THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 240 V-56c 1838 The person charging this material is re¬ sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library THE COMPLETE DUTY OE MAI; m ^ ♦ « * ■ * _> OR, A SYSTEM DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY, DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES. BY REV. HENRY VENN, A.M., RECTOR OE TELLING IN HUNTINGDONSHIRE IN A. D. 1763. A NEW EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED AND CORRECTED BY REV. II. VENN, B.D., or st. John’s hollowai ; latb fellow of queen’s college, Cambridge. To whom coining as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual bouse, a boly priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.— 1 Peter, 2 : 4, 6. FWER8ITY OF WFTOS USRfl!*? PUB LI sjn |y La 1 92 3 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 150 NASS AU.STREET, NEW YORK. * * 4- ,v \ ^ r • ^ " „ • , . ' r. * ' •* »* y*' >.V' . : * ,% V ^ *> *3v> ■♦V .; • . >■<• - / "> • ; . *; . «• .* . > V •/ * -• .* • * ■ ? ■ ‘ N . *n > “ ,**is v >• ., *. » *• ' jJjr #y * • 4 • ,*-*'* ' ■''. i ■' . . *• * ' ' ‘ ».‘ : * * 'y*. . * ‘ . 4 , -• - * . ! •• * . ; T » ' , r T •' / '*<•", ■ V " '■ i < •« * <■■ ■ '. .... ' • •■• m ■ - a „.¥ SfcV-Vr. w- * ' * \ • •■*- i- ' - *J . j : - *' * ' * # . V; % •* »• v. -7 " V . V 1 X i ■ ' , < 4 • ■•• - - V »J, . • . %■ v * - • > .< * < J* 4 . . •! 4 . - <*- i $ m •■ ■ f i tz* r /'i X4 D yslc. I 9 3 9 i / ADVERTISEMENT (FROM THE LONDON EDITION.) It may be well to inform the reader that the early editions of this work, which were published by the author in his life time, underwent many alterations both in respect of style and arrangement. In the two first editions the number of chap¬ ters was fourteen. In the third edition the work was divided into fifty-two chapters, to correspond with the number of Sun¬ days in the year: but by this arrangement the subjects were inconveniently broken; the style also of this edition was so altered, at the request of friends who thought it too prolix, as to appear more like an abridgment than an original work. At the close of the author’s life, a fifth edition was prepared by his son, the Rev. John Venn, Rector of Clapham, Surrey; in which the style was brought back to that of the earlier edi¬ tions, and a middle plan was adopted in the division of chap¬ ters, by which the number was reduced to forty. This edi¬ tion was printed and published by Mr. Hazard, of Bath, in 1798. Many subsequent editions have, however, been printed, both in various parts of the United Kingdom and in America, in some of which considerable alterations in point of style and expression have been introduced: and in some cases the ob¬ jectionable division of chapters has been adopted. 4 ADVERTISEMENT. The publisher of this edition being anxious to render it 51 correct as possible, consulted a descendant of the author, the Rev. Henry Venn, Incumbent of St. John’s, Holloway, who late¬ ly published a volume containing the author's life and cor¬ respondence. By his advice the fifth edition has been follow¬ ed, as the standard one; and as he also kindly revised the proofs of the work, the present edition is presented to the public, with some confidence, as being a genuine and correct edition of a book which has long been regarded as one of the most popular and useful manuals of practical divinity. Holloway, August, 1S38. CONTENTS OF THE SOUL. Chap. ' 1. Its Excellency,. 2. Advantages of a just Conviction of its Excellency, OF GOD. 3. His character as described in Scripture, 4. His character Exemplified,. OF MAN. * # * \ 5. His natural Condition, . . ... 6. His Enmity against God,. OF THE LAW. 7. Its Perfection and Use,. 8. Its Use as preparatory to the Gospel, . 9. Evils arising from the Ignorance of it, . OF FAITH IN CHRIST. 10. Its Nature and Extent, . 11. The Advantages of a just Idea of Faith, 12. Ground of Faith in Christ for Pardon, 13. -—for Instruction, . 14. -for Victory over Sin, OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 15. His Divinity,. 16. His Office,. 17. The Properties of his Influence, .... OF REPENTANCE. 18. Its Nature, .. 19. The same subject continued, .... 20. Its universal Obligation,. CHRISTIAN GRACES AND DISPOSITIONS. 21. Dispositions of a Christian towards God, Godly Fear, .. Ready Obedience—Gratitude, .... Trust in God,. Glorifying God, . .. Purity of Heart,. 22. Imitation of God,. Love of God,. Devotion,.. . Self-abasement, Page 11 18 27 42 54 65 75 86 95 106 117 131 138 148 156 164 178 184 192 199 206 207 208 211 214 215 217 220 224 227 6 CONTENTS Chap. Page. 23. Dispositions of a Christian towards Men, • • 231 Sincerity,. • • 232 Justice,. • • 235 24. Mercy, ...... • • • 245 Meekness,. • • 250 25. Candor,. • • 256 Forgiveness,. • • 259 Humility,. RELATIVE DUTIES. • • 263 26. Of Persons in a married State, . • • 268 27. Of Parents, . .. • • • 280 28. Method of Instructing Children, . • • 290 29. Of Children,. 303 Of Servants,. • • 306 Of Masters,. SELF-DENIAL. • • 308 30. With respect to Intemperance, • • 311 31. Impurity,. 319 32. Covetousness,. 329 Inordinate Affection, .... • • 336 Love of Praise,. • • 338 33. False Shame,. 343 Fear of suffering for Religion, • • 345 Pride of Reason, .... Self-righteousness, .... ON PRAYER. • • 347 • • 351 34. Its Object,. 356 Nature,. • • 359 Subject,. • • 363 35. Necessity, . • • 366 36. Requisites of true Prayer, . • • oid Its Success, . ON SCRIPTURE. • • 380 37. Method of Studying it, ... CHRISTIAN JOY. • • 386 38. Its Sources, . • • 396 39. The Reasonableness of expecting it, . • • 409 40. Its Certainty and Benefits, . . . • • 0 419 PREFATORY NOTICE. The author of the following popular and highly useful manual of practical divinity, was the Rev. Henry Venn, an evangelical, laborious and suc¬ cessful clergyman of the Church of England. It has passed through frequent editions since its first publication in the year 1763, and there is abundant evidence of its having been attended with a bless¬ ing to many of its readers. The ministry of Mr. Venn commenced in the year 1747, and he went to his gracious reward in the year 1797, having labored in his Master’s cause nearly half a century, and been an instrument in his hands of spiritual good to multitudes of souls He was one of those excellent men who contn buted largely to the spread of evangelical preach 8 PREFATORY NOTICE. mg in the established church; many of the younger clergy by his instructions and example having been led into a more prominent exhibition of the doc¬ trines of grace, and into a corresponding exemplifi¬ cation of their practical value in the purity of their lives and conduct. The tenor of the work now presented anew to the Christian public is in beautiful consistence with that of Mr. Venn’s published sermons. It places things in their proper order, preparing the way to Christian practice by Christian faith, and to Christian faith by heartfelt conviction of sin. It considers all attempts to promote holiness of living as defective, in which the cross of Christ is not laid as the foundation, and constantly kept in view; every duty being enforced as having relation to the Re¬ deemer, his instructions and example, and above all, his atoning sacrifice. v “True holiness,” says its pious author in his original preface, “ which consists in profound self- abasement, and subjection to the God and Father of our spirits, in love of his nature and will, in PREFATORY -NOTICE. 9 heavenly-minded ness, in ardent longings after purity of heart, is the genuine product of a living faith, and is no where to be found till the ever-blessed name of Jesus, his grace and truth, his compassion, his dying love, and all-perfect obedience, are the meditation, delight and confidence of the soul.” May every reader of this excellent work unite with the author in his cordial prayer to the Foun¬ tain of all good, “ that it would please him to make it instrumental in giving to those who peruse it such a manifestation of the glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as shall make sin and the world, with their bewitching charms, appear vain, despicable and odious—such a conviction of human ignorance, guilt and depravity, as may infinitely endear the name of a Redeemer and Sanctifier, and create tender com¬ passion and humbleness of mind one towards an¬ other—such a knowledge of the pardon and peace, the strength and power, the purity and holiness which ennoble and bless those who have scriptural faith in Christ, as may manifest the emptiness of deistical and formal religion, and excite an earnest 10 PREFATORY NOTICE. desire to behold the meridian glory of Christianity in the eternal world; where every creature breaks forth in fervent acknowledgment of infinite obliga¬ tion, saying, ‘ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.’ ” J. M. y \ * THE COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN, CHAPTER I. T IS E SOU E. ITS EXCELLENCY. , ' . . f . 1 > * v. It is evident that man is endued with an active prin¬ ciple, entirely distinct from his body. For whilst his body is chained down, an unconscious mass of matter- to a spot of earth, his soul can soar and expatiate in contemplation; can reflect, and with variety almost in¬ finite, can compare the numberless objects which pre¬ sent themselves before it. When his body has attained maturity, his soul arrives not to a state of perfection, but goes on increasing in wisdom and knowledge; and when the body is feeble or sinks into decay, the soul is often full of vigor, or feels grief and anguish all its own. To demonstrate the excellency of the soul, in its pro¬ perties so singular and admirable, is of great import¬ ance: because all that is comprehended under the word religion, respects the soul. And many precepts in the book of God must be resisted as unreasonable, or slighted as unnecessary, if the salvation of the soul be not considered as the greatest good man can attain; the ruin of it, the greatest evil he can suffer. To prove the worth of the soul, I shall make my ap¬ peal to your own observation, and to the evidences of 12 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Holy Scripture, entirely waiving all philosophical in¬ quiries into its nature, and all abstract reasoning con¬ cerning it. Observation , then, upon what passes before your eyes powerfully proves the worth and excellency of the soul. For what is the case of thousands around you, if it has not already been your own 'l Are they not mourning over some tender parent, some affectionate friend, or near relative 1 One week, the dear deceased, how much was he valued ! What a sprightly enter¬ taining companion, in the prime of life, perhaps of per¬ sonal comeliness! The next, ah! sudden, bitter, prodi¬ gious transformation! the desirable object is become loathsome, fit only for the grave. Do you ask how it comes to pass, that what was lovely to admiration, only a week or day before, should so soon be even hideous to look on'? The answer loudly proclaims the dignity and excellency of the soul. For could the dead parent, friend or relative, hold discourse with you on the sub¬ ject, his answer would be to this effect: "Are you seized with afflicting surprise 1 Do you with tears of tenderness bewail the frightful change you see in a form long so familiar and so pleasing to you 1 The cause is this: The immortal inhabitant, which for a few years lodged under this roof of flesh, hath removed its abode. My soul by its presence gave to my body all its motion, life and beauty. The instant the one took its destined flight, the other began to moulder into dust, and dust must remain till His voice, who is the resurrection and the life, unites it for ever to its former inmate.” From this most striking difference, therefore, between a dear parent, friend, or relation, active, useful, lovely, and the cold, pale piece of outcast earth which he in¬ stantly becomes upon the departure of his soul; under¬ stand what dignity and worth must necessarily belong to the soul. EXCELLENCY OF THE SOUL. 13 And if from this fact, daily passing before our eyes, you turn to the page written by inspiration of God , it is impossible to remain ignorant of the excellency of the soul. What can be imagined more grand than the account of its creation 1 Look up to the heavens 5 immensely high, immeasurably wide as they are, God only spake, and instantly, with all their host, they had their being. The earth, the sea, the air, with all their millions of beasts, birds, and fishes, were formed instantaneously by the breath of his mouth. But, behold! before the human soul is formed, a counsel of the Eternal Trinity is held: " God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.” He formed his soul in its moral faculties a.nd powers, a sinless, im¬ mortal transcript of himself. To deface this image, and ruin a creature which the love of God had so highly exalted, was an attempt equal to the execrable malice Satan bore against God and against the favorite work of his hand. But no sooner did the devil, by his accursed subtilty, bring on the soul an injury, tending to its utter destruction, than the most high God, by the method used to recover it, declared a second time still more loudly the exceeding greatness of its worth. For take a just survey of the majesty of Him, who only, of all in heaven, was able or sufficient to restore the soul to the favor and fruition of God. Before him the depth of the unfathomable seas, the height of the loftiest mountains, the vast dimensions of the earth, and the immense circuit of the skies, are as the small dust of the balance. Before him the vast mirltitudes which people the whole earth, with all their pomp, are less than nothing and vanity. This is he, behold him! This is he who takes upon himself a work impossible for angels to effect, the redemption of the soul. He un 14 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. dertakes to replace it in the favor of God—not by the word of his mouth, as in the day that he made the hea¬ vens and the earth; but by a contrivance infinitely cost¬ ly and painful; by a process of many steps, each of them mysterious to angels as well as to men. To redeem the soul, he lays aside his glory. He is born poor and mean. He lives afflicted, insulted, oppressed. In his death he is made a sin-offering and a curse, presenting to the Father a divine obedience, and a death fully satisfactory to his broken law. Pause then awhile, and duly con¬ sider who the Redeemer is, and what he hath done. Then will you necessarily conclude, that whatever the world admires as excellent, and extols as most valuable, is unspeakably mean when put in the balance against the worth of the soul. ' It is indeed a matter of the utmost difficulty to be¬ lieve that One, in every perfection equal with the Eter¬ nal Father, should abase himself to the cross, and shed his blood on it to ransom the soul. Here reason with all its efforts is lost in the unfathomable depth of mys¬ tery ; and, if left to itself, would lead into perpetual ca¬ vil, if not to a flat denial of the reality of the fact. The method used to prevent such a denial, which would be blasphemy against God and perdition to ourselves, still more forcibly adds evidence to the worth of the soul. For the same Eternal Spirit which in the beginning brought light out of darkness, and order and beauty out of chaos, comes down from heaven to bear witness of redemption. " He shall glorify me,” saith the Re¬ deemer, " for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” In other words, it is his office so to dis¬ play the glory of the person, righteousness and salva¬ tion of the Lord Jesus Christ, that those truths, which are foolishness to the reason of the natural man, may be discerned in all their excellency. This Eternal Spirit (called the Spirit of Truth, because the only effectual EXCELLENCY OF THE SOUL. 15 Teacher of Divine truth) is continually present with the Church of Christ, by his illumination to make known the things which are freely given us of God. Judge, then, what must be the excellency of that im¬ mortal principle within you, which in its original birth is the offspring of the God of glory, and impressed with his own image; then the purchase of the blood of his Son ,• and now the pupil of the Holy Ghost. When no¬ bility stoops to the office of teaching, no one of less dignity than the heir of a kingdom must be the scholar. How great then must be the excellency of the soul, ,vhich has the Spirit of God for its appointed instructor and continual guide ! It will still further prove the worth of the soul, to consider that amazing elevation of glory to which it will be advanced, or that dire extremity of wo in which it will be plunged hereafter.. Soon as the few years allotted for its education and trial here on earth expire, if grace and the offers of salvation have been duly ac¬ cepted and improved, it will gain admission into the city of the living God; where shines an everlasting day; where every thing is removed for ever that might but tend to excite fear, or for a moment to impair the completeness of felicity. And whilst the soul possesses a magnificent habitation, eternal in the heavens, the company with which it will be associated, in excellency far surpass all the glories of its place of abode. Man, by revolting from God, was banished from any com¬ merce with the glorious spirits that people the invisible world. But when the designs of grace are accomplish¬ ed in the soul, it becomes a partaker of all the invalu¬ able privileges and dignities of the angels. It is clothed with a brightness of glory refulgent as the sun, it is raised to such degrees of excellency as exceed our highest reach of thought; every defect and blemish in¬ herent in its present condition is done away, and its 16 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. moral perfections surpass in splendor the outward beauty with which it is arrayed. Now, if we estimate the grandeur of a person from the exalted station he is born to bear, and the possessions he shall one day call his own, how great must the worth of the soul be judged, which, unless ruined by its own incorrigible sinfulness, is to inherit the riches of eternity ; to stand before the throne of Jehovah on a rank with angels; to drink of rivers of pleasure which are at his right hand for evermore! It is, on the other hand, evidence equally strong of the value of the soul, though, alas! of a very melan¬ choly and distressing kind, with which the Scripture account of the extreme misery it must suffer if it pe¬ rishes furnishes us. If it is not counted worthy to be admitted, through the Savior’s mediation, into glory; O sad alternative! its doom, like the sentence pro¬ nounced on some offender of great dignity, whose dis¬ tinction serves only to inflame his guilt, is full of hor¬ ror. It is cut oft’ from all communion with God; re¬ moved to an inconceivable distance; separated by an impassable gulf. It must have him for the avenger of its crimes, in comparison of whose strength all created might is weaker than a new-born babe. That arm is to be stretched forth against it, which shoots the planets in their rounds, and taketh up the isles as a very little thing. The soul that perishes is to suffer the punish¬ ment prepared for the devil and his angels; to suffer punishment, the very same in kind with that of the great adversary of the blessed God; whose business, whose only joy ever since his fall from heaven, has been to defeat, if it were possible, all God’s designs of grace ; to undermine his kingdom and tread his honor in the dust; who has already seduced souls without number, and who will go on in his course of treason and enmity against God, till the day of executing full EXCELLENCY OF THE SOUL. 1? vengeance on him is come. Though not in equal tor¬ ment, yet in the same hell with this execrable being, is the soul that perishes to endure the wrath of God. Whether you regard therefore the felicity or the r uin which the soul of man in a few fleeting years must ex¬ perience, you will find it hard to determine which of the two most forcibly bespeaks its grandeur. These evidences, obvious to every eye which reads the Scripture page, prove, in a manner not to be ques¬ tioned, that the poorest beggar carries greater wealth in his own bosom, and possesses a higher dignity in his own person, than all the world can give him. The soul that enables him to think and choose, surpasses in worth all that the eye ever saw or the fancy ever imagined. Before one such immortal being all the magnificence of the natural world appears diminutive, because transi¬ tory. All these things wax old as doth a garment, and all the works of nature shall be burnt up; hut the years of the soul, its happiness or its wo, like the unchange¬ able God its creator, endure for ever. From these evidences you will perceive, that the schemes which engage the attention of eminent states¬ men and mighty kings, nay even the delivery of a na¬ tion from ruin or slavery, are trifles when set in com¬ petition with the salvation of a single soul. You will see the propriety of that astonishing assertion, that in heaven, the seat of glory, and among angels, whose thoughts can never stoop to any thing little, " There is joy over one sinner that repenteth.” You will see why the Lord God Almighty is at so much pains (if the expression may be used) to awaken the children of men into a just concern for the salvation of their souls : why the warnings he gives them are so solemn, his calls so repeated and pressing, and his entreaties so affectionate. All these things follow as the just and natural conclu¬ sions from the matchless excellency of the soul. 18 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN CHAPTER II. TMIZ SOITJL — continued. * * ' * * * ADVANTAGES OF A JUST CONVICTION OF ITS EXCELLENCY. The incomparable excellency of the soul has been shown by various proofs. A clear, strong, and abiding conviction of this excellency is the foundation of all real religion, and on many accounts is indispensably necessary. For want of a just perception of the worth of the soul, the amusements of folly and the pleasures of sin are looked upon by the young as the chief sources of de¬ light. They are shy of religion, notwithstanding its pro¬ mises of peace, of joy, of eternal life, and they regard it as a malevolent enemy to their happiness. But no sooner do they once truly apprehend the excellency of the soul, than acquaintance with spiritual objects is sought after and highly valued. Thus informed, the lan¬ guage even of youthful hearts is this : " The bloom of my days and the vigor of my life shall be devoted to my best, my everlasting interest. A sight of the worth of my soul has delivered me from the fascinating power of polluting lusts, and has broken all the magic force of their cruel enchantments.” The same knowledge of the worth of the soul is ab¬ solutely necessary to preserve men inviolably honest amidst the temptations which abound in trade, and in every profession. For on the exchange, in the univer-. sity, the coffee-house, in almost every circle of private company, infectious discourse in praise of riches and WORTH OF THE SOUL 19 honor is poured forth, and contaminates the principles of those who hear it. From the worldly lusts natural to man thus inflamed spring all the diseases of trade. Hence the extortion, the falsehood, the imposition, the spirit of extravagant speculation by which the character and the peace of thousands are ruined. They are en¬ gendered by a rage for money, and a boundless desire of filthy lucre. Nothing can control this wide-spreading evil, but a perception of the soul’s inestimable worth. Let this take place, and immediately the deformity of the former false, defiling ideas of worldly advancement and gain, is discovered. Trade will then he carried on with temperance of affection. An enlightened con¬ science, like a vigilant sentinel, will sound an alarm in every hour of danger ; it will keep the man of trade and merchandise punctually true to his best, his greatest in¬ terest, and enable him with ease to conquer those temp¬ tations which before led him away captive: " What,” he will say, " what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul 1 or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul V y The necessity of a strong and abiding perception of the worth of the soul, appears also from the considera¬ tion, that it is the ground of real prayer , and the cause of its success. In addresses from man to man hypo¬ crisy is detestable ; how much more in addresses from man to God! But how is it possible prayer can be any thing more than lwpocrisy, when the supplicant is not impressed with a due sense of the worth of the soul I Who can deprecate the wrath revealed against sin, im¬ plore deliverance from its defilement, or earnestly en¬ treat a supply of his spiritual wants, who does not per¬ ceive the worth of the soull In the nature of things we can have no deep concern, where we apprehend no great misery if we fail of success, or advantage if we are crowned with it. We may indeed personate, in our 20 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. closets or at church, a man in earnest pursuit of spirit¬ ual blessings ; and be constant in the use of those very prayers which such an one, with the noblest sensibility, would pour out before his God. But unless we feel the same spirit, through the same knowledge of the excel¬ lency of the soul, we only act a part in the closet or in the church, as a player does on the stage: we appear in a character which is no more our own than that of the king or hero on the stage is his. Hence multitudes constantly engaged in acts of devotion, remain grossly ignorant, and utterly unaffected by every thing which they profess to believe and day by day seem to im¬ plore. Their confessions are deceitful, their prayers void of fervor, and their thanksgiving without grati tude. But such devotion must be as unsuccessful as it is % insincere. God is a God of truth. He must receive ser¬ vices just as they are ; and where nothing but outward homage and fine words are offered to him, nothing is obtained. Sin is not pardoned, nor evil tempers sub¬ dued. All the fruit of such feigned intercourse with the God of heaven, is to flatter self-love, and to harden men in presumption, till their hypocrisy is at once fully discovered and punished. On the contrary, are you conscious of the worth of your soul 1 This will dispose you for every devout ex¬ ercise. Godly sorrow for sin will accompany the con¬ fession of it, when lamented as an enemy to your best, your immortal interest. Ardent and urgent will be the pleadings for grace and pardon, when their importance, as connected with a soul of inestimable worth, is seen and felt. Most hearty and affectionate will be the thanksgiving for mercies already vouchsafed, when every instance of favor from above is considered as a pledge of the eternal felicity of the soul. It follows, therefore, that in the same degree in which it is necessary to resist temptations to evil, or profitably WORTH OF THE SOUL. 21 to engage in the solemn acts of religion, it is necessary also to be impressed with the worth of the soul. The natural result of such an impression will be a di¬ ligent care for the salvation of the soul. Now the supreme wisdom of such carefulness is most evident from comparing beauty, honor, knowledge, riches, or whatever else is usually valued amongst men, with the soul. The elegant lovely form which captivates the eye of every beholder, and fills the mind that possesses it with perpetual vanity, ill rewards the anxious carefulness used to preserve it. No cautious attention, no human power or skill is able to protect it from the waste of time, the blast of sickness, or the untimely stroke of death. The place of honor and the name of applause, for which thousands are glad to sacrifice their ease and sell their liberty, is of little value, since it is subject to all the caprice of fickle-minded man. How many, once the favorites of a court, the idols of a kingdom, have lived to see all their blooming honors wither, and their names sink into oblivion, if not contempt. Are you ambitious to climb the envied summit of li¬ terary fame, and shine without a rival in the acquisition of knowledge ? In one fatal hour, a paralytic stroke, a violent fever, may disorder the structure of your brain, rifle all the cells of knowledge, and wipe away from your memory the very traces of all that has been com¬ mitted to its keeping. Thus you may be left the sad survivor of yourself ; a- mortifying spectacle to human pride; a melancholy, but irresistible proof, how much men may rate the attainment of human knowledge higher than its precarious tenure justifies. If your great aim is to become rich, of chief eminence in your trade, able to command all outward things which can minister to your vanity or pleasure, still how 22 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. unworthy of your supreme desire and care is such a condition, because absolutely insecure! Life itself, the foundation of all temporary enjoyments, is but as a beauteous vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away. Each day, yre know, is translating some of the opulent sons of industry into a world wheie not a mite of all their gain can follow them. Nay, if you are engrossed by the care of providing for those tender pledges of God’s love to you, the off¬ spring of your own body, whom you were a monster of cruelty to neglect; yet here you may be suddenly, be wholly disappointed. Your darling child, the living image of yourself, how unable are you to preserve its invaluable life from perils and from fierce disease! When parted from you on a visit or some business, you may, like Sisera’s fond mother, be chiding its delay, and, with all the impatience of love, asking, " Where¬ fore is my son or daughter so long in coming V’ whilst some appointment of God has taken away the desire of your eyes with a stroke. Thus, if you take a full survey of every thing which the children of men seek with greatest anxiety to en¬ joy , compared with a supreme concern for the salva¬ tion of the soul, and steady regard to its interests, how vain is it ! Nay, whatever it be, except the soul, about which you are careful, it has this most degrading cir¬ cumstance attending it, it has the condition only of an annuity for life: each successive year makes a consi¬ derable decrease in its value, and at death the whole is at an end for ever. But if your principal care and solicitude is for the salvation of the soul, all the unexpected disasters, dis¬ appointments and losses, which harass the sinful chil¬ dren of men, will become affecting proofs of the su¬ preme wisdom of your choice, and the unrivalled ex¬ cellency of your pursuit. Even the tears that stream WORTH OF THE SOUL. 23 down the cheeks of the miserable, and the complaints of those who are disappointed in worldly schemes will pronounce you blessed, who are athirst for your immor¬ tal soul’s salvation.' Are you conscious of its worth 1 Are you striving in daily intercourse with God, its Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, to secure its eter¬ nal welfare 1 Then you may set all the evils that ter¬ rify the human race at defiance. Your inferior dying part they may wound, but they cannot strike deep enough, or reach high enough to hurt your soul. In the midst of what, otherwise, would prove ruin insup¬ portable, your wise choice will cover-you like armor, and render you invulnerable. Are you poor, and treated with scorn by the sons of pride 1 you will have examples and prospects more than sufficient to support you. You will see your own case in the instructive history of the saints of God, who were destitute and afflicted; and in that wonderful con¬ trast of meanness and grandeur, extreme poverty and immense wealth, the dying Lazarus. With patience, with gladness of heart you will see that the deepest distress, and the surest title to glory, maybe for a small moment united. In every case where proper care for the soul hath prevailed, you will see that poverty, how¬ ever extreme, sufferings, however long and grievous, add both to the weight and brightness of future glory. In sickness also, the supreme wisdom of having been careful above all things for your soul, will display itself with peculiar lustre. For though health is absolutely essential to a sensitive happiness; though the least ache or bodily disorder deprives the proud and world¬ ly-minded of their enjoyments, yet the soul, if with due care it has been exercised in the ways appointed by God, finds sources from whence to derive consolation under the most violent pressures; consolation sufficient to banish both outward impatience and inward dejection 24 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. I from their accustomed throne, the chamber of sickness and pain. With a lovely and edifying meekness, you will regard such discipline, though trying to sense and oppressive to the flesh, as prepared by the all-wise and merciful Refiner, to purge away every base mixture that still cleaves to and defiles your soul. The welfare of your soul, dearer to you than all external comforts, will induce you to welcome the visitations which are of such sovereign use to promote its health. In short, in sickness the whole man is a miserable sufferer, where the soul has been forgotten: where earnestly cared for and instructed in divine truth, the inferior part alone feels the pressure. To advance still further : death, the detector of all cheats—death, the touchstone of all true worth, and therefore the king of terrors to those whose care every thing has shared but their souls, even death itself will confirm the supreme wisdom of your conduct. The death-bed, on which the gay, the prosperous, and the noble lay down their heads appalled and confounded, is the theatre for displaying the fortitude of those who have sought, as the one thing needful, the salvation of the soul. The former are confounded, because unpre¬ pared. The loss of all they valued is coming upon them: their approaching change can promise them no¬ thing : it is much if it forebode not dreadful consequen¬ ces. But to the latter, every thing wears another aspect. Must the world be left by them 1 it has been already renounced and vanquished. Must all temporal good be forsaken for ever 1 how placid, how calm the surrender, when the riches of eternity are theirs: no striving, no querulous repining against the irresistible summons to depart, when that very departure has been habitually expected, as a translation of the soul to its proper ever¬ lasting happiness. In fact, dying Christians, that is, all that have dr 1 ^ WORTH OF THE SOUL. 25 sought in a right method the salvation of the soul, have given proofs of the supreme wisdom of their conduct in the hour of nature’s sorrow and distress: so that those fine lines of Dr. Young are most justly descrip- t ive of the happy few, whose souls have been more pre¬ cious to them than every temporal concern or comfort; “ The chamber where the good man meets his fate “ Is privileged, beyond the common walk “ Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heav’n: “ Heaven waits on the last moment; owns her friends “ On this side death, and points them out to men: “ A lecture silent, but of sov’reign pow’r.” All these advantages, arising from supreme careful¬ ness for the salvation of the soul, are still more worthy of regard, because not at all uncertain. You may be braving the thickest dangers of the field of war to get the name of valor and the place of command: yet fall an early victim in the bloody battle, or after it your services may be neglected. You may burn with inex¬ tinguishable ardor, to stand high in the rank of scholars, and ruin your health by intense study, yet die mortified at the littleness of your reputation. Your labor to suc¬ ceed in business may be incessant, yet through a thou¬ sand circumstances which you have no power to pre¬ vent, you may repeatedly suffer disappointment, and poverty still remain your portion. The favor of pa¬ trons, friends, relations, may be assiduously courted, and appear promising to your earnest wishes; and yet others may supplant you, and, receiving the benefits you were grasping in idea, make the very name of patron, friend, relation, odious to you. The world is every day exhibiting instances of bitter disappointment in each of the cases above described. But if with all the strength of desire you have sought the salvation of your soul, through Jesus Christ, you 2 Duty of Man. COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. 2G need not fear the changes ever incident to the things of earth. You have to do with the blessed God, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. You may be therefore rich, or you may be poor; raised or depressed ; beloved or slighted by those on whom you are dependent 5 you may enjoy health, or be oppressed with mortal disease, whilst in each state were you to ask yourself, what course could I have best taken for present peace and felicity, reason, conscience, Scripture would all reply, the very course you have taken, that of caring, in the first place, for the salvation of your soul. To say no more; the quick succession of years . which exceedingly impoverish, as they pass by, every man whose soul is not his chief care, will, on the con¬ trary, be accumulating for you the true riches. Like a prudent factor, who, instead of lavishing his gain in present luxury, yearly remits it home, that he may re¬ turn to enjoy life in his native country, after all his toils, with ease and honor j so will you be growing rich towards God; sure to return, by death, to that happy country, where, amidst congratulating saints and an¬ gels, you shall enter upon the possession of an inherit¬ ance prepared for your soul, incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 27 CHAPTER III. OF 0013. THE SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. The first duty of a Christian is to conceive of God only according to the revelation which he has given of himself: to meditate on this revelation with humility, diligence and prayer, not daring to indulge fallacious reasonings, lest he should form an imaginary god, and then worship the creature of his own brain. Nor will such an absolute submission of the under standing to revelation, in this matter, be thought in the least grievous or dishonorable, when it is considered, that of ourselves, and in our present state of darkness and corruption, we are utterly unable to form any just conceptions of the divine nature and perfections. When once we forsake the guidance of Scripture, we are left to uncertain conjecture ; we put ourselves in the condition of the unenlightened heathen; and their errors, on this most important subject, as universal as they were lamentable, are a sufficient evidence of the short-sightedness and vanity of unassisted reason, and of the ignorance of man in the things of God. I shall therefore present you with a transcript of what the sacred oracles have delivered to us, on this important point of belief. In absolute submission to them, I shall endeavor to delineate the character of the blessed God, as drawn by himself, and explain his nature and will, his acts and providences, his decrees and purposes, as exhibited in the Bible. Thus, knowing 28 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. the God with whom we have to do, may we be faithful to the light he hath given us, and regulate our conduct towards him by the infallible standard of his own plain and positive declarations. And may he himself render them effectual to enlighten the understanding ; so that every reader, in the devout fervor of his soul, may cry out before him, " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints ; who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name V’ In the first place, the Scripture represents God as possessed of the incommunicable perfection of eternal existence. Ail other beings once were not: there was a period when the most excellent of them began to ex¬ ist ; and the same power which gave them life, could again reduce them to their original nothing. On the contrary, God has ever existed; the same in essence, felicity and perfection : from all eternity he has been what he now is, and what he will eternally re¬ main. The existence of things which are seen, com¬ pels us to acknowledge this incomprehensible truth ; and agreeable to it, is his own account of his eternal power and Godhead: ” I am,” saith he, " that I am”— " The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” is his title. " Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” Nearly allied to this perfection of eternal existence, is the unchangeableness of God. His love and hatred remain immutably the same towards their respective objects. " I am the Lord, I change not,” is one of those sovereign titles by which he manifests himself to us: with him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” In proof of this excellency, God is called a rock. This metaphor intimates that as a rock continues steadfast and immoveable, whilst the surrounding ocean SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD 29 is in a perpetual fluctuation; so, though all the crea¬ tures of God, from the lowest to the very highest, are subject to change—capable of additions or alterations with respect to their knowledge, their power, or their blessedness—God alone is absolutely the same yester¬ day, to-day, and for ever. God is a spirit. The distinguishing properties of spirit are understanding and will, consciousness and activity. By virtue of these properties, every spiritual substance differs totally from dead matter or body, and is infinitely superior to it in its nature and essence. But though this difference between spiritual substances and those of matter is sufficient to help our weak con¬ ceptions, yet we are taught in Scripture, that the ever- living God surpasses in excellence all created spirits, infinitely more than they do, in their nature and pro¬ perties, merely animal substances. For God not only declares of himself that he is a spirit, but that he is "the Father of spirits, and the God of the spirits of all flesh.” It follows, therefore, that it is not sufficient merely to conceive that God is a spirit, meaning, by that name, a living, intelligent, and active being, essen¬ tially distinguished from the material frame our eyes behold ; for though this is most truly affirmed of him, yet must you add to him perfections which no other spirits possess, as well as separate from him every kind of imperfection which adheres to them. They exist within certain limits, they are ignorant of many things, they are defective in power; but the Father of spirits himself is omnipresent, and infinite alike in power and in knowledge. God is omnipresent. The universe, which owes its formation and existence entirely to his creative power, is not only governed, but is continually sustained by him. The whole immeasurable frame of nature must therefore be pervaded by his all-enlivening influence 30 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Accordingly, this most grand and majestic interroga¬ tion is put by himself to the children of men ; " Do not I fill heaven and earth 1 saith the Lord.” Jer. 23 : 24- And in the 139th Psalm, this perfection of God is de¬ scribed with equal sublimity and force. The enlight¬ ened and inspired prophet begins with making the in¬ quiry, whether it was possible for him to hide himself from the Author of his being and the Creator of all things: "Whither” (says he) "shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence 1 If 1 ascend up into heaven,” into the regions above the firma¬ ment, " thou art there;” I shall not only find myself still within the limits of thy sovereign dominion, but under thy immediate inspection. " If I make my bed in hell,” that is, plunge myself into the unknown mansions of the dead, and the worlds invisible, where even ima¬ gination loses itself in darkness, " behold, thou art there! If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;” if, with the swift¬ ness of the rays of the rising sun, I could in an instant convey myself to the uttermost part of the western world, the wings of the morning are not swift enough to carry me from thy pursuing hand; " even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me I shall exist in thee, 0 God! thy presence will be dif¬ fused around me, thy enlivening power will support my frame. " If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about me, yea, the dark¬ ness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and light are both alike to thee.” I myself, my actions and circumstances, are equally con¬ spicuous in the thickest shades of night, and in the brightest splendors of the noon-day sun. The universe is the temple of the Lord, and every part of it is filled with his presence. And as the Scripture thus forcibly describes the presence of God with all things actually SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 31 existing, so it expressly teaches us, that, vast as the dimensions of the creation are, they do not bound or circumscribe his being. With holy admiration we are commanded to say unto God, " Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee !” 1 Kings, 8 : 27. To this amazing perfection of God, his omnipresence, is joined almighty power. A human artist, or created agent, can only fashion his work from materials already prepared for him, and which he cannot make: but the glorious God commands things into being. He was not beholden to pre-existent matter in the formation of the world; for " the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” On the contrary, all things, whether of a material or spiritual nature, stood up be¬ fore the mighty God at his call, and were created at his pleasure. The heavens, and all the hosts of them ; the earth, and all things which are therein, are not only the work of his hands, but " by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” " I, ” saitli the Lord, " have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” Isaiah, 45 : 12. The same almighty power of God, to which the whole creation owes its birth, is manifested also in the dispo¬ sition and preservation of the world in order and har¬ mony. Thus the exertions of the almighty power of God are continually placed before us: ” He watereth the earth, and blesseth the increase of it; he covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth ; he giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes: he divideth the sea with his power, and lay- eth up the depths in store-houses: fire and hail, storm and tempest fulfil his word.” The steady course of nature, which thoughtless and profane men are wont to consider as the effect of neces- 32 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. sity, rather than of all-wise direction, is wholly owing we are taught, to the almighty power of God. It is he alone, saith the Scripture, who makes the day-spring know its place, and stretcheth out the shadows of the evening—that commands the sun to shine by day, and the moon by night: that prepares a place for the rain, and a way for the lightning and thunder—that maketh the herbs to grow upon the earth. The hand of the Lord doeth all these things. It must further be observed, that the Scripture gives us the most awful idea , of the boundless power which belongeth to God, by declaring that he can in a mo¬ ment dissolve tire whole frame of nature. Human force is at much pains to demolish what it before' toiled to erect; but the might of the most high God can, with greater ease than we can admit the thought, change the face of the creation, and destroy what seems to be built on the most stable foundation.* " He removeth the mountains, and they know it not; he overturneth them in his anger.—He commandeth the sun, and it ris- eth not j and sealeth up the stars.—He shaketh the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble.— The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.—The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence.” But in the attribute of mere power, however bound¬ less and irresistible, there is no loveliness. We may indeed be astonished, and tremble before it; but to contemplate it with pleasure, and to conceive of it as the object of delight and of trust, we must behold it in union with other perfections. In union with such per¬ fections it subsists in the blessed God; for he is as infi¬ nite in knowledge as he is in power. More clearly does he discern his own eternity, than we our temporary du¬ ration : more perfectly his own immensity, than we our limited condition of being : more certainly his own SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 33 extent of wisdom and power, than we the thought? of our own minds. But if God knows himself, he must know a?so the work of his own hands: for even the meanest artificer, though imperfectly acquainted with the nature of the materials on which he works, knows the effects of his own operations. Since, therefore, from the greatest to the least, from the utmost circuit of heaven to the cen tre of the earth, there is nothing which the hand of God has not formed, and which his providence does not direct, every thing must be thoroughly known to him. Wherever his power works, there his understand¬ ing must discern. The vast fabric, therefore, of the universe, with all its laws and furniture, with all events from first to last, are known unto him. The innumer¬ able host of sinless angels, and the world of fallen apostate ones; the long progeny of mankind, with all the thoughts, desires and designs that have been in the mind of each, individual, and all the words which have ever escaped their lips, fall under his continual notice. He, with the most exact and infallible compre¬ hension, knows all the active principles of the spirits he has formed; how they will be moved upon the pre¬ sence of every object which can come before them; in what manner they will act upon every temptation which can try them, and in every circumstance in which they can possibly be placed.* These ideas of the blessed God his own oracles teach us to conceive. " The ways of man are before the Lord, and he ponder- eth all his goings. The eyes of the Lord are in every place: he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven. The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: he knoweth the things that come into our mind, every one of them. There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are 2 * 34 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” And as God is perfect in knowledge, so is he in the attribute of wisdom , which is the best exercise and im¬ provement of knowledge. By virtue of this quality he superintends, and so adjusts all the parts of the uni¬ verse, that, whatever changes any of them may under¬ go, their usefulness and connection with each other may be uniformly maintained. By the exercise of the same attribute he often accomplishes his designs, through means, to human apprehension, the most un¬ likely. He founds the manifestation of his glory upon what a depraved world despises and derides; and, in the glaring weakness of his agents, perfects, that is, displays his own praise. He entangles the rulers of darkness in their own nets, and ruins their designs by their own stratagems; the greatest cruelty of Satan and his instruments he makes subservient to the de¬ signs of his mercy, and over-rules even the apostacy of Adam, to display his own manifold wisdom to angels and to men. " He has established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his discretion.—He is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.—The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.—He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that they cannot perform their enterprises.—His counsels stand for ever, and the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation.” These perfections, called, by way of distinction, the natural perfections of God, the more they are con¬ sidered the higher must they raise our wonder and astonishment. Who can meditate on eternity, omni¬ presence, omniscience and almighty power, and not feel that they are subjects too stupendous for any cre¬ ated understanding to grasp! But the moral perfec- SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 35 tions of God we can comprehend with greater clear¬ ness. And it is in respect of these, that God claims from us the highest reverence, fear, love, trust and obedience. The first of these perfections is his goodness. By this we mean that principle of good will, by virtue of which his almighty power and infinite wisdom are ex¬ ercised in the liberal communication of happiness to his creatures. His bountiful hand supplies their wants, and pours out his benefits upon them all. He makes no other distinction than what necessarily arises from the different qualities or capacities of the respective ob¬ jects ; no other difference than what his own most per¬ fect character requires should be made. " The Lord,” saith the Scripture, " is good unto all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.—He openeth his hand, and satisfieth every living thing.—He is the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.—The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” So strong is his goodness in its propensity, and so wide in its extent, as to bless not simply his creatures, but even rebels against his government, and enemies to his truth. " He causeth his sun to shine, and his rain to fall, on the evil and on the good, on the unjust as well as on the just.—He endures, with much long-suffering, the ves¬ sels of wrath fitted for destruction.” He allures them, and encourages their return to him. " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundant¬ ly pardon.—Come now,” says he, " and let us reason together ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” And lest these asseverations should not be sufficient to remove suspicions of his willingness to forgive the most enormous offenders, O O r 36 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. when they turn to him; he swears by himself, " As I live, saitli the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.” And that all the generations of men, who should ever receive his word, might form the highest conceptions of his glorious goodness, he pass¬ ed before Moses, and proclaimed this to be his proper title, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, trans¬ gression and sin.” But lest this goodness should be so misconstrued as to diminish our apprehensions of the evil of sin; lest it should lead us to imagine, that, where so much favor is shown to the workers of iniquity, there can be no abhorrence of it; the Scripture is strong, full and fre¬ quent in its representations of the holiness of God. By his holiness is meant that disposition essential to his perfect nature, which regards the honor of his own divine perfections; and which therefore opposes the violation of his pure will, or the resistance of his just t government. As the power of God is opposed to all natural weakness, and his wisdom to the least defect of understanding ; so is his holiness opposed to all mo¬ ral imperfection or sin. It is not to be considered as a single perfection, but rather as the harmony of all the attributes of God; it is therefore called the "beauty of the Lord.” Psalm 27. Separate from holiness, all other excellencies of the divine nature would be inglo¬ rious. His wisdom might be styled subtilty: his power be only considered as dreadful. On this account those exalted spirits who are best acquainted with the glories of the divine nature, dwell on this perfection. The courts of heaven resound with high adoration while they cry, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” And such a particular regard do we find paid to this at¬ tribute by the blessed God himself, that he swears by SCULPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 37 it in confirmation of the promises of grace: Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David." Psalm, 89 : 35. Connected with this divine perfection of holiness in God, is the continual notice he takes of the conduct of each individual towards himself and his law. On this part of his character the necessity of our absolute sub¬ jection depends. For were God either ignorant of what is done by men on earth, or did he judge it insig¬ nificant, we should have no more cause to retain any awe of him upon our minds, or to impose any restraint upon ourselves, than if there were no God. It is not the existence of a God, but his moral government of the world, that calls for our fear, and should excite us to obedience. To take away, therefore, all ground of suspecting any inattention in our Creator to our be¬ havior, arising from his own infinite greatness, and our being less than nothing, compared to him—to root out this pernicious opinion, which the desire of sinning with impunity might lead us to cherish; the glorious God teaches us to conceive of him as taking the most exact cognizance of all our inward tempers, no less than our outward deportment, and that with an un¬ changeable purpose to deal with us accordingly. In the nervous language of his own inspired penmen, His eves behold, and his eve-lids try the children of men.—The Lord is a God of knowledge, by him actions are weighed.—I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to even* man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." And lest, from the present outward prosperity of the wicked, any should be unreasonable and base enough to conclude that God is not such an exact observer of our behavior respecting himself and his law, the Scrip¬ tures are full of this alarming truth, which entirely re¬ moves the objection: that "God will bring every work 38 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or bad—that he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness—that every man shall receive the things done in his body, whether they be good or bad.” But it is not only at the conclusion of this world’s du¬ ration, and in the day of universal judgment, that God makes a difference between those that serve him, and those that refuse subjection to his laws. God repre¬ sents himself as continually exercising peculiar and dis¬ tinguishing love to his faithful and obedient people, whilst he is insupportably terrible to his obstinate op posers. He is not content with giving to the former assurances of his good will towards them, and of their future glory in the eternal world: he declares that he will maintain with them, even here, an intercourse of the most delightful kind. He will give them such views of the glory of his nature, the excellency of his truth, and the tenderness of his love, as the ungodly and care¬ less neither know nor can conceive. In every season of extraordinary temptation, he is secretly enduing their souls with strength, and giving them power to come from every combat triumphing in conquest, and from every trial enriched with more grace. A conside¬ rable part of Scripture is taken up with representing the peculiar favor and loving-kindness of God to his faithful servants. A few passages will give us just con¬ ceptions of this part of the character of the most high God : ” The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ear is open to their cry.