^ PRINCETON, N. J. <f^ 
 
 
 BV 4501 .L46 1847 
 Lewis, Tayler, 1802-1877. 
 Christian privileges, or, A 
 view of the peculiar 
 
 keif Number. 
 
CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES; 
 
 OB, • 
 
 A VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PECULIAR BLESSINGS APPERTAINING TO THE 
 BELIEVER IN CHRIST. 
 
 BY 
 
 T. LEWIS, 
 
 OF UNION CHAPEL, ISLINGTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "christian CHARACTERISTICS," "CHRISTIAN DUTIES," &c. 
 
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed 
 us with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly Places in Christ." 
 
 Paul. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN SNOW, 35, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1847. 
 
ADVEETISEMENT. 
 
 When the volume on " Clu'istian Duties " followed 
 that on " Christian Characteristics, " the Author 
 intimated that, if his life should be spared, and 
 ability granted him, a future volume on " Christian 
 Privileges" might probably close the series. He 
 has been later in fulfilling that intimation than he 
 had hoped to be ; but unforeseen circumstances 
 occurred to prevent the appearance of the " Privi- 
 leges " until now : and while he is thankful for the 
 acceptance the two preceding volumes have met 
 with among his friends, and the religious public 
 in general, he would more especially acknowledge 
 his obligations to the Giver of all good, for per- 
 mitting him to accomplish his design. This is 
 most probably the last publication he will be al- 
 lowed to make ; he therefore embraces the present 
 opportunity of very earnestly commending it, and 
 every other of his works, to the blessing of the 
 Most High, and the candour and kindness of his 
 readers. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 CHURCH AND CONGREGATION WORSHIPPING 
 IN UNION CHAPEL, ISLINGTON. 
 
 My dear Christian Brethren, 
 
 The sacred and spiritual relation subsist- 
 ing between you and me, seems to point you out 
 as the proper objects of a dedicatory address, on 
 the present occasion. You are a section of the 
 visible Church of Christ, and a congregation of 
 his worshippers. Many of you, I am happy to 
 say, are of long standing, and well accredited in 
 the Christian community; others, of later date. 
 It has pleased the Divine Head and Lord of his 
 Church, who put me into the ministry, so to bless 
 and honour my labours, as to make them instru- 
 mental in bringing not a few of you within its 
 pale. You, therefore, are my children in the 
 Lord. Of you I daily think, — for you I daily 
 pray. With parental solicitude I seek your spi- 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 ritual prosperity — your growth in grace — your 
 faithfulness in every good word and work. To 
 these all-important ends I have endeavoured to 
 direct my ministrations among you. My speech 
 and my preaching may, not^ indeed, have been 
 characterized by ^^the enticing words of man^s 
 wisdom ;^^ but if they have been followed by 
 "the demonstration of the Spirit and of power/' 
 neither you nor I need to lament the absence of 
 adventitious enticements. 
 
 You will all, I doubt not, bear me witness that 
 I have not preached myself, but Christ Jesus, and 
 myself your servant, for Jesus' sake. Yes; for 
 his sake, and for the advancement of your spi- 
 ritual interests, most willingly would I spend, and 
 be spent ; nor think the sacrifice worthy of being 
 named, in comparison with what I owe to my 
 Lord. Under this impression have I sought, in 
 every picture I have drawn of the Gospel-dispen- 
 sation, to place the Lord Jesus in the foreground, 
 as the prime object of admiration and of love ; as 
 God's unspeakable gift — the great sum and sub- 
 stance of revealed truth, and the alone Saviour of 
 souls. I have endeavoured to commend him to 
 you, not simply as a Deliverer from condem- 
 nation, but as your Pattern for "wisdom, and 
 
ADDRESS. Vll 
 
 righteousness, and sanctification/^ — not only as 
 your High Priest, to make atonement for your 
 sins, but as a Leader and Commander, whom it 
 becomes you to follow and obey. And not satisfy- 
 ing myself with the ministrations of the pulpit 
 only, I have, from time to time, as you well 
 know, addressed you from the press, seeking 
 thus, even when personally absent, to woo your 
 more habitual attention to spiritual things. The 
 press is a powerful instrument for working good 
 or evil on the public mind; and thinking it to be 
 my duty to avail myself of it for righteous and 
 pious ends, I have ventured to do so, according 
 to my limited ability, on several occasions. 
 Among others, I have more especially pressed 
 upon your notice the "Characteristics of the 
 Christian,^^ that you might be prompted to the 
 important and salutary exercise of self-examina- 
 tion, and assisted in it to know yourselves. And 
 then, as our Christianity is a practical religion, 
 requiring not merely to know, but also to do, I 
 thought it right to present you with a view of the 
 "Duties^^ which the Church, which the world, 
 and, above all, which your Lord himself expects 
 you to fulfil, if you would be accepted of him 
 as his disciples. The volumes containing these 
 
Till ADDRESS. 
 
 matters are gone out to the public, with my fer- 
 vent prayer to God, that he would be pleased to 
 bless them to the promotion of his own glory, and 
 the benefit of those to whom they might find 
 access. Permit me, my dear Brethren, to urge 
 your renewed attention to the subjects of which 
 they treat. They are such as Christians cannot 
 safely neglect; for they belong to their well-being 
 for time and for eternity. 
 
 And now, while sending out the present 
 volume with similar invocation of the Divine 
 blessing, to render it not only acceptable, but 
 profitable, wherever it may be perused, I do the 
 more readily commend it to you, my Brethren, 
 because of the opinion I entertain of your know- 
 ledge, and your standing in the faith. As the 
 apostle John tells the believers to whom he wrote, 
 so do I tell you, " I have not written to you be- 
 cause ye know not the truth, but because ye know 
 it." You have been instructed in the things that 
 relate to the kingdom of heaven; and by the 
 grace of God, many of you have been brought to 
 embrace them. You, therefore, cannot fail to 
 appreciate and relish the "Privileges" of the 
 Christian; of much of which you are now, doubt- 
 less, the partakers. Let me hope, that as they 
 
ADDRESS. 1± 
 
 are here set before you^ they will meet with a 
 congeniality of feeling and sentiment in each of 
 your hearts, and that warm welcome which is 
 expressive of acquaintanceship and agreement. 
 • The present occasion is probably the last on 
 which I shall be permitted to come before you in 
 this way. Bear with me then, while I add, that 
 I have sought publicity in the few works that 
 have passed from my hand, solely with a view 
 the more entirely to serve my Divine Master 
 and the cause of souls. I have no ambition for 
 authorship, but as means for that end; and if 
 such an object be, in any degree, promoted, I 
 am satisfied — I am thankful. The works to 
 which I have alluded, as w^ell as every other 
 effort I have been enabled to make, I leave at 
 the disposal of Him for whose service they are 
 intended. I leave them without anxiety, well 
 knowing that the feeblest instrument in the hand 
 of the Holy Spirit may be rendered efficient to 
 the greatest and most valuable results. I say 
 not this, however, in defiance of the judgment of 
 my fellow-men V on whatever may appear under 
 my name. On the contrary, I gladly embrace 
 this opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the 
 kindness and candour I have hitherto met with 
 
X ADDEESS. 
 
 at the hands of the literary censors of the day. 
 I mean only to say, that, though I highly esteem 
 the approbation of the enlightened Reviewer, I 
 cannot think it right for a servant of Christ to 
 be deterred from undertaking any effort of which 
 he entertains a hope, however humble, that his 
 Master will receive it, and give it his sanction. 
 
 Finally, my beloved Brethren, farewell : and 
 trusting what I now dedicate to you will be 
 accepted with the same spirit in which it is pre- 
 sented, I pray that ^^the God of peace, who 
 brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, 
 that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the 
 blood of the everlasting covenant, may make you 
 perfect in every good work to do his will; 
 w^orking in you that which is well-pleasing in 
 his sight, through Jesus Christ : to whom be 
 glory for ever and ever." Amen. 
 
 Your affectionate Pastor, 
 
 T. LEWIS. 
 
 Islington, 
 
 April, 1847. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Deliverances 
 
 I. From the Condemnation of the Law, by the Grant 
 of a free Pardon of all Sin. 
 
 II. From the Power of Sin. 
 
 III. From the Love of Sin. 
 
 IV. From the Pollution of Sin. 
 V. From the Sting of Death. 
 
 LECTURE n. 
 
 Dignities 42 
 
 Christians are made — 
 I. The Sons of God 
 II. Heirs of God, and Joint-Heirs with Jesus Christ. 
 III. Kings and Priests unto God. 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Page 
 Rights and Liberties 89 
 
 Christians have Liberty — 
 
 I. To receive and appropriate to themselves the Promises 
 of God. 
 IL To rest in the Paternal Love of God. 
 
 III. To hold Communion with God. 
 
 IV. To speak and act in the Name of God. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Consolations 122 
 
 Christians are abundantly consoled under Trials and 
 Afflictions that are — 
 I. Common to man; viz., Painful Vicissitudes — Poverty 
 — Calumny — Bereavement — Personal Sickness. 
 II. Under Afflictions and Griefs peculiarly their own; 
 viz., A Sense of their own Sins and Offences — The 
 Sinful State of the World around them — The 
 Sins of Professors of Religion — The unsatisfactory 
 State of the Church itself. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 The Heavenly Inheritance in Reserve . . .167 
 This Inheritance is distinguished for — 
 
 I. Its Perpetuity; — it is incorruptible, or eternal. 
 IL Its Purity; — it is undefiled. 
 III. Its Immutability; — it fadeth not away. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Page 
 Securities 211 
 
 Christians are secured in the Possession of their Privileges 
 from the Fact that they are — 
 I. A chosen Generation. 
 II. The Gift of God the Father to his Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 III. They are bought with a Price. 
 
 IV. They have direct Assurances in the Word of God. 
 
 LECTURE VIL 
 
 The Christian and the Worldling . 
 The Christian is — 
 I. The wiser Man. 
 II. The more useful Man. 
 Ill, The happier Man. 
 
CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES, 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 DELIVERANCES. 
 
 " There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are iii 
 Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after tlie Spirit.*' 
 
 Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 Moses, to whom the welfare of Israel was dearer 
 than his OAvn life, closes his benediction of that 
 people with this exclamation, " Happy art thou, O 
 Israel ! who is like unto thee, O people, saved by 
 the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the 
 sword of thy excellency! and thy enemies shall be 
 found liars unto thee ; and thou shalt tread upon 
 their high places." But this people, with all the 
 wonderful interpositions of heaven in their favour ; 
 with their happy locality, " a land flowing with 
 milk and honey;" and with their superior consti- 
 tution, both civil and religious, were intended espe- 
 cially to typify and prefigure a better and more 
 spiritual dispensation, by which they were to be 
 succeeded. The main points of their history and 
 
 B 
 
2 CHRISTIAi^ PRIVILEGES. 
 
 economy were a shadow of things to come. Christ 
 and his Church were the substance. The honours 
 and distinctions, in which that people gloried, 
 pointed to the higher honours, the better distinc- 
 tions, of the people of God under the Christian 
 dispensation. The shadows were temporal and 
 evanescent blessings ; they are long since spent and 
 gone. The substance consists in spiritual, incor- 
 ruptible, never-fading privileges. The former state 
 of things is described as " The Law given by 
 Moses," — the latter, as " Grace and Truth 
 BROUGHT IN BY Jesus Christ." The distinctions 
 and privileges of the Israelites, under the Mosaic 
 dispensation, were national^ and necessarily limited; 
 the Christian privileges belong to every nation 
 under heaven, knowing no limit throughout the 
 family of man. Magnificent and splendid, then, 
 as was the Jewish economy, when we come to 
 contemplate the blessings of the Gospel, and the 
 privileges of believers in Christ, we may with all 
 propriety conclude, that " even that which was 
 made glorious had no glory in this respect, by 
 reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that 
 which is done away was glorious, much more that 
 which remaineth is glorious." In the economy 
 which has answered its end, and passed away, there 
 was also a character both of serviHty and sternness. 
 The yoke which it imposed was grievous and bur- 
 densome, and not intended to be permanent. From 
 that bondage, Christ, the founder of a better dispen- 
 
DELIVERANCES. 6 
 
 sation, has set his people free. Hence the con- 
 gratulations of the Apostle, as he contemplates the 
 cheering contrast. " Ye are not come," he says, 
 "to the mount that might be touched, and that 
 burned with fire ; nor unto blackness, and darkness, 
 and tempest ; but ye are come unto Mount Sion, 
 and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
 Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
 angels; to the general assembly and church of the 
 firstborn, which are written in heaven ; and to 
 God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men 
 made perfect ; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the 
 new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, that 
 speaketh better things than that of Abel." In this 
 beautiful and sublime passage, the Apostle seems as 
 though, in the ecstacy of his feelings, he would 
 describe the very blessedness and glory of the 
 heavenly state ; and yet it is but the enunciation of 
 privileges to which Christians are already come. 
 And how is this? Truly, because the Church above 
 and the Church below are one. 
 
 On much stronger grounds, therefore, than those 
 which Moses had, may we exclaim, " Happy are ye, 
 O Christians! who are like unto you, O people, 
 saved by the Lord; whom the God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed with all spiritual 
 blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as 
 he hath chosen you in him, before the foundation of 
 the world, that ye should be holy, and without 
 blame before him in love!" Yes, the covenant 
 
4 , CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 which the Lord graciously promised to make with 
 his people, after the days of the old dispensation, 
 the Apostle directly claims for believers in Christ 
 under the 7iew. " This is the covenant that I will 
 make with the house of Israel, after these days, 
 saith the Lord. I will put my law into their minds, 
 and write them in their hearts; and I will be to 
 them a God, and they shall be to me a people. For 
 I will be merciful to their unrighteousness; their 
 sins and iniquities will I remember no more." 
 
 In proposing to treat of Christian Privileges, the 
 difficulty is not in finding a sufficiency of them to 
 engage our attention, for they are numerous ; but 
 how to cuU and arrange them best for profitable 
 meditation. It is but a limited portion of them we 
 can embrace in the series of discourses now before 
 us. For the sake of order, we may take leave to 
 consider them as consisting of DELrs^ERANCES from 
 evil achieved for the Christian, and Good Things, 
 or Blessings, conferred upon him. 
 
 The term Privilege supposes a distinction of 
 persons, or of parties. There are some who do not, 
 there are others who do, possess the Privilege. It 
 is an investment in the person, or parties, by which 
 he, or they, are entitled to some peculiar favour or 
 advantage. Christian Privileges are of this descrip- 
 tion ; and as they are all of them valuable and 
 important — all essential to our well-being, for time 
 and for eternity, it concerns us supremely to know 
 who the parties are to whom they belong. The 
 
DELIVERANCES. 
 
 Privileges, then, of which we speak are spiritual 
 Privileges; and they who possess them are of a 
 spiritual character. They are Christian Privileges, 
 and are the possession of those who believe in 
 Christ. Their's is a rank not inherited by family 
 descent, nor conferred by any created authority. 
 Their Privileges are held only of Divine grace: it is 
 the prerogative of God alone to grant them. Nor 
 are they claimed in right of any service performed, 
 or to be performed, by those who possess them ; they 
 are the gifts of God — the expressions of his free 
 and sovereign grace. Believers, the sole possessors, 
 belonged originally to the common mass of rebels 
 against God, " among whom also they all had their 
 conversation in time past, in the lusts of their flesh 
 fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, 
 and were by nature the children of wrath, even as 
 others." Like others, they were running the career 
 of sin and death. Innumerable as are the crooked 
 ways of spiritual apostacy, in all of them were many 
 found, who subsequently escaped and returned to 
 God. But their return was not effected by their 
 own sagacity, in discovering their unnatural and 
 unsafe position. They had not reasoned themselves 
 into a disgust with the odiousness of their conduct 
 and character, and thence into a resolution to sur- 
 render themselves to a holy God, from whom they 
 felt they had revolted. No ; to attribute their return 
 to any self-instituted process would be to err greatly 
 from the truth of God's word, and to ascribe to 
 
b CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 sinful nature an achievement of which it is incapa- 
 ble. It is the Spirit of God only, who, by an 
 instrumentality of his own appointment, convinces 
 the sinner of his guilt, leads him, through repent- 
 ance, to faith in Christ, and converts or reconciles 
 him to himself. The man, to become a Chi'istian, 
 undergoes a change so radical in its nature, that 
 nothing less than creative power can effect it. It 
 is a creation of God upon the soul of man; and 
 being his production, it resembles himself, — "that 
 which is born of the Spirit is spirit." In the sub- 
 jects of this change, the order of things is reversed. 
 In their former state, the flesh, with its corruptions, 
 claimed and exercised the ascendancy ; now the 
 spiritual nature holds the flesh in subjection. The 
 evil propensities are not altogether extirpated ; but 
 their power is broken : the better part struggles with 
 them, wars against them, and prevails. They are 
 no longer rightly denominated carnal, but spiritual 
 characters : for the Spirit of God dwells in them ; 
 and where he dwells, he reigns. Henceforth his 
 gracious influences give a new and better tendency 
 to all the faculties and affections of their moral 
 nature. Their love, their hatred, their hopes, their 
 fears, their desires, their aversions, have all, in the 
 main, new objects; and are all directed by new 
 principles, the principles of the Gospel. Such, 
 then, are the inheritors, the possessors, of Christian 
 Privileges. 
 
 According to the plan proposed, the first class 
 
DELIVERANCES. 7 
 
 of Privileges are Deliverances achieved for the 
 Christian; and these may be considered as consist- 
 ing in deliverance — 
 
 I. From The Condemnation of the Law, by 
 
 THE GRANT OF A FREE PaRDON OF ALL SiN. 
 
 II. From The Power of Sin. 
 
 III. From The Love of Sin. 
 
 IV. From The Pollution of Sin. 
 
 V. From The Sting of Death. 
 
 I. We observe, then, that believers are delivered 
 from The Condemnation of the Law, by the 
 
 GRANT OF A FREE PaRDON OF ALL SiN. 
 
 When it pleased the adorable Creator that sen- 
 tient and intelligent beings, capable of knowing and 
 serving him, should exist in his universe, and exist 
 for his own glory, it was needful that there should 
 emanate from himself a revelation of his mind and 
 will, for the rule of their obedience. The nature 
 and condition of their being required it. Possess- 
 ing faculties for acquiring knowledge, and acting 
 on principle, it followed that discoveries should be 
 made, and a standard fixed, on which their faculties 
 might be duly exercised. The order and harmony 
 of the Divine government, the development of his 
 \^isdom and goodness in his entire economy, and 
 the progressive excellence and happiness of his in- 
 telligent universe, required it. Thus did the wise 
 and kind Creator deal with man. A revelation of 
 his mind, or, in other words, a Law was given him. 
 
8 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 for his guidance and government — a Law, perfect — 
 a commandment, holy, just, and good. Proceeding, 
 as it did, from a wise and benevolent Legislator, and 
 being a transcript of his own character, its end and 
 object could be no other than the highest possible 
 good. Conformity of character to that Law in the 
 creature is the good intended. Thereby is the 
 glory of God, the Legislator, declared, and the crea- 
 ture's utmost perfection and happiness are secured. 
 Man, therefore, coming from the hand, and in the 
 image of his Maker^was qualified at once to read 
 the Divine wisdom and goodness in all the objects 
 around him; and to pass from the contemplation of 
 the visible universe to communion with its Author. 
 He saw the whole, as God had produced it, to be 
 " very good." With the benevolence and happiness 
 he everywhere beheld, the affections of his heart 
 harmonized; and why? because they harmonized 
 with the mind and purpose of God himself. As the 
 intelligent creature of God, he felt himself a moral 
 agent, and rendered the homage due to his Creator 
 with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. 
 During this happy state of things, he thought not 
 of disputing the right of God to legislate for him. 
 He waited for his Law with filial submission, and 
 found it his highest interest to observe it wholly. 
 
 But, alas ! in this honour he did not abide. This 
 holy and exalted state was lost. In an evil hour, he 
 listened to the seductions of the enemy; and, break- 
 ing the Law of his God, defiled himself with sin, and 
 
DELIVERANCES. 9 
 
 fell. The consequence was, that having been con- 
 stituted the federal head and representative of his 
 posterity, he brought the condemnation of a broken 
 Law upon himself and them. The image of God is 
 now effaced from the soul ; the moral state of man 
 is altogether changed. Instead of innocence and 
 rectitude, there is a consciousness of guilt generat- 
 ing fear, with estrangement from, and dislike to, the 
 character and government of God. The affections 
 of the heart cleave to worthless and unholy objects; 
 the will refuses to obey; the vhole mind is carnal, 
 and at enmity with God. Such is the sad reverse 
 to which the fall has reduced mankind. But the 
 fall of man involved no necessity for a change in 
 the Law of God. Emanating, as it did, from infinite 
 wisdom and goodness, and therefore adapted to 
 effect the best interests of the creature, as well as 
 the glory of the Creator, it could not be changed 
 without impairing its excellence. It was perfect, 
 and, admitting of no improvement, alteration must 
 have marred it. Its end and object would have 
 been frustrated; man's holiness and happiness would 
 not have been provided for ; and God would have 
 lost his glory. The Law, therefore, remits nothing 
 of its claims. A full and perfect obedience to its 
 demands — an entire conformity to its spirit is still 
 exacted. " It is easier," says the Saviour, " for 
 heaven and earth to pass away, than one tittle of 
 the Law to fail." Yet no merely human being, since 
 the fall, has ever answered, or can answer, its de- 
 
10 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 mand. The attempt to do so, whenever made, 
 proves utterly vain; for it is not in creatures, whose 
 natural tendency is only evil, and that continually, 
 to produce the perfect, spotless, undeviating recti- 
 tude which the Law requires. 
 
 Such being the acknowledged state of the case — 
 the Law unalterable and uncompromising in its cha- 
 racter, and man, universal man, the violator of that 
 Law, condemnation must, of necessity, lie upon all. 
 The denunciation of the Law is, " Cursed is every 
 one that continueth not in all things which are 
 written in the book of the Law, to do them." The 
 Scripture hath therefore concluded all under sin. 
 We are " all by nature the children of wrath;" and 
 had the Law been permitted to take its course, no 
 sufficient Surety interposing, justice would have 
 passed the irrevocable doom of condign punishment 
 on the whole human race. " The commandment, 
 which was (originally) ordained to life, is found 
 (being broken by sin) to be unto death." Nor was 
 there aught in the condition of man to avert the 
 dreadful issue. Helpless in lumself, and in every 
 created resource, his case was desperate. But, 
 thanks be to God! while he is inflexibly just, and 
 inviolably true, he is also rich in mercy, and abun- 
 dant in grace. Though himself the offended party, 
 he found a Surety; and the gracious proclamation 
 was made, " Deliver from going down to the pit, I 
 have found a ransom!" The heaven-provided 
 Surety paid the ransom; he was himself i\\Q ransom. 
 
DELIVERANCES. 11 
 
 In undertaking this cause, our Surety had to commit 
 himself to conditions of the most important and 
 arduous, and, at the same time, of the most humili- 
 ating and painful nature. Every iota of the Law 
 was to be fulfilled: its penalties were to be endured; 
 its holy, just, and good character was to be magni- 
 fied and made honourable; and the adorable attri- 
 butes of the Deity — his holiness, his truth, liis jus- 
 tice — were to be brought into harmony with his pity, 
 his mercy, and his grace. All these were effected 
 by the Son of God, in our nature, and in our stead. 
 Hence believers are pardoned and "justified freely 
 by the grace of God, through the redemption that 
 is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be 
 a propitiation, through faith in his blood." 
 
 To be justified, however, in the sense of the 
 Apostle, is obviously not, after trial had according 
 to Law, to be declared innocent. No; it has been 
 already shown that all have rebelled, and broken 
 the law; no man therefore can pass through any 
 process to make him really and absolutely guiltless. 
 An acquittal from the condemnation of the Law of 
 God is a Deliverance from the charge of sin, not a 
 declaration of innocence. The awakened and con- 
 vinced sinner, sensible of his guilt, and of his utter 
 want of means to atone for any one sin, hears the 
 Divine announcement, " Jesus Christ, the righteous, 
 is the propitiation for sins;" and, under the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit, repents and believes; abandons 
 every other hope; relies on, and pleads, the all-suf- 
 
12 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 ficient and only Atonement, and becomes the happy 
 subject of pardon and acceptance. He is, indeed, 
 legally innocent; the Law has no demand upon him; 
 even Justice acquits him; for, being now found in 
 Christ, there is no condemnation to him; and he, 
 who before was deeper dyed than crimson or scar- 
 let in the stains of sin, is now, in the all-sufficient 
 Atonement, made pure as the stainless wool, and 
 whiter than the driven snow. 
 
 For this Deliverance the contrite believer holds 
 himself an eternal debtor to free grace. Conscious 
 of his inherent guilt and helplessness, he lays no 
 claim to any efficiency in himself. He is fully aware 
 that it is in virtue of his union with Christ, the 
 accepted substitute, that Law and Justice are satisfied 
 in his case, and that reconciliation is now effected. 
 So far from harbouring the thought of a personal 
 right, he rejoices most of all that his justification, 
 or deliverance from the condemnatory power of the 
 Law, is wholly of a gracious character. It creates 
 in his heart the best of all affections which the 
 creature can cherish towards his Creator — a grate- 
 ful love. Most gladly does he ascribe the glory to 
 God; and says, with mingled confidence and delight, 
 "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. 
 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's 
 elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that 
 condemneth? It is Christ that dieth; yea, rather, 
 that is risen again, who is even at the right hand 
 of God; who also maketh intercession for us." 
 
DELIVERANCES. 13 
 
 Happy man! To him that face which he once 
 dreaded to approach — the face of a righteous, a 
 sin-avenging God — is now brightened up into the 
 smile of forgiveness and favour. He to whom his 
 terrified conscience made him cry out, "Lord ! I 
 heard thy voice, and was afraid," now beams upon 
 him the attractive features of a Father and a Friend. 
 Thus blessed is the man whose transgression is for- 
 given, whose sin is covered. His condemnation is 
 removed, and his soul delivered, by a plan and a 
 power, a Substitute and a Sacrifice, to which no- 
 thing less than Divinity was equal. In all these 
 the entire Godhead is put forth. The Father, 
 though denouncing sin by the terrors of his Law, 
 yet, in his self-moved compassion and unpurchased 
 love, sends his Son, to reconcile the world to him- 
 self: the Son voluntarily becomes a Day's-man 
 between the Sovereign and the rebel, offering, with 
 one hand, a satisfaction to heaven, and with the 
 other, a Deliverance to the returning sinner: and 
 the Holy Spirit employs his effectual agency in 
 quickening and convincing the sinner; and, by im- 
 pressing him with a sense of his danger and his 
 need, leads him to Christ, and puts him in posses- 
 sion of relief, through faith in his atonement. 
 
 Now this is the undoubted privilege of every 
 believer; though we mean not to say that every 
 one enjoys a full assurance that he is the possessor 
 of such a blessing. The graces of the Spirit do 
 not reign with equal prominence in all the people 
 
14 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 of God, nor are they at all times equally vigorous 
 in the same Christian. Faith, though genuine, may 
 be weak: it may be obscured with fears and doubts; 
 and the prayer of the disciples may often be need- 
 ful, " Lord, increase our faith ! " These fears and 
 doubts, however, do not respect the testimony of 
 God, or the promises he has given. In them the 
 Christian reposes unshaken confidence, and is fully 
 assured that he both can, and will, fulfil them all. 
 But this is quite compatible with some trembling 
 fears as to the saving character of his own faith, 
 and his right to appropriate the promises to himself. 
 Yet Christians may, and not a few of them do, 
 arrive at this much-to-be-desired attainment. When 
 th^ fruits of a ready and active devotedness to 
 Christ are displayed in the life, a lively and vigor- 
 ous faith will operate in the heart, and a delightful 
 assurance of interest in the love of the Lord Jesus 
 will be graciously aiforded. It is, if I may so say, 
 the recompense of an ardent, exemplary, and fruit- 
 ful, piety — the result of a close, cautious walk with 
 God; so that the soul is enabled to hold intimate 
 communion with him, and to receive the pledge 
 and earnest of the heavenly inheritance — the hope 
 that is full of immortality — the joy that no man 
 taketh from him. But, however this may be with 
 some Christians, all are invited to aim at this full 
 assurance. "Forgetting the things which are be- 
 hind," they are called to reach forth to those things 
 "which are before," and to "press towards the mark. 
 
DELIVERANCES. 15 
 
 for the prize of tlie higli calling of God in Christ 
 Jesus." They are urged to give all diligence to 
 make their calling and election sure, by embodying 
 in their life and conversation the heavenly, holy, 
 and benevolent principles of the Gospel of Christ; 
 and they are warranted to indulge the confidence 
 that they are pardoned, justified, and accepted in 
 the Beloved. 
 
 Fellow-sinner! how desirable is a Deliverance 
 from the condemnation of a broken Law ! Know- 
 ing that it is essential to your salvation, we pray 
 you to seek it with all importunity, — and to seek 
 it aright is to find it; for God willeth not your 
 death. He invites you to your Deliverance. He 
 is a " God ready to pardon," and waits to be gra- 
 cious. "Christ also is exalted a Prince and a 
 Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and for- 
 giveness of sins." Come, then, as all his people 
 have come, and the privilege will be your's. 
 
 II. The believing Christian is delivered from 
 the Power of Sin. 
 
 The universal depravity of man, to -which we 
 have already alluded, is not more plainly the doctrine 
 of holy Scripture, than the unavoidable deduction 
 of common observation. The history of the world, 
 or the details of the public and private life of in- 
 dividuals, in every grade of society, are only so 
 many illustrations of the melancholy truth. The 
 appeal may be made to every man's conscience, and. 
 
16 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 if honestly responded to, the confession will be, "In 
 many things we all offend." This doctrine, how- 
 ever, admits of a cheering qualification. There are 
 those of our race where the depraving principle 
 receives an effectual check — where its reign is de- 
 stroyed. The two grand divisions of mankind are 
 the righteous and the wicked. Among the latter, 
 a fearfully large party, sin reigns with undisputed 
 sway. Among the former, though not entirely ex- 
 tirpated, its ascendancy is subdued; its power is 
 broken: while every man in an unregenerate state, 
 however indignantly he may repel the charge, is 
 the slave of sin; it masters him, in one form or 
 other, throughout his entire being. It beclouds 
 and darkens his understanding; so that he cannot 
 perceive the beauty and desirableness of Divine 
 truth: it defiles his imagination; so that his fond- 
 est thoughts are only evil: it corrupts the feelings 
 and affections of his heart; so that he dislikes the 
 things that be of God: it distorts and misleads his 
 will; so that he refuses obedience to the Gospel: it 
 hardens and stupifies his conscience; so that he is 
 insensible to the danger of his state: and as to the 
 words of his mouth and the actions of his life, he 
 says, or seems to say, in the proud defiance of his 
 heart, "Our lips are our own; who is Lord over 
 us? or what is the Almighty, that we should serve 
 him? and what profit should we have, if we pray 
 unto him?" — Debasement, how deplorable! infatua- 
 tion, how awful! See how the unhallowed passions 
 
DELIVERANCES. l7 
 
 drag their victim on in the career of sin and folly ! — 
 Ambition, or the lust of power, to obtain the prize, 
 and to become great, puts him on deeds of oppres- 
 sion, injustice, and cruelty. — Avarice, or the lust of 
 wealth, to make him rich, subjects him to grovelling 
 drudgery, dishonesty, and sordid meanness of soul. — 
 Sensuality, to gratify his fleshly appetites, drives him 
 after his guilty pleasures, like an ox to the slaughter, 
 and dooms him to wallow in moral pollution, an ob- 
 ject of loathsomeness, in the sight of God and man! 
 And mark how pride, and wrath, and malice, and 
 envy, enslave, and domineer over the minds and 
 hearts of the unhappy mortals, where they have 
 obtained a cherished residence! — how they hurry 
 away their helpless captives at their will, and force 
 them, as the demoniacs were forced of old, to works 
 of self-mischief and fearful madness ! 
 
 But when the man is awakened by the Spirit of 
 God to know and feel his real position, is made 
 aware of its danger, and induced to flee from it by 
 faith and repentance to the Redeemer, the chains of 
 his moral slavery are broken. He changes masters 
 — in truth, he is himself changed. He is no longer 
 what he was. He has passed through a regenera- 
 tion, by which he becomes a new creature. He is 
 " born of God, and he doth not commit sin; for his 
 seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because 
 he is born of God." He cannot sin as he sinned 
 before, with the full bent and relish of his mind. 
 Evil, indeed, may be, and often is, present with him, 
 
 c 
 
18 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 when he would do good ; but this he laments, and 
 regards it as the hated remains of his old nature, 
 which he is longing and striving to throw off. 
 " He delights in the law of God, after the inward 
 man," though there is still " a law in his members" 
 that aims to bring him back into bondage ; but that 
 aim will not prevail. The emancipated slave, 
 having tasted the sweets of liberty, and known 
 something of the rights and liberties of a free man, 
 will never consent to be bound and fettered by 
 his old task -master again. The Christian is too 
 happy, in escaping from the thraldom of sin, to be 
 its willing servant any more. He had found that 
 the way of transgressors is hard ; that the path of 
 sin is the path of sorrow ; that there was indeed 
 " no peace to the wicked;" that the wages of Satan's 
 service were unprofitableness, degradation, wretch- 
 edness, and woe. He has exchanged the yoke of 
 Satan for the yoke of Christ ; and his happy expe- 
 rience now pronounces his yoke to be easy, and his 
 burden to be light. When he looks back upon his 
 former drudgery, and thinks with shame of its 
 miserable fruits, — how he toiled under the dominion 
 of sinful passions — how he was filled with restless 
 desires and vexatious apprehensions — how he was 
 sent upon unholy pursuits, and made to labour in 
 iniquity, and to reap vanity, and feed on ashes — in 
 fine, how all his former life was a course of galling, 
 frightful servitude, ultimately leading to death and 
 hell, — he is filled with wonder at the forbearance and 
 
DELIVERANCES. 19 
 
 mercy of God in his case, and has not language to 
 express the gratitude and gladness of his heart for 
 the Deliverance achieved for him. Happy Deliver- 
 ance! It is comparatively a small thing whether, in 
 our temporal condition, we are bond or free. But 
 spiritual freedom is of the highest moment — it is for 
 our life. Without this freedom, the soul is in cap- 
 tivity, and under the dominion of the evil principle. 
 We may imagine ourselves free — we may glory in 
 a fancied independence of spirit, and boast that we 
 were never in bondage to any man ; but we are 
 walking according to the course of this world — 
 according to the prince of the power of the air, the 
 spirit that now worketh in the children of disobe- 
 dience. We are therefore the captives of the 
 mighty, the prey of the terrible one. " Know ye 
 not," says the Apostle, "that to whom ye yield 
 yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to 
 whom ye obey?" In other words, "Are ye not 
 aware, that, whatever ye may affirm, or however 
 fondly ye would persuade yourselves to the con- 
 trary, ye are the servants of him to whose will ye 
 have resigned yourselves, and whose works ye do?" 
 Men deceive themselves by giving false names to 
 their principles and practices. Compliance with 
 the flattery and deception of the world is called 
 politeness : the love and pursuit of the world's pelf 
 are virtuous industry, and praiseworthy foresight 
 against future need ; and even gross licentiousness 
 and sensuality are apologised for, and coloured over. 
 
'20 - CHRISTIAI^ PRIVILEGES. 
 
 under the specious character of good fellowship and 
 innocent gratification. These are fearful delusions, 
 that mask and conceal the murderers of the soul. 
 O how it becomes us to be awake, and to look to 
 our actual condition! Let us examine the state of 
 our own hearts, and the course of life we are pur- 
 suing. Let us test them by the word of God; and 
 wherever conscience points to a deviation from that 
 word, or to any tyrant-passion that holds us in 
 thraldom, let us take the alarm, and call earnestly on 
 Him, who is stronger than " the strong man armed," 
 until he shall " come upon him, and take from him 
 all his armour wherein he trusted," and set us free. 
 Believers, this Deliverance is not your own con- 
 quest. Had you been left to achieve your own 
 emancipation, you must have remained for ever the 
 slaves of Satan. The glory of your Deliverance 
 belongs to Christ. " His right hand and his holy 
 arm hath gotten him the victory." Be glad ; but 
 be humble, be vigilant, be cautious. See, you 
 are brought out from bondage ; turn not in your 
 hearts back again into Egypt. You have already 
 suffered from the deceitfulness of your own hearts ; 
 trust them no more. You have been allured by 
 the world into the ranks of the enemy; renounce 
 for ever that fruitful source of temptation. You 
 have already perilled your souls under Satanic delu- 
 sions ; watch and pray against your arch adversary 
 for the future ; resist him, and he will flee from 
 you. Being now alive from the dead, the apostolic 
 
DELIVERANCES. 21 
 
 injunction is solemnly binding upon you, "Let not 
 sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye 
 should obey it in the lust thereof." And while you 
 are thus diligent to maintain your spiritual freedom, 
 rely on the strength of Christ to keep you from 
 falling, and be assured that, under all your trials, 
 infirmities, and temptations, " sin shall not have 
 dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, 
 but under grace." 
 
 III. The Christian is delivered from the Love 
 OF Sin. 
 
 It is not by presenting a picture, however truly 
 and powerfully drawn, of the debasement, the 
 wretchedness, the slavery of sin, nor even by 
 showing, however convincingly, its ruinous conse- 
 quences, that we can hope to dissolve or to break 
 its chains. The sinner's heart is in love with sin. 
 You may tell him of its drudgery, — in that drudgery 
 he delights. Describe to him its nauseous and de- 
 grading character ; he believes it not, for there is 
 an infatuation in love. Threatenings and reason- 
 ings fail alike to break the spell ; the sweet slavery 
 is still pertinaciously preferred. The world, and 
 the things of the world, fill and interest the sinner's 
 heart. He clings to them as to his all. They have 
 engrossed aU his desires, all his pursuits ; nor has 
 he a taste, or a relish, for anything above or be- 
 yond them. Unless what ministers to " the lust of 
 the flesh, and the lust of his eyes, and the pride of 
 
22 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 life," lie knows of nothing that can engage his atten- 
 tion, far less become an object of his love. The 
 moralist and the preacher may remonstrate with 
 him on the folly and danger of abiding by such a 
 choice. They may beseech him to consider his 
 ways, and not to risk his eternal interests on things 
 so unsatisfactory and evanescent ; he will say, with 
 a reckless and desperate obstinacy, " I have loved 
 strangers, and after them will I go." This fascina- 
 tion will abide in all its strength, until some other 
 and greater attraction come into competition 
 with it. 
 
 But let that attraction be presented; — ^let him be 
 made to see the love of God towards the souls of 
 sinners, expressed by the mission of his Son to re- 
 deem them ; show him the mighty cost at which the 
 Son effected, and willingly effected, the great re- 
 demption ; and point him to the offer which God 
 makes him, in his own word, of the free pardon of 
 his sins, of his adoption into his paternal love 
 through Jesus Christ, and of eternal bliss and glory 
 as the consummation of the whole ; — then, as the 
 Spirit of God impresses these soul-melting views of 
 the Gospel on the heart of the sinner, he yields to 
 the superior claims of a redeeming God, withdraws 
 his love from a sinful and worthless world, and 
 fixes it upon the better and more enduring sub- 
 stance. Now sin loses its attractive show ; it ap- 
 pears in its proper hue and form, and becomes 
 "exceedingly sinful." He is now conscious of a 
 
DELIVERANCES. 23 
 
 desire after God, and that expels the desire after 
 the world. The love of God shed abroad in his 
 heart kindles a grateful love to him in return, 
 which is incompatible with the love of sin. He is 
 like one who, having been long confined to a sphere 
 of desire and pursuit which, though narrow, seemed 
 to him to contain all that deserved the toil and 
 ambition of man, and upon one or another portion 
 of which he was expending all the energies of his 
 nature, is now brought out into a wealthier place — 
 an ampler region, abounding in prizes infinitely 
 fairer, more exalted and satisfjdng than anything 
 he had formerly known. The surprising beauty of 
 his new condition eclipses all the former vision. 
 His affections are now drawn to the lovelier objects 
 before him; and he no longer retains a relish for 
 " the things whereof he is now ashamed." Deliver- 
 ed from the love of sin, he is attracted by the beauty 
 of holiness, and aspires to its possession ; and as he 
 indulges this enlightened affection, he wonders at 
 his former infatuation, and the long-suffering mercy 
 of God towards him. He admires the grace that 
 interposed to dissolve the unholy connexion, and 
 feels himself bound, under the most solemn obliga- 
 tions, to love the Lord his God with all his heart, 
 and with all his soul, and with all his mind. His 
 deepest regret is, that he yet comes far short of this 
 greatest, this paramount obligation. But the flame 
 still rises, fed with the oil of heavenly grace ; and 
 though it burn not so vigorously, or so intensely, as 
 
24 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 he desires, yet " many waters cannot quench it ; 
 neither can the floods drown it." It is under the 
 operation of this high and holy principle that the 
 love of sin is cast out of the heart. And the more 
 freely that principle prevails, the more is the evil 
 feeling of selfishness subdued; and the love of God's 
 people, and sympathy towards the souls of men, and 
 readiness to promote their best interests, are engen- 
 dered and nursed within him : for he that is born 
 of God, not only loves all of the same family, but, 
 partaking of the Divine nature, longs after univer- 
 sal good. Like his heavenly Father, he " would 
 have all men to be saved, and to come to the know- 
 ledge of the truth." There is no room in such a 
 heart for the love of sin. 
 
 Christians, the love of God, which extirpates the 
 love of sin, warms, enlivens, and invigorates every 
 other grace of the Spirit. Faith works by love; and 
 all acceptable obedience is the fruit of love. If, 
 then, ye would shine as lights in the world, and 
 adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all 
 things, cherish the predominance of this heavenly 
 grace, this master-principle — the love of God, in 
 your hearts. Watch and pray against every ten- 
 dency to indifference or coldness towards him or 
 his service. Examine yourselves from time to 
 time. Let the perfect pattern of your Divine Mas- 
 ter be ever before you. Dress yourselves by it. 
 Follow his steps ; copy all his inimitable qualities ; 
 imbibe his spirit of supreme love to the Father, and 
 
DELIVERANCES. 25 
 
 active benevolence towards mankind. So doing you 
 will cultivate the spirit that reigns above ; your 
 daily meditations on the dealings of God with you 
 will be sweet ; you wiU " know the love of Christ, 
 which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the 
 fulness of God." 
 
 IV. The Christian is delivered from the Pollu- 
 tion OF Sin. 
 
 In every form and degree of it, sin is moral pol- 
 lution; and every unregenerated sinner is, in the 
 sight of God, a polluted creature. He has con- 
 tracted that which is directly opposed to holiness. 
 Holiness is cleanness and purity; — sin is uncleanness 
 and impurity. The element in which the sinner 
 lives is that of defilement; and the defilement is 
 total. Of such as so live, the Apostle says, " Unto 
 them that are defiled and unbeHeving is nothing 
 pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." 
 They are described as men of corrupt minds ; people 
 of unclean lips, whose thi'oat is an open sepulchre ; 
 who are given up to evil affections, and who walk 
 after the flesh. There is nothing pure, because 
 nothing godly, in their predilections or pursuits ; 
 not even in the confessedly higher departments of 
 intellectual or scientific engagements, nor in the 
 homage they may occasionally pay to charity, to 
 benevolence, or to religion. " God is not in all 
 their thoughts" — not so as to sanctify their doings. 
 From him they still remain at a proud distance — 
 
26 CHRISTIAN PRIYILEGES. 
 
 still abide by their treasonable apostacy and foul 
 revolt. What are all their pretended virtues ? In 
 the sight of God, who judges not as men judge, 
 because he sees not as men see, they are abomina- 
 tions. What is their industry, but sordid avarice ? 
 What their alms-deeds, — what their prayers, but 
 vile hypocrisy? Or, what are even their patriotic 
 achievements, but a mean ambition to be praised of 
 men ? These are all prompted by low and carnal 
 motives. They come not from the acceptable and 
 sanctifying principles of supreme love to God, and 
 disinterested affection towards man ; and conse- 
 quently have, all of them, the taint of sin, — and the 
 fouler and deeper is the taint, where any of them 
 are performed under pretence of doing God service. 
 These are especially hateful; and he puts them away 
 from him, in terms of deepest abhorrence. " Bring 
 me," he says, " no more vain oblations ; incense is 
 an abomination to me ; the new moon and sabbaths, 
 the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with ; it is 
 iniquity, even the solemn meeting." 
 
 Such, however, is the sad state of man by nature ! 
 How needful, then — how essential to his safety is it 
 to know the way of deliverance from it ! Thanks 
 be to God! there is a way, and that a plain way. 
 It is also a sure way, for God himself has appointed 
 it. But it is the onli/ way ; by no other can it be 
 effected. Men, indeed, seek out many inventions ; 
 and devise ways of their own, to stand clean before 
 God. They tax their ingenuity to construct sys- 
 
DELIVERANCES. 27 
 
 terns indulgent to their own appetites, yet soothing 
 to their consciences. Proud, though polluted ; and 
 self-righteous, though loathsome in the sight of 
 God, they despise the call to repentance, and reject 
 the laver provided in the Gospel. Rather than 
 chasten and humble their souls at the cross of 
 Christ, or look to the blood of him who suffered 
 thereon for cleansing, they will do acts of penance, 
 bring offerings to the shrine of charity, and make 
 liberal sacrifices to institutions of benevolence and 
 religion. Like the boastful Pharisee, they will fast 
 twice in the week, and give tithes of all they pos- 
 sess; and then, for these merits, presume on an 
 acquittal before heaven. Alas ! these are the subter- 
 fuges of pride and unbelief ; they will avail them 
 nothing. They are not only in direct opposition to 
 the character and counsel of God, but are the most 
 offensive aggravations possible of the guilt and pol- 
 lution they are intended to remove, or conceal. In 
 vain do men attempt an imposition on the all-seeing 
 God. "Their webs shall not become garments; 
 neither shall they cover themselves with their 
 works." " None," says an old writer, " none are 
 so ugly in the eye of God, as they who paint for 
 spiritual beauty." Such attempts insult the majesty 
 and holiness of the Divine nature, and are pointedly 
 and severely denounced. " Though thou wash thee 
 with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine ini- 
 quity is marked before me, saith the Lord God; 
 how canst thou say, I am not polluted ? " 
 
28 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 But the penitent sinner, humbled under the con- 
 vincing power of the Holy Spirit, is too sensible of 
 the deep defilement he has contracted by sin, and of 
 its glaring notoriety to Him with whom he has to 
 do, to attempt either palliation or self-cleansing. 
 He is brought to so overpowering a view of God's 
 holiness, that, when he thinks of his own pollution, 
 he is ready to exclaim, " Behold, I am vile ; what 
 shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my 
 mouth. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the 
 ear ; but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I 
 abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes ! " He 
 therefore repudiates every false refuge ; and so far 
 from seeking to justify himself to God, he feels that 
 there is no depth of abasement to which he ought 
 not to fall before him ; and confesses, with Job, " If 
 I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands 
 ever so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch; 
 and my own clothes shall abhor me ! " 
 
 The Spirit of God, however, does not abandon 
 him to a hopeless and helpless contemplation of his 
 deep pollution. He is brought thus low, that he 
 may be lifted up. He is made to see the horrible 
 pit and the miry clay into which his sins had sunk 
 him, that he may cry out for, and obtain, deliver- 
 ance. But this is not effected by allowing him to 
 throw the painful reflection of his moral defilement 
 away from him. Painful as it is, it cannot be 
 chased away, till the same light that discovered it 
 to him shall have pointed him to the only fountain 
 
DELIVERANCES. 29 
 
 opened for sin and for uncleanness. The conscious- 
 ness of his defilement will still oppress him, till that 
 fountain is approached. The Holy Spirit, whose 
 office it is to convince of sin, is also the Author of 
 that faith by which the sinner gladly avails himself 
 of the remedy, washes in the fountain divinely 
 opened for him, and comes forth with "a clean 
 heart, and a conscience purged from dead works, to 
 serve the Hving God." Here, and here only, does 
 he find ablution from all defilement. This fountain 
 is exclusively possessed of the needful efficacy. It 
 is a fountain of blood, — " the blood of the everlast- 
 ing covenant — the precious blood of Christ, as of a 
 lamb without blemish, and without spot." The 
 deep stain and pollution of sin required to be washed 
 out, and cleansed away by vital blood : for "without 
 shedding of blood is no remission ; " and because 
 none else was of sufficient richness and dignity, 
 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in our nature, shed 
 his own. Then was opened that fountain predicted 
 by the prophets; and ever since its opening preached, 
 by apostles and ministers of the Gospel, unto this 
 day ; and which will continue to be preached, till 
 the last of the redeemed shall wash therein, and be 
 clean. Yes, prophets and apostles agreed in pro- 
 claiming the virtues of this fountain for purification 
 and redemption ; and we declare its virtues to be 
 still the same, in unimpaired efficacy and un- 
 diminished richness. " The blood of Christ has ever 
 cleansed, and cleanses noiv, from all sin." 
 
