Chapter IV: Part 4

Should an affectionate parent, with the utmost care and anxiety, make such an ample provision for the sober and virtuous education of his children, as, if accepted and improved by them, would secure to them knowledge, esteem, and happiness in this world; would not such a parent be thought to have done all that love and tenderness could do in this respect, for the future welfare of his offspring? The provision is equally secured to all; and yet, if any thoughtless, perverse, disobedient child, should refuse to avail himself of these paternal blessings, and prefer an idle, dissolute, and abandoned life, to all the advantages which the father had taken care he should be furnished with, he might justly be told, as the Apostle tells the Corinthians--"All these things are yours." Your Father hath made you equal with the rest of his children--knowledge, esteem, and happiness, is as much in your power as in theirs; your falling short of them, therefore, is owing to nothing but your own perverse disposition--"they are yours," but you will not enjoy them.

The same might be said of a temporal inheritance equally divided among a family of children; each has an equal portion: and yet if any child should be so weak and silly, as to chuse to forego the enjoyment of his share, and prefer penury and contempt to opulence and honour, he might still be told, that the portion was his, though he was so foolish as to neglect and forsake it.

Even so, "an inheritance incorruptible, immortal, and that fadeth not away," is secured, in CHRIST JESUS, to every individual of our fallen race: "All things are ours," by virtue of that Heavenly nature, which we inherit from JESUS CHRIST the second Adam. Upon the birth, growth, and maturity of this Heavenly Nature, depends our possession of this Eternal Inheritance; and this birth, growth, and maturity again depend upon the co-operation of our wills, which are eternally and essentially free, with the Divine Will.

What I have here asserted, is fully consonant to the very letter of Scripture: "GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." But if GOD is willing to save all, Why are not all saved? Why do not all men come immediately to repentance?--The reason is obvious: it depends not, as some vainly assert, upon a Secret Will of GOD, distinct from his Revealed Will. Such an idea of the GOD OF TRUTH AND LOVE, is unscriptural, and even blasphemous--No, it depends wholly upon the co-operation of our wills, with the unchangeable Will of GOD. The promise is made to all; the inheritance is secured to all; but the possession and enjoyment can never come, till the will of the creature is united to the will of the Creator; till from a deep conviction of his own nothingness by nature, he freely opens his heart to the influences of Grace--and then he finds, by a blessed experience, that, "having nothing, he possesseth all things."

When a minister of CHRIST, therefore, addresses himself to a sinner, insensible of his fallen condition, and strongly attached to that earthly life, which he inherits from fallen Adam, he cannot use a more effectual argument, than that which the Apostle in my text presses upon the divided and contentious Corinthians--For so far as these jealousies and disputes prevailed among them, they were doubtless under the evil influences of the same corrupt nature, to which the unregenerate are in bondage.

Why, vain mortal, why, alas! art thou so strangely blind to thy best interests, so amazingly neglectful of thy real happiness? Thou fleest from the substance, and embracest a shadow; thou pursuest the vanity of time, and despisest the riches of eternity; thou preferrest the life of a beast to the life of an angel; thou art content to feed upon husks among swine, whilst in "thy Father's house there is bread enough, and to spare."--Thou art in search of a false and delusive happiness in this world, whilst, if thou wouldst but attend to and "know the things that belong to thy peace," thou wouldst soon discover, that "all things are thine." For poor, wretched, sinful, polluted as thou art in thine outward nature, thou hast, within thee, a Seed of Eternal Life, a Birth of the TRIUNE GOD, a Son of the Second Adam, a Reconception of the Light and Love of GOD, an Angel near its birth. To this seed, this birth, this son, this reconception, this angel in thy breast, belongs the Kingdom of Heaven, the pure element of Life, and Light, and Love. JESUS CHRIST, thy Ever Blessed Redeemer, hath sown in thy heart, and in the hearts of all thy fellow-sinners, this Seed of his own Heavenly Nature, by means of which, he affectionately purposes to redeem thee from the bondage of corruption, and exalt thee to a glorious state of life and liberty. As he is invested with "all power both in heaven and in earth," so this offspring of his, which is within thee, will become a partaker of his Power, in proportion as it becomes a partaker of his Life and Spirit, in proportion as it increases in Heavenly Wisdom and Stature.

