beyond the 
 controul and reach of evil or hazard. The final 
 heritage of the redeemed is depicted as ** in- 
 corruptible, and unfading, reserved in heaven," 
 and those for whom it is thus reserved are de- 
 lineated as themselves *' kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation." It is this 
 certainty which gives to religious hope all its 
 value. The excursive mind ranges this future 
 scene with the strong assurance that the reality 
 will infinitely surpass every possible anticipa- 
 tion. Nor is this all, this hope is *' through 
 grace,"" that is, the whole benefit is conferred by 
 God, the entire amount of this everlasting con- 
 solation is unmerited. It is offered and impart- 
 ed /ree/z/; it is bought ''without money and 
 without price." Pardon, restoration to life, the 
 faculties and occasions of felicity, the hopes of 
 eternal intercourse with the holiest and hap- 
 piest society, victory over death and the grave, 
 deliverance from the slavery and degradation of 
 sin, all these are gratuitous acts of kindness — 
 the result of a love which has lived through 
 rebellion and ingratitude, which has triumphed 
 over every provocation, and which will be the 
 highest theme of admiration through eternal 
 ages. And as the incarnation of Jesus Christ 
 
THE CHARACTEIl OF GOD. 61 
 
 is the great manifestation of all this love, the 
 apostle has prefaced this delineation of the di- 
 vine character by the expression, *' Now our 
 Lord Jesus Christ himself comfort you." This 
 consolation, this hope is connected with nothing 
 less than with God manifested in the flesh, that 
 he might rescue, redeem, and save. It is '* in 
 the face of Jesus Christ" that " the light of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God" emphati- 
 cally shines. It is Christ crucified, risen, and 
 ascended, which constitutes ** the hope of 
 glory." ** In him are hid all the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge," ** and ye are com- 
 plete in him." ** For he, of God, is made unto 
 his servants wisdom, and righteousness, and 
 sanctification, and redemption, that he that 
 glorieth," or is happy, may so *' glory in the 
 Lord." 
 
 IL Such is the view given to us in these 
 words of the true character of God, and of the 
 relation into which his munificent love has 
 placed his children. But the apostle leaves not 
 the subject at this point, but goes on to mark 
 
 THE INTENDED OPEEATION OF ALL THIS 
 KINDNESS UPON THOSE TO WHOM THE GREAT 
 SUBJECT OF JOY HAD BEEN THUS REVEALED. 
 
 This God, this Saviour, *' comfort your hearts, 
 and stablish you in every good word and work." 
 God's object is to comfort the believer, to solace 
 his affliction, to sustain his weakness, to pardon 
 
62 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 his guilt, to renew the holy impress of himself 
 upon his heart, to bring him back from de- 
 struction, and to provide him with a home re- 
 plete with every possible image of delight. 
 This is his object. He has secured the rights 
 of his own government in the sufferings of his 
 Son, and he is enabled to bring forth to his 
 church these assurances of paternal mercy un- 
 clogged by a single drawback which might re- 
 sult from previous character. His business now 
 is with the guilty and the sad. The happy and 
 the perfect inhabit other worlds. The sick, the 
 polluted, the dying inhabit this. Therefore 
 Christ came, and, therefore, his voice was heard 
 in language thus appropriate, '' Return unto 
 me, for I have redeemed thee ;" ** I^ even I, am 
 he that blotteth out thy transgressions;" 
 '* Come unto me, and I will give you rest;" 
 *' They that be whole need not a physician, but 
 they that are sick ;" Hence, '' I am not come 
 to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 
 Here is comfort wide as human misery! 
 Here is medicine efficient to heal the most in- 
 veterate disease. Here is remittance for the 
 largest debt. For what is the ulterior design 
 with which this magnificent plan of kindness is 
 presented to the mind, and this comfort poured 
 into the heart ? It is to establish the Christian 
 " in every good word and work." Rebellion is 
 continual where the case is hopeless. Clemency 
 
THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 63 
 
 and pardon create a blush, and inflict a pang 
 of self-reproach. The remitted penalty will ex- 
 cite to future allegiance. This is the judgment 
 of mankind, '* There was a certain creditor 
 which had two debtors ; the one owed five hun- 
 dred pence, and the other fifty, and when they 
 had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them 
 both. Tell me therefore, which of them will 
 love him most ? I suppose that he to whom he 
 forgave most : Thou hast rightly judged." Such 
 was the recorded opinion of the Pharisee, and 
 such the approbation of that opinion from the 
 lips of him who knows what is in man, and who 
 can fully judge of the influence of every moral 
 principle upon his perplexed and diseased heart. 
 
 We see then the full end to which the know- 
 ledge of God's unmerited mercy is designed to 
 lead. It is to comfort his children in order to 
 bring them back to obedience. It is to heal in 
 order to consecrate the restored faculties to the 
 service of him who gave them. It is to mul- 
 tiply before the believer proofs of kindness, 
 in order to melt down his hostility. It is to 
 correct his once deluded estimate of good and 
 evil, to force him alike by the arguments of re- 
 ligion, and by the sensations of gratitude, from 
 his worldliness and his sins, and to bring him 
 back as the conscious prodigal to lodge his 
 cares, sorrows, weaknesses, anxieties and fears, 
 in the bosom of his father and his friend ! 
 
 What then is faith in God's mercy, but the 
 
64 THE CHARACTER OF GOD. 
 
 conviction that sin is poison, and immorality 
 destruction : what is it but the strong and deep 
 perception that in God alone there is felicity, 
 and truth, and life ! What but the love of every 
 good word and work, the devotedness of the 
 whole character to the will, and wishes, and de- 
 signs of God ? 
 
 And shall any man withhold his attention from 
 this theme of compassion and grace? Shall any 
 refuse to connect together henceforth the ideas 
 of happiness and holiness ? Shall they not ac- 
 quaint themselves with God and thus receive 
 the proffered felicity of his children ? Soon, 
 very soon, earthly possessions will fail to pro- 
 tect their peace. Soon the wrench of death 
 will tear up their roots from earth ! Oh to be so 
 torn up in order to be transplanted into the pa- 
 radise of God ! Let no man then deem social 
 enjoyments, the pursuits of science, or the 
 dreams of pleasure to be the true sources of fe- 
 licity. Let him rather, by the grace of God, 
 seek that felicity in the reception of mercy, in 
 the friendship of God, in the calm of hope^ in the 
 confidence of faith, in the expansion of a cha- 
 rity which rejoices in the truth! Let him seek 
 it in the recovery of spiritual health, in the 
 warmth of gratitude, in the anticipations of 
 eternity, in the unfathomable love of Jesus 
 Christ the Saviour ! 
 
65 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Titus ii. 11—14. 
 
 « FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGETH SALVATION HATH AP- 
 PEARED UNTO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT DENYING UNGOD 
 LINESS AND WORLDLY LUSTS, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, 
 RIGHTEOUSLY, AND GODLY IN THIS PRESENT WORLD, LOOKING 
 FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE AND THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF 
 THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, WHO GAVE 
 HIMSELF FOR US THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM ALL INI- 
 QUITY, AND PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF A PECULIAR PEOPLEZEALOUS 
 OF GOOD WORKS." 
 
 In the search after happiness, no man is ulti- 
 mately successful but the true Christian. The 
 elements of earthly prosperity are confessedly 
 inadequate to impart tranquillity to the mind. 
 Man was formed for God, and none but God can 
 render him happy. He is however so greatly 
 the bond-slave of passion, or the victim of pre- 
 judice, or the prey of delusion, that nothing is 
 so difficult as to bring him into that just 
 knowledge of God from which alone this fe- 
 licity can proceed. If in some measure ac- 
 
66 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 quainted with revelation, he often mars its 
 symmetry, he deceives himself by an attach- 
 ment to some of its statements, while he neglects 
 others, and thus he continues more or less amidst 
 his sorrows and in his sins. In almost every 
 error there is a portion of truth, and this ren- 
 ders error doubly dangerous. Thus some men 
 acquainted with the preceptive parts of Chris- 
 tianity, and observant of the good effects of 
 these precepts upon human society, place the 
 whole essential of religion in the fulfilment of 
 relative duties. Other men, arrested by the 
 assurances of mercy and of grace with which 
 the Scriptures abound, and satisfied that their 
 own conduct is very defective, separate this 
 grace from the design with which it is im- 
 parted, and rely upon an arbitrary and indis- 
 criminate exercise of kindness on the part of 
 God. Now it is evident that both these classes 
 of persons are in part wrong, and in part right. 
 The precepts of God as well as his promises, 
 are portions of the revelation. In the approval 
 of these they are respectively right, but they 
 are both mistaken as to their full estimate of 
 Christianity. They both misunderstand the 
 true character of God, and disturb the harmony 
 of his revealed will. They both are ignorant 
 of the design of the gospel, which is to redeem 
 man from iniquity by exhibiting to him its de- 
 formity, and to allure him to godliness by the 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 67 
 
 I 
 
 manifestation of its direct connection with his 
 happiness. It is to present to his affections 
 holy objects, that his conduct may become 
 pure, for the stream will ever partake of the 
 qualities of its source. Make a man love God, 
 and he will love his fellow-creatures. Let but 
 God have the heart, and all the lovely regu- 
 lations of domestic, social, and national virtue 
 will necessarily ensue. God is holy, just, 
 and good, and they that truly love God will 
 certainly imitate his holiness and his justice. 
 Hence the contest between the abettors of 
 faith and those of works is painful and unfor- 
 tunate. Those who set up faith seem not in 
 fact to understand the nature of faith. They 
 contend for certain notions, ignorant of the moral 
 interpretation of those notions, while those who 
 set up works understand not the real nature of 
 morality, nor its necessary connection with the 
 will and service of God. How well would it 
 be if both classes of combatants would cease 
 from this vain struggle, would commune with 
 their own hearts, and fairly search out the cha- 
 racter of God that they might become con- 
 formed to his image ! How soon would both 
 parties meet on the common ground of acquaint- 
 ance with him who can" alone constitute their 
 honour, security, and happiness. Very justly 
 has the author of the " Night Thoughts" ex- 
 pressed this truth in these striking words, 
 
 f2 
 
68 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 " Talk they of morals ! Oh thou bleeding love, 
 Thou teacher of new morals to mankind. 
 The grand morality is love to thee." 
 
 What is the past notion of heaven, but the full 
 allegiance of holy love ? The earth would even 
 now be its type, if this love were triumphant in 
 the human heart. We might bid farewell to 
 statute books, and penalties, and bolts, and bars, 
 were this principle operative and harmonious in 
 its influences upon the soul. A willing love 
 cannot inflict a willing injury. Now it is the 
 precise design of Christianity to exhibit God 
 as an object so attractive, as to enthrone him 
 in the aff^ections, and being thus enthroned in 
 the aftections, to make him also the object of 
 inccessant imitation. It is to make men godly 
 in order to make them moral, in other words, it 
 is to make them love God, in order that they 
 may love each other. It is to cast out from 
 their bosoms the plan of an ungenerous and pol- 
 luted selfishness, and to make them peaceful 
 and happy in the pursuit an<i enjoyment of 
 charity and truth ! 
 
 The gr^ace of God can never therefore, with- 
 out injustice to its nature, be separated from 
 the holiness of God. The conflict of faith and 
 works is thus the conflict of the ignorant, and 
 the source of unspeakable inj^ury to mankind ! 
 
 Now the passage of Scripture before us ex- 
 hibits the symmetry of revelation, as empha- 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 69 
 
 tically and as lucidly as any passage to be met 
 with in the sacred Scriptures. It tells us that 
 the very object of all God's grace and kind- 
 ness is to redeem his people from iniquity. It 
 is to exhibit to them God's justice, that they 
 may themselves become just. It is to manifest 
 to them God's love, in order that they may 
 themselves become lovely. It is to extricate 
 them from the dreadful predicament which 
 comprises all the elements of wretchedness, 
 of approving one thing and of pursuing ano- 
 ther. It is to give to God at once the throne of 
 the judgment and of the inclination, and thus 
 to reconcile the eternally jarring interests of the 
 human system ! And there is no other intelli- 
 gible mode of making man happy. 
 
 Thus after several thousand vain years of 
 intellectual and of physical effort, after reite- 
 rated trials in which it abundantly appeared, 
 that man by his own wisdom knew not God, 
 '* It pleased God," says the same apostle, ** by 
 the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe." ** For the grace of God that bringeth 
 salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching 
 us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
 we should live soberly, righteously, and godlily 
 in this present world, looking for that blessed 
 hope and the glorious appearing of the great 
 God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave 
 himself for us that he might redeem us from all 
 
70 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people zealous of good works." 
 
 The words of the text suggest to us three 
 distinct particulars. 
 
 I. The appearing of the grace of god. 
 
 II. The lesson which it was intended 
 to teach, and 
 
 III. The attitude and condition of 
 
 MIND which it was INTENDED TO PRODUCE. 
 
 I. The first point, or the manifestation of the 
 grace of God, we in fact considered in a pre- 
 ceding discourse ; we there adverted to that dis- 
 play of mercy and compassion which constitutes 
 God's paternal character, and which led to the 
 most costly acts of love, from which have flowed 
 down to redeemed sinners " everlasting conso- 
 lation and a good or assured hope of eternal feli- 
 city." Upon this part of the subject, therefore, 
 no remarks will at present be offered ; but the at- 
 tention will be called rather to the second point, 
 
 II. The lesson which the kindness of God is in- 
 tended to teach, '* The grace of God," says 
 the apostle, *' that bringeth salvation hath ap- 
 peared to all men, teaching us that denying un- 
 godliness and worldly lusts, we should live 
 soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
 world," since *' Christ gave himself for us 
 that he might redeem us from all iniquity, 
 and purify unto himself a peculiar people 
 zealous of good works." 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 71 
 
 Now let it be observed, that the apostle is 
 not here speaking of the preceptive parts of 
 Christianity, but of the^r^ce of God as teaching 
 to the church this lesson of self-denial and of 
 holiness. The observation of this fact v^ill, in 
 itself, evince to us the absurdity of separating 
 the doctrines from the commands of Scripture, 
 or of acceding to the belief of certain facts, 
 without at the same time believing the moral 
 intepretation of those facts. The facts of Chris- 
 tianity are in truth visible exemplifications of 
 its precepts, and he does not properly believe 
 the facts who does not believe their interpreta- 
 tion, nor can he reasonably be said to believe 
 the interpretation who does not receive upon 
 his mind the moral impression which that in- 
 terpretation contains. In reality the quantity 
 of that moral impression is the just measure of 
 his belief of the fact itself. The apostle then 
 declares that the exhibition of the kindness or 
 grace of God teaches his servants the mortifi- -s 
 cation of sin and the value and beauty of holi- 
 ness. For what is the nature of this manifesta- 
 tion of kindness ! Is it not God freely pardon- 
 ing sin in a manner which marks out his utmost 
 abhorrence of sin? The door of hope was shut 
 against man. God surveyed his own moral 
 rights as governor of the world. He knew that 
 mankind had trifled with his authority and had 
 realised the terrific mistake that the external 
 
72 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 senses could yield him a higher felicity than his 
 God could impart. God would teach his church 
 that the transgression of the law under which 
 man had been created was connected with es- 
 sential misery. Hence the mysterious transac- 
 tion of the expiatory sufferings of Jesus Christ. 
 •We say that Jesus Christ died for man ; what 
 do we mean by the belief of this fact ? Do we' 
 not mean that sin exposes man to misery, and 
 that when God would arise to pardon, it was 
 through this very manifestation of its misery? 
 And what is the inference which the fact of 
 Christ's humiliation alone justifies ? Is it hot 
 that the ultimate wages of rebellion is nothing 
 less than the perdition of our being ? Yet at 
 the same moment what an exhibition of immea- 
 surable kindness ! It were difficult to say which 
 of these two inferences rises to the most per- 
 spicuous height from the view of the cross, that 
 God is Love, or that God is Holiness. 
 
 Both these attributes of love and truth are 
 here embodied in one astonishing fact, viz. 
 God manifest in the flesh, and dying for the 
 recovery of his creatures' happiness. Faith in 
 this fact, is therefore faith in the doctrine that 
 sin exposes to inconceivable misery. Strange 
 perversion of the meaning of this fact when any 
 man looks upon the doctrine of grace and atone- 
 ment, in order to rescue himself from the pres- 
 sure of moral obligation! If there be any pos- 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 73 
 
 sible fact, any possible argument which can 
 speak as with accents of thunder against the 
 slightest infringement of God's law, it is surely 
 this very fact and doctrine of the expiatory 
 affliction of the Son of God ! At the same time 
 it does not speak simply to the understanding 
 as any direct and rigid precept of philosophy 
 might speak, but it speaks at once to all the 
 faculties of the mind, and to all the sympathies 
 of the heart. It sets before the penitent trans- 
 gressor the justice and holiness of his Maker 
 with such an accompanying expression of unut- 
 terable pity, patience, generosity, and love, as 
 would win him back to allegiance ; less through 
 his fears than through his ho'pes, as would melt 
 down the ruggedness of his spirit, irritated 
 perhaps by the erroneous views he had enter- 
 tained of the divine character, and once more 
 reveal to him the true sources of his felicity in 
 the revival of every grateful sentiment and 
 affection towards his benefactor, his father, and 
 his God! We repeat, then, that the lesson 
 of the cross, the lesson of God's ineffable kind- 
 ness is '* to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
 and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in 
 this present world." The term '* godly" refers 
 to the hidden principles of all moral obedience, 
 love, or veneration for God ; a principle which 
 alone gives the character of liberty to his ser- 
 vice. The obedience of a slave is not the obe- 
 dience of virtue but of necessity : the obedience 
 
74 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 God seeks is that of virtue. As a father he 
 claims gratitude and love, and what an argu- 
 ment for the production of this love is the paci- 
 fication of the cross ? The term ** righteously" 
 refers to the relative acts of justice and charity 
 towards our fellow-creatures. And what an 
 argument for this justice and this charity, 
 is this same fact of atonement ! Who can rea- 
 sonably contemn the rights of truth and justice, 
 with the spectacle before his eyes of Christ en- 
 during the malediction of the law on account 
 of man's infringement of these very rights ? Or 
 how can any man esteem lightly the claims of 
 generosity and love towards his neighbour, with 
 this scene presented to his view of God yielding 
 up to death his beloved Son in behalf of others, 
 and these not friends but foes ? Is it too 
 much to say that if not a single precept of 
 justice or of benevolence existed in the Scrip- 
 tures, but if God had spoken to man simply by 
 this fact of atonement, the moral lesson would 
 itself be irresistible, if its fair interpretation 
 were duly considered ? But when viewed in 
 accordance with multiplied commandments to 
 the practice of truth and charity, a combined 
 character of beauty, mercy, and holiness, is 
 stamped upon God's revelation, calculated in 
 the highest possible degree to win the attention, 
 and to secure the affections of believers to the 
 practice of an unreserved morality. 
 
 The term ** soberly" refers to that quality 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 75 
 
 of mind which results from a comparison be- 
 tween the value of things temporal and things 
 eternal, things outward or sensual, and things 
 inward or spiritual. The Scriptures have else- 
 where spoken of " inordinate affection," and 
 have given the directions, ** Let your modera- 
 tion be known unto all men ;" *' Set your affec- 
 tions on things above, not on things on the 
 earth ;" " for ye are dead, and your life is hid 
 with Christ in God." '* When Christ who is 
 our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear 
 with him in glory !" 
 
 Now what an argument to this heavenly so- 
 briety of mind flows from the discovery of God's 
 kindness in the cross of Christ. He came to 
 the world in humility, in suffering, in self- 
 denial, in conflict, in death ! He had no part 
 in the struggles of ambition, in the pursuit of 
 riches, in the gratifications of sense, in the at- 
 tainment of rank and power ! What was his 
 life, what was his death, but the unfaltering 
 statement, *' that all flesh is as grass, and all 
 the glory of man as the flower of grass." '* The 
 grass withereth, the flower fadeth, while the 
 word and promises of God alone abide for 
 ever." Let it be admitted that the Scriptures 
 authorise a wise, and humble, and moderate 
 enjoyment of the temporal emoluments of life, 
 but if they went farther, it would be to ruin the 
 very cause which they intend to sustain. It 
 
76 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 would be to secularise the hearts which they 
 desire to render heavenly, it would be to root 
 deeper in the soil that which is ere long to be 
 torn up by the violence of death ; it would be 
 to build as a resting-place the structure which 
 the winds and the floods are soon to crumble 
 and to destroy. Oh ! how wise is it for a pil- 
 grim and a stranger to dwell ever in the pros- 
 pect of his home and of his family, and to forego 
 undue attachments to the objects scattered in 
 the wilderness through which he is to pass ! 
 
 It is evident, that if the lesson taught by the 
 doctrines of grace be thus to live " godly," 
 ** righteously," and *' soberly," in this present 
 world, there will follow an absolute denial of 
 *' ungodliness and worldly lusts," as incom- 
 patible with this life of Christian justice and 
 moderation. These qualities of mind are easily 
 injured, and with difficulty cherished and main- 
 tained amidst the temptations of life : they are 
 destroyed by ungodliness, and the prevalence 
 of worldly lusts. Two opposite propensities 
 cannot exi&t habitually and supremely in the 
 same bosom. ** The friendship of the world is 
 enmity to God." " No man can serve two 
 masters" of opposite dispositions ; a godly man 
 cannot be ungodly ; a righteous man unjust ; a 
 sober man immoderate. We speak of habit* 
 and design, and mode of life. There may be 
 an occasional conflict of principle, there may be 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 77 
 
 sad inconsistencies, resisted, and painfully felt 
 and acknowledged, but the character of virtue 
 will maintain its supremacy, and the transgres- 
 sion will be the bitterly deplored exception, 
 and not the rule. The mists of sense and of 
 earth, like those of the morning struggling with 
 the summer sunbeams, will gradually disperse, 
 and the character will hourly brighten into the 
 firmer and steadier love of righteousness and 
 peace. Such is the lesson which the free, so- 
 vereign, unmerited mercy and grace of God in 
 Christ Jesus is intended to teach. It writes in 
 characters of blood the connection between 
 guilt and misery. It warns a believer by the 
 agonies of Christ, to turn his feet from the paths 
 of evil : it invites him by the same mysterious 
 sorrows, to look again towards the God whom 
 he had quitted, and to lean again his heart and 
 his hopes upon the bosom of his Saviour and 
 his Friend ! 
 
 III. But it remains yet briefly to notice the 
 attitude of mind which this manifestation of God's 
 kindness is designed to produce : *' Looking," 
 says the apostle, " for that blessed hope, and 
 the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 What is the aim and design of this new life 
 of faith and charity, this culture of sobriety, 
 justice, and godliness? Is it not to train the 
 believing soul for a higher existence, to expand 
 its faculties in the light and love of truth ? Is 
 
78 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 it not to heal the polluting and aching diseases 
 of the heart? Is it not to discipline the cha- 
 racter into the imitation of God, and to render 
 the individual meet for the enjoyment of the 
 inheritance of the saints in light ? Is it not to 
 prepare him for the day of final triumph and 
 bliss, when he shall see his Saviour face to 
 face, and live in his pure society, through the 
 bright ages of eternity ? 
 
 Now all this discipline, all this culture of 
 moral principles, all this practice of virtue, is 
 carried on under the guidance and vivacity of 
 hope. '* Ye are saved by hope." Christianity 
 in a renewed mind, is any thing but a cold and 
 reluctant obedience extorted by terror: it is 
 the voluntary submission of the heart to the 
 wisest and kindest friend. It is the free and 
 high anticipation of everlasting felicity in his 
 presence. *' Looking for that blessed hope ;" 
 the eyes of the Christian are fixed upon it ; his 
 interests are comprised in its veracity ; his af- 
 fections are embarked in its accomplishment. 
 The world is not his home, nor its enjoyments 
 adequate to sustain his peace. This scene is 
 fading and defiled : its snares are many ; its 
 paths are rugged ; its sorrows are frequent. 
 His feelings are those of an exile, who amidst 
 various comforts still thinks of his home, his 
 country, and his friends. The hope of his return 
 gilds the intermediate hours of his existence ; 
 he fulfils his duty, he refreshes his spirit by the 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 79 
 
 objects of beauty or of interest around him, 
 but his affections cling round his native shores. 
 To that unforgotten scene the needle of his heart 
 hourly tends. Thus is it with the Christian on 
 whom the mercy of God is exerting its sacred 
 and purifying influence. Religion is to him not 
 the cold balance of certain restrictions and cer- 
 tain comforts, but the warm acknowledgments of 
 infinite obligation, and of everlasting love. It is 
 the blessed and refreshing conviction, that yet 
 a little while, and the veil which hides him 
 from his true happiness will be withdrawn, that 
 yet a little while, and the Saviour into whose 
 hands he has confided the great interests of his 
 soul will return, and call him back from the 
 grave, to gladden him with the accents of eter- 
 nal tenderness, *' Come ye blessed children of 
 my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world." He 
 thus " looks" for this event. He is intently in- 
 terested in its reality. He connects with this 
 ultimate happiness of his soul in Christ all 
 the intervening struggles of virtue, all the re- 
 sistance to temptation, all the efforts of self- 
 controul, all the endurance of trial. This hope 
 cheers the sorrows of life, and brightens all its 
 comforts. Every gift of temporal pleasure re- 
 minds him of this richer heritage, and throws 
 the hue of heaven's own gladness over the 
 surface of domestic enjoyments. He is the 
 
80 HOLIiVESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 happy man, who takes his daily blessings as at 
 a father's hands, and who is yet able when 
 these are wrecked, to repose his thoughts upon 
 the intercourse of eternity! These emotions 
 thus dignify the practical morality of life, and 
 render the ties of virtue not the chains of fear, 
 but the golden links of gratitude and joy. 
 
 'Such is the attitude of mind which the Almighty's 
 kindness is calculated and designed to produce 
 upon those who credit its existence, and admit 
 its extent. Oh! let a lodgment be made more 
 and more in our understandings and in our 
 hearts, for this great and momentous subject. It 
 is a certain truth, that the only ultimate felicity 
 for man is the restoration of his affections to his 
 God, and these affections cannot return to God 
 except through a discovery of his true cha- 
 racter. We cannot love that which does not 
 appear to us to be lovely ; we are compelled 
 to love that which does appear to be lovely. 
 It is the indestructible nature of our being to 
 do this. Hence all men would become godly, 
 if they could but see more attraction in God, 
 than in the gratifications of the world and of 
 sense ! How quickly would they recoil from the 
 allurements of licentiousness, from the vanity 
 and pride of life, did they but estimate aright 
 these blighting influences upon their character, 
 and the direct power of evil to injure, and ulti- 
 mately to destroy their peace ! How eagerly 
 
HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 81 
 
 would they throw themselves into the arms 
 of God's compassion, and warm themselves 
 in the sunshine of his promises, did they 
 but believe truly the history of atonement 
 and intercession! Their misery lies in their 
 ignorance of the relation of things. Would 
 the poor moth rush into the brilliant flame, 
 if it knew the tendency of that flame to 
 destroy? And would man grow daily more 
 familiar with levity and sin, if he really knew 
 the operation of such levity and such sin, upon 
 the sanctity and the safety of his relations with 
 God ! It is sometimes replied, that we wish to 
 proselyte men to our own opinions : truly it is 
 a very poor thing to eflect such an object. 
 Oh! gladly would the minister of Christ leave 
 others in undisturbed possession of their opi- 
 nion, if he could believe that they cherished no 
 opinion destructive of their true happiness ! 
 
 But believing the Bible to be the standard of 
 good and evil, can the Christian see unmoved 
 the current practice of mankind, or hear uncon- 
 cerned the actual opinions of society ? Rather 
 will he not blush to think that his zeal is so 
 cold, his heart so hard, and his desire for 
 human happiness so limited and restrained! 
 Oh, where is that holy charity, which has pa- 
 tiently toiled amidst reproach, imprisonment, 
 and death itself, in order to mitigate the woes, 
 or to enlighten the ignorance of mankind! How 
 noble, how generous a spectacle is that fur- 
 
82 HOLINESS THE DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 nished by the great promulgator of Christianity 
 to the Gentiles. ** None of these things move 
 me, neither count I my life dear to me, so that 
 I might finish my course with joy, and the 
 ministry which I have received of the Lord Je- 
 sus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God !" 
 Oh, it was not to proselyte to opinions, it was 
 to save immortal souls from the perdition of 
 sin, and to make bloom again the withered 
 hopes of man with respect to God and to eter- 
 nity ; this it was which gave activity to his 
 charity, and warmth and energy to his mi- 
 nistry ! Hence his language, and his feeling, 
 and his entreaty were ever of this kind. ** We 
 then are ambassadors for Christ, as though God 
 did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's 
 stead be ye reconciled to God, for he hath 
 made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him!" 
 
 May God enlighten every conscience and con- 
 vert every heart ! May he win a way to every 
 best affection, by the discovery of his com- 
 passion ; and bursting before our view the delu- 
 sions of life, may he enable us to repose the 
 burden of our expectations upon the reception 
 of his gospel, upon the atonement of his Son, 
 upon the sanctification of his Spirit, and upon 
 the growing conformity of our minds to the 
 plan of his moral government of the world ! 
 
83 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE CONDITION AND PROSPECTS 
 OF A CHRISTIAN. 
 
 Hebrews xiii. 14. 
 
 "FOR HERE HAVE WE NO CONTINUING CITY, BUT WE SEEK ONE 
 ^ TO COME." 
 
 The wise and repeated consideration of the 
 brevity of human life, is a habit of mind of 
 great importance to human welfare. For 
 though the limit of our existence on earth be 
 not capable of enlargement by our sagacity, 
 yet does the responsibility under which we 
 pass that existence stretch its dark or its bright 
 influence over the duration of eternity. A 
 Christian mind will cling to such a subject — a 
 Christian mind will add to its musings the 
 declaration of the apostle, ** We have here no 
 abiding city, but we seek one to come." 
 
 Such a man will find pourtrayed, in the 
 words of the text, 
 
 r. His present condition. 
 
 II. His future prospects. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 III. The FEELINGS WITH WHICH HE OUGHT 
 TO CONTEMPLATE THAT PROSPECT. 
 
 I. These words describe, in the first place, 
 the Christian's condition in the present world, 
 *' We have here no abiding city'' 
 
 It was a remark of this same apostle, that 
 the ancient patriarchs dwelt in ** tabernacles 
 and tents," denoting their character as pilgrims 
 and wanderers on the earth. A city is a term 
 illustrative of security, and of continuance ; a 
 tent is pitched to-day, and taken up to-morrow. 
 When the apostle then observes that we have 
 no abiding city, he contrasts the abiding city 
 with the momentary tabernacle ; and means to 
 tell us that here we have no secure abode, no 
 lasting resting-place ; that our condition is one 
 of change, of restlessness, and of decay. This 
 condition is natural to man ; not indeed his 
 original destiny, but his condition since the 
 forfeiture of his innocence. Death, with its 
 forerunners of vicissitudes and of suffering, is 
 the penalty due to sin ; and in this condition 
 even the best Christian fully participates. 
 Christianity offers no exemption from the 
 ravages of sorrow to its most faithful ad- 
 herents. In this respect, '* there is one event to 
 the righteous and to the wicked." " The place 
 that knew us once, soon knows us no more." 
 *' All flesh is grass; the grass withereth, the 
 flower fadeth." ** We spend our years as a 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 85 
 
 tale that is told." Tears fall ; the heart mourns ; 
 the friend dies ; we die ourselves. This is 
 our brief and trite history ; a history soon told, 
 but a history, nevertheless, comprising much 
 that is awful and disastrous ; and not the less 
 disastrous because it is trite and obvious. 
 There is, however, a surprising difference in 
 the manner in which men come into contact 
 with the perception of suffering and of decay. 
 Men, occupied with worldly objects as the ea:- 
 clusive sources of their happiness, endeavour 
 to obscure or to throw aside the convictions 
 which calamity would force upon their minds. 
 There have indeed been found worldly men 
 of gloomy minds, who without any religion 
 to cheer the scene, have loved to speculate 
 amidst images of woe and of decay ; and who 
 have almost made man a subject of mockery 
 and derision. And there have been, likewise, 
 men of another cast, though actuated by no 
 better principles, who have endeavoured, by 
 the cultivation of apathy, or indifference, to 
 extinguish the distinction between pain and 
 pleasure. But the generality of worldly per- 
 sons rather shudder at the details of suffering ; 
 they make constant and laborious efforts to throw 
 a deceitful lustre over the chequered scenes 
 of human life. They wish to lead themselves 
 and others to the conviction that pleasure and 
 hilarity are the main springs of happiness ; 
 
86 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 and that to anticipate misfortune when absent, 
 or in any manner to cherish it when present, 
 is to deprive themselves alike of wisdom and of 
 comfort. 
 
 To contemn sickness is not however to insure 
 health ; and thoughtlessness of calamity may 
 perhaps deepen its ultimate gloom. But a real 
 Christian is not afraid to look calamity in the 
 face. He is not afraid to investigate its causes, 
 or to learn its lessons. He knows that God is 
 too benevolent a Being to have covered the 
 earth with traces of sorrow, if there existed, on 
 the part of man, no adequate ground of provo- 
 cation. In the mind of the Christian, therefore, 
 sorrow is associated with sin. Reflection, con- 
 trition, humility — these ever accompany him 
 along the path of his affliction. The apostle 
 never shrinks from the avowal^, that we have here 
 no abiding city. Another apostle addresses his 
 converts under the special character of wan- 
 derers on earth. *' I beseech you therefore," 
 he says, " as pilgrims and strangers." 
 
 The disposition to build up an earthly dwell- 
 ing place, is even to the Christian the source of 
 much evil. It veils often from his view the 
 reality of his situation ; and while it may glad- 
 den by a bright, but momentary delusion, it 
 prepares him, as far as it prevails, for a ruder 
 grasp of sorrow. A true Christian is however 
 aware of this deception, and by the grace of 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 87 
 
 God becomes familiar with the subjects of 
 affliction, welcomes them as friends, and longs 
 that they should fulfil their whole errand to his 
 soul. He recognizes the truth, that by no 
 power of thought, no measure of sagacity, no 
 circumspection of conduct, no violence of effort, 
 can he by his own resources disengage him- 
 self from the sentence under which he lies. 
 The record is palpably written, not merely on 
 the page of revelation, but on the page of 
 fact and experience — ^' Dust thou art, and 
 unto dust thou shalt return." We brought 
 nothing into this world, and it is certain we 
 can carry nothing out. ''We have here no 
 abiding city." This record is too plainly 
 written for him to deny its import, or to over- 
 look its fulfilment in his own case. He looks 
 around him, and he sees that all things are in 
 a state of progress to destruction. He must 
 shortly quit the dearest object which life may 
 present to him, and enter upon a new and dif- 
 ferent kind of existence. '* It is appointed unto 
 all men once to die, and after this the judg- 
 ment;" after that, the allotment of an eternal 
 recompense, whether of wrath or mercy. This 
 conviction fastens upon his soul ; it is a solemn 
 conviction calculated to exert a surprising and 
 strong influence upon an intelligent being. 
 
 II. The apostle admits this, when he adds, 
 '* we seek a city to come." It may be allowed 
 that the anticipation of evil would perhaps be 
 
88 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 folly, if such evil admitted of no remedy ; but 
 it is not true of this world's sufferings, that 
 they admit of no remedy. There is a use to be 
 made of serious reflection, by which the ulti- 
 mate effects of sin may be prevented. Amidst 
 the wreck of human things, there is a voice 
 which proclaims, '* I am the resurrection and 
 the life." *' God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth on him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life." '* Come unto me, all ye that 
 labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." In reference to this plan of mercy, 
 the apostle says, ** we seek a city to come." 
 
 There is a state of imperishable happiness 
 — there is a dwelling-place of unassailable 
 strength, as secure from the assaults of sor- 
 row, as it is replenished with '* the fulness 
 of joy;" there is a home in the mansions 
 of God, our heavenly Father, where every 
 tear is wiped away, and every sin is for- 
 given, and every imperfection is supplied; 
 " where the wicked cease from troubling, and 
 where the weary be at rest;" where all is 
 bright, and firm, and happy, because all is holy 
 and without spot or blemish, and this for ever. 
 The Saviour of the world pointed to this city 
 to come when He addressed his dejected dis- 
 ciples in these ever memorable words, '* Let 
 not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, 
 believe also in me. In my Father's house are 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 89 
 
 many mansions ; if it were not so 1 would have 
 told you. I go to prepare a place for you ; and 
 if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
 again and receive you to myself, that where I 
 am, there may ye be also." Now it is the cer- 
 tainty of an entrance into this fenced city, it is 
 the certainty of obtaining a share in this in- 
 heritance of peace and joy, which, in reference 
 to the Christian, gives reflection its value, and 
 the anticipation of sorrow and death all its use- 
 fulness and importance. If there were no future 
 blessedness — if there were no foundations laid 
 in the everlasting purpose of God^ on which the 
 walls of this city of joy might rest, then perhaps 
 seriousness of mind might be well exchanged for 
 the laughter of folly, and the Sadducean proverb 
 be received as the decision of sagacity, ** Let us 
 eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 
 
 But there doth remain a rest for the " people 
 of God."^ It is a matter placed beyond the 
 reach of conjecture or of hazard, that there is 
 *' a city which hath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God." Its blessed inhabitants 
 " rest from their labours, and their works do 
 follow them." They hunger, they thirst, they 
 sorrow, they die no more. They are with their 
 Saviour, and their God, and become partakers 
 of his eternity and of his felicity. They see 
 face to face, and know even as they are known. 
 The obscurity of human knowledge is exchanged 
 
90 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 for the brightness of truth ; the vicissitudes of 
 earth for the perpetuities of heaven. The cer- 
 tainty of this state of existence to the redeemed 
 forced even from the lips of an ungodly prophet 
 the exclamation, " Let me die the death of the 
 righteous, and let my last end be like his." 
 
 The notions indeed which v^orldly men form 
 of heaven, are very indistinct ; and w^hile per- 
 haps scarcely any individual is to be found who 
 does not connect an idea of happiness with the 
 term heaven, yet very few labour to ascertain 
 in what that happiness is likely to consist. 
 And in this lamentable want of honest and of 
 Christian curiosity, they evince their present un- 
 fitness for its hallowed enjoyments. Oh for the 
 warning voice which should arrest their attention 
 — *' Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
 dead, and Christ shall give thee light." But to 
 a true Christian, the terms '* heaven," " city 
 to come," *' a rest," *' a welcome to the Father's 
 house," convey notions, which if not perfectly 
 intelligible, are yet sufficiently accurate to 
 awaken feelings, and to excite hopes, of the 
 most affecting and delightful kind. In his mind, 
 heaven is as nearly as possible opposed to earth. 
 Here he finds sin, pollution, ignorance, passion, 
 sorrow, death ; there he expects to find know- 
 ledge, holiness, reason, religion, gladness, eter- 
 nal life. Here he finds a world in arms against 
 its God ; there he anticipates a world submissive 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 91 
 
 and obedient to the great and glorious Lawgiver. 
 He7^e he finds perturbation, restlessness, dis- 
 appointment, and vexation ; there he looks for 
 the settled peace of virtue, the unchanging 
 tranquillity of innocence and of truth. Here 
 he finds Christ dishonoured, insulted, and for- 
 gotten ; there he beholds his Saviour enthroned 
 in every heart, and receiving the homage of 
 grateful and ceaseless adoration — " Unto him 
 that loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
 his own blood ; to him be glory, and dominion 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 III. The sensations with which a Christian 
 contemplates this city to come, are sufficiently 
 distinct and intelligible. If he believes that 
 there is a city yet to come, he is reasonably 
 excited by these convictions. He is conscious 
 of their exerting a strong influence upon his 
 soul. He is urgently moved to seek that city 
 to come. He contemplates that secure abode 
 with feelings something similar to those, with 
 which a sinking mariner would contemplate a 
 rock, which lifted its head amidst the dashings 
 of the surrounding waves. If he can reach the 
 rock, he escapes death. 
 
 Let us dwell for a little moment upon this 
 point — ** we seek a city to come." The apostle 
 hei^e intimates that there is a correspondence 
 between a Christian's principles and his pur- 
 suits. No man can rationally survey his present 
 
92 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 condition without the greatest possible uneasi- 
 ness, if he does not combine with it the great 
 remedy for all this calamity — if he does not 
 advert, and this continually, to the atonement 
 and intercession of Jesus Christ ; to the faith- 
 fulness of God to his promises ; and to the 
 conversion of the heart to God, as a qualifica- 
 tion or meetness for the holy felicity of the 
 heavenly world. 
 
 ** We seek a city to come." That is, it is the 
 object of our interest, of our anxiety, and of our 
 pursuit. We have embarked our everlasting 
 all in this enterprise. If we gaiu not an habi- 
 tation in this heavenly city, we must be mi- 
 serable ; deluded here, and lost hereafter. Our 
 minds therefore are keenly alive to the great 
 work of salvation ; it is the great matter that 
 arrests our attention, and that excites our ac- 
 tivity. We feel that every thing else is utterly 
 insignificant ; that it would profit us nothing 
 could we gain the whole world and lose our 
 souls, for what can be rationally given in ex- 
 change for our souls. Hence it is now our 
 absorbing solicitude to be found in Christ; to 
 work out our eternal salvation ; to be rendered 
 capable of the high and spiritual enjoyments of 
 the future world — ** we seek a city to come." 
 
 The expression implies that we greatly desire 
 that city ; that we are not unacquainted with 
 its society, its splendour, its security, its Prince. 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 93 
 
 It implies that our affections are clinging to the 
 hope of that felicity which it imparts ; that we 
 do not advert to it as the last refuge to which 
 we are painfully forced to fly, when every other 
 shelter fails us ; but that we are seeking that 
 city as having our treasures laid up there ; as 
 having, even on earth, a growing conformity of 
 mind to its unsullied purity. 
 
 The child at a distance from home, associates 
 gladness with his meditations upon that home; 
 the exile, long absent from his native land, 
 hears the name of that land with sacred emo- 
 tions of interest and of affection ; and the true 
 Christian, with at least as much of reason and 
 of sense, seeks his better home, and desires that 
 land where his kindred and his Saviour dwell. 
 " To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 
 *' I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, 
 ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.'" 
 Happy are those whose minds sympathize and 
 accord with these aspirations ; and who are 
 seeking in sincerity their everlasting home in 
 heaven ! 
 
 But it is ever well to deal practically with 
 such a question, and to press home its important 
 topics upon the heart. The reason why men 
 are afraid of too much religion, is that their 
 hearts are not interested in the subjects which 
 that religion reveals. They are not seeking this 
 city. If they ever think of it, it is by con- 
 
94 THE CONDITION AND 
 
 straint. Their treasure is not there ; for when 
 does religion become truly gladdening to the 
 heart? when does it- carry home to the bosom 
 its elevating and blessed consolations? It is 
 when we understand ourselves, and when the 
 world is stripped of the mask by which it de- 
 ceives us. It is when descending from the 
 pedestal of human pride, we credit the scriptural 
 record, and take our place, as sinners, at the 
 foot of the cross. It is when believing that by 
 our sins we have forfeited all right to God's 
 bounty, we cast ourselves upon his grace and 
 mercy, in Christ Jesas. It is when harassed, 
 and afflicted, and humbled by the corruption 
 and worldliness of our hearts, we yield our- 
 selves up to the converting influence of God's 
 Spirit, and seek the shelter of an arm mightier 
 than our own. It is when satisfied that if God 
 were to enter into judgment with us, we could 
 not answer him in that judgment, we adopt the 
 language of the publican, and smite upon the 
 breast, and cry, ''God be merciful to me a 
 sinner !" Oh theti it is that the doctrines of 
 Christianity assume a loveliness in our eyes, 
 which was utterly hidden from us in the days 
 of our worldliness and our pride ! Then it is 
 that the thought of a city to come, — a home in 
 heaven, with Christ, yields inexpressible alle- 
 viation to the burdened mind ! 
 
 And are not all hastening to the eternal 
 
PROSPECTS OF A CHRISTIAN. 95 
 
 world ; and know they what a single day may 
 bring forth ? Are they then right as to their 
 views of that world, to which they are tending 
 so rapidly? Have they believed on Christ? 
 An error here is an error too fatal to be ad- 
 mitted, for it may remain unrectified for ever. 
 The name of Christianity, the form of Christi- 
 anity, may be sufficient in life, but it is not 
 sufficient in death ; or if it should be sufficient 
 on this side of the grave, it will not be adequate 
 on the other side. When the tremendous real- 
 ities of heaven and hell burst in upon the soul, 
 how well to have realized them by faith on 
 earth, and to have acted according to our belief 
 of those realities ! Oh let all who believe the 
 gospel, redeem the time, because the days are 
 evil ; let all labour by more serious reading of 
 the Bible, by simple faith, by more fervent 
 prayer, by honest self-examination, to evince 
 that true conversion of heart, which renders 
 joyous the summons to meet God ! which en- 
 sures, through the atonement and intercession 
 of Jesus Christ, a share in the blessedness of 
 heaven ! 
 
96 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 
 Hebrews iv. 1. 
 
 " LET us THEREFORE FEAR, LEST, A PROMISE BEING LEFT US OF 
 ENTERING INTO HIS REST, ANY OF YOU SHOULD SEEM TO COME 
 SHORT OF IT." 
 
 The apostle refers to a very striking illustration 
 of human folly, in the history of his countrymen, 
 under the guidance and instruction of Moses ; 
 and he draws from thence the caution in the 
 text. The Israelites had been in bondage in 
 Egypt. God sent to them a deliverer; God 
 promised to them a valuable inheritance in 
 Canaan; but between them and this inherit- 
 ance, were interposed a howling wilderness and 
 numerous enemies. When under the pressure 
 of present difficulties, they '* thought scorn of 
 that pleasant land, and gave no credence unto 
 God's word." They sighed after the very 
 bondage which they had quitted, and turned 
 back in heart from their God. He therefore 
 spake to them in his wrath, and forbade them 
 entrance into the promised land. That whole 
 
NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CvVUTION. 97 
 
 race, with two exceptions, perished in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Now there is a striking analogy here between 
 the conduct of ancient Israel, and that of the 
 majority of those who profess Christianity. 
 God presents to their view the assurances and 
 hopes of his gospel ; the inheritance above 
 which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away. He promises to them per- 
 petual safety in the full pardon of all their sins 
 by faith in the blood of Christ. He promises 
 to them, by the same faith, victory over worldly 
 passions, and the renewal of their hearts to 
 true holiness. He places before them his 
 friendship and unchanging love, and all the sa- 
 cred manifestations of that love in the gifts and 
 graces of the Holy Spirit. But, attracted and 
 influenced by worldly considerations, the gene- 
 rality of men have no delight in the contempla- 
 tion of these munificent gifts. They practically 
 reject all this goodness, and prefer the gratifi- 
 cations of time and sense to present godliness 
 and to future glory. Referring then to a past 
 history of folly and ingratitude ; and mindful 
 of the hereditary and invariable depravity of 
 man, the apostle urges the Hebrew converts in 
 the text, to fear '* lest a promise being left to 
 them of entering into God's rest, any of them 
 should seem to come short of it." 
 
 Let each transfer the application of this sub- 
 
 H 
 
98 NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 
 
 ject from Israel to himself; let him enquire, by 
 God's help, into the condition of his own mind, 
 and let him ask solemnly and seriously whether 
 there be not some danger lest a promise of 
 blessedness being made unto himself, he should 
 seem to come short of it. 
 
 I. Let us first consider the important and 
 consolatory truth, that we have actually a 
 
 PROMISE made to US OF AN ETERNAL REST. 
 
 ** There remaineth a rest for the people of 
 ** God." " Blessed be the God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his 
 abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a 
 hope of life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
 from the dead." *' Let not your heart be trou- 
 bled, in my Father's house are many mansions." 
 ** We know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of God, an house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the "heavens." 
 
 In these expressions the Scriptures refer to 
 a future rest, or to that blessedness which is re- 
 served for the faithful followers of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ in a higher and a better world. 
 The speculations of philosophy, the deductions 
 of unassisted reason are uncertain and vague ; 
 but not so the declarations of Christianity. 
 While many subjects therein contained are 
 presented to our faith, which, as to the mode of 
 their existence are placed beyond the range of 
 
NECESSITY FOR llELICilOUS CAUTION. 99 
 
 our loftiest faculties, the decisions of Chris- 
 tianity are yet entirely level to the lowest, as 
 to the glorious assurances which they contain 
 of eternal happiness through Jesus Christ. 
 Christianity is no cunningly devised fable, but 
 a certain and substantial offer of inconceivable 
 felicity. It finds us wretched, and poor, and 
 blind, and miserable. It finds us deluded in 
 our estimate of good and evil, depraved in our 
 propensities, and earthly in our habits. It finds 
 us exposed to the inflictions of divine wrath, 
 even to the terrible penalty of a moral perdi- 
 tion, and finding us under this deplorable con- 
 dition, it brings near to us by faith the asto- 
 nishing tidings, the good news of pardon, grace, 
 and mercy through the mediation of Jesus 
 Christ. It tells us in words too plain to be 
 questioned, that though we have ruined our- 
 selves, in God is our help. It tells us, that 
 '* God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his 
 ways our ways." It tells us that God is still 
 willing to be our father, our comforter, and our 
 friend ; that he has provided an atonement and 
 satisfaction to his injured law and authority in 
 the sacrifice and death of his Son, and that in 
 the midst of all our provocations, insults, ingra- 
 titude, and folly, he yet waits to be gracious to 
 us. It tells us that true religion is thus, not a 
 harsh series of rugged restraints, but a voice of 
 peace and of kindness inviting us to all the 
 
 H 2 
 
100 NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTIOK. 
 
 happiness which results from the recovered fa- 
 vour of God, and from the anticipations of future 
 glory. It tells us that true religion is nothing • 
 less than light beaming in upon our darkness, 
 than hope cheering our despair, than mercy re- 
 moving our guilt, than life driving away death, 
 than immortality beckoning us to the fruition of 
 the joys of paradise. In brief, it reveals to us 
 a '* rest," to be enjoyed here in peace of con- 
 science, and hereafter in heavenly felicity ; a 
 ** rest," which, as it is the free gift of God :in 
 Jesus Christ, is alike attainable 'through faith 
 by every offender, however more or less aggra- 
 vated his sins may be ; a rest, which as it is 
 the purchase of a Saviour's blood, is given 
 *^ without money and without price " to him 
 who believeth. There is no other qualification 
 needed than a sense of misery and a desire 
 after the very happiness which it engages to 
 bestow — and without such qualifications it 
 cannot be enjoyed ; for as it is not simply an 
 outward escape from visible evils, but a spi- 
 ritual deliverance from the inward diseases of 
 a defiled heart, it is not conceivable that such 
 a rest can apply itself but to a heart hungering 
 and thirsting after a spiritual salvation. 
 
 The adaptation of this rest to the weariness 
 of man is very striking. Are we not inwardly 
 debased and wretched ? are we not dying, and 
 our comforts dying also ? Is not the grave our 
 
NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 101 
 
 last abode on earth, and beyond is there not a 
 fearful judgment, a righteous retribution ? Oh 
 do we not want this Christianity ? Do we not 
 want this mercy, this grace, this deliverance? 
 Do we not want his aid who '' has the keys of 
 death and hell V Do we not want the might 
 of an arm which can open again the door of the 
 sepulchre, and become *' the resurrection and 
 the life." Do we not want an arm which can 
 beat down Satan under our feet, and guide our 
 steps into a land of quietness and love ? Do 
 we not want the robe of salvation, and the gar- 
 ment of righteousness in which w^e *' may be 
 presented faultless before the presence of God 
 with exceeding joy?" Do we not want, in fine, 
 a rest, the very rest of the gospel ; a rest from 
 sin, a rest from sorrow, a rest from ignorance, 
 a rest from death, a rest from the struggles of 
 corruption, a rest from fear, a rest from the 
 perils of perdition ? Do we not want a reunit- 
 ing world, a home where friends never sepa- 
 rate, where tears never flow, where evil never 
 defiles ? Do we not want an asylum and an in- 
 heritance which is at once incorruptible and un- 
 defiled ? And such an asylum, such a '* rest," 
 actually ** remaineth for the people of God," we 
 have '* a promise of entering into this rest." 
 II. But we must now observe, that this 
 
 REST IS PROMISED TO THE PEOPLE OF GoD, 
 
 AND TO THEM ALONE. luto that world of light 
 and of love nothing enters that defiles. It is a 
 
102 NECESSITY FOR RELICxIOUS CAUTION. 
 
 world of purity, truth, allegiance, affection to 
 God ; its inhabitants are all righteous, its en- 
 joyments are all holy, its pleasures '* are at 
 God's right hand." Those who dwell there are 
 *' the ransomed of the Lord, who have washed 
 their robes white in the blood of the Lamb." 
 They are animated by the most intense grati- 
 tude to their great benefactor. They owe all 
 to his unmerited grace, and their joy is founded 
 in part on their entire conformity with his cha- 
 racter. It is an important consideration that 
 the happiness of heaven is derived from the 
 agreement between the dispositions of its inha- 
 bitants and the government of its king. No 
 schism, no revolt, no alienation, no reluctance, 
 no coldness towards God is felt in heaven; 
 God is love, and all who dwell near him ** dwell 
 in love," love to him and to each other. Many 
 persons appear to overlook the necessity for 
 this conformity of mind to God in their notions, 
 if notions they distinctly form of heaven, many 
 appear to think that the happiness of the other 
 world, except perhaps in very atrocious cases, 
 is almost the certain heritage of their kind, that 
 somehow or other, through the mediation of 
 Jesus Christ, they will ultimately be happy : 
 that ** as in Adam all die," even so in the most 
 unlimited sense of the terms, " all in Christ 
 shall be made alive." 
 