30 CHKISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Another Deliverance awaiting the Christian is — 
 
 V. From the Sting of Death. 
 
 What is it that gives death the power to sting ? 
 The Apostle answers the question, — " The sting of 
 death is sin." Because of the dread with which a 
 guilty conscience invests it, it is styled " the King 
 of Terrors." Death is, indeed, to all of us a subject 
 of solemn contemplation. It brings a gloom over 
 the spirits of most. We naturally shrink from dis- 
 solution. There is something appalling in the idea 
 of the extinction of our present being — of an utter 
 breaking up of all our connexions here, and of that 
 closest, dearest, and most intimate union of all — the 
 union of body and soul ! 
 
 " Nature runs back, and shudders at the sight, 
 And every life-string bleeds at thoughts of parting! " 
 
 Such is the common feeling ; but to the unregene- 
 rate sinner, the thought of death is peculiarly dis- 
 tressful and terrifying. He never voluntarily calls 
 it to mind ; and whenever it is suggested to him, he 
 impatiently dismisses it, as a hateful intrusion. If 
 events more than usually solemn occur to force the 
 thought of his latter end upon him, he industriously 
 labours to ward off the unwelcome impression — to 
 efface it in the bustle of business, or drown it in 
 the stupefactions of gaiety and dissipation. He 
 tries every expedient to put it away from him, as 
 the disturber of his peace — the enemy of his enjoy- 
 
DELIVERANCES. 31 
 
 merits. Alas ! the infatuated creature is but too 
 frequently successful in these sinful efforts. The 
 gloomy intruder is quickly expelled from his mind. 
 The thought that might have proved the most salu- 
 tary that ever passed through it — that might have 
 been made admonitory to his present and everlasting 
 welfare, is scared away, that he may be left to the 
 undisturbed possession of vanity and vice, and hard- 
 ness of heart. The dove of purer wing and softer 
 note can obtain no lodgment in a cage of unclean 
 birds, that breed and riot there in all their ferocity 
 and foulness. The wilful sinner will brook no 
 check upon his lusts and inclinations. He has set 
 his heart upon the world ; all his pursuits are con- 
 fined to the things of time. These he ivill prosecute, 
 at the risk of all beyond. He hates all admonition 
 to the contrary ; treats as impertinence every hint 
 of a serious or spiritual character; and lives as 
 though he had made " a covenant with death," or 
 as if, by not thinking of it, he would altogether 
 avert its approach. Thus he befools himself, until 
 the day — the hour which he thought not of arrives. 
 It arrives, and finds him unprepared; he is still 
 clinging to life — to the world — ^to its business — to 
 its pleasures, and the various schemes he had laid, 
 concocted, and vainly hoped to realize. What ! 
 must he be torn from them all — from everything 
 upon which he had set his heart, and around which 
 all his thoughts, and wishes, and hopes had clus- 
 tered? And, what is infinitely more intolerable, 
 
32 CHKISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 must he be hurried away into an unknown and 
 unthought of eternity ? Must his never-dying soul, 
 whose interests he has neglected, be dragged out of 
 its loved and fondly-cherished tenement, to meet its 
 offended God, 
 
 " The Witness of its actions now its Judge ?" 
 
 Dreadful, indeed, is such a moment to a sinner in 
 such a case! He now feels that his thoughtless, 
 vain, ungodly, life has been arming death with a 
 formidable sting against himself. That sting now 
 pierces and pains him, in every view he takes of 
 his condition. He looks back upon his past life, 
 and curses the folly, that made him averse to serious 
 thought — the earthliness of mind, that made him 
 prefer gain to godliness — and the fascinations of 
 the world, that made him turn away every caution- 
 ary, every heavenly, monitor. Now, " at the last, 
 he mourns ; and when his flesh and his body are 
 consuming, he says, How have I hated instruction, 
 and my heart despised reproof!" Now self-crimi- 
 nation and remorse come upon him, for his madness, 
 in having so often said unto God, " Depart from 
 me ; for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways." 
 And oh! the prospect before him! — he cannot en- 
 dure it! — It is too horrifying to contemplate, — the 
 awful tribunal — the holy, just, omniscient, Judge — 
 the righteous condemnation — the fearful sentence — 
 and the intolerable realities of that place, " where 
 the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." 
 
DELIVERANCES. 33 
 
 These, these, are the stings with which sin has 
 furnished death ! Ah ! the anguish they carry into 
 the conscience-smitten sinner, at such an hour, is 
 not to be described ! 
 
 We are aware, indeed, that it is not precisely 
 thus that all the wicked close their mortal career. 
 Some of them may have disciplined and hardened 
 their minds to a stoical, stupid indifference on the 
 subject of death, and may exhibit the appearance 
 of braving it at the last. Some are flattered, by 
 fond relatives and false or mistaken friends, into 
 " strong delusion, that they should believe a lie : " 
 and many of them, dying under the influence of 
 disease that debilitates the powers of the mind, and 
 unfits it for rational thought, seem to depart in 
 peace. But though, in such cases, they may be 
 said to have "no bands in their death," and to 
 have escaped the horror which a just perception 
 of their actual condition would have excited; yet 
 it is no less true that insensihiUty is not immunity^ 
 nor is delusion a deliverance. " The wicked," what- 
 ever the deception practised, " is driven away in his 
 wickedness." It is the righteous only that hath 
 well-founded "hope in his death." Nor do the 
 cases of calmness we have just alluded to frequently 
 characterize the latter end of the wicked: by far 
 the more common experience of that unhappy class 
 of men, dying with their senses duly awake, is that 
 of alarm and horror, — a consciousness of awful 
 demerit in the siglit of a holy God; and a conse- 
 
 D 
 
34 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 quent fearful looking for of judgment and fiery 
 indignation. 
 
 If these tilings are so, need I ask whether we 
 can too highly estimate the privilege of him who 
 meets death without a sting? And who is thus 
 privileged? We have said that it is the believer 
 in Christ. He is not exempt from death; but to 
 him death is harmless. With whatever terrors the 
 guilty fears of the many may array the grim mes- 
 senger, the Christian, in the exercise of his faith, 
 welcomes his coming. He is in the attitude of 
 one waiting for him ; and cannot, therefore, be 
 taken by surprise. He meets the order to depart 
 without dismay. It may be that he is even looking 
 out for it, with a longing heart, having a desire 
 to depart, and to be with Christ, which to him is 
 far better than to remain in the flesh. Not that 
 he is discontented or disgusted with the life allotted 
 him in the world; for in it he has made it his hap- 
 piness and honour to serve Grod and his generation: 
 but his increased longing after deliverance from the 
 restraints and infirmities of the body, and after a 
 perfect conformity to his blessed Redeemer, makes 
 him more than willing that his earthly house of 
 this tabernacle should be dissolved, and that his 
 purified and happy spirit should ascend to that 
 building of God, not made with hands, eternal in 
 the heavens. Such a man is at ease when he 
 speaks of death. He is far, however, from being 
 one of those who speak of it, in proud and lofty 
 
DELIVERANCES. 35 
 
 terms, as an event which it becomes the spirit of 
 a man to brave. He does not coldly philosophize 
 upon it, as a debt he owes to nature, in common 
 with all mankind. Nor does he, as a Christian, 
 claim exemption from its sting, in right of any 
 merit of his own; nor will he advance to the con- 
 flict, trusting to the strength and courage of his 
 own heart, to overcome the monster, and forcibly 
 deprive him of his sting. No, in none of these 
 ways is the Christian privileged with a stingless 
 death. His trust is in the Lord his God. He has 
 cast himself on his mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who not only died for him, but showed him how 
 to die. He beholds in his death and resurrection 
 a glorious conquest over death itself. His faith 
 appropriates that conquest; and he triumphs in the 
 triumph of his Saviour. Reduced, it may be, to 
 utter helplessness in himself, he realizes his union 
 with Christ, and says, " When I am weak, then 
 am I strong ; " for it is in the very consciousness 
 of his own weakness that he more especially feels 
 Christ to be his strength. It was in the strength 
 of Christ he pursued his course through life. In 
 his strength he successfully maintained the Chris- 
 tian warfare. All his victories over sin, Satan, 
 the world, and himself, were achieved by the 
 strength of Christ in him ; and now, wrapped in 
 the righteousness, and girded with the strength of 
 a Redeemer mighty to save, he looks on death with 
 solemnity, yet without dread. "Yea," says he, 
 
36 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 " though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; 
 thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. O death! 
 where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? 
 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin 
 is the law; but thanks be to God, who giveth me 
 the victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ! " 
 
 In this hour of need, the Holy Spirit brings to 
 his mind the rich and precious promises of his 
 word with new freshness and power. His faith 
 now holds them with firmer grasp. His heart 
 drinks in the cheering words with warmer thank- 
 fulness than ever, as addressed immediately to him- 
 self, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee; I have 
 called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. When 
 thou passest through the waters, I will be with 
 thee; and through the rivers, they shall not over- 
 flow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, 
 thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame 
 kindle upon thee." And with inexpressible sweet- 
 ness do these promises now come to soothe and 
 cheer him, when he reflects, that He who spake 
 them did himself encounter the fires and floods 
 of this solemnly trying hour! that his Redeemer, 
 not only put on all the sinless infirmities of hu- 
 manity, but tasted death itself, " that he might de- 
 stroy him that had the power of death, that is the 
 devil;" and that, as he passed through the domains 
 of the last enemy, he stripped him of his terrors, 
 made the grave a bed of repose for the mortal re- 
 
DELIVERANCES. 3 1 
 
 mains of the souls he redeemed, and secured a free 
 passage for them, under the conduct of angels, to 
 his kingdom of glory. Surely such a prospect as 
 this gives even the character of life to death — of 
 immortality to the tomb ! 
 
 But this is not all. While the dying Christian 
 contemplates a happy issue to his last conflict, he 
 is taught to look far beyond it, to the glorious 
 consummation — the redemption of the body, at 
 the general resurrection. The outward and feeble 
 frame is now the prey of disease and death; it is 
 hastening to decay and corruption: but his faith 
 exults in the splendours of the coming morn, "when 
 this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, 
 and this mortal shall have put on immortality," 
 and the saying that is written shall have been 
 brought to pass, "Death is swallowed up in vic- 
 tory." What room for a sting in the heart of one 
 occupied with such anticipations? 
 
 In this view of the privilege of the true Christian 
 at death, there is a sublimity that sets it far above 
 the case of every other. The scene opened to his 
 mind is no figment of the imagination : it is a re- 
 velation from the God of truth; and he cannot 
 doubt it. It is a scene of grandeur and glory, 
 in his conceptions of which he is in no danger of 
 extravagance; for the utmost efforts of his imagina- 
 tion fall infinitely short of the truth. To the height 
 and majesty of this theme he strives to rise, till he 
 is lost in adoring wonder and grateful praise, and 
 
38 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 the exclamation bursts from his lips, "Eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard; neither have entered, into 
 the heart of man, the things which God hath pre- 
 pared for them that love him." 
 
 We grant, on the other hand, that there are cases, 
 among genuine Christians, where, in the imme- 
 diate prospect of death, much mental suffering is 
 endured. A constitutional timidity of spirit, pros- 
 tration of physical strength, or the fiery darts of 
 the Evil One, then multiplied against them, not 
 unfrequently oppress and sadden the mind. Fears, 
 doubts, and sorrows, will more or less annoy them. 
 Faith struggles with these invaders, and would fain 
 penetrate the gloom which they create. But for 
 wise and good purposes, the hard conflict is allowed 
 its time of continuance. Yet, in most of these 
 cases, deliverance is at last granted; and, ere the 
 tried spirit quits its frail abode, hope, if not joy, 
 cheers the closing moment. We may still con- 
 fidently point to the departing believer, and say, 
 "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; 
 for the end of that man is peace." 
 
 After all the exceptions, then, that may be made, 
 on either side of the question, — after all the favour- 
 able circumstances that may be placed on the side 
 of the wicked, and the unfavourable on that of the 
 Christian, in the hour of dissolution, the respective 
 cases are essentially different. And how mo- 
 mentous the difference! In the case of the Chris- 
 tian, it is safety — a certainty of eternal life and 
 
DELIVERANCES. 39 
 
 glory. In that of the unbeliever, or the wicked, 
 what is it but the solemn preparation for putting 
 the sentence of everlasting destruction into execu- 
 tion? To the Christian, however clouded his last 
 moments may be, through timidity or temptation, 
 death has no penal sting. Christ, in his behalf, 
 and in his stead, received that sting into his own 
 person. The language of the prophet is explicit 
 on this point. Speaking in the name of all the 
 redeemed, he exclaims, "He was wounded for our 
 transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with 
 his stripes we are healed ! " How full of meaning 
 are these words! — how soul-satisfying, how heart- 
 strengthening to the dying believer ! Well may he 
 sustain the ravages of disease, and all the pains of 
 dissolution, when, through faith, there is supplied 
 to his soul the balm of assurances so gracious, of 
 consolations so sweet as these words convey! Be- 
 hold in them the source whence martyrs drew their 
 support under cruel tortures, and at the burning 
 stake : and from the same source every true believer 
 is entitled to draw, not support only, but even tri- 
 umph, when death comes to unclothe him of his 
 earthly vestments. 
 
 What a desirable portion is that of the Christian! 
 Who, in contemplating the critical, the solemn hour 
 of death, does not earnestly wish that it may be his? 
 Who is not ready to pray, "Let me die the death 
 of the righteous, and let my last end be like his?" 
 
40 CPIRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 But how is this desire to be fulfilled? Clearly ly 
 living the life of the righteous — by coming to God 
 betimes; and that in the way of his own appoint- 
 ment — through "repentance towards God, and faith 
 towards the Lord Jesus Christ." The privilege of 
 a Christian's death is to be looked for, as the issue 
 of a Christian life. "Be not deceived; God is not 
 mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
 he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, 
 shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that 
 soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life 
 everlasting." 
 
 Mark, in the passage just quoted, the particular 
 class of character to which the Apostle ascribes the 
 privilege of acquittal before God. Do we belong to 
 it? It is material; it is essential to a well-grounded 
 confidence, to ascertain that we do. The class is 
 specifically and exclusively of those who are found 
 in Christ Jesus, "walking not after the flesh, but 
 after the Spirit," — living agreeably to the law 
 and rule of the Spirit, resisting carnal and worldly 
 propensities, and cherishing a tendency of mind to 
 spiritual and heavenly things. They who walk 
 after the Spirit make the glory of God, the spiri- 
 tual interests of their fellow-men, and their own 
 growth in grace, the main concern of their lives. 
 They are those who not only confess Christ with 
 the mouth, and associate with his people, but who 
 have, in some measure at least, imbibed the Spirit 
 of Christ, feeling happy in submitting their minds 
 
DELIVERANCES. 41 
 
 and hearts to the influences of the Spirit, and aim- 
 ing at a perfect conformity to the example he has 
 left. If, then, we would ascertain our true position, 
 — if we would know ourselves aright, let us look into 
 the perfect Law of God — the Law of his Gospel, 
 and, attentively regarding it as our spiritual mirror 
 — a mirror faithfully reflecting every feature of our 
 moral nature, let us examine and dress ourselves 
 thereby, till one blemish after another be removed, 
 and every distortion be adjusted, — till every trace 
 of "the old man, with his deeds," be effaced, and 
 there come out upon us "the new man, which, after 
 the image of God, is created in righteousness and 
 true holiness." But to this great effect there is 
 need of persevering watchfulness and prayer. Our 
 own deceitfulness demands vigilance; our natural 
 helplessness calls to supplication. We must come 
 again and again to the study of the perfect model. 
 In this we must labour, as though all were sus- 
 pended on our personal effort: for this we must cry 
 unto God for the spirit of his grace, as though he 
 were, as he truly is, the indispensable, the only 
 efficient agent in the conversion and sanctification 
 of the soul of man. Thus let us do, and success 
 is our's. 
 
42 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 DIGNITIES. 
 
 " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are 
 the children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, 
 and joint-heirs with Christ." — Rom. viii. 16, 17. 
 
 " And hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his 
 Father."— Rev. i. 6. 
 
 In the preceding Lecture we reviewed that class 
 of Privileges which may be characterized as Deliv- 
 erances, when the sinner, through faith in Christ, 
 is accepted and justified before God. The state of 
 things with him is then changed ; he becomes a 
 believer, and enters on the possession of great and 
 manifold blessings. In other words, he is invested 
 with privileges of an order high and rich be- 
 yond conception. It is impossible for us to embrace 
 the whole, or even to come near to a just estimate 
 of their number ; yet it may be profitable to make 
 a selection of them for devout meditation and study. 
 With this view, we now proceed to consider the 
 more*c?M^ec^ Privileges of Believers, as including their 
 Dignities, their Rights and Liberties, their 
 Consolations, their Heavenly Inheritance, and 
 their Securities. 
 
DIGNITIES. 43 
 
 I. Their Dignities. 
 
 Entering on tliis class of Christian Privileges, we 
 are forcibly reminded of that gracious declaration, 
 ^''My thoughts are not rjour thoughts ; neither are 
 your ways my ways, saith the Lord : for as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways 
 higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
 thoughts." A guilty criminal — a rebel against his 
 Prince — one who has been righteously condemned, 
 and on whom has passed the sentence of death, will 
 think himself sufficiently happy, if a free pardon be 
 obtained, and his life given him. He expects not to 
 be admitted to the embrace of his sovereign, and 
 elevated to rank and honour. This is not the man- 
 ner of man. Enough, in such a case, if the crimi- 
 nal escape condign punishment, and be set at large. 
 But herein has the goodness of God infinite pre- 
 eminence. His thoughts and ways towards his 
 creatures are like himself, and worthy of his revealed 
 character. His works of grace especially are, in 
 degree and excellence, far beyond all created power 
 to emulate. They are of a nature that could not 
 even be anticipated by beings like ourselves, nor 
 can they be fully appreciated when declared. In 
 recovering sinners, the grace of God stops not at 
 remission of sins. It is not content with staying the 
 punitive hand of justice, it gives them also the hand 
 of friendship and favour ; it not only frees them 
 from the rags of filth and wretchedness, but arrays 
 them in the best robe, and adorns them with badges 
 
44 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 of distinction; it does not satisfy itself with merely 
 delivering from going down to the pit, but rejoices 
 over them, to raise them to dignities, honours, and 
 near relationship to God. If we be asked to what 
 honours, to what relationship to God believers are 
 raised; we answer, on scriptural authority, that they 
 are made — the Sons of God — Heirs of God, and 
 Joint -HEIRS with Christ — Kings and Priests 
 UNTO God. We say, then, that believers, or Chris- 
 tians, are made — 
 
 1. The Sons of God. 
 
 To this dignity they are raised by an act of 
 adoption; and this term is not simply a theological, 
 it is a scriptural one. But there are two kinds of 
 adoption: the one, general, relating to the visible 
 Church, or to that indefinite number of mankind 
 acknowledged of God as his worshipping people ; 
 the other, special, relating only to a sinner's accep- 
 tance with God, and his introduction to the privi- 
 leges of his family through Christ. The first allu- 
 sion we meet with in Scripture to the former, or 
 general kind of adoption, is the announcement at 
 the birth of Enos, Adam's grandson, when we are 
 told, " Then began men to call upon the name of 
 the Lord," or, as it may be better rendered, "to 
 call themselves hy the name of the LorcV^ From this 
 announcement, we learn that, in the midst of the 
 general apostacy, the knowledge and worship of the 
 true God was retained in the family of Seth. 
 Among the people of his line existed the Church; 
 
DIGNITIES. 45 
 
 and tliey are, no doubt, the same class of men who 
 are afterwards spoken of under the title of the 
 " sons of God." We recognise this mode of adop- 
 tion also in the covenant which God made with 
 Abraham and his posterity, saying, "I will take 
 you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God." 
 Hence Moses, in his instructions to the people at 
 large, thus addresses them, " Ye are the children of 
 the Lord your God;" and this honourable distinc- 
 tion is repeatedly ascribed to them under the Old 
 Testament dispensation. But general adoption, 
 such as this, was outward and indefinite in its cha- 
 racter, indicating only the members of a visible 
 Church, and including, as it must obviously do, the 
 evil and the good, the nominal and the real chil- 
 dren of God. The prophet, remonstrating with the 
 very people of this general adoption, charges them 
 with gross idolatry, and exclaims, " Ai'e ye not 
 children of transgression, a seed of evil doers?" 
 And the Apostle, while speaking of the distin- 
 guished privileges of the Israelites, acknowledges 
 at the same time that " they are not all Israel who 
 are of Israel;" — neither are they all Christians who 
 are called Christians. 
 
 If, then, it be demanded here, as Paul, on a simi- 
 lar topic, supposes it may, " What advantage hath 
 this general adoption, or what profit have we in 
 belonging to the visible Church?" we answer, with 
 him, " Much every way," chiefly because unto you, 
 in such circumstances, are committed the oracles of 
 
46 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 God. You have access to the fountain of all truth; 
 you have the advantage of instruction in the mind 
 of the Spirit by his own oracles, " which are able, 
 through faith in Jesus Christ, to make you wise to 
 salvation;" you are privileged with the means of 
 grace; you have an open sanctuary to which you 
 can repair, with the administration of the word and 
 ordinances, to all the provisions of which you are 
 made welcome. Assuredly, the desirableness, the 
 preciousness of advantages such as these will not 
 be questioned, if you duly consider what your con- 
 dition would be were you destitute of them. 
 
 The adoption, however, with which we are at 
 present concerned is special, which, being purely 
 spiritual, has a reference only to such as are called 
 of God, " according to his own purpose and grace 
 given to them in Christ, before the world began." 
 
 In civil life, adoption is the act of a person select- 
 ing and taking some one from a family not his own; 
 placing him in his own family, not as a guest, but 
 as a son; giving him his own name, and investing 
 him with the rights and privileges of his own chil- 
 dren. This practice is common among men, and 
 sufficiently intelligible. It becomes, therefore, an 
 appropriate illustration of a similar transaction in 
 the Divine economy. There is, however, in the 
 principle of this act, a material difference from that 
 which characterizes the Divine procedure. Adop- 
 tion among men is generally determined by some 
 amiable properties, or suitable qualifications, found, 
 or supposed to be found, in the adopted, which 
 
DIGNITIES. 47 
 
 have recommended him to his patron. God's adop- 
 tion is an act of his free, unmerited grace, towards 
 those who have nothing attractive or recommen- 
 datory in them. " God, who is rich in mercy, for 
 his great love wherewith he loved us, even when 
 we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
 with Christ; and hath raised us up together, and 
 made us sit together in heavenly places, in Christ 
 Jesus." Adoptions with men may, and often do, 
 originate from selfish motives. The party adopting 
 anticipates, and seeks to secure thereby, some ad- 
 vantage to himself. On the part of God, the act is 
 that of gratuitous, yet sovereign favour towards the 
 adopted. " He hath predestinated us unto the 
 adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, 
 according to the good pleasure of his will." This 
 truth must be self-evident, from the immeasurable 
 disparity between the parties in the concern. The 
 one is the Creator, infinite and almighty; the other 
 the creature, " whose foundation is in the dust." 
 There can be no accession to absolute perfection. 
 The Supreme Being can derive no advantage, no 
 benefit from any other being, since all are his crea- 
 tures, dependent upon him for their very existence. 
 " Can a man be profitable unto God ? Is it any 
 pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? or 
 is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?" 
 But, in another, and important, point of view, 
 this gracious transaction differs from, and infinitely 
 excels, the most magnificent act of adoption among 
 men. Such an act, on the part of the most distin- 
 
48 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 guished mortal, is altogether external. It is ratified 
 by deeds and instruments to be seen and handled, 
 referring to impartations and transferences of tem- 
 poralities only. But the adopted of God undergoes 
 a real and transcendantly important transition. It 
 is one emphatically internal and spirikml. It is a 
 matter of the soul in all its departments, which thus 
 passes over in its affections, its will, its taste, from 
 the family of the alien to the household of God — 
 from the bondage of Satan to the liberty of the 
 children of God; it is the Holy Spirit's requickening 
 of the soul from spiritual death to the life of God, 
 through faith in Christ Jesus. 
 
 We would further remark on this act of the great 
 God, that it is an exhibition of his faithfulness in 
 fulfilling his stipulations in the covenant of grace. 
 His calling and adopting sinners of mankind into 
 his family, to make them his sons and daughters, 
 follows most certainly from his free, sovereign, and 
 gracious determination from all eternity ; but he 
 gave them to his Son to be redeemed by his blood, 
 and, in covenant with him, engaged, on his working 
 out their redemption, to call them effectually by 
 his Spirit, and grant them the adoption of sons. 
 In so doing he fulfils his engagement. We see, 
 therefore, in contemplating this Divine procedure, 
 the result of a beautiful arrangement : we see 
 the efficacy of the Son's righteousness and atone- 
 ment, in redeeming his people ; the energy of 
 the grace of the Spirit, in regenerating them; and 
 
DIGNITIES. 49 
 
 the faithfulness of the Father, in receiving them into 
 his paternal embrace, and investing them with the 
 rights and privileges of his children. Henceforth, 
 in the spirit of adoption, they approach him with the 
 cry of " Abba, Father ! " and He owns the relation; 
 He responds to the cry; He even publishes the gra- 
 cious transaction to the universe. He makes it 
 known to the celestial inhabitants ; for " there is 
 joy in the presence of tMfe angels of God over 
 one sinner that repenteth," — to the world; for "by 
 their fruits are they known;" and "all men shall 
 know that they are the disciples of Christ, when 
 they love one another as brethren." Satan also, their 
 former master, is forced to know it; for "the strong 
 man has been bound, and despoiled of his goods;" 
 and the mighty enemy felt to his cost, when the Lord 
 contended with him, that " the prey was taken from 
 the mighty, and the lawful captive delivered." And, 
 what is more, this happy transformation, this digni- 
 fying change, is for encouraging and cheering pur- 
 poses, made known to themselves ; for, on being 
 adopted, they become partakers of the Divine nature, 
 and "the Spirit itself beareth witness with their 
 spirits that they are the children of God." 
 
 How honourable and how blessed is such a state 
 as this ! 
 
 1. As to the Honour connected with adoption, 
 what shall we say ? The theme is too great, too 
 rich, for adequate description. We can but touch 
 it. And, first, think, my fellow -Christian, how high 
 
50 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 you rank in the order of intelligent beings, when 
 you become a child of God ! But, perhaps, we are 
 asked, Is not every man, every woman, a child of 
 God ? May we not say with the prophet, " Have 
 we not all one Father ? Hath not one God created 
 us ? " True ; we acknowledge that man, in his ori- 
 ginal condition, springing from the hand of his 
 Creator, was styled "the son of God." But he 
 sinned — he apostatized,* and was, in a spiritual 
 sense, disowned, and lost his high dignity. He 
 leagued himself with the arch-enemy, Satan, and 
 became a child of transgression and of wrath. The 
 only relation then in which he could stand to God 
 was that of an offensive rebel; and, without repent- 
 ance and reconciliation, the object of his just, his 
 eternal, indignation. With him fell all his posterity. 
 Then, think of the degradation and defilement into 
 which your nature was sunk ; how the image of the 
 heavenly Father was effaced from the soul, and that 
 of Satan, through the enmity of the heart, was im- 
 pressed upon it : so that, under these circumstances, 
 all mankind incurred the odious charge made by the 
 lip of truth against the unbelieving Jews, " Ye are 
 of your father, the devil; and his lusts ye will do." 
 Again, think of the wonderful change wrought upon 
 you by the Spirit of grace — of the horrible pit and 
 the miry clay out of which you are brought, and of 
 the new and lofty relation to which you are now 
 exalted. Adopted into the family of God, your 
 whole moral nature has passed through an elevating 
 
DIGNITIES. 51 
 
 renovation. Recovered by a scheme of wisdom, 
 power, and grace, which attracts the inquiring ad- 
 miration of the purest and highest of created intel- 
 ligences, you are raised into high and intimate 
 favour; your name is entered in the Lamb's book of 
 life; and you are made a fellow -citizen with the 
 saints, and of the household of God. What wonders 
 attend a change like this ! From what a depth of 
 wretchedness does it rescue, — to what an exaltation 
 does it elevate the soul thus redeemed and hon- 
 oured ! The apostle John, privileged as he had 
 been with close and special converse with the 
 Saviour himself, speaks of it as a subject vastly too 
 sublime for description. He can only express the 
 fulness of his heart, as he thinks upon it, in the 
 language of grateful admiration. " Behold ! " he 
 says, " what manner of love the Father hath be- 
 stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons 
 of God ! " As if he had said, " What love is here ! 
 who can describe it? — a love which, considering the 
 objects on whom it is conferred, involves a conde- 
 scension that none but God could manifest. It pre- 
 sents to us the unutterable wonder of the Almighty, 
 who humbleth himself to behold the things that are 
 done in heaven, stooping to an alliance with earth- 
 born, feeble creatures, such as we are ! and, what is 
 more, of a holy and just God, not only receiving us 
 to peace and pardon, but forming with us, unworthy 
 as we are, a relation so close, so endearing as that 
 of a Father with his children!" What lowly con- 
 
52 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 descension in God ! what high distinction for man ! 
 Yet here there is no loss of dignity in the Mighty 
 condescending to the mean — no compromise of 
 honour in the Lord allying himself with his depend- 
 ant — no taint suffered by the Holy One in affiliat- 
 ing to himself unholy man. No : he displays and 
 magnifies his attributes of mercy and goodness ; he 
 glorifies his grace, when he thus "raiseth up the 
 poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from 
 the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to 
 make them inherit the throne of glory." 
 
 2. The Blessedness of this adoption is also beyond 
 our power duly to estimate. If an individual of 
 obscure and mean origin be singled out by his sove- 
 reign, taken into his household, made to sit at the 
 royal table, and to share in common with the princes 
 of the blood, he will be considered by his fellow - 
 subjects singularly happxj. But this favourite, this 
 object of human partiality, is in a poor and abject 
 state compared with that of an adopted child of 
 God. It may be gratifying to vanity, it may be 
 profitable to the interests of the present life, to be 
 allied with the rich and the great — to enjoy their 
 smile, their patronage, and the largesses of their 
 bounty; but what is the amount of this world's 
 favour — what the profit of the highest princely 
 possessions, seeing that, at the most, we can have 
 but a life's interest in them ? If put in competition 
 with the parental favour of God, they are as no- 
 thing. Alas ! we need only appeal to the testimony 
 
DIGNITIES. 53 
 
 of history to prove the utter worthlessness of a 
 favourite's place at the court of an earthly prince. 
 Do we not see that its general issue is disappoint- 
 ment, disgrace, wretchedness, remorse? Yes; and 
 that* most commonly after a feverish, short-lived 
 enjoyment. But suppose the most flattering dis- 
 tinctions should be secured for the possessor to the 
 close of his life, — suppose the highest adulation of 
 his fellow-men, and the richest prizes to be gained 
 amongst them, should continue his unimpaired, un- 
 interrupted, portion until death — what then follows? 
 Ah ! if this were all, if he sought not, nor desired 
 any better portion, you may read his awful and final 
 destiny in the parable of the rich man, who in his 
 lifetime received his good things ; but when he died, 
 *4n hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." 
 Alas ! for the infatuation of vain, earthly, God-for- 
 getting mortals, who spend their lives in magnificent 
 dreaming, and awake to realities so tremendous ! 
 Oh ! should these pages meet the eye of any one 
 still a slave to his lusts and the fascinations of the 
 world, we tell him that our prayer for him is, 
 "Holy Spirit, dispel thou the sad infatuation, and 
 awaken the slumberer, that he may open his eyes to 
 his perilous condition, and flee, in timely alarm, 
 from the wrath to come ! " 
 
 What lot, then, is so much to be coveted as that 
 of God's children ? Truly, with all the infirmities 
 attendant on humanity, with all the vicissitudes and 
 vexations from which none are exempt, they are of 
 
54 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 all Adam's race the highest honoured and the hap- 
 piest; for thejj and they only, are privileged to rise 
 superior to all the ills of life, assured, from the best 
 authority, that " all things work together for good 
 to them that love God, to them who are the called 
 according to his purpose." It derives, indeed, its 
 transcendent value from the consideration that it is 
 liable to no disappointment, that it can never be 
 abrogated. It has the stamp of eternity upon it; for 
 the gifts and calling of Grod are without repentance. 
 Regeneration and adoption can never be undone. 
 As the rational spirit, at its first creation, com- 
 mences a being for eternity; so, at its second creation, 
 when made anew in Christ Jesus, it receives a new 
 life, which is fed, and nourished, and sustained to 
 an immortal duration. The apostle Peter, speaking 
 on this subject, tells the believing brethren, " Ye 
 are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
 ruptible ; by the word of God, which liveth and 
 abideth for ever." Stamped with this deathless 
 character, how worthy of the most ardent longing, 
 the most agonizing pursuit of an immortal soul, is 
 the privilege of sonship with God ! Were it pur- 
 sued even at the forfeiture and loss of every other 
 possession, of every other distinction, it would be 
 cheaply won ; for it is " the one thing needful," 
 including, and bringing with it, the most important 
 blessings which our nature is capable of enjoying. 
 
 But this happy relation between God and his 
 people involves in it many other peculiar and inter- 
 
DIGNITIES. 55 
 
 esting considerations ; some of which we must 
 briefly notice. Among men the party adopting 
 necessarily binds himself, in behalf of the adopted, 
 to certain duties and services, not otherwise existing 
 between them. So also the Father of heavenly 
 grace enters into engagements for the well-being of 
 his adopted children, to which they had previously 
 no right. He affords them provision and instruc- 
 tion ; he exercises them with needful discipline, and 
 ensures them his protection. 
 
 1. He finds them Provision. He furnishes them 
 with every needful supply. He indeed sustains 
 every creature which his hand has formed. " He 
 giveth to the beast his food, and to the young 
 ravens which cry ; he satisfieth the desire of every 
 living thing." But, in the provisions made for his 
 adopted children, the Father's hearty as well as hand, 
 is to be seen. Whatever he bestows on them, while 
 it is promptly afforded, is no less wisely and kindly 
 adjusted to their respective cases. He consults their 
 best interests, not their fondest desires. The pro- 
 visions, therefore, which he makes for them are just 
 so many blessings. While others snatch at the 
 bounties of his providence with carnal selfishness, 
 and a brute-unconsciousness of the bestowing hand, 
 they receive them as the pledges of their Father's 
 love, and sit down to the enjoyment of them as at 
 the domestic table. In this character they are 
 taught to regard them ; and when so regarded, a 
 relish is given them infinitely higher than the men 
 
56 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 of the world know, in all their affluence. " Better 
 is little, with the fear of the Lord, than great 
 treasure, and trouble therewith." 
 
 He ensures to his people a permanent provision. 
 He gives not as the world gives: its bounties are 
 often hard to be won, given grudgingly; and then, 
 when most wanted, capriciously withdrawn. He 
 giveth not only liberally, and without upbraiding, 
 but with a faithfulness and a constancy claiming 
 the unwavering reliance of his children. His word 
 assures them that, neither in the kingdom of his 
 providence, nor in that of his grace, shall anything 
 that is good for them be lacking. " Their bread 
 shall be given them; and their water shall be sure." 
 To one and all of them has he promised, " I will 
 never leave thee, nor forsake thee." " The Lord 
 thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." 
 Their wants, indeed, may be many and great, but 
 He, that suffers not a sparrow to fall to the ground 
 without his notice, will not fail, in the best way, 
 to supply all their wants. Their circumstances in 
 life may wear a gloomy aspect ; reverses of the 
 severest kind may be their lot ; disappointments 
 and losses may come upon them in rapid succes- 
 sion, reducing them to a state of destitution and 
 poverty, from which lover and friend turn away 
 as from a loathsome disease, — but what then ? " The 
 earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." His 
 stores of supply are ever full; and were it good for 
 his children who thus suffer. He that blessed the 
 
DIGNITIES. 57 
 
 latter end of Job more than his beginning, with 
 thousands of sheep, and camels, and oxen, would 
 do the same for them. But they are visited with 
 heavy trials and deep depressions, because they are 
 undoubtedly the very provisions by which their 
 spiritual health and his glory are best promoted. 
 In every case their provision, both in kind and 
 degree, is regulated by infinite wisdom blended 
 with paternal goodness. On tliis they may ever 
 rely. It may not be palatable to flesh and blood, 
 but it is wholesome to their better nature. A wise 
 and good parent will not pamper his child's taste 
 at the risk of his health ; neither will God present 
 his children with a sweeter cup, or a daintier pro- 
 vision, for the pleasure of the life that now is, to 
 the sacrifice of that which is to come. He gives, 
 indeed, to some of his children a goodly portion of 
 this world's possessions; but he thereby increases 
 the responsibilities of their position. He makes 
 them his stewards and almoners: he exacts of them 
 a practical demonstration of liberality and bene- 
 volence, on the larger scale ; and employs them 
 more especially in the promotion of his cause upon 
 earth, and the relief of the poor among his people. 
 On the other hand, he allots to others a coarser 
 and scantier fare, that they may edify the Church, 
 and glorify him, by the exhibition of the lovely 
 graces of patience, humility, and unmurmuring 
 acquiescence in the Divine will. 
 
 2. He affords them Instruction; and this he does 
 
58 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. ' 
 
 by various instrumentality. — By his Providence. 
 Some are so dull that they learn nothing from the 
 events daily passing before them; others are so 
 engrossed with the pleasures, or the cares of a 
 fleeting life, that " they regard not the work of the 
 Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands." 
 But the Spirit of God opens and explains to his 
 own children the book of Providence. Paying a 
 devout attention to the doings of their Father, in 
 the world, in the Church, and towards themselves, 
 they are taught to read his meaning in them, and 
 the use he would have them make of all they are 
 called to witness, as well as of what they are made 
 to experience, whether it be prosperity or adver- 
 sity, health or sickness, pleasure or pain. 
 
 The ways of Providence are by no means an 
 easy study. The men of the world, with all their 
 sagacity, misunderstand them, go counter to them ; 
 and are frequently left to " eat the fruit of their 
 own way, and to be filled with their own devices." 
 How appalling, for instance, are the acts of despe- 
 ration to which we often see them driven, by an 
 obstinately false reading of vicissitudes in their 
 life! The children of God themselves, from their 
 native waywardness, do not unfrequently indulge 
 vain interpretations of their Father's dealings with 
 them, till experience makes them wiser. When 
 the candle of God shone upon the head of Job, 
 and wealth and honour gave him distinction, he 
 hastily reckoned on a perpetuity of happiness, and 
 
DIGNITIES. 59 
 
 said, "I shall die in my nest; and I shall multiply 
 my days as the sand." The case of Darid dis- 
 covers the same aptitude to premature security. 
 Hear his confession : " In my prosperity I said, 
 I shall never be moved. Lord! by thy favour thou 
 hast made my mountain to stand strong! — thou 
 didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." But God 
 instructs his children by these vicissitudes in the 
 frailty and evanescence of every earthly good, and 
 the necessity of relying exclusively on himself for 
 that peace which satisfieth the soul, — a peace which 
 the world cannot destroy, because it flows from the 
 covenant-love of their Father and their God. 
 
 He instructs them by his Word. This is the 
 great Lesson-Book of his household. They are all 
 led to study therein his doctrines, his precepts, his 
 counsels, his promises. These are all opened up 
 and explained to them by his Spirit: for "the 
 Spirit searcheth all things ; yea, the deep tilings 
 of God." There they learn the wondrous works 
 of their Father, — how his wisdom, his power, his 
 grace, and his justice, unite in their salvation, — 
 how, when withering under the curse and bondage 
 of the law, they were quickened, and emancipated, 
 and adopted, through faith in Christ, into the family 
 of God, and invested with the privileges of his 
 children. In his "Word he teaches them the value 
 of the ordinances of his house; his gracious design 
 in their appointment; and the spirit and manner 
 in which they are to be observed. In fine, his 
 
60 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Word is their only authoritative manual of faith 
 and practice ; for " all Scripture is given by in- 
 spiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righte- 
 ousness." 
 
 To these sources of instruction is added the ap- 
 pointment of Pastors and Teachers^ to administer 
 his ordinances, and to " feed them with knowledge 
 and understanding;" who, taking their directions 
 from the Sacred Word, labour among them, by ex- 
 hortation, exposition, warning, and invitation, to 
 " edify the body of Christ, and, speaking the truth 
 in love," to stimulate every member to "grow up 
 into him in all things, who is the Head, even 
 Christ." 
 
 3. He disciplines his children. This is a depart- 
 ment of parental duty requiring, above all others, 
 a large share of wisdom — a wisdom manifested in 
 exercising the graces of prudence, patience, and 
 firmness. Seldom do we find this wisdom exem- 
 plified in the conduct of earthly parents. Either, 
 through foolish fondness, blind to the faults of their 
 children ; or, wholly reckless of their moral well- 
 being, they neglect all discipline ; or, capricious, 
 irritable, passionate, they punish, rather to reheve 
 their own feelings, than to restrain the follies, or 
 correct the vices of the child. But in this, as in 
 every other point of contrast, how truly may we 
 say, " God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither 
 are our ways his ways ! " He loves his children, — 
 
DIGNITIES. 61 
 
 no love like his! but he loves them too well to 
 allow them to work their own ruin, for want of the 
 rod. On this subject the Apostle speaks forcibly, 
 though concisely, and puts the corrective discipline 
 of Grod in a clear and perspicuous light, both as to 
 its nature and its design. "Whom the Lord loveth 
 he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he 
 receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth 
 with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom 
 the father chasteneth not? We have had fathers 
 of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them 
 reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjec- 
 tion unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they, 
 verily for a few days, chastened us after their own 
 pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be 
 partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for 
 the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous : 
 nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable 
 fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised 
 thereby." This view of the Divine chastisement 
 needs no elucidation from us. We would only 
 observe that it impressively teaches us our inherent 
 depravity. We are prone of ourselves to go astray; 
 else would there be no chastisement from the hand 
 of our heavenly Father: for "He doth not afflict 
 willingly, nor grieve the children of men." Nothing, 
 therefore, becomes us more, nothing is more salu- 
 tary for us, than humility, self-distrust, watchful- 
 ness, and prayer ; and to these we are disciplined 
 by the chastisements we endure. We are also 
 
62 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 taught by the Apostle in what light the afflictions 
 of God's children are to be viewed. They are 
 expressive of his paternal love and care. They 
 are blessings from his hand. It is one of their 
 special privileges to be brought under his chastise- 
 ment : its end being to reclaim them, when they 
 wander from him ; to make sin odious to Ihem, by 
 making it bitter; and, by mortifying their untoward 
 appetites, and breaking off their unholy attach- 
 ments to the world, to make them partakers of his 
 holiness. 
 
 4. He protects his children. What so helpless 
 as young children? Exposed to numerous and 
 various evils, what must they do, in infancy, 
 without continual nursing, but perish? "What, in 
 cliildhood and youth, without the protection of 
 experience, but run riot, and fall into ruin? 
 Hence the early and the late watching of the 
 nurse, the anxious guardianship of the parent, 
 and all the obligations of the older towards the 
 younger, in our several relations. On the protec- 
 tion of Divine Providence we are all, parent and 
 child, equally dependent. We are exposed to 
 dangers seen and unseen, over which we have 
 no control, against which we cannot provide. 
 " None can keep alive his own soul." It is God 
 alone, who, knowing the end from the beginning, 
 interposes his protection, and preserves whom he 
 will. Now the children of his grace are his pe- 
 culiar heritage. On them he fixes the parental 
 
DIGNITIES. 63 
 
 eye, — an eye ever watchful; for "He that keepeth 
 Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." There 
 must be perfect safety where omnipotence keeps 
 guard. Happy is the Church ! Her " place of 
 defence shall be the munition of rocks." It can 
 never be surprised — never broken through. Her 
 confidence is in his own word, " The Lord is thy 
 keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 
 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon 
 by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all 
 evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall 
 preserve thy going out and thy coming in from 
 this time forth, and even for evermore." 
 
 But childi'en are naturally wayward, and prone 
 to err. Forgetful of their own insufficiency, and 
 heedless of consequences, they often break loose 
 from parental restraint, and fall into mischief. So 
 is it with the Christian. He is secured against ul- 
 timate ruin, but he occasionally goes astray. His 
 native proneness to folly is not altogether eradi- 
 cated; and though he never entirely escapes from 
 the eye, or the hand of his God, he is sometimes 
 permitted to stumble and fall, for wise and good 
 ends. On such occasions he is more forcibly re- 
 minded of his own weakness, and of the true source 
 of all his sufficiency. Having felt the evil and the 
 bitterness of forsaking the Lord his God, and the 
 loss his soul has sustained by grieving the Holy 
 Spirit, with deeper self-abasement, and keener long- 
 ing after the wonted smiles of his Father's counte- 
 
64 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 nance, will lie return, and weep before him, till he 
 obtain the tokens of pardoning and accepting love. 
 Oh! sweet is the hour of the wanderer's return to 
 his heavenly Father! sweet the hour of fresh appli- 
 cation to the blood of atonement, and the renewed 
 pledges of his acceptance in the Beloved ! His heart 
 is indeed more sensibly wrung with anguish, and 
 more fully do the tears of repentance flow at the 
 thought of his ungrateful rebellion; but the embrace 
 of his forgiving Father is felt more close, more 
 warm, than ever; while the soul- winning, reassur- 
 ing accents pour, as it were, upon his delighted ear, 
 " Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? 
 for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remem- 
 ber him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for 
 him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the 
 Lord." Though a child of God, therefore, may un- 
 happily fall under temptation, and do that which is 
 unworthy of his high calling, yet the enemy has no 
 just ground for exultation. He has an answer for 
 the cruel taunt, and can say, " Rejoice not against 
 me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when 
 I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." 
 On the other hand, he is not warranted, by the for- 
 giving goodness of G-od, to presume and to venture 
 on forbidden ground. No; the child of God has no 
 indulgences granted him to sin. The will of his 
 heavenly Father is explicit, " Let him that think- 
 eth he standeth, take heed lest he fall." He no- 
 where reads that he is at liberty to relax his vigi- 
 
DIGNITIES. 65 
 
 lance at any moment. He finds the command of his 
 Lord absolute, " What I say unto you, I say unto 
 all, Watch." He learns that nothing is more bind- 
 ing upon him, as he pursues his course, than self- 
 scrutiny and caution, " lest he fall into reproach, 
 and the snare of the devil;" and so far from dis- 
 covering any passage in the Oracles of God admit- 
 ting the slightest degree of deviation from the right 
 way, or the view of any transgression as little in 
 the sight of God, he reads, " Abstain from all ap- 
 pearance of evil ; " and that the very foundation of 
 his system has, so to speak, this inscription — " Let 
 every one that nameth the name of Christ depart 
 from iniquity." 
 
 But what do I say? It is not in the nature of an 
 adopted son or daughter of God wantonly and 
 willingly to offend him. The spirit of adoption is a 
 spirit of obedience, of love, of holy zeal. It is in 
 harmony with the Divine mind, and can have no 
 relish for that which God himself has so feelingly 
 deprecated, saying, " O do not that abominable 
 thing that I hate !" Its happy and proper existence 
 is in that very harmony. When a child of God 
 has, through some powerful temptation, been sur- 
 prised into sin, it is because, for the time, he has 
 forgotten where his strength lay, and suffered that 
 spirit to languish in him. But soon he is brought 
 to feel the violence he has committed against his 
 renewed nature, and the dishonour done to his God; 
 he "goes out, and weeps bitterly." His offence is 
 
 F 
 
66 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 not trivial in his eyes. He pleads no palliation be- 
 fore God; he is deeply sensible of its wounding and 
 polluting nature, and, longing for reconciliation, re- 
 pairs afresh to the blood of sprinkling that cleanses 
 from all sin. Thus is his soul restored. Hear the 
 promise of God respecting his children, on such 
 occasions : " They shall come with weeping; and 
 with supplications will I lead them. I will cause 
 them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight 
 way, wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a 
 Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." 
 