If thou shouldst ask, how this growth and increase is to be obtained, and how all things are thine?--I could answer thee, that as the earth-born babe could never grow and increase in bodily strength, without a perpetual supply of the light, and air, and food, which this outward world affords; so it is as really and physically true, that the Heaven-born offspring of the Second Adam, can never grow or increase in spiritual strength, without the light, and air, and food of the heavenly world, imparted by its tender and affectionate parent, JESUS CHRIST: and as nothing disposes the earthly infant to receive that nourishment which is suited to its nature, but the hunger of that nature, earnestly crying for a supply; so nothing can dispose the Heavenly babe within, to receive the precious influences of Divine Life and Grace, which alone can satisfy its nature, but an hunger and earnest desire of this Heavenly Food; or, in other words, the spirit of the will turning to CHRIST, loathing all other nourishment, and desiring only to be fed with his Bread of Eternal Life.

Thus fed, supported, and strengthened, by a Vital Union with thine adorable REDEEMER, thou standest not in thine own strength, but in his; not in thine own righteousness, but the Righteousness of CHRIST within thee; not in thine outward and perishing nature, but in thy inward, Angelical, and Divine Nature. In this nature, sweetly mingling with its own kindred element, thou art safe, firm and collected; all temporal objects are beneath thy feet; like Adam in his paradisiacal state, the earth, and all that is therein, is subject to thy will. Health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, storms and calms, spiritual comforts or spiritual distresses, the vicissitudes of life, the horrors of death, the vanity of time, and the riches of eternity, are all at thy command, and thou makest them all subservient to thy spiritual growth and consolation.

All these powers, virtues, and enjoyments, are thine; thine by the Free Gift of GOD in CHRIST JESUS, imparted to thee; and made thine, at the very moment the "Seed of the Woman" was inspoken into Adam's fallen nature. It is true, they are in an hidden state, and require the strongest exertion of thy will co-operating with thy Saviour, in calling them forth. They can only appear and manifest themselves, in proportion as thy will is given up to CHRIST, in proportion as thou diest to thine earthly nature, and its earthly desires, and becomest one Desire, one Will, one Spirit with thy REDEEMER. This is not a sudden and instantaneous work: the process is slow and painful. Many a right hand must be cut off; many a right eye must be plucked out; many a favourite passion must be sacrificed, many a weary step taken, many a temptation baffled, many a victory obtained against the devil, the world, and the flesh, before "all things are thine" by actual possession.

The combat is tedious, and the victory sometimes appears doubtful. But be not discouraged at this--darkness as well as light, doubt as well as assurance, weakness as well as strength, will help thee on thy way. Thy REDEEMER is perpetually watching over his own offspring; he eyes thee with ineffable compassion throughout thy whole progress, and renders all its vicissitudes subservient to thy real and eternal welfare.

Think not, that it is necessary to thy spiritual growth, that thou shouldst walk in perpetual sun-shine, beneath a clear unclouded sky. The howling winds, the beating rain, are equally necessary at times; and are as powerful and operative in spiritual, as in earthly vegetation. Through these, and worse than these, even the gloomy vale of the shadow of death, the invisible hand of an Omnipotent REDEEMER shall conduct thee safe to a region of uncreated light and glory, where eternal nature, in its essential and unchangeable splendors, manifests the Beatifying Presence of FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST, in their full and undivided Trinity of Glory.

What though pain of body, and inward anguish of soul, should assault thee; what though disease should blast the bloom of health, and convulsion rack and rend thine earthly frame; what though death, with all his grim attendants, should knock at thy door, summon thee to relinquish all thy temporal prospects, and to enter at once into the world of spirits; this single reflection, that CHRIST has made "all things thine," will be sufficient to support thy sinking frame; nay, more, thou wilt rejoice in thy deliverance from the captivity of the body, look forward with transport into the Paradise to which thou art hastening, nor "cast one longing lingering look behind."

