m 111 li IIIHIIII trir CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library arW38425 Christ is all 3 1924 031 765 575 olln.anx Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031765575 CHKIST IS ALL. STEPHEN H^ TYN&, D.D., BXOTOE 07 ST. OEOKGB'S VHUSCH KKW YOKE. NEW YOEK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, BROADWAJ. 1856. 'J" LIBRARY Entehiisi ucording to Act of Congress, in tlie jrsor 1848, by STEPHEN H. TYNG, In the ClerK'B Office of the District Conrt of the TTnited States £)c tha Southern District of New York. STBRBOTTPKB BY THOUAB B> SUIIH, SI6 wuLua sTsxzT, k. t. INTRODUCTION. The great kindness with which his former pub- lications have been received in the Christian com- munity, has emboldened the Author to offer also the present work to their ac3eptance. His object in it is a very distinct one. Hew far it has been successfully accomplished, he does not presume to judge. His purpose and wish are, to display the spiritual safety of man, as found solely in his per- sonal union, by a living faith, to Christ; — a faith which is of the operation of God; the work of the Holy Ghost within the heart. He believes that there is a very extending tendency and dis- position displayed in the current writings upon the subjects of spiritual instruction, to exalt that which is outward and visible in religious profes- sion, above that which is inward and spiritual in religious experience. It is a tendency which goes far towards making the real work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, appear fanatical and contemptible, while it elevates the means and 4 INTRODUCTION. agencies which are in the hands of man, into an undue place of honour and regard. It almost completely substitutes the outward church for Christ himself; and the form of godliness for its power. It is often united with a mysticism of expression, which wears a false appearance of depth of thought; and a serious earnestness of statement, which would claim the aspect of a real reverence for truth. Against this whole system of ecclesiastical exaltation, the author of this work feels a deep repugnance, as being unscriptural in its character, and destructive of true spiritual piety in its operation. Without a direct or avowed conflict with the principles of this system of error, as he esteems it, he has attempted in these pages, to state, to the best of his ability, the opposite principles of Gospel truth. He has avoided all attempts at fine speech, or newly- invented terms, upon this great subject, and has endeavoured to state his views of truth, in the simplest and most intelligible manner. His single object, is really to exalt and honour the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be the instrument of gather- ing the souls of others unto him. If the Gracious Saviour shall please so to employ and bless his labours, the whole purpose of his efforts will be accomplished. He has no wish to deprecate crit- icism, if his work is considered worthy even of so INTRODUCTION. 5 much notice ; for he believes the principles here taught, to be the principles of eternal and un- changeable truth. They are the Gospel, for which he must contend, and which it is impos- sible for him to yield. Living or dying, all his hope and all his desire are indissclubly bound to the great and precious truths which are here pro- claimed. May God the Spirit, lead his readers to accept and rejoice in the same truths ; by giving them a living, spiritual union with the Glorious Saviour of sinners ! — May they find Him to be in life, or in death, their everlasting portion ! And in a blessed and blissful eternity, may it be their privilege to exclaim, from the consciousness of an unalterable possession of this Mighty Redeemer, as their own Lord, " Christ is ali.." S. H. T. St, GEOBaE's Hmmca, New TorJe, November 1, 1848. CONTENTS. CHAPTER Pago I. CHEI8T IS ALL. . 9 11. IN CHRIST. Retrospeotion, 24 III. do. do. 39 IV. do. Enjoymtint, . 62 V. do. Hope, 66 VI. do. Secueitt, 80 VII. do. HoNont, 93 vin. do. RESPONSIBILlTi-, . 105 IX. do. The Life of Faith, 118 X. do. The Spiritual Call, . 132 XT. do. Oneness in Christ, . 148 XII. WITH CHRIST. Intkoduotion-, . 163 XIII. do. Rest, . . 177 XiV. do. Holiness, Removal of Obstacles, . 190 XV. do. Aids to Holiness, . 204 XVI. do. Heavenly Jot, . 218 XVII. do. Heavenly Worship, . 232 XVlll. do. The Saviour's Glort, . 249 XTX. do. Preparation, . 263 XX. WITHOUT CHRIST Difficulties, . 276 XXI. do. Contests, . 289 XXII. do. Unhappiness, . 303 xxm. do. Dangers, . 317 XXIV. do. Guilt, f. . 330 XXV do. Possible Excellences, . 343 XXVL do. Necessary DjKoisiToiEi , 356 XXVLL do. Solemn Anticipati ONS, . 369 CHRIST IS ALL. OoLOssiANS, iii. 11. CHAPTER I. The spiritual character and the eternal inter- ests of man are both wholly dependant upon his personal relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, the ap- pointed Saviour of mankind. The proposition of the text refers to this spiritual salvation of man; and it must be received as entirely unlimited in its affirmation. In reference to this whole work of grace for the soul of man, " Christ is all." The sinner's deliverance from the penalty and the power of sin, and his reinstatement in the family and the favour of God, are accomplished for him, exclusively by the Saviour himself. In the great undertaking of redeeming mercy, which was to give the victory to man. His arm brought salva- tion to him. In the atoning sufferings which were to be endured for man. He trod the wine- press alone. The righteousness which was to be finished for man's'justification, He hath perfected and brought in foi divine acceptance in man^s be- half. By one offering of Himself, once offered, He hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified. All fulness dwells in him. Exceeding riches of grace are laid up in him. And from his fulness 10 CHRIST IS ALL. we receive grace for grace. The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, is unto all, and upon all that believe. There is no difference. Men are justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption that is i^t Christ Jesus ; and being justified bv faith, thev have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Jhrist. In this re- spect, referring to man's acceptance vv^ith God, " Christ is all." He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. But the apostle makes the affirmation also, in reference to the inward work of man's sanctifica- tion. In the putting on of that new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him, — that setting of man's affections on things above, and mortifying his members which are upon the earth, — ^which distinguish those who are risen with Christ, " Christ is all." By his Spirit, in obedience to his will, and after the pattern of his holiness, this work of new crea- tion is carried on and completed; so that man becomes a new man, renewed in holiness, be- cause by the ingrafting power of the Holy Spirit, he is in Christ, and has put on Christ. Christ is of God, made unto man, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption ; so that he that glorieth, must glory wholly and only in the Lord. The great question therefore which is to be settled in regard to every man, as decidin«»- the whole condition of his soul, is the relation in which he stands to the Lord Jesus Christ. In this great and all important concern, " Christ is all." CHRIST IS ALL. 11 In displaying this personal relation of man to the Son of God, the Holy Scriptures exhibit his condition as threefold. Every descendant of man, is either " in Christ," or " with Christ," or " with- out Christ." These three descriptions include the whole race, and in reference to each, " Christ is all." To be in Christ, is to be in a state of grace and spiritual security on earth, in preparation for a future state of blessedness and glory. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things are passed away: behold all things are become new." To be with Christ, is to be in a final state of exaltation and bliss. " Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." To be without Christ, is to be in a condition of entire spiritual destitution, guilt, and misery. " At that time,- ye were without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world." The state of every man living, whether in the present, or in the unseen world, is described, by one or the other, of these three expressions. No child of Adam can be found, who is not either in a state of unpardoned guilt, and thus without Christ ; or pardoned, and in a state of acceptance with God, and thus in Christ ; or in a state of eternal blessedness and reward, and thus with Christ. And in each of these conditions, every thing connected with the state and prospects of' the soul, depends upon this one fact. " Christ is all." The whole misery of the guilty man, in time and in eternity, arises from his being with- out Christ. The whole security and comfort of the pardoned man, springs from his being in Christ. The whole blessedness of the glorified 12 CHRIST IS ALL, man, is eomprised in the one fact, that he is with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is himself the fountain of all blessings to the soul of man. Union with him, partnership in his possessions, whether in the present state of grace, or in the future, firal state of glory, is the secure possession of every thing, which can he to the soul of man, at all desirable. Man can ask nothing more, to enrich him with all conceivable blessings, than to have a real fellowship, and connection, with the Saviour of mankind; and that fellowship made perma- nent and everlasting. Such a fellowship must open to his endless enjoyment, rivers of pleasure, of the purest and the most satisfying character. If he is one with Christ, all things adapted to promote his joy, or to enlarge his glory, become his forever. He is enriched with all spiritual blessings in Christ, and all things are his, — whether things present, or things to come, — ^be- cause he is Christ's, and Christ is his. '?'or the same reason, separation from Christ, is the neces- sary loss of every thing which the soul of man can desire. There can be no peace to man in this condition, whatever other circumstances of outward advantage he may possess, — because Christ alone is our peace, and alone is able to speak peace, whether to him that is far off, or to him that is nigh. Man has nothing more to dread and if his eyes were open to the truth, he would dread nothing more, than to be thus cut off from the only Redeemer of the guilty soul, — shut out from his favour, and obliged to spend his present time, and his future eternity, without a participa- CHRIST IS ALL. 13 tion in the mercies which this gracious Redeemer alone bestows. The presence of the Saviour makes a heaven of blessedness for the redeemed ; comforting them in every possible trial of an earthly state; and establishing them in .the inconceivable, and unchangeable glories of an everlasting world. Banishment from the Saviour, leaving the guilty forever under the burden and power of their own iniquities, is a punishment in itself, greater than a sinful creature can bear. When he ' says, therefore, " Depart from me, ye cursed," it is a sentence overwhelming in itself, in the relation in which man stands to him, the only source of light and life to the soul, — even though he had not added, " into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." This threefold condition of man in his relation to the Saviour, I purpose, with the Lord's bless- ing, to consider in the following pages. I would e-rhibit, the state of man by nature, — ^the state of man in grace, — and the state of man in glory. My object is to consider him, in each of these con- ditions, in his relation to the Saviour of mankind ; and to display, in various aspects, and illustra- tions, the all-important fact, that in the vast con- cerns of man's redemption, " Christ is all ;" — has accomplished all the work, — bestows all the benefits, — and is entitled to all the glory. To the man in Christ, "Christ is all." He is personally the source and fountain of all the bless- ings which such a man enjoys; and is himself !he greatest and most precious of all gifts, — the unsp ,akable gift of, Qod to him. The complete redemption of man, in all the particular acts and 14 CHRIST IS ALi.. works of mercy which constitute it, is to be found in Christ. And whether you view the whole as one divine work, or pass into an examination of each of the particulars which is comprised within it, the assertion remains unchanged, " Christ is all." The pardon of his sin is in Christ. His iniquities have been laid upon the Saviour, who has become a ransom in his stead, — and as was figured in the ceremony of the scape-goat, — hj has taken them completely away, and made an end of sin for him, in its condemnation and its penalty, by enduring that condemnation in his own body, once for all. There is therefore now, no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus. God sees not iniquity in them, but has blotted out, as a thick cloud, all their transgres- sions. The justification of his soul is in Christ, It was the perfect obedience of this one Saviour, which magnified the law, and made it honorable. His obedience was a righteousness, spotless and everlasting. With this, imputed to his servants, he has covered them as with a robe. For this obe- dience, he was justified ; and declared to be justi- fied, in his resurrection from the dead ; — for death, in consequence of it, could have no dominion over him. By this obedience, they also are justified, partakers of his justification, receiving the right- ousness of God, by faith. And having thus passed from death unto life, in the entire and everlasting reversal of the sentence of God concerning them, they receive that crown of this perfect righteous- ness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, shall give them in the last day. The conversion and CHRIST IS ALL. 15 regeneration of the man in Christ, is also in Christ It is by the power of the Spirit of Christ, — and through the operation of the truth of Christ, — and by the influence of the love of Christ, — ^that he has been brought from Satan unto God. The Holy Spirit dwelling within him, brings him unto Jesus, for every grace,— and show., him, that He is the light and the salvation of his soul. His progress in grace, is all in Christ j — he lives in Christ, — and walks in Christ, — and is growing up into Him who is the head, by the power of His Spirit which dwells within him. If he looks for the source of his gifts, he finds it in Christ. If he considers the origin of his hopes, this also is in Christ. If he contemplates his path of duty, or his personal responsibility ; — the work which he must do,^— or the strength by which he must do it, — or the authority under which it must be done,-^or the account which he must give for it, when it is done, — " Christ is all." He returns from every meditation upon his personal condition, in all its aspects, whether of the joys which he receives, — or the consolations which attend his trials, — or the trials which are made the means of consolations, — or the sorrow which he feels for sin, — or the forgiveness which comforts him in his sorrow, — or his hope of acceptance at a Fa- ther's throne, — or his prospect of perseverance in the path of earthly duty, — or his desire for the spirit of adoption, to make that path peaceful and happy,— -or his inheritance in the kingdom of his Father ; — he returns from every meditation upon each of these subjects of most serious and absorbing thought, to say,—" Christ is all." He 16 CHRIST IS ALL. becomes more simply determined, to know noth- ing else, in his soul's relations, and more invol- untarily convinced, that there is nothing else to know. And however self-righteousness may reject, or unbelief may despise, this Glorious Re- deemer ; his simple faith lays hold upon Him, in the exclamation, " This is all my salvation and all my desire :" — " Here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein ; and this shall be my heritage forever, for it is the very joy of my heart." To the man with Christ, " Christ is all." It is His gracious presence, which makes an abode of peace, and a recompense of reward, for His peo- ple. His promise was, that they should be with Him, and behold His glory. He went before them, as a forerunner, to prepare a place for them, — that where He was, they might also be. And however partial, and general in other re- spects, are the revelations of this future state of glory, they are all combined in this one fact, most clearly displayed, the presence of Christ, — and they are made dependant upon this. The living, inward principle, of true religion upon earth, is an abiding, conscious love for Christ, — exciting the soul to desire, — and enabling it to prepare for, the personal presence of the Being, thus truly and ardently Toved. And in every anticipation of a coming glory, to a really spirit- ual mind, — the expression of its feeling towards a beloved Redeemer is, " Whom have I in hea- ven, but Thee ? and there is none upon the earth, that I desire in comparison with Thee." In the present joys of a static of salvation, " Christ is all." These depend not upon the outward circum- CHRIST IS ALL. 17 stances of advantage or disadvantage, in which a man is placed, but upon the conscious enjoy- ment of the presence of a Saviour with the soulj and a clear and reasonable assurance of a per- sonal interest in Him. They are often higher and purer, when man is destitute of all outward ministrations, and is compelled, by the Provi- dence which guides him, to go up from the wilderness of life, leaning upon this beloved Lord alone. The peace of God, which passeth understanding, keeps the hearts and minds of the people of God, througb Christ Jesus alone. It depends upon the degree of simplicity and affection with which He is confided in, and em- braced ; and is as sure and abiding to the truly believing soul, in the seclusion of the chamber of sickness, or in the dungeon of confinement, as amidst any or all of the outward ministra- tions and means of the earthly sanctuary. The more completely Christ becomes all to the soul, the more certain and elevated its joys become. And on the other hand^ the nearer a soul ap- proaches in character, and in enjoyment, to the blessedness and glory of a state of heavenly reward, — ^the more simply and entirely it finds its all, of provision, and joy^ and hope, laid up in Christ. With this divinely imparted spirit, it is prepared for glory, and rendered meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. In the possession and exercise of this spirit, it enters into life. And it is this habit and state of mind and affection, which places the soul perfectly and at once, at home where to every redeemed being, " Christ is all," and the fulness of the Di- 18 CHRIST IS ALt. dne glory shines forth for all in the face of Jesus Christ. If you could conceive, that the Saviour should be separated or absent, from such an expected and offered reward ; — ^that the redeemed man, veho has lived upon the earth, only as he lived in Christ, and stood fast in the Lord; who was taught by the Holy Spirit, to grow up into Christ in all things ; who has been happy only in the anticipation of a Saviour's presence ; and would have been wretched, could he have been deprived of this anticipation; — should find no Saviour there,^-should search in vain for the Lord whom he loved; — there would be no heaven for him. Every hope which he had cherished would expire in dis- appointment ; and in perfect emptiness of spirit, would he ask, " Tell me, where is He, whom my soul loveth." Crowds of angelic beings would be nothing to him. All the beautiful illustrations which the sacred Scriptures contain, made actual realities, would not satisfy a single want. To his soul, — ^fed with hope of the pres- ence of Christ, and accustomed to look forward with joy unspeakable, to the hour when he should be like Him, and see Him as he is, — ^the universe would be emptiness, if He were not there. This divine presence gives attraction and charm to every other provision, which grace has made for him, in the riches of glory ; and is itself, the chief attraction and glory of the state, which thus derives every thing from it. For what is heaven, but a complete elevation and establish- ment of pure religion to the soul ? Whence can such joy ever arise, but from the love of Chirist ? CHRIST IS ALL. 19 In the joys of anticipation here, to the spiritual mind, " Christ is all." In the future state, anticipa- tion has become possession ; and to the man with Christ, it is this possession which constitutes his bliss. There, " Christ is all." And aU joys abound upon him, because he is with Christ. To the man without Cfhrist, " Christ is aU " Not in the possession of such a Saviour,— because he is without Christ. But in his actual state of need, and guilt, and sorrow, all his wants are comprised in this one fact of destitution, that he has no Sa- viour. The difficulties which press him, arise from this one want. Could this want be supplied, every grief would be banished, and every danger would be removed forever. And whether you view him, in his condition on earth, or in a future state of recompense, this fact is unchanged ;— could you bring him to Christ, and unite him in love and faith to Him, at any period of his progress, you would change aU his mourning into joy, and wipe away aU tears from his eyes. In the pres- ent earthly condition of the man without Christ, a change of this one fact would make an entire change in all the facts which constitute or affect his state. The works impossible for him to per- form, and which must notwithstanding be finished, would be found completed in a Saviour. The dangers from which he can never escape in any strength or wisdom of his own, would be found re- moved forever by the divine power of his Lord. The sorrows which now crush him with their bur- den, and which can only increase as time passes away, would find an adequate and perfect conso- lation in Jesus. The sinner would become a new 20 CHRIST IS ALL. man in all his relations, and find nothing left for him to desire, but a constant increase in the knowl- edge and love of this glorious and accepted Ke- deemer. Every longing of his soul would be satisfied, when blessed with this full salvation. The reality of this statement has been already proved, in all the millions of instances in which men have been brought from the darkness of their guilt to the marvellous light of the Gospel. Herein they do rejoice,— yea, and will rejoice, receiving the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls. They are filled with aU hope, and joy, and peace in believing, because they are no longer strangers and foreigners, — aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and without God in the world, — ^but have put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and have access unto the Father, through Him, by the Holy Ghost. Could the same mighty Saviour be offered and accepted in hellj there would be hell no more. Redemption offered and accepted through the blood of Jesus, would transform all the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction into ves- sels of mercy, meet for the Master's use ; — ^would change the groans of bitterness into songs of praise ;— would bring deliverance to the captive, and let the oppressed go free. It is the eternal impossibility of this, — ^the everlasting absence of a Saviour, — ^the fearful fact, that no anointed Redeemer can ever go into that world to save sinners,— which constitutes the gloom and wretch- edness of that abode of despair, and shuts out every ray of hope, and light, from the souls who are condemned to be without Christ forever. Because they have rejected Him, he hath also CHRIST IS ALL. 21 rejected them. He will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh.. They may call upon Him, hut He will not answer. They may seek Him early, but they shall not find Him. Yet though this transformation of their condition is impossible, the fact remains the same, that " Christ is all" for them. Their wants are all com- prised in that which He has done. Their sorrows all arise from their despising and rejecting of this one provided Saviour. They are miserable for- ever, because they are forever without Christ. Their wretchedness in this condition is extreme, and cannot be alleviated; — because the Lord whom they have rejected, visits them no more, and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indig- nation, which shall devour the adversaries of God. Whether, therefore, the jiian without Christ be in a state of probation, or in a state of recompense, "Christ is all" to him, — he^ needs nothing else. Could he gain an interest and portion in Him, he would have every thing laid up in Him, and all things would become his, because he is Christ's. The importance of the truth which has been here laid open, cannot be magnified. Every thing for you depends upon this one fact. The impor- tance of a distinct statement of such truth to you, is equally great. Unfaithfulness in ministration on this point is ruin to the souls of men. The ministers of the Gospel are sent to teach and to preach the Lord Jesus Christ, and to persuade men not to receive the grace of God in vain.' The weapons of their warfare are not carnal, but spir- itual, and mighty through God, to the pulling 22 CHRIST IS ALL. down of strongholds, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Clirist. The instrument of their influence and power, is not an ofiicial autliority residing in them, but the preach- ing of the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven. The method by which you be- come partakers of the blessing, is not by any in- corporation in Qutward ordinances or services, but by an acceptance of the truth in your hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given unto you. And as freely as Christ is oflfered to you,' — to be all your salvation, — so freely is He to be accepted by you, as having every thing laid up in himself for you. We do not labour, therefore, to lead you to a mere external union with an earthly church, but to bring you to a spiritual, inward fellowship with Christ, — a fellowship which you will attain and enjoy, when it is -given you on behalf of God, by His Holy Spirit, to believe on His name. We urge you therefore to receive Christ Jesus the Lord ; to be rooted and built up in him ; to renounce all works of your own, that you may find your right- eousness in him. We urge you to count every thing but loss for Christ's sake ; to lose your own life, — all confidence in any inward power of your owTi to live, — for Him, that you may find in Him a life eternal, — a life hidden with Him in God ; that when He shall appear, you may also appear with Him in glory. O ! it is this coming to Christ, in the conscious emptiness of a craving nature, — this hungering and thirsting after Him ; this feed- ing upon Him in the soul, eating and drinking Him in the delighted resting of the spirit upon Him ; making Him alone your life and your sal- CHRIST IS ALL. 23 vation ; seeking every thing in Him, contented that every thing for you, should dwell in Him for- ever ; — it is this transferring of the soul, in all its hopes, and fears, and aims, and doubts, and works, and responsibilities, completely to Him, — this tak- ing of Him in exchange for the soul, this embracing of Hi*n in the work which he has finished, and the work which he only is able to finish ; this simple, determined abiding at his feet, in confidence amidst all doubts, in affectionate trust amidst all fears, with entwining adherence amidst all temptations ; — it is this, which gives life to the soul, and then preserves it, in the life which it has imparted. It is this which removes all dan- gers, settles all difficulties, bestows all gifts, and establishes the soul in grace, and keeps it by the power of Crod, through faith unto salvation. Hith- er, then, let sinners gather with unfeigned repen- tance. Here let saints abide in living faith. All shall be one in Christ Jesus; and every hand- writing which is against you, and contrary to you, shall be blotted out, and taken away, and nailed forever to his cross, by this one almighty, all- sufficient, Saviour of guilty, perishing man. IN CHRIST. I KNEW A MAN IN CHRIST.— 3 Coeinthuns, lii. 3. CHAPTER II. RETROSPECTION. I HAVE selected this simple statement of the Apostle, because it precisely affirms the one great fact of man's condition, which I desire now to present to the consideration of my readers. " In Christ." It is a state of hope, of grace, and of acceptance with God. It is the condition of those who have been begotten again by the power of the Holy Ghost, to the enjoyment of a lively hope, through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Several dif- ferent aspects of this spiritual condition I desire, by the Divine blessing, to present to your notice. They will be all designed to bear upon the one great point of our previous consideration, " Christ is all." The Apostle says, "I knew a man in Christ." Let us adopt his expression, and con- sider some of the facts which distinguish such a man, from other men who are " without Christ." Of this peculiar condition of man, what have we known ? The title Christ points out the official char- acter of the glorious Son of God, as the anointed IN CHRIST. 25 Saviour of mankind. To be in Christ is there- fore readily understood to mean, to be a partaker of the benefits of those gracious offices which the Sou of God has been anointed to fulfil ; to have embraced the blessed Gospel which this Saviour has proclaimed, and the religion which He has established among men, in sincere faith and loTC ; to have been made personally one with Him, by his Holy Spirit living and dwelling in the soul, and forming Him there, as the hope of glory; to be a Christian not only in outward profession, by union with the ordinances of the visible church, but in heart and character also, by the washing of regeneration, and the renew- ing of the Holy Ghost. The expression indicates a completely new condition of being in relation to his Divine Redeemer and Lord, to which a man has been brought by the power of God ; a con- dition which is filled with varied retrospections, and prospects and experiences, both of joys and griefs, entirely peculiar to itself. The statement of this new condition immediately calls to mind, a period of life, at which the man was brought to this new state ; and the power, and the means, by which he was led from being " without Christ," his natural condition of want and dan- ger, to be " in Christ," his present state of secu- rity and peace. He was inwardly convinced of sin by the Holy Ghost, because he believed not in Christ. By the same Spirit, he was led in godly sorrow for sin, to seek the Saviour whom he had before rejected, that he might win Him, and be found in Him This Saviour, offered to him, and found 2 2ft IN CHRIST. by him, in the open revelation of His Gospel, he received as his own Redeemer with grati- tude and joy. He embraced the message which presented him, with sincere faith, as a personal message from God. He was thus justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption which was provided in Jesus Christ the Lord. He was thus engrafted by the Holy Spirit into Christ, and made one body with Him. And now in regard to his relation to God, and to his standing before God, he is " in Christ ;" known and received, as a member of Christ ; and made an eternal partaker of all His glory and triumph. Of such an one, the Apostle says, " I knew a man in Christ," — a man who was accepted be- fore God, in Christ as his perfect righteousness, and was made a partaker of the Divine nature, in Christ as his entire sanctification. Of some of the attributes and characteristics of such a man, I wish to speak. I knew him, standing at a point for most im- portant and useful retrospection. I knew him, in a situation, in the experience, and the interests of his spiritual being, from which, he might look back, with great profit and advantage, upon the different events and characteristics of his past life. The powers of memory and reflection have been given to man, that he may acquire and employ for his future benefit the full advantage of his own experience in life that is past. True wisdom will lead him often to sit dfwn, and recall to mind, events through which he has passed; difficulties which he has been enabled IN CHRIST. 27 to ' vercome ; and trials of character and feeling which he has been required to endure. Even in the limited and transitory concerns of his present life, he finds it useful and necessary, to permit the errors of former days to teach him a wiser system of labour and improvement for the time to come ; and thus to gain valuable instruction, even from the follies which memory recounts. The man who is in Christ, renewed in the spirit of his mind, and sustaining an en- tirely new relation towards God, from his con- nection with his Gracious Saviour, looks back from his present condition of happiness and safety, both upon the old things, which have passed away ; and upon the beginnings of the things which have been made new. Some few facts, which are contained in this useful retro- spection, first of the old things which have passed away, it will be profitable for us to consider. From his present position of gracious acceptance with God, he looks back upon his former hardness of heart, under the dispensations of divine mercy, with amazement. The heavenly messages of the Gospel, which now so deeply affect his soul, and call into exercise the most tender and anxious feelings of his nature, in his former condition, pro- duced upon him no softening impression. The contrast between his present and his former state of mind, in regard to the power and influence of the divine word upon him, fills him with aston- ishment. Then, the terrors of God did not per- suade him, whether they spake in the awakening dealings of a Divine Providence, or in the solemn thr^atenings to the ungodly, of a judgment to 28 IN CHRIST. come. The fidelity of Christian ministers often seemed to him, the mere cant of their profession. The solemnity and earnestness of their appeals to his conscience, he considered a mere artifice for influence and efiect. The wonderful love of Christ for a lost world, did not attract or move him. The affectionate entreaties of the Gospel, so exciting, now that their need is felt, then passed upon his ear without a trace behind. The fre- quent repetition of the Saviour's name, in the ministration of his word, now to him like the sweetest fragrance poured out, was tedious and annoying. The daily long-suffering of God, now so manifest, and so arresting to his attention, was then unnoticed, and produced in him no repent- ance. He thought not of God, nor of any of His marvellous works. The word of God, now so filled to liis mind, with the riches of wisdom and knowledge, opening to him views of truth, so exhilarating and so delightful, conveyed no salu- tary teachings to him then. The letter was some- times read, but its spirit was unfelt and unnoticed. In his present condition, when the whole effect of God's gracious dispensations upon his mind and heart, is so different, he cannot but be amazed at his former carelessness and inattention. He finds it difficult to account for a state of affection and character, which was so unsuited to his necessary dependance upon God, and so unworthy of his ability to enjoy and honour him. He is sometimes ready to imagine, that the Saviour could not have spoken to him then, as he does now. He is now surprised to observe in dthers, under faithful ex- hibitions of the truth, which arrest every thought. IN CHRIST. 29 and awaken every energy of his own mind, — ^the same total unconcern which once marked himself. He looks back upon this native hardness of heart towards God, in himself, with unqualified amaze- ment and distress. But it is one of the old things ^which have passed away. And grieved as he is, in contemplating it, he is able to say, "Such indeed was I ; but I have been washed from this guilt in the blood of Christ my Lord ; and by the Spirit of God, have been brought from this state of darkness and hardness of heart, to the marvel- lous lighfr and love which shine forth in the Lord Jesus Christ." He looks back upon his former devotion to this perishing world with shame. He has now been taught to make the Apostle's comparison, between the things which are seen, and are temporal, and the things which are unseen, and are eternal; and he reckons with him, that the one are not worthy to be compared with the other. As the practical result of this contrast, he forgets the things which are behind, as objects of his desire and pursuit, and reaching after the things before, presses forward, that he may lay hold on eternal life. But from this, his present state of mind, he looks back upon one which was very different from it. There was a time, when the pleasures of the world attracted him, and he loved them. The seductiv-^e scenes of giddiness and mirth invited his affections, and he yielded to their in- fluence. It formed, then, no part of his plan to ask counsel of God. It was no repelling fact to him, that the curse rather than the blessing of God rested upon any recreation or employment to 30 IN CHRIST: which he was called. But now, he calls to niind, with shame and pity for himself, the low and grovelling spirit which made his immortal powers stoop to such pursuits. He feels the solemn truth of the divine assertion, " He that liveth in plea- sure, is dead while he liveth." The emoluments of the world then seemed to him also, of vast importance and worth. He' thought not of the inevitable end of such things, or of the danger that they might be pursued to the everlasting ruin of the soul. His time and powers were un- reservedly devoted to their acquisition. Even the fearful question of the Saviour, " What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" never caused him to hesi- tate in this vain pursuit. And yet, while he loved the pleasures, and eagerly sought the gains of the world, its cares and losses, the suspense which it required in getting, the uncertainty which at- tended its possession, and the remorse which it occasioned after enjoyment, constantly agitated and harassed him, and more than counterbal- anced, all the gains the world could give. Now, when he looks back, from his present high, hon- ourable, and happy station, as a redeemed man, a man renewed and justified in Christ, he sees the exceeding folly of this whole system of life. He is ashamed to think he could ever have been such a slave, to that which he knew, must eventu- ally leave him to perish; that he could have so long willingly sacrificed all the blessings and hopes which were offered him in Christ, for the mere transitory pampering of a subject of condemnation and death . Bunyan's description of the man with IN CHRIST. 31 the muck rake, in the Pilgrim's Progress, shows him the very sottishness and degradation, which he now sees to have marked himself. And he is conscious of a deep sense of shame, as he recurs to the time which he passed, in his former lusts, in ignorance of God, and in contempt for the noble objects which God presented. But this also is one of the old things which have passed away. The lovie which he once gave to the world, and the things of the world, he now grate- fully devotes to God his Saviour, and to the glories of his inheritance, and the pleasures of his service. He looks back upon his former opposition to God with unfeigned sorrow. He sees that he was a fighter against God, in all the conduct and pur- poses of his former life. When the Lord gra- ciously called him, he refused to hear. Nor was he ever obedient to his voice. There could hav(; been no addition, it seems to him, to the variety of the methods, or to the tenderness of the ex- pedients, by which God attempted to gain his affections, and win his heart to his own service and favour. And yet they were all unsuccessful. Nothing could induce him to submit himself to the will of God. The chastisements of a Divine Providence produced no good effect upon him. He resisted the kind and salutary operation of them all. The affectionate admonitions of the Holy Spirit, that would so often have led him back to holiness and God, were rejected and expelled. While God was employing every in- strument, and applying every influence, to raise his darkened spirit from the earth, and to inspire him with- a wish to feed on angels' food, he was 32 IN CHRIST. turning the whole bent of his aflfections and mind, to an aversion as wide as possible from him. He was always resisting the Holy Ghost ; and pur- sued his chosen course of sin, in defiance of every effort that could be made for his recovery and salvation. Now, he sees the inestimable worth of all God's operations of love for him, and he feels a deep sorrow, in the recollection that he neglected them so long; — that their beneficial influence was wholly cast away, through so large a portion of the time which was given him as a preparation for a happy eternity. He mourns that he did not commence the work of his salvation, with the commencement of his reasoning powers. He grieves to see, that his childhood and youth, and perhaps a large part of his maturity also, were wasted and thrown away, in the pursuit of idle vanities, while no provision was laid up for a future rest. He deeply regrets that he should have so spurned the grace of God, so mocked his law, so disregarded his loving-kindness, and thus counted himself unworthy of eternal life. These are sources of deep sorrow, in every retrospection of his life. But these tears are precious, and this is a sorrow which is permanently useful. It leads him to be far more jealous of the rising again of this spirit of opposition to God ; to be vigilant in submitting himself to the divine will ; and to be earnest and diligent, in making full improvement of the opportunities and privileges, which are still remaining for his enjoyment. He looks back upon Ms former condemnation in sin with awe and terror. He sees the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit IN CHKIST. 