 But although the design of Christianity be 
 general, though the door of mercy be so wide 
 
NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 103 
 
 as to admit all who come to it, though the ''sin 
 which is as scarlet may be made as white as 
 snow," though ''the blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanseth from all sin," yet all these blessings 
 are eternally connected with the characters to 
 which they apply. These blessings are not 
 forced upon man, are not the wece^^^ry and com- 
 pulsive result of Christianity. Those who see 
 God are " the pure in heart," those who enter 
 into rest are the humble and broken in heart. 
 The happiness of heaven where God dwells, is 
 a happiness, the result of holiness. God is him- 
 self happy because he is holy, and the ransomed 
 of the Lord are happy in heaven, because they 
 are not only pardoned but sanctified, because 
 they are made like God, and are enabled to 
 delight in all his righteous administrations. 
 They find all around them adapted to their 
 wishes, and consonant with their views, there- 
 fore they are happy. Hence the Scriptures 
 speak of coming short of the glory of God, of being 
 excluded from this rest. They speak of "an 
 everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord," "when he shall come to be glorified in 
 his saints, and to be admired in all them that be- 
 lieve." They speak of an awful separation be- 
 tween those who have received and those who 
 have overlooked his overtures of mercy. They 
 speak not only of rest for the just, but of weari- 
 ness for the unjust. They speak of peace to God's 
 children, but of wretchedness to his enemies. 
 
104 NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 
 
 III. Now THE POSSIBILITY OF COMING 
 SHORT OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF HEAVEN IS 
 AN IDEA SO TREMENDOUS, THAT IT MAY 
 WELL AFFECT THE MIND WITH AWE. The 
 
 apostle says, '' Let us therefore /e^r lest a pro- 
 mise hemg left us of entering into his rest, any of 
 you should seem to come short of it ;" and on 
 another occasion, the same apostle directs us 
 '' to work out our own salvation with fear and 
 trembling.'' The interests of eternity are of so . 
 vast a nature, the hazard so great, and the ap- 
 parent improbability of retrieving error after 
 death is so plainly stated, that the supposition 
 of carelessness in so great a matter, is a sup- 
 position fearful in the extreme. All human 
 evils are tolerable, because they are momen- 
 tary. Earthquake, shipwreck, loss of property, 
 death of friends, these calamities are limited, 
 but the loss of salvation is an intolerable evil, 
 because it is an evil which seems to admit of 
 no termination. Oh who can endure, what 
 heart can maintain its fortitude, if God shall 
 enter with it into judgment? There is there- 
 fore no spectacle more affecting to a kind and 
 reflecting mind, than that of carelessness in re- 
 ligion. There is no object more pitiable than 
 that of an immortal being, wasting the few 
 precious hours of life in the frivolous occu- 
 pations of pleasure, or in the severer pursuits 
 of^ gain, while yet he is reckless of the pains 
 >*i|J^nd pleasures, the gains and losses of eternity 1 
 
NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 105 
 
 Can it then be denied, that the situation of 
 an unbeliever is one of the utmost danger and 
 uncertainty ? His time is short, his death is near, 
 his everlasting destiny is suspended in doubtful 
 balance : his sins are many, his foes numerous, 
 his corruptions strong. But a glorious prize is 
 yet placed before him ; good news have reach- 
 ed his ears. Pardon is proclaimed to the guil- 
 ty, and peace to the w^eary soul. The Saviour 
 of sinners invites him to come to him, with 
 a promise of eternal felicity. He bids him 
 seek the conversion and renewal of his heart ; 
 he bids him supplicate the succours of divine 
 grace ; he bids him believe the gospel, and he 
 promises for his support, the might of his own 
 omnipotence. He tells him at the same time, 
 not to delay his reception of this great salvation, 
 because many will seek at last to reach it who 
 will not be able ! 
 
 A few, very few fleeting years, and this busy 
 scene will be to every man the stillness of the 
 grave, and as the land of utter forgetfulness ; 
 but the awakened spirit will ere long weep or 
 rejoice in another world ! Now then is the ac- 
 cepted time, and now is the day of salvation. 
 Now urged by the generosity of redeeming love, 
 let each cast away the works of darkness, and 
 put on the armour of light ; now let each watch 
 and be sober, reflect and pray ; let each who 
 has not yet believed, fear, lest the time of mercy 
 terminate, and God sav in his wrath that he*' 
 
106 NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 
 
 shall never enter into that rest which he has so 
 long neglected and despised. But let it be 
 asked are not men very unreasonable in their 
 judgment of this religious anxiety? We are 
 allowed of the world to be very anxious upon 
 events connected with our present prosperity^ 
 If our fortune be endangered, or if the health of 
 the body be sapped and injured, we are per- 
 mitted to express solicitude, and to labour after 
 recovery. But if the interest endangered rise 
 in its importance, if the health of the soul be 
 suspected, if the inheritance of eternity be at 
 hazard, if the solicitude of the bosom take a 
 nobler direction, if the longing of the heart be 
 after Christ and his salvation, then we are often 
 blamed and reproached, we are even suspected 
 and avoided ! How unreasonable, how unnatu- 
 ral! Shall a man be accused of folly, or be 
 charged with uncharitableness, because he 
 would not fling away his soul, or turn from him 
 who speaks from the cross, and beseeches him 
 to accept his astonishing salvation ! 
 
 Let us fear — says the apostle, and he says 
 this under the guidance of inspiration : he says 
 this, because a holy caution belongs to a man 
 who has so much to lose, and so much to gain. 
 And in truth, the foundation on which alone a 
 religious life can rest, is this seriousness of 
 mind : until we are in earnest, we do nothing 
 in religion. We may take up opinions, and we 
 may lay them down, but all is fatally wrong 
 
NECESSITY FOR RELIGIOUS CAUTION. 107 
 
 until a holy fear be awakened in the soul. Yes 
 until we enter into our closet, and commune 
 with God, until we acknowledge that it is a 
 fearful thing to fall into the hands of our righte- 
 ous judge, until we fear of falling short of this 
 promised rest, all is false and hollow in our 
 situation and prospects ! 
 
 The prize of heavenly glory calls for deep at- 
 tention and heartfelt anxiety in those who are 
 candidates for its blessedness. *' The kingdom 
 of heaven," says our Saviour, *' suffereth vio- 
 lence, and the violent take it by force." But 
 is it not worth this effort, is it not worth this 
 devotedness of heart ? 
 
 Who can measure the amount of the felicity 
 of heaven ? Who can tell his brother the vast- 
 ness of that honour which God has reserved for 
 his people ? What eye hath seen, or what ear 
 has heard, or what imagination has conceived, 
 the fulness of that joy which God has prepared 
 for those who love him ? 
 
 To die in Christ, to be saved from destruction, 
 to be welcomed amid saints and angels, within 
 the hallowed walls of the eternal city, to hear 
 those soul-touching accents, *' Come, ye bless- 
 ed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world." 
 
 Oh ! to share this blessedness is worth every 
 struggle and every privation of earth ! May 
 such felicity be all our own ! 
 
108 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE BLESSINGS AND DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 
 Revelations i. 5, 6. 
 
 " UNTO HIM THAT LOVED US, AND WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN 
 lilS OWN BLOOD, AND HATH MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS UNTO 
 GOD AND HIS FATHER, TO HIM BE GLORY AND DOMINION FOR 
 . EVER AND EVER." 
 
 It need scarcely be remarked that the cele- 
 bration of the Lord's Supper is an act of re- 
 membrance. ** Do this in remembrance of 
 me." It was the last solemn ceremony of 
 devotion with which the Redeemer sanctified 
 his intercourse with his disciples. They indeed 
 at that time understood not his intentions ; 
 they little entered into his views, as he thus 
 anticipated the shedding of that blood which 
 would hereafter cleanse from sin unnumbered 
 multitudes of the human race. But after his 
 separation from the world and his ascension 
 into glory, the light of his Spirit beamed upon 
 this spiritual darkness. Then the apostles fully 
 comprehended the nature of his sufferings and 
 the vastness of his grace. The garden of Geth- 
 
BLESSINGS AND DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 109 
 
 semane, the cross, the grave, these were places 
 which their remembrance loved to visit, be- 
 cause with the sadness of these recollections 
 was associated all that now gave value to life, 
 or consolation in the prospect of death. The 
 sufferings of Christ were the topic on which 
 they were never weary of descanting, for by 
 those suiferings they were redeemed, by *' those 
 stripes they were healed." ** God forbid," 
 says the apostle to the Gentiles, *' God forbid 
 that I should glory save in the cross of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is cru- 
 cified unto me and I unto the world." And 
 are not our highest interests bound up in the 
 belief *' that God hath given to us eternal life" 
 in Jesus Christ ? 
 
 Separate from Christ are we not ruined? 
 United unto Christ are we not safe for ever? 
 No act of memory is therefore so important as 
 the recollection of Jesus Christ. That noble 
 faculty of the soul is utterly abused until put in 
 exercise upon this subject. Be it stored with 
 all that is profound in philosophy, all that is 
 elegant in taste, tender in sentiment, or various 
 in science, it reaches not the aim with which 
 it was imparted, until it be consecrated to the 
 history of the Redeemer's death. '* Do this 
 in remembrance of me." 
 
 The purest worldly recollections may become 
 
110 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 hurtful and afflictive — but the remembrance 
 of the cross of Christ casts its soft radiance 
 at once over the sorrows of time, and over the 
 terrors of eternity. The remembrance of Jesus 
 Christ calms and fortifies the soul in its con- 
 flicts with calamity, and in its struggles with 
 death. ** Now lettest thou thy servant depart 
 in peace," exclaimed an aged saint, *' for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation;" Yes — '* unto 
 him that loved us, and washed us from our 
 sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings 
 and priests unto God and his father, unto him 
 be glory and dominion for ever and ever." 
 
 Let us occupy the brief moment allotted to 
 the present ministration, in the contemplation 
 of that love which we commemorate in the sa- 
 crament of the Lord's supper. Let us meditate 
 upon that hallowed ordinance at once with a 
 spirit of intelligence, and with a spirit of gra- 
 titude. It is our duty to remember Jesus 
 Christ, but to remember him aright, we must 
 understand his character, and estimate his be- 
 nefits. Gratitude is the offspring of knowledge, 
 ** we love him because he first loved us." 
 Christianity is a subject of deep interest, as it 
 reveals the essential and unchanging perfections 
 of God, as it represents the nature of the Deity, 
 and the character of his administration of the 
 universe. But Christianity becomes a subject 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. Ill 
 
 of yet more intense interest, as it exhibits those 
 perfections, and that character in their direct 
 connection with our own happiness. 
 
 The Almighty Jehovah that inhabits eternity 
 as his resting-place, challenges by his power, 
 our veneration and our praise — but Jehovah in- 
 carnate, assuming a mortal form, that he might 
 become capable of mortal anguish, this view of 
 Jehovah which is the glory of Christianity, is 
 an exhibition of costly tenderness, calculated in 
 the highest degree to attract our affection and 
 to invite our confidence. 
 
 It is not the intention at present to offer any 
 particular explanation of the Lord's supper ; 
 but rather to touch on it incidentally, and in 
 this manner to connect it with the ascription of 
 praise contained in the text. That ascription 
 of praise is founded on the benefits which Jesus 
 Christ has conferred upon his followers. The 
 reception of mercies is the basis of correspond- 
 ing obligation, '' Unto Christ be glory and do- 
 minion," because *^ he hath loved us, and washed 
 us from our sins in his own blood." 
 
 I. Let us notice then. The blessings which 
 Jesus Christ has conferredon believers, 
 and 
 
 IL The duty which arises out of the 
 
 ENJOYMENT OF THOSE BLESSINGS. 
 
 I. The BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL are ex- 
 
112 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 pressed in these words, '* Unto him that loved 
 us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
 God and his father." 
 
 The love of Jesus Christ to his people is the 
 ultimate source of all their happiness. It is 
 difficult to raise our conceptions to the nature 
 of this love, for it has no parallel. The actions 
 by which it has been exemplified, are however 
 at once the proofs of its existence, and the just 
 measure of its extent. It is then affirmed of 
 this love, that it induced Jesus Christ *' to wash 
 us from our sins in his own blood." The Scrip- 
 tures affirm, that '* there is not a just man upon 
 earth that doeth good and sinneth not," *' that 
 the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked," 
 and that consequently *' all have sinned and 
 come short of the glory of God." Hence, how- 
 ever specious may be the appearance of human 
 character — however plausible may be the em- 
 bellishments of civilization — however touching 
 and amiable may be the effects of natural af- 
 fection — however splendid may be the testi- 
 mony to social fidelity or to patriotic enterprise, 
 nevertheless the heart of man, when measured 
 by the standard of God's law, when brought 
 to the test of the divine purity, is corrupt and 
 perverted. His understanding is darkened, his 
 affections are disordered, his allegiance is 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 113 
 
 broken. In this just and adequate sense of 
 the term, he fears not God, he loves not God, 
 he naturally prefers his own wishes to God's 
 commands. Such at least are the declarations 
 of the Bible — and these declarations accord 
 exactly with the history of the world, and with 
 the experience of our own minds. 
 
 We understand the nature of that generous 
 devotedness to the service of another, of which 
 the annals of human friendship furnish us with 
 many brilliant examples. Let that standard of 
 devotedness though confessedly inadequate, be 
 yet applied to the history of any man's devoted- 
 ness to God, and candour will at once admit 
 that such allegiance he does not possess. 
 Whose bosom, without divine grace, does the 
 love of God thus animate ? Whose conduct 
 affords attestation to those ardent emotions of 
 gratitude, to that unbroken energy of fidelity, 
 which no bribe can warp, no difficulty discou- 
 rage ? The man is not to be found who can 
 endure this scrutiny, and yet the want of this 
 devotedness is nothing short of rebellion, in- 
 asmuch as it implies the withdrawing of the 
 affections from God . And the penalty attached 
 to that rebellion is nothing short of a moral 
 perdition. These statements are strong and 
 mournful, but if true, they are unaffected by 
 the repugnance with which they may be re- 
 ceived. Now this moral depravity, and this 
 
il4 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 liability to consequent and perpetual misery, 
 is the foundation on which the love of Christ 
 to bis church rests its astonishing manifestation 
 — " Unto him that loved us and washed us 
 from our sins in his own blood." His love 
 induced him to '* wash us from our sins." 
 '* He gave himself for our sins," says another 
 apostle. 
 
 The history of Jesus Christ is a series of the 
 most affecting and bitter sufferings. Though 
 angels celebrated his miraculous birth, yet it 
 was into the lowest form of human society that 
 they announced his entrance into the world ; 
 and though he exhibited in his life every at- 
 tractive grace of kindness and generosity, yet 
 he passed that life amidst scorn and contempt, 
 and terminated it by a violent and infamous 
 death. Stretched upon the cross, between 
 two notorious malefactors, he bowed his head 
 to the malice of man, and to the inflictions of 
 God. And what is the explanation given in 
 the Bible of these mysterious transactions ? 
 It is this, *' He was wounded for our trans- 
 gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; 
 all we like sheep have gone astray, and the 
 Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
 He assumes our nature — he was dealt with as 
 a malefactor — he bore the severe inflictions of 
 God — he endured for our sakes the pangs and 
 the curse of death. God was so merciful, that 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 115 
 
 he would give us pardon ; God was so holy, 
 that he required the expiation of our sins. 
 Jesus Christ reconciled the claims of these 
 conflicting attributes, and died that we might 
 live. The just died for the unjust, that the un- 
 just might escape the destruction which they 
 entirely merited. 
 
 Yet let it not be thought that this act of me- 
 diation, this act of incomprehensible generosity 
 was intended to afford a premium to his chil- 
 dren to vice, or to loosen the ties of moral ob- 
 ligation. For the love of Christ has not only 
 washed his people from their sins, but has 
 made them '' kings and priests unto God and 
 his Father;" expressions which mark out the 
 complete allegiance and moral dignity of those 
 who are the subjects of this grace, as well as 
 the objects of this love. They are denominated 
 " kings," because by the power of the Spirit of 
 God, acting through the medium of this record 
 of love, the shackles of sin are broken, the 
 slavery of passion is terminated, the degrada- 
 tion of iniquity is removed. They are become 
 as ** kings" to exercise dominion over the cor- 
 rupt affections by which they were once en- 
 thralled. They are as " kings," being elevated 
 by the love of holiness, and by the practice of 
 truth and charity. They are as " kings," to 
 wear the crown promised to fidelity unto death, 
 
 1 2 
 
IIG THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 to reign with Christ in the possession of a king- 
 dom which shall have no end; to sway the 
 sceptre of dominion when he grants to them to 
 ** sit down with him upon the throne" of his 
 everlasting triumph. " To him that over- 
 cometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 
 even as 1 also overcame and am set down with 
 my Father in his throne." Words of vast and 
 momentous import ! But his servants are like- 
 wise said to be *' priests" as well as '' kings." 
 The office of the priest was to offer sacrifices 
 and prayers to God ; and the redeemed of the 
 Lord are truly priests as well as kings. Purified 
 by faith in the blood of the Lamb, they offer the 
 hallowed sacrifices of righteousness and the 
 praises of unending gratitude. They bring to 
 God a clean heart and a contrite spirit; they 
 bring to God the aspirations of inward devotion, 
 the tribute of holy love and of grateful allegi- 
 ance. Overwhelmed by the magnificence of 
 his benefits, and excited by the influences of the 
 Comforter, they give themselves unto God, " a 
 living sacrifice, acceptable unto him." They 
 are no longer *' their own," but kis, " bought 
 with a price that they should glorify God in their 
 bodies and in their spirits which are his." 
 And when the period of their earthly pilgrimage 
 is closed, they are carried to a higher and a 
 purer home where they join the anthems of 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 117 
 
 angels, and swell the chorus of the redeemed. 
 They mingle their voices with the hallelujahs 
 of heaven, and are priests before the throne for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 Such is the deliverance effected, and such 
 the honour conferred by the love of Christ on 
 his church, 
 
 II. It is necessary to consider, in the next 
 
 place, THE OBLIGATIONS WHICH ARISE OUT OF 
 THE ENJOYMENT OF THESE BENEFITS *' UntO 
 
 him that loved us," says the apostle, " be glory 
 and dominion for ever and ever." 
 
 The enjoyment of these blessings is altoge- 
 ther unmerited by man. If there be one truth 
 more evideht than another in the Scriptures, it 
 is the truth that we have no claim upon the 
 justice of God ; but that we have forfeited all 
 title to his regard, and are exposed to his wrath. 
 The salvation which he has wrought, is hence 
 a salvation of gratuitous kindness. It is an un- 
 deserved and unsolicited act of love. Christ 
 was under no obligation to mediate for man. 
 No compulsion, save the compulsive charity of 
 his own heart, brought him from heaven to 
 earth. Every tear which He shed was a volun- 
 tary tear ; every pang which He endured was 
 a voluntary pang. If our whole race had perish- 
 ed, the law had but taken its righteous course. 
 The interference of Jesus Christ is therefore 
 gratuitous. Salvation is of grace ; and being 
 
118 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 of grace, it is freely offered by faith to the most 
 abandoned, as well as to the most amiable of 
 mankind. Many glorified souls, in the pure re- 
 gions of bliss, will appear to have been once 
 involved in all the defilements of iniquity, and to 
 have become the living monuments of the di- 
 vine compassion. It is through the love of 
 Christ that they are saved — *' He loved them, 
 and washed them from their sins in his own 
 blood." 
 
 Now such spontaneous kindness claims a 
 gratitude unmeasured in its extent, an obe- 
 dience unreserved in its requirements. Unto 
 this benefactor ** be glory, and dominion, and 
 praise." 
 
 Language is feeble to express the obligations 
 which result from this salvation. They can- 
 not, however, be more emphatically expressed, 
 than in this ascription of praise. To utter sin- 
 cerely these words, to give glory and praise to 
 Jesus Christ, is, in fact, to consecrate to him 
 the faculties and exertions of the soul. When 
 the astonished apostle said to the arisen Re- 
 deemer, '* My Lord and my God," he offered 
 the most intense homage of which his heart 
 was capable. And when the ransomed of the 
 Lord ascribe power and glory to their Saviour^ 
 they, in very truth, yield their whole being to 
 his service. They express their entire submis- 
 sion to his law ; their glowing attachment to 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 119 
 
 his person. They pledge the unremitting ar- 
 dour of their gratitude to him, whose generous 
 love has saved them from the abyss of misery. 
 ** Unto thee be praise ;" ** Unto thee be glory;" 
 '* Thy kingdom come;" '' Thy will be done on 
 €arth as in heaven." No man can with honesty 
 ascribe glory and praise to Christ, who with- 
 holds from him deliberately the homage and 
 the obedience of his heart and life. — As his Lord 
 and his God ; as his mediator and redeemer ; 
 as his benefactor and his friend, he owes to 
 him the unlimited consecration of himself; and 
 when he exclaims, ** Unto thee be the praise, 
 unto thee be the dominion," he gives utter- 
 ance to these eternal obligations. He pours 
 forth, in the fulness of gratitude and of astonish- 
 ment, the short but rich avowal of his complete 
 devotedness. 
 
 It will follow directly from these remarks, 
 that the institution of the Lord's supper, is an 
 appointment with which a real Christian will 
 fully and tenderly concur. The love of Jesus 
 Christ will appear to him so amazingly great, 
 that every remembrance of it will be fondly 
 cherished. 
 
 The periodical commemoration of great vir- 
 tues, and of great endowments ; of virtues dis- 
 played in their deliverance ; of endowments 
 disinterestedly consecrated to their service ; 
 such a commemoration finds a ready sympathy 
 
120 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 in the hearts of mankind. Around the grave of 
 the genuine patriot, a delivered peoplejhave 
 often delighted to assemble. Remembrance 
 has embalmed his great deeds ; gratitude has 
 held up to successive ages the spectacle of his 
 munificent sacrifices. And shall a Christian be 
 cold and reluctant when invited to consecrate 
 his recollections of costly munificence, at the 
 grave of Him v^ho is the Benefactor, not of one 
 nation, but of a redeemed v^orld? Shall the 
 love of Christ be impotent to excite to thank- 
 fulness, v^hen the memorials of inferior kind- 
 ness are view^ed with warm and kindling emo- 
 tions ? 
 
 Let then the celebration of the sacrament be 
 ever welcomed with all the sacred feelings of 
 sympathy and of hope ; feelings which, under 
 the grace of God, shall not be allowed to pass 
 away as a summer stream, but shall exert a 
 momentous influence upon the whole of our 
 moral being. May the remnant of our fleeting 
 days be consecrated to Jesus Christ, our Friend, 
 our Saviour, and our God ! 
 
 Let every one then use this act of remem- 
 brance as one test, among many others, where- 
 by to judge of his state and of his character 
 before God. 
 
 Shall we lay down a false standard of piety, 
 if we remark, that the emotion with which any 
 man habitually regards Jesus Christ, will be 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 121 
 
 the just measure of his spiritual condition? The 
 apostle Paul has used this very criterion, when 
 he thus spoke, out of the fulness of his heart, to 
 the Ephesians — " Grace be with all them that 
 love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
 
 Hence a man may judge of his character 
 before God, by the views which he entertains, 
 by the faith which he exercises towards this 
 dying but now living Benefactor! Christ once 
 put this question to his disciples — '* What think 
 ye of Christ ?" Let each one apply and grapple 
 with this question in reference to his own heart. 
 ** What do / think of Christ ? In what manner 
 have I received the record of his mediation ?" 
 
 There are those in whose bosoms no single 
 chord is ever struck which vibrates to the name 
 of Jesus Christ. There are those who live 
 without affection to him, and without confidence 
 in his merits. There are those, who having 
 received the sign of the cross upon their fore- 
 heads, in their infant days, have tried hard to 
 efface the blessed impression by all the sins 
 and follies of maturer years. There are those 
 who can turn away from the memorials of 
 Christ's death, without a blush, and without a 
 pang. There are those whose knees are never 
 bent in lowly reverence to his eternal majesty, 
 and whose prayers have never yet, in godly 
 sincerity, supplicated a share in his salvation. 
 There are those who live without repentance. 
 
122 THE BLESSINGS AND 
 
 without faith, without charity, whose moral 
 existence would undergo no change, if Christi- 
 anity were proved a fable, the Bible a forgery, 
 and Christ an imaginary Being! Oh what a 
 condition then is theirs, if Christianity be the 
 unfaltering record of God ; if the Bible be the 
 single charter of human felicity, and Christ the 
 only Saviour of a ruined world ! 
 
 Others there are, who, while they pay to 
 Jesus Christ some distant homage, and have 
 some kind of repose in the hope of his interposi- 
 tion in their favour, yet give him not the whole 
 glory of their salvation ; mingle a dependence 
 on their own good deeds with their faith in his 
 merits, and therefore come not into his pre- 
 sence with that lowliness of heart, with that 
 prostration of soul which receives all mercy as 
 a gratuitous gift of God. Oh let such remember 
 that the death of Jesus Christ was no light and 
 trivial event ; that a remedy so vast and so 
 costly marks out a state of danger and of sin 
 far more terrific than they have been, perhaps, 
 hitherto disposed to imagine ; and that it is 
 needful to come to God with other and humbler 
 views of their own unworthiness, and with other 
 and deeper feelings of unreserved reliance upon 
 the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. 
 
 But, lastly, there are some whose aim, and 
 wish, and toil it is to be wholly indebted and 
 wholly resigned to their Lord and Master — who 
 
DUTIES OF THE GOSPEL. 123 
 
 survey the cross with emotions of indescribable 
 interest; with mingled sensations of wonder, 
 love, and gratitude. There are those who, 
 deeply sensible of their guilt aiad wretchedness, 
 have embraced, by faith, the free offers of 
 everlasting love, and who esteem even the re- 
 proach of Christ greater riches than the col- 
 lected treasures of a dying world ! There are 
 those who mourn with undissembled sorrow 
 over the sin which still defiles them, and who 
 long to possess a conscience void of offence to 
 God and man ; who, while they trust their 
 future felicity to the faithful care of their Re- 
 deemer, labour as well as long, *' to be con- 
 formed to his image, and to be holy, even as 
 He is holy." Such are all true believers ; and 
 let such ever approach their Master's table 
 with peace and joy. Let such rejoice that he 
 has spread this table before them in the wilder- 
 ness, and let them anticipate the time when 
 they shall sit down with him whom they love 
 and adore, in those mansions of bliss which he 
 is certainly gone to prepare for them ! 
 
 Then the measure of their felicity will be 
 full. Then they will sin and they will sorrow 
 no more. Then every foe will be absent, every 
 tear will be dried, every burden will be re- 
 moved, every agitation will be calmed, every 
 fear will be hushed, every calamity will be 
 
124 THE BLESSINGS, &C. 
 
 forgotten, every blank will be filled up ! Then 
 they will need no longer the imperfect admoni- 
 tion, '* Do this in remembrance of me ;" for 
 they will see Jesus Christ face to face, and 
 expand their renovated faculties in the sun- 
 light of his countenance for ever and ever ! 
 
125 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 Numbers xxiii. 10. 
 
 " LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND LET MY LAST 
 END BE LIKE HIS." 
 
 These are perhaps among the most remarkable 
 words which ever issued from human lips. 
 They bear a stamp of force and of truth pecu- 
 liar to themselves. For under what circum- 
 stances were they uttered ? A prophet illu- 
 minated of God, yet false to the convictions of 
 his understanding — conscious of supernatural 
 light, yet grasping after earth-born wealth — 
 listens to the suggestions of a heathen king, in 
 order to curse the people whom God had 
 blessed. Tempted by the rewards proposed 
 to him by Balak, Balaam, though forbidden 
 of God to enter into his views, followed his 
 messengers, in the hopes of being finally per- 
 mitted to place the Israelites under the ban of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 From a lofty eminence, in the presence of the 
 king he surveyed the tents of Israel, and, under 
 the mighty agency of inspiration, exclaimed. 
 
126 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 '* Balak, the king of Moab, hath brought 
 me from Aram, out of the mountains of the 
 east, saying, ' come curse me Jacob, and come 
 defy me Israel.' How shall I curse whom God 
 hath not cursed ? Or how shall I defy whom 
 the Lord hath not defied ? From the top of the 
 rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold 
 him. Lo! the people shall n^t dwell alone, 
 and shall not be reckoned among the nations. 
 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the 
 number of the fourth part of Israel. Let me 
 die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
 end be like his !" 
 
 This prophetic voice of Balaam does not ap- 
 pear to refer simply to the temporal fortunes of 
 Israel, to the benediction of God under which 
 they would advance to the conquest of their 
 foes, or to their distinct character and circum- 
 stances, which would never allow them to 
 mingle with the other nations of the earth. All 
 this may be implied ; but if this were the full 
 import of the prophecy, why does the seer, as 
 he gazes upon the advancing multitude, speak 
 of their " dust," suddenly point his vision, not 
 surely to the ** dust" of their multitude, but to 
 the ** dust" of their sepulchre, and wish to 
 partake of their mortal doom? Had it not 
 more comported with his views and feelings to 
 picture their growing conquests, and to wish to 
 participate in their rising glory ? Would it not 
 
THE DEATH OF THE HIOHTEOUS. 127 
 
 have suited the ambitious aspirations of his 
 heart, to have deserted the falling fortunes of 
 Balak, and to have embarked in the high career 
 of the temporal prosperity of Israel ? Yet he 
 forgets their approaching victories, turns his 
 eyes to the dust of their graves, and rather 
 wishes to share the last end, the after-state of 
 the innumerable dead destined to inhabit its 
 silent regions ! A sudden train of thought this, 
 as inconceivably singular as important. Surely 
 it was the direct inspiration of the Almighty ; 
 and may not this be its solution? As if he had 
 said, " This people, stretched before my eyes, 
 are a typical people. They are delivered from 
 Egypt. They shall die in the wilderness. 
 They shall not mingle with other nations ; yet 
 shall their nation inherit the promised land of 
 Canaan. And in this they prefigure a mightier 
 people. For thus, under the covenant of grace, 
 the redeemed of the Lord, in every age, shall 
 be rescued from the slavery of sin and of the 
 world. They shall become a' peculiar people. 
 They shall not mingle with the spirit and pur- 
 suits of those around them, yet they shall die 
 and moulder in the grave, even as others ; but 
 their last end, their after-state, shall be bright 
 and glorious. Their sleeping dust shall hear 
 the voice of the Son of God, and shall awake 
 to incorruption and to eternal glory. And who 
 can count the * dust' of these saved nations, 
 
128 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 the dust of those who shall compose that hal- 
 lowed company, whom no man can number, 
 redeemed out of every tribe, and tongue, and 
 people. Oh ! in the view of this eternity, what 
 is earthly ambition ; what is wealth, and power, 
 and fame ; what but meteor lights, which 
 beckon but to betray. ' Let me die the 
 death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
 like his!"' 
 
 Oh, had the sentiment lodged itself in the 
 heart, the name of the prophet had been regis- 
 tered in the eternal book of life ! But the 
 rewards of earth prevailed, and the seer 
 perished, as they will perish who prefer time 
 to eternity, and the applause of man to the ver- 
 dict of God! The time permits not, at this 
 moment, to enter farther into the character of 
 this extraordinary man ; or to confirm any far- 
 ther the interpretation which has been offered 
 of the general scope of the prophecy. We are 
 now charged with the simple sentiment uttered 
 in its conclusion, and ask for a deep and ear- 
 nest attention to an aspiration as wise and 
 momentous as the voice of man ever expressed, 
 " Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
 let my last end or after state be like his." 
 
 In elucidation of these words, let us con- 
 sider, 
 
 L The nature of the death'which the 
 
 RIGHTEOUS DI E. 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 129 
 
 II. Their after-state. 
 
 III. The wish of the prophet to share 
 
 BOTH THE ONE AND THE OTHER. 
 
 I. Now the death of the righteous has much 
 in common with the death of the wicked ; but it 
 has also much that is peculiar and distinctive. 
 Death, we are told, is the wages of sin. We 
 cannot speak of death but in connection with 
 the transgression of the divine law. '' In the day 
 that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 
 If therefore the righteous die, it is because 
 they are likewise transgressors ; and this may 
 seem a paradox, but, in fact, the righteousness 
 of the just is not now the righteousness of 
 innocence, '' but the righteousness which is of 
 God, by faith in Jesus Christ." " Christ is 
 now the end of the law for righteousness to 
 every one that believeth :" for ** blessed," now, 
 *' is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and 
 whose sin is covered ;" ** blessed is the man to 
 whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity." Hence 
 the fact of death stands in connection with all 
 men, '* for that all have sinned." There have 
 been, and there will be, some exceptions ; but 
 the whole race of Adam have incurred the for- 
 feiture of life ; and if in any case the for- 
 feiture be not called for, it is the result of 
 another dispensation of kindness, altogether 
 gratuitous. 
 
 Generally speaking, the sentence is ex- 
 
 K 
 
iSO THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 ecuted, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt 
 thou return." In this mortality all are alike 
 involved, whatever be their character, their 
 circumstances, or their country. '* In Adam 
 all die." To the righteous and to the wicked 
 this destruction alike happeneth^ *' all flesh is 
 grass, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth." 
 As ages roll along, the wind of death sweeps 
 alike over the tree of the forest as over the 
 herb of the valley. They pass, and *'the place 
 that knew them, knoweth them no more." 
 Deeply affecting is this constitution of human 
 things : and wonted as is the spectacle, we 
 cannot behold it without pangs and revulsion of 
 heart. 
 
 " For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey. 
 This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned ; 
 Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
 Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind V* 
 
 The frailty of natural objects is sufficiently 
 touching. Who can feel the growing chills of 
 autumn, or mark the sickly foliage which drops 
 and withers at his feet, without sensations 
 which he well knows how to explain? It is 
 the emblem of himself upon which he gazes. 
 It is the wreck of those dear to him amidst 
 which he walks. The analogy is an argument 
 which strikes to the soul. Like those leaves 
 before him, some friends have already passed 
 away. Some, perhaps, with whom he first un- 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 131 
 
 folded the strength of intellect, and felt the 
 warmth of affection, already slumber in the 
 grave. Others, bowed down with many sor- 
 rows and encompassed with many infirmities, 
 are about to add another farewell to those 
 which have already fallen upon his startled 
 ear. And he himself perceives in his own 
 frame symptoms of the same decay. The hour 
 which shall number him also with the forgotten 
 is nigh at hand. His schemes, his plans, his 
 possessions, his enjoyments, his hopes, his 
 fears, his occupations — these, as far as they are 
 linked to this world, are about to terminate and 
 to lie . buried with himself in the unbroken 
 silence of the tomb. He, like the millions that 
 have gone before, and that may follow after, 
 must see corruption, and moulder to his ori- 
 ginal dust ! . It is the lot of man, one event 
 happeneth to all. 
 
 But although the death of all men has this 
 principle in common, of privation, of forgetful- 
 ness, of destruction, yet are there circumstances 
 which give a very peculiar and marked dis- 
 tinction to the death of the just. This distinction 
 is found in the moral impressions which contain 
 their character. They die in the emphatic lan- 
 guage of the Scriptures, *' in the Lord." *' They 
 sleep in Jesus." They die under a promise 
 which shall never be violated. They sleep 
 under a fond protection which lights up all the 
 
 k2 
 
132 THE DEATH QF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 darkness of the short night that covers them. 
 They sink to rest with hopes and joys, with 
 wishes and feelings which ally them to Christ 
 and place them in conformity to his will. 
 They have believed his records, they have 
 studied his character, they have received his 
 mercy, they have sought pardon at his cross 
 and healing from his abundant grace. They 
 " knew the power of his resurrection, and the 
 fellowship of his sufferings." They understood 
 his death, and laboured to be conformed to its 
 moral interpretation. They anxiously sought 
 to be crucified to the world, and to be prepared 
 for a nobler scene of existence. They compre- 
 hended the nature of their mortality, and un- 
 der this strong perception they asked for the 
 hand which could take away its sting. They 
 were not ashamed to confess that all of peace, 
 or of virtue, or of comfort which they enjoyed, 
 they owed entirely to the love of Jesus Christ. 
 They felt him to be their atonement, their 
 peace, their sanctification, their strength, their 
 joy, their repose. They loved him as their 
 friend, they honoured him as their prince, they 
 followed him as their model. " Born again of 
 his Spirit" they lived as his children, and acted 
 beneath his guidance. They received '* eternal 
 life as a gift at his hands," and with thrilling- 
 gratitude listened to his words, '* O Death, 
 I will be thy plagues, O grave I will be thy 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 133 
 
 destruction." These accents lost upon the air 
 as they might seem through intervening ages, 
 came back to their ears with a force and a 
 freshness, which under a high and sacred in- 
 fluence, at once moulded all their sentiments, 
 and guided all their estimates of good and evil. 
 They felt the truth which once warmed an 
 apostle's heart, ** None of us now liveth to 
 himself, and none of us dieth to himself, but 
 whether we die we die unto the Lord, or whe- 
 ther we live we live unto the Lord ; whether 
 therefore living or dying we are the Lord's, for 
 to this end Christ both died, and rose, and re- 
 vived, that he might be Lord both of the dead 
 and of the living." 
 
 Now this character thus formed by the con- 
 templation of God's character, these moral 
 impressions, the result of *' the gospel," re- 
 ceived into the heart by faith, these sentiments, 
 the sacred stamp of the eternal Spirit upon the 
 soul, give to the righteous a peculiarity of si- 
 tuation in death altogether their own. In the 
 same chamber and on the same pallet might 
 two persons lie in the struggles of death, in 
 circumstances, to human eyes, exactly similar, 
 but in reality altogether dissimilar. In the 
 one instance no objects higher than the present 
 world presented, ever quickened a pulsation of 
 the heart. God was forgotten, Christ was 
 overlooked, purity was undervalued, eternity 
 
134 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 was neglected. Pleasure, and wealth, and hu- 
 man distinctions arrested the whole attention, 
 and the character up to this moment of mortal 
 struggle is earthly, low, and sensual ! There is 
 no knowledge of sin, no hope of victory through 
 a Saviour, no stretching forth of the affections 
 towards a munificent benefactor, no holy as- 
 pirations after a better world ! The aspect of 
 death as it approaches is cold and repulsive. 
 There is no disposition connected with it but 
 that of apathy or of reluctance ! While in the 
 other instance, as nature's strength ebbs away, 
 there is found a meek resignation to the sacred 
 will of God, there is found a clinging to him 
 for peace and pardon, a flight into his arms of 
 grace and mercy, a calm reliance upon all his 
 promises, a glad anticipation of his unpolluted 
 rest, an everlasting assurance that the grave will 
 be his asylum until the morning of the resur- 
 rection, when he shall hear the voice of Christ, 
 and shall come forth in all the maturity of love 
 and gratitude, to partake of the fulness of joy 
 for evermore ! With such views, he welcomes 
 death and breathes his latest sigh ! Thus both 
 die, both lose what earth can yield, both are 
 mingled with the same dust. But, oh, what 
 a contrast between their moral conditions ! Over 
 the oncy humanity may shed her bitterest tears, 
 over the other, angels may pour forth their song 
 of joy. On the sleeping dust of that righteous 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 135 
 
 one the eye of God is fixed, while his perfect 
 memory yet retains the imperishable record, 
 '* I will raise it up at the last day." 
 
 II. That last day is in fact the commence- 
 ment OF the after-state to which the 
 PROPHET NEXT ALLUDES. Into its import let 
 us briefly inquire, *' Let my last end be like 
 his." We are told that if '' the wages of sin be 
 death, the gift of God is eternal life through 
 Jesus Christ." *' If in Adam all die, in Christ 
 all shall be made alive." '' Blessed be the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which ac- 
 cording to his abundant mercy hath begotten us 
 again to a lively hope by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away." " I am the resurrection and the life, 
 he that believeth in me shall never die." *' I 
 go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and 
 prepare a place for you, I will come again and 
 receive you unto myself." '' When Christ who 
 is our life shall appear, then shall ye also ap- 
 pear with him in glory." *' For our conversa- 
 tion is in heaven, from whence we look for the 
 coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
 change these vile bodies that he may fashion 
 them according to his glorious body, by that 
 mighty working whereby he subdueth all things 
 unto himself." " For the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
 
136 THE DEATH OF THE tllGHTEOUS. 
 
 voice of the archangel and with the trump of 
 God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 
 Then we which are alive and remain, shall be 
 caught up together with them to meet the 
 Lord in the air, and so shall we be for ever with 
 the Lord." 
 
 These passages of Scripture are so many po- 
 sitive and distinct testimonies to the resurrec- 
 tion of the righteous from the grave, to the 
 recovery of life and consciousness in the imme- 
 diate presence of their Saviour, and in the 
 eternal society of each other. These expres- 
 sions fully assert the feliciti/ of this future life, 
 and attest its everlasting duration. They affirm 
 the glory of the Redeemer to be the glory of 
 his servants, and the heritage of Christ's joy 
 to be the heritage which he has provided for 
 them. Of this new life, sorrow and imper- 
 fection, sin and sulfering form no ingredients. 
 Here the hand of God has wiped away every 
 tear, and removed every pain. Here is no 
 more curse, but rather unbroken love, unin- 
 terrupted peace, unremitted service, unalloyed 
 felicity. Man was formed for God, and here 
 God is at length presented to his view face to 
 face. Now he knows even as he is known. 
 Now the joyful union of his affections with the 
 loftiest and greatest object is effected, and this 
 unqualified by any dread of their future sepa- 
 ration. His soul is happy, and this happiness 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 137 
 
 is the free gift of God in Jesus Christ. In the 
 full harmony of all his faculties, and in the 
 clear vision of glory, he now celebrates that 
 social and high act of perpetual worship. 
 ** Unto him that loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in his own blood, and hath made us 
 kings and priests unto God and his Father, unto 
 him be honour, and blessing, and praise, hence- 
 forth, even for ever." 
 
 III. Such is the last end of the righteous! 
 We have yet to notice the wish of the pro- 
 phet TO partake both this previous 
 death and this his after resurrection, 
 ** Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
 let my last end be like his." It is utterly 
 impossible that a single sentence should com- 
 prise a loftier wish. It is the choice of the 
 noblest good, the desire after the richest 
 gain. As if he had said, ** Since death is my 
 allotted portion, let me sleep at least in the 
 sepulchres of the righteous. Since eternal 
 life is his destined gift, let me awake from the 
 dust cheered by the same accents which shall 
 denote ^w slumbers passed, and his resurrection 
 to immortality accomplished !" And oh, that 
 every soul who may know the prophets history, 
 may at length breathe forth the prophet's aspi- 
 ration ! 
 
 There are, however, religious feelings which 
 rise to a certain point and then die away for 
 
138 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 ever. There are convictions which make a 
 man tremble, and are then drowned in the 
 vortex of passion. There are anticipations of 
 celestial blessedness, keen, bright and blissful 
 to the soul, which are exchanged for the per- 
 turbations of sense, and for the delirium of 
 the world. Such feelings, such convictions, 
 such anticipations touched the imagination of 
 Balaam as he pourtrayed the spiritual glories 
 of Israel. But the world clung around his 
 heart, and dragged him down to perdition ! 
 The man *' whose eyes were open," the man to 
 whom the '* visions of the Almighty" were 
 vouchsafed, the man who instructed others in 
 the estimate of life, himself practically chose 
 death, and perished amidst the light which 
 blazed upon his path ! Oh, what is the value 
 of knowledge without sentiment, what is re- 
 ligious impulse without sincerity and without 
 love ? It is the conversion of the heart to God, 
 it is the recovery of the affections for God, it is 
 the choice of an infinite good in preference to 
 transitory objects, it is the return of the forlorn 
 and the outcast to the bosom and the home 
 which they had quitted, it is the pursuit of 
 holiness as the basis and superstructure of hap- 
 piness, it is the intercourse of the soul with 
 Christ, and the hourly preparation for his fuller 
 friendship, it is the conformity of the will to 
 the immutable will of God, it is this, and this 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 139 
 
 alone, which constitutes religion ! Dull wishes, 
 feeble resolutions, indolent efforts, which end 
 but in worldliness and vanity, a cold appro- 
 bation of virtue, which mocks the heart even 
 while it utters its applause, all this is delusion 
 and death. Sincerity and truth can alone pre- 
 vail. When these are found, the remedy is 
 sure, the succour is adequate. Guilty as may 
 be the conscience, polluted as may have been 
 the affections, inveterate as may have been the 
 disease, the gospel record is yet unlimited and 
 clear, ** Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye 
 to the waters^ come and buy without money 
 and without price." ** The blood of Jesus 
 Christ cleanseth from all sin." " Behold the 
 Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the 
 world." ** Come now and let us reason to- 
 gether, saith the Lord, though your sins be as 
 scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though 
 they be red like crimson they shall be as 
 wool." '' I, even I am he that blotteth out thy 
 transgressions for mine own sake, return unto 
 me for I have redeemed thee." 
 
 Children of God !. Are we then conscious that 
 we are morally defiled, and do we feel our- 
 selves to be miserable, and weak, and incon- 
 stant ? Are we conscious oftentimes that we 
 cannot come into contact with the thought of 
 death and eternity, without some degree of 
 dismay and alarm? Do our affections, cling- 
 
140 THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 
 
 ing yet unduly round the sordid and low ob- 
 jects of sense, fall back upon themselves 
 wounded, and disappointed ? Have we often 
 sought peace and joy on earth, and have we 
 found in their place vanity and vexation of 
 spirit? Oh let us now survey this heritage of 
 the righteous, his life of peace, his death of 
 hope, his resurrection to endless glory! And 
 let us remember that to us, even to us, does all 
 this good belong. The '* righteous" are not 
 the innocent, but the guilty pardoned ; the 
 ** righteous" are not the spotless, but the pol- 
 luted cleansed in the Saviour's blood; the 
 ** righteous" are not the perfect, but the erring 
 restored and the diseased healed ! 
 
 Say then, is not the gospel the medicine 
 which our case requires, the balm which our 
 lacerated bosoms seek ? Let us love the mercy, 
 let us yield to the grace, let us contemplate 
 the power of him who speaks to us from the 
 cross. He longs to make us happy. He speaks 
 to our hopes and to our fears, to our affections 
 and to our sympathies. He tells us that there 
 are principles of evil which exclude their pos- 
 sessor from the approach of good, while there 
 are principles of good, which will protect their 
 possessor from the assault of evil. Oh what is 
 his gospel but the anxious voice to us of warn- 
 ing to forsake the one, and the generous voice 
 of invitation to pursue the other ! Let us listen 
 
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 141 
 
 and live for ever. Is not the cause high and 
 holy ? Is it not associated with eternity ? We 
 shall soon die, we shall soon descend into the 
 solitude of the grave, v^e shall see no more the 
 face of man, or the glitter of the world ! But 
 the beams of hope will fall upon our tombs! 
 The dust there enclosed will be the sacred de- 
 posit which a Saviour is engaged to protect! 
 Yet a little while and, at the bidding of his 
 mighty voice, we shall rise ** incorruptible and 
 undefiled!" 
 
 Everlasting Saviour! give us wisdom, give 
 us feeling, give us courage, give us grace, give 
 us pardon, give us life ; form us to the cha- 
 racter of thy children. Break all our bonds, 
 remove all our doubts, heal all our wounds, 
 comfort all our sorrows, and amidst the wreck 
 of earth, give us to discern the felicity of 
 heaven! Amen, Amen. 
 
142 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 THE CONSTANCY AND TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 
 Isaiah xlii. 4. 
 
 « HE SHALL NOT FAIL NOR BE DISCOURAGED, TILL HE HAVE SET 
 JUDGMENT IN THE EARTH ; AND THE ISLES SHALL WAIT FOR HIS 
 LAW." 
 
 The origin, growth, and perfection of religion 
 in the human heart is the subject, of all others, 
 of the deepest interest and importance. Other 
 topics are interesting, only as they have more 
 or less some relation to this. Subjects of mere 
 human science may occupy and embellish the 
 passing hour, but they can add but little even- 
 tually to our happiness. They may shield a man 
 for a moment from the gaze of that truth, v^hose 
 keener inspection would dispel the illusions by 
 which he is surrounded ; but they effect this 
 only to render the ultimate discovery of his 
 condition more surprising and afflictive. Hence 
 the circumstances which bring us into contact 
 with religion, influence directly our real hap- 
 piness. Yet how slow are we to perceive this 
 truth! What obstacles do we place in the 
 
THE TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 143 
 
 path to our peace! With what reluctance do we 
 yield to the religious convictions which by the 
 grace of God fasten upon our minds ! With 
 what resistance and impatience do we meet the 
 darker dispensations of Providence, which are 
 yet calculated to detach us from this world, and 
 to lead our thoughts to heaven ! Who but God 
 could bear with the frowardness and the fret- 
 fulness, and *' the contradiction" of his chil- 
 dren against himself? 
 
 Among the qualities of the divine mind which 
 revelation discloses to us, surely no one is more 
 remarkable than this long-suffering and this 
 patience ! " The Lord is long-suffering, not 
 wilHng that any should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance." 
 
 How exquisitely beautiful is the description 
 given by the prophet Isaiah in connection with 
 the passage before us, of the tenderness and 
 constancy of God the Saviour! ** Behold my 
 servant whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom 
 my soul delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon 
 him ; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gen- 
 tiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his 
 voice to be heard in the street. A bruised 
 reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax 
 shall he not quench. He shall bring forth 
 judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be 
 discouraged, till he have set judgment in the 
 earth : and the isles shall wait for his law." 
 
144 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 Let US employ the present moment in the 
 consideration of the last clause of this prophetic 
 record, ** He shall not fail nor be discouraged, 
 till he have set judgment in the earth, and the 
 isles shall wait for his law." These expres- 
 sions are the more remarkable, as uttered by 
 Jehovah himself in reference to the promised 
 Messiah. Of him it is emphatically said, '* He 
 shall not fail nor be discouraged." He shall 
 proceed in his hallowed work of mercy with 
 unbroken constancy and with unwearied kind- 
 ness. He came into the midst of us " strong 
 to save," and perhaps this patient endurance of 
 our perverseness is the mightiest weapon which 
 his hands can wield ! In further elucidation of 
 this subject, let us consider, 
 
 I. The obstacles which Jesus Christ 
 
 MEETS IN his WORK OF KINDNESS TO MAN. 
 
 II. The PATIENCE WITH WHICH HE EN- 
 COUNTERS THOSE OBSTACLES, and 
 
 III. The VICTORY over them with which 
 HIS efforts will ultimately be crowned. 
 
 I. The assurance that Jesus Christ will not 
 fail nor be discouraged, implies that he will meet 
 with much to discourage him, that his work will 
 be inconceivably difficult and painful. We 
 may advert to these obstacles as they are 
 general, as they attach to man under all circum- 
 stances. In what a state did Jesus Christ 
 find the earth ? His own people were involved 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 145 
 
 in such pride and earthliness, that although his 
 advent had been amongst them the subject of 
 prophecy during many hundreds of years, yet, 
 when at length he visited them they scorned 
 his instructions, and resisted his claims ! "He 
 came unto his own, and his own received him 
 not." The Gentile nations were universally 
 lying in darkness and the shadow of death, 
 *' without hope and without God." What a 
 world to visit, what a race to address, what a 
 work to accomplish ! 
 