Such an address as this, from a minister of CHRIST, to a poor thoughtless sinner, I cannot but think, by the blessing of GOD, would have a more sure and certain effect upon his hardened heart, than all the terrors of eternal damnation, thundered, as is too frequently the case, with more than brutal violence and impetuosity against him. For such a method would open two things to his mind, which are equally necessary to be revealed to him, neither of which he can attend to in his present thoughtless condition, viz. the sin and vanity of his fallen life, and the comfort, happiness, and glory of his redeemed nature--one should never be opened without the other: it would only be probing the wound, without administring the restoring balsam. This method which I have mentioned, was that which our dear REDEEMER and his blessed Apostles always used; and if Christian ministers would more carefully tread in their footsteps, they might be sure of greater success: not perhaps in the way of extraordinary awakenings, violent convictions, and instantaneous joys; but in the still, calm, and soothing ways of the Gospel of Peace and Love.

We should never tell the sinner, that he is by nature under the bondage of the devil, the world, and the flesh, without acquainting him, that he has in him an High and Heavenly Nature, to which he would do well to attend, as to a Light shining in the midst of his darkness: When we point out the destructive consequences of sin, we should enlarge at the same time upon the delights of holiness, and the exalted privileges of those that follow it. Thus we should imitate the Apostle in my text, who, upon giving this advice to his Corinthian brethren, "Let no man glory in men," immediately adds this high and encouraging motive to their practice of it, "For all things are yours."

DISCOURSE XII.
The Riches and Glory of the Christian.

1 CORINTH. CHAP. iii. VER. 21, 22, 23.

"THEREFORE LET NO MAN GLORY IN MEN: FOR ALL THINGS ARE YOURS;
WHETHER PAUL, OR APOLLOS, OR CEPHAS, OR THE WORLD, OR LIFE, OR
DEATH, OR THINGS PRESENT, OR THINGS TO COME; ALL ARE YOURS, AND YE
ARE CHRIST'S, AND CHRIST IS GOD'S."

My former discourse from these words contained a general view of the Apostle's reasoning in this chapter. I observed, that this part of his epistle was occasioned by some envyings and jealousies which had crept into the Corinthian church, in consequence of an undue distinction and preference which different persons had shewn to different Apostles and Preachers of the Gospel; and that, in order to silence these controversies, the Apostle, after a variety of other excellent arguments, concludes with enumerating the high and distinguishing Privileges, to which the Corinthians themselves were called, in common with those very teachers, whose excellencies they were so injudiciously magnifying.

He tells them, that they ought not to "glory in men;" that is, to boast of the superior excellencies of this or that favourite Preacher, because "all things were theirs;" that by virtue of that Heavenly Nature, which they, as well as their teachers, inherited from JESUS CHRIST, the Second Adam, they were provided with a glorious inheritance, and invested with high powers and privileges, whereby this world, and every thing in it, was subject to their will, when in union and co-operation with the Eternal and Unchangeable Will of their REDEEMER: so that all personal distinctions among men, all personal admiration of their peculiar talents and most shining endowments, were beneath the character of such high-born souls, and ought not to come into competition with the Heavenly Graces of love, meekness, humility, mutual forbearance, condescension and peace, by which alone the dignity of their birth could be asserted, and the actual possession of their spiritual privileges known and ascertained.

I endeavoured likewise to explain to you, the glorious and comfortable meaning and import of this general proposition of the Apostle, "All things are yours:" and shewed, by several similitudes and observations, that this was not only applicable to the Corinthians, and the most effectual motive that the Apostle could make use of, to disengage them from their narrow and carnal notions and jealousies, but that it is equally applicable to all men, at all times, and in all places and circumstances; and the most effectual method that a Minister of CHRIST can make use of, to awaken thoughtless sinners, and engage them to pursue the things that belong to their peace.

Let me now, therefore, entreat your attention, whilst I enter upon the consideration of those particular Privileges, which are enumerated under this general head.

As the immediate design of the Apostle, upon this occasion, was to put an end to that strife and division, which subsisted among them from the attachment of different persons to different preachers, so the first Privilege he mentions, is this, that in whatever light they might confider the matter, these Apostles and Preachers were nothing in themselves, but were furnished with peculiar talents and endowments for the service of their brethren: they were "theirs," because instruments in the hands of Heaven, to awaken their attention, and engage their pursuit of real spiritual knowledge and happiness; and they were only to be considered in this light, without any other personal respect and veneration, than that which their character, as instruments, might claim: for "all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas."