33 whence he was digged. He feels a deep solem- nity pervading his spirit, as he reverts to the dangers, from which Almighty grace has rescued him. Like a man who has escaped from a ship- wreck, and stands upon the shore, to look upon the angry waters, from which the hand of God has plucked him, pitying and praying for, those whfj are still struggling in the billows; so the Christian meditates upon the fearful dangers of his soul, when he was at enmity with God, and lying under his righteous indignation, for his unbelief. He sees now, that God would have been holy and just in his everlasting condem- nation. He sees that he long stood ignorantly and blindly, upon the very brink of eternal per- dition, provoking the justice of God to punish his transgressions; and defying Him by contin- ued rebellions to fulfil the threatenings which he had made. He now sees, that his unjustified and sinful soul lay under the sentence of eternal death; and that nothing but the despised long- sufiering of God kept back that sentence, from its full and final execution. Boundless compas- sion alone held him up from going down into the pit. Heir had enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure, to receive him in all the pomp and glory of his sin. Satan was saying in malicious triumph, "There, there, so would I have it;" — when the despised love of 1 SaAdour snatched him from ruin, — rolled away the curse from his soul, — rescued him from the condemnation which he had brought upon him- self,— converted him by His own Holy Spirit, 2* 34 IN Christ; and bound him as a living sacrifice to himself forever. Through the exceeding riches of divine grace, he is now in Christ, accepted and forgiven. He has been reconciled unto God, by the Saviour's one offering for sin. And he looks back upon the blackness of this cloud of indignation which has passed over him, with unfeigned gratitude, but with the deepest awe. He ascribes it singly to the great love wherewith God has loved him when he was dead in sins, that this condem- nation has passed away, and that he is no longer a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction. He gives unceasing glory to God, who, when he was far olF, made him nigh by the blood of Christ. And he looks with sorrow and pity, upon the con- dition of those who are still wandering in the blindness of their minds, without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world. This is a part of the retrospection which dis- tinguishes the man in Christ. These are some views of the old things which are passed away. Now, in these respects, all things have become new. His heart is not hardened against the truth, — his aifections are not devoted to the world, — his spirit is not arrayed in opposition to God, — his soul is no longer under the con- demnation of death. He is a new man in Christ Jesus. Such indeed was he; but he has ob- tained mercy from a pardoning God. He h^-s passed from death unto life. He is renewed in the spirit of his mind. He has been born again from above. There is no longer any condem- nation for him. He is walking not according IN CHRIST. S5 to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. He is washed, — he is justified, — he is sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of his Grod. In this habitual retrospection of his former guilty life, he feels that now for him, Christ is aU, It is by no human power or might, that this darkness has passed from his soul. The truth which he has learned and feels, he was not taught by man. The Saviour alone brought deliverance and peace to him. Jesus alone rescued him from his condemnation, and has established him in grace. And whatever may have been the instruments employed by this Redeeming Lord, — and however he may have honoured and blessed the ministry of man, to lead his sinful soul to himself,— stUl the man looks up to His power and to His personal pres- ence and agency, above all possible dependence upon any instruments, — to say and to realize, that Christ is all. Every instrument without His pres- ence and blessing, would have been dead and useless. To Him belongs all the praise, for the ex- ceeding riches of His grace, which He has thus freely bestowed upon a guilty and perishing soul. And the redeemed sinner delights to consider his Divine Lord, as having pitied him when he was cast out to perish, and spoken the words of life and heal- ing to his soul. This retrospection upon old things which have passed away, is one of the peculiar attributes of the man in Christ. Those of my readers who have been brought to this blessed condition, can hardly fail to realize their own experience, in the facts which I have thus stated. As you con. 36 IN CHRIST. sider them, let your past experience teach you wisdom in your present state. You are safe, and tranquil, and happy now, in the simple pro- portion, in which you cling with humble faith to Christ. Cultivate, then, the spirit of thank- fulness, for the unsearchable riches of His mercy. Realize that all you have, or can have, is laid up in Him, — and that in the possession of Him as your Lord, you are rich in the exceeding riches of His grace. Vast is the importance to you, of a constant recurrence to this great fact, of your en- tire dependance upon the Lord Christ. He is your sun and your shield. Seek life, light, and secu- rity, only and always in Him. Live upon Him by faith, and grow up into Him, in the knowl- edge of His grace and truth. Be not entangled by any of the superstitious vanities, which would lead you to a dependance upon human ministries, or human works. Remember that the hour has come for you, when neither upon this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Fa- ther ; when no outward appointments or human services, are to take the place of that spiritual worship, which distinguishes those whom the Father seeketh to worship Him. Cultivate, too, a spirit of tenderness and compassion for un- converted souls, Grace has made you thus to differ. Look upon those from whom you dif- fer, with an anxious desire that they may be partakers of your grace. Be willing to spend, and to be spent,-r-with no reference to earthly remuneration, — that you may glorify God in their salvation. Consider that you are kept upon the earth, though your souls are renewed IN CHRIST. 37 for the atmosphere, employments, and society of heaven, that you may be made useful to others, in leading them to taste and see the grace and laving-kindness of the Lord. O seek a heart to feel for them, — a spirit to labour for their salvation. Be ready to give, to act, and to suffer, that those who are without Christ, — ready to perish, — may be made to know His truth, and to rejoice in His salvation. By all means, save some. Life is valuable for no other end. Upon you, must depend the Saviour's honour, and " the Saviour's triumph. May He give you grace, ever to set Him forth, as the only refuge and hope of suffering, dying man. But I pray "you forget not, that the retrospec- tion of the Christian, is the actual state of the sinner's soul. What the one was, the other still ^ is. O think of this, you, who to-day are far off, that you also may be brought nigh by the blood of Christ. God hath set before you an open door, in the all-sufficient and glorious work of His own dear Son. Rise ye also, from this state of death, and fly to Him, whose power can make all things new, for you as well as for those who are now alive in Him. Your means of grace are most abounding ; your opportunities of deliveranQe are most pressing; your dangers are also extreme. For you, the Lamb has died, — for you the Ransom lives. He calls- vou to come to Him without doubt or fear ; — ^to cast your load upon Him, — to trust yourselves to His all-sufficient grace, — to re- joice in His great salvation. O, awake to a sense of your privileges, as well as your dangers, that you may lay hold of the hope which is set before 38 IN CHRIST. you ; and in the security which He will impart to your souls, be able to say, " Thanks be to my God, which giveth me the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Think of the increased con- demnation which must come upon you, if after you have thus known the way of truth, and seen a Saviour lifted up before you, evidently crucified for you, you shall still reject His offered mercy, and love darkness rather than light. I beseech you by the mercies of God, that ye will not har- den your hearts against the love of Christ, and the power of His Spirit : that ye will not bring upon you the awful curse, " Behold ye despiseis, wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days, which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you:" — "Ihave sworn in my wrath, ye shall not enter into my rest." Reflect how soon thy life -will end. And think on what thy hopes depend, What aim thy busy thoughts pursue, What work is done, and what to do. Eternity is just at hand ! And wilt thou waste thy ebbing sand. And careless view departing day. And throw thy span of time away ? Eternity ! tremendous word. To souls unpardoned and abhorred ; But oh, if Christ and heaven be thine. How sweet the accents, how divine ! Be this thy chief, thy only care. Thy high pursuit, thy ardent prayer — An interest in thy Samur's blood. Thy pardon sealed, thy peace with God. CHAPTER III. RETROSPECTIOJT. T,3E spiritual condition of a man in Christ, I have proposed to consider, in several of the attributes and facts which distinguish it. The first view of this condition which I have selected for our con- sideration, is as an useful position for profitable retrospection. From his present point of attain- ment in grace, the man who is in Christ looks back, upon what he was by nature, and upon the course of folly and sin which he then pursued ; and also, upon the way through which God has led him by His grace to forgiveness and hope, and upon the mercies which he has already received at the Lord's hands. The first of these views, is of old things which have passed away. The second is of the beginnings of things which have been made new. The first we have already considered. The second comes before us for our present med- itation. We are now to consider the man in Christ, as contemplating some of the new things which God has been pleased to do for his soul. The whole of the present life may be consid- ered, and well described, as but the beginnings of the things which are made new for the child of God. It is all childhood in reference to eter- 40 IN CHRIST. nity. We see not yet what we shall be. The whole of the present work of grace for man, is but the earnest, of the riches of divine glory in Christ Jesus. The whole attainments of Christian character here, are but the commencement of the eternal character of God's redeemed. And when the man in Chiist has passed through the whole of his mortal life, and looks back upon all its scenes, from the margin of the grave, he sees in the whole retrospect, but the commencement of a work, which God will carry on for him, throughout an everlasting state. Upon this com- mencement of a divine work for his soul, we suppose the man in Christ now to look back. The facts which he sees in it, are various. The feelings also with which he looks upon them, dif- fer very widely. Some of these facts and feel- ings we will successively consider. He looks back upon the first awakening of his soul from his natural state of guilt, with ardent gratitude. He thinks of the time, when the mo- mentous concerns of religion, as they are present- ed in the Gospel, first really arrested his attention. This awakening of his mind, to things eternal and unseen, was wholly new to him. Perhaps it was equally unexpected ; — he was thinking of nothing less. God looked upon him in His amazing kind- ness, when he was perishing without the least concern for himself. The instrument which was appointed to arouse him, may have been severe and painful. But the grace which directed it, and which applied it so successfully to his soul, is worthy of all gratitude and praise. The views of himself, not only of his outward conduct, but IN CHRIST. 41 of his inward heart and life, which were opened to his mind, were repulsive . and dreadful. But they were necessary, and they proved to be wholesome. The pride of his glory was stained. His boasting spirit was overcome. His vain con- ceits were broken in the air. Every aspect of his own character, became to him humbling and distressing. He saw and felt that there was no good thing in him. At the time, perhaps, the operation seemed to be a hard and unreasonable one. But now he sees its worth, and the mercy which ordered it. He looks up to God with un- speakable gratitude, that he was willing to have mercy upon a creature so wholly unworthy; — that he did not suffer him to press on in his chosen course of ruin ; — that he did not leave him to fill himself with his own devices. He now sees, that the excited feelings of that period of his life were not disproportioned to the occasion which called them out. He has now, far deeper views of his own sinfulness, than he had then. And in reflect- ing upon that period, he wonders that he felt so little, rather than feels surprise that he mourned so much. Upon this event of his life, he daily reflects with thankfulness and praise. He feels that God hath sh wed forth in him, a pattern of long-suffering. Above all the blessings of a mu- nificent Providence, and the tenderness of his daily preservation, he places the great love which rescued him from misery and sin, and would not suffer him to remain unmoved and hardened in guilt. He sees that this love of God was boundless in its operation. Though he resisted the divine grace, and drew back from the first 42 IN CHR[ST. exhibitions which were made to him, of his own depravity and hardness of heart, the divine hand still led him on, and brought him at last, a willing captive, to his present state of security and peace. He now calls upon his soul, to bless the Lord, who had mercy upon him, when he was sinning ignorantly in unbelief. And he gives the whole glory for this work of mercy, to Him who pitied him, and sought him when he was far off, and brought him nigh by the blood of Christ. He looks back upon the first devotion of him- self to the service of his Redeeming Lord, with a single determination to adhere to this covenant, to the end of life. Long had divine mercy called upon him in vain. No earnestness of ad- monition, no tenderness of appeal, could persuade him, to take upon himself the easy yoke and burden, of union with Christ, and obedience to Him. But when the hour came, that he was made willing to enter upon the heavenly path, he united himself affectionately unto his Lord, in an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten. And now he recalls this solemn dedication of himself to the service of his Lord, as the hap- piest moment of his life. He thinks of his se- cret submission to God, — of the hour, when his heart first really accepted the perfect righteous- ness which was offered him in the Gospel, and gave up its affections to God, in a voluntary and cheerful devotion to His will. He feels it to have been a privilege, as well as a duty ; — hon- ourable and filled with comfort. It was honour- able, because he was then truly exalted to be a child of God, and an heir of the kingdom which IN CHRIST. 43 He had promised. It was filled with comfort, because it removed from him the burden of his guilt, and gave him peace in reconciliation with the God whom he had offended by such re- peated transgressions. He calls to mind, the first public devotion of himself to the service of God, in the ordinances of the sanctuary ; when, perhaps, in baptism, he entered into the door of the fold ; — or when in confirmation, he pub- licly renewed and established his covenant with his Great Redeemer;— or when at the Lord's table, he again recorded his obligations to his crucified Lord, and determined to be his alone. He is not ashamed, that he has thus openly con- fessed the name of Christ, and arrayed himself upon the Lord's side. He remembers his former state of life, but with no desire to return to it. He has put away childish things. All his sal- vation and all his dejire are in Christ, — and he presses forward to the measure of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. He would hold fast that which he has attained, and glory in the riches of a Saviour's love, unto his life's end. He ceases not to give praise to God, who has called him by His grace to this unspeakable privilege, of forsaking all to follow Him. . He feels that he then only began to live, when he began to live for Him who had bought him with a price. This was the actual birth-day of his real life. And it is his single and fixed purpose to maintain, even unto death, the covenant of service which he has thus made ; — and to be ever, a faithful soldier and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks back upon his limited progress m 44 IN CHRIST. grace and religious knowledge, with sincere hu- miliation. He thinks of what he might have been amidst the abundant privileges which he has enjoyed. He contrasts with that, what he acknowledges himself still to be. He confesses, that whereas he ought to have been a teacher of others, he has often need, that some one teach him again, what be the first principles of the Gospel of Christ ; and he is still such an one, as has need of milk, not of meat, being so unskil- ful in the way of righteousness. He finds so many unholy habits of thought and feeling, still unsubdued, — so much selfishness and pride still unhumbled,— so much forgetfulness of God still marking his days; that he is often ready to exclaim, " If I am a child of God, why am I thus? — why is this insensibility to religious joys? — this restless chase after earthly vanities? — this partial preparation for eternity ? — this cling- ing to time and sense ?" He cannot but feel him- self deeply humbled, over such a retrospection as this. Were there not a surer foundation for hope, than his own character and holiness affords, he would be ready to despair of ever entering into rest. There. is nothing within himself which gives him comfort, amidst all these evident defi- ciencies of character, but the witness that God has really given to him, the Spirit of adoption, the desire for obedience, and the determina- tion to persevere in His service unto the end. Though humbled by a consideration of his own actually sinful character, he is conscious of a single purpose to strive to enter into the strait gate, and to endure unto the end, that through IN CHRIST. 45 grace he may be saved. His holiness of char- , acter has in fact, every day increased, and he has been continually growing more conformed to God. But his views of his own sinfulness; his quick and tender sense of personal guilt ; and his apprehensions of the holiness of the character and the law of God, have also so much advanced, that he feels himself in the end, far more vile and unworthy, than he was at first. He casts himself wholly and simply at the feet of Jesus, to be saved according to the good pleasure of His grace, freely by His blood. In himself, there dwelleth no good thing. His own right- eousness, is worthless and unclean. And he feels himself to be excluded from all boasting, but in the Lord alone. He looks back upon the partial benefits which he has conferred upon mankind, with the deep convic- tion that he has failed much in his duty to others. The heavenly treasure which has been placed in his hands, was for distribution to them. The light which he has received, was to have been set upon a candlestick. Perishing sinners on every side were looking to him for spiritual bene- fits. The heathen world, like a thirsty land-, was gasping for the grace, for the dispensation of which he has been made an instrument. How many precious souls might have been saved and blessed, if he had acted up to the measure of bis responsibility, he fears to think. But when he realizes, how few have actually been blessed through him, — how little he has really done to promote the salvation of mankind, — how often, and how mujh, selfishness and indolence, and 46 IN CHRIST. pride and covetousness, have come in to hinder h'.s desires and his purposes to do good, — he cannot resist the solemn conviction, that he ought to have done far more, for the glory of God, and for the spiritual benefit of mankind. His time, and pow- ers, and money, ought all to have be^n the Lord's. He trembles to think, how much he has hid his talent under a bushel, or buried it in the earth. His only hope in this retrospect of life, is that God may have made him an instrument of bless- ing, beyond his own knowledge or concepticii. And if he shall meet in glory, a single child of man, who can say, " I owe my salvation under God, to you," — he feels that the remembrance of such a fact, will be the brightest spot in the deeds of life, on which his memory can rest. The use- fulness of a Christian to others, and in this, the glory that he shall bring to God, is the great pur- pose of his continued life. Certainly this useful- ness may be extended, far Veyond his own oppor- tunities of knowledge or observation ; and he is not always to determine the measure of the results, merely by the facts which are open to his notice. But no Christian can forget this purpose of life, or be indifferent to its attainment. And it will always be, on the one side, a subject for thankfulness, when God has seemed ti own, and to bless his efforts ; and on the other, of humilia- tion and sorrow, that he has appeared to do so little, that can be for the divine glory. The man in Christ sees far more of his defects than of his faithfulness in duty, in this retrospection. He has done far less than he has desired, — and he ■m CHRIST. 47 looks back upon tlie wliole view of himself with self-condemnation and sorrow. But amidst all his own unworthiness and guilt, and the unprofitahleness of his Christian course and character, he looks back tipon the wonderful grace of Ood which has ihusfa/r held him wp^ with confidence that it will keep him to the end. His hope rests in no degree upon his own personal character. It is fixed wholly upon the infinite sufficiency of the divine provisions, the everlast- ing merit of the Saviour, and the unfailing power of His Spirit. But resting here, it has among its comforting attendants and evidences, the recol- lections of what God has been pleased to do for him, through the riches of His grace. God was mercifully pleased to pluck his feet out of the net ; — to set him upon a rock ; — to teach him to sing a new song of praise to Him, — the song of Moses and the Lamb. When he was an enemy to God, God reconciled him unto himself, through the blood of His Son. This precious fact becomes clear to his mind, as he discerns the blessed tes- timonies which are brought out to his view, that his conversion of heart was not by his own will, or by the will of man, — but by the power of God. The all-powerful grace of which he was then made the subject, has never forsaken him. It rescued him then from condemnation, — and it has sustained him in all his conflicts, — comforted him in his trials, — given him joy in the midst of suffering, — and inspired him with a continually rejoicing hope. This grace is all-sufficient, and everlasting. It supplies every want, and removes and overcomes every difficulty. It enables him 48 IN CHRIST. to confide in the assurance, ttat God who has be- gun a good work in him, will carry it on, in His own way, and to His own glory. With this habitual recollection of mercies which are passed, he re- poses with confidence and joy, in the favour and ac- ceptance of the Most High God, who hath led him all his life long, unto this day, and who will still keep his eyes from tears, and his feet from faUiag ; and will give him an inheritance of glory in the land of the living. All his comfort and hope are in this mighty power of God, covenanted for his salvation. The Saviour who loved him when he was dead in sin, exercises an everlasting love. And he cheerfully renounces all other things, for this single, all-suflacient ground of hope. That which God has already done for him, becomes the earnest, and the assurance to his mind, of what he purposes to do for him forever. If when he was an enemy to God, he was reconciled by the death of Christ, much more, being reconciled, he shall be saved by His life. In this humble, but joyful hope, he presses forward, praising God for all that is past ; — ^giving Him aU the glory, for the greatness of His love ; — and committing every thing, for time and for eternity, to His hands. These are some of the retrospections of the man in Christ. Self is humbled under the bur- den of conscious sin ;— ^and personal excellence, as a foundation for hope, is entirely renounced. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is adopted and received by his soul, as his own God, and rejoiced and confided in, as a source of com- fort entirely unbounded. The old things which belong to his state of nature, have passed entirely IN CHRIST. 49 away. The new things which belong to his state of grace, are encouragements to his hope, that he shall be kept even unto the end. With sincere gratitude, he thinks of the hour of his awakening from sin, and of the day of his dedication unto God. With humiliation, he reflects upon his partial attainments in religious character, and his limited efforts for the spiritual benefit of other men. With humble joy, he calls to mind, the love which has pardoned him, and endured with him, and brought him on thus far in a path of peace. All these retrospections are most profita- ble to him. They teach him where he may rest his hope, and where he must avoid all confidence. They bring him completely out of himself, and every thing which is his own. They show him how truly and really " Christ is all ;" — and cast him entirely upon that grace, which is all-suf- ficient and unfailing. They teach him how com- pletely every thing is laid up for him, in the power and grace of one Lord, in whom all fulness dwells, and from whom all mercy and spiritual life proceed. It is a lessoli hard to acquire, but one most precious when it has been learned, — to live out of ourselves, in spiritual dependance, entirely upon the presence and all-sufficiency of our Glorious Redeemer. And every reflection upon his own life, the more thoroughly convinces the man in Christ, that this is his only course of peace, or safety, or success. It is thus, that re- trospection is made a blessing; and experience teaches him a wisdom, which can in no other way be obtained. And now, that we have taken these views of 3 50 IN CHRIST. the condition of the man who is in Christ, allow me to ask, my readers, — how far do you identify in them, your own experience and state ? Per- mit me to urge upon you, a more simple and uniform cultivation and exercise of the principles which are involved in them. Realize how cer- tainly you are nothing, and less than nothing, and strive to live with entire self-renunciation, upon Him who has accomplished every thing for you, and is alone able, to sanctify and to save you. This is a spiritual exercise, which you never fully learn, and which you cannot learn too fully. There is no magnifying beyond the certainty of its truth, the fact, that in all your spiritual inter ests, welfare and prospects, " Christ is all." Seek to be taught it by the Holy Spirit, more and more completely, as you make these inevitable reflec- tions upon life past. Make it the practical fact in your experience, as well as the foundation of your views of doctrine, that all your fulness dwells in Christ. Allow me to urge you all, to cast away every self-righteous feeling and view, and to enter into the privileges, and possess the benefits, which are freely offered you in the Lord Jesus Christ. In- trust yourselves with entire confidence to Him, as the life and light of your souls, and you will never find yourselves straitened or disappointed there. Consider how much the simplicity of the Gospel condemns those who reject it. God brings these mercies to your very doors. He invites you to partake of them and live. He urges you not to lose a participation in their rich provisions. He warns you that their rejection will be your in- IN CHRIST. 51 creased condemnation. What excuse can you offer for rejecting them ? You may enjoy them all. Why do you not ? Why are not all who read these lines, voluntary and sincere professors of the Gospel of the Son of God, — happy partak- ers of His promises and inheritance 1 Surely from no want of conviction of duty, — from no want of ability, or opportunity, to follow out this conviction ; — from no want of external privileges and means. But from a strange perverseness of will, — an alienation of affections from God, — an aversion to His government, — and to the plan of His salvation. It is an aversion which contends with all your convictions, and overcomes all the constraint of your sense of need. Even while you feel the danger, it is leading many of you into captivity to ruin, — a ruin, from which you will find no future means of escape. I beseech you therefore, stir up yourselves, to take hold of God's offered mercy, and in your day of visitation, to make your calling and election sure. The Saviour stands ready to receive and bless you. He will heal your backslidings, and cover your unrighteousness. He will give you grace and glory, — and no good thing will He withhold, as your heritage forever. CHAPTER IV. ENJOYMENT. The cJiaracter and condition of man in Christ, we have already partially considered. He is in a position in the great journey of his immortal being, at which he has begun to sustain new and peculiar relations to his Divine Creator. No longer an enemy to God in the spirit of his mind, he is now reconciled to Him, and his heart is filial, affectionate, obedient, and confiding towards Him. From this position in his spiritual being, he looks back upon the different scenes through which he has passed, and forward upon other scenes still different, which are yet to come. He stands in a condition of acceptance with God, because Christ, in whom he is, is accepted. He is released forever from the punishment of sin, be- cause Christ, who has answered for him, has borne it fully in his behalf. He is made, and shall be made forever, holy in his mind and character, because Christ, in whom he dwells, and who dwells also in him, is holy, and the fountain of holiness to His people. Of such a man we now speak. We have considered him, as at a point for useful retrospection. Some of the views which he takes, of the old things which have passed IN CHRIST. 53 away, and of the beginnings of the things which have been made new, we have also considered. I purpose now to speak of him, as in a state of present enjoyment. The Holy Scriptures, in exhibiting the life of a servant of God, appear to speak in contradictions. The way in which he travels is a way of pleas- antness, and a path of peace. Yet he must take up his cross, and deny himself, — he must suffer persecution, — and through much tribulation, he must enter into the kingdom of God. His condi- tion, is a filling of barns with plenty, and a burst- ing out of presses with new wine ; — and yet it is a renouncing of all for Christ, and a conformity to the likeness of His sufferings; who had not where to lay His head. He is riding upon the high places of the earth, as a king and a priest unto God ; — he is rich, full, reigning as a king, and all things are his ; and yet he is exposed to be hated of all men,— to have his name cast out as evil, — to be made the filth and the offscouring of the world, for his Master's sake. Here are ap- parently, great contradictions, in the descriptions which are given of the same object, by the one infallible Spirit of God. The reconciliation of them is easy, when we think of the vast differ- ence which there is between the prospective view, which the carnal mind takes of the things of God, before they are made the subjects of per- sonal experience, — and the experimental view, which the spiritual mind takes of the same things, when man has tasted for himself, and seen that the Lord is gracious. The man in Christ finds no difiiculty in understanding, how the path in which 54 IN CHRIST. he walks, should he represented, as exceedingly repulsive in the view of others, and yet be at the same time, in the highest degree, attractive to himself. He is at no loss, in reconciling the ne- cessity of actual self-denial and personal mortifi- cation, in regard to the power of sin, — ^with the consciousness of a pure and elevated satisfaction, in the submission of his soul to the will and com- mandments of God. The thoughtless and irre- ligious may wonder, how he can find enjoyment in his peculiar life, or what pleasure there can be in taking up a cross, and entering upon a life of voluntary unceasing conflict. But he finds the joys which he possesses, to be not only actual and abiding, but of a very high and valuable char- acter. He considers them as enjoyments, for which, if there were no other recompense pro- posed, it would be in the highest degree reason- able, to exchange all the delights which are merely earthly and sensual. The man in Christ is happy in the consciousness of the spiritual change of mind and character, of which he has been made the suhject. Amidst all his present infirmities, which no one can see so clearly as he does, he still cannot but feel, that after all, he is not what he once was. The contrast be- tween his present state of mind, and that which marked his former period of life, shows him most clearly that he is pursuing far other objects, and deriving his pleasure from far other sources, than those which marked his purposes then. Much as he laments his- want of a proper delight in God, he really finds a pleasure in religious duties and services, which was not natural to him, and IN CHRIST. 55 which he could never before discover. Low as are still his aspirations and eagerness for heavenly things, he is conscious, that he has for them an estimation and desire, which was no native growth in his own soul, and which could have been only the gift of God. Partial as are all his views of his own unworthiness and guilt, he truly beholds a depth of sin in his own heart, which he used not to see; and he beholds it with a sorrow, which secret sin used not to produce. Faint as are all the affections which he lifts up to God his Saviour, he does exercise towards Him, a thank- fulness and love, which were entire strangers to his former self. In all these facts, he sees evi- dences of a very important spiritual change in his mind and character. In them all, far as he is from what he ought to be, and from what he de- sires to be, his character is not what it was by nature. The consciousness of this, is a constant source of real enjoyment to his heart. It leads him to the language of unfeigned thanksgiving and praise, that such mercy has been showed to the chief of sinners ; — ^that God has visited him with the dayspring from on high, to guide his feet into the way of peace. And he is thus encour- aged still to ask, that he may receive ; — to run, that he may obtain ; — and to hold fast and watch, that no man take his crown. He is happy in the assurance of his pardon and acceptance with God. He does not pretend infalli- bly to determine this fact ; — but he has a testi- mony of it, and a degree of certainty regarding it, which is to him a sufficient and a very abundant source of peace and comfort. He beholds the 56 IN CHRIST. pardon of his sin, as an act of free and very dis- tinguishing grace on the part of God, And as his chief sorrows arise from the consciousness and pressure of sin, he can gain no peace of mind, but in the well-founded hope, that this pardoning grace has been really extended to him. He sees it freely offered and fully secured, to every pen- itent, returning sinner, who shall sincerely seek it in the gracious mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the sure faithfulness of God's sacred word, it becomes therefore, the actual and certain property, of all who have thus returned to seek and to accept an offered Saviour. In his own con- scious change of mind and character, he finds the witness, that he has thus come to depend upon Christ, as his only Saviour and hope. He can therefore apply to himself, the assurance of the forgiveness of sins that are past. Faith in the, word of divine promise, that it shall be done, be- comes testimony in his mind, to the fact that it is done for him. But beyond this certainty of in- ference from the divine promise, he has an assur- ance which springs up immediately within him, without the intervention of any argument from abroad. He has a peace in the reconciliation of his heart to God, — an ability to look up to God as a Father,— an humble, filial confidence, in His love and guidance, — a delight in trusting all to His grace, — a reaching of his spirit after clearer and brighter views of His perfections and love, — an affection and submission in prayer, — a pleasure in attaining a knowledge of the character and will of God, — which become a testimony of the Spirit of God to his spirit, of his pardon and ac- IN CHRIST. 57 ceptance with God. From this assurance, he derives abundant and precious satisfaction. The violated law has "stilled its thunders, and in strains as sweet as angels use, the Gospel whis- pers peace. God makes him not to possess the sins of his youth. He has blotted out his trans- gressions as a thick cloud, and allows him no longer to be an enemy to Him, — but has trans- formed him into an aifectionate and confiding friend. He has been washed from his guilt. He has found peace in his glorified Mediator. He is set upon the rock that is higher than himself, and he has been taught to sing a new song, even of praise to his pardoning God, his own God. • He is happy in the consciousness of his love for Christ. He needs no argument to convince him of the fact, that he really loves the Saviour, who hath bought him with His own blood. This Glo- rious Saviour has been received by him as his chosen and most desired friend. He is dwelling in his heart by faith, the object of his affections, his hope of glory. The same consciousness which he has, that he loves any earthly friend, he has that he loves this best of all friends. He would think it quite unnecessary, to attempt the convic- tion of himself by a laboured argument, from the facts which he could gather, that he loved his parents, or wife. Or children, or any dear earthly object. And he feels it to be still more unneces- sary to argue himself into the belief of his real love for Christ. He is more certain of the fact, from his own consciousness, than he could make himself by any process of argument. He can say with Peter, " Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou 58 IN CHRIST. knowest that I love thee." His actual preference above all other things, is for Christ. His real de- sire and concern are for the glory of Christ. His real fellowship with a Saviour, in a state of earthly- deprivations, suits his desires, and his frame of mind, far more entirely, than all earthly blessings could, without the mercy and favour of his Lord. This consciousness of his love for Christ, gives him a pure and abiding pleasure. The divine character, which to the eye of the careless sinner presents no attraction, appears to him clothed with unqualified loveliness. The work of grace, which the carnal mind rejects with heedless un- concern, is shining before his mind, as worthy of all adoration and all acceptance. That his thoughts are not unceasingly occupied with his Glorious Redeemer, is no more an argument that he does not love Him, than the same fact would be a proof of this want of love,' in regard to any of his earthly friends. He does not think of any one of them always. But when he does think of them, it is with an undissembled and undoubting feeling of affection. So when his thoughts are directed to the Saviour, it is not as an object of aversion or indifference, — but as an object of sincere desire and love. He has no feeling to- wards this chosen and precious Saviour but this. He could not say, " I love him not !" without the clear conviction of falsehood to himself. And in this consciousness of his love to Christ, he finds a happiness which is real and most valuable. He is happy in a consciousness of the actual vic- tory which the Lord Jesits is accomplishing for him. The work which the Saviour first commenced IN CHRIST. S9 within him, in turning him from darkness to light, he finds Him still carrying on in his heart. Un- holy and irritable passions are yielding to the dominion of the Prince of Peace. A love of the world, and of the things of the world, is giving place to an increased estimation and desire for the things which are above. There is still much within him, which gives him frequent and deep distress. But there has been also much done for him, which gives him unspeakable thankfulness and pleasure. And O, how real is the pleasure which he enjoys, when he is able to place his foot upon a vanquished appetite, or a conquered spirit of petulance or pride. Just as the Israelites sang their song of praise, when they saw their enemies dead upon the sea-shore, does he praise God, when he beholds the foes which have op- pressed him from within, and from without, bow- ing their necks beneath a Saviour's feet, and confessing Him in their submission to His power, to be Lord of all. Temptations formerly resistless, have now to a great degree lost their power. Provocations which formerly triumphed over all his own determinations, do not, and cannot now overcome the power of Christ dwelling within him. He has a growing delight in religious du- ties J an increasing interest in the things which belong to his peace ; a conversion more and more entire, of his cares and studies, to the great work of his soul's salvation ; an extending submission of his will in holiness to God ; an enlarging con- formity of his life and character to the will of God. This growth in grace gives him undoubted pleasure. It is certainly far less evident, than he 60 IN CHRIST. desires to have it. There is far more unholiness remaining within him, than, amidst all his privi- leges and means of spiritual benefit, there should be. Yet he cannot but see, that this growth in grace is real and evident. What he could not do for himself, God in infinite mercy is doing for him ; overturning the habit and the influence of sin, and carrying him on from strength to strength, that unto the God of gods, he may appear in Zion. He is happy in the habitual contemplation of the high and interesting subjects presented in the Gospel. Even an infidel was compelled to say of the history of our Blessed Lord, — "If Socrates died as a man., Jesus died as a God," The mind of every serious and reflecting man, may find in the great truths of the Bible, — ^in the events there described, — in the characters there delineated, — in the promises there be- stowed, — a majesty and glory which can be dis- covered nowhere else. To the truly spiritual mind, these form delightful subjects for thought. The man in Christ loves to contemplate the glo- ries which God hath prepared for them that love Him ; to meditate upon what God is, and upon what He has done for man. He finds in such contemplations, an employment and a pleasure which mark him as kindred with the skies, and which give full scope to the highest and noblest powers of his being. " O how I love Thy law," says the Psalmist, in reference to the Scriptures which are given by inspiration of God, and which testify especially and fully of the Saviour's glory, " It is my meditation all the day." The IN CHRISr. 