 But waving this view of the subject, let us 
 direct our attention rather to the individuals of 
 our race. Let us advert rather to the obstacles 
 which any single human being presents to 
 Christ when he comes forth in the power of 
 his grace to seek and to save ! 
 
 Let any man look into his own heart, let him 
 advert to the nature and bent of his inclinations, 
 to his indisposed?2ess to j^eceive instruction, and to 
 the use which he makes of that instruction when re- 
 ceived, and he will be at no loss to discover the 
 difficulties which lie in the path of his de- 
 liverer. 
 
 1 . What is the bent of his inclinations'^ Whither 
 run his affections ? what is the tendency of his 
 will ? of what character are his moral instincts ? 
 He is an earthly creature. He may be more 
 or less intellectual in his pursuits, but he is 
 still earthly and sensual. He desires earthly 
 
146 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 objects as the means of his enjoyment. He 
 lives to himself, not to his Maker. His relation 
 to his Creator is, in his mind, a tie of opinion 
 rather than a bond of allegiance — an indistinct 
 notion, not a ground of affection. The un- 
 watched and natural tendency of his mind, is 
 to his own immediate pleasures and not to 
 God's wishes. This unholy selfishness is the 
 principle which puts into motion human ac- 
 tivity. Here is the source of ambition, of the 
 love of fame, of the grosser gratifications of 
 sense, of the purer enjoyments of science, of 
 the noisy pursuits of power, of the tranquil 
 delights of domestic life. Various as are the 
 aspects of human passion and of human pur- 
 suit, this principle is common to them all, the 
 love of self in opposition to the love of God, In 
 accordance with the will of God, that love of 
 self would be innocent ; its opposition to that 
 will, constitutes its guilt. It is the direct cha- 
 racter of religious conversion, '' none of us 
 liveth to himself." Until this period in the 
 existence of every man, he does live to him- 
 self. His motives are narrow and base, his 
 aim is sordid and limited. He is more or less 
 proud, selfish, and independent, corrupt, feeble, 
 and insufficient. Yet he acts and judges as if 
 he were pure, mighty, and adequate to sustain 
 the burden of his own happiness. His thoughts 
 move within the scanty range of visible objects. 
 
\ TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 147 
 
 or if they go beyond this range, it is in the way 
 of philosophical speculations, which bring back 
 a tribute of homage to his own capacity and to 
 his own importance. To raise, to dignify, to 
 aggrandize himself, or his family, or his country, 
 or, at the best, to connect himself with the 
 divine Being in order to fortify his perception 
 of personal dignity and security, this is the sura 
 total of his practical inclinations and efforts. 
 What obstacles are here to Christianity; to 
 the reception of the records of Christ ! How 
 ill does this self-importance accord with the 
 required confession, *' God be merciful to me a 
 sinner!" How ill-suited is his earthly aim to 
 the required promotion of God's glory ! This 
 worldliness of mind to the culture of heavenly 
 love ! How opposed is this notion of merit 
 and of excellence, to that poverty of soul which 
 belongs to the ransomed of the Lord, whereby 
 they seek their sufficiency in the blood of the 
 Lamb and in the power of his grace ! 
 
 What a wall of separation does this unholy 
 selfishness build up between God and man ! 
 what bulwarks against the progress of truth 
 and righteousness does this sensuality erect in 
 the human breast ! Here are all the elements 
 of falsehood, pride, delusion, and rebellion 
 which the powers of darkness use as the 
 medium of their tyranny over this portion of 
 God's intelligent creatures — here are forged the 
 
 L 2 
 
1.48 -- THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 heavy chains of evil which bind dov^n to conti- 
 nued revolt and death, those whom sin hath 
 already deluded and defiled ! 
 
 What strong-holds must be demolished, what 
 fierce animosities must be subdued, ere the 
 dominion of Christ can be established in any 
 human soul ! " Except ye be converted and 
 become as little children, ye shall not enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven." These are obsta- 
 cles which the arm of omnipotence alone can 
 overthrow ! 
 
 2. But consider further, the indisposedness of 
 man to receive instruction. How vast is the 
 daily influence of all this pride and worldliness 
 upon the mind. How gigantic are the efforts 
 which they exert to betray the soul's best in- 
 terests, by confounding the distinctions of good 
 and evil, by blinding the understanding, and by 
 enslaving the affections! ** There is a way 
 which seemeth right unto a man," although 
 *' the end thereof are the ways of death." Man 
 has no disposition honestly to seek truth, or to 
 retrace his steps to the paths of godliness. ** He 
 loves darkness rather than light, because his 
 deeds are evil." The approach of spiritual 
 light is painful to him. Religious instruction 
 alarms rather than delights his mind. The 
 perception of obligation to gratitude, and to 
 service for God is slowly and painfully ac- 
 quired. The corrupt and earthly mind resists 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 140 
 
 the admission of God's claims. We naturally 
 turn away from any voice which speaks from 
 heaven, because we suspect its accents to be 
 harsh to our diseased ears, until grace changes 
 our estimate of things. We love the sounds 
 which lull, and the counsels which gratify our 
 passions. '* Like the deaf adder," we refuse 
 the voice of the true charmer, " charm he ne- 
 ver so wisely." Prejudice and scorn steel the 
 mind against the approach of truth. Hence 
 ** we hate to be reformed, and cast God's co- 
 venant behind us."' 
 
 3. But observe again. The use which we make 
 of instruction when actually received. Even 
 when by the grace and power of God, we have 
 yielded to the claims of reason and religion, 
 even when by true conversion of heart we have 
 turned to God, how severe oftentimes is the 
 conflict between conscience and inclination? 
 What inconsistency and irresolution are visible 
 in our daily conduct ! How prone to let go the 
 truth and to take up error ! How ready to de- 
 part from the simplicity of faith, and to act 
 upon the report of our senses, or upon the scan- 
 ty experience of our own minds ! What obsta- 
 cles still does even the renewed heart oppose 
 to the progress of truth and godliness ! With 
 what unequal steps do we advance along the 
 paths of heavenly science ! Into how many 
 
150 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 bye-roads do we turn! What dulness to dis- 
 cern, and what indolence to pursue the whole 
 will and counsel of God. Still may it be affirm- 
 ed, even of the upright, *' Oh fools, and slow 
 of heart to believe all that the prophets have 
 spoken !" 
 
 Now let this bent of the human mind, this indis- 
 position to receive instruction, and this imperfect use 
 made of instruction when received; let these cir- 
 cumstances be considered, and the obstacles in 
 the way of Christ will appear inconceivably great. 
 
 II. But with what patience and ten- 
 derness DOES HE meet ALL THESE OBSTA- 
 CLES. With what constancy does he pursue 
 his gracious object, amidst all the difficulties by 
 which it is encompassed ! ** He shall not fail nor 
 be discouraged!'' He himself acts upon the 
 principle by which he cautioned others. *' He 
 counted the cost" ere he engaged in the work 
 of redemption. He fully understood the human 
 character ; He had already measured all its 
 feebleness; He had looked into the darkest 
 recesses of its depravity ; He had traced all 
 the windings of its self-deception, and had an- 
 ticipated all the baseness of its ingratitude ! 
 He came upon an errand of mercy, and though 
 in the fulfilment of this errand he encountered 
 the sharp attacks of hostile scorn — '* Away 
 with such a man from the earth" — yet his pa- 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 151 
 
 tience and his goodness were already prepared 
 with the answer, *' Father forgive them, for 
 they know not what they do !" 
 
 And what has been the history of his provi- 
 dence and grace from that hour to the present 
 time? Blasphemed by some, neglected by 
 others, attacked by foes, and betrayed by 
 friends. He remains " the same, yesterday, to- 
 day, and for ever ;" alike unchanged in his 
 counsels of peace, and unwearied in his efforts 
 to enlighten and to save! His religion has 
 grappled with and overthrown the polytheism 
 of ancient nations, and like the sun in the hea- 
 vens, still shines around, the common, though 
 often rejected property of a ruined world ! Into 
 how many a cold, reluctant, and rebellious 
 heart has his gospel at length forced its way, 
 and shed a late, though lasting peace over the 
 tumults of conscience, and over the perturba- 
 tions of passion ! What a history of forbearance 
 and of compassion on the part of God, would 
 the secret but detailed memoirs of individual 
 believers compose ! How long did they hold out 
 against the dictates of conscience ! How long 
 did they resist the kindly whispers of that 
 Spirit which testified for God, and pointed out 
 the road to wisdom and to joy ! How per- 
 versely and obstinately did they prefer the 
 gratifications of sense to the testimony of a 
 cleansed heart ! the delirium of a moment to 
 
152 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 the enlightened anticipations of eternity! And 
 yet God quitted not his hallowed purpose in 
 their behalf! He pursued them with mingled 
 chastisements and mercies. He brought them 
 into difficulties. He humbled them by sadness. 
 He threw a cloud, again and again, across 
 their path, and defeated, in severe mercy, the 
 projects of their folly and of their sin ! During 
 many a long year, ** he suffered their manners," 
 and pitied their errors, and took no vengeance 
 on their crimes ! He followed, as the good 
 Shepherd, the wanderers of his flock, and 
 brought them at last rejoicing to the fold ! And 
 since the sacred moment when they yielded 
 themselves to his decisions ; when, in some 
 small measure, they comprehended his love, 
 admired his wisdom, gloried in his cross, and 
 identified his service with their truest happi- 
 ness ; even since that moment, with what in- 
 consistency and irresolution have they often 
 pursued the course marked out for their steps ! 
 Yet has He not been discouraged. Many waters 
 of ingratitude have not quenched his love. 
 ** For his own name's sake He restored them," 
 and He still lives to save. He leaves them not 
 uncorrected, but rather takes vengeance '* on 
 their inventions;" yet his eye is upon them for 
 good. He has purchased them with his blood, 
 and he will break every chain that enslaves 
 them to Satan and to the world. He will finish 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 153 
 
 his work in righteousness, and will ** purify to 
 himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." 
 He has paid a vast price for their ransom ; and 
 he will be eternally magnified in their deliver- 
 ance. *' He will not fail nor be discouraged." 
 His ways may be mysterious to human policy, - 
 and to human shortsightedness. His cause 
 may sometimes seem to retrograde. His arm 
 may sometimes seem to slumber in its might, 
 and his providence to want the decision and 
 simplicity of human schemes; but his career of 
 mercy will one day reach its close, to the con- 
 fusion of his adversaries, and to the felicity of 
 his children! 
 
 Viewed separately, perhaps, many events 
 may appear contradictory to his purpose, and 
 hostile to the interests of his people ; but under 
 the silent and strong controul of an unseen 
 agency, the complicated system of this world's 
 occurrences is ultimately *' working together 
 for good ;" and what his servants discern not 
 now, they shall clearly discern hereafter. 
 
 III. This ultimate triumph of his 
 GRACE, it remains for, us briefly to notice. 
 *' He shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he 
 have set judgment in the earth, and the isles 
 shall wait for his law." 
 
 Dark as are yet the habitations of the earth ; 
 numerous as are the strong-holds of idolatry on 
 
154 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 the one hand, and of superstition on the other ; 
 yet the day is promised when truth shall 
 brighten every land, and when religion shall 
 have dominion over a willing and converted 
 world! *' The kingdoms of this world are be- 
 come the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
 Christ;" and the children of his grace shall be 
 ** as the dew spread over all the earth." How 
 cheering is this prospect to the eye that aches 
 with the sight of wretchedness and of crime! 
 How gladdening this assurance to the mind, 
 perplexed and beat down with the triumph of 
 external oppression, and with the conflict of 
 internal evil ! *' Fret not thyself because of the 
 ungodly, for they shall soon be cut down like 
 the grass," and his name shall be forgotten; 
 but *' mark the perfect man, and behold the 
 upright, for the end of that man is peace!" And 
 it is in reference to the completion of God's 
 work of love upon the individual heart that the 
 subject assumes to us the deepest interest. If 
 towards his redeemed servant, Jesus Christ has 
 been hitherto compassionate and indulgent ; if 
 amidst all his inconstancy, Jesus Christ has not 
 been discouraged, but has still '* received him 
 graciously and loved him freely," it is with the 
 intention to cleanse him from all iniquity, and 
 ere long to *' present him faultless before the 
 presence of God's glory with exceeding joy." 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 155 
 
 It is with the intention to finish the work of re- 
 generation in his soul, and to number him with 
 *' the spirits of just men" already *' made per- 
 fect." 
 
 It is a consideration full of encouragement to 
 an honest mind, which trembles under a sense 
 of exceeding weakness, as well as unworthi- 
 ness, that salvation is thus of /ree grace; that 
 redemption is a settled and deliberate plan of 
 mercy to bless and to save the wretched and 
 the lost ; that Christ is the mediator of an ever- 
 lasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; 
 and that God has connected the manifestation 
 of his own glory with the deliverance of his 
 people from the captivity of sin. It is " by the 
 church," says the apostle ; that is, by the my- 
 riads rescued from the chains of darkness and 
 of death, that the wisdom of God is to be re- 
 vealed to the universe. 
 
 Now to him who knows his own heart — to 
 him who has been enabled by a divine light 
 and influence, to fathom the depths of his own 
 weakness and ingratitude ; it is to him in the 
 moment of entire sincerity, when in faith he 
 casts himself upon Christ for mercy ; it is to him 
 a subject of inconceivable consolation, that God 
 is faithful to the covenant of his Son, and that 
 no arm as mighty as the arm of his Saviour can 
 be lifted for his destruction ! The heart that 
 desponded is thus encouraged; the struggle that 
 
156 THE CONSTANCY AND 
 
 seemed hopeless is renewed with alacrity ; the 
 love of the Redeemer diffuses itself over the 
 bosom, and the soul exclaims, with a force and 
 courage not its own, ** I know whom I have 
 believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep 
 that which I have committed unto him against 
 that day." 
 
 And in the pure realms of a higher world, 
 what a theme for meditation — what grounds for 
 wonder and for surprise, with this faithful con- 
 stancy, this never to be discouraged kindness, 
 this unbroken series of deliberate acts of mercy 
 on the part of God, afford to such a soul! 
 From those secure and sacred abodes, to look 
 back along the line of providence ; to mark the 
 fidelity which interposed to save amidst dan- 
 gers and amidst crimes; to contemplate the 
 complex operation of events, of society, of 
 friendship, of instruction, of afflictions, of de- 
 liverances; to contemplate the operation of 
 these and various other circumstances, upon 
 the heart; to behold the numerous paths, 
 many intricate and many rugged, which led to 
 one asylum of rest and of truth ; to associate 
 this eternal repose, and this eternal joy, with 
 the humiliation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, 
 and with his intercession for his people before 
 the everlasting throne ; oh what subjects here 
 for admiration, gratitude, and praise! Yes, 
 '*' unto him that loved us, and washed us from 
 
TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 157 
 
 our sins in his own blood ; and hath made us 
 kings and priests unto God and his Father : to 
 him be glory, and dominion, for ever and ever." 
 But v^^hat is the direct and special appeal 
 v^hich this subject ought to carry to every 
 heart ? Do I understand these dealings of God? 
 Am I conscious of this unwearied activity on 
 God's part for my eternal welfare? Have I 
 recognised the hand that has protected, and the 
 heart that has poured forth its riches of grace 
 to shelter and to save? Is this mystery of 
 kindness open to my view ? Have I believed 
 on this Saviour ; and have I fled to him as to 
 the single rock on which I can survive the im- 
 pending storm ? And if so, to what conclusion 
 does this decision bring me ? Oh, is it not to 
 redeem the time that remains — to love my be- 
 nefactor more warmly, and to serve him more 
 devotedly ? Is it not to meet the dispensations 
 of his goodness with energy and with confi- 
 dence? Is it not to take courage, and to throw 
 myself afresh into the combat with evil, hav- 
 ing ^' the shield of faith," and for an helmet 
 the " hope of salvation ?" The struggle with 
 worldly influences, with sensual allurements, 
 with Satanic suggestions, may be laborious ; but 
 to the honest soul, the issue is decisive, the 
 victory is certain. Greater is he that is for me, 
 than he that is against me ! And I am already 
 compassed about with a glorious cloud of wit- 
 
158 THE TENDERNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 nesses, who have passed through the same 
 conflict, and have triumphed through the same 
 " blood of the Lamb ?" 
 
 But on the other hand, is any one still averse 
 to the decisions of God? Is he opposed in 
 principle and practice to the purity of his moral 
 government? Is he uninfluenced and un- 
 touched by every allurement of God's goodness, 
 and by every chastisement of his severity? 
 Are the wonders of redeeming love too insig- 
 nificant in his esteem to win the homage of his 
 gratitude and aflection? Is he still alive to 
 the world and dead to God ? Anxious for a 
 fleeting heritage, but reckless of a crown of 
 glory ? Is he still labouring to overpower the 
 upbraidings of conscience, and to buoy up his 
 hope for eternity by delusions which death will 
 soon dissolve ? Oh what will be the final lot 
 of those who have thus set at nought so many 
 counsels, rejected so many invitations, and frus- 
 trated the design of so many providences ? Say, 
 who can tell the amount of that wretchedness 
 which is the last result of insulted mercy, and 
 of despised love? Hear then while the day 
 of grace is yet prolonged, hear and believe, 
 and avert the awful doom ! 
 
159 
 
 SERMON XL 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 Hebrews xi. 5. 
 
 " BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TRANSLATED THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE 
 DEATH; AND WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD HAD TRANSLATED 
 HIM: FpR BEFORE HIS TRANSLATION HE HAD THIS TESTIMONY 
 THAT HE PLEASED GOD." 
 
 If the Scriptures be rich in the discoveries they 
 make to us of the character and moral qualities 
 of God, they are likewise rich in the portraits 
 which they exhibit of men, who by a divine 
 influence, became themselves the imitators of 
 these qualities. Religion thus has been em- 
 bodied in human action, and the practicability 
 of real godliness, has been made apparent to 
 mankind. The eleventh chapter of St. Paul's 
 epistle to the Hebrews is a bright roll of high 
 characters, which reflect the radiance of piety, 
 and which shine like fixed stars in the dark 
 expanse of human life. We have selected 
 the brief history of one of these individuals, as 
 
160 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 the subject of the present discourse. The ma- 
 terials of his history are indeed scanty, but 
 they are full of meaning. Entreating the bless- 
 ing of God upon the consideration of this his- 
 tory, let us remark, 
 
 I. The character of Enoch. 
 
 II. His high reward. 
 
 III. The influence of his faith both 
 upon his character and his reward. 
 
 I. Let us advert to the character of 
 Enoch. The apostle tells us, '' that before 
 his translation, he had this testimony, that he 
 pleased God." The book of Genesis informs 
 us, ** that he walked with God;" and the 
 epistle of Jude further tells us, that he exer- 
 cised the office of a prophet — that he lifted up 
 his awful voice in the conflict between truth 
 and error, and disclosed the future advent of 
 the Lord from heaven to terminate the terrific 
 controversy. ** Behold the Lord cometh with 
 ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment 
 upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly 
 among men, of all their ungodly deeds which 
 they have ungodly committed, and of all their 
 hard speeches which ungodly sinners have 
 spoken against him." 
 
 These brief notices of Enoch tell us, and 
 that very emphatically, that he struggled with 
 the evil of the world; that he walked with 
 God ; that he pleased God ; and that, in those 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 161 
 
 early days, he yet anticipated the last advent 
 of the Messiah, to throw eternal light upon the 
 dark subject of good and evil, and to fasten effec- 
 tual convictions upon the minds, both of the op- 
 ponents of the one, and the abettors of the other. 
 Now the basis of his character appears to 
 be this, that he walked with God. The term 
 is very expressive. It seems to imply a just 
 knowledge of God. We cannot, with any de- 
 gree of intelligence or co-operation, walk or 
 associate with a character which we do not 
 know. Knowledge is essential to veneration 
 and to intimacy. '' They that know thy name 
 will put their trust in thee." The earthly and 
 sensual dispositions of men soon led them to 
 forget the claims of God, and to sever them- 
 selves from the obligations under which they 
 were laid, to love and obey him. Idolatry 
 rapidly overspread the world, and it became a 
 scene of moral darkness, violence, and crime. 
 Men became, to every practical purpose, no 
 better than atheists, living without God in the 
 world. They lost their hold on that which 
 was bright and good, and clung deliberately 
 and fatally, to that which was dark and de- 
 grading. To some few God still revealed him- 
 self. Some, like Enoch, knew the character 
 of God, and their interest in that character. 
 Some felt the emptiness of their own resources, 
 the degradation of their nature, and the in- 
 
 M 
 
162 THE CFIARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 adequacy of earth to make them happy. They 
 sought the knowledge of God, and found it to 
 be ** the beginning of wisdom." They felt it 
 to be their best heritage. Forlorn, guilty, 
 dying, God was their peace, their shelter, their 
 refuge. He revealed himself to their souls, as 
 " their shield, and their exceeding great re- 
 ward." They linked their hopes to his pro- 
 mises, and expected *' the Lord from heaven." 
 Doubtless, through sacrifices and direct revela- 
 tion, they knew that *' their Redeemer lived," 
 and that their rescue from sin and death was 
 ultimately safe in his omnipotent hands. — ■ 
 They were thus prodigals ** returned to their 
 Father and their Friend." They, in part at 
 least, understood his designs of mercy, and 
 were proportionately influenced by them. 
 
 But the term, *' walked with God," implies far- 
 ther intimacy or familiarity with God. The result 
 of divine knowledge is to produce and excite 
 confidence in God ; and the expression, walk 
 with God, seems to mark out a holy fellowship, 
 accompanied with delight and affection to- 
 wards God. Enoch walked with God as his 
 friend. Their was no voluntary barrier erected 
 between God and his soul. A knowledge of 
 God had annihilated the distance between him 
 and God, and had attracted him to his friend- 
 ship and intercourse. How harmonious with 
 this result of divine knowledge, is that fine 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 163 
 
 avowal of Moses, ** Lord, thou hast been our 
 dwelling-place from one generation to another/* 
 Separate from God, we are as houseless out- 
 casts, without defence, without honour, with- 
 out succour. Intercourse with God at once 
 enriches us with a home, a protector, a com- 
 panion, a heritage, an asylum. The storm 
 is abroad, and death ravages around, but we 
 have peace within, and the sure promise of 
 friendship and immortality. Thus Enoch lived 
 or walked with God — the nearness of God to 
 his soul was his daily happiness. He confided 
 in his strength ; he reposed on his wisdom ; he 
 sheltered beneath his mercy ; he claimed the 
 covert of his wing, until the tyranny of sorrow 
 should be overpast. A just view of God's 
 attributes disarmed guilt of its sting, and sad- 
 ness of its power. *' Where is God, my Ma- 
 ker, who giveth songs in the night ?" Never 
 was expression more happy, or more descrip- 
 tive of fellowship and delight in God. Where 
 is he, who in the dark midnight of this wilder- 
 ness world, can light up my path, and teach 
 me the mirthful song of praise ? Where is he 
 who knows all my dangers and my fears ; and 
 who can save me from the one, and lull to rest 
 the other ? Where is he whose grace and love 
 are my confidence and my strength ? Where 
 is he who remembers that I am but dust, and 
 will himself clothe me with force and courage 
 
 m2 
 
164 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 to meet my lot, however dark and severe ? 
 Tell me where I may find him, that he may 
 walk the companion of my way, and be the re- 
 joicing of my heart ? It was thus that Enoch 
 walked with God. 
 
 But we shall still leave the expression unex- 
 plained, if w^e add not, that to walk with God 
 implies agreement and conformity ofmlndwlth God, 
 It is a question which lies upon the page of reve- 
 lation, " can two walk together except they be 
 agreed." Friendship is founded upon a simi- 
 larity of principles, objects, aims, and tastes. 
 It springs from the same estimate of good and 
 evil, and from the same object being presented 
 to the affections. To walk with God, is hence 
 to think with God, to judge with God, to taste 
 with God, to adopt his decisions, to love his 
 plans, to approve his aims, and to pursue his 
 objects. To do God's will, becomes the very 
 " meat" and nutriment of the soul. *' Thy peo- 
 ple shall be willing in the day of thy power." 
 A parent loves the tribute and homage of the 
 heart in his intercourse with his children ; and 
 if God be a father, acts he upon other principles 
 than those with which he endues his creatures? 
 Enoch then was one with God in his pleasures 
 and pursuits. Under the view of God's excel- 
 lence on the one hand, and of his own folly and 
 deficiencies on the other, he had taken the 
 determination to follow God, and to adopt his 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH 165 
 
 will in all things. He now judged of the world 
 and of its varied objects, according to the 
 standard which God had erected. He now 
 connected time and all its interests, with the 
 interests of eternity. He now deemed con- 
 formity to God's counsel, and to God's cha- 
 racter, to be the point of truth and elevation 
 which he must ever reach in order to attain to 
 dignity and happiness. He desired now to 
 live to God, to glorify God, to use his faculties 
 of knowledge, and activity, and enjoyment in 
 the service of God, and with a direct aim to 
 please him. He felt his calamity to have been 
 disagreement with God. He felt the conflict 
 of passion with conscience to have been just 
 the greatest scourge by which the heart can be 
 torn. He felt that with his finite resources, 
 and with God's multiplied claims to his grati- 
 tude and affection, to live at enmity with his 
 benefactor, and to disown those claims, was 
 just to lay bare his bosom to every the worst 
 assailant of his peace — was just to hurry into 
 ultimate wretchedness, and to covet the very 
 perdition of his comfort. It was in a return of 
 the affections to the object most worthy to at- 
 tract them — it was in the reception of God's 
 truth by his understanding, and in the admis- 
 sion of God's light into his heart, that he could 
 alone gain felicity and repose. ** Lord, what 
 wilt thou have me to do?" '^ I would have no 
 
166 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 will but thine." ** Thou are too wise to err, 
 and too good to be unkind;" and T would use 
 my every effort of judgment, and my every 
 movement of heart, to follow thy decisions, and 
 to assimilate my character to thy purity and 
 love. Thus Enoch walked with God. 
 
 In estimating farther the character of Enoch, 
 we must refer to the testimony which he received, 
 that he actually pleased God. His religion was 
 not a speculation or a theory, which he took 
 np to-day, and laid down to-morrow. It was 
 not the vain dream of enthusiasm, which is 
 founded on no steady and tried principles of 
 reason, by which he was actuated. It was not 
 the momentary impulse which induced him to 
 take God's side to-day, and which left him at 
 liberty to desert it to-morrow. It was rather 
 a religion of reason, and deliberation ; a religion 
 of faith in the divine character and promises ; 
 a religion which influenced, and guided, and 
 sustained him, at one moment as at another. 
 It was the allegiance of the heart, flowing from 
 the decisions of the understanding. It was the 
 obedience and homage of the soul. It was the 
 tribute of dependence, gratitude, and love. 
 It was the sacrifice of the whole man, a rea- 
 sonable and acceptable service. Probity, and 
 truth, and righteousness, were its bright results. 
 Hence Enoch pleased God^ — God graciously 
 owned his allegiance, and accepted his inter- 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 167 
 
 course. His aim was to please God, and it was 
 accepted as such. He was the child of mercy, 
 the disciple of truth and charity. Whatever 
 might be the judgment which men formed of 
 his character, God was ready to avow, ** well 
 done, good and faithful servant, enter into the 
 joy of thy Lord." It must likewise be con- 
 sidered, in the character of Enoch, that he 
 openly combated the evils of ir religion. He 
 stood forth, like Elijah in after days, the intre- 
 pid champion and prophet of the Lord. He 
 endured the struggles of reproach and con- 
 tempt, and boldly met and resisted the tide of 
 surrounding ungodliness. He was instructed 
 to utter the solemn warnings of God, and to 
 assure the profligate and the impenitent of the 
 future day of retribution. His allegiance to 
 God was not the calm and timid adherence to 
 duty where no temptation could excite alarm, 
 and no sacrifice could extort regret. His at- 
 tachment to the cause of righteousness was not 
 the cheap offering of solitary piety, and of 
 retired meditation. He walked with God 
 amidst the oppositions of the ungodly. He 
 combated evil in the fore-front of the battle, 
 and upheld the sacred cause which the world 
 had contemned and abandoned. He looked 
 beyond the confines of temporal applause, and 
 earthly prosperity, and rested his hopes upon 
 the allotments of eternity. The judgment of 
 
168 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 the great day pressed upon his mind. The 
 final overthrow of irreligion, and the perdition 
 of its adherents, were recorded before him. 
 He struck the deep and awful tones of pro- 
 phecy, as in the presence of the Lord, amidst 
 his ten thousand attendant saints. He saw 
 the result of a controversy with God, and taught 
 the sceptic and the scorner to anticipate their 
 fearful doom. Thus a firm and manly resist- 
 ance to the current maxims and habits of an 
 ungodly world, was connected in his character 
 with the more sacred and unseen devotion, 
 which ** walked with God" in secret medita- 
 tion and prayer. How unspeakably valuable 
 had been the detailed biography of such a 
 man. If the brief outline be so interesting, 
 what had been the full delineation 1 
 
 II. But from this imperfect sketch of the 
 character of Enoch, let us pass on to his high 
 
 REWARD. 
 
 *' By faith Enoch was translated that he 
 should not see death, and was not found, be- 
 cause God had translated him." 
 
 " The wages of sin is death." *' Death hath 
 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." 
 But he who hath awarded the penalty is able 
 to exempt from its infliction. Two instances of 
 exemption, and but two, one in the old world, 
 and one in the new, are recorded for our in- 
 struction and consolation. Enoch and Elijah 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 169 
 
 passed from this world to a better, through 
 other gates than those of death. They were 
 champions for God, and he was pleased to con- 
 fer on them this high distinction. Of Enoch 
 we have already remarked, that ** he received 
 this testimony, that he pleased God." His 
 conduct was consistent with his principles ; his 
 devotedness was affectionate and habitual. He 
 walked during three centuries in familiar and 
 hallowed communion with God. What traces 
 almost of visible elevation and glory, would 
 rest upon the very features of such a saint! 
 How would each succeeding act of intercourse 
 with his God stamp deeper the impressions of 
 truth and of charity upon his heart ! How 
 weaned from the gross and selfish habits of the 
 world, would that mind become with which, 
 through three long centuries, God himself had 
 deigned to converse ! How multiplied would 
 be the ties, how touching and holy the asso- 
 ciations, which would now link his affections 
 to a higher scene ! Imagine three entire cen- 
 turies passed in communion with God, in agree- 
 ment with his aims, in conformity to his will, 
 in expectation of his felicity. A heavenly 
 glory rested upon the face of Moses, after forty 
 days intercourse with heaven. But during 
 three hundred years Enoch walked with God ! 
 Perhaps we shall scarcely wonder if such a 
 character be ripe for glory^ if such a man be 
 
170 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 translated from earth amidst the gratulations of 
 attending angels ! We shall scarcely wonder, if 
 as in the case of Elijah in after days, the cha- 
 riot of fire and the horses of fire be his trium- 
 phant conveyance to the realms of bliss! Such 
 honour God bestowed upon his servant ; he 
 was no longer '* found" on earth. By a sudden 
 act of grace and power, he was placed beyond 
 the reach of human insult or of human sorrow. 
 The pathways of life were still thronged by the 
 vicious or the sad. But Enoch was not found 
 amongst them ! '* He was not, for God took 
 him." *' The corruptible had put on incor- 
 ruption, the mortal had put on immortality." 
 III. It remains for us to notice the in- 
 
 FLUE:NCE of faith both upon his CHA- 
 RACTER AND reward. 
 
 ** By faith Enoch was translated, that he 
 should not see death ;" and it is added, ** with- 
 out faith it is impossible to please God." Faith, 
 then, forms the character which God approves, 
 and faith prepares and qualifies the soul for a 
 translation to a purer world. And this is very 
 intelhgible. We are influenced by the opinions, 
 the facts, the events, the expectations with which 
 we are habitually conversant. If these be sen- 
 sual, external, earthly, we are necessarily earthly 
 and sensual in the texture and habits of our 
 minds. Our hopes and fears, our tastes and 
 pleasures will belong to time, and sense, and 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 171 
 
 earth. If, on the other hand, our hopes and 
 fears, our pleasures and our anticipations be 
 inward, intellectual, spiritual, heavenly and 
 eternal, our characters will correspond with 
 these hopes; our pleasures will be associated 
 with this eternity. Now all that is spiritual 
 and eternal is derived to us from the sources of 
 knowledge comprised in the testimonies of God. 
 We can know of their existence only by our 
 belief of the records which contain them. It 
 is therefore evident, that faith is the medium 
 of our communication with a higher world. 
 ** Faith is the substance of things hoped for, 
 the evidence of things not seen." Faith in 
 God's assurances connects us directly with 
 God. Faith in the realities of the celestial 
 world makes us incessantly conversant with 
 those realities. For the faith of a Christian is 
 not occasional, as that belief which a man has 
 in an historical fact, of which he will never 
 perhaps think again ; but it is habitual, refer- 
 ring to objects which are as dear to him at one 
 moment as at another ; to objects to which his 
 whole destiny and happiness are eternally 
 united. Hence the faith of a Christian gradual- 
 ly moulds his character, forms the pathways 
 along which his thoughts move, and presents 
 objects to which his affections cling. He is 
 actually healed, saved, blessed, through the 
 medium of his faith. Thus by faith it was that 
 
172 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 Enoch walked with God. He credited the as- 
 surances and intimations of God to his soul, 
 and felt all their benignant influence upon his 
 character. God became at once the object of 
 his love and of his imitation. This process is 
 attested by the apostle John, when he says, 
 ** This is the victory which overcometh the 
 world, even our faith. Who is he that over- 
 cometh the world, but he who believeth that 
 Jesus is the Son of God ?" In other words. 
 He who credits the history of the cross, who 
 comprehends and believes its moral meaning, 
 quits his grasp of the world, and seeks his re- 
 pose in God. For what does that cross teach 
 him ? that earth is vain, and sin destructive, and 
 Christ *'the way, the truth, and the life." Hence 
 the victory over the world is achieved. Faith 
 is thus no mystery ; it is the exercise of the 
 purest reason. It is God's decision set against 
 the solicitations of sense, and truly and cordial- 
 ly preferred. It is true that this faith is, in 
 every case, the gift of God, for it is only a spi- 
 ritual mind which can truly comprehend spiri- 
 tual objects; and we cannot believe when we 
 do not comprehend : our knowledge will always 
 be the limitation of our belief; we can there- 
 fore only believe in spiritual realities as they 
 are made the objects of our knowledge. It 
 was thus that Enoch believed, and this belief 
 formed his character. The same belief influ- 
 
THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 173 
 
 enced likewise his translation to glory, that is, 
 it qualified him for its enjoyments, it rendered 
 him meet for its immeasurable rewards. We 
 can imagine a mind conversant during three 
 centuries with God and eternity, actually a par- 
 taker of the very elements which constitute ce- 
 lestial happiness. Eternity, God, salvation, 
 would be names and objects in unison with the 
 hourly existence of such a mind. It must needs 
 pass to glory. The corn was too ripe to remain 
 in the ear, it would shed its seed, it must be 
 gathered to the garner. 
 
 But with the God of Enoch, with the faith 
 and expectations of Enoch, is not our happiness 
 eternally associated ? Ah, do we not know his 
 God ? Do we not share his fellowship ? Do we 
 not love his cause? Is not the world, once our 
 idol, now beneath our feet ? Have not the allot- 
 ments of earth as a heritage, faded from our 
 view, and have we not respect to the recompence 
 of the great reward ? Who is our companion 
 through the wilderness and snares of life ? With 
 whom do we walk? Is it not the God of Enoch ? 
 Whither tend our wishes ? Where cling our 
 affections ? Where repose our expectations ? 
 Do we not live by faith ? Do we not credit the 
 divine records ? Are we not of the same family 
 with the great and good of past ages ? Are we not 
 partakers of their sympathies and of their con- 
 flicts ? Do we not love Christ? Do we not serve 
 
174 THE CHARACTER OF ENOCH. 
 
 God ? Are we not advancing to his rest ? Are 
 we not conforming to his will ? Are we not fa- 
 miliar with the accents of his voice, and delight- 
 ed with the consolations of his love ? Oh, with 
 Enoch let us still *' walk with God." And with 
 David let us still exclaim, ** Thou shalt guide 
 me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive 
 me with glory!'" 
 
175 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 LIBERTY OF HEART PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 
 Psalm cxix. 32. 
 
 " I WILL RUN THE WAY OF THY COMMANDMENTS, WHEN THOU 
 SHALT ENLARGE MY HEART." 
 
 In these*words the psalmist marks out the close 
 connection between pardon and sanctification. 
 And indeed this is the great theme of revealed 
 religion, and the great subject of benediction 
 to mankind. ** Acquaint thyself with God, 
 and be at peace." ** We love him because he 
 first loved us." *' The love of Christ constrain- 
 eth us, because we thus judge, that if one died 
 for all, then were all dead, and that he died for 
 all, that they which live should not henceforth 
 live unto themselves, but unto him which died 
 for them and rose again." These several passages 
 of holy writ contain a combined view of the 
 process by which man, as a fallen being, is now 
 blessed of God. God reveals his character ; 
 we are attracted by it, and thus attracted, de- 
 sire to please our benefactor. We learn gra- 
 
176 LIBERTY OF HEART 
 
 dually to identify the ideas of obedience and 
 happiness. God becomes the object of our af- 
 fections. They fasten round God and are sa- 
 tisfied. And this conversion of heart is God's 
 own work. It is effected through the agency 
 of the great Teacher and Comforter. That 
 Comforter ever acts upon the soul through the 
 medium of knowledge, by motives suited to 
 sway an intelligent being ; yet is the distinct 
 though silent agent none other than God him- 
 self; and the sacred agency is his gratuitous 
 benefit. The expression of the psalmist now 
 before us, is a more brief and compendious de- 
 lineation of this spiritual healing to man. *' I 
 will run the way of thy commandments, when 
 thou shalt enlarge my heart." As if he had 
 said, ** The enlargement of my heart shall be 
 the measure of my obedience. In proportion 
 as I am set free from the contraction of mind 
 induced by sin, I shall increase my desires 
 after conformity to thy will. The knowledge 
 and enjoyment of thy love will gradually per- 
 fect me in holiness." 
 
 But let us attempt a little farther to eluci- 
 date : 
 
 I. The nature of this enlargement of 
 
 HEART. 
 
 II. Its influence upon the character 
 
 AND conduct. 
 
 I. This enlargement of heart is called 
 
PUODUCTIV£ OF HOLINESS. 177 
 
 LIBERTY in the other version of the psahiis, 
 *' I will run the way of thy commandments, 
 when thou hast set my heart at liberty." Under 
 the influence of depraved affections, and under 
 the consequent penalties of the divine law, we 
 may be justly said to be in captivity. The 
 apostle Paul speaks of our being ** sold under 
 sin," of our being ** servants to uncleanness." 
 And our Saviour himself declares, that ** whoso 
 committeth sin is the servant of sin," but 
 '' that if the Son shall make him free, he shall 
 be free indeed." And as the heart is thus the 
 seat of the disease, it is there that the blessing 
 of liberty is promised ; '* A new heart will 1 
 give you." In reference to this new heart, 
 the law of God is termed " the law of liberty,'' 
 The misery and degradation of man mainly lie 
 in the wrong and low objects to which his pro- 
 pensities tend. The injurious effects of sin 
 appear in the depravity of the human will. 
 He has quitted God as the source of his hap- 
 piness, and his affections lie scattered amidst 
 the baser parts of the creation. He leans no 
 more upon that which is great, and good, and 
 infinite, but upon that which is like himself, 
 fragile, and mean, and defiled. He is often, 
 indeed, by the scantiness of the standard by 
 which he judges, deluded to imagine his views 
 to be wide and magnificent. Many can af- 
 fect to pity the yet more sordid and narrow 
 
 N . 
 
178 LIBERTY OF HEART. 
 
 sphere occupied by the mere sensualist, and 
 launching forth their minds to the complicated 
 relations of social life, to the balance of power, 
 to the sources of international wealth, or to the 
 pursuits of art and science, dream that they 
 are tracking the widest range of intellectual 
 excellence. Quantities are certainly compa- 
 rative, and the estimate which such men form 
 of human conduct, may be entirely just under 
 the limited standard which they employ ; but 
 the widest sphere of thought and action which 
 draws its boundary around merely earthly ob- 
 jects, is essentially narrow and contracted. 
 There is no real expansion short of God. The 
 view is contracted, till it embraces Him ; the 
 affections are enslaved till they link themselves 
 to Him. Now it is the design of Christianity to 
 give this enlargement to the view. ** I will 
 run the way of thy commandments, when 
 thou hast set my heart at liberty." Christianity 
 is God's remedy for the guilt and feebleness of 
 man, and it is every way adapted to overtake 
 its aim. An immortal spirit can never be sa- 
 tisfied with that which is narrower and weaker 
 than itself: at the same time, it can never love 
 that which appears repulsive and unlovely. We 
 delight in that which appears to promote our 
 happiness. Now strength and beauty are in 
 God, and in God alone. Every created object 
 is fragile, and can only reflect back a few faint 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOUNESS. 179 
 
 beams of God's beauty. Hence to become 
 truly happy, it is necessary that we love God, 
 and to love God, it is as necessary that w^e dis- 
 cern his loveliness. He must become attrac- 
 tive, or we shall not be allured. Now Chris- 
 tianity contains a portraiture of God, which 
 whenever really perceived, cannot fail of be- 
 ing loved. Oh, who can delineate the full at- 
 tractions of that goodness which induced God 
 '* so to love the world, as to give his only-be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 Chained down to perpetual conflict with pas- 
 sion, and hourly polluted by the struggle ; mi- 
 serable by the tenure under which we hold all 
 external enjoyment, through the moral consti- 
 tution of things, we must incessantly have ad- 
 vanced into deeper ruin, and into heavier bond- 
 age, had not the Son of God himself tra- 
 velled to earth, and struck off our chains, and 
 unbarred to us the gates of a new and better 
 acceptance with God ! This is the amount of 
 the compassion of God ! And let it be here 
 observed, that as this deliverance is unclogged 
 by any previous condition, and unlimited to 
 any specific degree of sorrow or sin, it addresses 
 itself to every heart. It is a salvation offered 
 to all '* without money and without price." 
 It is thus entirely adapted to our disordered 
 state. It is in fact a moral medicine, which can 
 
 n2 
 
180 LIBERTY OF HEART 
 
 successfully contend with the fiercest disease. 
 It is a ransom which can discharge the heaviest 
 debt, and rescue the vilest slave. It is a foun- 
 tain which can cleanse the crimson stain, and 
 give the pure tint of snow to the crime of scar- 
 let hue. The provisions of this salvation meet 
 every possible want, and apply to every possible 
 variety of defilement and wretchedness. ** Him 
 that Cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." 
 " Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee." 
 ** He is able also to save them to the uttermost 
 that come unto God by him, seeing he ever 
 liveth to make intercession for them." It is 
 the universality of its application, which gives 
 the gospel so great a value. A conviction of 
 wretchedness^ a perception of guilt, a sensation 
 of utter forlornness suffice, under the agency 
 of the generous Comforter, to bring the most 
 degraded heart into full contact with all its 
 elevating and healing qualities. The state of 
 a revolted world needed a mighty remedy ; and 
 the virtue of the gospel, as ages roll away, still 
 goes forth to heal in all the freshness of its ori- 
 ginal power, with certain aid, and with unas- 
 sailable strength ! Every barrier of sin and 
 sorrow falls before it. It conveys the offer of 
 pardon, purity, and life eternal at once to all 
 ranks and degrees of men, and to all ranks and 
 degrees of guilt. It never yet retired baffled 
 in its efforts before any amount of evil how- 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 181 
 
 ever great. ** Whoso findeth me, findeth life." 
 Now the discovery of God's mercy and tender- 
 ness in the gospel, is calculated to enlarge the 
 heart or to give liberty to the affections. It 
 tells us where to repose, by telling us what to 
 love. It bursts the bubbles by w^hich w^e have 
 been beguiled, and it directs us to the substan- 
 tial and attainable sources of felicity. In the 
 emphatic language of the Scriptures, it draws 
 ** our feet out of the miry clay," and places 
 them firmly upon the *' rock" of ages. It lifts 
 up to our view an infinite good, and teaches us 
 how to pursue it with success. It reveals God 
 to us as a father, firiend, and guide. Linked 
 to his holy mercy^ we are now safe and happy. 
 Our prospect is bright and serene. Our hori- 
 zon now expands into infinity. Our heritage 
 and our hopes have become eternal. The cold 
 and narrow heart may now glow and dilate its 
 feelings by aspirations unbounded as the God 
 which gave it such a capacity for bliss. Now 
 the reign and tyranny of sense ceases, and the 
 liberty of God refreshes the soul. This is the 
 gospel. The whole weight of evil, by which 
 we were depressed, is in progress to an entire 
 removal. The gift is positive, large, and gene- 
 rous. *' There is therefore now no condemna- 
 tion." ** We have peace with God through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ.'^ '* He has finished trans- 
 gression, and made an end of sin, and made 
 
182 LIBERTY OF HEART* 
 
 reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in an 
 everlasting righteousness." He has laid the 
 foundations of a benign and mysterious empire, 
 wide as the limits of the misery of his people 
 and durable as the throne of the Almighty. 
 " The sceptre of this kingdom is a right scep- 
 tre/' and its protection and its riches are alike 
 accessible to all its subjects. 
 
 II. But let us now proceed to notice more 
 distinctly. The moral influence of this 
 
 LIBERTY OF HEART UPON THE CHARACTER 
 AND CONDUCT OF THOSE WHO ENJOY IT. 
 
 The psalmist certainly anticipates from its 
 possession a continually progressive obedience, 
 '' I will run the way of thy commandments, 
 when thou hast set my heart at liberty." If 
 this effect indeed were not produced, the whole 
 design of redemption would fail. The interven- 
 tion of Jesus Christ on the behalf of his people, 
 was to re-produce holy affections in their hearts, 
 by placing before them objects at once attrac- 
 tive and adequate to fill their capacities of en- 
 joyment. Any salvation, therefore, which left 
 them a prey to sense and passion, would be 
 worthless and delusive. Release a criminal 
 from penalty, and cast him back upon society, 
 with his heart reckless of social rights and ac- 
 tually eager for crime, and what benefit have 
 you conferred on him ? You have only given him 
 increased opportunities equally to augment his 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 183 
 
 own misery and the disquietude of others. Any 
 view, therefore, of pardon and peace with God, 
 which leaves an offender still careless of insult 
 and rebellion against the government of God, is 
 an absurd and worthless system, *' Heal me, 
 and I shall be healed ; save me, and I shall be 
 saved, for thou art my praise." Nothing short 
 of this is salvation. Now let us dwell for a 
 moment upon the results which may be fairly 
 expected to flow from Christian enlargement of 
 heart, or from the perception of that holy 
 mercy which accompanies the belief of the 
 gospel. In the first place the effect may be 
 supposed to be holy, because the manifestation 
 of this plan of mercy to the soul is under the 
 direct agency of the Holy Spirit. It is this 
 pure and gracious agent, who '* takes of the 
 things of Christ, and shows them to the soul." 
 Can it then be questioned whether or not the 
 influence of such a teacher will be benign and 
 healing ? But pre-supposing this agency, let 
 us now rather inquire into the rational and na- 
 tural results of the spiritual knowledge of God's 
 character thus communicated to the soul ? 
 What then let it be asked, is the sum total of 
 that knowledge, or rather, what are the various 
 and solemn truths of which it is composed ? 
 It is not, we reply, simply and nakedly stated 
 in the gospel that God is placable, and that 
 
184 LIBERTY OF HEART 
 
 pardon is sure. It is not simply stated that 
 all offences are freely blotted out, and that 
 the chilly darkness of death is lighted up by 
 the radiance of immortality. But it is further 
 stated, that to render this pardon honourahk 
 to God, his own Son endured grief, and ex- 
 piated the sin to which it applied. It is stated 
 on the very face of this mysterious transaction, 
 that sin and ruin were not only once, but are 
 always inseparable in God's estimation. That 
 he abhors iniquity, and can through eternity 
 make no compromise with it. It is stated, that 
 in order to render the objects of his kindness 
 happy, his own tabernacle must again be with 
 them ; that to this end gifts were received by 
 Christ, even for the once rebellious, " that the 
 Lord God might dwell among them." It is 
 stated, that this habitation of God through 
 the Spirit is the result of love and obedience, 
 and therefore confirmatory of them. ** If a 
 man love me he will keep my words, and my 
 Father will love him, and we will come unto 
 him, and make our abode with him." It is 
 therefore affirmed, that the sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ, while they were expiatory of sin, were 
 also declarative of the misery of sin, were de- 
 clarative that except this deadly plague of sin 
 in the heart be healed, it must corrode and 
 agonize to endless ages. Hence it is also af- 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 185 
 
 firmed, that as the allotments of another world 
 are not as those of this, mingled together, but 
 absolutely good or evil, no man can become 
 a subject of God's kingdom who is not born 
 again of the Spirit, and sealed by his celestial 
 impressions unto the fuller and brighter mani- 
 festations of felicity. Now we recur to the 
 question. What is likely to be the moral result 
 of these truths, credited and received by any 
 thoughtful mind? To say that this notion of 
 free mercy, manifested under circumstances so 
 astonishing as the awful death of the Son of 
 God, would produce an indifference to moral 
 character, is surely to say that the highest ex- 
 hibition of terror would produce quietness, and 
 that the death of the most exalted victim would 
 lead to the supposition that sin is veniaL The 
 man, in fact, who believes the moral history of 
 the death of Christ, must believe sin to be 
 the largest possible evil by which the soul can 
 be assailed ; an evil far too great for man to 
 grapple with and remove ; an evil which forced 
 from the mighty advocate and high priest of 
 God's spiritual house, the tremendous com- 
 plaint, '* My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me." Free mercy rendered to man 
 under such a terrific though tender exhibition, 
 will surely make and leave the impression that 
 the qualities of moral evil are inexpressibly inju- 
 rious, and calculated to shake, if possible, the 
 
186 LIBERTY OF HEART 
 
 foundations of the eternal throne, as they did 
 overwhelm in ruin the original felicity of man. 
 
 But let us go on to ask what may be e.vpected 
 from an elevated mind, become conscious, not 
 only of the past results of disobedience, but of 
 the munificent object which God had in view 
 when he sent his Son to die? What are the 
 feelings which may be expected to arise in his 
 heart, who credits the noble sacrifice made by 
 his Saviour, and the intense desire of God to 
 reproduce happiness among his children ? What 
 is the line of conduct which may be anticipat- 
 ed from him who, wrecked of all things by 
 transgression, sees restoration, hope, and eter- 
 nal blessedness, deposited in the hands of 
 Christ, for his free use and absolute enjoy- 
 ment? If man be swayed by reasonable mo- 
 tives, and if the Holy Spirit be the author of 
 those manifestations of truth which Christ pro- 
 mised to the faithful, then the result, the feeling, 
 the conduct produced can be none other than gra- 
 titude, obedience, love. Yes, it is laid deep in 
 the indestructible nature of things, that love 
 should answer love ; that the enlargement of 
 the heart, once contracted by sin, should ex- 
 cite the filial and the generous purpose, *' I 
 will run the way of thy commandments." '' Thy 
 testimonies have I taken as an heritage for 
 ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart." 
 " Quicken me after thy loving-kindness ; and 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 187 
 
 SO shall I keep the testimonies of thy mouth." 
 Perhaps no man ever attained to such strong- 
 impressions of the free mercy of God, as the 
 apostle Paul ; and certainly no man was ever 
 influenced more strongly to dedicate himself as a 
 living sacrifice to the master who had thus loved 
 him. In the path of grateful obedience, no 
 barrier of personal toil, or reproach, or suffer- 
 ing, could arrest his steps. Chains, and impri- 
 sonment, and death were small evils in his 
 sight, who owed all his hope, and peace, and 
 joy to the redemption which Christ had effect- 
 ed on the cross. ** None of these things move 
 me, neither count I my life dear unto myself so 
 that I might finish my course with joy ; and the 
 ministry which I have received of the Lord Je- 
 sus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." 
 