That this is a true and just representation of the Apostle's design, we may learn from his reasoning in the preceding part of the chapter. He charges them with acting under the immediate influence of earthly and carnal motives; and though he had adapted his preaching to their slender capacities, though he had fed them with milk, as being yet in the Rate of infants, and incapable of receiving or digesting the strong meat of the great and glorious mysteries of the Gospel, yet they did not profit even by this; for they had acquired no new spiritual strength from thence; nay, they not only remained in their infant state, unable to bear a further revelation of Gospel Truth, but gave themselves up again to the principles and dictates of corrupt nature. "Ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envyings, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?--For while one faith, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers, by whom ye believed, even as the LORD gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but GOD gave the increase. So then neither he that planteth is any thing, neither he that watereth, but GOD who giveth the increase. Now he that planteth, and he that watereth, are one." As if he had said:

I am truly sorry, O Corinthians! to find that such unexpected animosities have risen among you: they are too flagrant proofs of your deviation from that path of Gospel Truth and Love, into which you had but just entered. Certain, indeed, it is, that I have laboured among you with unceasing vigilance and care; and "by the Grace of GOD that was given me," have planted a Church of CHRIST in the midst of you. The glad tidings of the Gospel were sent from my lips to your awakened hearts: you were taught to see, and feel, and relinquish the vanity and corruption of your fallen life, and to look for and experience the birth and growth of an Heavenly Nature within you. To this Heavenly Nature, I administered much mild and gentle food and nourishment, as I knew was best suited to its tender opening state. In this situation I left you to the Grace of CHRIST, and the affectionate labours of those other Apostles and preachers; who seconded my ministry among you. The labours of Apollos and Cephas were as necessary to your growth in Grace, as mine: for as ye "are GOD'S husbandry, as ye are GOD'S building," so GOD hath bestowed different talents and endowments on those several labourers or workmen, whom he chooses to employ for the culture of his vineyard, and for the progress and completion of his great spiritual edifice. "We are all, therefore, labourers together with GOD:" We have all our different tasks allotted us by the great Husband-man and Master-builder, under whom we labour, and from whom alone we receive strength and wisdom to execute his will. My business was to plant, Apollos's to water; but what could it avail to plant or to water, unless GOD gave the increase? The Sun of Righteousness must shed his genial light and warmth, and the Divine Spirit must breathe its refreshing gales upon the tender plants, or they will wither and die. "He that planteth, and he that watereth, therefore, are one," united in the same blessed work. The culture, growth, and perfection of the plant, are equally the care and concern of both, though their business or employment in this work be different. Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, are only "ministers, by whom ye believed, even as the LORD gave to every man," and prospered their several labours. Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, are yours: they are equally concerned, and equally laborious, for your Growth in Grace, though their particular talents and exercises may be different. Away then with your vain and unchristian distinctions! for the planter, and the waterer, are equally necessary, and equally estimable. Consider them always in these characters; entertain an equal love and respect for them all; and beg of your Heavenly Father to give increase to their respective labours."

I need not take up your time,--my brethren, in endeavouring to ascertain the peculiar and characteristical gifts of these several Apostles: this would neither augment, nor diminish the weight of the argument. Whatever these gifts were, they were not their own, but only intrusted to them by JESUS CHRIST, for accomplishing his own wise and salutary purposes towards the children of men. Some might be eminent for one kind of usefulness, and some for another. But it is probable, that those who possessed such talents, as most captivated the attention and affections of animal nature, were most followed; and this merely on account of the talents themselves, without any respect to those spiritual salutary truths, which, through them, were intended to be conveyed to the hearers.