61 Spirit takes of the things of Christ, and shows them unto the man in Christ, — and gives him a delight in meditating upon their character, and upon his interest in them, far above any pleasure which increasing knowledge in mere earthly- things can ever bestow. The Bible opens to him its treasure-house of wondrous things. He loves to follow angels in their great occupation of looking into the manifold wisdom of God, as displayed in the work of man's redemption. The more he knows, the more he desires to know, and the more he is able to know of these unsearchable riches of grace, — for he finds no end thereof. Here is employment which is al- ways new, and always affording the highest, and the purest pleasure. And in this, the man in Christ finds continued enjoyment. He is happy in a simple confidence in divine protection. He looks up to God as a very pres- ent help in time of need ; as a Guardian who has pledged to him his word, — " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Abiding satisfaction arises in his mind, from the recollection of the uninterrupted presence of this covenant God, around his path, and about his bed. All that he does, is known to Him. Wherever he may go, he is not, and he cannot be, beyond the reach of His inspection and care. In all his concerns, there is therefore nothing contingent or unset- tled. Whatever is made a part of his experi- ence, was previously a part of God's great plan of blessing for him. And though to his own dim and feeble power of vision, the future is still entirely inexplicable,— to this divine Protector it 62 IN CHRIST. is all present, and all perfectly arranged. God knows the way that he takes, — and when he is tried by Him, it is that he may come forth as gold. O how great is this happiness, in a life of apparent accident, and incalculable chance, to rest with assurance upon the divine ordinance and government, — to realize and perceive, thai God is over all, and in all. By His wisdom, will and power, all things are guided, and made to work together for good to them that love Him. The man who is in Christ, is firm, and tranquil, and confident in this blessed assurance, this pre- cious hope. Calm in the confidence of faith. He trusts His finn decrees, Lies humbly passive in His hands, And Triiows no mil but His. It is this assurance of a divine protection and power, which enlightens his darkness, — secures him from his foes, — makes even his enemies to be at peace with him, — brings good for him out of every apparent evil, — and keeps his mind in perfect peace, because his trust is stayed on God. These are some of the pleasures which belong to the man in Christ. They are real and per- manent pleasures. They form in his heart, a source of daily joy. They lead him to be more and more thankful, for the grace which has vis- ited him when he was far off in a sinful and hardened state of mind ; and which brought him back to sit down at the feet of his beloved Lord, in the full purpose to cleave with his whole heart IN CHRIST. 63 unto Him. They are enjoyments which depend for no part of their worth, upon the power of man's imagination. The heart of man can con- ceive nothing, which can add to their substantial value. They are flowers of amaranth and gold ever blooming ; — they are springs of living water ever flowing ; — they are hidden treasures which unfold their value, in proportion as they are sought with diligence and desire. Perfectly con- fident in their own real sufficiency for man, they can say to him, " Come, taste and see that the Lord is gracious. — Come, eat of our bread, and drink of the cup which we have mingled, — that you hunger no more, and go no where else to draw, — for whoso chooseth us, chooseth life, and shall find the favour of the Lord." Yet in these enjoyments, Christ is all. They arise from His favour. They depend simply upon His smile. They are enjoyed in a spiritual connec- tion with Him. They are not to be found in separation from Him. He that hath the Saviour as his own, hath all these durable riches and enjoyments also with Him. But to whom do these precious enjoyments be- long ? Are they the property of a few only ? Alas, that we should be compelled to say, of a few in fact : — ^but certainly not of a few of necessity, or by a divine determination. They belong to all who are in Christ ; and whosoever will, is invited to come to Him, and partake of them. It is a strait and narrow way for carnal nature, yet open beyond the power of man to shut, for the awak- ened and penitent soul. None who come, can be cast out, nor need any mistake the path who 64 IN CHRIST. desire to come. Jesus addresses his kind and attractive invitations to every sinner, and offers a full salvation freely to the acceptance of all. To those who are seeking their pleasures in the corrupting follies of the world, he offers in himself the joys of an eternal kingdom, and of everlasting communion with God. To those who are making gold their hope, and the fine gold their confidence, He presents everlasting gains and glory. To those who are cast down amidst earthly disappointments. He offers a security, in which they shall not he ashamed or confounded forever. And though He requires all to enter upon a path, which seems to the unsubdued heart, nothing but a course of painful self-denial. He assures all that they shall find it in experience, a path of peace. My friends, these precious offers are presented to you. Can you find no attractions in the Chris- tian's pleasures ? Is there no worth, in your esti- mation, in the enjoyments of the man in Christ ? He does not find it so, — nor will any of you, by whom the experiment is made. To the end of life, he feels more and more anxious that nothing should separate him from the love of Christ. Hav- ing tried for himself, all that could be found in his original state, without Christ, and the worth of the privileges which he has now received in Christ ; he has no desire to go back, to make a re-exchange with sin. O, let this experience of redeemed millions be allowed to convince your judgments, and lead your minds to Christ, as your own chosen Saviour and Lord. Be assured, you will find no disappointment in Him. You will regret nothing which you have given up for His IN CHRIST. 65 sake. You will lament no cross or burden which you assume in His service. You will be satisfied with the holy inheritance to which you have awaked, under the new-creating power of His Spirit; — finding His favour to be life, and His lov- ing-kindness better to you than life forever. Can you not say then, — What ttough the patt wliicli leads to God, Is thick witli woes and troubles strewed, Yet rather than I back would turn, I'd wander all iny days forlorn. Only, dear Lord, prepare my seat Beneath Thy smile, and at Thy feet. The meanest place Thy courts afford, Will be a heaven to me, my Lord. Only secure my living crown. And foes may hate, and friends disown ; No worldly wealth shall claim my care. Thy presence only would I share. How gladly would I yield my breath, And bow my willing head in death, If Thou Thy pardoning love proclaim. And seal my forehead with Thy name. " Behold thou art mine," wouldst Thou say. How gladly would I flee away ; Keeping my Saviour's throne in view. And bid this fleeting world adieu. CHAPTER V. HOPE. The man in Christ, we have already consid- ered, as deeply serious in a retrospection upon his life past, and truly happy in the enjoyment of his present condition. From a consideration of these facts, we will pass on to remark upon some other attributes and facts which mark his present state. In the present view of him, I would exhibit him as animated by a lively and glorious hope. This is an entirely new fact in his history. He has been begotten again to the enjoyment of a lively hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a hope which sustains him in every conflict and trial ; and which gives him a cheer- ful, peaceful spirit, in the midst of all his hours of darkness and distress. Literally perhaps, in the actual exercise of hope, he is not peculiar. There is probably no living man wholly without hope. An utter destitution of hope, — a state of actual, unmixed despair, is the characteristic of the sin- ner's last abode of recompense. There alone, hope comes not, which comes to all who are not inhabitants of that deep abyss. On this side the grave, all men cherish for themselves some kind of hope. Man could not live without it. Whether IN CHRIST. 6'' this hope be real and substantial, or only imag- inary and delusive, in its character and objects, it is still the sweetest solace of human life ; and whatever may be man's burden of cares and la- bours, it is still found in a great degree sufficient to uphold the spirit of a man, and to urge him forward in the path of effort in his earthly con- cerns, with alacrity and cheerfulness. In the pecuniary embarrassments which often press him down, he hopes for subsequent, returning pros- perity, and still works on with ardour and confi- dence. In sickness, while he feels the load of pain, he still hopes for returning health, and en- dures "vtith patience the burden which he is required to bear. In relative sorrows, the hope of future rising peace in his earthly condition, still encourages him to cling to his passing life, and to bear with submission, the yoke which is placed upon his neck. This is the universal property and characteristic of man. If his eye here and there a thin cloud may behold, Hope plays on its edges, to tinge them with gold. The difference between the man in Christ, and other men who are without Christ, is not, that he alone entertains or enjoys, fin actual hope of some description, and derives habitual comfort from it; — but in the remarkable diversity be- tween the objects of their different hopes, and in the opposition of the several grounds upon which they rest them. If it may be said of all men, that they are not destitute of some kind of hope in their present condition, — it may still be said of the man who is in Christ, that his condi- 6a IN CHRIST. tion is emphatically a state of 1 ope. He is saved by hope. He rejoices in hope. Hope is an an- chor to his soul, both sure and steadfast. And this is so peculiarly his condition, that it is justly said of those who are without Christ, that they have no hope, — ^that is, no real, well-grounded hope, — ^no hope of things which are truly perma- nent and unfading. The true Christian, who is dead indeed to the world, and whose life is hid with Christ in God, — is in actual possession of this most precious comfort of life, and is able to give a sufficient reason for it to others. The hope of the- man in Christ, may be consid ered chiefly in its objects. These objfects are various. But they are all contained within the terms of the divine promise ; and they are there- fore all secured to him, by the word of God, who cannot lie. The man in Christ is animated and encour- aged by a joyful hope in regard to all the concerns of his present life. But these earthly hopes are to be carefully discriminated, lest we give counte- nance to that secret, sinful spirit, which looks more to the things which are seen and teinporal, than to the things which are unseen and are eter- nal. It is not hope of mere earthly treasures and dignities, though he is not shut out from these. God may bestow them upon his chosen servants; and the voice of humble, spiritual prayer may be heard, and the evidences of holy, living devotion to God may be seen, amidst all the circumstances of grandeur, which adorn the highest possible sta- tion in human life. But these things are not the subjects of divine promise under the Gospel, and IN CHRIST. 69 therefore the man in Christ fixes no hope upon the possession of them. Did he possess them, they would perhaps be the occasions and instru- ments of his severest conflicts and temptations, and he might justly long for the lowest vale of earthly humiliations in their stead. It is not hope either, of freedom from personal cares and sor- rows. The servant of God is plagued like other men; — sometimes chastened every day; — and sorrows from a full cup are poured out for him. Sickness and grief, temptation and afiliction, min- gle themselves in his experience, as they do in the experience of others, and often in a higher degree of suffering. He often realizes in such conditions, that if in this life only, he had hope in Christ, he should be of all men most miserable. This freedom from earthly sorrow, is not a subject of divine promise. Nay, God rather speaks of chastisements here, as the portion of his people, chastening those whom he loveth, and scourging every son whom he receiveth. These are not, therefore, the objects of earthly hope to the man who is in Christ. But he hopes for perfect security in all the pos- sible changes of this present life. All things work together for good, to those who love God, who are called according to His promise. He is perfectly defended by divine power, from the possible injury to which he is exposed, while he is a follower of that which is good. His earthly advantages may be very small, and his trials may be accumulated and great. But nothing can sep- arate him from that love of God, which is in Christ Jiesus the Lord. Every tongue that risetb 70 IN CHRIST. against him in judgment, he is able to confound ; and darkness is made light, and crooked things become straight, in his path. Nothing which can be made to promote his ultimate happiness, can be withdrawn from him. The hairs of his head are numbered, and angels bear him in their hands, lest he dash his foot against a stone. This per-, feet security from the evil power of trials and enemies, is his portion as a member of Christ, by the certain provisions of a divine covenant. God is a wall of fire about him, by day and night. He hopes for certain benefit to himself, and equally certain' glory to God, as the result from every sufiering and loss which he is required to bear. His present dispensations in whatever shape they come, are instruments of personal gain to him, by the same assurance of the divine promise. Peaceable fruits of righteousness must be gathered from the bitter roots of present sorrow. And he learns to look for these, with confidence, and without fear. He is to be stablished, strength- ened, and settled, by the operation of the very temptations, in the midst of which he is often in heaviness. His spirit will grow more humble, his mind more heavenly, and his aflFections more spiritual, under the training which often seems so grievous, that his wounded spirit can scarcely en- dure its operation. He thus enters upon every path of duty without fear ; and upon every con- test without carefulness. All that he really pos- sesses, and really values, is always secure ; laid up in the keeping of a Being whose truth remain- eth; and whose power cannot be overcome. These two facts, which are the subjects of the IN CHRIST. 71 divine promise, and, therefore, of a proper Chris- tian hope, cover all the possible changes of the present life. The power of harm is removed from every trial ; and certain and abiding benefit is to be brought by divine ability and determination out of every painful dispensation. This is the portion of the man who is in Christ, because he is there. It is a result of the everlasting covenant, in all things well ordered and sure, which God has there made with him. And thus on the very jour- ney to his home, while he has here no continuing city, but is seeking one to come, he actually en- joys more of the real comforts of the road, than any of those who are without Christ can, though they have made it their rest, and have said in the madness of their hearts, " Here will I dwell, and this shall be my heritage forever, for I have a de- light therein." The man in Christ is animated by objects of hope, which are entirely peculiar to the condi- tion in which he is placed, and appertaining to his state as a member of Christ. These are spir- itual and invisible things. But notwithstanding this, they are real, and inestimably valuable. They are entirely secure, and wholly unfailing, because they depend simply upon the power, and the promise of an unchanging God. They are hopes, therefore, which cannot be cut off; which are not aflfected by earthly changes, and which remain imperishable, though all things should seem to be against him to whom they are given. He hopes for fuU and permanent victory over all that is evil, both in the corruptions of his nature, and the temptations of his state. Sin cannot have 72 IN CHRIST. the dominion over him, because he is under the protection and government of grace. . The sure promise of God secures to him a new heart, and will make him, eventually, holy as God is holy. Infirmities press upon him. Passions and tempers of an unholy character rebel against him. Sin is mingled with the very best services which he performs. The plague of his own heart is brought out to his view, with a clearness of exhibition, and a bitterness of influence, which fills him with unutterable distress. But though, amidst this fearful display of secret sin, his spirit is sometimes overwhelmed within him, he still has a sure hope of victory through the power of God which work- eth in him, and which is promised to him. This blessed hope supports and comforts him, while struggling with many foes, and enduring much hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When he mourns over past deficiencies, — when he grieves for his backslidings from God, — when he dare hardly deem himself a child, so pressing and victorious seems to him the power of sin within him, — ^this sure hope of final triumph over sin gives him encouragement and joy. God will make him at last, a conqueror, because Christ, to whom he belongs, and in whom he lives and dwells, has already conquered. The hour will yet come, when, with a perfectly pure and peaceful spirit, he shall adore the grace which has sanctified him wholly, and made the bones within him which have been broken, to rejoice. With this hope he presses forward in the path of duty, mingling songs of praise, with his cries and tears beneath the burden of sin; so that it may be sometimes IN CHRIST. 73 said of him, as of the IsraeKtes at the building of their second temple, — ^you can haardly discern be- tween the noise of the shout of joy, and the noise of the weeping. But of his riven and contending soul it may be also said, as of that house, and with equal certainty, " In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." He hopes for a full and everlasting acceptance before God. I say he hopes for this, — ^for although he has it now, by the certainty of the divine pro- mise, yet its glory has not been fully revealed to him, for his own present actual enjoyment. But his confidence rests upon one who is mighty to save. Being one with Him, he has all, and abounds in him, — ^in reference to his full justifica- tion in the sight of God, — and he can look up to Him as to an accepting Father, with undoubting confidence, and without fear. He knows in whom he has believed. He is willing to venture every thing upon the revealed sufficiency of a divine Saviour. When God shall enter into judg- ment with his soul, he knows that "there is one who hath borne his burden, and is near to justify him. In the perfect ability of that Mighty Sub- stitute, he is safe forever. And although it does not yet appear what he shall be, he knows that when He shall appear, he shall be like Him, and see Him as He is. This blessed hope comforts and encourages him under a sense of guilt, be- neath which he truly mourns; — amidst all the accusations of his own conscience, and all the re- collections of his past folly and sin. This supports him, when Satan tempts him to despair. This gives him a sufficient answer, when many tongues 5 74 IN CHRIST. rise against him in judgment, and call for the condemnation of his soul.. The abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness which he has received, supply every want, and remove every fear. And, comforted with the assurance of this hope, he endures continually, as seeing Him who is invisible." He hopes for a triumphant entrance into the pre- sence of the Lord Jesus Christ. His present term of being is short, and coming rapidly to its con- clusion. Its final hour is fixed, how near he knows not. The Judge standeth at the door. As he daily sleeps, and wakes again, he goes through the daily semblance of his departure. He cannot but often think of it seriously, and with a solemn calculation of its results. But, though his heart is sometimes afraid, he has a bright and blessed hope connected with this hour. When it comes, it will be an hour of liberty. The Saviour will attend his departure from the earth ; — He will watch over the operation of his dying hours, — ^like the skilful refiner who has placed his precious substance in the crucible, and marks it with an intense interest and observation, while he applies the proportion of heat which is necessary to ac- complish his design regarding it. The chamber where the Christian meets his death, is indeed a sacred spot ; privileged beyond the common walk of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven. There is no fear in such a death ; — there are no bands of servitude in such a departure. He is in the everlasting arms of a Saviour omnipotent, and he will soon be with Him in His glory. The dy- ing strife will soon be over. The spirit's jubilee IN CHRIST. 75 has come. It is to be free from bondage forever. And however the saint may suffer in the flesh, for a little time if need be, in a moment he will be at hojne. Death is uniformly made an occa- sion of peaceful joy to the man who is in Christ. Through his whole life, he looks forward to this hour with hope as the appointed time, when he shall receive an abundant entrance into the ever- lasting kingdom of his Lord and Saviour. He hopes for 9. future glorious resurrection of his body from the grave, in a spiritual and undying form and nature. This is a peculiar and blessed hope which the Gospel gives. With this hope, he parts with his mortal body, that like a seed sown in the earth, it may go through its appointed process of decay, to a future brighter and more beautiful manifestation. Jesus, as a faithful Cre- ator, will watch over it, till His own appointed hour shall come. In that hour, He will raise it from the dust of the earth again, however appa- rently commingled and lost, and bring it to the glory which He has provided for it. The man in Christ confides in this hope, as founded upon a divine assurance, and rejoices to contemplate the day, when the Lord shall return with the archan- gel's shout, to be glorified in His saints, and when those who are asleep in Christ, shall arise to meet Him in clouds, when the uncounted myriads of His people shall reflect the brightness of His own appearance, and manifest the power of His grace, and the riches of His glory. He hopes for a crown of glory in the great day of his account with God. When in body and spirit again united, he stands before God in judgment. 96 IN CHRIST. it will be to have his full salvation there proclaimed. He shall shine as the sun, in the kingdom of his Father. He shall be brought with triumph to God, as the reward of the travail- of a Saviour's soul. The crown which he receives, is the rec- ompense of a Saviour's merit. The righteousness which earned and deserved it, was the righteous- ness of Christ. But it is by the grace of Christ bestowed upon him, and secured to him, as his eternal portion. Jesus has triumphed, and His servants and people have triumphed in Him. Jesus has merited, and they receive the reward which He has earned for them. To this glorious day, the man in Christ looks forward, when the Lord shall make up His jewels, and receive His servants with an affectionate welcome, to His own abode. Then he hopes to dwell with Christ forever. So shall he be ever with the Lord. So ! So raised, and sanctified, and crowned ; — so accepted and welcomed, and triumphant. This is the grand end of all his plans, and labours, and desires. He asks for no heritage on this side Jordan. He looks for a permanent abode with Christ. He looks for this, as the final, crowning gift of grace . The life and principle of his religion here, is per sonal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. All his hopes spring from this union, and were given to him, when this union was perfected in his con- version. But here, the influence of this principle is but gradually developed. He is drawn contin- ually nearer to Christ, and enjoys more of the presence of his Saviour in his soul. But yet all that he knows is but in part, and all that he sees, IN CHRIST. 77 is through a glass darkly. There, this union is exhibited in all its glory, and bestowed upon him in all its blessedness. He dwells forever with Christ, and Christ forever with him. But who on earth can speak of these glorious results of faith and hope for those who are with Christ. It hath not entered into the heart of man, to conceive the least part of the joys which God has prepared for those who love Him. Faith strives, but all her efforts fail, To trace them in their flight ; No eyes can pierce within the veil Which hides that world of light. These are the precious hopes which belong to the man in Christ. They are found by him, grow- ing more dear and precious to him every day. As years multiply upon him, and cares press around him; these become more constantly his light and his comfort, in the house of his affliction. They literally save him. He is " saved by hope." He would have perished without them, and utterly have fainted, had he not believed to see the good- ness of the Lord, in the land of the living. In all these precious hopes, Christ is all. They are founded upon His word, — ^they depend upon His power. They are composed of blessings in pros- pect, which He only can give. He is himself the great object of them, including all other objects of desire in His own person and love. He is Himself the hope which is as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. The man in Christ is a man of trials and sorrows. He mourns over the darkness of the world around him;— he is 78 IN CHRIST. grieved with the corruptions which go under a Christian name ; — he is pained with the incon- sistencies of professed believers; — he is deeply anxious amidst the dangers and trials to which the truth is exposed; — he groans under the bur- den of sin, and over the plague of his own heart. But amidst all this pressure upon him, he has still a bright and glorious hope ; and in this he cannot but rejoice, and he does rejoice. How unspeakably precious would these hopes be to all ! How sad is the thought, my beloved friends, that many of you first see their worth, in the consciousness of their final loss ; and behold too late, the unspeakable glories which you have vainly and sinfully cast away ! O that you would think of the importance of this ! Here is the great concern for you. How happy would it be for you, would you give half the attention and care to this, which you are ready to devote to the mere dead discussions of religion, or to the vanities of a dying world ! Here come, to the feet of Jesus, ^an appointed and sufficient Lord, — make Him the object of your choice, and your confidence. You will find there, a glorious hope, — a comfort- ing and satisfying hope. It will watch around you as a ministering spirit from on high. It will stand by you, as an angelic messenger of peace. It will supply you with daily provisions of joy and strength. Why will you not embrace it, and hold it fast 1 Who of you is excluded from its offers 1 — who is driven away from the feast of joy which it prepares ? Why stand you remote from a blessing so free, and so precious ? My friends, every interest for you, is involved in the posses- IN CHRIST. 79 sion of this blessed hope ; — a possession which is imparted by no mere ordinances or ministries of man, but by the converting and transforming power of the Holy Ghost, forming Christ within the heart. Seek, then, the blessing thus pro- posed. Seek it sincerely, and with your whole heart. Seek it in a self-renouncing, humbled spirit. Seek it with a determination to find and. to possess it, — ^but seek it only in Christ ; — ^in an acceptance of His offered pardon ; in a trust in His perfect and sufficient righteousness ; in a choice of His service, and a willingness to suffer and to count all but loss, for His sake. Seek this blessed hope, as the great business before you, to which every other object, relation, and engage- ment in life, is to give away ; resolved to come out, and be separate from sin, and to walk in new- ness of life, under a Saviour's guidance. Thus shall you find yourselves sheltered and comforted in Christ, and built up and protected in Him, for every duty, — in every trial, — and for the enjoy- ment of His glory ; filled by the God of hope, with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. CHAPTER VI. SECURITY. The view which I now purpose to exhibit of the man in Christ, is that of his entire and finai security. He is in a state in which the mercy of God has placed him, unalterably and finally se- cure. How exceedingly precious and important, this view of his condition is, every reflecting mind is competent to estimate and understand. The very thought of such a security as possible for man, in the midst of a changing and unsettled world like this, comes with a peculiar refreshment and delight over the mind. In earthly arrange- ments, the universal experience of man shows that nothing" is secure. The life and ingenuity of man are literally expended, and the varied powers of man are taxed to their utmost extent, in guarding against the occurrence of anticipated losses and dangers. The chief exhibition which is made of human wisdom, is in the success of the expedients which man contrives for this pur- pose. Fear treads upon the heels of every invest- ment, and every occupation. He cannot build him an habitation, but he must guard and insure against the devouring flame. He cannot send his merchandise to traflaic upon the ocean, but he IN CHRIST. 81 must provide for all the fears of winds and storms. He cannot confide his property to the hands of his fellow-man, but the known depravity and un- faithfulness of man unsettles all his expectations, and fills him with doubt. He cannot fasten his affections on a child, or a friend, but disease will eat down his idol, or ingratitude will punish his idolatry. This is the character of the world in which man dwells, and the universal experience of man as he passes through it. Amidst all these changes, and these fears of change, — as the attributes of earth, — is there any real security to be offered to man 1 Is there any foundation upon whicli his hope and his con- fidence may rest without fear ? Certainly not in the things of this world. " In the world ye shall have tribulation." This is the portion of fallen and imperfect man. This is the very atmosphere in which he is born, — the inheritance which he cannot avoid. And as surely as you will find water in the ocean, or behold the sparks ascend- ing, will you find trouble and insecurity to be the natural and universal inheritance of man. But there is security in Christ. " Be of good cheer," says He, "for I have overcome the world." The outward condition and the present temporal concerns of His people, may be the subjects of continual decay and alteration ; — like the waters of the troubled sea when it cannot rest, unceas- ingly moving, never to be settled. But their real interests, — their abiding concerns, become per- fectly immovable and secure in the provisions of the Gospel, and under the dominion of the Sav- iour. Though in the world, they have no con- 4* 82 m CHRIST. tinuing city, they may still here receive, and here possess, a kingdom which cannot be removed. This certain security is the unspeakable privilege of the true Christian, The "man in Christ,*" vpith a new mind and heart, by a faith vrhich is of the operation of God, has accepted Christ as his foundation, and rests himself wholly upon Him. He has thus by the Holy Spirit, been unit- ed unto Him forever. In this connection, he is happy in a state of present enjoyment, — animated and encouraged by glorious hopes, — and made perfectly secure from harm and loss, in any change or trial to which he may be exposed. This di- vine security is the point now before us. All security has reference to some anticipated possible loss; and the value of the security rises, in proportion to the worth of the interests which are at hazard. But here, the interest contem- plated, is the spiritual, permanent welfare of man, — his undying existence, — his glorious immortal- ity. In this connection, temporal things are not to be considered. The security of which we speak, is a spiiitual, permanent security. There are three sources of danger appertaining to the interests of the soul, which every reflecting man must apprehend as possible to himself: — Present condemnation, — eventual captivity under the domin- ion of sin, — and final rejection from the glorious presence of God. No other harm or loss can be anticipated for the soul, than will come under one, or the other, of these three classes of dan- ger. To each of these dangers, the man without Christ is inevitably and absolutely subjected. IN CHRIST. 83 From them, all, the man in Christ is made en- tirely and infallibly secure. The man in Christ, is entirely secure frcm preseyit condemnation in trial before God. This trial all men must sustain. In fact all men are passing through it every day they live. The work of each day as it passes, is finished in itself. And though its actual results may yet be changed while other days of grace remain, — its facts as it passes, and the character of those facts, are un- alterable for eternity. God is thus continually proving men, and passing judgment upon them. They are daily, either accepted and approved, or condemned and rejected, by Him whose judg- ment is according to truth. Men are taught to look forward to a future hour, when this long se- ries of judgments shall all be made up ; — when there shall be a final investigation and settling of human character and condition ; — when the as- tounding results of human life shall be brought out ; — and the whole family of man shall be, for a succeeding eternity, either approved or con- demned, before a just and Holy God, But God also teaches us, that sinful men are condemned already ; — condemned every day. The Great Judge of all, in His heart-searching power, is marking and recording the conduct of man from day to day ; — and the result of actual transgression and guilt discerned in man, is das- approbation and condemnation. O how impor- tant, — how alarming is this view of the relation of unpardoned man to his Creator ! He walks forth continually, a sinner under the wrath of God. Examined faithfully and justly in the ha- 84 IN CHRIST. bitual character and conduct of his life, he is every day rejected and condemned. The uncon- verted man seeks no refuge, but in his own ex- cellence and worth. He stands alone. No other being shelters him, or pleads for him. He lies down, and he rises up, under the condemnation of his righteous Judge. A dark life, and an infi- nitely darker eternity, are before him. All the dispensations of divine government, only serve to ripen him in his sins, for final destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. From all this condemnation, the man in Christ IS entirely secure. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Through the riches of divine grace, he has been united to a Saviour, who has borne all his guilt. The law of God demands no other penalty, than that which has been already endured for him ; and which he has been taught and enabled by the Holy Spirit, to embrace and plead before God. Christ has been made for him, a debtor to do the whole law, as an obedience and a sin-offering for him. In his relation to this atoning Redeemer, having an eternal personal union with him, he stands per- fectly accepted before God; — his sins are par- doned, his backslidings are healed, his infirmities are endured with, and his soul is sheltered and loved forever. Though he is in the flesh, he is not walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit ; and the Spirit of Christ dwells within him. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes him free from the law of sin and death. He daily offends; and if he should ever say he had no IN CHRIST. 85 sin, the truth would not be in him. But his life is not that of a wilful sinner, for he is born of God, and his seed remaineth in him ; so that his sin- fulivess of nature, which is not a sinfulness of choice, is pardoned ; and he is every day accepted with God, in that Saviour, who, by one offering, hath perfected forever, them that are sanctified. He is thus delivered from present condemnation, because he is in Christ. He is blessed of the most High God, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ. The man in Christ, is secure from all future captivity under the power of sin. Sin shall never be allowed to have dominion over him. An un- converted mind is ruled wholly by the principles and propensities of a sinful nature : — it is, volun- tarily and by continual desire, under the power of sin. Though perfectly conscious of its sin, and often feeling the importance of a deliverance from its power, it is still a willing captive, and deter- mines, for the present at least, to abide in this condition, though the Gospel unceasingly and freely offers liberty from the power of sin. But the soul which has been led to fly for refuge to Jesus, to receive him as a Saviour, and to yield to his authority as a Ruler, finds the dominion of sin, and its own captivity to it, to be broken. The strong man armed is by the power of the Holy Spirit, cast down and overcome. The reigning power of rebellion has been dethroned, in the conversion of the heart to God. The do- minion of grace has been established within it by divine power. This is an actual conquest, of which every converted man has been the subject. 