 11. Believers are made Heirs of God, and Joint- 
 heirs WITH Christ. 
 
 The Apostle, speaking of the spirit by which the 
 people of God are led, characterizes it as a free and 
 ennobling spirit : not like that which prevailed 
 under the old, servile dispensation; it is the spirit of 
 adoption, through which they approach God, and, 
 with filial boldness, call upon him as their Father : 
 then, in the tone of one announcing a happy and 
 delightful consequence, he exclaims, " And if chil- 
 dren, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
 Christ!" As the adopted among men are not only 
 made free of all the privileges of the house and 
 family, but are also entitled to an inheritance of the 
 honours and estates of the adopting party, so God 
 makes his adopted children his Heirs, entitling 
 them to every blessing of the covenant of grace. 
 This investiture into rights and privileges so great 
 
DIGNITIES. 67 
 
 is indeed an integral part of the act of adoption. 
 Without this it would be incomplete. Adoption in- 
 cludes heirship; and hence we read, " K a son, then 
 an heir of God, through Christ." The son is his 
 father's heir by natural right; and every son whom 
 God adopts becomes his heir by virtue of his one- 
 ness with Christ. " If ye be Christ's, then are ye 
 Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the pro- 
 mise." 
 
 This Divine heirship ensures to its happy pos- 
 sessor the love and favour of God the Father — the 
 sympathy and intercession of his incarnate Son 
 — and the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit. 
 No created mind can comprehend, far less can any 
 tongue express, the value of an inheritance like this. 
 But short as we must necessarily fall of adequate 
 conceptions of such a theme, we may fix, and ought 
 frequently to fix, our inquiring and self-appropriat- 
 ing meditation upon it. We ought frequently to 
 set it before us, not as a topic for the imagination 
 only, though it might well gratify, as it would cer- 
 tainly sanctify, its most excursive efforts, but as a 
 blessed reality, for the mind and heart to seize and 
 feast upon, till the whole soul, glowing with grate- 
 ful love, and tending more and more upwards, feels 
 herself emancipated from earth and earthly things, 
 and becomes conscious of greater and greater hun- 
 gering and thirsting after an entire meetness for its 
 possession. Such elevating meditations the chil- 
 dren of God are privileged to entertain. Mean- 
 
68 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 while, let us briefly notice the subject in the three 
 aspects of it to which we have just adverted. 
 
 1. Believers, as the children of God, inherit his 
 Love and Favour. They may, indeed, be said to be 
 interested in all the attributes of their heavenly 
 Father; but as God is emphatically, and, if we may 
 so say, comprehensively, characterized as Love, all 
 the other attributes may be considered as so many 
 modifications of that one. In this view of the case, 
 God is himself the portion of his children. No 
 human parent, whatever the yearnings of his natu- 
 ral affection may be, can give to his sons and 
 daughters as God gives to his. We may rise up 
 early; we may sit up late; we may eat the bread of 
 toils and sorrows for the benefit of our children ; to 
 them we may devote all our cares and all our ener- 
 gies, and seem as though we held our entire selves as 
 their property, — but what will all this avail? — we are 
 ourselves but frail mortal beings, and all the fruits 
 of our labour are precarious: they may prove insuf- 
 ficient ; they are liable to decay, and must ulti- 
 mately perish. Such is the character of every 
 human good. But God, in the manifestations of his 
 love and favour, is a portion at all times abundant — 
 at all times available; and he that possesses such a 
 portion is enriched for time and for eternity. 
 What can ever be wanting to an heir of the Lord 
 of all? " All things are your's," says the Apostle to 
 the believing Corinthians, "all things are your's, 
 whether Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas, or the world, 
 
DIGNITIES. 69 
 
 or life, or death, or things present, or things to 
 come; all are your's." Is this a true inventory of 
 the believer's inheritance? Can he look round on 
 all things, and call them his own? Yes; in right 
 of his relationship to the Universal Proprietor, he 
 knovrs them to be his. A child of God, through 
 Christ Jesus, he is taught to look on all things as 
 made subservient to his interests. They are his in 
 the best sense; for all things are under the control 
 of his Father, who has put them all under the i^et 
 of Christ, to whom he belongs; and through Christ, 
 as Head over all things to the Church, the believer 
 has a claim upon them all. The love of God in 
 Christ Jesus confers theA, and that gratuitously, on 
 the Christian. He cannot, therefore, contemplate 
 his inheritance in tliis light, without feeling his 
 heart glow with love to God in return ; nor can he 
 but rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
 It was this pious and joyous feeling that promj^ted 
 the Psalmist to exclaim, " Whom have I in heaven 
 but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire 
 beside thee!" A lofty and holy aspiration this! 
 The child of God, in this elevation of soul, is not 
 conscious of a wish after any other enjoyment than 
 God, but pants after more and more of him, seek- 
 ing "to be filled with all the fulness of God." 
 Whatever there is in heaven of rich — of lovely — 
 of glorious — of blissful, he finds in God, who is his 
 all-sufficient Portion. This in truth is his heaven. 
 And as for earth, when he comes down to its con- 
 
70 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 cerns, there is nothing within its utmost range to 
 afford him any satisfaction, but as connected with 
 his Grod. All the beauty, all the fitness of the 
 creatures, he sees and admires in the Creator whom 
 his soul loves. Every earthly good allotted him is 
 relished only as coming from the source of all good. 
 And not only so: he glories also in the tribulations 
 he endures on earth, knowing that "tribulation 
 worketh patience, and patience experience, and ex- 
 perience hope;" by all which he glorifies God, and 
 delights himself in the sublime anticipation of 
 dwelling in glory, honour, and immortality with 
 him! Inheriting, therefore, the love and favour of 
 God, he enjoys him in all things, and all things 
 in him. 
 
 2. The adopted child of God inherits the Sympa- 
 thy and Intercession of God's incarnate Son. The 
 great doctrine which, most of all, gives character to 
 the Christian religion is the mediation of Christ. 
 To him, the Second Person in the adorable Trinity, 
 the ofiice of Daysman, or Mediator between God 
 and man, was, from all eternity, so assigned as at 
 once to be the appointment of the Father, and the 
 voluntary undertaking of the Son. But this mys- 
 terious transaction involved conditions of peculiarly 
 deep humiliation and condescension, which it be- 
 hoved him to embrace. He embraced them all; 
 and his believing people rejoice to know that, hav- 
 ing entered into his glory, he has not ceased, nor 
 will ever cease, to care for them. He who taught. 
 
DIGNITIES. 71 
 
 and healed, and suffered, at Jerusalem, now en- 
 throned in heaven, continues " the same, yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever." He has taken with him that 
 nature in which he became their Substitute, and 
 accomplished their redemption. He wears in glory 
 the same benignant countenance towards them, and 
 has the same tender, sympathizing heart as ever. 
 He that prayed for all those that should believe in 
 him, through the word of his apostles, intercedes for 
 them still, now that he is " set down at the right hand 
 of the throne of God." If while they were yet sinners 
 he died for them, much more now that they are called 
 by his grace will he recognise them as his, and in- 
 terest himself in their behalf, till they are gathered 
 into his kingdom. Exalted as he is above all prin- 
 cipality, power, might, and dominion, and receiving 
 the homage of all, he still turns the eye of a faithful 
 and kind Guardian towards his people on earth. 
 He has their welfare at heart. He acknowledges 
 them still as his friends — his brethren; nor deems 
 it derogatory to his transcendent honours to bear 
 the office of their Representative in heaven. This 
 is no doubtful or questionable assertion, for "we 
 have not," says the Apostle, " an High Priest who 
 cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
 ties; but was in all points tempted like as we are, 
 yet without sin ; and is able to succour them that 
 are tempted." And, from this cheering considera- 
 tion, the Apostle encourages the Christian to come 
 boldly to the throne of grace, " that he may obtain 
 
72 CHRISTIAN PRIYILEGES. 
 
 mercy, and find grace to help, in time of need." 
 What an invaluable privilege for a child of God do 
 these words involve! If he may so come, and with 
 such a view, then is the throne of grace ever open 
 to him, for his is ever a time of need. Like a help- 
 less child, he is constantly dependant on the sup- 
 port of his parent. He cannot stand, but as God 
 holds him up; he cannot walk aright, but as God 
 leads him. 
 
 There are, however, peculiar seasons, in the case 
 of children, when the protective and salutary care 
 of a parent is more urgently called for, than at 
 others. Such are the seasons of thoughtless wan- 
 dering, of unforeseen and accidental evils, and of 
 vi,olent assault ; and there is, last of all, the hour 
 of death. So is it in the household of God. But 
 in the Christian's deepest depressions, when clouds 
 and darkness seem to wrap around him, he is en- 
 abled to look up to his gracious Intercessor; and he 
 that hears the sighing, and feels the sorrows of the 
 weakest of his people, sends him the needful relief. 
 His complaints and supplications are turned into 
 praise, and the language of his revived heart seems 
 to chide his own despondency. " Why art thou 
 cast down, O my soul ? and why art thou disquieted 
 within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise 
 him, who is the health of my countenance and my 
 God ! " Blessed is the man who has such re- 
 sources ! 
 
 3. But we have also observed that the child of 
 
DIGNITIES. 73 
 
 God inherits the gracious Operations of the Holy 
 Spirit. Adopted into the family of God, the Chris- 
 tian is invited, as a child at home, to a near ap- 
 proach to his Father, that he may enjoy a familiarity 
 and intercourse with him, to which others are 
 strangers. This intercourse is maintained by the 
 agency of the Spirit. It was by his agency that he 
 was at first regenerated, and brought into union with 
 Christ. By his operations he was created anew: it 
 is his prerogative still to communicate with the 
 soul, and to exert upon it those influences which 
 tend to enlighten, to guide, to sanctify, and, finally, 
 to mature it for glory. The child of God, on this 
 side heaven, is subject to weaknesses and wants, to 
 sins and sorrows. From these he is not promised 
 an absolute exemption, till the last enemy be over- 
 come. On his way to his final inheritance, he has 
 to pass through many conflicts; and he must endure, 
 as a good soldier, until they are all accomplished. 
 But he inherits all needful aid, all appropriate sup- 
 plies. He has, in the promised influences of the 
 Spirit, all that his case, however varied, may re- 
 quire. In his farewell discourse to his disciples, 
 the Saviour assured them he would send them the 
 Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth, to guide them 
 into all truth, and show them the things that be- 
 longed to him. The child of God is privileged to 
 draw, by the prayer of faith, upon this promise. 
 There are seasons when his mind is beclouded with 
 doubts and fears, and his path seems shrouded in 
 
74 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 darkness ; and so long as, through infirmity of the 
 flesh, or forgetfulness of his privilege, he neglects 
 to urge the promise, in that darkness he continues 
 to walk, and goes mourning without the sun. But 
 the Holy Spirit, as a Spirit of adoption, expels the 
 spirit of bondage; and the Christian is, at length, 
 enabled to " remember the years of the right hand 
 of the Most High." He thinks of his happier ex- 
 perience in months past — in the days " when the 
 candle of the Lord shone upon his head," and when 
 by his light he walked through darkness; and, rely- 
 ing on the promise of the Spirit to them that ask 
 him, he earnestly seeks and obtains its fulfilment. 
 Then rises light on his obscurity, and his darkness 
 becomes as the noon-day. His heart is moved to 
 gladness, by the cheering presence of this Divine 
 Agent, and he sings, "I sought the Lord, and he 
 heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." 
 
 Is the Christian met with strong temptations to 
 sin ? Has he duties of peculiar difficulty and un- 
 tried danger to fulfil ? He feels and owns his own 
 insufficiency. He reckons on no human resources, 
 but turns to the Strong for strength. " My suffi- 
 ciency," he says, " is of God. I can do all things 
 through Clirist, who strengtheneth me." According 
 to his faith, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of 
 counsel and might, comes upon him ; his heart is 
 emboldened, and his hands are made strong for 
 whatever work he has to do. He is never, indeed, 
 in any position where he is independent of the Holy 
 
DIGNITIES. 75 
 
 Spirit's influences, nor where the benefit of those 
 influences may not be enjoyed. All his religion is 
 traceable to the Spirit. What are repentance, 
 humility, faith, love, zeal, but fruits of the Spirit ? 
 And are not all the duties of teaching, warning, and 
 suffering, and the works of mercy, charity, and 
 Christian benevolence, if performed aright, per- 
 formed in the Spirit of God ? Yes ; by the Holy 
 Spirit the Christian is led, is purified, is guarded, 
 is comforted. He lives in the Spirit ; he walks in 
 the Spirit. 
 
 We have yet to add that believers are made 
 Joint-heirs ivith Christ. This is the head of the 
 climax to which the Apostle rises, in describing the 
 honour and dignity of their spiritual rank. The 
 language is expressive of a mind warming and swell- 
 ing with the subject, as it contemplates it. It is as if 
 he had said, " How wonderfully great the honour 
 and dignity conferred upon us ! If we are the 
 children of God, then we have an inheritance, — we 
 are heirs — ^heirs of God, whom we are permitted to 
 approach, and cry, Abba, Father ! We are even 
 joint-heirs with Christ, the eternal Son, the Lord of 
 all, who condescends to call us his brethren." But 
 it is material to observe what the Apostle includes 
 in this co-heirship with Christ. If we reckon on 
 this high dignity, we must be prepared for all that 
 it involves. It is expressly stipulated, that if we 
 are to share in his bright inheritance, we must pre- 
 viously share in his humiliation and suffering. The 
 
76 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 charter runs thus : We are joint-heirs with Christ, 
 if so he that we suffer with him. This is an im- 
 portant consideration. There is a cost to be counted 
 here. If we are heirs of God, and claim to be 
 joint-heirs with Christ, we enter upon engagements 
 of self-denial and obedience to the Gospel. We 
 consent to take up our cross and follow him, through 
 evil report, as well as good report; not shrinking 
 from, but cheerfully bearing his reproach ; and 
 should persecution in its bitterest forms arise, to 
 rejoice if we are counted worthy to suffer shame, 
 and even death, for his name. Such is the inherit- 
 ance which, as joint-heirs with Christ, we must, if 
 called thereto, be ready to embrace. He himself 
 has laid down the terms on which a genuine heir- 
 ship with him must be held. " If any man come 
 to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and 
 wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, 
 and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." 
 
 The heirs we are now speaking of enjoy the high 
 privilege of sharing with their Lord in the com- 
 munion and fellowship of their heavenly Father, 
 and in the sweet consciousness of his approbation. 
 They are indulged with the freedom of filial access, 
 to spread before him the thoughts and desires of 
 their hearts, and to offer him their thanksgivings 
 for the tokens of his paternal love. They, too, like 
 their Lord, have a joy set before them, for which 
 they willingly endure privation, suffering, and 
 shame, " looking unto Jesus, the Author and Fin- 
 
DIGNITIES. 77 
 
 isher of their faith." And, finally, to them belongs 
 the animating hope, that when they have finished 
 their warfare here, they shall enter into the joys, 
 the triumphs, the glories, and the honours, of their 
 exalted Lord, — a hope founded on his own promise^ 
 " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 
 me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am 
 set down Avith my Father in his throne." 
 
 III. Believers are made Kings and Priests unto 
 God. Of all ranks and conditions among men, the 
 royal and the sacerdotal have ever been held the 
 most elevated and honourable. For the power, 
 influence, and splendour which their titles are 
 thought to jDossess, they are eagerly sought; and the 
 testimony of history is only too abundant as to what 
 sacrifices, both of character and peace, are made, and 
 crimes perpetrated, by men of ambitious spirits, to 
 climb their heights. Men of the world can aim no 
 higher. To be saluted " king," or venerated as a 
 " priest " of the highest order, is, in their estimation, 
 to gain the very acme of human bhss and grandeur. 
 To them every other grade looks up. Multitudes 
 seem to make themselves happy in anticipating and 
 fulfilling their every wish; and their mandate none 
 dare to dispute, for " where the Avord of a king is 
 there is power." But ardently and eagerly as these 
 and other high titles are aspired to and grasped at, 
 by them who covet the honour that cometh from 
 man only, we need not say how, in every case, these 
 
78 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 honours fall far short of the fond expectations they 
 had raised; — how frequently they have proved the 
 bitterest of disappointments, bringing upon their 
 successful candidates desolation, instead of pros- 
 perity; and instead of a blessing, a curse! So far, 
 indeed, as man's true enjoyment is concerned, few- 
 conditions in life have been found less favourable to 
 it than that of wearing an earthly crown. This 
 humbling fact, respecting the proudest earthly emi- 
 nence, is confirmed by the experience of all ages. 
 There is, however, a kingly dignity incorruptible; 
 there is a royal priesthood, holy in character, and 
 permanent in duration, — but these are spiritual. 
 They are dignities peculiar to the children of God, 
 the joint-heirs of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In reference to this privileged class of people, the 
 appellation of kings and priests is figurative; the 
 dignity itself is real. Their titles are borrowed 
 from ofiices recognised and honoured among men, 
 but which receive an infinitely truer and more ele- 
 vated meaning when employed to mark the spiritual 
 dignity of the heirs of God. They are entitled 
 Kings, as having, through the grace of God, con- 
 quered, and obtained the ascendancy over sin, Satan, 
 and the world. To these enemies of God and man 
 they once did willing service. To them were they 
 subject, while unregenerated, in common with all 
 mankind ; but the Spirit of God made the truths of 
 the Gospel tell upon their hearts and consciences. 
 They were awakened, quickened, delivered from 
 
DIGNITIES. 79 
 
 thraldom, and brought into the glorious liberty of 
 the sons of God. Then, how great the revolution 
 in their case ! The despotism under which they 
 were before enslaved is destroyed. Sin has no 
 longer the dominion over them. They entered into 
 conflict with their former lords, and have conquered 
 them; they have driven them from their ascendancy; 
 and over those that once reigned, they reign. True, 
 the wisdom and prowess by which the spiritual con- 
 flict is sustained, and the victory won, are not 
 their's. They had no resources of their own for such 
 a warfare. The resources belong to, and are de- 
 rived from, the Lord their Eighteousness. It is by 
 his support they are able to withstand, in the evil 
 day; and by his strong arm do they overcome and 
 subdue their every foe. "Not by might, nor by 
 power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
 The corruptions still lurking within them may, and 
 do frequently, strive, as dethroned tyrants are wont 
 to do, to regain their lost dominion. But the Holy 
 Spirit operates upon their hearts and minds to make 
 sin, in every shape and degree of it, hateful to them, 
 — hence conflicts that still arise — the better law of 
 the mind warring against the law of the flesh. 
 They conquer, but give all the glory to their Lord. 
 " I can do all things," says Paul, " through Christ 
 who strengtheneth me." Such, however, is the 
 grace and condescension of the Saviour, that he 
 speaks of the conquests which his people obtain as 
 if they were their own, and promises them accord- 
 
80 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 ingly the reward of victors. It is in him they are 
 conquerors, yea, more than conquerors; and he 
 makes them kings. He makes them so in the best 
 sense of the title ; for, as he is Lord and Head over 
 all, he has made all things subservient to them who 
 are his members. "All things," he tells them, 
 "are your's;" and to consummate all, promises them 
 the unspeakable honour of sharing in his throne. 
 
 . What are the kings of the earth, — what all the 
 pomp and splendour with which they dazzle the 
 eyes of their fellow-mortals, in comparison with 
 this ? Their names, perhaps, shall be handed down, 
 in the long genealogical line, through successive 
 ages of time ; but the names of those spiritual kings 
 are written in heaven, even in the Lamb's Book of 
 Life, where they will be found when ages shall 
 cease to be reckoned. The crown of an earthly 
 monarch is of corruptible matter ; that in reserve 
 for the believer is a crown of righteousness incor- 
 ruptible. And what are the dominions of kings 
 among men, with all their array of servants and 
 subjects, but shifting, precarious, unsatisfactory 
 possessions ? Those whom the Son of God makes 
 spiritual kings have their kingdoms in heaven, 
 where they shall reign with him for ever : and even 
 now they have for their attendants to wait upon 
 them the angels themselves ; for " are they not all 
 ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them 
 who shall be heirs ? " 
 
 Again, these adopted children are also made 
 
DIGNITIES. 81 
 
 Priests unto God. The office of Priest, in our 
 holy religion, belongs exclusively and inconununi- 
 cably to Christ. We acknowledge none other. 
 But, in a figurative sense, all true believers stand 
 in the character of priests unto God, to present 
 unto him the offerings of prayer, of thanksgiving, 
 and of obedience. The title is common to them all 
 — to the preacher of the Gospel, and to his pious 
 hearers alike. There is no separate order of priests 
 among Christians, no one being more capable than 
 another of sustaining such a distinction. "Tliis 
 honour" (in a scriptural sense) "have all the 
 saints." Their spiritual oneness with Christ pro- 
 cures this, with their every other dignity. As in 
 him they are made kings, having obtained dominion 
 over their enemies, so in him they are made priests, 
 being, in body, soul, and sj)irit, made holy, and con- 
 secrated to his service. They are, as the apostle 
 Peter expresses it, "a chosen generation, a holy 
 and a royal priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacri- 
 fices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." In thus 
 characterizing the people of God, the Apostle puts 
 three things into prominent view, — the sanctity and 
 dignity of their function, as priests ; the offerings 
 they are appointed to present; and the acceptaUeness 
 of their services before God. 
 
 1. Dignity and Sanctity are united in this spiritual 
 priesthood. Believers, being made partakers of a 
 new life, and sons and heirs of God, and joint-heirs 
 with Christ, are of the seed-royal, and share in the 
 
 G 
 
82 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 honours of their Divine Head. Hence we find the 
 sublime doxology to Christ, in the beginning of 
 John's Apocalypse, mingling a grateful expression 
 of this holy and dignified participation. "Unto 
 him that loved us, and washed us from our sins 
 in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto his God and Father; to him be glory and 
 dominion for ever and ever ! " 
 
 A priesthood necessarily conveys the idea of 
 Sanctity. That under the law was pronounced holy 
 to the Lord. Various observances were prescribed, 
 and various things prohibited, to signify its special 
 holiness. The sacerdotal unctions and vestments, 
 the washings and purifications, were all intended 
 to impress upon priests and people the necessity 
 of holiness in the services and worship of G-od. 
 But to mark the holiness of this spiritual priest- 
 hood, no external signs are required. — It is that 
 of the heart and life. — It is the sanctifi cation of a 
 man's entire nature, effected by "the washing of re- 
 generation, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit." — 
 It is purity of thought, word, and deed; — the ten- 
 dency of the affections towards God, and conformity 
 to his will. It disposes him who is the subject of 
 it to believe in God, to confide and rejoice in 
 his promises, to cherish communion with him, to 
 labour in his service, and, in a word, to strive after 
 a growing resemblance to the Divine perfections. 
 Such is the holiness of what may be called the 
 Gospel Priesthood. We do not, however, mean to 
 
DIGNITIES. 83 
 
 say that the members of this priesthood are im- 
 maculate — pure from all sin. Such a state they 
 do not attain, while in the body, — it is the privi- 
 lege of heaven. In the sense of absolute perfection, 
 "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth 
 good, and sinneth not." But the work accomplished 
 in all true believers is an effectual^ if not a perfect 
 work; it has made them new, though not finished, 
 characters. K they are not wholly free from sin, 
 it has no longer the dominion over them. Perfec- 
 tion is their aim: the process is now begun, which 
 will be perfected in glory, when they "will be like 
 Christ; for they will see him as he is." 
 
 2. Believers, as a priesthood, offer up sacrifices. 
 A priest supposes a sacrifice which he professes to 
 offer. He is ordained chiefly for that purpose. 
 What then are the analogous sacrifices and services 
 of the believer under the Gospel? "The priest- 
 hood being changed, there is made of necessity a 
 change in the law." He is not required to come be- 
 fore the Lord with burnt-offerings, with calves of a 
 year old, or with rams; nor to make offerings of corn, 
 of wine, or of oil. No; the Gospel -priesthood is 
 wholly spiritual, and spiritual must be the offerings 
 made. Sincerity of heart, indeed, and devotedness 
 of spirit were required of worshippers under the 
 old dispensation, without which their most costly 
 offerings were an abomination in the sight of God; 
 but, freed, as we are, from their expensive and 
 cumbersome services, we are emphatically and spe- 
 
84 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 cially bound to worship "in spirit and in truth," — 
 to present our offerings in the incense of faith and 
 love, and holy desire. And yet this simple, un- 
 encumbered service is just that against which 
 the corrupt nature of man mostly revolts. Bodily 
 exercise and toil, with pecuniary sacrifices, would 
 many willingly present, as all their religion, — spiri- 
 tuality of heart and mind they will not render. It 
 is a qualification for which the unregenerate man 
 has no relish. Spiritual service consists of supreme 
 love to God, harmony with his will, and a disposition 
 to obedience, than which nothing is more the object 
 of his dislike and avoidance ; for the carnal mind is 
 enmity against God. But the true believer in Christ, 
 like a priest of God's own ordination, ofiers up a 
 holy and spiritual sacrifice. He presents himself, 
 acknowledging himself a debtor, an unworthy debtor, 
 to the free grace of God, for salvation and the hope 
 of a blessed immortality; he feels that he is not his 
 own, but his who bought him, at the cost of his own 
 blood, and thankfully gives his whole self "a living 
 sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is his 
 rational service." But what is implied in such a 
 sacrifice? Surely, nothing less than holding sacred 
 to God the whole inner and outward man, — the un- 
 derstanding, with all its faculties, to be increased 
 and strengthened in the acquisition and mainte- 
 nance of Divine truth, — the heart, with all its 
 affections, to embrace that truth, to centre in God, 
 and to go out in ardent desires after unceasing 
 
DIGNITIES. 80 
 
 tokens of his love and conformity to his image, — 
 the will, with a determined, constant, persevering 
 purpose to melt into the will of God, bringing the 
 whole moral man into an acquiescent disposition 
 to be, or to do, whatsoever he appears to have 
 willed. And in offering the outer man, the eyes 
 are to seek out and obtain objects and occasions 
 to serve God and a fellow-creature, — the ears, to 
 listen to the oracles of truth, and the tale of human 
 woe, — the tongue, to utter prayer and praise to 
 God, and to speak good of his name, — the hands, 
 to labour in works of piety and mercy, — and the 
 feet, to go on errands of love, and to run to and 
 fro, that knowledge may be increased. These are 
 the sacrifices of the Christian priest. But as its 
 main and indisj^ensable characteristic is spirituality, 
 they may be all comprehended in the surrender of 
 the HEART to God. Where this is freely and fully 
 given, it carries with it all the rest, and becomes, as 
 the Apostle describes it, "acceptable to God by 
 Jesus Christ." And this reminds us that this 
 spiritual service meets — 
 
 3. With acceptance. On frequent occasions of 
 sacrifice by some of the ancient patriarchs, we per- 
 ceive that their acceptance, on the part of Heaven, 
 was visibly notified by the descent of fire upon 
 the victims. But the Christian's sacrifices being 
 spiritual, the tokens of their acceptance are spiritu- 
 ally given. They are presented simply and exclu- 
 sively in the name, and through the incense, of his 
 
86 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Great High Priest. Through him alone he ex- 
 pects to find acceptance with the Father. Deeply 
 sensible that, neither in himself, nor in the offer- 
 ings he presents, can any excellence or favourable 
 circumstance be found to attract the Divine com- 
 placency, he trusts wholly in the merits and the 
 grace of him who represents him in heaven. 
 But here he fails not ; and his acceptance is made 
 known to him in the sweet experience he enjoys of 
 " the love of God shed abroad in his heart, by the 
 Holy Ghost which is given unto him," — in the 
 testimony of his conscience, that in simplicity and 
 godly sincerity he is serving God, — in the in- 
 creasing tendency of his affections tow^ards God 
 and Divine things, — and in the delight he takes 
 in promoting the glory of his Redeemer, and 
 "making manifest the savour of his knowledge 
 in every place." In such tokens as these he cannot 
 be deceived. They are impressions made upon 
 his heart and mind by the Holy Spirit himself, 
 and by which he bears witness with the spirit of 
 the believer that he is a child of God. 
 
 Truly the Dignities of which we have been 
 speaking are of surpassing grandeur and blessed- 
 ness! Yet, such is the distortion of mind, and 
 such the grossness of heart prevalent among our 
 fallen race, that the multitude neither appreciate 
 nor desire them. Immersed in the things of time 
 and sense, they are callous to the things of faith 
 and holy anticipation. In vain do we warn them 
 of the delusions they are following, or urge them 
 
DIGNITIES. 87 
 
 to open their eyes to spiritual realities, or ply them 
 with remonstrances on the perdition they are in- 
 curring, contrasted with the bliss and glory they 
 are rejecting. " They are like the deaf adder, that 
 stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the 
 voice of the charmer, charming never so wisely." 
 Alas! for souls so altogether reckless of their im- 
 mortal interests — so wholly engaged in the pursuit 
 of airy phantoms, as to have neither time nor relish 
 for seeking a title to the kingdom of heaven, 
 preferring abject slavery under sin and Satan to 
 the glorious liberty of the children of God; and 
 rejecting a freely-offered salvation, with glory, 
 honour, and immortality; choosing rather to brave 
 the dreadful alternative of a fiery indignation, and 
 the blackness of darkness for ever! — Spirit of the 
 living God! this is not as thou wouldst have it! 
 Thou hast no pleasure in looking on the Avork 
 of self-destruction. O still strive with obstinate 
 sinners ! What is impossible with man is possible 
 with thee. Yet bear upon them with thy word and 
 grace. "Is not thy word like as a fire, and like 
 a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" O 
 draw them with the cords of a man, with the bands 
 of love, that they may break away from the bondage 
 of sin, and lay hold of eternal life ! 
 
 Christian ! it is well with thee. Thou hast 
 made a wise and happy choice. Thou art now 
 a child of God; but remember it is by the grace 
 of God thou art what thou art. This, and not thy 
 ovm merit, has made thee to differ from another. 
 
88 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 "Thou standest bj faith; be not high-minded, but 
 fear." Thou art exhorted to be sober, to be vigi- 
 lant, because the adversary is still seeking to de- 
 vour. Let Jesus be ever thy Pattern, as well as 
 thy Boast ; and carry this motto impressed upon 
 thy heart, tlu-ough the whole course of thy life, 
 " / am expected to walk worthy of the vocation where- 
 with I am called.^^ As an heir of God, and a joint- 
 heir with Christ, thou art required to cultivate 
 holiness of heart and life. Thy spiritual birth is 
 of the highest order. Live as becomes the son 
 of a king, in expectation of a kingdom. Maintain 
 a royal bearing. Degrade not thyself with con- 
 formity to the maxims and practices of a sinful 
 world. Let thy conversation be marked by a high- 
 toned principle of piety and devotedness to Christ, 
 and his cause upon earth. Be mindful of the vows 
 that are upon thee; nor be content with a negative 
 righteousness, but see that "Holiness to the Lord" 
 be inscribed on all that is thine, — not simply " de- 
 nying ungodliness and worldly lusts," and abstain- 
 ing from offences of the tongue and conduct, but 
 regulating thy thoughts, thy affections, thy pur- 
 poses, thy desires, by the maxims and the spirit 
 of the Gospel, commending them to others, and 
 " speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, 
 and when thou walkest by the way, when thou 
 liest down, and when thou risest up." " Blessed 
 is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, 
 shall find so doing ! " 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 89 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 
 
 " Having therefore, brethren, boldness (liberty) to enter into 
 the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true 
 heart." — Heb. x. 1 9. 
 
 Of our civil and social privileges, or our rights 
 and liberties, as members of society, we are, at all 
 times, sufficiently tenacious. Whether they be our's 
 by inheritance, gift, or purchase, we cling to them 
 according to the worth at which we estimate them, 
 and resent any attempt to deprive us of them. We 
 guard them with sensitive jealousy; we boldly 
 assert them; and if they be threatened, we feel 
 annoyed, and prepare to defend them. If they be 
 invaded, the invasion is instantly resisted. We en- 
 list in this service every power we possess, mental 
 as weU as physical. Poetry and oratory are called 
 in to aid, on such occasions, by stirring up the 
 spirits, and nerving the hand, for determined and 
 successful defence. To all this we are, no doubt, 
 the more readily excited, as, in these cases, our 
 pride is affronted as well as our interests endan- 
 
90 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 gered. Hence the zeal and earnestness we display- 
 in maintaining the rights and liberties belonging to 
 us as men and citizens. 
 
 But, however valuable these may be, and however 
 worthy of our watchful tenacity, I have now to in- 
 vite attention to Rights and Liberties of infinitely 
 greater import and value, — those that belong to the 
 people of God. They are derived from an autho- 
 rity undeniably supreme, and held on a tenure not 
 liable to casualties. They are not earthly, but spi- 
 ritual. They are the possession of believers; but 
 not their's in their own right, nor by their own 
 purchase. They are the gifts of Grod — the un- 
 bought, unmerited gifts of free, uncontrollable 
 sovereignty. They are indeed purchased posses- 
 sions; they are liberties bought /or, not 5y, them 
 who possess them. They are freely bestowed of 
 God on man, but purchased by the blood of his Son, 
 in man's nature, to be so bestowed. Believers hold 
 them precious, and esteem it their best interest and 
 their highest honour, with earnest and frequent 
 application, to avail themselves of them. 
 
 Now these liberties are all of them chartered for 
 this people in the Covenant of Grace, and revealed 
 to them by the Holy Spirit in his word. There 
 they find them illuminating and adorning numerous 
 pages of the sacred oracles, ministering both to 
 their fulness of joy, and to the growth and vigour 
 of their spiritual life. Too abundant to be reviewed 
 at large, we can only specify some of them. The 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 91 
 
 Rights and Liberties, then, which believers may be 
 said to enjoj are — 
 
 I. Liberty to receive and appropriate to 
 
 THEMSELVES THE PROMISES OF GOD. 
 
 IL To REST IN THE PATERNAL LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 III. To HOLD COMMUNION WITH GoD. 
 
 IV. To SPEAK AND ACT IN THE NAME OP GoD. 
 
 We have accordingly to remark that believers are 
 privileged with liberty — 
 
 I. To RECEIVE AND APPROPRIATE TO THEMSELVES 
 THE PROMISES OF GOD. 
 
 Promises among men are proverbially uncertain, 
 and frequently prove the most deceitful of all things. 
 This is but expressing the general experience. So 
 commonly are human promises met with mistrust, 
 that we often find our very children look upon us 
 with a doubting countenance, when we have pro- 
 mised them some future good. It is too true that 
 in this bad world many false and hollow promises 
 are made. There are classes of people who, from 
 worldly, selfish, sordid motives, will lie, and flatter, 
 and falsely promise, to compass their own ends. 
 They employ deception as means of success, reck- 
 less at once of the disappointment and distress they 
 occasion to their credulous victims, and of the sin 
 of a "false tongue" before God. Against putting 
 our trust in such characters, especially to the exclu- 
 sion of the confidence we ought to repose in God, 
 we are forcibly warned in his own word: " Thus 
 
92 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in 
 man, and maketh flesh his arm; and whose heart 
 departeth from the Lord ! " 
 
 But, indeed, there can be nothing in the promises 
 of frail humanity to guarantee an event to come. 
 Possessors of only the present moment, we know 
 not what the next may be charged with. We are 
 all of us, at all times, and in every condition of life, 
 whether in wealth or in poverty, in health or in 
 sickness, dependant upon contingencies, over which 
 we have no control; and no one of us ought to pass 
 his word to another but conditionally, in the spirit 
 of the Apostle's admonition, not saying we shall do 
 so and so, but, " If the Lord will, we shall live," 
 and do this or that. This uncertainty attaches to 
 human promises of the best character. We may 
 promise with the greatest sincerity, with perfect 
 honesty of purpose, and not be permitted to fulfil it. 
 The means may escape beyond our reach; the 
 favourable opportunity may never arrive: death 
 may intervene, and blast our fairest hopes. The 
 Psalmist was, no doubt, impressed with this view of 
 human uncertainty, when he gave the wise and 
 wholesome caution, " Put not your trust in princes, 
 nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 
 His breath goeth forth, he return eth to his earth; 
 in that very day his thoughts (purposes) perish." 
 
 It is not so with the promises of God. They 
 come from One whose power and will are absolute, 
 and whose inviolable faithfulness ensures a timely 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 93 
 
 and an abundant fulfilment. But what is more, the 
 Divine promises are all of them made in wisdom 
 and goodness. He knows both what to promise, 
 and when and how to bring it to pass. " He is 
 not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of 
 man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall 
 he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not 
 make it good?" God is also liberal in his promises. 
 They are as numerous and varied as are the cases 
 and wants of his people. Whatever may be their 
 lot, whatever may occur to agitate or try their 
 spirits, God has furnished them in his word with a 
 promise to re-assure and support them. Let us 
 briefly consider their character. 
 
 The apostle Peter, alluding to them, very happily, 
 yet concisely, designates them " exceeding great 
 and precious promises." And well may they be so 
 described; for they are " great and precious" in the 
 estimation of believers, because — 
 
 1. Their heavenly Father is their Author. It is 
 he who has spoken them. On the enunciation 
 of any sentiment, or counsel, or promise, or threat- 
 ening, we naturally look to the authority that puts 
 it forth, and give that degree of attention which we 
 deem the authority entitled to claim. If we think 
 meanly of him that speaks, we attach no importance 
 to what he says. " The poor man's wisdom is 
 despised, and his words are not heard." Even that 
 which is wise and just, proceeding from the lips of 
 him who is held in contempt, loses its dignity, and 
 
94 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 excites disgust; for " Excellent speech becometh not 
 a fool." But if rank, power, intelligence, and each 
 of these attributes of the highest order, should unite 
 to characterize the speaker, let him counsel, or 
 threaten, or promise, the influence is felt, and we 
 own at once his claim to our reverence and atten- 
 tion. The promises we are now speaking of have 
 the highest authority, — they emanate from above. 
 In this respect they cannot be mistaken; for they 
 carry with them, so to speak, the very impress of 
 the Divinity. They partake of "the exceeding 
 greatness of his power." Who can arrogate the 
 tone of God's promises? Who can promise like 
 him? His promises, while they speak grace, mercy, 
 and peace to them whose right and liberty it is to 
 embrace them, bear in them the tokens of power, 
 majesty, and truth that belong to no created beings 
 whatever. Yes; it is the prerogative of him who 
 framed the w^orlds by his word, to speak in the 
 strong language of the promises in the sacred pages. 
 Truly, as our Watts has beautifully expressed it, — 
 
 " His very word of grace is strong, 
 As that which built the skies; 
 The voice that rolls the stars along 
 Speaks all the promises ! " 
 
 2. They are " exceeding great and precious," 
 because they are the hearers of exceeding great and 
 precious Benefits to those to whom they are addressed. 
 In this, undoubtedly, their intrinsic value consists. 
 But the promises are not all of equal value : some 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 95 
 
 relate to objects of but secondary importance ; 
 others, to the first, the highest interests of rational 
 and immortal beings. They may, therefore, be ar- 
 ranged under two classes, — those of a subordinate 
 character, as relating only to temporal concerns ; 
 and those of the highest importance, relating to 
 spiritual and eternal things. The promises of the 
 former class, having an aspect only to the present 
 life, are clearly not those to which the Apostle 
 refers. God, indeed, makes no promises unworthy 
 of his wisdom and goodness to make ; but he has 
 condescended to present them in the varieties that 
 suit the wants and weaknesses of his people. The 
 blessings he has stipulated in the covenant of grace 
 are the grand and all-important articles that belong 
 to their peace, for time and for eternity ; but he is 
 graciously pleased also to promise, that " unto them 
 shaU be added all things " needful to their temporal 
 good. The followers of Christ are not, however, 
 promised to be made the largest sharers of this 
 world's wealth, or to be placed in stations of emi- 
 nence and superiority over their fellow-men. These 
 distinctions, so far from being needful, tend only to 
 make " the heart haughty, and the eyes lofty," and 
 to corrupt the principles of the children of God. 
 They foster pride, worldly ambition, and the lust of 
 power, passions altogether incompatible with the 
 humility, the heavenly-mindedness, and love of God 
 by which they are characterized. Their heavenly 
 Father is too wise and too good to promise posses- 
 
96 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 sions that might prove a snare to their souls, and 
 endanger their everlasting inheritance. He strongly 
 prohibits the desire of such things, but, at the same 
 time, liberally promises to supply all their natural 
 wants. " Bread," he says, " shall be given them, 
 and their water shall be sure." " O fear the Lord, 
 ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear 
 him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger ; 
 but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good 
 thing." The Saviour himself, on this topic, urges 
 his disciples to implicit confidence in their heavenly 
 Father, assuring them that he who feeds the ravens, 
 and clothes the flowers of the field, will much more 
 feed and clothe them. 
 
 Every child of God has also the promise oi provi- 
 dential Interposition and Care in his behalf. These 
 are the ample terms in which it runs : " Even the 
 very hairs of your head are all numbered. There 
 shall no evil befall thee ; neither shall any plague 
 come nigh thy dwelling: for he shall give his angels 
 charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." 
 
 The promises, however, of the second class are 
 those of which the Apostle speaks. These are truly 
 worthy of the high epithets which he employs to 
 distinguish them, conveying, as they do, to the 
 Christian, the child of God, exceeding great and pre- 
 cious blessings. What, for instance, can be so great, 
 so iinportant, so highly precious to him, frail and 
 erring as he is, while in the body, as the grace that 
 pardons his offences? The promise brings him 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 97 
 
 assurance of this. The apostle John, speaking to 
 God's children, tells them, "If any man sin, we 
 have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous ; " and this is the direct language of the 
 promise, " I will be merciful to their unrighteous- 
 ness, and their sins and their iniquities will I re- 
 member no more." The Christian, appropriating to 
 himself such expressions of goodness and love, feels 
 his heart enlarged; and he goes on his way with 
 renewed alacrity. But it is in the believer's nature 
 to long for advanced attainments in the spiritual 
 life. He is aware that in regeneration he is sancti- 
 fied but in part, and that progress must be made. 
 It is his duty and his privilege to grow in grace; to 
 " forget the things that are behind, and reach for- 
 ward to those that are before ; " to press towards a 
 higher and a higher mark ; in fine, to be holy, even 
 as God is holy. To no degree of this is he sufficient 
 in himself. Yet his Bible tells him that the path 
 of "the just is as the shining light, that shineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day." But feeling 
 his utter inability to verify that illustration in his 
 own character, he is often forced to lament the little 
 advance he makes, and even to doubt whether he be 
 in the right path at all. He writes bitter things 
 against himself, and his soul is cast down and dis- 
 quieted within him. On such occasions, when^the 
 Spirit takes the things of Christ, and shows them 
 vividly to his mind, how exceeding great and pre- 
 cious do his promises appear ! how refreshing to 
 
 H 
 
98 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 recollect his words, " My grace is sufficient for thee, 
 and my strength is made perfect in weakness!" and 
 " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; 
 they shall run, and not pe weary ; and they shall 
 walk, and not faint ! " So exceeding great and pre- 
 cious are the Father's promises to supply all his 
 need, according to his riches in glory by Christ 
 Jesus, that he not only finds them his most reviving 
 and delightful recollections, but he feeds on them : 
 they are the stay and nourishment of his spiritual 
 life ; they minister to his growth in every grace ; 
 they constrain his obedience ; they stimulate his 
 love ; they invigorate his faith ; they brighten his 
 hope; in fine, to use the words of our Apostle, " By 
 them he is made a partaker of the Divine nature." 
 
 Nor has God been sparing and scanty in the enun- 
 ciations of his gracious engagements. Time would 
 fail us simply to enumerate them in all their beauti- 
 ful variety ; and no created mind is able to com- 
 prehend, nor any tongue to tell, the richness of the 
 blessings to which they relate. But to all of these, 
 numerous, great, and precious as they are, the child 
 of God is made welcome. He is invited to embrace 
 them, to trust them implicitly. He is exhorted to 
 cultivate that " perfect love which casteth out fear," 
 and disposes the soul to lay hold on the truth and faith- 
 fulness of God in the jjromises of his word. This 
 confidence is the appropriation of the promises, and 
 is well pleasing in the sight of God, — it does honour 
 
RIGHTS A2^D LIBERTIES. 99 
 
 to his truth. As the natural affection of a father is 
 honoured by the return of filial confidence, so is 
 God represented in his word as glorified by the 
 abundant faith and unquestioning confidence of his 
 people. Thus Abraham is said to have been " strong 
 in faith, giving glory to God," because he "was 
 fully persuaded that what he had promised he was 
 able also to perform." 
 
 Christian, the promises are thine. Dost thou 
 claim them, and embrace them, and glory in them ? 
 or are there any of them which thou canst not ap- 
 propriate ? Thy Father in heaven is not a partial 
 father ; what he promises to one, he promises to all 
 his children. But if aught hinder thee, and pre- 
 vent the enjoyment of the privilege, the hinderance 
 is not in him, but in thyself. " Is the Spirit of the 
 Lord straitened ? " No ; with thee — ^in thy own 
 bosom — the restriction, if any, must be found. It 
 may be thou art conscious of some turning aside 
 from the right way — of having grieved the Holy 
 Spirit, by neglecting or going counter to his moni- 
 tory suggestions. Some temptation may have sur- 
 prised thee ; thy faith may have failed ; thy love 
 become cold ; thy zeal languid ; and the world has 
 been suffered to gain upon thee. If thou art in- 
 volved in any such case as this, the consequence 
 will doubtless be darkness, timidity, and distrust 
 of mind, so that thou art scared from the great 
 and precious promises, as infinitely too good, too 
 rich, for a backslider like thee to claim. Thou hast 
 
100 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 guilt upon thy conscience, and therefore thou hast 
 fear. But abide not in this state. Let not this 
 fear prevail. Even for thee, in this case, there are 
 invitations, there are promises. Arise, seize upon 
 them, and plead them with God. Hear what he 
 says, for he waits for thy return: "O Israel, return 
 unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thy 
 iniquity. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy 
 transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins : return unto 
 me ; for I have redeemed thee." And, lest a sense 
 of thy unworthiness should so bow thee down, and 
 confound thee, that thou knowest not what to say 
 before him, he condescends to dictate the very lan- 
 guage of thy prayer. " Take with you words," he 
 says, " and turn to the Lord : say unto him. Take 
 away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." And 
 then he adds, " I will heal their backsliding ; I will 
 love them freely : for mine anger is turned away 
 from him." Be encouraged thus to return, depend- 
 ing throughout on Christ, the propitiation for thy 
 sins. The promises will then again be sweet to thy 
 taste, and thy soul will be restored to the exercise 
 of a right and liberty to appropriate and feast upon 
 them, as the bounteous provision of thy Father and 
 thy God. 
 
 II. Believers enjoy the right and liberty of rest- 
 ing IN THE PATERNAL LOVE OF GOD. The SOul of 
 
 man, in his present imperfect state, is unquiet, dis- 
 satisfied, and ill at ease. It is like a being detained 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 101 
 
 out of its proper element. It is ever in search of 
 suitable nourishment, but lights not upon it ; for it 
 thrives not, but seems as if it must starve on what 
 it partakes of in the things around it. It is con- 
 stantly looking after and expecting satisfaction, but 
 nothing in this world can afford it. In fine, it craves, 
 it longs for the fulness of that happiness for which 
 it is created, and for the fruition of which it inherits 
 a capacity. But so long as its search is confined to 
 the things of time and sense, it longs and craves in 
 vain. What the Scripture asserts respecting wis- 
 dom may be declared of the proper rest of the 
 human soul. " Man knoweth not the price thereof ; 
 neither is it found in the land of the living. The 
 depth saith. It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not 
 in me." Still the soul, while involved in nature's 
 darkness and degeneracy, though disappointed in 
 every quarter, returns again and again to the search, 
 crying out, " Who will show us any good ? " and 
 still destined to hear the same answer, to meet with 
 the same repulse. Within a region so low and 
 limited there is nothing to fill its desires — no stable 
 good on which it can repose. What then? Is this 
 the inevitable fate of the soul of man ? Is it to be 
 doomed, like " the troubled sea, which cannot rest," 
 to incessant agitation? to be going over and over 
 the round of human pursuits, with the same invari- 
 able results — "Vanity of vanities, aU is vanity?" 
 No ; the matter is in no such desperate case. The 
 troubled sea cannot indeed rest of itself; nor is it 
 
102 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 in the power of man to smooth its surface. But 
 this perpetual searching of the soul — this inextin- 
 guishable longing after rest, with dissatisfaction 
 even in the abundance of worldly good, indicates its 
 capacity for a higher, a richer, an ampler enjoy- 
 ment ; and for that capacity provision is made. It 
 is in the conscious enjoyment of the love, the pater- 
 nal love of God in Christ Jesus, that the believer's 
 soul finds a satisfying repose. When he is brought, 
 by the agency of the Holy Spirit, through repent- 
 ance and faith, to Jesus Christ, as the propitiation 
 for his sins, and is enabled to receive him as his 
 only hope, and salvation, and peace, he feels his 
 reconciliation with God effected, and rests in his 
 love. Here his extramundane desires begin to re- 
 ceive that kind of satisfaction which suits their 
 nature. Like the mariner, who has been long tossed 
 to and fro with storms and tempests, but is at length 
 brought to his desired haven, he finds in the bosom 
 of his heavenly Father a hiding-place from danger 
 and from fear — a rest from fruitless labours — a 
 " strong habitation whereunto he may continually 
 resort." How happy, how blessed a position is 
 this ! — to rest in the love of God the Father, of God 
 the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit ! feeling as- 
 sured, in the possession of that love, of his full 
 acceptance in the Beloved, and of his perfect secu- 
 rity against the attempts of his arch-accuser to mar 
 his joys ! But there are some particular points of 
 view, in which it becomes us to contemplate this love. 
 