This conduct, however, is not peculiar to the Corinthians. The same evil carnal principle, that raised so many unchristian animosities in that infant church, has ever since been working in every part of Christendom. It is the fatal source of all that variety of sects, opinions, and doctrines, into which the outward church has been, and is still, sadly divided. But Truth is One--it has been so from the beginning, and will continue so for ever. The different sentiments and conceptions of mankind about Truth, can no more alter its nature, or make it cease to be what it is, than the looking through a variety of glasses of different colours, forms, and densities, can change the real colour, form, and proportion of objects. Every man admires and esteems his own glass most; and not content with this, quarrels with his neighbour, because he does not make use of it as well as himself. This is but too true a picture of the present state of Christianity--while its professors are disputing and differing about their own peculiar opinions and notions of Truth, which are no better than the glasses through which they contemplate it, they lose sight of the fair and beauteous object itself.

The ministers of JESUS CHRIST ought to have but one end in view, and that is, the conversion of hearts to his Redeeming Love. Their talents for this great work may differ as much as their persons; but by this diversity of gifts, they are better enabled to do the different kinds of work that are necessary to be done in their master's vineyard. They should be careful, however, not to run before they are sent, not to intrude upon the labours of their brethren, but be content to be employed in a way suitable to their peculiar talents, and in the field which Heaven hath assigned them. He that planteth, should be sent out only to plant; he that watereth, to water; he that giveth milk, should continue to give it till he has something stronger to give, and his hearers are better able to receive it. At the same time, neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth, neither he that giveth milk, nor he that giveth strong meat, should interfere with, depreciate, or counter-act each other's peculiar work; but rather should faithfully and lovingly co-operate, each in the use of his particular gifts and experiences, to edify and perfect the body of CHRIST.

Were ministers thus tender, charitable, affectionate, and helpful to each other; were they truly fellow-labourers in CHRIST; it is more than probable, that there would be less divisions and jealousies among the people. Much depends, under GOD, upon their prudence and-forbearance with respect to each other: and though such is the corruption and perverseness of human nature, that the closest union among themselves may not entirely prevent disputes among their hearers (as was the case at Corinth, though the Apostles did, no doubt, affectionately harmonize in all their labours) yet such an union would have a great tendency to heal or disperse them.

But how dreadful must be the consequences, when any ambitious aspiring preachers do themselves raise and foment these divisions; when they limit the Mercies of JESUS, and call upon men to join and associate themselves to their particular sect or party; as if the streams of Spiritual Life had left every other channel which Providence had opened, and, by their direction, taken entirely to one of their own construction! If a preacher of this class happens to possess any popular talents, he is capable of abusing them to great mischief--to impose his own doctrines and opinions upon the ignorant multitude, by first captivating their passions, and then leading their judgments and consciences as he pleases. Many a soul has been awakened, indeed, under such preachers, but few have attained to any solid or substantial piety. Their minds have been kept in bondage to certain peculiarities of doctrine and practice, but their hearts and wills have never been surrendered to their true and only Master JESUS CHRIST. They have blindly followed the commandments of men, of their clamorous and enflamed leaders; but have neglected the weightier matters of Love, Peace, and Spiritual Union with CHRIST and all true Christians. Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, they are ready enough to magnify and extol: but the Master of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, they too easily forget--their attention and affections are too much engaged by the instrument, to observe and adore the Hand by which it is, or ought to be, directed.

To conclude this head: As the best of teachers, even the Apostles themselves, found it so difficult to controul the passions and prejudices of men, and disengage them from partial distinctions and preferences among their ministers; how careful should all ministers be, to inculcate the Apostolical doctrine contained in this chapter, upon their hearers! to caution them against depending upon, or glorying in man; against trusting to the piety, zeal, or elocution, of the most liberal teachers, and much more against giving up their consciences to those, whose views are partial and confined, and who publickly avow them to be such, by endeavouring to draw a deluded multitude into the narrow limits of their own misguided sect. How often should they remind their hearers, that they are no more than their servants, men of like passions with themselves, though selected by Divine Providence to convey the glad tidings of Salvation to their hearts: that they can, at most, but plant and water; nor even this, without the continuance of Divine assistance; but that it is to GOD alone they must look for the increase!