 It ought further to be remarked, that this 
 enlargement of heart, by the grace of God, is 
 continually progressive, and therefore becomes 
 an incessant stimulus to obedience. The more 
 God becomes the object of knowledge and of 
 love, the more will he become the object of 
 imitation. His holy and munificent character 
 will be ever present to the soul. It will learn 
 to live amidst higher and nobler elements than 
 earth-born pleasures can afford. It will breathe 
 a fragrant and ethereal atmosphere, cheered by 
 the light of truth, and refreshed by the antici- 
 pations of eternity. Such a soul will indeed 
 
188 LIBERTY OF IlEAKT 
 
 long after the allotments of that eternity, 
 chiefly in reference to the perfection and ma- 
 turity of its obedience to the law of love. A 
 man under the influence of these hopes, soars 
 upwards to those purer realms, and antedates, 
 at least in wishes, his entire conformity to his 
 master's will. There he will serve without in- 
 terruption, and love without inconstancy. There 
 his obedience will become one unbroken conse- 
 cration of all his faculties to God. Oh, delight- 
 ful thought to the grateful, and free, and blood- 
 bought soul! Believer in Christ ! Would'st thou 
 then toil, and work, and obey ? Would'st thou 
 be a pattern of good works, unreproved before 
 God and man ? Set thy thoughts continually 
 upon the love, and grace, and generous worth 
 of Christ. Try to measure, although thy short 
 line can never reach it, the depth, and height, 
 and length, and breadth, of that love which hath 
 fearlessly met death, and hell, and sin in awful 
 conflict, and vanquished them in thy behalf! 
 Place before thee all the munificence of his sal- 
 vation, and all the potency of his healing grace ! 
 Remember, that soon, very soon, the veil which 
 hides thee from his farther intercourse, shall be 
 lifted up. Thou art his, and none shall pluck 
 thee out of his hands ! Remember this, and 
 the glow of moral activity, shall enter afresh 
 into thine heart ; the healthfulness of obedience 
 shall put forth all its high pulsations, and thou 
 
PRODUCTIVE OF HOLINESS. 189 
 
 shalt become a servant, not cold, and calculat- 
 ing, and reluctant ; but a servant, courageous, 
 and free, and faithful, even unto death ! Thou 
 shalt abound in his work, and toil shall become 
 thy rest. But, disciple of low-born pleasure, 
 and bond-slave of sense, what voice of humble 
 intreaty shall be addressed to thy soul ? Hast 
 thou not mistaken thy true interest ? Hast 
 thou not miscalculated the designs, and over- 
 looked the glorious character of God ? Canst 
 thou be happy without his love, or virtuous 
 without conformity to his will ? Oh yet listen 
 to the compassionate accents of his kindness. 
 He would be still thy Father, although thou 
 hast cut asunder the sacred bonds of filial at- 
 tachment! Receive at length his urgent assur- 
 ances, and meet with gratitude the longings 
 which he expresses to make thee happy ! Oh ! 
 ere the period of his clemency be passed, spring 
 up into his arms, and say, '' Pardon my iniqui- 
 ty, for it is great !" 
 
190 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 
 Heb. xi. 6. 
 
 " BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD— FOR HE 
 THAT COMETH TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, AND THAT HE 
 IS THE REWARDER OF THEM THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM." 
 
 Few terms in religion have appeared more per- 
 plexing than the term, ** faith." Perhaps the 
 reason has been, that it has been supposed to 
 imply more than its apparent signification 
 would actually warrant. It may be useful to 
 inquire Into the real import of the word, as well 
 as into its importance in the whole history of 
 religion. In dependence, therefore, upon the 
 divine blessing, we would offer some remarks, 
 
 I. Upon the nature of faith in ge- 
 neral. 
 
 II. Upon the particular, limitation 
 OF the term in the text. 
 
 III. Upon the importance of faith in 
 reference to our habitually pleasing 
 God. 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 191 
 
 I. Let US first offer some remarks upon the 
 
 NATURE OF FAITH IN GENERAL. 
 
 The term, faith, '* expresses a confidence or 
 persuasion of the truth of any thing not self- 
 evident, received upon the testimony of an- 
 other." Such testimony may be either divine 
 or human. But the confidence and the mode 
 by which it is produced, is the same, in kind, in 
 both cases. To have faith in the subjects of 
 human testimony, requires a certain compre- 
 hension of the nature of the subjects, and a con- 
 fidence in the credibility of the testimony 
 under which those subjects are presented to 
 our knowledge. Our faith will, in every case, 
 depend upon our understanding of the thing 
 testified, and upon our confidence in the truth 
 of the testimony. And if the object be com- 
 plicated which is presented to our mind, in this 
 case, even though the credibility of the witness 
 be satisfactory, our faith will be more or less 
 confused or clear, according as our minds com- 
 prehend, or do not comprehend, the whole of 
 the testimony. Our knowledge is, in every 
 case, the boundary of our belief. To increase 
 that knowledge, supposing the testimony cre- 
 dible, is always to increase our faith. To 
 confuse or to diminish the certainty of our 
 knowledge, is to diminish, and to the same 
 extent contract, the boundary of our faith. 
 Precisely the same circumstances appear to 
 
192 THE NATURE AND 
 
 take place in reference to divine testimony. We 
 are satisfied as to the credibility of the testimo- 
 ny — that it comes from God. But the objects 
 presented to us upon that testimony, will be- 
 come the actual objects of our faith, exactly to 
 the extent, and no further, in which we under- 
 stand them. Our comprehension of the object 
 will always be the limit of our faith ; and this 
 faith will diminish or augment in the very de- 
 gree in which our perception is clear or confus- 
 ed. When therefore the apostles of our Saviour 
 exclaimed, " Lord increase our faith," and 
 when the poor man who longed for the healing 
 of his son, cried out, '* Lord I believe, help 
 thou mine unbelief;" in both instances a con- 
 fusion or uncertainty was evidently distressing 
 the mind, as to the full perception of the thing 
 to be credited ; and the faith of both parties 
 required to be strengthened ; or, in other words, 
 their knowledge, their perception of the truth 
 placed before them by their Lord, required to 
 be made more clear and evident. 
 
 But it is needful here to remark, that the di- 
 vine testimony, though depending upon precise- 
 ly the same process of mind as to its existence, 
 and growth, and contraction, is far more diffi- 
 cult of acquirement and of retention, than faith 
 in human testimony. Is it inquired where- 
 fore ? The answer is, that sin has crippled our 
 power of judgment — that sin has deadened the 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 193 
 
 spiritual sensibility which is absolutely essen- 
 tial to the perception of divine truth. The 
 impurity of our affections actually disqualifies 
 us for the full perception of spiritual objects. 
 The truths of revelation, which is the divine 
 testimony, are very complicated, and are per- 
 haps not to be fully understood during the 
 present life, on account of the moral injury 
 which the affections have received, and which 
 interposes a barrier between the soul and its 
 full contact with the truth set before it. Sup- 
 posing, therefore, the powers of understanding 
 and of imagination to be equal in any two per- 
 sons, he will comprehend the Christian reve- 
 lation the most clearly, who has the purest 
 affections, who is in the highest degree detached 
 from human objects, and who is the most con- 
 versant with the objects of the heavenly world, 
 ** If any man will do the will of God, he shall 
 know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." 
 The right state of the heart or of the affections, 
 which is, in fact, the actual disposition to do 
 the will of God, will thus be the measure of 
 our capacity to comprehend the doctrine. The 
 doctrine which appears strange, insipid, irra- 
 tional, censurable, repugnant, hateful to an 
 unholy state of the affections, will become 
 attractive, seasonable, suitable, exhilarating, 
 to a pure state of the affections. 
 
 And hence it is, that while numbers assent 
 
 o 
 
194 THE N A TURK AND 
 
 to the general import of revelation ; while num- 
 bers quite accord as totheir judgment of the cre- 
 dibility of Christianity, and as to many parts of 
 its doctrine, they are quite at variance as to 
 their perception of many other parts. The most 
 gross state of moral impurity does not dis- 
 qualify aman fromjudging of external evidence, 
 from admitting the truth of the incarnation, 
 miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ; 
 or from receiving the doctrine of immortality, 
 or that of rewards or punishments. These 
 subjects are as simple and as easy to such a 
 mind, as the subject of chemistry, or of poli- 
 tical economy. There is nothing in these sub- 
 jects which the ordinary state of the moral 
 faculties tends, in any considerable degree, at 
 least, to render obscure. Hence, even men 
 whose affections are in a very deplorable degree 
 depraved, may be tenacious of Christian truth, in 
 some of its great outlines, and may even compose 
 treatises in defence of its credibility and general 
 excellence. But such minds can feel little 
 affinity with the more spiritual and moral parts 
 of Christianity. The purity of God ; the evil 
 of sin ; the love of Christ ; the manifestation of 
 that love to the human soul ; the hidden, and 
 secret, and holy intercourse of the heart with 
 God ; the necessity for atonement ; the freeness 
 of divine grace ; the renovation of the heart by 
 the power and compassion of the great Com- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 195 
 
 forter ! the value and sweetness of prayer ; the 
 fervour of gratitude ; the desire to be with 
 Christ ; the secret calm of confidence in his 
 eternal love — these, and many other subjects 
 embodied in the testimonies of God, are sub- 
 jects with which an unholy, earthly heart can- 
 not come into full contact. There may be a 
 distant perception, indeed, even of these ; but 
 the affections that are low, and worldly, and 
 sensual, cannot perceive them, so as to taste 
 their beauty and their value. And such a taste 
 is essential to their perception. A woman, to 
 judge of the full amount of a mother's sensa- 
 tions, must herself be a mother — a kind heart 
 may conjecture, but cannot know maternal 
 pains and pleasures. Hence the Scriptures 
 assert, that the ** natural man," that is, the 
 affections in their natural or earthly state, 
 *' cannot comprehend the things of God, for 
 they are spiritually discerned." And our Saviour 
 declared, that ** the light shineth in darkness, 
 and the darkness comprehended it not." *' It 
 is the pure in heart who can alone see God." 
 It was the progress of holy affection which thus 
 enabled Job to exclaim, '* I have heard of 
 thee, by the hearing of the ear, but now mine 
 eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and 
 repent in dust and ashes." 
 
 But it ought farther to be remarked, that 
 when the Scriptures speak of faith, they mean 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE ICATURK AND 
 
 not merely di perception of the truth, but ^confidence 
 in its worth. To believe in Christ, in the Scrip- 
 tures, is to confide in him. A real knowledge 
 of Christ will always lead to this confidence. 
 A spiritual perception of Christ cannot indeed 
 ej^ist without some degree of confidence. Such 
 degrees will vary according to the actual peVcep- 
 tion of his nature, office and character, and the 
 Holy Spirit thus appears to be the giver of faith — 
 for all divine knowledge is spiritually acquired. 
 
 Hence the value which the Scriptures attach 
 to faith, is no ground of surprise to him who 
 has felt Christianity to be dear and healing to 
 his heart. It has been by a divine influence 
 that he has come into contact with the spiritual 
 m.eaning of Christianity; and his faith in that spi- 
 ritual meaning has been the medium through 
 which he came into such contact. He is therefore 
 aware that no language can do justice to the 
 worth of faith. He is not surprised, indeed, 
 that a worldly man, who judges of Christianity 
 as he judges of any human science, should 
 attach little importance to faith, because the 
 objects comprised in its history, which have 
 been the actual matters of faith to him, have 
 had no effective or consoling influence upon 
 his mind. Such a man has known the mere 
 outworks, the general aspect of Christianity — 
 such as the moral precepts, the virtuous life of 
 its founder, and the assurances of resurrection 
 
IjVIPORTANCE OF FAITH. 197 
 
 and immortality ; but he has known nothing of 
 the inner recesses, of the sacred and interior 
 promises, or of the holy and triumphant conso- 
 lations, of the gospel. He has viewed Chris- 
 tianity only as a rude and indistinct object. 
 He has surveyed its walls, its defences, as a 
 traveller might gaze upon a vast and distant 
 city, who had no real asylum within its bul- 
 warks. Such a man has found no home in the 
 gospel ; no sweet resting-place for his aching 
 thoughts, within its hallowed enclosures. Be- 
 tween his estimate of it, and the estimate of a 
 genuine Christian, there is precisely the same 
 sort of difference as between the value attached 
 to the contiguity of a city in the minds of two 
 travellers, one of whom should be but a casual 
 wanderer through its streets, and the other 
 hastening to the sacred spot where all the 
 feelings of love and tenderness have long linked 
 him to the memory of his wife and children. 
 
 The faith of a real Christian is thus the result 
 of renewed affections. His knowledge is still 
 the source and the boundary of his faith ; but this 
 knowledge has been to him, in very truth, the gift 
 of God ; for it has been through the conversion of 
 his affections — through the contrition and sad- 
 ness of his heart — through the discovery of the 
 love, the patient and costly tenderness of his 
 God and Saviour, that he has come into converse 
 with those parts of Christianity which are pro- 
 
i9S 
 
 THE NATURE AND 
 
 perly medicinal and healing to the soul. Faith, 
 therefore, may be justly said, in all its exten- 
 sive and spiritual operations, to be the gift 
 of God, since it is the result of a knowledge, the 
 growth of holy affections and of a renewed heart. 
 Well therefore might the Psalmist refer to 
 God's illuminating influence, and covet its larger 
 measures — *' Open thou mine eyes, and I shall 
 see wondrous things in thy law;" and well 
 might he refer to the state of the moral in- 
 stincts, as productive of this divine knowledge. 
 ** The meek will he guide in judgment, and 
 the meek will he teach his way." 
 
 It will thus appear, that to faith belong all 
 the real and essential blessings of Christianity. 
 We come into intercourse with God ; we rest 
 under the shelter of the atonement; we are re- 
 newed in our tastes and inclinations ; we ac- 
 quire a home, a refuge ; we regard the future 
 as serene and bright; these blessings we ac- 
 quire by faith, and by faith only. Nor is there 
 any other conceivable way of embracing all the 
 great and consoling realities of the gospel. 
 Faith is, hence, the confidence of the penitent, 
 and devout, and affectionate heart, as it reposes 
 its weary sensations amidst the gracious assur- 
 ances of God ! It is the deep and inward cry of 
 the forlorn spirit, '* Lord, thou hast been our 
 dwelling-place, from one generation to another!" 
 
 It is farther evident from these statements, 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 199 
 
 that faith will be often progressive, and often 
 retrograde. Let the true Christian become 
 unduly eager about earthly emoluments; let 
 him diminish voluntarily the time he passes 
 in secret converse v^ith God; let him call away 
 his thoughts from the character and friendship 
 of his Saviour; let him thwart the precious 
 influences of the Holy Spirit — and his faith will 
 necessarily contract its operations ; the finer 
 and more ethereal parts of Christianity will 
 begin to escape, to grow indistinct; his affec- 
 tions will be disordered; he will believe less, 
 in reference to God and eternity, than he did 
 before ; his faith will shrink, or will vacillate 
 as to real good and evil. On the other hand, 
 let him grow more familiar with the lofty 
 thoughts and aspirations of the gospel; let him 
 discover more of the glory of Christ ; let him 
 derive from him larger accessions of holy peace 
 and joy ; let the earth remove farther from his 
 interior fellowship, and heaven, with all its 
 bright anticipations, come into closer union 
 with his understanding and his affections ; and 
 he will necessarily believe more of Christianity 
 than he did before — he will know more of its 
 hidden worth, as the increased purity of his 
 affections is throwing down more of the barrier 
 which sin had interposed between his soul and 
 God; or, which is the same thing, between 
 him and the richer parts of Christianity. 
 
200 THE NATURE AND 
 
 These remarks upon faith accord with a fact 
 often noticed in the history of the church of 
 Christ — that many a poor man, without the 
 aids of human science, has come into fuller 
 communion with the gospel, than has the pro- 
 found theologian and the scholar. The former 
 has got into the home and the sanctuary of the 
 gospel — the latter has often been contented 
 to abide among the walls and streets, which 
 he has graphically and ably delineated. ** God 
 hath often," saith St. James, *' chosen the 
 poor of this world rich in faith." These riches 
 belong rather to the state of the affections, 
 than to the culture and sagacity of the powers 
 of the understanding. Hence, while the more 
 spiritual truths of the gospel have, by the 
 proud, been neglected with scorn, or over- 
 looked with secret disgust ; they have been to 
 the humble, " the power of God unto salva- 
 tion." And this dispensation called forth the 
 holy admiration of Jesus Christ — "• 1 thank 
 thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto 
 babes. Even so. Father, for so it seemed good 
 in thy sight." 
 
 II. Let us now proceed to an inquiry into 
 
 THE MORE LIMITED SENSE OF THE TERM 
 
 FAITH, in the passage of Scripture before us 
 '* He that cometh to God must believe that he 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 201 
 
 is, and that he is the rewarder of them that 
 diligently seek him." In the commencement 
 of this chapter, the apostle had defined ** Faith 
 to be the substance of things hoped for, the 
 evidence of things not seen." And this defini- 
 tion appears to accord exactly with all the pre- 
 ceding observations ; for according to this 
 apostle, faith is such a confidence in the testi- 
 mony of God respecting the eternal felicities 
 which are treasured up for the servants of God, 
 accompanied by such a perception of their 
 worth as the objects of hope to the soul ; that 
 these felicities, though unseen, become actual 
 subsistences to the mind, and are received by 
 an internal evidence, most healing and satis- 
 factory to the soul. Thus, in consequence of 
 their belief of these realities, ** Noah," he tells 
 us, ** built his ark amidst the scoff's of the 
 world — Abraham went forth as a stranger and 
 wanderer — Moses endured as seeing him who 
 is invisible — and Enoch walked with God, 
 having this testimony, that he pleased God." 
 Faith then, in this chapter, has special refer- 
 ence to those tenets of Christianity which un- 
 veil the future world — the triumph and the 
 ** rest" of the righteous; and in the text it 
 seems to refer more specially to the confidence 
 of the soul as to God's intentions to ren- 
 der it eternally happy. The man who thus 
 
202 THE NATURE AND 
 
 confides, believes that God is, not simply that 
 he exists, but that he exists as a kind, com- 
 passionate, generous God, to the soul that seeks 
 him. ** I have said unto the Lord, ' I'hou art 
 my Godr " Faith, here, is the reception of the 
 divine testimony as to this future and eternal 
 recompense, and as to the character of God as 
 a loving, and most merciful, and most munificent 
 Saviour — ** rich in goodness to all that call 
 upon him," and " found of all who diligently 
 seek him." 
 
 III. But it remains for us to notice The 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THIS FAITH UPON OUR HA- 
 BITUALLY PLEASING God. *' Without faith 
 it is impossible to please God." No one can 
 read the Scriptures with attention, without 
 being struck by the intense anxiety of God to 
 produce and to perpetuate confidence in his 
 mercy and grace. The great controversy lies 
 in the struggle for the human heart. The 
 world on the one hand claims its confidence, 
 and God on the other. *' Who art thou that 
 fearest the oppressor, and forgettest the Lord 
 thy Maker." ** Thou wilt keep him in perfect 
 peace, whose heart is stayed upon thee, be- 
 cause he trusteth in thee." And when incarnate 
 Deity tabernacled amidst the sons of men, it 
 was always to honour confidence in his power 
 and goodness. ** Be it unto thee according to 
 
IMjPORTANCE OF FAITH. 203 
 
 thy faith." ** O woman, great is thy faith/' 
 The whole of God's intercourse with his chil- 
 dren is to excite their gratitude and attach- 
 ment ; to prove to them that his thoughts, are 
 far higher than theirs ; and to rectify the fatal 
 mistake that happiness lies in exernal objects, 
 and in the emoluments of earth. Amidst the 
 din of worldly invitations, amidst the tumults 
 of sensual excitement, a still small voice ceases 
 not to ply its whispers to their souls, " Come 
 unto me and I will give you rest." And wher- 
 ever that voice is heard and valued, there a sa- 
 cred fellowship with heaven takes place, and 
 produces progressive confidence in God. It 
 hence appears to be of the last importance to 
 our welfare, to entertain high and honourable 
 thoughts of the generosity and munificence of 
 God. It is worthy of Deity to produce the 
 largest measure of expectation. He whose re- 
 sources are unlimited, cannot fear the multipli- 
 city of claims, or shrink before the widest hopes 
 which his goodness has excited. And what an 
 encouragement to godliness to be directed to 
 trust, to confide, even to the uttermost of our 
 wants and our wishes. On what vantage 
 ground it might be thought does religion stand, 
 when soliciting the attention of mankind. In 
 earthly histories, the generous and liberal mind 
 gathers round it a multitude of the wretched 
 and the sad. Ah, why is that munificence 
 
204 THE NATURE AND 
 
 which gave *' the only-begotten Son" to tor- 
 ture and to death on man's behalf, the only 
 munificence which ever fails to carry its high 
 and effectual appeal to the human heart ? '* Oh 
 that thou hadst hearkened unto me, then had 
 thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness 
 as the waves of the sea !" Christianity is the 
 exhibition of the divine character. Its chief 
 feature is holy mercy. Hence faith is essential 
 to our intercourse with God. He who doubts 
 God's goodness, he who voluntarily severs him- 
 self from God's care, and casts himself as an or- 
 phan upon his own resources, thus forces back 
 the hand which is lifted up in his defence, and 
 rejects the succours of omnipotence. '* With- 
 out faith it is impossible to please God." In- 
 credulity dishonours his truth and hardens the 
 heart against all the allurements of his kind- 
 ness. '* God so loved the world that he gave 
 his Son, that whosoever believeth on him should 
 not perish." ** This is the record, that God 
 hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in 
 his Son." *' Blessed," therefore, *' are the 
 people that know the joyful sound, they shall walk, 
 O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." It is 
 then the only mode of felicity *' to believe that 
 God is, and that he is the rewarder of all that 
 diligently seek him." 
 
 It is sometimes, indeed, reckoned, and even 
 by the weak servant of God, rash and presump- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 205 
 
 tuous to speak or think strongly upon the cer- 
 tainty of redemption, upon the clear evidence of 
 pardon and of grace. Is it then presumption 
 to believe God's assurances ? Is it rash to take 
 God at his v^ord, and to rest the full burden of 
 our hopes upon his promises ? Is it honourable 
 to God to contract the limits of his grace, to 
 cast a shade over the brightness of his offers, 
 and to conjecture the possibility of mercy, when 
 he declares the reality of atonement and of in- 
 tercession ? Oh, where is our faith in the loving- 
 kindness of God! '* He that spared not his 
 own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how 
 shall he not with him frxely give us all things.'' 
 Men may blame as presumptuous, confidence 
 in God, but God calls for it at our hands. Chris- 
 tians! his object is to rescue us from ruin, and 
 to enrich us with an everlasting heritage. And 
 he scruples not to avow his object ; yea he 
 forces it with a continual and gentle violence 
 upon our notice. He bids us cast all our cares 
 upon him, and surely he excludes not that 
 heaviest of all cares, anxiety for pardon and re- 
 demption. Oh, there is nothing scanty and in- 
 adequate in the provisions of the gospel. Its 
 resources are infinite, and its proclamation to 
 the needy bears no equivocal character. Its 
 voice is *' believe and be happy. Come back to 
 God, and God will welcome you to the full in- 
 tegrity of his joy. All shall be forgiven and for- 
 
206 NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 gotten. Credit his munificence, and abide be- 
 neath the covert of his wing." And shall these 
 accents of entreaty be heard. by his children in 
 vain ? Shall they still cling to the deceptive as- 
 surances of the world, and rest upon the poor 
 broken reeds of earth 1 These cannot build up 
 a final dwelling-place ; these cannot occupy the 
 place of God in the soul. They cannot fill up 
 the deep void which sin has left in the human 
 heart. They can have no fellowship with all 
 its inner necessities. They can carry no balm 
 to the wounds of conscience ; they can draw 
 out no sting from death ; they can achieve no 
 victory over the grave. This is the work of God; 
 this is the victory of Jesus Christ. Blessed are 
 those whom God has made willing to confide 
 in his power ! To them the storm of life shall 
 pass harmless by. ** Their defence is the mu- 
 nition of rocks." The outward walls may 
 crumble to decay ; but nought can touch ^' their 
 citadel of peace in Jesu's blood." 
 
207 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 Hebrews xiii. 13, 14. 
 
 " LET us GO FORTH THEREFORE UNTO HIM WITHOUT THE CAMP# 
 BEARING HIS REPROACH; FOR HERE HAVE WE NO CONTINUING 
 CITY, BUT WE SEEK ONE TO COME." 
 
 These words were addressed to Hebrew con- 
 verts, who would enter more feelingly into their 
 spirit and meaning than would the Gentile 
 Christians. They refer to customs and cir- 
 cumstances with which the Hebrews were con- 
 versant, and they threw a bright radiance upon 
 many obscure transactions which took place in 
 the wilderness previous to the settlement of 
 Israel in the land of Canaan. In the wilderness 
 the Jews were wanderers, and the scene of 
 their religious worship was not a settled temple 
 but a moveable tabernacle. Into this taber- 
 nacle the high-priest of their religion annually 
 entered, carrying with him the blood of a victim 
 which had previously been slain, and burned 
 without the camp. Now the apostle teaches 
 
208 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Hebrew converts, that beneath these ty- 
 pical shadows were concealed certain great and 
 substantial realities. His words are '* The 
 bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought 
 into the sanctuary by the high-priest for sin, 
 are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus 
 also, that he might sanctify the people with his 
 own blood, suffered without the gate.'' The 
 animal slain under circumstances of contempt 
 and destroyed without the sacred encampment 
 of Israel, thus symbolised the contemptuous 
 death which Jesus Christ would one day suffer 
 without the gate of the holy city. The blood 
 of the animal carried into the sanctuary by the 
 high-priest, with which the mercy-seat was 
 sprinkled, symbolised the precious blood of 
 Christ, carried by himself as the great high- 
 priest over the house of God within the veil, to 
 cleanse the mercy-seat of heaven, and to sanc- 
 tify unto God those who should believe in 
 his name. These, like the Israelites, are wan- 
 derers through the wilderness of this lower life, 
 but they are treading a sure pathway to a better 
 scene. They are seeking a higher and holier 
 Zion than Israel ever inhabited. They anti- 
 cipate an entrance into " that eternal city 
 which hath indeed foundations whose builder 
 and maker is God." Now the doctrine of sal- 
 vation through the blood of Jesus, was in- 
 tended to convey continually peace and healing 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. ,209 
 
 to the hearts of such. *' It is a good thing," 
 says the apostle, " that the heart be established 
 with grace, not with meats ;" not, that is, with 
 ceremonial institutions, which never profited 
 those who rested in them. 
 
 The mere sacrifice of the tabernacle could 
 never touch the heart or cleanse the conscience ; 
 but the grace or kindness of God exhibited in 
 the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which the death 
 of the victim symbolised, is amply calculated 
 to satisfy and to establish the heart. That which 
 the ceremony was inadequate to perform, the 
 mercy contained in the doctrine was equal to 
 effect. It is the pure mercy of God evinced in 
 the love which led him to give up to suffer- 
 ing and to death his only-begotten Son, *' that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life :" it is this niercy, this 
 grace which establishes the trembling and agi- 
 tated heart, and brings it into a near and peace- 
 ful relation with God. " We have," therefore, 
 says the apostle, *'an altar whereof they have 
 no right" or power *' to eat," which still abide 
 under the mere shadows and ceremonies of the 
 outward tabernacle. We have an altar, the 
 altar of eternal mercy, sprinkled with the blood 
 of Jesus, before which we repose with tran- 
 quillity and hope. We there feed upon the 
 doctrines of an offered Saviour's sacrifice, and 
 " purged thereby from dead works," we arise 
 
 p 
 
210 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 nourished and refreshed ** to serve the living- 
 God." 
 
 The exhortation of the apostle which the 
 text contains, is the proper result of the doc- 
 trine thus advanced, *' Let us go forth there- 
 fore unto him without the camp, bearing his re- 
 proach : for here have we no continuing city, 
 but we seek one to come." 
 
 I. Let us briefly consider in these words, 
 The import of the apostle's expression, 
 " The reproach of Christ." 
 
 IL His exhortation to go forth to 
 
 HIM IN order to bear THAT REPROACH, and 
 
 lastly, 
 
 in. The motive by which the exhor- 
 tation IS enforced. 
 
 L The term *' reproach of Christ" had been 
 used by the apostle in a preceding part of his 
 epistle. He had spoken in relation to Moses, 
 that gifted with true nobility of mind, ** he 
 had refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter ; choosing rather to suffer affliction 
 with the people of God, than to enjoy the plea- 
 sures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach 
 of Christ greater riches than the treasures in 
 Egypt : for he had respect unto the recompense 
 of the reward." Again, the apostle had said 
 that Jesus Christ *' the author and finisher of 
 our faith," had himself, for or instead of the 
 joy which had been ever placed before him, in 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 211 
 
 high and ineffable intercourse with his Father, 
 had voluntarily endured the cross, and thought 
 light of, or despised the shamCy that is, the 
 reproach which attached to it." '* The re- 
 proach" then to which the text refers, is the 
 same reproach which Moses valued, and which 
 Christ despised. What then is that reproach ? 
 It is connected evidently with the cross, on 
 which Christ suffered, and which the apostle, 
 lofty-minded as Moses in sentiment and in ac- 
 tion, tells us he likewise rejoiced to contem- 
 plate ; *' God forbid that I should glory save 
 in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 the world is crucified unto me, and I unto 
 the world." The death of the cross was the 
 most ignominious death under which a crimi- 
 nal could suffer by the Roman law. Hence it 
 was very natural to connect the idea of re- 
 proach with the cross, and in ordinary cases the 
 connection was just. It was the punishment 
 of crime. But there were peculiarities in the 
 sufferings of Christ, which in reality invested 
 them with splendour and dignity ; for he died 
 innocent of any crime, while the very malice of 
 his foes could only record the notoriety of 
 his beneficence, '' He saved others, himself he 
 cannot save." The Scriptures give a plain 
 and satisfactory interpretation of these suffer- 
 ings. They were, in fact, penal and expiatory 
 of human guilt. The Son of God had become 
 
 p 2 
 
212 RKPUOACIl OF CHRIST. 
 
 incarnate in order to endure them. God had 
 a special design in permitting their infliction, 
 and Christ had the same special design in sup- 
 porting their weight. His sorrows evince in 
 wondrous union, God's abhorrence of sin; the 
 eternal connection between sin and misery ; 
 and the intense desire of God to rescue man 
 from the grasp of this misery. The ignorance, 
 pride, hardness, and stupidity of the Jewish 
 nation were the medium by which these suf- 
 ferings were accomplished ; and little did their 
 rulers imagine, that in the malediction which 
 Christ underwent, the ultimate recovery of 
 their nation, and the wide welfare of the world 
 were in fact concerned. The reproach which 
 belonged to the history of Christ, was there- 
 fore very unjust as to those who inflicted it, 
 but most honourable as to him who endured 
 it. But vice cannot comprehend virtue ; and 
 hence the reason why the character of Christ 
 was traduced and defamed. His purity was 
 intolerable to the polluted ; hence calumny 
 threw its base stains upon his name. He was 
 derided, arraigned, scorned, crucified. His dis- 
 ciples wondered and wept at his fate. To 
 human penetration it was indeed mysterious. 
 Gifted with power to calm the sea and to 
 raise the dead, he yielded himself an unresist- 
 ing victim to national malice. Known to thou- 
 sands whom his kindness had blessed, he died 
 
 ■^ 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 213 
 
 alone, pitied but by the few tears of some in 
 the humblest walks of life ! From this object of 
 national contempt and scorn, even his own dis- 
 ciples fled ; and when at length he hung upon 
 the cross, even his God abandoned his soul to 
 the full horrors of his condition. Yes, the cry 
 of abandonment was at length forced from his 
 sacred lips, *' My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me!" Our conceptions cannot reach the 
 desolation of the Redeemer at that moment. 
 *' Reproach," saith the prophetic psalmist, 
 * * hath broken my heart ; I looked for some to take 
 pity, but there was none ; refuge failed me, no 
 man cared for my soul." But this dishonoured 
 and mysterious sufferer ere long poured light 
 upon his own history. The grave gave up. the 
 form which was destined never '*to see cor- 
 ruption." He came forth to vindicate his sa- 
 cred character, and to reanimate and fortify the 
 faith of his disciples. He came forth to declare, 
 that the reproach which covered his name was 
 the malignant calumny of men who refused con- 
 viction, though evidence bright as sunbeams 
 gleamed upon the facts, whose import they de- 
 nied. He came forth to assure the world, 
 through the testimony of competent witnesses, 
 that he had submitted to torture and to death, 
 not on his own account, but on account of the 
 sins of his people. He came forth in token of 
 God's approbation of that eternal work of mercy 
 
214 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 which he had executed. He came forth that 
 he might ascend beyond the clamour of his 
 foes, and welcomed by anthems of celestial wor- 
 shippers, he might become '* an everlasting 
 Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to his 
 people and the remission of their sins." 
 
 Scarcely had the astonished disciples time to 
 testify their surprise and joy, when the influ- 
 ences of the Spirit and Comforter rested upon 
 their minds, and removed every difficulty in the 
 interpretation of the facts which they had wit- 
 nessed. The whole subject of redemption was 
 now revealed to their view. With holy boldness 
 they proclaimed the resurrection of Christ to 
 eternal glory, and his ascension to the right 
 hand of power, as " King of kings, and Lord of 
 lords;" even as " God over all blessed for 
 ever." The " reproach of the cross" had now 
 in their minds passed away. Upon the dark- 
 ness of that dishonour, heaven had shed its own 
 lustre. It was there that justice and love had 
 embraced each other; it was there that the 
 weapons of destruction had been wrenched from 
 Satan's hands ; it was there that the conquest 
 over sin and death and hell had been achieved ; 
 it was there that the harmony and loveliness of 
 God's character had been displayed, and that 
 the hopes of man had awakened from the dust I 
 Under the mighty influence of the Holy Spirit, 
 one single proclamation of these facts from an 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 215 
 
 apostle's lips, added three thousand witnesses 
 to the doctrine of the apostles, and the whole 
 accordant band, gazing on the broken up tomb 
 of their master, were ready to exclaim, ** God 
 forbid that we should glory, save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ !" 
 
 Such was the rejproach to which the apostle 
 referred. 
 
 II. Let us next consider his invitation to 
 
 THE HEBREW CHRISTIANS, TO PARTICIPATE 
 AND TO BEAR THIS REPROACH. *' Let US gO 
 
 forth, therefore, unto him without the camp, 
 hearing his reproach." 
 
 And here the first and direct suggestion of 
 the apostle to the Hebrew Christians, doubt- 
 less would be to unite themselves, closely and 
 firmly, to this Redeemer — to put their whole 
 confidence in his person and grace. It was 
 with this feeling that the apostle Thomas, res- 
 cued by direct evidence from his culpable 
 incredulity, had addressed him, "■ My Lord 
 and my God !" He was now presented to the 
 world, through the apostles of his religion, as 
 the door of acceptance, the way of peace, the 
 atonement for sin, the '* Lamb qf God, taking 
 away the sin of the world !" He was now 
 '* lifted up from the earth, that he might draw 
 all men to him." His name was revealed as 
 the single name, *' given under heaven, where- 
 by men may be saved !" Closed was every 
 
216 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 other avenue to God ! ** Through him" alone 
 ** we have access, by one Spirit, unto the Fa- 
 ther," — ** He is our peace," — '' The Lord our 
 righteousness," — *' That out of his fulness we 
 may receive grace for grace 1" 
 
 Thus situated, the apostles besought their 
 converts to seek out the friend who by an act 
 of such costly generosity had purchased liber- 
 ty and peace for their souls ; to fasten their af- 
 fections around a benefactor so worthy to call 
 them forth ; and to rest their entire dependence 
 for reconciliation with God, upon the merits of 
 his blood and righteousness ! *' We then are 
 ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
 beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's 
 stead, be ye reconciled to God, for he hath made 
 him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we 
 might be made the righteousness of God in him !" 
 
 But the language of the apostle is yet more 
 forcible. He intends to say, *' Let us go to 
 him, if need be, not simply as to a triumphant 
 leader, but as to a yet suffering and disho- 
 noured friend ! Viewing the nature of that 
 dishonour, and the interest which we have in 
 its infliction, let us partake his burden, and 
 bear his shame ! He lies, as it were, without 
 the camp. His name and his cause are blotted 
 with infamy ; and we have contributed to heap 
 this shame upon his head ! For us he toiled ; 
 for us he died ; for us he reposed in the grave ; 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 217 
 
 and for us he lives again, the mediator, the 
 friend, and the God! Let us go forth to him, ani- 
 mated by gratitude, by sympathy, by love !" 
 
 The apostle knew v^ell, that the dishonour 
 atached to the name of Christ had its sources, 
 not entirely in the national mistakes which his 
 countrymen had made as to the character of 
 the Messiah. He looked deeper for these 
 sources, and found them in the recesses of the 
 human heart — in man's repugnance to purity 
 and to godliness. He knew, therefore, that 
 disgrace would come back with Christ from 
 the grave, and, more or less, would cling to 
 his cause in every succeeding age ! He antici- 
 pated the contempt which a spiritual religion 
 would ever incur in a world of iniquity and 
 sense. ^* If the world hate you; ye know that 
 it hated me before it hated you." '* If ye 
 were of the world, the world would love his 
 own ; but because ye are not of the world, 
 but I have chosen you out of the world, there- 
 fore the world hateth you." The apostle con- 
 templated, however, the intrinsic excellence 
 of Christian truth, and the high character of 
 its author. He felt persuaded, that to share the 
 reproach of Christ with cordiality, was the 
 greatest honour which could be conferred on a 
 human being. It was to be identified with the 
 cause of truth, of allegiance, and of righteous- 
 ness ! it was to pursue the highest objects. 
 
218 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 and to love the worthiest name. *' I am ready," 
 exclaimed this apostle on another occasion, 
 ** I am ready, not to be bound only, but also 
 to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord 
 Jesus." *' Let us go forth therefore unto him, 
 without the camp, bearing his reproach." As 
 if he had said, ** If the world should still 
 frown upon the fair interpretation of Christiani- 
 ty ; if to unfold the depths of human guilt, and 
 baseness, and misery, be still reckoned libel- 
 lous upon man's dignity and condition ; if to 
 owe all of hope and of peace to the generous 
 mediation of a crucified Saviour, be still 
 esteemed galling to a pride which would carry 
 its claims to the throne of God ; if to cultivate 
 purity of heart and conduct, under the sacred 
 agency of the eternal Spirit, be decried as fa- 
 naticism and precision — then let us calmly meet 
 the shame, and bare our bosoms to the scorn ! 
 It is our glory, our duty, and our joy! Let us 
 meet it as he met it, not in anger, but in pa- 
 tience and in love ; let us meet it as he met it, not 
 in repining, but in compassion and in prayer," — 
 ** Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do." 
 
 Such is the scope of the apostolic exhorta- 
 tion. It came warm from a grateful and healed 
 heart ; it glowed with a brother's charity ; it 
 remembered the worth of truth, and the lofty 
 destiny ,of the soul ; it was founded on the ve- 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 219 
 
 racity of God, and on the prospects which he 
 had opened to his church. 
 
 III. For do we ask the motive by which 
 IT WAS ENFORCED ? Let US listcH to the words 
 of the apostle — *' Here have we no continuing 
 city, but we seek one to come." As though he had 
 said, if this world were our final resting-place ; 
 if the sources of our enjoyment were found on 
 earth, reproach and scorn would indeed be a 
 dreary heritage. '' If in this life only we have 
 hope, we are of all men most miserable ;" but *' we 
 have here no abiding city" — we are rather ** pil- 
 grims and strangers." The judgment of man 
 can affect us but little ; we shall soon be placed 
 beyond the reach of his contempt or of his ap- 
 plause. Our judgment is with the Lord, and 
 our record is with God. At his tribunal we 
 shall shortly stand. The estimate which men 
 may form of our character, is a trifling consi- 
 deration, when associated in our minds with 
 the future allotments of God. Reproach loses 
 all its bitterness, when the healed conscience 
 can carry its appeal to the bosom of God. The 
 din of an unkind strife is little heard amidst 
 the calming whispers of that inward comforter, 
 which tell us that the cause we have embraced, 
 is the cause of truth and of charity. ** For we 
 have here no abiding city." The tent in which 
 we lodge will soon be taken down. This is 
 a wilderness, and our expectations must not 
 
220 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 be inconsistent. Paradise exists no longer. 
 The flowers of earthly joy withered when 
 sin shed its blight upon the scene. But from 
 the ruins of outward enjoyments, will yet arise 
 a structure of security and happiness. Let us 
 then forego our hold of earth, and lean our 
 thoughts on heaven. If we are wanderers 
 through a wilderness, at least we know our 
 path, and the place to which it leads. We 
 are pilgrims, but with a definite aim — ** We 
 seek a city to come." Our affections have 
 clung to objects which will not disappoint their 
 energy. Yet a little while, *' and our joy shall 
 be full." Yet a little while, and the choice 
 which we have made will warrant reproach no 
 more. *' It doth not yet indeed appear what 
 we shall be ; but we know that when our Lord 
 and Master shall appear, we shall be like him, 
 for we shall see him as he is." *' When he 
 shall appear, we shall appear with him in 
 glory." In the prospect of that better world, 
 we can smile at the wreck of this. We are 
 contented to carry the reproach of man in the 
 anticipation of the judgment of God. How 
 entirely will the clamours of earth be forgotten, 
 when our ransomed souls shall hear the long 
 recorded verdict, " Well done good and faithful 
 servant, enter thou into the joy of thy LordT 
 
 Such was the motive by which the apostle 
 sustained his invitation to go forth without the 
 
REPROACH OF CHRIST. 221 
 
 camp, to bear the burden of his Lord. And 
 have not we, my fellow Christians, an equal in- 
 terest with the Hebrews, in the pursuit of this 
 city to come? Sin has cast the same dark 
 shadows over our earthly prospect, as it cast 
 over theirs. The same spiritual disease — the 
 same everlasting perdition once wasted and 
 threatened our happiness, as wasted and threat- 
 ened theirs. And have we not felt the same 
 solicitude with the apostle, for our own healing, 
 and for our own preservation ? Have we not fled 
 by faith to the same refuge, and taken shelter 
 in the same atonement .'' Have we not put on, 
 by faith, the same robe of righteousness, and 
 clothed ourselves in the same garment of salva- 
 tion ? Do we not live under the strong and ha- 
 bitual impressions of the future ; and do we 
 not wish to estimate things around us by their 
 direct connection with etei^nityl Are we not 
 aifected by the suiferings of Christ, and in- 
 fluenced by them ? Say, then, are we willing 
 to share with these saints of old the reproach 
 of the Cross, and if it must be so, to be ac- 
 counted fools by the world, for his name's sake ? 
 Can we enter into the lively sentiments of gra- 
 titude once manifested by the redeemed of 
 former days? Can we declare, with humble 
 yet firm confidence, *' None of us liveth to 
 himself, and no man dieth to himself; for 
 whether we live, we live unto the Lord : and 
 
222 REPROACH OF CHRIST. 
 
 whether we die, we die unto the Lord : whether 
 we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's!" 
 ** For the love of Christ constraineth us, be- 
 cause we thus judge — that if one died for all, 
 then were all dead ; and that he died for all, 
 that they which live should not henceforth live 
 unto themselves, but unto him which died for 
 them and rose again." 
 
 Let the answer which our hearts, and our 
 habits of life, return to these questions, be can- 
 didly weighed as full of interest to our spiritual 
 peace ! And may the testimony of our consci- 
 ence be firm and peaceful, and these aspira- 
 tions of the apostle be all our own ! 
 
 Our ultimate heritage is one of safety and 
 repose. A few passing years, and we shall ex- 
 change the struggles of earth for the rest and 
 felicity of heaven ! 
 
223 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 RELIGION ATTACKED UNDER NAMES OF RE- 
 PROACH. 
 
 Acts xi. 26. 
 
 "AND THE DISCIPLES WERE CALLED CHRISTIANS FIRST IN 
 ANTIOCH." 
 
 Several respectable commentators upon the 
 New Testament history, have thought that the 
 name, ** Christians," was given to the disciples 
 by God himself, as declarative of their high 
 and holy relation to their Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
 The arguments in favour of this opinion, may 
 perhaps appear to be inconclusive, and the 
 probability to be far greater, that the term was 
 originally applied by the enemies of Christianity, 
 in order to cast ridicule upon its adherents. 
 
 The people of Antioch, among whom this 
 name was first used, were remarkable for their 
 satirical dispositions ; and it is striking to ob- 
 serve, that the appellation never afterwards 
 occurs, but in connection with the idea of 
 reproach. The word occurs twice in the re- 
 maining part of the New Testament. It occurs 
 
224 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 once, when the apostle Paul, defending, in 
 chains, the cause of his blessed master, before 
 king Agrippa, forced from that monarch the 
 well-known exclamation, ** Almost thou per- 
 suadest me to be a Christian." It occurs again 
 in the second epistle of St. Peter, when the 
 apostle would cheer the disciples under their 
 difficulties and persecutions. '* If any man 
 suffer as a Christian," he says, " let him not 
 be ashamed." On both these occasions, the 
 expression seems to stand in connection with 
 contempt and suffering. On the first, Agrippa 
 saw before him a prisoner bound in chains, in 
 defence of his proscribed religion, and under 
 the influence of the heroic charity which this 
 prisoner evinced, the king was, for a moment, 
 ready to share his infamy, that he might partake 
 his hopes. On the other occasion, the apostle 
 Peter appears anxious to uphold the converts 
 under the peculiar perils of their condition ; 
 and aware of the scorn to which they were ex- 
 posed on account of their religion, he besought 
 them not to shrink, nor to be ashamed, if they 
 suffered as Christians. The term thus stands 
 in connection with suffering, and in no other. 
 It is scarcely conceivable, that it should not 
 have frequently occurred, had the appellation 
 been of divine authority. The probability, 
 therefore, appears to be great, that the dis- 
 ciples of Jesus Christ received the name, 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 225 
 
 *' Christians," at Antioch, as a term of scorn 
 and reproach. The name correctly, indeed, 
 marked out their high relation to their heavenly- 
 master, but it was used with malignant inten- 
 tion. It was a name which soon became 
 endeared to those who received it, but it was 
 affixed to their persons with any other than a 
 friendly motive. 
 
 The circumstance thus recorded, may furnish 
 an opportunity for some remarks upon the 
 
 DISPOSITION OF MANKIND TO DECRY THE 
 VALUE OF TRUE RELIGION, BY REPRESENT- 
 ING IT UNDER TERMS OF RIDICULE AND 
 REPROACH. 
 
 The word of God, has in a very decided 
 manner, unveiled the secret motives by which 
 men are actuated. It is a revelation from him 
 who knows what is in man ; who penetrates 
 into the recesses of his heart ; who is familiar 
 with his moral history, and with his prevalent 
 propensities. This revelation tells us of our 
 fall from innocence, of the loss of our allegi- 
 ance to God, and of the consequent depravity 
 of mind by which we are continually led astray 
 from right. 
 
 The state of the world is described as 
 " without God ;" as *' holding the truth in un- 
 righteousness ;" as " lying in wickedness," so 
 that he that would become '* the friend of the 
 world," must become " the enemy of God." 
 
 Q 
 
'226 RELlGION^ ATTACKED 
 
 If these statements be the accredited record of 
 God, it will follow, that true religion, which is 
 nothing else than the love and service of God, 
 must be repugnant to the bent and scope of hu- 
 man desires and actions. It ought not there- 
 fore to appear wonderful, if true religion be op- 
 posed and decried in the world ; nevertheless, 
 it is not a frequent occurrence to find i*eligion, 
 as such, freely, openly, and deliberately con- 
 demned. " The fool" hath sometimes indeed 
 said in his heart '' there is no God ;" but, ge- 
 nerally speaking, there is a willing admission 
 of the existence and sovereignty of God ; and 
 few are found anxious to withdraw from the 
 cheering notion of an arm of strength, which, 
 under the sad vicissitudes of life, may be lifted 
 up in their defence and support. Men possess, 
 more or less, a consciousness of inherent weak- 
 ness ; of necessary dependence for safety upon 
 causes placed beyond the reach of their con- 
 troul ; a consciousness of violating the decisions 
 of conscience, the accomplishment of which 
 was their, duty, and would have been their 
 honour. They feel, at times, a certain awe of 
 God, as the sovereign and the judge of their ac- 
 tions. The idea of moral responsibility is some- 
 times even painfully obtrusive. Hence, reli- 
 gion is natural to men. They cannot subsist 
 altogether without some sort of connection with 
 God. In the utter frivolity of youth, perhaps. 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 227 
 
 they may for a moment seem self-sufficient. 
 But as they advance into life ; as they become 
 encircled by the various instincts and charities 
 of society ; as they are forced to grapple with 
 the sorrows and disappointments which con- 
 front them in their journey to the grave, they 
 feel the importance of some interior force and 
 consolation, beyond that which their resources 
 can supply. They believe this force to exist 
 in religion. They will not therefore oppose 
 the general outline of religion. The worship 
 of God will command a certain portion of re- 
 spect, and the ordinances of religion will be 
 hallowed as far as convenience and respecta- 
 bility may suggest. But it is evident, that the 
 coarser necessities and fears of the heart have 
 thus compelled them to be religious. They 
 have fled to religion, simply to make good their 
 own deficiencies. They have no cheering 
 knowledge of God, as of a holy, glorious, and 
 benevolent Being, in whose service is honour, 
 life, and peace. Their affections cling to the 
 world, and they would not be religious if they 
 could find a readier pathway to security. Their 
 propensities are towards the creature rather than 
 towards the Creator, They have no penetra- 
 ting conviction of depravity and guilt, which 
 would endear to them the liberal mercies and 
 the grace of God. They have no adequate no- 
 tion of the nature of that inward defilement 
 
 q2 
 
228 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 which would lead them to value any method 
 which God might suggest, in which such de- 
 filement might be removed. They will pause 
 in their religious history, at the point where 
 they must resign their prevalent habits and 
 opinions. The moment religion assumes a 
 holy, internal, and spiritual aspect, they will 
 shrink from its exhibition. The general and 
 vague notion of mercy and of power on the part 
 of God, is refreshing to them ; but when that 
 mercy and that power appear in close alliance 
 with purity, and love, and active service, and 
 fervent gratitude, then they manifest their re- 
 pugnance, and declare their habitual feelings 
 and affections to be wounded and chilled by 
 such requirements. 
 
 May we not here discover the reasons which 
 led to the conduct mentioned in the text, and 
 to its frequent imitation in the religious history 
 of the world ? 
 
 . The misgivings of the heart ; the secret tes- 
 timonies and whisperings of conscience ; the 
 sensations of frailty ; the perspective of pain 
 and of suffering and of death, force from men 
 the bending of the knee, the homage of an ex- 
 ternal devotion. Hence, the temples of pagan- 
 ism, and the churches of Christianity, alike 
 receive the occasional visits of mankind. The 
 world is religious in this imperfect and cheap 
 manner. But the heart is corrupt, the taste is 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 229 
 
 depraved, the habits are sensual, the propensi- 
 ties are earthborn. Hence the requirements 
 of religion, when exhibited as an internal prin- 
 ciple of love and devotedness, are unpleasing 
 and repulsive. 
 
 The love of God ; the service of God ; the 
 honour, the glory of God ; the actual inter- 
 course of the soul with God, as a paternal, gra- 
 cious, and holy Being, is in complete repug- 
 nance to all the existing emotions, tastes, and 
 pleasures of society. Therefore such a religion 
 must be opposed and decried. But how shall 
 this be done ? It is too palpable a thing to say 
 that we ought not to love God ; that we ought 
 not to serve him sincerely ; that we ought 7iot 
 to devote ourselves to our highest benefactor 
 and to our mightiest friend ; that we ought not 
 to render to him the homage of the heart, but 
 that rather we ought to be satisfied with a mere 
 dead form and ceremony of religion ; and that 
 we only require divine aid when calamity and 
 death actually invade our peace, or darken our 
 prospects. Such language were too palpable 
 an insult to the rights of God ; but the practice 
 harmonizing with, such language, must of neces- 
 sity be adopted, or the din and pleasure of life 
 cannot maintain their ascendancy. To what 
 delusion then must they have recourse in this 
 perplexity ? How shall they retain their earth- 
 liness, and yet not cast off their religion ? The 
 
230 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 difficulty has been met in this way. They af- 
 fix a reproachful term to true religion, and then 
 they proceed to decry it under the shelter of 
 that term. They dare not manfully and fairly 
 avow a practical resistance to God's will, but 
 more cowardly they exaggerate or caricature 
 that will, and then they ridicule it ; and thus 
 save themselves from the severer reproaches of 
 that inward monitor, from whose awful upbraid- 
 ing they could not otherwise escape. They 
 seem now rather to oppose error and folly, than 
 religion. It is not now religion which they 
 condemn, but its abuse. They oppose not God 
 nor his' truth, but the superstitious delusions of 
 erring beings like themselves. Thus they invent 
 or seize an expressive word already in existence, 
 which holds up a distorted view of some doc- 
 trine of truth and of righteousness ; they give it 
 currency in the world, and then go on^ their 
 way in the quietness of self-esteem ; adhering 
 still to the general theory of religion, but es- 
 caping from its inward, and spiritual, and ho- 
 nourable yoke. 
 