86 IN CHRIST. The captivity of Satan has been led captive by the power of the Son of God. But after this amazing change in man's condition, there may be supposed a twofold danger possible, of the future restoration of the power of sin ; — either from a change in the dispositions of man himself, or from the superior power of the enemy with whom he is obliged to contend. From both of these dan- gers, however, the man in Christ is made en- tirely secure, and by the same power. He is rescued from the possible disposition of his own infirm nature to go back again to his folly, because he has received as a divine gift, a new heart. He has been brought voluntarily to choose a new path of conduct. His affections are really set upon new objects. These new affec- tions are every day increasing in their power and constraint. He loves the things of God, and he loves them more and more. His mind is con- tinually more alienated from disobedience, and more abhorrent of sin. He presses forward in the paths of holiness, because he has a delight therein. To suppose him to turn again with de- sire to the paths of sin, is to suppose him, either discovering deception and unsoundness in the heavenly objects which he pursues, which is im- possible ; or else to suppose, that continual love for an actually precious and much-valued object, has in itself a tendency to turn into hatred and dislike, which is absurd. How can sin ever again appear attractive to him, when he is dead indeed, unto sin, and it is the abominable thing which he hates 1 All his desires are by the Divine Spirit IN CHRIST. 87 averted from sin; and with his own wish, its do- minion can never again be restored. But can he be led captive by its superior power, without his own consent? Still less is this possible. It was by absolute superior power that he was rescued from its influence at the first. Can the almighty power which then de- livered him, fail ? Nay, it has pledged itself to him, that sin shall not have dominion over him. The power of sin is broken, and though it dwells within him, it is only as a captive. It may be a restless captive, — an insurgent, unwilling captive, — but it is a captive still. It is left there, as the Canaanites were left in the land of Israel, to prove him, to make him watchful, to lead him and to excite him to pray and strive for farther conquests. While he rests upon the power of Christ, he may glory even in his infirmities, and feel that even when he is weak, then is he strong. His personal holiness is the subject of a divine covenant with him. God will make him holy, for He is holy. He- has solemnly bound himself to do so. Sin cannot therefore have dominion over him, unless the enemy shall prove to be stronger than God. This is his certain security ; and though his heart may be sometimes over- whelmed within him, it is still a joy to him, to reflect, that God hath solemnly confirmed to him His promise never to forsake him. The victory which has been obtained for him, is therefore, a final victory ; and he shall be kept by divine power, through faith unto salvation. The man in Christ is secure from rejection in the hour of his final trial. All men look forward 88 IN CHRIST. to this day of account. There is an undeniable inward conviction in the mind of man, which it is extremely difficult to silence, that every secret thing shall finally be brought into judgment, be- fore the Living God, Then the register of hu- man life will be exposed, and men will be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Then, the man who bears his own guilt must sink for- ever. He cannot answer before God, for one of a thousand of his faults. And when infinite power, armed and directed by unerring justice, enters into contest with him, it will be impossible for him to escape. But the man in Christ will not bear his own guilt. It has already been laid upon a Divine Saviour, who has borne it for him freely and entirely. Jesus has carried all his grief. And what penalty remains then, for man to bear himself? There is not one conditional justification of man now, and another actual one then which is dependant upon man's own fidelity of conduct. The believer in Christ is now justi- fied, and having peace with God, is justified for- ever. Then his acceptance will be publicly owned and declared in the presence of the Lord of all ; — and the evidences arising from his faith- fulness in life, will be brought forward to testify to the blessed fact. God will proclaim him as His servant and His property forever, and will receive him with a joyful welcome to His own abode. Though his sins have been as scarlet, they shall be found as white as snow. He can bear to have them all exposed, because their guilt and condemnation has been removed, and the Saviour is glorified in the amazing grace IN CHRIST. 89 which has been manifested in their forgiveness. He makes mention of his Redeemer's righteous- ness, even of that only; and whatever may be the accusations against him, this conquering Lord will answer for him, and he is secure. God will acknowledge him before the countless multitudes of the redeemed, as His own ; as a jewel of His choice, forever and ever. And shouts of grace, grace, — shall exhibit and proclaim the bringing forth of the topstone of his salvation in the king- dom of his Father. This is the security/ of the man in Christ. When these dangers are removed, there can be no other cause for fear to him. Secure in these facts, he is secure forever. God is the portion of his in- heritance, and of his cup. In the Lord, he is justi- fied, and he glories forever. There, is the simple foundation of his security. It does not depend in any degree, upon his own strength or works. It rests upon the simple fact, that he has been made through grace, a member of Christ, — of an all-conquering Saviour. His personal character is the evidence of his state. It bears the same relation to his actual condition, which the hand upon the dial-plate bears to the main-spring or the weight within. That is, it announces his real state to the eyes of others. If a man is not manifestly and uniformly, a holy, watchful, perse- vering Christian in his character and conduct, he is not in Christ at all. He has no spiritual con- nection with the Saviour. The Lord Jesus can dwell in no heart, but as the principle and source, of a new and holy life. But if a man be mani- festly a holy, watchful man, he is not secure 90 IN CHRIST. from condemnation because he is so, but because Christ the Lord, who hath chosen him to be His servant, maintains his cause, and answers for him before the throne of God. His own best deeds can never bear the scrutiny of divine inspection. His very imagination that they can, would itself destroy their worth entirely. Such a thought in- dulged, would be the pride of a fallen spirit. The ripest and the best fruits of grace in the Christian soul, are the deep lowliness and humility which cast down every high imagination, and lay all the glory of all the work of man's salvation at the feet of the anointed Saviour, Faith which lay^ hold, and keeps hold, upon Christ alone, is the single instrument of safety to man. This cleaves to the blessed hope which is set before him, and rejoices in the conquests of the Lord alone. How unspeakably important to guilty man, is a security like this ! When a conscious sinner is going forward to his trial, is not the assurance that he shall come off secure, of inestimable worth ? When the dying patient has summoned his physician, is not the assurance of certain re- covery, and of future deliverance from disea^, of priceless value ? But such certain security as this, is offered only in Christ. Realize its worth, — ^its preciousness to you. Through how many scenes must you pass, when you will require His presence and aid ? How many hours of trial and distress will there be, when you cannot do without Him! You may look upon other friends, until they bid you farewell upon your dying bed. You may enjoy earthly treasures, until the last hour of life covers them with its pall of darkness. IN CHRIST. 91 But then you will pine and sicken for the support, which is only to be found in Christ. You cannot behold an approaching judgment, or meet an un- changing eternity, on any other ground, than the perfect acceptance of your soul in the infinite sufficiency and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no security for you then, but in Him. This is the security which is now offered to you in the Gospel. How easily it is to be ob- tained ! How much does this fact increase your ingratitude and guilt ! If God had bid you do some great thing, would you not have done it ? How much rather, when He only says, " believe and be saved." The only security for your souls is in Christ. Receive Him, — submit to Him, — love Him; — and He offers all to you freely. Every blessing is thus proposed to you, — ^brought to your doors, — ^urged upon your acceptance.* It is not to go up to the heaven, or down into the deep. It is but to take the mercies which are brought to your hearts, and thrust upon your ac- ceptance. The responsibility upon you, is not of getting, but of rejecting, the unspeakable mercies of God, How amazing is the heedlessness, which shall reject such mercies, and such a Lord ! You act in no other concerns, upon such princi- ples as these. Smaller matters far, by your own acknowledgment, occupy your mind intensely. You drive through the world in ardent, anxious pursuit, of business, and gain, and pleasure. Your whole earnestness of soul, in purpose and feeling, can be given to earthly things. Alas ! that all your energy should be wasted upon engagements which cannot profit ; that you should have a taste 92 XN CHRIST. for every thing which perishes in the using, and no heart left for the Glorious Redeemer who so aiFectionately invites you to find rest in Him. Why will you thus submit to the hardening influ- ence of an unconverted heart ? Why, in defiance of all your convictions of interest and duty, drive from your souls that Blessed Spirit, who struggles within you, to lead you to embrace the provisions of the Gospel ? Return, return to God, — ^from all your wanderings in folly, — ^from all your love for the things of this vain world ; and seek and find in Christ, a fulness of peace, — a security of sal- vation, — an inheritance of life for evermore. How wonderful is that infatuation which strives against the Divine Spirit who would lead men to Christ, and struggles with the attracting influence of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, as if it were a foreing of man into Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, heated sevenfold ! Yet this is the course and conduct of unconverted men. Thus do they al- ways resist the Holy Ghost, and cast away with determined obstinacy, all the boundless mercies of the Gospel. CHAPTER VII. HONOUE. " A Christian is the highest style of man." It is the peculiar title which permanently connects him with all beings who are more elevated in sta- tion, and more abundant in wealth and power, than liimself. This is the view which I purpose now to take of the man in Christ, as of a man occupying a position o^ very peculiar honour. The standard of honour is in the relations which man sustains to others around him. The honour of this world is in the comparative elevation of men in wealth, or power, or learning ; or in any of the artificial distinctions in human society, over their fellow-men. It is regulated by a connection with those who are in superior stations. It is ac- knowledged in the homage and respect of those who are inferiors in their condition of life. It is fed and kept in life, by the anticipation and hppe of something yet more exalted, to be obtained. And yet its highest attainment is as transitory and as uncertain as its lowest. Man being in honour, abideth not. In reference to the certain passing away of all his most valued earthly distinctions, he is like the beasts which perish. The station which is occupied by the man in 94 IN CHRIST. Christ, is in the highest degree, honourable to him; and is a pewaanent and imperishable elevation. It gives him an union of family, and name, and expectations, with worlds of beings who are all higher, and more powerful, than man is able to conceive. It bestows upon him, an adoption into the family of the Living God ; and an heirship in the everlasting inheritance of his children. Each angelic being is a brother and a companion to him. Beings so powerful, and so glorious, that men have trembled for fear, when they have mo- mentarily beheld them in their glory, are united to him, in the deepest and most permanent affec- tion. He is made a fellow-citizen with the saints, and one with the spirits of the just made perfect. The Great God and Father of all is his God and Father. To him he is united in Christ Jesus by a bond of inexhaustible, inextinguishable grace and love. He is a partaker of that holy fellow- ship with God, which is the joy of heaven, and the honour and privilege of glorified saints. Such honour have all His saints. And yet the almost uniform feeling of the carnal mind, con- nects with a religious profession and character, precisely the opposite association. Such a mind is opposed to God, as well in its judgment of truth, as in its tastes, desires, and pursuits. And in fhis false estimate of character, it gives an il- lustration of that entire perversion which trans- gression has produced in the nature of man. Guilty man must sacrifice his imaginary indepen- dence, renounce his own avowed excellence, and acknowledge the great personal wants and per- sonal unworthiness which truly distinguish him. IN CHRIST. 95 before he can be received into the family of God, and be clothed with the garments of His right- eousness, and His salvation. Such demands seem extremely derogatory to human pride ; and for this reason, multitudes reject all the offers of the Gospel to themselves, and affect to regard, and to treat with contempt, those who yield to the in- vitations which they despise, and submit to the motives which they renounce, as unworthy and degraded persons. In their view, true piety is humiliating, not ennobling to the character and station of man. Yet God says, — "those who honour me, I will honour." And while He is pos- sessed of glorious majesty, it must be ever to His creatures, an unspeakable honour to be connected with Him, and to be united to Him. Such honour has the man in Christ ; — and some of the facts which contribute to this excelling glory, we will briefly consider. The man in Christ has a most elevated object of pursuit. The Holy Spirit divides the objects of human pursuit, into two classes, — the " things which are seen and are temporal, and the things which are unseen and are eternal." The man who is in Christ dwells as much in the necessity of his present being, among things visible and temporal, as the man without Christ. This is the inevitable law of his being. His dispensation and his duty are, to use the world as not abusing it ; to make even that which is to others, the mam- mon of unrighteousness, the instrument of pre- paring him for everlasting habitations. But these earthly things are not the things at which he aims. The/ are not the real objects of his pursuit. In 96 IN CHRIST. deed, the natural desires of man cannot be satis- fied with the perishing portion of this world, even when he pursues it with the most devotion, and attains it with the most abundant success. He is secretly conscious of possessing powers and capac- ities, which are far too lofty to be chained down to earth ; and however he has gained, he feels himself to be without hope, and to have spent his strength for naught, when God takes away his soul. But earth has a far different aspect and influence when used as an home, and when used as a journeying place to another and eternal home beyond it. This is the condition and purpose of the man in Christ. His object lies beyond the verge of earth. He is pursuing an incorruptible treasure, and he strives to pursue it with increas- ing earnestness, in every new condition in which he is placed. He is labouring with increasing zeal and desire, to walk worthy of God, who has given him His image, and called him to His kingdom and glory. Every attainment which he makes in like- ness to his Redeemer, and in submission to his God, gives him increased satisfaction and delight. The more earnestly he loves, and labours to gain the heavenly things before him, the happier he feels in a reflection upon his own condition. He is never ashamed of any efforts which he puts forth in this pursuit, nor dissatisfied with the ob- jects which he really gains. The crown before him is in his view, worthy of all his labours. The nearer he approaches to it, the more attractive, and glorious does it appear. And however the world around him may affect to despise his course, in casting away the baubles which it calls tfeas- IN CHRIST. 97 ures, he feels himself to be pursuing an end, which will be eternally precious and honourable, vrhen all earthly things shall have faded and fallen forever. And in the certainty, and the .wortli of this blessed and exalted object of pur- suit, is one important fact of the honour of his condition. The man in Christ has a real independence of the world. Just in proportion as our hearts are truly fixed on God, and filled and actuated with the power of His grace, do the changes of the present life cease to affect us. The unfailing rule of the divine government in the family of God, is that, all things work together for good to those who love Him. The experience of His children is'an enjoyment of the elevation and tranquillity which arise from this unchanging law. St. Paul could say, when looking forward to bonds, imprison- ment, and death, — "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Je- sus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God." I would not be understood to say that every man in Christ uniformly feels thus independent. But he certainly does so, in proportion to the simplicity of his faith in God, to the power of his rjeligious spirit, to the attainments of his religious charac- ter, and to his real perception of the fulness of his inheritance in Christ. His infirmities may of- ten press him down into the vale of care and trial. His faith may be often weak, and his light ob- scured. But the rule of his condition is actual in- dependence, and the increasing spirit of it is con- 98 IN CHRIST. scious independence, of the world around. The vain and fickle judgments of the world do not trou- ble him. Its alluring provisions for sensual appetite do not entice him. Its threats and denunciations do not alarm or deter him. Its persecutions can- not affright him, or turn him back from his known and chosen duty to God, He exercises himself to have always a conscience void of oflTence to- wards God, and towards men. He is in sure possession of a kingdom which cannot be re- moved ; — and he is as happy in its possession, when affliction and distress are heaped upon him, as when prosperity and earthly joys surround him. This is real independence of the world. For who is he that overcometh the world, but he that be- lieveth on the Son of God ? The habitation of such a man is founded upon a rock ; and storms and winds will beat upon it, entirely in vain. And in this real and abiding independence of the world, is another element of the honour which be- longs to the man in Christ. The man in Christ is intimately connected with high and ennolUng relations. The whole elect of God are united together in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of His dear Son. In Him, elect angels are upheld in duty to God. In Him, elect men are gathered from all lands, and made partakers of the divine nature, and the di- vine love. To this great and holy fellowship, the Spirit of God brings every converted, believing soul. They come thus, in the exercise of that living faith which unites them to Jesus, unto the city of the Living God,— the heavenly Jerusalem, —to -the innumerable company of angels, and to IN CHRIST, 99 the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven. The man in Christ is a citizen of no mean city. His name is written in heaven. He is encompassed on earth by heav- enly guards ; and however he may be despised, and counted as nothing, by the world around himj — the manifestation to their view, of those who watch over him, who are interested in him, and have a common inheritance with him, would strike the earth with awe and terror. This amazing manifestation is yet to be made, when Jesus shall appear in His glory, and acknowledge His saints in the midst of surrounding millions ; — when they shall shine in His presence, like the brightness of the firmament, and like the stars forever and ever. But the glory of this high connection is not now the less real, though it be the less apparent. The children of God are sojourning in a land of stran gers. But they are not the less certainly, the heirs of the divine promises, and partakers of an immovable and incorruptible kingdom. It doth not yet appear what they shall be : — but this is all. The believing soul is now made by the Holy Spirit, one with Christ ; and whatever glory Christ possesses, is his also, by the divine covenant and gift. The man in Christ has thus, his conversa- tion, his citizenship in heaven. He is taught the language of praise and love, which is the dialect of heaven. He is a son of God; and wherever there are. beings, whose affections and powers are consecrated to God his Father, there are those who are united to liim, in the closest intimacy, and \iiB most imperishable relations. This con- nection is permanent, indissoluble, and real. And 100 IN CHRIST. God the Saviour rejoices over the vessels of His mercy, which He hath afore prepared for glory, as the crown and recompense of all His humiliation and suffering on the earth. The man in Christ has a certain inheritance of future glory. God hath laid up for his enjoyment, such things as it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive. The personal happiness and peace of his future inheritance, is a precious as- pect of it in his view. But this is not the pecu- liar one, which we now regard. Its elevation and glory constitute the aspect which we here consider, as an element of honour. It will he a glorious triumph. The Christian is made more than a conqueror. All enemies are put in sub- jection under his feet. Having been kept faith- ful unto death, he is now the possessor of a crown of life. It will be an exalted dominion. " Ye shall sit upon thrones." — "Ye sliall reign as kings." — " To him that overcometh, will I give to sit with me on my throne, even as I also have overcome, and have sat down with my Father on His throne." It will be a glorious priesthood for worship and praise. He is one of a royal priesthood ; — made a king and a priest unto God, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Him by Jesus Christ. This future triumphant glory is an eternal glory. And while the countenance of the Father shines upon him with unutterable peace, and the presence of the Son fills his soul with overflowing joy, and the Spirit breathes through him, the influence of holy satisfaction and delight; — all this is an everlasting inheri- tance. And oh, what excelling glory is this! IN CHRIST. 101 The last enemy conquered, — ^the last distress passed, — ^the last temptation, overcome, — the last tear of sorrow wiped away; — and the spirit, — trembling with the mingling power of humility and joy, — receiving a crown from the Saviour's hand, surrounded with choirs of rejoicing an- gels, — ^welcomed in public audience of all who have rejected and despised him before, — listens with rapture and amazement, while voice after voice takes up the anthem of praise, and the far distant throngs of God's elect, unite in the trans- porting shout, like the noise of many thunders, " Such honour have all His saints." And all this is not a future, possible glory, merely. It is a present, actual inheritance of the child of God; for which he is kept, and which is kept for him, because he is in Christ. It is not a recompense of his own personal, partial works, nor made con- tingent upon any ability in himself. It is the crown of a Saviour's merit and excellence, with whom he is one by the gift and power of grace ; and of which, therefore, he is a partaker, simply because he is in Christ. It does not depend upon his own power to overcome. It is secured by tlie faithfulness of a Lord, who hath already over- come in his behalf; and who gives to His servant whom He hath chosen, the kingdom which He hath merited and obtained. The man who is in Christ, is even now, in possession of an indisput- able title to this glory, and is an actual partaker of the honour which its greatness and worth im- parts. These are some views of the honour of this condition of grace. How blessed and precious 102 IN CHRIST. they are, the children of God can readily under- stand. The influence which they exercise upon them is most evident and powerful. They lead the man in Christ, to an utter disesteem of earth as an inheritance, and of his own character as a ground of hope. When he is elevated, under the dominion of a spiritual mind, to consider these glorious privileges as his own inheritance, the things of this world fade in the distance, to total insignificance, as an object of pursuit. All sup- posed excellence of his own seems completely annihilated. What is man, as considered in himself, when he is viewed in this connection, but a thing of nought, passing away as a shadow ? These blessed privileges lead the man in Christ to an affectionate choice of God, as his only de- sirable treasure. He cheerfully counts all things but loss for His sake. He has no higher wish than to follow the Lord only and forever, who hath enriched him with such boundless mercies, and made him the heir of such inconceivable and eternal glory. He rejoices to acknowledge his crucified Lord, before all men, as the one object of his desire and choice ; — to appear on earth as His servant ; — to bear His beloved name in all his intercourse with the world; and never to be ashamed of His cross, or of any of the reproaches which it may bring upon him. The sons of God are thus led ever to confide in the Father's assured divine presence and protec- tion, with a filial spirit ; — to trust all their wants and cares completely to him; — and thus to be cheerful amidst sorrows, confident under t!ie presence of difficulties, hoping even against hope, IN CHRIST, 103 rejoicing ever in the assurance of the rest,-T-the glorious rest, which remaineth for the people of God. It is thus, that they are upheld and saved. The more entirely they walk by faith in things unseen, the more elevated and tranquil their spirits become. When their minds and hearts are 'rdught down, to mingle in the conflicts, and to be anxious for the cares of this present world, they are twisted and overthrown, by the whirl- winds of passion, or appetite, or pride. When they look above and beyond the world, and real- ize their privileges in Christ, earthly things cease to distress thom. While they walk closely and humbly with God, in the spirit of dependance, watchfulness, and faith, — however they may be reproached an" outcast among men, they feel themselves exalted completely above them, and glory in the shame which they suffer for a be- loved Lord. Beloved friends in Christ, this is your privilege, your purchased right. O realize the blessing of keeping and cultivating a heavenly mind ! — of maintaining an abiding sense of your actual rela- tion to the Lord Jesus, and of walking simply and humbly in the enjoyment of His love. In this honour which you receive in the chosen family of God, Christ is all. It comes to you, as the purchase of His obedience, and from your personal union with Him. It depends upon His all-suffi- cient merit and power to save you. It is per- ceived and enjoyed, as He is himself embraced, remembered, and enjoyed by you. Its enjoy- ment is the work within you, of that Divine Spirit, who is ever ready to sanctify, uphold, and bless X04 IN CHRIST. you ; and whose office it is, to form Christ in your hearts, as your chief object of affection, and your only ground of hope, and to reveal to you, His excellence, power and love, as your own Re- deemer and Lord. Strive then daily, to walk worthy of this high calling, as becometh saints ; in all points of duty and labour, pleasing Him who hath called you to a knowledge of His truth and His salvation. Yea, all of you, to whom these blessed invita- tions come, seek to participate in the same abounding provisions of grace. If you will fly with an humbled and broken heart, to Him, in whom all these bounties dwell, as the chosen treasure of your hearts, and the one object of your desire and affection, they become yours forever. Secure ah interest in the Lord Jesus, and you secure every thing in Him, Believe, trust in Him with all your hearts, and He becomes eternally your own. When you are one with Him, by this simple trust of your souls to Him, through the power of His own Holy Spirit, you are in posses- sion of all the treasures which reside in Him for His people, — of all the joys which flow out from Him to the heirs of His salvation, — of all the glo- ries which are laid up for them at His right hand forever. O refuse not Him that speaketh in invi- tations and offers like these ! While in amazing reconciliation to the guilty. He comes to you; in reciprocal reconciliation to Him, kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the right way. If His wrath be kindled, yea, but a little, blessed are all thev who put their trust in Him. CHAPTER VIII. RESPONSIBILITY. We have considered the man in Christ as oc- cupying a position of peculiar honour. But there can be no elevation in the condition of man, with- out its corresponding obligations and responsibil- ity. The man who is exalted in privileges in any walk or line of human life, will also find himself distinguished by attending and proportionate cares and duties. This is also the condition of the man in Christ. He is highly exalted in the union which he has received with his glorious Lord, and he has a peculiar, and most important measure of responsibility resting upon him, corresponding with this high measure of advantage and exalta- tion. The responsibility of his condition, is the view to which I would direct your notice, in my pres- ent remarks. There is a mutual responsibility to ei.ch other, inseparable from the condition of men In whatever station in human life, a man may be placed, there are always others, in a greater or less degree, made in the Divine Prov- idence, dependant upon him ; and he is bound to exercise the influence which is committed to him, for tneir permanent benefit. He is therefore hel(i 5* 106 IN CHRIST. accountable in this measure, for the happiness and security of their present and future condition. And his own final happiness is to a great extent, wrapped up in his faithful discharge of his obli- gations to them. The man in Christ has all the various personal relations of human life to sus- tain towards others, according to the peculiar out- ward circumstances in which he is placed. And besides these, he has a peculiar responsibility resting upon himself, arising from the particular blessings which he has received from God, and the special means and opportunities of influence which he possesses. He is one of a community of persons, whom God has set up as the light of the world, and upon whom He has made the everlast- ing salvation of their fellow-men, in a great degree dependant. They have been constituted vessels of special mercy; and in the exercise of their duty towards others, the excellency of the power is of God, and not of themselves. The responsi- bility of the world's salvation is devolved upon them, as the chosen and appointed instruments of God, commissioned for this important end. They are in possession of intelligence which is able to make men wise unto salvation, — which can im- part consolation in every human trial, and bind up and comfort the broken heart, in every con- dition of human sorrow. If they are faithful in duty, men are saved by the divine blessing upon their efforts. If they are slothful and negligent in their appointed work, much suffering and loss must ensue to others from their neglect. These important facts constitute a measure of respon- sibility which they cannot avoid, and which rests, IN CHRIST. 107 pnd must rest, upon every individual member of this community. In considering this responsibility of the man in Christ, I would remark first, upon the things for which he is responsible; the actual substance and facts of this responsibility. These may be profit- ably divided into the two points, of personal ex- ample, and active eiforts to do good to others. The man in Christ is responsible for his per- ."lonal example. After all the privileges we have seen in his possession, the mercies, and the means of influence, which have been bestowed upon him, it is hardly possible unduly to magnify the de- mands which may be justly made upon him, for a personally holy example. The Saviour con- nects the exhibition of these great privileges, with the. influence which ought naturally and properly to result from them. He teaches us, in many different forms, the relative position which his followers were designed by him to occupy, in reference to the world around them. He calls them, " The light of the world,"—" The salt of the earth," — " The leaven which is to leaven the whole lump." These and similar expressions point to the fact, of a necessary operation of their character and conduct upon other persons. A light cannot be hidden, and is not brought to be put under a bushel. Salt that has lost its savour, is good for nothing. Such expressions display this purpose of relative influence as the chief de- .sign of their peculiar condition among men. For (iie exercise of this influence, they are endowed with many instruments and gifts, which under the bLebsing of God may be made thus effective. X08 IN CHRIST. But among them all, probably none is more likely to be powerful, than a holy example. The word of God has established a standard, and revealed a pattern, for the character of every Christian, in the perfect excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. To this, every disciple of Christ is to be conformed, by the renewing power of the Holy Ghost. And according to its principles and demands, will he be judged and approved at last before God. His personal conformity to Christ, is the example which he must exhibit before men. The life of the Lord Jesus must be manifested in his life. The facts which make up this example will be found to extend into the most secret and con- stant cultivation of the mind of Christ within. Even there, as the only source of holy influence upon others, is he to acquire and maintain, that holy and spiritual mind which is life and peace. His external, open conduct also comes under this requisition for personal example. What the man in Christ really is, he is abroad in his whole in- tercourse with the world in which he dwells. The transactions of his daily business will be sanctified by the uniform and evident influence of a religious and holy temper. There can be no stain of insincerity, or unfaithfulness, or un- reasonable anger, or inconsistent levity, or sen- sual impurity allowed or excused in him. He is a living epistle, to be known and read of all men, every day. And if he does not bear with him the marks of the Lord Jesus, in his free and un- premeditated walk and character among men, it cannot be, but they will disbelieve the profession which he makes, and blaspheme the holy name IN CHRIST. 109 whereby he is called. His domestic habits must also be included within the range of his personal example. Here also, is he examined with an habitual, and very searching eye. And he can- not lay aside tlie watchfulness of his walk with God, because he has returned to the retirement of his own house. As a general rule, the standard of his manifest conduct will be the standard of family judgment in regard to the whole claims of personal religion, and for the formation of relig- ious character in all who come after him in lower stations of the household. In this aspect of his character, he will see himself reflected in multi- plying mirrors around him ; and he cannot be too scrutinizing or guarded in the control of himself at home. His own private and personal actions, even to the secret engagements of his closet, will be a part of his example. The character of a Christian is an unbroken unit. To be effective, it must be always thus. If he relax his line of duty in any point, he has broken the principle which professedly controls him. He has a right to uniform independence of the false and harsh judgments of the world. But he can have no dispensing power or privilege, in reference to the claims of the divine character and truth. By the demands of these he must be seen to be habitu- ally governed. And as secretly as the eye of any human being can follow him, is he to consider the claims and the responsibility of his personal example to extend. Even the temper and liabit of his mind, the manifest state and current of his thoughts and feelings, will come also under this head of personal example. Indeed, it may be no IN CHRIST. justly said, that this is the main fact of example. He will be daily and habitually judged by the sincerity with which he manifestly acts, and the evident freedom and unconstrained exhibition of his religious character. The Saviour was obliged to say, " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of," to some who had forsaken all to follow him. Alas ! how often do we feel such a re- buke to be justly applicable to ourselves ! What strange fire do we often bring to the Lord's altar ! What selfish and careless hands do we often lay upon the ark of God ! And though God may mercifully pardon our infirmities, and heal our backslidings, and hide his face from our trans- gressions ; we may not reasonably expect any thing of men, but that our failures will be remem- bered, far more accurately and permanently, than any efforts subsequently to amend them. All these points are necessarily included in the re- sponsibility for personal example. Whether the man in Christ be a man of prayer, of meekness, of tenderness, of love, is a subject for the judg- ment of others around him ; — one upon which their unceasing scrutiny will be fixed, and in reference to which their opinions will very gener- ally be according to truth. This persoi al example, must be one of positive agency for good, and not merely negatively harm- less. It is not enough to ask of the man in Christ, that he do no harm to others, either in his conver- sation, or his conduct. He is to be actually use- ful, to all with whom he is connected in life, to the utmost extent of his means and power. The life and spirit of true religion are habitually active IN CHRIST. Ill in their influence. The Gospel is in the world as a conquering dispensation. It is to gain over to obedience and subjection to the Son of God, many whose hearts are naturally alienated from Him. And the influence of its real subjects and professors, is the great instrument in the power of the Holy Spirit in carrying out these victories of the truth of God. Each single Christian be- comes therefore personally responsible, for all the influence which his own example can be made to produce in the attainment of this all-important end. Thus God designs to bless and save the world. If but a single Christian be resident in a household, he is there by God's appointment, as an instrument and messenger.of the Lord of Hosts; and he must be about his Master's business, and make it his meat and drink to do His will. His personal example is one of the most important facts in the daily history of that family, and will constitute one of the most serious items in the account which shall be required both of him and them. Sad will it be for him, if those who are most intimate with him, have never known, by the ac- tual, manifest character of his life, that he was standing truly on the Lord's side, and gathering daily with Christ. What he might have been the instrument of accomplishing, had his light been shining steadily and clearly before men, he has not only lost, but it is vain for him to calculate. The hour of mourning will come over privileges and means so unreasonably neglected and unim- proved. And the measure of his privileges, and his possible attainments, will be made the measure of responsibility for him. This responsibility for 112 IN CHRIST. personal example can never be laid aside, Wher ever the man in Christ may be, — though but a wayfaring man tarrying for the night, this burden is laid upon him, and his example must and will operate, either for good, or for evil, to an extent, which will only be revealed to him at the judg ment seat of Christ. O that all who belong to Jesus, might be led to reflect habitually and seriously, upon this undoubted fact ; and feel the weight of that inevitable influence, which they must exercise upon others, and the responsibility which they must consequently bear. Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven. The man in Christ is responsible for personal efforts to do good to others, with whom the Provi- dence of God has been pleased to connect him. He has a divine and precious treasure committed to his charge. And however earthen and worth- less may be the vessel which contains it, the ex- cellency of the power is of God. He can do much for the divine glory, and the happiness of man ; and he is answerable for all that he can do. His efforts for the welfare of others, will require a real and deep interest in their condition. As he think- eth in his heart, so is he. He must feel for their necessities and dangers. He must have a clear perception of the need, and the nature of their salvation. God must be able to witness how ar- dently he longs for them all, in the love of the Lord Jesus. In this deep concern for their spir- itual benefit, as well as for their present happi- ness, he must feel himself, and show himself, to IN CHRIST. 