—The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way—though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand,—for the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints, they are preserved for ever.—The Lord is a light and defence, he will give grace and glory, and no good SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. 39 thing will he withhold from them that lead a godly life.— The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.—The Lord sitteth above the water-floods, the Lord remaineth a king for ever.—The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will give his people the blessing of peace.— No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judg¬ ment thou slialt condemn.—This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” The substance of these inestimable mercies is most emphatically expressed in the New Testament, and con¬ firmed afresh, as the portion of all true believers. " If a man love me,” saith our Lord, ” he will keep my words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” The enjoyment of such a peculiar manifestation of God’s love is used by the inspired St. Paul as a most cogent argument to engage men, even at a time of extreme peril and ap¬ proaching persecution, to forsake the idolatrous religion of their parents : " Wherefore,” saith he, " come out from among them, and he ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and be a Fa¬ ther unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” Weigh well the import of these declarations of favor to the children of God, and you will see, in the clearest light, how much the God of heaven and earth regards the conduct of every individual of mankind who faith¬ fully receives his truth. He is not ashamed to call him¬ self, in every instance, the friend of such, their portion, their father, their exceeding great reward. He is not ashamed to engage his own word and oath that he will never leave them nor forsake them; but, on the con¬ trary, that he will crown all his goodness towards them 40 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAM. here, by calling them up hereafter into his immediate presence and glory. On the other hand, it is as striking a demonstration of the notice which God takes of men’s practice and deportment, that he will punish in the most awful man¬ ner those who are enemies to his government and des¬ pise his authority. Hear in what terms he proclaims his hatred of iniquity and his unchangeable purpose to execute vengeance upon sinners ; and doubt, if you can, whether God is concerned to maintain his own honor : " The Lord your God, is God ok gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which re- gardeth not persons, nor taketh rewards.—If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand lay hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me.—I will make my arrows drunk with blood.—The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them.—God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword: he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.—Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest; this shall be their portion to drink :—for the righteous Lord loveth righ¬ teousness, his countenance will behold the thing that is just.—The Lord will come with fire, and with his cha riots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire; for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many.—And they shall go forth, and look upon the men that have transgressed against me ; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” To comment on these nervous expressions would be to enfeeble them. To suppose them figurative expres¬ sions, in such a sense as not most emphatically to affirm -**.*■- ♦ * V • * w * ■A SCRIPTURE CHARACTER OF GOD. God’s utter abhorrence of sin, and his determined pur¬ pose to cast into hell those who die in their sins, is, in fact, to contradict them. Instead of cavilling at them, or vainly endeavoring to explain them away, let us re¬ ceive them with awe and fear. This is the end which they are intended to produce. " Hear ye, and give ear. for the Lord hath spoken: behold, I will execute judg¬ ment ; vengeance is mine, I will repay.” If any additional proof were wanting to confute the false and dangerous opinion of those who vainly sup¬ pose the Deity to be all mercy; and who pretend to be shocked at the notion of a God who will not let the wicked pass unpunished ; it may be derived from the attestations of our Savior. Yes, the only-begotten of the Father, who cannot deceive, who has shown the per¬ fection of benevolence towards sinners, since he laid down his life for them on the cross, has confirmed, by his own declarations, all the denunciations of wrath above-mentioned. He declares that in the last day all nations shall be 'gathered before him, and at that most solemn time, in the hearing of the whole rational crea¬ tion, he will say to all them on the left hand, that is, to the vast multitudes of obstinate and incorrigible sin¬ ners, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” ; 42 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. CHAPTER IV. OF GOD—continued, \ * THE CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. In our last chapter we have the character of God given by his own inspired penmen. We have seen that they represent him as a Being merciful and yet just 5 merciful, even abounding in grace towards his obedient children; but just to those who despise him, in bringing upon them all the curses written in his book. By this disposition towards both, he appears in¬ finitely holy and reverend, and his character gives the greatest encouragement to the exercise of faith in his name, and to the practice of righteousness for his sake. But if the character of God were only marked out to us by his own declarations, we should be apt (such is our nature) to be only faintly impressed by it. To give it weight to regulate our practice, it is made still more conspicuous by actions. His providence abounds with facts, established upon such authority that we can no more question their truth, than if with our own eyes we had seen them performed; facts expressive of the very same perfections in God which his word declares he possesses. The method of his procedure, both with angels and men, is an additional and the strongest con¬ firmation possible that he is good, merciful and holy; that he abounds in love towards his faithful people, but is the dreadful avenger of iniquity. With respect to the goodness of God, it shines forth in all the excellencies which angels possess, and all the bliss they inherit, who have never fallen from God, nor CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. 43 left that glorious habitation he of his bounty provided for them. On man, as he came immediately out of the hands of his Creator, and whilst he stood in his first estate, the signatures of the divine goodness were so strongly im¬ pressed as to excite envy in one who had himself expe¬ rienced the happiness of angels. Adam was created full of light and knowledge, of purity and peace, of de¬ light and blessedness. He was formed in the image of God: he was invested with dominion over the animal creation. He was not only conscious of the favor of his infinitely powerful and beneficent Creator, but he was admitted to hold personal communion with him. Thus was he made only a little lower than the angels themselves, who shouted for joy at the display of the goodness of God, manifested in the happiness of man. In this state of perfection Adam stood: he was put in possession of it for himself and all his progeny; inca¬ pable of forfeiting or diminishing it but by his own wilful apostacy. Now who can consider this account of man’s original happiness, and not admire the benevolence of Him who was the author of it 1 Who can survey the riches of the inheritance provided for Adam, compared to which the glory of Solomon was but the wretchedness of a captive exile, and not adore the infinite goodness of the Creator 1 Again; when Adam, through the envy and malice of the devil, operating in a manner too mysterious for us to comprehend, revolted from his Maker, and requited his bounty with the execrable insult of believing Satan to be a better friend to his welfare than God; though the hideous deed could not but draw innumerable mi¬ series after it; yet, even then, behold, the goodness of God shined brighter than it did even at the first crea¬ tion, and "where sin abounded, grace did much more 44 . COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. abound.” God instantly revives our most criminal and desponding parents with a promise of salvation. He promises, O astonishing love! to send an invincible Deliverer into the world, even his own Son! To send him into the world: not to receive the worship due unto his name; not to be adored by every heart, as the only-begotten: of the Father, full of grace and truth: but to be defamed as a confederate with Satan, cruci¬ fied as a blasphemer, and to die, being made a curse for us. " Herein is love ! not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Could God say of his most corrupt and idolatrous people, " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ! How shall I deliver thee, Israel 1 My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together!” What then must be the workings of his love towards his own Son, the perfect image of himself, when he " delivered him up for our offences 1” when he seemed, as it were, to divest himself of the qualities of a father towards his son, and for our sakes to assume the severe character of a judge. Herein God commendeth his love ; he places it in the most advantageous point of light in which it can possibly be seen by angels or by men, " in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” The conclusion resulting from this amazing demonstra¬ tion of goodness and mercy—the sending of his Son, " to suffer, the just for the unjust, and to bear our sins in his own body on the tree”—is irresistible: " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things!” And as the great God has thus by his actions proved himself to be good and merciful, so has he - in the same way demonstrated that he is a holy God. For once, his word informs us, there was war in heaven, Satan and his angels rising up in enmity against their Maker CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. 45 The criminals, from the brightness of glory which they possessed, were called " stars of heaven $” Pev. 12 : 4. yet. no sooner did they sin than they were stripped of all their honors, and clothed with shame and everlast¬ ing contempt: from the height of happiness they were plunged into an abyss of misery: between them and God an impassable gulf was fixed, so that no means of reconciliation will be ever found, no terms of peace ever offered to them. " God,” saith St. Peter, " spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to he re¬ served unto judgment.” This single fact is a sufficient demonstration that the Lord our God is holy. For should a king, famed for wisdom and for mercy, com¬ mand persons of the first distinction around his throne to be cast into dungeons, and loaded with fetters, re¬ fusing ever to look on them again with favor, or hear a word in mitigation of their punishment, must not all his subjects conclude their offence was most detest¬ able 1 And can we draw any other conclusion, when we read that the God who delighteth in mercy has, in the greatness of his displeasure, cast down from their thrones, where his own hand had placed them, so many shining angels,'and made them examples, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire 1 Another display of the holiness of God, in which all the children of men have been deeply interested, is the execution of the punishment threatened to Adam—our first father. The threat was, that upon disobedience he should immediately suffer death. This death consisted in the loss of the image of God, in which he was crea¬ ted : his body, after some years spent in toil and sor¬ row, returning to the dust from whence it was taken; and his soul, unless renewed after the image of God, enduring the pains of eternal death. The latter part of the penalty, we trust, he escaped through the Mediator 46 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. so graciously revealed to him; but of the accomplish-^ ment of the former part we, alas, are witnesses at this very hour. For what have we, in the place of Adam’s original power, hut weakness and helplessness 1 What, for his divine light and knowledge, but brutish igno¬ rance 1 What, instead of his peace and communion with God, but natural dislike to him, and guilty fears about his intentions concerning us 1 What, instead of his perfect purity, but a heart so deceitful, and so des¬ perately wicked that God alone can know it 1 And, in the place of an Eden, contrived by infinite wisdom for delight and spiritual happiness, what but a world of confusion and sin, a field of battle, a vale of misery! If you ask whence comes this total reverse of cir¬ cumstances between the first man in innocence and his , v posterity I God, who in justice ordained it, gives you this awful account of it: " By the offence of one, judg¬ ment came upon all men to condemnation. By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners.” Ponder this in your heart, and you will not be fible to refrain from crying out, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.” Further, the dreadful execution of God’s wrath upon all the world puts the holiness of his nature beyond dispute. Before the death, even of all the children of those who saw Adam, for his sin, an outcast from Para¬ dise, the fountains of the great deep are broken up t the windows of heaven are open to destroy the whole human race then upon earth, except eight persons. And lest this destruction should not be judged the act and deed of God himself, as the holy Governor of the world, and as a punishment for its sin, hear the God of all mercy, the giver of every good and perfect gift, the Father of the spirits of all flesh, hear him declaring his awful purpose and assigning its cause : " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. 47 I it repented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will de¬ stroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.” There is yet one fact more, so demonstrative of the holiness of God, as to eclipse the destruction of the antediluvian world, the fall of man, the ruin of the apos¬ tate angels. In all these cases the sufferers were first actual transgressors and rebels against God. But if you look to the cross of Christ , there you will see the Be¬ loved of the Father, one infinitely more holy than the holiest of the angels in heaven, " set forth by God to be a propitiation for sin, through faith in his blood, to de¬ clare his righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past, that he might be just,” might appear to the eyes of men and angels glorious ill holiness or justice, " and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.” We have appealed, and must doubtless again and again appeal to the death of Jesus upon the cross, since this marvellous fact, considered in different views, af¬ fords the strongest proof of various perfections in God At present it is urged in demonstration of God’s infinite hatred of sin. And in this light it may be well illus¬ trated by a passage of sacred history. In the book of Kings we read that the Moabites fled before the kings of Israel and Judah, and after a great slaughter were forced with their king to retire into their city. Here the king, finding himself besieged and reduced to the last extremity, had recourse to an astonishing act to show his distress and his indignation against Israel. He took his eldest son, the heir of his kingdom, and in the sight of his enemies offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. The action succeeded to his wish ; the kings of Israel and Judah were amazed and confounded 48 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. at the fury which urged him to such a deed, and re¬ turned immediately with haste to their own country, as if pursued by a conqueror. Now this example, taken in one point of view, may be applied to illustrate the subject before us. For the eternal Father, having used promises and threatenings, judgments and mercies, and still seeing our sins reach up to heaven, besieging, as it were, his almighty throne, expresses infinite indignation against sin. He takes his only-begotten Son, the heir of all things, the express image of his person, and in the hearing of heaven and earth he cries out, "Awake, 0 sword! and smite my shepherd, the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.” Should not we, then, always remembering the death of his only-begotten Son for our transgressions, smite upon our breasts and go and sin no more 1 Should not we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; feeling, from this fact, that to impeni¬ tent sinners our God will be a consuming fire 1 In the last chapter we produced from Scripture many declarations of the peculiar love exercised by God to¬ wards each individual that walks before him faithfully. For instances to illustrate these we may appeal to the history of his providence from the earliest ages. Enoch, the seventh in the line of direct descent from Adam, because he was unconquerably attached to the truth and authority of God, in the midst of his rebellious kindred, is taken from them in a way which at once immortalizes his name, and proclaims the love which God bears to his saints. Before this fact could grow faint or obscure Noah is lifted un to our observation, like the ark in which he was preserved, for an everlast¬ ing memorial, that in the most desolating judgments the care of each individual saint is with the most High. In the case of righteous Lot the same distinguishing love of God is aorain manifested. And two assertions O CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. 49 are made by God upon this occasion, which are most expressive of his character towards his faithful people : the one is, that Sodom itself should have been spared for the sake of only ten righteous, if but so small a number had been found within its walls. The other is, that Lot is hurried away from thence with this decla¬ ration, a Haste thee, escape; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.” And in what other light than as confirmations of the character of God—that .he approveth the way of the righteous, and hath in all ages the most tender and af¬ fectionate regard for their welfare,—are we to consider the surprising history of the faithful Joseph 1 The fa¬ vor showed to Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and to them only of all Israel who came out of Egypt 1 Or the remarkable and numerous deliverances of David from the snares and persecutions of Saul 1 In what other way are we to improve Elijah’s miraculous ascension into heaven, before the eyes of his successor in office, the prophet Elisha 1 What other conclusion are we to draw from the preservation of Daniel in the den of lions; and of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace 1 What are these but witnesses chosen of God, and held up to notice by miracles wrought in their favor, that every obedient servant of God, who copies the pattern they set before him, might know he is, as certainly as they were, the object of God’s singular care and special love \ And though we see not now the course of nature over-ruled for the deliverance of the faithful, still the compre¬ hensive promise of the unchangeable God abideth sure • " He knoweth them that are his,” and will " make ail things work together for good to them that love him.” Nor are the facts which attest God’s utter hatred of the sin of each individual few in number or of doubt¬ ful import. On the contrary, the record of his actions 3 Duty of Man. 50 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. furnishes us with many awful instances of the imme¬ diate execution of justice on daring offenders. There is scarcely a sin which has not been singled out as the object of his wrathful displeasure. Thus Ham, that could mock his father, surprised by accident into intoxi¬ cation, is accursed: Lot’s wife, full of worldly cares, and looking back upon the loss of her property with regret and repining, is turned into a pillar of salt. Envy and aspiring pride bring down immediate destruction upon Korah, Dathan and Abiram. In Achan’s fate and in Gehazi’s leprosy, we see how God abhorreth the co¬ vetous. Behold, thou infamous advocate for fornica¬ tion, the javelin of Phineas avenging God’s quarrel upon Zimri and Cosbi his paramour: renounce thy fond con¬ ceit that this sin will not be judged by God; for see, three-and-twenty thousand persons are cut off by him for it in one day. Be astonished at the patience of God towards thee, thou false and lying tongue, when thou readest that Ananias and Sapphira perished with the breath of falsehood in their lips! Take notice, thou de- spiser of Jesus, of the doom of thy fellow-criminal Ely- mas the sorcerer, and of the judicial blindness with which he was smitten while he perverted the way of truth. Lnderstand, ye vain and haughty, from the igno minious death of Herod, that a proud heart is an abomi¬ nation to the Lord, and that self-exaltation on account of gifts or pre-eminence of any kind is what he cannot endure: for behold, the royal deified orator, after the shout of blasphemous applause from the multitude, is immediately smitten by the angel of the Lord, " be¬ cause he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.” All these instances, and many more recited in Scrip¬ ture, prove with irresistible force, that wherever envy or malice, covetousness or pride, profaneness, impurity, or any temper opposite to the law of God prevails, there CHARACTER OF GOB EXEMPLIFIED. 51 the wrath of God abideth; and there, unless they are vanquished before death, must it abide for ever. Such in his natural and moral perfections, such, in his government and providence towards the whole ra¬ tional creation, is the true God. And that there is only one God, who is in all, and through all, and over all, the Scripture is most express. " I, even I am he, and there is no God with me. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.” But then the same Scripture teaches us, that this unity of God is not an unity of person, but of essence, in which the Son and the Spirit are comprehended, in glory equal, in majesty co-eternal with the Father. Without controversy great is this mystery of godliness. It must, however, be received: because the Scripture ascribes those very perfections, in which the nature of God surpasses that of created beings, to the Son and the Spirit. Eternity, omnipresence, infinite knowledge and uncontrollable power, are represented to belong to them: they therefore, with the Father, are to be wor¬ shipped and glorified. This God, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, is the God of the Christian. Whilst Jews abhor this mystery, whilst Mohammedans perse¬ cute it as an abomination, whilst the self-conceited re¬ ject it with disdain, the Christian church, acquiescing in the plain word of God, and satisfied with his declara¬ tions, dedicates herself to the sacred Three in One. She continually concludes her public worship with pro¬ fessing her desire to partake of the distinct and differ¬ ent blessings which are imparted to the church from each of these sacred Three, entreating that the " love of God the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, may be with us all.” 52 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Having thus concluded our inquiries into the nature and perfections of the Most High God, as they are de¬ lineated in Scripture, it remains that we should examine and prove ourselves, whether our idea of God he a faith¬ ful copy of the Scripture pattern 1 Let us try whether we do not remain in gross and fatal ignorance of his real character, notwithstanding the complete manner in which he has revealed himself in his own most holy word. Take it by no means for granted that you really possess the knowledge of God; for thousands who are utterly destitute of it, who entertain notions of his cha¬ racter which are abominable in his sight, thus flatter themselves to their own ruin. Search, therefore, and see whether you heartily acknowledge God to be what he has declared that he is, in those particulars in which pride, the love of sin or unbelief, are most apt to mis¬ represent his real character. For instance; do you look upon God as bearing that perfect abhorrence of iniquity which the Bible affirms he does! Is it a truth steadfastly fixed in your mind, that God is not cruel to the work of his own hands, though he doom every soul of man dying in sin to feel for ever the weight of his indignation ! Do you confess from the heart, that the sanctions of his government are full of righteousness and glory, though they assure you that, to every hypocrite and unbeliever, ” our God is a consuming fire!” Again: try yourself whether you are firmly per¬ suaded that the God whom you worship is a support and defence to every one that believeth on the name of his Son with an obedient heart! Are you sure that the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, humbleth himself to watch every moment over each individual of the faithful for good, and careth for every one of that character at all times, as a wise father doth for the son that serveth him ! Do you believe it as a most certain CHARACTER OF GOD EXEMPLIFIED. 53 truth, that God doth indeed dwell with men; and that he giveth to all that are living, according to his will, such peace and consolation as the world, knoweth not. Finally, try yourself, whether you have affecting views of the love of God, as it manifests itself in the person and offices of the Redeemer, in the influences of the Spirit, and in that communion which God thus holds with all his faithful people. By such inquiries as these, honestly made, your real knowledge or your ignorance of the God of whom the Bible speaks, will be discovered to yourself. It is in these important points that God has made that revela¬ tion of himself and of his conduct towards us, which the world by wisdom could never have discovered. And in the same proportion as God’s own representa¬ tion of himself and of his designs is believed, you will really be enriched by the knowledge of him. Such a knowledge is inestimable: it possesses virtue to heal the corrupted mind of man, and energy to support it amidst numerous trials, and to keep it firm in the exercise of duty; it is this knowledge, in a word, which is emphatically pronounced by our Savior to be eternal life. COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. 54 CHAPTER V. O F JTMJV. HIS NATURAL CONDITION WITH RESPECT TO GOD. No science can be thoroughly known till its first prin¬ ciples are well understood. This observation is never more true than when applied to religion, the science in which every man is most deeply interested. One of the first and most necessary principles of religion is a knowledge of our own condition and character, espe¬ cially as we stand related to the Author of our being. Now experience and Scripture, those incontestible witnesses, jointly declare the deplorable blindness of man in spiritual things, while in a state of nature; and his forgetfulness, contempt, nay, even hatred of his Creator. His blindness is manifested by his practical denial of his absolute dependance upon God for all good. He looks upon the endowments of person, mind or station, as if they were, in the proper sense of the word, his own 5 he trusts in his own wisdom and strength to pro¬ cure them; and when procured, he glories ir them as his own acquirement. In words indeed he acknow¬ ledges one supreme universal Creator; but he considers not the consequence necessarily flowing from this truth to ihe glory of God, that " of him, and through him, and to him are all things.” Hence beauty is intoxicated with the admiration of its own pleasing form ; hence the rich, proud of their wealth, look with contempt on the poor ; and those who have acquired knowledge by in¬ tense application, or who shine distinguished by their superior genius, spurn the ignorant vulgar; nay, even NATURAL CONDITION OF MAN. 55 the spiritual man is much too ready to exalt himself in the flattering survey of his own gifts and graces. The universal prevalence of this spirit of self-sufficiency loudly proclaims the blindness of the human mind to that fundamental truth, that ” no man can receive any thing except it be given him from above.” With re¬ spect then to every advantage on which we place a value, it is God only that maketh men to differ. But so gross is this blindness, and so truly is it a property of our nature, that it is difficult, even with all the aids of supernatural light and divine grace, to obtain deliver¬ ance from it. Some symptoms of it may be found (where you least suspect them) even in the most enlightened of the earth. The natural blindness of man with respect to God, may be proved also by the preference he gives to a life of self-indulgence , over a life of obedience. Compare these together, and you would not even believe it pos¬ sible to make a wrong choice. For what is a life of obe¬ dience to God ? It is paying our allegiance to the wisest, the best of kings, and duly discharging our filial duty to the most affectionate of fathers. It is freedom to the fettered soul, and deliverance from passions as base as they are hurtful. It ensures a peaceful enjoyment of mind, which affords no ground for sharp self-upbraid- ings. It makes a man a blessing to all in close connec¬ tion with him, effectually restraining him even from the intention to do evil. In prosperity it keeps the mind humble; in adversity, calm and patient: nor can the prospect of death disturb its tranquillity, for its hope is full of immortality. Survey now its contrast,—a life of self-indulgence. How depraved, how monstrous, is every feature ! The whole appears no other than a hi¬ deous compound of ignorance, obstinately contradicting infinite wisdom:—of contempt, shown by a sinful worm to eternal majesty of ingratitude, to bounty the most 56 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN * undeserved ;—of rebellion, aiming its blow against sove¬ reign mercy. A life of self-indulgence makes a man afraid to look into himself, or forward to approaching eternity: it is infectious and full of mischief to others; it is wholly without excuse, and in every view alto¬ gether odious. What light then can there be left in the human mind, if a life of obedience is not always, without hesitation, preferred, infinitely preferred, to a life of self-indul¬ gence 1 For beauty, in its loveliest bloom, doth not so evidently excel pale loathsome disease, as a life of faith¬ ful obedience surpasses one of self-gratification. Yet, alas! to the shame of man, experience daily proves his choice to be fixed on what merits absolute contempt, and his preference to be given, where detes¬ tation alone is due. Innumerable are the slanders with which man asperses a life of strict obedience, and loud are the complaints he urges against it : he industrious¬ ly employs all his powers of wit and reason to make an uniform subjection to the will of God appear irksome,— and opposition to it guiltless. In vain do all the children of obedience lift up their voice together, and cry, ' r Great peace have they who love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” In vain does the all-sufficient Jehovah promise his indwelling presence and Spirit; in vain does he promise pardon, power, peace and salvation to the faithful and obedi¬ ent ; all is too weak to open the eyes of men in general, and to enable them to perceive such pleasure and such charms in the way of duty, as they fondly fancy they discover in the paths of self-will and transgression. And to this gross mistake it is owing that the number of real Christians is so small, the multitude of open sin¬ ners so great. This observation leads us to a further discovery of the blindness natural to the human mind, with respect NATURAL CONDITION OF MAN. 57 to what it esteems the true foundation of happiness. Were it a fact that great possessions, titles, or appear¬ ances could satisfy the soul, it might then be no proof of human blindness to seek for happiness in what the world can give, to the neglect or disparagement of God ; or were we, like the heathen, left in gross dark¬ ness about the perfections of God, and in ignorance of the notice he takes of his creatures : on either of these suppositions it would be no evidence of blindness in man to reject, as imaginary, the prospect of finding hap¬ piness in the knowledge of God, and in a lively con¬ sciousness of his favor ; for then man might plead that it was the height of arrogance and presumption to ima¬ gine there could be an intimacy and friendship between God and himself. But when, on the contrary, the infallible Scriptures fully display to us the glorious perfections of our God, and when they assure us also of the high place man holds in his thoughts ; when they declare that his heart is open to embrace him as soon as he earnestly desires deliverance from sin, and to treat him with all the en¬ dearments a son can receive from the most loving fa¬ ther ; in such a case, must not the mind be deplorably blind if it does not listen with delight to these declara¬ tions, place confidence in them, and instantly accept the rich offer made by them as a treasure of peace, of happiness and glory? Yet, alas! far from acting in this most reasonable manner, we are with great difficul¬ ty brought to believe that God does indeed dwell with man ; and with still greater to desire any share in com¬ munion with him. After a thousand disappointments from the world, still with boundless credulity we depend upon every delusion for happiness. The meanest trifle, the most sordid pursuit, every thing, except the know¬ ledge and love of God, we are blind enough to fancy worth our esteem and our labor to obtain. 3* 58 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Thus does gross ignorance cover the mind of fallen man. Every inferior creature, even the crawling worm or buzzing insect, perceives what is most beneficial for itself, steadily pursues and contantly adheres to it. But man is naturally blind to the Fountain of all good, and to the enjoyment he can possess through the know ledge and love of him. Even men of the finest abili¬ ties, whose penetration, in other respects, is piercing as the eagle’s sight, are in this point miserably blind. Gross darkness covers the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the priest and the people, till God com¬ mands the light to shine out of darkness, and be¬ stows from on high a sound understanding and right judgment. This blindness of the human mind is most strongly asserted in the following Scriptures, to which more of the same kind, were it necessary, might be added : Job, 11 : 12. "Man is hornlike the wild ass’s colt,” that is, not only destitute of heavenly light and wisdom, but stupid to apprehend it, and averse to receive it. Ob¬ serve how keenly this is pointed : like the ass—an ani¬ mal remarkable for its stupidity even to a proverb; like the ass’s colt, which of course must be more egregious- ly stupid than the dam; like the wild ass’s colt, which is not only dull, but stubborn and refractory, neither by nature possessing valuable qualities, nor capable of re¬ ceiving them through any discipline. The same blind¬ ness, natural to the human mind, is necessarily implied in those assertions of the Lord Jesus Christ, which as¬ cribe all discernment of spiritual things to the influence of the Holy Ghost; which style him the Spirit of Truth, whose office it is to lead us into all truth. Nay, suffi¬ ciently decisive on this point, if there were no other testimony, is that remarkable one of St. Paul: " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he NATURAL CONDITION OF MAN. 59 know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2 : 14. But it is not blindness only that is chargeable on fal¬ len man; his entire forgetfulness of God, even though the whole creation loudly attest his excellency and his presence, argues extreme depravity. Man can be a wit¬ ness to the whole host of heaven moving in continual order around him ; he can enjoy the grateful vicissitude of the seasons, and feast upon the various bounties of the earth ; he can stand encircled with conveniences and comforts, and yet not advert to the infinitely wise and gracious hand that made and sus-ains all things. He ex¬ cludes God from the government of his own world, be¬ cause not subject to the observation of his senses ; and ascribes the honor due to Him, to thos^ passive instru¬ ments which only subserve his will. When God, there¬ fore, would impress a nation with any heartfelt awe oi his ag mcy and rule over the affairs of men, he must send forth his judgments on the earth, which, like a glaring comet troubling the sky by its irregular motion and portentous appearance, may arrest the attention, alarm the fears, and lead the thoughts of man to his Maker. When he would recover an individual from the deep forgetfulness of him in which he lies by nature, he must change his prosperity into trouble, and his joy into heaviness: a chamber of sickness or a bed of lan¬ guishing must make him know himself to be but man: he must scourge him with pain, or by fearful apprehen¬ sions of impending punishment must awaken the sleep¬ er into sensibility. Still, however, even after these se¬ vere monitors have faithfully performed their office, and forcibly set before man his adorable Creator, the re¬ membrance of him, alas! is apt to pass away like that of a guest who tarries but a day. It passes away, though all nature unites to exhibit him to the senses. " Whilst the sun, clothed in tran- 60 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. scendent brightness, comes forth from his chamber every morning to publish his Maker’s glory; whilst the moon and stars, which govern the night, add their united evidence to magnify their Creator to a gazing but unaffected world; whilst the air whispers his cle¬ mency in the balmy refreshing breeze, or his majesty sounds aloud in roaring winds and rending storms: yet both expedients fail; man is like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears; he refuseth to hear the voice of the charmers, charm they ever so sweetly, ever so for cibly. Each flower, arrayed in beauty and breathing perfume, courts our affections for its infinitely amiable Author; not a bird that warbles, or a brook that mur¬ murs, but invites our praise or chides our ingratitude. All the variety of fruits deposit their attestation on our palates, yet seldom reach our hearts; they give us a proof of the divine benignity, as undeniable as it is pleasing, and too often as ineffectual also. In short, the whole creation is a kind of magnificent embassy from its almighty Lord, deputed to proclaim his excel¬ lencies and demand our homage.” Yet man, such is the depravity of his mind, disregards the former, and of consequence withholds the latter. It may be said these instances of the power, wisdom and goodness of God, in the creation, are silent and in¬ articulate witnesses, and therefore fail to engage the attention of man. But alas! his forgetfulness of his Maker is stubborn enough to withstand even louder calls. Behold ! the messenger of the Lord, with heaven- enkindled zeal in his heart and fire in his eyes, ad¬ dresses him; he pleads before him the cause of God and truth; he makes his earnest appeal to reason, to man’s own experience, whether God ought to be for¬ gotten. He sets the Father of the spirits of all flesh before him, in the supreme glory of his character and the overflowing riches of his grace. Yet the force of NATURAL CONDITION OF MAN. 61 the impression abides no longer than till the next earth¬ ly trifle occurs, or the favorite object of pursuit presents itself to the mind. Either one or the other can scatter every idea of God from his faithless memory, as the wind disperses the chaff. Nay, when that holy word which breathes the ma¬ jesty of Him who inspired it, is read by his minister, man, till renewed by grace, betrays in his whole deport¬ ment a flagrant insensibility and a reproachful irreve¬ rence toward God. The sons of business are still in idea buying, selling and getting gain, as at the ex¬ change or market; the eye of lewdness ceases not, even in the holy assembly, to gratify evil concupis¬ cence: youthful curiosity roves with careless indiffer¬ ence from object to object. Amidst a multitude of pro¬ fessed worshippers of God, only the few, who have been happily recovered from their natural insensibility, worship him in spirit and in truth. Weigh this fact, too frequently occurring not to fall under your notice, and it will extort a confession from you that the God in whose hands is all our life and happiness for time and for eternity, is more overlooked than the smallest object that concerns our temporal welfare, and more forgotten than the meanest person on whom we have any dependence. ’ We have seen, then, that it is the way of man to live m forgetfulness of God. But let not this forgetfulness be considered as the effect of mere inattention,—a ve¬ nial failing which, though it ought to be corrected, ar¬ gues no corrupt nature.—No, it is highly culpable. It arises entirely from a depravity of disposition. Are we wont to be obstinately inattentive to our friends, whilst any degree of veneration remains for them I When the Lord of a great household is absent, and therefore invi¬ sible to his servants, do they lose the remembrance of their duty unless they are wholly base and profligate 1 62 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. When children are separated from their affectionate parents, though even at the distance of whole king¬ doms. can they lose a lively remembrance of their rela¬ tion, or a sense of their obligations, unless they are sunk into total degeneracy 1 If we trace, therefore, man’s forgetfulness of God up to its real source, it will afford us still more afflicting evidence of his natural depravity, and prove that he is a despiser of the Lord God omnipotent. Neither let ignorance of the nature of God, and of the homage he requires from men, be pleaded as an excuse for our forgetfulness. For has not reason remonstrated against our sin! Has not the word of God distinctly pointed out its malignity 1 Have not undeniable facts proved that God, notwithstanding his infinite greatness, is pleased to inspect our conduct with the most minute attention! No earthly potentate can show himself so observant of the manners of his subjects, so jealous of the honor of his laws, as the King eternal, immortal and invisible. For ask and inquire under heaven, from the beginning of the world unto this day, Who. is he among the princes of this world that has so fully prohibited all that is evil, or so strictly enjoined the practice of all good, as the Lord of the whole earth! Who has added penalties to deter from presumptuous offences against his laws, worthy to be compared to everlasting burn¬ ings ! In what state are such rich preferments, such desirable honors, insured to loyalty and obedience, as in the kingdom of our God ! Or, to say no more, who among the kings of the earth, in all the fierceness of his wrath, has been found so terrible to avenge iniquity as the righteous God, in his judgments that have been executed upon sinners! Our forgetfulness, therefore, of so great a God, w 7 ho has so plainly and fully manifested his authority, is sin¬ ful, and is an instance of high depravity. It is no less NATURAL CONDITION OF MAN. 63 than contempt of God, and, as such, is a crime infinitely heinous. To show contempt to a person who is in any degree our superior, is a greater offence, all will allow, than if he were our equal. To offer an affront to a crowned head, a much greater offence than to a private man. As every act of honor derives its value from the dignity of him who pays it, so an offence is dishonor¬ able and base in proportion to the character of him against whom it is committed. The consequence then is plain, that to show contempt to God, is an offence truly infinite 3 for almighty power, made lovely by an essential union with perfect wisdom, justice.and mercy, constitute the name of God, and demand the heartfelt adoration of his creatures. To question whether such an adoration be due to him, argues a profligate stupidity of mind: but to act as if he were unworthy of fear and love, is still more flagitious wickedness. Yet that it is the custom of man thus to act, you may see in the clearest light wherever you turn your eyes. Consider the multitudes who are living in the open breach of one or other of the laws of God. Are they doing so because they are ignorant that their sin is for¬ bidden 1 No. Profane swearers know what the third commandment means, and by what Lawgiver it is en¬ acted. The intemperate are acquainted with the Scrip¬ ture which denounces woes on those " whose God is their belly, and who are mighty to drink wine.” The lewd are no strangers to that awful declaration, " whore¬ mongers and adulterers God will judgenor fraudu¬ lent tradesmen to that solemn appeal, ” Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” But notwithstanding these plain peremptory declara¬ tions, fraud, intemperance and profaneness have ever covered almost the whole face of the earth. And sin¬ ners of each of the above-mentioned classes—though 64 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. entreated, though importuned, though adjured in the name of God who made, who preserves, and who will jud ge them,—not only refuse to hearken, but rage in confidence of their own safety. By this conduct man foams out his own shame, and proves that, where he can neither plead ignorance nor forgetfulness, he will dare to treat the commands of God as if he thought them the wild injunctions of passion, the impositions of ty¬ ranny, or the dictates of folly. He will dare to treat the law of his Maker as if, in some instances at least respecting himself, it were absurd in its intention, un¬ reasonable in its restraints, unnecessary to be observed, and to be broken with impunity. It is in vain for man to reply, whilst he remains a wilful transgressor of the law, that it is far from his in - tention to be guilty of contempt towards God, he only means to please himself in his sin. For where the law of God is openly declared, as it is in every Christian country, it is impossible to do the one without being guilty of the other also. A rebellious spirit cannot pos¬ sibly discover a more flagrant contempt of God’s go¬ vernment, than by first concluding that it will be his interest to walk contrary to his commandment; and then, whilst doing so, making light of the wrath revealed in the most solemn manner against all the unrighteous¬ ness and ungodliness of men. But in whatever point of view man may himself re¬ gard his practice of sin, it is beyond dispute that the eternal God looks upon it in a most serious light, and will punish it as a contempt of his authority. He represents himself as so touched by the unprovoked and inexcusa¬ ble rebellion of sinners, that he becomes inexorable to their cries, and regardless of the dreadful miseries into the abyss of which they are ready to fall: " Because I have called,”—by my Spirit, my law, and my ministers, " and ye refused because, like one vehemently de- ENMITY AGAINST GOD. 65 sirous to be obeyed,"I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I will also laugh at your calamity, and I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon ^you.” Prov. 1 : 24-27. In this passage you observe the Almighty expressing, in the most alarming manner, the contempt and indigna¬ tion he will show towards obstinate sinners, as only the just retaliation upon them of the very same usage and treatment he has received so long at their hands. What has been said proves but too fully the natural depravity of man. There is no way of refuting it, but by affirming that it implies no baseness to treat the fountain of all good with forgetfulness, and Excellency itself with contempt. But wherever there should be im¬ piety enough to maintain such a shocking assertion, there would also be a living demonstration of the truth that was contradicted. CHAPTER VI. OF —cost 5. in tied* HIS NATURAL ENMITY AGAINST GOD. The deplorable blindness of man in his natural con¬ dition, his neglect and contempt of God have been al¬ ready stated: but there is still, alas! something worse chargeable upon us all, till created again in Christ Jesus. 66 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. This I should carefully conceal, if it were my aim merely to please my reader instead of bringing him thoroughly acquainted with himself. I know that what I am going to prove upon fallen man, is extremely of¬ fensive to natural pride. I remember well the time, when my own self-complacency would have been pro¬ voked at such a charge asj now bring against the hu¬ man race. Let me then entreat the candor of the reader to believe that I would most conscientiously avoid im¬ puting to fallen man more sinfulness than Scripture and experience fully warrant: let me also humbly re¬ quest to be esteemed no less benevolent than if I main¬ tained that man was born with perfect rectitude of soul. I should with the greatest pleasure embrace that opi¬ nion, if fact and the express testimony of God did not compel me to renounce it as a dangerous delusion. Having thus endeavored to procure an unprejudiced hearing of my arguments, I am bold to open to the bot¬ tom the deplorable corruption of human nature, and to maintain that there dwells in the heart of every man, till changed by grace, an aversion to the very Author of his being . This is an accusation of so detestable a kind, that even those who are most visibly under the power of a dreadful depravity of mind will not allow * its truth. But the proofs I shall bring are such as every one would allow sufficiently to demonstrate aversion in any other case. And after these proofs are laid be¬ fore you, we will add the infallible decisions of the word of God. You will allow, then, that wherever the company of persons confessedly wise, excellent and amiable, is dis¬ tasteful and irksome, there is ground to conclude that it arises from some personal dislike. Now secret prayer, and reading the Scriptures With humility and attention, are the nearest approach to God, the most like being in his company of any thing of which we are at present ENMITY AGAINST GOD. 67 capable. By these, therefore, we are said in Scripture to " seek his face, and come into his presence.” If, therefore, an aversion to holding such intercourse as this with God can be proved natural to fallen man, it evidently proves his aversion to him ; for none can dis¬ pute the wisdom of God, or his glorious excellence. By this test try the human race in every stage of life, and say, where are the young people, where are the old, who, before they are divinely renewed, have any delight in prayer and reading the Scriptures 1 I do not say they totally neglect them; but do not they repeat their prayers in haste, without serious attention to their meaning 1 Is not the Bible, that authentic account of God and his wonderful works, a dull, tasteless book to them, and therefore neglected 1 If it is read, are not a few minutes thought time enough for such a task, whilst hours are every day consumed with delight in idle sauntering, in frivolous visits, or in frothy enter¬ tainments 1 If this conduct does not, what can demon¬ strate the aversion of man to God 1 especially since God, oh amazing condescension! offers to hold com¬ munion with us, invites our acquaintance, and would have us regard him as our exceeding joy l Why is this offer slighted I Surely because we naturally like not to retain him in our knowledge, nor to glorify him as God. Again; it cannot be doubted that a great degree of hatred against a person prevails, when it extends even to those that are connected with him , and when attach¬ ment to him becomes a cause for breaking the closest bonds of friendship. Tried by this rule, the natural aversion of man’s heart to his glorious Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, appears as flagrant in its effects as it is detestable in principle. A zealous spirit of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ may be considered as the expression of a sincere attachment to him; but this spirit is, in all 68 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAM. ages of life, offensive to the generality of mankind Does this uncommon but most excellent disposition dis¬ cover itself in a child at school—his playmates, as from an instinctive enmity against it, will assault and perse¬ cute him with derision. In universities which give the last polish to the education of the world, you may be lewd and intemperate, profane in speech and principle, without offence to your fellow-students; but if, with a becoming fortitude, you refrain from all fashionable sins, and urge the authority of God’s law against them, the most cutting ridicule and abusive insult will be heaped upon you. Now as this is the case before the corrupt affections of the human heart are strengthened by age or inflamed by indulgence, it must necessarily be much more so afterwards. It is accordingly a fact, that the real fear and love of God in Jesus Christ become the cause of variance and separation where the greatest intimacy and the closest friendship subsisted before. Those very persons who, whilst living in fashionable forgetfulness of God, were beloved as most amiable, and even pro¬ posed as patterns for imitation—no sooner are divinely changed to delight in the knowledge of God and his Gospel, than they perceive that their careless friends treat thefli at first with a civil reserve, then proceed to censures of their extravagant piety, and at length dis¬ card them entirely from their friendship. But could this be the case if there were no aversion in the heart to God I By no means ; for though you may not like your friend’s contracting an intimacy with a third per¬ son, yet you would not quarrel with him for it unless you had a secret dislike of that person in your heart. It is a sure proof of aversion against a person when the respectful mention of his name , and the just praise ascribed to him, is not borne without impatience and displeasure. The party-bigot, every man will allow, ENMITY AGAINST GOD. 69 overflows with the gall of bitterness ; and therefore, when the good qualities of those who are in opposition to his sect become the subject of discourse, he either sits in silent chagrin, or is evidently impatient till an¬ other topic of discourse is introduced. And is it not, then, a proof of aversion to God, when, amidst all the variety of subjects of discourse, objection is made only against such as are designed to magnify the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent 1 What but aversion to God would immediately brand such conver¬ sations with the odious names of cant and hypocrisy, and obstinately ascribe it to some hateful motive of os¬ tentation or sinister design 1 Men are pleased with incessant prating about every the meanest trifle, or most sordid vanity; but as soon as any attempt is made to turn the conversation on the great Lord of the world, his transactions, government, perfections and love, the very mention of the subject is received in most companies with visible dislike, a dis¬ approving silence ensues, and the subject drops as soon as introduced. Ah! what can demonstrate that the un¬ renewed heart of man is at enmity with God, if this fact does not, which proclaims so loudly that he is the only person of whom no one chooses to speak, and whose praises no one desires to hear! Could a circle of avow¬ ed atheists desire to have it otherwise 1 Again : Who can doubt whether enmity reigns in the heart against an earthly king, when the tongue is busy in abusing his professed friends, and in casting reproach upon his government, and the hand is active in opposing it 1 Can it be doubted, then, what is the real temper of man’s heart towards God, the King of the whole earth, before a divine change is experienced, when it is com¬ mon to hear ridicule poured upon the pious and devout, as creatures absurdly demure, pitiably weak in their judgment, or enthusiastic in their temper'! What a 70 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN malicious insinuation is this against the glory of God 1 Does it not imply that all who have any concern for his honor are actually under the power of delusion, and truly despicable in their choice and pursuits 1 Add to this that the disobedience of men to the law of God amounts to the strongest proof of aversion to him. Every wilful transgression is an act of contro¬ versy with him who forbids it, and of direct opposition to his will; it is expressly styled in Scripture,rebellion against God. For though we have no power to over¬ come our Maker, or to shake the everlasting pillars of his throne; though we cannot bring forth the weapons of our indignation against the invisible God as rebel¬ lious subjects can do against their mortal sovereign, yet the bidding defiance to his law demonstrates our will to do this execrable deed. It is an evident decla¬ ration that our spirit is in a state of hostility against heaven. Every open presumptuous offender against God calls aloud, by his practice, upon all who behold it, Come on, rise up with me against the Lord; who is he, that he should reign over us 1 Now from these instances, notorious in every place, make an estimate of the natural disposition of man’s heart towards God, and then say if it is not evidently that of aversion. If you would allow these instances a sufficient demonstration of enmity in every other case, be ingenuous and honest enough to grant it to be such in the present. To prevail with you to do this, attend further to the manner, in which our natural state and condition is re presented by the God of truth . He constantly speaks of the children of men, in their unregenerate state, aa " haters ” of him, as his " adversaries ” and " enemies.” Christ, we are assured, died for the " ungodlythat is, for those who were enemies to God. The same truth is positively affirmed, Rom. 8 : 7 ENMITY AGAINST GOD. 71 The carnal mind (which the context explains to be the mind of man in its natural state) is not only dis¬ inclined to God, but " enmity against him 5 ” which en¬ mity expresses itself in refusing to be subject to the law of God. Indeed the Gospel itself, even in one of its most love* ly titles, emphatically implies the melancholy truth we are proving. For