RIGHTS AJJD LIBERTIES. 103 
 
 1. The love of God towards the believer is a 
 costly love. As in all excellences, so in love, the 
 Lord Jesus has the pre-eminence. None has ever 
 loved, none can ever love like him. The love of 
 Christ passeth knowledge. The amount of a fellow- 
 creature's love is very often soon told. How short- 
 lived its fervour ! how reluctant its self-denial ! how 
 inactive its labours! how sparing its favours! But 
 the love of Christ to his ransomed people has heights 
 and depths, and lengths and breadths, which cannot 
 be measured. That a man should so love his friend 
 as to lay down his life for him is the greatest ex- 
 tent of human love; but Christ died for the ungodly, 
 that Divine love might be manifested to them. The 
 greatest prince on earth descending to die for his 
 meanest subject, would fall infinitely short of the 
 condescension of the Lord of Glory consenting to 
 die for a sinful mortal, it is beyond the tongue 
 to tell, or the mind to conceive, what it cost Divine 
 love to save sinners ! We can only speak of it in 
 language that shows it to be unspeakable. God 
 the Father so loved the world that he gave his only 
 begotten Son; the Son so loved us, that he washed 
 us from our sins in his own blood; and the Holy 
 Spirit so loved us, that he quickened us, when we 
 were dead in trespasses and sins, and brought us to 
 God. It is in such love as this the Christian, the 
 child of God, is invited to rest. 
 
 2. The love of God is a disinterested love. Here- 
 in also it stands out in infinite pre-eminence. How 
 
104 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 little among us, even the best of us, do we find of 
 purely disinterested attachment ! A selfishness will 
 too generally be detected at the bottom of our most 
 charitable deeds. Our love is seldom or never drawn 
 out to any object where we meet with nothing that, 
 pleases us. We take credit for benevolence, where, 
 if our motives were analysed, it might be found that 
 we were actuated not a little by the prevalence of 
 self-consequence, cupidity, or the desire of relieving 
 our own minds from painful feelings. Too frequently, 
 in whatsoever things are most lovely among us, we 
 have some self-interest to serve. But think of the 
 love of God, the self-existent, independent, Creator 
 and Supporter of all things, to us the creatures of 
 his forming, who, so far from being profitable to 
 him, had rebelled against him — so far from being 
 pleasing in his sight, had become offensive by dis- 
 obedience, and odious by the pollution of apostacy! 
 — Yet he loved mankind! What but purely dis- 
 interested love could have originated the plan and 
 work of our redemption? It was to men, while 
 yet sinners, that God gave his best, his unspeakable 
 gift to save, to adopt, to bless, and to glorify them! 
 It was clothed in purely disinterested love that 
 Christ came so readily, so cheerfully, to the scene 
 of our rebellion, and took our nature into union 
 with his own, that he might therein be "wounded 
 for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniqui- 
 ties ! " In this wonderful love his ransomed people 
 find repose. 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 105 
 
 3. This love is a tenderly compassionate love. 
 The tenderness of Divine love is repeatedly alluded 
 to in the sacred oracles, and presented to us in 
 beautifully pathetic and melting illustrations. Na- 
 ture animate and inanimate, and the softest affec- 
 tions of the human heart in our most interesting 
 relations, are brought up, and appealed to, in order 
 to represent this character of the love of God. 
 "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smok- 
 ing flax shall he not quench? He shall come down 
 like rain upon the mown grass. He shall gather 
 the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his 
 bosom; and shall gently lead those that are with 
 young." One prophet, speaking of his regard for 
 his people's sufferings, says, "In all their afilictions, 
 he is afflicted;" and another, to cheer and encou- 
 rage them, tells them that, such is the tenderness 
 of his care for them, that " He that toucheth you, 
 toucheth the apple of his eye." To assure them 
 of the deep place they hold in his heart, he con- 
 descends to be depicted in every form of endear- 
 ment. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
 Lord pitieth them that fear him;" and "As one 
 whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort 
 you." And in how winning a manner does the 
 Apostle, even when magnifying the character of 
 Christ as a great High Priest, tell us, that not- 
 withstanding his transcendent greatness, he so far 
 identifies himself with us, that "he is touched with 
 the feeling of our infirmities !" Surely, in love and 
 
106 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 tenderness thus warmly and feelingly expressed, on 
 the part of God towards his people, they may con- 
 fide securely, and rest without fear. 
 
 4. It is a greatly enriching love. To the love 
 and friendship of a fellow-creature, whose charac- 
 ter is influential and active, we may have been 
 greatly indebted. He may have relieved us in 
 difficulties; he may have helped us to patronage 
 and wealth. He has thus far a claim to our grati- 
 tude. But how incalculable our debt to God's 
 paternal love! "In his favour is life; and his 
 loving-kindness is better than life." The Chris- 
 tian, realizing this love, may well say to his soul, 
 "What is the value of the most exalted of all hu- 
 man attachments to that of him 'who forgiveth 
 all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 
 who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who 
 crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender 
 mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good 
 things; so that thy youth is renewed like the 
 eagle's?'" And when he thinks on the value of 
 atoning, cleansing, and reconciling love, how must 
 his heart exult in its inexpressible amount! for 
 "Ye know," says the Apostle to the believers at 
 Corinth, "ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your 
 sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, 
 might be rich." O justly may such love as this 
 prompt the grateful cry, "Return unto thy rest, 
 O my soul! for the Lord hath dealt bountifully 
 with thee!" 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 107 
 
 5. This is an everlasting love. The friendships 
 of the world are proverbially short-lived. It may 
 be that they warmly and loudly profess their 
 sincerity and faithfulness for a season; but in time 
 of trouble, when most needed, "they deal deceit- 
 fully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks, they 
 pass away." Human friendship, however, may be 
 sincere; human love may be cordial; the desire 
 to do good, to alleviate distress, to diffuse happiness, 
 may glow with veritable warmth in the bosom of a 
 man, — but his resources are limited; he cannot 
 command events, and his purposes are defeated. 
 Besides, he is mortal: "His days pass away; his 
 purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of his 
 heart." But the true Christian has a Friend that 
 loveth at all times, and for ever. "The love of 
 Christ," as the late pious Dr. Waugh has beautifully 
 expressed it, "the love of Christ is deep as the 
 grave in which he lay, high as the heaven to 
 which he ascended, ancient as eternity, and lasting 
 as the interests of the immortal soul!" Listen to 
 the accents of that Friend: "The mountains shall 
 depart, and the hills shall be removed; but my 
 lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither 
 shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith 
 the Lord that hath mercy on thee!" Nothing is 
 wanting here to a secure and lasting foundation for 
 the peace and rest of a child of God. 
 
 ni. The believer enjoys the liberty op hold- 
 ing COMMUNION with God. This privilege the 
 
108 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 first man, so long as he stood in the unimpaired 
 image of God, who created him, happily enjoyed. 
 He then held high and close converse with his 
 Maker, who had endowed him with a mind capable 
 of reciprocating and corresponding with himself. 
 What an exalted, what an interesting relation for 
 man to hold ! Jehovah condescended to come 
 down, and make his creature his companion! He 
 walked, and communed, with him! He made him 
 the object of his paternal love and favour, commu- 
 nicating to him all Divine and natural knowledge; 
 and fitting him for filling correctly the relations in 
 which he stood, and for a perfect enjoyment of 
 existence. The human affections, in return, cen- 
 tred in the bountiful Creator. To man, in his sin- 
 less state, all was full of God. The thoughts of his 
 heart, the words of his mouth, and the doing of 
 his hands, were all in harmony with the mind and 
 will of his Father in heaven, whose manifestations 
 of wisdom, goodness, and love were his daily feast. 
 But man being in honour did not abide, — he dis- 
 obeyed, sinned, and fell. That holy, happy, inti- 
 mate communion with God was lost; he became 
 unfit for it. Guilt occupied his conscience, and 
 filled his heart with jealousy and dread. Aversion 
 took the place of love; and estrangement, of inti- 
 macy and communion. 
 
 Great, incalculably great, was the loss sustained 
 by man, when he lost communion with God. And 
 what renders it the more deplorable, it was a loss 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 109 
 
 altogether out of his own power, and that of any 
 other creature for him, ever to recover. But the 
 mercy and the wisdom of God, who willed not the 
 death of the sinner, accomplished that which other- 
 wise must have remained for ever impossible. Re- 
 solving upon a remedy, God set forth his own Son, 
 his eternal Son, in the room, and clothed in the 
 nature of man, to atone for sin, and bring in an 
 everlasting righteousness. Through faith in his 
 atonement, the sinner receives pardon, acceptance, 
 and adoption. He is made a new creature; the 
 Spirit is given to sanctify him; and he is restored 
 to communion with the Father, and with his Son 
 Jesus Christ. Wonderful privilege ! On the part 
 of God, how condescending ! on the part of the 
 believer admitted to its enjoyment, how blissful! 
 It is a privilege fraught with many and substantial 
 benefits. Let us notice some of them. 
 
 1. Communion with God is an enlightening pri- 
 vilege. That communion, or converse one with 
 another, is attended with a direct and marked in- 
 fluence on the sentiments and character of indivi- 
 duals is universally acknowledged. So entirely 
 do we take this for granted, that we at once estimate 
 a man by his associates. It is a law of our con- 
 stitution, that companionship will exert a power, 
 more or less active, according to its intimacy and 
 time of continuance, in the formation of character. 
 Hence the maxim of Solomon, " He that walketh 
 with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of 
 
110 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 fools shall be destroyed." How important, then, 
 to our well-being in the life that now is, and that 
 which is to come, is the right choice of our bosom 
 companions! But our choice is prompted by our 
 affections. If we love the wise and good, we shall 
 seek their society; and if, in maintaining a close 
 fellowship with them, we make accessions of know- 
 ledge and wisdom, O what advances in spiritual 
 light and truth may we not hope to gain in com- 
 munion with God! "God is light, and in him is 
 no darkness at all." He is "the Father of lights" 
 — the Fountain of all light, physical and moral. 
 We speak now of moral or spiritual light — of that 
 knowledge, wisdom, and truth which are moral 
 attributes of God, belonging to him in all their 
 infinitude. All light possessed by intelligent crea- 
 tures emanates from God. Whatever portion of 
 wisdom and true knowledge is found in angels or 
 men is communicated by Him, from whom every 
 good gift, and every perfect gift, descends. The 
 believer, therefore, in converse with God, through 
 the medium of his word and ordinances, derives 
 from the light of his countenance brighter views 
 of his interest in Divine love. By this near ap- 
 proach, he sees more clearly, and appropriates with 
 greater vividness, the attractive and adorable per- 
 fections of his heavenly Father, and contemplates 
 with livelier feelings " the depth of the riches both 
 of his wisdom and knowledge," especially in the 
 wonders of man's redemption. In the exercise of 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. Hi 
 
 this privilege, lie pours out his heart before God; 
 and receives gracious communications of light re- 
 specting the way he is going, and the purposes of 
 God's dealings with him; and his prospects brighten 
 before him! In fine, in this happy exercise, the 
 Spirit communicates liberally of the things of Christ 
 to the believer, and lets an illumination into his 
 heart, " giving him the light of the knowledge of 
 the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 2. It is a purifying privilege. As in communion 
 with the Fountain of light the believer is blessed 
 with increase of light in spiritual things, so, in 
 cultivating the same exercise with the centre and 
 source of moral purity, he receives more and more 
 of purifying grace. There is a reciprocating ac- 
 tion in communion ; and while the soul goes out in 
 holy desires after God, it partakes, in return, of 
 his nature, and grows in purity. He cannot main- 
 tain such holy intercourse without enjoying this 
 great benefit. And it is highly needful for him ; 
 for he is sensible that he " has not as yet attained, 
 nor is already perfect." He has not yet arrived at 
 a perfect meetness for the inheritance of the saints 
 in light. He feels, that as many Canaanites re- 
 mained in the Holy Land long after the Israelites 
 had settled in it, so there are yet principles, pas- 
 sions, and propensities in his nature that war 
 against the better law of his mind: but, cherishing 
 this sacred converse, his hope of obtaining their 
 suppression and eradication, and of reaching a 
 
112 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 more complete resemblance to his Lord, is enlarged; 
 and he is stimulated to " purify himself, even as 
 he is pure;" he becomes more heavenly-minded, 
 and has a keener relish for whatsoever things are 
 pure, and holy, and harmonious with the mind and 
 will of his God. 
 
 3. This communion is an ennobling privilege. 
 What can present to the imagination a grander 
 style of man than the short, but striking, history 
 of Enoch, that he walked with God? The ex- 
 pression is, no doubt, figurative; but it is strongly 
 expressive of frequent and intimate communion 
 with his Maker. He was one who, in the midst 
 of a God-forgetting generation, preferred, sought, 
 and enjoyed the love of God — as his chief joy es- 
 teemed it his highest honour, as well as his greatest 
 happiness, to be the recipient of his gracious com- 
 munications, and enabled to make to him the 
 returns of grateful praise, and an obedient life. 
 "When a great earthly potentate raises a deserving 
 servant to the peerage, he gives him a distinction 
 and nobility among his fellow-mortals, which last 
 for a while. But what is that to the elevation of 
 a Christian admitted to communion with God? He 
 holds the patent of a far higher nobility than any 
 that the breath of kings can make. He is a younger 
 brother in the royal family of Heaven! He enjoys 
 his nobility in manifestations of paternal endear- 
 ment, on the part of God, though he had no claim 
 to any such favour, and was altogether unworthy 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 113 
 
 of it. But grace has elevated him into sonship, 
 by adoption into the Royal House; and God, even 
 his God, communes with him, as with one of his 
 heirs — an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ! 
 " If a man love me," said his Lord, " he will keep 
 my words: and my Father will love him; and we 
 will come unto him, and make our abode with 
 him." 
 
 Now, the Christian is not thus honoured simply 
 to cheer and delight his own heart; it is not in- 
 tended solely for his distinction. Its influence, in 
 ennobhng him, consists chiefly in enlarging his 
 gifts and advancing his sanctification, that he may 
 "show forth the praises of him who hath called 
 him out of darkness into his marvellous light." 
 He is thus ennobled, that he may shine as a light 
 in a dark place, to the glory of his Father in 
 heaven. The Spirit of Christ is given him, to live 
 in him, and inspire him with his own views and 
 aims, and with magnanimity to carry them out. 
 From such holy and elevating communion it was 
 that the primitive disciples caught that boldness, 
 which set them above the fear of man, so that, in 
 the face of magisterial prohibition, they "ceased 
 not daily, in the temple, and in every house, to 
 teach and preach Jesus Christ." Blessed and pre- 
 cious converse! It was the enjoyment of this also 
 that braced the souls' of the martyrs, at all periods, 
 for the endurance of the bitterest persecution, and 
 taught them to brave every form of cruelty and 
 
 I 
 
114 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 death! And now, from such considerations, we 
 are led to remark that believers enjoy — 
 
 ly. Liberty to speak and act in the name 
 OF God. 
 
 To delineate the character, to portray the move- 
 ments, to explain the language, to unfold the mind 
 and meaning, the desires and purposes, of any indi- 
 vidual of our fellow-men, and to do all this cor- 
 rectly — to represent the man precisely as he is, and 
 as he thinks and purposes, would obviously require 
 much and intimate acquaintance with him. If it 
 were our business to lay open, as it were, his very 
 heart before our hearers, or our readers, and to 
 show them with what affections it was filled, with 
 what cares it was exercised, and on what it was 
 chiefly set, it is clear that nothing but an habitual, 
 close, and unreserved communion with him would 
 entitle us to attempt such a task; so can no one be 
 considered as duly accredited to declare, for the 
 instruction of others, the character, the ways, the 
 mind, and the will of God, who has not a close and 
 experimental acquaintance with him. He that 
 knows not God is not qualified to reveal him: he 
 cannot make him known to others. What a man 
 has not received, he cannot impart. In the way he 
 has not himself trod, he cannot guide. For such a 
 character to attempt such a service is to be guilty 
 of a presumption mischievous in the extreme, and 
 highly offensive in the sight of God. " Unto the 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 115 
 
 wicked God saith, What hast thou to do, to declare 
 my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my cove- 
 nant in thy mouth?" To the Christian, then, and 
 to the Christian only, belongs the privilege of 
 speaking in the name of God. He only, among 
 men, has the right and liberty of making known to 
 his fellow -men the character of him with whom he 
 communes, and with whom he walks — of expound- 
 ing and enforcing on the consciences of aU within 
 his reach the word and will of God; for he only 
 can truly say, in a spiritual sense, " That which we 
 have seen, and heard, and felt, declare we unto 
 you." And this privilege belongs to all Christ's 
 people. It is, indeed, no less the duty, than the 
 privilege, of every genuine Christian, of whatever 
 grade or standing in society; it is for him, however 
 small his sphere of action, who has himself come to 
 God through Jesus Christ, to show the way to them 
 who have not yet found it — for him, who is habitu- 
 ally conversant with the mind of God in his word, 
 to explain and commend it to those who know 
 it not. 
 
 True, we have official agents for this great and 
 good work. Pious and devoted men, withdrawing 
 from secular engagements, have given themselves 
 as Ministers and Pastors to the sacred employment 
 of calling sinners to Christ, and feeding his Church. 
 Their's is a high and holy office, an appointment of 
 Christ himself, the only Head of the Church. They 
 speak in his name, under his commission; and they 
 
116 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 have not only a right and liberty so to do, but they 
 are officially bound to spend and be spent in that 
 special service. Ministers and Pastors of the de- 
 scription I now refer to readily acknowledge this 
 obligation. Like the Apostle, whose labours were 
 so eminently abundant, they will each of them say, 
 with deep consciousness of its truth, " A dispensa- 
 tion of the Gospel is committed unto me; and woe 
 is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel." Not that 
 they esteem it an irksome yoke, but value it 
 supremely, and glory in it, as their highest honour 
 and noblest privilege. They deem themselves, 
 indeed, immeasurably unworthy of the high dis- 
 tinction to which they are raised, in being sent to 
 preach among their fellow -men the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ, — but their delight is in the work. 
 To fulfil their ministry — to testify the grace of God, 
 is a service dearer to them than their own lives. 
 Their chosen and cherished motto is the same 
 Apostle's testimony, " To me to live is Christ." 
 But though to this order of men belongs especially 
 the privilege of speaking in the name of God, yet it 
 is not exclusively their's. " This honour have all 
 his saints." And few things deserve to be more 
 forcibly impressed upon the minds of Christians at 
 large, in the present day, than calls for active piety. 
 Ye that know and love the Saviour, in whatever 
 circle ye move, awake ! hear and obey the call 
 of your Lord, " Go ye into my vineyard, and work 
 for me." There is employment for all. A vast 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 117 
 
 variety of agency is required for the service of 
 Christ; and every one has his part to perform. 
 There is no licence given to silence, or to sleep. 
 The urgency of the work to be done permits it not. 
 The work is great, and the time is short. The 
 glory of God and the best interests of men are the 
 objects to be promoted; and these are graciously 
 and happily identified. What is done to forward 
 one will advance the other also. Ah! were this 
 duly considered, what servant of Christ could con- 
 tent himself with remaining " at ease in Zion?" 
 
 Deacons, and other members of the Churches of 
 Christ, see that ye be not found sitting with arms 
 across, and holding your peace. Exert yourselves 
 to sustain the hands, and cheer the hearts, of your 
 ministers in the good work. Let it not suffice that 
 you are regular and fervent in your prayers for 
 success to their labours. It is your's — your duty — 
 your privilege — to share in them. Whilst your 
 ministers are more especially set for the defence of 
 the Gospel, by labours of the pulpit or the press, 
 by counselling, by exhorting, by reasoning against 
 the encroachment of error; and, if need be, by suf- 
 fering for the Gospel, it is your part, and an hon- 
 ourable and dutiful part it is, to follow up and back 
 your leaders, like good soldiers in the same cause, 
 strengthening and carrying forward, by active 
 labours in your different spheres, their every effort 
 and design for the diffusion and establishment of 
 the truth. Go, " visit the fatherless and the 
 
118 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 widows in their affliction." Wait on the sick and 
 the dying; and point them to the Saviour, ere it be 
 too late. Pray by them ; speak to them, in the 
 name of God and his Son Jesus Christ; and, as 
 you speak, instruct, warn, invite, and strive to be 
 efficient in plucking some as brands from the burn- 
 ing, and cheering and gladdening others by the 
 bright prospect of a glorious immortality. 
 
 Teachers of Sabhath Schools, your's too is the 
 right and liberty to speak in the Divine name, and 
 for the Divine glory. Ye have chosen a good sta- 
 tion in the Church of Christ, and, like every other 
 in his service, it is a highly responsible one. Look 
 at it only in a prospective light, and you will feel it 
 to be so, — the religious character of the future gene- 
 ration, to a very great extent, depends, so far as 
 instrumentality is concerned, on the spirit and man- 
 ner of your training. This is a tremendous con- 
 sideration, and may well call forth the exclamation, 
 "Who is sufficient for these things?" Christ is 
 sufficient, who is often found to work the greatest 
 results by the feeblest means; and he is able to 
 make all grace abound towards you. Speak, then, 
 in the name of your Divine Master. Speak dili- 
 gently — speak faithfully — speak tenderly, as your 
 Lord himself would do. But you have already had 
 many and powerful addresses made to you on your 
 duties; I would, therefore, here be very brief. I 
 content myself with adding — Let each one of you, as 
 often as he comes to his class, bring with him a 
 
RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 119 
 
 vivid recollection of the charge he has received, 
 and feel as though he heard it delivered to him 
 afresh from the Hps of the Lord Jesus, " Feed my 
 lambs." Under this impression, and relying on his 
 aid, pursue your task; and your works of faith, and 
 labours of love, will not be in vain in the Lord. 
 
 Distributors of godly Tracts. To speak in this 
 holy name is also your part ; for we suppose you 
 to be actuated in the good work you perform by 
 the spirit of faith and love towards your Redeemer. 
 Rest not, then, with the mere delivery of your silent 
 monitors from house to house. Let that be only 
 the key by which you open the door. Go in — seek 
 an interview with the inmates, and, as far as in you 
 lies, make known to them " the grace of God which 
 bringeth salvation;" teaching us that, denying un- 
 godhness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present world. You 
 have need of prudence to guide you in this; but 
 ask of him who giveth liberally, and upbraideth 
 not; and ply your work with persevering punc- 
 tuality. Prayer and effort united avail much. 
 
 Finally, I would beseech every Christian reader 
 of these pages seriously to reflect on the obligations 
 arising from his character, and the condition of 
 things around him. I would thus address him, 
 " You are a regenerated character — one of God's 
 adopted children — a representative of Christ upon 
 earth — the salt of the earth — a light in the world — 
 an expectant of future glory. In consideration of 
 
120 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 all these positions, say, what manner of person 
 ought you to be, in all holy conversation and godli- 
 ness ? What watchfulness, what circumspection, 
 what constant mistrustfulness of yourself; and what 
 prayer and meditation, and pondering of your way, 
 are you bound to exercise, and that at all moments 
 of your life ! And look at the condition of the world 
 through which you are passing. What is it, but a 
 scene of vain, bustling, and heartless contention? and 
 it is for you to arrest the attention of giddy mortals, 
 and allure them to nobler pursuits. What is it, but 
 a dark place? and it is for you to shine in it, with 
 light from heaven, and show deluded men the way 
 thither. Alas ! what is it, but a great lazaretto, 
 where the sick, and the wounded, and the dying, 
 and the miserable of every description, are seen 
 crowded in its numerous wards? and it is for you to 
 stop the progress of disease, and prevent death, by 
 bringing to the sufferers, as extensively as your 
 powers can reach, the remedy, the only remedy, that 
 can meet and heal their maladies, even "the Gospel 
 of the grace of God." Every Christian is committed 
 to his oivn share in these exertions. But how is he 
 to acquit himself of that share ? Plainly, by dili- 
 gently holding forth the word of life, and by exhi- 
 biting an unequivocal evidence of the efficacy of that 
 word upon his own heart, and the formation of his 
 own character, " adorning the doctrine of God his 
 Saviour in all things." And he must everywhere 
 press the claims of the Gospel, and seek, as far as 
 
EIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 121 
 
 his influence extends, to woo and to win the sinner 
 to the cross of Christ, to which he has himself been 
 won, that the atonement may be seen, believed, and 
 felt, and salvation be attained. The God of all 
 grace incline his people, in every place, thus to live 
 and labour, each in his own sphere! Then would the 
 knowledge of the Lord soon cover the earth, ini- 
 quity would stop her mouth, and the kingdom of 
 darkness would be seen retreating from before the 
 light of Truth, and the brightness of the Saviour's 
 coming to claim the world as his own ! 
 
122 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 LECTUKE IV. 
 
 CONSOLATIONS. 
 
 "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts 
 delight my soul." — Psalm xciv. 19. 
 
 The life of man is a chequered scene. The gay 
 and gloomy, light and shade, — or, in other words, 
 joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, make up our 
 present state of being. Not that these opposite 
 conditions are dealt out to any in exactly equal 
 portions, — the one or the other may be found oc- 
 casionally to predominate; but trouble and sorrow 
 are, more or less, allotted to all. Since man began 
 to sin, he has not ceased to sorrow; and as sin has 
 tainted all the race, its inseparable concomitants, 
 suffering and sadness, disease and death, are equally 
 diffused. Mourning, therefore — affliction — all the 
 evils that corrode and destroy the human frame, 
 are everywhere at work. At one time, we look 
 and behold man in the bloom of youth: health and 
 gladness sit upon his countenance; his sinews are 
 full of strength; his step is firm; and in all his 
 attitude there, seems a proud consciousness of a 
 soul to resolve and a nerve to perform. We look 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 123 
 
 again, and what do we see? Alas! the pale hue, 
 the sunken eye and hollow cheek plainly tell us 
 health is fled! The graceful form, that late trod 
 by in full vigour and infelt power, is now broken 
 down, and enfeebled, under the blow of some 
 calamity. The voice, that was but just now heard 
 in the shout of exultation, or the song of mirth, 
 now only reaches the ear in tremulous complaints, 
 or groans of anguish. Or perhaps we see the man 
 laid on the bed of sickness, the victim of a wast- 
 ing disease, which is hurrying him to his end. 
 "Verily, every man, at his best state, is altogether 
 vanity; — how is his beauty made to consume away 
 as a moth ! " 
 
 And now, if we be asked whether, in this general 
 picture of gloom and distress, we mean to include 
 all mankind, without distinction, the good as well 
 as the bad, the righteous as well as the wicked? 
 we answer that, in this respect, all are alike, the 
 good and the bad. "No man knoweth either love 
 or hatred by all that is before them. All things 
 come alike to all: there is one event to the righte- 
 ous and to the wicked; to the clean, and to the 
 unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that 
 sacrificeth not." From sorrows, suffering, and 
 death, there is no class of men privileged with 
 exemption. 
 
 But as it regards the character of afflictive dis- 
 pensations towards the wicked and the righteous, 
 there is an essential and most important difference 
 
124 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 between tliem. To the wicked, their aspect is 
 punitive; to the righteous, it is corrective. In the 
 former case, they are tokens of God's anger against 
 the workers of iniquity, and warnings to others, 
 that they may take heed to their ways, and sin 
 not; in the latter case, they are the chastisements 
 of God, in wisdom and parental love, for the spi- 
 ritual benefit of his children. Of the wicked it is 
 said, "Because they regard not the works of the 
 Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall de- 
 stroy them, and not build them up." But how dif- 
 ferent it fares with the righteous! "In a little wrath 
 I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with ever- 
 lasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith 
 the Lord, thy Redeemer." In a word, the suffer- 
 ings of the one class differ in character from those 
 of the other, as much as the classes themselves 
 differ in their standing before God. 
 
 Our purpose in the present Lecture is to treat 
 of Christian Consolations; but consolations neces- 
 sarily suppose a state of affliction as their object: 
 we must, therefore, advert for a while to that state, 
 and speak of what the Christian is called to endure. 
 The Psalmist tells us that ^'many are the afflictions 
 of the righteous." It will be sufficient for us to 
 notice only the more prominent. In so doing, we 
 cannot but observe that they resolve themselves 
 into two kinds or classes, — those that are common 
 to Christians, with others of the race; and those 
 that are peculiar to themselves, as the people of 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 125 
 
 God. The afflictions, and we may say the tempta- 
 tions, of the former class, such as the Apostle calls 
 "common to man," are confessedly numerous. It 
 cannot be otherwise; a sinful world must needs 
 greatly abound with sources of evils to be shared 
 by all. The Christian, then, as well as his un- 
 regenerate neighbour, is liable to Painful Vicissi- 
 tudes in Life — to Poverty — to Calumny and Re- 
 proach — to Bereavements by the stroke of Death — 
 and to Sickness of various forms. 
 
 1. The Christian is often called to endure Paiti- 
 ful Vicissitudes. Our present state is one of insta- 
 bility and change. Of the condition of things in 
 the world, we can scarcely ever say they are 
 stationary. Time is continually shifting the scenes. 
 In the case of our neighbours, our acquaintance, 
 our friends, our relatives, they are not long seen 
 in the same position. Some are changing their 
 residences; some are rising, others sinking, in the 
 world; and some are gone the way whence they 
 will never return. There are changes in life for 
 what we call the better, but many are undesired 
 and very painful. The Christian may, at one time, 
 have found himself in what he considered a favour- 
 able and happy locality, and he sang, "The lines 
 are fallen to- me in pleasant places; yea, I have a 
 goodly heritage;" presently, through some unfore- 
 seen and adverse circumstance, he is hurried from 
 thence, and forced, with contracted means, to sit 
 down where he would not. Such event, too, may 
 
126 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 have been attended with many cruelties, on the 
 part of his fellow-men; and certain good purposes 
 of his own may have been blasted. All these may 
 have proved a sharp trial. The ploughshare may 
 have gone deep into his soul. 
 
 2. Many Christians suffer under the hard and 
 heavy hand of Poverty. "We need not say that this 
 is a distressful condition of life. Some, indeed, 
 are born and bred up in the humble cottage, and 
 are accustomed to "vile raiment" and coarse fare. 
 Others, from a state of easy competence, or even 
 affluence, have been dragged down into pinching, 
 cheerless poverty. Christians of the former class, 
 though from habit their sufferings are not so acute, 
 are yet frequently the subjects of corroding cares 
 and distracting perplexities, when, perhaps, there 
 is nothing for them but to use up the last " handful 
 of meal in the barrel, and the little oil in the cruse," 
 and lay them down to die. In the latter case, 
 none but those who have experienced it can tell 
 the bitterness of soul occasioned by the sad reverses 
 through which they have passed. Their household 
 conveniences, the provisions for their children, the 
 friends of their better days, the luxury of doing 
 good to others, their influence in society — all, all 
 are lost, and their spirits sink within them! Ah! 
 whether accustomed or not accustomed to it, there 
 is, at all times, a misery in Poverty not easy to 
 be borne. 
 
 3. The Christian may also be the subject of 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 127 
 
 Calumny and Reproach. This is a cross which the 
 people of God, in all ages, and of all ranks and 
 conditions in life, have been frequently called to 
 bear. It is, indeed, one which, as well as that of 
 poverty, the Christian knows his Master bore be- 
 fore him. But it is a galling cross. A good name 
 is a dear, a cherished possession, "rather to be 
 chosen than great riches;" and to be robbed of it 
 is to be made poor indeed. The malicious and 
 reproachful tongue is one of the most mischievous 
 weapons that assail the Christian. It is grievous 
 to the spirit of a good man, especially one of a cul- 
 tivated and delicate mind, to have his character 
 torn by false charges, and his most benevolent 
 actions ascribed to sordid and base motives. Few 
 things will excite resentment sooner than this. 
 But the Christian is hated by the men of the world 
 for his religion; and his greatest dread is fre- 
 quently lest, through the slanders cast on his 
 character, religion should suffer. Hence, doubt- 
 less, the complaint of David, "Because for thy 
 sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered 
 my face. Reproach hath broken my heart; and 
 I am full of heaviness." 
 
 4. The Christian is liable to Bereavements from 
 the stroke of Death. He has, like others, a relative 
 character. There are individuals in the world 
 with whom he is, more or less, closely allied. He 
 has perhaps a family, for every branch of which 
 he warmly and tenderly feels. He has friends and 
 
128 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 acquaintance, who claim and share his attachment 
 in various degrees. Death enters his circle, and 
 carries off a bosom friend. He was, perhaps, a 
 pious, a benevolent man, and a liberal contributor 
 to the good cause; one, perhaps, on whom the 
 Christian had much dependance for the encourage- 
 ment and support of some religious object. He much 
 prized and esteemed him, and feels his loss a deep 
 affliction. But the "insatiate archer" shoots at 
 objects nearer still; and a brother, a sister, or a 
 parent falls. This dispensation afflicts him sorelj, 
 and he bows his head in sorrow. But Death may 
 choose a victim yet dearer — dear to him as part 
 of himself, — the child — the wife, the desire of his 
 eyes, may be taken from him with a stroke. Then 
 he is a mourner indeed: anguish fills his heart; and 
 his first impressions are those of hopeless grief and 
 desolation. 
 
 5. The Christian is liable, as all others, to Per- 
 sonal Sicknesses, and those of various forms. These 
 may be painful and of long continuance. Like Job 
 of old, he may have to say, " I am made to possess 
 months of vanity; and wearisome nights are ap- 
 pointed me. When I lie down, I say, When shall 
 I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of 
 tossings to and fro, unto the dawning of the day!" 
 This is sufficiently descriptive of the distress which 
 the sick may be brought to endure. 
 
 Again, Christians are liable to afflictions and 
 grief peculiarly their own. Of this, the causes are 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 129 
 
 not few. We will specify some of them: — their 
 personal offences and sins against a holy and righte- 
 ous God; — the sinful state of the world around 
 them; — the sins of many professors of religion; — 
 the unsatisfactory state of things in the Church 
 itself 
 
 1. The Christian grieves, and is afflicted, under 
 a sense of his otvn sins and offences in the sight of 
 God. The child of God, in his present state, is 
 still a peccable being. He is not perfectly wise; 
 and will occasionally err: he is not perfect in 
 strength; and he will occasionally fall: neither has 
 he attained to complete holiness of nature; and, 
 therefore, guilt will be occasionally contracted. 
 But, in no case, does he sin with the full bent and 
 relish of his soul. In that respect, " he cannot sin; 
 for his seed abideth in him." Through the influ- 
 ence of the Holy Spirit given unto him, when he 
 has strayed, a reaction takes place within him. 
 He sees and feels the hatefulness of his way; and 
 is humbled into self-reproach, sorrow, and contri- 
 tion, deep and durable according to its aggrava- 
 tions. He afflicts himself before his God; nor can 
 he rest, until heart-felt tokens of pardon and ac- 
 ceptance, through his Advocate with the Father, 
 be afforded him. 
 
 2. Another source of affliction and grief peculiar 
 to the Christian is the sinful state of the icorld 
 around him. The Scriptures describe the world as 
 "lying in wickedness." Its spirit is at enmity 
 
 K 
 
130 CHRISTIAN PEIVILEGES. 
 
 with God, and hostile to the purposes of his grace 
 towards its salvation. The Christian contemplates 
 this with an aching heart. Knowing from his own 
 experience the misery of an unconverted state, and 
 the happiness of having been brought to a saving 
 knowledge of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, he 
 cannot but be grieved and afflicted at heart to see 
 crowds of immortals putting away the oiFer of sal- 
 vation from them, and wilfully hurrying to perdi- 
 tion. Infatuated with sensual pleasures and sordid 
 pursuits, they see not, nor care for, their spiritual 
 condition, and are content to serve under the do- 
 minion of that " old serpent, called the Devil and 
 Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." Here 
 the Christian's grief arises from two considerations, 
 each of the most serious import: he grieves to see 
 the daring breaches everywhere made of the laws 
 of a righteous God, as well as the insults offered 
 to his grace; and to think of the unutterably tre- 
 mendous consequences to « the deluded souls thus 
 plunged into an unheeded eternity! The pious 
 heart bleeds under considerations such as these; 
 and the Christian cannot but cry out, " Rivers of 
 waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not 
 thy law." 
 
 3. The truly Christian man is afflicted and 
 grieved with the sins of many professors of religion. 
 These are those of whom the Apostle says, " They 
 profess that they know God; but in works they 
 deny him," — who, as he elsewhere describes them. 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 131 
 
 "have a form of godliness; but deny the power 
 thereof." These people are actuated by the desire 
 of satisfying conscience, while they secure to them- 
 selves certain carnal indulgences, and keep in peace 
 and favour with the world. But their sinful con- 
 duct brings scandal upon religion, and wounds the 
 feelings of the true friend of Christ. It grieves 
 him, too, to think of the doom of the mere formalist, 
 who, while he practises deceit on himself and others, 
 fororets that he cannot deceive the Master whose 
 
 o 
 
 name he falsely bears, and who " wiU come in a 
 day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour 
 that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder; 
 and appoint him a portion with hypocrites: there 
 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 4. The unsatisfactory state of things in the Church 
 itself is also a frequent source of affliction and grief 
 to the Christian. The Church of Christ is the 
 object of heaven's complacent regard. It was 
 purchased by the Saviour's blood ; it is the place 
 where the Father loves to dwell, and the Holy 
 Spirit to carry on and display his gracious opera- 
 tions. It is said of tlie typical Church, " The Lord 
 loveth the gates of Zion more than aU the dwellings 
 of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, 
 O city of God." The prosperity of the Church is, 
 therefore, dear to the Cln:istian. It is the home of 
 his affections. He loves its ministrations : it is 
 there he holds communion with his God, and his 
 brethren in Christ; there he feeds; there he grows ; 
 
132 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 and there lie dresses himself for whatever service 
 his Lord may assign him. Is there any part of his 
 much-loved Zion showing symptoms of languor or 
 decay? — are any of her watchmen slumbering on 
 her walls? — are any of her people gadding about, 
 to change their way ? — are " the ways of Zion 
 mourning, because few come to the solemn feasts? — 
 are her gates desolate, and do her priests sigh? 
 — are her virgins afflicted, and is she in bitter- 
 ness?" — then is his soul distressed: he "eats no 
 pleasant bread;" but sighs and laments, that where 
 strength and beauty should never cease to be dis- 
 played, anything should ever enter to weaken or 
 deform. 
 
 We have thus glanced at the more prominent 
 afflictions, common and peculiar, which the Christian 
 is called to endure. There are, doubtless, many 
 others of a more secret nature, having to do with 
 the man in his individual capacity ; where the heart 
 only of the sufferer knoweth his own bitterness, 
 and where the complaint can be poured into no ear 
 but the ear of his God. It is now, however, time 
 to inquire after the Consolations provided for those 
 afflictions. And, seeing that sources of affliction 
 and sorrow open upon the soul of the Christian 
 from so many quarters, and that not a few of them 
 are very heavy and bitter to be borne, can we hope 
 anywhere to find consolations numerous enough, 
 and strong enough, to calm and soothe them? Where 
 can reside the knowledge, the sympathy, the power. 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 133 
 
 adequate to afford such consolations? Assuredly 
 not in man, nor in any creature. But from Him 
 alone who made man, can man, when afflicted, look 
 for effectual consolation. His sympathies alone are 
 sufficiently warm and deep ; he only can take cog- 
 nizance of the inmost feelings ; and he only has 
 wisdom and power to administer those consolations 
 that will not fail to relieve. Yes, God is the 
 Author of all the Christian's consolations ; and, 
 that the afflicted soul may avail itself of them, he 
 has kindly interspersed them throughout his word. 
 
 But let us think for a moment on what we have 
 just said. God is the Author of Consolation! The 
 Apostle to the Gentiles, who is remarkable for the 
 pathos with which he frequently invests the Deity, 
 in the lovelier and sweeter attributes that are so 
 powerfully attractive of the Christian's heart, ex- 
 pressly styles him " the God of patience and con- 
 solation;" and again, elsewhere he says, " God 
 that comforteth those that are cast down." If, then, 
 the Christian's God be the God of his consolations, 
 he will find them sufficient for his every want. 
 Nothing that emanates from him can be defective. 
 Whatever he declares to be his own is like himself. 
 " His work is perfect." We accordingly find the 
 Psalmist gratefully acknowledging the Divine origin 
 and the all-sufficiency of the consolations he en- 
 joyed, when he says, " In the multitude of my 
 thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul ! " 
 " They are thine," as if he had said ; " and they are 
 
134 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 transcendently great; they are thine; and they not 
 only relieve my afflictions^ but they bring delight 
 to my soul!" Nothing less, indeed, than Divine 
 consolations will suit and satisfy an afflicted believer. 
 The comforts, and comforters too, that come from 
 the world would prove to his sorrows but irksome 
 intruders. The men of the world may hew out 
 cisterns for themselves, and vainly imagine to draw 
 from them the streams of life and refreshment: the 
 best of them are deceitful vessels; they contain 
 no water that the Christian can use. No; the 
 waters of consolation which refresh his soul are 
 drawn from " the river of the water of life, that 
 proceedeth out of the throne of God and the Lamb " 
 in heaven. 
 
 Drawn from so high a source, the Christian's 
 consolations are guaranteed to him for Quality, for 
 Abundance, for Suitability to his every case. 
 
 As to their Quality, the Christian finds the con- 
 solations of God ever sweet and pleasant to his 
 soul. David found them so. He knew the un- 
 satisfactory nature of everything else ; but of the 
 Divine consolations he testifies, " How sweet are 
 thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey 
 to my mouth!" Rich, also, and soul-satisfying 
 have they always proved to the devout partaker. 
 When the world has assumed before the Christian 
 a gloomy and barren aspect, he is enabled to draw 
 from his heavenly sources, and exult in the de- 
 lightful contrast, crying, " My soul shall be satis- 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 135 
 
 fied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth 
 shall praise thee with joyful lips!" 
 
 The Christian is assured also that his consola- 
 tions shall be abundant. He can be involved in no 
 trouble, nor shade of trouble, where consolation will 
 not be at hand. Hence, when David allows that 
 many are the afflictions of the righteous, he meets 
 that concession by immediately adding, "But the 
 Lord delivereth him out of them all." And again, 
 when meditating on the amplitude of God's good- 
 ness to him, he exclaims, " How precious are thy 
 thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of 
 them! If I should count them, they are more in 
 number than the sand ! " The apostle Paul, con- 
 fessedly the subject of many and various sufferings 
 for his Master's sake, bears grateful testimony to 
 the abundance of consolations, when he says, 
 "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of 
 all consolation, who comforteth us in all our tribu- 
 lations." Ample testimony ! No words can be 
 more expressive of a heart overflowing with the 
 feelings of gratitude for the abundant consolations 
 poured upon him from his God. Li this abundance 
 every afflicted Christian is made welcome to share. 
 It is the Spirit's gracious work to apply the balm 
 of consolation to every aching heart among his 
 people. No sigh escapes unheard ; no groan is 
 heaved unheeded. To every believer in affliction 
 the assurance may be repeated, " He will deliver 
 
136 CHEISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no 
 evil touch thee ! " 
 
 And the consolations of the afflicted Christian 
 will ever be found suitable to his case. If we con- 
 template the consolatory character of God's word, 
 we shall see it marked by consummate wisdom, as 
 well as abundant mercy. We therein find every 
 supposable position of a child of God suitably 
 addressed. Consulting the interests of each indivi- 
 dual member of his Church, through the whole 
 course of time, he has graciously adjusted the lan- 
 guage of his Word to meet their various trials and 
 difficulties in their minutest forms. Christ emphati- 
 cally declares, by the mouth of his Prophet, " The 
 Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, 
 that I might know how to speak a word in season to 
 him that is weary." This accordingly is a promi- 
 nent characteristic of the Divine Word. 
 
 We have remarked that the Christian is liable, 
 in common with the rest of mankind, to painful 
 vicissitudes in life. It is a truth universally allowed, 
 that " we know not what a day may bring forth." 
 This only we know, that mutability and uncer- 
 tainty are stamped on all sublunary things. And 
 here we often betray a degree of impatience, 
 anxious, if possible, to penetrate the dark future, 
 and to discover our own particular destinies — our 
 every future movement, prosperous or adverse ; we 
 wish, in short, to trace out our own history to the 
 close of life. But, prone as we are to all this, when 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 137 
 
 we come to tliink rationally upon it, we are con- 
 vinced of its folly. The consequences of such pro- 
 spective visions, could we obtain them, would be 
 fatal to our enjoyment of life. The veil, therefore, 
 that covers futurity from our view " is a veil woven 
 by the hand of mercy." The Christian willingly 
 leaves his times and seasons in the hands of his 
 heavenly Father, but fully expects to share in the 
 common fluctuations of the present state. Some 
 changes in his condition may be very painful. So 
 far as his worldly circumstances are concerned, they 
 may appear singularly disappointing, and even 
 ruinous. Events of that distressful kind, when they 
 fall on the mere man of the world, frequently drive 
 him to despair and self-destruction, — an appalling 
 demonstration of the extreme misery of that soul 
 that has no hope, and that is without God in the 
 world. The Christian, however, is one who is not 
 afraid to look adversity in the face. When he be- 
 comes the subject of vicissitude, he is not taken by 
 surprise; he knew full well that here he was to 
 find no continuing city, and that the world was not 
 his resting-place. He may, indeed, be suddenly 
 driven from his prosperity, just at the time when, 
 like David, he thought he should not be moved. He 
 had been saying, " Lord, by thy favour thou hast 
 made my mountain to stand strong." Things went 
 well with liim; and while he was reckoning on a 
 permanent enjoyment of them, his mountain is 
 shaken: reverses, unexpected and unhappy, come 
 
138 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 upon him, and he is troubled. But what then? 
 Like David, too, he cries to the Lord, " Hear, O 
 Lord! and have mercy upon me; Lord, be thou my 
 helper!" Thus he makes God his refuge. From 
 the uncertainty and fickleness of all worldly con- 
 cerns, he looks up to him whose hand is mighty, 
 and whose covenant is sure; and he hears the voice 
 of consolation saying, " I am the Lord, I change 
 not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed!" 
 Amidst his bitterest reverses, his heart is cheered by 
 the gracious declaration, that " all things work to- 
 gether for good to them that love God, to them who 
 are the called according to his purpose." Under 
 every change his fears are met with the soothing pro- 
 mise, " My people shall dwell in a peaceable habita- 
 tion, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting- 
 places;" for, in all the shiftings and changes of his 
 lot, the Christian realizes in his God "a strong 
 habitation, whereunto he may continually resort." 
 And, then, the very uncertainty and frailty of the 
 tenure by which he holds any earthly possession, 
 only the more sweetly endears to him " that build- 
 ing of God, that house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens," whither his Lord is gone before to 
 prepare it for him. Hence the calmness of the 
 Christian, when things appear the most annoying : 
 hence the triumph he obtains, and the smile that 
 lightens up his countenance, even in the most cala- 
 mitous times. Truly he, if any man, may be 
 compared 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 139 
 
 " To some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, 
 Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm ; 
 Tho' round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
 Eternal sunshine settles on its head ! " 
 
 We have said, also, that many followers of Christ 
 suffer under the hard and heavy hand of Poverty. 
 The race that men seem most generally to be run- 
 ning is that of wealth. The impression most pre- 
 valent seems to be that wealth is happiness; and 
 the principle everywhere cherished and acted upon 
 would appear to be that of sacrificing all to become 
 rich. To be poor is equivalent to being wretched; 
 and poverty is avoided like the plague. Alas ! how 
 false an estimate of man's true interests is involved 
 in all this! We mean not, on the other hand, to 
 say that Poverty, of itself, is an absolute good. 
 Simply considered, it is no desirable condition. It 
 is good neither for the body nor the mind, being 
 frequently the source of wasting cares and anxieties, 
 and even of strong temptations to sin. It limits the 
 pious man's influence, which, under better circum- 
 stances, might be more extensively useful. It pain- 
 fully deprives him of the full expression of the 
 benevolence and generosity of his nature; and, on 
 many occasions, he cannot but regret it. Yet there 
 is an evil infinitely greater than that of poverty — 
 an evil into which there is danger of running, when 
 wealth is too eagerly pursued; for " They that will 
 be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into 
 many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in 
 
140 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 destruction and perdition." If poverty, then, is not 
 to be desired as a good, unsanctified riches are to be 
 deprecated as a curse. There are occasions, most 
 certainly, when the condition of poverty is to be 
 chosen, and that of riches to be renounced. When 
 a rich and affluent state can be held only by the 
 abandonment of conscience and religion, the ques- 
 tion of preference is not, for a moment, to be bal- 
 anced. The example of every true, heart-devoted 
 Christian, in all evil times, is not merely to be ad- 
 mired, but followed, — "rather to suffer affliction 
 with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures 
 of sin for a season ; and to esteem the reproach of 
 Christ greater riches than all the treasures of 
 Egypt." Under circumstances of this kind, our 
 Lord himself shows us how to estimate the two con- 
 ditions, while he marks the contrast between them 
 with emphatic decision. " Blessed be ye poor," he 
 says, "for your's is the kingdom of God: blessed are 
 ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled." But of 
 them in the opposite case he says, " Woe unto you 
 that are rich! for ye have received your consola- 
 tions ! woe unto you that are full ! for ye shall hun- 
 ger ! " The pious poor are special objects of heaven's 
 care. Assurances to that effect are frequently 
 given them, and expressed in language peculiarly 
 tender and condescending. God is represented in 
 his word as their Protector, their Avenger, their 
 Refuge and Reward. " I know," says David, " that 
 the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and 
 the right of the poor." "Hearken, my beloved 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 141 
 
 brethren," says the apostle James, " hath not God 
 chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and 
 heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to 
 them that love him?" 
 