 When our blessed Saviour himself was in 
 the world, he met exactly this treatment at its 
 hands. His religion was too pure and too spi- 
 ritual for the world's endurance ; but to combat 
 this religion as such was too fearful a task. 
 Hence, ridicule became the mode of attack. 
 " Can there any good thing come out of Naza- 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 231 
 
 reth ?" ** Have any of the rulers believed on 
 him ?" " But this people who knoweth not the 
 law are cursed." After his death, Christianity 
 shared the same fate. Calumny and slander 
 invented allegations under which to hold it up 
 to contempt, and oftentimes but too entirely 
 succeeded in their attempts. They have de- 
 rived likewise an assistance in those efforts, 
 which might well have been spared. Christians 
 themselves, actuated in the main by high and 
 generous motives, have nevertheless exhibited, 
 in every age, more or less, the spirit of party. 
 " I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas." 
 They have been too much disposed to adopt 
 the peculiar sentiments of those who have been 
 their teachers, and who have perhaps felt 
 strongly, and reasoned dogmatically, on those 
 points over which God has thrown the veil of 
 obscurity ; an obscurity, intended perhaps to 
 excite humility, and to exercise charity. The 
 spirit of partisanship has thus, to a certain de- 
 gree, given a bias and peculiarity to their sen- 
 timents, and they have turned from the sim- 
 plicity of the Scriptures, to attach undue weight 
 to the decisions of mere human interpretation. 
 The use which the world could make of this 
 spirit of party was but too obvious. Those 
 who found in themselves no alliance of heart 
 with the spiritual doctrines of the gospel, were 
 
232 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 glad to fix upon the peculiarities of these 
 teachers ; to exaggerate their peculiarities, and 
 to detach them from their comiection with other 
 opinions, which practically modified or mitigated 
 the evils which might be supposed to flow 
 from them. Forgetful, at the same time, of 
 the exhibition of genuine Christianity, which 
 the main points of their doctrine and practice 
 afforded, they held up these notions, thus dis- 
 torted, as the whole of their religion ; and thus 
 proceeded to vilify true godliness, under an un- 
 fair and partial statement of the views of those 
 who were prominent in its defence. It is to 
 be feared, in modern times, that the terms Me- 
 thodist and Calvinist, or Evangelical, are used 
 by multitudes precisely in this way. There 
 may be some who honestly, though ignorant- 
 ly, affix these names to others, while really 
 they love the humbling and soul-transforming 
 doctrines of the gospel, and are in nearly full 
 accordance with the main views of those whom, 
 through ignorance and misconception, they thus 
 decry. But it would be weakness, and not 
 charity, to attempt to shield numbers from the 
 charge of thus unkindly and wilfully misrepre- 
 senting the sentiments of many persons more 
 anxious than themselves upon the subject of 
 religion. It is not simply the peculiar or dis- 
 torted notion of the sect which they, in fact. 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPHOACH. 233 
 
 wish to condemn. It is the undeniable claims 
 of holiness, and of the duties connected with 
 those claims, which they in fact oppose. 
 
 Let, for instance, a Calvinist cease to be a 
 Calvinist ; let him disclaim any feeling of 
 sympathy with the peculiar notions of Calvin ; 
 let him become as to these notions perfectly 
 opposed to that eminent reformer ; but let him 
 at the same time hold fast his allegiance to the 
 Saviour of the world ; let him love and pursue 
 the heavenly character to which his religion con- 
 ducts ; let him offer to God a spiritual sacrifice; 
 let him call that evil which God calls evil, and 
 that good which God calls good : let him seek 
 in sober earnestness the salvation of his soul, 
 through a heartfelt faith in the atonement of 
 Jesus Christ ; let him " set his affections on 
 things above, and not on things on the earth ;" 
 let him oppose the current maxims and unholy 
 practices of a thoughtless world ; let him do 
 this however meekly and humbly as to his own 
 pretensions, as to his estimate of his own cha- 
 racter before God ; let him thus act, and his 
 dereliction of the peculiarities of Calvin will 
 have gained him nothing in the judgment of his 
 accusers. They in fact dislike his efforts after 
 holiness far more than any speculative tenet 
 which Calvin may have held. This is, it may 
 be feared, the real state of the matter, and it is 
 elucidated by the solemn and emphatic decla- 
 
234 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 rations of Christ, *' How can ye believe, which 
 receive honour one of another, and seek not the 
 honour that cometh from God only/' *' If the 
 world hate you, ye know that it hated me be- 
 fore it hated you. If ye were of the world, the 
 world would love his own, but because ye are 
 not of the world, but I have chosen you out of 
 the world, therefore the world hateth you." 
 The injustice of this line of conduct, it is how- 
 ever not difficult to discern. 
 
 Let religion be judged by a reference to the 
 sacred Scriptures, and not by a reference to 
 human authority. Religion, the religion of a 
 fallen man, is alone to be found in that deposi- 
 tory of truth ; and let its claims be admitted or 
 refused according to their accordance or disa- 
 greement with that full and infallible standard. 
 But let not the errors or follies of those who are 
 its professed disciples be identified with those 
 grand, healing, and efficacious truths which 
 will remain the lights and beacons of a benight- 
 ed world, when those who oppose, or those who 
 distort them shall have' passed away for ever! 
 
 Such an identification of the views of a par- 
 ticular person with the holy demands of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ, appears to be one of 
 the most eff'ectual engines which Satan em- 
 ploys to thwart, and, if possible, to ruin the 
 cause of truth in the world. The process is 
 cowardly and disingenuous. A man is se- 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 235 
 
 riously perhaps pursuing the salvation of his 
 soul. He feels the interests of eternity pressing 
 upon his heart. He holds in his hands the 
 volume which God has given to illuminate his 
 path, and to point his course to the heavenly 
 world. He desires to take this word of truth 
 as his standard of right and wrong. He de- 
 sires to correct by its assistance the false no- 
 tions and pernicious maxims by which he in 
 common with millions, has been led astray. 
 He believes the fact that Jesus Christ died for 
 sinners, and he feels the recoil of a warm and 
 generous gratitude. He would trust, love, and 
 serve that Saviour. He would pursue his foot- 
 steps through this dangerous world, and he 
 would quit the track of others when they quit 
 the path by which his Saviour walked. Is he 
 on this account compelled to be singular ? Is 
 he compelled to withdraw from scenes, from 
 amusements, from enjoyments which the ge- 
 nius of Christianity, if not the direct words of 
 inspiration, condemns ? - Is he compelled to 
 guard against the immoral influences which 
 have pressed upon him, and do press upon 
 him from ten thousand quarters ? What is the 
 fair, manly, and honourable judgment which his 
 fellow-creatures ought to pass upon such a man ? 
 If they would condemn him let them do it 
 distinctly and openly, upon a reference to the 
 Christian Scriptures. Let their condemnation 
 
236 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 harmonfze with that standard. But if that 
 standard would turn back their condemnation 
 upon themselves ; if that standard would, in 
 the main, uphold the views of the individual 
 whom they scrutinize ; if that standard would 
 teach themselves, that religion is a holy, spi- 
 ritual, and affectionate dedication of the heart 
 and life to God ; in this case, let them hush 
 the voice of slander ; let them confess that the 
 levity and frivolity of a worldly life may rather 
 offer a mournful presumption that their conduct 
 would ill bear the keen inspection of him who 
 penetrates the heart ! To act otherwise ; to 
 close deliberately the pages of revelation, to 
 search out some terra of reproach by which to 
 decry a religion which they dare not openly 
 attack, to avail themselves of the partial errors 
 of doctrine or of the infirmities of practice which 
 they discover in some of its more ardent ad- 
 herents, in order to depress the whole stand- 
 ard of godliness ; this is a conduct which is in 
 the highest degree unfair, unjust, and un- 
 worthy the dictates of a high and honourable 
 mind. 
 
 How few, it is to be feared, comprehend 
 that which they intend to express, when they 
 affix the term Methodist or Calvinist to the 
 character of another ? Ask for a clear defi- 
 nition of the term, and they would seek in vain 
 to render one! Let^'such investigate the mo- 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 237 
 
 tives by which they are actuated. Let them 
 pass a candid judgment upon their feelings, 
 and they would perhaps find that the real 
 matter of dislike and of reproach, is the sober 
 seriousness of piety; the claims of a religion 
 which forms cannot satisfy, nor earthliness de- 
 light; a religion which demands humility and 
 submission, the offerings of a broken heart, and 
 the gratitude of a glowing and anxious spirit. 
 
 Let not terms beguile you; let not epithets 
 ignorantly used destroy your souls. Many are 
 led away from the solemn and awful contem- 
 plation of eternal realities by the dread of a 
 name and by the unjust ridicule of others. 
 But how cruel is this sarcasm and this levity, 
 to the happiness of your fellow-creatures ! Will 
 you injure thus deeply the moral being of ano- 
 ther ? Will you turn him back from the path 
 of life which he is struggling to reach ; will 
 you labour to force from his yet feeble grasp 
 the rising hopes of his soul, by telling him that 
 his anxiety is misplaced, and that his character 
 is about to be wrecked amidst the delusions of 
 methodism and of folly ? Alas, what will such a 
 remark effect, if it effect any thing, but to rob, 
 as far as you are concerned, a forlorn yet immor- 
 tal spirit of its intercourse with God, and of its 
 peace throughout eternity ! 
 
 Beware, as a learned prelate of our church. 
 Bishop Horsley, has observed, *' lest in decrying 
 
238 RELIGION ATTACKED 
 
 Calvinism," and we may apply the same remark 
 to methodism, or to any other term, *' you vilify 
 and injure the vital and substantial doctrines of 
 the gospel." Scrutinize more precisely what it is 
 that you do oppose. Hold not up to contempt, 
 under the disguise of a name, the feelings which 
 can alone link a man to his God, and shelter 
 his soul from perdition. 
 
 In offering with humility and diffidence these 
 few remarks, we forbear as unnecessary to give 
 an opinion upon those points which have been 
 a source of long and mournful contention even 
 to the good and sincere. We only ask for mu- 
 tual candour, consideration, and humility. We 
 ask for a manly avowal of truth, and a manly 
 examination of falsehood. We ask for an inge- 
 nuous and liberal construction of the conduct of 
 those who may differ from ourselves. We ask, 
 above all, for an unequivocal reference to those 
 Scriptures to whose decisions an ultimate ap- 
 peal will one day be made. 
 
 A very few intervening years, and the whole 
 truth will meet our view. A few transitory 
 years, and wealth becomes vain, rank a sound, 
 pleasure insipid, ungodliness perdition. A few 
 transitory years, and we stand before the judg- 
 ment-seat of Christ to hear his everlasting deci- 
 sion on our characte rand on our destiny. How 
 unimportant at that day by what name we have 
 been called, what leader we have followed, or 
 
UNDER NAMES OF REPROACH. 239 
 
 what leader we have been beguiled not to 
 follow ! 
 
 The great, the absorbing, the only interest 
 will be our relation to the Son of God. Are 
 we his followers, his servants, his friends? 
 Have we forgiveness through his blood, " even 
 the remission of sins." Have we fellowship with 
 his Spirit, conformity with his views? Are we 
 rescued from the thraldom of the world ? Are 
 we prepared for the mansions of purity ? Let 
 us limit our anxieties to these questions, and 
 in that tremendous hour all will be safe for 
 ever ! 
 
240 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 A PERCEPTION OF CHRIST'S LOVE THE EFFEC- 
 TUAL SOURCE OF OBEDIENCE. 
 
 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 
 
 «POR THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH US; BECAUSE WE THUS 
 JUDGE, THAT IF ONE DIED FOR ALL, THEN WERE ALL DEAD;: AND 
 THAT HE DIED FOR ALL, THAT THEY WHICH LIVE SHOULD NOT 
 HENCEFORTH LIVE UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO HIM WHICH 
 DIED FOR THEM, AND ROSE AGAIN.'" 
 
 The doctrines which the apostles taught, and 
 the labours which they underwent in their pro- 
 mulgation, were sometimes supposed to be the 
 result of fanaticism, and even of madness. 
 ** Much learning doth make thee mad," said 
 Festus to St. Paul. Sometimes however the 
 truths which they declared made the deepest 
 impressions upon the hearts of their hearers. 
 '* And as Paul reasoned of righteousness, tem- 
 perance, and judgment to come, Felix trem- 
 bled." But whatever opinion men entertained 
 of their character, their doctrine, or their la- 
 bours, the apostles went nobly onwards in their 
 
A PERCEPTION OF CHRIST's LOVE, &C. 241 
 
 glorious work. The salvation of immortal souls 
 was the object which Jesus Christ had placed 
 before them, and to realise this object, they 
 gladly gave their whole energy and strength, 
 although aware that their doctrine would be 
 *' unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto 
 the Greeks foolishness." Animated by the love 
 and the example of their dying master, they 
 were enabled, in the face of every obstacle, to 
 declare '* whether we be beside ourselves, it is 
 to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your 
 cause ; for the love of Christ constraineth us^ 
 because we thus judge, that if one died for all, 
 then were all dead, and that he died for all, 
 that they which live should not henceforth live 
 unto themselves, but unto him which died for 
 them, and rose again." 
 These words point out, 
 
 I. The love of Christ to be the ef- 
 fectual SOURCE of christian OBEDIENCE. 
 
 II. And The unlimited extent to which 
 
 THE perception OF THIS LOVE WILL OPE- 
 RATE. 
 
 I. In order to evince the value of the love 
 OF Christ as the source of christian 
 OBEDIENCE, let US coutrast this motive to 
 moral virtue, with many other motives by which 
 the majority of mankind are influenced. Among 
 these, it may be sufficient to select the follow- 
 ing, habit, the desire of reputatio7i, the fear of 
 
242 A PERCEPTION OF CHRISt's LOVE, 
 
 future punishment, and a general reverence for 
 the Creator, All these, more or less, operate 
 in human society as motives to religion, and all 
 are very deficient. Perhaps the most general 
 inducement to religious and moral duty is habit. 
 Religion is found to have a kindly influence 
 upon human society : some of its precepts are 
 absolutely essential to the very existence of 
 social order. Hence few men are to be found 
 who wish to reject altogether from their own 
 minds, or to drive away from the minds of 
 others the admonitions of moral obligation. Up 
 to a certain point, the claims of religion are 
 generally allowed. There is therefore in the 
 world a habit of religion. The son follows the 
 steps of the father. The first, for instance, 
 goes to church, because the latter has set him 
 the example. He sometimes offers up a prayer, 
 because the practice commenced with infancy. 
 He involuntarily condemns some actions and 
 praises others, because the praise of the one 
 class of actions, and the condemnation of the 
 other is familiar to his observations. On the 
 sabbath-day he will likewise occasionally read 
 the Scriptures, not because he has any parti- 
 cular desire to understand them, but because 
 he has been taught in early life to read them. 
 In all his moral duties, he is directed by habit 
 and example. There is little of serious re- 
 flection in his conduct. He falls easily into the 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. ^43 
 
 track or mould of custom. This is perhaps the 
 religious condition of a large number in every 
 congregation. There is no kind of anxiety as 
 to their feelings towards God. It is almost in- 
 different to them, as far as religious anxiety is 
 concerned, whether the duties to which we 
 have referred are performed or not. They are 
 ready to omit them for any fair excuse. It is 
 obvious to remark, that habit is however a very 
 defective principle of religion. It has nothing 
 to awaken devotion, nothing to stimulate to 
 real obedience, nothing calculated to please 
 God. It induces a religion o^ form rather than 
 of influence, a religion of the body rather than of 
 the soul. 
 
 2. Scarcely superior to this principle is the 
 desire of reputation. It' results from the pre- 
 ceding remarks, that a certain kind of religion 
 is favourable to reputation. It is no praise to a 
 man, that he professes a contempt for religion. 
 Other qualities may render him respected and 
 beloved, but he would be yet more respected 
 if he added to these an apparent regard to the 
 decent duties of piety. Even in the eye of the 
 world, a father of a family never looks so ve- 
 nerable as when surrounded by his children in 
 the house of God, or when instructing them in 
 the duties of integrity and benevolence. The 
 observation of this result from piety in others 
 becomes an inducement to a man to culti- 
 
 R 2 
 
244 A PERCEPTION OF CHRIST's LOVE, 
 
 vate religion in himself. He sees its value in 
 life. He wishes for the approbation of his fel- 
 low-creatures. He desires that his friends 
 should repose upon his justice, his honour, his 
 truth. He values the names of a good citizen, 
 an upright neighbour, a kind husband, an in- 
 dulgent father, a generous friend. The decorum 
 of religion is more or less needful to insure this 
 character to him. Therefore he esteems re- 
 ligion. He accounts it honourable to appear 
 in the sanctuary of God, to educate his family 
 in the paths of virtue, to discountenance open 
 profligacy, 'and to uphold the interests of mo- 
 rality. It is not to be supposed that any man 
 acts altogethei^ from this motive, but it is cer- 
 tainly the predominant principle by which many 
 are governed. To pass through life with ho- 
 nour and respect, is the supreme object with 
 many. But the reflection of a moment may 
 evince this principle to be not merely de- 
 fective, but hostile to religion. Its very aim 
 is the gratification of pride and self-esteem. It 
 tends to exalt man, not God, It forgets the 
 very first feeling of all religion, '' God be mer- 
 ciful to me a sinner." To those who act upon 
 this principle, the question of our Lord may 
 fairly be put, '* How can ye believe, which re- 
 ceive honour one of another, and seek not the 
 honour that cometh from God only." 
 
 3. Let us examine the next motive to re- 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 245 
 
 ligion, the fear of punishment. There is a na- 
 tural alarm respecting eternity in the human 
 mind. The thought of a future world is solemn 
 and affecting. No one has come back from 
 the grave to instruct us in the secrets of the 
 world above. Men are ignorant of the recep- 
 tion which those have met from God, who have 
 preceded them in the last struggles of death. 
 They are besides conscious of many offences ; 
 they have acted against their knowledge of duty ; 
 against the dictates of conscience, against the 
 resolutions which they have repeatedly formed. 
 A day of retribution, the punishment of the 
 guilty, attaches to their notions of God's moral 
 government of the world. Reflection thus pro- 
 duces alarm. Can they live altogether at ease 
 when the notices of eternity break forth, how- 
 ever confusedly upon their view ? Should they 
 meet at any time the chilling spectacle of a 
 funeral, it would be strange if the thought in- 
 truded not, '* Where is the soul ?" Anxiously 
 sometimes does the mind follow in thought the 
 kindred companion of the past, and wonder to 
 what scene it has fled, when the form by which 
 it was tenanted lies at rest amidst the cold sha- 
 dows of the grave ! The recurrence of such 
 thoughts produces a species of rehgion. It 
 stimulates men to do something for God and 
 for their own souls. It produces a fear of wrath 
 which forces them on the duties and on the 
 
246 A PERCEPTION OF CHUISt's LOVE, 
 
 outworks of piety. Behind these duties they 
 seek a refuge from the clamours of conscience. 
 These duties they lay up as a foundation for 
 hope, when about to quit for ever the din and 
 occupations of life. But this fear of the future 
 is surely a very inadequate motive to religion. 
 Suppose it to exist to a high degree, and it de- 
 generates into views entirely subversive of all 
 the gracious invitations of the gospel. Sup- 
 pose it to be weak and momeyitary, and it can 
 effect little that is medicinal to the heart. In 
 melancholy moments, in hours of sickness, in 
 scenes of calamity, it will produce remorse and 
 misery, but with the departure of these mo- 
 ments, it will lose all its influence. There 
 is, then, nothing left to perpetuate religion ; 
 nothing to induce to devotion, when the 
 misgivings of the heart are checked and 
 quieted. 
 
 4. Similar to this principle as to its efficiency 
 is the mere and indistinct desire for future 
 happiness. With some minds there is a more 
 free and more generous feeling connected with 
 futurity. They occasionally contemplate a 
 world of which the calamities of this form no 
 feature. They draw a pleasing picture of the 
 immortality to which they imagine the unbur- 
 dened soul to be admitted at death. They an- 
 ticipate the enlargement of the faculties, the 
 extent of their knowledge, the unchangeable- 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 247 
 
 ness of their acquired felicity. They view 
 God entirely through the medium of his mercy, 
 and never through that of his justice. They 
 engage in the occasional duties of religion, un- 
 der the pleasing expectation that these duties 
 will ultimately insure them a place in the man- 
 sions of the blessed. But not to mention that 
 God is excluded from their minds, this indis- 
 tinct idea of future happiness will be found to 
 operate very feebly and partially in urging to a 
 religious life. It will give way before every 
 temptation in which present pleasure can be 
 strongly enjoyed. It will cease to influence 
 whenever self-interest or appetite shall solicit 
 in any violent degree. The pleasure of the 
 life that is, will ever be far more attractive than 
 the dim visions of a joy yet to be, 
 
 5. It remains to refer to one other motive to 
 religion, a partial reverence for the Creator, 
 Veneration for the Creator, is a principle which 
 acts more or less upon every reflecting mind, 
 which has not yet landed upon the outcast 
 shores of atheism. The supreme ruler of the 
 universe is an obscure object to them of awe 
 and of majesty. They desire to bdw before his 
 power, and to keep silence before the decisions 
 of his providence. But that providence, dis- 
 tinct from the promises of revelation, is too 
 general to be attractive. It has little controul 
 over the habits of the mind, or over the sources 
 
248 A PERCEPTION OF CHRISt's LOVE, 
 
 of daily happiness. Let experience testify its 
 feebleness and inconsistency as a principle of 
 moral action. How frequently do the same 
 lips which appeared to adore the name of God 
 in the public sanctuary, wantonly desecrate it 
 in private life ! use it upon the slighest occa- 
 sion of surprise, anger, or mirth ! How fre- 
 quently does the man who acknowledges the 
 law of conscience as the deputy of God within 
 the soul, reject all its decisions in the pursuit 
 of criminal enjoyment ! A general notion of 
 God, formed without a reference to Christianity, 
 appears to be nearly without influence upon 
 mankind ! 
 
 6. Let us now contrast with these low and 
 inadequate motives to religion, the motive con- 
 tained in the text. " For the love of Christ 
 constraineth us, because we thus judge, that 
 if one died for all, then were all dead; and 
 that he died for all, that they which live should 
 not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto 
 him which died for them and rose again." A 
 perception of the love of Christ to his soul, was 
 the motive which here induced the apostle to 
 lead a religious life ; which even constrained 
 him, in the prosecution of that life, to undergo 
 the severest labours, and to meet the keenest 
 sufferings. Now, to evince more clearly the 
 efficacy of gratitude as a principle of religion, 
 let us advert, for a moment, to its recognised 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 249 
 
 influence in the details of social life. Trace 
 then the operation of this principle in a child. 
 He recollects the love which induced the 
 parent to toil for the support, the education, 
 the comfort, the happiness of his children. He 
 recalls to his mind a love which consented to 
 give the whole strength of manhood in labours 
 for their welfare ; a love which often trembled 
 at the beginning of their active career, anxious 
 to mark the course which they would take of 
 virtue or of vice ; a love which diminished not 
 its energies through the toils of many years, 
 and which still lifted up his children to his view 
 as the last solicitous subject of thought, when 
 perhaps he supposed himself to lie stretched 
 upon the bed of death! Or imagine the child to 
 recall the yet more tender emotions of maternal 
 affection ; to retrace the patience, glowing, 
 beautiful and unwearied, with which she 
 watched and cherished her infant, through the 
 long period of its helplessness ; the very num- 
 ber and variety of its wants but stimulating 
 the more strongly the exertions of her maternal 
 care ; urged by affection, labour even became 
 pleasure, and wakefulness delight ! Now what 
 are the subsequent influences of gratitude in a 
 child, thus reverting with interest to the history 
 of the past ? What are the feelings with which 
 he recurs to these early and by-gone days? 
 Are there any sensations more sacred or more 
 productive, than those which dilate the bosom 
 
250 A PERCEPTION OF CHRIST'S LOVE, 
 
 beneath recollections like these ? Under such 
 kindling emotions, how often has the child sa- 
 crificed health and selfish prosperity, in order 
 to lead down a parent's grey hairs with peace 
 to the grave ! To gratitude, as to original love, 
 toil is light, and sacrifice small. With what 
 touching fidelity have even servants sometimes 
 soothed the adversity of their masters, and 
 yielded a succour, warm, honest, and unbought, 
 when expected friends have failed ! 
 
 Now let us apply these remarks to religion. 
 The apostle declares, ** the love of Christ con- 
 straineth us ;" and what is the nature of this 
 love 1 '' We thus judge, that if one died for all, 
 then were all deadJ" Here are two particulars, 
 human piisery and the death of Christ to rescue 
 us from that misery. The expression, ** then 
 we9'e all dead,'' is but too justly declarative of 
 human wretchedness. It implies our condition 
 of moral depravity; our exposure, sooner or 
 laler, to the corruption of the grave, and to the 
 ultimate judgment of God. This was the hu- 
 man condition, in the estimate of the apostle. 
 He felt it to be his own. Hence, while he em- 
 phatically declared, ** that all have sinned ;" 
 from his more minute knowledge of his own 
 heart, he added, respecting these sinners, ** of 
 whom /am chief." The other expression, ''if 
 one died for all,'' refers to the death of Christ, 
 the Son of God, as offered up in our nature, a 
 victim to infinite justice ; being ** wounded for 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 251 
 
 our transgressions, and bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties." "He tasted death for every man;'* 
 '' that whosoever believeth in him, should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life." It was thus 
 at the cross, that the mind of the apostle came 
 into fullest contact with the love of Christ. He 
 deeply felt his own miserable and guilty state ; 
 and with these strong sensations pressing upon 
 his heart, he surveyed the high and generous 
 efforts which Christ had made in his behalf. He 
 contrasted the bondage of sin with the liberty 
 wherewith Christ had set him free. He con- 
 trasted the remorse of a troubled mind, with 
 the calm repose of a heart "cleansed by the 
 blood of the everlasting atonement." He con- 
 trasted the unmitigated pangs of perpetual sor- 
 row, with the growing joys of eternal bliss. He 
 recollected the dignity of the person through 
 whose agency this mysterious change had been 
 wrought in his moral condition ; and he brought 
 into contrast with this dignity, his own ut^er 
 meanness. What was the result ? Penetrated 
 with shame, while melted into gratitude, he 
 could only exclaim, " Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do ? But for thee, I had been ruin- 
 ed far beyond the hope of recovery, I owe thee 
 all. I want language to express my obliga- 
 tions. I am constrained to live no longer unto 
 myself, but unto thee !" 
 
 Such was the love of Christ alluded to in the 
 
252 A PERCEPTION OP ClIRISl's LOVE, 
 
 text, which compelled the apostle and his 
 fellow-labourers to all their arduous exertions 
 in his service. O how poor, cold, and feeble 
 does every other motive to religion appear by 
 the side of this ! Is filial affection ; is gratitude 
 to a generous benefactor; is the tenderness of 
 fondest friendship ; are all these motives power- 
 ful to constrain to duty, and to urge to ser- 
 vice ? See all these motives more than united 
 here ! What recoil of holiest love ; what 
 glowing sensations of gratitude, can be excited 
 equal to those which the perception of the love 
 of Christ is calculated to awaken in a contrite 
 and enlightened heart ? Yes ! ** we love him 
 because he first loved us." *' None of us liveth 
 to himself, and no man dieth to himself ; for whe- 
 ther we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether 
 we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we live there- 
 fore or die, we are the Lord's: for to this end 
 Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he 
 might be Lord both of the dead and living, '' 
 
 II. But we have yet very briefly to notice, 
 
 THE ACTUAL EXTENT TO WHICH THE PERCEP- 
 TION OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO THE SOUL 
 
 WILL OPERATE. It may be here recalled to 
 mind, that the devotion which arises from 
 every other principle is occasional and limited. 
 It is insufficient to bring us through temptation. 
 It is insufficient to warm and to animate the 
 afibctions and sympathies of our nature. It is 
 
THE SOURCE OF MORAL OBEDIENCE. 253 
 
 insufficient to produce any cordial and active 
 disposition to piety. Such a devotion is not, 
 in fact, of divine origin ; it is not the effect of 
 divine grace in the heart. It is rather the cold, 
 formal, and stinted calculation of a worldly 
 and earth-born policy. On the contrary, that 
 love to Christ, which is founded on the recol- 
 lection, alike of his intrinsic excellence, as of 
 his transcendant kindness to man, is stated in 
 Scripture to be the result of a holy and divine 
 influence upon the soul. This love finds its 
 hallowed access to the deepest recesses of the 
 heart. Like the beams of day, it pervades, and 
 warms, and fructifies every inner region every 
 nobler faculty of the mind. It excites to a re- 
 ligious practice, unlimited and progressive. It 
 renovates the whole character. It gives a new 
 colour and complexion to all the events and 
 interests of time, by bringing them into a close 
 and incessant comparison with those of eternity. 
 It affords a new estimate of all present objects, 
 while it directs the best affections of the soul 
 into the best and safest channels. It results 
 in this sacred and never to be forgotten deter- 
 mination, ** We thus judge, that if one died for 
 ally then were all dead ; and that he died for ally 
 that they which live should not henceforth live unto 
 themselves, hut unto him which died for them and 
 rose again.'' 
 
 Looking up to Christ, with all the conse- 
 
254 A PERCEPTION OF CHRISt's LOVE, &C. 
 
 crated feelings of adoring gratitude, with an 
 overwhelming sense of the value of his salva- 
 tion, a Christian will now recoil from the 
 thought of scantily measuring out his services, 
 or of coldly calculating the lowest scale on 
 which it may be supposed decent and safe to 
 deal forth his homage to the Almighty. He 
 now acts upon this high and generous principle, 
 ** I will no longer live to myself, but to Jesus 
 Christ. I will dedicate to his service the high- 
 est faculties, and the warmest sensations of 
 which I am possessed. I am no longer my 
 own, but bought with a price, that I should 
 glorify God with my body and spirit, which 
 are his. To do his will, shall be my supreme 
 desire, my constant purpose, my active pursuit. 
 While my hands may be occupied in the fulfil- 
 ment of my social duties in the world, my heart 
 shall be devoted to Christ alone. His com- 
 mands shall be my rule, his atonement my 
 shelter, his love my refuge, his approbation my 
 high and everlasting reward." " Whom have I 
 in heaven but thee; and there is none upon earth 
 that I desire beside thee. Thou shalt guide me with 
 thy counsel^ and afterward receive me to glory."" 
 
255 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 Matthew xvi. 24 — 27. 
 
 " THEN SAID JESUS UNTO HIS DISCIPLES, IF ANY MAN WILL COME 
 AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS, 
 AND FOLLOW ME. FOR WHOSOEVER WILL SAVE HIS LIFE 
 SHALL LOSE IT, AND WHOSOEVER WILL LOSE HIS LIFE FOR 
 MY SAKE SHALL FIND IT. FOR WHAT IS A MAN PROFITED IF HE 
 SHALL GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL? 
 OR WHAT SHALL A MAN GIVE IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL? 
 FOR THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME IN THE GLORY OF HIS 
 FATHER, WITH HIS ANGELS, AND THEN HE SHALL REWARD EVERY 
 MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS." 
 
 The commencement of religion in the soul, is 
 a conviction of its importance. Until we be- 
 come serious upon the subject, we effect little. 
 We may speculate ; we may take up opinions, 
 or we may lay them down ; we may pronounce 
 dogmatically upon truth and falsehood; we 
 may love or we may abhor to make proselytes ; 
 but we are little advanced in this manner on 
 our way to God. The absence of seriousness 
 is the absence of all good. Yet what a rare 
 quality is seriousness in religion ? Where is 
 
256 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 the man who feels as he ought his relation to 
 God, and his nearness to eternity? Where is 
 the man who weighs time and eternity in just 
 scales ? Where is the man who trembles be- 
 fore God as a sinner; and who seeks out, in 
 the sober energy of sincerity, the salvation of 
 his soul? Certainly there are such persons, 
 but they are very rare; and when discovered, 
 their solicitude often excites a smile, if not 
 contempt, in the breasts of those around them. 
 This is very strange and very affecting. 
 
 The prevalent habit of society, is levity and 
 indifference upon the subject of religion. It 
 may be conceded, very generally, that men 
 pay a certain decent attention to the forms of 
 religion ; that Christianity is apparently sup- 
 ported ; and that direct levity upon the subject 
 is painful to many ; but real practical levity is 
 widely prevalent. Men are not in earnest to 
 know and to do the will of God. The great 
 facts of Christianity are not written upon the 
 heart, are not influential upon the affections. 
 Men understand anxiety upon temporal inte- 
 rests, but not upon eternal interests. It is al- 
 lowed to feel intensely upon the subject of 
 politics, science, and domestic events. The 
 anticipation of temporal evil is allowed to call 
 forth vigilance, effort, industry ; but a man is 
 suspected as to the soundness of his judgment, 
 and as to the excellence of his motives, if this 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 257 
 
 anxiety should be directed to eternal interests. 
 If a man should fear that these interests may 
 be in a state of peril, and should betray any 
 evident solicitude of heart, as to the result, he 
 is immediately supposed to have a tendency to 
 fanaticism, and his friends dread the progress 
 of such a tendency in his mind. There is 
 certainly a great difference as to the degree of 
 alarm and reluctance which the perception of 
 religious anxiety produces ; but religious an- 
 xiety is, without doubt, an object of. great sus- 
 picion to the generality of mankind. They 
 love to suppose that all is right ; and their ap- 
 prehension is great, lest through too much reli- 
 gion the customs of society should be invaded, 
 and the demand for pleasure and profit be en- 
 dangered. But how directly opposed is this 
 apprehension to the claims and to the value 
 of Christianity ! 
 
 In the book of God, where can levity or in- 
 difference find their excuse or their shelter? 
 *' The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- 
 dom !" and *' to depart from evil, is understand- 
 ing." What a heart-appalling seriousness ever 
 rested upon the lips of Jesus Christ? Who 
 can read the passage of Scripture before us, 
 without feeling that it makes an entire appeal 
 to all the hopes and fears of the soul ? It claims 
 an unreserved surrender of the whole life to 
 God. ** Whosoever will save his life shall lose 
 
258 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 it ; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake ; 
 shall find iL'' *' If any man will come after 
 me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, 
 and follow me,'" This declaration of Christ 
 comprises, 
 
 I. A DEMAND UPON HIS FOLLOWERS FOR 
 THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 II. The grounds on which it rests 
 
 THAT DEMAND. 
 
 I. These two points let us briefly examine. 
 First, Jesus Christ makes a demand upon 
 
 HIS followers for THE HIGHEST DEGREE 
 OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 The qualities essential to a true disciple of 
 Christ, are a readiness to *' take up the cross," 
 and a willingness even to lose life itself in his 
 cause. The expressions of our Saviour on 
 other occasions, are even stronger than those 
 in the text. Thus, *' he that loveth father or 
 mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; 
 and he that loveth son or daughter more than 
 me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh 
 not his cross, and followeth after me, is not 
 worthy of me.'' And again, *' There went great 
 multitudes with him, and he turned and said 
 to them. If any man come to me, and hate 
 not father and mother, and wife and children, 
 and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life 
 also, he cannot be my disciple ; and whoso- 
 ever doth not bear his cross, and come after 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 259 
 
 me, cannot be my disciple." ** For which of 
 you intending to build a tower, sitteth not 
 down first, and counteth the cost, whether he 
 have sufficient to finish it, lest haply after he 
 hath laid the foundation, and is not able to 
 finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 
 saying, ' this man began to build and was not 
 able to finish.'" '' So likewise, whosoever he 
 be of vou, that forsaketh not all that he hath, 
 he cannot be my disciple." 
 
 The plain and obvious import of all these 
 expressions, requires every disciple to stand 
 prepared for the greatest privations ; even to 
 the loss of natural protectors, or of the most 
 endeared connections, or of life itself. The 
 words certainly do not imply, that Jesus Christ 
 will in every case call for these sacrifices ; that 
 the result of true religion in the heart will 
 always be the tearing away the tenderest ob- 
 jects from the soul. The history of God's 
 providence is of a very different kind ; but they 
 certainly do imply, that no man can be a 
 genuine servant of Christ, who is not willing, 
 should Christ make the demand, to forsake all 
 that he hath ; even all that had been linked the 
 firmest and the closest to his heart ; all that 
 in other days of self-ignorance may have con- 
 stituted the entire fabric of his happiness. All 
 this he must be prepared to resign, if he can- 
 not retain it with loyalty and fidelity to his 
 
 s 2 
 
260 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 Saviour. Hence, no man is a real Christian, 
 who is not in that state of mind which would 
 lead him to part with any object, should God 
 teach him that the retention of that object is 
 incompatible with duty. In this case, he must 
 act even as though he *' hated" it. He must 
 cast it from him. He must '' cut it off," though 
 it has been dear to him '* as his right hand." 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity, the dis- 
 ciples of Christ were frequently called upon to 
 meet this trial, even in the highest stages of its 
 severity. They were torn from wives and 
 children. They were given to the sword, and 
 to beasts of prey. They died amidst the exe- 
 crations of mankind. Their religion was at 
 once an unbending principle of the judgment, 
 and a supreme preference of the affections for 
 God. They owed obedience and allegiance, 
 and by God's grace they paid it, even unto 
 death. They loved their divine Lord and 
 Master with generous warmth ; and they knew 
 and felt that the best evidence of love was in 
 the sacrifice which they were ready to make 
 for him. How new and how beautiful was the 
 spectacle of early Christianity! The attach- 
 ment of the disciples to their master, exhibited 
 ardour without passion, and resolution without 
 resentment. They were as calm as they were 
 firm ; they were as benevolent as they were 
 exclusive. They loved Christ supremely ; but 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 261 
 
 after his own example, they prayed and they 
 felt for those who were his bitterest foes. 
 Similar sacrifices have been called for in vari- 
 ous ages of persecution ; and although at the 
 present time, the liberal spirit of the age ex- 
 cludes the infliction of imprisonment and death ; 
 yet the principle of every real Christian con- 
 tinues to wear the same character, and to pro- 
 duce the same results, under the more mitigated 
 forms of trial by which it may still be assailed. 
 In every case, at this moment, the principle 
 on which a genuine follower of Christ acts, is 
 a principle of entire self-denial, and of absolute 
 resignation to the will of his Saviour. The 
 demand of the gospel is still of the same kind. 
 " I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that 
 ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
 acceptable unto God, which is your reason- 
 able service." " Ye are not your own, for ye 
 are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God 
 in your body and in your spirit, which are 
 God's." 
 
 The trials to which this principle of self- 
 renunciation is in these days exposed, may be 
 briefly noticed. 
 
 1. In the first place, we must point out 
 the struggle of pride in the individuars owfi 
 heart, in the history of his personal and hidden 
 walk with God. Christianity teaches us that 
 which our own experience amply confirms. 
 
262 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 that we are criminals in God's sight ; that the 
 accents of the violated law of God are stern 
 and repulsive; that death and judgment im- 
 pend over our heads ; that in the prospect of 
 all this calamity, our affections continue to be 
 earthly and depraved ; and that we are totally 
 indisposed to acknowledge the extent of the 
 claims of God upon our attachment and our 
 service. But under these fearful circumstances, 
 the gospel reveals to us a recital of strange and 
 unmerited compassion. It tells us, that ruined 
 as we are, we need not yet sink under our 
 calamities ; that the gratuitous love of God 
 has provided, in the person and sacrifice of 
 Jesus Christ, a full and sufficient atonement 
 for our sins; that the way to God is again 
 freely opened to our outcast race; and that 
 eternal life through faith is now the gift of God 
 to the chief of sinners. The revealed record 
 of God is clear and absolute. Jesus Christ 
 is by him constituted the *' way, the truth, and 
 the life;" ''the Lamb of God, that taketh 
 away the sin of the world;" '* the high priest 
 over the house of God;" '' the advocate with 
 the Father;" *' made of God to every one that 
 believeth, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc- 
 tification, and redemption." The reception of 
 this clemency, strange as it may appear, is 
 often very painful to human pride. We are 
 naturally self-ignorant; we are familiar with 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 26S 
 
 the notions of human dignity, of innocence of 
 character, and goodness of heart ; and these 
 terms are not used as they fairly might be, to 
 denote degrees of guilt ; but they are used to 
 supersede the notions of guilt altogether, and 
 to induce us to urge even a claim upon the di- 
 vine regard. Hence, to forego these notions; 
 to bend to the decisions of Scripture ; to con- 
 fess that w^e need mercy, and not reward ; to 
 kneel before God, in prostration of our under- 
 standing and of our affections ; to sue as cri- 
 minals; to accept an expiation which leaves us 
 nothing to boast ; to be indebted for a righte- 
 ousness, before which our own deeds can never 
 be mentioned ; to be saved by a gratuitous act, 
 towards which we can contribute nothing ; to 
 owe all of hope for hereafter to the generous 
 mediation of Jesus Christ, and to receive daily 
 strength at his hands by incessant acts of con- 
 fidence and faith; to do this, is to do an act so 
 contrary to our self-love and self-esteem, that 
 the unconverted turn from the demand with in- 
 dignation ; while all struggle more or less with 
 the workings of pride, even in the determina- 
 tion to concede to the whole extent of the sa- 
 crifice required. Here is the burden of the 
 cross ; here is the combat of self-denial. But 
 in the case of the real Christian, the burden is 
 carried, and the victory is achieved. Salvation 
 through grace becomes inexpressibly precious 
 
264 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 to the soul, and the will of God ultimately 
 triumphs over the reluctance of pride ! 
 
 2. In following out the results of this medi- 
 ation of Christ, a hard struggle is likewise often 
 experienced ivith former habits of sensual indulg- 
 ence. The habits of life have, perhaps, been 
 more or less animal, indulgent, licentious. But 
 Christianity unfolds as the true notions of hap- 
 piness, spiritual and holy intercourse with God, 
 conformity to his image, and imitation of his 
 excellence. How opposite this notion to that 
 of sensual enjoyment! And what a trial to 
 self-denial is this crucifixion of the flesh, with 
 all its cravings, passions, and desires! But 
 the upright soul meets the struggle, and over- 
 comes in the strength of his God. 
 
 3. The principle of self-denial encounters, 
 however, other tests, which meet the individual, 
 not in his solitary walk with God, but in his 
 intercourse with his fellow-creatures. Of these, 
 the first in strength and bitterness, is the ri- 
 dicule of friends and associates. Those who are 
 brought up in truly Christian families, where 
 the habits and the society are Christian, where 
 parental example offers a shelter to spiritual 
 feelings and employments, such have but little 
 idea, perhaps, of the obstacles which the fear 
 of ridicule throws in the path of many who are 
 anxious to follow the counsels of God, but who 
 are surrounded by those who practically, at 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 265 
 
 least, reject that counsel. They have seen the 
 shafts of ridicule pointed against others. The 
 charge of fanaticism, of religious folly, of Me- 
 thodism, of Calvinism ; the charge of pretend- 
 ing to be better than their neighbours, or of 
 supposing that they are higher than others in 
 the favour of God ; the charge of going a great 
 deal too far in religion, and of distracting the 
 calm and the comfort of their friends ; these 
 and similar charges they have seen affixed to 
 the characters of others ; and now themselves 
 to meet all these severe allegations ; to con- 
 front, perhaps, contempt and scorn, where for- 
 merly they received applause, is to undergo a 
 conflict rendered the more severe in proportion 
 to the kind and social disposition of the indivi- 
 dual whom it assails. The true disciple through 
 grace is victorious here likewise, but the battle 
 often costs him much. 
 
 4. A heavier trial is sometimes presented to 
 those whose temporal welfare is entirely dependant 
 upon the assistance of others. If they follow a 
 worldly course, they may expect honour, and 
 wealth, and reputation. If they cleave to 
 Jesus Christ in entire sincerity, they may be 
 abandoned and thrown upon their own re- 
 sources. These cases, more or less, frequently 
 occur, and this is, perhaps, the cross the hea- 
 viest to be borne, because it may involve the 
 
 ^ 
 
266 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 apparent happiness of the whole life. But 
 grace triumphs here also. 
 
 5. The various calamities of after life or of 
 maturer years, offer abundant trials to the same 
 principle of self-denial. The loss of health, 
 the loss of property, the death of those, in whose 
 life and affection our very lives were bound up; 
 the blank made in the little circle round which 
 our fondest hopes revolved ; these and similar 
 events, often utter to us, as it were, the silent 
 but pointed question, ** Canst thou deny thy- 
 self, canst thou submit thy will to God ? Canst 
 thou carry thy master's cross ? Canst thou give 
 up the fairest flowers of earth to wither and to 
 die, in expectation of thy lasting heritage in the 
 regions of bliss ?" 
 
 II. But let us briefly notice The ground 
 ON WHICH OUR Saviour makes this de- 
 mand FOR unlimited SELF-DENIAL UPON 
 
 HIS FOLLOWERS. Hc brings forward two con- 
 siderations calculated to sustain the full weight 
 of the application which he makes to this prin- 
 ciple. The first is the tremendous alternative 
 which must inevitably follow disobedience. He 
 asks, *' What is a man profited if he shall gain 
 the whole world and lose his own soul ? or 
 what shall a man give in exchange for his 
 soul !" By the loss of the soul, our Saviour 
 means the loss of the soul's eternal happiness. 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 267 
 
 Eternity is the proper heritage of the soul. 
 This world is but as a momentary preparation 
 for the next. The condition of the individual 
 here scarcely merits notice. It is the eternity 
 of our condition, which is our true and just 
 condition. What may be our allotment after 
 death is the absorbing consideration ; the gain 
 or loss here is every thing. Does a man hesi- 
 tate as to his obedience to Christ, as to his ac- 
 ceptance of his will, his mercy, his grace, his 
 various claims ? Then he must meet the result 
 of this refusal, he must come to eternity with- 
 out his mediation, without his welcome. He 
 must for ever carry the weight of his own sin, 
 and lie down in his own pollution. He must 
 bear the absence of God for ever, voluntarily 
 excluded from his light, his purity, his peace, 
 his joy. 
 
 What language can unfold the extent of such 
 a loss ? What mind can adequately grasp the 
 mighty subject of perpetual wretchedness ? To 
 be placed beyond all means of improvement, 
 all hopes of virtue, all society of the good, all 
 the beaming glories of heaven! To gaze for 
 ever on the darkness of despair, and on the as- 
 sociates of evil ! To be evermore borne down 
 with the agonizing thought, '* I rejected God's 
 plan of mercy, I escaped from his parental 
 yoke. He would have chastised me in love, 
 and by his gracious process of self-denial and 
 
268 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 of affliction, he would have prepared me for 
 the abodes of bliss and for the society of the 
 just; but I resisted all this grace, and shud- 
 dered at the manifestation of all this holy 
 wisdom and kindness ; and thus have I riveted 
 the chains which bind me down to sin and 
 death ! I have shut out by my deliberate world- 
 liness, all future light and all future love of 
 truth, and the sun of mercy has for ever sunk 
 below my horizon ! I have trafficked in sin. I 
 have bartered heaven for the fleeting enjoy- 
 ments of earth! I have lost my soul!" What 
 an alternative is this ! Who will thus give up 
 eternal tranquillity, and consign all his hopes 
 to an unfathomed grave ? For what end are rea- 
 son, reflection, memory, imagination given ? If 
 not to fasten upon the soul the never-dying 
 truth, that God's favour is worth any sacrifice, 
 and eternal life any earthly suffering ! Does a 
 man hesitate in religion ? Does he shrink before 
 the ridicule of his fellows ? How then shall he 
 encounter the contempt of God ? will he con- 
 tinue to pursue during a moment's calm, the 
 shadows of sensuality and worldliness, even 
 though they should ultimately land him amidst 
 the wrecks and horrors of perdition? Oh, how 
 much wiser to mortify the flesh, that the spirit 
 may be saved in the day of final recompense ! 
 
 But another and more delightful consideration 
 is suggested by our Saviour to sustain the trial 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 269 
 
 to which the principle of self-denial is exposed, 
 a consideration not addressed to our fears but to 
 our hopes. He tells us, '* that the Son of man 
 will shortly come in the glory of his Father, to 
 award to his friends eternal salvation." 
 
 In the glory of Christ are bound up the life 
 and the glory of his faithful disciples. What 
 is the language of other parts of Scripture? 
 *' Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it 
 doth not appear what we shall be, but we 
 know that when he shall appear we shall be 
 like him, for we shall see him as he is." 
 '' When Christ who is our life shall appear, 
 then shall we also appear with him in glory." 
 '* Then shall the tabernacle of God be with 
 men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people, and God himself shall be 
 with them, and be their God. And God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there 
 shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor cry- 
 ing, neither shall there be any more pain, for 
 the former things have passed away." 
 
 What objects are here on which hope may 
 fasten with all her immortal energy ! Does self- 
 denial seem too costly in its requirements, 
 when the fear of ridicule, when the dispensa- 
 tions of Providence, battering down the fabric 
 of our comforts, claim from us the patient bur- 
 den of the cross, and the resolute adherence to 
 truth and righteousness ? What succour, what 
 
270 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 force may not these promises of glory, address- 
 ed directly to our hopes, impart ! How short 
 is the conflict, how small the demanded sacri- 
 fice, when measured against the tranquillity of 
 salvation and the blessedness of eternity. The 
 request to lose our life for the Redeemer's sake, 
 is never made but under the assurance that we 
 shall Jind it unto life eternal ! How munificent, 
 how noble, how generous, do the service and 
 the companionship of Christ thus become when 
 viewed in all their relations ! It may some- 
 times happen, that the present aspect of that 
 service and of that fellowship is dark and un- 
 promising. The expression is fallen from the 
 lips of an apostle, *' If in this life only we have 
 hope in Christ, we are of all men most misera- 
 ble." " For now we see through a glass darkly." 
 In the night of aftiiction, imagination frequent- 
 ly augments our sufferings, and the hours pass 
 tardily along ; but the day is advancing ; the 
 day of rapture and of glory will speedily dispel 
 all this gloom. *' Our light affliction," says 
 the same apostle, *' which is but for a moment, 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter- 
 nal weight of glory." '' Yet a little while, 
 and he that shall come will come ; and will not 
 tarry." ''Now the just shall live by faith." 
 Grand and inconceivable thought ! The few and 
 passing struggles of self-denial shall be follow- 
 ed by the manifestation of God's full and ever- 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 271 
 
 lasting love ! The lot of the Christian is thus 
 the counterpart of the lot of Christ. 
 
 *' Made like him, like him we rise, 
 Ours the cross, the grave, the skies." 
 
 There is in truth every thing to sustain us in 
 the entire surrender of ourselves to Christ. The 
 result is as certain as it is bright and glorious. 
 Nor must it be forgotten, that while these 
 future scenes of purity, truth, and splendour, 
 are presented to our faith, and are calculated in 
 themselves to awaken all the energies of con- 
 stancy and courage, we are not left to the mere 
 force of noble principles. United unto Christ 
 through the medium of our faith, we actually 
 make alliance with God's strength, and rest 
 beneath the shadow of his shield ! " The 
 eternal God himself is our refuge, and under- 
 neath are the everlasti7ig arms.'' The covenant 
 of grace is an unbroken and absolute alliance, 
 and the consolations of the Comforter do not 
 fail to descend upon the soul ! The sorrows of 
 self-denial may thus be said even on earth to 
 be largely repaid. Is there not a high consola- 
 tion in fellowship with God ? in the integrity of 
 faith ? in the constancy of resolution ? in the 
 abandonment of low pleasures and low aims for 
 the lofty and purifying objects of religion ? Is 
 there not a great mental refreshment, in the 
 consciousness of advancing with many other 
 generous and kindred spirits along the paths of 
 
272 CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 holiness and salvation? Is there not an en- 
 nobling joy, in those bright glances which the 
 soul takes into the mysterious visions of eter- 
 nity ? Say, do not these and many other bless- 
 ings of godliness, often shed over the pains 
 and sacrifices of earth, the very hues and quiet- 
 ness of heaven ? 
 