it is called "the ministry of recon - ciliatioji ," that is, a method contrived by consummate wisdom, and executed by almighty love, to reconcile us unto God, who "were enemies in our minds" to him "by wicked works." Col. 1 : 21. And let the man who would deny the necessity of reconciliation in his own case, descend into his breast, and take a full survey of his duty by the light of Scripture, and then say what hope he can have, but from an act of grace in God re¬ ceiving him to favor, and putting him in a way of com¬ plete redemption, by a new birth of the Spirit, in the renovation of his heart. From this proof of the total depravity of man in his temper towards God, his natural guilt and sinfulness ap¬ pear in a glaring light. For what can be more criminal than such disaffection to God the Father everlasting 1 It is no less than a total denial of the relation that sub¬ sists between the Creator and the creature. It is re¬ moving the best and noblest part of the divine work¬ manship, visible on earth, from its proper basis and cen¬ tre. If you were to break in pieces the frame of nature, and resolve the world into a mere chaos, the confusion and evil would not be so great as that of breaking the bonds which unite the Creator to his noblest work, a rational immortal sml. All the relations of creatures towards each other are mean and insignificant in com¬ parison of those which subsist between creatures and the Author of their being. Besides, what monstrous wickedness is it to be disaffected to our most bountiful 72 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Benefactor'l What do we think and say of those who have an aversion to their parents ? What, when they dislike and shun those who have been ever kind and full of paternal love; are we not wont to brand such ungrateful children with every name of reproach, and to judge them guilty in the highest degree ! But in how small a measure do parents contribute to the being and welfare of their children, in comparison of what the great God doth to ours 1 and how little superiority in point of power and excellency have parents over their children 1 Whereas the excellency of our Maker sur¬ passes even our highest conceptions. And what cause can man pretend for his disaffection towards God! Many good works has he done for us ; for which of these is he hated ! What injuries have we received from him to offend us! rather may I say, by how many powerful allurements hath he sought to gain our affections ! by benefits visible to every eye, repeat¬ ed day by day in all the comforts and conveniences of life : by inviting us to the highest degrees of honor and happiness, by giving his only Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. Disaffection to our Maker comprehends all other wickedness; for as the law of love is the sum and sub¬ stance of all the precepts, so disaffection to God is com¬ prehensive of all iniquity, since every branch of it may be resolved into this depravity of mind. If you ask what is the use of so strongly representing the natural vileness of man, and of giving his portrait in colors so opposite to those in which he is drawn by the flattering pencils of many moral painters! the answer is, that it is only upon the doctrine of the entire corruption of human nature that the propriety of the capital and peculiar doctrines of the Bible rests. By the capital and peculiar doctrines of Scripture, I under¬ stand—redemption from the insupportable punishment ENMITY AGAINST GOE 73 of sin; acceptance with God only through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; the illumination of the mind, and a change of disposition by the inward opera¬ tion of the eternal Spirit Against these doctrines you must be strongly preju¬ diced, or will receive them only as speculative points, till you are sensible that your natural state is exceed¬ ingly corrupt. For though your conscience will not suffer you to say you have done no evil, yet, if possess¬ ing some civil and moral virtues which gain you esteem amongst men, you believe yourself to be comparatively innocent, you cannot be reconciled to those declara¬ tions of Scripture which affirm eternal death to he the just portion of fallen man. Equally averse must you be to embrace the Gospel method of purification unto eternal life. The flattering idea of your own merit, and the plausible expectation of greater reformation, will render you too partial to your own righteousness to permit you to approve of the doctrine of salvation by grace ; for this is a doctrine infinitely mortifying to human pride: it disannuls every plea for mercy but the sufferings and victory of the high and holy Redeemer, who, in absolute pity, undertook to recover fallen man from ruin, by bearing his sin and subduing his enemies. A way of reconciliation this, which is never cordially accepted, nor effectually used till all the tempers and dispositions natural to the hu¬ man mind are confessed to be evil, that is, full of disaf¬ fection and enmity against the law of God. Whereas the full conviction of this truth disposes the mind to per¬ ceive that it became Him, by whom are all things, and for whom are all things, in this, and no other way of justifying sinners, to bring many sons to glory. Moreover: whilst it is supposed that men are not by nature deplorably blind to the truths of God and to his excellency, and in their earliest dispositions set against Duty of Mao. 74 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. him, the doctrine of regeneration and of divine grace as the principle of a new life, must appear unnecessary and absurd. For if man’s understanding is not darkened, if by thought and reflection he can attain a due know¬ ledge of the truth, he does not then stand in need of foreign help. In this case it is reasonable to urge him to exert his own powers; but to press him to make re¬ quest for a spirit of wisdom and revelation, is vain and foolish. In the same manner divine grace can never be conceived necessary to form and fashion the soul anew, unless it is naturally prone to express forgetfulness, contempt and hatred towards its glorious Creator. To reform the outward actions, or to lead a life merely sober and honest, requires no such supernatural aid and powerful operation. We daily see many who despise prayer and the word of God, and are altogether sensual and earthly, yet living in integrity and in quietness with their neighbors; so that it is not with respect to social dispositions that men universally discover their depra¬ vity and their want of a new heart and a new spirit. But it is that secret impiety which opposes our giving to God the honor, obedience and supreme love which are due unto his holy name, which renders the agency of the Holy Ghost absolutely necessary. It is the re¬ moval and cure of a dreadful disorder which rages in the heart of all the human race, and which demands the skill and energy of Him whose power first formed the soul, to restore it again to the image of God. The conclusion, therefore, is plain, that as ignorance of our natural condition and character with respect to God prevails, the whole scheme of Christian principles must be rejected or hypocritically received, whilst in the same degree that we rightly know ourselves, it will be reverenced, embraced, and practically improved. THE USE OF THE LAW. 75 CHAPTER VII. OF TIIF F *1 Tf\ ITS PERFECTION AND USE. We have now endeavored to delineate the character of God and the natural state of man, as they are reveal¬ ed in Scripture ; the next subject, with which all men ought to be fully acquainted, is the nature of the Law. The Law, with its terms of perfect righteousness and life on the one hand, and of disobedience and death on the other, is the first thing which the word of God pre¬ sents to our notice; and till this is known, the Gospel cannot be understood, nor the grace of God be duly re¬ ceived; for the Gospel is the revelation of God’s way of delivering a sinner from the curse of the law. The intimate connection Avhich subsists between the Law and the Gospel is frequently taught in Scripture, yet from a natural reluctance to confess ourselves the guilty impotent creatures we are, and from a false construc¬ tion of what is spoken of the law, as if it related only or chiefly to the Jewish state, this connection is fa¬ tally overlooked by multitudes who profess themselves Christians. To remove such hurtful ignorance, I shall lay before you the perfection and extent of the Moral Law ; the excellent ends it perpetually answers wherever it is duly received, and the pernicious errors which must possess and govern the minds of men whilst they re¬ main ignorant of it. The perfection of the law of God will evidently ap¬ pear by comparing it with other laws, and observing its greater extent. With regard to human laws, even the 76 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. best of them must ever prove defective in this, that they cannot reach the propensities to evil, nor take cognizance of the intents of the heart: their whole force can extend no further than to forbid acts which would disturb the public peace. The law of God, on the contrary, condemns, under pain of insupportable pe¬ nalties, the latent compliances of the heart with tempta¬ tion^. and commands us to resist the first workings of evil within. If it be said the law of conscience is not defective in this respect as the laws of the state must be; that this goes deeper, serving as a supplement to them, and re¬ straining where the power of a penal statute cannot; it may be replied, that the law of conscience is principally formed by the manners and sentiments of those with whom we are educated, and with whom we converse. Of course it is depraved by customs and prejudices of various kinds; it must prove, therefore, an uncertain, and sometimes perhaps a dangerous, instead of a suffi¬ cient rule of action. But the law of Scripture leaves us in no such difficulties; whilst we are directed by it, we are following no other guide than that of perfect truth and righteousness. The law which is established for the peace and good government of nations, is often severe and distressing to individuals, nor can it be otherwise; the best, there¬ fore, is that which is accompanied with the fewest evils. But the law of God is equally at all times, and in all places, of universal benefit: wherever it is most con¬ scientiously regarded, there the greatest measure of happiness will certainly be enjoyed. For no one with truth can say he is in the least degree aggrieved by it; nor can any, either of the rich or the poor, whilst they regard their true comfort or interest, have cause to wish the least alteration in it. Again, the doctrine or law which the moral philoso- THE USE OF THE LAW. 77 pliers of old taught, and which many still profess great¬ ly to admire, is little more than an imposture, covered over with swelling words of vanity. It undertakes to annihi¬ late the passions, yet neither promises nor intimates that any supernatural aid shall be afforded to accomplish such an arduous work. Nay, it encourages instead of condemning some of the worst tempers natural to man. It cures intemperance and the thirst for revenge by pride; the sins of the body by giving indulgence to those of the mind: that is, in other words, it makes a man less like a beast by making him more like a devil. Far different is the law of Scripture: this allows no place for sinful tempers of any kind; it strikes at the root of every disposition contrary to the perfection of the soul. There is, however, one law which calls for a more respectful consideration; for it claims the God of heaven and earth for its author: I mean the Jewish Ceremonial law. Bat even this, when compared with the Moral, will appear far less excellent. For though of divine appointment, it was appropriated only to one people and nation: whereas the Moral Law extends to all, for it immediately results from the relation of man¬ kind to God, as their Creator and Benefactor. In the Ceremonial Law there was only a relative use and worth : it was /to serve for a figure for the time then present; it was designed with no other view than to shadow forth Christ the substance, and then to cease for ever when he appeared. But the Moral Law pos¬ sesses an excellence which endures for ever : and whilst the ordinances of the one, in a figurative symbolical manner, only respected inward purity, the precepts of the other are directly ordained to require righteousness in the tempers and imaginations of the heart. The excellence and perfection of the Moral Law will appear still more manifest from a brief survey of what 78 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. may be considered as an epitome of it, The law of the Ten Commandments. From their extent and spirituality it will appear indisputable, that its precepts are design ed to secure to God all the honor due unto his name, t q sanctify all the powers of man, to regulate his deport ment in every condition in which he can possibly be placed, and to point out the most exalted degree of holiness. For though we are apt injuriously to limit their sense, and to conclude, with an air of confidence, that they mean to forbid only the gross outward crimes which the first sound of the word suggests; yet from the more extensive interpretation given to some of them in Scripture, (see Matt. 5 : 27; 1 John, 3:15; Matt. 22 : 36,) we may justly conclude that each of them is spiritual in its injunctions, and reaches to the inmost affections of the soul. Thus the First Commandment requires that the bless¬ ed God should reign unrivalled in our hearts: that bodily pleasure, honor, riches, and every comfort of a worldly kind, should, in comparison of God, be vile and contemptible in our eyes. The Second obliges us to be religiously careful that we conceive of God as he has revealed himself to us, neither adding to nor diminish¬ ing from his character as drawn in his word; that in our public and secret worship we come before him only in the way which he has appointed ; offering to him spiritual praise, thanksgiving and prayer; and abhor¬ ring the very appearance of idolatry. The Third Com¬ mandment requires us to be mindful at all times of the majesty of God, so as conscientiously to avoid in our thoughts and speech whatever savors of contempt, irre¬ verence or forgetfulness of him. The Fourth enjoins us, upon constant solemn seasons, returning in quick succession, to lay aside every worldly occupation, to be as it were insensible to the things of sense and time, in order that the worth of the soul and subjects of a spi- THE USE OF THE LAW. 79 ritual nature may occupy our thoughts and more strong ly affect our minds. The Fifth obliges us, as soon as we are capable of knowing our duty, to pay a sincere and cheerful obedience to our parents; such as may testify the sense we have of the benefits that, under God, we owe to them. It enjoins, also, a respectful and proper behavior to superiors of every kind, to the king, to magistrates, to ministers, and masters. The Sixth not only restrains our hands from murderous violence, hut condemns every degree of hatred or malice in the heart The Seventh Commandment requires more than a renunciation of open lewdness, even purity of desire ; it arraigns and condemns as a trespass the very looking upon the face of beauty with lusting : it condemns even such spiritual defilement as only the eye of God can detect. The Eighth is a barrier against every injurious encroachment which our self-love and worldly spirit would lead us to make upon our neighbor’s rights: it forbids every species of injustice or fraud, however prevalent, however palliated by plausible pretences. The Ninth exacts from us an inviolable regard to truth in every declaration by which the character of our fel¬ low-creatures may be affected ; and enjoins us to subdue that world of iniquity, the tongue, which is so impa¬ tient of yielding to the law of brotherly, kindness and charity. The Last Commandment condemns every covetous desire, and every degree of discontent at our appointed situation. From this brief account of the sense of the Ten Com¬ mandments, it is evident that there is not a moral pre¬ cept enjoined in any part of the Bible, which was not virtually contained in the law of the Two Tables de¬ livered on Mount Sinai. Our Lord justifies this conclu¬ sion oy explaining in this manner the comprehensive import of the Commandments. Those of the first table he considers as requiring us to love the Lord our God 80 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength. Mark, 12 : 30. " With all our heart, and with all our soul,” that is, with a love so fervent and affectionate as to desire no¬ thing in comparison of his favor and the promotion of his glory ; to regard him as the joy of our prosperity, the light of our life, and our portion for ever. "With all our strength,” that is, so as to promote the fear and love of his name bv all our services and labors. “ With all our mind,” that is, by all the means which our rea¬ son and understanding can furnish or discover. Thus are all our powers and faculties to be engaged in dis¬ charging our duty towards God according to the de¬ mands of this spiritual law. The laws of the second table also our Lord interprets to imply an obligation " to love our neighbor as we love ourselves:” that is, to pity his mistakes, to compassion¬ ate his infirmities, to conceal his faults, to exercise every office of kindness towards him in the same man¬ ner as we should rejoice to have it exercised towards ourselves. From this view of the extent of the law, it appears to be altogether worthy of its holy Author, the God of heaven and earth; who is at once jealous of the honor of his name amongst men, and full of tender regard to their welfare. The excellent ends which this’law answers, wherever it is received and duly regarded, is the next point to be considered. Now one most obvious use is, that of a complete stand¬ ard of good and evil. Whilst man possessed the ori¬ ginal excellence he received from the hands of his Creator, a law written and engraved on tables of stone was needless. Before his fall the graces of his sout were a living representation of the spirit of the law; and as face answereth to face in the glass, so did the THE USE OF THE LAW. 81 unsullied mind of Adam to the will of God, of which the law is the perfect transcript. But man " shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin,” is darkened in his understanding, and nothing of that law of righteousness remains with him which Adam in innocence possessed Instead of innate knowledge of the truth, man must, now, if left to himself, labor by slow and multiplied de¬ ductions to know his duty. So defective is his own un¬ assisted reason in determining what is right and wrong, that things utterly detestable in our judgment, who have the pure light of the law, have been practised and approved in polite and civilized nations. A palpable proof this that a man has no light in himself sufficient to exhibit a clear rule of right. To supply his want in this most important matter is one obvious design of the law which God enacted from mount Sinai. This delivers man from his own fallacious reasonings about duty. This gives him to understand what are the peremptory commands of God, without leaving him in the perplexing labyrinth of his own ima¬ gination. This demands his attention to a short but most comprehensive rule of action ; a rule which claims the God of heaven and earth for its adorable author, and of course equally excludes all doubt and all debate. Another standing and perpetual use of the law is, by its penalty, to deter from rebelling against God those whom more generous motives will not restrain. The law represents the thunder-bolt of divine indignation as ready to fall every moment upon the offender against God: it brings upon him a dread of God as the judge ” who will not hold him guiltless but on the contrary, who will " visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him,” whilst he shows " mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments.” The inclinations of the heart, it is true, when only con- 4# 82 COMPLETE DUTV OF MAN. fined by external restraint, remain evil as before; yet the mischief that would follow, if they were indulged, is thus prevented As men who do not abhor what is criminal, yet, through fear of punishment, dare not dis¬ turb the peace of society by acts of violence, so there are thousands kept from excess in wickedness by a dread of the threatening annexed to the transgression of the law of God. To serve as a standard of right and wrong, and to deter from offences, are uses which the law of God has in common with human laws. But besides these there are others which are peculiar to it: the Bible assures us the law was given " that ''every mouth might be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God.” Rom. 3:19, It was given also, says the apostle, to serve as a " schoolmaster to bring us to Christ:—who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one who believeth.” Gal. 3 : 24. Rom. 10 : 4. Now that it is a principal design of the Law to con¬ found all who trust in themselves as righteous, and to bring on them a conviction of guilt , is plain from the titles given to it in Scripture, and the reasonings of the apostle concerning it. The law of the Ten command¬ ments is distinguished by the apostle from the ceremo¬ nial one, by styling it the law written and engraven in tables of stone. After this distinction is made, which clearly identifies the law of which the apostle was treating, he gives it the title of " the ministration of condemnation.” 2 Cor. 3: 9. This title implies a law which, though it may perfectly lay before man the ex¬ tent of his duty, yet it also inexorably condemns him. It allows no plea which he can offer to obtain an ac¬ quittal. The necessary result of its operation when the natural state of man is considered, must be that of uni¬ versal condemnation rather than acquittal, unless a Me¬ diator be found to interpose and save. THE USE OF THE LAW. 83 But lest a single declaration of this most awful truth should be evaded or forgotten, or lest we should think slightly of that condemnation to which the law subjects every transgressor, it is therefore again called by that distressing name, " the ministration of death.” This teaches us, that having arraigned and convicted man, it pronounces him condemned; exposed, without any power in himself to overcome or evade his sentence, to death. And lest it should be doubted whether by death is meant spiritual destruction, or merely the dissolution of the body, it is further styled, "the strength of sin.” 1 Cor. 15:56. This intimates that the formidable power which binds over every unpardoned offender to answer for his sins, and transmits him after judgment to suffer the pains of hell, is the Law. In confirmation of this its grand design to prove our ruined condition, without a Savior, believers are exhorted to abound in thankful¬ ness to God for giving them a "victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ,” over this law, which, through the corruption of human nature, is become their dreadful accuser. Christ is therefore celebrated as an inesti¬ mable benefactor to his church, not merely because he gave us an example that we should follow his steps, not merely because he came to save those who trust in him from the temptations of a seducing world, or from the power of Satan; but because he hath " redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” Gal. 3: 13. Still farther, God has been pleased to use an admira¬ ble method for explaining important doctrines of his word, by exhibiting them in the history and experience of his servants. In this way of example he has taught us that the law of the ten commandments was given to convince man of his guilt and sinfulness. St. Paul is chosen, and by inspiration directed to relate his phari- saical ignorance of the grand design of the law, and 84 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. then to describe the change produced in his mind by a just and clear knowledge of it. " I was alive,” says he, " without the law oncesecure and self-satisfied, I re¬ garded the moral law as the rule by which man was to be justified before God; and I thought that I had paid such an obedience to it as, considering human infirmity, must render me acceptable to God. " But when the commandment came,” that is, when the design of it was duly understood by me, " sin revived,” it became strong and irresistible in its accusations against me, " and I died;” my self-confidence vanished, and I saw and con¬ fessed myself to be a ruined sinner before the holy law of God. ” And the commandment which was ordained to life,” which was originally designed to be to the first man a covenant of life, " I found to be unto death:” so far from justifying or acquitting me, it condemned and bound me over to the misery of hell. Should it be said that the apostle, in this passage, speaks not in his own but in an assumed character, we may observe that he expresses himself to the very same purpose in his Epis¬ tle to the Galatians : when evidently speaking in his own proper person, " I,” says he, " through the law, am dead to the law :” through the just knowledge I now have of the extent of its precepts, and of God’s grand design by it, not to justify but to condemn every living soul, I have entirely renounced all dependence upon the law, as able to acquit me from guilt on account of any obedience I can pay to it: "I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God,” by faith in his Son. And lest all this proof should not be sufficient to con vince men, whose pride and self-conceit would dispose them to reject this humbling doctrine, and lead them to confine these declarations to the Jewish and ceremonial law; the apostle takes particular care to assert such things of the law of which he was treating, as in no sense are, nor ever were, true of the ceremonial. Thus THE USE OF THE LAW. 85 the law of which St. Paul speaks, is one " by which every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God.” But the ceremonial law never was, nor can be urged to condemn us gentiles, or to show our guilt in any degree. The law of which the apostle speaks, is a law established by faith, but faith absolutely abolished the Jewish law. It is a law to which the be¬ lieving Romans were married ; but many of them never submitted to the ceremonial one. It is a law, according to which the man that doeth these things shall live by them. A law which, if the uncircumcision keep, his un¬ circumcision shall be counted for circumcision. It is a law which is spiritual, whereas the ceremonial consisted of carnal ordinances. These properties, which cannot be applied to the ceremonial law, evidently prove the law in the apostle’s view to have been the moral one of which the ten commandments is a summary. Now, after such various testimonies, what more can reasonably be demanded, to prove that one principal end for which the law is ordained, is to convince every man living of his guilt and sinfulness in the sight of God WWHWfV BP nr rwis irnn>, 4#L x 9 $23 86 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN CHAPTER VIII. OJF THE E& W.-continued. ITS USE AS PREPARATORY TO THE GOSPEL. We have already considered the perfection and ex¬ tent of the law: we have taken a view of it as a rule which determines our duty in all cases. We have also produced several sacred testimonies to prove that it was designed to humble the pride of man, and to serve to him as a ministration of condemnation. But, connect¬ ed with this, the law answers another important pur¬ pose—" It was given,” saith the apostle, "to serve as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ .” This use of the law is what I now propose to explain. But it will he useful previously to remove the objections which pride and prejudice are ready to bring against the law on ac¬ count of what they term inexorable rigor. You think it hard, then, that we should be under a law whose demands are so strict and rigid 1 But what less than perfect love and sinless obedience can be due from a reasonable intelligent creature to his adorable Maker! To suppose a law given of God, which would admit of imperfect love and obedience, would leave it impossible to determine what is sin, and what is not> for sin is the transgression of the law. But if the law itself would be satisfied with sincerity of intention only, or merely with the best kind of obedience which a cor¬ rupted creature could pay to it, how could any trans¬ gression of it be defined! Upon this supposition, it would he essential to the law to admit of imperfection and sin. Besides, were we to suppose that God could THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 87 overlook one transgression of his law, we should natu- rah/, and I think might justly, conclude that he would overlook more ; and where, then, shall we stop ! Who shall say how far we may, or may not go with impunity 1 And what must this prove in the end, but giving man liberty to fix the bounds according to his own will ] What but putting man in possession of a right to dis¬ pense with the law of God at pleasure, and thus in effect to abrogate it 1 It is therefore a contrivance every way worthy of infinite wisdom, to publish a law which is a perfect representation of God’s glorious ho¬ liness ; and to annex to every the least transgression of it, condemnation and the curse. If you say that such a representation of the law shuts up all men, without exception, in hopeless condemnation , I answer, it does indeed show them that they have de¬ stroyed themselves, and it proves that they can find sal vation only in the way the Gospel reveals: for there is no other way by which men can be saved. God must alike require obedience at all times, and it is one great design of all Scripture, and especially of the renewal of the law by Moses, to ground us in this truth, that every act of disobedience is a forfeiture of all claim to the favor of God, and subjects us to punishment. Where, then, else will you in this extremity look for safety? Will you say to God, "have patience with me, and I will pay thee alii” Will you venture your soul upon the perfection of your own works 1 This you dare not. This you see is at once to give yourself up to destruc¬ tion. Perhaps you will v flee to your sincerity, taking it for granted that God, notwithstanding the confessed imperfections of your obedience, will accept it for its sincerity. But what Scripture warrant have you to say, that though God required a perfect obedience to his law at one time, and in one age of the world, he has now discharged men from that obligation, and will ac- 88 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. cept at their hands such an obedience as they are now able to offer him, be it ever so unworthy his acceptance, or short of the demands of his law 1 It is presumption to think thus, without especial ground from the word of God; and there you will certainly find none for this novel and mischievous opinion. Besides, what would you gain by this opinion, unless you could answer for your sincerity to that God "whose eyes are as a flame of fire, searching the heart V’ For if you make sin¬ cerity the ground of your acceptance with God, you must stand or fall by it; and are obliged to make it good, without any failure or blemish, on pain of eternal condemnation. So that still you are upon no founda¬ tion for life, for solid peace and comfort. It was, therefore, merciful in God to constitute his law a ministration of condemnation: it acts like an en¬ gine of irresistible force, to sweep away from us every refuge of lies in which man would vainly seek a deceit¬ ful security; it compels us to renounce those false pleas for obtaining mercy, which, so soon as the light of truth shines into our hearts, we shall be ashamed we could even so much as think of using. Having thus endeavored to remove the objections which might be urged against the law as harsh and se¬ vere, I proceed to explain its principal design—a design replete with benevolence, and productive of the great¬ est good to man. The law is intended to act as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. No sooner can we perceive ourselves actually cut off from every hope of mercy which we were wont to entertain on account of our own performances and worth, than we shall find ourselves prepared, and as it were compelled, to put our whole trust in the grace of God, manifested in Christ, in that scheme of marvellous love to man, which is called " the righteousness of God without the law,— which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 89 them that believe.” Rora. 3 : 21, 22. A true knowledge of the nature and end of the law sounds an alarm to the conscience, which was before asleep, dreaming of peace when there was no peace. Thus alarmed, the ear is opened to listen to the word of reconciliation declared by Christ, and the heart is disposed earnestly to apply to the Redeemer, as to one who alone is able to save from such insupportable misery as the curse of the law. It is the law also, which, continually showing us, by the exhibition of its own purity, our deficiency and cor¬ ruption, and approving itself to our consciences as just and good, stimulates us to earnest endeavors to resist and subdue the body of sin. Hence that internal conflict of which the apostle speaks so feelingly, Rom. 7:18: "I know,” says he, " that in me, that is in my flesh, dwell- eth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform,” as the law requires, " that which is good I find not. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind.” In other words, I perceive two contrary principles within me, the one de¬ rived from God, the other the produce of my corrupt nature ; that leading me forward to heaven, and ap¬ proving the spiritual demands of the law; this opposing my progress and struggling against me. My mind is a field of battle, where all my passions exert their several efforts to gain a conquest over me. In this case what must be done 1 St. Paul instructs us by his own exam¬ ple. After asking the question with much emphasis, " O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death 1” he relieves himself from every despondent thought by saying, ” I thank God,” that is, for his grace, “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This, this alone it is which can and will deliver me. Into this pungent sensibility of our own sinfulness it is the intention of God by his law to bring us : that so 90 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. we may be able, which otherwise we never should, to behold the necessity and glory of the redemption there is in Jesus. He has mercifully ordained the law, and annexed the curse to the least breach of it, that he might shut up every door of hope, except that by which the fullest pardon and the richest mercy are dispensed to sinners. The thunders and lightnings on Mount Sinai are designed to make us account ourselves unspeakably happy in being allowed access to Mount Zion, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the living God, where the divine goodness shines forth in the perfection of beauty. That this is no human scheme of doctrine, but the truth of God’s holy word, is manifest. u The Scripture,” says the apostle, " has concluded all under sin, that the promise which is by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Gal. 3 : 22. The apostle is here proving that the law, in the possession of which the Jews greatly boasted, was so far from lessening the necessity of salvation by Christ, or from interfering with this adorable scheme of grace, that, when rightly understood, it acted strongly in subserviency to it. For such is our natural pride and self-sufficiency, so slight our thoughts of the evil of sin, so extravagant our con¬ ceit of the extent of God’s mercy, that if we did not perceive ourselves condemned by the mouth of the Lord, and doomed as criminals to suffer the execution of eternal justice, there is not one of us who would come to the Son of God for life ; God has therefore, by his law, actually shut us up as rebels against his govern¬ ment, under a total inability of making reparation for our treason. This he has done, that our haughty spirit being humbled through a sense of our miserable condi¬ tion, we might embrace with all possible thankfulness the grace offered to us in Christ. Thus the law, or rule of perfect obedience, came by THE LAW AIsD THE GOSPEL. 31 Mdses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ. ” For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,” that is, through the corruption of human nature, " God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit,”—a pas¬ sage this, so pertinent to the subject, and so full of in¬ struction, that it demands our serious attention. Con¬ sider therefore the aim, and trace the progress of the apostle’s reasoning. He is clearing up and confirming that great privilege of the Gospel, that " there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, and who,” in consequence of their faith in him, ” walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” To this St. Paul knew some would be ready to object and say, How can this be, since every believer falls short of perfect obe¬ dience, he offends against the law, and therefore must be liable to its curse 1 The answer is, Believers are de¬ livered from condemnation, because of " the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” That new dispensation, introduced in the-room of the old law, promises pardon and the gift of the Spirit, in which things the true life and real happiness of mankind consist. By this new and gracious dispensation, " God hath made me,” saith the apostle, " free from the law of sin and death;” from that law which convinced me of sin, condemned me for it, and bound me over to suffer death. These are glad tidings doubtless: but are they not attended with two inconveniences 1 Does not this pro¬ cedure deprive the law of its due honors, and does it not screen the offender from his deserved punishment! By no means j for that which was an absolute impossi¬ bility to men, on account of the strictness of the law and the weakness of human nature, God, to whom no¬ thing is impossible, has most wonderfully accomplished; 92 COMILETE DUTV OF MAN. by " sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh,” to live among sinners, to perform the perfect obedience due from them, and also to be a sacrifice " for sin,” having it charged upon him, and suffering its punish¬ ment. By this grand expedient God has provided for the honor and perfect accomplishment of the law. He has also "condemned” and punished "sin” "in the flesh,” in that very nature which was guilty, disabled and ruined. Should it be further asked, wherefore is all this 1 It is to lay the surest foundation, and to make the most complete provision for our justification. It is " that the righteousness of the law,” both its righteous sentence and its righteous precept, whatever either of suffering or obedience it required, being fulfilled in Christ, " might be fulfilled in us.” As it was all done in our name ; and as he and we are one, since he is our representative and our surety, so his righteous acts, in their beneficial efficacy, are ours, and his atoning death is ours : ours, " who walk not after the flesh,” who have our conversation towards God and man, not according to the principles of corrupt nature, though to our grief they still have place within us, " but after the Spirit,” according to higher and divine principles, which are im¬ planted in our hearts, and continually supported by the Spirit of God. Rom. 8 : 1-4. You have now placed before you in one view the scriptural account of the nature and design of the law. And unless pride, and the doctrines of men calculated to sooth that worst disease of our minds, mislead us, we shall be persuaded that this representation of strict¬ ness equally secures the honor of God and our own comfort in serving him. It is the purity of the law which enhances and endears above all expression the perfect obedience of Christ, both active and passive, and the imputation of his merits, that special crowning mercy of the new covenant. Against this view of the nature THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 93 of the law there is however a common and plausible ob¬ jection made, which it may be necessary, before I pro¬ ceed further, to obviate. It is urged then, that by showing the impossibility of answering the demands of the law, you in fact weaken our obligations to the law; and by extolling the obe¬ dience of Christ, as the only ground of hope to man, you diminish the value of our obedience ; and that hence a door is opened for lice?itiousness. Without doubt the doctrines of divine grace may be thus abused, and it is to be feared that many weak and corrupt men have so abused them; but it may be replied, what doctrine may not be perverted 1 Is not the display of the patience and mercy of God equally liable to licentious abuse as this doctrine 1 But will you, on account of the general abuse of these perfections of God, be jealous of them as pre¬ judicial to the cause of practical religion I or will you deny their existence because the avowal of them may have a bad tendency I The thought is dreadful, and the consequence would be universal destruction. It is the same with the doctrine of the law, when you infer from the impossibility of your being justified by your obe¬ dience to it, the necessity of being saved by faith in the Redeemer. Act then with respect to both in the same manner; maintain the doctrines, detest and expose the abuse of them. But if you were to give up this scriptural idea of the law, still it remains to be considered whether you would gain any thing in favor of the interests of prac¬ tical religion 1 No: you would only grant men the liberty of explaining the law according to their own in¬ clinations in a manner subversive of the fear and love of God, and of regard to his authority. It must be re¬ membered also, that when the apostles assert the im¬ possibility of justification by the law, they do not, there¬ fore, make void the law: when they extol the grace and 34 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. mercy of Christ, they by no means allow of continu ance in sin. " Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound 1 Do we, then, make void the law by faith 1 yea, we establish the law.” This is their constant reply to all who arraign the doctrine of grace as licentious. In¬ deed it is the chosen, and by experience it is found to be the only successful means of turning the heart to God in love. Its genuine operation is to bind us to him in everlasting bonds of gratitude and willing obedience. Know your guilt and weakness, your desert and dan¬ ger ; think what you are bound to by the law, and what you have to trust to if left under its power; view, then, the loving-kindness of God in giving his Son to fulfil all righteousness, and then say, is it possible to sin against so much goodness 1 Granting there may be found such depravity in the heart of man, still you must allow that such a representation, both of the justice and the mercy of God, if any thing can, will awaken a thought in you of returning to God, will bend your stubborn will, and make you hate iniquity. It is highly unreasonable, therefore, to charge that doctrine with encouraging sin, which not only does not allow it, but which affords the strongest motives to cause us to abstain from it, and gives the highest ideas of its evil, and of the purity of the law which forbids it. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW. 95 CHAPTER IX. OF TIFF Ful Jl\ — €ontimud. THE EVILS ARISING FROM IGNORANCE OF IT. In ther two former chapters we have explained the perfection and design of the law: its perfection, as re¬ quiring unsullied obedience under the penalty of con¬ demnation to eternal punishment; its design, as leading men to flee for safety to Christ, and to repose their hope upon his merits. Wherever this perfection and design are misunderstood, wherever a lower opinion of its purity is indulged, or a different view of its design is entertained, there errors of the most dangerous kind prevail, which it will now be my business to explain. 1. Ignorance of the law of God must leave you in a fatal mistake respecting your real character before him. You will imagine that you stand upon honorable terms with your Maker, and have continued from your birth a fit object for his favor, provided you have fallen into no infamous transgressions. You will not confess your¬ self a criminal justly exposed to the wrath of God, merely because you come short in duty or offend in many points of lesser moment. The knowledge that judgment is come upon all men to condemnation, is only derived from a just view of the law ; and till you per¬ ceive that it requires sinless perfection, and on failure of this, justly pronounces its curse upon you, you will not acknowledge yourself to be a guilty, ruined sinner in the sight of God. More especially if you have had some early sense of your duty towards God, and have for conscience, sake 96 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. refrained from the sins common to your age and con dition of life; in this case ignorance of the law will leave you under a strong conceit of your own safe and happy state. Calls to repentance you will think belong to those only who have been enslaved by open vices, from which you have been always free—to those who have never led that innocent life from their youth up, which you have done. Self-flattery will stir up in your heart resentment against all attempts to make you know yourself, and to bring you before God with true humili¬ ation and faith in his Son. Every thing of this kind will kindle your indignation as a cruel design to wound your peace, and to make you appear far more wicked in your own eyes than in truth you are. So capital an error will tend also to frustrate the ad¬ vantages of a good education, and to pervert even the blessing of God’s restraining grace. It will lead you to lay a stress upon them they will not bear, and pre¬ vent your feeling the humility they were designed to convey. It will even make that virtuous character which has gained you so much esteem amongst men, prove a greater obstacle in the way of your salvation than gross wickedness proves to others. Great sins carry with them their own condemnation: they have a tendency to excite, on the first lucid interval of con¬ sideration, strong confessions of guilt and fervent cries for mercy; whereas a conduct externally regulated by the law of God, imperfectly understood, does but mi¬ nister fuel to self-sufficiency and self-applause. Hence it is that we read of the Scribes and Pharisees justify¬ ing themselves: they were regular, they were decent, they were religious, but ignorant of the spirituality of die law. They could see no need either of their repent¬ ance or of the grace of a Savior. In the same false conceit of your own character you will continue, whilst ignorant of the law; and either audaciously contradict IGNORANCE OF THE LAW. 97 what God has declared of the guilt of the human race, or equivocate about it till you have reduced it to an empty name. On the contrary, when, to use the apostle’s empha- tical term, " the commandment has slain you when you have considered and allowed the demands of the law, and its penalty upon the least defect, then, without disgust or hesitation, you will confess your guilt and sinfulness; you will own that you are condemned by a law which claims Him for its author who only is able to save or to destroy. Whatever sins, therefore, you may have escaped, either by the influence of education or the restraints of grace, and whatever degree of just reputation you have gained amongst men, though you will be humbly thankful for them, yet still you will remember that these advantages alter not your state respecting God, though they have happily prevented the multiplication of your crimes. Though innocent of those flagrant iniquities which abound in the world, you will confess yourself a transgressor, justly liable to eternal punishment, if dealt with according to your desert. Happy conviction of guilt! which performs the bene¬ ficent office the Baptist discharged of old, preparing the way of the Lord, and rendering his salvation inesti¬ mably precious to the soul. 2. Ignorance of the law produces corrupt principles of obedience. The blessed God has, by right of creation, an indefeasible claim to our submission. This claim he has enforced by his own express command. He has ad¬ ded also the highest commendations of an obedient spi¬ rit, and promised to it an everlasting reward. But a perverse construction is too generally put upon the en¬ couragement he has thus given to holiness, where the law is not understood; and in consequence the very obedience paid to his commandments is paid upon false principles, such as render it odious in God’s sight. Duty of Man. 5 98 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Thus some regard the precepts which enjoin liberality to the needy, and are very large in their donations, hoping by this to atone for their licentiousness and sen suality; for they say, " Blessed is he that considered the poor and needy.” Others are conscientiously true to their word, and faithful to all their engagements, flattering themselves that such integrity will counter¬ balance their pride and profaneness, and saying, " The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, and a just weight is his delight.” Whilst a third, and if possible a worse sort, multiply exercises of devotion as a commutation for their injustice and insincerity, their malicious or co¬ vetous temper, confiding in the promises made to prayer and diligent attendance on the means of grace. From such hateful motives does that morality and de¬ votion, of which many are so conceited^ often take its rise ;—motives springing from an opinion which reduces the sinfulness of sin to a venial infirmity, which soothes our pride by exalting to an extravagant rate the value of our polluted services, and which even encourages disobedience by supposing an offender against the law of God able to make compensation for his sin. Yet most offensive to God as this opinion is, nothing but the true knowledge of the law can effectually subvert it. The law, by pronouncing a curse on every thing short of sinless perfection, leaves no ground for any compo¬ sition with sin. By rejecting with dreadful menaces all human attempts as far too poor to make satisfaction to its authority whenever violated, it leaves no possi¬ bility of supposing that obedience in some instances can be of force to atone for the want of it in others. It compels the le.ss atrocious sinner, as well as the great one, to confess himself insolvent; and to own that no¬ thing can administer relief in his case which is not equal to the full demands of the law. 3. Though you may possibly be free from the gross IGNORANCE OF THE LAW. V 39 but common error of fancying that some sins may be overlooked, lost as it were in the blaze of superior good¬ ness, still, if you are ignorant of the nature of the law, you will be apt to entertain an impious conceit of the merit of your good works. Instead of maintaining the absolute necessity of practising and of abounding in them, as the only visible vouchers that you believe in Jesus, as the infallible evidence of the truth of your re¬ pentance and conversion, in which light it is impossible too highly to extol their use or enforce their practice: through ignorance of the law you will suppose your own personal righteousness and that of the Redeemer to have the same sort of weight with God, to act in the same capacity, and have at least a joint influence in pro¬ curing your pardon and salvation. Many, in fact, who have a sense of religion, do thus dangerously deceive themselves. They endeavor to do their duty, mortify¬ ing their lusts and leading a devout life. On this ac count, though they are confessedly guilty in many points, yet their own goodness, they are confident, will considerably contribute to recommend them to God, and the merits of Christ, they trust, will make up what is wanting. Of consequence, so long as they fall into no gross sin, but continue regular, honest, and attentive to religious duties, they are satisfied that they have done their part, and that there is such a worth in their sin¬ cere though imperfect obedience as will procure them acceptance with God and eternal life. This refined error necessarily results from ignorance of the law; and, unsuspected of evil, keeps firm posses¬ sion of the mind till the law is understood. Yet no error can abound more with self-contradiction or with affront to God. With palpable self-contradiction ; since this is supposing that at the very time you confess yourself under the guilt of sin for omissions and defects, at the very time you need a pardon as offending in many 100 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. things, there can still be sufficient excellency about you to obtain favor with God. It is to suppose that even whilst conscience accuses you, and the law condemns you as a sinner for disobedience, you still possess such a fund of righteousness as will have a considerable in¬ fluence in making reconciliation for you. Strange contra¬ diction ! To confess yourself guilty and implore pardon, and yet at the same time to cherish a hope of being favorably regarded on your own account! Surely to implore pardon implies that you lie at the feet of mercy without any plea but the compassion of God. Whereas to trust, as a coadjutor with Christ, in your own obedi¬ ence, supposes a high degree of worth in yourself. Besides, by holding this error your affront to God is as notorious as the contradiction in which it involves you. You make the glorious Redeemer undertake our ransom merely to render our deficient duties meritori¬ ous and our sins inoffensive. You make his sinless life, his precious death, and mediatorial undertakings serve no other purpose than that of erecting a pedestal on which human worth may stand exalted and be dis¬ played in false colors. According to this scheme, the pardon of rebels against the Most High, and the recep¬ tion of leprous sinners into the bosom of heaven, (effects than which nothing can be greater, benefits than which nothing can be richer,) are owing to the work of our own hands, and the virtues of our own character, in con¬ junction with Christ. Now what greater affront can be offered to that di¬ vine goodness which interposed to save us when we were lost, than thus to divide the honor of our accept¬ ance between Christ and ourselves 1 What more daring opposition to God the Father, who has given Christ for his salvation to the ends of the earth, than to trust in our own obedience, as having, partly at least, merit to procure it for ourselves 1 What more plain denial of IGNORANCE OF TI1E LAW. 101 the Scripture, which so expressly ascribes and so entire¬ ly appropriates the salvation of sinners, from first to last, to the praise of the glory of God’s grace in Christ Jesus 1 Compare, for instance, this self-exalting doc¬ trine with Isaiah’s most sublime account of the combat and the conquest of the Redeemer; and then conclude how injurious it must be to his honor to regard your own works as coadjutors with him. The prophet, in surprise at the appearance of a most majestic person¬ age, asks, " Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah I” that is, from the country and from the capital of the implacable enemies of the people of God. To which the Redeemer replies, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Upon this the prophet renews his inquiry, " Wherefore ” (if thou art come not to destroy, but to save) " art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that tread- eth in the wine-fat I” To this the Redeemer answers, " I have trodden the -wine-press;” my foes I have crushed, I have trampled them under my feet; but they were thy enemies, sin, death and Satan. "I have trod¬ den the wine-press ” by myself " alone too great in my power to want an associate, and too jealous of my honor to accept of any assistant; " of the people there was none with me:” the salvation of sinners in all its parts is my act, even mine only: yours be all the bene¬ fit, mine all the glory. Isaiah, 63 : 1-3. The same doctrine is uniformly taught by all the in¬ spired penmen. Yet so pleasing to the human heart is the thought of assuming something to ourselves in the great work of our salvation, that nothing but the right knowledge of the law can make the attempt appear in its proper degree of guilt. This indeed will, because it fixes with the greatest precision the value of good works and the place of human obedience. The law will not suffer you to consider the most conscientious mode of 102 COMPLETE DUTY OE MAN. obedience in another light than as a testimony that you believe with godly sincerity the delightful truth, that Jesus purged away your sins by the sacrifice of him¬ self j for which unspeakable benefit you love him, you keep his commandments, and you abhor those iniquities which made him suffer and die. To think and live thus is Christian obedience: of quite another color and complexion from that which springs from every other motive. This is to use the law law¬ fully : not as interfering with the Redeemer, or shading his glory by encouraging the expectations of life from obedience to its commands, but as a clear revelation of the infinite demerit of sin, and of the absolute need of Christ’s interposition, " who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” 4. Self-preference and a conceit of personal perfection in the saints, together with all their train of mischievous consequences, are owing to ignorance of God’s law. The slightest observer of mankind may easily per¬ ceive that pride is naturally the ruling passion in every . heart, and that we covet in all things to have the pre¬ eminence. Hence not only beauty of person, possession of wealth, reputation of learning, or the distinction of noble birth, but even our spiritual attainments become strong temptations to the indulgence of pride. Thus of old we find a numerous party amongst the Jews render¬ ed conspicuous by their religious zeal, who, elated by their fancied superior grace, cried out, " Stand by thy¬ self, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou.” Isaiah, 65 : 5. The same persons who thought so high¬ ly of themselves, judged it impossible for notorious sin¬ ners to be pardoned, and treated them with insufferable disdain. The like self-preferring spirit governs many at this day, who stand distinguished for their strictness and punctuality in religious offices. Now to purge out this Pharisaical leaven is the peculiar work and office IGNORANCE OF THE LAW. 103 of the law of God. It is not enough to tell those who highly esteem themselves for their religious excellen¬ cies, that they owe them all to the free gift of God: this, with the Pharisee, they will allow, and yet value themselves on account of the gift. Neither is it suffi¬ cient to remind them of the blemishes which cleave to them, sully their best performances, and take away all pretence to self-esteem. For these they will place to the score of human infirmity and the imperfection of human obedience, still proudly dwelling, in their own thoughts, on the manifest difference between themselves and others. But you lay the axe to the root of the tree, when you make such self-conceited professors of reli¬ gion understand, that after all they have done or re¬ ceived, and notwithstanding the high thoughts they have of themselves, the curse of the law is upon all them that continue not in all things written therein to do them: that they are, therefore, not only imperfect, but lost, if dealt with as they deserve: that notwith¬ standing all their aspiring pretensions and glittering at¬ tainments, they can no more than the wicked answer the demands made upon them by the law, but stand as liable as they to its condemnation, and equally destitute of any plea for their justification, but the mercy and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus no room is left for self-admiration; for whatever difference there may be between one sinner and another respecting out¬ ward obedience or degrees of sanctification, the law will suffer no man living to imagine he stands accepted with his Creator on account of his own obedience. But if every man who is in a state of salvation is thus com¬ pelled by the law to acknowledge the blessing to be wholly of grace, then boasting and self-exaltation are utterly excluded. The conceit of personal perfection in the saints, is likewise maintained only by ignorance of the law of 104 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. God. For it is impossible that such polluted creatures as we are should ever dream that, alter our highest at¬ tainments, there remains upon us no charge of sin, it we knew the full extent of the law; which condemns the least failure, and allows not the very least imperfec¬ tion. In every instance, on every occasion, it charges us With act intense, and unremitted nerve, “ To hold a course unfaltering.” It commands us not only to serve the Lord, but to serve him with all our strength : not only to love our neigh¬ bor, but to love him as ourselves ; and to demonstrate that we do this by every temper, by every word, by every desire, and by every thought. When you have your eye fixed upon the law, so spiritual in its demands and en¬ joining such perfection of obedience, you will most readily acquiesce in that humbling confession of the in¬ spired Solomon, ” There is not a just man upon earth that liveth and sinneth not.” You will use, from a deep conviction of your own sinfulness, that confession so expressive of true humility and of the perfection of the law of God j " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who shall stand 1 but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou rriayst be feared.” To conclude, you may learn from what has been now* laid before you, that if you desire to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ upon principle and sound conviction, you must thoroughly acquaint yourself with the nature and design of the law of God. Like a faithful mirror, it will discover your poverty and sinfulness; it will make the mercy of God in Christ Jesus appear as great and glorious in your eyes, as it is declared to be in the Bible. Then you will live by faith in the Son of God, pleading his costly sacrifice and perfect righteousness with all humility at the throne of grace, as the only foundation of your hope towards God. IGNORANCE OF THE LAW. 105 And as a prodigal son, who, through folly and sin, has brought himself into a state of disease and ruin, will, when duly affected by a sense of his condition, most thankfully acknowledge the kindness of a tender parent, who, notwithstanding all his vileness, receives him with forgiveness, and embraces him with love, so will you, deeply impressed by the sight of your sinfulness mani¬ fested by the law, intensely desire to serve that God who took pity upon you when utterly ruined, loved you when you possessed not one single feature of comeli¬ ness, and who loves you still in the midst of much pre¬ vailing unworthiness. Thus those two universal and mighty principles of disobedience, self-confidence and self-conceit, will be expelled; and a rational humility, productive of universal holiness, will be established. Daily convinced that if God were to enter into judg¬ ment with you, you must be found guilty and worthy of death ; you will adore, love and obey him who hath redeemed you from the curse of the law, purchased for you a crown of life, and called you to a throne of glory. 