 These are a few of the many rich consolations 
 offered to the poor of Christ's flock in Holy Writ. 
 That they are not mere fictions of the imagination, 
 not the extravagances of enthusiasm, but precious 
 truths, and deep realities, we need only appeal to 
 themselves. There is not a genuine Christian, 
 among the poorest of mankind, that would exchange 
 his privileges, his peace of conscience, his joy in the 
 Holy Ghost, liis hopes of a happy immortality, for 
 all the possessions, all the pleasures the wealthiest 
 in this world ever enjoyed. No; the poor, pious 
 Lazarus, though pining under sores and sickness, 
 could have had no mind to exchange conditions with 
 the rich, luxurious man at whose gates he lay. 
 Happy the Christian, though in a mud-walled cot- 
 tage: though rags are his covering, and he is but 
 scantily fed, his heart is sustained and comforted 
 by the sympathies of him who occupies the throne 
 of heaven ; and he is more than contented with his 
 lot, when he reflects, that his Divine Redeemer, 
 while he was working out his people's salvation, 
 chose it for himself. He, too, was poor, and had 
 not where to lay his head. In the estimation, 
 therefore, of the poverty-stricken Christian, " It is 
 enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and 
 the servant as his Lord." 
 
 Again, the Christian may be brought to suffer 
 
142 CHRISTIAN PRmLEGES. 
 
 under a calumnious and falsely -reproaching tongue ; 
 and here consolations are provided. Men of proud, 
 self-righteous notions are apt to profess an inde- 
 pendence of mind, and a perfect contempt of calum- 
 ny and calumniators, resting, as they tell us, on a 
 consciousness of their own integrity. They allege 
 it to be pusillanimous to quail under misrepresenta- 
 tion and malicious reproach, and will have it that 
 an inward sense of his personal worth and purity 
 should be sufficient to carry a man undismayed and 
 unhurt before the world. This is not the Christian 
 principle. As it regards his standing -with his 
 fellow -men, he is fully conscious of his innocence, 
 and will assert it ; but he is not the less distressed 
 and grieved by calumnious treatment. Nor will he, 
 on the ground of this consciousness, defy the malice 
 of his slanderers, and affect to display a fortitude 
 self-sustained. No; he humbles himself before 
 God, and, like David, when Shimei cursed him, says, 
 " The Lord may have sent me this scourge by the 
 slanderer: it may be that the Lord will look on mine 
 affliction ; and that the Lord will requite me good, 
 for his cursing this day." Committing himself thus 
 to him who judgeth righteously, he looks to the 
 quarter that will yield the sweetest and most effec- 
 tual balm for the wounds he endures. He cannot 
 forget the kind admonition, " Humble yourselves 
 under the mighty hand of God, that ye may be 
 exalted in due time ; casting all your care upon 
 him, for he careth for you." Unlike many around 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 143 
 
 him, who receive afflictions either with the brute, 
 stoical indifference of cattle grazing in the fields 
 under a storm; or with mad impatience, fretting 
 against the Lord, he reads the events of providence 
 with the aid of light from above. The affliction 
 from which he now suffers is an ordination of God. 
 It is, in his view, a messenger, either sent him, or 
 permitted to reach him, for some wise end ; and' he 
 includes it among the " all things " that shall work 
 together for his good. Is he the object of menda- 
 cious abuse ? Is the purity of his principles behed ? 
 and his good name cruelly traduced ? He remem- 
 bers the example of his Lord, who, " when he was 
 reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he 
 threatened not;" and, in the spirit of his Divine 
 Pattern, he restrains his resentment, and prays for 
 them that despitefully use him and persecute him. 
 He is thus enabled in patience to possess his soul, 
 and enjoys a calm as much above the parade of 
 Pagan, or anti- Christian, philosophy as the heavens 
 are above the earth. He has a peace within that 
 the rage of man cannot disturb. The consolatory 
 promises of God are his stay. Enough for him his 
 gracious declaration, " I will never leave thee, nor 
 forsake thee." At this promise his heart bounds 
 with delight, and he replies, " The Lord is my 
 helper; I will not fear what man shall do unto me." 
 Faith and love are brought into exercise; and the 
 Spirit himself hushes every sigh, and casts out 
 every fear, saying to the troubled soul, " Commit 
 
144 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him, and he 
 shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth thy 
 righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the 
 noon-day." 
 
 The Christian may also be found, like others, 
 mourning under hereavements from the stroke of death. 
 His religion does not strip him of his social feelings, 
 nor set him above them. He is a man, and has the 
 heart and all the affections of a man. He feels the 
 force of the ties that bind him to society, in every 
 varied relation ; and when some of these are cut by 
 the hand of death, he is sensibly wounded, and his 
 heart bleeds in sadness. But, taught of God, he 
 can look on this, as on other dispensations, with an 
 enlightened eye. Under the sharpest of such trials, 
 he is enabled to moderate his grief. In all of them 
 he owns the sovereignty of God, who has a right to 
 take to himself what he had lent but for a season, — 
 who comes, not as an invader upon the social circle, 
 but as a proprietor, to claim his own. The Chris- 
 tian is bereaved of a friend, or a relative, near and 
 dear to his heart, — he mourns ; but his grief is 
 chastened by the lessons of his religion. K a pious 
 friend or relative be taken from him, how great 
 his consolations! "My friend, my relative," he 
 says, " is gone to his rest, and has done with toil ; 
 he has joined the society of the saints in light, and 
 has done with sin; he is with Christ, and is for ever 
 blessed ! Departed spirit, thou hast made a happy 
 change ! Thee I cannot mourn. Thou hast reached 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 143 
 
 thy home of glory, and, closely as our hearts were 
 entwined together by the strong ties of kindred and 
 of Christian fellowship, thou canst not msh to 
 revisit me in my frail, mortal, sorrowing state. No; 
 but henceforth be it mine to seek the same grace by 
 which thou hast been exalted, to prepare me for a 
 reunion with thee that shall never, never be dis- 
 solved." This is the consolation of the Christian, — 
 a consolation which nothing but Christianity can 
 afford. It is the prerogative of our Saviour alone 
 to declare, " I am the resurrection and the life : he 
 that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
 he live." His religion, and his only, sanctifies all 
 the pious attachment, love, and friendship, begun 
 here below, and stamps them with immortality. 
 Here our union is often disturbed by the various 
 imperfections, cares, and distresses, that attend our 
 present state, and death itself comes in and breaks 
 it up. Hence the frequent griefs and lacerations of 
 heart to which we are now exposed. But how are 
 those griefs assuaged ? how are we made to smile, 
 even in our tears, and our hearts to throb with 
 gladness, when we call to mind the Saviour's song 
 of triumph : " I wiU ransom them from the power of 
 the grave; I will redeem them from death: death, 
 I will be thy plagues ; O grave, I will be thy de- 
 struction ! " The Christian is, therefore, entitled to 
 anticipate a period when those of whom he is now 
 bereaved shall be regained; for we cannot forego 
 the animating, and, as we think. Scripture-founded 
 
 L 
 
146 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 belief, that there will be a recognition of pious 
 friendships and relationships in heaven. He will 
 regain them, we say, and that in a far more exalted 
 and purified state than was ever enjoyed below. 
 Friendship and love will then glow in a pure and 
 heavenly flame, unchecked, uncooled, by fears, 
 anxieties, or doubts. Among the saints in light 
 there cannot be other than a conscious congeniality 
 of soul, ever manifesting itself in reciprocity of affec- 
 tion, in harmony of spirit, and in their every social 
 employment. Delightful prospect for the Christian ! 
 And to all this he looks forward, not as to a flatter- 
 ing probability, not as to a thing he fondly wishes 
 for, but as to a reality assured to him by the will of 
 One who cannot deceive — One to whom all power 
 is given in heaven and in earth, and who has left 
 that will recorded for the encouragement of his 
 people in all generations : " Father! I will that they 
 also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I 
 am, that they may behold my glory ! " 
 
 Another afiliction to which we have said the 
 Christian is liable, in common with others, is that 
 of personal sickness in various forms. Sickness and 
 disease, whenever inflicted, with all other calamities 
 that mankind endure, are the fruits of sin. In 
 some cases, indeed, they are sent as punitive ex- 
 pressions of God's displeasure with some particular 
 sin then committed, of which instances are given us 
 in Scripture. But they are also the dispensations 
 of God's hand to try, to chasten, to purify, his own 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 1 4 7 
 
 people. In the latter case, they are the rod in a 
 Father's hand. Correction of error, — rousing from 
 dangerous slumber, — humbling an inflated spirit, — 
 prevention from going into temptation, are the de- 
 sirable, the merciful, ends which parental wisdom 
 effects by this rod. Undoubtedly, all the afflictions 
 of the Christian are, as we have already observed, 
 of a corrective character ; but a personal sickness, a 
 malady that prostrates the strength of the frame 
 and the buoyancy of the spirit, is often found to 
 speak a wholesome lesson with peculiar quickness 
 and power. It tells him speedily and sensibly of 
 his own weakness and helplessness. He hears, as 
 well as feels, the rod ; he is soon at the throne of 
 grace, and cries out, " O Lord ! rebuke me not in 
 thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displea- 
 sure." It tells him of some wandering from God, 
 of some slothfulness, some negligence, of which he 
 has been guilty, or of some carnal principle he has 
 indulged. He is roused to shame and contrition. 
 He acknowledges God's righteousness, and his own 
 sinfulness. " I know, O Lord ! " he says, " that thy 
 judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness 
 hast afflicted me. But, Lord ! thou hast said. 
 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your 
 backslidings. Behold I come unto thee; for thou 
 art the Lord, my God." Thus is the Christian 
 brought to feel his need of pardon, and to sue for it. 
 His affliction has the eifect of driving him to lay 
 hold of the strength of his heavenly Father, through 
 
148 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 the Mediator, that he may make peace with him. 
 The Father drops the rod, and the pardoned Chris- 
 tian hears him speak the language of tenderness 
 and endearment : " Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he 
 a pleasant child ? for since I spake against him, I 
 do earnestly remember him still : therefore my 
 bowels are troubled for him ; I will surely have 
 mercy upon him ! " 
 
 Having thus adverted to certain afflictions which 
 the Christian endures, in common with others, to- 
 gether with some of their appropriate consolations, 
 we come now to those of the other class. To the 
 truly pious Christian there belongs a peculiarity of 
 character, exposing him to peculiar trials and sor- 
 rows. That character is one into which he did not 
 naturally grow up, but into which he has been 
 graciously formed by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 In his natural character he belonged to the world. 
 He then shared in the afflictions common to man, 
 and felt and regarded them as men of the world do. 
 But when he is chosen out of the world, and a new 
 nature is given him, he becomes susceptible of other 
 impressions and another experience, to which his new 
 nature subjects him. He is made acquainted with 
 cares, anxieties, and sorrows which belong exclu- 
 sively to him and his brethren in Christ. From 
 these the mere worldling escapes; because he stands 
 not in the same relation with the Christian to the 
 sources whence they arise. They are of a spiritual 
 character, and can be only spiritually felt. 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 149 
 
 In addition, then, to the calamities and afflictions 
 common to man, the Christian is conscious of a 
 source loithin himself of not unfrequent grief, and 
 even anguish of mind. The sin that still dwelleth 
 in him, or " the law in his members warring against 
 the law of his mind," strives to regain the mastery, 
 and, at times, prevails. On such occasions the 
 pious soul is grieved, and, according to the degree 
 or aggravation of the guilt incurred, is cast down 
 and disquieted ; for the Christian cannot sin without 
 being soon made sensible of it. He grieves that he 
 has relaxed his watchfulness, that he has restrained 
 prayer, that he has allowed the world to engross his 
 affections, or the devices of Satan to beguile him 
 into transgression. He thinks of his fall, or his 
 backsliding, with shame and self-reproach. Con- 
 trasting his unfaithfulness with the goodness of his 
 God, he charges himself with base ingratitude and 
 rebellion. A feeling of his delinquency, therefore, 
 presses heavily upon his heart ; and he can give 
 himself no rest, till he has poured out his confes- 
 sions in penitential sorrow before God. In this 
 exercise he is not left to a fruitless affliction of soul. 
 The Spirit leads him afresh to the atonement of his 
 Saviour, and renews to his conscience the applica- 
 tion of that blood that cleanses from all sin. On 
 this his faith lays hold ; his confidence is restored; 
 and he can say with a grateful heart, " I acknow- 
 ledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I 
 not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions 
 
150 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of 
 my sin." The Saviour's consolatory promise is 
 directed specially to those who mourn the sins of 
 their own hearts: "Blessed are ye that mourn; for 
 ye shall be comforted." Their's is a godly sorrow — 
 a sorrow that can arise only in the heart that feels 
 for the honour of God, that respects his righteous 
 law, and has a lively sense of the claims which his 
 grace and goodness have upon the obedience of the 
 life. Such is the heart that is alone susceptible of 
 godly sorrow. 
 
 The sorrow of the worldling is far from possess- 
 ing anything of this pure, this generous, character. 
 It is a foolish, contracted, selfish, emotion, arising 
 from an undue attachment to perishing objects. 
 Such a sorrow tends not to good, but worketh death. 
 Not so the sorrow that exercises the heart of the 
 Christian. It is that which we have seen worketh 
 repentance ; and the Apostle tells us, " Repentance 
 unto salvation, not to be repented of." This sorrow 
 is a gracious feeling. It is wrought in the heart by 
 the Spirit of God himself; and, accordingly, its 
 results are all delightful, — repentance, pardon, ac- 
 ceptance, and joy. For this sacred sorrow the con- 
 solations of the Spirit are abundantly offered. In 
 reference to this sorrow, we read, " Weeping may 
 endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 
 Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes 
 from tears, and my feet from falling." Happy the 
 soul that is in such a case ! 
 
CONSOLATIONS. ' 151 
 
 But, besides this source of feeling arising within 
 the Christian's own heart, there are, as we have 
 remarked, other sources without him, which afflict 
 him in no small degree, — the sinful state of the 
 world around him — the conduct of many professors 
 of religion — and the unsatisfactory state of the 
 Church itself. In all these the Christian is deeply 
 interested ; for in whatever concerns the well-being 
 of man, and the glory of God, he is concerned. The 
 religion of Christ has in it a spirit of ennobling and 
 expansive energy, disposing him who is animated 
 by it to ally himself, in his views and feelings, with 
 the universe of heaven and earth. He looks around 
 him, and sees "the world alienated from God. It is 
 consequently at enmity with godliness, and perse- 
 cutes the Christian. But, grievous and annoying as 
 this often proves, it is not because of the injuries it 
 inflicts upon him that the Christian weeps for the 
 world. It is on a far higher principle, and a more 
 extended view of the case of mankind at large, that 
 he pities and laments it. He thinks, with deep 
 anguish of spirit, on the vast numbers that are daily 
 perishing in their sins ; and he cannot but long for 
 the evangelization of the whole fallen and infatuated 
 race. For this he prays ; and, in his sphere, for 
 this he labours. Nor is he without his consolations 
 here. Notwithstanding the long, long, period that 
 this world has lain under the dominion of sin and 
 Satan, God has not abandoned it to destruction. 
 He gave his Son to redeem it, and that at a mighty 
 
152 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 cost. It is promised, " He shall see of the travail of 
 his soul, and be satisfied." And O how much is 
 there involved in that travail ! and what must be 
 the amount that shall satisfy the soul of Christ? 
 Nothing less than "a great multitude that no man 
 can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, 
 and tongues." The promise of the Father is pledged 
 for this: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the 
 heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for thy possession." The Divine 
 pledge wiU be redeemed. The day is approaching 
 for it. Every movement in the natural and moral 
 world is being made subservient to it. The great 
 design wiU keep its onward course, until loud voices 
 shall be heard in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! The 
 kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of 
 our Lord and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for 
 ever and ever ! " 
 
 Again, the Christian is often called to lament the 
 conduct of many professors of religion. Everything 
 great or lofty has its imitators ; every excellency, its 
 counterfeits ; but of all counterfeits, that of religion 
 is the worst. It proves, indeed, the reality and 
 actual existence of the true Christian character; 
 for, as it has been well observed, "There would 
 have been no counterfeits, but for the sake of some- 
 thing real. Though pretenders seem to be what 
 they really are not, yet they pretend to be some- 
 thing that really is." The formalist, then, is a 
 living testimony to the reality of genuine piety. 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 153 
 
 But to the truly pious man the case of the formalist 
 is a source of grief ; because of the awfully danger- 
 ous position in which it places him, and of the 
 scandal he brings from an ignorant world upon the 
 profession of religion. It is attended, however, 
 with some salutary exercises in the Christian himself. 
 He is led, from his observation of the counterfeit, 
 to examine more closely the characteristics of true 
 godliness. It sends him to self-scrutiny. He thinks 
 of this admonition, " Be not high-minded, but fear." 
 In fine, it brings him no small consolation, when he 
 is made conscious of a growing desire to make his 
 own calling and election sure, and when it brings 
 him humbly and earnestly to cry, " Search me, O 
 God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my 
 thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in 
 me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 
 
 Lastly, the state of things in the Church itself, as 
 we have observed, is often a cause of grief to the 
 Christian. With the Church of Christ, in all its 
 interests, he is closely allied. He is, indeed, fully 
 aware that the cause of the Church is the cause of 
 God; that He will protect it; and that its final tri- 
 umph is secured. " It is built upon a rock, and the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It is a 
 cause which has been steadily advancing, is now 
 advancing, and will advance, until it become " the 
 joy of the whole earth." Yet, in some of its locali- 
 ties, it may be suffering. If with any of these he 
 should be connected, and should perceive church- 
 
154 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 discipline becoming lax — love growing cold — peace 
 and union disturbed — devotion and effort languish- 
 ing — or the faith of some church-members unset- 
 tled and doubtful, he cannot but deeply mourn. In 
 such cases, however, the truly devout man betakes 
 himself to prayer; for which he draws encourage- 
 ment from the word of God himself, who calls him 
 to it: " Ye that mal^e mention of the Lord, keep not 
 silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and 
 till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." This 
 very call to urgency with God for such a purpose 
 carries with it a consolatory assurance that it shall 
 be fulfilled. Notwithstanding the partial evils the 
 Christian witnesses, and justly laments, he is cheered 
 by the consideration that the great Head of the 
 Church will heal them all; that " no weapon formed 
 against her shall prosper; that he will beautify the 
 place of his sanctuary; and upon all her glory there 
 shall be a defence." Yes; though he looks at some 
 things in the Church with unavoidable regret and 
 sorrow, he can, at the same time, labour and pray, 
 with perfect confidence, for the accomplishment of 
 his best hopes respecting her, sustained and con- 
 soled by the promise so amply given him: "The 
 Lord will comfort Zion : he will comfort all her 
 waste places ; and he will make her wilderness like 
 Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." 
 
 And now, after having specified some of the more 
 prominent afflictions to which the Christian is 
 exposed, and pointed briefly to the consolations pro- 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 155 
 
 vided for them, let us, for a while, study the Spirit 
 in which the afflictions are to he endured, and the 
 consolatiotis enjoyed. This is an important part of 
 our subject. The apostle James says, " Behold we 
 count them happy which endure." His meaning 
 evidently is not that we count any happy merely 
 because they are sufferers, but because of the patient 
 spirit with which they suffer. This is proved by 
 his immediately referring to the patience of Job, as 
 a case in point. The Christian, under trial and 
 affliction, is entitled to the consolations of God only 
 as he dutifully bears them. And, perhaps, he will 
 best learn his duty here by considering the end and 
 purpose of God in his afflictions. Now God, gra- 
 ciously assuming the character of a Father, and 
 acknowledging those whom he has received in 
 Christ as his children, cannot deal with them but 
 in love. Whatever, therefore, he grants them, 
 whatever he withdraws from them, whatever he 
 imposes upon them, must be for their benefit. K 
 he bring them into the net, if he lay affliction upon 
 their loins, it is to prove them, to try them, as silver 
 is tried. Look at the refiner, — he flings his gold 
 into the furnace, that it may come out the purer. 
 And for what end does the husbandman drive the 
 ploughshare over his land, or the gardener employ 
 his knife upon his trees, but to make them fruitful? 
 In this light are the afflictions of God's people to be 
 viewed. He designs their improvement in the 
 various graces of the Spirit. He will have them 
 
156 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 walk before him as children ought to walk — more 
 and more in his own likeness. It is, therefore, in 
 the spirit of a child of God that the Christian 
 should submit to all his dispensations; and, in this 
 filial spirit, he will — 
 
 1 . Achioivledge his heavenly Father^ s hand in what- 
 ever he/alls him. Unlike the man of the world, of 
 whom we read that " God is not in all his thoughts," 
 which is practical atheism, the truly pious man 
 indulges no thought unconnected with God. He 
 believes, and realizes the fact, that *' in him he 
 lives, and moves, and has his being;" that, as the 
 creature of God, he is the subject of his natural and 
 moral government; and that, as a Christian, he is 
 the object of his special, his fatherly, his covenant 
 love and care. His Lord has told him, that not 
 even a sparrow can fall to the ground without his 
 heavenly Father; and that the very hairs of his head 
 are aU numbered. Nothing, therefore, can occur to 
 him, but by his permission or appointment. In this 
 belief he rests, and enjoys his being. The Chris- 
 tian, acting in his proper character, is the most 
 calm, unruffled, dignified, among men! He looks 
 on all events, as they change, public or private, 
 relative or personal, without fear or dismay; be- 
 cause, whatever their aspect may be to the eye of 
 man, his Father rules them aU; and aU will be made 
 to contribute to the real interests of them who are 
 his : " For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro 
 throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 157 
 
 in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward 
 him." In his personal concerns, he derives his 
 sweetest consolation from the habit of viewing God 
 in all of them, deHghted with nothing so much as 
 recognising the continual presence of God with him, 
 and saying, " Thou, God, seest me ! " Even in the 
 darkest dispensation, it is his privilege to hear the 
 voice of his Saviour and Friend, calling to him, 
 "It is I; be not afraid!" 
 
 2. The Christian, in the spirit of filial duty, will 
 acknowledge his afiiictions as tohens of his Father's 
 displeasure with his sins, as well as of love to his soul. 
 God is too wise a Father not to see folly in his 
 children, and too holy in his nature not to be dis- 
 pleased with it. "He is of purer eyes than to 
 behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity." The 
 law of his house is express upon that point; his 
 children may read it there: "If they break my 
 statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will 
 I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their 
 iniquity with stripes." This law he has put in force 
 with all his children. He did so with Job, who, 
 good and upright as he was, had dross to be purged 
 away in the furnace of afiiiction. He did so with 
 David, who acknowledges, " Before I was afilicted, I 
 went astray; but now have I kept thy word:" and in 
 the case of sinning Israel, the Lord tells them, "You 
 only have I known of all the families of the earth: 
 therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." 
 
 Christian, think of this ! It is no light matter to 
 
158 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 sin against God. It partakes of the spirit of rebel- 
 lion, and is imminently dangerous to thyself. But, 
 rather than suffer thee to be condemned with the 
 world, thy Father in heaven will visit every unmor- 
 tified sin of thine with punishment. " He will 
 make thy own wickedness to correct thee, and thy 
 backslidings reprove thee, until thou know and see 
 that it is an evil thing, and bitter, that thou hast 
 forsaken the Lord thy God." Take thyself, then, 
 to task, and examine thy own case, when under 
 affliction. Job begged of the Lord to show him 
 wherefore he contended with him : we would have 
 thee ask that question of thyself. Search and see if 
 thou canst not find within thee reason enough for 
 the infliction of the rod. Examine impartially, and 
 know, whether thou art chargeable with forgetful- 
 ness of God, or conformity to the world, or pride 
 and self-sufficiency, or neglect of some Christian 
 duty. If thy conscience bear witness against thee, 
 if thy own heart condemn thee, then " Humble thy- 
 self under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt 
 thee in due time." For this is thy consolation, — thy 
 afflictions, however severe, are tokens also of love to 
 thy soul. It was in love, free, sovereign, love, that 
 he chose thee at first — in love he effectually called 
 thee, and that same love determines him to use all 
 means to keep thee, and make thee meet for himself. 
 Has he hedged up thy way with thorns, and made 
 a wall, so that thou canst not find thy paths ? — do 
 the waves and the billows of affliction go over thee ? — 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 159 
 
 or, dost thou complain, like David, " Day and night 
 thy hand is heavy upon me ?" Well, hear his own 
 reason for all this: "As many as I love, I rebuke 
 and chasten." With this agree the words of the 
 Apostle, "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, 
 and scourgeth every son that he receiveth;" and 
 the Psalmist confirms it with this testimony, " Bless- 
 ed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord ! and 
 teachest out of thy law." Blessed, indeed; for he 
 chastens his children " for their profit^ that they may 
 be partakers of his holiness ! " 
 
 If thy afflictions, then, are just so many expres- 
 sions of parental love, would it be well for thee to 
 go without them ? Assuredly not; for then a special 
 evidence of thy filial relationship would be wanting. 
 All God's children partake of this discipline; and 
 wert thou entirely without it, thou wouldst be none 
 of his. Left without it, thou wouldst soon be found 
 walking in thy own by-paths, contrary to God, 
 who would also walk contrary to thee, and punish 
 thee yet seven times for thy sins. If so, then thank 
 God, not only for the sweet he allows thee to enjoy, 
 but for the bitter also that he mingles in thy cup; 
 for " Afflictions," to use the words of an old divine, 
 " are then blessings to us, when we can bless God 
 for afflictions, whose single view, in causing us to 
 pass through the fire, is only to separate the sin he 
 hates from the soul he loves." Under such conside- 
 rations, it becomes thee, in the spirit of the Apostle, 
 to rejoice and glory in thy tribulations; and let 
 
160 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 their fruit be patience; but " Let patience have her 
 perfect work, that thou mayest be perfect and entire, 
 wanting nothing," which leads us to remark that — 
 3. The spirit of filial duty will dispose the Chris- 
 tian to seek, in prayer, for the pardon of his sins, and 
 for every grace needful to sustain him under his affiic- 
 tions, through the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 When things go smoothly with us — when our plans 
 succeed — when our expectations are gratified, and 
 the sunshine of prosperity seems to settle upon us, 
 we become secure, and are apt to slide into sins, 
 and speedily forget that we have sinned. But let 
 afflictions come, let the rod be used, and our sins 
 are brought to our remembrance. A Christian, in 
 such a case, cannot be easy. Guilt and terror will, 
 more or less, distress his conscience. It is well for 
 him to take the alarm ; but his proper course for 
 relief is to apply, by earnest prayer, to the atoning 
 blood of the Saviour, that his conscience may be 
 therein purified, pardon be obtained, and peace re- 
 stored. This is the only balm for his wound ; this 
 the only laver in which to wash and be clean. 
 The enlightened Christian will take no other course. 
 He will put no confidence in any resolutions of his 
 own; no, nor in his contrite feelings: he will simply, 
 but believingly, look to Christ, his propitiation. 
 As the wounded and dying Israelites looked to the 
 brazen serpent, and were healed, so will he look to 
 Christ. If conscious that his heart has been be- 
 trayed into a surrender of those afiections to the 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 161 
 
 creature that were due only to the Creator, he will 
 own his guilt, and, casting himself on the mercy of 
 God in Christ, will seek reconciliation through 
 him. He will put away the evil thing that has 
 estranged him from his God, saying, " What have 
 I to do any more with idols ? I have borne chas- 
 tisement ; I will not offend any more." Thus he 
 recovers the evidences of his interest in his heavenly 
 Father's love ; for he is a God ready to pardon, and 
 waits to be gracious. The communion of the peni- 
 tent soul is now renewed. The sweet accents of his 
 voice are heard, "I will forgive thine iniquity ; and I 
 will remember thy sin no more ; " while the Chris- 
 tian's heart gratefully responds, " I will be glad, and 
 rejoice in thy mercy : for thou hast considered my 
 trouble ; thou hast known my soul in adversities." 
 But while he earnestly sues for the pardon of sin, the 
 godly man also urges his prayer, through the same 
 all-prevalent name, that, if it be not consistent with 
 the Divine purpose to withdraw the rod, he would 
 bestow every grace needful to support him under it. 
 Such is the exercise God himself enjoins. His own 
 words are, " CaU upon me in the day of trouble ; I 
 will deliver thee ; and thou shalt glorify me." The 
 Christian accordingly prays for strength, that he 
 may not faint nor repine under affliction ; for light 
 in his soul, that he may read the dispensations of 
 God aright ; for a patient and submissive spirit ; 
 for faith in his word and promises; for an increased 
 love to, and desire for, entire conformity to the 
 
 M 
 
162 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Divine nature ; for a brighter and brighter hope of 
 the blissful inheritance before him ; in short, for 
 every grace that shall enable him to glorify God, 
 even in the fires. These are legitimate objects of 
 prayer; and, rising up before God in the incense of 
 the Redeemer's merits, they are graciously received. 
 " Fear not," is the promise returned ; "for I am 
 with thee : be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : 
 I w^ill strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, 
 I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my 
 righteousness. When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, 
 they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest 
 through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither 
 shall the flame kindle upon thee ! " 
 
 But we cannot contemplate the blessedness of the 
 man to whom these great privileges belong, who, 
 even in his deepest affliction, is supported and 
 cheered by consolations so abundant and so rich, 
 without great heaviness and sorrow of heart, on 
 account of the many who have neither part nor lot 
 in the matter. To a Christian mind, the thought 
 of their condition is appalling. Alas! how many 
 of our race pursue the baubles of time, as though 
 they had no spiritual and eternal interests to care 
 for ! The flattery of a vain world, the business and 
 pleasures of sense, fill up all their desires. The know- 
 ledge of God, the possession of his favour, the glories 
 and felicities of a future heaven, have no attrac- 
 tion for them. They dislike and reject the thought 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 163 
 
 of such things. Religion, with its many references 
 to God, with its warnings, its admonitions, its pre- 
 cepts, its invitations, its promises — religion is an 
 unwelcome intrusion. God calls upon them by his 
 providence, by his word, by his ministers; but they 
 say unto him, "Depart from us; for we desire not 
 the knowledge of thy ways." Deplorable condi- 
 tion! What must be the consequence of a course 
 like this? What, but God's taking his course, and 
 pronouncing the awful alternative, "They are 
 joined to idols, — let them alone!" Alas! nothing 
 can be more dreadful than this. A sinner left to him- 
 self! — it is to insure his perdition ! Every warning, 
 every check, every thing salutary, is removed out 
 of his way; and clear space is given liim, to run 
 headlong to his ruin. Follow him now, for a little, 
 in his mad career. See, he has gone the whole 
 round of this world's enjoyments. His youth has 
 been spent, it may be, in dissipation, or in amass- 
 ing a heap of earthly pelf, or in gaining a name 
 and distinction among men. Adversity overtakes 
 him, — his constitution is broken up, and disease 
 ravages his frame, — or his riches have taken wing, 
 and flown away, — or, from some sad vicissitude, 
 human favour is turned to a frown, and the sun- 
 shine of fortune is intercepted by the dark cloud 
 of a hopeless calamity. What is he now ? — a miser- 
 able wreck among the many thousands of this 
 world's dupes! Stretched on a bed of wasting sick- 
 ness, or tortured with the mortifications of grievous 
 
164 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 reverses, where is he to find consolation? Will the 
 maxims of the world soothe him now? Alas! he 
 and the world are parting. — Will his infidel philo- 
 sophy avail him in his hour of need? No: he has 
 found it to be a refuge of lies; and he has said in 
 his heart, "As it happeneth to the fool, so it hap- 
 peneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? 
 — this also is vanity!" Wretched man! the enemy 
 is upon him, and there is none to help! Like Saul, 
 at the close of his reign, he cannot but exclaim in 
 the bitterness of his soul, "I am sore distressed; for 
 the Philistines make war against me, and God is 
 departed from me ! " O what, under such circum- 
 stances, would he give for the Christian's consola- 
 tions! But these are all founded on principles 
 which he had disclaimed, and held in contempt; 
 and he feels that he dare not appropriate them. 
 There is nothing now for him, but to eat the fruit 
 of his own way; and breathe out his vain, feverish, 
 life in unavailing groans and woful despair! 
 
 Oh! it is not possible to represent on a written 
 page what we feel at heart, when we draw such a 
 picture! But let us ask. Does this happen to be 
 read by any one whose conscience tells him he is 
 yet a stranger to the hope of the Gospel? We 
 would affectionately, we would earnestly, entreat 
 him to lay this matter seriously to heart. Fellow- 
 sinner, we would pray thee, as thou regardest thy 
 peace for time and for eternity, — as thou wouldest 
 enjoy the being which God has given thee, look to 
 
CONSOLATIONS. 165 
 
 thy spiritual state. Inquire of thy own heart, 
 whether thou hast ever felt thyself in a lost con- 
 dition, and in need of a Saviour; whether thou 
 hast been brought to the cross of Christ, and seen 
 him there wounded for thy transgressions, and 
 bruised for thine iniquities? It is in this interest- 
 ing attitude that Christ has been held up before 
 thee in the Gospel. If thou hast not yet been 
 attracted by this wonderful spectacle — not yet won 
 to believe in his atonement, and to trust thyself to 
 it as a helpless sinner, we call upon thee to come 
 at once, and receive the offered salvation. The 
 case is urgent. — Christ himself calls thee, — thou 
 hast need of him, — there is salvation in no other; 
 but when thou hast fled to him, and he is formed 
 in thee the hope of glory, then happy shalt thou 
 be! Thy portion will be rich; for thou wilt have 
 God for thy Father, Christ for thy Advocate and 
 Intercessor, and the Holy Spirit for thy Comforter 
 and Guide into all truth. And whereas, before, 
 thou didst walk in darkness, thou wilt be light 
 in the Lord. Then come what may, in health, 
 or in sickness; in prosperity, or in adversity; in 
 life, or in death, thy safety wilt be secure. Thy 
 life will then be hid in Christ with God. In com- 
 mon with thy brethren in the world, thou mayst 
 be called to endure hardness and grief, for 
 conscience toward God; but in common also with 
 them, thou wilt be free to all the promises of God's 
 word, to all its delightful consolations, and wilt 
 
166 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 join in the triumphant language of the followers 
 of Christ, "Our light affliction, which is but for 
 a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory; while we look not 
 at the things which are seen, but at the things 
 which are not seen: for the things which are seen 
 are temporal; but the tilings which are not seen 
 are eternal!" 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 167 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY INHEEITANCE. 
 
 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again 
 unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
 dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." — 1 Peter i. 3, 4. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no affection of the mind more 
 pleasurable to it, certainly none more tenaciously 
 indulged, than hope. It is the universal tenant of 
 the human breast, and more or less influential in 
 all. We live upon hope. In every grade of society, 
 in every variety of life, it is found indispensable to 
 support, to animate, or to cheer. It is needful to 
 sustain existence. Without it, the peasant could 
 not labour; the prince could not enjoy; the hus- 
 bandman could neither plough nor sow; the mer- 
 chant could not embark in his hazardous specula- 
 tions; nor the student ply his studies. The hope 
 of gainful results, of some future good to be enjoyed, 
 is the sustaining power, is the force witliin which 
 impels to action. Every one may be said to have 
 some favourite object in view, at which he most 
 
168 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Strenuously aims — some elevation — some resting- 
 point — some enjoyment, for wliicli he puts forth his 
 toil and labour, in the attainment of which they 
 are to terminate, and find their reward. It is the 
 inspiration of hope that nerves his arm, that urges 
 his perseverance. But this noble passion of the 
 soul is not only a stimulant to the active powers of 
 man, it is his solace also in affliction, a balm for the 
 troubles of his mind. The ills of life, whether 
 inflicted on the body, or on the estate, are mitigated 
 by hope. It points the sufferer to a day of relief; 
 and consoles him with the prospect of ease, pleasure, 
 or plenty, that may yet be his. 
 
 If hope, then, merely as a natural exercise of the 
 mind, be thus important and influential, and if it 
 be thus friendly to man in reference to his temporal 
 interests, how much more important and estimable 
 must it be, as a Christian grace, as a fruit of the 
 Holy Spirit? The hope that is bounded by time, 
 and fixed on objects only temporal, is precarious at 
 best, depending on human will, or shifting events, 
 all which are proverbially uncertain. Such a hope, 
 too, is comparatively poor; its object, when realized, 
 often proving valueless, and a mockery. Nothing 
 which has reference merely to the present life can 
 satisfy the longings of the soul. Let it be w^hat it 
 may, it is perishable, and was never intended to fill 
 the wants of that which is immortal. Sooner might 
 the human frame be fed on stones or ashes, than the 
 nobler and never-dying spirit subsist on, and be 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 169 
 
 content with, aught the world can afford. The soul 
 of the worldling, indeed, is, for a season, fed with 
 delusive hopes. He sees, or fancies he sees, a dis- 
 tant good inviting him to pursue, that he may over- 
 take and enjoy it. Yielding to the enchantment, he 
 goes after the visionary bliss. He exerts all his 
 faculties, he plies every means to arrive at it. He 
 may, or he may not, succeed. But, see ! he reaches 
 the object; and what does it prove to be? — a phan- 
 tom! The result is bitter disappointment; and, if 
 the error be not corrected in time, and a wiser and 
 holier course not adopted, the truth of the neglected 
 Scripture will be exemplified upon him, " They 
 that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 
 They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the 
 whirlwind." This is a hope that makes ashamed. 
 But the Christian's hope, kindled up and sustained 
 by fire from above, will not deceive him. While it 
 is infinitely grander, as to its object, than any 
 earthly hope can presume to be, its foundation is 
 stronger than that of the world itself. His is a 
 confidence whose inspiration prompts him to ex- 
 claim, " Therefore will not I fear, though the earth 
 be removed, and though the mountains be carried 
 into the midst of the sea." The apostle Peter, con- 
 templating the privileges of the Christian, and 
 more especially the bright expectation he is entitled 
 to indulge, caUs it a lively hope. The epithet he 
 applies is as just as it is spirited. This grace in 
 the Christian is a lively, a living principle, by 
 
170 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 which he is stimulated to every conflict in the spi- 
 ritual warfare; while, like a consoling and strength- 
 ening angel, it attends him in his tribulations, his 
 sicknesses, and his trials. He may sometimes 
 droop, and be in heaviness; but this lively attend- 
 ant never entirely fails, never wholly abandons him, 
 but enlivens and cheers him to the last. This the 
 men of the world do not understand. They alto- 
 gether mistake the case of the Christian. They 
 tliink he is dragging on a sad and gloomy existence; 
 that he is foolishly refusing the gains and the plea- 
 sures of the present life, and practising afflictions 
 and self-denial that can answer no adequate pur- 
 pose. But they know not the sweetness, nor the 
 strength, of the hope that lives in him; they hear 
 not the blessed promises which that hope whispers 
 to his soul; they see not the glorious prospects 
 it opens to his delightful view ; in fine, they are 
 strangers to the principles of the Divine life — they 
 cannot know them, "because they are spiritually 
 discerned." There are no opposite things between 
 which there is a more real and substantial differ- 
 ence, than that between the worldling and the 
 Christian. The man of the world seeks present 
 gratification. The world, which is always nearest 
 at hand, presents its attractions, and makes its pro- 
 mises. He believes them; they suit his vitiated 
 taste; and, with eager expectation, he presses for- 
 ward to catch the fancied prize. But, all the while, 
 he is like " a bird that hasteth to the snare, and 
 knoweth not that it is for his life." 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 171 
 
 It is far otherwise with the Christian. He has 
 been taught to make a very different election. Not 
 that he stands before us as one that had never tried 
 the world, and had therefore never been its dupe; 
 that had never soiled his feet in its polluted paths, nor 
 leant upon it, and had his hand pierced as with a 
 broken reed. No; — all this he may have done — all 
 this he may have experienced ; but, through the 
 grace of God, he has been convinced of the evil and 
 danger of such a state, and has fled for refuge to 
 lay hold upon the hope set before him. He has 
 renounced the world: its vanities no longer allure 
 him; he is no longer enslaved by its spirit and 
 maxims. He loves not the practices and deeds to 
 which it impels its votaries; but testifies of them, 
 that they are evil. Beauties infinitely more attrac- 
 tive have won his heart; honours infinitely more 
 noble, and more durable, now court his ambition; 
 and his soul-animating hopes are now fixed on an 
 infinitely higher inheritance than the world, with 
 all its kingdoms, can afford. And of what does the 
 inheritance, the object of his hope, consist? Of 
 nothing less than an eternity of bliss and glory in 
 the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle describes it as 
 "an inheritance incorruptible, uridefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away" — characteristics that can suit none 
 other: they are applicable only to the heavenly 
 inheritance. 
 
 This inheritance is the subject of our present 
 meditation ; and in further pursuing it, we will avail 
 ourselves of the characters suggested by the apos- 
 
172 CHRISTIAN PEIVILEGES. 
 
 tolic description. One great object with the 
 Apostle, to whose words we have referred, in 
 writing to his scattered and persecuted brethren, 
 is evidently to cheer and elevate their minds, by 
 reminding them of the rich and ennobling privi- 
 leges to which they were entitled. He seems as if - 
 he. had taken up the pen, while his own heart was 
 glowing with the gratitude and joy he sought to 
 kindle in their's. The warmth of his emotions 
 makes him hasten to give prominence to the sub- 
 ject, by introducing it immediately after his saluta- 
 tion; and his views of the Christian's privileges are 
 such, that when he begins to speak of them, it 
 must be in the language of praise. " Blessed," he 
 exclaims, "be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 
 mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by 
 the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to 
 an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." 
 
 The epithet incorruptible may be considered as 
 meaning imperishable, and therefore expressing Per- 
 petuity; — undefiled, stainless, signifying Purity; — 
 th^t fadeth not aivay, incapable of decay, or ivithering, 
 and it expresses Immutability. 
 
 The inheritance, then, which is reserved for the 
 Christian is — 
 
 I. Perpetual, or Eternal. The inspired writers 
 love to speak of the heavenly inheritance under the 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 173 
 
 attribute of eternal duration. The apostle Paul 
 says, " We know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
 God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens." The apostle John, in his Apocalypse, 
 says, the redeemed in heaven " shall reign for ever 
 and ever." And we have our Lord's confirmation 
 of the doctrine, who declares, that " whosoever be- 
 lie veth in him shall not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life." But passages to that effect are numerous, 
 and need not be multiplied here. An inheritance, 
 indeed, in the world to come, which should fall 
 short of eternal, would not be suitable to the nature 
 of man. He is himself an immortal creature ; and 
 he cannot be fully satisfied with an inheritance that 
 is not co-extensive with his own existence. His 
 spirit, imprisoned as it now is, in its clay tenement, 
 gives frequent intimation of unbounded aspirations 
 — of desires too vast for earth, or time itself to fill. 
 Full well he knows that this world is not his resting- 
 place I that here he has no continuing city: he seeks 
 one to come ; and that one, to suit the wants and 
 desires of his spiritual life, must be an enduring 
 one. Suppose, for a moment, a saint in heaven, in 
 his entire nature, when the mortal body shall have 
 put on immortality, and been united with the im- 
 mortal spirit, — suppose him, body and soul glorified 
 together, in the full enjoyment of the beatific 
 vision of his God and Saviour, gazing with grow- 
 ing wonder on the majesty and glory of him who 
 
174 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 occupies the supreme throne, and basking in the 
 beams of his complacency and love, as they are 
 poured upon him in noon-tide blaze, to be suddenly 
 assured from authority that all this extatic blessed- 
 ness was coming to an end, and all the unspeakable 
 glory that encircled him was to be blotted out for 
 ever, how would all his delights be dashed with 
 dread forebodings of the threatened extinction! — 
 how would distress and anguish seize upon the soul, 
 so much the more pungent from the exalted bless- 
 edness and glory to which he had been admitted ! 
 Could there be a mere doubt created as to the per- 
 petuity of his bliss, it would be insupportable. No; 
 in that case, it could not be a rest for the people of 
 God, — it could not be heaven. Besides, the human 
 being is an intelligent creature, capable of indefinite 
 improvement, possessed of powers of mind fitted for 
 perpetual exertion. In the present life these powers 
 do little else than commence operations, and try 
 their strength. A man's time here is not sufiicient 
 to allow them free and full play; for how soon does 
 he return to his earth! and "in that very day his 
 thoughts perish." But when the Christian has 
 passed a perfected and glorified saint into the king- 
 dom of his Lord, the faculties of his soul, escaped 
 from the checks and hinderances of the flesh, will 
 spread out and expatiate far beyond all their former 
 excursions. What before he saw darkly, as through 
 a glass, he will then see face to face : before, he 
 knew but in part ; there, he will know even as he 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 175 
 
 is known. The blessedness and glory of his state 
 wiU, indeed, be ever full : but his capacities will be 
 ever expanding ; and he will accordingly be receiv- 
 ing new accessions of bliss, and shining in still 
 increasing degrees of glory to all eternity. How 
 grand. the idea! — an intelligent being, exquisitely- 
 sensible of the happiness of his condition, making 
 endless advances in the perfections of his nature, 
 and gaining greater and greater degrees of resem- 
 blance to the adorable Creator himself, yet ever 
 remaining at an infinite distance from him ! There 
 is a sublimity in this beyond the grasp of any 
 created mind. 
 