O my brethren! let these truths sink deep into your hearts. Without a thorough conviction of them, all the preaching in the world will be of no service to you. You may hear a sermon every day, and every hour in the week, and be as far from CHRIST as ever, if you continue to depend upon preaching and preachers alone for your salvation. The utmost they can do, is to direct you to CHRIST. Regard them only when they give you this advice. Value them not for their natural or even spiritual endowments; you may be deceived in both. The surest and most profitable way you can take, is to consider them as mere planters and waterers; and to follow them, so far only as they follow CHRIST.

DISCOURSE XIII.
The Riches, Privileges, and Honours of the Christian.

1 COR. CHAP. iii. VER. 21, 22, 23.

"THEREFORE LET NO MAN GLORY IN MEN: FOR ALL THINGS ARE YOURS;
WHETHER PAUL, OR APOLLOS, OR CEPHAS, OR THE WORLD, OR LIFE, OR
DEATH, OR THINGS PRESENT, OR THINGS TO COME; ALL ARE YOURS, AND YE
ARE CHRIST'S, AND CHRIST IS GOD'S."

The scope and design of the Blessed Apostle in this passage of his epistle, together with the true meaning and import of his general proposition, "All things are yours," hath been already explained in my first discourse from these words. In my second discourse, I entered upon the consideration of those particular privileges of the Christian, which are enumerated under this general head: And as the first of these privileges had a more immediate and striking reference to the great end he here had in view, which was to convince the Corinthians of the sin and folly of attaching themselves to particular and favourite preachers; I enlarged upon this head, and endeavoured to prove, that Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, and all other ministers of the Gospel, were no more than the servants of their brethren; that they were "theirs" by a particular privilege, inasmuch as their office, their labours, talents, and several endowments, were entrusted to them for no other purpose, but that God, through them, might communicate "the unspeakable riches of his Grace" to the whole body of Christians. In this character, and in this alone, they were all equally entitled to their esteem and love, but not to any personal preference, or undue exaltation of one above another.

Not content with this, however, the good Apostle, under the full inspiration of Divine Truth, and the glorious enlargement of Divine Love, breaks forth into a further declaration of those still higher privileges, to which the meanest member of the church of CHRIST is equally and in common entitled, with the greatest and most advanced believers: not only "Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, are yours; but the world, and life and death, and things present, and things to come: all are yours, and ye are CHRIST'S, and CHRIST is GOD'S."

"The world is yours!"--Is it so, thou Blessed Apostle? Alas! this strange assertion seems not to be confirmed, either by thine own experience, or the experience of thy fellow-labourers; or of any of those, who have since trod in the footsteps of thy Suffering Master. If bonds and imprisonments, if stripes and persecutions of various kinds, if cruel mockings and insults, if outward and inward tribulations might be admitted as proofs of their having the world in their power, these, alas, will not be found wanting. Sad privilege, indeed! Wretched consolation! to be told that misery is our portion, and that distress and affliction are the Christian's birth-right!--Let us, however, endeavour to solve this seeming paradox, and reconcile the Apostle's declaration with the common experience of Christians.

Whence was it, O Christian! (for I now appeal to the real sensibilities of every believing soul that has tasted of the Good Word of GOD) whence was it, that thou hast acquired that power and dominion over the world, by which thou canst sustain its adversity and prosperity, its evil and its good, with equal calmness, fortitude, and complacency--for this is that power and dominion, by which alone the world becomes thine! Was it not by those very sufferings, which seem so diametrically opposite to this triumphant state? Thy victory rose from thy defeat; thy consolation, from the depth of thy distress; thy conquest of the world, from its conquest of thee.--Yea, the world furnished thee with arms against itself. Every new affliction gave thee some new acquisition; every sigh, every tear, vanquished some mortal foe.

Bonds and imprisonments, scourging and insults, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, war, pestilence, and shipwreck, and all the dire vicissitudes which the world can bring upon us, serve no other purpose than to subdue the pride, envy, covetousness, and wrath of our fallen life; to open the eyes of our inward man, and teach us to look upon this world in its proper light, to fly its visionary pleasures, and support with patience its substantial miseries.