5 * 106 COMPLETE DUTY Or MAN. CHAPTER X. FJlITM IJV CM MI ST. - . • 1 _ • . ■» . . < •« ' 1! ITS NATURE AND EXTENT. In almost every page of Scripture excellent things are spoken of the power of faith: and whatever some may boast of their good works and meritorious virtues, the good effects of which in society may justly be ex¬ tolled ; still so long as the authority of the Bible re¬ mains, it is a decided point, that to be without faith in Christ is to be actually exposed to the wrath of God. Every one therefore ought most carefully to search the Scriptures, in order to inform himself of the essen¬ tial properties of this fundamental grace. Thus he will be secured on the one hand from an enthusiastic idea of its nature, and on the other from a degradation of it into a barren and worthless notion. The shortest and plainest method to determine its na¬ ture will be, I apprehend, to ascertain what peculiar ex¬ cellency was in those who were highly commended by the Lord Jesus for the greatness of their faith in him, and what was their fault whom he rebuked for unbelief. When these two points are once determined, it is hoped the nature of faith will be so clearly laid open as to pre¬ vent erroneous opinions concerning it, and to deliver all serious readers from that perplexity which, amidst the various disputes about it, they find it difficult to avoid. The first instructive example which I select in order to explain and determine the precise nature of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is that of the centurion , men- NATUifE A.ND EXTENT OF FAITH. 107 tioned Matt. 8. Warmed with an active benevolence, and sympathizing with an afflicted member of his fami¬ ly, he earnestly applied to ihe Redeemer, begging that he would have pity upon his servant, whom he had left grievously tormented with the palsy. The faith which inspired the centurion’s heart, and prevailed with him to make this request, was perfectly known to Jesus, though not to the surrounding multitude. They could not tell whether he might not come glad, as one in a desperate case, to catch at any thing which had but the least appearance of a remedy. Our Lord therefore replies to him in such a manner as he knew would bring forth the most undeniable proof of his faith: he saith, " I will come and heal him.” But the amiable modesty of this great believer would not suffer him to think of the honor of receiving such a guest under his roof. He answers, therefore, that it was wholly unnecessary for Jesus to trouble himself to come: " Speak the word only,” said he, " and my servant shall be healed ;” add¬ ing, that he was no less assured of the power of Christ over all bodily diseases, both to remove and inflict them at his pleasure, than he was of his own authority to command his soldiers. " When Jesus heard it, he marvelled :” he was struck with admiration at the infinitely grand and just idea which this Roman officer had conceived of his power, though he was in outward appearance the meanest of men. To make therefore his faith eternally conspicuous and at the same time most clearly to ascertain the es sential nature of that grace which was to be the instru ment of salvation to every member of his church, " Jesus said unto them that followed, Verily I say unto you, 1 have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. And I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and the west,”—that is, possessed and governed by the same 108 COMPLETE DUTif OF MAN. precious faith you now see exercised towards me,— " and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Ja¬ cob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Examine now what was the faith of this centurion. It was evidently a firm persuasion of the almighty power and goodness of Christ, producing a dependence upon him, and an application to him for help and deliverance in favor of his afflicted servant. By consequence, true faith in Jesus springs from that knowledge of his cha¬ racter and office which inclines the heart to depend upon him for continual help in our spiritual need. This is confirmed by another very remarkable in¬ stance, that of the Canaanitish woman. Hearing of the arrival of Jesus in the country near which she dwelt, she came unto him, saying, " Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David : my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil: but he answered her not a word.” Nay, he seems absolutely to refuse her request, giving for a reason, that his ministry must be confined to the Jews. And when entreated yet again, he adds a still more mortifying and discouraging reply, that it was not meet for him to display his mercy among the hea¬ then, who, through their idolatry and other pollutions, were become like dogs, impure before God; that this was to be confined by him to the church of God, his children by covenant and profession. The woman acknowledges the justness of what our Lord urged : and she said, ” Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table:” let me only have such kindness as the dogs which be long to a family enjoy : amidst that plenty of miraculous cures which thou art bestowing on the Jews, bestow the fragment of this one upon me, who am a poor distress¬ ed heathen: for by it they will suffer no greater loss than the children of a family do by the crumbs which are cast to the dogs. Then Jesus answered, " 0 woman, NATURE AND EXTENT OF FAITH. 109 great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt” Matt. 15 : 21. Here also every eye must perceive what was so illus¬ trious in this woman : it was her persevering adherence to the Lord Jesus Christ for help and deliverance. In the midst of the greatest discouragements she remained patient, yet importunate, and resolutely depended for relief upon the grace which she was persuaded dwelt so richly in him. From this instance then, no less clearly than from the former, faith in Jesus is determined precisely to mean the reliance of the heart on him for help and deliverance. The same truth is as strongly proved from the fault plainly charged on those whom Jesus rebuked for their unbelief. In the eighth chapter of St. Luke we are informed that our Lord, fatigued with his abundant labors of love, fell asleep as he was sailing with his disciples. In the meantime the weather suddenly changed, and a storm came on. The disciples exerted their utmost skill in the management of the vessel, but in vain. The waves breaking in, filled her so that she began to sink; and they, giving themselves up for lost, ran to Jesus, shriek¬ ing out, " Master, Master, we perish.” Their cries awoke him: he instantly rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a calm. Upon which he immediately turns with this reproof upon his dis¬ ciples, ” Why are ye so fearful 1 how is it that ye have no faith 1” Mark, 4 : 37-40. In this instance also you see that it was want of as¬ surance in the power of their divine Master, even when destruction in all appearance was overwhelming them; it was doubting his ability to gather the stormy winds in his hand, and to prevent the raging floods from over¬ flowing them ; it was yielding to the fear of death when it seemed opening its jaws to devour them, which our 110 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Lord rebukes as a demonstration of their unbelief. And justly too, since, after the many miracles they had seen him perform, they had abundant cause to rely on his power and goodness, even in a greater danger than this; for though their vessel had sunk, he who gave sight to the blind could have saved them all by making them walk firmly on the water, as he afterwards enabled one of their number to do. To avoid being tedious, only one instance more shall be produced. In the ninth of St. Mark we have a remarkable rela¬ tion of a father greatly distressed on account of the dis¬ order of his son, bringing him to the disciples. Find¬ ing them unable to heal him, and dispirited at the sight of his son’s misery, together with the remembrance of its long continuance, he was afraid this possession might surpass even the power of Jesus himself. Expressing therefore his doubts and fears, he saith unto him, " If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth $” that is, to him who is immoveably persuaded of my all-sufficient power. " And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief:” in other words, I do now sincerely trust in thee as able to help me : I am touched with grief and shame to think there should be so much unbelief in my heart. O forgive and remove it, that I and my son may be thoroughly cured; I of my spiritual, and he of his corporeal disease. Instances without number might be brought; but these alleged are fully sufficient to determine what is the precise meaning of that divine grace—Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ: they prove that it means the reliance of the soul on Jesus Christ for help and deliverance. If it should be said that the centurion and the Canaanit- NATURE AND EXTENT OF FAITH. Ill ish woman showed their faith, the disciples and the dis¬ tressed father their unbelief, with respect only to tem¬ poral evils; and that, therefore, these are not proper examples to determine the nature of that faith to which the salvation of the soul is promised ,• the answer is ob¬ vious—that the difference in the nature of the benefits which are the objects of desire, by no means infers a difference in the principle of faith. It was by one and the same kind of faith, we are assured, that Noah built the ark, that Abraham offered his son, that Moses es¬ teemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. These acts, though different from each other in their respective ends, proceeded from one and the self-same principle. In like manner, whether trust in the power and all-sufficiency of Jesus be exercised in seeking deliverance from temporal or spiritual evils, from wants, more in number or less ; it is still the same divine grace relying upon the same glo¬ rious power. Indeed, the extent of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ does and must reach as far as our necessities; therefore a particular knowledge of our wants, and of the exercise of faith with respect to the supply of them, will afford the most ample view of the extent of this grace. First, then, as soon as we compare our lives with the rule of our duty, the law of God, accusations of guilt cannot but pour on us from every side. Each of the commandments, spiritually understood, according to the explanation given in the sermon on the mount, has sins of commission or omission to lay to our charge. God and our own consciences tell us that our offences have been not merely errors of ignorance, hut sins against light and knowledge; the effects of a proud, re¬ bellious spirit against the most high God. Now, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is, under 11*2 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. the heartfelt conviction of such guilt, and in abhorrence of it, to depend on his blood as the propitiation which God himself hath set forth for our sin. It is to make use of this plea alone, that the hand of provoked Justice may not seize, nor the arm of Omnipotence destroy our soul, "Jesus was wounded for those very transgressions whereof my conscience is afraid, and bruised for those very iniquities I am now bewailing with a godly sor¬ row.” In despair of ever receiving pardon, through the merit of any thing we can do to help ourselves, or through the uncovenanted mercy of God, it is to place our whole confidence in Jesus, " as made a sin offering for us, though he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” It is under a con¬ sciousness of daily sin, and of the infinite holiness of God, to esteem Christ as our passover; to be persuad¬ ed that the merit and virtue of his blood is our wdiole safeguard from deserved wrath: just as the Israelites of old looked on the blood sprinkled on their doors as their whole safeguard from the destroying angel. Further—Another great evil to which all men feel themselves subject so soon as they come to any know¬ ledge of their condition with respect to God, is that of a depraved understanding. They perceive that their ap¬ prehensions of the ever-blessed God and his law, of sin and their own demerit, are deplorably wrong: they confess themselves children of darkness, in need of di¬ vine illumination to conquer their stubborn ignorance, and to remove their numberless prejudices against the truth of God ; to take from them those mists which arise from inordinate affection, and that blindness to spiritual objects which prevents their effectual impres¬ sion upon the mind. Now to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is, in the midst of these circumstances, to make application to him as one able to enlighten the understanding, and to NATURE AND EXTENT OF FAITH. 113 secure it from all the delusions of false reasonings and imaginary schemes of serving God. It is to make re¬ quest to him for instruction, who, through the tender mercy of God, came to visit a world " sitting in dark¬ ness and the shadow of death,” to the intent "that all who believe in him should not walk in darkness, but have the light of life abiding in them ” It is, with the meekness of a child, simply to believe what we are told by him, without murmuring or disputing. It is as abso¬ lutely to depend day by day on the teaching of Christ, through his word and Spirit, for the knowledge of all things needful to salvation, as a submissive pupil de¬ pends upon the instructions of a master whose abilities and learning are universally celebrated. Again—When you desire and earnestly endeavor to live in obedience to the spiritual commandments of God, without which a course of sobriety and external religion is vain; you will immediately feel your own weakness , just as Sampson did the loss of his strength when he was rising, after his locks were shorn, to com¬ bat the Philistines ; you will find your nature violently inclined to evil, and the desires of your heart to be fixed upon vanity and sin; you will see yourself surrounded with a thousand temptations to draw you from God, and to discourage you from living in conscientious obedi¬ ence to him. In these circumstances you will soon feel the neces¬ sity of divine aid to bring back those affections to God which have been always alienated from him ; or to re¬ duce a will that has long been lawless, into subjection to the control of God in all things. You will have little disposition, after having walked in the path of seif-will as the only path of happiness, to forsake it, and to tread the rough and thorny one of Christian self-denial. Yet such an inward change true holiness requires; every thing short of it is superficial, leaving the soul 114 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. r , * • unprepared for the temper and happiness of heaven In these circumstances, to believe in Jesus Christ is to depend upon him, as given by God to purify men for himself, and to purge them, as a refiner’s fire does the silver from its dross. It is to be looking to him with confidence for the gradual performance of a work in your soul, no less necessary for your salvation than that already completed for you on the cross. It is, daily to make application to him, as one on whom God hath laid all your help, and whom he hath given to save his peo¬ ple from their sins. It is to bring before him those vile affections which are natural to your heart; assured, that though your own resolutions and efforts have been frustrated from time to time, and have wrought in you no cure; yet the power of the Lord will work mightily with you, and at length give you strength and victory. Thus far the extent of true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has been considered, as reaching to a dependence on his grace and power for present deliverance from that darkness, guilt and reigning sin, in which the whole posterity of Adam is involved. But as our continuance on earth is exceedingly short; as this life must soon be lost in one which knows no end, where either the dismal effects of unpardoned sin must be eternally endured, or the exquisite joy of God’s love delight the heart; so the extent of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ must be enlarged in respect to that eternity which is so near and important. To be¬ lieve in Christ, therefore, comprehends a firm depend¬ ence that you shall abundantly experience both his power and love, when every human help and comfort fail, and present objects are no more. Faith rests assured on his word, that the soul shall not wander desolate and forsaken in the unknown world, nor the dead body remain a prisoner for ever in the loathsomo grave ) but that the one shall be raised by NATURE AND EXTENT OF FAITH. 115 him, and fashioned according to his own glorious body ; and the other be admitted into that blessed kingdom where he employs his infinite wisdom and almighty power for the happiness of his people. In habitual ex¬ pectation of mortality, it commends the spirit into his hands, knowing he is able to keep what is committed to him unto that day; persuaded that he is the life and the forerunner of his people, gone before to prepare a place for them, from whence he will come and receive them unto himself, that where he is, there they may be also. This definition of faith in Christ, that it is an abiding heartfelt trust upon him for help and deliverance; a trust that he will save you from ignorance by revealing his light, and from guilt by imparting the merit of his blood and righteousness j that out of weakness he will make you strong by his power, and enrich you through all eternity with his love: this definition, I say, has the advantage, that it is plain and intelligible to every capa¬ city. Men of learning frequently condemn the laying great stress on the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, as perplexing, and liable to be misunderstood by com¬ mon understandings. After all that we can say about it, they tell us the common people will be still at a loss to conceive what faith in Christ means. Could this ob¬ jection be made good, it would overturn the whole cre¬ dit of the Gospel, for that perpetually inculcates faith as the root of all the fruits of righteousness. And in¬ deed it is certain, that whatever is of great moment to salvation must be plain and easy to the comprehension of all who will be at the pains of seeking for the know ledge of it. But, in fact, there is no place for this ob¬ jection, when faith is represented to be a dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ for " wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.” Are not the poorest among the people to the full as well acquainted as the rich and learned, with the nature of promises and the 116 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. confidence due to them, when made by persons of power and integrity 1 Is any one, of a common capaci¬ ty, at a loss to conceive that the ignorant who would learn must depend upon their teacher 1 Or that those whose debts are increased above what they are able to pay, must be cast into prison, or stand beholden to some surety, or some act of grace, or both 1 What difficulty can there be in understanding that those whose ene¬ mies are mighty and tyrannical, and not to be resisted by their own strength, must look for defence and re¬ fuge to one mightier than they 1 Now only transfer these most plain and familiar ideas to the divine Re¬ deemer, and you have at once a full and distinct notion of what it is to believe in his name: it is what the low¬ est are not only capable of understanding, but what they can all feel. For when we explain the nature of faith, we make our appeal to those very feelings which are the most forcible of any implanted in the human breast—to the fear of danger, to the hope of deliver¬ ance, to confidence of help, to gratitude for benefits unspeakably great. JUST IDEA OF FAITH. 117 CHAPTER XI. • * * ' 4 - x • ^ FJllTSi IJ% m CMJtlSIT,—continued, THE ADVANTAGES OF A JUST CONCEPTION OF ITS NATURE In the preceding chapter we endeavored to give a dis¬ tinct and clear idea of the nature of faith as it is deter¬ mined by examples from Scripture, in which the want of it was censured, or its excellence commended. We stated it to he a steadfast and active trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.—Now as many and great advantages flow from a just conception of the nature of so import¬ ant a grace as faith, while on the other hand the most serious evils may arise from an imperfect or false idea of it j I propose in this chapter to point out the advan¬ tages which evidently result from receiving the defini¬ tion of it already given. 1. It evidently excludes those abuses which a false idea of the nature of faith has in many cases produced. That many and grievous abuses of faith should abound, is not strange; since the incomparable bless¬ ings promised to it work like so many bribes upon our natural self-lotfe, to make us deal dishonestly, and in the absence of the reality to embrace a counterfeit. Thus, for instance, it is most common for speculative faith to pass for genuine faith. When a learned rea- soner has compared the glorious prophecies concerning Jesus with their events, and seen the amazingly exact accomplishment; when he has canvassed his doctrine and miracles till his understanding is furnished with ar¬ guments enough to silence all who doubt or disbelieve the truth of the Gospel; he is apt to become confident 118 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN that he is a true believer, and that his faith as a Chris¬ tian is perfept and entire, lacking nothing; he is confi¬ dent of this very thing, whilst his ruling dispositions utterly disgrace his faith, and give the witnesses of his example abundant cause to think most contemp¬ tuously of it. To convince a man of this character, that he most shamefully imposes upon himself, in calling his know¬ ledge by the name of faith, will, I grant, be very diffi¬ cult. But if any means can do it, it must be the proof that his acquaintance with the doctrines of Jesus, his ready assent to their truth, his alacrity in their defence, still leave him only upon a level with those who openly reject the Gospel; that is, they leave him equally a stranger to any active dependence on Jesus Christ for help and deliverance: so that he, no more than an ab¬ solute infidel, looks up day by day as a poor, ignorant, sinful, helpless creature, for the relief of his necessities to the all-sufficient Savior. Consequently this specula¬ tive self-satisfied believer may perceive that such a faith in the Son of God as the Scripture requires, and which alone will be of benefit to his soul, is a principle entirely of another kind from that assent he has given to the truths of the Gospel. In the very same way of trial, another detestable abuse of the doctrine of faith, to which the love of sin inclines us, will be fully discovered. No sooner was the Gospel way of salvation preached to the gentile world, and the name of Jesus glorified, than Satan, jea¬ lous of his own empire, prevailed over a large body of professing Christians to boast that they had faith in Christ, and were complete in him, whilst they were living in sin , in hatred of all renovation of mind, in contempt of personal obedience and in neglect of the means of grace. They confidently said that they knew him ; they gloried in the imagination that Christ’s righteousness JUST IDEA OF FAITH. 219 was their holiness; whilst they refused to follow his example, and trampled upon his commandments. In every revival of the power of the Gospel the same error has revived also $ and what is said of envy with respect to merit, “Envy, the shadow, proves the substance true,” , . ■> holds good in this case. Wherever the true Gospel is enforced, this dreadful abuse of it will more or less make its appearance. # But this delusion,—which has justly obtained the name of Antinomian faith, from its enmity to the con¬ trol of God’s most holy law,—can find no reception where faith is understood to be a constant lively de¬ pendence on the Redeemer for present help and deliver¬ ance ; because nothing can be more opposite to this de¬ pendence than the blasphemous opinion that you are not to receive from him the graces of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can be more contrary to the exercise of faith in him, than the corrupt imagination that you need not rely upon his power to conquer your corruptions, and to bless you by turning you from your iniquities. No¬ thing can more effectually destroy all communication betwixt the Redeemer and our souls, than so to inter¬ pret the efficacy of his divine obedience and most pre- * The apostles Paul, Peter, James and John saw with their own eyes this abominable perversion of the truth, and take much pains in all their epistles to guard against its poison. In Germany and in England, as soon as ever the glorious reformation took place, this strong delusion of Antinomian faith began to prevail. It is there¬ fore so far from being any just objection against the preaching of faith, to urge that it is abused to licentiousness, that it proves, on the contrary, that the doctrines of salvation are apostolically set forth: and therefore Satan has recourse to his ancient device of support¬ ing his own kingdom by endeavoring to bring this doctrine into reproach. 120 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. cious blood, as if no purification of the soul were want¬ ed. This licentious notion, in its very nature, absolute¬ ly excludes any present application to the .Redeemer, and consequently any present dependence upon him for wisdom, righteousness and sanctification. Therefore, however vehemently it may be maintained by many to be the purest faith, it certainly has not one single pro¬ perty of scriptural faith in Christ. Again—By adhering to this definition of faith, de¬ duced from Scripture examples, that it is the lively and active trust of the soul on Jesus Christ to receive from him wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemp¬ tion, you will be secure from confounding with true Faith opinions imbibed only from education. Most men, engrossed by earthly pursuits, and feeling nothing of the importance of the objects of faith, take for granted the truth of the prevailing religion, be it what it may, and regularly conform to its institutions. After having done so for a course of years, they still more rashly also take it for granted that nothing less than true faith could have kept them so long constant and regu¬ lar in public worship without ever doubting the truth; whilst in fact gross carelessness, love of money, or im¬ moderate application to business, have prevented their thinking upon religion as a subject worth their attention. Now, if you interrogate such deluded but confident formalists, whether they were ever painfully convinced )f their own natural ignorance and blindness, or of the depravity of their hearts'? whether they ever with grief of soul confessed the provocation of their sins and the power of inbred lusts, and in the affecting view of both have made application to Jesus for relief, and remain in dependence on him for the same 1 these searching ques¬ tions will at once discover the refuge of lies ; and prove that what they imagine to be faith in Jesus, is nothing better than vain and contemptible credulity. JUST IDEA OF FAITH. 121 Nay, farther, if you ask these formalists, who assume COMILETE DUTY OF MAN. 192 CHAPTER XIX. REPJEJrT'&JVCE.—continued. ITS NATURE FURTHER EXPLAINED. True repentance being the foundation of all Christian piety, it is a matter of great importance that we should be thoroughly instructed in its nature. We have en¬ deavored therefore to make you fully acquainted with it, by contrasting it with that false repentance which is principally liable to be confounded with it. False re¬ pentance, we have observed, is excited by terror; true repentance is the effect of a just sense of the evil of sin, and a love to the blessed God. False repentance is full of unbelief: true, is animated with confidence by a Savior’s promises, and inspired with gratitude to him. False repentance is consistent with an aversion to God and his law, while the true sees an infinite beauty in holiness, and loves the commandments of God. Thus in their origin and nature they differ essentially from each other, nor shall we perceive a difference less striking if we attend to the progress and effects of each. 1 . False repentance wears off with the alarming con¬ victions which gave occasion to it; but true repentance is permanent. We have many sad instances of persons who appear for a season under the greatest remorse for their sins; yet all these impressions are soon effaced, and they return to the same course of impiety or sen¬ suality, which, they confess, produced so much distress and terror. They declare to the world that their good < NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 193 resolutions were but as a morning cloud, or as an early dew. Besides these, there are many of another charac¬ ter, who quiet their consciences and speak peace to their souls, from their having been in distress and terror for their sins, from their reformation of some grosser im¬ moralities, and from a formal course of duty. They have repented, they think, and therefore conclude them¬ selves at peace with God, and seem to have no great care and concern either about their former impieties or their daily transgressions. They conclude themselves in a converted state, and are therefore lukewarm and secure. Many of these may think, and perhaps speak loudly of their experiences, and be even elated with joyful apprehensions of their safe state; whilst, alas ! they have no impressions of their sins, no mourning after pardon, no humiliation under remaining and mani¬ fold corruptions, imperfect duties, and renewed provo¬ cations against God. There are many also, it might still further be added, who, while under the stings of an awakened conscience, are driven to maintain a diligent watch over their hearts and lives, to be afraid of every sin, to be careful to attend to every known duty, and to be serious and earnest in the performance of it; but by their supposed progress in religion they gradually es¬ cape from the terrors of the law, and then their watch¬ fulness and tenderness of conscience are forgotten. They perform their duties in a careless manner, with a trifling remiss frame of soul; whilst the all-important realities of an eternal world are but little in their minds, and all their religion is reduced to a mere cold formali¬ ty. They still maintain the form, but are unconcerned about the power of godliness. In some such manner false repentance leaves the soul destitute of that entire change and renovation without which no man shall see the Lord. On the other hand, true repentance is a lasting princi- 9 Duty of Man. COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. pie of humble self-abasing mourning for sin, and abhor¬ rence of all remaining corruption. A true penitent does not forget his past sins, and grow unconcerned about them as soon as he obtains peace in his conscience and a comfortable hope that he is reconciled to God; on the contrary, the clearer the evidence he obtains of the divine favor, the more does he loathe, abhor, and con¬ demn himself for his sins; the more aggravated and enormous do they appear to him. He not only continues to abhor himself on account of his past guilt and defile ment, but he finds daily cause to renew his repentance before God: he observes so much deadness, formality and hypocrisy, mixing themselves with his holy duties; such frequent workings of a carnal, worldly, unbeliev¬ ing spirit; so much difficulty in obtaining a perfect mas¬ tery over the sin which easily besets him, that he can¬ not but " groan, being burdened.” Repentance, there¬ fore, is a daily continued exercise till mortality is swal¬ lowed up of life; he will not cease to repent till he ceases to carry about with him so many imperfections and failures, and that will not be till he departs from this fallen world. ” Have I hope (says he) that God has pardoned my sins 1 What an instance of mercy is this! How adorable is that marvellous grace which has pluck¬ ed such a brand out of the fire ! And am I still so cold, so formal and lifeless, doing so little for him who has done so much for me! Ah, vile, sinful heart! Ah, base ingratitude to such amazing goodness! O that I could obtain more victory over my corruptions, more thankfulness for such mercies as I have received, a frame of mind more spiritual and heavenly. How long have I been mourning over my infirmities, and must I yet have cause to mourn over the same defects! How often designing and pursuing a closer communion with God ; but what a poor progress do I yet make, save in desires and endeavors! How long would the iniquities NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 195 of my best duties separate betwixt God and my soul for ever, had I not the Redeemer’s merits to plead! What need have I every day to have this polluted soul washed in the blood of Christ, and to repair to the glorious Advocate with the Father for the benefit of his interces¬ sion ! Not a step can I. take in my spiritual progress without fresh supplies from the Fountain of grace and strength ; and yet how often am I provoking him to withdraw his influence, in whom is all my hope and con¬ fidence ! O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death t” Thus, the true penitent, in his highest attainments of holiness, comfort and joy, will find cause to be deeply humbled before God, and to make earnest application for fresh pardon and new supplies of strengthening and quickening grace. The difference, therefore, betwixt these two sorts of penitents is very apparent: it is as great as that between the running of water in the paths after a violent shower, and the streams which flow from a living fountain. A false repentance has grief of mind and humiliation only for great and glaring offences, or till it supposes pardon for them obtained. True repent¬ ance is a continued war against all the defilements of sin, till death sounds the retreat. 2. Again, false repentance, at most, produces only a partial reformation ; but the true repentance i.s a change of heart , a universal turning from sin to God. As some particular or more gross iniquity generally excites that distress and terror which is the life of false repentance, so a reformation with respect to those sins too fre¬ quently wears off the impression and gives rest to the troubled conscience without any further change. Or at best there will be some darling lust retained, some right hand or right eye spared. If the false penitent is afraid of sins of commission, he will still live in the omission or careless performance of known duty, and feel no 196 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. guilt. Or if he be very zealous for the duties respecting the immediate worship of God, he will live in strife, in¬ justice and uncharitableness towards men. If he show some activity in contending earnestly for the truth of the Gospel, he 'will still have his heart and affections riveted to the world, and pursue it as the object of his chief desire and delight. If he should make conscience of opposing all open actual sins; yet he little regards the sins of his heart,—silent envy, secret pride, self¬ preference, unbelief, or some such heart-defiling sins. To finish his character; whatever progress he may seem to make in religion, his heart is still estranged from the power of godliness, and, like the Laodiceans, he is neither hot nor cold. If we proceed to take a view of the character of a true penitent, it is directly contrary to this. He finds indeed (as has been observed) continual occasion to la¬ ment the great imperfections of his heart and life, and accordingly seeks renewed pardon in the blood of Christ. But though he has not already attained, neither is al¬ ready perfect, yet he is pressing towards perfection. He is watching and striving against all his corruptions, and laboring after further conformity to God in all holy conversation and godliness. He does not renounce one lust and retain another; or satisfy himself with devo¬ tional duties whilst he undervalues scrupulous honesty and unfeigned benevolence: he cannot rest till this is his rejoicing, " even the testimony of his conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he has his conversa¬ tion in the world.” All the workings of his mind, as w T ell as his external conduct, fall under his cognizance and inspection, and his daily exercise and desire is to ap¬ prove himself unto Him who knows his thoughts afar off. His reformation extends not only to the devotion of the church, but to that of his family and closet; not NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 197 only to his conversation, but to his tempers and affec¬ tions, and to the duties of every relation he sustains among men. His repentance brings forth its " meet ” fruits,—heavenly-mindedness, humility, meekness, cha¬ rity, patience, forgiveness of injuries, self-denial; and is accompanied with all other graces of the blessed Spirit. " It is the desire of my soul (saith the true penitent) to refrain my feet from every evil way, and walk within my house with a perfect heart. I know I have to do with a God that trieth the heart,' and hath pleasure in uprightness; I would, therefore, set the Lord always before me. I know that my heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, for which I am humbled in mine OAvn eyes; but yet my desire is before the Lord, and my groaning is not hid from him. I can truly say that I hate vain thoughts, but God’s law do I love. O that God would give me understanding that I may keep his law, and observe it with my whole heart. I would serve God without any reserve, for I esteem his precepts concerning all things to be right, and I have inclined my heart to keep his statutes always, even unto the end.” 3. Once more : false repentance basely yields to the fear of man; whilst true repentance is full of boldness and courage for God. Thousands, in obedience to the calls and warnings they have received, begin seeming¬ ly to repent; but, loving the praise of men, and not be¬ ing able to endure the contempt and revilings of the hypocritical and profane, for their attachment to God, turn aside from the holy commandment. Their own family, the persons with whom they are connected, or on whom they depend, must at all hazards be respected and pleased. No sinful ways therefore must be con-* demned with abhorrence that may risk the favor of those who can do them so much service or injury in the world. The true penitent, on the contrary, will carefully 198 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. avoid every temptation to past offences, and every oc¬ casion that might endanger a relapse. He will not dis¬ semble, he will not conform so far to the world as to be found where temptation appears in its most inviting forms ; and where the studied end of the assembly or amusement is such as diverts the thoughts from God and eternity. In like manner, for conscience, sake he will forego temporal advantages; and break through the ties even of sweetest friendship, and of nearest kin¬ dred, rather than be drawn back by either into his for¬ mer neglect and contempt of duty. He will walk cir¬ cumspectly, with a godly jealousy over all things and persons connected with him, lest any of them should prove a snare or a hinderance to him in the way to eter¬ nal life, now opened before his eyes. It is his steadfast purpose, lose or suffer what he may, to wage eternal war with the prevailing errors and favorite sins that abound in the world, and to say to all the insinuating advocates for them, " Depart from me, ye wicked, I will keep the commandments of my God.” In short, in these important particulars lies the differ¬ ence between false and true repentance. The former is only an external reformation, destitute of all the graces of the blessed Spirit: the latter, a change of the heart, will and affections, as well as of the outward conversa¬ tion ; a change which is attended with all the fruits and graces of the Spirit of God. False repentance aims at just so much religion as will keep the mind easy and calm the awakened conscience : true repentance aims ever to walk before God in an humble, watchful, believing frame # of soul. The former will obey the law and command of God just as far as the world will permit without perse¬ cution or reproach : the latter, with an invincible regard to the glory of God, is willing to go through evil report and good report, content with the approbation of God, let men think or say what they please. OBLIGATION TO REPENTANCE. 199 CHAPTER XX. REFEJ%'T.frJ%*CE.—con United. ITS UNIVERSAL OBLIGATION, AND DIRECTIONS TO ATTAIN IT. If the word of God were received with that degree of deference which is so justly due to it, there would be no necessity for stating more than the simple decla¬ ration of Scripture which requires all men to repent, in order to show the universal obligation of true repent¬ ance. But, alas ! it is too common to form our judg¬ ment of duty from the general practice of a careless world, or from hasty and erroneous conceptions of the nature of virtue, rather than from the oracles of truth. In direct contradiction to the Scripture declarations, it has been a prevailing opinion, that those alone need re¬ pentance, whose abominations every eye can see, whose lewdness or drunkenness, dishonesty or profaneness, are open and excessive. Ignorant of the natural depra vity and apostacy of the whole human race from God, or proudly prejudiced against this doctrine, the world supposes that much evil must actually be practised be¬ fore a total change of heart and life can become abso¬ lutely necessary. To speak more particularly ; a young gentleman who has been sober and dutiful to his parents, well esteemed abroad and commended at home, kept by the affluence of his station from the temptation of doing what is ac¬ counted base before men, is apt so to over-rate his own sober conduct as to suppose he has no occasion for any godly sorrow or trouble of mind in the view of his own transgressions. He is apt to conclude that you degrade 200 CO.UL’LETE DUTY OF MAJN. his character by calling him to the exercise of serious repentance. In the same manner, a young lady, born to inherit wealth, educated to be affable and polite, to love peace and harmony, cannot be guilty of any thing the world calls sinful, except by doing violence to all the restraints of modesty, decency and character. Of consequence, self-pleasing thoughts of her own innocency and good¬ ness hold a firm possession of her mind. She cannot believe that it is necessary for a person of her good character to feel shame and sorrow for sin, and a broken contrite heart, or to seek after any such change as scrip tural repentance met ns. But notwithstanding the attempts of many celebrated and learned advocates for the innocency of such amiable characters, the Scripture, which must prevail at last as the only true standard of what is excellent,—the Scrip¬ ture "has concluded all under sin.” It is therefore a most certain truth that sober, decent and dutiful as you may be in the eyes of parents, relations and friends; yet if you are ignorant of any divine change, and a stranger to those inward effectual workings which con¬ stitute Scripture repentance, you are far from being in a state of innocency or safety : a charge of great guilt stands in full force against you,—a charge which makes repentance as absolutely needful for you as if your ini¬ quities were of a more glaring kind. This charge shall now be made good. Let it then be supposed that you are a young person, m the eyes of the world lovely in your whole deport¬ ment ; let it be supposed that not a relation or a friend sees any thing in you to be amended; yet consider, O much admired youth! how your heart is affected to¬ wards Him who made, preserves and blesses you; from whose bounty you have received all those endowments, the cultivation of which makes you the agreeable person OBLIGATION TO REPENTANCE. 201 you are. Do you fear and do you love him 1 Do you make conscience of employing your time, your talents, your influence, as he has commanded you to do 1 Are you afraid of conformity to the manners and tempers of the world, and jealous of friendship with it as enmity against God 1 Do you hear his word with reverence, and in the solemn time of prayer labor to check every impertinent vain thought \ Are you restrained in your conversation by his law, from giving in to that fashion¬ able way of discourse, which at once indulges and strengthens pride, sensuality or covetousness 1 Are you desirous to live in subjection to God, and careful to in¬ form yourself what he would have you to do 1 Is your dependence continually upon the Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness and strength I If conscience witnesses against you that you are a stranger to such intentions and dispositions, (and thus it does witness, unless you have truly repented,) then, however admired, however in reality more serious and sober than those of your own age, certainly your wdiole life has been sin and provocation, perpetually repeated: because it has been entirely under the guidance of a depraved mind. Your study and aim has been to please yourself, and to please men, whilst the holy will of God and his honor have scarce had any place in your thoughts. In the midst of all the decent regard you have been paying to every one about you, God has cause to complain that he only has been treated by you with dissimulation and neglect, if not with scorn. But now, if the fact really be so, that you have dissembled with God, neglected and despised him; is it not a vain plea against the necessity of repentance, to say that you are innocent of the common vices of youth, and have an unblemished character 1 For is not this charge of sinfulness in your behavior towards the Most High God sufficiently comprehensive, both in the eye of 9* 202 COMPLETE'DUTY OF MAN. reason and Scripture, to prove the necessity of your feeling deep humiliation and self-abhorrence 1 Does it not make an entire renovation of mind absolutely need full or can any one be absurd enough to suppose that the guilt of withholding all esteem, desire and affection from God, is in a manner cancelled by an amiable de¬ portment to brothers or sisters, relations or friends 1 If a sense of your obligations to God as your Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, has no share in directing your pursuits and modelling your affections; the difference with respect to God must be of very little account, whether your reigning self-love be gratified in a way more reputable amongst men, rather than in one which would expose you as well to shame here, as to the wrath of God hereafter. In the one case as well as the other, there is no sense of God, no practice of your du¬ ty towards him; and, therefore, unless true repentance takes place, you still remain an apostate creature, in¬ volved in all the capital guilt and misery of the fall; you remain a creature setting up your own will above the law of God; consequently if you die under the pow¬ er of such a spirit you must perish for ever. Equally vain and frivolous is it (though so deplorably frequent) for men to confide in the fidelity and justice with which they trade, or in the general benevolence of their character, as if this were to supersede in their case the necessity of repentance. For you may detest every species of dishonesty and villany, of cruel and oppres¬ sive deportment, whilst pride and self-sufficiency reign undisturbed in your soul; whilst every temper by which due homage is paid to God is a stranger to your heart. Honesty and benevolence, upon whatever principle they are exercised, are sure to be applauded by selfish men, yet must these dispositions be the offspring of an hum¬ ble heart before they can find acceptance with God. Though I give all my goods to the poor, unless this love OBLIGATION TO REPENTANCE. 203 of my neighbor spring from love to God (which be¬ fore true repentance can have no place in my heart) it profiteth me nothing ; it will not be found a virtue when weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. So far, indeed, is the practice of social duties from rendering godly sorrow, hidniliation for sin, and absolute dependence upon the blood of Christ unnecessary; that the haughty profane imagination of its doing so, as much needs mercy to pardon it as the grossest act of injustice towards men: since it proves the whole head and heart, which could give place to such a thought, utter ly depraved. r You have now been instructed in the nature of true repentance, and the indispensable necessity there is that every fallen creature should experience that entire change of judgment, practice and affections which true repentance implies. I would flatter myself, therefore, that your conscience is now in some degree awakened ; I would flatter myself that you have an earnest desire to be informed what course you must take to be brought into a state of true repentance: if this be your desire, instead of multiplying directions, it will suffice to press you to observe the few following: First. Frequently read the Scripture with seriousness and unfeigned submission to it as the method prescribed by God himself for your recovery, and let your thoughts dwell on what immediately respects your own case, that is, the nature and workings of true repentance. The fifty-first Psalm will unfold to you the heart of the penitent contrite David; and the fifteenth of St. Luke the affecting return of a sinner in your own condition to his much-injured father. The same inward and entire change of heart is described at large in the fifth chapter of the Ephesians, and in the sixth also, to the 17th verse. Upon these and similar portions of Scripture yoir must carefully meditate. In this study of the Scriptures, 204 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. humbly imploring the teaching of the Holy Spirit, you may hope to receive his enlightening influences, to find desires after God springing up in your soul, and to feel the working of those very dispositions towards him, w r hich, as you have learned from his own word, denote true repentance. Secondly. Consider the corruption of your nature , and the many sins you have actually committed. Only com¬ mune with your own heart, and you will immediately find your inclinations strongly bent to many things which your conscience tells you ought not to be done : and that you have a great aversion to other things which are in themselves excellent, and ought to be done by you ; you will observe a miserable confusion and in¬ consistency in your thoughts, a perverseness in youi will, and a prevailing sensuality in your affections. The fruit of this universal depravity you must also carefully observe, as it has appeared in the multitude of your transgressions. Think of the several places you have lived in, and what, in each of these, your sins have been: take an account of your offences against those with whom you have transacted business or con¬ versed with intimacy and friendship, or those on whom you should have had compassion and exercised the most tender love: mark those sins which have arisen from your outward circumstances ; and above all, reflect deeply on what is, strictly speaking, your own iniquity, the sin to which you are most enslaved, whether pas¬ sion, envy, unchastity, pride and self-conceit, lying, the love of money or of esteem: take notice in how many instances it has broken out, so as to leave uneasy im¬ pressions on your mind, and yet has been again and again repeated: after this, think how often you have stifled convictions; how often turned away from the offers of grace and calls to repentance: think of your sins against a Redeemer; reflect how long you have OBLIGATION TO REPENTANCE. 205 willingly. lived in ignorance of his undertaking, disre¬ garding his obedience unto death, his atoning sacrifice for sin; think of the despite you have done against the Holy Spirit, resisting his motions, and excusing your¬ self from a compliance with his secret suggestions. And then, at the end of all, reckon up the several aggra¬ vations of your sin, the judgments and afflictions, the mercies and deliverances, the counsels and reproofs, the light and knowledge, the vows and promises against which you have sinned. Thirdly. You must pray to the God of all grace, to give you repentance unto life. Naturally you suppose that you will have a disposition to repent just when you please; at least you suppose the alarming circum¬ stances of sickness and approaching death will of them¬ selves induce you to repent. But this is a vain and proud opinion, which experience daily proclaims to be without foundation, and which the Bible exposes as false to every attentive reader, by calling repentance "the gift of God.” For to produce in the heart an abid¬ ing sense and detestation of our own vileness, with confidence in the pardoning mercy of God through , Christ, with a zeal for his glory expressing itself in newness of life, (which alone is what the Bible means by repentance,) to produce a change of this nature be- .ongeth only to the effectual working of God’s Holy Spirit. Self-love and pride, with all their force, with¬ stand the charge of sinfulness ; every natural inclina¬ tion of the soul rises up in arms, and opposes with all its might true humiliation. At the same time, without divine light and supernatural teaching, we shall never discover any such loveliness in a just and sin-hating God, or in obedience to his law, as to create abhorrence of sinful lusts, too long cherished and indulged as the sources of gratification and pleasure. Therefore it is from the grace of God alone, the fountain of every 206 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. good and perfect gift, that you must receive repentance unto life. It is your part, as a reasonable and immortal creature, to hear the command of God to repent; and, as a helpless sinner, insufficient to every good work, to rely on the aids of his almighty Spirit, that you may be obedient to it. It is your part meekly to confess the aversion of your heart to glorify God by true repent¬ ance, and to beg of him in whose hands are the hearts of all men, that you may be turned to him, seeing and bewailing the sin of your nature as well as of your practice, of your heart as well as of your life, and de¬ siring grace to approve yourself to God, in newness of spirit, a sincere penitent. CHAPTER XXI. CIIUIS & RACES *11%'19 msposiTioirs. 