 But let us meditate a little more closely on the 
 nature and qualities of this expected inheritance. 
 It is, indeed, a subject on which we can say but 
 little with precision. If we be asked lohere the seat 
 of this inheritance is? what the region or the place 
 it occupies ? we can only answer as the Scriptures 
 have taught us, — it is " in heaven." The eternal 
 inheritance " is reserved in heaven for them who are 
 kept by the power of God, through faith unto sal- 
 vation." If we be asked again, Where is the place 
 of heaven ? of this we must acknowledge our igno- 
 rance; though, no doubt, it has a locality^ and is not 
 merely a state of being. We cannot tell the parti- 
 cular quarter or district of creation chosen for the 
 ultimate residence of the redeemed and glorified 
 family; but wherever it is, we know that, for ampli- 
 tude, and blessedness, and glory, it is infinitely 
 
176 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 beyond all created power to describe, or even con- 
 ceive. " In my Father's house," said Christ to his 
 disciples, " are many mansions ; I go to prepare a 
 place for you ; " and when the Son of God himself 
 condescends to make preparations, how transcend- 
 ently excellent and glorious may we expect them to 
 be ! " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man, the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him." But though 
 no one already in possession of this inheritance has 
 returned to give us a description of it, — though we 
 are precluded, by the very constitution of things, 
 from seeing it, and taking cognizance of it for our- 
 selves, while in the body, — yet, by the aid of reve- 
 lation, as by a spiritual telescope, we can discover 
 some portion of its grandeur, its beauty, and its 
 adaptation to the everlasting happiness of its pos- 
 sessors. Even by this aid, it is true, all that we can 
 now discover of the preparations that Christ has 
 made for his people falls, and must necessarily fall, 
 vastly short of the reality. Our present state is in- 
 capable of admitting a full and unveiled manifesta- 
 tion. Yet has the Holy Spirit, in his word, indulged 
 us with various glimpses of the blessed inheritance 
 calculated to inform our minds, to cheer our hope, 
 and to strengthen our faith. Accordingly, we are 
 permitted to see it under the figure of — 
 
 1. A Rest for the people of God, — an everlasting 
 rest. The Israelites of old, during their long wan- 
 derings through the wilderness, and their sharp 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 177 
 
 warfare with the nations in their way, looked for- 
 ward to Canaan, their promised inheritance, as the 
 land of their final rest. Animated by this hope, 
 they endured and fought, until " the Lord gave 
 them rest round about, according to all that he 
 sware unto their fathers." That rest was typical 
 of the inheritance of the saints in light. Their's 
 was an earthly inheritance; this is heavenly: their's 
 was temporal ; this is eternal. If their's was a wel- 
 come rest, after many physical exertions, many 
 bodily fatigues, thrice welcome will be this heavenly 
 rest to the glorified Christian, when he shall have 
 done with all the labours of his upwai'd course, and 
 the warfare he has had to carry on against his foes. 
 Especially sweet and delightful will this rest be to 
 the saint who has closed a career of diligent, self- 
 denying, devoted piety, and who, after sometliing 
 of apostolic zeal and labour, can say, "I have 
 fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
 have kept the faith." Such a servant of Christ, 
 who has been enabled, through grace, to sustain a 
 laborious service, enters upon his inheritance with 
 a high relish for the rest which it will afibrd him. 
 It is labour that sweetens rest ; and in proportion 
 to the length and pressure of the labour will be the 
 sweetness of the rest enjoyed. The man of daily 
 toil, who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, 
 can much better appreciate, and more keenly rel- 
 ish, the hour of repose, than he who is accustomed 
 to ease and listless inactivity. The soldier, long 
 
 N 
 
178 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 harassed with marches and counter-marches, pressed 
 with the constant weight of his armour, exposed to 
 frequent watching under every severity of weather, 
 and then, worn out and exhausted with the toils 
 and struggles of the battle-field, when all is brought 
 to a successful issue, and repose is granted him, 
 how much more exquisite will the enjoyment of 
 that repose be to him, than it can be to any one 
 who has never left the quiet of his home, who has 
 never endured such a service ! And the mariner, 
 Avho has been tossed about for days and nights on 
 the troubled sea, and has contended again and again 
 with tempests that threatened the destruction of the 
 bark to which he was committed, when he has at 
 last reached his desired haven, will be conscious of 
 a much livelier sense of gratification and delight, 
 than he who, having spent his days on land, has 
 never known the toils of a seaman, nor the dangers 
 of the deep. So will it be with the active, well- 
 tried Christian, when he enters on his rest. This 
 rest, which is promised him in his future inherit- 
 ance, is an element in his blessedness to which the 
 Holy Spirit has alluded with particular prominence. 
 When the voice from heaven was heard saying, 
 " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth," it is added, " Yea, saith the Spirit, that 
 they may rest from their labours ; and their works 
 do follow them." Their works of faith and labours 
 of love will then be over, and their rest will be 
 sweet. 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 179 
 
 These words of the Spirit, however, convey a 
 meaning beyond this, and that a meaning of no 
 small importance. Their works do follow them, as 
 so many attestations to their faithfulness in the 
 service of Christ — to the toils, the trials, the perse- 
 cutions, they endured for the glory of God, and the 
 salvation of men; and according to these will be 
 the degree of blessedness and glory to which they 
 will be elevated in heaven. They that suffered 
 with Christ will also reign with him. The smallest 
 service for Christ will not go without its reward ; 
 but to them who have forsaken kindred and lands, 
 and endured the loss of all things, for his sake, he 
 has promised a hundredfold, with life everlasting. 
 " This," says the Apostle, "this I say. He who 
 soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
 who soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully;" 
 and Christ hath declared, that when he shall come 
 in the glory of his Father, " he will reward every 
 man according to his works." Thus do the works 
 of the departed saint follow him, — not to claim the 
 rewards of merit, (for then they had need to go 
 before him, instead Q>i following after him), but as 
 evidences and titles given him of Christ, whose 
 previous work alone, in his behalf, had procured 
 him the inheritance. His reward is in no sense 
 the reward of debt^ but of grace; and his "own 
 works," as has been well observed, " are merely the 
 proportional measures of his reward." 
 
 But we were contrasting the Christian's present 
 
180 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 state with that which he has in prospect. Return- 
 ing to that topic, we must observe of eveiy Chris- 
 tian, of whatever degree, whether more or less 
 eminent, that he is confessedly a labourer. In this 
 respect, no one is singular. All are labourers. He 
 who is not Christ's labourer, — labouring in Christ's 
 service, and for his own salvation, — is the labourer 
 of the world and of Satan, — labouring for damna- 
 tion! The man of the world thinks the labour of 
 the Christian mere drudgery; and represents his life 
 as one of fruitless painstaking, hardship, and afflic- 
 tion; and calls it the more foolish, because volun- 
 tary ; while his own is a life of ease, liberty, and 
 self-enjoyment. But he belies the case altogether ; 
 the reverse is the truth. It is the worldling who 
 is the drudge. Think of the many rigid masters 
 he has to serve, — his own evil passions and ap- 
 petites — a hard, unfeeling world, to whose whims 
 and caprices he must bow, as to authority — and the 
 Devil himself, by whom he is led captive at his will; 
 and, alas ! the service he renders to such masters is 
 all the more dreadful, because voluntarij. 
 
 The Christian's labour is, in a great measure, 
 spent in opposing and overcoming the tyrants which 
 the unregenerate man, the worldling, obeys. He 
 has to labour, to watch, and to pray, against his 
 own earthly and carnal propensities, which are not 
 yet entirely eradicated. The Christian is soon made 
 to know that conversion is not conquest. The 
 sight of the cross of Christ, which the Holy Spirit 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 181 
 
 has given him, has indeed humbled and dissolved 
 him into contrition; it has moved him to hatred 
 of sin, and to faith in the blood of atonement for 
 forgiveness and acceptance. But enemies to his 
 peace still maintain their hold. The flesh still 
 aims at the ascendant over the mind. Sinful emo- 
 tions will rise in the heart; covetousness will seek 
 to insinuate itself into his motives; and he is of 
 all men the best assured of the truth, that "the 
 heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked." The fascinations, too, of a flattering, or the 
 frowns of a threatening, world bear upon him, to 
 weaken his faith, or abate his love; while the Arch- 
 foe, ever on the watch for occasions, plies his 
 wicked and hateful suggestions, to contaminate his 
 mind. These are by no means contemptible ad- 
 versaries: yet with all these the Christian must 
 contend; against them he must keep up a con- 
 stant antagonism, and that to the last; for here 
 he has no resting-place. He will rest when he 
 comes to his inheritance, — and then, brought off 
 safely and happily, and more than a conqueror 
 through Him that loved him, how sweet it will 
 be to rest in heaven! His way thither may be 
 rough: it cannot be long; and it will usher him 
 into a repose, the blessedness of which will in- 
 finitely more than counterbalance all the toils and 
 contests he endured in his progress to it. Anti- 
 cipating this happy issue, he may well go on his 
 way rejoicing, and sing as he goes, — 
 
182 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 "My rest is in heaven, my rest is not here; 
 Then why should I murmur, when trials are near? 
 Be hushed, ray dark spirit! the worst that can come 
 But shortens thy journey, and hastens thee home. 
 It is not for me to be seeking my bliss, 
 And building my hopes in a region like this : 
 I look for a City which hands have not piled; 
 I pant for a Country by sin undefiled." . 
 
 2. We are permitted to see this inheritance 
 under the figure of a Paradise. It is styled "the 
 Paradise of God," — a region of fragrance, of beauty, 
 and of perfect enjoyment. In the midst of it grows 
 the "tree of life," of which the possessor of the 
 heavenly inheritance is permitted to eat. Blessed 
 privilege! This tree is possessed of qualities jdc- 
 culiar to itself. Its fruit is highly nutritive; it 
 even confers immortality on its happy partaker, 
 and its leaves are medicinal. Under its shade 
 the nations of the redeemed repose in safety, health, 
 and uninterrupted felicity. It is declared of this 
 Paradise, that "no more curse shall be there." 
 No lurking tempter shall be found there; for 
 there no tempter can ever gain an entrance. 
 There no fear of future expulsion can arise; per- 
 petual possession is secured. It is a region of in- 
 corruptible purity and holiness; and therefore its 
 peace can never be marred. There every coun- 
 tenance beams with health; and every heart swells 
 with joy. There nothing destructive, nothing mis- 
 chievous, nothing grievous, can ever occur. The 
 promise will then be fulfilled, "The ransomed of 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 183 
 
 the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, 
 and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall 
 obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
 shall flee away ! " 
 
 3. Again, by the aid of Revelation, we discover 
 this inheritance under the figure of a City. It is 
 described, in the glowing language of the apostle 
 John, as "the holy city, new Jerusalem, that came 
 down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a Bride 
 adorned for her husband." Old Jerusalem was itself 
 a magnificent city, the chief city of God's ancient 
 people; but this, the new, the purified, the spiri- 
 tual Jerusalem, is incomparable for grandeur, 
 beauty, and holiness. The Apostle has given us, 
 in the two last chapters of his Apocalypse, a 
 representation of this glorious city, which, for rich- 
 ness, and sublimity of expression, no descriptive 
 piece in any language, prosaic or poetical, has 
 been found to equal. No emblem of beauty and 
 elegance could perhaps be more happily chosen, 
 than that of a Bride in her nuptial attire. On 
 that occasion, above all others, she employs the 
 utmost skill and pains to set her charms off to 
 the best advantage; accordingly, the City is re- 
 presented as thus adorned. There is in the Apos- 
 tle's description a combination of all that is rich, 
 and beautiful, and brilliant, and, in fine, of what- 
 ever is calculated to excite our admiration, and a 
 desire to behold, and to dwell in it. The very 
 appellations given it are expressive of uncommon 
 
184 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 magnificence. — It is called the City of the Great 
 King — the City of the Lord of Hosts — ^the Taber- 
 nacle of God. No other city can claim such desig- 
 nations as these. The building of its wall is of 
 jasper; the foundations are garnished with all 
 manner of precious stones; the streets are paved 
 with pure gold, transparent as glass; and each of 
 its gates is one entire pearl. The light of the 
 City is infinitely greater than what the sun or 
 moon could give it; for "the glory of God doth 
 lighten it; and the Lamb is the light thereof." 
 And the light is perpetual; for there is no night 
 there. The glory of God never ceases to shine 
 there; and therefore the darkness and dreariness 
 of night can have no place there. 
 
 Truly, glorious things are spoken of thee, O City 
 of God! "The sun shall be no more thy light 
 by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give 
 light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee 
 an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory!" 
 No martial sound shall ever be heard within thee; 
 nor shall thy walls shake at the noise of the horsemen, 
 and of the wheels, and of the chariots of war: a shout 
 shall never be lifted up against thee; the voice of 
 weeping shall be no more heard in thee, nor the 
 voice of crying. — No, not a jarring note shall fall 
 upon the ear; but "joy and gladness shall be found 
 in thee, thanksgiving and the voice of melody; 
 and there shall be heard the voice of the harpers 
 harping with their harps." — The song of Moses, 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 185 
 
 the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, 
 shall echo through thy streets. In this City, too, 
 there are many mansions, for the accommodation 
 of the blessed inhabitants, — all of them buildings 
 of God, not made with hands, like the palaces of 
 earthly monarchs, but of eternal durability, and 
 every way worthy of the Divine Architect and 
 Proprietor. In these delightful mansions, the heirs 
 of this heavenly inheritance will find everything 
 suited to their glorified state. Their great fore- 
 runner Jesus has entered within the veil, to make 
 them ready for their reception. They were, in- 
 deed, destined for them from before the foundation 
 of the world; but it was when Christ entered as 
 their High Priest that he more ofiicially and im- 
 mediately put them in preparation for his people's 
 coming, that they might be for ever with him, 
 and behold his glory there. It is of him they 
 hold these possessions. They are his, as the re- 
 ward of his mediatorial work; and they are their' s 
 by the gift of his grace. "The glory," said he, 
 in addressing his Father, "the glory which thou 
 gavest me, I have given them;" and elsewhere, 
 he says, "Him that overcometh will I make a 
 pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go 
 no more out: and I will write upon him the name 
 of my God, and the name of the City of my God, 
 which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out 
 of heaven from my God." 
 
 4. This inheritance is represented to us also under 
 
186 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 the figure of a Kingdom, — a Kingdom of such wide 
 extent as to be without any definite boundary; and 
 of wealth and power beyond conception. The 
 Sovereign of this Kingdom is Jesus Christ, the 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords, "who hath 
 prepared his throne in the heavens; and his king- 
 dom ruleth over all." Here the King and the 
 Kingdom are both eternal. "Of the increase of 
 his government, and of his peace, there shall be no 
 end. Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, 
 is for ever and ever." Christ is King of the 
 whole universe. He possesses supreme power over 
 all things natural and spiritual — over heaven, earth, 
 and hell. His name is declared to be above every 
 name; and that "at his name every knee should 
 bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, 
 and things under the earth." Of him the Father 
 gave command in heaven, "And let all the angels 
 of God worship him." On his head are many 
 crowns; for all kingdoms are his, being just so 
 many departments of his vast empire. All his 
 crowns betoken supreme sovereignty; but there 
 is one distinguished above all the rest, for the 
 ineffably attractive beauty, brilliancy and grace- 
 fulness with which* it shines, and the heavenly 
 benignity it beams on all around. — This is his 
 Mediatorial Diade?n; and this he earned by the 
 life of labour, suffering, and sorrow which he 
 spent, and the death he endured, on our earth, 
 in our nature, and for us sinners, to reconcile 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 187 
 
 US to God; — a work which none but he could 
 accomplish. In this view of it, can we possibly 
 calculate the richness and glory of such a crown? 
 or say what its precise value might be? — No; it 
 is not in any created intellect to estimate the 
 amount of the Mediator's merits, or tell the 
 glory, honour, and power adequate to reward 
 the Son of God for the achievement of redemp- 
 tion. Well may every creature in heaven, and 
 in earth, and under the earth, unite to ascribe in 
 the highest "blessing, and honour, and glory, 
 and power, unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." 
 
 How transcendent is the majesty of the Chris- 
 tian's Redeemer! Yet to this majesty the humblest 
 believer claims a near relation. With him whose 
 name is above every name he is connected, not 
 merely as a subject with his sovereign, but even 
 as a younger brother with an elder — as a joint - 
 heir with him of the glories of the heavenly world. 
 "To him that overcometh," says the Redeemer, 
 "will I grant to sit with me in my throne." What 
 a privilege for the Christian, to have such a pro- 
 mise, from such a quarter ! The lively hope which 
 such a promise inspires will never fail him. It is 
 not founded on himself, or on any fancied wisdom, 
 strength, or righteousness of his own; for then it 
 would prove but a baseless fabric, destined to be 
 destroyed by the first temptation, and to perish in 
 utter ruin and confusion. It rests on Christ, to 
 
188 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 whom he has fled for refuge, as to the Rock of Ages, 
 for salvation. To this lively hope he is said to be 
 " begotten again by the resurrection of Christ from 
 the dead." As sure, therefore, as he who died for 
 him rose again, and liveth for evermore, so surely 
 will the kingdom of glory, the promised inheritance, 
 be his. 
 
 In this Kingdom, too, the glorified Christian will 
 himself receive a crown. On earth he may have 
 been one of the poorest, the humblest, the most 
 despised among men; but he was, all the while, an 
 heir to a crown, — a crown of infinitely more value 
 than any that ever adorned the brow of an earthly 
 potentate. All earthly crowns, of whatever ma- 
 terial, are corruptible; this is incorruptible. Those 
 are uncertain possessions, being frequently torn by 
 violence from one head, to be set upon another; this 
 is held by an everlasting tenure, and can never be 
 displaced. Hence it is called, by way of eminence, 
 a " crown of life." " Be thou faithful unto death," 
 says the Saviour, " and I will give thee a crown of 
 life^ In reference also to the character of those 
 to whom it shall be awarded, it is called a " crown 
 of righteousness;" for they are all made righteous 
 in the righteousness of Christ. Hear the testimony 
 of the Apostle : " Henceforth there is laid up for 
 me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
 righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." O, if 
 the glittering diadems of this perishing world excite 
 the cupidity, and inflame the ambition of earthly- 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 189 
 
 minded mortals, so that they are ready to " wade 
 through slaughter" to obtain them, how should the 
 aspirant to a crown of life labour, strive, contend, 
 until it be won! He is required to be "faithful 
 unto death," — clearly an agonistical expression, 
 intimating that every power of endurance and of 
 action is to be put forth, a warfare accomplished, 
 and resistance to sin made, if needful, even unto 
 death, ere he can receive the prize. But the prize 
 is certain. Let him under no circumstances yield 
 to fear; nor give his enemy advantage over him, 
 by " casting away his confidence, which hath great 
 recompence of reward." The needful strength, 
 and the needful armour, are provided of God; 
 and — 
 
 " The feeble saint 
 
 Shall win the day, 
 
 Tho' death and hell 
 
 Obstruct the way." 
 
 Again, it is essential to man's happiness that he 
 be placed in society. In the kingdom of glory, the 
 social principle is fully and freely acted upon. 
 The saint, in possession of his heavenly inheritance, 
 will enjoy a society congenial with his glorified 
 state. It will consist of the innumerable company 
 of angels, in all their gradations of thrones and 
 dominions, principalities and powers, angels and 
 arch-angels, seraphim and cherubim; multitudes 
 also of those who, like himself, had " washed their 
 robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
 
190 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Lamb," — " multitudes whom no man can number, 
 of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
 tongues;" and, above all, and what constitutes the 
 essential blessedness of this inheritance — the King 
 OF Glory himself. We know but little of the 
 economy of heaven; but we may gather, from what 
 is revealed, that there will be perpetual intercourse 
 between the holy angels and the saints in light, for 
 mutual increase in knowledge, wisdom, and enjoy- 
 ment. It is not to be imagined that those benevo- 
 lent spirits, who ministered to the heirs of glory 
 while upon earth, will, on their coming to their 
 inheritance, cease to recognise them. They had 
 ever taken a deep interest in their spiritual pro- 
 gress. Their sympathies and services were ever 
 ready to assist, according to their commission, and, 
 in their own mysterious way, by solacing, coun- 
 selling, and encouraging them, in times of sorrow 
 and conflict. Christ's ransomed people were ever 
 the objects of their intense regard, — their special 
 charge, whose ultimate bliss and elevation they 
 contemplated with peculiar delight as an accession 
 to their own. And now, that they are arrived at 
 their home, and become fellow-celestials with them- 
 selves, how will they rejoice to exchange their 
 ministerings in sadness, sickness, and temptations, 
 for congratulatory welcomes, and acclamations of 
 praise! It is, moreover, their kind office to convey 
 the souls of the saints, at their emancipation from 
 the body, to their bright inheritance in heaven. 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 191 
 
 They cannot, therefore, fail to continue the mutual 
 intercourse there, and that on more intimate and 
 familiar terms than before. Thus the principali- 
 ties and powers in heavenly places will form, with 
 the saints, one great and happy assembly, partici- 
 pating the same joys and the same employments, 
 before the unveiled presence of their common Lord. 
 Sweet will be the converse carried on between 
 them. Themes high and holy, and increasing for 
 ever in interest, will not be wanting, through the 
 countless ages of eternity. The manifold wisdom 
 of God, in the works of his hand, in the plans of 
 his universal government, and, above all, in his 
 accomplishment of human redemption, will afford 
 perpetual matter for study, for mutual converse, 
 and for united praise. How sublime the thought! 
 There will be in heaven an inexhaustible supply of 
 topics, to exercise the intellect, the affections, and 
 the conversation of the inhabitants there, for eter- 
 nity! But wonderful as this fact appears, and 
 difficult as it is for us to form an adequate concep- 
 tion of it, it would be still more wonderful, and 
 more difficult to conceive, how there could ever 
 cease to be topics to interest and engage the facul- 
 ties of the heavenly intelligences. The one great 
 subject of God's dealings with fallen man ; the 
 wonderful display of his wisdom, love, and mercy, 
 in the appointment of his Son Jesus Christ to re- 
 cover him; and the glory of God, in the restoration 
 of the apostate race thereby secured, will be of 
 
192 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 itself an everlasting theme, the wonders of which 
 will be " for ever telling, yet untold." This will 
 undoubtedly be made the favourite topic with both 
 orders, angels and saints; for we are assured that 
 the angelic hosts join with the redeemed in the 
 loud song, saying, " Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and honour, and glory, and bless- 
 ing!" 
 
 But, what is unmeasurably more than all this, 
 the glorified saint, as we have already observed, 
 will enjoy the society of the King, the Lord of 
 Glory himself. The will of Christ expressed in 
 his prayer, before he suffered, will then be ful- 
 filled, — those whom the Father gave him will be 
 with him where he is, and will behold his glory. 
 On earth, the Christian did, in his best moments, 
 commune with his Lord in spirit. There were 
 occasions when, faith being strong, and love glow- 
 ing warmly in his bosom, the Saviour has, as it 
 were, come into his soul, and blessed him with 
 heavenly communications, making good his gra- 
 cious promise, "If any man hear my voice, and 
 open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup 
 with him, and he with me." These were moments 
 of high and profitable enjoyment. The love of 
 God shed abroad in his heart has rapt him out of 
 the things of flesh and sense; his relish for things 
 divine has been powerfully stimulated, and he has 
 cried, " Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 193 
 
 is none upon earth that I desire beside thee ! How 
 sweet are thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter 
 than honey to my mouth!" But these seasons 
 were comparatively rare, and of short duration. 
 They were, indeed, refreshing foretastes of the 
 heavenly feast; but they were quickly over. On 
 some such gracious moment as this, David said, 
 " Lord! by thy favour thou hast made my mountain 
 to stand strong;" but was presently forced to add, 
 " Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." 
 Peter was very happy on the holy mount with his 
 transfigured Lord, and talked of building taber- 
 nacles there to perpetuate his happiness; but he 
 was soon conducted down again, to prosecute the 
 Christian warfare. These communings with God — 
 these glimpses of glory, how brief they are, and 
 how far between! The infirmities of the flesh, and 
 the influence of earthly things, frequently disturb 
 and break up the happiest seasons of the Christian 
 here. But, in heaven, when he has realized his 
 bright inheritance, he will be admitted far above 
 the region of every disturbing force, to gaze on 
 the adorable countenance of him who fills the 
 throne, and experience the full meaning of that 
 rapturous exclamation, " In thy presence there is 
 fulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are 
 pleasures for evermore!" What elevation! what 
 dignity! what blessedness! Then is the tabernacle 
 of God with men, and he dwells with them! He 
 is even represented in the gracious attitude of 
 
 o 
 
194 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 " feeding them, and leading them unto living foun- 
 tains of waters; and wiping away all tears from 
 their eyes!" 
 
 Is such, O Christian ! the inheritance laid up 
 for thee in heaven? Yes, and infinitely more than 
 our imagination can reach. Dwell upon the theme 
 as long as thou mayest, and raise and widen thy 
 thoughts with the utmost effort of thy mind, thou 
 wilt still come so far short of the reality, that, 
 when thou art put in possession, thou wilt be 
 amazed at the overflowing fulness and exceeding 
 glory that will then burst upon thee ! It must be 
 so; for thy finite capacity cannot take in the things 
 prepared for thy future enjoyment. If they shall 
 be upon a scale suited to the majesty and riches of 
 the Great King, and intended as a reward worthy 
 of the achievements and the blood of the Redeemer, 
 O how inconceivable must be the exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory destined for his people! 
 Looking, then, for an inheritance such as this, 
 strive to live in a style that shall be in keeping 
 with it. Such lofty expectations ought to raise 
 the tone of thy feeling, thy conversation, thy con- 
 duct, above the highest and most boasted pursuits 
 of time. Stoop not to the vanities, follow not the 
 maxims, of a perishing world. Aim constantly at 
 a perfect meetness for this inheritance, by culti- 
 vating all holy habits, and true godliness. But 
 remember this is unattainable by thy own wisdom 
 — by thy own might. Seek the unerring guidance 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 195 
 
 and all-sufficient aid of the Holy Spirit, by whom 
 alone the life of God in the soul can be sustained 
 in health and vigour, and through whom thou wilt 
 be guarded from error, kept from falling, and ena- 
 bled to go from strength to strength, until, in due 
 time, "an entrance shall be ministered to thee 
 abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 II. The inheritance reserved for the Christian 
 is distinguished for its Purity, — it is undejiled. 
 Defilement, alas ! is the character of the world, and 
 all worldly possessions. Sin has defiled them. 
 Estranged from God, the creature man turned 
 round, and marred everything within his reach. 
 The taste and relish of his soul became gross, his 
 desires polluted, and his wiU distorted; so that 
 what else would have ministered to his happiness 
 he has perversely turned into occasions and instru- 
 ments of sin, making them sources of disappoint- 
 ment and vexation to himself. Alas! what have 
 we here that does not tell of man's defiled and 
 fallen state? Does not the whole creation groan 
 and travail together? and why, but because bur- 
 dened with the sins and pollutions of apostate man? 
 We carry, as it were, a leprosy within and upon 
 ourselves; and whatever we come in contact with 
 is consequently infected. Sin mingles with all our 
 doings, whether in our individual or collective capa- 
 city. Our inmost thoughts, our aims and objects, 
 
196 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 our language, our practice, our pursuits in life, 
 let them be what they may, whether manual or 
 mental, are all tainted with sin. This is a sad 
 condition of things; and the more humbling it is, 
 when we advert to the fact, that it is all directly 
 traceable to the uncleanness of the human heart. 
 Of this heart a prophet testifies, that it is " deceit- 
 ful above all things, and desperately wicked;" and 
 seeing that out of it are the issues of life, it follows 
 that they are all infected with impurity. The way 
 of man, therefore, — of unregenerate man, "is fro- 
 ward and strange," — crooked, and opposed to holi- 
 ness and truth. While he is in a state of unbelief, 
 and estrangement from the source of purity, to him 
 there is nothing pure; his very mind and consci- 
 ence are defiled. The light that is in him is dark- 
 ness; and great is that darkness. His whole moral 
 nature is enthralled under sin ; and purity and 
 truth are shut out. Such is the world that lieth in 
 wickedness. 
 
 Therefore the Christian, enlightened and purified 
 by the Spirit of God, finds nothing here congenial 
 with his mind and state. The world and he are not 
 on friendly terms; for "the friendship of the world 
 is enmity with God." He is, consequently, never 
 at home with any earthly possession. It is sure to 
 bring with it some temptation, some excitement to 
 envy, grief, or unholy strife. Has he wealth? how 
 apt is it to incline his heart to luxury, or covetous- 
 ness! Is he in power? then is pride busily seeking 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 197 
 
 to insinuate itself into his heart. Has he extensive 
 influence? how is he tempted to lord it over others! 
 Does he hold a place in the literary and scientific 
 world? how ready is the love of fame to take pos- 
 session of his soul, and tempt him to forget the 
 higher objects to which he is committed! In fine, 
 he can put his hand to nothing here, he can see 
 nothing in the hands of others, free from the stain 
 of sin, — nothing that can promise him entire safety 
 and satisfaction in the using. Let him look at " all 
 the works that are done under the sun," and he 
 will be forced to cry, with the Preacher, " Behold 
 all is vanity and vexation of spirit!" There is no 
 inheritance for him on earth that is pure, that is 
 undefiled. 
 
 It is otherwise with the inheritance in heaven. 
 It is altogether stainless. In whatever aspect it be 
 viewed, purity is presented. Pure and spotless is 
 the character of him who procured it; pure and 
 spotless the service performed of which it is the 
 reward; pure and spotless the principle on which 
 he awards it to believers; pure is the heaven in 
 which it is reserved; there will be no admission for 
 defilement there; and pure and spotless are all the 
 inheritors, for they have washed their robes, and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Pure 
 will be every sentiment, every conception of the 
 mind, in that blissful abode; for there every commu- 
 nication of the Deity will come immediate to every 
 inhabitant, and be caught as a sunbeam at its first 
 
198 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 darting from its source. There knowledge will be 
 pure and complete; for the saints in glory "will 
 know, even as they are known." There all social 
 intercourse and converse will be pure; for no ele- 
 ment of impurity can taint a thought or a wish 
 there, — no earthly stain will ever be found amongst 
 them. " There shall in no wise enter into that 
 place anything that defileth, neither whatsoever 
 worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they 
 which are written in the Lamb's book of life." 
 
 III. This heavenly inheritance is Immutable, — 
 it fadeth not away, — it tvithereth not, — it decayeth not; 
 — it is incapable of deterioration. We mean not 
 that there will be entire, absolute uniformity. The 
 happy state will be ever increasing, without the 
 possibility of diminution. There will be fulness 
 that shall never know deficiency — a glory that shall 
 never be dimmed. This inheritance is a Rest never 
 to be broken by toil or fatigue. Nothing from 
 without can assail, or attempt to ruffle the serenity 
 of enjoyment, — nothing to interrupt the stream of 
 bliss that flows for ever there; and there is nothing 
 in its own nature liable to exhaustion, or to change. 
 When he enters on the possession of this inheritance, 
 the glorified Christian shall no longer witness the 
 alternation of day and night. The sun and the 
 moon are not needed there; for the glory of God 
 lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 There, duration will no more be reckoned by 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 199 
 
 months, and years, and ages ; but a happy and 
 delighted existence will flow on, eternal and un- 
 changeable as the being of the Almighty himself. 
 There, life, in the truest and sublimest sense, will 
 be the portion of the saint. Death will be no 
 longer known. Disease and pain will be no more 
 heard of; but health, vigour, and beauty will bloom 
 in unfading, unalterable freshness. It is a Paradise, 
 in which grow and flourish the tree of life, and the 
 amaranth — 
 
 " That flowers aloft, shading the fount of life ; 
 And. where the River of Bliss, thro' midst of heaven, 
 Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream." 
 
 There, the redeemed begin a course of happiness 
 and glory, that shall run on enlarging and widening 
 in endless duration. There, all will be unmingled 
 gladness, without the fear of a rebuke, or the pos- 
 sibility of a cloud to obscure their prospect, or of 
 any adverse power to forbid their joys; for they 
 inherit all under the guarantee and sanction of him 
 " with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of 
 turning." 
 
 What a contrast does all this present to the 
 Christian's present state, — the state not inaptly 
 called his militant state. Contrasts are often in- 
 structive; let us ponder this for a while. Here, 
 the Christian is a combatant; there, he is a con- 
 queror, and " more than a conqueror, through him 
 that loved him." His change of condition and ex- 
 perience will then, indeed, be great; but it will be 
 
200 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 a change once for all. Here, he is encompassed 
 with infirmities; there, glorified in body and in 
 mind, he will exult in the unfettered energies of 
 both, and to weariness and weakness he will be 
 liable no more. Here, the flesh, dull, slow, and 
 sluggish in its nature, hangs as a weight upon the 
 soul, retarding its progress, and checking its eagle- 
 flights toAvards heaven ; there, body and soul will be 
 mutual aids in every heavenly attainment. Here, 
 he has not only to lament the sources within him- 
 self of sorrow, vexation, and distress, but to meet 
 them from without, in the case not merely of ad- 
 versaries, who oppose him, but even of friends, who 
 suffer like himself; there, no adversary can live, 
 and every friend, every companion, is a partner in 
 bliss. Here, he is subject, it may be, to sudden and 
 distressful vicissitudes in his own lot, and often he 
 is pained to behold those involved in them who 
 stand in near and dear relation to him in life; 
 there, no unwelcome vicissitude, nor momentary 
 intermission of his happiness, will ever be felt, " for 
 the former things are passed away." 
 
 But, while we are drawing this contrast, we do 
 not presume to give a minute description of the 
 Christian's heavenly inheritance. In its blessed- 
 ness and glory are things unutterable, passing all 
 created power to detail. " It doth not yet appear 
 what we shall be," says the beloved disciple, who 
 enjoyed a larger and nearer acquaintance with this 
 subject than most other Christians; and what after 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 201 
 
 him shall we say? What, but that "such know- 
 ledge is too wonderful for us; it is high, we cannot 
 attain unto it?" Let us, then, speak with caution 
 and brevity, lest we prove guilty of "darkening 
 counsel by words without knowledge." We are 
 not, however, left here in total ignorance. The 
 Holy Spirit has condescended to reveal some por- 
 tions, sutficiently beautiful and interesting to attract 
 our grateful attention. Therefore, though we have 
 neither minds nor tongues adequate " to the height 
 of this great argument," it is our duty to meditate 
 on the things that are revealed, and to speak of 
 them as things belonging to us and our children, — 
 not merely that our imagination may be regaled, 
 but that our hearts may be improved, and our souls 
 excited to more ardent aspirations after meetness 
 for the glorious realities. 
 
 Think of the exaltation of nature which the 
 faithful Christian is entitled to expect. It will be 
 purified — made perfect, like that of the holy angels. 
 Of this he is assured. What is more, he wiU belong 
 to an order of beings in the kingdom of glory pecu- 
 liarly blessed and honoured. He will be one of the 
 great multitude whom no man can number, wor- 
 shipping before the throne, each of them clothed in 
 a body fashioned like unto the glorious body of 
 him whom they adore. They have all been re- 
 deemed by him from sin and death, cleansed in his 
 blood, and dressed in his righteousness; therefore 
 are they greatly beloved. They are brought to 
 
202 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 this heavenly inheritance through a dispensation ^of 
 grace so wonderful, that it forms a study for the 
 angels themselves. And how grand an idea of the 
 distinction conferred on the saints in heaven is 
 derived from the fact, that they are privileged with 
 a resemblance to the Lord of all ! He is, indeed, 
 infinitely raised above them in glory; but while, 
 with eyes purified and fitted to celestial objects, they 
 gaze on his ineffable glory, they will be ever gaining 
 assimilation to him, and consequently ever increas- 
 ing in beauty, grandeur, and happiness. Unspeak- 
 able exaltation ! And, O, how vast the blessedness 
 of being thus made partakers of the Divine nature — 
 of being conscious of possessing attributes similar 
 to those of Deity liimself, — knowledge, righteousness, 
 and holiness ! — and thus displaying before the intelli- 
 gent universe, in their twofold nature, a reflection 
 more and more luminous of Him who is the bright- 
 ness of the Father's glory, and the express image of 
 his Person! 
 
 We do not, however, mean, by what we have 
 hitherto said, that the heavenly inheritance places 
 the glorified saint in a state of inactive pleasure — 
 of merely quiescent enjoyment. No, much of his 
 blessedness will be made up of activities. There 
 will be no such class of subjects in the kingdom 
 of heaven as mere spectators, or receivers; they 
 will all be actors, and doers also. That there are 
 glories to be beheld, and pleasures to be received, 
 in that kingdom, beyond all human conception 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 203 
 
 great and varied, is a truth in which we greatly 
 rejoice; but of those pleasures a large proportion 
 will have their source in action. 
 
 We would remark, then, that the great, the 
 constant, employment of saints in possession of 
 the inheritance in heaven is to glorify God. This 
 is the grand end of creation, — the end to be pro- 
 moted through time, and through eternity. "The 
 Lord hath made all things for himself;" and the 
 language of the worshippers above is to that effect: 
 "Thou, Lord, hast created all things; and for 
 thy pleasure they are, and were created." The 
 glory of God is necessarily the greatest and the 
 best object to be for ever promoted throughout 
 his universe; and accordingly the very happiness of 
 the saints above is identified with it. In "serving 
 him day and night in his temple," and in ascribing 
 "blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, unto 
 him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb," they create and enhance the blessedness 
 of their own heavenly state. 
 
 L They will glorify God in the study of his 
 works. We are not sufficiently acquainted with 
 the mode of study in heaven to describe it dis- 
 tinctly; but that this will be part of the heavenly 
 employment, we can have no doubt; for know- 
 ledge is the food of the mind of man, and, so long 
 as it is in a healthy state, it hungers and thirsts 
 after it. Study is the labour required to obtain 
 that food. Here, the labour itself is a pleasure. 
 
204 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 The glorified saints, as their pure, unfettered minds 
 range over the works of the Creator, expanding 
 and varying continually before them, . are ever 
 imbibing fresh delight. Surveying the sublime 
 productions of the wisdom and the power of him 
 whose unmerited grace brought them into these 
 blissful and exalted regions, they are conscious 
 of increasing admiration and love, while they 
 more and more ardently desire to enjoy inter- 
 course with him, as the Author of all, and the 
 Source of all their blessedness. 
 
 2. They will glorify God hy learnirig his cha- 
 racter from his ivorks and ivays. As they gaze 
 upon the vastness and variety of the objects that 
 surround them, and admire the beauties and sub- 
 limities that smile and swell before them, they 
 perceive the mind as well as the hand of the 
 Maker, in their perfect symmetry and mutual 
 adaptations; and contemplating, with their quick 
 and keen perceptions, the astonishing order, and 
 harmony of arrangement and government, every- 
 where prevailing, they behold everywhere the all- 
 wise God and the benevolent Father. Inspired 
 with wonder, reverence, and love united, they 
 sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, saying, 
 "Great and manifold are thy works. Lord God 
 Almighty! just and true are thy ways, thou King 
 of saints ! " 
 
 3. They will glorify God hy maintaining a friendly 
 fellowship with the holy angels and their brethren of 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 205 
 
 the redeemed in heaven. Love is the ruling prin- 
 ciple in every celestial bosom; and friendship, a 
 modification of love, reigns unalloyed, unrestricted 
 there. Nothing selfish, nothing unamiable, is known 
 among the blessed inhabitants. There, each loves 
 his neighbour as himself; and whatever good one 
 can do for another, he does it cordially, with 
 love unfeigned. Manifold, and mutually delight- 
 ful and edifying, are the themes on which they 
 hold converse; but that which will no doubt 
 run through all the rest, as the favourite, the 
 most interesting, the soul-engrossing, topic, will 
 be the economy of grace, in God's reconciling, 
 through his Son Jesus Christ, a fallen world to 
 himself. O! what transporting tales will one and 
 another have to tell to listening groups of the love 
 of Christ, of the work he did, and of the death he 
 died for them! of the mercy which rescued them 
 from sin and Satan; of the Holy Spirit's enlighten- 
 ing, guiding, and protecting care ; and of the 
 thousand manifestations of Divine tenderness, for- 
 bearance, and forgiveness, through all their course 
 on earth, till they reached the heavenly kingdom ! — 
 Over them, all the while, will be found hanging, 
 with deep, inquiring attention, "the principalities 
 and powers in heavenly places, and learning, from 
 the church, the manifold wisdom of God!" Of 
 these communications they will never tire. New 
 points will ever occur on which to expatiate. Fresh 
 emotions will be ever rising to call for utterance. 
 
206 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 They will feel that they need an eternity to carry 
 on the delightful task. 
 
 In that happy place, there will also be a recogni- 
 tion of friends and relatives known and loved 
 on earth. There, husbands and wives, who were 
 equally the ransomed of Christ, Avill be re-united, 
 — not in that same capacity, but in love and attach- 
 ment purer, more exalted, than could ever exist 
 before, and that immortal. Parents and children, 
 brothers and sisters, all previously prepared for 
 the kingdom, will be restored to each other, to be 
 separated no more for ever; but to live through 
 a never-ending stream of ages, more and more 
 endeared to each other as they increase in moral 
 beauty, worth, and excellence. There, faithful pas- 
 tors will recognise the children whom God had 
 given them, as the seals of their ministry, while 
 they laboured on earth. How greatly will it con- 
 tribute to their mutual happiness, thus to meet 
 in the mansions of bliss; — the one party, to greet, 
 with delighted gratulations, the trophies of 
 grace won to the Saviour through their instru- 
 mentality, and now standing in his presence, their 
 "joy and crown of rejoicing;" — the others, on their 
 part, to recount, with grateful emotions, to their 
 former pastors, the merciful leadings of God, and 
 the gracious impressions of his Holy Spirit, which 
 rendered their ministrations and labours of love 
 effectual to their conversion and preparation for 
 glory. Such will be the happiness of the heavenly 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 207 
 
 state; while they will universally acknowledge the 
 whole to be derived from, and held in, their Lord: 
 for it is only in his presence that there is fulness 
 of joy; it is at his right hand that there are plea- 
 sures for evermore. — They enjoy God in all, and 
 all in God. 
 
 And now, Christian, if thou art anticipating 
 an inheritance of this description, thou wilt surely 
 be impressed with a deep feeling, not only of 
 gratitude for such a rich provision, but of im- 
 perative obligation to cultivate purity of heart 
 and life. This inheritance is reserved in heaven 
 for them only who walk not after the flesh, but 
 after the Spirit. Thou art required to be holy, 
 as God is holy; and pure, as he is pure. This 
 indeed, is not more a Divine requirement, than it 
 is a necessity in the nature of things. The pure 
 only can live in a region of purity; for "what 
 fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- 
 ness? and what communion hath light with dark- 
 ness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 
 Thou couldst have no enjoyment in such a region, 
 — nay, thou wouldst be miserable there, without 
 previous meetness. The rude, unpolished boor 
 finds nothing more insupportably irksome, than to 
 be placed, for a season, in the society of the re- 
 fined and elegant. • With people of such a class 
 he cannot associate. Neither liis mental nor cor- 
 poral faculties are congenial with their's; and, im- 
 patient of his painful position, he is not happy 
 
208 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 till released from it. So would the soul, unwashed 
 from sin, and unholy, be altogether wretched in 
 the society of angels and the spirits of just men 
 made perfect. Let this conviction, then, be ever 
 present with thee, — the pure alone can inhabit 
 purity. If thou art cherishing the hope of the 
 beatific vision, the hope of seeing Christ as he 
 is in his kingdom, remember what, in such a case, 
 is expected of thee, — "Every man that hath this 
 hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 
 Yes; fellowship with the Father, and with his Son 
 Jesus Christ, implies a special fitness for an ap- 
 proach so near, for a blessedness so exalted. There 
 must be a likeness to the Saviour begun now, 
 to be the7i carried on and increased. And it is 
 to this thou art called. "This," says the Apostle, 
 "is the will of God, even our sanctification;" and 
 God "hath chosen us in Christ before the founda- 
 tion of the world, that we should be holy, and 
 without blame before him in love." We have 
 been speaking of the purity, beauty, and grandeur 
 of heaven; and what is it, but to speak of the 
 purity, beauty, and grandeur of God? What is 
 it but God himself ? He is purity — he is beauty — 
 he is grandeur! But if to di-aw near to him, 
 to live with him, there must be assimilation — a 
 participation of his nature, how is this wonderful 
 attainment to be made? Not by any efibrt of 
 thine own; for "though thou wash thee with nitre, 
 and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is 
 
THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 209 
 
 marked before me, saitli the Lord God." Moral 
 pollution demands a laver thou canst not furnish, 
 and an agency of power and authority to which 
 nothing in God's creation can pretend. Nothing 
 less than Divine energy can produce such an effect. 
 Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. It 
 is his office to apply the blood of sprinkling to 
 the conscience; it is his to guide into all truth, 
 and to present with power to the mind the various 
 motives to a holy life with which the Gospel 
 abounds; it is his to purify the affections, and 
 to raise them to things above; and all the graces 
 of the Christian character are the fruits of the 
 Spirit. It is for thee to make a diligent use of 
 all appointed means; to study the mind and will 
 of the Spirit from his ov/n word; and to conduct 
 that study with an honest purpose of obedience. 
 Count it not enough to read, hear, and understand 
 the word. If it have its proper influence upon 
 thee, thou wilt not be content till thou art made 
 to feel, and to do its bidding. To this end, a 
 watchful and prayerful habit of mind is indis- 
 pensable. And, if thou wouldst enjoy spiritual 
 health, if thou wouldst possess a full assurance 
 of thy title to the heavenly inheritance, labour 
 to be eminently pious. To be so, thou must be 
 found with "thy loins girded about, and thy light 
 burning." Let this be thy constant attitude, 
 reckoning that active^ industrious, piety alone is 
 eminent piety; and seeking to live under the im- 
 
 p 
 
210 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 pression, that nothing less than this is demanded 
 for the prosperity of thy own soul, and for the 
 glory of thy Lord, in the advancement of his cause 
 in the world. These things do with all diligence, 
 but still under a deep conviction that the special 
 influences of the Spirit are essentially needful to 
 make thy doings available. Implore, then, the 
 aid of this Divine Agent. Christ assures thee 
 that the Father will give the Holy Spirit to 
 them that ask him; and, '^All things," says he, 
 "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye 
 shall receive." — " Having therefore these promises, 
 dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all 
 filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness 
 in the fear of God." 
 
SECURITIES. 211 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 SECUKITIES. 
 
 " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up 
 for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all 
 things?" — Rom. viii. 32. 
 
 " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all 
 which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise 
 it up again at the last day." — John vi. 39. 
 
 It is our usual practice, in transactions with each 
 other on the subject of property, to secure its pos- 
 session to the rightful claimant by such satisfactory 
 deeds and documents as the case may require. 
 When these are wanting, we all know how apt he 
 is to be deprived of his right, through the cupidity 
 of others, who take advantage of the consequent 
 uncertainty. Hence the many fierce disputes and 
 vexatious litigations that distort the face of society, 
 and chase peace and good brotherhood away from 
 us. On such occasions, we too often see the all- 
 engrossing interest that men take in securing earthly 
 possessions most signally exemplified. Witness the 
 courts of law, — how they are crowded with counsel- 
 lors and solicitors, busily employed upon their briefs 
 and parchments, with their numerous clients, each, 
 
212 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 in countenance and attitude, expressing an eagerness 
 and anxiety, as if the fate of the world hung upon 
 the issue of his single cause. And, then, at their 
 several dwellings, you may observe them discussing, 
 with all the warmth and vehemence of men on a 
 question of life and death, the various points in- 
 volved in the disputed case. Tliis is human nature: 
 nor do we profess to know any class of men who 
 are wholly exempt from the influence of that selfish 
 passion. But, in whatever degree these unlovely 
 spectacles may be exhibited among us, they cannot 
 but suggest to the pious Christian, that there are 
 treasures to be pursued and obtained infinitely more 
 valuable, than anything for which the w^orldling 
 struggles with his fellow -man. The Christian may, 
 or may not, have pretensions to earthly possessions: 
 if he have, he may be harassed with the covetous 
 and unjustifiable attempts of others to defraud him 
 of his rightful property; but, while he maintains his 
 own claim with becoming firmness, he will not 
 suffer things earthly and temporal so to interfere 
 as to endanger his interest in things heavenly and 
 eternal. That interest, in his estimation, far out- 
 weighs every other concern. It is a par amount 
 interest. He will follow Paul's advice, and " rather 
 take wrong, and suffer himself to be defrauded " of 
 acres of land, than, by imbibing the spirit of the 
 world, lose the clear, the soul-cheering prospect of 
 his portion in the love of God. To be assured of 
 such a treasure, to examine and rejoice in the Secu- 
 
SECURITIES. 213 
 
 rities which the word of God, the great Charter of 
 his spiritual Privileges, so fully records, for the 
 establishment of his faith, and the confirmation of 
 his hope, is to him among the sweetest employments 
 of mind he can indulge in his present existence. 
 He can, indeed, have no source more direct than 
 this, whether of pleasure or profit. Imagine a 
 youth long and far from home. He is now on his 
 way thither ; but has various tracts of sea and land 
 to pass, ere he can reach it. These are, on many 
 occasions, trying and dangerous, from storms and 
 tempests at one time, and the rude treatment of 
 strangers at another. In the meanwhile, frequent 
 epistles are brought to his hand from his father, 
 kindly assuring him of his parental love, urging 
 him to perseverance by every possible encourage- 
 ment, and promising him, on his arrival, a cordial 
 welcome from every branch of the household. These 
 epistles contain, at the same time, many useful 
 directions how he may make a safe progress to his 
 journey's end. Ah ! none but himself can tell with 
 what delightful emotions he peruses and reperuses 
 these dear testimonials of his father's regard ; and 
 also with what advantage he ponders the admoni- 
 tions given him, as to the conduct of his way! 
 Such are the Christian's circumstances, on his way 
 to his heavenly home. Dangers and difficulties 
 beset him ; trials many and bitter has he to endure; 
 while hosts of adversaries to his soul are often in 
 array against him. None of these are permitted to 
 
214 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 overcome or enthral him ; yet, it must be confessed, 
 that they have not seldom the effect of depressing 
 his spirits, and casting a gloom over his prospects. 
 Deeply sensible of his ov^^n imperfections, of his 
 want of that conformity to the image of his Saviour 
 v^hich his soul desires to attain, he is often tempted 
 to fear he is none of his. The view of his own 
 unholy nature scares him from daring to appropriate 
 the privileges of the pious Christian. He deems 
 himself all unworthy of the precious promises, and 
 cannot look to inherit the blessedness and glory to 
 which they point the believer's hopes. It is thus 
 he afflicts his soul, while he looks only on himself. 
 But when, with due humility and earnest prayer, 
 he betakes himself to the oracles of truth, and the 
 Holy Spirit opens afresh to his faith the all-suf- 
 ficiency of Christ in his stead, how cheering, how 
 encouraging to his heart are the gracious communi- 
 cations ! A new and fuller perception of the truth, 
 that "all things are his," because he is Clirist's, 
 and Christ is God's, breaks upon his mind, and 
 he goes on his way rejoicing. The word of God, 
 rightly understood, dissipates his fears, and re- 
 solves his doubts. This document he prizes, as 
 his Lord's statute-book, whence he is to receive 
 the law ; his warrant of confidence in his expec- 
 tation of every good and every perfect gift; and 
 as the sword which the Spirit puts into his hand 
 wherewith to fight his way to the kingdom of 
 heaven. Tliis also he uses as "a lamp unto his 
 
SECURITIES. 215 
 
 feet, and a light unto his path;" and of this Divine 
 word he says, with the Psalmist, " Thou shalt 
 guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive 
 me to glory ! " 
 
 We have been inviting the Christian to contem- 
 plate his great and precious Privileges. According 
 to the oracles of God have we endeavoured to 
 delineate them. It has been seen, we trust, that 
 we have had a " Thus saith the Lord " for what- 
 ever we advanced respecting them : and now, if it 
 be demanded whether any Securities are to be had, 
 on which the people of God may rely for their 
 possessing and enjoying the Privileges described ; 
 and if so, where they are to be found ? — we reply, 
 that such Securities are at hand, — Securities sub- 
 stantial and satisfactory, that cannot be shaken ; 
 and they are contained in the same Sacred Records 
 to which we have been referring. Some of them 
 we shall now produce. The people of God, then, 
 or Christians, are secured in the possession and 
 enjoyment of their spiritual Privileges by the fact 
 that — 
 
 I. They are a Chosen Generation ; 
 
 II. They are the Gift of the Father to • 
 THE Son; 
 
 III. They are bought with a Price ; 
 
 IV. They have direct Assurances addressed 
 to themselves, or spoken of them, in God's 
 Word. 
 
216 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 I. They are a Chosen Generation. 
 