113 be perfectly sincere. Such an interest will speak in habitual prayer. He knows God to be one that heareth prayer. He has been accustomed tc receive, and to understand, manifest answers from God, to prayer. He will therefore abide in his calling upon God, with watchfulness, earnestness, and perseverance. He will be much engaged in intercessory prayer, — ^pleading for all saints, for the whole household of God ; for all earthly friends , for those who have declared themselves enemies to him ; for the world which lieth in sin. Daily will his supplications rise up to God, in affection- ate intercessions, for those whom he is bid thus to remember before God, in the assurance that praying breath can never be spent in vain. But this active spirit of prayer will lead to a habit of effort just as active. The man in Christ will learn to be ingenious in devising methods of spiritual benefit to others. Affectionate religious conver- sation, directing and suggesting to a profitable course of reading, leading to the faithful preach- ing of the Gospel, as Andrew found his own bro- ther Simon, and brought him to hear the Savioui whom he had previously seen, — all these are very familiar, and very effective instruments of relig- ious benefit. How much a feeble Christian may in this way, by the divine blessing, accomplish for the benefit of his fellow-men, and the glory of his Redeemer, none can adequately describe. A sincere and believing heart, in faithful prayer, and earnest Christian effort, is attended with an om- nipotent divine power. And by the most feeble of such instruments, God habitually accsmplishes very great results. 114 IN CHRIST. But the man in Christ, will go farther than the mere employment of these instruments of benefit to man. He will rejoice to dedicate his money, and to devote his time, to the great purpose of saving the souls of men. All that he possesses, he realizes to be God's gracious gift, or rather God's confiding loan to him; and he acknowl- edges the obligation to dispense it, according to the rules which God has himself prescribed. He sees how much the cause of true benevolence languishes among men, in want of the eflForts which those whom God hath redeemed and pros- pered, should put forth for Him. He feels, there- fore, the more bound, to do all that he can, to promote and encourage every good work. It is with himj a fixed principle of faith, that the world in which he dwells, is the property, and will be ultimately under the dominion, of the Redeemer whom he loves and serves. As this is a subject of divine promise, so is it with him a subject of habitual, joyful expectation. To hasten the ful- filment of this promise, and to accomplish to the utmost of his power, the glorious result which it proclaims, is the purpose of his heart, and the ob- ject of his cheerful and persevering exertions in every path of influence which may be laid open to him. He waits for and desires the coming of his great God and Saviour, according to the Lord's command ; and labours in his vocation, to have the Gospel preached unto all nations, as the appoint- ed antecedent to this glorious manifestation of his Lord. The responsibility for the faithful discharge of this duty, the man in Clirist continually rea- lizes. And as he looks round upon his own ad- IN CHRIST. 115 vantages, upon the means of influence committed to him, and the wonderful mercies and blessings which God has been pleased to bestow upon him ; he cannot but remember, and feel, that for all these things God will bring him into judgment. And he accustoms himself to make a serious and solemn estimate of the final account which he must be prepared to give to God. But to whom is the man in Christ responsible ? How shall he except any ? His character and influence are the property and the right of others : and they may justly claim, all that he is bound by the divine commands to impart. He is re- sponsible to the family with whom he dwells, and whatever may be his station in the household, every member of it has a just claim to a divine blessing through him ; and will meet him in the presence of the heart-searching God at last, to settle the record of the mercies which they have received or lost, in their connection with him. He is responsible to the church in which he has been planted by the providence and grace of God. His character, and exertions, and influence are a portion of the property of this spiritual body, in which God has ingrafted him. If he sins in an inconsistent walk, the church is dishonoured. If he shines in manifest holiness, the church is ad- vanced. It is his duty and privilege to edify the body of Christ, and to fulfil his portion of the great work, which God has assigned to his church upon the earth. What other Christians think of him, and say of him — if the estimate which they form of his character, and the record which they give of his life be just — is a fact of vast consequence 316 IN CHRIST. to him. He -is also responsible to the world around him. God has placed him there, as a light shin- ing in a dark place. All that he can do for the happiness and salvation of mankind, they have a right to expect from him. He must by all means save some. With them also he must stand in judgment. For them, he must answer before God. The perishing souls of sinful men have a right to his care, and time, and thoughts. Their desolate and ruined condition claims his pity and his help. And though it is a small thing for him to be judged of man's judgment ; it is not a small thing to be judged before God, for the neglect of that which he was bound to do for the salvation of men, by the divine appointment. But amidst all this intermediate responsibility, he is finally accountable to God. All previous facts are but a gathering of the materials for this last account. There, before the tribunal of the Living God, he will be seen, and known, and thoroughly under- stood. All that he has done, and all that he has left undone, will come out in equal clearness be- fore him. And according as he has sown upon the earth, must he reap an harvest for eternity. His life has been the evidence of his character, and will be the standard of his account. He has been enriched with amazing privileges, and God must require of him, according to that which he hath received. And though his glorious recompense is wholly the reward of a Saviour's perfect work of obedience for him ; though his crown is merited by that everlasting righteousness which is im- puted to him without his works ; his own conduct and character are the proofs that he is really a IN CHRIST. 117 partaker of that work of merit, and a possessor of that righteousness, which has purchased for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. This is the responsibility of the man who is in Christ. Let all those who believe this to be their condition, realize the importance of the view which we have now taken of it. As you have considered the various pleasing attitudes of this state of grace, so now make it your solemn pur- pose to realize and appropriate the serious and impressive responsibility which belongs to it. Let it be the labour of your life to fill up the measure of this responsibility, remembering how short your time is. You cannot be too active in effort, or too devoted in spirit, or too zealous in affection and plan, to comport with the high vo- cation wherewith you are called. You have pro- fessed to give up all for Christ, and to make Him your treasure, and your portion. O hold not back any thing which belongs to Him ! So serve Him, and so follow Him, in newness of mind, and holi- ness of life, that you may honour Him in your daily walk on earth, and rejoice before Him, at His glorious coming, with the multitude of His redeemed. CHAPTER IX. THE LIFE OF FAITH. It has been my object to view the man in Christ in this special connection ; — to consider the bles- sings which he derives, and the duties for which he is responsible, from the simple, but all-impor- tant fact, that he is in Christ. In every aspect under which his character and condition may be considered, every benefit that he enjoys is made dependant upon the Saviour's grace, and flowing continually from His good pleasure, — Christ is all. He has received a real and everlasting union with Christ, the gift of the Father's love, and the re- sult of the immediate agency of the Holy Ghost. In this work of divine mercy, he has been trans- formed in the renewing of his mind, subdued in tire yielding of his will to the commands of God, enlightened to follow after heavenly treasures, elevated to desire and seek the things which are abovw, drawn to unfeigned and ardent love for the Saviour, and made cheerfully and thankfully ready to submit himself completely to Him, He has thus given up all attempts to establish any righteousness of his own, and has submitted him- self with gratitude and confidence, to the right- eousness of God. He has received Christ, both IN CHRIST. 119 as a Sovereign and a Saviour. He acknowledges to Him as a Sovereign, that he has no claim or righteousness of his own;— no reason in himself why mercy should be extended to him;— that he is justly condemned under the sentence of His law, and therefore has no merit whatever to plead in His presence ; and that he must rely upon the perfect freeness of His pardoning grace for every hope. He depends upon Him as a Saviour, who has fulfilled the righteousness of the law for him, and is ready to bestow His whole work of merit upon him. He relies, therefore, for all his hope, upon the actual humiliation, obedience, and tri- umph, perfected by Christ for him ; — and trusts himself before God to be tried and sentenced, with no other plea than this perfect work of Jesus, as a Saviour, upon which he rests with simple and affectionate faith. He thus yields to the righteousness of the law's demands, though it ut- ters his certain condemnation, — and accepts the righteousness of the Gospel's provision, as furnish- ing the only, and a complete redemption for his soul. He exalts the sovereignty of God, in con- fessing himself, like clay in the hands of the potter, dependant upon His absolute will ; and he exalts the salvation of God, by trusting himself unreservedly to its sufficiency and provision for him. The single principle of his spiritual life, is there- fore yoeVAy an unhesitating belief of the words of God, and an entire reliance upon the merit and power of Christ. It is a faith, which is of the operation of God; an inward imparted perceptiori> and apprehension of the unchangeable redeeming 120 IN CHRIST. love of God for him, which enables him to hope, and to rejoice in hope, notwithstanding the abiding sin which he still perceives within himself. He has thus received Jesus Christ the Lord, and he thus walks in Him, The living principle of his progressive course, is faith, which gives present substance to things hoped for, and is the assuring evidence of the things which are not seen. The man in Christ walks by faith, not by sight. In total despair of ever finding any good thing in himself, or of his own, or of becoming any better qualified by efforts of his own, for the exercise upon him of a Saviour's love, — he commits his soul, his present and eternal welfare, entirely and un- reservedly to Christ ; both to guide him in this world, and to save him in the next; believing that He is both able and willing to do the whole work for him, in the freedom and fulness of His grace. This trust in Christ, is the abiding motive and principle of the man in Christ. It is the very opposite of mere worldly prudence. The children of this world walk by sight, not by faith. To them the visible possession of a smaller gain, is better than the possible acquisition of a larger. But the Christian's treasures are all unseen. Hie has nothing in visible possession. The earnest of his promised inheritance is the renewing and love-working faith, which the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon him, and maintains within him. And his whole walk, his uniform course of char- acter, is a life of faith, — not faith in man, which is mere imagination, and is doomed with a curse, — but faith in God, — in the word of God; in the IN CHRIST. 121 feeling and mind of God towards himself; and in the purposes and plans of God in relation to him. This is the view which I desire to take now of the man in Christ. — He walks by faith. It is faith in the divine provisions for the pardon of the past. There is nothing in past life which awakens anxiety, or which need inspire concern, but sin. The troubles which have been encoun- tered, and the sorrows which have been endured, have passed away, and are readily forgotten. But sin invariably leaves a sting, which harasses the mind, disturbs the conscience, and sooner or later awakens the deepest and most distressing grief. Unless this be pardoned, man is without hope forever. Unless man has some intelligence or knowledge of its forgiveness, it is impossible for him to be at peace. The fear of punishment, and the confidence in pardon, are necessary al- ternatives in an awakened and considerate mind. Nor can man rest, until he has some good reason to believe that God is really reconciled to him, and willing to receive and bless him. For the evidence of this important fact, the man in Christ rests upon the certainty of the divine word. God has provided and revealed a full atonement for sin in the offering of His Son. He has received Him as manifested in the flesh, a sufficient substi- tute and surety for guilty man. The Father has accepted His offering once for all, when the ini- quities of men were laid upon Him, and He bore them in His own body upon the cross, — ^being made a ransom for them, a sacrifice instead of them. There is in this amazing provision of di- vine mercy and grace, a perfect sufficiency for 6 122 IN CHRIST. guilty man. It is unquestionable that the blood of Jesus Christ, — God manifest in the flesh, — is able to cleanse him from all sin. There is a dig- nity, and worth, and power, in His mediation, in this peculiar attitude, as an oiFering for man, which furnishes the clearest and most sufficient ground for hope. Upon this, the man in Christ rests his confidence of pardon. He believes the testimony which proclaims this work of divine love ; and commits himself, as a consciously con- demned sinner, to its all-sufficient worth as a means of divine forgiveness for him. There is in this system of grace, not only sufficiency, but adaptation also to his wants and condition. It is a plan which is perfectly suited to his case ; which precisely meets the demands of his soul. What the law could not do through the weakness of the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the like- ness of sinful flesh, and for sin, has perfectly fin- ished. And while the Christian contemplates this suflfering, mighty Saviour, as actually bearing the burden of man's condemnation, and putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself; he perceives it to be a plan, which precisely meets every need of his soul. It furnishes every thing in which he is deficient, and in just the way, most suited to his necessities, and most adapted to relieve and comfort him. Upon the certainty of this provis- ion, as made and proclaimed by the God of Truth, he rests himself in humble faith. It is all that he wants. He casts his burden of conscious guilt upon this suflfering Lord, and is at peace. His ev- idence, his reason for believing, is the truth and certainty of the word of God, who cannot lie. IN CHRIST. 1^ The object upon which his faith rests, is this re- vealed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the same yester- day, to-day, and forever. In the view and plans which this faith forms and acknowledges, Christ is all. To intrust himself to this dl-sufficient Saviour, he does not wait for evidences within himself, — the fruits and effects of faith upon him- self. He does not make his own state of mind and feeling, the reason for his confidence in Christ. This would be confidence in himself, not in Christ. There are many blessed results of faith, in the comforting and upholding of the soul, which are subsequent proofs that the Christian does really believe, not reasons why he should believe ; and which can only come when he has actually com- mitted himself entirely in simple faith to Christ. And it is an ensnaring temptation, which often leads men, to seek for these effects of faith, as a ground of confidence and hope, rather than the mere truth and fidelity of God. The man in Christ lives and walks by faith, not by the fruits of faith. He comes as an ungodly man, — a sinner against God ; without seeing any thing in himself but sin ; neither feeling nor finding any thing in his own heart and nature, but hardness, deadness, ig- norance, and rebellion ; and casts his soul for time and for eternity, on the revealed and sole sufii- ciency of an offered Saviour, — on the free grace of God in Him, having and desiring to have, no other ground of confidence, than the covenant faithful- ness of God, the indubitable certainty of His word. This never-failing faithfulness of God proves a strong consolation — an anchor to his soul, both sure and steadfast, — whatever difficulties and storm? 124 IN CHRIST. may arise to overturn his hope. Confiding in this, he looks upon God, as a pardoning God; and stag- gers not in unbelief, in approaching Him and rest- ing upon Him, as thus passing by his transgres- sions, and multiplying His pardons upon him, for the Saviour's sake. He finds himself saved in this resting of his soul upon God, and obtains in- creased strength in this quietness and confidence in Him. Thus he walks by faith in the divine provisions of grace for the pardon of his sin, and the acceptance of his soul with God. Being jus- tified by faith, he has peace with God, through Jesus Christ the Lord. It \s, faith in the divine protection for the security of the present. The solemn promise has been giv- en, that all things shall work together for good, to those who love God. In the assurance of the truth of this promise, the man in Christ rests, with simple and entire confidence. He realizes the presence of an unseen. Almighty God, — a liv- ing, present Saviour and Friend, — ^who is about his path, and spieth out all his ways. The sim- ple dependance of his soul upon the divine prom- ise and presence, settles all possible anxiety about his outward, temporal concerns. In the degree in which he is enabled to exercise it, he comes boldly to the throne of grace, feeling able in every condition to say, " The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do to me." There is in his mind, an assurance of an all-sufficient and all- controlling Providence, whose never-failing power orders all things, both in heaven and earth. It is a Providence which has a special reference to the vessels of divine mercy, the heirs of salvation. IN CHRIST. 125 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Al- mighty. He can with sincere affection and con- fidence, say of the Lord, " He is my refuge, and my fortress ; my God : in Him will I trust." ' He is therefore without carefulness; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanks- giving, he makes known his requests unto God. His filial faith in divine protection answers every anxious question and concern of his soul. It cov- ers all the possible contingencies of human life, and keeps him in perfect peace, while his mind is stayed on God. Whatever persecutions arise, and whatever sorrows press him, — whatever he may be required to lose, or to bear, — there is an unseen power ever at hand, going with him through the waters, and through the fire, making even enemies at peace with him, and bringing light out of darkness in his path. This faith is the grand practical principle of his life. It brings every event into a direct connection with a gra- cious ruling Lord. It constitutes every hour and place, as a time and occasion of spiritual wor- ship. It enables him in every thing to give thanks. Though all present appearances may be against him, it leads him forward with confidence to an approaching hour, when the ways of God shall be made plain, and he shall receive the full reward of the faith in which he has endured; — an hour in which not only his Benjamin and Simeon shall be restored, but his long lost Joseph also shall be found again ; — ^when God shall render him consolations double for all his trials, and his present light af- 126 IN CHRIST. fliction shall bring out its far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The same spirit of faith quiets also his inward conflicts, by presenting before him the assured upholding, renewing, and sanctifying power of the Spirit of God, as the Saviour's covenanted gift to him. He has been enabled to cast him- self entirely upon the power of a Saviour, whose promises of sufficient grace are all bestowed upon him; and he is confident that He is able to perfect the work which He has begun within His servant's soul, and to keep that which His servant has committed unto Him, unto the great day. The Christian thus feels himself kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation ready to be revealed in God's own appointed time. In the exercise of this faith, there are many conflicts to be endured, and many objections to be encoun- tered. Sin, — ^too frequently indulged and con- scious sin, — not loved, desired, or wilful sin, — ri- ses up in a thousand shapes in the soul, to unset- tle its confidence, and overturn its hope. But faith enables the man in Christ to see himself ac- cepted in the Beloved ; and still to rejoice in the assurance of divine acceptance, though he find much to war with in himself He sees that God regards him not as he is in himself, but as he is in Christ ; and accepts him not for his own merit, but for the perfect righteousness of Christ. He confides in God as a faithful God, keeping His promises forever. He thus finds strength for wait- ing upon Him, for contending with every corrup- tion of his own nature, and for cleaving closely and humbly to Him. Thus faith in divine protec- IN CHRIST. 127 tion overcomes all the arts of the adversary, keeps the soul in peace in the midst of its inward tri- als, and makes the man in Christ to rejoice in the assurance of the Lord's goodness and favour to him. It is-in this operation the principle of new obedience, and the fountain of holiness in the heart. While it is maintained, love, joy, peace, and every virtue flow out from it. If it can be un- dermined, and God be no longer regarded with confidence and affection, — but with fear and dis- trust, — every fruit of the Spirit in the life and temper fades and dies. The Christian walks in holiness, only in the degree in which he walks in faith. It is this faith which brings him and keeps him in union with his Lord, and thus overcomes the world around, and purifies the heart within. Resting every thing concerning him without and within, upon the covenanted protection and ac- ceptance of a faithful God, his path is a path of conquest and of peace ; and he cheerfully presses forward to the hour, when he shall receive the end of his faith, even the salvation of his soul. It is faith in the divine promises, for the com- fort of the future. The man in Christ is a man of strong and precious anticipations. Whatever may be his present condition of blessing and comfort, he looks constantly forward for far better things to come, than he now enjoys. But all his hopes are regulated by the divine promises, and are resting upon them. In the concerns of the present life, these promises cover all his necessities and cares. He can be placed in no condition, which God has not already prepared, and for which He has not already made provision. As he looks for- 128 IN CHRIST. ward to days to come, he seeks not great things for himself; and all thiags which are necessary for life and for godliness, God has promised to supply, out of the riches of His grace and glory in Christ Jesus. Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure. His Heavenly Father knoweth that he hath need of all these things be- fore he asks Him. This faith in the certainty and sufficiency of the divine promises, keeps him free from distracting cares for his future time; and enables him to commit to his Holy and Al- mighty Helper, every want and every fear, as it arises to his mind. How precious and comforting he finds this simple confidence in the divine pro- visions ! He presses forward in the path of ap- parent duty, leaving all results to Him, who watches about his path, and spieth out all his ways,— and who, when He has tried him, shall bring him forth as gold. Clouds may arise over his transient prospects, — darkness may endure for the night, — ^but light is sure to spring up for him from its thickest glooms, and joy cometh in the morning. In all these anticipations, he walks by faith. God has spoken to him, in every variety of shape of illustration ; — ^uttering promise upon promise ; — filling up His sacred word with blessed assurances of providing mercy, upon which he hath caused his heart to rest. Each of these pro- mises, to whomsoever among the servants of God, they may have been particularly, originally ad- dressed, he feels a right to appropriate to him- self:— they belong to all the servants of God, who are in the circumstances, to which they are adapted. They are like blanks already signed IN CHRIST. 129 and sealed, in which each man in Christ, by a faith which embraces them, and gives them real- ity for him, writes his own name, and thus uses them, and walks in perfect confidence of their fulfilment to him. But these divine promises reach far beyond the present life. God has Mid up for His people, in a future and unseen world, such glories as pass man's understanding. There is a crown of life, a crown of righteousness, — a kingdom which cannot be removed, — an inheritance which fadeth not away. These, and more than these, are secured by the gracious promises of God, to those who first trust in Christ. They are all the reward of a Saviour's merit, and the purchase of a Saviour's obedience. They are the gifts of grace to all who believe in Him. The hope with which the man in Christ embraces and enjoys them, is founded entirely upon the gracious power and fidelity of this Glo- rious Saviour. Confiding in His exceeding great and precious promises, — resting upon His all- sufficient and justifying righteousness, — the Chris- tian strong in faith, looks forward without fear, to an eternal world before him. Whatever earthly hopes may fail, and whatever griefs the disap- pointments of earth may bring, these heavenly promises abide secure. Not one word can pass from them, until all be fulfilled. The assurance of this keeps the mind in peace, and awakens the purest and liveliest joy, in the expectation of the hour when mortality shall be swallowed up of life ; and man in the perfect possession of eter- nal glory, shall need the support of promises no more. In this walk of faith, in the divine prom- 130 IN CHRIST. ises, — to live, is Christ, and to die, will be gain And as faith thus brings to the soul, and prepares for its enjoyment, forgiveness for the past, and protection for the present, — so it also completely and securely provides, all comfort and abounding consolation for the future. These three operations of faith may be consid- ered as comprising the principles of the walk of the man in Christ. By the one he embraces the Gospel, as the fountain of all his consolations. By another, he applies this Gospel in its blessed provisions of grace, to his daily recurring present wants. By the third, he expects and waits for the fulfilment of all its promises and provisions for him, in a future world of glory. The one answers all the questions of the awakened con- science under the burden of unconverted guilt. The other meets all the difficulties of a passing mortal life. The third consoles and removes all the infirmities and fears which conscious sin pro- duces. The one assuages the griefs which mem- ory creates from the records of the past. The other tranquillizes the anxieties which present endurance calls up from the facts now passing. The third sustains the heart in the anticipations which spring from the unknown futurity. In the employment of them all, the man in Christ walks by faith, — stands by faith, — and overcomes by faith, in his journey to a Father's home. These are the principles of practical truth, and of spiri- tual strength, which I have desired to press upon the notice and acceptance of my readers, in these pages. Happy is the man who understands and employs them. They open a free, consistent. IN CHRIST. 131 rational, and adequate path to eternal life, mak- ing Christ to be all for guilty man, and showing the actual present connection of Christ with His redeemed in the work of their personal salvation. O that every mind that has passed with me through the consideratioa of them, might l)e led in sim- ple affectionate confidence to Him, as all the sal- vation, and all the desire of the losti CHAPTER X THE SPIEITUAL CALL. The great privileges, and responsibilities, and principles of the condition of the man in Christ, we have already considered. Let us now medi- tate upon the method of grace, by which the Holy Spirit has brought him into this exalted and blessed state. Of his own will, God was pleased to beget him with the word of truth ; being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorrupti- ble, by the word of God which liveth and abid- eth forever. In Christ Jesus he has been begot- ten again through the Gospel ; the influence and operation of which Gospel upon him, in this work of divine salvation, I wish in some measure to trace. The influence of the Gospel upon man in its publication, is twofold. There is a general call of the Gospel, by which all sinful men are invited to become partakers of the grace of Christ ; and there is a particular, personal call, by which each real believer is made individually interested in the mercies, the offer of which is thus generally pro- posed. The first of these, the general call, may be found expressed in such passages of Holy Scripture as the following : " Ho, every one that IN CHRIST. 133 thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy ana eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." — " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else," — " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." — " Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." This call of mercy is unlimited in its application to men. It is ad- dressed to all the members of an alienated race, and to all with equal freedom. It is permanent in the opportunity which it opens to mankind ; going from generation to generation, and abiding among men, as the recorded message of divine compassion to their perishing souls. It is contin- ually and frequently repeated ; not only to man- kind as a race, in their successive generations, but also to individual men, in the brief history of their lives. In every page of Holy Scripture which is opened to the eye ; — in every proclamation of the word of God which is addressed to the ear ; the warnings, oifers, and invitations of the Gospel are again presented to the notice of men, and they are urged to consider and to obey them. Men are thus placed entirely beyond excuse in a sin- ful'and unpardoned state, because they willingly, and with determination, reject an offer of recon- ciliation from God, which is perfectly cleared from all difficulties, and precisely adapted to their con- dition and wants. And yet vast multitudes do reject this offer of mercy, and abide by their own choice in a state of condemnation and death. But there is a second, personal call of the Gos- pel, which is addressed immediately to the indi- 134 IN CHRIST. vidual soul, to whom the message comes. It is a secret, silent appeal of the Holy Spirit ; his em- ployment of the Gospel, uttered to the conscience and the heart within, with no other witness to His presence or design. It is an effective and con- straining appeal, coming not in word only, but with power ; selecting its appointed object, and leading and persuading him to turn from his un- godliness, and accept the offered mercies of a Saviour now revealed. This special call of the Gospel may be considered as illustrated in such passages of the Scripture as these : " When it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, immediately I conferred not with fiesh and blood." — " A certain woman named Lydia, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul," — " Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power." — " Our Gospel came not unto you, in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." It was by this special personal call of the Gospel addressed to him, when he was dead in sins, and having no hope, that the man in Christ was brought to his new condition, and made to taste and experience the power of the grace of God ; so that he may truly say with St. Paul, in reference to this spir- itual knowledge and experience, "The Gospel which is preached of me, is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." To con- sider this special call, and the peculiar manifesta- tion of divine power which it has made in him, IN CHRIST. 135 we may wisely say something first of the general invitation, from which we have separated it. The general annunciation of the Gospel- to man is in the outward message by human instru- ments, of the grace of God to mankind. It is a proclamation of the great facts which make up the history of man's redemption; — of the mighty Saviour who has himself alone accomplished that redemption, by His own incarnation, obedience, and death. It declares His dignity and power, His humiliation and obedience. His substitution and sufferings for man. His triumph over death : His ascension and intercession, and future coming for His people. It announces His ability to save unto the uttermost, all who come unto God through Him, and His readiness to receive and bless all who come to Him ; and thus proclaims a finished and glorious work of salvation in Him for the chief of sinners, for all sinners, that who- soever Cometh to Him may be in no wise cast out. This general message of the Gospel, the ministers of Christ are sent to proclaim. They are to announce without ceasing, the glorious fulness and sufiiciency of a divine Saviour. With- out limit, and with the most perfect freedom, are they to preach the sure mercies of the Lord Jesus to sinful men, and to call earnestly upon them not to receive the grace of God in vain. There is a fountain opened, and an atonement made for all the sons of men. And the needy and perishing are called from the very ends of the earth, to come and cast in their lot with Jesus, and to be partakers of His grace and His glory. Every burden has been borne for them ; 136 IN CHRIST. and every responsibility has been met in their behalf. AH fulness is thus proclaimed in Jesus, and a fulness for all; and whosoever will, is urged to take advantage of the offered mercy. While this proclamation of the work of Christ, and of the reconciliation of God is freely made, it is impossible for man to tell, who will embrace, or who will reject the offer. According to God's command, the glad tidings are preached to every creature. The unlimited, unconditional offer of pardon is made to all who will receive the gift, and penitently turn to God and live. We know not which shall prosper, or who will obey the heavenly message. But w6 know that God will not leave himself without witnesses, nor fail to be glorified in the publication of His grace, nor suffer His word to return unto Him void. And therefore we sow beside all waters ; and in season and out of season, preach the same word of mercy to unrighteousness, and of pardon to the guilty; assured that we shall become a sweet savour of Christ, both in them that are saved, and in them that perish. But connected with this general annunciation, there has been made to the man in Christ, a per- sonal application of the message of mercy to his own soul ; an inward work of divine power ; so that he has no more doubt by vfhose power he has been influenced in his course of obedience to God, than by whose power he was made at first. This is an act of divine grace and power indis- pensable to man's salvation. The offers of Christ were all in vain, until they were received by him as an individual message from God to himself. IN CHRIST. 137 His soul was made to realize and leel, its per- sonal connection with the things which had been done by the Saviour of men. He was made to see and to acknowledge that the guilt which was laid upon Christ was his ; — that the atonement which He made for sin was for him ; — ^that the book which proclaims this boundless mercy was written for him, and addressed to him. He thus felt himself to be singled out from the residue of men, and God to be speaking to him alone, as if the whole plan of grace had begn contrived and accomplished especially and solely for himself. Until he was made thus to separate himself in mind from the surrounding mass of men, and to feel that he had a special and peculiar interest in the things which he heard, all was heard in vain. The wheat while growing in the field, or the bread while lying upon the board, was no nour- ishment for him, however adapted and adequate to his wants. He must take it, and feed upon it, before he could gain life and health through its sustaining power. Thus did he receive the mes- sage from God, — -not as a general annunciation, in which he was interested in common with others, but as a particular communication which God designed especially for himself, and which it was of the most vital consequence to him that he should hear, and understand, and believe. This was a secret application of the word to him. The power which was operating in this great crisis, to write the word upon his heart, came unseen by him, and unknown to others, and called his attention secretly to the word which was set forth before him. The evidence of the 138 IN CHRIST. presence of the renewing Spirit, was ii. his coa • sciousness of a very peculiar interest in the ihikg,:.' which he heard. His heart within was deeply stirred. A secret conviction of his giiilt arose before his view. He felt the truth of what he heard. He perceived its vast importance to him- self. Views such as he never had before, were impressed upon his conscience. The eye of an heart-searching God seemed to be directly fast- ened upon him. There might have been crowds around, but he was alone. Deep emotions agi- tated his breast. His thoughts were arrested, and his judgment was swayed. The danger of his unpardoned soul appeared fearfully before him. The perfect adaptation of Christ to his wants was clearly seen. His hour of mercy had come ; a door of hope was opened before him; he heard the inviting voice of God speaking to him, and his heart was at once inclined to obey. He hardly dared to procrastinate for another hour. Something within urged him, — now, to-day, harden not your heart, but hear His voice. O, it was the special call of the Holy Ghost ; and though none around might see or feel that there was a shade of difference from the habitual course of facts concerning him; — he felt that every thing was changed, and a new power seemed to have ar- rested him, and to be leading him. on. His dear- est friend might be wholly ignorant of what had taken place within him. But God had entered into his very soul, and there, was arguing with himself alone, the unspeakable interests of Christ and eternity. O, what memories rose up in that wonderful hour ! What fears, what doubts, what m CHRIST. 139 hopes were called into being! How much of life seemed to be compressed in a space so narrow ! There was a mighty power at work within him, bringing him into captivity to Christ, and making him to understand and feel, that it was not by might or power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts, that the human soul is turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. This secret call was the special, personal agency of the Holy Ghost. It was an experi- ence and condition of the soul, in which the Divine Spirit was acting entirely alone. He had passed beyond the region of outward instruments and ministries, — of ordinances and messengers, — to take the message and the work completely into His own hands. Perhaps the sermon, or the providence, which had been made the instrument of first arousing the sinner's attention, had been quite forgotten. Some single text of Holy Scripture, it may be, alone remained in mind. The man may have been in deep retirement and solitude, away from all the agencies, of an out- ward church ;^but the Spirit, the infallible and unfailing preacher of righteousness was there; and His great power was manifested, in this secret transformation of a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction, into a vessel of mercy prepared for glory. Here was the voice of God, which breaketh the cedars. He reasoned with the sin- ner alone. He showed him his guilt, his ruin, and his remedy. He lifted up the cross before him, and proclaimed a free forgiveness. He removed ths darkness which was spread out before his 140 IN CHRIST. anxious soul, and offered him abundant hope. He exhibited Christ as the perfect righteousness of the believing soul, and presented Him as a garment, and a robe of eternal glory, to the doubting, fearing sinner. He showed the power of new creation to be of God, and not of man, and urged to an immediate confidence and sub- mission. He pressed an instant acceptance of the Gospel offer, announcing to the guilty man that God had become his salvation, and he mighl trust, and not be afraid. In this crisis of the life of man, every thing was brought within a narrow compass. The contest was maintained in the closest engagement. The time was short. Every thing was pressing. Eternity hung upon a sin- gle moment of life. Heaven was within his very grasp. Will the sinner now hear and submit ? was the great question upon which his eternal interests were made dependant. Will he now go with a reconciled God and live 1 O, precious, joyful hour! God obtained the victory, captivity was led captive, and the prey was plucked from the jaws of the oppressor. This call of the Gos- pel was made effectual upon his heart, and guilty man was brought, humbled, pardoned, and be- lieving, to find his all in Christ forever. This secret, personal call of the Gospel, was to an immediate course of duty and action. Convic- tions of truth were impressed upon the conscience and judgment. Light was thrown upon the un- derstanding. Attracting influence was exercised from heaven upon the heart. All these gifts of grace were bestowed. But now under their com- bined operation, man must act. The questica IN CHRIST. 