273 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CHARACTER AND 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 Galatians vi. 7, 8. 
 
 "BE NOT DECEIVED, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FOR WHATSOEVER 
 A MAN SOWETH THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP. FOR HE THAT 
 SOWETH TO HIS FLESH, SHALL OF THE FLESH REAP CORRUPTION; 
 BUT HE THAT SOWETH TO THE SPIRIT, SHALL OF THE SPIRIT 
 REAP LIFE EVERLASTING.*' 
 
 Self-deception, even in the ordinary expec- 
 tations of human life, is often the forerunner of 
 mortification and defeat. A just judgment of 
 our own powers and habits is very desirable. 
 The results of self-deception in connection with 
 eternity, are, however, far more terrific. Lan- 
 guage fails here to express the magnitude of 
 the evil. Hence the multiplied cautions of the 
 Scriptures " to work out our salvation with 
 fear and trembling;" " so to run as that we may 
 obtain ;" '* to sit down, and count the cost ;" 
 *'to deny ourselves;" " to take up the cross, 
 and to follow Christ" wherever we discern his 
 footsteps, or mark his directions. " If a man," 
 says the apostle Paul in the context, *' think 
 
 T 
 
274 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 himself to be somewhat when he is nothing, he 
 deceive th himself; but let every man prove his 
 own work." 
 
 It is to be feared that men are very incon- 
 sistent in their expectations for eternity. They 
 do not give themselves the trouble to examine 
 into the probable circumstances of the next 
 world. A general notion of divine mercy up- 
 holds their expectations, and it never occurs 
 to them to consider whether mercy, however 
 indiscriminate, can, in the nature of things, 
 realize such expectations. An unwise and 
 rash child, who should speculate on the unli- 
 mited indulgence of his parents, ought not to 
 be surprised if no amount of indulgence should 
 sustain his happiness. The disorder of his 
 own passions would be a sufficient curse, even 
 under the full sunshine of paternal weakness 
 and indulgence. It may thus happen here- 
 after that the mind unadapted to the circum- 
 stances of heaven, and destitute of sympathy 
 with the views of God, will find itself, in the 
 very nature of things, allied to wretchedness. 
 Hence, the warning is of the deepest impor- 
 tance, ** Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; 
 for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he 
 also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, 
 shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that 
 soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap 
 life everlasting." 
 
a CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 275 
 
 Some persons affect, perhaps, to ridicule the 
 idea of anticipating the nature and the cha- 
 racter of the immortality which is before us, 
 and throw back as fanatical and puerile, the 
 efforts to lift up the veil which hides the future. 
 But this is certainly to betray great ignorance 
 of the Scriptures, for although the mode of ex- 
 istence, and the precise employments of the 
 other world are not the subjects of revelation, 
 yet the principles upon which the happiness 
 of its inhabitants depends, are developed with 
 a precision, which seems to leave self-decep- 
 tion without excuse. *' God is not mocked, 
 whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also 
 reap." This present life thus possesses a pe- 
 culiar character. It is the seed-time to a fu- 
 ture harvest, and the nature of that harvest 
 may be accurately ascertained by a reference 
 to the seed which is now sown. The existing 
 world is a place of education for a higher 
 scene. Every action, therefore, and every 
 sentiment, every mode and habit of thought 
 and of conduct, bears a necessary connection 
 with eternity. There is nothing perhaps, 
 strictly speaking, morally indifferent. Every 
 thing touches upon this internal discipline. 
 Every thing either aggravates evil, or augments 
 good. Every thing tends either to elevate the 
 soul towards its everlasting rest, or to de- 
 press it towards its final uneasiness. That is, 
 
 T 2 
 
276 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 we grow more like to God, or more opposed 
 to God, by every breath we draw, by every feel- 
 ing we indulge, by every object we pursue, by 
 every circumstance in which we. are involved. 
 
 I. But let us endeavour more distinctly to 
 bring before the view, in the Jirst place, The 
 
 NATURE OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD. 
 
 II. And in the second let us advert To the 
 
 NECESSARY CONNECTION OF OUR PRESENT 
 CHARACTER WITH THE HAPPINESS OF THAT 
 WORLD. 
 
 I. The NATURE OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD 
 
 is among the distinct subjects of revelation. ** It 
 doth not yet appear indeed what we shall be, but 
 we know that when he shall appear, we shall 
 be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 
 Our Redeemer designated this higher world 
 " as his Father's house of many mansions ;" as a 
 world in which the links of human society bind 
 no longer, *' they neither marry nor are given 
 in marriage, but are as the angels of God ;" a 
 world *' which is incorruptible and undefiled." 
 Those who inhabit this future world, are 
 rescued from the grave, to w^ear the resemblance 
 to the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 " They see him face to face." **They serve him 
 day and night." They adore him with an 
 unbroken homage, and with the most fervent 
 love. ** They awake up after his likeness," 
 they share the image at once of his eternity, of 
 
^ CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 277 
 
 his holiness, and of his happiness. They know 
 God, and they find this knowledge to be *' life 
 eternal." They are no more subject to pain, 
 weakness, and decay. The hand of munificent 
 love has wiped away every tear from every 
 face. They experience the " fulness of joy," 
 and '* drink of the rivers of pleasure which are 
 at his right hand for evermore." 
 
 Such are a few of the images under which 
 the resurrection to a future life is depicted. 
 We cannot enlarge upon them, but let us re- 
 mark the outline. The grand feature of this 
 world of felicity is the presence of Christ, and 
 conformity to his will. His service, his friend- 
 ship, his character, his sufficiency, his eternity, 
 his purity ; these are the circumstances which 
 throw the brightest radiance over the regions 
 of heaven. Gratitude for redemption from the 
 depravity and wretchedness of the old world, is 
 the absorbing sensation of those who share the 
 blessedness of the new world. '' Unto him 
 that loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
 his own blood, unto him be glory, and blessing, 
 and praise." 
 
 It is true that a distinct reference is made to 
 the absence of external suffering. ** There 
 shall be no more pain, neither crying, neither 
 death, for the former things are passed away." 
 " The vile body is fashioned after the glorious 
 body of Jesus Christ," and '' death hath no 
 
278 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 more dominion over it." It is true that a joy- 
 ful allusion is made to the re-union of severed 
 friends, whom the Lord when he comes '' will 
 bring with him ;" but the prevailing sentiment 
 is an unbroken gratitude to Christ, an uninter- 
 rupted service to him. It is in his presence that 
 every promise is to gain its final accomplish- 
 ment. It is in his approbation that every no- 
 tion of happiness is to be comprised. **Whom 
 have I in heaven but thee, and there is none 
 upon earth that I desire beside thee." *' For 
 our conversation is in heaven, from whence also 
 we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 " For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain." 
 
 It must indeed be obvious to every candid 
 reader of the Scriptures, that the relation and 
 intercourse between Jesus Christ and his fol- 
 lowers, is the deep source to them of future and 
 eternal joy. **When Christ who is our life 
 shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him 
 in glory." 
 
 II. But let us now rather pass on to the 
 second point proposed, The direct and ne- 
 cessary CONNECTION BETWEEN THE MORAL 
 CHARACTER FORMED ON EARTH, AND THE 
 FELICITY OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD. Our 
 
 Lord has said, " Blessed are the pure in heart, 
 for they shall see God," because '* without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord." '* To 
 know God, to see God," are in fact expres- 
 
CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 279 
 
 sions which mark out an identity of mind and 
 will between God and those who are privileged 
 to behold him. There cannot be a point of 
 greater conceivable importance than this. For 
 the most fatal delusions enwrap the soul with 
 reference to this approaching eternity. Men 
 appear to think, that by some strange, mys- 
 terious process, they will be happy hereafter ; 
 that death will make some extraordinary change 
 in their circumstances, and that they may take 
 the present world as they find it, confiding 
 the future to the beneficence of the Supreme 
 Being. But such expectations utterly mock 
 reason and the nature of things. There are 
 certain principles of happiness, and there are 
 certain principles of misery. As all things 
 live, and move, and have their being in God, 
 that will become a happy being which is in full 
 accordance with God's mind and judgment; 
 and that an unhappy being which opposes 
 God's mind and judgment. It is in reference 
 to this indestructible order of things, that the 
 apostle here utters the caution, *' Be not de- 
 ceived, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he 
 also reap." There is thus nothing arbitrary in 
 the statements of Christianity. Men are often, 
 perhaps, disposed to wish that the require- 
 ments of religion were less costly ; that the 
 claims of self-denial were less urgent, and that 
 the practice of virtue were more in accordance 
 
280 CONNECTION BF:TW£EN 
 
 with their natural tastes and appetites. But 
 what is this but to wish that the order of 
 God's arrangements was reversed, and that 
 law and truth were sacrificed to their disorder- 
 ed passions ! If God be happy because he is 
 holy, and if the creation with all its varieties of 
 intellectual existence, be adjusted to the prin- 
 ciples of a righteous administration, there is 
 then nothing strange in the requirement that 
 man to be happy must be holy. And Christia- 
 nity has developed a mode by which this holi- 
 ness may be re-imparted to the disordered 
 heart of man ; and here, in truth, lies all its 
 value. Christianity is not a harsh and arbi- 
 trary refusal to admit the gratification of certain 
 propensities, and to bind down to the practice 
 of certain actions ; but it is the manifestation 
 of the divine character in the person of Jesus 
 Christ ; it is the illustration of goodness and 
 truth, of pity, love, and grace, embodied in the 
 facts of the cross ; it is the discovery of God's 
 kindness and liberality in a manner, and to an 
 extent calculated to win back the affections of 
 the most estranged heart. It is the practical 
 utterance of God's intense desire to satisfy the 
 hearts, and to heal the wounds of those whom 
 sin has defiled and made wretched. It is the 
 unceasing voice of invitation to the forlorn, the 
 weary, and the sad, to link again their hopes 
 and their affections round that which will not 
 
i CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 281- 
 
 wound, and irritate, and destroy ! There is no 
 other accredited, no other known remedy for our 
 misery. Though in the sunshine of prosperity ; 
 though amidst the blandishments of health, for- 
 tune, and friends, we may seem to be contented 
 with our lot, yet we are hastening to another 
 world where objects are not mingled as they 
 are in this, but where God has declared that he 
 will sift the chaff from the wheats and irresis- 
 tibly manifest his approbation of truth, and his 
 abhorrence of falsehood ! Under such circum- 
 stances and under such prospects, we can find 
 no lasting honour, tranquillity, or joy, but in the 
 accordance of our tastes, wishes, and desires, 
 with the recorded decisions of God. 
 
 Should anyone, therefore, be disposed to as- 
 sert that what he calls a strict religion is pain- 
 fully incompatible with the ordinary habits and 
 tastes of society, and that, what by some are 
 denominated the frivolities of life are, in fact, 
 the best adapted to the leisure and to the pro- 
 pensities of our nature ; before he decides 
 this question, let him honestly inquire into the 
 infallible result of the two sets of principles 
 here involved. Let him ask whether he be pre- 
 pared to put himself ultimately into conflict 
 with God, and to resist the operation of his 
 eternal administration of the universe? The 
 harvest must certainly be of the same kind with 
 the seed sown, ** He that soweth to the flesh. 
 
.-'.i 
 
 282 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 shall of the flesh reap corruption, while he that 
 soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life 
 everlasting." And is not this reasonable? Is 
 there any thing in these statements of Chris- 
 tianity, repugnant to the very notions w^e are 
 ourselves habituated to form of the human con- 
 duct ? Should a servant put out of his calcu- 
 lation the wishes and directions of his master, 
 and give to others the time and the thoughts 
 which he withdraws from that master, can he 
 be reasonably at least surprised, if the favour 
 and protection of that master be withdrawn 
 from him ? if he be left to the care and friend- 
 liness of those among whom he has associated? 
 Or should a child never connect his views of 
 comfort and respectability with the love and 
 counsels and wishes of his parents, but should 
 adjust his mode of life to the bent of his own 
 particular propensities, can he with reason be 
 surprised, if ultimately the tenderness of pa- 
 ternal intercourse should cease to be his lot ? 
 And yet shall it be thought unreasonable to 
 suppose, that the man who adjusts his habits 
 of life to his own propensities, and who pays 
 to God but the distant homage of a ceremonial 
 service, should ultimately be rejected from the 
 love and approbation of that God ? With what 
 shadow of sound sense can he anticipate a dif- 
 ferent result ? He has sown to the flesh, and to 
 the flesh must he look for his harvest. He has 
 
CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 283 
 
 arranged his life to please himself. However 
 moderate in his worldliness, it was still " the 
 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the 
 pride of life" which gave vigour to his efforts, 
 and zest to his enjoyments. However benefi- 
 cent his views to his fellow-creatures, however 
 amiable his domestic conduct, these beneficent 
 or these domestic projects gave exclusive occu- 
 pancy to his mind. But God's wishes and 
 God's love were placed at a great distance, 
 and gave no hallowed colouring to the tastes 
 and habits of his life. Can it then be unrea- 
 sonable to bid such persons look to these world- 
 ly resources for their future harvest ? If they 
 have sowed to ambition, to external gratifica- 
 tion, to social hilarity, or to the progress of hu- 
 man science, is it unreasonable to bid them 
 look to these objects for their rest and reward ? 
 And of what avail, it may be asked, will be 
 these resources in a world where, as far as we 
 can judge, they will no longer possess the power 
 to excite or to reward ? 
 
 On the other hand, if the character has been 
 formed upon the principles of Christianity, if 
 we have yielded up our affections to God our 
 Saviour ; if, touched by the manifestation of his 
 pure and gratuitous mercy, we have given back 
 to him as his just right, the homage of our gra- 
 titude and love; if, sensible of the baseness 
 
284 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 and folly of our previous revolt from his law, 
 we have gladly sought the shelter of his 
 atonement, and relied upon the merits of his 
 intercession ; if, affected through his unmerited 
 grace by the discovery of his excellence, his 
 wisdom, his kindness, his long-suffering, his 
 purity, we have become imitators of his charac- 
 ter, and have constantly laboured to conform 
 our plans, wishes, and pursuits to the standard 
 of his will and to the decisions of his infinite 
 intelligence ; if intercourse with him by prayer 
 as with the friend, who though unseen, has been 
 ever tenderly anxious for our welfare ; if such 
 intercourse has been pleasant and refreshing to 
 our hearts; if the contemplation of his perfec- 
 tions, as delineated in his holy word, has been 
 delightful to us, and we have yielded up our 
 whole bosom to the consolations of his love, then 
 it is evident that we have been training up to a 
 capacity to comprehend and to enjoy his fuller 
 manifestations of wisdom and of grace. Then 
 we are prepared to see him face to face, to cast 
 ourselves at his feet, as rescued from a thraldom 
 of sense at once cruel and destructive to our 
 real dignity and repose. Then we are prepared 
 to rejoice, that death should remove the barrier 
 which intercepts our perfect communion with 
 God. Then we are prepared to hail our eman- 
 cipation from the shackles and sadness of this 
 
f 
 
 CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 285 
 
 present existence, and to spring forth into the 
 glorious liberty of the sons of God ! The absence 
 of sinful objects and of sinful excitements, the 
 expansion of our faculties in the pure light of 
 truth, the society of kindred and of perfect 
 beings, and above all, the presence of Jesus 
 Christ, under circumstances which promise and 
 insure an unbroken gratitude, and an uninter- 
 rupted service to him ; these events, cannot but 
 render immortality unspeakably delightful, while 
 they render perfectly intelligible the happiness of 
 such a world. There is here no mystery, no 
 juggle, no proselytism, no priestcraft, no un- 
 accountable change to be produced by death. 
 The harvest is consistent with the seed sown. 
 We have sowed to the Spirit ; we have be- 
 lieved the record which God has given of his 
 Son; we have come into contact with the 
 healing communications of his grace; we have 
 felt the adaptation of Christianity to our wants 
 and to our sorrows ; we have clung to it as 
 to our asylum from the passions which wound, 
 and from the propensities that ' pollute our 
 peace. We have felt the attraction of the cross, 
 and we have become conformed to its spiritual 
 interpretation. Our religion has been our 
 happiness, we have felt the sensation already 
 adverted to by the psalmist, ** Whom have I 
 in heaven but thee, and there is none upon 
 earth that I desire beside thee." 
 
286 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 To a mind in this state ; to a mind thus 
 quickened by the power of God from the death 
 of sin, and thus made alive unto God ; to a mind 
 thus buoyant with gratitude and love ; thus 
 hungering and thirsting after righteousness ; 
 thus recoiling with pain at the touch of evil, 
 and longing to reach the spiritual standard of 
 Christ ; to a mind which thus connects all its 
 hope, its refreshment, its enjoyment with the un- 
 merited and unmeasured love of Jesus Christ ; 
 to such a mind it is perfectly intelligible, that 
 death should be gain ; to such a mind it is quite 
 intelligible, that the rending of the veil which 
 now conceals eternity, should be productive of 
 a felicity which the limited power of human 
 language must fail to express. Such a mind 
 reaps at the hands of the Spirit '* eternal life." 
 
 Let then our anxious attention be yielded to 
 this indissoluble connection between character 
 and allotment ; between worldliness and ruin ; 
 between godliness and felicity. The language 
 of the Bible is surely precise upon this point. 
 It were indeed an inadequate revelation, were 
 it not thus precise. It would but mock our 
 expectations. If God be supreme, happiness 
 can only be enjoyed in his favour, and in his 
 intercourse. 
 
 We have every reason to believe that death 
 will put the stamp of eternity upon our views 
 and principles. There is not a more awful, 
 
CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 287 
 
 though not a more reasonable declaration, than 
 that which is recorded upon the last page of 
 revelation. " The time is at hand. He that is 
 unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is 
 filthy, let him be filthy still ; and he that is 
 righteous, let him be righteous still ; and he 
 that is holy, let him be holy still." The seal 
 of perpetuity appears here to be laid upon 
 human character. It appears to shut out any 
 future discipline, any ulterior opportunities of 
 instruction in righteousness. Thus, where the 
 tree falls, there it lies. According to the seed 
 is the harvest. Corruption on the one hand ; 
 eternal life on the other. 
 
 If then the precise allotments of the other 
 world be unseen, the principles upon which 
 those allotments will rest are not concealed. 
 He that loves God, will be welcomed to God's 
 felicity. He that loves his own pleasure, as 
 independent of God's will and favour, will be 
 excluded from the manifestations of that favour, 
 and will be necessarily consigned to that awful 
 and terrific society, over which God cannot be 
 supposed to stretch out his paternal or protect- 
 ing arm ! 
 
 Let us conceive of heaven rather as a state 
 of character, than as a local habitatioji ; and let 
 us judge by our cherished and prevailing pro- 
 pensities, whether or not we are ripening for 
 its enjoyments. Tremendous consideration ! 
 
288 CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 Good and evil, joy or woe, are not, we repeat, 
 arbitrary distinctions ; but are the necessary 
 results of certain habits of mind, of certain trains 
 of thought, of certain modes of moral action ! 
 
 Not even omnipotence could render vice 
 happy, or levity of mind productive of peace, 
 except such a result could be found amidst the 
 anarchy of every element of the moral world ! 
 Woe, woe, then, must be to him who hopes to 
 break down the decisions of the Almighty ; or 
 to stand harmless in a conflict with eternal 
 justice and truth! 
 
 Oh then for the warning voice which should 
 reach the heart, and turn back the wanderer 
 from his fatal course ! Awake, awake, thou 
 that sleepest in thy sins, and *' Christ shall give 
 thee light." *' Turn unto the strong-hold, thou 
 prisoner of hope;" and escape the perdition 
 which overhangs thy head! 
 
 Let the earnestness of these remarks be for-^ 
 given ; they are offered with humility, with 
 affection, with anxiety ! Time rolls on. We 
 shall soon realize the truth of revelation in our 
 personal experience. The moment will shortly 
 reach us, when the remembrance of sin will be 
 bitter ; when faded pleasures will be insipid ; 
 when rank, wealth, power, science, friends, 
 and children, and the dearest connections of 
 the soul, will fail to stand in the place of God / 
 The moment will shortly arrive, when mere 
 
CHARACTER AND HAPPINESS. 289 
 
 opinions will be useless ; when even orthodox 
 theology will be vain ; when to have called, 
 " Lord, Lord,'' in all the rigid accuracy of 
 evangelical expression, will carry no conviction 
 of tranquillity to the heart ! The moment will 
 quickly reach us, when nothing short of a dis- 
 tinct, and grateful, and conscious, and affec- 
 tionate union with Christ, will avail to bless 
 and to save ! Salvation is indeed utterly and 
 altogether of grace. And the saved soul will 
 gladly cast down its crown of joy at the Re- 
 deemer's feet. But the decisions of his final 
 tribunal are according to the works and habits 
 of the present time ! The approbation of God 
 is according to the reality of allegiance. *' Well 
 done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord." The light of glory 
 is the same light with that of grace. The bliss 
 of heaven is of the same kind with the bliss 
 sent down to this lower world. The flowers of 
 paradise have their roots in the soil of earth. 
 At a certain stage of their growth here, they 
 are transplanted into the region where blight is 
 no longer feared, and where the wintry winds 
 sweep over them no more ! 
 
290 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 Matt. v. 6, 
 
 " BLESSED ARE THEY WHICH DO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED." 
 
 Many things, observed our blessed Saviour, 
 ^* which are highly esteemed amongst men, 
 are abomination in the sight of God." Now 
 the converse of this assertion is equally true ; a 
 remark which especially forces itself upon our 
 attention, while listening to the sacred details 
 of the *' sermon on the mount." This sermon 
 contains an enumeration of virtues the most 
 spiritual and refined ; but they are virtues 
 which have never gained any warm applause 
 from mankind. They were peculiarly repug- 
 nant to the nation to whom they were originally 
 commended. The Jews were, as a nation, 
 proud, censorious, resentful, covetous, vain- 
 glorious. The religious advantages which they 
 enjoyed had inflated them with conceit. Their 
 
HUNGER AND THIRST, &C. 291 
 
 patriotism was a cold contempt for other na- 
 tions. Their attachment to their friends was 
 little better than a hatred of their foes. Of 
 spiritual intercourse with God ; of that pure 
 love of our country which leads us to toil for 
 its progress in humanity, knowledge, and vir- 
 tue ; of that holy friendship which is built upon 
 the sympathies and charities of a higher world ; 
 of that humility which results from a keen per- 
 ception of unworthiness before God ; of that 
 gratitude which arises from long continued, but 
 utterly unmerited kindness ; of these virtues 
 they had no conception. We cannot indeed 
 imagine a series of mental qualities more com- 
 pletely at variance with all their notions of 
 felicity, than those eulogised by our Saviour 
 in the commencement of this address to his 
 disciples. How strange the declaration to the 
 proud and self-confident — " Blessed are the 
 poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
 heaven." ** Blessed are they that mourn, for 
 they shall be comforted." ** Blessed are the 
 meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 
 *' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
 see God." *' Blessed are they which do hun- 
 ger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall 
 be filled." 
 
 But human nature is more or less the same 
 in every age and country. Under various mo- 
 difications, and subject to local peculiarities, 
 
 u 2 
 
292 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 man is every where the same proud and earthly 
 being, opposing much that God approves, and 
 applauding much that God condemns. For 
 where is to be found that country in which 
 humility and poverty of spirit, meekness and 
 tenderness of temper, purity and righteousness 
 of heart, are virtues of spontaneous growth ? 
 And yet these are the qualities upon which 
 God has stamped the seal of his approbation. 
 
 In reference to the words of the text, let us 
 consider, 
 
 I. The condition of mind described 
 
 UNDER THE IMAGE, ** HUNGERING AND 
 THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS." 
 
 II. The BLESSING TO WHICH IT LEADS. 
 
 I. The expression, " to hunger and to 
 THIRST," is frequently employed by the sacred 
 writers in a figurative sense. Thus, in the 
 book of Psalms, *' O God, my soul thirsteth 
 for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no 
 water is." Thus the prophet Isaiah — '' I will 
 pour water upon him that is thirsty." '' Ho, 
 every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters !" Thus St. John—** And the spirit 
 and the bride say come ; and let him that is 
 athirstcome ; and whosoever will, let him take 
 the water of life freely." In all these pas- 
 sages, as in the text, ** thirst," is evidently 
 figurative; and it seems to denote an un- 
 equivocal and ardent desire of the soul, after 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 293 
 
 some spiritual object ; a desire which is aptly 
 illustrated by the thirst to which the body is 
 exposed ; a sensation, which when excessive, 
 is very urgent, and, until satisfied, very pain- 
 ful. And the objects which call forth these 
 desires, are " God," " the water of life," 
 " righteousness." 
 
 The state of mind then to which the blessing 
 of our Saviour is promised, is one of eager and 
 anxious desire; of desire not for objects earthly, 
 sordid, transitory, and polluted ; but for objects 
 holy, spiritual, and heavenly. It is the stretch- 
 ing forth of the soul towards that which is pure 
 and ethereal : the very panting of the heart for 
 God ; for the enjoyment of his faviour ; for the 
 intercourse of his friendship ; for the illumina- 
 tion of his Spirit ; for the '' unsearchable riches 
 of his grace." It is the honest and unchecked 
 aspiration after the knowledge and imitation of 
 Jesus Christ. It is the daily approaches of the 
 soul to the fountain of mercy, strength, and 
 peace, under sensations of misery and empti- 
 ness, which no fulness but that of God can 
 satisfy. 
 
 It is evident, that this state of mind is the 
 result of a deliberate choice of God, as the only 
 real and substantial good. The man who thus 
 hungers and thirsts after righteousness, has 
 discovered the surpassing excellence of that 
 righteousness ; he has an actual taste and relish 
 
294 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 for its enjoyment. He has compared this right- 
 eousness with other sources of felicity, and he 
 has felt its decided superiority. He has sur- 
 veyed his situation as an immortal creature. 
 He has realized his connection with God and 
 with the world — with the world as a momen- 
 tary tabernacle, ready to crumble and decay ; 
 with God, ** as the city that hath foundation," 
 " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." He 
 has grown familiar with the important assur- 
 ances of revelation. He has brought into vivid 
 and intelligent contrast the condition of a sinner 
 proudly dependant on his own resources, and 
 taking the world as his heritage ; and the con- 
 dition of a sinner leaning upon God, and re- 
 ceiving eternal redemption through his grace. 
 These conditions he has weighed ** in the ba- 
 lances of the sanctuary." In the one scale he 
 has placed Earth, with its sin, levity, vanity, 
 remorse, disappointment, decay, death, per- 
 dition : in the other scale, he has placed Heaven, 
 with its repentance, faith, purity, peace, joy, 
 substantial riches, eternal life ; and he has re- 
 collected with astonishment the day, when he 
 practically seemed to think that the first scale 
 would weigh down the last ! His eyes are now 
 opened — his judgment is disabused — he now 
 casts away the world, and ** lays hold of eter- 
 nal life." Henow is made ** a new creature." 
 The Spirit of God is become his Teacher and 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 295 
 
 his Comforter. He now associates felicity with 
 holiness; he perceives God to be infinitely 
 happy, because he is infinitely holy ; and that 
 when God says to man, '* be ye holy, for I am 
 holy," it is as if he had said, ** be ye happy, 
 for I am happy." 
 
 How lovely now is the character of God in 
 his eyes! — how transcendantly glorious the 
 work of his atoning grace ! — how productive his 
 benevolence ! — how bright and harmonious his 
 attributes ! — how ennobling and honourable his 
 service ! How attractive now to his heart the 
 person, the wisdom, the tenderness, the energy 
 of Jesus Christ ! How intelligible now the con- 
 fession of one apostle, *' whom having not seen 
 ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, 
 yet believing, ye rejoice in him with joy un- 
 speakable, and full of glory." How reasonable 
 and luminous now the requisition of another 
 apostle — *' None of us liveth to himself, and 
 no man dieth to himself; for whether we live 
 we live to the lord, and whether we die we die 
 to the Lord ; whether we live or die therefore 
 we are the Lord's ; for to this end Christ both 
 died, and rose, and revived, that he might be 
 Lord both of the dead and living." 
 
 This change of mind and taste, denoted by 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness, is by far 
 the most momentous event which ever takes 
 l)lace on earth. The spiritual world is the im- 
 
296 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 portant world : amidst its elements what a 
 grasp of sorrow or of joy can the soul take ! 
 — what a capacity for anguish or for bliss is 
 there unfolded ! it was in reference to this 
 capacity, and to this final destiny, that our 
 Lord declared the conversion of a sinner to 
 carry fresh accessions of felicity to the bright 
 intelligences of the heavenly regions. The 
 great march of external occupation — the vicis- 
 situdes of earth — the rise and fall of empires — 
 the progress of human science ; these objects, 
 detached from any connection with their spiri- 
 tual results, are utterly insignificant ; ** they 
 all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a 
 vesture shalt thou fold them wp ;' while the re- 
 newal of a sinner^s heart to holiness is an event 
 linked to the very sympathies of the Eternal 
 Mind! ** For thus saith the high and lofty One 
 that inhabiteth eternity^ whose name is Holy, I 
 dwell in the high and holy place, with him also 
 that is of a contrite and hurnhle spirit, io revive the 
 spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the 
 contrite ones.'' 
 
 And this desire of the newly converted soul 
 after holiness, is not only a deliberate choice 
 made upon a wise and intelligent reference to 
 the value of holiness, but it has become a prin- 
 ciple implanted in the soul, which abides, and 
 progressively expands its fruits : it is of God, and 
 it perishes not within the breast. It is not a 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 297 
 
 caprice, an emotion of genius, a transitory im- 
 pulse, which like a summer torrent from the 
 mountains flows away — it is rather a process 
 of internal healing, which God himself directs, 
 in order to render the soul capable of its true 
 felicity : it is rather the implantation of a prin- 
 ciple, which will put forth a productive and ce- 
 lestial vigour — which will meet the shock of 
 external tempest, which will survive the pres- 
 sure of temptation and of difficulty. Bad as is 
 the natural soil in which it is placed, bleak and 
 cold as is the atmosphere into which it grows 
 up— yet it takes deep root, and gradually un- 
 folds its branches and its blossoms. God has 
 deigned to take charge of its culture, and hence 
 it withers, it dies not. Ye are ** trees of the 
 Lord's planting, that he may be glorified,'"' 
 
 The difficulties which a serious mind encoun- 
 ters under this important change are frequent- 
 ly many and afflictive. Consider the case. 
 A man once of the spirit and temper of the world, 
 becomes through sovereign grace thoughtful 
 about his soul, his Saviour, his God. He is 
 conscious of new emotions, of higher anxieties 
 striving within him ; he wishes to be more reli- 
 gious ; he deems himself unworthy of God's 
 regard ; he has palpably neglected God ; he 
 has violated his good and valuable laws ; he has 
 sought his happiness within the narrow bounda- 
 ries of sense. He may have clung to a form of 
 
298 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 religion, and uttered in manhood the prayers of 
 his infancy; but his heart has been in the 
 world. He recollects all this, and is humiliated. 
 He tears away every disguise from his bosom. 
 He probes his disease ; he is conscious of its 
 inveteracy. But how shall he effect a cure? 
 He finds it difficult, exceedingly difficult, to be- 
 come more religious: his mind is inconstant, 
 his emotions of penitence are more or less fugi- 
 tive ; his temptations recur with violence and 
 frequency; yet, he seeks after God. There is 
 a voice within, from whose anxious and urgent 
 accents he cannot escape. This whispers to 
 him perpetually, '* God is love;" ** Christ is 
 mighty;" '* awake thou that sleepest ;" ''save 
 thy soul from destruction." But what shall he 
 do ? — he finds perhaps no single friend within 
 his knowledge to whom the subject of religion 
 is one of interest. This man he sees occupied 
 witli his fortune and his gains — that man with 
 his pleasures — this man with his philosophical 
 researches — that man with his domestic circle. 
 But where is the man whose anxieties are spi- 
 ritual ; whose soul is athirst for God ; whose 
 imagination is at wotk upon eternity? Where 
 is the man with whom he can hold sacred com- 
 munion upon the awful realities of heaven and 
 hell? The mention of such subjects is deemed 
 to cast a chilly shade over the social hour. 
 Some would shrink from them as from topics 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 299 
 
 too awful and distressing for mutual communi- 
 cation : ** these are subjects,'' it would be re- 
 plied, ** between a nian and his God ; and are 
 not to be obtruded on society." Others would 
 ridicule his anxiety, and deem it absolutely fa- 
 natical. His nearest associates would perhaps 
 be the first to decry any tendency to fervour 
 in religion. Now the conviction of all this 
 is painful and repulsive : no one likes singu- 
 larity ; few stand unmoved before a sneer. 
 The man who has raised his head unappalled 
 amidst the thunders of battle, lowers his firm 
 front before the laugh of the scorner. But if 
 this change of heart be from God, he will meet 
 his obstacles with patience, though with pain ; 
 he will acquire a firmer step, he will exhibit re- 
 solution ; he will apply to the sanctuary for 
 strength : he cannot fling away his soul ; he 
 cannot lose eternity : he cannot " crucify his 
 Lord afresh." Gratitude is a term added to the 
 vocabulary of his heart. ** Where is God my 
 Maker?" '' Lord, to whom shall I go but unto 
 thee ? thou hast the words of eternal life !" 
 The Spirit of God will cherish and accept 
 these aspirations of his heart ; he hungers and 
 thirsts, and ** he shall be filled." 
 
 It is of the deepest moment to any one in 
 this condition of mind, to recognise distinctly the 
 actual method which God has revealed in order to 
 new mould the human heart. The natural effort 
 
300 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 of the sinner is to save himself by his own works. 
 Even after an unfeigned confession of his un- 
 worthiness, even after many honest avowals of 
 the necessity for mercy and pardon, he is prone 
 to rest much upon the integrity of his repent- 
 ance, the sincerity of his prayers, the acts of 
 his piety ; but he will learn by bitter expe- 
 rience, and by the light of God's Spirit, that there 
 is absolutely "no health in him;" that he must 
 come as a beggar to receive alms ; as a bank- 
 rupt to be rescued from the claims of his credi- 
 tor ; as a slave to be liberated ; as a criminal 
 to be pardoned. He must owe all his salvation 
 to Jesus Christ. Let this truth then be at once 
 and perpetually recognised, that Jesus Christ is the 
 only channel of successful communication with God. 
 The medicines which heal the human heart are 
 in the hands of Jesus Christ. We may search 
 the wide world in vain for other remedies ; we 
 must go at length to htm, and receive them 
 *' without money and without price." *' If any 
 man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the pro- 
 pitiation for our sins." " Behold the Lamb of 
 God which taketh away the sin of the world." 
 Do we wish then to be wisely religious? Do we 
 desire to be saved alike from the pollution as 
 from the guilt of sin ? Do we *' hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness ?" Let us without 
 hesitation repose our whole confidence in Jesus 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. , 301 
 
 Christ, Rivers of tears can never wash away 
 the stains of iniquity. Ten thousand acts of 
 what we term virtue, can never atone for one 
 act which God calls sin. Nor can human 
 merit be even mingled with the gracious work of 
 mercy. It cannot be that we should lay the 
 foundation of acceptance in the sincerity of our 
 piety, and Christ should raise the superstruc- 
 ture by his eternal merits. He will never 
 yield the glory of our redemption ; this is " the 
 travail of his soul," by which his generous heart 
 will alone ** be satisfied." Even then, as the 
 outcast mariner struggling with the waves 
 would cling to the arm stretched forth to save, 
 so let us grasp hold of Christ, that He may res- 
 cue us from the horrors of everlasting ruin! 
 This is the imperishable record ; " As Moses 
 lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even 
 so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life." 
 
 And when thus united unto Christ, we shall 
 gratefully discover the value and the privilege of 
 a life of secret prayer. The eager *' thirst after 
 righteousness" will excite to intercourse with 
 God. How little does a man understand of 
 the nature of prayer until he becomes solicitous 
 as to the state of his spiritual aiFections ! What 
 a cold, heartless worship are the prayers of the 
 majority of mankind ! What a crowd of earthly 
 
302 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 images encircle the soul, even in the very- 
 utterance of its petitions! What self-esteem 
 is retained and cherished even amidst the 
 confessions of sin ! — how little reverence, how 
 little gratitude, how little love ! What a spi- 
 ritual mockery! — what a carcase without a 
 spirit ! 
 
 But when eternity presses upon the thoughts ; 
 when heaven and hell are recognised as un- 
 dying realities, as conditions of character sus- 
 ceptible of the thrills of joy or of the shudder- 
 ings of woe ; when the love of a crucified 
 Saviour comes into healing union with the 
 heart, how different are the emotions excited 
 by prayer. It is then no longer a matter of in- 
 difference whether or not the voice ascend to 
 God, or be wasted upon the desert air ! Per- 
 haps there is not a more satisfying evidence of 
 true conversion of heart to God, than the warmth 
 and importunity of secret prayer. To fray fer- 
 vently \^ to feel intensely : to pray importunately y 
 is to value God's friendship at a high price. 
 Prayer under these circumstances becomes a 
 habit of cordial, grateful, and efficient inter- 
 course with God. 
 
 II. It remains yet to notice the bless- 
 ing TO WHICH THE SOUl's HUNGER AND 
 THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS INFALLIBLY 
 CONDUCTS. 
 
 *' Blessed are they which do hunger and 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 303 
 
 thirst after righteousness, /or they shall bejilkdy 
 The blessing promised is twofold : it respects 
 the certainty and the measure of our ultimate 
 and eternal recompense. The certainty ; '* for 
 ye shall be filled." Other desires and pursuits 
 may plunge us into disappointment and des- 
 pair; this shall gratify our largest expecta- 
 tions. The absolute certainty of disappointment to 
 those who are eagerly in search of earthly en- 
 joyments, is deeply afflictive to a humane mind. 
 Look at the young, the rich, the beautiful, the 
 prosperous. Animated by hope, credulous of 
 joy, sustained by inexperience of evil, they 
 cherish and indulge the keen thirst for sublu- 
 nary pleasures! A few years roll away. The 
 flower has shed its leaves. The young, the ani- 
 mated, the beautiful, sleep in the dark silence 
 of the grave ! — and if this world were all their 
 heritage, they are bankrupts for eternity! But 
 mark the lot of him who is *' hungering and 
 thirsting after righteousness ;" who is in full 
 and eager pursuit of eternal life. Has God ever 
 blighted the prospects, or baffled the efforts of 
 such a man ? Has God ever refused to realize 
 the expectations which his own Spirit has 
 excited in the soul ? It cannot be : the first 
 fruits of a rich and eternal harvest, such a man 
 has already received. He already possesses a 
 peace of heart which survives the shocks of ad- 
 
304 HUNGER AND THIRST 
 
 versity, and which actually prevails to shed 
 quietness over many of the agitations of 
 earth — a peace, v^hich his future struggles 
 with calamity shall not impair, and which shall 
 be his firm associate even through the cold 
 solitudes of the valley of the shadow of 
 death ! 
 
 And when at length such a man has reached 
 the world to which the warm affections of his 
 heart are linked, is it fairly conceivable that he 
 then will complain of final disappointment? 
 Will he then declare his hope to have been too 
 elevated, his anticipations too bright and san- 
 guine ? Oh ! could we break through the dense 
 barriers of mortality, and associate with the 
 souls who are lodged safe in the bosom of their 
 God ; could we become familiar with their sen- 
 sations and their joys, is it imaginable that one 
 accent of regret would mingle with the recital 
 of their welcome into a world of triumph, and 
 purity, and repose? Would they not tell us 
 that in the fulness of their felicity, disappoint- 
 ment found no place? Would they not tell us, 
 that their desires were amply gratified, their 
 affections fully occupied ? *' They hunger no 
 more, neither thirst any more; for the Lamb 
 which is in the midst of the throne leads them 
 unto living fountains of waters, and God wipes 
 away all tears from their eyes." Thus, if their 
 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 305 
 
 peace be certain its measure is full. " As for 
 me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, 
 and when I shall wake up after thy likeness, I 
 shall be satisfied with it." '* Thou wilt show 
 me the path of life ; in thy presence is the ful- 
 ness of joy, and at thy right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore." 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 Psalm xc. 12. 
 
 " so TEACH us TO NUMBER OUR DAYS, THAT WE MAY APPLY 
 OUR HEARTS UNTO WISDOM." 
 
 The frailty of our being; the certainty of our 
 death ; the shortness of the intervening period ; 
 these are ideas with which we are familiar ; 
 and yet, strange to say, they seldom influence 
 us, either justly or constantly. The Psalmist 
 prays, not without a correct reference to our or- 
 dinary habits of mind, ** so teach us to number 
 our days," that we m?iy profit by our knowledge 
 of their brevity. We may use this knowledge, 
 in order to add to stoical indifference ; to give 
 pathos and interest to poetry ; to induce cer- 
 tain arrangements with respect to our property 
 or our families : to augment, by contrast, the 
 enjoyment of the passing hour ,* but these are 
 not the essential purposes to which our know- 
 ledge of the shortness of life ought to be applied. 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 307 
 
 In the midst of all these speculations we may- 
 fail to '' apply our hearts unto wisdom." 
 
 The grand end of our brief existence on earth, 
 is a prepara^tion for eternity. He lamentably 
 exposes his happiness to hazard, who is not 
 wise for a better world. 
 
 The words of our text express ; 
 
 I. The brevity of human life; 
 
 II. Our indisposition wisely to con- 
 template THE RESULTS OF THAT BREVITY; 
 
 III. And the necessity for a divine 
 
 INFLUENCE, IN ORDER TO FASTEN THESE RE- 
 SULTS UPON OUR ATTENTION. 
 
 I. The Psalmist refers to the brevity of' 
 HUMAN LIFE. What is the history of man.^ 
 A history of interrupted schemes, of frustrated 
 enterprise, of disappointed expectations, of 
 withered hopes, of perpetual decay, of un- 
 arrested death ! The law of destruction ope- 
 rates, without exemption, through every rank 
 of age and of society. One half of the human 
 population are said to die during infancy. 
 Some reach the zenith of their beauty, their 
 intelligence, and their strength. Friends 
 fondly gaze upon the bright promise of future 
 success, when death suddenly darkens the 
 scene, and shrouds every promise in the grave! 
 Some, however, pursue and overtake their 
 schemes, and walk with firm step to the last 
 period of threescore years and ten ! Yet is 
 
 X 2 
 
308 THE. BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 their strength soon discovered to be labour and 
 sorrow; and the tale of their years is told. 
 " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou re- 
 turn." In arrest of this sentence, no man is 
 successful — no man is strong. Against this 
 destiny, no sagacity and no prosperity can 
 build up a shelter. The barrier which appeared 
 the firmest, sometimes proves to be the weak- 
 est. The flower which we hoped would shed 
 its fragrance over the evening hour, scatters 
 its blossoms ere the sun has reached its me- 
 ridian ! 
 
 But how trite are these remarks ! Our days 
 are numbered. Who refuses to admit the 
 brevity of life ? 
 
 II. We go on therefore to observe, our in- 
 disposition TO contemplate wisely the 
 
 RESULTS OF THAT BREVITY. 
 
 Is not death an unwelcome subject, to which 
 the mind is forced with reluctance, and from 
 which it escapes with alacrity? An escape 
 from pain is clearly wise, if thereby its aggra- 
 vated recurrence be not rendered more proba- 
 ble. It appears however to be highly probable, 
 that the painful associations connected with 
 death, will be ultimately augmented by the re- 
 fusal to admit their immediate contemplation. 
 Death will introduce us to new modes of exist- 
 ence ; to new scenes of activity ; to new de- 
 partments of knowledge; to a new and more 
 
THE BllEVirr OF HUMAN LIFE. 309 
 
 direct contact with the mind of the Almighty. 
 To be in conformity with the decisions of that 
 MIND, will then constitute happiness. To be 
 opposed to the decisions of that mind, will con- 
 stitute misery. Hence, to chase away from the 
 view the results of death, is to refuse all prepa- 
 ration for that last interview with God ; is to 
 waste the powers of intellect, and the strong 
 sensibilities of the heart, upon interests which 
 we cannot perpetuate, and to neglect those inte- 
 rests which will connect themselves with all the 
 periods of our eternity. Our moral sentiments 
 can be brought alone into accordance with the 
 will of God, by our knowledge and contempla- 
 tion of that will ; and the larger portion of such 
 knowledge refers to the condition of our exist- 
 ence beyond the grave. To reject the results 
 of death from the thoughts, is therefore to make 
 death an unlimited evil ; is to deepen all its 
 horrors, and to preclude effectually any cheer- 
 ful prospect into eternity. Yet are not the 
 incessant efforts of the majority of mankind 
 directed to escape from this fair and reasonable 
 contemplation of death ? It is readily conceded, 
 that the animal courage of men rarely shrinks 
 from the act of dying. In this respect, men 
 share fortitude with the beasts of prey. Hence 
 a brave man, who simply dies with no stain 
 upon his courage, achieves very little more 
 than the lion of the forest achieves. In the 
 
^310 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 judgment of an intelligent creature, the act of 
 dying ought to be esteemed the least part of 
 death. That which follows death ; the intro- 
 duction to another world ; responsibility; judg- 
 ment to come ; the vision of God ; eternal weal 
 or woe ; the friendly or unfriendly mediation 
 of Christ ; the spiritual character which wel- 
 comes or opposes the celestial manifestations 
 of truth and wisdom ; these are the associations 
 which properly belong to death. Yet from this 
 view of death, men deliberately turn away ! 
 Men who have lived in constant familiarity 
 with the external shock of death; who have 
 braved, during the lapse of years, the fury of 
 disease and battle, have yet refused to trace 
 the subject beyond the mere fact of bodily 
 destruction. Perhaps they are actually dis- 
 posed to decry as gloomy fanaticism, any 
 attempt to realize the scenes and the sensations 
 to which this external dissolution may lead. 
 They are disposed to ridicule, as misplaced 
 and unsocial, any misgivings of the heart, 
 which might result from the laws of justice and 
 of moral government. But is this rational? 
 Is it wise to close our eyes upon events which 
 may prove terrific ? Or to despise bless- 
 ings on which it surpasses the power of the 
 human intellect to stamp an adequate value ? 
 Is it besides an ingredient of true courage, to 
 act blindly, or under the mere impulse of 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 311 
 
 natural instinct? Then does brute force go 
 beyond human effort; and courage belongs 
 rather to nerve and muscle, than to the attri- 
 butes of the soul. 
 
 But may it not happen, that an unprepared 
 entrance into eternity shall force the soul into 
 a conflict far more dreadful than any earth- 
 born controversy? In that higher world, may 
 not events and sensations confront us, before 
 whose gigantic powers the mightiest courage 
 will stand appalled ? May not the strife, the 
 agony, become purely mental? May there 
 not exist unfathomed depths of utter loneliness, 
 where God shall chain down the conscience, 
 however reluctant, to a long and terrible com- 
 munion with all its past history ! Where all 
 that gave zest to earthliness shall be removed, 
 and the long silenced voices of truth shall carry 
 their loud appeal to the heart, and waken from 
 its repose the gnawing ** worm which never 
 dies!" 
 
 Can it then be otherwise than afflictive to a 
 humane mind, to observe the anxiety which 
 men evince to chase into distance and indis- 
 tinctness, the idea of moral responsibility ; to 
 get clear away from all efficient recollection of 
 judgment to come, and to throw over each 
 fleeting scene all the possible brilliancy of sen- 
 sual attraction. '* Let us eat and drink, for to- 
 morrow we die," becomes the practical, though 
 
312 THE BREVITY OE HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 un uttered language of life. Let us hide, if pos- 
 sible, every dark and fearful vestige of eter- 
 nity ; and let us shed over the regions through 
 which we pass the glowing hues of present en- 
 joyment. The bright moments of earth are 
 sufficiently fugitive. Our inevitable doom will 
 come ; but let us not spoil one world by gloomy 
 anticipations of another. This scheme per- 
 vades the moral frame- work of human society. 
 It gives birth to all the wearisome efforts of 
 dissipation. It calls forth mirth, however 
 hollow. It shuns reflection, however just. 
 Thus men make no intelligent preparation for 
 that vast futurity, which their very reluctance to 
 contemplate, might induce them to suspect to 
 be a fearful evil. Should it be replied, that this 
 is an uncandid allegation, for that a good and 
 honourable life is itself the best preparative for 
 death ; we must still affirm that to be a mourn- 
 ful negligence of the future, which, at best, 
 gives up all to hazard ; or rather, which, in the 
 very face of God's revelation, builds up hopes, 
 which the evolutions of eternity will dissolve, 
 as the sear leaves disperse before the wintry 
 storm I 
 
 Were men honest and serious, they would 
 gain all the religious knowledge of which their 
 circumstances admit; they would cling with 
 gratitude to the mediation of Jesus Christ ; they 
 would not blush to be suspected of too much 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 313 
 
 religion ; they would love to collect around 
 them all the glowing proofs of God's kindness, 
 and associate his friendship with all their no- 
 tions of felicity. But this seriousness of mind 
 is intolerable to the majority of mankind. The 
 great object is to be gay and unembarrassed. 
 If the sun shines, the distant tempests may be 
 forgotten. And whenever painful events occur ; 
 whenever death approaches so near as to urge 
 the impressive warning, that no amount of phy- 
 sical strength is any barrier against his attack ; 
 whenever, by his severer providence, God 
 would address an unearthly counsel to the 
 hearts of survivors ; how ungratefully do they 
 often reject his solicitude, and close their ears 
 to the accents of his love ! They are struck, 
 perhaps, for the moment ; they are appall- 
 ed and affected ; they admit such calamities 
 to be dreadful ; but their eager effort is now 
 to diminish the solemn impression. They will 
 not allow these events to carry forward their 
 thoughts into eternity. They shut out from 
 their imagination, alike the reckonings of jus- 
 tice, and the possibilities of galvation. When 
 the rude shock is a little relieved, they speed 
 back, with all their wonted animation, to the 
 scenes of folly ; to the voices of hilarity ; to the 
 thoughtless routine of frivolous and debilitat- 
 ing amusements ! The personal application, ** be 
 ye also ready," they deem to be harsh and re- 
 
314 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 pulsive ; and they fatally thrust it from the 
 salutary hold which it might otherwise seize of 
 their consciences and their hearts ! 
 
 III. Thus situated, thus exposed, thus be- 
 guiled, how palpable becomes the truth, that 
 
 A WISE USE OF OUR CONVICTION OF MORTA- 
 LITY, IS THE GIFT OF GOD. *' So tCUCh US tO 
 
 number our days, that we may apply our hearts 
 to wisdom." Unless God shall deign to teach, 
 we refuse to learn. The means of instruction 
 are indeed abundant. Much knowledge is 
 afloat in the world ; and the daily events of life 
 utter solemn accents, were we disposed to lis- 
 ten. But the machinery of instruction ; the 
 apparatus of revelation ; the combination of 
 events, are inadequate to make us wise. These 
 are the means of wisdom, but they are not the 
 disposition to be wise. The conversion of the 
 heart is from God. The will to avail ourselves 
 of mercy ; the practical resolution to admit, 
 and to abide by God's decisions ; the honest 
 question, *' Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
 do;" the serious avowal of spiritual ignorance, 
 depravity, and guilt ; the grateful leaning of 
 the heart upon the wondrous atonement of the 
 cross ; the eager solicitude, by mental prepara- 
 tion, to meet the near approaches of death and 
 eternity ; this is to receive at God's hands a gift, 
 additional to, and distinct from, the recorded re- 
 velations of his will, or the external lessons of 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 315 
 
 his providence ! This is emphatically to be taught 
 of God; this is to have deep and lasting impres- 
 sions of futurity ! ** Open thou mine eyes, and I 
 shall behold wondrous things in thy law." 
 ** Ye believed, as the Lord gave to every man." 
 *' I have planted and Apollos watered^ but God 
 gave the increase." 
 
 All right and holy affections, the legitimate 
 product of religious knowledge, are referred in 
 the Scriptures to the direct operation of God's 
 Spirit upon the heart. And the moral history 
 of life accords precisely with this statement. 
 The most urgent and attractive appeals from 
 God to men, frequently fail to make the slightest 
 impression, because they can secure no atten- 
 tion. Or the sterner providence of God sweeps 
 away their comforts, but they are equally cal- 
 lous to the warning. They hear that their days 
 are numbered, but they apply not their hearts 
 unto wisdom. 
 