To suffer, therefore, is to triumph; to be distressed, is our glorious privilege; to "be weary and heavy-laden," is the only way to rest and happiness! Sure I am, that there are many here, who can bear witness to this great and awful truth; who can say with the Psalmist, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." My God hath manifested his love in all my sufferings. I should never have come to the knowledge of his Truth; I should never have experienced the Light of his Grace; I should never have overcome the world, abandoned its delusive prospects, and gained a sure and everlasting inheritance; had not my GOD made this very world to frown upon me, had he not beset me with its troubles behind and before, and by making me deeply sensible of its evil, taught me to despise even its good. Thus, and thus alone, "the world is the Christian's," because he knows, that every thing in it, under the administration of his BLESSED REDEEMER, is made subservient to his real happiness, which he is convinced is more effectually promoted by its storms than by its calms, by its frowns than by its smiles.

And if "the world" is thus his, by particular privilege, consequently "the Life" which he lives in it must be so too. The vicissitudes of life arise from the natural instability of worldly enjoyments: but even this instability the believer knows to be under the immediate Guidance of ALMIGHTY LOVE. The real enjoyment of life depends upon the temper and disposition of mind, with which its vicissitudes are received. The Christian, therefore, who knows, that "not an hair of his head can fall to the ground without his Heavenly Father," and whose will is secretly resigned to his Father's, meekly and patiently, daily and hourly giving himself up to his sovereign disposal, he alone can be said to have a true enjoyment of life.--In sickness and in health, in prosperity and in adversity, he alike beholds the hand of his REDEEMER opening to him, by these various dispensations, the way to never-ending rest; unfolding his misery by nature, and his happiness by Grace, and rendering every change of outward life instrumental to some blessed change in the life of his inward and spiritual man.

But he has not only the highest enjoyment of this "world," and of "life" in this world, but what is a still more surprising and more glorious privilege, "death too is his." Not, indeed, in the sense in which it belongs to the wicked and unregenerate, to whom it is solely the consequence of guilt, and the dreadful introduction to misery extreme. No--to the real Christian, it is the consequence of a new life, the completion of happiness, the deliverer from woe, the gate that opens into Paradise, the messenger of REDEEMING LOVE. Death, therefore, is the believer's, because, by the strength of his REDEEMER, he hath been enabled to make him, who was once his enemy, become his reconciled friend.--The King of Terrors hath dropped his envenomed sting; and his dart flies now for no other use, but a kind and friendly one, even to dislodge the heavenly inhabitant from its frail tabernacle of clay, and open the world of light upon its spiritual senses.

But still higher privileges, still higher prospects, open to the Apostle's view. "Things present, and things to come, are yours."--Whatever the present moment brings to light, as well as what is concealed in the womb of futurity, is equally in the Christian's power. He is prepared to receive the former with thankfulness and gratitude, because he knows, that it must operate for his good, be it painful or pleasant: and from the same conviction of the kind and loving Administration of his REDEEMER, he, can wait with patience and resignation for the future dispensations of his Providence.

I cannot, however, but think, that these words have a much deeper and more comfortable sense than this. "Things present, and things to come," generally denote, in Scripture, the visible and the invisible world; and though they are equally present, yet, with respect to our common apprehensions, the latter must be called future, because it cannot be unveiled to our senses, till we have laid aside these garments of sin. The believer, however, by virtue of his Heavenly Nature, united by Faith to his REDEEMER, stands in the heavenly world at the same time that he is in this. Its light, and life, and air, its powers, and virtues, and glories, are opening themselves, though invisibly, in his heart. Hence it is, that the Apostle speaks of "tasting the powers of the world to come," even in this present state and that not metaphorically, but as really and physically as our outward bodies may be said to taste the powers of this present world. O, what an high and glorious privilege does this appear, when considered in this point of light! An Heavenly Man within us, standing upon heavenly ground, breathing the heavenly air, and rising, by its animating influences, far above that sink of evil and corruption, in which the earthly nature still remains a prisoner; and with heavenly fortitude and resignation, supporting the painful union, till his true parent and deliverer rescues him from his captivity, and admits him into the liberty of kindred spirits in glory.