141 proposed to him, was a question for himself to settle. He was brought to a line, where the next step was final safety, and where he must either go forward in chosen, voluntary devotion, or go back in hopeless, perhaps deserted rebellion. A circle of privileges and responsibility was thus drawn around him; the accepted time, the day of salvation had come; and he must, in a con- scious choice and determination, embrace the offered mercy, and render up himself a living sacrifice to God. God demanded his whole life, all that he was, and had, — as bought with an in- estimable price, — ^to be supremely, and forever devoted to Him. He was calling him to a godly sorrow for sin, as it was now displayed to him ; to a simple dedication of himself to His service and glory ; to a love and confidence of his heart towards Him ; to a communion and fellowship of his spirit with Him ; to an halaitual recognition and remembrance of Him ; to an earnest and sin- cere effort and determination to obey Him. He was to choose and accept the Saviour now re- vealed, as his Master and Lord ; and renouncing all other lords but Him, to make mention of His name alone, as his Ruler and his hope. God had opened before him a life of new obedience, — the fruits and product of a spiritual mind within ; in which He covenanted to lead on his believing soul from strength to strength by His own Spirit, assuming the whole responsibility of blessing and protecting him, while he faithfully rested upon His word, and trusted to His power. He invited him to a life of happiness and peace in Him ; — to a course of energy and faithfulness for Him ; — ^to 142 IN CHRIST. a firm but successful contest with the enemies of His truth ; requiring the solemn and cheerful con- secration of all his powers and hopes to Him ; — to -an exalted, holy walk with Him upon the earth ; — and to an eternal inheritance with Him in the kingdom of His glory. All these invita- tions and arguments were not now merely re- corded in the written word of truth, as they had always heen, but were carried forward by the same Spirit who breathed that word, and written upon the living tables of the conscience and the heart. They were now the voice of God within himself, and he heard and obeyed it, as the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. His acceptance of this offered mercy, and obedience to this call, brought security and sal- vation to his soul. The Holy Spirit thus placed him under a heavenly protection, interested him in an everlasting covenant, and armed him with a divine power. He was now sheltered in the hiding-place which Jesus had opened for him, and received the end of his faith, even the salva- tion of his- soul. From that hour, he has gone forward over conquered foes, under the guidance of an all- conquering and powerful Redeemer. He has been pressing on to eternal life ; a new man, transformed, regenerated, born again, and a partaker in Christ, — in whom he now dwells, and will dwell forever, — of all the glories and tri- umphs, of the Saviour's victory and power. In the strength of this Saviour unceasingly bestowed upon him, and exercised for him, he cheerfully bears every appointed cross, and counts nothing dear unto himself, so that he may win Christ, IN CHRIST. 143 and be found in Him, and finish his course with joy, magnifying his glorious Lord, whether by life or by death. This is the happy condition of the man in Christ, to which he was brought by that secret, special call of the Gospel; which was the effectual working of the power of the Spirit in his believing souJ. This special, personal call of the Gospel is never to he trifled with. It cannot be disregarded with safety. Instant obedience to its demand is the only course of security for man. Thus the Psalm- ist says, "When thou saidst. Seek ye my face; my heart replied. Thy face Lord, will I seek." If you yield thus to the voice of God, and follow the guidance of His Spirit, your path is open and plain, and your hope is clear and bright. God will guide you by his counsel, and afterward re- ceive you to his glory. But the peculiar danger and guilt of man under the privileges of the Gos- pel, is not only in his rejection of the general in- vitation which it gives ; but his resistance also, of this inward, secret call. Here it is, that sin- ners pluck down ruin upon themselves. Let unconverted men remember this. The general intelligence of the Gospel they treat with indif- ference ; but they do not deny, nor do they refuse to acknowledge in general terms, their own guilt of which it speaks, and their need of the sufficient Saviour whom it offers. But when the Spirit takes this message from God, and carries it home to their own consciences and hearts ; — when they must consider the message as a personal matter, and can be indifferent and unm'^.'ed no longer ; then they often resist the Holy Ghost, and strive 144 IN CHRIST. with their Maker, until God proclaims in His wrath, that they shall not enter into His rest. There are few persons under the faithful preach- ing of the Gospel, who are not conscious of hav- ing received some special, personal call of the Holy Ghost. Their secret sins have been made to appear before them. Their neglect of God, and of God's commands, has been presented in its aggravated aspect to their view. Their hearts and eyes have borne witness to the deep sense of sin with which they have been visited from the convincing Spirit. They have seen and acknowl- edged the advantages, and the obligations of the Lord's service. They have been almost per- suaded to be Christians. They have been some- times ready to arise in the very midst of the congregation, and declare their determination to follow Jesus only in time to come. The pressure upon them was very great ; — God seemed to be calling them onward to a new and living path, with a power which it appeared impossible to re- sist. And at that very point, when apparently there wanted but another step, — a thankful, self- renouncing closing in with God's proposal of reconciliation; — an actual, affectionate grasping of the hand of kindness which God appeared to hold out to them from the heavens, — a simple yielding up of all, to follow Jesus, though in great weakness, — ^then they held back, till to- morrow, another time, a change of circumstances, — some expected end ; — and God arose and de- parted from them, and they were left to them- selves, perhaps to perish. O, it is a deeply criti- cal point in the soul's history, upon which from IN CHRIST. 145 an eternity of sorrow, they may look back, to see with, amazement, and with, bitter self-condemnation, how near they were to the heavenly kingdom, — to a final peace with God,— when foolish, wicked pro- crastination, or sensual worldly indulgence, delayed them for a season upon the road, and shut them out from hope forever. This secret personal call is rarely often repeated. When the Holy Spirit brings man up to this line, where nothing separates him from the Saviour, but man's own determination; — when awakened, con- vinced, impressed, sensitive, and sorrowing, the Saviour stands out before him, offers to him every thing freely, and asks him to obey Him ; O, could his heart reply,—" I will,"— could he then resolve to turn at once from every tempting bpposer, and follow Jesus only, and make one sacrifice of pride, and indolence, and fear, to enter into a covenant with Christ ; the conquered enemy would depart • from him. Angels would shout a Saviour's glory over another soul rescued as a brand plucked out of the fire. But if such an offer, and such grace, are rejected, the despised Spirit rarely returns. The sinner is left to be rejected in his turn. And God is vindicated, even in His mercy, when He passes judgment upon his soul. In concluding our view of this very important subject, it will be perceived, that it presents the real interests of the soul of man, as a personal se- cret concern between himself and Christ. The Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The Holy Spirit reveals and exalts this Son to be accepted as a Saviour to the individual man. The Saviour is thus brought into immedi- 7 146 IN CHRIST. ate connection with tlie sinner ; — and in the whole work of his salvation, the sinner is really alone with Christ. It is Christ personally, whom he must receive and obtain, as the life of his soul. It is Christ personally, whom he rejects, when he refuses the life which is thus offered in the Gospel. However ministries and instruments may be employed, as God shall please, in leading the sinner to Christ, and in preaching Christ to him, they are none of them indispensable in this great concern. Nay, they are worthless, but as they become completely subsidiary to this one great end of bringing Jesus, and the work of Jesus, distinctly, constantly, and really, before the sinner's view. It is not union with the outward church, by sacraments and ordinances, which is security for the soul of man. It is the inward, spiritual union of the soul by faith with Christ; an unioti which is the work of the Holy Spirit within, leading the heart to believe unto righteousness ; and which is afterwards to be witnessed and proclaimed in the outward ordi- nances of the Gospel, as a confession unto salva- tion. Between the sinner and the Saviour, in this inward work, no man can interpose, either as a mediator, or a judge. The ministry of man is as an enlightened instructor and guide, to lead the soul to Christ ;— to proclaim the fulness of His work, and to exhort the sinner spiritually to receive and follow Him. Before the Saviour's feet, the soul is to pour forth its wants with per- fect confidence, .and the assurance that He will hear; and from the Saviour's hands it is to re- ceive abundantly, grace upon grace ; — so that IN CHRIST. 147 man, coming in faith to Christ, shall come short in no gift, but rejoice in the fulness of Him who filleth all in all. And now, my friends, the Saviour thus calls for you. Go, listen to Him ; confer with Him, sub- mit to Him ; find every thing in Him ; be satisfied to have Him alone as your portion and treasure. But stay not back from Him. Stop not short of Him. If you have Him, you have every thing. As His, you will delight to obey His commands, and to honour His name. But your first great want is Christ himself. And your great and all- important and precious privilege is, that Christ is ready and waiting, to receive and bless you with the possession of himself; to enter into you, and to dwell within you forever. O, let this animate and encourage you to obey His calls, and to culti- vate a still more near and intimate acquaintance and communion with Him. In every providence, in every gift, in every trial, O, seek the voice of Jesus, speaking by His Spirit to yourself, and hear what the Lord God will speak concerning you. He has much to tell you that you have never heard ; and much which you will rejoice to hear, as He gives you the ability to understand His words. There are treasures of grace laid up in Him, which eternity will not exhaust. And the habit of delighting in Him, and of being sat- isfied with Him, which you will acquire here, by dwelling and abiding " in Christ," will be a blessed preparation for the high privilege of understand- ing, and possessing, and enjoying Him forever ; — ^when "with Christ," you receive tfao end of your faith, even the full salvation of your souls. CHAPTER XI. ONENESS IN CHRIST. "We have passed tlirougli many of the attributes of the members of Christ, in their present state of grace. We cannot better conclude this portion of our subject than by dwelling a little upon their complete oneness in Christ, in whom they are. The Saviour's purpose and prayer for his disciples was that they might be one. One, in the strictest and most entire sense in which intelligent and independent beings could be united ; — " as thou Father in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." That His real disciples are therefore one, and must always be one, in the sense to which His mind was directed in this prayer, cannot be doubted, without questioning His ability to ac- complish the result for which He prayed, and thus unsettling the whole stability and prospect of the Gospel and the church of God. That His Gospel is really adapted, and competent in the ministra- tion of the Holy Spirit, to produce this projected unity, can no more be questioned, without deny- ing the Saviour's ability to frame an instrument, competent and adapted to attain the end which He desired and proposed. The Apostle Paul lays down the principle, that xmity is the mark of true isr CHRIST. 149 religion; — and that unity in true religion ia the work of God, the mark of God's people, and the proper object of pursuit, for those who would hon- our Him, and build up -His spiritual church. On the other hand, divisions among the professed sup- porters of the Gospel, are represented as carnal in their origin and influence, and conformed only to the will and habits of men, in the course to which they lead. This religious unity among men, is the end, to which the real operation of the Gospel tends. And wherever the Gospel rules alone, un- molested and unpervertjed by -earthly influence, and the corrupting plans of men, the actual result of its operation, is this unity of which the Apostle speaks. "Wherever there are seen and found, di- visions in oppositions to this Christian oneness, and envying and strife attending upon these divisions, and arising out of them; they are, and they are to be considered, the evidence of the interference of another power, entirely diverse from that of the Gospel, and operating in direct opposition to it. If among any bodies of professed Christians, or within any such body separately considered, there be divisions, envying and strife, we are therefore authorized to say of them, " they are carnal, and walk as men." But in considering this subject, it is important to inquire, what is the testimony of facts in this case ? Has this Gospel ever produced among men, any thing which may be considered as the unity here specified ? Is there such an oneness within our reach, as a visible and practicable object of pursuit? These are questions involving much that is of great practical consequence to us. As such, I would consider them. 150 IN CHRIST. What is tMs oneness in Christ to which we re- fer? It is most evidently, not a mere intellectual unity; an agreement, however perfect, in every view of religious doctrine ; that is, an entire uni- formity of religious sentiment. Such an unity as this, is not possible among unequal minds. Unless every single mind is supposed to have attained an entire, and an equally perfect view of religious truth, it is impossible to imagine an entire uni- formity of religious sentiments pervading them. Every step in the' progress of spiritual study and acquirement opens, not only new truths to view, but also, which is a fact of equal consequence, new relations of actual truths to each other. There is an intellectual perspective, as well as a physical one ; in the opening of which, as the mind pro- ceeds on its journey in science, the whole land- scape continually changes; distances, proportions, relations successively come forth to view; past impressions are rehnquished, and new ones are re- ceived ; judgments formed upon partial consider- ation are renounced, and general convictions includ- ing and modifying them in every variety of shape are formed. There are involved in the very pro- gress of the mind in the study of the Gospel, new conceptions of truth, and varying conceptions of the truth every day, light after light, well used, they shall attain. Even the angels above cannot be said to agree in a perfect intellectual unity. They are ever studying, learning, mutually imparting, and mu- tually acquiring. They are of necessity there- IN CHRIST. 151 forej changing their conclusions, and their views of truth, the partial for general^ and the superfi- cial for deeper, at every step. If this were not so, learning and study would be idle, and without an object. It cannot be said of any inferior minds, unless we suppose them to be perfectly equal in their powers, and in the progress of their attainments, that they can thus perfectly agree. While any thing remains to be learned, new conclusions, perhaps very different conclusions, are still to be formed and to be expressed. An omniscient mind alone can understand all truth. " The unity required in the church," says Bishop Stillingfleet, " is not an unity of judgment and apprehension among the members of it, which, though it be their duty to endeavour after, yet is no further attainable by man's endeavours, than Adamic perfection is. Ai^d *.l ." The believer in Jesus looks beyond the present restless state, to a time when he shall forever enjoy the calm and sure rest of perfect satisfaction and knowledge. We shall see face to face, what we now see through a clouded and often distortii'-g glass. We shall know as perfectly as we are knoAvn, what we are now able to know only in part. We shall see the king in His beauty ; the beauty of His person. WITH CHRIST. 189 the beauty of His character, the beauty of His government, the beauty of His redemption ; beauty which all His now visible works vainly attempt to illustrate and display. The sun, the lily, and the rose, but feebly betoken the perfect excel- lence of the Sun of Righteousness, the lily of the valley, the rose of Sharon. Then He wiU ap- pear from Zion in perfect beauty. All that is now obscure, will then be made plain. The veil which now covers the excelling glory shall then be rent asunder; and from it, what resplendent light shall shine back upon all the mysteries of Provi- dence and revelation ! — what penetrating beams illuminate the deepest recesses of redeeming love! What abundant glory shall gather from the whole, around the glory of God ! As if new worlds of suns and planets clothed with meridian splendour, were instantly called into being to fill up that which was the dark void of midnight be- fore! Are our minds here often clouded, some- times almost unbelieving? Are our views often confused and unsatisfying? Let us remember the far better part has not yet been manifested to the struggling people of God. With faith in the truth and fidelity of God, let us commit secret things to Him, and by patient continuance in well- doiug, seek for glory, honour, and immortality ; and wait with desire and confidence for the hour which He has appointed, for the glorious, exhibition of things before concealed. Then, when we are glorified with Christ, shall we adore the greatness of His wis- dom, and join with rapture in the song, " Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty, — just and true are all thy ways, thou King of saints." CHAPTER XIV HOLINESS. KEMOVAL OF OBSTACLES. The Christian with Christ, is in a state of trin- scendant enjoyment and glory. Of this eternal, unchanging glory, we are now speaking. We have considered it as a state of rest for the be- liever who is now in a condition of conflict and suffering. It is a permanent spiritual rest for every weary, heavy-laden soul; a rest in which all the Christian's trials shall have passed away, and complete satisfaction shall have been obtained for every desire and every hope. I wish now to consider this state of glory under another aspect, as a state of unchanging Jwliness ; — a view which will apply to the Chris- tian, as he is here struggling with the influence and power of sin. He is here but partially sanc- tified. He is in avery small degree conformed to the image of God, and hoping for a work of grace which is to be carried on triumphantly for him unto the day of the Lord Jesus. In his present condition, God is beginning to make all things new within him, — transforming him in the renewing of his mind after the likeness of Christ. To be holy, as God is holy, perfectly possessed of the mind which was in Christ, he must wait WITH CHRIST. 191 nntil in another state of being, mortality is swal- lowed up of life. This is his blessed prospect and hope. To be with Christ is to be in a state of un- changing holiness. This is a most important point for our consideration, in connection with this great subject. In order to obtain adequate and enlightened views of this point, we must mark distinctly what we mean by the holiness of a Christian. It is the restoration to his soul of the perfect image of Grod. It is the entire conformity of his whole character, will, and desires, to the pure and per- fect "commandments of the Most High. It is a personal inherent pm'ity and rectitude of affec- tion and principle, produced within him by the power of the Holy Ghost dwelling within him. It is a progressive growing up of his renewed nature, into the spotless likeness of Christ his Lord. Its commencement in the heart, is in the hour when the heart is first brought from the power of Satan in reconciliation unto God. Then man is born again, not of corruptible seed, "but of incorruptible ; — even the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. Its progress is through the whole course of a life of obedience on earth, in a steady, constant increase of divine power and influence. Its growth and manifesta- tion depend upon the increasing influence of the Divine Spirit, given and exercised in proportion to the increasing desires and diligence of those in whom He dwells. This progress is often re- tarded, perhaps may seem sometimes almost ar- rested, by the power of in-dwelling sin. But it is still growing in the whole history of its course, 192 WITH CHRIST. like the grain of mustard seed, to an overspread- ing tree, until it gains its full and everlasting per- fection in a world which, is suited to its maturity. This is Christian holiness; the renewal of the soul after the image and will of God. In the present world, it is comparatively weak and par- tial. In the world to come, it is dominant, uni- versal, and perpetual. The Christian in Christ, is holy, but in a limited measure. The Christian with Christ, is holy to the utmost extent of his capacity. Here, he is really, but partially, only in his measure and degree, conformed to the will of God. There, he will be fully like God, and like Him forever. To be with Christ, is to be in this unchanging state of holiness. There, aU ohstaoles to the Christian's confor- mity to God will be removed forever. In the present world, the obstacles to the cultivation of personal holiness are great and numerous. The grace of God in the heart of man, is a tender plant in a strange unkindly soil. It is easily checked in its ^operation and growth ; and demands, for its continuance in life, constant divine watchfulness, and unceasing human earnestness and care. It is exposed to many dangers, from within and from without. And every man who will live godly in Christ Jesus, finds multiplied calls upon him for earnest and assiduous effort, to retain and cultivate within himself the spirit of pure and in- creasing piety. Many of these obstacles arise from the nature of the society in which the Christian now (^wells. This world is a fallen world ; and the principles and motives which naturally govern mankind, are WITH CHRIST. 193 not essentially altered by a succession of genera- tions, or change of climates. Lot's righteous soul was vexed from day to day in Sodom, by the un- godly deeds of those with whom he dwelt. And in our age and land, all who desire to live sepa- rate from sin, and to walk with God in newness of life, must experience the very same probation. Evil examples, and pernicious principles and maxims for human conduct, everywhere prevail, around every disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men are seen to rule by the law of wickedness. The great majority of mankind are found by uni- versal concession, to be deeply corrupted. In- numerable precedents for conduct which is known to be against the will of God, are established by the customs of human society. The man of God must often stem an exceedingly heavy and rapid current, if he hold on his way in faithful obedience to the Lord who has called him to His service. He often finds himself in such situations and rela- tions in life, that no sorrow seems to him greater, and no punishment would be more dreadful, than the obligation to dwell in such society forever. To maintain the spirit and habits of piety in such a condition, is like keeping a spark alive in the midst of the ocean. If we look off from the world, to the professing church, even there society offers numerous obsta- cles to the growth of holiness in the heart. Many who profess their subjection to the high princi- ples and standard of the Gospel, live very far be- low the high vocation wherewith they are called. A worldly, covetous, or giddy spirit distinguishes them, by very peculiar and distressing acts of in- 194 WITH CHRIST. consistency and folly. They become an evident and an exceeding evil attaching itself to the pro- fessed body of Christ. It is far too often the fact, whether the Christian associate with those within or those without the professed communion of the followers of Christ, that the chief influence aris- ing from such intercourse, is to lead him to a con- tentment with a low standard of piety, and to aim at nothing beyond what they have attained and practised. The frequent mingling in society, ex- cept for the purposes of positive usefulness to others, very rarely promotes, and far more fre- quently hinders, the growth of grace in the Chris- tian's heart. Much experience of this difliculty compels him to retreat, as much as possible, from his contests with outward things, wearied with every aspect of human society, to seek for strength and refreshment at home, in secret with his Lord. . Many obstacles to the Christian's personal holi- ness arise from the circumstances of his present being, the condition in which it has been the will of God to place him in preparation for eternity. He has here perhaps to labour for his bread with the sweat of his brow ; — to obtain sometimes by ex- ceeding and unremitting toil, the means of living for himself and others. If this be his dispensation, he finds lurking beneath this necessity, a worldly and gainful spirit, which attempts to justify itself in an excessive pursuit of earthly things, by this necessity which appears to cover it. If, on the other hand, the Divine Providence has abundantly blessed him by the labours of others ; by the gift of fields and vineyards which he hath not planted ; in the very comforts of his station, — in the oppor- WITH CHRIST. 195 tunities which it affords for luxury, indulgence, and ease, — there is found a still more dangerous obstacle to his growth in holiness. Pride of heart, rebellion against God, and forgetfulness of eter- nity, naturally spring for him, out of fulness of bread and abundance of idleness. Then again, he has to support his present existence, by an adequate indulgence of natural appetite ; and he finds a stumbling-block for his soul continually set, in the spirit of intemperance and excess which hides itself under every natural and law- ful gratification of sense. The dividing limit be- tween that which is necessary .and expedient, and that which is unnecessary and inordinate, it is often exceedingly difficult to settle. Again, he has many causes for anxiety in earthly things ; obliged to judge and act for himself, in many changing and perplexing concerns of life ; and often at a loss in what direction he shall move with safety. Disappointments are in every path, and often mar his most fairly formed plans. Dis- tresses arise from quarters wholly unexpected, and in a shape extremely painful to bear. In these circumstances, there is much to provoke the spirit of fretfulness and discontent ; much to lead his soul ungratefully away from God. All these are very serious obstacles to the growth of personal holiness. And whatever peculiarities there may be in the circumstances of his station, they will each be found to furnish their several obstacles to the progress of the work of grace withfn him. Difficulties are thus unceasingly arising, from the condition of being in which God has been pleased to place him, which are calcu- 196 WITH CHRIST. lated very much to retard the progress and power of true religion in his heart. Prosperity and ad- versity, poverty and wealth, health and sickness, each in its turn, cover the varied devices of Sa- tan against his soul. And he is taught by this experience, that piety does not depend upon any peculiar condition in life ; and that it is not to be maintained in any condition, without a constant and serious contest with many and great obsta- cles to the growth of holiness within him. Many of these obstacles arise also from the depraved tendencies of his own nature. Foreign enemies to his soul have always the countenance and assistance of a secret foe within his own heart. The imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are naturally, and only, evil continually. And it requires great effort, and constant govern- ment and determination to fix them, in any mea- sure, upon that which is good. There is a pride of reason which resists captivity to faith ; a pride of will, which refuses subjection to the will of Christ ; and a rebellion of appetite which rejects the restraint and control of divine commands. With all his watchfulness and effort to purify the fountains of his soul, there are unceasingly bub- bling up from the deep recesses of its corruptions, purposes and imaginations which he utterly ab- hors. If he become heedless in cleansing this source of the issues of his life, the whole mass is not slow in becoming corrupted, beyond the power of restoration. The Spirit of God must both cleanse him from secret faults, and kee^ him back from presumptuous sins, or else they will get the dominion over him, and he becomes not WITH CHRIST. 197 innocent even from the great oiFence. This in- ward obstacle to his personal holiness^ remains through the whole course of his probation here. When can he say, — or who can say, "I have made myself clean from my transgression ?" Its influence is often extremely depressing, and the contest which it requires, becomes in the higheso degree wearisome. But it is one of the instru- ments by which God is pleased to humble and correct him ; and by the very resistance to his holiness of character which it presents, and which he is made to overcome, it really promotes it. With these three classes of obstacles to his growth in holiness, the Christian in a state of grace must unceasingly contend. How great their influence is in hindering him from an obe- dience to the truth, can hardly be estimated. Under all circumstances, they are a weight which he cannot easily throw aside. They sometimes become a difficulty so serious, that they cause him to fall, and sadly to grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption. But all these obstacles are peculiar to his present state. From the Christian with Christ, they are removed forever. All opposition to his growth in grace, his increase in conformity to God, has been taken away ; and the principle of holiness implanted by the Holy Spirit within his heart, the renewing of his nature which he has received from God, goes forward in an unchanging advance, throughout eternity. He is brought into society, in which there is no example of evil, no infiuen-ce of rebellious principle, no low or partial standard of conformity 198 WITH CHRIST. to God. No angel or "blessed spirit shall ever say to him, " Who is the Lord, that we should serve Him 1 Come, let us break His bonds asun- der, and cast away His cords from us." Had he the principle of disobedience still remaining with- in him, there would be no companion for his crime, and no room to bring it into action and effect. He cannot desire an elevation in the service of his Lord, for which he will not find an example in beings around him, and the utmost encouragement and assistance in realizing it in his own experience. All external influence over him, will be of the happiest and purest kind; and all society around him will be adapted to impart this perfect character to his own mind. He can be in no circumstances which will ever excite him to disobedience again. The condition in which he is placed, will be only and wholly, favourable to a growth in every virtue and every grace. There will be no cause for anxiety or fretfulness ; no root to bear gall or wormwood ; no unhallowed appetite to seek the cloak of out- ward necessity; no exposure to harassing disap- pointments. Where all wants are supplied, — all weaknesses made up, — all fears removed; and no event can arise in the progress of experience to give shape or colour to the spirit of transgres sion, — which is the blessed condition of the Chris tian with Christ,— what further opening or in ducement to sin can be found, in any of his out- ward relations or circumstances ? From within himself, there will spring no fur- ther obstacle to his growing and eternal holiness. Ev^ery sinful propensity which has arisen from a WITH CHRIST. 199 body material and corraptible, will have ceased to exist when that body shall have become incor- ruptible and spiritual forever. The children of the resurrection, equal unto the angels, neither buy, nor sell, nor eat, nor drink, nor marry, nor are given in marriage. Neither can they sin nor die any more. The appetites of sense, and the infirmities of the flesh, have passed away with the perishing body to which they belonged. The spiritual iniquities of the soul, the pride, envy, and rebellion which have been the plague of the corrupted nature of man, shall have no more do- minion there. The spirit of man shall be sub- dued to the will, and raised to the image of Christ. He shall follow none other than the Lamb forever, and shall seek for no enjoyment or provisions, but the hidden manna, and the liv- ing fountains of water, which the Glorious Lamb shall have provided for him. The whole of man will be cleansed by the Divine Spirit and power of God ; and be completely restored to God, to be His temple and His possession forever. For the Christian with Christ, there will be a permanent removal of all obstacles to his growth in holiness. By this he becomes secured in an eternal progression towards God, and an eternally increasing conformity in himself to the image and will of God. The principle of a new nature was implanted within him before, though it was ex- ceedingly kept down by encompassing difficulties and temptations. Now all these difficulties are removed, and these temptations have passed away, and it becomes immediately the predomi- nant principle. It rules the whole character, and 200 WITH CHRIST. brings every thought and feeling into perfect and lasting subordination to itself Dwelling in a state of perfect liberty, and of perfect adaptation to its fruitfulness and maturity, it can expand at pleasure, and bring forth abundant fruit to the everlasting glory of God. The Christian's glory is thus the perfection of the Christian's grace. To be with Christ in a state of recompense, is the ripened fruit, and the accomplished result of being in Christ in a state of probation. The im- perfections of grace in its development and ex- hibition on earth, arise from no imperfection in its own nature, but from the many obstacles with which it must contend. The sunbeam is equally pure and perfect, whether it shine upon a clod, or a diamond. The power of reflection is in the object itself. Happy is the thought, that every aspect of the believer with Christ, will present an additional beautiful and perfect reflection of the glory of his Lord. And when all these ob- stacles are forever removed, grace will flourish in everlasting perfection; and the renewed na- ture of man will become permanently and per- fectly holy. There will be nothing to interfere with its constant and happy approximation to the perfect likeness of the Lord of all. Like a river which has passed all the obstructions of its moun- tainous origin, and is flowing in a calm, full, and even current to the ocean, the redeemed soul shall flow on, in an increasing conformity to God, expanding itself in a fuller current of joy, as it approaches daily more near to the perfect fulness of the Deity. This is a very partial view of the Christian's WITH CHRIST. 201 state of glory, as a state of holiness. But it is also a very important view. The removal of present obstacles is of unspeakable moment to the future conquest and growth of the Christian. The posi- tive aids and encouragements to a growth in per- sonal holiness^, which are furnished to a redeemed soul in the kingdom of glory, and whifth we will proceed to consider, are of still greater impor- tance. But how really encouraging to the con- tending servants of God, is the present view ! — While the true members of Christ are daily fight- ing with foes on every side, they are bid to re- member that their present warfare is temporary, and its result of victory is certain. Look up then. Christian believers, and lift up your heads ; and be not slack or faithless in pressing forward to the triumph before you. Soon shall come your last contest with every enemy, when the full power of Satan shall be bruised under your feet. God is thus sifting the chaff from His precious grain within you, and making you daily more ready for His garner, and more precious in His sight. In this contest, the Saviour becomes daily more desi- rable and valuable in your esteem ; you feel your need of Him, and you learn to rest upon Him, and to count upon Him as your all. As each suc- cessive victory is gained by His power, there re- mains the less to do and suffer ; and the crown of the work approaches more nearly, and shines more attractively before you. Press onward then, encouraged and upheld by the hope before you. God will make you conqijprors over all. But in concluding purview of this branch of our subject, a painful thought presses itself upon the 9* 202 WITH CHRIST. mind, that so many actually love all these obstacles to the holiness of their characters, and the submis- sion of their hearts to God, and have no desire to give them up. The sinfulness of human society, — ^its giddy neglect of God, — ^its short-lived de- ceptions, — ^its vain self-devotion; all these con- stitute to their minds a charm, vv^hich they do not wish to relinquish. That all these things within them and around them are not of the Father, but of the world, gives them no concern or sorrow. Like the maniac in his cell, their fancy can con- vert chains of bondage into ornaments of honour, and straws into sceptres. How sad is this aspect of the character of man to those who truly esti- mate his condition, and look surely forward to its necessary result in a world to come ! O, let me speak to such among my readers, with seriousness and solemnity ! I would arouse them from their delusions. I would awaken them to behold them- selves in the light of truth, as God sees them. I would array before them the prospect of eternity. I would show them the real influence of the follies which they love so much. But perhaps it is not light and knowledge which they need, so much as a will to improve the blessings which are re- ally so freely bestowed upon them. They are throwing away inestimable gifts from God ;— gifts of mercy, upon the loss of which they will here- after look back with the bitterest regret ; and de- prived of which, they must sink into sorrow and condemnation for eternity. When will they be wise ? When will scorners cease their retusal of pardoning love ? And lovers of the world be- WITH CHRIST. 203 come the lovers of God and of His Christ ? O, may the Divine Spirit arouse all who read these lines, to fly from this chosen guilt and folly of un- converted man, with a new and obedient heart to Jesus Christ the Lord, both theirs and ours CHAPTER XV. AIDS TO HOLINESS. The Christian's state of glory as a state of unchangeable holiness, is the particular point for our present consideration. We have spoken of the removal there, of all the obstacles which are here found to oppose the growth of the soul in grace. Let us now consider some of the positive aids and advantages to a life of pure and perfect obedience to God, which are also there pre- sented. Every instrument and influence which can pro- mote the life and power of true piety in the heart, shall be there present and prevailing. The importance of this view of our subject is very manifest. The experience of every Christian declares, and the character and attainments of every Christian show, how much the growth of the soul in holiness in the present life, depends upon the kind of influence which is exercised upon it from abroad. Take from the holiest fol- lower of the Lord Jesus upon the earth, all the ordinances and means of the Gospel, — all opportu- nities of private, personal communion with God, — all the society of those who love God, and delight to speak of God ; — let him hear nothing of his be- WITH CHRIST. 