 Others, however, once as thoughtless and as 
 earthly in their sensations as the rest of their 
 fellow-creatures, now accept with interest the 
 same truths; which in former days they reject- 
 ed as the very dreams of folly. Their atten- 
 tion is now arrested, they listen, they com- 
 pare, they meditate, they feel. They now 
 stand astonished before the high and generous 
 character of God. They contemplate with 
 heart-stirring interest the recorded annals of 
 
316 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 his patience, his compassion, and his love ! 
 They gaze with never to be averted eyes, upon 
 that spectacle of grace, the atonement of the 
 cross ! They hear with mysterious efficacy the 
 parental accents, ** Return unto me, for I have 
 redeemed thee." No sounds of earthly melo- 
 dy ever charmed and soothed like these ! They 
 believe the record, and their faith abides, and 
 exerts a benignant influence upon the heart. 
 They feel themselves to be defiled, guilty, lost ; 
 and casting off the insensibility of the past, cling 
 to him who came to pardon and to save ! The 
 mercy of God now, indeed, is *' sweet," and 
 Christ is ** precious." Under the genial influ- 
 ences of divine grace, the frozen heart is now 
 unbound, and the stream of its aflections flows 
 towards God! They now desire to ** take his 
 easy yoke," and to carry his *' light burden;" 
 to break from the galling shackles of sense and 
 sin, and to consecrate their liberated faculties 
 to the God who formed them for himself. They 
 too, it may be, are smitten by the hand of his 
 providence ; but they no longer turn away from 
 its pressure ! They now '* hear the rod," and 
 welcome the import of the blow ! They retire 
 from the din and turmoil of the world, '' to 
 commune with their own hearts." They now 
 connect the sadnesses of disease and of death 
 with responsibility and judgment. They pro- 
 nounce a wisdom which labours to bring beneath 
 
TH^ BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 317 
 
 its culture the wilderness of time, and is reck- 
 less of the fairer regions of eternity, to be un- 
 worthy of its name. They now determine the 
 friendship of God to be their best heritage, and 
 the healing of the diseased heart to be his 
 richest gift. The Scriptures now appear inex- 
 pressibly attractive, revealing God in all his 
 bright and mighty attributes to their minds. 
 The pursuits of human science find now their 
 subordinate place ; while *' to know God and 
 Jesus Christ whom he has sent," they find to 
 be *' life eternal." To be allowed and invited 
 to ** pour out their hearts" to Christ, to con- 
 fess to him in hours of meditation, with which a 
 stranger intermeddleth not, their weakness and 
 their wants, to lodge the whole burden of their 
 guilt and sorrow in his bosom, and to anticipate 
 their final admission into his everlasting rest ; 
 such converse with God is become essential, 
 while it is adequate to their peace ! Their strong 
 anxiety is now to live as rational creatures, to 
 open their hearts to all the glowing influences 
 of grace ; to see God in all the details of their 
 moral history, to think, and feel, and act as God 
 thinks, and feels, and acts ; to adopt his views, 
 to abet his cause, to batter down every barrier 
 to his fuller intercourse, and to imitate inces- 
 santly his purity and truth ! 
 
 This change in their moral and spiritual cha- 
 racter is attributable to God. The pages of 
 
318 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 revelation, the events of Providence, or the 
 counsels of friendship have been the medium 
 through which a holy influence has touched 
 their minds', but God himself has directed the 
 sacred process. He has rivetted the attention ; 
 he has removed prejudice; he has opened the 
 heart ; he has excited emotion ; he has attract- 
 ed the affections ; he has taught them to send 
 forward their hopes and joys into eternity, by- 
 disclosing to them the lovely attributes of that 
 religion with which eternity is associated. 
 What cause for gratitude will such minds dis- 
 cern in this, their religious history ! They once 
 lived in the utter darkness of levity and sin. 
 They broke away perhaps with coldness and 
 disdain from all the finer ties of conscience and 
 of religion. What has made the difference? 
 Whence has proceeded the change ? The gos- 
 pel is now their theme of peace and joy. The 
 Saviour of a ruined world has become their 
 guide, their companion, and their friend ; and 
 the eager pursuit of his full redemption now 
 comprises all that merits their solicitude and 
 invites their regard. Mysterious, momentous 
 change! It is '* the gift of God,"" He has taught 
 them, *' Not by works of righteousness which they 
 have done, but by his mercy he has saved themy 
 They have here no ground for self-esteem. 
 They have received all, they have deserved no- 
 thing. It is theirs to sink low in the dust, and 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 319 
 
 to put forth the daily song of adoration to him 
 who hath thus " loved them and washed them 
 from their sins in his own bloods Still exposed 
 to the assaults of Satan, to the temptations of 
 the world, and to the inconstancy of their own 
 hearts, it is now their exalted privilege to 
 " walk humbly with God." They will daily 
 need the teaching of his Spirit, and the *' vir- 
 tue" of his great atonement. Aware that reli- 
 gious feelings are at first faint and fugitive, and 
 yet that it is by deep impressions the heart is made 
 better, it will be their anxious effort to abide in 
 the truth ; to live, as it were, amidst the hopes, 
 and images, and joys, and sympathies of a 
 higher world ; to guard against the ever-shift- 
 ing and seductive influences of sense ; and to 
 become progressively familiar with all the bright 
 and everlasting realities revealed by the gospel ! 
 And thus the brevity of life may become to 
 them a subject if oi caution,, ^o even of delight. 
 That their days are numbered ; that to-morrow 
 contains no promise of prolonged and external 
 enjoyment ; this will make them watchful 
 against the undue pressure either of earthly 
 cares or of earthly comforts ; this will make 
 them moderate, and wise in the use of mo- 
 mentary blessings, and will save them from 
 the wounds and vexations which the love of 
 the world too frequently inflicts. 
 
320 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 The repetition of these thoughts, the frequent 
 recollection of the shortness of life, may like- 
 wise become the subject of calm delight. Their 
 days are numbered on earth, but they are not 
 numbered in heaven. There no measure of du- 
 ration is required. There no possibility of 
 change is feared. There all is bright and pure, 
 and constant. There '* the weary are" indeed 
 *' at rest." There the flower bears no thorn, 
 and its beauty has no tendency to fade. There 
 is bliss without danger, and prosperity without 
 pride. There is a society whose ranks death 
 never thins, a family which never suffers from 
 separation or from shame ! There are ** the 
 rivers of pleasure flowing at God's right hand 
 for evermore !" 
 
 The contemplation of these bright and happy 
 scenes will often impart a peace of mind un- 
 known amidst the unholy agitations of the 
 world. Death will often become a subject of 
 actual exultation ; and the soul, dilating all its 
 better affections, will in some favoured mo- 
 ments be led to exclaim, '* Oh that I had wings 
 like a dove, for then would I fly away and be 
 at rest." 
 
 And if the fact of divine teaching, Connected 
 with these statements of the brevity of life, be 
 as we have seen, the fair subject oi gratitude to 
 those who have discovered the worth of hea- 
 
THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 32l 
 
 venly wisdom, may it not become the ground 
 of encouragement to those, who though still 
 under the strong influence of worldly feelings, 
 are yet anxious at length to apply their hearts 
 unto wisdom ? 
 
 Are any at least interested in the subject of 
 religion ? Do they feel the joys or the sorrows 
 of eternity to be no idle topics of solicitude ? 
 Would they fain possess the quietness of mind 
 which Christianity promises to the faithful serr 
 vants of God? Are they growing painfully con- 
 scious of the imperfection of their religious 
 knowledge, of the weakness of their best re- 
 solutions, and of the strength of the tempta- 
 tions which assail them ? What ground of en- 
 couragement may such find in the fact and pro- 
 mise of this divine teaching ! 
 
 Never let the paternal assurance die away 
 upoii your ears, ''If ye being evil know how to 
 give good gifts to your children, how much more 
 shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
 them that ask him.'' '* Ask and ye shall have, 
 seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened 
 to you.'' 
 
 You have in these promises every thing to 
 nourish hope and to justify exertion. Be not 
 wanting to yourselves. Hasten to escape from 
 the defilements of the world, and, if needful, to 
 meet with equanimity the ridicule of the ungod- 
 ly ; cheered by the recollection that manliness 
 
 y 
 
322 THE BREVITY OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 of character lies in the fear of God, and in the 
 pursuit of truth. And let not the lulling invita- 
 tions oi delay be allowed any longer to beguile. 
 Time presses — life is uncertain — events come 
 w^ithout warning — the sun is overcast at noon- 
 day — a sudden whirlwind sweeps all before it. 
 ** Now is the accepted time, now is the day of sal- 
 vation,"" ''Let the wicked forsake his way , and 
 the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him re- 
 turn unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon 
 him, and to our God, for he will abundantly par- 
 don.'' " For the blood of Jesus Christ his Son 
 cleanseth from all sin,'' 
 
32a 
 
 SERMON XXI. 
 
 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 2 Peter iii. 15. 
 
 "AND ACCOUNT THAT THE LONG-SUFFERING OF OUR LORD IS 
 SALVATION." 
 
 It is the remark of the wise man, that '* be- 
 cause sentence is not speedily executed against 
 a sinful work, therefore the hearts of men are 
 continually set in them to do evil." Judgment 
 lingers, and therefore men continue ** to put 
 darkness for light, and light for darkness; 
 bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, good for 
 evil, and evil for good." The delay of God in 
 awarding the final allotments of sin, has some- 
 times encouraged scepticism, and opened the 
 lips of blasphemy. *' Scoffers, walking after 
 their own lusts," observes St. Peter, ** say. 
 Where is the promise of his coming? for since 
 the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as 
 they were from the beginning of the creation !" 
 In answer to this profane sarcasm, the apostle 
 compassionately replies, " For this they wiU 
 
 y2 
 
324 THE LONG-SUFFERiyG OF GOD. 
 
 lingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God 
 the heavens were of old, and the earth stand- 
 ing out of the water, and in the water ; where- 
 by the world that then was, being overflowed 
 with water, perished. But the heavens and 
 the earth which are now, by the same word are 
 reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment 
 and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be 
 not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is 
 with the Lord as a thousand years, and a 
 thousand years as one day. The Lord is not 
 slack concerning his promise, as some men 
 count slackness ; but is long-suffering to us- 
 ward, not willing that any should perish, but 
 that all should come to repentance. But the 
 day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
 night, in which the heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise, and the elements shall melt 
 with fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works 
 that are therein shall be burnt up. Wherefore, 
 beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be 
 diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, 
 without spot and blameless : and account that 
 the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation.'' 
 
 In farther elucidation of this subject, let us 
 remark, L the fact of the long-suffering 
 OF GOD ; and IL its generous object. 
 
 L Let us notice in the first place, the fact 
 of god's long-suffering. 
 
 How rarely has it happened, that punishment 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 325 
 
 from God has immediately followed crime. 
 Instances indeed have occurred of miraculous 
 interference on the part of God, in which the 
 offender has instantly paid the forfeit of his 
 iniquity. Herod was smitten on the very 
 throne of his pride. Ananias and Sapphira fell 
 dead at the apostle's feet. But these instances 
 are unusual. Sentence of condemnation is not 
 speedily executed. The sun shines on the 
 evil and on the good. The blessings of health 
 and prosperity often accompany the sinner all 
 through his course of contempt and rebellion : 
 *' these prosper in the world, neither are they 
 brought into trouble as other men are." Year 
 after year the sinner walks on his way, and no 
 avenging arm sweeps him from the earth. He 
 renews his provocations every day, and every 
 day is spared. The patience of God appears 
 inexhaustible. The Scriptures supply abun- 
 dant instances of this long-suffering. Take the 
 case of the universal deluge, to which the 
 apostle Peter has already referred. The inha- 
 bitants of the old world were sunk in the very 
 depths of profaneness and sensuality. ** The 
 imaginations of the thoughts of their hearts 
 were only evil continually." God determined 
 to mark his righteous indignation against their 
 ungodliness, by a tremendous visitation of his 
 power. He proclaimed his intention to bring a 
 deluge upon the earth, and to bury its nume- 
 
826 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 rous inhabitants in a watery grave. Yet did he 
 accompany this proclamation by several asto- 
 nishing proofs of patience and long-suffering. 
 He announced a period of one hundred and 
 twenty years, during which *' his spirit should 
 strive with man." He gave to the world, in the 
 character of Noah, a preacher of righteousness, 
 in order to warn and exhort. He directed 
 Noah to construct an ark, as a place of refuge 
 when the waters of the flood should swell 
 around. Consider again his conduct towards 
 the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 His clemency spared them from year to year. 
 His providence spared Lot, " that righteous 
 soul," amongst them. His compassion list- 
 ened to Abraham's intercession, and ten right- 
 eous men had proved their preservation. Con- 
 sider again his dealings with the descend- 
 ants of Israel. What are the records of their 
 history, 'but announcements on the one hand 
 of their rebellion, and of God's long-suffering 
 on the other ? How patiently did God ** suffer 
 their manners ;" how slow was his wrath to 
 arise ; how reluctant was his hand to descend 
 in judgment! *' Oh! that thou hadst heark- 
 ened unto me, then had thy peace been as a 
 river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the 
 sea!" '* Oh! Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that 
 killest the prophets, and stonest them that are 
 sent unto thee, how often would I have ga- 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD* 327 
 
 thered thy children together, even as a hen 
 gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye 
 would not !" But we need not go to distant 
 regions for proofs of this fact ; we possess such 
 facts each in his own bosom. '* The wages of 
 sin are death;" yet have each of us sinned, 
 and our lives are still spared to us. We have 
 often set at nought the divine authority ; we 
 have often insulted his majesty ; we have oftei^ 
 stifled the voice of conscience, which spoke 
 for God within our hearts : we have often 
 scorned the counsels of his word, and preferred 
 the opinions of men as fallible as ourselves, or 
 we have setup the conceits of our own mind as 
 a better standard of right, than the reveale4 
 records of God. We have neither loved God 
 with all our hearts, neither our neighbour as 
 ourselves : and yet his hand is still averted ; 
 his wrath has not overwhelmed us. His final 
 judgment lingers, and the thunders of perdition 
 yet roll at a distance from us. Marvellous pa- 
 tience and long-suffering! Why are we not 
 consumed ? Why reap we not the full harvest 
 of our polluted ways ? 
 
 II. The GENEROUS OBJECT conncctcd with 
 this fact is stated in the text. The long-suffer- 
 ing of God is salvation^ or as the apostle ha4 
 before remarked, ** The Lord is not slack con' 
 cerning his promise, as some men count slackness ; 
 but is long'Suffering to us-ward, not fviili/^g that 
 
328 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 ^ny should perish, but that all should come to 
 repentance." 
 
 Hence we may remark in the first place, that 
 God bears with transgressors, not because he 
 is Ignorant of their actions. 
 
 In earthly governments, many a crime es- 
 capes punishment because it escapes detection. 
 Human vigilance is limited, and therefore hu- 
 man knowledge is imperfect. Darkness and 
 solitude are both safeguards to the wicked. 
 But it is otherwise with God : *' the darkness 
 is no darkness with thee ;" ** there is no place 
 where the wicked can flee to hide themselves," 
 '* for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro in the 
 earth, beholding the evil and the good." Not 
 only are gross and palpable violations of his 
 law visible to God ; but the thoughts and in- 
 tents of the heart are open to his inspection. 
 There is no deficiency of knowledge with 
 God, and thus detection is certain. The sinner 
 stands exposed before him, with every circum- 
 stance both of motive, of time, of place, and of 
 aggravation ! 
 
 Again, God bears with transgressors not be^ 
 cause he is indifferent to their actions. In human 
 governments, especially despotic, many crimes 
 escape punishment, because a laxity of prin- 
 ciple prevails in the minds of the rulers as well 
 as in the minds of the people ; or because the 
 law may take no cognizance of immorality. 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 329 
 
 There is a terrible indifference to the moral 
 quality of actions often visible in the world ; 
 and therefore, vice v^alks abroad, and even 
 without shame ; but in the mind of God no 
 indifference of this kind prevails. ** He is a 
 God of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ;" 
 he is ** the holy, holy, holy. Lord God Al- 
 mighty ;" he is a jealous God, and his law, 
 which takes cognizance of the heart, is like 
 himself *' holy, and just, and good;" and its 
 tremendous sanction ever stands by to protect 
 it, ** Cursed is every one that continueth not 
 in all things that are written in the book of the 
 law to do them." 
 
 Once more, God bears with sinners, not be- 
 cause he wants the power ** to avenge him of his 
 adversaries." 
 
 In human administrations, the arm of the 
 law has sometimes been found too weak to 
 arrest the criminal for punishment. '* Hand 
 joined to hand," has given safety to crime, and 
 overwhelmed order and law in confusion and 
 blood. But in the divine administration it is 
 otherwise: ''though hand joined with hand," 
 though one age of men should add its strength 
 to that of another, to carry on the same impious 
 war against the majesty of heaven, yet shall 
 *' not the wicked go unpunished." Jehovah asks, 
 *' Canst thou thunder with a voice like mine ?" 
 
830 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 Can thine heart endure, and thine hands be 
 strong, when I arise to do this ?" The destruc- 
 tion of the transgressors and of the sinners 
 shall be together, and they that forsake the 
 Lord shall be consumed." ** And the strong 
 shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, 
 and they shall both burn together, and none shall 
 quench them." If then delay takes place in 
 the vindication of God's insulted authority, it 
 is 7iot either because God is ignorant of crime, 
 or because he is indifferent to crime, or because 
 he wants the poioer to punish it ; but it is because 
 his name and his nature is Love. It is because 
 his bowels yearn over his people, even as a 
 father longeth after a rebellious child! It is 
 because He would give them time and space for 
 repentance! It is, finally, that his patience and 
 long-suffering may prove their eternal salvation! 
 
 But let us contemplate more minutely the 
 reasons for the delay in punishment, as recorded 
 in the text. 
 
 We may observe in the first place, that it 
 is the actual design of God by this long-suffer^ 
 ino- to brins^men to salvation, ** If he should strive 
 with men, the spirit should fail before him, and 
 the souls that he hath made!" *' But," says 
 the Scriptures, *' God hath not appointed us to 
 wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." It is his special design to mag- 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 331 
 
 nify his mercy, and to evince his love in the 
 recovery of his people to his favour and felicity. 
 He has given his Son to be their Restorer and 
 Saviour. This is the blessed record: ** God 
 so loved the w^orld, that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 For God sent not his Son into the world to 
 condemn the world, but that the world through 
 him might be saved." In pursuance of this 
 design Jesus Christ became incarnate, preached 
 in the world, expostulated with men, died as a 
 vicarious sacrifice, and rose again from the 
 dead, and ascended up on high, ** to be a 
 Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to his 
 people, and the remission of their sins." And 
 now has the proclamation of mercy gone forth ; 
 now is his gospel sounded in the ears of men, 
 and now are the effects of that mercy visible 
 in the conversion of many a sinner, and in the 
 saving many a soul from endless death. Why 
 then is condemnation deferred?" why do all 
 things continue as they were from the founda- 
 tion of the world ? Is it for any other reason 
 than that God designs to heal and to save ? Is 
 it for any other purpose than that God's elect 
 may be gathered in from the four winds of 
 heaven ? Is it for any other purpose than 
 that they may come from the east and from the 
 
332 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 west; from the north and from the south, to 
 sit down with saved Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob, in the kingdom of God ? What is all 
 this prolongation of life, this repetition of kind- 
 ness, this process of instruction, these invita- 
 tions to repentance and faith ; what, but that 
 '* God willeth not the death of a sinner, but 
 rather that he should turn and live ?" 
 
 But again, the tendency of this long-suffering, 
 as well as God's design, is to salvation. 
 
 " Despisest thou," says the apostle Paul, 
 *' the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, 
 and long-suffering, not knowing that the good- 
 ness of God leadeth thee to repentance ?" 
 
 Here the apostle states the tendency, the scope 
 of goodness, to be repentance. And is not this 
 assertion practically true ? Is not forbearance 
 towards an enemy calculated to awaken regret ? 
 Are not undeserved pity, and tender com- 
 passion, calculated to melt down the rugged- 
 ness of the heart, to excite sensibility, to pro- 
 duce reflection, to urge to duty and to long- 
 neglected obedience ? 
 
 Is not this the highest motive to a return to 
 filial submission ? As if the heart should suggest, 
 ** My heavenly Father has had much patience 
 with me ; I have insulted him again and again ; 
 but he has returned to me nothing but love. His 
 character is venerable ; but his compassion is 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 333 
 
 unsearchable! Shall I continue to sin against 
 such goodness — to trifle with such mercy — to 
 spurn such assurances of liberality and muni- 
 ficence ? Shall the grace of God be proclaimed 
 in my ear ? — Shall the blood of Christ be shed 
 as in my very sight ? Shall the spirit of grace 
 and supplication knock as for admission into 
 my heart — shall year recurring after year, pre- 
 sent all this loving-kindness, and present it in 
 vain ? Shall not such goodness lead me to 
 deep, bitter, and abiding repentance ? Shall I 
 not arise, conciliated by such parental clemency, 
 and as a '* prisoner of Hope," fly to the *' city 
 of refuge," provided for ofl'enders such as 
 I ?" Is not this the just tendency of long-suf- 
 fering? Is it not an instrument, a condition of 
 mind, a quality admirably calculated to excite 
 in the soul contrite and afl'ecting emotions to- 
 wards God ? 
 
 But once again, the actual effect of this long- 
 suffering on the 'part of God is salvation. 
 
 Has all this goodness yielded no harvest of 
 safety and happiness to the lost and miserable ? 
 Are there no souls lodged safe in the bosom of 
 Christ, no children dwelling peacefully in their 
 heavenly home, and singing the song of Moses 
 and the Lamb ? How reached they those blessed 
 abodes ? How learned they those anthems of 
 joy ? Was it not even because the long-sufler- 
 ing of God was salvation ? Was it not because 
 
334 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 the tenderness of God led them to repentance ? 
 Did he not design to bless them ? — did he not 
 give them as a spiritual seed to Christ ? Did 
 not his sovereign love and grace say unto them 
 *'live;" and they made use of the day of 
 mercy ; and they threw down their arms of re- 
 bellion, and they hastened back to their indul- 
 gent Lord? O! *' in his love and in his pity 
 he bore with them," and they became sensible 
 of his love, and they yielded up themselves to 
 its influence ! They exclaimed, " We love him, 
 because he first loved us !" Now they washed 
 away their sins in the blood of the Lamb, they 
 gladly put on by faith the beauteous robe of 
 the Redeemer's righteousness, and they gave 
 him praise, and they glorified his name. 
 They felt the constraining power of his good- 
 ness, and no one said, '' he lived to himself, and 
 no one said, he died to himself; but both living 
 they lived to the Lord, and dying they died to the 
 Lord; and so both living and dying, they were the 
 Lord'sr 
 
 And thus through the mighty efficacy of faith 
 and love, they were obedient unto death, and 
 obtained the crown of life; and henceforth 
 they are blessed for ever; they dwell with 
 God, and he hath wiped away all their tears, 
 and their sins he hath buried in the depths of 
 the sea ! 
 
 Thus the grace of God wrought their salva- 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 335 
 
 tion; and thus his patience and forbearance 
 were exercised towards them. Thus they were 
 made *' willing in a day of power," and '* ac- 
 counted the long-suffering of God to be indeed 
 salvation." 
 
 But are there none yet militant on earth, 
 whose history can attest the same truth ? Are 
 there none here present, who, reviewing the 
 period of life, and tracing through that period 
 the dealings of God, can tell how, through 
 much long-suffering, he hath brought them to 
 contrition and newness of life ? Are there none 
 over whom " God waited long to be gracious V 
 None who can testify that God's '* goodness 
 reacheth unto the heavens, and his faithfulness 
 unto the clouds ?" Are there none who con- 
 tested long against niercy, and judgment, and 
 admonition, and invitation ; and yet God gave 
 them not up, but still followed them to do them 
 good ? And at length, when they came hum- 
 bled to his arms, he *' received them graciously, 
 and loved them freely?" Like the strayed 
 sheep, they wandered long and far ; but the 
 good shepherd, unwearied and compassionate, 
 sought even till he found them, " and brought 
 them back on his shoulders rejoicing!" Oh! 
 hath not the long-suffering of God been to us 
 salvation ? Might he not long since have re- 
 jected and destroyed us ? Might he not, in 
 
336 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 his righteousness and justice, have sworn that 
 we should never *' enter into his rest ?" Might 
 he not, without the slightest imputation, either 
 on his goodness or his holiness, have con- 
 signed us over to the eternal expiation of our 
 sins? But in opposition to all our deserts, 
 and it may be, beyond our unbelieving fears, 
 he hath pitied, and sanctified, and saved us ? 
 He hath unfolded to our astonished souls, all 
 the fulness of his grace, and all the munifi- 
 cence of his love. *' He hath blessed us with 
 all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, in 
 Christ Jesus." He hath taught us, that his 
 ways are indeed *' not as our ways, neither 
 his thoughts as our thoughts !" Let us meet 
 this goodness with gratitude, and this love 
 with obedience ! Let us acknowledge the 
 freeness of his grace, and give him all the 
 glory of our salvation ! Let us stand before 
 him, as altogether worthless in ourselves, and 
 altogether complete in him! Let us live a 
 life of faith in his name, and henceforth 
 *' count all things but loss for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord !" 
 Under every conviction of sin, let us go to the 
 healing fountain of his blood, and trust to his 
 righteousness ! Under every anxiety of sor- 
 row and privation, let us cast our care on him, 
 for nothing shall separate us from his love! 
 
THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 337 
 
 We are his by the bonds of an " everlasting 
 covenant;" and all our ''fresh springs" shall 
 be found in him, from henceforth even for 
 ever! 
 
 But, in conclusion, we must observe, that 
 though the long-suffering of God be thus incon- 
 testably designed to be salvation, yet ** the day 
 of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." 
 There is a period to the divine patience, and 
 fearful is the temerity of him who should wish 
 to ascertain the limit by his own experience ! 
 The decisions of inexorable justice will shortly 
 supersede the efforts of abused mercy. Sin 
 will surely find out the offender, if not here in 
 the sorrows of penitence, yet hereafter in the 
 anguish of eternal remorse! Ere then such 
 remorse fasten upon the soul its terrible fangs ; 
 ere the flame that is never quenched assail 
 the heart ; be it thine, O sinner ! to repent and 
 believe the gospel ! The day of grace is yet 
 around thee ; but the shadows of night are 
 near ! Beneath the starless sky of that fearful 
 night can no man work! Be it thine now to 
 pray, to struggle, to conquer, to obey; to 
 quit the world and its bondage, and to seek 
 peace in the bosom of Christ! Be it thine 
 NOW to meditate on the wrecks of time, 
 and to contrast them with the enduring fe- 
 licities of eternity! Be it thine to think 
 
338 THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD. 
 
 on the long-suffering of God, and to ac- 
 count it salvation ; to build thy final resting- 
 place on a rock of adamant; and when the 
 floods descend, and the winds beat, it shall 
 not fall ! 
 
339 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 Luke xi. 13. 
 
 " IP YE BEING EVIL, KNOW HOW' TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS UNTO YOUR 
 CHILDREN, HOW MUCH MORE SHALL YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER 
 GIVE HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO THEM THAT ASK HIM V 
 
 The obstacles which lie in the path to genuine 
 felicity are numerous and alarming. The images 
 indeed under which the Scriptures delineate 
 our slow and painful progress to ultimate secu- 
 rity, are of the most striking and urge?2t cha- 
 racter. We are commanded ** to fight the good 
 Jight of faith," " to grasp hold of eternal life," 
 *' to run the race so as to win the prize," " to 
 work out our salvation with fear and trembling," 
 ** to make our calling and election sure;'' be- 
 cause ** the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, 
 and the violent take it hy force.'' 
 
 The sources of these difficulties lie partly in 
 the corrupt state of our own hearts ; partly in 
 the corrupt and polluting state of the world 
 around us ; and partly in the subtle malice and 
 
 z 2 
 
340 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 power of our spiritual enemies — enemies, whose 
 influence is the more appalling, because exerted 
 in modes concealed from our direct observa- 
 tion. Under such circumstances, it were per- 
 haps the office of reason itself to sink us into 
 despair, could we summon to our aid the 
 limited resources alone of our own minds. 
 But blessed be God, if our temptations be 
 great, our powers of resistance are yet greater ; 
 and though the combined hosts of earth and 
 hell oppose our progress to purity and hap- 
 piness, we are privileged to call to our support 
 the efforts of an arm, before whose mighty 
 energy these foes shall flee, even as the chaff" 
 before the winter's storm. The renewal of 
 holy intercourse with a higher world is among 
 the blessings purchased for man, by the costly 
 sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The influences /* of 
 the Spirit of promise," now largely and liberally 
 descend upon the human heart: the healing 
 waters of life now flow from the sanctuary, to 
 refresh the thirsty soul, and to revive the 
 strength of the contrite. The virtue of the 
 Eternal Spirit goes forth to quicken the dead, 
 and to uphold the living ; to render effectual 
 the atonement of the cross, and ultimately 
 to present unto God a holy and peculiar people, 
 bright and numerous as the dew-drops of the 
 morning. Hence it has become possible to 
 struggle successfully with evil ; to hold on our 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 341 
 
 course through the rugged paths of life, and to 
 reach the everlasting gates of Zion, as those, 
 who " are even more than conquerors through 
 Him that hath loved us." The eternal God is 
 himself our Saviour — the Spirit is our guide 
 and comforter — the Scriptures of truth, our in- 
 fallible directory — and heaven is prepared for 
 us under the bond of an unbroken covenant, as 
 our final and secure abode. " The path of the 
 just is thus as the shining light, which shineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day." 
 
 How deeply important then to our happiness 
 is the doctrine of a divine influence over the 
 heart! We do not here refer to the poor and 
 indefinite concession, that God may help the 
 honest efforts of virtue ; but we refer to the fact 
 of the converting and purifying agency of the 
 Holy Ghost upon the sinful and depraved af- 
 fections. *' Except a man be born of the Spirit, 
 he cannot see the kingdom of God." ** For the 
 kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 I. The NECESSITY FOR THIS DIVINE IN- 
 FLUENCE becomes very evident to him who has 
 ascertained by much self-communion the crip- 
 pled, and defiled, and disordered condition of 
 the human mind. We are exposed to two 
 terrific evils : we have violated the laws of God, 
 and through that violation we are become per- 
 manentbj disaffected to the divine government. But 
 
342 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 as the character of God is holy, the ways of his 
 providence holy, and his happiness holy; we 
 cannot regain happiness, except we regain con- 
 formity to his character, while we receive remis- 
 sion of the penalties we have incurred. Now 
 Christianity comprises a train of means amply 
 calculated to effect this great change in our 
 condition. To the penalties incurred, it applies 
 the doctrine of propitiation by the cross : to the 
 renewal of the affections, it applies the doctrine 
 of divine influence. And this change in the mo- 
 ral propensities is as reasonable as it is essential 
 to our felicity. Let us offer a brief and familiar 
 illustration. A wayward and rebellious child is 
 exiled from his father's house ; equally through 
 the displeasure of his father, as through the 
 righteous regulations of his family : the child, 
 smitten by remorse and sorrow, seeks again the 
 shelter which he had quitted, and the love 
 which he had forfeited. His offences are for- 
 given, and he is restored to parental affection. 
 Say now, whether his approval of the moi^al 
 habits of his father's house be not as essential 
 to his restored happiness, as the removal of his 
 father's displeasure ? Would the mere recovery 
 of the rights of inheritance and of sonship yield 
 enjoyment to him, if the jarring elements of 
 pride and passion at work within his bosom, 
 perpetually resisted the hallowed tempers and 
 holy practices prevalent in his father's house ? 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 343 
 
 And if it be true that we are exiled through 
 iniquity from the Paradise of God ; if we are 
 under the dominion of evil, is it possible in the 
 nature of things that we can be restored to hap- 
 piness except through a change in the moral 
 condition and habits of our minds ? Could the 
 very happiness of heaven be valued, except by 
 those whose affections coalesce with the purity 
 and sacredness of those celestial regions ? The 
 lovely qualities of piety are discerned by the 
 pious alone. Can we then enjoy the true feli- 
 city of God's children, except we be made such 
 through the influence of the Spirit of God ? 
 Men may live mingled amongst them during 
 the few fleeting years of this earthly existence ; 
 but they are hastening to a day of dreadful and 
 final separation — a day when the chafl" will be 
 scattered to the flame ; and the wheat alone be 
 laid up in the garner. ** For these shall go 
 away into everlasting fire, but the righteous 
 into life eternal." 
 
 II. But LET us guard this doctrine 
 FROM ITS ABUSE. Let it uot bc said, that 
 such declarations as these, open the door to 
 enthusiasm ; that a man who forces upon him- 
 self the notion, that under peril of perdition he 
 must become the subject of this ** divine inspi- 
 ration," will be shortly hurried into every spe-^ 
 cies of absurdity, while he will sanction his 
 folly beneath the sacred claim to a heaven- 
 
344 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 taught judgment. The view we desire to give 
 of this doctrine, stands perfectly clear of any- 
 such destructive inference. We affirm not, 
 that it is the office of the great Comforter to 
 impart any knowledge additional to that which 
 lies recorded on the page of the existing reve- 
 lation ; or to excite a single emotion ; to enjoin 
 a single precept ; or to stimulate by a single 
 promise, which is not already found among 
 those infallible testimonies of truth. The 
 Scriptures, as they now stand, comprise the 
 whole will of God, with reference to the salva- 
 tion and felicity of his people. The day of 
 miraculous teaching is no longer required. 
 The canon of truth is complete. It is to the 
 voice of these Scriptures that the Spirit of 
 God now directs our attention ; and if any 
 emotion, any impulse, any moral sentiment, 
 be not in fair and candid accordance with 
 that written word, it is not the result of a 
 divine influence. *' To the law and to the 
 testimony," is the eternal reference made by 
 the Spirit, as to the only infallible criterion of 
 right and wrong. The benighted wanderer 
 through this dark world beholds the volume of 
 revelation, as the single beacon which sheds 
 light across the wild, and which directs his 
 path to the distant regions of imperishable 
 felicity. We affirm, therefore, that we expect 
 the mighty agency of the Spirit of God, in no 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 345 
 
 respect to supersede the use of the Scriptures, 
 but rather to draw our attention to its pages ; not 
 to inflate us with the conceit of personal infal- 
 libility, but to give us the docility of children ; 
 that we may sit reverently at the Saviour's 
 feet, and receive his instructions as '* all our 
 salvation and desire." Our spiritual ignorance 
 has been in great measure the result of our dis- 
 affection to godliness ; we have had no taste for 
 truth ; we have rested under the most awful in- 
 sensibility to the whole claims of God, and to all 
 the interests of our eternity. Yet are those 
 claims and those interests plainly delineated in 
 the sacred canon. We want no additional record. 
 But we too fatally want the disposition to hear and 
 to receive this actual counsel of God. We need 
 to rectify the baleful persuasion under which 
 we live, that the service and friendship of the 
 world are more productive of enjoyment, than 
 the favour and intercourse of God. Here is 
 the necessity for the work of the Holy Ghost. 
 It is to arrest attention to God's decisions ; it is 
 to shed light upon the intellect and the heart, 
 as to their connection with future joys aiid sorrows; 
 it is to excite moral susceptibility ; to open to 
 the hitherto degraded imagination, the treasures 
 of purity and of truth ; it is, in brief, to allure 
 back the alienated sensibilities of the heart to 
 God, by making him the high object of attrac- 
 tion and of love. The objects of time and 
 
346 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 sense have been hitherto paramount in our 
 habitual estimate of good. We have rejected 
 eternity from our thoughts, except as an indis- 
 tinct object, far too distant and unknown to 
 excite solicitude. Hence, the momentous v^ork 
 of the Holy Ghost, is required to awaken the 
 soul to its nobler interests ; to give the taste 
 which can feed upon immortal truth •, to kindle 
 within the breast the flame of hallowed affec- 
 tions ; to secure its anxieties for God and 
 eternity ; and to chain down its eager attention 
 to the actual records of revelation. Hence, it 
 is not the spirit of miraculous inspiration given 
 to apostles and prophets, to which we refer. 
 We refer rather to the spirit of conversion 
 which can alone minister to our moral diseases, 
 and rectify the depravity of our hearts. We 
 affirm, under the warrant both of Scripture and 
 of fact, the necessity of this celestial agency, 
 because deaf is man to every threatening, and 
 callous to every generous entreaty on God's 
 part ; until, in addition to the recorded docu- 
 ments of grace, be given that '' still, small 
 voice," that hidden eloquence of truth, which 
 finds access within the hidden chambers of his 
 heart, and constrains him to hear, to believe, to 
 relent, to love, and to obey ! 
 
 And these assertions, we repeat, are surely 
 in full accordance with every statement of 
 Christianity. " Now we have received," says 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 347 
 
 the apostle Paul, addressing generally the Co- 
 rinthian church, *' Now we have received not 
 the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which 
 is of God, that we might know the things which 
 are freely given to us of God." "But the 
 natural man receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto 
 him, neither can he know them, because they 
 are spiritually discerned.'' He therefore adds, 
 '* Ye are God's husbandry. I have planted, 
 and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase,'' 
 It was in reference to this spiritual illumina- 
 tion, that the royal Psalmist prayed, ** Open 
 thou mine eyes, that / may see wondrous 
 things in thy law." It was in reference to this 
 heavenly influence upon the soul, that the Son 
 of God himself affirmed, '* No man cometh 
 unto me, except the Father draw him." " I 
 thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and 
 earth, because thou hast hid these things from 
 the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto babes." 
 
 These, and similar expressions, place it 
 beyond a question, whether religion, in its 
 power over the heart, be or be not the fruit of 
 mere human sagacity. It is a prevalent notion, 
 that to be religious, to fulfil the requisite duties 
 of piety, is an effort within the ordinary range 
 of human ability. But such an opinion arises 
 from an ignorance of the internal and essential 
 
348 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 character of religion. It is sufficiently easy 
 to execute with the lips the ceremonials of 
 Christianity. But who, by his own skill, ever 
 offered unto God *' the sacrifice of a broken, 
 and contrite," and loving ** heart," which is yet 
 the only sacrifice '' which he will not despise ?" 
 Religion is something very different from the 
 ritual of devotion ; from mere good-nature ; 
 from the mere recognition of the claims of 
 courtesy, between man and man. We may live 
 in the esteem, or in the affections,' of our 
 fellow-creatures ; but we may be wholly desti- 
 tute of the friendship of God. We may despise 
 practical godliness. We may live without any 
 humble and affectionate communion with our 
 Saviour. The whole dispensation of grace may 
 be concealed from our view. We may be 
 living without one single distinct reference to 
 the nature of the felicity of another world. In 
 this state of absolute alienation from God, we 
 may yet be accounted religious, and, on those 
 very grounds, be elevated in our own esteem ! 
 So dense, yet plausible, are the delusions which 
 sin weaves around the human heart ! The fair 
 interpretation of Christianity is perhaps, by 
 such persons, accounted a libel upon human na- 
 ture ! But are we not sinners, thus absolutely 
 needing higher affections, and the renovation of 
 our whole spiritual character ? Is not the fact 
 too palpable to be put down by sophistry or 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 349 
 
 scorn ? Why do we pine in sorrow ; why are 
 we scourged by passion ; or why do we moulder 
 in the grave, if we be not sinners ? And why 
 did the blood of Christ stream from the cross, 
 but to make atonement for this sin ? And oh 
 what folly — nay insanity — to deny the import 
 of facts which themselves cannot be denied, when 
 the wondrous e.vplanation would convey to him 
 who should receive it, more than a remedy for 
 all his anguish and his guilt ! But to become 
 happy, we must become humble. We must sub- 
 mit to the discipline and instruction of God. 
 We must ascribe to God the glory and the in- 
 strumentality of our peace and salvation. We 
 must welcome the celestial light of the Spirit 
 for our souls, as we do the light of the sun for 
 our bodies, as a gift conferred, and not as a 
 right demanded. We revert then again to the 
 proposition, '* that except a man be born again 
 of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 of God." It is not sufficient to be amiable and 
 just to the ordinary claims of society, or to re- 
 cognise the external memorials of Christianity. 
 It is absolutely necessary '* to be renewed after 
 the image of God;" to have internal commu- 
 nion with Christ ; to live a life of faith and of 
 inward devotion ; to cling around the promises 
 of the gospel ; and, with reference to the state 
 of our affections, to ''be pilgrims and strangers 
 
350 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 upon earth," in active pursuit after a purer and 
 happier land ! 
 
 III. If then the spiritual conversion of the 
 heart to God be thus essential to salvation, it 
 becomes a question of the deepest moment, Is 
 God willing to impart the influence of 
 THE SPIRIT? Is there any limitation in the 
 promise to bestow^ it ? May the outcast and the 
 guilty, and the polluted supplicate this aid 
 with an unrestricted prospect of success? Is 
 it possible that the heart, once the abode of 
 every earthly and sordid affection, should be- 
 come *'the habitation of God through the 
 Spirit?" To these important queries the text 
 affords an unequivocal reply. Let the children 
 of sorrow and of sin listen ; let the victims of 
 passion or of pride listen to the encouraging 
 accents of the Son of God, " If ye being evil 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more shall your heavenly Father give 
 the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." As if he 
 had said, *' If you who are fallen and degraded 
 in your moral sentiments are yet more or less 
 true to the natural instincts with which you 
 are endowed ; if as parents your hearts own 
 the relation of tender dependance between you 
 and your children ; if your hearts dilate with 
 compassion and sympathy, and you refuse to 
 crush the expectations which the conviction of 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 351 
 
 such dependance excites in the bosoms oi your 
 children, shall it be imagined that your heavenly 
 Father can be less warm to the interests of his 
 children ? Is it conceivable, that he can be 
 deaf to your solicitations when you cry unto 
 him beneath a sense of weakness, and of the 
 most absolute dependance upon his mercy and 
 strength ? Is he not the fountain of your life ? 
 Is he not the original well-spring of every beau- 
 tiful and tender feeling ? Has not natural affec- 
 tion its origin in him ? Are not parental emo- 
 tions derived from his sensibility to kindliness ? 
 Is there one generous, one fond sensation which 
 has not owed its birth to his will ? If then in 
 this world of oppression, selfishness, and dis- 
 order, the anxieties of filial sorrow ever make 
 an effectual appeal to a parent's heart ; can the 
 result of such an appeal be less efficient when 
 the harassed and tempted child of God makes 
 supplication to ' the Father of all his mercies,' 
 and to the * God of all his consolation V 
 ' Much more shall he not give his Holy Spirit 
 to them that ask him?' Shall not he evince a 
 sympathy, and exert a power even beyond the 
 entreaties and expectations of those who repose 
 the burden of their wants upon his inexhaustible 
 sufficiency ?" 
 
 How lamentably ignorant are men of the true 
 character of God! How fatally disposed are 
 they to break away from the presence of him 
 
352 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 who generously unites the will and the might 
 to succour them, even to the extremest of their 
 wants ! The glowing tokens of his bounty beam 
 upon us on every side. Do we gaze with exhi- 
 larating emotion upon the sun which hourly re- 
 freshes us, and which kindles into beauty, and 
 melody, and sweetness, the brightening vallies 
 that surround us ? Is it not he that *' makes 
 this sun to shine upon the evil and the good ?" 
 Do we refer to the soft and gladdening sensa- 
 tions which cheer and embellish the rugged 
 paths of social life ? Is it not he who has gifted 
 us with these charities, and who has directed 
 us through their instrumentality to imitate the 
 very movements of his own beneficence? But 
 as if these proofs, rich and varied as they are, 
 still left almost untouched the vast subject of 
 his liberality, he carries his people to the his- 
 tory of the cross, and there displays to them a 
 love which human conceptions fail to reach! 
 " God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 He withheld not that only Son from shame, and 
 torture, and death ; and shall '* he not with 
 him freeli/ give us all things?" This mighty 
 offering, this sacrifice of woe speaks to the 
 deepest sympathies of our nature. It is a pro- 
 clamation of pity and of grace which, under a 
 divine influence, may well arrest the rebel heart. 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 353 
 
 and turn back to God the tide of all its once 
 alienated aftections ! Until this influence be 
 exerted how infatuated is the coldness and re- 
 luctance which we display to such a benefac- 
 tor ! Yet he concentrates in his high attributes 
 all that is lovely in creative power, all that is 
 holy in truth, and all that is generous in love ; 
 all that glows and refreshes in the natural, and all 
 that soothes and attracts in the ^pinYw^Z world ! 
 Well might the afllicted patriarch exclaim, 
 *' Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace !" 
 Can any exhibition of moral and intellectual 
 beauty be more calculated to open all the sus- 
 ceptibilities of the heart ? Can any delineation 
 of character be more completely calculated to 
 excite confidence, and to justify prayer? Ought 
 one solitary shadow of doubt to overcloud his 
 mind who comes humbled and afflicted, to the 
 mercy-seat of such a God ? Is the grace, the 
 compassion of such a Being placed beyond the 
 reach of the most destitute and the depraved ? 
 Will the genial influences, issuing from such a 
 fountain, be slow to descend upon the thirsty 
 soul which cries in sincerity for relief? Rather 
 how effectual will prove at length that petition 
 of the guilty and the forlorn, which supplicates 
 by no less a memorial of goodness, than the 
 agony and death of Jesus Christ! Rather how 
 acceptable will be that confidence which relies 
 on the recorded promises of the good and com- 
 
 A A 
 
354 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 forting Spirit ! Rather how productive will be 
 the upward aspirations of that heart which 
 would daily and hourly escape from the harsh 
 and impure shackles of the world, and regain 
 its asylum in the bosom and affections of God ! 
 For ** If ye being evil know how to give good 
 gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
 your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
 to them that ask him." ''Hitherto have ye 
 asked nothing in my name ; ask and ye shall re- 
 ceive, that your joy may befall,'' 
 
355 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 50 — 53. 
 
 "AND HE LED THEM OUT AS FAR AS TO BETHANY; AND HE LIFTED 
 UP HIS HANDS AND BLESSED THEM. AND IT CAME TO PASS, 
 WHILE HE BLESSED THEM, HE WAS PARTED FROM THEM, AND 
 CARRIED UP INTO HEAVEN. AND THEY WORSHIPPED HIM, AND 
 RETURNED TO JERUSALEM WITH GREAT JOY; AND WERE CON- 
 TINUALLY IN THE TEMPLE, PRAISING AND BLESSING GOD* 
 AMEN." 
 
 The whole history of Jesus Christ is productiv^e 
 of deep and afflicting, yet joyful interest to a 
 Christian mind. On all occasions, he more or 
 less exhibits the powers of God, or the sympa- 
 thies of man. He lays bare the human heart, 
 and discovers all its degradation ; yet this not 
 in scorn, but in compassion. He humbles but 
 to exalt ; he carries conviction of guilt to the 
 soul, to prepare it, not for the sentence of indig- 
 nation, but for the accents of high and gene- 
 rous invitation. Each step of his progress 
 through the world, becomes more and more at- 
 tractive. He arrests attention by every lesson 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 of instruction, and by every action of munifi- 
 cence. His life is one incessant effort to awaken 
 those around him to the contemplation of their 
 true felicity. He dies amidst the manifesta- 
 tions of this unfatigued anxiety to render others 
 happy. We follow him to the tomb with 
 breathless interest. He revives, to force on us 
 again, the recognition of the same benevolence. 
 He has lost no portion of his tenderness in the 
 solitude of the grave. The jirst reference he 
 makes is still to human disquietude. The words 
 ** Peace be unto you," identifies a compassion 
 which the dark and troubled waters of national 
 ingratitude had failed to quench. He will soon 
 -take flight to the serenity of his Father's house, 
 but he remembers the struggles to which his 
 disciples will still be exposed. He leaves with 
 them his last, momentous blessing. *' He led 
 them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up 
 his hands and blessed them. And it came to 
 pass, while he blessed them, he was parted 
 from them, and carried up into heaven ; and 
 they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusa- 
 lem with great joy, and were continually in the 
 Temple praising and blessing God." 
 
 In farther elucidation of this passage of 
 Scripture, let us remark, 
 
 I. The scene of our saviour's last mo- 
 ments in the world. 
 
 **He led them out as far as to Bethany." 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 357 
 
 The name of Bethany recalls to our thoughts 
 many affecting circumstances in the life of 
 Christ. It recalls more especially the pious 
 and affectionate family, in whose society he had 
 been accustomed to pass many of his secluded 
 hours. '* Now Jesus loved Martha, and her 
 sister, and Lazarus." To choose Bethany as 
 the final scene of his earthly pilgrimage, was 
 surely to consecrate the memory of the calm 
 and holy intercourse which he had there en- 
 joyed, when shut out from the turmoil of public 
 scorn, and from the menace of national violence. 
 To choose this spot as the place from which he 
 would ascend to a higher world, was to hallow 
 the better recollections of this, was to shed a 
 sacredness over that fond partiality of individual 
 friendship, which marks him emphatically to 
 have been *' bone of our bone, and flesh of our 
 flesh." To linger amidst the shades of Bethany, 
 was to evince the reality of his knowledge and 
 participation of our weak and contracted na- 
 ture ; a nature which, bewildered in the expan- 
 sion of general charity, seeks the narrow and 
 tender boundary of domestic and individual at- 
 tachment. To revisit such a scene, was to 
 teach us in a manner the most attractive, that 
 while Christianity can recognise a love, wide 
 as the circle of human wants, and can point 
 out a brotherhood " which no man can number, 
 redeemed from every tongue, and kindred, and 
 
358 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 people," it can yet recognise the necessity and 
 the value of a more concentrated and limited 
 affection! In a world where, through suffering 
 and sin, we find the operations both of intellect 
 and of feeling to be contracted and thwarted — 
 in a world where we groan beneath the pressure 
 of a body of pain and of infirmity, and where 
 we discover the very refinements of education 
 and of piety, to prove the innocent, though 
 powerful sources of estrangement and of repul- 
 sion — in such a world we want the more pal- 
 pable and easy intercourse of a few kindred 
 minds. We want a friendship which can stoop 
 down to a distinct alliance with poverty, de- 
 pression, and sorrow — we want the absence of 
 numbers, the repose of solitude, the tranquil- 
 lity of home — we want the tenderness upon 
 which the multitude has no claim ; the hidden 
 asylum, where heart can sympathise with heart, 
 where infirmity can find pity, and calamity re- 
 spect. Over these wants, and over this affec- 
 tion Christ has thus thrown his protecting shield. 
 The wider range of his benevolence who can 
 doubt ? A suffering world was in truth the 
 object of his compassion ; and it is the manifest 
 property of Deity to enlarge the surface of its 
 affection, without diminishing its depth. We 
 can venerate the quality, but we cannot realize 
 the practice. How then ought we to value the 
 goodness which in assuming our nature, forgot 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 359 
 
 not our infirmity ; which in the hours of privacy 
 and solitude condensed for a few the love 
 which he could feel for all — allowed even one 
 selected associate *' to lie in his bosom," and 
 thus to become to us at once the example and 
 the consecration of fonder and more exclusive 
 affection ! 
 
 II. Let us refer to the last action of our 
 SAVIOUR UPON earth. " And he led them 
 out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his 
 hands and blessed them'' At his entrance into 
 the world, the song of blessing had rolled down 
 from heaven to earth. ** Glory to God in the 
 highest, and on earth peace and goodwill to 
 men." During his life and ministry, a series of 
 beneficent acts had attested the nature and the 
 universality of that "goodwill;" and his re- 
 moval from the world shall bear testimony to 
 the same high and gracious design ; his last ac- 
 tion shall be one of tenderness and love. " He 
 lifted up his hands, and blessed them." His 
 work of degradation, atonement, and suffering 
 was now accomplished. Every prophecy con- 
 nected with his sojourn on earth was fulfilled ; 
 and the ineflfable glory which he had shared with 
 God as Partner with him in his felicity and his 
 eternity, now again invited him to repose. The 
 situation of his disciples was, however, one of 
 peril and of exposure. He had promised to 
 them a kingdom and a crown of life ; but be- 
 
360 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 tween them and this recompense formidable 
 obstacles were interposed. The only path to 
 this pre-eminent distinction was rugged and 
 dangerous. It was a path begirt with snares, 
 encircled by foes, watched and assailed by the 
 malice and subtlety of hell, darkened by the 
 -contempt, and scorn, and violence of earth! 
 Could he contemplate their approaching strug- 
 gles without compassion and pain ? Could he 
 leave them without emotion, ** as sheep amidst 
 wolves ?" They carried indeed a high commis- 
 sion, and they would be protected by a mighty 
 arm ; but they were still human, fallible, and 
 sensitive to sorrow. Heralds of mercy to a 
 captive and ruined world, " their feet" would 
 be " beautiful upon the mountains ;" but the 
 pride and ignorance of the inhabitants would 
 often scorn their message, and repay their 
 kindly efforts with violence and disdain. Could 
 he anticipate this destiny without, in some mea- 
 sure, sharing its bitterness ? ** He lifted up his 
 hands, and he blessed them" through the con- 
 flict ! ** All power is given unto me in heaven 
 and earth;" and "lo! I am with you always 
 even to the end of the world." " Let not your 
 hearts be troubled." " I will yet see you again, 
 and your heart shall rejoice." 
 