 Every individual Christian was the object of 
 God's electing love before the v^orld began. This 
 wonderful distinction he owes, not to any foreseen 
 excellence in him, but to an act of grace — sovereign 
 grace, on the part of God. In ascribing his elec- 
 tion to the sovereignty of God, we assign it an 
 origin beyond which it cannot be carried. While 
 we announce this doctrine, we come, I confess, on 
 delicate ground ; we approach a question involved 
 in difficulties beyond our ability to remove. It has 
 been repeatedly subjected to the study of men 
 second to none among ns for strength and penetra- 
 tion of mind, and patience of investigation; and they 
 have left it nearly as they found it, plainly for this 
 reason, — it is among the secret things that belong 
 to God, and not to us. It is one of an order of 
 truths which are addressed not so much to our un- 
 derstanding as to our faith. That God has reasons, 
 wise as well as benevolent, for his procedure in 
 electing, and not electing, we cannot doubt. We 
 are bound to believe this from what we know of 
 his character. "Just and true are all his ways. 
 * Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of 
 his throne." But his reasons he has not revealed ; 
 nor have we, nor an angel, any right to demand of 
 him an account of his doings, which he has been 
 pleased to withhold. For myself, I am fully satis- 
 fied, that were our understandings adequate to com- 
 prehend the matter, we should see his decisions, in 
 
SECURITIES. 217 
 
 every aspect of them, to be perfectly right ; that, in 
 the exercise of infinite wisdom and goodness united, 
 the Almighty has seen meet to leave us in ignorance 
 here ; and that we ought humbly and thankfully 
 to acquiesce in the measure of communication af- 
 forded us, — " I will have mercy on whom I will 
 have mercy; and I will have compassion on whom I 
 will have compassion." To this I would take leave 
 to add, that not only has Paul shown us how he 
 would have us meet a pertinacious inquirer on this 
 question, when he says, " Nay, but, O man, who 
 art thou that repliest against God ? " but our Lord 
 himself has gathered up the argument, and closed 
 it with those memorable words, "Even so. Father ! 
 for so it seemed good in thy sight ! " — Does it be- 
 come us to say more ? 
 
 The election of the saints, in the counsels of 
 God, from all eternity, is a doctrine clearly taught 
 us in Scripture. We there learn that it embraces 
 a countless number of our fallen race; and that its 
 design is the glory of God, in their ultimate sanc- 
 tification and possession of eternal life. Paul ex- 
 pressly says, " He hath chosen us in Christ before 
 the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, 
 and without blame before him in love." And else- 
 where, he tells us, that " whom God had predesti- 
 nated," or elected, "them he also called; and whom 
 he called, them he also justified ; and whom he 
 justified, them he also glorified;" where the Apostle 
 uses the perfect, or past, for the future tense, inti- 
 
218 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 mating that the certainty and speed with which 
 these glorious results shall be effected are such 
 that they may be said to be already done. — With 
 God, to determine, and to do, are the same thing. 
 From this passage of Scripture, we are entitled to 
 the triumphant assurance, that the soul once chosen 
 in Christ will be certainly brought, through all the 
 stages of spiritual experience required — through 
 the enjoyment of the Privileges belonging to his 
 character, to their consummation in glory. To 
 that soul will the Holy Spirit present the things of 
 Christ; and, though dead in trespasses and sins, it 
 shall be quickened through his grace and energy, — 
 it will be pardoned — purified — received into the 
 adoption of children, and finally seated in the pos- 
 session of the inheritance reserved for such happy 
 souls in heaven. This is a Security not to be con- 
 troverted. Jehovah, having set his love upon the 
 Christian, can never lose sight of him. He well 
 knows all and every one of his saints, and will deal 
 with them according to the good purpose of his 
 will. His purposes cannot be set aside by any 
 power in heaven, earth, or hell. May we not, then, 
 exclaim, in the spirit of the Apostle, " Who shall 
 interpose to defeat the hopes of God's elect? it is 
 God who has chosen them in his Son Jesus Christ; 
 and there is no creature that shall be able to sepa- 
 rate them from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus their Lord." 
 
 Consider, Christian, the great truth of which 
 
SECURITIES. 219 
 
 we are speaking. It suggests various, and highly 
 useful, reflections. A special, and very prominent 
 instruction to be drawn from it is that of humility. 
 It casts down the pride of man. It teaches the 
 sinner that, if he obtain salvation, all boasting on 
 his part is wholly excluded. He has no part even 
 in its origination. At this humbling doctrine 
 many stumble. A lesson so mortifying to their 
 natural love of self-glory they refuse to learn. The 
 Scriptures, however, uniformly ascribe all the glory 
 in this question to God: proud man dares to dis- 
 pute it, and puts in his own claim. At one time, 
 we shall find him denying this special and personal 
 election to salvation altogether, contending that 
 election in Scripture refers only to the external 
 meatis, and not to actual salvation; at another, we 
 have him admitting the doctrine of special election, 
 as denoting the enjoyment of personal and saving 
 Privileges, but maintaining that it is founded on 
 the Divine foreknowledge of faith and holiness in 
 the characters of men, and is therefore conditional. 
 It may be easily shown that, in either case, the sen- 
 timent is at utter variance with the word of God. 
 A brief reference to certain passages must suffice. 
 
 The apostle Paul, addressing himself to the 
 Thessalonian Christians, says, " We are bound to 
 give thanks always to God for you, brethren, be- 
 loved of the Lord, because God hath, from the 
 beginning, chosen you to salvatioti, through sancti- 
 fication of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." If 
 
220 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 these words are to be allowed their genuine mean- 
 ing, they will be found utterly subversive of the 
 former opinion to which we have adverted. They 
 very plainly assert the fact, that God had chosen 
 the Thessalonian Christians to salvation properly 
 so called, — not to external privileges, or the means 
 of salvation only. Their election from the begin- 
 ning was to a salvation for which they were ac- 
 tually put under preparation, through the sanctify- 
 ing agency of the Holy Spirit, and the belief of the 
 truth, — a salvation which he expresses in other 
 words, in the verse immediately following, "The 
 obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 The saints at Thessalonica were under training, so 
 to speak, by the Spirit, through faith in Christ 
 Jesus, to that consummation of happiness and glory 
 to which the eternal purpose of grace had appointed 
 them: and this purpose provided for and secured 
 all subsequent means and privileges for the ultimate 
 object — their effectual calling; — their justification; 
 — their progress in holiness; — and their complete 
 salvation. As to the latter sentiment, making God's 
 foreknowledge of subsequent faith and holiness the 
 foundation of their election, it is no less broadly 
 opposed to the truth of God. The language of the 
 Apostle, in a text already quoted, is explicit on the 
 subject. "He hath chosen us," says he, "before 
 the foundation of the world," — and why? because 
 he foresaw our faith and holiness of character? — 
 No; but for this express purpose, "that we should 
 
SECURITIES. 221 
 
 be holy, and without blame before him." To the 
 same purpose he sajs, in his Epistle to the Romans, 
 " Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate 
 to he conformed to the image of his Son^ Holiness, 
 therefore, follows as the consequence, and not the 
 cause, of election. No form of words can more 
 plainly announce that proposition. The Divine 
 choice from before the foundation of the world is 
 clearly the producing cause of subsequent con- 
 formity to the image of Christ. The cause is from 
 eternity; the effect is in time. God does indeed 
 foresee the faith, repentance, and holiness, of his 
 chosen people; but he foresees them in that people, 
 because he has chosen them to eternal life through 
 those graces, by which they are to glorify him. It 
 is nowhere said, nor can it be said, without ab- 
 surdity, that he foresees any saving principles in 
 the characters of men, on whom he had not previ- 
 ously determined to bestow them ; and assuredly 
 the gifts and graces connected with salvation will 
 be possessed by none but those who are predesti- 
 nated, according to the purpose of him who worketh 
 all things, after the counsel of his own will. 
 
 We have thus seen that election springs from 
 the sovereign mercy of God. He is, in this matter, 
 self-moved, knowing no influence out of his own 
 mind; for "Who hath enjoined him his way?" or 
 who hath been his counsellor? He could have 
 none to enjoin or counsel him ; for his decrees 
 were passed before any creature had a being. The 
 
222 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 glory, therefore, of the scheme of salvation, and of 
 appointing any of the guilty race to obtain it, is 
 exclusively his. In doing so, he exercises a pre- 
 rogative belonging unquestionably to Him. He has 
 a right to do whatever he pleases, consistently with 
 justice and equity. But while it would be daring 
 impiety to allege anything against the Divine pro- 
 cedure, as opposed to what is just and right, we say 
 he may do, and he actually does, more than strict 
 justice demands of him, in the way of mercy to 
 those whom he has chosen. In choosing any to 
 life, where all had deserved death, he displayed a 
 benevolence to which none of them had any claim. 
 It was, in their case, a mercy altogether gratuitous. 
 It was fulfilling towards them " the good pleasure 
 of his will," or, as we have already expressed it, 
 the sovereignty of his mercy. Hence we are entire 
 debtors to the grace of God, for that wonderful 
 scheme of salvation revealed in the Gospel; and 
 in pursuance of which Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinners. 
 
 But if this view of salvation casts down all 
 human pride, and excludes boasting, it no less 
 calls for our liveliest gratitude. It calls for it 
 the more powerfully, that it rests not on anything 
 in man. Had it depended on aught that man can 
 do to repair the breach of the law, or to atone for 
 guilt, salvation would never have been heard of ; 
 for in becoming guilty, he became also helpless. 
 The Almighty, though the offended party, saw this, 
 
SECURITIES. 22S 
 
 and had pity. But to find a remedy, neither man, 
 nor any other creature, could afford the least as- 
 sistance. When Jehovah resolved on saving, it 
 was by a plan of wisdom, grace, and power solely 
 and purely his own. " Of the people there was 
 none with him — none to help — none to uphold; 
 therefore his own arm brought him salvation." 
 Truly " salvation belongeth unto the Lord." " He 
 hath saved us," says the Apostle, and " called us 
 vdth a holy calling; not according to our works, 
 but according to his own purpose and grace, which 
 was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world 
 began." How thankful, then, ought we to be, that 
 our salvation was not left dependent on any sub- 
 sequent exhibition of human character — on any 
 contingency which we could in any way create ! 
 Wisdom and goodness unite, in thus deciding the 
 matter, to form for us a boon infinitely beyond all 
 the service we can render, all the praise we shall 
 ever be able to ascribe. Well may we rejoice in 
 the contemplation of this truth. Our appointment 
 to salvation is of the Lord; it is therefore certain. 
 Let us duly appreciate our high calling, and live 
 consistently with it; and we may be assured that 
 the Divine appointment will be fulfilled. As if to 
 banish fear, and establish our hearts in confidence, 
 God himself points us to this truth, as to a Secu- 
 rity, and declares, " My counsel shall stand, and I 
 will do all my pleasure." 
 
 There is another point, however, arising out of 
 
224 CHKISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 this subject, which it is important for us to con- 
 sider. How could God, consistently with the prin- 
 ciples of his moral government, allow any violators 
 of his law to escape condign punishment? All 
 mankind were involved in a state of guilt, and expo- 
 sure to the penalties of a broken law. The law was 
 "holy, just, and good." To that law they were 
 amenable, — they disobeyed, and sinned against the 
 Divine Legislator. His perfect justice, his undevi- 
 ating righteousness, demanded the infliction of the 
 punishment incurred. But Grod is merciful; and 
 how is his mercy to be shown, if justice is to be 
 satisfied, and righteousness maintained and hon- 
 oured? His own infinite wisdom solved the diffi- 
 culty; and, blessed be his name! the Gospel of 
 Christ reveals the solution. It tells us of a Media- 
 tor adequate to the great purpose: and this brings 
 us to observe, that the people of God are secured in 
 the possession and enjoyment of their spiritual Pri- 
 vileges by the fact that they are themselves — 
 
 n. The Gift of the Father to his Son 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In sovereign mercy, God api^ointed a countless 
 multitude tp everla>-ting life; but, to meet and satisfy 
 the demands of law and justice, he so appointed 
 them through a Mediator. He laid help for them 
 on One that is mighty, even his own Son, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. It is in him — in consideration of a 
 covenant of redemption made with him — that they 
 
SECURITIES. 225 
 
 are chosen. In this covenant, which was concluded 
 from eternity, the Divine Son engaged to become a 
 propitiation for sinners, fulfilling all righteousness 
 in their room, and enduring their penalties. God 
 the Father engaged that the fruit of his labours and 
 sufferings should be the salvation of a numerous 
 seed; that he should behold it as the travail of his 
 soul, and be satisfied; that he should justify many; 
 and, in fine, that he should have " the heathen for 
 his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for his possession." The Saviour himself, alluding 
 to this gift, says, in his address to the Father, 
 "Thine they were, and thou gavest them me." 
 They were the Father's as his creatures, and the 
 objects of his electing love: they became the Son's 
 by the gift of the Father, to be in due time re- 
 deemed by him, and presented faultless before the 
 presence of his glory. The date of their election 
 by the Father, and of their consignment to the Son, 
 is the same — from eternity: the work to be done /or 
 them, and m them, was to take place in time. 
 Thus they are dear to both. The Father loves 
 them, as the children of liis adoption, to which he 
 predestinated them in Christ, before the foundation 
 of the world: and the Son rejoices over them, to 
 glorify his Father in them, by accomplishing a per- 
 fect reconciliation. What satisfactory Security 
 does this afford to the Christian ! Here is a solemn 
 transaction between parties no less able than will- 
 ing to fulfil their respective stipulations — between 
 
 Q 
 
226 CHRISTIAN PRIVn.EGES. 
 
 parties, the expression of whose will is a guarantee 
 for its fulfilment. But to confirm it the more be- 
 fore the iutelligent universe, and especially to show 
 unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his 
 counsel, the Father is represented as ratifying it 
 by an oath. He is introduced by the Psalmist as 
 declaring, " Once have I sworn by my holiness that 
 I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure 
 for ever, and his throne as the sun before me." 
 And the declaration of the Son is to this effect, 
 " Sacrifice- and offering thou didst not desire; burnt- 
 offering and sin-offering hast thou not required. 
 Then said I, Lo! I come: in the volume of the 
 book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O 
 my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." On 
 such assurances as these we may well fix and esta- 
 blish our hearts, as upon a rock that cannot be 
 shaken. God here pledges the honour of his own 
 hohness, that he will perform the covenant made 
 with his Son. The seed, therefore, promised to 
 him — his people — his church, shall be given him, 
 and shall remain a testimony to the truth of the 
 covenant unto the end of time. 
 
 What condescension is here! The great God — 
 the God of inviolable truth, meets the very doubts 
 and fears of his children, by consenting, as it were, 
 for their satisfaction, to confirm his own word by 
 the sanction of an oath! Freely, then, may the 
 timid Christian give his fears to the wind. Ere 
 time began, he shared in the love of the Father, and 
 
SECURITIES. 227 
 
 of the Son. Designs of grace were formed respect- 
 ing him, and their accomplishment secured by the 
 word and the oath of God; — and for what end was 
 that security given? Hear the Apostle: " That we 
 might have a strong consolation, who have fled for 
 refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." 
 
 Again, as it regards the Son, there is a position 
 in which he is placed in Scripture that we ought 
 not to overlook. In connection with the fact of 
 God's people being chosen in him, and given to 
 him, he is presented to us in a truly interesting and 
 amiable form, as telling us of the joy with which 
 he contemplated his mediatorial engagements. What 
 else is the import of these remarkable words? 
 " When he" (the Father) "appointed the foundations 
 of the earth, then I was by him, as one brought up 
 with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing 
 always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of 
 his earth; and my delights were with the sons ofmen.^^ 
 Ere the habitable parts of the earth were prepared 
 for their tenants, or the stage on which he was to 
 perform his part was erected, we find him here an- 
 ticipating, and, if we may so speak, singing, of the 
 joy that was set before him. He takes pleasure in 
 the contemplation of it. While he surveys the 
 many coming events, with that eye that sees all 
 things from the beginning to the end, his benevolent 
 mind rests with peculiar interest upon the labours 
 and sufferings he had undertaken to pass through, 
 and upon their glorious and happy results. On 
 
228 CHRISTIAN PEIVILEGES. 
 
 these he fixes his regards. They constitute his joy. 
 How great, then, how incomprehensively great, 
 must the object be whence there could spring a joy 
 worthy to fill the mind of the Son of God ! It was 
 indeed great; nothing less than to sustain the hon- 
 ours of the Godhead, and reconcile an apostate 
 world. We can conceive of no other object so 
 great, or so important as this. In all its aspects, it 
 has a magnificence which nothing we know of can 
 equal. The Agents that conduct it; the means 
 employed in its execution; and the events that 
 develope and bring it to maturity, are all of the 
 grandest order, and on the grandest scale. The 
 universe appears interested in it. We have seen 
 that the Divine mind was occupied with it from 
 eternity. God, the Father, originates the great and 
 gracious scheme; God, the Son, freely undertakes 
 the conditions; and God, the Holy Spirit, supplies 
 the benefits of the whole to the heirs of salvation. 
 The holy angels look on, wonder at, and study, the 
 manifold wisdom of God; while the devils, with 
 envious enmity, take the alarm, and set themselves 
 and their emissaries in array against it! 
 
 And on jMan's account is the universe thus 
 moved! His are the interests more particularly 
 involved in these transactions ! — the interests of sin- 
 ful, degraded jMan ! " Lord! what is man, that thou 
 takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that 
 thou makest account of him ! " What a stretch of 
 condescension, towards a race that had rendered 
 
SECURITIES. 229 
 
 themselves worthless ! What amazing love, to souls 
 that had so deeply offended! But what conclusions 
 follow from this reflection? Surely, first, if the 
 interests of God's chosen people occupy so large a 
 share of his kind regards, they must be well secured; 
 nothing can endanger those interests. Not one of 
 the chosen can fail to receive the needful graces of 
 the Spirit; not one can fail of entering on the pos- 
 session of the Privileges connected with his final 
 salvation. To all these they are appointed of the 
 Father; to procure these for them they are given to 
 the Son, who expressly declares, " This is the 
 Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which 
 he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should 
 raise it up again at the last day." 
 
 It follows also, from the above considerations, 
 that if the salvation of his people be so great an 
 object with the Divine mind, it ought most certainly 
 to be with them their first, their paramount concern. 
 Of itself, being a matter of eternity^ it is of unspeak- 
 able moment; and estimated so highly by such 
 Agents as we have been speaking of, it claims the 
 constant, serious, and devout attention of every 
 Christian. It is important to his own peace, to 
 have a good ground to believe that he is in the 
 keeping of Christ; that his life — his new, his spiri- 
 tual life, is " hid with Christ in God." With this 
 desirable end, it becomes him to hold himself dead 
 with Christ — dead to the world, that he may live 
 more entirely to him. His conversation ought to 
 
230 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 be habitually in heaven. His treasure is there; 
 his heart should be there also. His life among 
 men should be that of one who has ceased to reckon 
 earth his home; who has found a better country, 
 that is an heavenly; and who is giving diligence, 
 by a life of faith and obedience, to make his calling 
 and election sure. Thus let the Christian live, and 
 enjoy the high satisfactions, the pure delights, with 
 which the religion of the Gospel is fraught. Be- 
 lieving himself to be in Christ, let him pray ear- 
 nestly for the Spirit of Christ, that he may walk 
 even as he also walked, and bring forth fruit, 
 much fruit, unto God. Christ is the Vine; he is 
 the branch. The more he abounds in the fruit 
 which characterizes that tree, the more intimate will 
 be his union with it. The more fully the Christian 
 resembles his Lord, the more boldly will he appro- 
 priate the great truth that he has been given to him 
 of the Father; and will the more freely delight 
 himself in it, as a cheering Security for his receiv- 
 ing and enjoying every Privilege of an heir of sal- 
 vation. Another Security of this nature is found 
 in the consideration — 
 
 III. That the Christian is bought with a 
 Price. 
 
 Paul, in his First Epistle to the Church at Co- 
 rinth, seeking to impress upon their minds the 
 obligations they were under to exemplify a life of 
 purity and devotedness to Christ, urges, among 
 
SECURITIES. 231 
 
 Others, this powerful motive, " Ye are not your 
 own; for ye are bought with a price." He justly 
 felt, and wished the Corinthians also to feel, this 
 to be among the weightiest possible of all consi- 
 derations why they should glorify God in their 
 bodies and in their spirits, which were his. But 
 there is also another, and peculiarly interesting and 
 gratifying, view of this important truth, which the 
 Christian is warranted to take. It affords him a 
 Security for the never-failing love of his Redeemer, 
 and the possession of the Privileges promised in 
 his Word. If bought with a Price, he cannot be 
 overlooked by him who bought him. No; he can- 
 not be indifferent to him. Whatever the Redeemer 
 came to seek, to save, and to procure, at his own 
 cost, must be ever dear to him. Of this the Chris- 
 tian may be sensible, when he reflects on what his 
 Redeemer did and suffered to purchase a people to 
 himself. 
 
 In the covenant of redemption there is confess- 
 edly much that is mysterious. Our limited under- 
 standings cannot fully comprehend so spiritual and 
 sublime a transaction. But from certain of its 
 terms, made known to us in the Word, we learn 
 something of the engagements which the Saviour 
 took upon himself; and in his subsequent perform- 
 ance of them they received an ample development, 
 while the holiness, wisdom, and grace of God were 
 impressively displayed in the whole of the wonder- 
 ful scheme! He loved the souls of men, though 
 
232 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 alienated from God, and exposed to wrath. He 
 longed to have them reconciled, and to present 
 them holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable in 
 the sight of God. They were rebels against their 
 lawful Sovereign, their Benefactor, their Maker, 
 who had created them capable of supreme happi- 
 ness in loving and obeying him, and in holding 
 communion with him. Yet, all sinful and unlovely 
 as apostacy had made them, they were the objects 
 of Divine compassion. The Father resolved on 
 salvation; and the Son engaged to accomplish it. 
 But to effect so great a triumph of mercy — to re- 
 store from the ruin to which the whole human race 
 was exposed, much was to be done, much to be 
 suffered. The broken law was to be repaired; jus- 
 tice to be satisfied; and the holiness and truth of 
 God to be maintained inviolate. Incompatible with 
 these demands, there could be no salvation. Who 
 could meet, and fulfil them? The Son of God 
 alone. Accordingly, in the fulness of time, he 
 came, as in the volume of the book it was written 
 of him. He came; but how? — in our nature, and 
 as our substitute ! The law had been given to 
 man; and man had dishonoured it. To restore to 
 it its due honours, it still inflexibly required every 
 jot and tittle to be fulfilled hy man. Christ, there- 
 fore, humbled himself to become incarnate; and in 
 our room fulfilled all righteousness, magnifying the 
 law, and making it honourable. But the guilt of 
 man was to be atoned for: the Justice of God de- 
 
SECURITIES. 233 
 
 manded the penalty of his offences, without the 
 suffering of which there could be no remission of 
 sins. The life of the sinner demanded the death 
 of the Substitute. In fine, the arch-enemy of God 
 and man, the great Seducer, was to be vanquished; 
 his works to be destroyed; and an open triumph to 
 be gained over all the powers of darkness. Such 
 were the conditions to which the Divine Redeemer 
 submitted; such the work he undertook to do. 
 But no tongue can tell, no mind conceive, the 
 things that were involved in doing and finishing 
 such a work! The facts, indeed, are recorded, 
 though their nature and extent of pressure upon 
 the benevolent Substitute surpass our comj)rehen- 
 sion. There is in them a height and a depth, a 
 length and a breadth, that transcend the utmost 
 stretch of our thoughts. We can, however, speak 
 of the facts ; we can meditate upon them; — they 
 ought to be ever full in our remembrance, ever 
 dear to our hearts. 
 
 To effect his gracious purpose, — to " purify unto 
 himself a peculiar" (a purchased) "people," he was 
 made flesh, and dwelt among us. He so dwelt, 
 however, not as a Prince among his subjects, but 
 as a Servant — the lowliest among the lowly. He 
 came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister. 
 Though Lord of all, he chose to be so poor that 
 he had not where to lay his head. But he not only 
 condescended to this destitution of earthly posses- 
 sions, and made himself of no reputation among 
 
234 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 the powerful and the rich; he even submitted to 
 be "despised and rejected of men," and to become 
 "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." 
 He pleased not himself, — he sought not his own 
 ease and gratification; but suffered contempt, re- 
 proach, and cruel mockery from them among whom 
 he went about doing good, and whose salvation he 
 sought. Meanwhile the wickedness and profanity 
 that prevailed around him must have daily grieved 
 and distressed his pure and holy mind, to a degree 
 far beyond our conception. The unbelief, the 
 hardness of heart, the hypocrisy, the malice, of 
 many that heard his gracious words, and saw his 
 benevolent acts, could not but deeply wound a 
 spirit like his. But all this he bore with perfect, 
 untiring patience, and endured with unbroken 
 meekness of temper the contradiction of sinners 
 against himself. Thus he passed through a life of 
 continuous affliction, bearing our griefs, and carry- 
 ing our sorrows, till at last, brought as a lamb to 
 the slaughter, he submitted, for our iniquities, to 
 an ignominious death. To this, and to a suffering 
 of soul infinitely more than we can describe, the 
 Saviour gave himself, as a Price, to ransom his 
 people. Let the Christian, then, when tempted to 
 doubt or fear respecting his interest in the tender 
 remembrances of such a Saviour, reflect on this. 
 He cannot but stand in a very dear relation to One 
 who has suffered so much for him. Let him reflect 
 on the astonishing love of the eternal Son of Grod, 
 
SECURITIES. 235 
 
 whoj in order to purchase his people, of whom the 
 Christian is one, took upon him their nature, — 
 lived, suffered, and died in it, and with it rose 
 again, and carried it to the right hand of God in 
 the highest heavens; — let him reflect on the advo- 
 cacy and intercession he is carrying on there, in 
 behalf of all his purchased people; and on the 
 power that is given to him on earth, as well as in 
 heaven, to promote their interests; and then ques- 
 tion, if he can, the certainty of his obtaining every 
 promised Privilege here, and the glorious inherit- 
 ance reserved in heaven for him. Can he not, 
 in all this, read a Security sufficient to allay all 
 anxiety, to dissipate every fear? Oh, let not the 
 Christian, under any circumstances, indulge timi- 
 dity, or darkness of mind. Let him, like the 
 Psalmist, have recourse to prayer, that his eyes 
 may be opened to behold the wondrous things that 
 have been done, and are doing, for him. Let liim 
 trust in the faithfulness of his Redeemer, who, 
 having given himself^ has guaranteed every lesser 
 gift needful to his spiritual welfare, for time and 
 for eternity; "for the Lord God is a sun and shield: 
 the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing 
 will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." 
 This leads us to another, and highly important. 
 Security for God's people — 
 
 IV. Thet have direct Assurances addressed 
 
 TO THEM, OR SPOKEN OF THEM, IN God's WoRD. 
 
236 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 The communications made in the word of God 
 relative to the character and circumstances of his 
 own people are to them inestimably precious. They 
 open up to them treasures of wisdom and know- 
 ledge, by which their understandings are enlight- 
 ened, and their lives regulated. They form the 
 charter of their rights and liberties. They are 
 their authority for their maxims, and their expecta- 
 tions. To the oracles of God, and especially to 
 those passages which bear upon their own case, 
 they make daily reference. To them they repair, 
 as to their Urim and Thummim, for counsel, for 
 instruction in righteousness, and for the strengthen- 
 ing of their faith. Thence they derive the warn- 
 ings that preserve them fi'om evil ; the light by 
 which they distinguish truth from error, and the 
 way of safety from the paths of the destroyer. 
 There they are met by arguments, and appeals, and 
 motives, which tell upon the judgment and the 
 heart, and urge them forward in the pursuit of 
 meetness for their heavenly inheritance. They 
 recognise in the Divine communications the voice 
 of love, no less than of authority. While it is the 
 word of a Sovereign, it is also that of a Father. In 
 the character of one, he issues the precepts of his 
 will ; in that of the other, he bestows the promises 
 of his grace. In both respects his people have, in 
 all ages, venerated and loved his Word. A saint 
 of old, who was well versed in the Sacred Records, 
 has left his testimony respecting them, in terms of 
 
SECURITIES. 237 
 
 the highest admiration of their excellence, and of 
 his most cordial attachment to them. He seems, 
 on repeated occasions, to labour for language suf- 
 ficient to express his sense of their surpassing 
 worth. He praises them for the perfection of their 
 wisdom, the righteousness of their counsels, and the 
 clean, unstained purity of their truth. He extols 
 them, under various titles, as converting the soul, 
 making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, and en- 
 lightening the eyes. He declares that they are "more 
 to be desired than gold ; yea, than much fine gold : 
 sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb ; " and 
 exclaims, " O how love I thy law ! it is my medita- 
 tion all the day." Thus highly did David prize 
 the sacred oracles of his day: how much more ought 
 the Christian, possessed of the enlarged, the com- 
 pleted canon of Holy Writ, to hold it dear to his 
 heart; and to esteem the Word of his God and 
 Saviour more than his necessary food ! Yes, that 
 Word is the great luminary in the moral world to 
 him. What the beams of the sun in the firmament 
 are to our earth, the words of God, directed and 
 blessed by the Holy Spirit, are to the Christian. 
 They shed upon him light, warmth, liveliness, and 
 health. They shine upon his path, preserving him 
 from falling into snares, while they operate, by their 
 penetrating influence, as incentives to the pursuit 
 of holiness. Not only so; they prove also a never- 
 failing source of encouragement, comfort, and c'on- 
 solation, in his every time of need. 
 
238 CHRISTIAN PRIYILEGES. 
 
 If, as we shall suppose in the present case, the 
 Christian should be made, from whatever cause, to 
 pass under a cloud of spiritual desertion ; if he has 
 lost, for a season, the more cheering manifestation 
 of the Divine countenance, he is apt to sink into 
 fear and despondency. He begins, perhaps, to ques- 
 tion whether he be at all interested in the love of 
 God, and to entertain the dreadful apprehension that 
 he is self-deluded ; or, hke the Psalmist, he is ready- 
 to cry out, " Will the Lord cast oiF for ever ? and 
 will he be favourable no more ? Is his mercy clean 
 gone for ever ? doth his promise fail for evermore ? 
 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger 
 shut up his tender mercies?" We must not be sur- 
 prised, if we find the truly pious Christian in this 
 state of mind. His heavenly Father not unfrequently 
 sees it meet, for his own glory, and the Christian's 
 greater stability, to try, by such visitations, the 
 reality and strength of his godly principles. Be- 
 sides, the man, while in the body, is still imperfect. 
 Beset with infirmities, and exposed to temptations, 
 he is in what is called the militant state, and has 
 enemies to contend with too powerful and subtle for 
 his own strength or wisdom to overcome. Timidity, 
 weakness of faith, the appetites of the flesh, cause 
 him at times to halt, to forget his God, to backslide. 
 God, therefore, as a wise and affectionate Father, 
 employs the rod, in various ways, to chasten and 
 ultimately restore his erring child. He hides his 
 face, and the Christian, conscious of his loss, is 
 
SECURITIES. 239 
 
 troubled. His filial affections are stirred up within 
 him, and will not allow him to be happy under the 
 withdrawment of the paternal countenance. He 
 has recourse to prayer, and the Spirit of God leads 
 him to his own Word for instruction and consola- 
 tion. There he learns afresh the wisdom and good- 
 ness of God, in all his dealings with him. He is 
 made more sensible of human frailty, and God's 
 ■unchanging faithfulness; and rejoices in the as- 
 surance he receives that, however variable may be 
 his experience, his spiritual safety is more deeply 
 fixed than the deep-rooted mountains, that cannot 
 be shaken. 
 
 Has the Christian been tempted to doubt his 
 actual adoption into the family of God ? He can 
 meet that doubt by the testimony of the Word, 
 which expressly tells him that " as many as re- 
 ceived Christ," under his own ministry, when on 
 earth, " to them gave he power " {right, or privilege^ 
 " to become the sons of God, even to them that be- 
 lieved on his name." These primitive believers, 
 one and all, without exception, received the adop- 
 tion. We are admitted to this high Privilege on 
 receiving Christ, agreeably to the gracious purpose 
 of God, in sending him forth to be our propitiation. 
 " He was made under the law to redeem them that 
 were under the law, that we might receive the 
 adoption of sons." The Christian is, therefore, as 
 much assured of his sonship as he is that he has 
 received Christ, in the character in which the 
 
240 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 Gospel presents him — as his Surety and his Saviour. 
 If the tempter, nevertheless, seek to disquiet and 
 terrify the Christian by the remembrance of his 
 sins, as though he must not flatter himself that God 
 will, by any means, tolerate his want of conformity 
 to his holy law, he draws his answer to this from 
 the sacred oracles. There he is taught that Christ 
 is the Mediator of that new covenant, in which 
 God declares, respecting his spiritual Israel, " I 
 will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a 
 people. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness; 
 and their sins and their iniquities will I remember 
 no more." 
 
 " I am, it is true," may the Christian say, " I am 
 " not worthy of the least of all God's mercies, far 
 " less of the rich and precious privileges of his 
 " adopted children. My sins have been many and 
 ^* great. I am still an imperfect, and, naturally, a 
 " sinning creature ; but I am now made happily 
 " conscious that sin has lost its dominion over me. 
 " I loved it once ; now I hate it : and I hate it, 
 " not only as my own enemy, that would destroy 
 " me, but as the enemy of him who died for me, 
 " even of Christ, who is all my salvation, and all 
 " my desire. True, the remains of sin I still feel 
 " within me. I deplore them, and have a loathing 
 " of them as the dregs of my once total pollution. 
 " These drive me to watchfulness and prayer, 
 " while I look to that blood which cleansed my 
 " pollution away, and to that righteousness through 
 
SECURITIES. 241 
 
 " which I am justified before God. Once I took 
 "pleasure in distance from God; and as to the 
 " Saviour, there was in him no form, nor comeli- 
 " ness, nor beauty, that I should desire him: now, 
 " my heart's desire is to live near to God; the hours 
 " of communion with him I reckon the happiest of 
 " my life ; and Christ is to me exceeding precious. 
 " He is my hope, my peace, my rock. To him 
 " I trust, as to my shield : in him I boast, as my 
 " glory, and the lifter up of my head. With this 
 " spirit in me, therefore, I humbly trust, the Holy 
 " Spirit himself beareth witness, that I am a cliild 
 " of God. I feel it to be no spirit of bondage en- 
 " gendering fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby 
 " I am entitled to cry, ' Abba, Father ! ' I am 
 " encouraged by the Lord Jesus himself to regard 
 '• his Father as my Father ; to address him under 
 " that endearing name; and to ask of liim with con- 
 " fidence, as of a Father, whatsoever things my 
 " case requires. On this authority I draw near, 
 " and humbly claim the privilege of a son." 
 
 Thus far it is well with the Christian. The 
 ground on which he claims this spiritual relation- 
 ship is unquestionable : being in Christ, he is one 
 of the family of God. But is he always found 
 rejoicing in the felt-assurance of this distinguished 
 privilege ? Is he, at all times, carrying himself with 
 that satisfied and happy bearing which corresponds 
 with his birth and expectations ? No ; gladness of 
 heart, and a cheerful demeanour along his path, are, 
 
 R 
 
242 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 indeed, the privileges which belong to his character, 
 but he is not always in the sensible enjoyment of 
 them. Peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost, are his veritable portion, but he does not 
 at all times realize it. The river, whose streams 
 make glad the city of our God, is ever running, 
 but the Christian is not always seen drinking at 
 them, to refresh his soul. Brooding over his own 
 infirmities, and shocked at his deficiencies as a fol- 
 lower of Christ, he writes bitter things against 
 himself. Such is the lofty estimate he makes of 
 the blessings of the covenant, that he feels as though 
 so worthless, so sin-polluted, a creature as he, must 
 not hope to possess such rich endowments. Mean- 
 while the invisible enemy of souls, in a way mys- 
 terious to us, but of which we can have no doubt, 
 takes advantage of the darkness that has come over 
 his mind, and he is kept in bondage for a season. 
 But here the Holy Spirit applies the word of in- 
 struction; and he is reminded that, though the great 
 things covenanted to be bestowed on the people 
 of God are styled a reward, it is a reward not 
 reckoned of debt, but of grace, and that he owes, 
 not his pardon and justification only, but every 
 subsequent mark of the Divine favour, with the 
 ultimate possession of the heavenly inheritance, 
 solely to the merits of Christ in his room, and not, 
 in any degree, to liimself. It is impressed afresh 
 upon his mind, that he is not to contrast the riches 
 of God's grace, or the glories and blessedness of the 
 
SECURITIES. 243 
 
 future state, with his own character and doings, or 
 with those of the most eminent Christian, otherwise 
 than to promote humility and grateful love : he is 
 ever to look upon them as the reward of Christ's 
 righteousness, and of his travail of soul ; and that 
 by him they are graciously made over to his people. 
 He " made his soul an offering for sin," according 
 to the covenant; and therefore they are all his; — 
 and then, notice the Saviour's gratuitous bequest, 
 " The glory which thou gavest me, I have given 
 them. Father ! I will that they whom thou hast 
 given me, be with me, where I am, that they may 
 behold my glory ; " and to crown all, when he was 
 come to that glory, he declared, through his ser- 
 vant John, " To him that overcometh will I grant 
 to sit with me in my throne, even as I also over- 
 came, and am set down with my Father in his 
 throne ! " 
 
 When the Christian comes to duly consider this 
 truth his fears pass away. He has a more vivid 
 perception than ever of the glory and the grace of 
 his Divine Redeemer. He debases himself, as alto- 
 gether unworthy; while he looks up with fresh 
 admiration to him whose love induced him to 
 serve and to suffer, that he might procure him the 
 unspeakable benefits now possessed, and the bless- 
 edness that yet awaits him. " Not unto me," he is 
 ready to cry, " not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, 
 " but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and 
 " thy truth's sake ! Yes, blessed Jesus ! for all are 
 
244 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 " thine. Eternal life, with all its wonders of grace 
 " and glory, is the purchase of thy love. To thee, 
 " as my Ransom, I owe my deliverance from the 
 " pit: to thee I owe the forgiveness of my sins; my 
 " adoption into the family of God; the sanctifying 
 " influences of the Holy Spirit; and my hope of a 
 " blessed immortality. To thee I owe every ac- 
 " cepted approach I make to the throne of grace; 
 " for thou hast given me, for a plea, the use of 
 " thy own name. With that name I prevail; and 
 " the Father himself loveth me, for thy sake. Thou 
 " thyself pleadest for me before the throne, and 
 " givest efiicacy to my feeble supplications. Of a 
 " truth. Lord ! without thee I can do nothing; 
 " without thee I am nothing; but thou hast said, 
 " ' My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength 
 " is made perfect in weakness.' I am poor and 
 " needy; but thy Word assures me that thou think- 
 " est on me, and carest for me. I am liable to 
 " be distracted with earthly solicitudes and secular 
 " cares; but these are all soothed by thy kind and 
 " merciful admonitions. — ' Take no thought, say- 
 " ing. What shall we eat, or what shall we drink? 
 " or wherewithal shall we be clothed ? for your 
 " heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
 " of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom 
 " of God and his righteousness ; and all these 
 " things shall be added unto you.' I have spiritual 
 " enemies, many and mighty, to encounter, and I 
 " am utterly unable of myself to cope with them; 
 
SECURITIES. 245 
 
 " but tliou hast pledged thy word to me, ' No 
 " weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; 
 " and every tongue that shall rise against thee in 
 "judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heri- 
 " tage of the servants of the Lord ; and their 
 " righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.' My own 
 " corruptions, I confess, do ofttimes prevail to raise 
 " up mists of doubt and fear upon my soul, to inter- 
 " cept the light of my heavenly Father's counte- 
 " nance from view. — Thou withdrawest thyself, 
 " and I am troubled; but, O how restorative, how 
 " cheering are thy words, when I hear thee saying, 
 *' 'For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but 
 " with great mercies will I gather thee! In a 
 " little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a 
 " moment; but with everlasting kindness will I 
 " have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer!' 
 " Ever blessed Saviour! with thee dwelleth all ful- 
 " ness — fulness of wisdom, of power, of righteous- 
 " ness, of tenderness, and of love! Out of the 
 " unbounded fulness of thy grace and lovingkind- 
 " ness, thou hast made ample provision, in thy 
 " "Word, to meet my every possible case; and not 
 " mine only, but that of every one that truly 
 " seeks thee. La condescension to our infirmities, 
 " and to assure the most timid among us, thou 
 " hast assumed all the relations of life character- 
 " ized by the peculiar protection, tenderness, and 
 " kindness of their office. Thou art the good, the 
 " faithful Shepherd; the affectionate Father; the 
 
246 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 " constantly-attached Brother ; the benevolent 
 " Friend; the victorious Captain of salvation; the 
 " unerring Leader; the atoning High Priest; the 
 " ever-living Advocate, and Intercessor, to plead 
 " in heaven! Lord! henceforth let these considera- 
 " tions operate with irresistible attraction upon my 
 " heart and mind, disposing me to consecrate body, 
 " soul, and spirit to thy service and glory, for thou 
 " hast redeemed them. Let me be an efficient 
 " servant in thy cause upon earth; and let the motto 
 " of my badge ever be, * To me to live is Christ, 
 
 " AND TO die is GAIN.' " 
 
 Thus have we endeavoured to illustrate some of 
 the Christian's Securities for the blessings and 
 Privileges promised him in Christ. Many more 
 might be produced, all of them important and pre- 
 cious to the Christian; but these must now suffice. 
 The Christian's own experience will suggest others, 
 on which he may dwell, from time to time, with no 
 less profit than delight. And now, while he is 
 meditating on those that have been placed before 
 him, we would put to him the question, "How 
 much owest thou to thy Lord?" — a question which, 
 on a review of all that has been done and pro- 
 vided for him, he must feel to come forcibly home, 
 not to his conscience only, but to his heart also. 
 He will not, like the debtors in the parable, go 
 about to make the amount of what he owes to 
 his Lord appear less than it is. Such a thought 
 is far from him. He knows his debt to be in- 
 
SECURITIES. 247 
 
 calculable. His only answer to the question, 
 " How much?" must be, "I know not. This only 
 I know, — the amount of my obligations to Divine 
 love cannot be told: but I rejoice in the prospect 
 of an eternity in heaven, where I shall be ever 
 making my acknowledgments; for I shall be ever 
 a debtor." 
 
 The Christian, then, contemplating his spiritual 
 Privileges, so many and so valuable, with the Secu- 
 rities granted him for their possession, cannot but 
 feel himself bound to serve his God and Saviour 
 with supreme love; to love him with all his heart, 
 his soul, his strength, his mind. Nothing less is 
 due towards his God, whose love has abounded 
 towards him so liberally, in all that is wise, merci- 
 ful, and condescending. Of such demonstrations, 
 on the part of God, he can give no adequate de- 
 scription. They far exceed, in rich and wonderful, 
 all the powers of his conception: for he cannot for- 
 get that that love must needs pass all understand- 
 ing which was extended to him, in his state of 
 rebellious enmity against all that was Divine and 
 holy; and that raised him up thence, not to recon- 
 ciliation only, but to the honour of adoption, to 
 the paternal love of God, to the gift of the Holy 
 Spirit, and the promise of eternal bliss. When he 
 considers, too, that to accomplish all this, the Father 
 spared not his own Son, but gave him up to the 
 humiliation of a servant, to obey, and bring in a 
 perfect righteousness for him, and to the pains of a 
 
248 CHKISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 sacrificial death, to atone for his guilt, he is filled 
 with wonder and love, which he is unable to express 
 but in terms of heartfelt praise: " O the depth of 
 the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
 God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and 
 his ways past finding out! Thanks be to God for 
 his unspeakable gift ! " 
 
 And now, taking leave of this subject, I would 
 invite the Christian reader to observe how justly, 
 and how feelingly, the Apostle has said, " Ye know 
 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though 
 he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, 
 that ye, through his poverty, might be rich ! " 
 Thou canst not, my fellow -Christian, think of the 
 rich Privileges which, through faith in Christ 
 Jesus, are made over to thee, in his Gospel, with- 
 out entering, in some degree, into the spirit of 
 these words. "What thou knowest of the grace of 
 Christ (it is impossible to know it fully) must ope- 
 rate upon thy mind, in thy best moments, as the 
 most powerful of all incentives to grateful love, — to 
 willing service, — to self-denial, — and to entire con- 
 secration, for the honour and glory of so generous, 
 so benevolent, a Saviour as this. Thou wilt feel 
 his claim upon thee to extend to all that thou hast, 
 to all that thou art; and the aggregate of all that 
 thou canst put together, including thyself, will 
 amount to nothing, in contrast with the immea- 
 surable love of Christ towards thee, — immeasura- 
 ble, I say, unless thou canst calculate the distance 
 
SECURITIES. 249 
 
 from the highest throne in heaven to the cross on 
 Calvary. Is it so, that, to invest thee with the 
 Privileges we have been noticing, the Lord of 
 Glory hesitated not to descend to abject poverty, 
 and ignominious death? What then remains, but 
 that thou live no longer to thyself, nor to the 
 world, but to him who did all this for thee ? 
 Such love and grace as his demand of thee that 
 thou labour^, by tongue, by head, by heart, by hand, 
 to make the savour of his name and Gospel known 
 wherever thy feet may travel, wherever they may 
 rest. Thou wilt feel bound to own Christ as thy 
 Pattern, thy Leader, thy Governor, as well as thy 
 Priest and Intercessor; and whilst "the life thou 
 now livest in the flesh, thou livest by the faith of 
 the Son of God," as the sole Author of thy accept- 
 ance and entire salvation, thou wilt be careful and 
 zealous to maintain good works ; labouring and 
 abounding in them, as though thou hadst to pro- 
 cure thyself thereby a title to the crown of righte- 
 ousness. Thou wilt glory in Christ, and in his 
 cross, as the alone foundation of thy hope ; and, 
 at the same time, be putting forth all thy energies 
 to promote his glory, in bringing in others, through 
 faith in him, to obtain pardon of sin, sanctification 
 of nature, and the enjoyment of Privileges like 
 thine own, — Privileges connected with eternal life, 
 and the blessedness of the heavenly state. In fine, 
 thou wilt endeavour so to live, that it shall be as 
 unquestionable, that thou art not of this world 
 
250 CHRISTIAN PRmLEGES. 
 
 as if this inscription were legible on thy forehead, 
 "For Christ and his Cause." And "may the 
 God of peace, that brought again from the dead 
 our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
 make thee perfect in every good work to do his 
 will, working in thee that which is well pleasing 
 in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be 
 glory for ever and ever." Amen. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 251 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 THE CHEISTIAN AND THE WOELDLING. 
 
 " The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour." 
 
 Proverbs xii. 26. 
 