205 loved Saviour, or of his amazing works of grace ; — let him find no companion who shall take sweet counsel together with him, and go to the house of God in company ; — let him have no associates who fear God ; — let there be none of the excel- lent of the earth in whom he shall find delight; — and how bleak and barren would his present life become, as a state of grace, and of increasing conformity to God! How evidently would his strength flag, and his heart grow cold, and his spirit sink in negligence and lethargy, in this mere deprivation of outward influence adapted to encourage and edify him in his path of spiritual obedience to God ! But add to this deprivation, so serious and painful, the entire removal of that divine influence from heaven, without which nothing is strong, nothing is holy ; — let no refresh- ing dew from God descend upon his soul ;— let the sanctifying Spirit of truth and holiness arise and depart, like an eagle toward heaven ; and how certainly would this deprivation cut him off from the possibility of eternal life ! He would relapse again from absolute necessity, into a state of pos- itive and final hardness of heart, under an ever- lasting condemnation and curse. The presence and power of the Sun of Righteousness would have been removed, and universal spiritual con- gelation and perpetual death would be the inev- itable result. It is not enough, therefore, that obstacles to holiness be removed. There must be also an added excitement and strength given from on high, to enable the Christian to obey and glorify God in the spirit and habit of personal holiness. 206 WITH CHRIST. The universal experience of the church of Jesus testifies, that His people improve in holiness, and ripen in comformity to God, in proportion as they abundantly enjoy the sanctified opportunities of the appointed means of grace. Frequency in private and social prayer, sincerity and freedom in religious conversation, constancy and interest in studying the word of God, habitual participa- tion in the public institutions and privileges of the Gospel, are the instruments by which the Divine Spirit habitually enlightens, animates, and sanctifies the servants of God, in their progressive submission to the Lord's will. Upon the oper- ation of these instruments, under His blessing, their growth in grace is made to depend ; and in the degree in which they are employed with a true and assiduous heart, do the children of God grow in personal piety, and go on from strength to strength, towards the presence and kingdom of their Heavenly Father. But the spiritual growth which is thus excited for the man in Christ, here in an uncongenial soil and climate, under an artificial heat, like an exotic plant in the conservatory, — in another world, in a state of recompense and glory with Christ, be- comes perfectly natural and unforced. The plant of beauty and renown has been transplanted to its own clime, and strikes its roots deeply amidst the welcome soil of its native hills. And thus, beyond the negative advantage in the removal of all present obstacles to the Christian's holiness, there is added also, the actual presence and ope- ration of every influence which can purify the WITH CHRIST. 207 soul, and quicken it in a life of unrelaxing and eternal obedience to God. For the Christian with Christ, there is all the influence of holy society, in the highest and purest degree. How precious and important is this fact, may he readily seen. Even were the principle of sin still existing in the soul, it could never be exhibited, where every being among countless millions, would silently and instantly frown it down, in the purity of his own example. The white robes of heaven are but emblematic of the more spotless character of the glorified saints by whom they are worn. Their external glory, shining above the splendour of the sun, is but significant of the far higher brightness of a mind perfectly renewed for God. The believer's inter- course with all around him there, is adapted and calculated, to stimulate and encourage him, to forget the things which are behind, and to reach forward to those which are before, pressing on forever to the mark of the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. The redeemed saint has there, the perpetual society of his glorified Lord. He follows Him, dwells in His presence, beholds His face, and hears His voice, with unceasing and inexpressi- ble delight. The presence and society of the Saviour, is to him, the awakening and all-con- quering stimulant to perpetual obedience and love. Even in the present life, while the princi- ple of transgression is still abiding within his hfeart, and unnumbered temptations to indulge it are ever around him, how sanctifying and power- ful would be the personal society of the Lord 208 WITH CHRIST. Jesus ! How certainly would he be restrained and kept back, even from secret sin, if this shi- ning, spotless Saviour, were ever at his side ; following whithersoever he went ; exhorting, ad- monishing, advising, encouraging him in every path of duty, and in every hour of temptation ; and casting upon him continually, the piercing look of reproof, or the beaming smile of apptoba- tion, as reproof or approbation were severally required ! This presence of Christ is now, in fact, the great instrument of encouraging him to obe- dience, as it is realized and perceived by faith, in the midst of temptations and infirmities. But there, the Christian will gain the whole benefit of this divine presence, in actual manifest reality, without the counteracting principle of sin within him, to be overruled and checked by influence from without. The smile of Jesus will reward for every effort which is made to honour Him; and His word of approval will abundantly excite to new desires and exertions to do His will. And while the Christian beholds Him as He is, — so attractive, so lovely, so desirable will His perfect character appear to be, that it will be the prevailing, uniform wish of the soul, to be more and more like Him forever. This personal society of the Adorable Saviour, as a familiar friend, as a known and beloved benefactor, as the source of all his joys ; — ^the Lord by whom he has been re- deemed from eternal death,— will be to him, the union of all motives, exciting him to an eternal, unchanging progress in the conformity of his seul to God. The redeemed saint will also have the society WITH CHRIST. 209 of angelic beings. The New Testament gives us delightful views of the eternal union which shall subsist between all classes of holy beings with Christ, in one family under Him. Angels have been always obedient to the will of God, and spotless from sin since the hour of their creation. The image of God there remains original and untarnished. And the Christian will see in every one of them, the living, perfect example of what God requires him to be. Their love, and zeal, and ardour, and disinterestedness; their watch- fulness for divine commands, and their eagerness to obey them ; will show him in every succeeding hour, what he was originally designed to be, and for what, he has since been redeemed from the power and dominion of sin. This will be a bright and lovely pattern always before him, and be rendered perfectly accessible to his imitation. Their conversation, their instructions, their his- tory of past ages of grace, their animating appeals to his heart, to give glory to God and the Lamb, — as they surround the redeemed ones who encom- pass the throne, — will excite and encourage him, with them, to mount up with wings as an eagle, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint, in the way of divine commands. Besides these, he will have the society of all redeemed saints. Every quarter of this fallen world will have its representation in a world of glory. All nations, kindreds, tongues and people shall be collected there, to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. With a voice like the noise of waters, or the voice of many thunders, will they surround the throne of Him who has loved them, 210 WITH CHRIST. and washed them from their sins in His own blood. In them shall be seen the full manifestation of the power of divine grace. They were all once, fallen in sin, — vile, destitute, and polluted. They are all now, raised in holiness, — shining, glorious, and happy. How various have been the instru- ments, by which they were brought to God! How great the change which has been accom- plished in the character and condition of each. How wonderful to all, the grace which has been thus severally bestowed ! What Christ has done for them and for all, will fill their souls with the universal harmony and elevation of praise. How exciting to a continual progress in obedience, will be the example of each ransomed soul, and the retrospective view which each will take of the wonderful works of God ! When the Christian mingles in this glorious society, — ^when he sits down with Abraham, the friend of God, to hear from his own lips, the story of his faith, over which he has so often meditated, with the most humble and earnest desire to imitate his exam- ple ; or listens to Paul, the chosen vessel by whose heavenly writings he has been so much admon- ished and comforted on earth ; or unites with the multitude of later witnesses, who counted noth- ing dear to them for Christ's sake, and who freely poured forth their lives for the honour of His name ; — ^what animation will fill his mind ! — what joys will enlarge his heart ! — what ardent desires will inspire him to grow up with them still more and more, in conformity to the pure and perfect image of the Most High God ! How intensely will he strive to copy their example, and like WITH CHRIST. 211 them, with still enlarging capacities, to stand forever perfect in all the will of God ! Such will be the whole influence of society around the man who is with Christ. There can be nothing there which is not spiritually improv- ing. Every outward influence is adapted to pu- rify and exalt. And the whole assemblage of things abroad, constitutes an unceasing and im- portant aid to the unchanging holiness of the re- deemed saint. When he enters upon that hea- venly scene, what wonder and joy will fill his soul ! All beings employed for one Ruler ; no discord, variance, or reserve, in the employment of any ; all faces beaming happiness and peace ; all tongues united in praise ; — " Glory, glory be to God on High," echoing in the sweetest melody from every quarter of the Father's kingdom. How lovely and attractive will that spotless obe- dience appear, which fills them all with joy ! How ardent and constraining will be the de- sire of the Christian, never to be separated from associates so holy, and so improving ! How cer- -tain will be his growth in piety, amidst a world of beings whose whole influence is so calculated to advance it ! Then the Christian with Christ, will also have the immediate and full influence of the Holy Spirit shining upon his soul, without any thing within him or around him, calculated to resist, or to per- vert His power. In his present life, this sacred influence is given to him, but in a partial degree, an«l is often quenched, and grieved, and driven away. But even here, this divine influence is the source of all the holiness he has. There is 212 WITH CHRIST. nothing within him acceptable to God, which has not been produced by the power of this Sacred Comforter. This heavenly influence is bestowed upon the followers of Christ, in very different de- grees, and the exceeding value of His operations is in the character of some, beautifully and pow- erfully displayed. But never, save upon one Being in the form of man, has the Spirit of God been poured out without measure. And how glorious was that exhibition of an Incarnate Sav- iour ! How holy and perfect did this unmeasured gift make that tried and conquering Being to ap- pear! He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. There was no guile or stain in Him. He was unceasingly benevolent, and loving, and useful to all. The holiness of heaven is perfect conformity to this image of Christ. And when the Divine Spirit shines with His noontide radiance upon the redeemed soul, as He did upon the Lord Jesus when He was upon the earth, and there is no sinful propensity within, and no temptation around, to draw the soul from under the full operation of His grace,- what shall arrest the unchanging progress in holi- ness, which is the natural fruit of His influence ? How would such a flood of purifying grace cleanse even the pollutions of earth, and make this fallen world, a world in which righteousness should dwell alone ! It is not a change of place alone, but the change of character and relations which constitutes the Christian's heaven. And while under the partial and interrupted influences* of the Holy Spirit here, he is constantly gaining this change of character, and increasingly be- WITH CHRIST. 2iy coming a partaker of the divine nature ; — with Christ in a world of glory, the full and uninter- rupted influence of this Spirit resting unceasingly upon his soul, shall secure to him this hlessed change of character, perfectly and forever, and make him awake up after the spotless likeness of his glorious Lord. The Christian with Christ, will have the sup- port derived from unceasing religious occupation. This is a most important element of holiness. The inhabitants of a world of glory rest not day and night, in the delightful worship and praise of Him who hath washed them from their sins in His . own blood, and made them kings and priests unto God. To do His perfect will, and to honour His glorious name, has become their employment and their delight. Their natures are completely pu- rified. They have no thought that wanders from God. They therefore find no weariness, but new and increasing rapture, in their songs of har- mony and love. Their whole souls, and all that is within them, are giv6n up to the glorious work of praising God for His goodness, and declaring the wonders which He hath done for the chil- dren of men. This constitutes a perfect atmos- phere of purity, — an unceasing excitement to ar- dent and active obedience to the great Ruler of all. In this present life, the Christian grows in holiness in proportion as he improves the means of grace, and of spiritual occupation. Religious duty is a most important instrument of improving religious character. But here, it is often found that the spirit is willing, while the flesh is weak. The Christian cannot do the things that he would. 214 WITH CHRIST. He is wearied and worn out by the very service in which he delights. Sometimes it is impossi- ble for him to watch with the Saviour, even for one hour. He deeply feels the injurious influ- ence of this infirmity ; and mourns exceedingly over his involuntary lethargy, dulness and sloth. How often does his flagging, contending spirit cry out, when bearing these burdens which he canno't cast off, " O that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest !" He longs to love without distraction, to praise with- out weariness, to serve with an undivided heart. But still, even in the midst of all these hindran- ces and burdens, he grows in grace, through the blessing of the Holy Spirit, in his religious occu- pations, sometimes largely and richly. But when he shall be with Christ, he will have all the ad- vantages of spiritual and holy occupation, with- out any of the drawbacks of infirmity and sin. He will be able to realize the full benefit of all these instruments of spiritual communion with the source of all holiness and truth, which the Lord has established in heaven, as upon the earth, as channels to the redeemed soul of the water of life and salvation. He will abide in the service of his Lord, obeying His commandments, fulfilling His will. And unceasingly engaged in holy occupation, with a mind and heart perfectly attuned to its pleasures, and its improving influ- ence ; he shall be growing in holiness, and in perfectness of conformity to the Lord of all. It is thus the gracious will of God, that His servant should become perfectly holy in the di- vine presence of his Lord. When with Christ, WITH CHRIST. 215 every, sinful trait, propensity, and habit of his na- ture, shall be laid aside ; — his immortal spirit shall be delivered from all fleshly weights, and he shall rejoice in an everlasting conformity to the image and the mind of his Creator. Surely, we may say of this blessed and glorious arrangement for the Christian's bliss, " it is far better." Far better than the highest privileges we can pos- sibly enjoy upon the earth, under any circum- stances of spiritual advantage. What view of Jesus given to the soul here, even in its highest possible elevation, is to be compared with the unveiled glory in which He there continually shines before His people. They are the wonders of Mount Tabor, made the daily experience of his admiring saints ; while the deep feeling of every soul shall constantly utter forth the testi- mony, " it is good for us to be here." What earthly fellowship) among the people of God be- low, at all approaches the power of spiritual com- munion with saints and angels in the tabernacle of the Redeemer above ? What divine influence of the Spirit here, is to be compared with the full and eternal presence of the Holy Ghost upon the redeemed soul in its world of glory ? What spiritual employment on earth, can so influence and sanctify the nature of man as the everlasting occupations of the heavenly family ? And as we look upward and forward to this eternal and ex- celling glory, and compare it with the highest, brightest, and best advantages of the spiritual life on earth, we may cheerfully and fully adopt the Apostle's conclusion, " which is far better." O, let our hopes and efforts be proportionate to 216 WITH CHRIST. our privileges ! With bright and clear views of the foundation on which we rest, — with animat- ing anticipations of the result which we are ap- proaching; let us press forward to a home of eternal glory, — striving daily to become in tastes and habits, more and more meet for the inheri- tance of the saints in light. Remember that our rest with Jesus is a rest of perfect holiness, and our only education for its enjoyment, and ap- proach to its perfections, is in our continual in- crease in personal holiness in conformity to the image and will of our Lord Jesus Christ. There "Christ is all." The very atmosphere of His habitation is one of unalloyed spiritual health, because He is there. All that can promote and attract love for Him, the very essence and prin- ciple of true piety, will exercise its power there. New discoveries of His divine excellence will awaken new devotion. Increasing capacity, and power of perception, will enable the Christian to appreciate and enjoy them all. The very habit of unrestrained and unforbidden love, will grow upon him in a daily increase of power. His whole effort, encouraged, aided, and upheld by all that he sees, and hears, and does, will be to become holy as God is holy, that he may be happy in the enjoyment of Him forever. In aa atmosphere so genial and perfect, his own char- acter, purified from sin, and enlightened with truth, shall flourish in undecaying youth, and eternal loveliness. Every obstacle to his growth in grace upon the earth shall have been removed, and every means which was divinely appointed to lead him on to God, shall be increased and WITH CHRIST. 217 perfected in its influence ; and he shall be secured with Christ, in a state of unchanging holiness, and released from the further possibility of sin. How unspeakable are the privileges of the rea^ members of Christ, who have passed from death unto life, in the renewal of their souls by His power ! All things are theirs. The present joys of a Saviour's service, repay for all the sacrifices which they ever make for Him ; and beyond the highest of these, God has provided such good things as pass man's understanding, to be revealed in a world to come. How precious and important is the privilege of being in Christ ! He will give grace and glory ; and no good thing will He withhold from those who live a godly life 10 CHAPTER XVI. HEAVENLY JOT. Having considered the rest and the holiness of the man with Christ, I propose now to speak of his condition, as one of glory and joy. To enter upon such a theme, however, seems to be in a great de- gree presumptuous. But our attempt to consider the condition of the saint with Christ in its other aspects, makes an effort necessary to say something also of this amazing and exalted topic. Flesh and blood cannot inherit this glory. Earthly vision cannot discern it. Human language has no power adequately to utter or describe it. Some of the first privileged disciples of the Lord were permit- ted to behold the vast provisions of this glorified joy, in a divine revelation. But in their attempts to convey some views to others, of what they had been permitted to witness in the realms of glory, all instruments of communication seem to be in vain. Three of the chosen followers of the Lord, saw His glory for a season on the mount of trans- figuration. But when they come to describe the glorious vision, it is all done in relative earthly comiparisons, leach of which flags and fails, in the effort to convey some adequate image of that which they beheld. " His face," say they, in speaking WITH CHRIST. 219 of their Lord, " did shine as the sun, and his rai- ment was white as the light, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them." It was " the glory," says one of them, " of the only begotten of the Father." It was " the power and coming," says another, — or the revelation in glory, — " of our Lord Jesus Christ ;" we " were eye-witnesses of His majesty." The atmosphere around them seemed a shining cloud, the very glory of which, as it overshadowed them, made them afraid. Another of these chosen messen- gers of the Lord, was " caught up into the third heavens." Whether he was in the body, or out of the body, he could not tell ; but all that he could say of this heavenly abode was, that he heard unspeakable words, which it is not possible for man to utter. When he would describe its state, it was a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. When he would speak of its blessedness, he declares it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath, prepared for them that love Him. Its pos- session was an overwhelming of every thing that man had before called joy, as in an ocean of eter- nal bliss, — " a swallowing up of mortality in life ;" — a condition of joint heirship with Christ in glory, in the view of which, any sufferings of this present life, were not worthy of notice ; — the far better part, for the clothing of which in full possession, he longed with earnest desires and groans. By another of these privileged servants who had be- held the remaining glory, it is described as an in- corruptible, undefiled, and unfading inheritance, reserved in heaven for the suffering but protected 220 WITH CHRIST, people of God ; — ^a crown of unfading, amaranthine glory. Another heaps up amazing expressions of exalted aspects and attributes, to convey some idea of what he saw, in the revelation of the heav- enly home : — ^The glory of the meridian sun ;— the intense brightness of the furnace ;— the pure radi- ance of the light;— the transparent beauty of the rainbow;— an ocean of gold, translucent as the crystal;— precious stones, of every hue, and of the • richest forms; — ^fountains, ever sparkling with living water; — streams, with an unceasing Aow of perfect purity; — trees of unchanging verdure, clothed with endless varieties of beautiful fruit ; — ^living beings, of the noblest and most exalted aspect, clad in garments which earthly art in vain would imitate ; — music, of the tenderest influence and of the most overwhelming power ; sometimes the single melody of a heavenly harp and voice, and again flowing forth in a volume of harmony, like approaching thunders, or the majestic water- fall, or the mysterious rolling of the sea ; — a state of being, in its aspect of loveliness, feebly illus- trated by the most perfect bridal beauty and pu- rity of earth. All these, and many like them, are efforts to express to man, the things which he saw and heard. But they are all in vain. One sen- tence of his own conclusion sums up his acknowl- edged inability to describe the glory of the saints with Christ : — " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." How shall I attempt then to speak of the joy WITH CHRIST. 221 and glory of this heavenly state ? Yet we are invited to consider it, to look forward to it, to desire it, and to seek and strive to gain it. Let us then attempt to utter some views of itj which may be instructive and encouraging to the peo- ple of God. We will speak of the joy and glory of the Christian with Christ, as he views the past, the present, and th.e future, in his exalted state. As he looks upon the past, there is an entire passing away, of all the sorrows and trials of his previous condition. His consciousness of this is a source of unspeakable joy. How gratefully and triumphantly he looks back upon the way through which God hath led him, in his journey to his heavenly rest ! His former condition was full of varied burdens and cares. He has suf- fered much in bodily pain amidst the infirmities of his mortal state ; — much in the anxieties of poverty and earthly destitution; — much in the sorrows of his family and friends around him ; — much in the separation from him in death, of those whom he tenderly and ardently loved ; — much in the griefs and distresses of others, which he in vain desired and attempted to allay ; — much in the misrepresentations and reproaches, not only of the worldly on earth, but even of those who in their Christian profession, ought to have been brethren and friends in kindness to him ; — much in the ingratitude and cruelty, the oppression and hostility which he has endured from men ; — much in the anxious suspense with which the future has ever thrust itself upon his view ; — much in the constant perception of his own secret sins, in the frequent overwhelming of his holiest purposes 222 WITH CHRIST. by sudden temptations to transgression; — much in his inability to accomplish the obedience, or to attain the character, or to maintain the spirit and state of mind which he desired; — much in his frequent backslidings from his chosen and still desired path, and in his failures in attempted conformity to his Lord; — much in the constant steps of his passage to the grave ; — much in the fears, and darkness, and doubts, which have so often bewildered and distressed, and sometimes almost overwhelmed and crushed him in his pil- grimage to his home. Upon all these springs and sources of sorrow, he now looks back, with a memcfry exceedingly enlightened, and a mind highly discriminating. They constitute in his view, a method of divine guidance and prepara- tion of his soul for a heavenly rest, wonderful in its exhibitions of wisdom, power, and love. And alarming and distressing as this system often was, while the cloud was rising, or the storm was raging ; now that it has been completed and gone back never to return, he can admire the beauty which is displayed upon it, and rejoice in a con- templation of the glorious manifestation which it has made of the greatness and goodness of his God. There is, therefore, in the very recollec- tion of all these trials of earth, a joy which could never have been fairly anticipated under their passage. Nothing of the whole system has been in vain. Nothing of it was unnecessary. He who made the Captain of his salvation perfect through earthly suiFerings, has thus also led on the sons of God whom He had chosen to be conformed to the image of His only begotten, to their inheri- WITH CHRIST. 223 tance of glory, in the same needful and sanctify- ing path. To understand all this, to appreciate its importance, to discern its operation, to per- ceive its actual result, to comprehend the glory which it has brought to God, and the happiness which it has produced for man ; will doubtless be no small part of the, employments and joys of a heavenly abode. It is the peculiar joy of wit- nessing the triumphant and perfect result of a course of effort, in which the mind and heart have been intensely interested, and the details of which, in their operation, were a constant trial of faith, and patience, and hope. The top-stone of the edifice is now brought out, and it shines in glorious beauty, and no defect can be charged upon the least portion of the structure. The magnificent fruit is now gathered, and it amply confirms the hope, and rewards the labour, of the husbandman who waited long and with patient diligence, to reap his autumnal recompense. The work is now finished. The trial of precious faith has been completed, and it is found according to the promise, unto praise, and honour, and glory, in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The saint may acknowledge with peculiar rapture and thankfulness, in this view of the result of his trials past, " I am one of those who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed my robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ; therefore am I before the throne of God, and shall serve Him day and night in His temple ; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell with me ; and I shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on 224 WITH CHRIST. me, nor any heat ; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed me, and shall lead me unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from my eyes." He has now found eternal access to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit ; and he gives unceasing glory unto the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for the perfect work of grace and wisdom which has been accomplished for him. His trials have passed away in the entire accomplishment of the purpose for which they were designed. And he has received the full and intended result of tri- umph and glory, for which they were all contrived and overruled. But they have also passed as facts and attri- butes of his own actual condition. There is a perpetual end for him of every shape of suffering and woe. His wants have been all supplied. Hostility and oppression have forever ceased. Persecutions and reproaches can never again be excited against him. No anxieties or deferred hopes, will again harass him. No friends will forsake him, or be taken from him. No tempta- tions will distract him in the service of his God; or corruptions arise within him, to unsettle or enfeeble his affections or efforts for Him. He hath ceased forever from sin, in every shape and influence. Neither in thought, or appetite, or word, shall the spirit of inward rebellion tempt him more. All these characteristics of his fallen condition have gone by forever. The joy and glory of a perfect and eternal deliverance from them, he only can appreciate, who has struggled and suffered through them, in a sincere and WITH CHRIST. 225 earnest desire to do the will of God. To such a man, what joy is there, in the simple fact, that • sorrow has passed ! And when all sorrow has passed, and passed forever, and no future expe- rience of being is to bring out any new trial or grief for the soul, how completely does the view of the past contribute to promote the joy and glory of the servant of God with Christ. But the past not only contains his own trials and preparation for eternal bliss. It is also charged with the amazing work of God for him. An enlightened memory, now under the imme- diate teaching and guidance of Christ himself, will recall all the wonderful things which have distinguished the divine interposition in his be- half. New beauties of wisdom and grace will be perceived in every dispensation of his great Creator and King. The creation and govern- ment of the heavens and earth which the Sacred Scriptures describe, — the demonstration of the schemes and purposes of an infallible providence of God, which the whole history of man exhibits,— the fixed purpose of His will that all things should work together for good to them that love Him, which has been triumphantly accomplished — shall be spread out before his view, for his contempla- tion and study. The glorious plan of redeeming mercy, in all its facts, and operations, and results, will arise before him. The love of the Father, the incarnation, submission, death, and triumphs of the Son, and the long-suffering mission and agency of the Holy Ghost, will appear in new and exalted light. How will he meditate then upon the glory of the cross, upon the love of the 10* 226 WITH CHRIST. Spirit, upon the priesthood of the Saviour ! How filled will memory be of glorious demonstrations of grace, of which, though he knew the facts be- fore, he never perceived or understood the power until now. But the special redemption and con- version of his own soul, with all its attending evidences of love and forbearance in his Saviour, and of ingratitude and resistance in himself, — of tenderness to his infirmities in the Spirit, and of his unfruitfulness under the divine guidance, — of patience with his manifold errors, and triumph over all his sluggishness and hostility, will as- suredly arrest and occupy his mind. And in all these remembrances of the past, of the blessings with which it has been filled, and the grace and glory which have crowned it, there will arise to the saint with Christ, unspeakable joy. But we may speak also of the joys in the pres- ent condition of the saint with Christ. It is a subject of which we can know but little. I trust it may not be presumptuous to offer a few hints upon it in the little that we do know, such as may naturally and justly arise to the mind. These joys manifestly spring from the condition of per feet adaptation to its wants and capacities, in which a soul perfectly sanctified, and greatly en- larged in its powers, is now placed. There is the joy of perfect confidence in God, the unceas- ing indulgence and exercise of that filial, trustful spirit, the least bestowal of which on the earth, has made for the saint a heaven in the midst of his extremest trials. It is interrupted by no re- bellions, weakened by no doubts, withdrawn by no disappointments, and cor tending with no ap WITH CHRIST. 227 prehensions or fears. Every hour and every ex- perience of an eternal state will bring out a new expression of the sweet consciousness, " As for the Lord, His work is perfect :" — " How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty." It is the joy of perfect fellowship with Christ; a fellowship which leads not only to unquestioning and delighted submission to His authority, but to an active, cheerful, and inquiring fulfilment of His commands. All His preciousness and excel- lence, as an everlasting and all-powerful Saviour, will appear to view ; and every perception of His worth will be connected with the consciousness of a personal possession of this amazing treasure ; so that the heart can exclaim, without fear or doubt, " My beloved is mine and I am His ; He is the chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely," It is the joy of entire conformity to the Holy Spirit. His sacred and purifying influence completely fills the soul, governing and exalting all its desires and powers; and enabling it, in every moment and every act, perfectly to obey, and richly to enjoy, a glorious justifying God, from whose fulness of love and goodness, bound- less blessings are unceasingly flowing out. It is the joy of unbroken harmony and mutual confi- dence with all the other vessels of His grace, the vast multitudes of His elect and redeemed peo- ple ; a harmony which is interrupted by no sus- picion, disturbed by no fears, marred by no envy, but is continually excited, encouraged, and re- warded by every possible expression of kindness, and by unceasing acts of love. It is a blessed- ness which no opposing thought ever arises to 228 WITH CHRIST. embitter ; while the soul in a clear perception of- its unsurpassed excellence and wcirth, cannot but utter forth the inspired testimony, " Behold ! how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to- gether in unity !" It is the joy of active and abounding love to a soul which is taught to find all its happiness in the exercise of this heavenly affection ; Icfve to God, supreme and perfect, ex- pressing itself in grateful adoration, obedience, and praise ; love to all whom God loves, because they wear His image, and for His sake ; love, the light of which from within, throws a pure bril- liancy upon every thing without ; and the over- flowing of which from the fountain of the soul, adds sweetness to every engagement and every duty of a heavenly state. It is a joy so adapted to the soul's condition, and so combined of every element which an all-gracious God can gather to fill up the measure of its bliss, that there is no possible deficiency or failure. The exalted Sav- iour there sets himself to bless His people. They are partakers of His glory, and His delights are with them. The joy which they receive, has no contingency or condition founded upon their lim- ited excellence connected with it. He bestows it freely, as the merited result of His own obe- dience for them. The foundation upon which it rests is eternal, and eternally secure. How great is the rejoicing arising from this fact ! With un- speakable delight and transport, they receive the gift from Him ; and as they drink of the pleasures which are at His right hand, they ascribe all the glory of their exalted condition to His unsearch- able grace. "Worthy is the Lamb that was WITH CHRIST. 229 slain to receive honour, and glory, and blessing," is the song of their grateful hearts. And in His presence, and in an enjoyment of His glory, they come short in no gift which He has power to be- stow, to perfect their nature, or to enlarge and confirm their bliss. While the past and the present are thus filled with sources of joy and glory for the saint with Christ, the future must be forever the crowning glory of the whole. This exalted state is an ev- erlasting state ; — no possibility of failure or decay remains within it. All its glories are bestowed and covenanted by a redeeming God for an eter- nity. No fears of change, no suspense in expec- tation, no anxiety in anticipating approaching pe- riods, can ever have place in the glorified soul. All is settled, and upheld, and governed by an Omnipotent God, whose great power is now to be forever exercised in the rewarding and comfort- ing His people. With perfect tranquillity, and with assured confidence, may they repose them- selves upon Him, and take the cup of salvation, and call upon His holy name . What power and worth does this single word add to their condition of glory — Eternity ! A secure, settled, unspeaka- bly happy eternity ! The soul may embark upon it without a single doubt or hazard, and yield it- self to a free and full' enjoyment of its blessedness and glory. It is an ocean without a shore, but without a storm. It is a kingdom which cannot be removed, — ^the kingdom of God, in which He rules, and gives, and blesses, and exalts His glo- rified people for succeeding ages ; and in which the great employment of the exalted Head, and 230 WITH CHRIST. His immortal subjects, is to promote, and extend, and perpetuate, to the utmost possible degree, the universal happiness of the vast and unfading do- minion, in which as Immanuel, He reigns. Won- derful beyond our expression is this elevated and abiding state ! Before the foundation of the world, God prepared it for His saints. During the time- state and history of His church. He was fitting them to enjoy it, and reserving it in heaven for them. Now in an eternity of glory He is de- lighted in bestowing it upon them, enabling them to possess it, securing their enjoyment of it, and receiving their grateful and rejoicing praises for the everlasting stability and fulness of His love. With such prospects and hopes are the servants of Christ comforted and upheld in their present earthly course. They willingly here count all things but loss for Christ, and receive Him in ex- change if need be, for every earthly relation, or gain. He is their portion and their treasure ; and they are rich and full in possessing Him. Christ is all, in their present hope, and their future en- joyments. As they are rejected and reproached by men, and mingle their drink with weeping, and their bread with ashes, they have still within them, this divine upholding Saviour, and before them, this glorious heavenly home. O that they might all taste the full benefit of such provisions of grace and love; and press forward with in- creasing earnestness, to lay hold of the prize before them ! Why should they be conformed to earth ? Why should they cultivate a desire for its gifts, or yield to the influence of its snares, or think of its portions as if they were of value and impor- WITH CHRIST. 