's '*'* ' : ‘ ; DISPOSITIONS OF A CHRISTIAN TOWARDS GOD-GODLY FEAR -OBEDIENCE-GRATITUDE-TRUST-GLORIFYING GOD- PURITY OF HEART. As God is altogether lovely in himself, and in his be¬ nefits towards us inexpressibly great, so nothing can be more evident than that he ought to reign in our affec¬ tions without a rival. But to yield this most rightful worship to his Creator, man is naturally averse: and it is owing only to the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, enforced by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the Christian renounces his natural disaffection to his Cre¬ ator, and glorifies him as God. DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 207 "The grace of God,” saith the Scripture, "which bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men 5 ” not merely enjoining them by the force of a command, but " teaching them,” that is, by the communication of di¬ vine knowledge, " to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts;” to loathe the very thought of insulting any more their adorable Benefactor by rebellion, or of dishonor¬ ing him by neglect. The doctrines of grace, like an affectionate tutor, form men to obedience ; and when clearly manifested to the understanding and cordially embraced, they make every duty we owe to our Cre¬ ator appear both rational and easy. They give us a heart, a hand, and sufficient ability to exercise our¬ selves unto universal godliness. Having, therefore, already explained and established those doctrines of grace which constitute the divine knowledge peculiar and essential to a Christian, I now proceed to a particular delineation of that most excel¬ lent practice , by which he differs from the enslaved mul¬ titude of unbelieving sinners: that practice which he esteems his bounden duty, and by which he shows forth the praises of his God and Savior, who hath called him out of darkness into his marvellous light. We begin with those various dispositions towards the ever-blessed God, of which the habitual exercise is to be found in the heart of every real Christian. 1 . The first disposition of this kind is godly fear. This is one of those great springs of action by which rational creatures are influenced. It is of the highest importance, therefore, to have this affection exercised upon some just object, so that the mind may, on the one hand, be armed against vain terrors, and, on the other, be duly impressed by those things which ought to be dreaded. In this excellent manner the affection of fear is regulated in the Christian’s breast. Temporal evils of every kind he discerns to be nothing more than 208 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. instruments in the hand of God, wholly subserving his pleasure, and unable to affect man’s most important interest. Therefore he " sanctifies the Lord .God in his heartand regards as " his fear and his dread,” Him who is too wise to be deceived, too just to be biassed, too mighty to be resisted, and too majestic to be contem • plated without reverence and self-abasement. Very dif¬ ferent is his fear of the Most High from the terror of a slave, that uneasy feeling which causes the object of it to be considered with pain. His is the fear of a rational creature towards its all-perfect Creator, of a servant to¬ wards a tender master, of a child tow'ards its wise and merciful father. Therefore, in the same proportion as he increases in the knowledge of God, he increases also in the fear of him. And so essential is such a temper of mind towards God, where his attributes are known, that the bright inhabitants of heaven express themselves as if they could not suppose it possible there should be a reasonable being void of such a disposition ; for they say, " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, O King of saints! Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou art holy A Christian fears the Lord, so as to stand in awe: he can neither be bribed nor intimidated wilfully to sin against him. But as he is encompassed with infirmities, snares and temptations, so he finds it necessary at some seasons, to the end of his life, to repel solicita¬ tions to evil by reflecting upon the severity of God’s vengeance on impenitent sinners; and by meditating upon the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. In this fear of the Lord is safety; and the longer he lives under its influence the more it becomes a generous filial fear. 2 . This fear, therefore, does not hinder, but promote DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 209 the exercise of another disposition towards God, which is most conspicuous in every real Christian, namely, a readiness to obey God without reserve. He beholds his Maker’s absolute dominion over him founded in his very being 1 . Every faculty of his soul, and every mem¬ ber of his body is a witness of his Maker’s righteous claim to his life and to his labors; when he requires them to be employed in his service, he does but appoint the use of what is his own absolute property. Ever conscious of this, he resolutely regards the authority of God in a world which despises it: he uniformly per¬ sists in obedience to him, though his natural corrup¬ tions, his worldly interest, and the prevailing customs of the world should oppose it. In his judgment the command of God alone constitutes a practice reason¬ able and necessary. He wants no higher authority to confirm it; nor can any objections from selfish consi¬ derations induce him to evade its force, or prevaricate with respect to the obligation of the command. He makes his prayer unto the God of his life, to teach him his statutes; to set his heart at liberty from every evil bias, that he may run the way of his commandments. He says unto God, " I am thine, O ! save me, for I have sought thy commandments.” And when, through sur¬ prise, he has been drawn aside, shame, sorrow and in¬ dignation succeed his transgression, and he becomes more humble and more vigilant also against temptation for the future. 3. Gratitude to God is also a distinguishing part of the Christian disposition. Where there is any degree of ho¬ nesty and generosity of mind, there will necessarily be a desire also of testifying a due sense of favors re¬ ceived ; an eagerness to embrace the first opportunity of convincing our Friend and Benefactor that we feel our obligations. In the case of benefits and favors con¬ ferred by man upon man, all acknowledge the duty of ‘210 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. this grateful return, and all are ready to brand with ig¬ nominy the ingrate who repays with ill-will or neglect his liberal patron. But, alas ! where the obligation is the greatest possible, it is often the least felt, and men scruple not to treat with neglect the supreme Benefac¬ tor of the human race. From this detestable crime the real Christian alone stands exempted. He perceives co¬ gent and continual reasons for gratitude to God, and is impressed by them. He is deeply sensible of the bounty of his Maker in all the providences relating both to his body and to his soul. Food and raiment, health and strength, he day by day receives as undeserved in¬ stances of the loving-kindness of his God; and all these common blessings keep alive a glow of gratitude to God within him. But much more is he excited to thankful¬ ness upon considering the mercies relating to his eter¬ nal interest. He freely acknowledges that God might have justly cut him off whilst he was living in rebellion against his law; or have left him to continue under that dreadful hardness and blindness of heart which so long had power over him. Instead of this, he can say, " He hath opened my eyes and changed my heart; conquered the stubbornness of my own will, and given me an un¬ feigned desire to be conformed to his ; made me a mem¬ ber of Christ; persuaded me by his Spirit of the truth and absolute necessity of redemption by the Son of God. I am able, in some degree, to comprehend with all saints the length and breadth, the height and depth of the love of Christ. I have a distinct view of that long train of reproaches, miseries and torments, which my salvation cost the Lord of life and glory. I behold on the one hand the fathomless abyss of wo from which he has res¬ cued me ; on the other, the eternal glory he has pro¬ mised for my inheritance. Whilst I meditate upon ah these things, and grow more and more intimately ac¬ quainted with their truth, I feel upon my mind an in- DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 211 creasing conviction that the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me. I am glad to confess that no slave can be so absolutely the property of his master, as I am of God ; nor any pensioner, though supported by the most rich and undeserved bounty, so strongly engaged to grati¬ tude, as I am to glorify God, both with my body and with my soul, which are his.” That such is the prevailing sentiment of a Christian is evident from the apostle’s declaration. When he is showing the powerful motive which influenced him, and all the followers of the Lamb, to such eminent zeal in his service, he says, " The love of Christ constraineth us;” with a pleasing force it bears down all opposition before it, like a mighty torrent, and carries forth our souls in all the actings of an ingenuous gratitude and thankfulness towards God. 4. Another eminent part of the Christian disposition is trust in God. The sin of unbelief, though so often upbraided in Scripture, so dishonorable to God, and so hurtful to ourselves, is still the sin which naturally pre¬ vails in all men: and even the Christian is sometimes as¬ saulted and greatly perplexed by it. But though he must confess that, in seasons of great difficulty and danger, he is sometimes afraid; he can say, with equal truth, " Yet will I put my trust in God.” He can and does ha¬ bitually pay to his Maker that most acceptable homage of placing his supreme confidence in him. He, and he alone, can do this; because he not only knows in gene¬ ral that " great is the Lord, and great is his power, yea and his wisdom is infinite :” but he has positive and ex¬ press promises of grace, mercy and peace, made to him. For as true repentance, humiliation and faith in Jesus, have taken possession of his heart, and are ha¬ bitually exercised by him; so when he looks into the holy volume, he sees God always described as full of compassion, and abundant in mercy and truth to all 212 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. repenting and believing sinners. The sight of this constantly invigorates his hope and increases his tonfidence. Besides, he is persuaded that God has given his dear Son, not only as a pledge of his affection towards sin¬ ners, but as a sin-offering for them. On the merit of this sacrifice he builds his confidence; he fixes his depend¬ ence, where alone it ought to be, on the God of his sal¬ vation. " God hath promised,” says he, " to bring every one to glory who receives his only begotten Son and trusts on his arm. He hath confirmed this promise even with an oath: he has engaged himself by a cove nant, ratified in the blood of his Son. This Son, as Me¬ diator and High-priest of his church, now appears per¬ petually before the throne of glory for all who come to God by him ; he makes effectual intercession for the relief of their wants, and for the gift of all things which can edify, comfort, and make them meet for heaven.” Filled with this knowledge, and emboldened by it, he trusts in the Lord, and stays himself upon his God. ” Though it would be presumption,” he says, ” and en¬ thusiasm in me to expect to receive from God what he has no where promised, or what he has promised in a way different from what he has prescribed; yet whilst I am living by faith in the Son of God, and testifying my unfeigned subjection to him as my sovereign Lord, I cannot but rejoice in the thought that God is faithful, who has given us exceeding great and precious pro¬ mises, and that he is able to do exceedingly above all that I can ask or think.” And as the Christian first exercises trust in God, en¬ couraged by the revelation he has made of himself in the Gospel, and the promises he has freely given, which none besides himself receive with sincerity; so upon every advance he makes in knowledge and grace, the grounds of his confidence in God grow clearer and DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 213 stronger. His own happy experience confirms the truth of every promise which at first engaged his dependence. The truth of the word of the Lord is tried to the utter¬ most by a vast variety of temptations and enemies, that it may be made manifest whether there is any deceit in it j but the experiment, though ever so often repeated, • always confirms its value. He beholds his vile affections weakened and mortified, the violence of his enemies re¬ strained, the pleasures and hopes of his spiritual life all exactly corresponding with the account given in the holy word of God. Therefore, from this complete evi¬ dence of its*truth, he sees that it is good for him to hold fast by God, and to put his trust in the Lord God. And though whilst he remains in this fallen world, and has the principle of corruption in his heart, he may often find evil propensities and the workings of unbelief ; yet he is grieved, ashamed and confounded at their ap¬ pearance ; he complains of himself unto God ; he cries, Lord, increase my faith, deliver me from an evil heart of unbelief! And thus he is enabled with boldness to say, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, he also is become my salvation.” Isaiah, 12 : 2. But what completes the Christian’s trust in God, even under the most afflictive visitatiofis, is the promise from himself, repeated upon various occasions, to this effect: " That all things shall work together for good to them that love God.” Rom. 8 : 28. His afflictions, therefore, he believes are so far from being the scourge of an ene¬ my, or the wound of a cruel one ; so far from coming by chance, or upon a design of vengeance, that they are sent with a view to his welfare. It is " for our pro¬ fit” that God afflicts, to make us "partakers of his ho¬ liness.” A lively persuasion of this truth prevents the cross from galling, though it does not remove it; it gives to every suffering a kind and friendly appearance. * » 214 . COMPLETE DUTY OF MAM. u Thou. O God, of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.—It is the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it I” 5. It is a distinguishing part of the Christian’s temper in all things to give glory to God. We give gl©ry to another, when, with high esteem and cordial regard, we declare the excellencies he possesses. The Christian constantly endeavors in this manner to glorify God; to convince all who observe his deportment, that he looks upon the goodness, wisdom, holiness and sovereign do¬ minion of God in such an amiable light, as cheerfully to employ all his powers and faculties in his service. The false motives, the spurious principles which gave birth to so many fair appearances and seemingly good works, have no rule in his heart. He is not restrained from evil through the fear of shame or loss; nor is it the love of praise or self-applause which excites him to do well: it is a sense of duty towards his Maker, and a regard to his command. He offers all his social virtues and all his religious performances unto God, with a pre¬ dominant desire that his glorious Majesty may receive more and more homage and service from himself and all around him. The utility of actions is the only point regarded by the world: they care not from what prin¬ ciple they flow, provided good accrues from them to society. But the Christian knows that God sees not as man sees; that he regards chiefly the disposition of mind from whence our actions arise, and above every thing, the respect they have to himself. " God hath commanded me,” saith he, " to do whatever I do, hear¬ tily, as unto the Lord, and not as unto men. When I am discharging, therefore, and fulfilling the duties of any particular relation in life, as a servant or master, a husband or a son, a tradesman or a magistrate, it is my unfeigned desire that all may perceive me to act con¬ scientiously, because I esteem all God’s precepts con- DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 215 cerning all things to be right, and am persuaded that he has given us a law in these respects which ought not to be broken. It is this holy aim, I know, which can alone consecrate my conduct, make it truly religious, and therefore good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” 6 . Inseparable from this design in the Christian to give glory to God, is a studious concern to approve himself sincere before him by the purity of his heart. He has a much nobler and higher aim than the hypocrite or the mere moralist. They both can be satisfied with a freedom from gross offences, and think God’s authori¬ ty sufficiently regarded, if the practice of all outward wickedness be carefully avoided. The work and labor of a Christian, on the contrary, is within: to prevent the deadly fruit of sin in the branches, by opposing and mortifying it in the root. Though he cannot totally suppress the rising of evil thoughts, nor eradicate all sensibility to bad impressions from outward objects or inward corruptions, he is alarmed at their intrusion; and with such an emotion as a sovereign feels at the first appearance of rebellion in his kingdom, he cries unto God to rise to his succor, and immediately to ex¬ pel his enemies. What was at first an involuntary mo¬ tion in his mind, (sad indication of his evil nature !) he will not suffer to grow more exceeding sinful by cherishing it, or by being at peace with it. For this he regards as a plain mark of remaining love for sin, which he is only restrained from committing by selfish fear or prudence. To illustrate this excellent disposition still more dis¬ tinctly : the Christian, in youth and health, does much more than avoid licentiousness. He is offended at wan¬ ton jesting; he loathes the pictures a corrupt imagina¬ tion would be painting before him, and resists the way¬ ward desires of his heart. In business and merchandise 216 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAX. lie does more than renounce the bag of deceitful weights and the frauds of villany; he renounces the love of mo¬ ney as becomes one who is a stranger upon earth, and adopted into the family of God. In his behavior to wards his competitors and his enemies, he does not content himself with abstaining from vilifying them by slander, or assaulting them with railing. He condemns and watches against silent envy, secret animosity, and injurious surmises. He appears vindictive and malicious in his own eyes, whenever he detects himself listening with pleasure to others who are speaking evil of his foes, though the charge be founded on truth. He be¬ wails so plain a proof of the power of irregular self- love and uncharitableness in his heart. To mention no more instances, the Christian is not satisfied in refrain¬ ing from speaking vainly and proudly of his own accom¬ plishments and advantages, {this good sense will check, and good manners teach us to be irksome to others;) but he maintains an obstinate conflict with self-admira¬ tion and self-complacency in his own breast; not de¬ sisting till he has put these grand enemies to the glory of God and his grace to flight before him. In each of these, and many other instances, he ascribes unto God the honor due unto his name, as the Lord of conscience, as the God " who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, and requireth truth in the inward parts.” He " sets the Lord always before him;” and this is the purport of his constant desire, observed by the omnis¬ cient Judge ;—" Search me, 0 God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlast¬ ing.” Psalm 139 : 23, 24. DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 217 CHAPTER XXII. CMUISTE1JT GRACES JftFSJPO- SITIOJ% m S. — continued* + V IMITATION OF GOD-LOVE OF GOD-DEVOTION:— SELF-ABASEMENT. True religion has the honor and glory of God for its object. It brings man back to his allegiance to his Creator j it implants in his mind every holy and gene¬ rous disposition which tends to glorify God. Thus we have seen that it teaches him to regard God with holy fear ; it requires a cheerful and universal obedience to his authority ; it inspires him with gratitude ; animates him with confidence towards his Creator; induces him always to aim at the promotion of his glory ; and leads him to cultivate a purity of motive in all his actions. Such are the dispositions, as they respect God, which it is the object of Christianity to form in man. Besides these, there are also others equally excellent, which it is my design at present to set before you; in all which you will discover the same supreme regard to the Crea¬ tor, and ascription of that honor and glory which so justly belong to him. 7. To proceed, therefore, with this subject, I observe that care to imitate God , in what he is the proper object of imitation, forms a principal feature in the Christian’s disposition. He prays and labors to have transcribed into his own heart, and to express in his life the holi¬ ness and righteousness of God $ his forbearance, mercy and communicative goodness. And in order to behold Duty of Man. 1^ 218 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. these attributes where they shine with the greatest clearness and most transforming efficacy, he contem¬ plates them living and breathing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who in this, as well as every other sense, is " the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” Upon this all-perfect pattern he stead¬ fastly fixes his eye, as a painter upon a portrait, when copying from an invaluable original. He labors with carefulness and persevering attention to bring himself to a more perfect likeness of his God and Savior. It is the work of his life to advance in this resemblance; strongly excited to it by the incomparable excellency of the life and character of Jesus. For he beholds all its parts exhibiting to his view a mind unpolluted with any defilement, though inhabiting an earthly tabernacle; a mind adorned with the most lovely dispositions; full of all goodness, righteousness and truth; not judging by the sight of the eye, or charmed with what is most grateful to the voluptuous ear; full of pity towards a wretched sinful world, compassionate to its calamities, unprovoked by its sharpest injuries, and bent upon do¬ ing the greatest good, though suffering for it the most cruel treatment. In such a character there is every thing which de¬ mands veneration ; and it is not possible constantly to behold, as the real Christian does, this fair beauty of the Lord, without desiring to possess a measure of the same excellencies. The imitation of the life of Jesus has been enjoined by his own command, to which the Christian pays the most cordial submission. " Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well: for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet: ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” John, 13 : 13, 14, 15. The force of this injunction makes DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 219 all contrariety of temper to the mind that was in Jesus Christ appear, to the apprehension of the true believer, though found in himself, deformed and criminal. This opens his eyes to see the glaring delusion of being call¬ ed after the name of Christ, without " walking even as he walked ;” without " purifying himself even as Christ is pure;” that is, without being endued with such a conformity to the image of the Son of God, as includes the whole chain of those graces which shone in him; and implies an abhorrence, not of one kind of evil only, or of another, but of the whole body of sin. Hence he is in truth an imitator of his Lord; inasmuch as every excellent temper, which wdthout measure dwelt in him, has its real though limited and imperfect influence in all the living members of his church. It is a declaration descriptive of all real Christians; "We all beholding,” in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, "as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. 3 : 18. This desire of imitating the life and character of Jesus is strengthened exceedingly by the love the Chris¬ tian bears towards him. We imperceptibly imitate the manners of those we admire ; without any studied de¬ sign on our part, we resemble those who have gained our affections by the greatness of their generosity, and who justify our regard by the degree of their excel¬ lence. It is so between man and man, though the rich¬ est favors conferred below are small in value, and the most consummate human character but the shadow of perfection. How strongly, then, must the Christian's heart, which is exercised daily in fixing his attention on the riches of the Savior’s love, and the unspeakable kindness expressed in the work of redemption, be excited to imitate so divine a character—the character of him wdio is his peace, his hope, his life, his God, and his all! 220 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN 8. The disposition of a Christian is also distinguished in a very eminent degree from the spirit of the world, by the affectionate love he bears to God, and the su¬ preme delight and joy he receives from the knowledge of him. Man, sunk into bodily appetites, lifts not up the heavy eye of his mind to God, nor understands that he can be to the faithful soul a fund of present comfort and happiness, richer than money, grandeur, sensual gratification, or books of learning prove to their several devoted admirers. Hence all expressions of fervent love to God, though free from enthusiastic flights, fall under the censure of the world. They assert that they are nothing but fictitious representations; or, that if any warmth of affection is really felt, it is to be accounted for physically, as owing to the temperature of the body, to a freer circulation of the blood, or to the powers of a warm imagination. The Christian, on the contrary, loves the invisible God with as much sin¬ cerity of affection as the covetous love their possessions, or the sensualist the joys of voluptuousness. He loves God as that blessed Being who is infinitely glorious in himself, in whom all excellencies meet to¬ gether, and who possesses them all without the possi¬ bility of ever suffering them to be impaired or sullied. Enlightened by the Scriptures and the Holy Ghost, he beholds such goodness in God as disparages whatever bears the name of it amongst creatures. Almighty power and unerring wisdom, unblemished truth, spot¬ less holiness, and tender mercies ; every thing fit to raise the admiration of an intelligent being he perceives in God. His glory shines out in the works of creation and of providence, and manifests itself in the redemp¬ tion of sinners by Jesus Christ in its strongest light. From these views he is excited to love God, and he ex¬ presses that love by discovering high and admiring thoughts of him ; by reflecting with pleasure on his per- DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 221 fections as they appear in the works of nature, the won¬ ders of grace, or the prospects of glory. This love of God for his own perfections, though not ordinarily dis¬ cerned in the Christian at the first, yet as he grows in knowledge and faith, becomes indisputably evident. It is discovered even whilst he is in doubt about his own interest in God: because he will yet esteem and value him, be careful to commend his precepts, be faithful in his service, and speak good of his name. Besides the incomparable excellency of God, a Chris¬ tian has also other motives to love him. He loves God as his chief good. " God alone,” says he, " can be a heart-satisfying portion to me. In his favor is my life, whilst all beneath or beside him is replete with vanity and disappointment, too mean and too transient fully to satisfy even one appetite: but God is all-sufficient : ' Whom have I in heaven but thee I and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.’ ” This love of God expresses itself in frequent longings that he may share in his pardoning mercy, and be happy for ever in his acceptance. For this he is content to part with all; the love of God is to him above every thing. He can say with David, ” I entreated thy favor with my whole heart : Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me.” He cannot be easy while a cloud obscures his Father’s face. The apprehension of his displeasure is most grievous to him j nor can he be satisfied till God be reconciled. He cries with vehe¬ mence, like David, " Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me : restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit.” He discovers also the sincerity of his love to God by a delight in him, no less than by desires after him. His soul is at rest whilst he can call God his God. In such a view he rejoices in the divine favor more than he would in calling the whole world his own. It 222 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. animates him in the highest degree to think that God is " his portion.” And so truly does he rejoice in God, and delight in him with sincere affection, as to be satisfied under all the troubles to which he can be exposed. Amidst shame and reproach he can support and solace himself in the thought that God knoweth his innocency and ap¬ proves of him. In necessities, distresses and afflictions, it is a strong consolation that in this state the Lord " knoweth his path,” and that " when he is tried, he shall come forth as gold.” Even in the most perilous and dismaying circumstances, when the judgments of an incensed God are spreading consternation over whole countries, the Christian in his love to God still finds a spring to cheer and refresh his soul, to which none but himself has access. " God is my refuge and strength,” says he, " a very present help in trouble. Therefore will I not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” For in the midst of all this fiery indignation issuing forth against his adversaries, he still beholds God in Christ Jesus, reconciled to him and to every humbled sinner. Such as these were the glorious expressions of love to God, even before the Lord Jesus Christ had ascend¬ ed up on high, " leading captivity captive;” it cannot therefore reasonably be supposed that the more expli¬ cit knowledge of salvation which we enjoy should not be more than equal to such a blessed effect. If the in¬ spired Habakkuk could find such love to God in his heart as to say, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields yield no meat; the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord ; I will joy in the DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 223 God of my salvation—if a man of like passions with ourselves could so love God as to find comfort in him amidst the horrors of an universal dearth; certainly we may conclude that now the Messenger of the covenant, the Day-spring from on high, hath visited the church, the love which a real Christian bears to his God will enable his soul to feel at least as high a delight and exultation in his favor And though, alas ! few are ob¬ served in our own day to love God in a degree so fer¬ vent and intense as this, yet the endeavor and desire of all who are Christians in sincerity is to do so. And they discover a principle of love the very same as this in kind, by their opposing the first tendencies in them¬ selves to complain, though in a season of great tribula¬ tion ; by rebuking themselves for the defectiveness of their delight in God ; saying, " Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul 1 and why art thou disquieted within me 1 Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” Psalm 42: 5. Whether, therefore, the Christian be weak or strong, still it is apparent that he delights himself in the Lord. When he rejoices and triumphs in the midst of outward troubles, his delight in God flames forth with vigor and brightness. And when it is his grief and heavy burden that he cannot do so, this is still as true an expression of love to God, struggling in a sore conflict under the weight of oppression. For, were it not the very joy of his heart to be glad in the Lord and in every thing to give thanks, he would not, in the time of tribulation, be dejected and mourn on account of his want of joy in God. Such delight in God, even in the midst of prosperity, is a thing unintelligible to the world; and the utmost they can conceive attainable by man, is to bear distressing troubles with calmness. Therefore the very desire of a Christian to be " strengthened with all might, according to God’s glorious power, unto all pa- 224 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. lienee and long-suffering with joyfulness;” that is, to bear afflictions with holy triumphs, in consideration of what God is to him and has done for him, is a demon¬ stration that he delights in God. 9. It is an eminent part of the disposition of a Chris¬ tian towards God, to engage with diligence and pleasure in all the various exercises of devotion and the use of the means of grace. Men have naturally a strong aversion ..to confession of sin, to prayer and praise, to hearing and reading God’s word, and coming to the table of the Lord. They engage in these duties only from custom, or are diagged to them merely to pacify conscience They are, therefore, as little employed in this mannei as may be, being weary of the irksome employment Hence all the devotion of the natural man is generally comprised in a few minutes’ vain repetition each morn¬ ing or evening, and in an attendance at church on Sun¬ days, in which he is conscious of no more pleasure than a child feels when repeating by rote, words of which he understands not the meaning. Or should there be more outward practice of devotion than this, it may spring from the popish notion that religious du¬ ties have in them an atoning virtue, and constitute a man holy when punctually performed. How different the temper of a Christian ! He lives in the constant exercise of a devout spirit. His recollec¬ tion of the sinfulness of his past life ; of that hateful period, when "all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continuallywhen self was his god, and God was nothing to him but a name ; and at the same time his consciousness of blindness and depravity still too much remaining, render it a relief to his soul to pour out before God complaints against him¬ self. As he increases in the knowledge of God and his own duty, the more strong are his desires to prostrate himself before the greatness of eternal Excellency, and DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 225 to be filled with holy shame and confusion at his own sin and defilement. Sometimes he finds the springs of ingenuous sorrow opened within, and tastes a most solid satisfaction in giving glory to the holiness of God and his lav/. And when his affections are not thus in¬ fluenced, he still engages diligently in the confession of his sin as a means of beholding more clearly its enor¬ mity and guilt, and of being impressed with a more steadfast hatred of it. With pleasure also he addresses his prayer to the Father of lights, from whom every good and perfect gift cometh, that divine grace may be imparted to him ; because he is fully persuaded that the strength and the increase of grace must be main¬ tained by God, and not by himself. Human virtues and social qualities will grow, he sees, in nature’s garden : but trust in God, spiritual obedience, delight in him, and all the tempers becoming a creature and a sinner, must be the workmanship of God by his Spirit, which is given only to them that ask it. Therefore, as natural hunger and thirst seek their proper gratification, and the desire of every living soul is always turned towards that which it apprehends as its chiefest good: so is it his hunger and thirst to receive out of the fulness there is in Christ " grace for grace.” So far, therefore, from thinking prayer a burden, or performing it merely as a duty, at particular times and seasons, the Christian may be said to " pray without ceasing.” All places, as well as his closet and his church, are witnesses of the fel lowship he maintains in this manner with an invisible God. If his sleep depart from him, he is a\vake to the sublime sensations of prayer and devotion. " With my soul, O God,” says he, " have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early.” From the same love to God springs a real joy to praise and extol him. " It becometh well the just,” 10 * ‘ 2*26 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. says he, " to be thankful. Praise the Lord, 0 my soul, and all that is within me, praise his holy name. For he hath delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. My mouth shall, there¬ fore, be filled as it were with marrow and fatness, while I am praising thee with joyful lips. This spiritual en¬ tertainment shall prove as delicious to my mind as the feast of the epicure to his taste, though combining the richest dainties which luxury can procure.” And from the same love which the real Christian bears to his God and Savior, all things which belong to God, his words, his institutions and ordinances, will be objects of his pleasure and delight. " Hath God ” (says he) " written a book of knowledge and grace for the use of man, and shall I not be glad to read and hear the interesting contents of it 1 Shall I not converse most frequently with those divine notices of himself, which God has sent us from heaven 'l Yes, my delight is placed on this book of God; 0 ! how I love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day.” Has the glorious God appointed a method of wor¬ ship, and required men to assemble in multitudes to ad¬ dress his divine Majesty 1 "I love,” says the real Christian, " the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth : one day in thy courts is better than a thousand.” Has God appointed pastors and teachers for the work of the ministry, for the perfecting his saints, for the edifying his body the church; and promised to ble ss and succeed their faithful discourses, and to be with them always, to the end of the world 1 " It is with raised expectations and steady attention,” says the Christian, "that I will hear the ministers of the Lord; and look through the infirmities of the speaker to the appointment and promise of the God of all grace, who has seen fit to choose men to be instruments and min- DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 227 isters of grace to men their hearers. And has He, who was dead for my sins, and is alive again, and liveth for evermore, left with his church the memorial of his abundant goodness and bleeding love, commanding his people to feast upon it, that his sacrifice might grow more precious in their eyes'? I will, with solemn joy and gratitude, join the faithful company who cat of that bread and drink of that cup, as a public testi¬ mony that every blessing I have received of God, and every benefit I hope for, does and will descend upon me only through the atoning death of Jesus Christ the righteous.” And though it must be confessed that it is not in the Christian’s power to be always full of delight in holy duties j though he has too often cause to bemoan the want of a more devout and spiritual frame of mind when he is using the means of grace; yet the godly disposition of his soul suffers no such change. God is still the constant object of his reverence and trust, of his gratitude and love; and therefore, whether he ex¬ periences more or less pleasure in the solemn acts of devotion, he is still punctual in them; he grows not weary of them ,—but of the body of sin, which proves so heavy an incumbrance, when he would have his soul full of fervent adoration of God. 10. Humility is another peculiar and most distin¬ guishing part of the disposition of a Christian. By his humility, is not meant his entertaining a worse opinion of himself, or abasing himself lower than he really ought to do; but his living under a constant sense and acknowledgment of his own weakness, corruption and sin, in the sight of God. All beside the Christian dis¬ semble and offend God in this matter. For though some confess their own weakness, they magnify their attainments, and over-rate what they own to be the gift of God, because it belongs to themselves. They will 228 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. not allow, that after all they have done, and all they have received, their plea must still be this $ " God be merciful to me a sinner!” The Christian has learned better the poverty and sin of fallen man, even in his best estate. As the man who improves in learning, sees more of his own ignorance when he has made a com siderable progress, than when he first began; so the Christian, the more he advances in the illumination of his mind, and in a clear view of the extent of his duty towards God, becomes more sensible of defects which had hitherto escaped his notice, and is humbled for them. " The commandment of God,” he exclaims, " re¬ quires in every the minutest instance, that I do nothing forbidden by it, nor leave undone, in heart or life, any one thing which it enjoins: that I should ever exercise a perfect regularity of affection and desire, and ever maintain a perfect rectitude of temper and of thought.” Having his eye fixed up^n this purity, and acknow ledging that God ought in this manner to be obeyed by every intelligent being, he clearly discerns his own in¬ numerable failures, and his inherent depravity is with¬ out a covering. Therefore, when his deportment is, in the eyes of men, unblameable and unreprovable, and adorns the doctrine of God his Savior in all things, still the sentiment of his heart is, living and dying, " Behold, I am vile: Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” Thus is the Christian kept humble by his knowledge of the law; and no less so by the knowledge of the Gospel. "Have my sins,” says he, "rendered me so abominable in the eyes of God, that it would reflec* dishonor upon his Majesty to receive my prayers, or admit me to any share in his pardoning mercy upon a less consideration than the death and intercession of his own Son for me; and can I in this state regard my¬ self as any thing better than a guilty sinner 1 Shall I DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS GOD. 229 presume upon my own holiness, as perfectly free from blemish and defilement, when I am not permitted so much as to ask pardon, without imploring the mediation of the Redeemer, that I may be heard 1” Thus deeply laid is the foundation of Christian humility: a grace, above all others, the very antidote to the first-born sin of man, and to every delusion of Satan. By it the Christian is made meet for that world where God is all in all: where the most exalted spirits maintain a perpe- . tual sense of their infinite distance from God, and abase themselves before him continually in the midst of all the transporting manifestations of glory which they en¬ joy. " The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne.” Rev. 4: 10. Tfrese several particulars present those excellent dis¬ positions respecting God which rule and govern every real Christian. Now if you, who have read this descrip¬ tion, live destitute of any one of these dispositions to¬ wards God your Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, here enumerated, you assume a character, in calling your¬ self a Christian, to which you have no scriptural title. It is true these several dispositions are possessed in very different degrees by the members of Christ’s body, shining forth in some with brighter lustre, in others with less, as one star differeth from another star in glory; yet the joint influence of them all is essential to the very being of a real Christian, as the union of the soul and body is to the constitution of every individual man. And with as much propriety and truth may a life less corpse be called a member of society, as the soul which is void of any of these dispositions be numbered amongst the members of the mystical body of Christ For what can be conceived more monstrous than a Christian who has no fear of God ; a Christian who pays 230 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. no absolute submission to his authority: o Christian who is ungrateful, unbelieving, and altogether selfish j a Christian without love to God and Christ, without piety, without humility'l Take away one of these dispo¬ sitions, and you deprive the soul of that which is a part of its spiritual life, and without which it must expire Examine, therefore, and prove yourself whether you belong to Christ. "If a man say he hath faith, and hath not works,”—that is, the tempers by which alone the influence and power of faith can be discerned, can that faith save him 1 You may omit or add what you please in the character of one you choose to call a Christian; you may describe him as one who merely worships among Christians, or gives his assent to the truth, that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ that should come into the world,—but the only genuine standard of a Christian is the written word of God. Now this speaks aloud to men at all times and in all ages: it makes no difference; it allows of no abatement ; it affirms in the most positive manner, and affirms it in a variety of dif¬ ferent expressions, that " they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Gal. 5 : 24. That " if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature:” his heart, once profane, now pays a supreme regard to God; is willing to obey and submit to him in every thing ; seeks his honor and approba¬ tion ; loves him in Christ Jesus, and delights continually in nearer and nearer approaches to him. This, this alone is the genuine character of a Chris¬ tian, even were it not to be found in one of a million, nor in one of a nation. To delude yourself with notions and fancies, however popular, however supported by the great and learned, that you shall partake of the benefits of Christ in the eternal world, without being thus con¬ formed to his precepts and example in this, is to make Christianity deservedly the jest of infidels, and the scorn DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS MEN. 231 of all who can distinguish what is really excellent from a pompous useless profession. As you prize, therefore, the salvation of your own soul; as you would not be found a hypocrite in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed; as you would not be the cause of infidels blaspheming that worthy name whereby you are ca’led j O! take good heed to yourself, and see that for your own part you are found a worshipper of God in spirit and in truth: see that the most exact observer of your manners and tempers shall be forced, if he judge with candor, to confess that the name of God is great in your eyes, and his glory all your aim. CHAPTER XXIII. ♦ CHRIS TIJLJT GRACES AND UISPO- SITIOJVS.—con tinned. THE TEMPERS OF A CHRISTIAN TOWARDS MEN— SINCERITY-JUSTICE. The Scripture teaches us that God has made all things for himself. Yet notwithstanding the supreme regard which the Lord Almighty ever bears to his own glory he is so far from requiring any sort of homage from us which is detrimental to the interests of society, that it is impossible to please God without exercising every be¬ nevolent temper towards man : for no parent ever more affectionately studied the happiness of his own offspring, 232 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. or delighted in their harmony, than the Father of the spirits of all flesh delights in seeing us obey his great command of loving one another without dissimulation. And were the divine commands in this respect uni¬ versally obeyed, the church of Christ would be a per¬ fect picture of the heavenly world, one perpetual inter¬ course of brotherly kindness. It is, alas! too notorious, that few in comparison of professed believers have ever been subject to this law of love. Nevertheless, it is the noble peculiarity of a real Christian to be found in the constant practice of those tempers which every man living would have others exercise towards himself; and to stand as much distinguished by the excellency of his deportment towards his fellow-creatures, as he does by faith, devotion and zeal towards God. I shall therefore now make it my business to deline ate those several lovely tempers, by means of which the Christian proves an invaluable blessing to society. And with respect to each temper, I shall point out the scrip¬ tural motives which excite and maintain its exercise. May the God of Christians make this representation of their duty towards men effectual, to convince every reader that if he has at heart the welfare of society, it can only be promoted to the utmost, where the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ is sincerely embraced. 1. In delineating the tempers of a Christian towards his fellow-creatures I shall begin with that eminent one, Sin cerity. As a Christian, then, you will esteem it your du¬ ty constantly to speak the truth, according to the in¬ formation you have received, in all the affairs and oc¬ currences of life. You will lay a charge upon your con¬ science to give no commendations where you think they are not due; not to flatter any as possessed of excel¬ lencies which you see not in them; nor to speak as if you regarded them with peculiar respect, when you only design by this means to pay your court, to please DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS MEN. 233 the vanity of the human heart, or to deceive. For though in the commerce of the world and amongst the refinements of the polite, such artifice is valued as an accomplishment, it is, in fact, a horrid perversion of lan¬ guage, a piece of dissimulation which Christian simpli¬ city abhors. And as sincerity will be conspicuous in all your conversation with respect to persons and things, so the same excellent temper will display its influence with respect to all your promises and engagements. When you have bound yourself by a promise to do any good office, or confer any benefit, the right of the thing promised hath, in the court of conscience and before the God of truth, passed over from you to the person receiving the promise; wherefore you have, without his leave, no more power to recall or reverse it, than if you had given him a legal bond. Consequently you will es¬ teem yourself obliged to stand to the performance of your word, though it may be much to your own pre¬ judice. And this in every instance where you have made a promise, unless some conditions were specified which have not been fulfilled, or something has af¬ terwards come to light which annuls its obligation. Above all, you will show an inviolable attachment to sincerity when your testimony is required in a court of judicature, and in decision of matters of right. Here, divesting yourself of affection on the one hand, and pre¬ judice on the other, you will explain the true state of the case, and represent every thing without disguise, as it has fallen under your notice. In these several important particulars, and in all simi¬ lar to them, you will pay a conscientious regard to sin¬ cerity. Your motives also will be distinct from those of the mere moralist, and infinitely more cogent. He may be an advocate for truth and sincerity, and would have all men practise it, because it is the cement of so¬ ciety and the only foundation of mutual confidence. 234 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Feeble motives, alas! when opposed to the natural sel¬ fishness of man, and to those violent temptations which allure the indigent, and dependent, to obtain money and serve their private interest. The consideration of the character of the great and glorious God is, on the contrary, your encouragement and support, 0 Christian, in the exercise of this temper He is himself the God of truth; and it is, you know, what he commands, and what he delights in. " These are the things that ye shall do,” saith he, " Speak ye every man truth to his neighbor.” Zech. 8 : 16. The want of sincerity he stigmatizes with reproach, and threatens every false tongue with eternal wo. In the character which your God gives of an heir of heaven, you are assured that he is one that " hateth lying,” Prov. 13:5; that " speaketh the truth in his heart,” Psalm 15 : 2. "Lying lips,” you read, "are abomina¬ tion to the Lord.” Prov. 12 : 22. A mark, that men "are of their father the devil, and the lusts of their fa¬ ther they will do.” John, 8 : 44. And, we are warned that "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” Rev. 21:8. In you, therefore, these motives will unite their force; namely, a desire to please God, and dwell for ever in his presence, and a fear of despising his high and ami¬ able authority, of incurring his severe displeasure, and the just punishment of everlasting misery. These mo¬ tives will arm you so completely that you can meet with no evil great enough to deter, nor with any bribe sufficient to allure you from the practice of sincerity. .Add to this that the Holy Ghost, which every true be¬ liever in Jesus Christ receives, is called "the Spirit of truth ;” and his fruit "is in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” It is impossible, therefore, to be a Christian and at the same time to live under the dominion of a false and deceitful tongue. DISPOSITIONS TOWAIIDS MEN. 235 If your conscience, therefore, accuses you in this matter, 0 cease to flatter yourself that you are in any degree righteous on account of all you may boast or glory in beside. No; unless you abhor falsehood, and delight in sincerity and truth, be assured it is not mak¬ ing many prayers, it is not extolling the riches of free grace, or attempting to cover yourself with the robe of the Savior’s righteousness that will either excuse or screen your heinous wickedness. On the contrary, if you can thus monstrously abuse the grace of God it only proves that your idea of him is infinitely low; that you conceive of him, as if he could be pleased with what would even kindle your own resentment, with de¬ ceitful compliment and unmeaning adulation; as if he would regard words or speculative notions, whilst in the weighty matters of his law you set at nought his coun¬ sel. No : sincerity and truth are the very essence of Christian practice ; and if you are a believer you will eminently possess these shining qualities. 2. It is the temper of a Christian constantly to act to- towards his fellow-creatures with Justice. Has the pro¬ vidence of God placed you in some public post, invest¬ ing you with the dignity of a magistrate, a senator, or a judge 1 you will vigorously oppose oppression, and punish the oppressor: you will be active to put salutary laws in execution, to establish tranquillity and pro¬ mote peace: you will be mindful of God, the high or- dainer of all civil government, to whom every one en¬ trusted with the discharge of any part of it stands as strictly accountable as the steward to his master. What God so solemnly commands will form your public cha¬ racter: "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judg¬ ment. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteous¬ ness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.” Levit. 19 : 15. " He that ruleth over men,” (like the Prince of Peace, 236 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. to whom the words primarily refer,) " must be just, ruling in the fear of God: and he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining after rain.” 2 Sam. 23 : 3, 4. Have you riches in such abundance as to create nu¬ merous dependents 1 you will exercise Christian justice towards them all: you will scorn to grasp after the ut¬ most farthing your estates can produce, till your ten¬ ants, wedded as it were to the place of their nativity, groan beneath the load of rents unreasonably advanced : you will perceive an inexpressible degree of injustice also in the fashionable custom of owing large sums for your furniture, equipage and dress, whilst your trades¬ men are almost at their wits’ end to pay for the things you call your own ; whilst they are daily tortured with the dilemma of bankruptcy, if they recover not their debts ; or of ruin through the cruel resentment of their opulent creditors, if they do.. Your rule is positive and express, ” Owe no man any thing, but to love one another;” and the opposite prac¬ tice, though punishable in the rich by no human law (except in extreme cases,) is marked as the object of God’s abhorrence, and the certain way to fall under the severity of his displeasure. ” Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton.” James, 5: 4, 5. The applica¬ tion of this Scripture, from the day-laborer to every person in trade, whose money is unreasonably withheld, will be obvious and effectual to you, who regard the re¬ proofs of God in his holy word. But are you occupied yourself in bade or merchandise , then the energy of your Christian principles will show DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS MEN. 237 itself in a still stronger light. You will not suffer the love of money to bias or corrupt your conscience. You will take no advantage either of the ignorance or ne¬ cessity of those you deal with, to put bad things into their hands for good, or to exact an exorbitant price. You will neither take, nor use, nor detain through force or fraud, what is your neighbor’s property. Now if any one should say, it is nat possible to live so honestly in the present state of the world ; that the righteous man, by dealing so conscientiously in the midst of those who have no conscience, would make himself a prey, and therefore. must either leave his trade or starve in it: I answer, that violent as the temptations, and plausible as the pleas are, to conform to general custom, in conniving at breaches of hones¬ ty, and in living upon the wages of iniquity; yet the motives for you to be punctually just and righteous in ail your dealings, if you have any title to the character of a Christian, must still preponderate. For (whatever is the case with others, who have never received the word of God in deed and in truth) you know how ex¬ press and peremptory is the command of your God in this matter. You know that- God, who indispensably requires you to be honest, leaves no foundation for the worldly and infidel excuses constantly urged to palliate cheating, viz. the necessity of being dishonest in order to prosper: for he pledges his own most sacred word for your provision, if you will deal uprightly. Thus saith the Lord the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, " Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small, (that is, one to buy and another to sell with.) Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be length¬ ened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 238 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighv eously, are an abomination to the Lord thy God.” Deut. 25 : 13-16. You hear him expressing his abhorrence of the iniquity, so customary in trade, in the most alarming manner: "Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure, that is abominable 'l Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights 1 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee deso¬ late because of thy sins.” Micah, 6 : 10-13. Should it be supposed that regard for yourself and family will gain the ascendency, and be prompting you to use common arts of fraud; I answer, that even this pressing temptation will be counteracted by the un¬ alterable declarations of your God: "Wo unto him that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong.” Jer. 22 : 13. "Be not deceived: —neither thieves, nor covetous,—nor extortioners,— shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10. Besides, the Lord that bought you with his own blood, and from whose grace alone you expect the gift of sal¬ vation, has commanded you to conform in your whole conduct to the following rule: " Therefore, all things whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, further commendation of true Chris¬ tianity, it will be of peculiar benefit to let your children, when grown up, see the behavior of sincere believers in the midst of their severest trials. If you are a Chris¬ tian yourself in spirit and in truth, it is most probable you will know persons of the same character. When they are in affliction or tribulation of any kind, carry your children to hear for themselves the meek, patient sufferers blessing God for all their afflictions : not faint- ing nor discouraged, but quietly enduring chastisement. Their discourse, their very countenance will edify. This will irresistibly convince them of the value and sub¬ stance of the knowledge of Christ, and open their eyes to see that it is as much to be desired for present sup¬ port and consolation in a trying hour, as to secure sal¬ vation in the eternal world. Then assure them that true faith in Jesus, showing itself in unfeigned subjection to his Gospel, leads all to the same blessed acquaintance with God, and cheerful submission to his holy will. And if an opportunity could be found of bringing your son or daughter to the bed-side of a departing saint, it will infinitely exceed the force of all instruction, to let them see with their own eyes, and hear with their own ears, the faithful servant of God speaking good of his name, declaring how true the Lord his strength is, pro¬ claiming the peace of his own mind under the pains of INSTRUCTING CHILDREN. 301 approaching dissolution, whilst he is looking for the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Persons of rank, or of easy fortune; those also of the ministerial, and various other professions, with mer¬ chants, and tradesmen of wealth, have opportunity of using these and many other methods of the same kind with their dear children before they arrive at man’s estate. And if in their own hearts they infinitely prefer the favor of God before the praise of men, the happi¬ ness of eternity before the poor satisfaction of time— if they know there is no other w r ay of salvation for their offspring than that which is marked out by the Spirit of God in his word, then such attention to the everlast¬ ing welfare of their children will not be irksome but delightful. Their reward, generally speaking, will be " with them” in their labors of love, and their hearts gladdened by seeing considerable impressions made upon their children. But if instead of this attention, custom and fashion are taken for the rule and measure of what you, O pa¬ rents, will account a sufficient care of your children’s education: if hours upon hours, from day to day, are consumed in amusements and mere sensual gratifica¬ tion, hurtful to yourselves and others, whilst your chil¬ dren hear from you no wholesome lectures, and see in you no prevailing concern for the honor of God and the salvation of their souls, your conduct is dreadful in¬ deed : your regard to Scripture is worthless, whatever you profess; and your ignorance of the excellency of God, and the only way of true happiness as gross as that of an Indian savage. Examine, therefore, and prove your Christian faith by your works. The care you take for the salvation of your offspring or your neglect of them, is the surest test of what you esteem your su preme good,—God or the world. 302 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. I shall only add farther on this head of the duty of Christian parents towards their children, that it is ab¬ solutely necessary that the pains to instruct should be accompanied by constant prayer to God in their behalf. Without his grace their best concerted efforts will he ineffectual, and all their counsels vain; for it is God who giveth the increase. You may take as much pains as it is possible to make your offspring Christians alto¬ gether; but still those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ, are born not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Therefore you are the more earnestly, humbly, and incessantly to pray unto God to implant early in them his grace, and give power and success to your attempts; that as by them the in¬ habitants of the world are increased, an addition also may be made by their names to the church of the living God and the inhabitants of heaven. THE DUTY OF CHILDREN. 303 CHAPTER XXIX. REE.ITIV*E DUTIES, - continued. OF CHILDREN, SERVANTS, AND MASTERS. * H aving considered the domestic duties of husbands and wives to each other, and of parents towards their children; it remains now that we complete those which concern a family, by stating such as relate to children, to servants, and to masters. The duty of children towards their parents is, 1. To honor them by respectful language ; by ab¬ staining from every thing that may reasonably give them the least offence or disquiet. All young people who receive the Scripture as the rule of their behavior will esteem it their duty to be exact and conscientious in this respect: because in the Scripture God requires children to honor their father and mother, promising his blessing to all who do so. This homage is expressly said to be " well-pleasing unto the Lord.” Col. 3 : 20. The crime of disobedience to parents is marked as the just object of the curse and judgments of God: for vou read that immediately after the prohibition of idol- \try, a sin levelled directly against the glory of God nimself, and after appointing all Israel to pronounce the idolater accursedthe very next offence, which at the same time is held forth as the object of universal execration, is the neglect of paying a dutiful regard to parents: ” Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or mother, and all the people shall say Amen.” Dent. 27 : 16. And in case any child was "stubborn and re¬ bellious,” refusing to obey the voice of his father, or of 304 COMPLETE DUTV OF MAN. his mother, after correction; it was the special appoint¬ ment of the Most High God, that his father and his mother should ” lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place ; and they were to say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice ; he is a glutton and a drunkard And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you ; and all Israel shall hear and fear.” Deut. 21: 18-21 What strong conceptions of the great guilt of dis¬ obedience to parents, must this ordinance raise in the minds of all who regard the word of Godl For though this civil and political law is not now in force against rebellious children, it remains still a sufficient proof of the detestation with which God regards the disobedi¬ ence of children towards their parents. 2. It -is the duty of children to conceal and extenuate the imperfections of their parents, so far as truth and justice will admit. This is but a small return for the great benefits which they have received ; and if, instead of thus acting tenderly, they join in reproaching their parents, in exposing voluntarily either their sins or their indiscretions, they are very criminal in the sight of God. It was the sin of publishing and ridiculing, instead of covering- his father’s shame, which brought down a signal judgment upon Ham, the son of the righ¬ teous Noah. 3. It is the duty of children to requite their parents, as far as lies in their power, for all the comforts and benefits by their means bestowed upon them. Ingrati tude is the only sin which never found one single advo¬ cate: yet of all ingratitude, the negligence of children in supporting and comforting their parents, is by far the most black and abominable that can be practised by man towards man. For what care and expense, what THE DUTY OF CHILDREN. 305 solicimde and labor for the welfare of their offspring are not parents usually wont cheerfully to bear 1 Now when, in the course of God’s providence, parents stand in need of some returns of the same tender disposition towards themselves—when the infirmities of age, or the burden of affliction come upon them, what child, that is not without feeling, as well as without any tincture of Christianity, but must rejoice to be as helpful to them, now going out of the world, as his parents were to himself when he first came into it 1 This exercise of gratitude is marked in Scripture as the bounden duty of children towards their parents, and a neglect of it is considered not only as a renunciation of the Gospel, whatever zealous professions of love for it may be pre¬ tended ; but as a crime, which even pagans, void of the light and advantage of God’s word, would many of them abhor. " If any provide not for his own,” (his own near relations, and especially his own aged parents,) "he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Tim. 5 : 8. The exact proportion, indeed, which a child ought to set apart for the discharge of this duty to his parents, must be various according to the condition of life. But if it be inadequate to the income of the child, God will regard it as a vile and despicable offering. And this rule may always be observed, that if a child can be la¬ vish in the pursuit of pleasure, and live in expensive splendor, whilst he is satisfied with assigning to his parents a strait and bare subsistence, a sense of duty is certainly not felt; and what is given, is given rather from a fear of scandal, or from dread of remorse, than from love to God, or affection to his own parents. 4. The last duty I shall mention due from children to their parents is obedience; obedience in all cases which lie within the proper scope and influence of the authority of parents; where their commands do not 306 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. lead their children to oppose what God has required, to do violence in matters of conscience to their own minds, or to transgress the laws of their country. These are the duties which children are oound, from their relation to their parents, to observe. And those children who obey the Scripture will be found dutiful and affectionate, and very observant of these things Indeed, those parents who are neglected or despised by their children, may generally impute it to themselves. It is the effect and punishment of their own sin. They fostered, when they should have corrected wicked tem¬ pers, in their children’s earliest years; they shamefully sacrificed parental authority to a froward mind; and ab¬ jectly submitted to be governed by those over whom they were appointed governors, in the order of nature, and by the command of God. Or where this most fool¬ ish and cruel fondness has not been the cause of unduti¬ fulness to parents, a profane education, in ignorance of Christian principles, often has ; for this encourages a proud, independent spirit, which, as it fears not God, will not pay reverence to man, neither feeling obliga¬ tion nor bearing restraint. Excepting, therefore, a few cases, Christian parents, through the grace of God pros¬ pering their endeavors, will reap as they have sown; and enjoy, even before they leave this world, the fruit of those cares and pains with which they have studied to promote the salvation of their children, and will often die in the pleasing expectation of meeting them in endless glory. There is still another domestic relation, namely that which subsists between masters and servants. And the believer in Jesus is furnished with ample directions and cogent motives to discharge his duty in either station with comfort to himself and those around him. Servants, who receive the word of God, must in the THE DUTY OF SERVANTS. 307 first place be faithful and honest , free themselves from deceit, and incapable of suffering their masters to be injured in their sight. This has been observed in a pre¬ ceding chapter, as part of their character as Christians. Besides this, they must obey their masters without that surly, sullen behavior which renders their persons offen¬ sive and their services disagreeable. It is ever a sure proof of prevailing pride, when subjection, though ever so reasonable, is galling. They must obey their mas¬ ters in all things, provided that nothing is required op¬ pressive or dishonest. A surly spirit in servants chiefly shows itself in families where the lucre of the place is comparatively small, and the servant is wanted not for show or luxury of living, but for usefulness and labor. It is in these instances therefore, especially, that the be¬ neficial influence of Christian doctrine is to manifest itself in the behavior of servants. Christian servants will remember that their duty towards their master or mistress is not to be measured by the splendor of the family or the gains of the place, but by the order'of God, who requires them " with good will to do service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” Ephes. 6 : 7, and Col. 3 : 22. 2. It is the duty of servants patiently to bear reproof. The pride of human nature rises with eagerness in self¬ vindication, and is backward to own itself deserving of any blame. From this spirit servants are ever apt to impute the admonitions they receive to ill-nature or peevishness in their superiors ) and if they bear with¬ out a visible contempt what is said, they look upon themselves at liberty to pay no more regard to it than is necessary to keep their place if it be a profitable one. But no servant who receives the word of God can act in this unreasonable manner. It is expressly required of them " to adorn the Gospel of God our Savior in all things j” but if they show themselves deaf to just 308 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. admonition, and hardened against reasonable remon strances, they utterly disgrace their holy profession, and make their religious pretences contemptible. Be sides, if they are not ready to acknowledge their faults, and will not patiently bear to be reproved for them, they must be void of humility, without which no man can possibly belong to Christ; since this is the direc¬ tion particularly given to them in Scripture, " to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again.” Titus, 2:9. And as servants who regard their Christian duty must be faithful and just to their masters, must obey them with cheerfulness, receive their reproofs with meek¬ ness, and be careful to amend what is faulty; so must masters who are in subjection to Christ conscientiously perform all parts of their duty towards their servants. 1. With respect to the justice, the mildness, the gentleness, and real good-will which masters must ex¬ ercise towards their servants, these tempers were men¬ tioned before as necessary to every Christian. I shall speak now, therefore, only of those duties which are peculiar to those who preside in families. The first of which is, to be careful of the behavior of their servants. The head of every family is obliged to watch over those who are subject to his authority. We blame magistrates when they suffer irreligion and dissoluteness of man¬ ners among the people. And can masters of families be guiltless who connive at domestic irregularities, when with far less difficulty they might govern their little commonwealth! They ought, therefore, to look upon their servants, not as they do upon their cattle, merely considering the labor and service they can do, but a? fellow-creatures capable of the knowledge of God, and as candidates equally with themselves for his eternal kingdom. In this view it is their duty, and a part of THE DUTY OF SERVANTS. 309 Christian benevolence, to suffer no immorality, nor any open violation of God’s holy law in them—to oblige their servants to a regular attendance on the public worship of God on the Lord’s day, and to insist on the:r not profaning it—to put books into their hands, written to awaken the conscience, and bring them to the know¬ ledge of Christ—and, if the nature of business does not in fact render it impracticable, to call the members of the household to join in the daily worship of God, who is the fountain of all family mercies and blessings. 2. It is the duty of those who preside in a family, to set a Christian example to servants ; to be constant in wor¬ shipping God on his own day at church, and religious¬ ly to abstain in it from both business and diversion—to convince them that you act honestly, as in the sight of God, in all your dealings—to show them that you are innocent of those common yet presumptuous sins, of speaking loosely, swearing profanely, and living without any secret worship of God. By this example, as far as means alone can be effectual, you will restrain from much evil, and prove a powerful monitor to stir up ignorant sinful creatures to seek after God; at least you will be pure from their blood if they obstinately persist in their sin. 3. The last duty of masters which I shall mention, is to encourage and reward their servants for well-doing. Kind expressions quicken ingenuous minds to diligence and attention; encouragement, therefore, ought to be given on this principle. Further, when a servant has laid out his whole time and strength in his master’s ser¬ vice, and made it his study to consult his interest j the master is bound, by the ties of justice and gratitude, where there is a sufficient fortune, to remember such a faithful servant in the decline of life. And the cases of sickness, or accidental loss of limbs in service, which disable from labor, and are sometimes even more cala- 310 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. mitous than the infirmities of old age, call for equal compassion. A Christian master will consider how much others have lost by the dishonesty of those about them ; how much trouble, anxiety and vexation they have suf¬ fered, whilst he has committed, with composure and confidence, his affairs into the hands of a good and faith¬ ful servant, and has received no damage;—how much of his comfort in this life has been owing to this ma¬ terial circumstance. Where then would be his Chris¬ tian love, his generosity, or his humanity, if he did not take pleasure in showing kindness in return 1 Thus having pointed out the several duties of a Chris¬ tian in his domestic relations, I will conclude the sub¬ ject with a faithful picture of the good order of a family, in which each member conscientiously discharges the duty of his station, as every real Christian will desire and strive to do. Look at those who preside in it! they love, and are cordially beloved by each other; they both, with true benevolence, watch over their children, ambitious to educate them for immortality; they therefore discoun¬ tenance every thing wrong and corrupt, at its first ap¬ pearance. Both, with impartial affection for their whole offspring, gladly give them every innocent gratification, every liberty and joy, which innocence and safety will permit. Look upon their children ! what respect, what affiance toward their parents, what pleasure in their company, what cheerful obedience to their authority! Look upon the servants! faithful to their office, and prudent in their deportment, they are treated with re¬ spect. Whilst parents, children and servants meet to¬ gether each day with one heart to magnify the name of God, and to confess that it is he who maketh them that dwell together in one house to be thus united and harmonious. Whilst all are looking forward according INTEMPERANCE. 3 LI w) the strength of their faith, to the place which Jesus is gone before to prepare for them, where, without and further trials or any remainder of corruption, they shall dwell together in love and in sinless perfection. The age in which we live is not void of some such families; and it is only the neglect of the Bible, and the low notions of modern Christianity, which make them so scarce, and prevent innumerable individuals from be¬ coming subject to the power and grace of Jesus Christ, and enjoying that peace in him which passeth all un¬ derstanding. CHAPTER XXX. OF SFFF-DFJI'I.l X, INTEMPERANCE. False teachers court the favor of men by preaching to them flattering doctrines; but Jesus, the true witness, abhors such base compliance with our corrupt passions. He places therefore in the very front, as it were, of his camp, before the eyes of every one assaying to enter into his service, this searching test of courage and fideli¬ ty : " Except a man deny himself ‘ and take up his cross daily, and follow me, he cannot be my disciple.” No doubt then can be made, whether self-denial is the duty of a real Christian. But what the ground of this grace is, and what are the important particulars in which it is exercised, are points of very useful and necessary consideration. The more so, because superstition has 312 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. long done much to make this doctrine contemptible, and enthusiasm is ever ready to place self-denial in things absurd or frivolous, whilst the substantial mat¬ ters, about which in reality it is concerned, are little regarded. Each of these points, therefore, I purpose to discuss. Thus every duty respecting himself, which the Christian is obliged and enabled to discharge, may be sufficiently explained. >. The origin of self-denial is to be traced to the cor¬ ruption of our nature by the fall of Adam. If there were no innate propensity in all his offspring to evil, we might, then, indeed have been warned not to debase our dignity by complying with iniquity; but supposing that we possessed an untainted purity of nature, so far would the abstaining from sin be from deserving the name of self-denial, that it would be the highest self¬ gratification. In this case a total opposition to trans¬ gression of every kind would be perfectly undisturbed by any thing within of a contrary tendency. The na¬ tive bent of the soul would then incline it with all its power, and with the highest relish, to perform duty in its full extent. This we necessarily conceive to be the state with those angels who are sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation, and who con¬ sequently must be witnesses of what passes in our world. For to connect the idea of self-denial with their abstaining from the pollutions of which they are spectators, would be to destroy the very perfection of their state. But the present condition of man is directly opposite to that of superior beings who never fell from God. A corrupt bias prevails in his heart, which instead of ap¬ pearing to him detestable, as it ought, is loved and che¬ rished ; so loved, that to be deaf to its tender pleadings for indulgence, and to sacrifice it in obedience to God, is compared by him who knew what was in man, to cut INTEMPERANCE 313 ting off a right hand and plucking out a right eye. For though happiness is in fact inseparable from an uniform subjection to the truth of God, yet our corruptions re¬ present these as things distinct, and even incompatible. Hence men naturally fight against the prohibition of God for their favorite selfish enjoyments, as subjects for their native rights against a tyrant: nor can they ever submit to it without doing violence to their own de praved appetites. This being our natural state, the Lord Jesus Christ assures us in the most unreserved manner, that, if we ever become partakers of his great salvation, we must not only oppose the prevalent wickedness of the world around us, but those very inclinations too which are interwoven with our present frame, and therefore may properly be called a part of ourselves. Having thus briefly observed what is the origin of self-denial, I proceed to point out the particulars in which this grace is to be exercised. Now as our na¬ tural dispositions make that an instance to some of great self-denial, which is scarcely any to others; as there are cases also, where decency, reputation and worldly interest create and maintain a kind of self-de¬ nial; and other instances, in which the power of Chris¬ tian godliness only is sufficient; I shall, therefore, be¬ gin with such instances of it as, generally speaking, are most easy to practise, and then ascend to those in which the sincerity and eminence of Christian self-de¬ nial shines forth, and most redounds to the honor of God. First then, Temperance with respect to our food, is not to he practised without self-denial. Few, indeed, find much difficulty in abstaining so far from this bodily in¬ dulgence as to escape the censure of gluttony or epi¬ curism ; yet to be so abstemious with regard to the pleasures of the table as not to infringe upon the grace of Christian temperance, calls for some mortification in 14. Dutv of Mau. 314 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN most people, and in many for a great deal. Without practising this we shall be often guilty of being "over¬ charged with surfeiting,” so far at least that our desire after eternal blessings and our delight in them shall be greatly abated, if not extinguished for a time. With a reputation for temperance, we may indulge at our table till indolence takes full possession of us, till neither body nor mind are disposed for any rational, much less any spiritual employment. To the want of self-denial, in respect to this low appetite, is owing that strong un¬ easiness and vexation often discovered, though more frequently concealed, when the gratification of the pa¬ late in the parlor is disappointed by ignorance or ne¬ glect in the kitchen; to this are owing the many sen¬ sual remarks made in conversation, upon what deserves no more notice than the husks the swine devour. These things, so frequently occurring, are sufficient proofs that there is need of self-denial even with respect to our food. Indeed, he that receives any other pleasures than what health and hunger will make the common provisions of his table afford, has already begun to yield to intemperance, and is a transgressor of his Christian duty. He is shamefully giving encouragement to an appetite which must exceedingly sensualize his soul, enthral it to bodily gratification, and of consequence render it averse to suffering in any degree for the sake of truth and conscience. So that those who allow them¬ selves to eat immoderately, and permit their thoughts to dwell with delight on the luxury of the palate, are so far from taking heed, as Christians are required, to " make no provision for the flesh,” that they are evi¬ dently pampering it: so far from being temperate, as is absolutely necessary for all who run the race Christ has set before us, that they remain slaves to sensuality None are capable of relishing, much less of making a progress in any thing so spiritual and divine as chris- INTEMPERANCE. 315 tianity, till, in the language of holy writ, they "put a knife to the throat” when dainties are set before them: that is, strike at the root of that carnal gratification which arises merely from the pleasure of feasting. A second instance of self-denial included under the head of temperance is, the strictly avoiding any degree of excess in drinking. It is necessary to speak distinctly on this subject, because, to the reproach of our species, self-indulgence in this respect is by many placed in the number only of venial infirmities, and amongst the slight misdemeanors, for which other good qualities will amply atone. To prove, therefore, the absolute necessity of self-de¬ nial, with respect to this sin, consider what provocation it bears ! It is a waste of that plenty which God design¬ ed to supply the wants of mankind. Now what can you conceive more contrary to reason, to humanity, and to the Providence of our common Father, than that one man should be inflaming his body with pernicious draughts even to excess, whilst another wants the very necessaries of life 1 that one should be swallowing down his poisonous cups in riot, the expense of which, if pro¬ perly applied, would support the languishing, and revive the health of those who are fainting for the want of it 1 Suppose you had yourself several children settled in some distant province, some of them prosperous, and others, through unavoidable misfortune, in a destitute condi¬ tion 5 suppose the former were void of all feeling, giv¬ ing themselves up to rioting and excess, refusing to re¬ trench in the least degree in order to relieve their neces¬ sitous brethren, what mingled grief and indignation would the report of this raise in your breast! Yet this is the very case in the eye of our common Father^ whenever the man, who has riches, consumes upon the extravagant gratification of his base appetites what 316 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. might have been applied to the relief of the poor and needy. Even allowing the intemperate man to have the means, and, in the language of the world, liberty to live as he pleases, still his conduct is chargeable with inhu¬ manity and cruelty to those who are in want before his eyes; or who are at least so near him, that if he was not wilfully deaf or blind, he must hear their groans and see their distress. But when the man who indulges in intemperance and drunkenness is poor, or one whose business or income is but just enough, with frugality, to support himself and his family, his guilt is still more aggravated. For then, whilst he is gratifying himself, and rejoicing in his cups, he is breaking through the tenderest ties of nature. He is stripping his children of that which is necessary to defend them from the cold : he is snatching the bread from the mouth of his little ones, ready to famish for want of food; and making his wife suffer to extremity -for his sensuality. Therefore, though his besotted com¬ panions may extol him for his honesty and good-nature, and some be so stupid as to call him no man’s enemy but his own; he is, in the eye of truth and of God, a monster of cruelty and villany. The Father of us all sees no one of his creatures more horridly rebelling against his benevolent laws, or more injurious to those who are miserable enough to be in close connection with him, than the drunkard. Further, we owe much thankfulness to God for our reason. By this we become capable of knowing him in his word and works here, and of enjoying him for ever hereafter. We are happy in ourselves, and useful to others, just in proportion as our reason is improved, by the due exercise and cultivation of it, through the know¬ ledge of Scripture and the grace of God. We may therefore safely say, that one of the sorest evils which can befal us in this world, is the loss of our reason INTEMPERANCE. 317 What guilt then must be chargeable on every drunkard, who presumptuously, only for the poor pleasures of gratifying the lowest appetite of his nature, suspends the use and exercise of his reason, who reduces himself to such a state that he knows neither what he does nor what he says. And as we are commanded to be always on our guard in our discourse, and warned of the ac¬ count we must give of it to God, what can be a more audacious offence than for a man to intoxicate himself till his ” mouth poureth out foolishness;” till there is nothing so filthy or so blasphemous he will not utter. Besides, it is our duty to mortify all our depraved ap petites , and to bring them into subjection to the law of God. What a total violation of this comprehensive ob¬ ligation is it, to strengthen, by intemperate drinking, every evil propensity, and inflame it to the utmost! Yet this is the certain effect of this sin. It provokes to anger, passion and quarrelling; it begets insolence and increases pride; it not only often separates between the greatest friends, but hurries them into duels and trans¬ ports of bloody revenge upon each other. Licentious passions it also inflames beyond measure, and gives them unbridled rage. Now, so shameful a violence against reason, so pro¬ voking an abuse of plenty, so daring an act of rebellion against God, must, without repentance, certainly ex¬ clude every one guilty of it from any share in God’s favor, as it demonstrates him to be void of any degree of his grace. Accordingly we are taught, in different yet most alarming ways, the insupportable doom of drunkards, and of those who inflame themselves with wine. Drunkards are enumerated in the black catalogue of transgressors, who, as the apostle solemnly declares to the Corinthians, " cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor. 6 : 10. Most emphatically is described the dreadful end of this self-indulgence by our Savior: 318 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. " But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his por¬ tion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 24 : 48-51. Thus not only the train of present evils which intem¬ perance draws after it, but the wages of this shameful iniquity in the eternal world, are revealed in Scripture, to alarm the conscience, and give us full conviction of the sinfulness of this common sin: so that either we must take heed and beware of it, or give up all reason¬ able hope of salvation and the favor of God. The thought of losing the favor of God is worse than death to every one who truly believes the Scripture; every Christian therefore, however he may naturally incline to the use of intoxicating drinks, or be tempted to it by company, or allured to it by a hope of recom¬ mending himself to his worldly advantage, will guard against all these temptations, and persevere in an invio¬ lable regard to that sobriety and abstinence upon which his safety so much depends. IMPURITY. 319 CHAPTER XXXI. SEJLF-DEJVI&Lt—con Untied, IMPURITY. Man, in his fallen state, is so constituted that there is not one natural passion, however useful and excel¬ lent it may be when properly regulated, which does not become an occasion of sin, and require to be re¬ sisted and mortified. We have already seen how much this is the case with respect to the appetite for food and drink; the natural love of the sexes is another ex¬ ample of the same kind. This impulse, though neces¬ sary for the propagation of mankind, and useful in wedlock to several excellent ends, will prove in single persons, unless constantly restrained, a seducer of the soul into much sin, and the cause of the most extensive evil. At its instigation, what time, what talents, what influence are daily prostituted to the shameful business of inveigling and debauching young women! Men of the finest sense and best education, for the poor perish¬ ing gratification of an hour, will be guilty of. what is shocking to every mind that retains the least fear of God, or compassion for its fellow-creatures: guilty of bringing a heedless virgin to indelible shame, her parents to grief as torturing as it is undeserved and hopeless ; guilty of offering the ruined individual such an injury, as if done to a sister, a daughter, or any near relation of their own, they would revenge with the point of the sword. Instigated by lust, they will be ac¬ cessary even in opening the way to adultery and all its train of mischiefs; for those seldom prove chaste 320 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. after wedlock, who before it have fallen a prey to lewd¬ ness : accessary, as far as lies in their power, in filling the world with a class of individuals, at once its plague and scourge ; creatures abandoned to every detestable practice, corrupters of youth, pushing them headlong into desperate courses, as the price of their infectious embraces. These consequences, in a greater or less degree, cer¬ tainly follow the indulgence of this vice. But bad as these consequences are, they are but a part of the evil produced. No pen is able fully to unfold what the soul suffers from this sin. Where any sense of modesty or of duty prevails, it is instantly, on the first commission, punished with the secret stings and horrors of a guilty mind. By frequent repetition of the crime, all sense of religion is extinguished, and all intercourse with God ceases. Associations with those who are hardened in lewdness are sought after as a refuge from conscience: till at length the secret offender against chastity con¬ tracts a brow of brass, and becomes an infamous plead¬ er for the lust of concupiscence ; till, in one word, his conscience is seared, the captive hugs his chains, and glories in his shame. Add to this catalogue of dreadful evils the bloody quarrels amongst the lewd, and the murders which they are led -to commit; murder of children yet unborn, loading the mind with guilt, and embittering life be¬ yond conception; murder often of the new-born babe, which the law avenges by the infamous death of its san¬ guinary parent. Instead, therefore, of saying (as liber¬ tines impudently speak) where is the harm of taking a little pleasure out of the way ; you will perceive that thieves and robbers are harmless and honorable com¬ pared with the lewd. Injuries from these open foes have very soon an end, in most instances are borne with ease, and may be redressed: they do not strike at V IMPURITY. 321 our immortal interest. But the seducer of a female destroys her reputation, tears her away from her family and friends, banishes her from the society of virtuous women, and entangles her, in the bloom of her years, with a snare which will soon reduce her to the most ah ject of all conditions, so that the very mention, or even remembrance of her name, shall afresh excite grief in her family and relations—grief unassuaged by the least ray of hope in her death or eternal state. Upon this fair representation of the case, ask any young woman into whose hands she had better fall, into those of the seducer, or of the robber 1 " Into their hands,” she would say, ” who will only take my property, and fill me with momentary terrors; not into the libertine’s, who will plunge me into infamy, lingering wretched¬ ness, abandoned vice and eternal misery.” Such pests to society are men of gallantry and pleasure! How astonishing, that ruin of the innocent and unsuspecting, dishonor of families, heart-breaking injuries done to worthy aged parents, with a variety of crimes, the cer¬ tain effects of uncontrolled passion, should be lightly passed over as nothing vile, under the magic name of love and gallantry! When will a public spirit and generous concern to prevent such heavy woes excite men to brand every word spoken in favor of unchastity, as they do what is spoken to lessen our abhorrence of perjury and assassination 1 When will men have under¬ standing to perceive that the affection between the sexes, regulated by the law of God, like a river flowing in its proper channel, blesses, wherever it flows; but, bursting those sacred banks, becomes an inundation of miseries; and that he never more tenderly consulted the good of his rational creatures than in absolutely forbidding every degree of impurity. There is, indeed, little reason to hope that young men will present to themselves such a view as is here 14 * 322 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. given of the evil of this sin; but it is the inestimable benefit of Scripture that it is done there already in the most striking manner, and by an authority that must not be trifled with. The rise, the progress, and fatal end of lewdness is there contrasted with all the various allurements that lead to it. There the lips of the harlot are painted " dropping sweets like the honey-comb, and her mouth smoother than oilbut instantly, to quench the least rising of unlawful desire, her end, we are taught of God, is ' f bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two- edged sword.” Prov. 5 : 3, 4. The simple young man she invites with " much fair speech, to take his fill of love till the morningbut immediately the treacherous offer is laid bare, and under the thin veil of a fleeting plea¬ sure, an injured body with an upbraiding conscience is discovered, pouring out that sad confession, " How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!” Still further, lest a brutish love of pleasure should tempt the young to imagine they might easily make a retreat after yielding a little to this sin, or that it is .not a sin of such high offence, God has most emphatically expressed both its infatuating power, and the doom of those who live in subjection to it. ” He,” that is, the lewd young man, " goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks ;”—that is, utterly stupid and incorrigible, " till a dart striketh through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.” Prov. 7 : 22, 23. ” Why wilt thou embrace the bosom of a stranger 1 for the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction : and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” Prov. 5 : 20-23. To finish the testimony of God’s abhorrence of the IMPURITY. I 323 sin of fornication published in the Old Testament, let it be observed, that it was made a capital offence by the sentence of his own law ; and the most abominable of vices is itself included in the same prohibition with that of fornication ; designing, I apprehend, to teach us to what horrid lengths lewdness, indulged, will lead, and to create a dread of that sin, which is forbidden togeth¬ er with one so infamous 3 " There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a Sodomite of the sons of Israel.” Deut. 23 : 17. I have been full in producing the law of God in old time against the sin of fornication, in order to silence the ignorance of some who are foolish enough to wax bold in sin, vaunting that there is only a passage or two in the New Testament positive in condemning their darling crimes. Indeed were it so, this would be suffi¬ cient ; for a single declaration from God of his will claims from us no less regard and obedience, than if it was often repeated. But instead of a passage or two only in the New Testament, which absolutely condemns fornication, it is not possible to name a sin (that of con¬ tempt of Christ excepted) which is so generally men¬ tioned in Scripture, or so constantly marked as the object of God’s wrath. Not only our Redeemer and Judge ranks this with sins of the most malignant kind, and as a peculiar provocation of divine wrath, (Matt. 15 : 19 ; Mark, 7 : 21,) but his great apostle scarcely writes a single epistle without some alarming prohibition against it. In one place St. Paul beautifully opposes marriage to the terrible condition of the unchaste : " Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremon¬ gers and adulterers God will judge.” Heb. 13 : 4. In an¬ other, he not only affirms that ” adultery, fornication, lasciviousness, and uncleanUfess, are the works of the flesh,” the fruit of our corrupted nature: but, with re¬ markable vehemence, he presses us to lay it to heart, 324 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. that each of these sins is absolutely inconsistent with a state of salvation : " Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' 1 ' 1 Gal. 5 : 21. Such is the light and power accompanying the Gospel, wherever duly received, that, in the judgment of the apostle, it should put an end to the very being of this enormity within the pale of the Christian church: " For¬ nication and all uncleanness—let it not once be named amongst you, as becometh saints ;—for this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephes. 5:3, 5. And lest the plausible ways of talking in defence of lewdness, in which men, debauched them¬ selves, are often very expert, should stagger any weak believer, and seduce him to imagine fornication may be practised with impunity, this awful caution is given : " Let no man deceive you with vain words : for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the chil¬ dren of disobedience. Be ye not therefore partakers with them.” Ephes. 5 : 6, 7. The same doctrine is as strongly inculcated upon the Christians at Colosse, and those at Thessalonica: " This is the will of God, even your sanc¬ tification ; that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor ; not in the lust of concu¬ piscence, as the Gentiles which know not God ; for God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness. He, therefore, that despiseth (what is said of the evil and danger of fornication, and of the absolute necessity of purity) despiseth not man, but God.” St. John, taught by inspiration of God, exposes no less clearly the greatness of the sin of fornication; for those who practise it, he declares, are shut out of the gates of the heavenly city. Rev. 22 : 15. " Whore¬ mongers ” have their part assigned them "in the lake IMPURITY. 325 which burnetii with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8. But of all the Scriptures written on purpose to in spire a horror of fornication, those animated interro¬ gations to the believers at Corinth are perhaps most striking: " Know ye not that your bodies are the mem¬ bers of Christ 1” Do you not profess to belong to him, and that he is your life-giving head! "Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the mem¬ bers of an harlot! God forbid.” Would it not be mon¬ strous to make such a vile use of them as to alienate them from his service ; and, rending them off, as it were from him, to turn them into the members of a lewd wo¬ man by committing whoredom with her! "What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own!” 1 Cor. 6 : 19. Appropriated to God, you have no right to abuse your bodies by grati¬ fying a brutal desire of pleasure. This is the worst kind of sacrilege: this is the most dreadful of all pro¬ fanations, the turning what is consecrated a temple for the living God into an habitation for the spirit of uncleanness. Sum up now what has been offered in proof of the great sinfulness of fornication. Consider the present evils so evidently connected with it that no infidel can deny them : consider the repeated declarations of God’s displeasure against this sin, from his first making it a capital offence under the old law, to his denouncing against it everlasting punishment again and again in the last revelation of his will. Consider that this his un¬ changeable purpose is so openly, so strongly proclaim¬ ed, that either we have nothing to fear from any sin we can possibly commit, or fornication must be confessed to he a damnable one. Weigh these things, and you must acknowledge how much it is the duty of every 326 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Christian, as he loves God, as he reverences his word, nay, as he regards his own salvation, to deny himself in every propensity he feels to commit fornication, and to flee from it as he would from the face of a serpent. Know, therefore, that you must either turn apostate from the Christian faith, renouncing every hope of find ing mercy from God ; or you must " mortify your mem¬ bers which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness;” and be fully persuaded that this sin alone, supposing it were possible to subsist with the discharge of Christian duty in other respects, (which it cannot,) would drown the soul in perdition. This full persuasion of the evil and sinfulness of fornication is of great use to secure you, in the early and most important season of life, from what is, in many cases, the first instance of premeditated rebellion against God; the first means of riveting on the sinner that chain which drags down its thousands and ten thousands to the prison of hell! Further; whenever any end is proposed, or duty en¬ joined, the means necessary to maintain the one, and to perform the other, are tacitly included in the general precept; and whatever in itself renders the practice of the duty very precarious, is virtually forbidden, where it can be avoided. Now from this most evident princi¬ ple, a Christian is obliged to carry his self-denial much farther than a mere abstinence from the gross acts of fornication or uncleanness; for this may be done when there is no true chastity. A Christian must resolutely shun all representations to the eye, and every thing that by the medium of the senses can be offered to his mind, exciting impure desire, or defiling the imagination. Thus the chastity of Job is expressed by his making a covenant with his eyes, absolutely to check them from gazing on any inflaming object; and our Lord brands as the adultery of the heart, " the looking upon a wo¬ man to lust after her.” In short, the same divine an- IMPURITY. 327 thority which condemns all gross lewdness, condemns every species and appearance of it also in word or thought. Therefore all light, wanton and obscene ways of talking, however fashionable, are impure in such a degree as every Christian must detest. And as it is the temper of the heart which stamps the real cha¬ racter, no one can be said truly to mortify his sinful ap¬ petite who cherishes any unclean thoughts, has the least pleasure in them, or can suffer a lascivious idea to rest upon his mind, or a sound exciting it to play upon his ear. For were it a renewed mind, were it a filial fear of God, were it a sense of the evil of sin, which restrained him from the commission of open lewdness; then the same principle must equally restrain from all near approaches to it, and from every thing savoring of it. Indeed, where only a fear of shame, or of the temporal mischiefs which may follow lewdness prevails, there a superficial self-denial extending to gross acts only will be all the effect. On the contrary, where there is a real desire to be approved of God, and to walk worthy of his kingdom and glory, there purity in the most secret thoughts will be cultivated with all carefulness, and every person, jest or object injurious to it, will be conscientiously avoided. Here then behold a noble province for Christian self- denial opens! here the spiritual warfare, in which every believer in Jesus daily fights, becomes most visible— most visible in opposing all the licensed honorable ways, invented by the world, to gratify the lewdness of the heart. In the number of these licensed and honorable ways of cherishing defilement, are all wanton glances of the eye, that mirror of the mind; the singing soft and amorous songs; double entendres, mixed dancings, reading novels: and above all, the frequenting the play¬ house. For in this innocent amusement, as the world will have it called in defiance of our holy faith, of our 328 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. reason and of experience, whatever can corrupt the mind is set off to the greatest advantage. Is there a lewd allusion, or stroke of impure wit; the air, the voice of the actor labor to give it the highest emphasis; whilst the greater part of the audience loudly applaud the en¬ tertainment. Nay, if by chance some piece should gain admittance on the stage free from a filthy tincture; the house must still have their prurient humor gratified by an epilogue or a farce full of innuendoes, intimating that the happiness of the human race must stand or fall with those things " they know naturally and as brute beasts.”* Now to live in the world, and thus, in direct opposi tion to its favorite taste, to preserve true chastity of mind, is a fruit of faith in Christ, and a part of self-de nial indispensably required from all Christians. * If the reader should be tempted to censure this remark on the stage, the author is supported in it by some of the greatest writers in the nation, particularly by archbishop Tillotson, who was never deemed either a rigorous or an enthusiastic divine. And those who resent the absolute condemnation of this fashionable amusement, would do well to consider what this distinguished prelate says upon this subject. “ As the stage now is, plays are intolerable, and not fit to be per¬ mitted in any civilized, much less a Christian nation. They do most notoriously minister both to infidelity and vice. By their profane¬ ness they are apt to instil bad principles, and by their lewdness to dispose to lewd and dissolute practice, and therefore I do not see how any person pretending to sobriety and virtue, and especially to the pure and holy religion of our blessed Savior, can, without great guilt and open contradiction to his holy profession, be present at such lewd and immodest plays; much less frequent them, as too many do, who would yet take it very ill to be shut out of the com¬ munion of Christians, as they certainly would have been in the first ages of Christianity.”— Sermon on the Evil of Corrupt Communication. DESIRE OF WEALTH. 329 CHAPTER XXXII. S Use, tied. \ COVETOUSNESS—INORDINATE AFFECTION-THE LOVE OF PRAISE. It is a remarkable proof of the corruption of human nature, .that all the passions which are natural to the human race require to be restrained and mortified. If we look into the world, we do not find men in general so impressed by love to God, by delight in spiritual things, by ardent benevolence, as that attention and caution are required lest those virtues should be carried to excess, (if there could be excess in them,) and lest the business of this life should be neglected. As the bias lies on the other side, the danger is, lest religion should be neglected; lest the love of the world and the lusts of the flesh should be cherished. Religion, there¬ fore, supposes human nature to be corrupt. It is in fact nothing but a system of restraint upon man: it prevents his doing what he is strongly inclined to do, and requires him to do what else he would not think of performing. We have already seen how much self-de¬ nial is requisite with respect to intemperance and un¬ chastity j we now observe, that corrupt self must be denied in its propensity to covciousJiess. This propensity there is in us all; for though we may feel no inclination to be fraudulent, in order to in¬ crease our gain ; still are we naturally apt to desire wealth, and to place our happiness in amassing money. Commerce and custom perpetually cherish this corrupt principle; and the world sees no evil in being intent on getting as much as it is possible to gain with a fair cha- 330 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAX. racter. By this means, what at lirst setting out in trade was no more than an innocent desire of providing ho¬ nestly for ourselves and our family, soon grows into a very mischievous and wicked passion. This propensity to love money it is the duty of a Christian to resist in its first workings; for it is entirely opposite to the temper of mind required in a Christian, and it is declared by Scripture to be ruinous to the soul wherever it prevails It is opposite to the temper of mind required in a Christian; for he is called to seek after a better, that is, a heavenly country, and to stand always ready for an immediate separation from all things visible. But the propensity to covetousness, unless denied, will, on the contrary, utterly benumb all sense of futurity, suf¬ fering to think of nothing with frequency or earnest¬ ness but wealth and its present advantages. It will possess his mind with a strong delusion, that money is the chief good of man on earth; and utterly exclude all just apprehensions of the religion which cometh from God, whose characteristic is, that it overcometh all worldly lusts. Besides, the Gospel is revealed to fix us, through our knowledge of the grace of God, in a state of full resig¬ nation to his will; so that in want, or in affluence, we should be able to say, "We know how to be abased, and how to abound ; every where and in all things we are instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” But a covetous spirit can only conform itself to the will of God so long as his providence is favorable. If God give prosperity, then a man tinctured with covetousness may possibly find him¬ self inclined, in some degree, to serve and adore his Maker ; but should misfortune upon misfortune scourge him, he will be fretful, murmuring and inconsolable. The Gospel makes the truth and substance of religion DESIRE OF WEALTH. 331 to be a firm trust in God, and a delight in him as our chief happiness. But avarice says unto gold, "Thou art my confidence ; thou art the god whose presence brings with it the greatest blessing, and whose absence cS the greatest curse.” The Gospel is given on purpose to raise our desires with increasing fervor towards God, to fix our affections with immoveable steadfastness on things above, and to engage us in the constant pursuit of them with an ardor in some degree suited to their worth. The covetous person, by making wealth the ob¬ ject of his chief desire, has no warmth of affection left for God, nothing more than the husk of heartless duties; he forms no idea of the blessedness of being with God, in any other view than as a sort of refuge, when death comes, and riches can be no longer possessed. And to mention no more instances of the contrariety of a covetous spirit to the state of a real believer ; it hardens the heart towards our fellow-beings, and either from a fear of lessening our treasure, or a desire of in¬ creasing it, will esteem charity a low subordinate duty; and leave our neighbor, partaker of our own flesh, to struggle with sickness and with want, even to perish un¬ assisted. Directly opposite to this selfish one is the dis¬ position of a Christian: he is " ready to distribute, will¬ ing to communicate,” putting on bowels of mercy, and feeling love unfeigned. He remembers with joy, that it is the will of God that those who are rich should give plenteously, as stewards and not proprietors of their wealth : that by this means the great abundance of some may prove a supply to the want of others ; that those . who have much should have nothing over, and they that have nothing should feel no lack. In this view, the sin of covetousness as it respects God and man, is most evident; and by consequence the duty of self-denial, in resisting every motion we feel tending towards it in our breasts. 