 There are many parties among men of which it 
 may be said, that it is unimportant, as to one's 
 moral character, on what side we may choose to be 
 ranked. The question may be merely a literary 
 one : it may be a matter simply of amusement, or 
 taste; or it may be raised on certain points of eccle- 
 siastical, or civil, polity. These affect not the con- 
 science of a man. In such cases, either side of the 
 question may be conscientiously enough embraced, 
 — moral guilt is chargeable on neither. But there 
 is a question of grave importance, and that not to 
 one party or section of people only, but to all man- 
 kind, on which we are solemnly bound to take heed 
 how we decide. It has to do with the conscience, 
 the heart, the whole of man. Having said thus 
 much, we shall doubtless be understood to mean 
 the question of Religion. Here, we are not left 
 to mere opinion, or to our own taste or inclination. 
 Here, the truth to be embraced must be sought 
 
252 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 from its proper source and authority ; and these 
 being ascertained, it remains only that we listen, 
 learn, and obey. 
 
 The question, "What is Truth?" though once 
 put, with thoughtless levity, by an ignorant and 
 corrupt mortal to the Fountain-head of truth itself, 
 is confessedly, if religiously taken, one of vital 
 importance to every accountable being. Truth is 
 desirable on every subject ; but its value will be 
 estimated according to its bearing upon our inter- 
 ests. Our present changeful and transitory state 
 is not final ; and much as it imports us how we 
 spend it, there are many things belonging to it, and 
 bounded by it, which to know is of little moment, 
 in comparison with those which, being wholly 
 spiritual, refer to, and have their results in, the 
 state that is to follow, — our final — our eternal state. 
 Concerning these, we do say, it is momentous, in the 
 last degree, that we know, and hold fast, the truth. 
 
 We live in a world where error, and consequent 
 folly, greatly abound. To arrive at the all-import- 
 ant truth of which we speak, we need a guide that 
 will not err ; and to supply the felt need of such a 
 guide, many have stepped forward, in one age after 
 another, to offer their favourite systems, as the an- 
 nouncements of unerring truth. But they have 
 miserably failed : the question "What is Truth?" 
 or, in more significant language, " What must I do, 
 that I may inherit eternal life?" required a wisdom 
 to answer it infinitely above the wisdom of man ; 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 253 
 
 and if we would find this wisdom, we must look for 
 it exclusively in the Word of God himself. 
 
 Now, in this Word we find the whole human 
 race described as standing before God in two dis- 
 tinct parties, — the righteous, and the ivicked; or, as 
 they are characterized more particularly in the New 
 Testament, the believers, and the unbelievers. It 
 recognises no neutral, no third party. It classes 
 every individual with one or other of these great 
 divisions. This is expressed by Jesus Christ him- 
 self, the Founder of our religion, in language so 
 decisive as to admit of no gloss, or a contrary mean- 
 ing: " He that is not ivith me is against me ; and 
 he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." 
 If, then, to be for Christ be to embrace the truth ; 
 if to be gathering with him be to be found with the 
 only party connected wdth present and everlasting 
 safety, we need not say how deeply it concerns us 
 to be assured that we are there. The alternative is 
 tremendous ! To believe that Christianity is a 
 solemn truth, and yet to be indifferent whether I 
 be a Christian or no, is contradictory — is impos- 
 sible. How can I entertain the conviction that 
 Jesus Christ is revealed in the Gospel, as the only 
 " way, the truth, and the life," and yet not care to 
 know whether I have embraced him with my soul, 
 as my Lord, my light, my life? It cannot be. 
 Nevertheless, such is the deadening influence of sin, 
 such the infatuation it brings upon the heart and 
 mind of man, that the phenomenon of a profession 
 
254 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 of Christianity, with a sad neglect of the true cha- 
 racteristics of the Christian, is too commonly ex- 
 hibited among us. " Light is come into the world," 
 but alas ! how many there are who, though they 
 profess to respect that light, yet prefer their own 
 darkness, and walk in it. Yes, the light is come, 
 and that abundantly. It has flashed upon their 
 understanding, and not unfrequently upon their 
 consciences, with the vivid distinctness of the angel 
 before the eyes of Balaam ; yet, like him, they per- 
 sist in their own dark and pernicious ways. 
 
 The feeling with which we contemplate the 
 things we have been treating of will not allow us to 
 part with our readers, till we have solicited their 
 attention further, while we present a brief contrast 
 between the believer and the unbeliever, or between 
 the pious Christian and him who, whatever his pro- 
 fession, is merely a man of the world. Our aim is 
 to show up each of the two characters in its proper 
 light; and to raise the voice of warning against a 
 false and fatal choice, and that of invitation to the 
 paths of wisdom, safety, and peace. It is our 
 anxious desire to leave upon our reader's mind, and 
 our own, impressions that may lead to spiritual im- 
 provement. Proceeding, then, to set the Christian 
 character before us, for a while, it becomes us to 
 reflect that we are looking at the workmanship of 
 God. It has therefore the highest possible claim 
 upon our serious and attentive study. 
 
 This is a great subject; and we might expatiate 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 255 
 
 largely upon it, without exhausting its interest : 
 but as much of what we have already said has 
 borne upon various points of this character, we have 
 now only to place it in some of those positions in 
 which it forcibly demands the preference over its 
 opposite and antagonist character. " The righte- 
 ous," says Solomon, " is more excellent than his 
 neighbour," — the term neighbour here evidently 
 meaning the contrary character — the irreligious, the 
 ungodly. We adopt the sentiment, and say, in 
 other words. The Christian is more excellent 
 THAN the Worldling. He is — 
 
 1 . A iviser man. He has been led to act upon 
 the conviction that he has a spirit, or soul, within 
 him, created to think, to know, to feel, to give 
 account ; that he is not simply an animal, born to 
 exercise and gratify the senses for a brief period, 
 and then die away into total extinction ; but that 
 the rational, responsible, immortal, nature is, truly 
 and emphatically, the Man. For the interests of 
 this nature, therefore, he cares, and diligently pro- 
 vides. He reads and studies the Bible — the Word 
 of God, the only true Record of his mind and will. 
 He respects and attends to its sacred institutions. 
 He learns how he is to think of the Divine character 
 from what he has himself revealed; and in the 
 pages of the same unerring Word he reads his own 
 natural character. Assuredly, there is no know- 
 ledge comparable to this — none so essential to the 
 best interests of man. It is so estimated and de- 
 
256 CHRISTIAN PKIVILEGES. 
 
 clared by the lip of truth, " This is life eternal, that 
 they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
 Christ, whom thou hast sent." And the Prophet 
 bears high testimony to the paramount excellence 
 of this knowledge, when he exclaims, " Thus saith 
 the Lord, Let him that glorieth glory in this, that 
 he understandeth and knoweth me; that I am the 
 Lord, who exercise lovingkindness, and judgment, 
 and righteousness in the earth." In connection 
 with the knowledge of God, and as next in import- 
 ance to it, the Christian studies himself. The one 
 study, indeed, leads to the other ; for if a man 
 inquire into the nature and character of the Author 
 of his being, he will necessarily feel that he is 
 solemnly bound to seek also the knowledge of the 
 relation he stands in to his Maker, which imports 
 the knowledge of himself. Were he content to 
 remain a stranger to God, he would be a stranger 
 to himself; and not to know God is to remain igno- 
 rant, not only of one's self, but of everything that 
 contributes to wisdom and happiness. The misery 
 consequent upon such ignorance is repeatedly and im- 
 pressively noticed in the Scriptures. " My people," 
 says God, by his Prophet, " are foolish ; they have 
 not known me ; they are sottish children ; and they 
 have none understanding. They are wise to do 
 evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. For 
 this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above 
 be black." And again, he cries, "Pour out thy 
 fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 257 
 
 the families that call not upon thy name." The 
 knowledge of ourselves, or that acquaintance with 
 our own nature, our tendencies, dispositions, and 
 habits, that shall be salutary to our conduct in 
 life, is a science urgently and faithfully pressed 
 upon us in Scripture. " Let us search and try our 
 ways," says the Prophet. " Keep thy heart," says 
 the wise man, " with all diligence, for out of it are 
 the issues of life." And David's counsel is, " Com- 
 mune with your own heart upon your bed, and be 
 still." Sensible of the importance of such know- 
 ledge, and, at the same time, of his own insufficiency 
 to arrive at just conclusions, and a true estimate of 
 himself, by his own effi^rt, he prays that God would 
 institute the scrutiny himself, for his instruction. 
 " Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, 
 and know my thoughts." The Apostle urges this 
 study upon Christians, as a duty expected of them, 
 and wliich it would be sinful to neglect. " Ex- 
 amine yourselves," he says, " whether ye be in the 
 faith. Prove your own selves : know ye not your 
 own selves ? " 
 
 In the devout study of God's Word, the Christian 
 is taught to reverence and adore him, as a God of 
 holiness, justice, and truth: but he learns also from 
 the same authority, and learns it with what the 
 knowledge of himself naturally excites, heartfelt 
 gratitude and gladness, that he is a God of mercy, 
 compassion, and grace ; and that he has, in his 
 infinite wisdom and power, devised and accom- 
 
 s 
 
258 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 plished a way whereby he can be a just God, and 
 yet a Saviour. He hears and believes the testi- 
 mony, that God sent his Son to be the propitiation 
 for our sins. Awake to a sense of his guilt, and 
 the polluting and condemning power of sin, he 
 feels his urgent need of such a propitiation, and 
 flees for refuge to the hope set before him, — he 
 becomes A Christian. 
 
 Now, if to search for truth, as for hidden trea- 
 sure, until it be obtained; if to shun evil, and pur- 
 sue that which is good; if to escape from wretched- 
 ness and destruction, when the warning voice is 
 heard, and hasten to gain a position of safety and 
 of peace; if to do these things be the part of wis- 
 dom, can any one refuse to approve the wisdom of 
 the Christian, whose conduct is precisely this ? 
 " Behold! there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, 
 like a man's hand." It betokens a storm; and a 
 voice from a quarter, where there is perfect know- 
 ledge of the irresistible violence and destructive 
 force with which it comes, warns the traveller to 
 betake himself instantly to " a hiding-place from 
 the wind, to a covert from the tempest," and, as it 
 warns, points him to the only covert available to 
 his safety. He obeys the friendly warning; flees 
 to the spot unscathed, and rejoices in his security. 
 His was a wholesome alarm; and thus the warning 
 voice, through his faith in its truth and sincerity, 
 made him wise unto his salvation. Had he 
 neglected, or despised, that warning, and gone 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 259 
 
 heedless on his way, till the tempest broke upon 
 him, who but would have condemned him for a fool 
 and a madman? So judged Solomon. "A prudent 
 man," saith he, "foreseeth the evil, and hideth 
 himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." 
 This prudence, in a spiritual sense, this heaven- 
 inspired wisdom, is the Christian's. And how has 
 he become possessed of it? Simply by first hum- 
 bling himself to become a fool, that he might he wise. 
 He was, it may be, sufficiently wise in matters of 
 the world. There was no lack of knowledge in 
 him to endanger his temporal prosperity: but the 
 way of eternal life he knew not, till he gave him- 
 self to the instruction of the Holy Spirit by liis own 
 Word, and received the kingdom of God as a little 
 child. And so may the Worldling. The same 
 way is free to him. But what is his position? Is 
 it a safe one? Has he made a wise choice? — Let 
 us see. 
 
 The man of the world may flatter himself that he 
 is sufficiently prudent; that he has done well in not 
 suffering the prizes of the present life, by which 
 men are generally enriched, to go by him, without 
 an honest effort to gain as many of them as he 
 could; and that to him it appears not only lawful, 
 but wise, to lay up what he can in store, against a 
 day of infirmity, or unfavourable vicissitude. He 
 may even gather from men of his own class abun- 
 dance of suffrages in favour of his principle and 
 conduct, and appeal to their testimony in vindica- 
 
260 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 tion of his claim to the praise of wisdom. The 
 man we are here supposing may not only reason 
 thus: he may go farther, perhaps, and say, that he 
 is not insensible to the obligations of religion; that 
 he reads his Bible; that he frequents a place of 
 worship; and has prayers at his home. He may 
 urge also his social virtues: that he deals honestly 
 with all men; that he would rather assist a neigh- 
 bour in need, than defraud him, at any time; that 
 he is not inconsiderate of the poor, nor steeled 
 against the sufferings of the sick and the destitute; 
 and therefore, all these things considered, he main- 
 tains that nothing but the spirit of rank uncharita- 
 bleness will refuse to pronounce him a Christian. 
 
 All this representation, however, may be true of 
 the man whom, without the fear of being proved un- 
 charitable, we still denominate a Worldling. If we 
 are asked to say what we mean by a " Worldling," 
 we would define him, " One who makes the posses- 
 sion of temporal things his main pursuit; seeking to 
 secure to himself what he deems good for the pre- 
 sent life, to the seclusion of due concern about that 
 which is needful for the life to come." Now, among 
 men against whom this charge may fairly lie, there 
 is great variety of character. The individual chil- 
 dren of the same house shall differ from each other 
 in feature, though they all bear a common family 
 likeness. The Worldling's is a large family, and 
 many are the individual varieties among them. 
 Some are found to carry the moralities to a much 
 
THE CHKISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 261 
 
 higher and brighter exhibition than others. Let us 
 look at some of the best specimens that are met with 
 in men of the world. Here is one whose meekness 
 of temper, whose amiable and condescending man- 
 ners, deservedly win him the acceptance, the love, 
 of every circle into which he comes. There is 
 another duly honoured, for abounding much in what 
 we call the nobler qualities of our nature. He is 
 faithful in his friendships, of inviolable integrity, 
 and disinterested generosity. He merits, and he 
 gains our applause; and the most pious man, on 
 beholding such a character, may well love him, as 
 his Lord did the rich young man in the Gospel, who 
 yet lacked the one thing needful. But the praise- 
 worthy qualities we have named are the results 
 merely of a happy temperament, or physical con- 
 stitution — aided and confirmed, perhaps, by edu- 
 cational influence. Such men are indebted to the 
 goodness of God, who framed them to these happy 
 tendencies; and yet, alas! they exhibit them with 
 the same absence of God from their thoughts, and 
 the same insensibility of his claims, as are found in 
 the manifestations and habits of the gentler and 
 more tractable animals of the lower creation. Of 
 such characters, notwithstanding their amiabilities, 
 the Sacred Word declares that " God is not in all 
 their thoughts." Their plans, their purposes, their 
 ways, are all formed and pursued, without asking 
 his counsel, without regard to his will, any more 
 than as if he had no existence: or, at best, they 
 
262 CHRISTIAN PRmLEGES. 
 
 have an obscure, distant, apprehension of such a 
 Being; but the thought, being found inconvenient, 
 is speedily dismissed. There is nothing, then, in 
 these exemplifications, that can make the subjects 
 of them less obnoxious to the displeasure of God, 
 than the most odious of sinners. By him they are 
 ranked in the same class. When he looks down 
 from heaven on the children of men, to see if any 
 do understand, and seek God, he looks on them also, 
 and finds them equally unmindful of him, equally 
 averse from the study of his character and his law, 
 and equally bent on the pleasures and pursuits of 
 the world, as the most hateful of the species. He 
 finds their hearts and their doings recklessly bid- 
 ding him away from them ; speaking, as it were, in 
 that fearful language, " Depart from us ; for we 
 desire not the knowledge of thy ways." 
 
 But we have supposed a variety amongst them, 
 where a profession of religion is made. One of that 
 class will tell us, that he is a member of a Church 
 of Christ; frequents the sanctuary; respects the 
 ministers of the Gospel, and contributes of his sub- 
 stance to the support of the good cause; in his 
 family the Bible is read, and prayers are offered up. 
 — Is he not therefore a Christian? This question 
 must be answered by putting some others. Where 
 is the man's heart? Is it supremely fixed on God? 
 Is it the love of Christ that has constrained him to 
 confess his name, to join his people, and to serve 
 his cause? Is it delight in communion with God 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 263 
 
 that draws him to prayer and every devotional 
 exercise? In fine, Has he renounced the world,- 
 because he loathes its principles and practices? and 
 has he embraced Christ, because he believes in him 
 as his Saviour, and longs to be holy, as he is holy? 
 No; the man whose heart is still in the world may 
 be, and may do, all that he has alleged in his 
 favour, whilst these things are, all the while, 
 issuing from other sources than those on which we 
 have questioned him. 
 
 In the present day, when the profession of Chris- 
 tianity is very generally diffused, and some degree 
 of reverence for the Bible is expected of almost 
 every man, the utmost stretch of charity will not 
 go to the extent of including all that call them- 
 selves Christians in the family of God's recovered 
 and converted children. Various are the reasons 
 that induce many to put on the semblance of piety. 
 A good name among a certain denomination of 
 Christians ; the patronage they may have it in their 
 power to confer on a man's line of business; the 
 influence of some family, or friendly connexions; 
 or, the pacification of an uneasy conscience, — these, 
 and other reasons of a like-worldly and carnal 
 nature, will account for the form of godliness as- 
 sumed by many who know nothing of its power. 
 What avails it to a man of this description that he 
 reads his Bible? He reads it as a prescribed form, 
 an unimpressive task, intended only for the hour. 
 Unhappily, while he thus reads, " the veil is upon 
 
264 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 his heart." What avails it, that he prays at home, 
 or in the sanctuary, if he carries to the throne of 
 God a heart of cold indifference, or pharisaic 
 pride? He " regards iniquity in his heart, and the 
 Lord will not hear him." What avails it, that he 
 frequents the house of God? He comes thither, as 
 tlie Israelites came before the Prophet ; and against 
 them the Lord himself testifies, " They come unto thee 
 as the people cometh; and they sit before thee as my 
 people; and they hear thy words, but they will not 
 do them: for with their mouth they show much 
 love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness." 
 And what does his respect for the ministers of the 
 Gospel, and their occasional remonstrances, amount 
 to? So did King " Herod fear Jolm the Baptist, 
 knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and 
 observed him; and when he heard him, he did many 
 things, and heard him gladly;" — but Herod was no 
 Christian. 
 
 Where now, we would ask, is the wisdom of the 
 Worldling's choice? Is it to be found in the in- 
 trinsic, or relative, value of the portion chosen? 
 What are riches, if riches be his pursuit? — mere 
 glittering toys, that too commonly minister to pride, 
 selfishness, and vanity. Read the Apostle's senti- 
 ment on this subject, and then say whether he is 
 wise who has chosen riches for his portion; " They 
 that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, 
 and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
 drown men in destruction and perdition. For the 
 
THE CHRISTIAJ^ AND THE WORLDLING. 265 
 
 love of money is the root of all evil; which while 
 some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, 
 and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 
 Does the Worldling set his heart upon loud ap- 
 plause, wide-spread fame, the distinctions — the 
 honours that the world lavishes upon its favourites? 
 Alas! what are all these but the breath of poor, 
 fickle man, won to-day, and, it may be, lost to- 
 morrow ! Our Lord sufficiently shows the danger 
 of indulging an ambition of this kind, when he 
 says, " How can ye believe, who receive honour 
 one of another; and seek not the honour that com- 
 eth from God only?" The Worldling, indeed, is 
 often wise in his generation. He shrewdly devises, 
 and skilfully concocts, his schemes; and then keenly 
 and indefatigably pursues, until he accomplish them. 
 He gains his object; he reaches the pinnacle of his 
 ambition, and plumes himself upon his wisdom. 
 Infatuated man! The poor maniac, who, decked 
 out in straws and feathers, struts about, and shouts 
 himself a king, is not more unconscious of his 
 actual state, than this man of the world is blinded 
 to his! All his wisdom is folly; all his success, 
 a curse ! Born for eternity, he has staked its in- 
 terests on the short-lived enjoyments of time, and 
 bartered his soul for the smiles and flatteries of a 
 perishing world. He has said to his soul, " Soul, 
 thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take 
 thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God 
 said unto him. Thou fool, this night thy soul shall 
 
266 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 be required of thee; then whose shall those things 
 be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth 
 up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward 
 God." 
 
 Now, we have seen that the Christian's part is 
 the reverse of all this. It is not that he has chosen 
 poverty, instead of riches; or a life of pain and dis- 
 comfort, instead of ease and enjoyment. No; but 
 we may thus illustrate the conduct he has adopted. 
 "Ask of me," said a monarch to his favourite, 
 " anything which I have in my power to bestow, 
 and I will give it to thee." Reflecting on this 
 liberal promise, the favourite thought with him- 
 self, " If I ask wealth or honours, or a situation of 
 power and grandeur, I know I shall get them ; but 
 I will ask something that will be sure to command 
 all these things, and be accompanied with them." 
 And knowing that, if he became the king's son-in- 
 law, he should be raised to some of the highest 
 dignities of the kingdom, he said, " Give me thy 
 daughter to wife." The wisdom of this man's cal- 
 culations, and the justness of his conclusions, are 
 not to be denied. Such, in a spiritual sense, is the 
 wisdom of the Christian. God has, in his word, 
 invited us all to choose our portion; and to ask, 
 promising that we shall receive. If riches and 
 worldly honours be the desire of our hearts, we 
 may have them, and shall soon lose them; but the 
 Christian has sought and obtained relationship 
 to God. He has been adopted into his family. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 267 
 
 Following the admonition, and believing the pro- 
 mise of his Lord, he " seeks first the kingdom of 
 God, and his righteousness," leaving all other 
 things to be added as he shall see fit. He can 
 lack no good thing, who has God for his Father, 
 heaven for his home, and eternal glory for his 
 inheritance; for, in subserviency to his spiritual 
 interests, all things are his, whether Paul, or 
 Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, 
 or things present, or things to come, — all are his. 
 With his present lot, whatever it may be, — pros- 
 perity, or adversity, — fulness, or scantiness, — pro- 
 minence, or obscurity, he has learnt therewith to 
 be content. But he has looked forward to his 
 more proper existence in a world wdthout end; 
 and for that he has made provision, in the way of 
 God's appointment. While the man of the world 
 is tremblingly alive to the fluctuations of almost 
 every day's transactions, the Christian has cast 
 " the anchor of his hope into that within the veil," 
 and remains unmoved. We cannot, then, hesitate 
 to pronounce his course by far the iciser of the two 
 in question. 
 
 2. The Christian is more useful than the World- 
 ling. The wisdom we have been briefly, and in 
 general terms, attributing to the Christian is that 
 which comes from above. Its peculiar excellence 
 is thus beautifully described by an Apostle: " The 
 wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peace- 
 able, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy 
 
268 CHRISTIAN PRmLEGES. 
 
 and good fruits, without partiality, and without 
 hypocrisy." The man who is blessed with this 
 wisdom is especially fitted to be useful. It disposes, 
 it even constrains him to be so. The wisdom of 
 this world is very often resolvable into mere selfish- 
 ness, putting a man upon the readiest and surest 
 way of compassing his own ends, of aggrandizing 
 himself, though at the expense of another. The 
 love of self is confessedly the ruling principle 
 among men of the world. There may be, and 
 there are, some lovely examples of the influence 
 of a contrary principle; but they form the excep- 
 tion, and that exception is very limited. Their 
 almost universal object is to amass wealth; and in 
 the eagerness of their sordid pursuit, they stay not 
 to consider whether the means they take be right 
 or wrong. In every department of business, or 
 traffic, we see them, as the Prophet complained of 
 the people of his day, " every one, from the least 
 to the greatest, given to covetousness." To gratify 
 this passion, how frequently are they found stooping 
 to the mean practices of falsehood, chicanery, fraud ! 
 In the general scramble for the pelf, pomp, and 
 grandeur of this world, one is seen craftily taking 
 advantage of another, and willingly rising on the 
 ruins of his neighbour. This is but a humbling 
 picture of human nature ; but that such is the 
 course of the world around us, that these bad prin- 
 ciples do prevail among those who are content to 
 have their portion in this life, is a truth too plain 
 
THE CHEISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 269 
 
 for denial or dispute. Indeed, what is the judgment 
 passed by the unerring Word on the world, and 
 the men of the world? — "The whole world lieth 
 in wickedness." We are forbidden to love the 
 world, or the things that are in the world; and 
 cautioned against worldly appetites, " the lust of 
 the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life." 
 The principles of the world are so abhorrent from 
 those of truth and piety, that friendship with the 
 world is represented as enmity with God: "Who- 
 soever, therefore, is a friend of the world is the 
 enemy of God." 
 
 Let us pause for a while, and ponder these 
 words. What a fearful idea do they convey of the 
 state of the world! If a friendly association with 
 it is denounced as enmity against God, how opposed 
 to all that is good must its spirit and conduct be! 
 And is it so, that we daily behold crowds of our 
 fellow -immortals diligently, intensely, with all their 
 powers, mental and physical, running a course of 
 life in direct hostility against their Maker and their 
 Judge? The thought is appalling! And, then, 
 how immensely aggravated is the sadness of the 
 spectacle, in the consideration that this ruinous 
 course is driven on in the face of warnings, direc- 
 tions, invitations, kindly and graciously reiterated, 
 to turn from it, to come into the right way, and be 
 saved. This aggravation lies, at least, against a 
 vast proportion of the world, into which the light 
 is come: but " this is the condemnation, that men 
 
270 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 have loved darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds are evil." 
 
 After this testimony given against the World by 
 the Oracles of truth, it will be vain to look there 
 for a useful character. A truly useful man, one 
 really beneficial to mankind, will be found only in 
 connection with Christianity — only in the Church 
 of Christ. In saying this, we must be understood 
 as having reference, not merely to the interests 
 of time, but to those both of time and eternity. 
 Usefulness is by emphasis a part of the Christian 
 character. The Christian's profession is incom- 
 plete without it. He is bound by the very name 
 he bears to make it his daily study. He is the 
 disciple of One who " went about doing yood^'' 
 and who expects his disciples to follow in his steps. 
 The regenerated nature is, so to speak, constitu- 
 tionally benevolent. In proportion as the soul of 
 man is renewed after the image of God in righte- 
 ousness and true holiness, he abounds in willing, 
 and in doing, good. Every one, therefore, who 
 becomes a disciple of Christ, finds himself asso- 
 ciated with a beneficent brotherhood — a band of 
 benefactors of their kind; and of these individually 
 it may be confidently afiirmed, that he who is most 
 eminently pious is most eminently useful. 
 
 Whatever fills the heart is sure to manifest itself 
 in the life. The prevailing desire within operates 
 on the tongue and the hand without, which, unless 
 some strong motive be present to suppress, will 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 271 
 
 speak and act at its bidding. Hence the earthly- 
 desires that engross the heart of the Worldling 
 give colour and tone to his whole conversation and 
 conduct. You will find him, not merely diligent, 
 \)\xt ardent, in business. His language, his air, his 
 manner, all testify that what he calls the main 
 chance — liis earthly gains — is the paramount object 
 with him. You will see him pushing that object 
 in season, out of season; taking the world with 
 him, not only to the shop, to the market-place, 
 and to the change, but to the family board: and, 
 could we make our way to the secrecy of his heart, 
 we should perceive him busy with the world even 
 in the house of God. How often have we had to 
 lament some unequivocal illustrations of this sordid 
 propensity acting very generally throughout society ! 
 Witness a recent instance, (not yet, indeed, entirely 
 passed away,) when the mania for shares in the 
 enterprises of the day seemed to have seized upon 
 every family, and carried away the usual propriety 
 of the public mind. It was seen, in all great 
 towns at least, to rage unrestrictedly, occupying 
 the time, the ingenuity, the passions, of men of 
 every class, to the exclusion, in many cases, of 
 almost every serious, and even prudent, thought. 
 It was the all-engrossing topic of conversation in 
 every mouth, and in every place. Mammon! 
 how numerous, and how devoted, are thy worship- 
 pers ! Would to God they could be adequately met 
 with a counter-array of zealous worshippers and 
 
272 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 " servants of the most High Grod, who show unto 
 men the way of salvation!" 
 
 But t^ere is a power in the religion of Clnrist 
 which subdues in him, who intelligently and cor- 
 dially receives it, this selfish principle of the World- 
 ling. That principle was dominant in him, as in 
 others. Like them, he was the servant of " divers 
 lusts and pleasures," and too much a lover of him- 
 self to be " his brother's keeper." But, brought by 
 Divine influence to receive and profess Christ, his 
 soul is instinct with apprehensions, feelings, and 
 longings altogether new. Its rigidness is softened; 
 its contractedness expanded; its coldness and dead- 
 ness warmed, and quickened into life and activity. 
 He now comes forth under a deep and controlling 
 impression that he is permitted to live no longer to 
 himself, but to him who died for him. " Lord, what 
 wouldst thou have me to do?" is now the question 
 of his life; and according to the answer he receives 
 from his Word and providence, he addresses himself 
 to the work. Such is the benevolent spirit of his 
 religion, such the bearing of his Lord's example, 
 and of the lessons of the Gospel, that he feels him- 
 self called on to make society the better for him in 
 every way within his power. Here the grand rule 
 laid down for him by the Apostle is simple and 
 comprehensive: "As we have opportunity, let us 
 do good unto all men." His commission, therefore, 
 as to the kind of good to be done, is unlimited, and, 
 as to its extent, is bounded only by his means. It 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 273 
 
 assigns to him both fields of labour, temporal and 
 spiritual. Looking upon every man, of whatever 
 nation, rank, or condition, as his neighbour — nay, 
 even as his brother, descended from one common 
 parentage with himself, if he find any one suffering, 
 he sympathizes; if he see him "naked, and desti- 
 tute of daily food," he will, according to his ability, 
 give him those things that are needful to the body. 
 If, for such a case, his own resources are insufii- 
 cient, he will often be seen pressing its urgency 
 upon the attention of his richer neighbours, and 
 become the cheerful almoner of their bounty, to 
 afford the needed relief. "To do good, and to 
 communicate," is his delight — his luxury. His 
 sympathy with the bodily and mental sufferings, the 
 temporal and spiritual destitution of his fellow-crea- 
 tures, carries him to the house of the fatherless and 
 the widow, in their afiliction. Then, if pecuniary 
 support be called for, he will do his best to afford 
 it; but will not fail to present to the drooping mind, 
 as its only stay and support, the truths of the Gos- 
 pel; and to impart to the wounded spirit the balm 
 and solace of its high and cheering consolations. 
 See him again, under the influence of the same 
 heaven-inspired principle, (for he does all for the 
 glory of God,) see him exerting himself in origi- 
 nating, or promoting combinations of good men, to 
 meet, and seek out, cases of distress, that a wider 
 diffusion of benevolent action, and a larger amount 
 of aid to the respective wants, may be effected. In 
 
 T 
 
274 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 fine, he is ingenious in devising means of useful- 
 ness, which nothing but the Christian principle 
 could suggest, and in the prosecution of which no- 
 thing but that principle could sustain him. 
 
 Then follow the Christian into that department of 
 his labours which is more decidedly and directly of 
 a religious character. In that department, you will 
 see him, either personally, or by pecuniary aid, or 
 both, promoting the religious education of the 
 young; distributing, from house to house, among 
 the poorer and less informed of his neighbourhood, 
 monitors of instruction, in the form of tracts; or 
 he is by the bedside of the sick and the dying, 
 admonishing, comforting, and lifting the soul to 
 God, by exhibiting the riches of his grace through 
 a Redeemer. But is it needful to pursue this de- 
 lineation any further? Are not the more extended 
 labours of the Christian community before the 
 world? Who is unaware of the generous, the 
 noble, institutions of the Bible and Missionary 
 Societies for propagating the knowledge of sacred 
 truth at home and abroad? We need not speak of 
 the self-denying toils of many a zealous Christian, 
 as he explores the lanes and alleys of his town, or 
 village, and penetrates into the wretched hovels and 
 haunts of vice, that he may, with his Divine Mas- 
 ter's blessing, pluck some brands from the burning. 
 These things are known, or may be known, from 
 publications that are issuing almost daily from the 
 press. This contrast, then, which we have been 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 27 O 
 
 contemplating, brings us irresistibly to the conclu- 
 sion, that the Christian, and not the Worldling, is 
 the useful man. 
 
 3. The Christian is a happier man. The man of 
 the world, who makes no pretensions to decided 
 piety, stoutly disputes this. He will have it, that, 
 for a man to give himself up to religious impres- 
 sions and religious exercises is to take leave of all 
 the pleasures of life, and submit to gloom and 
 melancholy in their stead; that, for his part, he can 
 enjoy his gains, his sports, his festivities, with 
 various other pleasures, to which nature and society 
 invite him; and that, while the Christian man 
 renounces the world, and declaims against it as a 
 great evil, he takes it as it is, and extracts from it 
 whatever gratification it can yield him. In answer 
 to this, we must tell the Worldling, that it is a repre- 
 sentation given under an altogether wrong estimate 
 of both the Christian's case and his own. We 
 would say to him. Permit us to press upon you the 
 consideration of the question, " What is really and 
 truly your own condition?" You are proudly flat- 
 tering yourself, and would fain make us believe, 
 that it abounds in happiness, and is vastly prefer- 
 able to a Christian life. You charge the Christian 
 with loading his life with needless anxieties, and 
 painful forebodings of evil, and afiirm your own to 
 be free, easy, and joyous. Then, how comes the 
 direct lie to be given to this, in deep bitterness of 
 soul, by the anguish you frequently suffer under 
 
276 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 disappointed expectations of gain — sudden changes 
 in public affairs — and the failure of speculations; 
 or, by the writhing of envy, when you see another 
 exalted above you, who happens to have risen into 
 affluence, by means, perhaps, which proved, in your 
 hands, unsuccessful? And then, if at any time you 
 are driven into retirement, and seclusive thought, 
 what are you often made to endure from an agitated 
 and disquieted conscience? Does not last night's 
 laughter sound in your ears as " the crackling of 
 thorns under a pot?" Are not the gainful fruits of 
 your cunning and dexterity, against the simplicity 
 of your confiding neighbour, vexing you with 
 charges of unfairness and cruelty? Is not the petu- 
 lant ridicule you have been casting on the piety of 
 some eminent Christian repeated to you, like the 
 reading of your indictment in the voice of the ar- 
 raigning Officer at the bar of God? And, oh! if 
 you venture to look upwards, — if you do think of 
 that God "in whom you live, and move, and 
 have your being," and whom you have never 
 acknowledged, — if you do think of the claims 
 he has upon you, which you have habitually neg- 
 lected — of the religion he has required you to 
 revere, which you have rejected — of the warn- 
 ings, admonitions, invitations, he has sent you, 
 all of which you have insultingly set at nought, — 
 ah! the fearful forebodings that seize upon your 
 soul, at such moments, you cannot, you dare 
 not, attempt to describe! But speak out, now, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 277 
 
 and tell us, if tMs be not true of your expe- 
 rience! 
 
 Christianity is a system that invites to sober, 
 sedate, profound reflection. It charges it as a duty 
 on every disciple to think closely, and to examine 
 himself, as in the sight of God. Will your system, 
 if you have any, allow you to reflect? Will it 
 suffer you to exercise the privilege, the preroga- 
 tive of a rational creature — to commune with your- 
 self, on your origin and your destiny — on the 
 end of your being in relation to your Maker? 
 No, no; it forbids reflection, — it scares you from 
 it, as from a hateful troubler ; and if, at any 
 time, it should force itself upon your mind, you 
 meet it with the spirit in which Ahab met Elijah, 
 and, like him, exclaim, "Hast thou found me, O 
 mine enemy?" 
 
 If such be the condition of things with the men 
 of the world, — if such be the independence, the free- 
 dom, the happiness, of which they are so apt to 
 glory, then well may the Christian, in deep com- 
 miseration of the wretched choice they have made 
 for the portion of their souls, and heartfelt thank- 
 fulness for the grace that has led him to choose a 
 better, turn inwardly, and say, " O my soul, come 
 not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine 
 honour, be not thou united ! " Of a truth, the way 
 of transgressors is hard; and they who despise the 
 counsel of the Almighty cannot fail to verify, to 
 their own awful cost, the exclamation of the Pro- 
 
2/8 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 phet, " There is no peace, saith my God, to the 
 wicked!" 
 
 But the Christian faith involves in it many 
 anxieties, alarms, and fears. It does so; but they 
 are such as it is both wise and salutary to enter- 
 tain. In the experience of every Christian, there 
 are moments of anxiety in guarding against sin, 
 and temptations to sin, that he may not offend a 
 good and a holy God. It would ill accord, too, 
 with an enlightened conscience, to read the denun- 
 ciations of God's wrath, in his own Word, against 
 transgressors, without a feeling of alarm, knowing, 
 as he does, the sinful tendency of human nature. 
 This feeling, indeed, is allied with the graces of 
 humility and contrition, and is approved in heaven: 
 " To this man will I look, saith the Lord, even to 
 him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and 
 trembleth at my word." The fear of the Christian 
 is evidently not that which "hath torment." It 
 partakes of a holy jealousy over himself, and a 
 reverence of the Divine nature. He cannot — he 
 would not approach his God without this reveren- 
 tial awe upon his spirit, when he contemplates the 
 might, the majesty, the holiness of the King eternal, 
 immortal, invisible, who fiUeth immensity. It is 
 not the fear of a slave before his angry Master; 
 nor of a criminal reluctantly and tremblingly 
 approaching the stern and threatening countenance 
 of his Judge. No ; it is a fear perfectly compatible 
 with love, — the filial awe that checks presumption. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 279 
 
 while it strengthens allegiance and attachment, and 
 serves to inspire the heart of the Christian with 
 exultation, while he sings, " This God is our 
 God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even 
 unto death." 
 
 Still the men of the world will pertinaciously 
 allege against the decided Christian, that his system 
 of self-denial, by the severe restraints, and the 
 drudgery of religious observances which it exacts of 
 him, must render his life a course of continual weari- 
 someness and mental depression. To this it were 
 enough to reply, that the only proper reference for 
 the settlement of such a question is to the Christian 
 himself. And what is his testimony ? A flat con- 
 tradiction to every such statement. He reports of 
 his religion that " her ways are ways of pleasant- 
 ness ; and all her paths are peace ; " that she pro- 
 hibits him nothing but what would be hurtful, and 
 enjoins nothing but what is beneficial ; that " godli- 
 ness is profitable unto all things, having promise of 
 the life that now is, and of that which is to come ; " 
 and that concerning Jesus Christ he can truly say, 
 " Whom though I have not seen, I love ; in whom, 
 though now I see him not, yet, believing, I rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." The 
 pious Christian, so far from feeling any part of his 
 Master's service irksome, is delighted to be ac- 
 counted worthy to do him service; to him "the 
 yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden is light." If, 
 then, we would judge correctly, if we would calcu- 
 
280 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 late upon the principles of eternal truth, we must 
 conclude that the Christian is a wiser, a more use- 
 ful, a happier man, than the Worldling. 
 
 We have said much in commendation of the 
 Christian character. Of its high privileges we 
 have spoken at large, in the preceding lectures; 
 and we have now shown that it challenges the pre- 
 ference over that of the Worldling, for wisdom, use- 
 fulness, and happiness. From these premises, the 
 deduction fairly to be made is, we think, that the 
 Christian is the finest specimen of Man upon 
 the earth. We need not say that we assert this to 
 the glory of God; for the Christian is the workman- 
 ship of God. And now, having brought our de- 
 lineations and contrasts to this conclusion, can any 
 sentiment more naturally arise out of it than this, 
 — it vitally concerns every hearer of the Gospel to seek 
 to become a Christian. We say vitally; for if it be 
 important in any degree, it is so in the very highest. 
 It is no vain thing. It is, in regard to all, a ques- 
 tion of life, in the truest and gravest sense of the 
 term. As Moses said to the people of Israel, when 
 he had rehearsed the dealings of God towards them, 
 so would we say to our readers, " We have set 
 before you life and death ; blessing and cursing ; 
 therefore choose life " and the blessing, and escape 
 from death and the curse. We would earnestly 
 entreat every one, whose eyes may have traced these 
 pages, seriously to inquire into his own case, to 
 examine himself by the Word of God, and know 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 281 
 
 with what party he has cast in his lot, — whether it 
 be with Christ's, or that of the World. So far the 
 question is simplified, that it is between two sides 
 only. There is no variety, to distract the judgment 
 and delay the decision. It is one, indeed, which 
 admits of no delay. Wherever there is a conscious- 
 ness of being still on the wrong side, your safety 
 demands an immediate change. The shortest delay 
 may prove fatal. To hesitate is to sin. But can 
 you hesitate to make your choice, when glory, 
 honour, and immortality are promised, on the one 
 hand, and shame, confusion, and death are threat- 
 ened, on the other ? You could not possibly do so, 
 but in a miserable state of mental darkness; "the 
 god of this world having blinded your mind in un- 
 belief, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, 
 who is the image of God, should shine unto you." 
 Sad state of an immortal spirit ! What a spectacle 
 of degrading infatuation must that spirit exhibit to 
 the view of all holy intelligences in the universe ! 
 A spirit gifted by the Creator with capacities for 
 knowing, contemplating, appreciating, adoring, lov- 
 ing, and enjoying Him, in all his great and glorious 
 attributes, through eternity, in heaven, yet forfeits 
 all, and refuses to fulfil this happy destiny, for the 
 few, fleeting, precarious gratifications of the lusts of 
 the eye and the flesh, upon earth ! If the angels 
 of God rejoice over a sinner that repenteth, O 
 might they not weep, if weep they can, at folly and 
 madness like this ? 
 
282 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 We would take the Worldling, as it were, by the 
 hand — we would urge him — we would remonstrate 
 with him ; for we would fain rouse him out of his 
 dangerous stupor. He is spell-bound ; he is tied, 
 and fettered bj his sins — ensnared by the devil, and 
 taken captive by him at his will; else, why this 
 inveterate following after the world and the flesh, 
 instead of listening to the call of wisdom ? why this 
 unresisting march towards destruction, instead of 
 laying hold of eternal life ? Look at the contem- 
 poraries of the patriarch Noah. — See how they cor- 
 rupted their way upon the earth, and filled it with 
 violence. — Destruction is threatened. — Noah warns 
 and expostulates. — They sin on, either not heeding, 
 or scorning and deriding his friendly expostulations. 
 The threatened wrath at last breaks out ; and the 
 deluge, receiving its commission, rushes in, and 
 sweeps the scornful sinners from the face of the 
 earth, which they had defiled with their iniquities. 
 Such is the type of your awful position, ye that 
 forget God, and choose the world for your portion ! 
 You are not filling the earth with violence; you are 
 not imbruing your hands in the blood of your fel- 
 low-men ; nor destroying whole houses, or helpless 
 individuals, to gratify your own wicked lusts and 
 passions. But what are you doing ? Are you not 
 corrupting your ways upon the earth ? Are you not 
 immersing yourselves, your moral and your physi- 
 cal natures, in the business and the bustle of the 
 present life, allowing the incessant clamour and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 283 
 
 craving of your worldly affections and appetites to 
 drown the voice of God, speaking to your conscience 
 in his Word and providence ? Are you not seizing 
 on his many bounties without cherishing a thought 
 of him who bestows them ? In a word, are you 
 not setting your supreme affections on the posses- 
 sions of this passing world, and saying, in a manner, 
 to them, " Ye are our gods ? " Your state, then, 
 must be highly perilous ; for your neglect of God is 
 attended with a deep aggravation. You have the 
 full exhibition of God's law and testimony in his 
 revealed Word; and many examples of his righteous 
 displeasure against transgressors are recorded for 
 your warning. These the antediluvians had not. 
 They had, indeed, a faithful preacher in Noah ; but 
 you may have many Noahs, who warn you, and 
 plead with you, to flee from the wrath to come. 
 Nay, let us again remind you, that you have not 
 warnings only, and examples of God's displeasure 
 against transgressors set before you, but the kindest 
 possible calls and encouragements are held out to 
 you. " As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no 
 pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the 
 wicked turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn 
 ye, for why will you die ? " This is the voice of 
 God to you. 
 
 Nor is this view of God's character, as a merciful 
 God, left to be gathered from verbal announcement 
 only, strong as that announcement is: he has given 
 demonstrations of it in acts of mercy and of grace 
 
284 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 wholly like himself; above all, in that one astonish- 
 ing act, which, while it transcends, embraces all 
 others within it, — the gift of his Son Jesus Christ 
 to be the propitiation for our sins. An atonement 
 was essential towards a reconciliation. Man was 
 unable to make it; and God, marvellous in his 
 lovingkindness, gave his Son, while we were yet 
 sinners, and at enmity with him, to assume our 
 nature, and die for us ! Of the intrinsic excellence 
 and high relative value of such a gift, it is impos- 
 sible adequately to express our grateful feeling, — it 
 is far beyond our powers of thought or imagination; 
 but with emotions which we are unable to express, 
 it becomes us to join in the Apostle's burst of grati- 
 tude, " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable 
 gift ! " This gift. Divine in its nature, life-giving, 
 redeeming, enlightening, enriching, and eternally 
 glorifying in its efficacy, is offered, O man of the 
 world ! to you, to win you away from the gross, 
 vain, deceitful, soul-destroying fascinations of a 
 world that lieth in wickedness, and which is ready 
 to perish. "What we say of the Divine gift, and of 
 the character of the world, is true; it has been found 
 true to the awful cost of many, and to the everlast- 
 ii^g joy and happiness of many others. Yes; the 
 rich Worldling, after death, " lifts up his eyes in 
 hell, being in torments," while the pious Lazarus is 
 carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. " Know- 
 ing, therefore, the terror of the Lord," we would 
 persuade you to " flee for refuge to the hope that is 
 
THE CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLDLING. 285 
 
 set before you." Stay not to think of the sacrifice 
 you must make, in giving up the world. You have 
 infinitely more at stake than the world can match. 
 Consult not the world in a question like this; for 
 the world is your enemy, and has been all along 
 deceiving you. When a well-freighted ship at sea 
 is overtaken by a mighty tempest, threatening, in 
 combination with the tossing of the raging billows, 
 to dash her to pieces, the frighted mariners hesitate 
 not to lighten her by casting out their richest wares 
 into the deep. So do ye. K you would be saved, 
 love not the world; renounce it, whatever it may 
 cost. You cannot carry it with you, whether 
 voyaging or journeying, on the way to heaven. 
 Renounce it, and come, by faith and repentance, to 
 Christ. Do you ask what you shall have in return? 
 Christ will be your's, and in him you will inherit 
 everlasting life. This promise contains in it the 
 inestimable blessings of forgiveness of sin, sanctifi- 
 cation of nature, every grace needful to support, 
 guide, and cheer you on your way, entrance into 
 heaven at death, the redemption of the body from 
 the corruptions of the grave in the morning of the 
 resurrection, and the exaltation of the whole man 
 to the beatific vision of God and the Saviour, 
 where there are " fulness of joy, and pleasures for 
 evermore." 
 
 Thus blessed is the portion of the man who, 
 having been convinced of his lost condition by 
 nature, has been brought to humble himself, and 
 
286 CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES. 
 
 surrender to the Gospel-scheme of salvation. To 
 him " Christ is made wisdom, and righteousness, 
 and sanctification, and redemption." He " walks 
 no more after the flesh, but after the Spirit ; " 
 enjoys peace of conscience, and holy communion 
 with God through Christ; and is enabled to pass 
 through all the fluctuations of his present state in 
 the delightful and animating expectation, that 
 " when Christ, who is his life, shall appear, then 
 shall he also appear with him in glory ! " God 
 grant that this may be the portion of those who 
 read these pages, to the praise of the glory of 
 Divine grace. Amen. 
 
 W. Blanchard & Sons, Printers, 62, Millbank Street, Westminster. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS; 
 
 AN ATTEMPT TO DELINEATE THE MOST PROMINENT 
 FEATURES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 Price 2s. 
 
 " The faithful delineations of Christian character given in these 
 pages are calculated, in a very high degree, to serve the interests 
 of ' pure and undefiled religion.' We have perused these 
 ' Christian Characteristics ' with pleasure and profit, and do 
 most cordially recommend the work to all our readers. The 
 smoothness of style here adopted, the earnest solicitude for the 
 interests of godliness, which the writer manifests, and the prime 
 importance of his subjects, render this volume an acceptable and 
 profitable companion for the young convert; and, as it is a kind 
 of practical comment on 2 Pet. i. 5 — 7, it cannot fail to be ser- 
 viceable to all who love the Saviour and his commands." — The 
 Evangelical Register. 
 
 CHRISTIAN DUTIES IN THE VARIOUS 
 RELATIONS OF LIFE. Price As. 
 
 RELIGIOUS DISCRETION; or, The Chris- 
 tian IN HIS SECULAR CHARACTER. Price Is. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN GRACES; or, The Fruits 
 OF THE Spirit. Price 8d. 
 
 " These books are an accurate index to the man and his 
 ministration. The marks of a single eye, and a holy ambition 
 to benefit souls, are stamped on every page. All are excellent; 
 the 'Christian Graces' and the 'Christian Duties' particularly 
 so. These works, indeed, deserve more attention than they have 
 yet obtained." — The Christian Witness. 
 
1012 01004 5120