231 tance ? With such privileges and hopes, what manner of persons ought they to be, in all holy- conversation and godliness ! People of Christ ! ye are bought with a price. Ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost. Ye are the messengers and glory of Christ. Ye are members of the family of God. Ye are inhabitants of the heavenly city, and heirs of the heavenly inheritance. O live and walk as such, amidst the cares and^ follies of earth ! Strive, not to make heaven compatible with earth, hut earth subservient to heaven. So that in every day and every engagement of life, whether apparently important or trifling, you may be gaining for eternity, and laying a faster hold upon the life to come. Thus may you look for- ward with increasing confidence, that to depart, will be " to be with Christ, which is far better." CHAPTER XVII. HEAVENLY WORSHIP. The Apostle teaches us, that in the ancient worship of the tabernacle and temple, the priest who " offered gifts according to the law, served unto the examph and shadow of heavenly things," or as an illustration and type of heavenly things. The ritual of worship which was divinely ap- pointed for them, was of an instructive and pre- figurative character. To the spiritual mind, it was a guide to higher and heavenly facts. It led the thoughts of faith, forward, to a sacrifice that should afterwards be oflfered, as a true pro- pitiation for the sins of men; — to a priesthood which should be established as a real mediation between God and men ; — and to the actual holy of holies, the place of the dwelling of the Most High, into which this Priest should enter as a forerunner, and living advocate for His people, after he had once for all, offered himself to put away their sins. There was thus an un- ceasing preacliing and testimony of heavenly things within this divinely prescribed ritual of earthly worship. And though the spirit of negli- gence, — and the love of novelty, — and the indiffer- ence of unbelief might be ready to say, " what a WITH CHRIST. 233 weariness is it ;" — and though without this con- stant realized connection between present and future, — earthly and heavenly things ; it would have been a yoke upon all, which none would have been able to bear; yet faith in the word of God kept constant hold of this promise of fu- ture things ; and the true believers in God in all the twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, rejoiced in the hope, of coming at last, to this promise made of God unto their fathers. The delight which they had in the worship in' which they were unceasingly engaged, was that they were not only having present communion and fellowship with God, but were serving Him also after the example and shadow of heavenly things ; — and their taste for these was enhanced, and their desires after them were quickened, as they were led forward in the circle of their year, offering oftentimes, the same sacrifices of Ixomage, worship, and praise. In the gracious providence of God, we are liv- ing upon earth, in a dispensation, in which the examples and shadows of the earlier ritual have been filled up, and completed, so far as this present life is concerned. The plans of God have travelled forward, until the true offering has been made for sin, and bleeding sacrifices on earth have therefore ceased ; and the real priesthood has been revealed, and therefore typical earthly priesthoods have passed away ; — and the actual Leader has entered into the holiest for His people, — and therefore all illustrating symbols of this great work have become unnecessary. But nei- ther for the church, nor for individual believers. 234 WITH CHRIST. are we yet in a final state. All who are now in Christ, are expecting the hour when in the full enjoyment of His glory, they shall be with Him forever. We have still to look forward to real heavenly things, as the experience of the church of God ; and to an eternal participation in them, as the portion of each individual believer in the Son of God. And as faith receives the divine promise, and contemplates its certain realiza- tion in the appointed time, the tribes of God in every nation, and in every land, are still instantly serving God day and nighty in the blessed hope of coming to this glorious end. The worship in whifli they engage on earth, to be acceptable and useful, should be adapted to sustain this faith, and confirm this hope ; and be both for an introduction to their enjoyment, and for an in- struction into their nature, as nearly as possible conformed to the example and pattern of heavenly things. The divine Apostle brings forth to our view, the worship of the heavenly sanctuary, and of the glorified ones with Christ, when he says, " They rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Whatever earthly facts may be pour- trayed in the succeeding symbols of that sacred book from which this passage comes, which to the mind of the Apostle, were conveyed in its glowing and wonderful figures ; there can be no doubt that many portions of its early chapters are intended to describe the actual view of heavenly things, which the unveiling of this invisible world displayed to him. He beheld a door opened in WITH CHRIST. 235 heaven ; — he heard the voice of a celestial trum- pet, inviting him to ascend in spirit and see the vronders which should be revealed ;: — he saw the mysterious throne of the Deity shining before him ; — the unspeakable glory of the Father, like a jasper and a sardine stone, seated upon the throne ; — the personal exhibition of the Son, as a Lamb that had been slain, in the midst of the throne ; — ^the peculiar emblem of the Holy Spirit, like lamps of fire burning around the throne ; — the mysterious living ones, called by us the che- rubim and seraphim ; — the congregated elders of the redeemed church, who could testify to the work which had been finished for them; and hosts of attending angels vainly counted, crowd- ing in the far distance, like thousands of thou- sands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, filled up the courts of the Lord, and made up the con- gregation of this heavenly sanctuary. Here was the true tabernacle ; — the priest, the sacrifice, the altar, the Deity, were all there ; not "in shadow, but in fact. He saw this amazing congregation in the worship of their unchanging sabbath. He listened to their praise, — he drank in the harmony of their triumphs, — he heard the sweet melody of their new song, and the deep, pro- longed, swelling chorus of their glorious re- sponses. He seemed to himself to be with them long, for he tells of the repetition of their praises through succeeding days and nights. He re- ceives the command, " Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." And he writes for the guidance, consolation, and encour- §36 WITH CHRIST. agement of the members of Christ on earth, the glories which he saw; and especially, and in many descriptions, the worship which he beheld, — the worship of heaven, — ^the worship of those who are with Christ forever. In its outward shape and mode, this heavenly worship was worship in a precribed, unchang- ing form. The redeemed ones rested not, day and night, in the offering of their form of praise. And although individual being in heaven, as upon earth, must have individual and peculiar memories of blessings received, and secret con- sciousness of obligations, and private special rea- sons for thanksgiving and love ; — and it is impos- sible to suppose that these are not indulged, and uttered in personal, private communion with God, in the individual enjoyment of His presence and glory ; — yet, when the united oflFering of their worship is made, individual peculiarity yields to a common experience, and a common condition ; and the heavenly worship is unceasing worship in a known, and a divinely prescribed form. This form in various parts of the divine liturgy, the Apostle desc^^ibes : — he repeats, and writes, the very words, he heard the choirs of the blest ones utter, as they were engaged in it. He lis- tened to them, as they sang over and over again, the glorious, chant, " Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come ;" as they repeated the triumphant song in memory of creation, " Worthy art thou, O Lord, to re- ceive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created ;" as they uttered together WITH CHRIST. 237 the thankful tribute to the Lamb for His redeem ing love, " Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us kings and priests unto our God." — " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." These are parts of the heavenly form of praise and prayer. What millions of Christ's suffering ones have been taught it, and have united in it, since the Apostle beheld its amazing glory! What millions (some, perhaps, individually most dear to us) are this hour engaged in the worship of the heavenly sanctuary, according to this di- vine liturgy ! And may we not ask, is that which is the appointed vehicle of heavenly worship, likely to be unsuitable, or deadening in its influ- ence, or unspiritual in its character, upon the earth ? Shall the religious experience and emo- tions of redeemed souls in heaven rejoice to ex- press themselves in forms of prayer, and shall prescribed forms be considered necessary de- struction to the spirit of religion among redeemed souls below 1 Nay, — blessed is the privilege of the permanence of the words prescribed for muted worship, so that they are words of excel- lence and truth, and adapted to edify the believ- ing soul. O that we might catch in our earthly liturgies, something of the spirit that glows in that which is uttered by immortal tongues ! St. Paul describes two earthly churches, by strangely different characteristics. To the one, 1 Cor. xiv. 26, he says, " How is it then, brethren ? 238 WITH CHRIST. « when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, — hath a doctrine, — hath a tongue, — hath a revelation,— hath an interpretation. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace ; — as in all the churches of the saints." — " Let all things be done decently, and in order." To the other, Colos. ii. 5, he says, " Though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfast- ness of your faith in Christ." Now let the char- acteristics of these two churches be transferred to the heavenly sanctuary : — O, how sad would be the fall in the description, had St. John writ- ten of the church above, — 1 heard, and " every one had a psalm, had a doctrine, had a tongue, had a revelation !" Alas ! it is no longer the deep, clear, unbroken harmony of heaven ; — but discord and confusion, which have no authorship in God, transported thither. And which of the two churches was the more evidently becoming ready for the heavenly worship ; — discordant, confused, unsettled Corinth, — or orderly, steadfast, uniform Colosse 1 Can we think, then, that a form of prayer and praise prescribed in the public wor- ship of the church below, is a necessary hindrance to devotion, and to the work of the Spirit, in a preparation for the church above ', when, in their heavenly worship, they rest not day and night, in the utterance of the same blessed form of words ? And if heavenly worship be not mere formal worship, — though it be worship in a pre- scribed form, — is it indispensable that a form of prayer in earthly worship, shall be always and only, the religion of form ? WITH CHRIST. 239 Again, the heavenly worship, as described by St. John, was a responsive worship. The evi- dences of this are very striking and peculiar. The parts of the liturgy which he records, seem founded upon a comprehensive and perfect system, which includes many important particulars : — First, the four living ones, the cherubim, utter their general ascription of praise and honour, as in our text, to God in Trinity : — " They rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Then, when they have uttered forth this glorious awakening tribute, giving glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sitteth upon the throne, who liveth forever and ever, — the elders, the representatives of the redeemed church, fall down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and worship Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, and utter together their glorious response, " Thou art wor- thy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and and poTiyer ; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." So again, — when the mysteries of redemption are opened and commemorated, — the redeemed of the Lord, fall down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God, kings, and priests." And when this offer- 240 WITH CHRIST. ing of praise for complete redemption has been made, by those who have received the blessing, then the response is uttered by the voice of many angels round about the throne, saying, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." And then comes forth, with sublime and unutterable power, the chorus of united harmony, from every crea- ture which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and all that-are in them, saying, " Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever," And the living- ones around the throne close this offering of heavenly homage, with their final response, — Amen ; and the re deemed elders again fall down and worship Him that liveth forever and ever. Here is a succes- sion of responses ; each portion of the glorified congregation taking up their part, in the worship in which all are engaged, and offering their own peculiarly prescribed tribute of praise, with de- light and order. The same fact is recorded in the sixth chaptei of Isaiah, where, when the vision of the glorious throne and sanctuary of the Lord of hosts was given to the Prophet, he heard the seraphim which stood around the throne, and veiling their faces with reverence before the King of kings, crying one to another, — or singing in alternate response, — "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, — the whole earth is full of His glory." It was doubtless from a divine instruction in these examples and shadows of heavenly things, WITH CHRIST. 241 that responsive worship made up the liturgy of the Jewish church. When Moses and the Israel- its sang together upon their safe passage through the seaj that beautiful ode recorded in the fif- teenth chapter of Exodus, they commenced and repeated their testimony of praise, — " I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." And Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel in her hands, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dances. And Miriam' answered them, "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; — ^the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." The worship of Israel was always upon this pattern of heavenly worship ; — one portion re- sponding to another, in their successive ascrip- tions of praise to God; and in the Christian church, the very same divine system has pre- vailed from the beginning. Responsive liturgies were the early and permanent method of public worship among the churches, in the primitive ages of the Christian dispensation ; and who can think it an improvement, which in modern days, has so much robbed the people of their union in |»raise, and prayer, and given both the one and the other, wholly to different appointed individual agents, in the public worship of the sanctuary. The worship of God is the united act of the as- sembled people. And I esteem the possession of a pure and evangelical form of public prayer, a very great privilege and happiness for any church. That precious form of worship which God has mercifully granted to us in the Episcopal Church, 11 242 WITH CHRIST, is distinguished by its imitation of heavenly hom- age. Its harmonious responses of thankfulness and humiliation, while in their construction they partake of this excellency of heavenly worship, — allowing none to be deprived of their union in the blessed and happy work, — ^partake also in their character, of the very spirit of the heavenly sanctuary. And the mind is not to be desired, that is not animated and enlivened in worship, and does not find in itself accordance and delight, ■as we unite together in the heavenly strains of our Te Deum, or the penitential supplications of our beautiful Litany. Can it be a renewed and Christian heart, that finds not food adapted to its taste, or language expressive of its feelings, in these responsive offerings of prayer and praise ? Can one be ready to enter upon his portion of the higher and purer worship above, who has scorn- fully rejected, — despised, — perhaps scoffed at, — the expressive responses, in which we are here engaged below ? Again, the worship of heaven is a repeated worship. It is not only a responsive form, but it is a form continually repeated. " They rest not day and night," saying again and again, the very same words of thanksgiving and adoration. There is no other gratification to the desire of change, or provision for the passion for novelty there, than that which is found in the acquisition of deeper, clearer, and happier views of the love, and worthiness of their glorious object of praise. Their joys, pleasures, and employments, man- ifestly all run in the same line, and towards the same point. To suppose weariness in this WITH CHRIST: 243 unity, is to impute either defect to the object, or deficiency of affection to the worshippers. But there are new glories continually seen in Him ; and new delights, and new flames of love, continually arising in them. And though day by day, they gather with, the same offering; and unite again in the same song ; and testify to the glorious excellency of their God in the very same words of praise ; — ^the song is always new, the employment always a privilege ; and the Being whom they serve, is always, all their salvatfon, and all their desire. But is the continually re- peated worship of heaven, " battology," — " vain repetitions ?" Would it be itnproved, if new ad- ditions or varieties were every day brought in ? Do saints become wearied of saying, " Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty :" — " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain V And is that which is no evil in heaven, but made a part even of the bliss and blessedness of heaven, an evil, — yea, an evil destructive of all good, when it is imitated and maintained on earth ? Would redeemed ones there reject with displeasure, an objection to 'their repetitions, or an offering of improvement by something new in their worship ? And do we become spiritually dead, and show ourselves so, because we repeat over and over again, with new satisfaction, the blessed prayer which our Lord hath taught us, or sing the time-honoured ascription, " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the be- ginning, is now, and ever shall be, world with- out end 1" Alas, then, how different is the esti- mate of facts, by minds in heaven and minds on 244 WITH CHRIST. earth ! Nay, we do not find it so. Years pass by us; but our wants remain, and our obliga- tions are undiminished. And the words with which we yesterday went to Jesus, we find just as appropriate to day ; fijr He is the same, and the same to us, " yesterday, to-day, and forever." The sorrows which we felt last year under the burden of sin, are repeated and renewed in this ; and we can find no other, or better expressions, to utter feelings which are thus wholly unchanged, than those which have proclaimed the feelings of our hearts before. The liturgy which guided our youth, attends with appropriateness as complete upon our old age. The confessions, the thanks- givings, the prayers, the praises, which we heard when we were first brought to the sanctuary, we just as sincerely love to unite in, when we are gathering near the tomb. Many things have changed with us and around us ; but our needs, and our relations to God, and our dependance upon Him have never changed ; — we are the same sinners still, and He is still the same glorious and benignant Benefactor. And we are ready to say with good old George Herbert, even in the hour of death, " Give me the prayers of my good mother, — ^the Church of England ; — ^there are none better than those." And if it be a weari- ness to us here voluntarily allowed and indulged, to watch one hour with angels and archangels in their songs of worship ; O, how are we becom- ing ready to rest not day and night, in the wor- ship of the heavenly sanctuary, saying, " Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come !" WITH CHRIST. 245 But though the heavenly worship is in a re- peated responsive form, it is a purely spiritual and elevated worship. The principles upon which it is founded, are those great and precious truths which give the Gospel all its glory, and make it the glad tidings of salvation to suffering, fallen man. The worship of the saints unceasingly ac- knowledges the Glorious Trinity of persons in the Godhead. "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts," is the great type of this foundation-truth, and the token and index of their habitual praise. The gracious offices of these Divine Persons in their behalf, the saints joyfully remember. The works which they have severally done, in restor- ing guilty man to God, and in bringing many sons to eternal glory, they proclaim and adore. For all their works of mercy, these Divine Persons are severally personally praised. But the divine unity of their nature, is with equal delight honoured and confessed. As in the striking expression of the Book of Common Prayer, the saints with Christ have received " grace to acknowledge the glory of the Eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty, to worship the unity," of that Great and Glorious Being who is from everlasting to everlasting, the only wise God. With the deepest reverence of mind and spirit, they con- template and adore this amazing manifestation of Jehovah. With unfeigned and exalted gratitude they commemorate the practical exhibition of His redeeming power, which they have themselves received. Perfect faith in the truth of His reve- J.ation casts out all doubts, and answers all ques-. tions; while deep humility feels and confesses 246 WITH CHRIST. still, the weakness and ignorance of the creature, however exalted, in any attempt, by searching to find out God, or to understand the Almighty to perfection. The worslip of the saints continu- ally exalts the Lamb who was crucified for sin, and hath washed them in His own blood. He is in the midst of the throne, as the object of their praise. He dwelleth among them, as the great source of their spiritual nourishment and support. Their comforts and joys are derived from His pres- ence. Their glory and honour depend upon His power and love. They are adorned with His ex- cellence ; they shine in the majesty of His tri- umphs ; and they delight to cast their crowns at His feet. Almost above all other relations and aspects, in which we can consider this great truth, may it be said, that in the worship of heaven, — Christ is all. There the deepest personal humil- iation, under the burden of conscious sin, — sin remembered by themselves, though forgiven by God, — and the feeling of their own insignifi- cance in the presence of the Majesty on High; take away every vain thought of pride or boast- ing, and bring down all the saintfs in the lowest prostration of spirit and aspect before the throne of God. Notliing of all the amazing mercies which they have so abundantly received, is attributed to any power or excellence of their own. Per- fect self-renunciation is the uniform spirit and habit of the saints with Christ, and speaks in all the offerings of their heavenly worship. There God hath all the glory, for every grace. The Father, approached through the Son, by the Spiritji receives the unmingled honour for the glorioua WITH CHRIST. 247 plan and the triumphant accomplishment of re deeming mercy. The whole work of grace is re- ceived as a free gift; as much a gift in the crown of glory in which it results, as in the purpose of election in which it began. Unceasing glory is thus given to Him who has done exceeding abun- dantly above all they could ask or think, in the heavenly church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages. In all these facts, the spiritual worship of heaven is displayed. And the continually re- peated form of the heavenly liturgy, is the offer- ing of their eternal praise, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Allow me to remind you, how eminent, and how eminently beautiful, holy and impressive, in all these spiritual characteristics of heavenly wor- ship, is our own earthly liturgy. There is but one sun shining upon its pages, and that is every- where presenting the noonday of truth. It is the glorious name, and character, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. While the praying soul is taught to feel and to confess itself, deeply hum- bled undex the burden of its guilt, Jesus has all the honour and glory of His interposing grace, forgiving and upholding it. Is it then unreasona- ble, that we shonld cling to this precious book in our earthly worship, as our heritage and guide 1 or feel thankful for the privilege of being led by such a provision of wisdom in our present offer- ings of prayer ? We may indeed exalt the Prayer Book too highly, in a mere barren eulogy. But we can hardly elevate it beyond its worth, in a spiritual and practical use of it, as an aid and in 248 WITH CHRIST. strument for the united worship of the members of Christ on earth. The frame of mind which it im- plies and requires, is that in which a happy eternity may be passed. And the more this frame becomes deeply and permanently the possession of those who are in Christ on earth, are they becoming ready in heart and mind, for the worship of that higher congregation with Christ, in which they are invited eternally to join. O let us seek to make it, and to find it, our beloved companion in a heavenly road to a heavenly home ! The heart which is conformed to its teachings, is certainly conformed to the will of God. And they who thus worship God in the earthly sanctuary, in the spirit and mind which are here inculcated and required, are certainly worshipping Him after the pattern of heavenly things; and may rejoice in the blessed hope of uniting with certainty and with pleasure, in that heavenly host who rest not day and night, saying, " Holt, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is CHAPTER XVIIl. THE SAVIOUE'S GLORY. "On His head were many crowns," says the divine Apostle, in describing the appearance of the triumphant Saviour. Of these crowns of Jesus, I would try to speak. The footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the attractive centre for all holy minds. Angels who have never sinned, delight to worship Him, — to be His servants, — ministering spirits, fulfilling all His will. On earth, they proclaimed His advent and incarna- tion, with songs of rapture. They ministered to His infirmities in the flesh; and consoled, and honoured Him in the sorrows which He endured, as the substitute for man. They rolled the stone from the door of His sepulchre, and adorned and proclaimed the glory of His resurrection. They attended His ascension in triumph, and announced as He departed, His future reappearance, for the vindication of His saints, — the establishment of His kingdom, — and the judgment of the world. In heaven they encircle the multitude of His re- deemed, and bow together with them, in grateful homage around His throne. Numbering ten thout sand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- sands, they unite in their song, and their ascription 11* 250 WITH CHRIST. of unlimited honour and praise to Him, They take up their responsive part, in that glorious tribute of the saints, "Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glorv, and bless- ing" Redeemed beings who have been rescued from the condemnation and the power of sin, owe all that they have to Him, It is their peculiar characteristic, that they call upon the name of Jesus Christ the Lord, and honour Him with all the honour which limited minds can give, be- cause they find Him precious to their hearts. To every such mind. He is the Sun of Righteousness, —the source of light, — the fountain of all protec- tion, life, and peace. Are they on earth ? — They have been ransomed and renewed by His power. He is the foundation of their hope .; — all fulness of desirable treasure dwells in Him ; — and He is to them, the single practical source, of every thing which is important, and precious in their esteem. They feel it impossible, to exalt Him too highly, or to employ terms of ascription to Him, which shall exceed His rightful claim upon them. To them. He is all, in all. Are they in heaven? — They possess, and exhibit in a still higher degree, the spirit which concentrates all honour and praise upon the name, and character, and work of Jesus. Their highest enjoyment is to folk>w Him. Their loftiest occupation is to serve Him. Their most elevated recompense is the ■permission to praise Him in the courts of His holiness, and to cast their tributary glories, in humble acknowledgment, before His feet. WITH CHRIST. 251 This is the pervading spirit of the whole fam- ily of God. It is the spirit which unites earth to heaven, and which constitutes upon earth, the only preparation for heaven. It combines angels and redeemed sinners, in unerring harmony of praise ; and wakes up a chorus, which knows no discordance, nor lassitude, nor end, as it gives utterance to the universal desire, to honour the Son of God with all honours, and to acknowledge His title to all blessing and praise. In this spirit would I close our present subject, with a con- sideration of the Saviour's glory and triumph, as they are proclaimed in the Apostle's beautiful form of illustration, " On His head were many crowns." The crown has been in all ages and nations of men, the symbol of elevation and triumph. It is also the mark of acknowledged and respected dominion. Several crowns the conceded right of a single person, are the representations of varied and successive triumphs, or the pledges of authority, over different communities com- bined. As the symbol of triumph and dominion, " many crowns " describe the varied honours ajid rights of tiie Son of God. He is exalted above all principalities and powers in heavenly places; angels, and authorities, and powers, be- ing made subject unto Him. He leads forth His redeemed to final triumph. His work for them completed, and himself bearing the emblematic sign of the honours which it has conferred upon Him. He wears the crown of primitive creation. iBy Him were all things made, which are in 252 WITH CHRIST. heaven or in earth, visible or invisible; and without Him was there not so much as one thing made, which was made. We are divinely taught to take the history of the creation, as the first manifestation of the power and work of the Son of God. And as light shines out of darkness, and day is divided from night; — and the waters gather into the seas, and the appearing land brings forth its fruit; — and planets and suns illuminate the heavens above, and living beings spring from the earth beneath ; — and man walks forth under the divine hand, in the image of his Maker; — we are directed by the Holy Spirit, to bring all our offerings of praise, to the feet of the only begotten Son, and to say, "How manifold are thy works, O Lord ! In wisdom hast thou made them all." — "The heavens declare thy glory, the firmament showeth thy handy work, — the earth is full of thy riches." All these are the works of His hands. The wisdom, power, and goodness which they display, combine to adorn His name, and to manifest the attributes of His person. They shine as radiant jewels, in the crown, which, as Creator of all, Jesus wears for- ever. And the heavenly host acknowledge Hijs right, while they sing, " Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." He wears the crown of universal Providence and government. " By Him all things consist :" — " He upholdeth all things by the word of His power." To Him is the divine ascription ad- dressed, " Thou, even thou, art Lord alone ; - thou WITH CHRIST. 253 hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, — the earth, and all things that are therein, — the seas, and all that is therein, — and thou preservest them all ; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee." This amazing work of prov- idence and support, is indeed, but a prolonged creation. Its wonders, who can comprehend? It calls into being, every successive generation of existence, and it provides for them all. What human arithmetic can count the numbers of this single globe, — running in their scale, from the little insect that defies the piercings of the micro- scope, to the hugest monster of the deep ? And yet all these, in their orders and varieties, end- lessly combining, and endlessly differing, are sus- tained, preserved, provided for, by Him who up- holdeth them all, from generation to generation, and by whom they all consist. But even these wonders yield to the greater events of the history of man. Here, there is not only provision for animal wants, but a controlling, and overruling, of intellectual powers, and moral determinations. •And yet, in all these voluntary acts of beings of calculation and motive, the Divine Ruler perfectly accomplishes His own determinate counsel and will ; and weaves, with every varied thread, a robe of glory for himself, and a curtain of happi- ness for man. Ages succeed each other, but as the several chapters of His gracious Providence. Many generations, all independent- and distinct in their apparent action, unwittingly combine, to bring His single purpose to pass. And yet, this single globe is but an unit in the system which His hand sustains. Of the history of others, we 254 WITH CHRIST. know nothing. But we may certainly with rea- son suppose, that their whole destiny is not fulfilled, in giving light by day and night to us. But whether to us, they be worlds visible or invisible. He is Lord of all. All live through Him; and the glory of preserving them all, and of making them all to promote His own high, and wise, and perfect ends, is one of the crowns of that Divine Redeemer, who is God over all, blessed forever. He wears the crown of a perfect and accepted sacrifice for sin, accomplished by Him. This is the beginning of another work, — His great and marvellous work, — to which the whole dignity of His Deity was applied, and for which all the wonderful excellencies of His humanity were acquired. In this incarnate state. He gave him- self a sacrifice for sin, — a ransom for many, — a pro- pitiation for the sins of the whole world. He became a curse for us. He bare our sins in His body on the tree. The death of the guilty was laid upon Him, and in Him was life for the be lieving. His course of sorrow was closed in a voluntary death, as the substitute and sacrifice for sinners. He filled their place, — assumed their obligations, — endured their punishment, — and paid in His own suflferings, what their guilt deserved. This wonderful sacrifice was accepted by the Father for them. Its acceptance was an- nounced in the divine assurances conveyed to man by the Holy Spirit, before the Saviour came into the world, to make the offering of himself. It was proclaimed by the repeated celestial voices, during His lowly incarnation, which de- WITH CHRIST. 255 clarod the Father's good pleasure to be fulfilled in Him. It was sealed by the Spirit of power and holiness in His revivifying and raising from the dead, the body which had been crucified for sin. It is continually reiterated, as He lives to be the prevailing, abidiilg representative, be- fore the Majesty on High, of those for whom he died, — ^to bestow upon them the finished and perfect salvation, which He hath consequently attained. This accepted sacrifice for sin, is a wonderful and glorious work. No other being in the universe could have accomplished it. And its crown of peculiar glory, Jesus wears, while a ransomed church cry out before Him, " Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests." He wears the crown of an honourable recon- ciliation betweeh God and man ; — honourable I mean, to the character of God ; — for the reconcil- iation of a condemned creature to an offended Creator, giving him pardon upon any terms, is honourable to him, arid an unspeakable privilege and blessing; But to enable God, so to exercise His disposition to forgive, that the foundations of His authority shall not be unsettled, nor the fidel- ity of His government stained, was a great and difficult work. And this is that which Jesus has effected. His solution of the difficulty has showed how God can be just, and yet the justifier of guilty man. He has magnified the law, and made it honourable, even while He rescues man from its dominion, and forbids the exercise of its power upon him. He is set forth, — as the di- 256 WITH CHRIST. vine, — and the divinely appointed, representative of God's reconciliation to man. God loving the world, desiring and determining its restoration, has given in Him the vronderful revelation of this fact, and provided in Him the all-sufficient means for its accomplishment. " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;" — but bearing them as a voluntary burden upon himself Here is a reconciliation which is perfectly honourable to God. No attribute of His character- suffers, — no aspect of His nature or government has been clouded, — no purpose or determination of His ho- liness and truth has been compromised or given up. But here is the brightness of His glory, — here are the treasures of His wisdom and know- ledge, — here are the previous hidings of His power, — here are the highest and purest emana- tions of His excellence, even in the view of the creatures who know Him best. Angels desire to look into the glories which shine forth in the face of Jesus Christ. The Son is glorified, and the Father is glorified in Him. The riches of di- vine grace and glory are displayed in the abolish- ing of enmity, and the bringing those who were far off, nigh by the blood of Christ. For this manifestation of His power, the whole family which is named by Him in heaven, and on earth, unite together to give Him praise, and tne crown of this glorious work. He wears forever. He wears the crown of final victory over the power of death for man. Death reigned as the penalty of sin, — and reigned over all, because all had sinned. Its dominion brought the body ol r ask, or imagine, as attractive, is found laid up in Clirist. The more it knows, the more it loves. The deeper are its examinations, the fuller is the satisfaction which it receives. It is connected with Christ by this principle of unchanging love. His presence makes its light and glory on the earth, and identifies its prospects of light and glory in the heavenly world. And however it often mourns its want of a desired possession and perception of His love, it never experiences any other feeling than entire satisfaction with all that it knows of Him, and intense desire to know Him yet more and more perfectly. This is another very manifest characteristic of increasing meet- WITH CHRIST. 271 ness for that far better part, which is to be with Christ. Another characteristic of the saints with Christ, is their joyful occupation in the service and worship of the Saviour. There is a continued, persever- ing consecration of heavenly beings to this one great end. No expression to exhibit this could be stronger, than the single one, " they rest not day and night." It is an employment which brings no toil, and asks for no relaxation. They have been admitted to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to inquire and serve in His temple. They delight to do His commandments, and hearken to the voice of His word. This consti- tutes their joy and crown. And as their devo- tion to His will is perfect, so their occupation in His service is permanent and persevering. It is true, they are released from the clogs and weights of an earthly state ; — from tliat weakness of the flesh, which encumbers the willingness of the spirit ; and the vast advantage in their condition which this freedom bestows, is to be considered and allowed for. But I refer now to a chc^riicter- izing principle, which, however it may operate more perfectly amidst higher advantages, cannot fail to operate also as really amidst the lower. The heavenly state is all activity. The very shape under which its exalted inhabitants are exhibited, as clothed with wings, indicates tlirs fact. And this activity is all devoted to a perse- vering occupation in the service of God. Must not this attribute then, be attained by those who would acquire a meetness to be with Christ ? Can the heart which cannot watch with Jesus 272 WITH CHRIST. one hour, be prepared to enter upon this eternal occupation ? The Saviour's work intrusted to His people on the earth, is manifest and intelligible. His saints shall bless Him. They shall speak of the glory of His kingdom, and talk of His power ; — that His power, His glory, and the mightiness of His kingdom might be known unto men. The heart which has been led to choose Him, will rejoice to serve Him. All who have Him as a portion, will delight to have Him as a ruler also. The ex- tending of His spiritual dominion upon the earth, involves every duty which can be made incum- bent upon His people. There is not an act of obedience to which they are called, which