332 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. To enforce this self-denial, it is necessary to consider further the Scripture representation of covetousness as ruinous to the soul. And here it is remarkable that the covetousness a- gainst which we are so earnestly warned in God’s word, is not of the kind generally deemed scandalous, but such as may govern the heart of a man who is esteemed virtuous and excellent by the world. In the tenth Psalm, the covetous, whom the Lord is there said to abhor, are the very persons of whom the wicked speak well: which could never be the case, did their love of money make them either villanous in their practice, or miserably pe¬ nurious in their temper; for men of this stamp none commend. The same thing is observable in that solemn caution given by our Redeemer, " Take heed, and be¬ ware of covetousness;” by which it is evident that he meant a rooted persuasion that the comfort of life con¬ sists in abundance ; and desiring from such a persuasion, to be rich: this was the covetousness our Lord con¬ demns. And that his admonition might sink the deeper, he represents the workings of that avarice which he condemns, in a case which passes every day before our eyes. It is this : A man grows rich in his business, not through fraud or extortion, but by the blessing of God upon his own labor and skill. As is usual, he is highly delighted with his success; he exults in the prospect of being master, in a few years, of an independent fortune ! in the mean time he is determined to be frugal and diligent, till he . takes his final leave of business to enjoy all the sweets of ease and splendor. Now, where are the people, go¬ verned by the common maxims and principles of h..man nature, who see any thing to blame in this man’s senti¬ ment or conduct I who do not applaud and imitate it themselves 1 Yet this very man our Lord sets before our eyes as the picture of one engrossed by a covetous de- DESIRE OF WEALTH. 333 sire of the tilings of this world. This very man he re¬ presents as summoned in the midst of all his golden hopes to appear a guilty criminal at the bar of his Ma¬ ker. Lo! this is the man whom our Lord exposes as a miserable wretch, for all others to take warning by, and resist covetousness : " So,”—such a fool and such a sinner as this,—" is he that layeth up treasure for him¬ self,” that is, every earthly-minded man, who seeks af¬ ter wealth as if it were the foundation of happiness, " and is not rich towards God,”—rich in faith, hope and holiness. Luke, 12 : 21 . St. Paul, in perfect harmony with his Lord, forbids the desire of wealth as a criminal effect of avarice. ” Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be con¬ tent with such things as ye have : for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:5. And where, instead of this self-denied temper, a desire of in¬ creasing in wealth is cherished ; there snares, defile¬ ment and ruin are declared to be the certain conse¬ quences 5 for ” they that will ” (the original signifies the simple desire) ” be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of mo¬ ney is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced them¬ selves through with many sorrows.” 1 Tim. 6 : 9, 10 . Now, however easy and common it may seem to de¬ spise that sordid spirit of avarice which alone meets with contempt from the world; the accumulating of riches by every questionable method; and, for fear of expense, the refusing afterwards to make any use of them;—yet to resist the workings of covetousness, according to the Scripture definition of that depraved temper, must be confessed to be a most heroic instance of self-denial. For suppose men to be engaged in busi¬ ness, how strong are their natural fears of failing, and 324 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. their desire to prosper! how dependent must they be at first on those who employ them! Consider the con¬ stant language of the world in calling wealth a blessing and a reward; its custom of treating men with respect, and paying court to them, exactly in proportion to their moneyed worth. Weigh these things, and then say whether any thing can be more contrary to our natural selfishness than to renounce all love of money !—than to be quite satisfied with using constant industry and all our skill (which God commands us to do) in our trade or profession; and when that is done, to cast all our care upon him, cheerfully leaving it to his own most wise and gracious will in what degree we shall grow rich, or whether ever at all; assured that if we " dwell in the land and are doing good,” by an uniform subjection to God’s word, he will bring it to pass, that upon the whole our condition shall be appointed to us in richest mercy 1 What more difficult self-denial can be conceived, than to live in the temple of the god of riches, (as this world may too justly be called,) hearing high and low, priests and people, all paying their ado¬ ration to this mammon of unrighteousness, and yet remain uninfected by thirst for money 1 This can be obtained only by unintermitted discipline exercised over our own hearts, and by possession of the true riches in the knowledge of God and Christ. If it should be said, do you mean, then, to affirm that it is wrong for any man to rise to a state of great wealth! The Scripture, I answer, condemns only the desire of riches and the passion for them, as defiling and sinful. Therefore, if whilst your whole heart is given to God, he is pleased to prosper whatever you take in hand, and to give you an abundant increase, then your wealth is evidently as much the gift of God as if it came to you by legacy or inheritance. It is God’s own act and deed to call you up, who were con- DESIIiE OF WEALTH. 335 tent to sit down in a low place ; and to intrust you with more talents to improve for his glory. Now the difference between possessing wealth, thus put into your hands, and desiring to grow rich, is as great as that between a worthless ambitious intruder into a place of honor, seeking nothing but his own base in terest, and a man sought out for his worth, and invest ed with the same office for the public good. And those who can see no material, no necessary distinction in the two cases, are already blinded by the love of money. Nor let any one deem it useless or severe to exercise so strict a self-denial over the covetous propensity of his heart. Useless it is not, because we can never be secure from the dominion of sin, unless we guard against its first plausible insinuations to gain admis¬ sion. But if we were allowed to give place to wishes and desires of being richer than the providence of God, unsolicited by us, sees fit to make us; what a suspicion must this imply of his love for us, and how soon must it insensibly betray us into sinful schemes of gratifying our predominant desire ! Whereas, by commanding us to rest with a full confidence on his providential good¬ ness and fatherly affection, in a way of diligence and duty, all the avenues by which temptation would ap« proach to enslave us are shut up; and by resolutely re¬ fusing all correspondence with the enemy, we are safe from his treachery as well as from his open assaults. Neither is such strict self-denial, as forbids our enter¬ taining a wish or desire to have more than is sufficient for our present provision, severe and irksome to prac¬ tise. Because as sin is most powerful, and grace weak¬ est, when we are but just within the verge of salvation and the limits of what is lawful; so is the liberty and pleasure of the soul enlarged in proportion as it moves out of the neighborhood of sin: when, instead of turn¬ ing back to its paths as paths of pleasantness, we flee 336 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. from them as utterly detestable, as the ways of de struction and misery. Add to this, so far is the desire of riches from constituting the pleasure of them, that it really fills the mind with anxiety 3 so far from aug¬ menting the comfort of those who cherish it, that it turns every little loss or disappointment into a grievous burden, and creates vexation of spirit on a thousand occasions without cause or end. '4 i / Self must be denied also in the use and enjoyment even of things lawful. Intemperance, lewdness and covetousness are in every degree defiling and sinful: nothing can be urged in their defence by those who will reason justly, or who believe sincerely the word of God. But when we have subdued these corruptions of the heart, there still remains much exercise for self- denial with respect to the comforts and conveniences we possess. We must be careful to use them so as not to abuse them. We must keep our hearts disengaged from those temporal blessings which have no intrinsic worth, and which others, better than ourselves, often want. By this self-denial we shall receive all the bene¬ fit outward comforts were intended to confer on their possessors, without putting our peace in their power, in case the providence of God should deprive us of them. Now, considering how very uncertain all our outward comforts are, and how impossible to be abso¬ lutely secured to us for any time, to hold them as un¬ certain is certainly wise and necessary. Amongst these lawful things in which self must be denied, our nearest and dearest relatives are included. For though much love is due to them, and a tenderness of affection which will make our connection a source of true pleasure, still God alone must possess the su¬ preme place in our hearts. But unless we are much upon our guard, and. very jealous of ourselves, where DESIRE OF WEALTH. 337 we love as we ought, we shall soon love as we ought not. The affection which should be kept subordinate, will intrench upon what we owe to God, and render us by degrees cold towards him. What neither intemper¬ ance, nor lust, nor covetousness could effect, a passion¬ ate fondness for a husband, a wife or a child, will often produce. It will alienate Jhe affections from God, by substituting an idol in his place ; an idol which we shall more studiously seek to please, and be more fearful to offend than our God: an idol in whose precarious life all our happiness will centre, and whose death will prove a stroke too heavy to bear with Christian sub¬ mission. The danger of this inordinate affection is mentioned in Scripture, and self-denial in this instance is peculiar¬ ly enjoined. " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children,” that is, so far as they would interfere with a supreme affection for Christ, and hinder faithfulness in his service; if he does not in these respects as much renounce all his fondness for them, as if he had an actual hatred to¬ wards their persons, " he cannot be my disciple; he cannot stand when brought to the fiery trial; and though that should never be the case, his heart can¬ not be whole with me.” Luke, 14 : 26. The same doctrine of self-denial is inculcated by St. Paul, and founded upon an abiding reason. "Brethren, (says he,) the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” 1 Cor. 7 : 29-31. Short-lived as we are ourselves, and still shorter in duration as our best earthly comforts so often prove, we only act according Duty of man. 1^ 338 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. to the truth of our condition, as well as in obedience to God, by limiting our affections towards them. By this means we shall still be happy in a separation from them, no less than in their possession. God, who is with¬ out any variableness, will be our joy, and the failure of the cisterns too many hew out for themselves, will the more enhance to us the fountain of living waters. To perceive the excellency of being thus disengaged from inordinate affection towards objects which it is not un¬ lawful to regard with peculiar love, look upon the fond mother, stupid and dumb with grief; like "Rachel weep¬ ing for her children, and refusing to be comforted be¬ cause they are not;” observe the settled melancholy under which thousands are oppressed, through a separa¬ tion from the husband or wife of their youth, with whom they promised themselves a length of joyous years. Behold all their happiness shivered in pieces, all inter¬ red with the idol on which they doated! The whole creation is now become as the barren wilderness, and no prospect of ease before them, but in the gloomy thought of dying soon themselves. Consider this afflicting scene occurring daily, and you will be compelled to own that no self-denial can be more reasonable or more necessary than that of sup¬ pressing all inordinate affection towards those dear ob¬ jects which may be torn in a moment from us; and which, when delighted in beyond measure, are sure to pierce us far more deeply with anguish for their loss than ever they could repay our excessive love with joy by their presence. Corrupt self must also be denied in our love of the praise of men. It is evident, that unless something no¬ bler than what earth can give, is the grand object of pursuit, praise is as delightful to the mind as sounds exquisitely harmonious are to the ear, or the most de- LOVE OF PRAISE. 339 licious flavors to the taste. The heathens avowed the love of praise to be the spring of all that gave a lustre to their names. Thus Themistocles owned, that being pointed at in the public meetings, afforded him a plea¬ sure which amply rewarded him for all the great ex¬ ploits he had done for his country. And Tully is not ashamed to publish to the whole world his vanity, that he rose up in defence of Rome against her unnatural conspirators, not from a spirit of patriotism, but to erect to himself a monument of glory. The same prin¬ ciple gave birth to the austerities of the Pharisees, and to the duties of religion they performed; all their works they did to be seen of men. That in this respect human nature is always the same, is evident from the pain men feel whenever they meet with expressions of disgrace and scorn; how keenly do they pierce, how greatly provoke! It is evident also from the visible pleasure with which men generally listen to their own commen¬ dation, and incite every designing flatterer to offer to them his incense. Now this strong innate love of the praise of men, it is the duty of a Christian to deny. He must not suffer it to direct his actions. Were so false a principle to govern him, the judgment of the world would be his rule of life, in contempt of God, his maker and his judge. He would judge of the extent of his duty not from the plain command of God, but from what was reputable or otherwise. What will the world think of me 1 would ' be an alarming suggestion, fatal to every purpose of living as a real Christian must: and the fear of an ap¬ pearance of enthusiasm in abstaining from fashionable vices, would reconcile him to practices glaringly op¬ posite to his duty. Whatever knowledge and convic¬ tion of the truth he might have more than others, fond¬ ness for applause from men would compel him to hold the truth in unrighteousness; and to resist his con- 340 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. victions, in order to enjoy the approbation of the world. Further ; this principle, if not effectually resisted, not only leads to evil, but corrupts what has the appearance of being good. It influences you to do all things from mere selfishness, that you may stand high in reputation. In a word, as base parasites at court know no other standard of good or evil than their prince’s humor; so the love of praise, if not mortified, will suffer you to avow neither doctrine, sentiment nor practice, but what is in good repute with the world, however strongly it may be enforced in Scripture as the truth, and inwardly believed by you to be such. The love of praise, therefore, being so opposite to our obedience to God, all its soft treacherous insinua¬ tions must be denied. For as there is nothing necessa¬ ry to our salvation, but what is taught us in the Bible, and nothing there enjoined but what is necessary and infinitely beneficial too, we must conform to that infal¬ lible rule. This must be our only ambition, this our single aim, to walk before God to all well-pleasing; re¬ gardless of our character amongst men, whether ap¬ proved or condemned, whilst we act conscientiously. If, in the discharge of our duty, we meet with praise, as we may from real Christians, we may take encou¬ ragement from it, and be thankful to God for his grace : if, on the contrary, we meet with obloquy and detrac¬ tion, unmoved by it, we must steadily persevere to give offence to those who are wayward enough to take it, on account of our fidelity to God. Whatever reluctance we feel, we must bid defiance to all attempts to make our love of character operate to the suppressing or damping our zeal for the truth of God. This is a noble species of self-denial, of which none but Christians in reality have any knowledge. But though the love of praise is naturally as sweet to them as to others, they have sufficient motives to wean them LOVE OF PRAISE. 341 from seeking it. Jesus Christ, the great object of their hope and confidence, of their love and delight, ever since they believed, is present to their minds. They frequently meditate on his life, who was not only de¬ spised, but suffered outrage for their sakes; who hid not his face from shame and spitting, who gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. In contemplation of this amazing fact, the love of the praise of men loses its bewitching power; whilst a deep veneration and a most affectionate regard for one who was despised and rejected of men, though infinitely deserving the highest adoration, reconciles the believer’s mind to abstain from seeking praise from the world. Besides this weighty motive to deny self in not seek ing the praise of men, Christians are taught to expect contempt on account of their religion, and exhorted in no degree to marvel at it, or to be discouraged by it. In the thirty-seventh Psalm, written when all the pro¬ fessing people of God used the same religious mode of worship, when there was no opposition on account of any supposed innovation in religious tenets; in this Psalm, full of consolation to the faithful, the enmity in¬ curred by a truly conscientious behavior is thus strong¬ ly marked, " The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent the bow, to slay such as be of upright conversation.” v As the publication of the Gospel drew near, the Almighty exhorts all who should be disposed to receive it, not to suffer their love of praise, or their fear of shame, to make them conceal or dissemble their faith: "Hearken unto me,” saith the Lord, " ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” Isa. 51:7. When Jesus himself appears and publishes a complete 342 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. delineation of the spirit of all his faithful followers; that humility, meekness and zeal for God; that purity and mercy which were to rule in their hearts, and to constitute their essential character; he immediately declares, how insupportable the character, lovely as it is in itself, would prove to men of corrupt minds. He assures his followers, therefore, that they are blessed who are slandered and even persecuted for the sake of this righteousness; a righteousness the imitation of his own, therefore both upbraiding and galling to men of partial and superficial virtue. Now these instructions come strongly in aid of a sense of duty, to love the praise of God, and to seek only that honor that cometh of him. They are of great efficacy to cool the heart that would otherwise burn for reputation. And whilst Christians are only studying to be found approved of God, their eye being thus " single ; their whole body,” according to that gracious promise, Luke, 11 : 34*, "is full of light,”—of the light of truth, holiness and comfort: in this they enjoy more than a counterbalance to the loss of human praise, more than a recompense for all aspersions cast upon their understanding, choice and conduct. FALSE SHAME. 343 CHAPTER XXXIII. SEIjF-DEJYI&Ij*— continued. FALSE SHAME-SUFFERING FOR RELIGION-PRIDE OF REASON -SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. We have seen the necessity of exercising self-denial with respect to our sensual appetites, with respect also to the inclinations natural to man, for wealth, the com¬ forts of life, and the praise of our fellow-creatures. But religion, which teaches us the necessity of self-denial, is itself also the occasion of opening to us a new scene for its exercise. The profession of a higher degree of religion than is common in the world, subjects us to a loss of reputation; to bear which, witho,ut being ashamed or hurt, will require no trifling exertion of self-denial. We all naturally follow the custom and fashion of the world around us, and though not fired with the love of fame, we still feel it grievous to be reproached as bigots, fools or enthusiasts. When, therefore, we observe that our attachment to Scripture principles, in condemnation of corrupt practices and fashionable errors, will render us disagreeable and unfit for the company of the polite, pride will begin strongly to plead within, to dissemble and not appear more at¬ tached to religion than others; it will be swaying us to seem at least to approve what all the company ap¬ proves, though we condemn it in our hearts. Therefore, This Evil Shame in all its workings, must be denied; because nothing can be more base, more encouraging 10 wickedness, or more destructive to our own souls. Nothing can be more base than such a dastardly ob- 344 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. sequiousness to the opinions of men $ since, besides the reigning cowardice it betrays, what a return is this for the inestimable blessing of the knowledge of the truth. Was it for this end, do you think, that God gave you the knowledge of his truth, to which others are stran¬ gers, only that you might show him the greater indig¬ nity, by preferring to his favor your reputation 1 Was the light of life kindled within you, that you should in¬ dustriously conceal it, choosing to appear dark in your understanding, rather than bear the censure or ridicule of those who you well know are enemies to the light, only because their deeds are evil! Were an officer to be found thus ashamed of his king or his service, how must he appear 1 yet what fidelity does he owe to his king, or what advantages does he receive in his service, worthy to be named with the benefits God pours out upon us 1 Hence both gratitude and justice require us all, as far as we know the truth, and our duty towards God, to avoAv religion, and not to be ashamed of being account¬ ed righteous over-much by those who neither have, nor can bear, more than the senseless form of godliness. Indeed, unless we deny ourselves, and in a manner suited to our station in life appear open advocates for the cause of God, we contribute to the increase of wick¬ edness ; for where there is no opposition, sinners both grow bolder and multiply the faster. What all men either do themselves, or express no abhorrence against in others, it is naturally concluded, can have no great harm in it: thus all sense of the necessity of real reli¬ gion is banished from society, and profaneness, from its general prevalency, loses its guilt in the judgment of men. But such a general prevalency of evil would be prevented if the appearance of it were resolutely checked by a disapproving silence and cool reserve ; or, where age and condition of life authorize it, by an open rebuke This would serve to keep up the distinction between FEAR OF SUFFERING FOR CHRIST. 345 good and evil $ this would remind men of their depend- ance upon God, and often prove, through divine grace, an effectual monitor to awaken the conscience and pro¬ duce a change of sentiments and manners. But if, through a mean fear of injuring our paltry reputation with ungodly men, we refuse to signify, by any of these methods, our sense of God’s authority and government, of his hatred to sin, and his love of Christian holiness; we are then accessaries to the abounding of iniquity, we become sharers in the guilt by being tame spectators of the insult offered to our God, and by listening, without expressing our disapprobation, to the hard speeches which ungodly sinners are wont to speak against him. But if neither a sense of gratitude nor a fear of con¬ tributing to the propagation of iniquity can prevail with us to overcome our natural cowardice in the cause of God, let us at least consider the destruction it will bring upon our souls:—let us therefore oppose fear to fear, and weigh the insufferable pain of contempt from God and angels, against the shame of being branded for reli¬ gion here before men. For immediately after the injunc¬ tion of that self-denial, without which it is impossible to follow Christ, the trying instance of being content to lose our character for his sake is pointed out: " Whoso¬ ever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glo¬ ry of his Father, with the holy angels.—But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”—Mark, 8 : 38; Matt. 10 : 33 Self-denial must further be exercised with respect to the fear of suffering for the sake of God and his truth. In the inferior ranks of life all persons are called, more or less, to this exercise through their necessary dependance upon the rich. For when a person begins 15* 346 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. business, or enters upon his profession of law, physio' or divinity, how desirable is the favor of the great and opulent to him! To have their smile, to be admitted a guest at their table, is deemed an honor; and whilst their interest procures preferment, their custom brings the tradesman the largest return of gain. Hence a vio¬ lent temptation arises to be esteemed no more religious than is agreeable to the rich, or their principal domes¬ tics, on whose favor so much depends. Are they, there¬ fore, profane 1 every dependant will be tempted to say, why should I appear a friend to godliness 1 Are they lewd and intemperate 1 why should I hurt my interest by refusing to join with them in excess of wine, or in lasciviousness, or by appearing to condemn such vile practices'? Should conscience remonstrate, self-interest will lead a man industriously to stifle every conviction, afraid of losing the best of his customers, or his only patron by being offensively religious. Every one knows how much the principal inhabitants in all places keep their inferiors in awe by the tie of worldly gain ; and where their example is profane they spread on every side a dreadful contagion. In such a situation Christian self-denial displays its energy. The believer will dare to show a conscientious regard to the law and truth of God in the view of his superiors, though sensible that his conduct will gall and irritate. Fear of poverty will not make him belie his better judgment, or deny his God in order to gain favor with men. And whilst discretion and humility on one hand set bounds to his advice or reproof, and direct him as to the time and manner of applying them; his fear and love of God, on the other, will certainly lead him to discover his true character, and his abhorrence of all iniquity. The weight which eternal things have upon the be¬ liever’s mind, the sting which he has often felt in his PRIDE OF REASON. 347 conscience for seeming to approve what God condemns, the express command to make a public profession of godliness, and the disinterested manner in which the Redeemer has suffered to purchase his everlasting salva¬ tion, all join their influence, and are of great force to enable him to risk the loss of all things, rather than be ' ashamed of God and his word. Now though such an opposition to custom, and to our natural fear of suffering in our worldly circumstances, extremely terrifies the mind of man; yet those who deny themselves, and forsake all, leaving it to God in the way of diligence and truth to provide for them, generally prosper even in this world. And no won¬ der 5 for they are heirs of that all-sufficient promise, u Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, and I will receive you; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6 : 17, 18. And if any man, professing himself a Christian, dare not thus rely upon God for a temporal provision, when it seems to be endangered by his adherence to duty, it is certain that man can place no trust in his God for eternal salvation; but whilst he makes professions of believing in God he is an infidel in his heart. Nay, further, he entertains an idea of the character of God, such as if any one were to conceive of himself he would esteem most degrad¬ ing, viz. that God can unconcerned see his own chil¬ dren brought into distress through a dutiful attachment to him, when all power is in his hand to reward and bless such fidelity. Such a God as this, thou fearful unbelieving professor! thou conceivest the God of heaven and earth to be. Self-denial must likewise be exercised with respect to the pride of reason in submitting without disputing to the written word of God. A kind of restraint this no 348 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. less difficult for men of superior understanding to prac tise than for the sensual to be chaste, or the covetous charitable. Yet, in requiring such submission to his bare authority, God requires from us nothing unreasonable; because the objects he reveals to us are both above hu¬ man comprehension, and at present only revealed in part. "We preach (saith the apostle) the wisdom of God in a mysteryand therefore, the doctrines of Scripture must not be rejected under a pretence that they surpass our comprehension. Instead of indulging, we must repel that insolent inquiry, " How can these things be 1” For, as ignorant creatures, it is our duty, and as Christians, our profession to rest satisfied with what God has declared to be the truth. When this de¬ claration is once known, we are to shut our eyes against numberless difficulties relating to the truth, which hu¬ man wit or human ignorance may start. This is our duty, though infinitely mortifying to the proud and arro¬ gant. This is also rational: for how can any one reason¬ ably deny that to be true, if it involves no palpable con¬ tradiction, which hath this decisive evidence, that God in his revelation has declared it 1 And how can any one be sure that there is a real contradiction in things which it is confessed he cannot thoroughly compre¬ hend 1 Though reason, therefore, is of signal service in teaching us to a certain degree the knowledge of causes and effects; and, within its proper limits, is never to be disparaged; yet, when it is puffed up with a false conceit of its own power, it must be denied no less than any other depraved part of our nature. Other¬ wise we shall soon think ourselves at liberty to disdain implicit faith even in God himself. Instead of proving doctrines to be unscriptural, it will lead us to urge their apparent absurdity as sufficient reason to reject them. Thus one part of revealed truth after another will be renounced: first the Trinity, then the doctrine PRIDE OF REASON. 349 of Christ’s atonement, next our fall and natural corrup¬ tion ; till at length there is nothing in the Bible allowed to be true but what a pagan might subscribe and a deist receive. If it should be said, such implicit obedience will ex pose us to receive real absurdities under a pretence of reverence for the authority of God $ the answer is ob¬ vious. A distinction must be made between our obedi¬ ence before we are persuaded the Bible is the word of God, and after. Before this firm conviction, the human understanding is bound to canvass, and put to the se¬ verest trial all the witnesses which demonstrate Jesus to be the Christ, and the Bible to be the revelation of God. Every man of capacity for this work should do this; because these proofs depend on incontestible maxims, and make their appeal concerning facts to the faculty of judgment which is less impaired by the sin of the fall than any other. During the whole time, therefore, that these outward evidences are under consideration, reason is to act in the full exercise of her powers. But when once the Scripture record is received, as it always must be, if men inquire honestly, it immediately claims an abso¬ lute submission. Then should reason offer to cavil at any thing contained in the book which it acknowledges to be of God, it is self-condemned. Because it is the height of arrogance to urge our want of comprehending the fitness of what is taught against the veracity of an infallible teacher. On the contrary, it immediately be¬ comes the highest act of reason wholly to rely upon the testimony of Scripture, and to receive implicitly all it declares. That it is the duty of a Christian in this manner to mor¬ tify his intellectual pride, there are many Scriptures to prove. To this purpose is that remarkable declaration of God, " I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and 350 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise 1 where is the scribe % where is the disputer of this world ? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world V’ 1 Cor 1 : 19, 20. To the same purpose is that positive assertion of the absolute con¬ trariety of Scripture truth to what the wisest men in their natural state conceive is fit for God to reveal $ " The wisdom of God is foolishness^ to men.” In con¬ firmation of the same doctrine, so mortifying to the pride of the human understanding, our Savior, we are assured, rejoiced in spirit that whilst men who idolized their own reason were incapable of beholding the truth of God, those who submitted their understanding to him enjoyed the unspeakable blessing of it. "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;” that is, to such as with humble acquiescence, like little children, receive what is taught them of God. Matt. 11 : 25. St. Paul inculcates the same denial of intellectual self, when he declares, "If any man think himself wise, let him become a fool,” (that is, in his own estimation, as much in need of teaching,) "that he may be wise.” With the same view he assures us that the effect of the apostolic preaching, wherever it succeeded to the sal¬ vation of the hearer, was to " cast down imaginations ” corrupt reasonings; corrupt because impious, where the word of God has once decided) " and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor. 10 : 5. Such Scriptures evidently control that sceptical and daring spirit which too many dignify as the privilege and just exercise of reason. Nor would such Scriptures have been given to us, unless we had a propensity, when we possess an understanding or learning superior to SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 351 others, to make a creed for ourselves; when in fact we can know nothing of the things of God hut as we are taught them by himself. Against this pride of reason believers must be constantly upon their guard, and not dare, through difficulties which may be started, to dis¬ pute or question the plain doctrine of God’s word Now the absolute necessity of this submission of the understanding to the authority of God’s revelation is most evident. A man cannot be a Christian without it, since all the doctrines which by way of distinction are called Christian, have confessedly great difficulties in them. From our fall in Adam, to the complete salva¬ tion of the soul by Christ at the last day, there is abundant room for cavil, if men choose to erect them¬ selves into judges upon the counsel of God. A small degree of wit with much pride will furnish out endless matter for arraigning the Scripture in the account of the origin of our misery; in the character it gives of the Redeemer and' his incarnation; in the way of re¬ ceiving benefit from him; in the Spirit’s influence on the heart; in the penalty denounced upon every degree of disobedience, and the punishment of the damned. These several important articles of our creed, which are the very soul of Christianity, must be received upon the mere credit of their voucher, the word of God. And those who disdain to be persuaded by such evidence, do in fact give up the faith of Christ, though it may be convenient for them to retain the name of Christian, and to remain in the bosom of Christ’s church. Lastly, self-denial must be exercised -with respect to our opinion of our own righteousness; a severer in¬ stance of mortification to us all than any yet mentioned. But it must be submitted to. Whatever our good qua¬ lities are, we must confess ourselves criminals before God, whose condemnation would be inevitable, should 352 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. he execute justice instead of showing compassion to¬ wards us. How is it possible we can honor the sacrifice of Chr st on the cross, as God. would have it honored, if we imagine our goodness can absolve us from guilt 1 how can we fly for refuge to the Savior, unless our hearts condemn us as lost, without his merit 1 or how abide in this city of refuge, unless we perceive our¬ selves exposed to the avenger of blood 1 How can we bow down in self-abasing gratitude to God for imputing to us the righteousness of another, if we renounce not our own as utterly insufficient to answer for us! how place our full dependence on the beloved of the Father for acceptance through him, unless we are conscious of the defilement of our corrupt nature cleaving to us to the very last moment of life on earth, and rendering us in ourselves unworthy of notice from God 1 Upon all these accounts it is a necessary part of Christian self-denial to renounce all confidence in our own virtues and attainments, as if they could justify us in the sight of God, or bear the trial of his holy law. This kind of self-denial, directly opposite to every earth-born system of religion, is the essence of the religion of Jesus. And though this very humbling es¬ timation of our moral excellence be most difficult to attain, yet Scripture, both by example and doctrine, strongly urges it upon us. Thus Job, in the bitterness of self-reproach, cries out, " Behold, I am vile—I abhor myself.” Upon inquiry into the character of this com- plainer against himself, we find that he had no equal in goodness upon the whole earth, even in the judgment of tne Omniscient; yet the fault which he here bewail¬ ed, and the guilt that extorted this confession, we find to have been too high an opinion of his own character; he had said, ” I am clean without transgression, I am innocent: neither is there iniquity in me.” Job, 33 : 9. For thus over-rating his spiritual attainments Job ab- SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 353 hors himself. And who, after Job, that receives the Scripture record, shall think himself less sullied in his character, or less defective in point of practical holi¬ ness, than this illustrious servant of God'? What Job was in old time, St. Paul appears to have been under the New Testament. For who in labors or in sufferings for the glory of God and the good of man ; who, in purity of heart and extensive usefulness, was to be compared to him 1 Yet so far was this most distin¬ guished saint from confiding in his own goodness as a fit object of the divine complacency, that he mentions both what he had attained in moral and religious obedience, and what he had suffered for Christ’s sake, on purpose that he might pour contempt upon it all; that he might call it " lo ss and dung,” in comparison of being found in Christ j ” not having his own righteousness, which is of the law,”—that is, not trusting in .his own personal obedience for justification before God 5 but having that righteousness " which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Phil. 3 : 9. What these and others of the most excellent of the earth, by their own confession declare in disparagement of human righteousness, as a title to justification before God, or as a ground of self-conceit, is confirmed by many places of Scripture. Thus the poor and needy are re¬ presented as the only objects of the Redeemer’s grace, Psalm 72: 13, whilst the good and virtuous in their own sight are scattered in the proud imaginations of their hearts, and sent empty away. Luke, 1:51. Lowliness of mind, in the estimation of our own obedience, is de¬ scribed as the only temper becoming our Christian pro¬ fession ; whilst the haughtiness which prompts men to plead their own righteousness as a title to God’s favor is exposed as the cause of excluding from salvation those who had even a zeal for God. Rom. 10 . Both by doctrine and example, therefore, the disciple 354 , COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. of Jesus is led to call himself vile in the midst of his highest attainments, and constantly to regard himself as a needy, impotent vessel of mercy, who has nothing to delight in but the name of the Lord, and no ground of confidence towards God but His righteousness only. Such is Christian self-denial: compare it in this ex* tensive view with what either enthusiasm or supersti¬ tion have, under that name, enjoined, and the contrast is striking indeed! How frivolous and weak is it to make self-denial consist merely in the shape or color of our clothes, in demure looks and precise behavior, or ab¬ staining only from fashionable diversions ! These things hypocrites may do, and shine as patterns of such morti¬ fication, whilst self, in its worst tempers, is fully indulg¬ ed. The self-denial which stern superstition enjoins, is worse: it imprisons for life men and women, endued with active powers, and formed for society ,* it makes them move like clock-work in a round of religious rites } it clothes them with sackcloth, and orders them to prac¬ tise many useless severities upon the body ,* it calls them to desert the station in which Providence had fixed their lot, and buries even the excellencies they have in a cloister and a cell. Examined by the rule of Scripture, how mistaken, how pitiable, how unprofitable is the zeal of such devo¬ tees !—On the contrary, what a correct understanding, what fortitude of mind, what personal and public bene¬ fits are conspicuous in Christian self-denial! It teaches us to use the abundance of meats and drinks given us by divine bounty, without any abuse of them ; thus con¬ fronting by our example, and severely condemning, all excess. It is the source and guardian of domestic peace and happiness. It enables us to carry on trade without covetousness, though every incitement to that sordid passion surround us. In the reciprocal exercise of ten- SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 355 der affection between dearest relations and friends, it secures the supreme love of the heart for God. It em¬ boldens us to avow his cause, and adhere to it, in con¬ tempt of our worldly interest, our honor, and our cha¬ racter. It teaches us to sacrifice our prying curiosity- and our desire of comprehending fully the truths of God before we believe them, to the veneration we owe his oracles. And after an intrepid venture of all for his sake, it teaches us, instead of eyeing with self-compla¬ cency our moral excellence, to cry, "Enter not into judgment wffth thy servant, O Lord 1” This extensive, most noble self-denial, is sufficient. Away then with the unnatural life of the convent; away with the inventions of will-worship, total solitude, hair shirts, iron girdles, and the coarsest food; away with whimsical singularities in dress, and the fashion of the exterior man, which enthusiasts so violently press. It is far severer self-denial to mortify every evil and corrupt desire natural to the heart. It is more courageous to fight till we die, than flee from the battle. It is mofe profita¬ ble to mankind to shine, a light before their eyes, than to be immured with a select company, as if piety could not live in the commerce of the world. And it is infi¬ nitely more for the glory of Christ, that the new heart and new spirit which he hath given should be known and seen of all men, than be buried in perpetual conceal¬ ment. Most useful, honorable, and excellent are they who deny all the cravings of corrupt self in the midst of forbidden objects. They, and they alone, prove the efficacy of the Savior’s prayer in their behalf: " Father, take them not out of the world, but keep them from the evil.” 356 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. CHAPTER XXXIV. OJW 1'UJZ. ITS OBJECT, NATURE AND SUBJECT. Whenever the practice and spirit essential to believ ers in Christ Jesus are explained, many, instead of at¬ tempting to come up to them, object,—If these be ab¬ solutely requisite, who then shall be saved I But there is really no place for this desponding objection in the Christian scheme ; because, though the natural weakness and corruption of man is much greater than such object¬ ors believe, still all the obedience required as the fruit of faith, grows from a root which is able to produce it: for such light, power and consolation are promised by God to all who properly seek them, as are adequate to maintain all Christian graces in the measure indis¬ pensably required. The means which must be used diligently in order to obtain the continuance of these supernatural supplies, are by way of distinction called Devotional Duties: and they are so essential to religion, that it cannot subsist without them. Their importance is indeed generally allowed, yet through sad abuse these exercises are fre¬ quently turned into a mere religious formality, by which God is dishonored, nominal Christians lulled into a false peace, and the profane hardened in their contempt of devotion. To guard against this errror, so pernicious to the Christian church, I shall treat at large of the nature of devotional duties, and the proper method of discharging them ; principally confining myself to treat of secret ON PRAYER. 357 prayer and reading the word of God j leaving it to the reader to apply what is said of them to the public ordi¬ nances and means of grace. 1 . With respect to prayer, the object of it is God only. The end of prayer is to obtain deliverance or preserva¬ tion from evil, or the possession and continuance of good. Our application, therefore, must be made to Him who is the almighty Source of every good and perfect gift; who orders all things according to the counsel of his own will $ who, in spite of all opposition, can com¬ pletely bless us; and without whose favor every being in the whole creation, though leagued in our defence, could afford us no protection. He also to whom pray¬ er is addressed must be omniscient and omnipresent. Otherwise, how is it possible that, amidst so many con¬ stant supplicants, none should be overlooked; amidst so many millions of petitions offered up in the same in¬ stant throughout the world, none be lost; amidst such a numberless variety of complicated cases the things best for each individual, and those only, should be con ferred. The most transcendant mercy and love also ought to be inherent in Him to whom we offer our prayers, in order to forgive our sins, to overcome our fears, and to encourage our petitions, conscious as we must be of our own vileness, even in our happiest ap¬ proaches to him. It thus appears from the nature of things that God alone can, on account of his essential perfections, be the object of true prayer. We find him, therefore, con¬ stantly represented in Scripture under this most glo¬ rious character: "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion; and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” Psalm 65 : 1, 2. "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have none other gods hut me: thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing 358 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. that is in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God.” Exod. 20 : 2-5. A truth this so plain, so important, and so often re¬ peated in Scripture, that it calls for our astonishment as well as our lamentation to see the monstrous corrup¬ tion of worship introduced by popish innovations. Pa¬ pists, instead of making God the only object of their trust, have, besides him, innumerable angels and saints in heaven, in whom, they tell us, we are to repose confi¬ dence ; to whom we are to address our prayers, not only for temporal blessings, but for the pardon of our sins, for our increase of grace, and even for the gift of eter¬ nal life. They tell us, that there are in heaven particu¬ lar advocates for all exigencies and occasions, protec¬ tors against all sorts of dangers and diseases, patrons for all graces and virtues. They tell us that we are to apply to these patrons, without troubling God and the Redeemer* who is God over all, blessed for ever, by pre¬ suming upon every occasion to make our immediate address to him. In full confutation of this horrid superstition, it is enough to know what perfections are requisite in him who is the proper object of our prayer. For, if almighty power, omniscience, omnipresence, and the most trans¬ cendent mercy, be essential to such an object, then what can be more absurd or more impious than to call on those for help, who by nature are no gods ; who are so limited in the excellencies imparted to them, as to be necessarily incapable of knowing w r hat we want, or of bestowing what we ask I To follow exactly the Scripture plan, as we ought to do, the tenor of our prayer should be generally* ad- * I say generally, for there are numerous instances of prayer ad- ON PRAYER. 359 dressed to the Father, in dependence upon the merit and intercession of the Son, and the influence and grace of the Holy Spirit. By this manner of address the distinct part which each person of the blessed and undivided Trinity bears in the salvation of sinners is justly acknowledged 5 and the inviolable holiness of God, and our guilt, even after ail we have done or received, are most forcibly repre¬ sented. These are points of such moment, that all Scripture labors to impress them on our minds. 2 . Now as God is the only object of prayer, so its nature consists in offering up to him the wants of the heart. Without this, the best chosen petitions, punc¬ tually repeated morning and evening out of a book, or the most fluent addresses in language of our own con¬ ception, are no more than the mimicry of prayer: a sort of devotion, which pride and self-sufficiency can practise ; on which formality and superstition can erect their absurd pretences to religion, whilst the spirit and the truth of prayer are unexperienced and neglected For as the needy only can stoop to ask the relief of alms, so then only can we begin to pray when we feel ourselves necessitous; when we long to receive from God what we beg of him, knowing that without the gift of it we must be miserable. This sensibility of our real want, both scriptural re¬ presentations and scriptural examples prove to be essen¬ tial to true prayer. Scriptural representations instruct dressed to Jesus Christ. The disciples prayed to him, “ Lord, in¬ crease our faith—the dying malefactor, to save his soul. Stephen, with his dying breath, commended himself into his hands. Paul be¬ sought him thrice to take away the thorn in his flesh, and styles him Lord over all, rich in mercy to all that call upon him ; for, whoso¬ ever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved. These are pre* cedents (never to be set aside) proving that each member of. the Christian church may and will say, as Thomas did unto Jesus, “ My Lord and my God.” 360 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. us thus : " If thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him; if thou seekest him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deut. 4 : 29. " Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your hearts before him.” Psalm 62: 8 . " The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” Psalm 145 : 18. When the inspired Solomon exhorts us to pray for spi¬ ritual wisdom, he takes care to mark, with the utmost energy of expression, the need we must at the same time feel of it in our hearts: " If thou criest,” says he, " after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for under¬ standing ; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures.” Prov. 2 : 3, 4. The same feeling of our wants our Lord points out as essential to prayer, describing it by the united terms of asking, seeking, knocking ; terms most expressive of an urgent need of immediate succor. And St. James leads us to the very same conception of the thing, by ascribing success to " fervent ” prayer. James, 5 : 16. What the Scripture thus defines to be prayer, is fully illustrated by the practice of the most approved ser¬ vants of God. They were penetrated with a feeling of their necessities when they came before the throne of grace. " With my whole heart,” says one, have I sought thy favor. " Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray,” says David, " and thou shalt hear my voice.” Another makes his supplication with all the heartfelt importunity of a distressed petitioner; "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. O let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.” In the address also of Daniel the greatly beloved, every syllable breathes a sense of want, which scarce knows how to hear with denial or delay; " O Lord,” says he, " hear, 0 Lord, forgive, O Lord, hearken and do, defer not, for thy name’s sake, O my God.” ON PRAYER. 361 From this scriptural representation of prayer, that it is the want of the heart offered up to God, it appears plain that all men naturally stand upon a level with re¬ spect to theiy ability of praying truly. Outward circum¬ stances in this case make no difference. The ignorant clown and the polished scholar, those who have been most piously trained, and those who have been misera¬ bly neglected in their education, those who have been restrained from sinful excesses, and those who have plunged the deepest into them, remain alike without the grace of God, strangers to real prayer. Notwithstand¬ ing the grossest ignorance, the worst education, and the most profligate life, yet as soon as the guilt, the strength and tyranny of sin are felt to oppress the soul, we flee to God for refuge; and prayers and cries, like incense, will ascend up before him from the troubled and the humbled heart. On the contrary, if the guilt, the strength, and defilement of sin are not felt and la¬ mented, neither learning, nor the most pious education, nor abstinence from every gross vice, though united, can create the least measure of the spirit of prayer. In many instances these advantages flatter and blind with their specious appearance, instead of producing any just sensibility of the guilt of sin, or any alarming ap¬ prehension of its issue, unless pardoned and subdued. In fact, all true knowledge and just apprehensions of sin, wherever found, are owing to an infinitely higher cause : they are the effect of a firm belief in God’s word declaring the sinfulness of sin, and of a heart humbled so as to plead guilty to the charge of it. But this firm belief of God’s word, and this conviction of sin, are in no instance the fruits of education, much less the effect of learning, but the inestimable gift of God; gifts no sooner received than all impediments to prayer are re¬ moved Want will immediately make the stammering tongue of the most unlearned, or of those who have Duty of Mau. 1^ 362 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. been in time past the most abominably wicked, speak plain enough in the ears of God. Want will make the heart, which was before too gross to perceive any ex¬ cellency in the things of God, seek after them with strong cries and lasting importunity. And whatever dif- f?rence a good understanding, a pious education, or ge¬ neral abstinence from vice (which are, on other ac¬ counts, invaluable blessings) may make in the matter of confession, in the degrees of guilt, or in the choice of devout phrases 5 still the prayer, by which God is honored and the soul blessed, will be exactly the same in the less sinner as in the greater, in the poor as in the rich, in the very lowest and weakest of the people, , as in the most accomplished preacher of God’s truth May this scriptural account of the nature of true prayer undeceive those who presume that they stand accepted with God, merely on account of their multi¬ plying exercises of devotion; whilst at the same time, instead of feeling themselves the poor, guilty, impotent creatures their own prayers represent them to be, they swell with conceit of superior excellence, or fan 6 y them¬ selves righteous, because they pray so punctually aftei their formal manner! May this encourage all who are humble and contrite, to pour out their complaints be¬ fore God when they feel their own vileness, though their utterance and their knowledge may be in the sight of man very contemptible, and their past lives may have been awfully profligate! May this also convince the poor, that there can be no excuse more frivolous than to pretend they cannot pray, because destitute of book¬ learning : since, in fact, nothing but contempt of God’s written word, nothing but a denial of the truth of our own condition as represented in it, can leave either learned or unlearned under such hardness of heart, as to feel no want of the grace, mercy and salvation of God; and, consequently, to remain incapable of real prayer. ON PRAYER. 363 We may observe further, from the very nature of prayer, as it means the offering up the wants of the heart to God, that whenever there is any real concern for salvation, it cannot be confined only to certain set and stated times. It will be found in the midst of our business, and when we are in company, as well as when we are alone, and have retired to our closet: frequent ejaculations, known only to Him who searcheth the heart, will discover where our treasure is, and will prove that we feel the want of the one thing needful. 3. From the nature of prayer we are led to consider the subject of it, or what it is we are to ask of God. Certainly it must be what it becomes him to supply, what we are warranted by his own word to request, and assured by his own promise either absolutely, or with some limitation, that he will grant. We may ask temporal blessings: for instance, ease when we are racked with pain, health when taken off from our employment by languishing sickness, or main¬ tenance when we are left destitute. 