 The extent of this benediction was, however, 
 not bounded by the wants and tribulation of the 
 apostles ; it embraced the struggles and the 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 361 
 
 sorrows of the Church in every succeeding age. 
 " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
 also who shall believe on me through their word." 
 The assembled disciples were in fact the repre- 
 sentatives of the faithful in every time and 
 place. Did Jesus Christ then record his part- 
 ing blessing ? Oh 1 was it not that in after, as 
 well as during elapsing ages, the sufferer might 
 turn himself to *' the strong-hold," and repose 
 his wearied heart upon the loving-kindness of 
 his God 1 — unknown perhaps, or if known, de- 
 spised of men, without a home or friend — he 
 now marks these uplifted hands, and hears this 
 effective blessing — 
 
 " Poor tho' I am, despised, forgot. 
 Yet God, my God, forgets me not : 
 And he is safe, and must succeed. 
 For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead !" 
 
 Such was the intercession — such the bene- 
 diction given to the disciples. Its import, its 
 efficacy thus stretches along the line of years, 
 even to the last sorrow of the last saint who 
 shall walk the pathways of this wilderness ^'a 
 pilgrim and a stranger on the earth." 
 
 III. Let us notice, thirdly. The separation 
 OF Jesus Christ from his disciples, and 
 his ascension into heaven. " And it came 
 to pass while he blessed them, he was parted 
 from them and carried up into heaven." A 
 
362 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 final termination was thus put to their earthly 
 intercourse with Christ. They had enjoyed 
 his friendship, and had listened to his sacred 
 instructions during the brief period of his public 
 ministry. Yet this period had been sufficiently 
 long to rivet their attachment, and to excite the 
 highest admiration for his character. But now 
 the moment of his departure had arrived. To 
 remain with them was no longer conducive to 
 their welfare or to his own glory. Other and 
 ulterior objects connected with his heavenly 
 mission was now to be accomplished. '' It is 
 expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go 
 not away, the Comforter will not come to you, 
 but if I depart I will send him unto you. I 
 have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 
 cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He the 
 Spirit of truth is come. He shall guide you into 
 all truth." The enlarged effusion of the Holy 
 Spirit depended upon the consummation of the 
 Redeemer's sacrifice. '' The Spirit was not 
 yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glo- 
 rified." But as the *' peace" made *' by the 
 blood of his cross" was destined in the coun- 
 sels of God '' to reconcile all thi?2gs in heaven 
 and earth," the moment of extended blessing 
 to mankind was now arrived. " The joy" 
 which Jesus Christ had originally '' placed be- 
 fore him," and for the atttainment of which he 
 had *' endured the cross," was not simply the 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 363 
 
 Jilial joy of doing his Father's will, but the 
 generous joy of imparting eternal life to un- 
 numbered myriads of the human race. But 
 to accomplish this object, it became him now 
 to quit the world of his humiliation ; to re- 
 ascend to the right hand of power ; to assume 
 the sceptre of his spiritual dominion ; and to 
 unlock the flood-gates of those benignant and 
 healing influences, which, through the eternal 
 Comforter will ultimately renew the moral wil- 
 derness, and bring back the scenes of paradise 
 to the earth ! 
 
 According to the prophetic record, God has 
 given to Christ ** the heathen for his inherit- 
 ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
 his possession." In pursuance of this object, 
 he will '' pull down the strong-holds of Satan," 
 and rebuild in the purified bosom ''the ha- 
 bitation of God through the Spirit." Not by 
 external "power or might, but by my Spirit, 
 saith the Lord." '' And I, if I be lifted up 
 from the earth, will draw all men to me." To 
 use the words of a living writer, '* Tfie procla- 
 mation of free-pardon through the cross was 
 henceforth to become that weapon of ethereal 
 temper which God has chosen out of the ar- 
 moury of heaven, and which he has blessed and 
 sanctified for the destruction of moral evil in 
 the world." But the weapon is effectual only 
 in the hands of the Spirit. This word of re- 
 
364 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 conciliation is " that sword of the Spirit" by 
 which every spiritual victory is to be achieved. 
 Hence the separation of Christ from his dis- 
 ciples was a necessary and bright link in the 
 chain of mercies which bound him to mankind. 
 His endeared associates can, therefore, attach 
 him no longer to earth. Their welfare and the 
 welfare of innumerable sufferers hangs upon his 
 absence. *Mt is expedient for you that I go 
 away." His affection is disinterested, pro- 
 ductive, constant. Therefore was he ** parted 
 from them, and a cloud received him out of 
 their sight." 
 
 This is a world of distance, of exile, and of 
 separation. But from our losses spring our 
 gains ; from our sorrows our joys ; from our 
 death our life. And this condition of events 
 and of sensations is well calculated and kindly 
 intended to exercise our faith ; to try and 
 augment our love ; to call forth our patience, 
 and to evince God's entire right over us. We 
 are thus ** saved by hope." *' We walk by 
 faith, not by sight," or we see at best " as 
 through a glass darkly." The Saviour in whom 
 we confide is lost to the outward eye ; his 
 accents fall no more upon the outward ear ; 
 yet is he invisibly united to our souls ; yet has 
 '* he entered for us within the veil ;" yet has 
 he gladdened the inhabitants of heaven by his 
 arrival as the ** forerunner" of the millions 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 365 
 
 whom he ** hath redeemed unto God by his 
 blood !" The veil of mortality thus throws into 
 momentary obscurity the eternal splendour of 
 his throne. But he will soon lift up the barrier. 
 He will return to realize, amidst the pomp of 
 celestial attendants, the full execution of that 
 generous and unforgotten record, " Father, I 
 will that they whom thou hast given me be 
 with me, where I am, to behold my glory." 
 Meantime he is not unknown, unhonoured, un- 
 beloved. Rather, '' whom having not seen ye 
 love ; in whom though now ye see him not, 
 yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory." " Beloved, now are we 
 the sons of God." " It doth not yet appear 
 what we shall be, but we know that when he 
 shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall 
 see him as he is." 
 
 IV. It remains to notice. The feelings 
 
 AND CONDUCT OF THE DISCIPLES, AFTER THE 
 DEPARTURE OF THEIR MASTER FROM THE 
 
 WORLD. ** And they worshipped him, and 
 returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were 
 continually in the temple, praising and blessing 
 God." A heavenly light now began to beam 
 upon the minds of the apostles. The myste- 
 rious character of their divine master began to 
 be developed. He was mightier than the 
 grave. He had again ascended into heaven. 
 The recollection of his ** transfiguration" would 
 
366 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 now recur. '* His face had been glistering; 
 and his raiment shining." If he were man, 
 he was likewise *' equal with God." '' I 
 and my Father are one." They now began to 
 worship him as such. Their earthly love was 
 transmuted and refined. As man, they clung 
 with fond fidelity to the memorials of his love. 
 As God, they yielded up to him their faculties 
 in unlimited adoration and praise. Their minds 
 were influenced by an awe blended with the 
 intimacy of long and familiar friendship. — 
 *' Great" was now the unfolding *' mystery of 
 godliness ; God was manifest in the flesh, jus- 
 tified in the Spirit ; seen of angels ; received 
 up into glory." They now adored Christ, as 
 " God over all blessed for evermore." They 
 now recollected his last solemn injunction to 
 wait at Jerusalem until they should be endued 
 with strength from on high ; and they returned 
 thither '' with great joy." With what differ- 
 ent emotions did they now retrace those scenes 
 of sorrow and of mortification which, but a few 
 days before, Jerusalem had presented to their 
 view! Their master was indeed parted from 
 their sight, but the tomb was empty ! Death 
 was vanquished ! The heavens had received 
 the glorified form until '' the time of the re- 
 stitution of all things!" His name might be 
 execrated of men, but it was embalmed in the 
 approbation of God! 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 367 
 
 • It were difficult to ascertain the precise 
 views of the apostles at this moment. It were 
 difficult to say, with what clearness of judg- 
 ment, or with what emotions of heart they 
 recognised the doctrine of atonement, the paci- 
 fication of the cross, the grace, the freeness, 
 the munificence of the gospel. It were difficult 
 to say what degree of obscurity might yet hang 
 over the actions of their Lord ; or what was the 
 amount of that divine teaching which the illu- 
 mination of Pentecost was yet to impart. Such 
 questions may admit of many replies : we enter 
 not into the subject. Let it suffice to say, 
 that they returned to Jerusalem with joy. The 
 load which had weighed down their spirits, 
 was removed. Jesus, their friend, and com- 
 panion, and redeemer, lived. He had pro- 
 mised to return again in glory to the world. 
 He had fastened on their consciences, and 
 their hearts, the wondrous charge to go to all 
 nations ; and in the midst of human sorrows 
 and sins, to tell the history of his love, and to 
 invite the weary to come to him for rest. He 
 had engaged '' to be with them always." He 
 had promised to them *' eternal life," even 
 ** mansions in his Father^s house" for ever. 
 They were filled with joy. They were upheld 
 and excited by the noblest and loftiest antici- 
 pations. They rejoiced in the recollection 
 
368 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST* 
 
 of their Lord, with a hope that was surely '* full 
 of immortality;" a hope which in no respect 
 could be deemed *' credulous of joy," but which 
 had received its existence from the facts which 
 had passed, and which had been interpreted 
 before their very senses. Under the influence of 
 these emotions, they entered the temple. They 
 would love to linger within its sacred courts. 
 '* They were continually there." The services 
 of the temple consecrated to the praise of God, 
 would well accord with the tone of solemn, yet 
 grateful joy, with which their hearts were now 
 penetrated. They would see, emphatically, 
 ** God's beauty in the sanctuary." Elevated 
 above the low and sordid cares of this passing 
 world, they would recognise in the temple, 
 the august type and shadow of that yet higher 
 dwelling-place to which their Redeemer was 
 exalted. He heard no longer the strife and the 
 blasphemy of men. He met no longer the 
 sorrows of poverty ; the bitterness of scorn ; 
 the memorials of earthly defilement. And 
 their lives bound up in his, they were permitted 
 to expect a quick translation to the same eter- 
 nal home of light, and purity, and joy. ^' They 
 were thus continually in the temple, praising 
 God." What were the sacred and high 
 contemplations of these first saints and fol- 
 lowers of the Lamb, thus waiting in the holy 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 3C9 
 
 twilight of Christianity for the splendours of 
 .its meridian day ! It were at least probable 
 to imagine that Eternity was the theme of 
 their meditation, and that the visions of heaven 
 were, in part at least, their own ! Did they 
 anticipate a world as pure and peaceful as this 
 is polluted and unquiet ? Did they anticipate 
 " a city" whose *' foundations" are perpetual, 
 ** whose builder and maker is God?" A city, 
 in which the temple in which they then stood, 
 magnificent as its structure had long been 
 deemed, would give place to a spiritual edifice, 
 bright with the full effulgence of God ? Did 
 they anticipate a world, '* which has no need 
 of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it ; 
 for the glory of God does lighten it, and the 
 Lamb is the light thereof? And the nations 
 of them that are saved, shall walk in the light 
 of it ; and the kings of the earth do bring their 
 glory and honour into it." ** And there shall 
 be no more curse ; but the throne of God and 
 of the Lamb, shall be in it ; and his servants 
 shall serve him?" Did they anticipate these 
 grand results of their Saviour's sufferings ; this 
 accomplished bliss; this " fulness of joy;" 
 these *' rivers of pleasure" flowing for ever- 
 more ? Did they behold in faith the millions of 
 the redeemed ; or hear the distant tones of that 
 wondrous and accordant song, '* Hallelujah ! 
 for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ?" 
 
370 THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 But a far more momentous question demands 
 of us its deep and affecting solution. Do we 
 share these bright and happy expectations? 
 Do we, to whom the full revelation of Chris- 
 tianity has been imparted, raise our views to 
 that " eternity" which God our Saviour ** in- 
 habits ?" Do we believe the only begotten 
 Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended 
 into the heavens ? And, under the healing 
 influence of this faith, have we also, '* in heart 
 and mind, thither ascended ; and do we with 
 him there continually dwell ?" Oh ! touched 
 and humiliated beneath the history of the 
 cross, have we learned to despise and to over- 
 look the struggles, sorrows, or emoluments of 
 this fleeting world ? Elevated by a union with 
 Christ, are we nobly aspiring to the felicity 
 and the perfection to which he is exalted ? 
 Having gone out from the land of shadows, as 
 pilgrims to an everlasting home, are we re- 
 solved to turn back to vanity no more ? Are 
 we followers of the apostles, as they followed 
 Christ ? Are we expectants, consistently and 
 practically, of the near approach of the Lord 
 from heaven ? Are our aching eyes directed 
 to the bright signs of his kingdom ? Are we 
 longing to mingle with patriarchs, prophets, 
 apostles, and martyrs, whose feet tread no 
 more the rugged paths of this lower world? 
 Do our best affections hang around their lofty 
 
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 371 
 
 and secure condition ; and while purifying 
 ourselves as Christ is pure, do we now, in 
 heart and aim, participate their lot, and with 
 them walk 
 
 " High in salvation and the climes of bliss.'* 
 
 B B 
 
372 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 John xvi. 8 — 9. 
 
 '* AND WHEN HE IS COME, HE WILL REPROVE THE WORLD OF 
 SIN.... OF SIN, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE NOT IN ME." 
 
 The moral effect produced upon those who 
 heard the instructions of Christ, was extremely 
 limited. Although it was admitted ^' that he 
 spake with authority ;" that " never man spake 
 like this man ;" yet the practical results of his 
 ministry were fugitive and ineffectual. To 
 those who have studied the sacred volume with 
 humility, and who at the same time have 
 watched the movements of their own hearts, a 
 ready explanation of this fact will occur. They 
 will recollect, that in a depraved mind, passion 
 overpowers reason and argument ; they will re- 
 collect, that irreligion rests far more on disaf- 
 fection of heart, than on want of evidence ; 
 they will recollect, that although truth and 
 moral courage in any religious teacher, may 
 force a momentary attention, yet, that as the 
 subjects on which he touches are ill-suited to 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 373 
 
 the gratification of worldly habits ; such sub- 
 jects will ultimately produce a very limited 
 impression upon the hearers. We speak of a 
 real, and productive, and spiritual impression. 
 A mere moral teacher, who should found his 
 lessons upon the dignity of virtue, upon the in- 
 herent resources of our nature, upon the adapt- 
 ation of right precepts to the regulations of so- 
 ciety — such a man will sometimes exert an al- 
 most magic influence over his followers ; be- 
 cause he still leaves them in peaceful possession 
 of all their self-esteem. But if a system of this 
 delusive character should appear in the eyes of 
 an evangelist to be little better than the effort 
 to heal an external disorder, while the vital parts 
 remain diseased — and if he should proceed to 
 lay bare the corruptions of the soul, to demand 
 the affections for God — to state the necessity for 
 contrition, and for entire dependance on the 
 grace of God for salvation ; if he should go on 
 to propagate a religion internal and unearthly — 
 in this case, he will find the difficulties in his 
 path to be many and afflictive. His eloquence 
 may excite, but it will not convert. The tide 
 of worldliness may for a moment ebb, but it 
 will quickly flow again. In reference to the 
 personal ministry of Christ, at one period we 
 are told, ** the poor heard him gladly," but 
 how quickly were they induced to join in the 
 infuriate shout, *' crucify him, crucify himT' 
 
374 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 As long as they imagined it probable that he 
 was the predicted Messiah, destined to break 
 the iron yoke of their subjection to a foreign 
 power ; as long as they imagined his miracles to 
 be the visible tokens of a divine commission, 
 under which they would regain their lost, but 
 not forgotten distinction among the nations, 
 they heard him with respect, and they followed 
 him with zeal. But when he continued to shun 
 publicity and to covet solitude ; when he un- 
 masked the vain pretensions of the nation to 
 piety, and called for purity, lowliness, and 
 *^ poverty of spirit;" when he declared that to 
 " obey is better than sacrifice," and that ge- 
 nuine religion consists in cordial love to God, 
 immediately their respect and their zeal were 
 exchanged for contempt and opposition. 
 
 But was this result unforeseen by Christ ? 
 Was this opposition of the world destructive 
 of the expectations under which he exercised 
 his hallowed ministry? By no means ; he came 
 into the world to be at once its victim and its 
 friend. He came to suffer and to die, as well 
 as to teach and to entreat. ** Except a corn 
 of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth 
 alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much 
 fruit." Hence he will '* taste of death," that 
 he may become possessed of power to impart 
 life. He will be " lifted up from the earth, that 
 be may df-aw all men to him ; not by the attrac- 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 375 
 
 tion of arguments which had ah'eady failed in 
 their influence, but through the medium and 
 energy of that celestial ** Comforter," who can 
 stamp upon the heart impressions which actual- 
 ly renew its nature. Sin had interrupted the 
 sacred intercourse between heaven and earth. 
 The benignant operations of the eternal Spirit 
 were suspended ; the heart deserted of its 
 heavenly guest had become hard and impene- 
 trable, ** a heart of stone." But through the 
 sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the channels of spiri- 
 tual communication will be re-opened ; and as 
 the result of that sacrifice, the influences of 
 God like the genial sun-beams will again de- 
 scend upon the human soul. Beneath this 
 quickening energy the frozen heart will un- 
 bind, and receive the glorious impress of truth 
 and righteousness. The effects of a single ad- 
 dress by an infirm disciple, will now prove 
 more productive than the accumulated instruc- 
 tions of the divine Master, ** When He, the 
 Spirit of truth, is come, he will lead you into 
 all truth." *' It is expedient for you that I go 
 away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will 
 not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you." '* And when he is come, he 
 will reprove the world of sin, because they he- 
 lieve not on me.'' 
 
 The design and effective effort of Christ in 
 the world was ** to save that which was lost;" 
 
376 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 lost, that is, to purity and to happiness. Now 
 as a moral deliverance requires a moral impres- 
 sion on the heart, the rescue of a sinner from 
 the perils of his condition, can proceed alone 
 from a recovered rectitude of mind. And as no 
 disease of the mind can be healed but by an in- 
 ternal process, of v^hich the individual must be 
 conscious, if man be enabled to regain purity 
 of heart, the change v^ill be accompanied by a 
 painful perception of his previous defilement. 
 Hence the Spirit of God v^ill " reprove the 
 world of sin,"" and this with special aggrava- 
 tion ; *' because they believe not in Christ." 
 
 We have here two subjects for our further 
 contemplation : 
 
 I. The CONVICTION of guilt in the soul, 
 
 BY THE AGENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; and, 
 
 II. The PECULIAR character of THAT 
 GUILT, IN REFERENCE TO UNBELIEF IN JESUS 
 CHRIST. 
 
 I. The conviction of sin in the soul, 
 is the first and most important work of the 
 Holy Spirit. A sense of guilt we may probably 
 deem natural to man ; and the mission of the 
 Spirit to effect this object, to be therefore un- 
 necessary. We would by no means deny the 
 existence of such a conviction in the human 
 heart. There is a secret voice within which 
 sometimes speaks in accents which chill to the 
 very soul. It would be difficult to find a 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 377 
 
 human being who could affirm, that he had 
 never heard and never violated the dictates of 
 his conscience. And yet it is nearly as diffi- 
 cult to find those who honestly follow up this 
 admission, and who examine either into its 
 import, or into its extent. Men rather hasten 
 to check and to destroy, if possible, any actual 
 sensation of guilt. They hasten to counter- 
 poise the scale which is sinking by throwing 
 their seeming virtues into the opposite scale. On 
 every side, we hear of goodness of heart, of 
 dignity of character, of upright intentions. If 
 th.ey admit that they are sinners, they hope to 
 hide the hideousness of their sins by the cir- 
 cumstances which accompany their perpetra- 
 tion. " We intend no evil. We honour inte 
 grity and kindness in others. We have a fair 
 name. Many love, many speak well of, us. 
 Besides, God will surely regard the general 
 character, and not the particular action." Thus 
 they practically annihilate the whole evil, the 
 existence of which they concede. They are sin- 
 ners, and yet they are upright. They break 
 God's laws, and yet they have goodness of heart. 
 The sense of sin which thus prevails in the 
 world, is very ineffectual to the production of 
 any real shame or abhorrence of it. At times, 
 indeed, violent manifestations of an awakened 
 conscience appear, which drive the soul to the 
 very gates of death; and it almost chooses 
 
378 CONVECTION OF SIN. 
 
 *' strangling rather than life." There are oc- 
 casional clamours of conscience, which sophis- 
 try cannot deceive, nor pleasure lull to rest. 
 The remorse of hell sometimes begins its fear- 
 ful work, even on earth. The very tortures of 
 the utterly condemned, have seemed, as it were, 
 to break through the barriers of the grave, and 
 to exhibit, even on this side of eternity, the ter- 
 rific traces of mental desolation. But perhaps 
 such visitations of conscience are unfrequent. 
 A dull calm rather pervades the bosoms of un- 
 godly men. But in those whom God merciful- 
 ly prepares for the happiness of heaven, the 
 Holy Ghost fails not to effect a momentous 
 change in the estimate which they form of 
 their spiritual condition. They ** come to them- 
 selves." They say, in deep sincerity, ** we 
 have sinned before heaven, and before thee, 
 and are no more worthy to be called thy chil- 
 dren." They " smite upon their" anguished 
 " breasts," and often exclaim, " God be mer- 
 ciful to us sinners." The beams of heavenly 
 truth shine within their hearts, and enable them 
 to discern the evils which the darkness of irre- 
 ligion had hitherto concealed from their view. 
 They begin to comprehend something of the 
 holiness of God, and of the unbending rigour 
 of his laws. They perceive that, if by various 
 inferior motives, they have been restrained 
 from the practice of great crimes ; yet that the 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 379 
 
 heart has been estranged from God ; that all 
 spiritual allegiance and homage has been with- 
 held from him; that He has not been the 
 source of their happiness, nor the ground of 
 their confidence; that they have rather scat- 
 tered their affections among the lowest crea- 
 tures of his bounty ; and have pursued an un- 
 shrinking system of mental idolatry. They 
 have *' come short," as the Scriptures express 
 it "of the glory of God." They have been 
 ** dead in trespasses and sins." Or if they have 
 possessed religious knowledge; if they have 
 been educated amidst the hallowed instructions 
 of God's word, they have but partially yielded 
 to its high requirements. Their hearts have 
 not been " right with God.^' To know, has 
 not been to do his will. To listen to the history 
 of heavenly things, has not been to dissolve 
 away the enchantment of earthly things. 
 Worldliness and sensuality have incessantly 
 urged their claims ; and such claims have been 
 too fatally admitted. God has urged his rights ; 
 and such rights have been as fatally denied. 
 The two great laws of the universe, which 
 bind the spiritual creation to its God, and 
 which unite one part of it to the other ; these 
 they have deliberately and perpetually violated 
 They have neither '' loved God with all the 
 heart," nor *' their neighbours as themselves." 
 They now perceive this ; and the conviction of 
 
380 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 sin has become at once decisive and permanent. 
 The dream of their virtue and of their dignity 
 has passed away ; and the reality of their mo- 
 ral degradation has become apparent. They 
 now compare themselves with the standard of 
 God's law ; they search the Scriptures ; they 
 acquaint themselves with God ; they pray for 
 his grace ; they feel abashed and awed before 
 his purity ; they know not in what adequate 
 terms to express the guilt of their rebellion 
 against him. They are overwhelmed by the 
 discovery of their entire depravity, and are no 
 longer disposed to restrain the bitter lamenta- 
 tion — ** Woe is me, for I am undone." '' I 
 have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear ; 
 but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 
 
 This work of the Spirit is incessantly ad- 
 vancing in the world. It commenced its wider 
 operations soon after the resurrection of Christ, 
 and its effects have been most salutary to man- 
 kind. The divine ** Comforter," according to 
 prophetic intimation, descended to occupy the 
 place of Christ in the church ; and to fix his 
 bright abode in the hearts of its true members. 
 While he enables them to discern the vain and 
 ** evil" effort to " hew out to themselves broken 
 cisterns which can hold no water," he leads 
 them back, with perpetual gladness, to drink of 
 the flowing ** fountains of living waters." He 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 381 
 
 urges them alike by the arguments of reason, as 
 by the sensations of weakness, to abandon their 
 own scattered resources, and to fly ** as prison- 
 ers of hope," to that edifice of mercy, the gates 
 of which stand open day and night ; and from 
 the walls of which are heard the accents of un- 
 ceasing invitation — " Return u?ito me, for I have 
 redeemed thee,'' ** /, even I am he that blotteth out 
 thy ty^ansgressionsy '* Look unto me, and be ye 
 saved; for I am God, a just God and a Saviour, 
 and beside me there is none other,'' 
 
 11. The peculiar character of huxMan 
 guilt, stands in connection with this 
 SYSTEM OF MERCY. The Spirit of truth will 
 convince men of sin, on this special ground, 
 that they believe 7iot in Jesus Christ, The aggra- 
 vation of our guilt, the pungent quality of our 
 iniquity, is derived from our rejection of Jesus 
 Christ. It is at the cross of Christ that God 
 permitted the full discovery of human ingra- 
 titude to take place. The sorrows of Christ 
 have afforded evidence of guilt, sufficient to 
 appal and to confound the world. ** Behold 
 the Man!'' His enemies can find nothing to 
 array against him. Every charge dies upon the 
 lips of the accuser. At length a solemn truth 
 which every action ratified, is alleged against 
 him as blasphemy; and he who spent his 
 life in the instruction of the ignorant, and 
 in the consolation of the unhappy ; he who 
 
382 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 dwelt amidst the poor, the sick, the helpless, 
 and the dying; he who never exhibited one 
 selfish feeling; v^^ho seemed to have lost all 
 sensibility, but to the wretchedness of others ; 
 he is nailed to a cross, and expires amidst the 
 execrations of those before whom all his virtues 
 had been fully displayed \ '' He saved others, km- 
 self he ca72not save,'" Strange and cruel taunt! 
 Here is the tremendous proof of human depra- 
 vity ; here is the dark league of rebellion against 
 God and truth ! Here is the manifestation of 
 that utter abandonment of godliness which lies 
 charged upon our nature, and which evinces 
 *' the course of this world" to be *' according: to 
 the Prhice of the power of the air, the spirit which 
 now worketh in the children of disobedience.'' 
 
 The justice of these remarks, in reference to 
 the unbelief of the Jews, and to their rejection of 
 Christ will be readily admitted ; but it will 
 perhaps be asked, '* How does the history of 
 the cross furnish a similar proof of depravity in 
 succeeding ages ?" The answer to this question 
 is not difficult. Such a charge, of course, at- 
 taches not to those who have never heard of the 
 visit of Jesus Christ to the world. But in 
 whatever country the light of revelation has pe- 
 netrated, it has there uniformly rendered the 
 most terrific evidence to human ingratitude. 
 Men grow up familiar with the great facts of 
 Christianity. They profess to credit the his- 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 383 
 
 tory of the evangelists. They follow the detail 
 of the Redeemer's sufferings. They even pe- 
 riodically associate to commemorate them, and 
 yet where are the sacred emotions which a 
 knowledge of those facts ought to produce ? 
 Where is any adequate conviction of obligation 
 under the incalculable amount of mercy mani- 
 fested to sinners ? A mercy attested by the 
 agonies and infamy of Christ ! Where is that 
 gratitude which no vicissitude can impair? That 
 allegiance which no allurement can bribe? 
 Where is that love which ought to find its full 
 expansion within the bosom, beneath the view 
 of transactions so generous and so kind ? These 
 emotions exist not, and in their fatal absence 
 lies the glowing evidence that the Gentiles of 
 the present are, in very fact, the Jews of the 
 past age ; that where God is concerned there 
 is in man neither shame, nor gratitude, nor 
 love, nor justice. Never do our lips attest 
 our belief in the truths of revelation ; never do 
 we in the solemn services of the sabbath con- 
 fess Christ to be the Son of God, but we at 
 the same moment record the charge against our- 
 selves of deliberate baseness and of habitual 
 contempt for all that is truly noble, and good, 
 and great. Now it is the office of the Spirit to 
 convince of sin in this special reference to our 
 practical rejection of Jesus Christ, The con- 
 
384 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 victionofsin is often, at^first, indistinct, or it 
 may refer to some specific act of violation of a 
 known law ; but as religious knowledge ad- 
 vances, as the state of the heart becomes the 
 subject of scrutiny, the penitent is led in a 
 peculiar manner to mark his depravity in this 
 cruel neglect of his Saviour. He has professed 
 to credit the history of his incarnation, of his 
 disinterested mediation, of his sharp suffer- 
 ings, and of their benevolent design ; and yet 
 he has never until this moment turned aside to 
 ponder this affecting spectacle. He has never 
 paused amidst the din and bustle of life, to in- 
 vestigate a mercy, a love, a compassion so 
 strange and so intense. He has never fenced 
 off a solemn hour in which to prostrate himself 
 at his Saviour's feet, and urgently to implore a 
 share in his effectual redemption. Rather, 
 how noble a model of virtue has he entirely 
 overlooked! How generous a friend has he neg- 
 lected ! How compassionate a God has he de- 
 spised ! How infinite his guilt, how hard his 
 heart, how ignoble his spirit, how earthly his 
 views! Thus it is the office of the Spirit to 
 throw light upon this special sin. Up to this 
 moment he has virtually rejected the covenant 
 of peace. The interposition of Jesus Christ in 
 his behalf, has been, in his mind, but as a ce- 
 remony or a dream. 
 
CONVICTION OF SIN. 385 
 
 In conclusion, then, let it be asked, what part 
 have we ourselves in this mystery of godliness ? 
 Are we convinced of sin ? Are we sensible, that 
 amidst all the decorations of society, the em- 
 bellishments of science, the courtesies of friend- 
 ship, we are yet exposed to this charge of 
 deep ingratitude to our Saviour, and of foul 
 rebellion against our God ? Are we sensible, 
 that judged by the law of truth we are indeed 
 criminals ; and that judged by the generous law 
 of requital, we are base and thankless to the 
 most liberal benefactor ? And under these cir- 
 cumstances, have we sought the cleansing vir- 
 tue of the great sacrifice ? Have we entreated 
 the effectual influences of the Spirit to reno- 
 vate our hearts ? Or are any still unmoved by 
 all the statements of the Scriptures ? Alike un- 
 warned by threatening, and untouched by invi- 
 tation ? Are any rejecting *' the counsel of 
 God against themselves," and are foregoing 
 all the blessed hopes of his pardoning grace ? 
 Whatever may be their theory, are they still in 
 practical league with the ungodly, to dethrone 
 the king of heaven, and to resist the dominion 
 of* truth and righteousness? Oh, ere the day 
 of final doom approach ; ere the decisions of 
 inexorable justice separate the just from the 
 unjust ; ere the mansions of joy open to the 
 one, and the prisons of despair unbar their 
 . gates to the other ; ere the day of mercy ter- 
 
 c c 
 
386 CONVICTION OF SIN. 
 
 minate, and the shadows of an unbroken night 
 surround them, let them receive the gift of 
 Christ, and seek eternal shelter beneath the 
 atonement of his blood ! 
 
387 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 John xvi. 8. 11. 
 
 "AND WHEN HE IS COME HE WILL REPROVE THE WORLD... 
 OF RIGHTEOUSNESS; BECAUSE I GO TO MY FATHER, AND YE SEE 
 ME NO MORE." 
 
 If it be the office of the Holy Spirit to produce 
 in the heart a conviction of sin, it is equally 
 his gracious office to disclose ** a righteous- 
 ness," amidst whose effectual provisions, the 
 entire removal of sin may be secured. Within 
 the narrow range of earthly things evils are 
 often discovered which admit of no remedy. 
 The burden presses equally and constantly at 
 every point. The sorrow is susceptible of no 
 alleviation. It is the high characteristic of 
 Christianity, that while it reveals to our con- 
 templation terrific evils, from which our own 
 wisdom and strength can never extricate us, it 
 brings within our reach a celestial alliance 
 which grapples successfully with the whole 
 force of our calamity. Christianity records 
 against us fearful allegations of crime which 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the witness within our bosoms is compelled to 
 ratify, but at the same moment it opens a his- 
 tory of mercy and of renovation, by which sin 
 with all its bitter results may be pardoned and 
 forgotten. If it convict us of depraved affec- 
 tions, and of utter inability to meet the solemn 
 scrutiny of truth and justice, with equal evi- 
 dence it displays before us, the adequacy of 
 that atonement which the great '' lawgiver" 
 has himself provided and approved. ** Christ 
 is the end of the law for righteousness to every 
 one that believeth." *' When the Spirit of 
 truth is come, he shall reprove or convince the 
 world of righteousness, because I go to my 
 Father, and ye see me no more." The con- 
 cluding expression, " I go to my Father, and 
 ye see me no more," affixes a direct limitation 
 to the preceding term '' righteousness," and 
 connects it with the name and person of Christ. 
 His righteousness was in fact questioned, his 
 name was dishonoured, his claims were denied 
 by those among whom he taught and lived. 
 The vindication of his righteousness and of its 
 productive influence upon mankind, he rests upon 
 his resurrection from the dead, upon his victory 
 over the grave, his return to the bosom of his 
 Father, his re-ascension to those regions of 
 ineffable felicity, which he inhabited from eter- 
 nity. 
 
 I. Let us consider The righteousness of 
 
the righteousness of christ. 389 
 
 Christ in vindication of his character 
 AS THE TRUE Messiah, and likewise, 
 
 II. As THE ground of OUR ACCEPTANCE 
 
 WITH God. 
 
 I. The RIGHTEOUSNESS OF Christ in vin- 
 dication OF HIS character AS THE TRUE 
 
 Messiah, is an object of the deepest import- 
 ance. He died under the charge of imposture 
 before men, and of blasphemy before God. He 
 was able indeed, without the slightest move- 
 ment of alarm, to encounter every insinuation, 
 to stand the test of the keenest scrutiny. The 
 blaze of day or the obscurity of night alike 
 met HIM amidst the claims of duty and the toils 
 of love. He fearlessly challenged his accusers 
 to cast a single stain upon his character, 
 ** Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" *' The 
 prince of this world," the great accuser of the 
 good ** Cometh, and hath nothing in me." That 
 such a character should ultimately gain no 
 credit, should exert no effective influence upon 
 others : that such a man, surrounded by mul- 
 titudes who owed to his unwearied charity the 
 faculties, the health, the joys of existence, 
 should enter into the hour of his calamity 
 almost as a solitary exile ; that such a man 
 should stand before a tribunal of justice, the 
 very butt for scorn and slander, without one 
 friend to shield his head from violence ; that 
 such a man should at length be consigned to 
 
390 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the most ignominious punishment, by which 
 crime can receive its expiation, yields evidence 
 of human depravity, to be contemplated with 
 shuddering' and dismay ! *' Lord, what is man 
 that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man 
 that thou so regardest him !" 
 
 The dignity, the calmness, the moral courage, 
 the generous charity which adorned his death ; 
 and the miraculous shock and darkness of 
 nature which accompanied it ; these extorted 
 from the Roman centurion entrusted with the 
 execution of the criminals, the memorable ex- 
 clamation, " Truly this was the Son of God." 
 But the Jewish rulers, and the indignant mul- 
 titude treated with equal contempt the name 
 of Christ, when dead as when alive. No re- 
 lenting found a place in their malice. No com- 
 punction checked their cruelty. The solemnity 
 of the grave, the coolness of reflection, the re- 
 collection of virtues, the exercise of which the 
 grasp of death had now suspended ; these pro- 
 duced no wish to render even a tardy justice to 
 his memory. With cold and deliberate aim, 
 though surrounded by supernatural attestations 
 to his innocence, their enmity and rage com- 
 bined each effort to bury his name from the re- 
 collections of mankind. 
 
 When carrying the load of disgrace in life, 
 as we have already remarked, he rested the 
 ultimate defence of his character upon the 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 391 
 
 event of his early resurrection from the dead. 
 *' Destroy the temple of this body, and in three 
 days I will raise it up." " The Spirit of truth 
 shall convince the world of my righteousness, 
 because I go unto my Father, and ye see me no 
 more." As if he had said, " I am prepared 
 to go down to the grave, loaded with shame 
 and infamy. I am prepared to endure the 
 charge of imposture and of blasphemy. I am 
 prepared to undergo the lingering tortures of 
 crucifixion, and the last agonies of death ; such 
 is the sympathy I feel with human wretched- 
 ness. But if I betray no eager haste, no op- 
 pressive anxiety to throw off the burden of 
 slander under which I stand, it is not because 
 my character is not dear to me ; it is not be- 
 cause I am reckless of the voice which calum- 
 niates, or of the hand which pierces me. I 
 design to rebut these charges ; to vindicate my 
 name ; to establish my innocence. At present, 
 however, the purposes of mercy ; the exhibi- 
 tion of justice ; the forlorn and wretched con- 
 dition of my people ; the recovery of their 
 hearts to peace ; the capacity of those diseased 
 hearts for knowledge and for bliss ; these cir- 
 cumstances arrest my immediate efforts and 
 invite me rather to the anguish of the cross. I 
 obey the summons ; I take ' the cup of trem- 
 bling,' and shall calmly 'drink its dregs;' at 
 length I shall bow my head to the stroke of 
 
392 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 death. I shall repose in the grave ; but I shall 
 not remain its prisoner. If, like the mute te- 
 nants of the tomb, I moulder into dust ; if no 
 celestial agency restore me to the living, then 
 let every allegation of my enemies be substan- 
 tiated, and let my character be trampled on 
 vv^ith scorn. But if I compel the grave to re- 
 sign his prey ; if, like the sun shining in its 
 strength, I come back to cheer my afflicted 
 disciples; if within their eager sight I re- 
 ascend to the regions of felicity, then let slan- 
 der hush her voice, then let my memory be 
 dear to my friends, and my righteousness be clear 
 as the noon-day." 
 
 This actual vindication of his character, 
 Jesus Christ accomplished. *' The keepers of 
 his sepulchre became as dead men ;" the earth 
 rocked, and the gates of the grave opened. He 
 came forth *' the bright and morning star" of 
 hope and joy, to his disciples. He satisfied 
 every doubt as to his resurrection. " He open- 
 ed their understandings." He explained diffi- 
 culties. He led them to Bethany. He bless- 
 ed them with uplifted hands. He ascended 
 beyond the clamours of earth, " and sat down 
 at the right hand of the majesty of God." And 
 while his foes have been scattered to the four 
 winds of heaven, his name has survived the 
 shock of events, and the lapse of years. His 
 name is still as the fragrant *' ointment poured 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 393 
 
 forth." His remembrance still cheers the hearts, 
 and sustains the hopes of the guilty and the 
 sad. " They know in whom they have be- 
 lieved." As successive centuries roll away, 
 successive sufferers still rest the burden of their 
 fears upon his righteousness and strength ! 
 
 II. We have yet to consider This righte- 
 ousness AS the ground of our acceptance 
 with God. " If Christ be not raised from the 
 dead," declares St. Paul to the Corinthians, 
 '* ye are yet in your sins." Then ''also those 
 who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished." 
 *' But now," he triumphantly adds, *' now is 
 Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
 first-fruits of them that slept." '' He was de- 
 livered for our offences, and raised again for 
 our justification." 
 
 It appears from the Scriptures, that when 
 God created Adam, he constituted him the 
 head or representative of the human race. The 
 destiny of the offspring was in the custody of 
 the parent. He could not *' abide in honour" 
 as a solitary servant of God ; neither could he 
 forfeit his allegiance as a solitary rebel. His 
 fall would degrade his children. The casting 
 away his own happiness would involve the 
 misery of his whole race. This connection of 
 circumstances and of character, seems to belong 
 alike to the general framework of society, and 
 to the laws of the natural world. Amidst many 
 
394 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 shades of character, the same general propen- 
 sities belong to the offspring which have pre- 
 viously belonged to the parent. The young of 
 the tyger never possessed the qualities of the 
 lamb. During the first playful days of its ex- 
 istence it may manifest harmlessness ; but as 
 age matures its strength it thirsts for blood 
 equally with the race from which it springs. 
 In the history of human society, the dignity of 
 the father descends to the son. The attainder 
 of the parent involves the degradation of the 
 child. No event, or character, or thing, seems 
 to stand alone. Every creature is a link in a 
 vast chain of existence. Every event is a link 
 in a similar chain of Providence. The history 
 of redemption by Christ Jesus reveals the same 
 kind of connection. Jesus Christ is actually 
 designated *' the second Adam," and " as in 
 Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive." '* For as by the offence of one, judg- 
 ment came upon all men to condemnation ; even 
 so by the righteousness of one, the free gift 
 came upon all men, unto justification of life." 
 " For as by one man's disobedience, many were 
 made sinners ; so by the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous ;'^ '* that as sin hath 
 reigned unto death, even so might grace reign 
 through righteousness unto eternal life, by 
 Jesus Christ our Lord." Under these and si- 
 milar expressions, Jesus Christ is presented to 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 395 
 
 our faith as the federal head of those who are 
 saved, precisely as Adam was the representa- 
 tive of those who are lost. Christ has ren- 
 dered a spotless obedience to all the require- 
 ments of the moral law. " He has fulfilled all 
 righteousness." He became submissive even 
 to death, and this the appalling death of the 
 cross. This suffering he endured, and this 
 righteousness he completed, that he might at 
 once become an atonement for the sins of his 
 people, and establish a perpetual claim to feli- 
 city on their behalf. He is thus our represen- 
 tative in death and in life. We merit death, 
 and Jesus dies. He merits eternal joy, and we 
 partake it with him. ** Because I live, ye shall 
 live also." *' I am the life." *' I am the re- 
 surrection and the life." The ground of our 
 acceptance, the condition of our pardon, the 
 allotment of our felicity is thus connected with 
 the atonement and obedience of Jesus Christ. 
 To this connection, to this covenant, God the 
 lawgiver and the judge is himself a party. The 
 plan of pacification is his own, the method of 
 spiritual renovation is his own. In reference to 
 this mysterious but effective mediation. He pro- 
 claims himself to be ** the just God and the 
 Saviour,'''' For in this mode of reconciliation he 
 makes no compromise with evil. His mercy 
 bears no equivocal character. It is as holy as 
 his truth. It sustains the moral government of 
 
396 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 God in every part of its exercise equally with 
 the operations of inexorable justice. 
 
 Is it not, indeed, in a very high degree pro- 
 bable, that unnumbered worlds of spiritual in- 
 telligences have watched, with the most in- 
 tense interest and delight, the manifestation of 
 purity and love, in the death and innocence of 
 the Son of God? '' It is by the church," ob- 
 serves the apostle Paul — that is, by the pardon 
 and felicity of rescued sinners, *' that the mani- 
 fold wisdom of God, is made known to princi- 
 palities and powers." It is to this scene of 
 sorrow and of grace, we may conceive celestial 
 spirits to bend their way, in order to gain the 
 most enlarged displays of the attributes of God; 
 to scrutinize the nature of moral evil, and to 
 mark the eternal connection between rectitude 
 and happiness. It is before this spectacle of 
 innocent and voluntary suffering, we may con- 
 ceive these happy spirits to approve and to share 
 the rapture of the great herald of this mercy to 
 the Gentiles. ** God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 ^* Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss, 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus the Lord." 
 
 Hence, no subject connected with Chris- 
 tianity, can be more attractive and consolatory 
 than the testimony which the Holy Ghost bears 
 " to the righteousness of Christ." *' He will 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 397 
 
 reprove the world of righteousness, because I 
 go unto my Father, and ye see me no more." 
 It was, we are told, '* through the eternal Spi- 
 rit, that Christ offered himself to God." It was 
 by the same Spirit, he was ** quickened," and 
 enabled to cast away the bonds of the grave, 
 and to ascend above the heavens. The same 
 consistent testimony the Holy Spirit bears to 
 the righteousness of Christ, in every page and 
 promise of revelation, which record the lofty 
 themes of mercy by the atonement of the cross. 
 But he limits not his bright evidence to the 
 fact of the resurrection, nor to the inspiration of 
 the documents of Scripture. He carries the 
 same testimony within the darkest recesses of 
 the breast, which relies for comfort upon the 
 revealed records of his truth. What other tes- 
 timony, let it be asked, than the testimony of 
 the Holy Spirit, does the calm hour of medi- 
 tation and of prayer supply to the soul, when 
 it sends forward its joyous hopes into eternity? 
 What other hand than the invisible hand of the 
 Spirit, applies the balm of atoning blood to the 
 wounds which sin has inflicted? What other 
 accents than the accents of the Spirit, whisper 
 effective consolation to the agitated bosom ; 
 smooth down the rugged recollection of its 
 guilt; and relieve the breast of the dread of 
 perpetual wrath, that keenest pang which ever 
 shoots across the human heart ? Salvation, 
 
398 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 through the great atonement is, in fact, the ab- 
 sorbing theme of inspiration — the alpha and 
 omega of the Scriptures. The epistles to the 
 Romans, the Galatians, the Ephesians, and the 
 Hebrews, contain, more especially, the heart- 
 cheering delineations of this holy mercy to the 
 guilty. To these well-springs of hope, the 
 thirsty soul will incessantly resort, and will find 
 each successive draught to be more grateful and 
 refreshing than the last! 
 
 Various are the schemes which unconverted 
 men devise to ease the troubles of conscience, and 
 to render death an event less gloomy than they 
 are yet compelled to esteem it. But all these 
 devices are rather negative than affirmative. 
 They are calculated rather to lull fear, than to 
 excite hope. They are effective, rather to 
 chase death into the region of forgetfulness, 
 than to endear it as an object of attraction. 
 They have their origin, alike in ignorance of 
 God, as in pride of heart. They are the houses 
 built upon the sand, which lift up a fair front 
 beneath sunshine and serenity ; but when the 
 clouds gather, and the winds howl, and the rain 
 descends, these houses rock to their founda- 
 tions, and bury their deluded occupants in utter 
 desolation. If the law of God require the sin- 
 less obedience of love ; and if it make no allow- 
 ance for deficiency ; if it scan the motive as 
 well as the action, are we not driven at once 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 399 
 
 upon free mercy for the smallest degree of hope ? 
 Can the human heart, amidst the inexorable 
 enactments of the law, carry any claim to the 
 throne of judgment, which will not be instantly 
 annihilated ? But if, on the other hand, Christ 
 be the constituted head of a spiritual and ran- 
 somed race; if his sacred agonies be appro- 
 priated by the eternal lawgiver himself, as the 
 price of their forgiveness ; if his ** obedience 
 unto death" be declared meritorious of eternal 
 life to the guilty ; then, on what a rock of ada- 
 mant does he build his expectations, who leans 
 his forlorn heart upon the unimpeachable fide- 
 lity of God. Although the harsh accents of the 
 law may grate upon his ear, although conscience 
 may engrave its awful sanctions in yet deeper 
 characters upon his heart ; although anguished 
 memory may spread before him the long and 
 terrible catalogue of his crimes ; yet, in the face 
 of these multiplied sources of accusation is he 
 privileged to repose in peace. The imperisha- 
 ble record replies to each importunate demand, 
 ** I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trans- 
 gressions for mine own sake^ and will not remem- 
 ber thy sins." '* I am come, that they might 
 have life, and that they might have it more 
 abundantly." *' Behold the Lamb of God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world." 
 ** Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
 
400 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 
 
 the Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they 
 shall be as white as snow ; and though they be 
 red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
 
 These, and similar assurances, have prevailed, 
 in every age, to quell the fears, and to sustain 
 the hopes of the pious, as they have approached 
 the moment of their departure from the world, 
 they have been enabled to say, ** Thy word is 
 tried unto the uttermost, and thy servant loveth 
 it." When flesh and heart have failed -, when 
 earthly objects have shrunk into their real insig- 
 nificance ; when responsibility and final allot- 
 ment have become objects so near, as to force 
 themselves within the view of conscience ; when 
 the gates of eternity, and the awful presence of 
 God, have almost burst upon the sight ; then 
 has the unfailing testimony of the Spirit to the 
 righteousness of Christ, animated their souls. 
 It has not failed them in the last crisis of their 
 fate. The outward shock of dissolution has 
 been severe, but a holy peace has been main- 
 tained within. Not all the bitter waters of 
 their iniquities have prevailed to quench their 
 Saviour's love, nor their inconstancy to rob 
 them of the secret joys of his fellowship. Up- 
 held by his arm, they have securely walked 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, and 
 have felt and feared no evil ; for God himself 
 has comforted them, and permitted the season 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 401 
 
 of mortal extremity to become the moment of 
 their brightest triumph, and the occasion of their 
 fullest joy ! 
 
 The early promulgators of Christianity, while 
 they afforded examples of heroic virtue, record- 
 ed their unequivocal sentiments of self-renun- 
 ciation. They rested all their future interests 
 upon the exclusive merits of Jesus Christ. If 
 there be a man who nobly served his master, 
 that man was the apostle Paul ; and yet, when 
 he looked forward to the last tribunal, and anti- 
 cipated the crown of life which he believed the 
 righteous Judge would place upon his head, on 
 what did he repose his confidence ? Not on his 
 own integrity, but on his Saviour's merits. 
 This is his language : *' What things were gain 
 to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, 
 doubtless, and I count all things but loss for 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
 Jesus my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the 
 loss of all things, and do count them but dung, 
 that I may win Christ ; and be found in him ; 
 not having mine own righteousness, which is of 
 the law ; but that which is through the faith of 
 Christ, the righteousness which is of God by 
 faith." If language can renounce personal me- 
 rit, and express dependance on the merits of 
 Christ, it is surely this language of the apostle. 
 
 My fellow Christians! what then are our own 
 hopes and expectations for eternity ? To this 
 
 D D 
 
402 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHUIST. 
 
 single point, will all our interests be shortly re- 
 duced. Perhaps we are now elated by the 
 glitter, or beat down by the sorrows of the 
 world ; but this prosperity, and this adversity, 
 are names rather than things. They exist but as 
 the agitated or the lulling dream of the night ! 
 Our allotment in the eternal world is every 
 thing to our welfare. There is a heritage of 
 glory and of joy. One path, and one alone, 
 conducts to its felicity. Oh ! are we moving 
 along that heaven-illumined way ? Yes ! we 
 are not attempting to find a broader road, which 
 will permit us to carry our pride and our pas- 
 sions with us ! It cannot be — our felicity lies in 
 holiness, and we are healed by the atonement 
 and spirit of Christ. He seeks the vast recom- 
 pense of his labours, his sufferings, and death, 
 in the full salvation of his people. This is the 
 ultimate ** travail of his soul," by which *' he 
 will be satisfied." This was the joy which up- 
 held his soul, when *' he endured the cross," 
 and calmly '' despised the shame." Let us 
 never attempt to rob him of his ** crown of re- 
 joicing." Let us rather fly closer to his bosom, 
 and take our first and last shelter within his 
 arms of mercy ! Let us rather shrink into utter 
 self-emptiness and abasement, and receive him, 
 as he is freely given, in that character of accu- 
 mulated mercy, '* our wisdom and righteous- 
 
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 403 
 
 ness, our sanctification and redemption ;" ** that 
 he that glorieth, may glory in the Lord." 
 
 How soon shall we require all this rich en- 
 dowment of unmerited grace! When we take 
 our companionless journey into the untravelled 
 regions beyond the grave ; when in the full sun- 
 light of truth, we discern between good and 
 evil ; shall we not then cling with unutterable 
 tenacity to ** the hope of righteousness by 
 faith," and to the friend, who in our behalf 
 obeyed the stern requisitions of the law, even 
 to the last and sharpest pangs of death ? 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTEIIS, SAVOY STREET, 4TR A N IX, 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 SERMONS, 
 
 PREAtlHED IN RICHMOND CHURCH. 
 
 1 VOL. 8V0. IN THE PRESS. 
 
 A COLLECTION OF PSALMS AND HYMNS, 
 
 CORRECTED AND REVISED FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 FOURTH EDITION. 18mO. 3*. 6rf. BOUND. 
 
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