'We may ask the continuance of our own lives and those of our dearest relations when sick, or in danger of death. For each of these benefits, prayer may be made to God, because instances of each kind are recorded in Scripture; be¬ cause by prayer for them God is exalted as the sove¬ reign Lord both of life and all its comforts ; our depend- ance upon him as such is confirmed, and our gratitude towards him is increased. But though we may pray for any of these benefits, we must always do it with entire submission to the will of God, whether he sees it best to give, to continue, or remove them. We should always remember that things of this kind are not promised without limitation, but only upon condition that they are for our good, and for the glory of God. We should ask for them with a sense upon our hearts, that ease, health, maintenance, friends, 364 COMPLETE DUTV OF MAN. and life itself, are things unspeakably mean, compared to spiritual and eternal blessings. Blessings of a spiritual and eternal nature must there¬ fore make up the principal subject-matter of the prayer of Christians. They must ask for more knowledge of the Lord that bought them, for more dependance upon his name, for pardon of their sins through his blood, morti¬ fication of their vile affections through his Spirit, and a more perfect conformity to his example. These are the things in general of which all Chris¬ tians feel their want; which they pursue with a per¬ severing ardor of mind, and wait daily upon God to re¬ ceive from him in a more abundant measure. But besides this general matter of prayer, common to the whole church of Christ, each private believer finds particular matter of prayer suggested from his own peculiar trials, from the changing frame of his own mind, and from the appointments of God’s providence in his external condition. Every alteration in each of these particulars produces some inward correspondent change in the man. By consequence, as real prayer is the want of the heart offered up to God, the matter of prayer which may be very proper to-day, may be quite unsuitable to our case to-morrow; and those petitions which in certain circumstances were sufficient, in op¬ posite ones will be found deplorably defective. The pri¬ vate matter, therefore, of prayer in Christians, must take its mould from the objects and occurrences around us, and the impressions these make upon us. For, as dif¬ ferent temptations present themselves, different will bo the inward actings of corruption: sometimes they will be felt in the risings of pride, envy, and self-preference; at others, in discontent and peevishness; now in im¬ pure desire ; then in the love of money or of praise, in evil surmisings or uncharitable censures. According to these frequent and most important variations, our pe- ON PRAYER. 365 titions must be adapted for pardon, and the immediate succors of grace. Particular assistances are also needful according to our station in life, and the peculiar snares to which we are from thence exposed. The rich and the noble are liable to dangers peculiar to themselves; men of trade and merchandise have very much to fear from their em¬ ployments ; whilst pastors and teachers, in order to be innocent and pure from the blood of those committed to their charge, stand in need of extraordinary wisdom, zeal and love. It is therefore by no means sufficient that we ask chiefly for spiritual blessings, or seek in general for the things we are taught to ask, and which God has promised to give, unless we also particularly specify what we want—unless we derive our petitions, not only from the Bible, or a knowledge of the things necessary for men, but from our own sense and feeling for if the state of our hearts does not thus dictate the matter of our secret prayer, there is little reason to be¬ lieve that our corruptions give us any real concern, or that they are confessed with true humiliation. If they were, we should so feel them as to make a particular mention of them, and implore forgiveness; and little ground is there to hope those iniquities will be subdued in us, which do not appear odious enough to ourselves to excite particular requests to God to be delivered from them. Besides, we cannot take a more effectual method to guard against formality in prayer, than by making it arise out of our present condition; by making it a sim¬ ple, constant application to God for the supply of our own peculiar wants and necessities. And though all have not ability to adapt the matter of prayer to their particular circumstances in the presence and hearing of others, yet every one is sufficiently qualified to do this alone before his God, who seeth in secret: because in 366 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. this case frequent hesitations are not in the least either detrimental or inconvenient$ nor phrases, at which men might take offence, improper when well meant. The same God who prepares the heart to call upon him, will hearken thereto. CHAPTER XXXV. Ptt+rl FEK .—con Untied. THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER. The object, the nature, and the subject of true prayer have already been considered: but ignorance, alas! in this case is but the weakest obstacle with which we have to contend ; the natural profaneness of the human heart, and its aversion to every truly spiritual exercise, are far more difficult to overcome. However, for this purpose let us consider in what manner the holy Scripture ex¬ presses the necessity of prayer. It is enforced there by the practice of the most vene¬ rable persons ; it is laid down as the indispensable means of obtaining grace; it is required by the express com¬ mand of the Lord God Almighty. It is enforced by the most venerable names; for Abra¬ ham, Isaac and Jacob, David, Daniel, Peter and Paul, in a word, all those w T ho stand the highest of the human race for their excellency in the sight of God, were most eminent and abundant in the exercise of prayer: by this their graces were enlivened and brightened to superior lustre. Now their diligence in prayer is recorded, not ON PRAYER. 367 for their sakes, to give them the trifling honor of a post¬ humous fame, but for substantial use, as patterns which we are to copy : that if we hope to be with them in the kingdom in the end, we should walk in their good paths, and be " followers of them who through faith and pa¬ tience inherit the promises. 1 ’ So that whilst we have any real reverence for the word of God, it is impossible we should neglect and think slightly of a duty which was of such unspeakable importance in the judgment of the most eminent Scripture saints. But if the example of all the Scripture saints proves the necessity of prayer, how much more the practice of the Savior ; before the brightness of whose glory, pro¬ phets, apostles and martyrs are eclipsed, as the stars in the firmament by the rising sun. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners ; nevertheless prayer still employed a considerable portion of his time. Fa¬ tigued as he was wont to be with travelling from place to place to preach the Gospel, and thronged by crowds who pressed upon him to hear the gracious words which proceeded out of his lips, always therefore in need of the rest of the whole night; yet would he sometimes rise up a great while before it was day, to retire to a mountain or solitary place apart to pray ; sometimes the moon and the stars beheld him, through the whole night, an earnest supplicant and devout intercessor j whilst the rest of the world were taking their full rest in their beds. After this record, can any one, professing himself a Christian, admit a doubt of the absolute necessity of prayer I If the Master of the house, who had no guile, nor slightest stain of depravity, prayed, how much more must they of his household, who are both weak and wicked I If the Lord from heaven, when he took upon him our flesh, lifted up his eyes and prayed, how much more must his servants 1 Should any one imagine him- 368 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. self excused from this duty, what stronger reproof need to be given to his audacious impiety, than to reply— The prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, Jesus himself, our Redeemer, prayed; whom makest thou thyself 1 Further, The universal necessity of prayer will be made still more evident by proving it to be the indis¬ pensable means of obtaining mercy and grace. Houses and possessions, honors and titles, with all the glitter¬ ing advantages the world covets, may seem to be given promiscuously, as much to those who never bend the knee to God, as to those who diligently seek him. But it is not so with any blessing pertaining to the life and salvation of the soul. God never, in any one instance, pardons sin, or delivers from its accursed tyranny, till prayer is made for such inestimable benefits. The un¬ changeable ordinance of heaven runs thus: If thou shalt pray unto God he shall be favorable unto thee. Job, 33 : 26. " Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercybut observe to whom ; not to all persons indiscriminately, not to the profane, not to the self-sufficient, but—" unto all them that call upon thee.” Psalm 86 : 5. Omniscient and full of compassion as the Lord Jehovah is, he promises no cognizance of our spiritual necessities to supply them, or of our dan¬ gers to interpose and save us from them, till by prayer and supplication we make our requests known unto him. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jer. 33 : 3. Our Redeemer in the fullest manner teaches us that prayer is the necessary means of obtaining mercy and finding grace to help, when he gives us this exhor¬ tation ; " Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you:” which is as much as to affirm, that without asking, seeking and knocking, we can receive of God no spiritual blessing. By consequence, not to pray, and to remain utterly des- THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER. 369 t.itute of any share in the blessings which accompany salvation, is one and the same thing. Every one, therefore, who despises this channel, in which God sees fit to convey to the soul its necessary supplies for eternal life, whether through a confidence in the sufficiency of his own strength, in the excellen¬ cies of his virtues, ora pretended reliance on the finish¬ ed work of Christ, must unavoidably remain under the power and guilt of sin. His fancied goodness, in which he confides, will necessarily he scanty and partial; some ruling passion will still prevail over him, witnessing the impossibility of attaining real righteousness without di¬ vine aid. Thus you may frequently observe a profane man, who prides himself in his moral worth, and pours contempt upon devotional duties, miserably chagrined by every trifling disappointment, or for the least fan¬ cied provocation breathing revenge. You may fre¬ quently observe a contemner of prayer, who is much caressed and self-applauded for good-nature and hu¬ manity, studiously injuring virgin innocence for the gratification of merely animal appetites. Too often also you may see a warm advocate for the doctrines of grace and the honor of Christ, deceitful, covetous, and a slave to sin, through an habitual neglect of prayer. The truth is, that the union of all virtues is wholly owing to the grace of God given to the prayer of faith; therefore he only of all the children of me^ can pay an uniform obedience, who goes out of himself, and places his dependance upon the aids of grace promised and given to him that asks for them. Lastly, The absolute necessity of prayer is put out of all doubt by the plain command of God. No man is left at liberty whether he will pray or no ; or can ne¬ glect prayer, without suffering much more than the loss of those supplies he might procure by it. For he who does not pray, contracts additional guilt, and sets at de 16 * 370 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. fiance the ordinance of God; since he has not more expressly required us to show mercy to our fellow- creatures, than to worship himself. We are taught, "Men ought always to pray,” and to "continue in prayer.” In vain, therefore, do we plead a strict regard to the substantial duties of temperance, of justice and of mercy, as any exemption from the obligation of prayer. To neglect prayer is actually to live in the commission of the basest theft,—defrauding our God of his due, by refusing to render to him that tribute which he demands. With equal reason, and with as little affront to him, may we refuse to obey his law in being just to men, as refuse to honor him by real prayer. Regarding the holy duty of prayer in this light, none will be safe from the contagion of the world, who either neglects prayer, or deplorably trifles and dissembles with God in it. You will perceive the neglect of it to be the most odious species of injustice, though often lurk¬ ing under the captivating appearance of great integrity of morals and of high pretences to honor ; you will re¬ gard it as a violation of one of the most important du¬ ties ; a duty immediately resulting from the relation of the creature to the Creator, and enjoined by all the au¬ thority of the one Lawgiver, able to save and to destroy. Now this contempt of God, expressed by neglecting prayer for his favor, grace and Spirit, is a sin which no excellencies that the world applauds can at all compen¬ sate. Like rebellion in the state, wherever it is, it can¬ cels all pretences to any good qualities. As the kings of the earth do not acquit a rebel, though rebellion may be his only crime, much less does the King of kings, whose name is jealous, overlook contumely thrown upon himself, because the person guilty of it abstains from all fraud and injustice towards men. To imagine that God will overlook such an affront, is to entertain the most frivolous idea of the divine character; it is THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER. 371 d; absolutely, without making any conditions of their own, accepting his with all thankfulness ; peremp¬ torily, without halting between two opinions, as if they were inclined to retract the surrender of themselves which they have made ; there is much delight interwoven in these exercises of repentance towards God. But still much more in acts of faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ; for in these there is a lively acknowledg¬ ment and habitual consideration of the highest benefits, of the strongest motives to love and obedience, as well as the strongest ground of joy and triumph. What can you imagine more delightful than for men, who see 406 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. themselves all sin and misery, to look unto Jesus, who says he will " deliver the poor and needy when they cry unto him, and them that have no helper ]” Their own emptiness they feel, and know his fulness for their relief; they bow at his footstool ready to perish, and he receives them as the father the returning prodigal, to put upon them the best robe ; they confess their desert of nothing but wrath, and he freely grants them pardon ; they know that without his interposition they must have sunk into hell, but behold he has exalted them into chil¬ dren of God and heirs of glory. What pleasing emo¬ tions must such views of themselves and of him excite in their minds! These, reader, are the permanent sources of peculiar delight with which all real believers are in some mea¬ sure acquainted! Hence they stand quite independent of the world for their best joys, and can be happy in spite of all disappointments from it. But further, there are seasons in which God is pleased in a more extraordinary manner to grant them "joy un¬ speakable and full of glory.” This he does commonly before they are called to any severe trial, or when they are preparing for more extensive usefulness : then in a remarjkable degree God is " their exceeding joy.” There are also seasons of devotion, both public and secret, When their souls, Snatch’d by the Spirit’s power from their cells Of fleshly thraldom, feel themselves up-borne On plumes of ecstasy, and boldly spring Up to the porch of heaven. Let us sum up now what have been insisted on as the several sources of happiness peculiar to real Christians. They only possess that excellent knowledge which brings with it the peace of God and the blessings of re¬ demption: they only are the children of God by adop- SOURCES OF CHRISTIAN JOY. 407 tion and grace, and have the disposition of children towards him : they only are conscious of the exercises of repentance and faith, love and hope, and of every grace in which the renovation of the mind after the image of God consists: they only experience pleasure in communion with God ; and sometimes feel a trans¬ port which is remembered with lively thankfulness long after the delightful sensation which first excited it is worn off. " Let not the wise man then glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches —for neither learning, nor power, nor wealth are the sources of happiness or¬ dained for men; " but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth God 5 ” who, though he hath his throne in heaven, doth indeed dwell with the faithful on earth, and in their behalf exerciseth especial loving-kindness, judgment and righteousness j " for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jer. 9: 23, 24. Judge no longer then after the flesh concerning the sources of true happiness; for they are no more per¬ ceptible by sense than are the excellencies of the mind, or the pleasures of learning and genius. As you would justly meet with contempt from the world for your ignorance and stupidity, should you dare to say that there is no delight in studying the fine arts, or in making discoveries in nature by philosophical penetra¬ tion ; because these things are not adapted to the taste, or within the comprehension of the vulgar; because they are neither showy nor palpable, like the pleasures of the sensualist: so you may equally betray your own miserable ignorance in the sight of all the excellent of the earth, when you dare to deny the present delight enjoyed by those who believe to the saving of their souls. *08 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Pray, therefore, for divine knowledge to correct your depraved apprehensions, and to remove your grossness and unbelief of heart. Then you will perceive that Christians are not more distinguished by purity of prac¬ tice, than by their superior pleasures: then you will understand (contrary to the low thoughts entertained of the Christian’s choice, contrary to the impious pre¬ judices abounding every where against it) that among all the objects of sense, the eye never saw any thing so grand and beautiful, the ear never heard any thing so delightful and advantageous; amongst all the branches of science, the thoughts of man did never comprehend any thing so completely adapted to bless the whole soul, "as the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,”—even "before the sons of men:” which things are given to them on this side the grave, as a pledge of what they shall possess in the perfection of glory to all eternity. 1 Cor. 2: 9. Ps. 31 : 19. CHRISTIAN JOY. 109 CHAPTER XXXIX. > V _ . ' * •. ^ * 1 ' > CII11ISTI*1JY J f0 1 \—com Zinued* ■ ' - \ w w ? f \ ‘ . ' : . . * ' ~ ' *' r * THE REASONABLENESS OF EXPECTING IT. . There is nothing perhaps, at first view, more unac» countable than the strong prejudices which are enter¬ tained against the peculiar delights which spring from the knowledge of Christ. That the doctrines of the Gospel should offend is no wonder, for the haughty spirit of man cannot brook the self-abasement they re¬ quire. That its precepts should be complained of, it is easy to suppose from the self-denial they enjoin. But that men, who call themselves Christians, should quarrel even with the joys of their own religion; that they should contemn them as at variance with solid reason and sound judgment, is indeed a most surprising fact: since upon the bare report of such sources of joy, our natural desire of happiness, one would conclude, must strongly prompt us to wish them real 3 and frequent disappointment from the world must incline us to think it also reasonable, that there should be some friendly sanctuary appointed for man, in which true joy and peace might be found. But upon closer inquiry we shall discover the ground of these violent prejudices against the joys of the Chris¬ tian faith. If these joys were allowed to be real, then those who have no experience of them must, by their own confession, discover that they themselves are des¬ titute of true Christianity; they must be compelled to own how low their own religion is, which consists in 18 Duty if Man. 4-10 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. assenting to Scripture truths without feeling their power; in a round of duties without spiritual life ; in being honest, sober and harmless, without any more delight in God than professed infidels experience. The character, peace and security, therefore, of all nominal Christians are at stake, and they are concerned for their own sakes to cry down that joy as enthusiastic, to which they are themselves strangers. Add to this that " the spirit that lusteth in us to envy,” cannot allow others to receive tokens of the favorable loving-kind ness of God, of which we do not partake ourselves. From these causes, enforced perhaps by a few in stances of real delusion, we may fairly account for the general prejudice against one of the noblest privileges of a Christian, delight and joy in God. In vindication, therefore, of this privilege, I shall prove it reasonable to conclude that real Christians may experience, from the sources of joy already mentioned, peculiar happiness; and that it is certain they in fact do. 1 . First then, It is most reasonable to conclude that real Christians may experience peculiar happiness, be¬ cause the infinitely glorious God always proposes him¬ self, in his own blessed word, to our conceptions, under the character of a Father to the faithful in Christ, in a sense to which none besides themselves can lay claim. It would be endless to cite all the passages which assert this important distinction. The Kedeemer, in the plain¬ est manner possible, distinguishes all believers, to the end of time, from the rest of mankind: "For whoso¬ ever,” says he, "shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,”—that is, in believing reverential regard to me,—" the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. ” And when he was going into heaven he said unto the representatives of the whole body of believers, " I as¬ cend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.” The apostle makes the very same dis- CHRISTIAN JOY. 411 tinction, and exhorts those who were wavering whether they should separate and come out from the world or not, to shun all conformity to the ungodly from this very motive, that then God would ” receive them and be a Father unto them, that they should be his sons and daughters.” 2 Cor. 6 : 17, 18. As the great God then stands in this relation of a Fa- ther peculiarly to true believers, we may assuredly con- elude from thence, notwithstanding the distance between him and us, that his affection towards these his children far surpasses the love of earthly parents towards their own offspring. But where is the parent worthy of that tender name, who does not manifest his delight in all his dutiful children—who does not make their state of sub¬ jection a pleasure to them by numerous tokens of pa rental love 1 Is it not reasonable then to conclude that A the eternal Father may make as sensible a difference between believers and hypocrites, as we do between our duteous children, who deserve and want encouragement from us, and stubborn ones who must be kept under a frown 1—that he should manifest himself to the one as he doth not to the other 1—that, to use his own words, ' T his secret should be with them that fear him, and that he should show them his covenant,” whilst others re¬ main in a state of distance from him I—whilst utter strangers to spiritual light, they are left to grovel in the pleasures of sin and the things of time, which they are base enough to prefer to God, and to the riches of his grace I Certainly this is a most rational conclusion; es pecially when it is considered that believers are declar ed through the whole Bible to be the delight ar d the treasure of God. Nor is this to be objected against, as implying on the one hand too great a humiliation in the God of glory, or on the other, making men of too great importance with him; because this Scripture account of the connection 412 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. between God and believers necessarily supposes such condescension and regard to be paid to them. He there¬ fore, who, upon either of these presumptions, is ready to deride the peculiar joy of believers, despiseth not man, but his adorable Creator, who expressly says of the faithful, " I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 2 Cor. 6 : 16. 2 . Further; The reasonableness of supposing that be¬ lievers may experience peculiar delight, will appear more evident, from considering in what manner a tender father treats his children , who from their relation to him are exposed to the persecution of his foes. Here all the fire of parental love blazes out$ here it is the parent’s highest gratification to caress his suffering children with all possible demonstrations of his delight in them. If we then, to use our Lord’s inference, being evil, know how in such cases to reward, by an overflowing of affection, our children ; how much more shall our heavenly Father in some better manner give tokens of his delight in them who are sufferers through zeal to his truth, and love to his name 1 But who can be a Christian, according to the Scripture definition of that character, and not suffer for # it, whilst the world lieth in wickedness I Who can ab¬ stain from all profaneness and carelessness, without meeting immediately with much to exercise his patience, to try his courage, and to prove his Christian fidelity 1 What young person especially, (and a very great part of the servants of God devote themselves to him in the days of their youth,) what young person, I say, shall dare to be more godly than those about him choose to be themselves, without experiencing a persecution, which, though domestic and little observed, is very grievous to flesh and blood to bear 1 In such cases does not sound reason justify the Scripture assertion, and teach us to conclude, that God will afford some immediate counter- CHRISTIAN JOY. 413 balance to what is inflicted upon these confessors of his name and truth 1 that he will enlighten the eyes of their understanding to " know what is the hope of their call¬ ing, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards them that believe,” to save and defend them 1 Wherfe is the enthusiasm of supposing that in such cases this Scripture is fulfilled to the joy of every believer’s heart 1 " O how great is thy goodness,” 0 God, "which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee be fore the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the se¬ cret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shah keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Psalm 31 : 19, 20. In this passage the Al¬ mighty is represented as giving his faithful people such a lively sense of his favorable presence with them as shall keep them from growing weary of his service, and from repenting of their boldness for his truth : for by the secret communication of his grace and comfort to them, they shall pass their time as in a pavilion or tent, a place made on purpose for delight, though the strife of opposing or reviling tongues be heard around them. Which position, then, is most reasonable and conso nant to the Scripture character of God,—to assert that he does, or that he does not in this manner care for those that love him I And if it be allowed that he exer¬ cises all the favor promised to them in the Bible, it may be asked, Which is the absurd position, to affirm that they may, or to be peremptory that they do not enjoy, in the midst of their self-denied obedience, such delight as others know not of, and which is far better than all the joys of the world 1 3. It is most reasonable also to conclude, that believ¬ ers in Christ Jesus may experience very peculiar de¬ light, because they seek their joy from God alone. The ( 414 COMPLETE DUTY OF JOAN. acquisition of riches will not satisfy them, nor the en¬ joyment of health, or honor, or long life. ” Lord,” they cry, " who is like unto thee 1 Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us $ this will put more joy into our hearts than the increase of corn and wine.” What then is there savoring of enthusiasm in supposing that God, who both deserves such supreme love, and strictly requires it, should answer those, who thus give unto him the honor due unto his name, according to the de¬ sires of their hearts 1 —what more reasonable, than to conclude that all those who are so divinely changed as to prefer infinitely the delight of communion with God, to every thing earthly and sensual, should each of them have immediate cause to say, ” The word of our God is true ; he hath done unto me according to the decla¬ ration of his grace, in which he caused me to put my trust!” " I love them,” saith the Lord, " that love me, and they that seek me early (earnestly) shall find me. Riches and honor are with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness ; that I may cause those who love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures.” Prov. S : 17, 18, 21. 4. Again: It is highly reasonable to conclude that real Christians may enjoy peculiar happiness in this life, because shortly their eternal state will be so immensely different from* that of the careless and ungodly. The latter, alas ! hardened even unto death, then meet with a full reward for their deeds in the frown of an angry God, and in the feelings of a conscience that can know no rest. The former are no sooner absent from the body than we are assured they shall be present with the Lord . I would ask then, Is it not most reasonable to suppose that some kind of anticipation of this bliss is enjoyed before the fulness of it is revealed to their transported souls \—that those blessed heirs of salvation who are soon to inherit the promises, should have a delightful I CHRISTIAN JOY. 415 acquaintance with their meaning and appropriation be- forehand, and some degree of joy in their God, the same in kind with what is reserved for them in heaven 1 that those, whom the King of kings will confess before men and angels, and reward with everlasting honors, should in their own consciences rejoice in the hope of glory, and, as the Scripture affirms, should be sealed ” of God, and have the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts 1 Is not this much more reasonable than the supposition, that those who are very soon to be as widely distant from each other as heaven from hell, should be at present alike destitute of any sensible en¬ joyment of the divine favor 1—that both should be left to go on till the day of death and final separation; the one no more than the other experiencing the comfort of God’s Spirit, the light of his countenance, and the joy of his salvation 1 Certainly there can be no greater absurdity than to imagine this. What has been said may suffice to prove, that it is not in the least degree enthusiastic to conclude that the faithful in Christ Jesus may have peculiar gratifications of their own ; and it may convince us that the experience of these delights, too often exploded as delusive, will appear, upon closer examination, to be perfectly rational. 5. But it is not merely upon its reasonableness that we rest the belief of a Christian’s enjoying superior delights: the Scripture, our only unerring guide, has taught us to expect it: it has been foretold by the pro¬ phets and promised by the Redeemer. By the prophets it is foretold with as much clearness, and in as strong terms, as either the holiness of Christians or the glory of their Redeemer. Thus in Psalm 89 : 15, 16, 17, the whole body of believers is in this manner characterized: " Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound ; they shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy 416 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. righteousness shall they be exalted: for thou art the glory of their strength, and in thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence, and the Holy One of Israel is our King.” In what stronger colors than these could any person, whose life was one con¬ tinued scene of enjoyment, be represented'l For what first strikes the eye as the principal feature in this painting, is the peculiar delight of believers in Christ; delight arising merely from their knowledge and clear understanding of the everlasting Gospel, called in this passage, " The joyful sound.” Full of the same spirit of inspiration, Isaiah describes the Christian church as rejoicing before God " accord¬ ing to the .joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil:” and the cause of their exultation is, that "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah, 9:6. In another part of his writings Christian believers are represented under the image of persons brought by the Lord of hosts to a festivity where pleasures are crowded to give entertainment t<5 each of the senses 5 where every thing that can regale, gratify and exhilarate, is poured forth in the greatest abundance. Isaiah, 25 : 6 . In other passages they are spoken of as returning to Sion " with songs and ever¬ lasting joy upon their heads :”—" as going out with joy, and led forth with peace.” Isa. 35 : 10 ; 55 : 12 . Every one of these passages, and many more that might be produced, relate wholly to the joyful frame of mind with which the church of Christ was to receive his Gospel. But what likeness doth the picture bear to the persons for whom it was drawn, unless believers enjoy much spiritual delight 1 Between mere nominal Chris¬ tians, who are made no happier by their faith, and true Christians thus represented by the prophets, there is no CHRISTIAN JOY. 417 resemblance. Yet surely we cannot but observe, that so positive is the prophetic description that such shall be the enjoyment of Christ’s faithful people, that the veracity of God stands engaged to make good the de¬ lightful prediction. Unless therefore, with the Saddu- eees, we deny the authority of the prophetic books, we must allow that Christians certainly possess incom¬ parable joys. Further, What the prophets foretold with one voice, the Redeemer himself has confirmed by his own express declarations and promises. On account of the blessings which his Gospel, as soon as it is truly believed, puts a man in possession of, and the joy with which it inspires and fills his soul, he says, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field: the which when a man hath found he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” Matt. 13 : 44. We know how the news of an estate un¬ expectedly bequeathed to us elevates the heart: in the very same manner Christ in this passage declares, that a clear view of the glory of the Gospel affects the be¬ liever. In another place he represents the immediate effect of believing in his name to be such an abundant satisfaction to the soul, as to extinguish its restless ap¬ petite for the things of the world, and to cause fresh supports and consolations to spring up to an overflow ing fulness, till all the believer’s wants are entirely re* moved, and all his desires completely satisfied in the enjoyment of eternal life : " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John, 4 : 14. "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake Jesus of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.” John, 7: 38, 39. 18 * 418 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. In what more express terms, by wliat more lively images could the possession of peace and joy by his true disciples be asserted 1 And this is not confined to the more eminent followers of the Lamb, but is the common privilege of every one who drinketh of the water which Christ giveth, of every one that believeth on his name What the woman of Samaria thus heard in private at one time from the mouth of Jesus, and the vast concourse of Jewish people at another, of the happiness of believ¬ ing on his name, under the figure of a fountain, and ri¬ vers of living waters, he plainly and literally affirms to nis apostles in his affectionate and parting conversation with them. "He that hath my commandments,”—who understands, receives and embraces them all, " and keep- eth them,”—not only extols, but will not violate them, whatever loss or suffering they may expose him to; " he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him:” he shall not only be the object of my delight and of my affections, but live under the sensible manifestations of my glory, faithfulness and grace. One of his disciples, clearly understanding the Redeemer to mean some inestimable favor which was to be enjoyed by them, and not by the world, asks him, " How is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world 1 Jesus answered and said unto him, If any 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;” not leaving him, as one friend does another, after a transient visit, sorrowing the more for his ab¬ sence, but as a fixed inhabitant, whose presence shall be experienced in light and strength, comfort and joy. Lest this evidence should not be sufficient to overcome the unbelief of the human heart, with respect to the enjoy¬ ment of such spiritual delight in the service of Christ, he says again, " Peace I leave with you, my peace,” such CHRISTIAN JOY. 419 as I myself enjoy, as well as bestow, " I give unto you.” And lest it should be thought his followers in distant ages of the world were not so much interested in these promises as his immediate disciples, he comprehends the apostles, and all that should ever believe in him through their word, in one and the same all-prevailing prayer, which concludes with these words, equally ap¬ plicable to his whole church, which shall be saved, " That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John, 17 : 26. CHAPTER XL. CauiSTMJV JOIT.—continued. ITS CERTAINTY AND BENEFITS. It is of so much importance to give a just impression of the happiness of the service of our Redeemer, that we have been very full in explaining the sources from which it arises, and the reasonableness of expecting it; but however reasonable it may be that Christians should expect it, still it will be inquired, whether, in point of fact, they do enjoy it. This inquiry I shall now answer And here let me first refer you to the example of the primitive Christians. Immediately after that great con¬ version on the day of Pentecost, their behavior is de¬ scribed in several particulars, and their state of mind, which indeed showed itself in their actions, is suffi¬ ciently signified by two words, " gladness ” or exultation, and " singleness ” of heart. In the same book of the 420 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. Acts, after Philip’s preaching in the city of Samaria is mentioned, it is remarked, " There was great joy in that city.” When the jailor who had St. Paul in custody, had heard him once speak the word of the Lord j be¬ sides his actions, which plainly implied great alacrity of heart, it is expressly added in the close, that "he rejoic* ed.” The same account is given of the Ethiopian eunuch. As soon as Philip had preached Jesus unto him, he was baptized; and though his heaven-appointed guide was snatched from him, yet the doctrine taking place in his heart, "he went on his way,” it is not said reasoning, or deeply meditating only, but "rejoicing.” Indeed we have reason to think that all who heard the Gospel to any good purpose, heard it with the same sentiments of joy. They acted at first like persons quite amazed and surprised with the grace of God. Before habit or improvement could have had time, as yet, to manifest themselves, they were raised by the pure joy of the Gos¬ pel above this world, and ready in its defence to em¬ brace the martyr’s stake. Now if, when the Gospel was first published, the genuine effect of it in every place was gladness of heart, you must either affirm that the Christians who lived at the first promulgation of the Gos¬ pel, were of a quite different species from those who now sincerely profess the same faith, or you must grant it to be a certain fact, that all real Christians " rejoice in the ’ Lord, and joy in the God of their salvation.” To evade this conclusion, it has been urged, that the persecutions which took place in the first ages of Chris¬ tianity called for such manifestations of God’s love : but that now they are no longer needed , and therefore not to be expected. As this assertion is become very general, and its influence extremely pernicious, it shall receive a full refutation. Adopt, then, this false notion, and Scripture itself must lose its chief value. For we may say with as much rea* CHRISTIAN JOY. 421 son of the whole, as of those passages which have been urged above, that they were delivered to particular per¬ sons on particular occasions. Wherefore, if Scripture belongs to those to whom it was first addressed, in a sense in which it belongs not to the church in every age, then the Bible, instead of being a system of eternal truth, and an invariable rule of life, equally obligatory on all Christians, will dwindle into an antiquated, obso¬ lete book. It will absolutely require a discrimination to be settled between the Scripture designed for the comfort and joy of the first believers in Christ, and that which those who live in after ages may claim: just as some papists divide the practical part of the New Tes¬ tament into absolute commands, which belong to all, and counsels of perfection given only to a few. Besides, this notion is contrary to Scripture. St.John declares, the end for which he labored to establish Chris¬ tianity, was not merely the belief of the miracles, death and resurrection of Christ, but " that ye,” saith he, " might have fellowship with us,” i. e. an equal share in all the high privileges, holy influences and divine consolations which belong to that one body, the church, of which Christ himself, full of power and glory, is the head. But we flatly contradict the apostle, when we affirm that there is a difference in point of spiritual pri¬ vileges between even the chosen twelve, and those who have obtained like precious faith with them to the end of time. But the absurdity of this popular notion is no less gross than its contradiction to Scripture. For, have not all Christians one faith 1 The truth that saves them, is it not invariably the same 1 Have they not one Spirit to teach this truth to the mind, and make it effectual 1 Is not the practice of duty in the same extent required! the same sacrifice of worldly interests! the cutting off the right hand, and plucking out the right eye ! And is 422 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. not one heaven the everlasting habitation of all true Christians 1 As there is a perfect parity, then, in all these most interesting points, what reason can there be to suppose that there should arise such a vast dispropor¬ tion in the matter of present joy and delight, from the influence of the same truth, the same hope, and the same Spirit % Especially, since the word of God informs \is, that all who are ever disposed to embrace the hea¬ venly Physician must first feel the sickness of their souls, and their danger of eternal death; that all who will be saved, must be first weary and heavy-laden with the burden of their guilt. This conviction annihilates, as it were, all the distance of time, and all difference of external circumstances between the contemporaries with Christ and his apostles, and succeeding believers, to the end of the world : because without this conviction of sin, though Paul were preaching, or Jesus himself working miracles before our eyes, his salvation must be rejected; and with it, the record God has given of his Son becomes precious, he is altogether lovely and full of glory. But besides the united testimony of prophets, apos¬ tles, and the Savior himself, in proof that real believers in his name do actually enjoy peculiar delight in his service, there is the evidence of daily fact. For how can we otherwise account for the total alteration both of choice and conduct in some persons of all ranks, and of all ages, and of all tempers, as soon as they really behold the glory of the Gospel % All these are unani¬ mous in avowing that they never knew what true hap¬ piness meant before they believed. Whatever they found formerly from the pleasures of sin, they confess has been rendered comparatively worthless in their view by their spiritual joy. Hence, long after the ter¬ rors of the Lord have ceased to awaken their fears, they keep at a distance from sin and vanity, from per- CHRISTIAN JOY. 423 sons, things, and amusements on which they once doted, in order to enjoy more of what now makes them happy. Nor can this he owing to notions put into their heads, or to the force of imagination exciting fantastic joy, because great numbers have had no idea that there was any such thing as delight in God, till it sprung up in their own hearts, at once the object of their surprise and the cause of their preference of the service of the Lord to all other things. Add to this that many who, notwithstanding their meek and prudent deportment, fall under the displeasure of their relatives for their godliness, and are treated with hardship on that ac¬ count, are still far from desiring to make their peace at the expense of becoming gay, foolish and careless, as they once were. They can find a sweetness in se¬ cret prayer, reading and meditation, which is better to them than all their former idle mirth and loud laughter, with the friendship and good countenance of the family to reward it. If it be asked, Who knows such instances 1 I answer, the history of the church attests that there have been such in all ages. The most serious and godly part of the Christian world at this very day, young as well as old, are all witnesses of this truth; whilst on account of the better pleasure they are acquainted with, and not from any cynical humor, they have lost their taste for the trash and folly in which they themselves had once as much joy as others. Unless, therefore, we will shut our 2 ars against the plain voice of Scripture, and our eyes against what is daily to be seen, we must confess that the persons who enjoy the best pleasures upon earth, are those who receive and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as believers do in fact enjoy such delight, who can but observe the grace and kindness of their Re¬ deemer in ordering that it should be sol Were men born with a different constitution, or placed in a situa- 424 'COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. • tion more favorable to obedience, it might secure then fidelity plainly to mark out the line of duty, and to en force the observance of it with rewards too great t<8 be brought into comparison with any pleasure or gain arising from transgression. But when we consider our nature, what is so visible as that we are all greedy of present gratification I—and that our inclinations from our very birth impetuously hurry us on to take pleasure in things which are forbidden of God] Look upon the youth of each sex, how continually are they prompted from within, how powerfully solicited from without, to forsake the path of duty from the Very first moment they enter on the stage of the world! how fatally in¬ clined to prefer every entertainment of folly and sin to the most beneficial employment of their time ; and with strong disgust to hear of God’s authority, which would interfere with their favorite pleasures! The female sex,* though in youth more restrained from gross vice, place their delight in indulging vanity, in obtaining distinc¬ tion for elegance of form, gaudy attire or a splendid appearance: pleased to walk with " stretched forth necks and wanton eyes,” fond above measure of levity and dissipation, and of course equally averse to the rule of duty. In the next stage of life, though the ob jects of gratification somewhat vary, still the inordinate affection towards them is as vehement as ever; still ambition, luxury or the pride of life are cherished and indulged, as the chief means of happiness. Such is our natural disposition: unwilling to ex¬ change sensual gratifications and earthly pursuits for the claims of the Gospel, however rich and glorious may be its future reward. Alas! this reward is only to be received through the hands of death, which all men naturally choose to put at a distance from them. Make now, on the contrary, the proposal with which the .Re¬ deemer invites us into his service ; prove that " there CHRISTIAN JOY. 425 is no man that hath left houses, or brethren, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for his sake and- the Gospel’s, but (in a spiritual sense, through the consolations of God with him, and the fa¬ vor of his peculiar providence) he shall receive an hun¬ dred fold now in this time , houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with per¬ secution, and in the world to come eternal life.” Mark, 10 : 29, 30. Here is presented a gracious and abundant reward for any sacrifice made in obedience and love to Christ. Here is not mere authority to overawe us, as it Avere, into obedience; but such spiritual delight asr makes us entirely approve of our choice, and freely confess, to the glory of God, that we were utterly blind for not embracing it before. And as this present spiritual joy becomes an en¬ couragement to believers to engage in the service of Christ, so is it likewise to discharge the duties required at their hands. For to them are the commands ad- •'dressed, "In every thing give thanks;—rejoice in the Lord evermore: be content with such things as ye have :—be patient in tribulation.” All these dispositions of mind are but a just acknowledgment of the mercies of redemption, and a proper gratitude for "the abun¬ dance of the gift of grace and justification unto eternal life.” These dispositions can have their residence only where the soul is elevated by the power of a divine faith, and habituated to such views of the great salva¬ tion of God as excite to thanksgiving: such views as reduce sufferings, which to the eye of sense and reason are most formidable, into light afflictions; and self-de¬ nials, which are to nature most grievous, into welcome tests of the believer’s sincerity towards God. Take away all such views, and it would be impossible to have joy in God in time of trouble, and under every cross befalling us to give thanks. But if we are indeed 426 COMPLETE DUTY OP MAN. risen with Christ, if our life be hid with Christ in God, if we already joy in him, and have this hope, that when He who is our life shall appear, we shall appear also with him in glory, this will give us the victory over our natural fears, and contentment in our most trying cir¬ cumstances. These evidences in proof of the reasonableness, cer¬ tainty and benefits of the joy of believers, are sufficient to satisfy all, I trust, who will submit to the authority of Scripture, and to deductions clearly drawn from it. I shall add therefore nothing more but a caution against the wrong use of this doctrine, and an exhortation to all persons, as they love their own happiness, to seek, in the first place, the enjoyment of the blessings of the Gospel. It must be remembered then, that the delight of Christians is various in its degree , according to men’s respective characters. The weak in faith enjoy but little in comparison of the strong. Reproaches, pains and pressures, which are almost too heavy for the one, are borne by the other with alacrity. A small storm is apt to affright the weak in faith, and make them dread a shipwreck; whilst the strong, by a more clear know¬ ledge of God’s word and will, and more experience of his dealings, can trust without fear the care of their heavenly Pilot, though the tempest rage, and neither sun, nor moon, nor stars be visible for many days. Some are apt soon to yield to discouraging thoughts, if they be not speedily delivered from the perils and alarms attendant on the spiritual combat j whilst others, like veteran soldiers, can follow the Captain of their sal¬ vation, and endure hardships without fainting in their minds. Some, who are but babes in Christ, ignorant of the discipline of their heavenly Father’s house, find it difficult to believe that they are his children when they feel the strength of their corruptions, or lose the sensi¬ ble sweetness of communion with him ) whilst others, CHRISTIAN JOY. 427 who understand the loving-kindness of the Lord, no longer estimate their safety, or the favor of God to¬ wards them, solely by their own present sense and feel¬ ing. Some of very tender consciences and vehement desires to be holy, are ready to despond upon the dis¬ covery of the infirmities and defects which are found in all real Christians; whilst others of a sounder judg¬ ment only sink, at the sight of them, deeper into humi¬ lity, cleave still more steadfastly to the Lord their hope, and so hold fast the confidence of their rejoicing. In the same persons, also, at different times spiritual delight must be different, varying both according to their temptations, their faithfulness to God, their dili¬ gence in holy duties, and the good pleasure of Him from whose presence all consolation comes. Whilst therefore it must be strenuously maintained as a noble privilege of real Christians, that they rejoice in the sal¬ vation of God, still the precise degree as well as conti¬ nuance of that joy must not be absolutely fixed and made the test of all saving faith; for then we shall often make sad the hearts of the righteous, whom God would not have made sad ; and beat down the weak, in stead of strengthening and encouraging them. Nevertheless, if persons making a profession of reli¬ gion he habitually strangers to the delight so much spoken of throughout the Bible, they have reason to suspect the soundness of their faith;—abundant cause there is indeed for a thorough examination whether there is not some worldliness of temper, or some idol, as money or forbidden pleasure, which robs God of the supreme love he requires; or whether they have not mean thoughts of Christ’s grace and power, but high ones of their own obedience. This scrutiny is necessary, and ought to be repeated, where no spiritual delight is experienced ; because certainly the proper and abiding state of believers is that of delight in God; his kingdom 428 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. within them is a kingdom of " righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Since then the present advantages of true faith are so great, who can have the lowest feelings of humanity, and not breathe out to God the apostle’s ardent prayer, O that all who hear the sound of the Gospel this day were "not almost, but altogether” Christians !—0 that the tongues of men and angels were employed, and the arm of the Lord revealed, to compel our fellow-sinners to come in, that his house might be filled. Ye young and gay, ye rich and noble, be no longer prejudiced against the Gospel of Christ, as if it were too strict a rule of duty for you to walk by, consistently with happiness. Examine it more closely, and make a fair trial of submission to it 5 you will then find it an em¬ bassy of peace and reconciliation from the God of love to a world of rebels in arms against him ; an assemblage of promises, privileges and delights, suitable to all your wants, and adequate to your desires: designed to knit your hearts unto him, that you may ever love his name * of delights, which though not always the same, yet at their lowest ebb are superior to every thing the world can afford. Cease for ever, ye deluded men, to indulge your love of licentiousness and mirth, of wealth and honor, as if you must be miserable or melancholy if deprived of these sources of gratification. Hearken and be persuad¬ ed ! The Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, makes a marriage-supper for his Son; that Son says, respecting such as you, "I stand at the door and knock ; if any man open, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me 3”—that is, we will dwell together on terms of the most intimate friendship and affection, and cheerfully feast together in token of reciprocal love Consider this as you ought. I urge not upon you what must be your future doom, if you will not receive H ? ^» CHRISTIAN JOY. 429 that thus speaketh from heaven: I dwell not on that tre¬ mendous hour that will come, too soon alas! when all your polluted sources of joy will be terribly transformed into your everlasting tormentors: I do not attempt to lay open the horrors of that Tophet, " which is deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it j” but I beseech you by the consolations that are in Christ, by the comforts of love, by the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, call upon God, that you may lay aside all wickedness and superfluity of naughtiness j that these inestimable blessings may immediately be your portion, and have place in your hearts. Deal not so madly any longer as to prefer licentious indulgence, or the cup of intemperance, to that fountain of joy which makes glad the whole church of God in heaven and earth:—a state of pagan ignorance and estrangement from God, to the light of life shining in your souls;—or the love of the world, and the things of the world, to the pledge and earnest of everlasting glory. Consider what a cloud of witnesses are ready to appear against you, to confront and confound you; they felt so much immediate delight in the Lord Jesus, as to be glad to renounce every comfort of life for his sake, to take joy¬ fully the spoiling of their goods, and to meet death in its most hideous forms. The very same Jesus, not more impaired in his excellency or love by length of days, than the sun in its brightness, offers himself to you in the Gospel. And will you be such despicable dupes to your passions and to the errors of the world as to be afraid of coming into full subjection to Christ, lest you should be sufferers in point of present happiness 1—Suf¬ ferers ! impossible! for all you are required to give up is sordid vice, and the very prostitution of your souls to Satan! Be assured, of all the gross falsehoods he ever makes men credulous enough to receive, this is the 430 COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN. greatest, to imagine any joy equal to that of knowing and loving Christ. Finally, receive instruction, ye decent, self-justifying professors of religion. Go no more about miserably to glean some grains of satisfaction from a good opinion of yourselves, nor labor to walk in the sparks of comfort which can be kindled from the works which you perform, and the principles from which they proceed. No longer tread the tiresome round of duties as a penance enjoin* ed of God to escape damnation, and to gain his favor Uncomfortable, senseless service! To such serious, but grievously mistaken souls, God thus speaks in his word: "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not 1 Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness; for I will give you the sure mercies of David,” that is, Christ. " Behold I have given him for a witness ” (of my free grace and love) " to the people, a leader and command¬ er to the people.” Make him the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end of all your religion, and great will be your peace. You shall delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you your heart’s desire : then shall you have cause to say, with all that are called to be one body in Christ, what Moses in triumph spoke of the church of God in old time : " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for'? Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord I” THE END. unIvers'^uf, 0112 055303728