Well, therefore, might the Apostle, at the close of this enumeration, again repeat his general assertion, "All things are yours."--But he repeats it, not only with a view of impressing the truth more powerfully upon the hearts of Christians, but also to let them know, that their privileges are in the most effectual manner secured to them; that their title is indisputable, their inheritance unfading and eternal--"And ye are CHRIST'S," says he.

Think not, that your title to this inheritance is founded upon any thing in yourselves, considered separately and distinctly in your own natures; no, "Ye are by nature dead in trespasses and sins--The wages of sin is death." No other inheritance, but destruction and misery, can you derive from your fallen nature. This inheritance, therefore, which is "Eternal Life," is solely the gift of GOD, through JESUS CHRIST. "Ye are CHRIST'S," therefore, not only as being originally created by him in his own image, which image ye lost by sin; but ye are now his by REDEMPTION, which is in truth a second creation; for he hath planted his own seed in your fallen nature. By this, he is become your Father, your Spiritual Regenerator, your Creator anew in Righteousness and true Holiness.--Thus, by turning your will to this SAVIOUR, the heavenly seed springs forth, under his mild and genial influence, into a beautiful plant, partaking of all the virtues, powers, odours, and colours of its Eternal Parent, uniting, rejoicing, and living for ever in the same Heavenly Glory.

Nay, that your faith, and hope, and love, may rest upon an eternal ground, and that your title may appear to you still more firm, and your inheritance still more certain and glorious; I must tell you, that as "Ye are CHRIST'S, so CHRIST is GOD'S."--Here rests the glorious climax, rising by a fair and beautiful gradation, till its last step is fixed to the throne of the Highest!

The essential powers virtues and excellencies of the Invisible and Supernatural GOD, manifest themselves in his eternal and only-begotten Son JESUS CHRIST, GOD of GOD, GOD-MAN, uniting himself to human nature, redeeming, glorifying, and exalting it, with himself, to the throne of the Eternal Father; from thence they are communicated, in copious streams of light and love, to the whole race whom he has condescended to redeem; awakening, illuminating, sanctifying, restoring, and investing them with the same kind of powers and excellencies, which he possesses himself in an infinite degree, and thus accomplishing what he before had prayed to his Heavenly Father might be accomplished--"That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us--that they may be ONE, even as we are ONE--I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in ONE."

Thus you have seen, my brethren, the nature, extent, and excellency of the great Christian privileges here enumerated, together with the eternal and immoveable foundation on which they are built. Need I, therefore, now call upon you to put in your claim to this vast inheritance? Alas! I fear there is too much occasion for the most solemn calls.--So various are the pursuits of the sons of men, and so foreign to their real happiness; so mistaken are they in their conceptions of good, so blind to real evil, so easily deluded by specious appearances, and led astray by so many false lights; so prone to obey the dictates of a corrupt nature, and so averse to every thing that is spiritual and heavenly; that the weightiest Truths of the Gospel, the most animating promises, the most glorious privileges there recounted, seem to have but very little influence upon their hearts. O why, my brethren, why will ye "spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?" why, with deluded Esau, "will you sell your birth-right for a mess of pottage," an heavenly for an earthly inheritance? When "all things are yours," why will you take up with the scanty provisions which a poor perishing nature can give? An immortal soul, redeemed by the blood of the Son of GOD, spending its strength, exerting its faculties in the pursuit of such fleeting momentary enjoyments as this world can afford, is a spectacle at which Angels might weep.--O that every thoughtless sinner might be induced to weep for himself, to mourn his wretched, forlorn condition; and, from a deep conviction of the insufficiency of all earthly possessions to make him happy, that he might be led to seek that "peace of GOD which passeth all understanding! that inheritance immortal, incorruptible, and undefiled, which fadeth not away!"

DISCOURSE XIV.
Christ, known or unknown, the Universal Saviour.

St. JOHN, CHAP. xiv. Part of VER. 9.

"HAVE I BEEN SO LONG TIME WITH YOU, AND YET HAST THOU NOT KNOWN ME,
PHILIP?"

"Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," said our BLESSED LORD to those earthly-minded Israelites, who were ever looking for some external display of supernatural power, as the only means of conviction in matters of religion. This fatal mistake hath prevailed too much in the world; and still maintains its ground, even among those, whose views are more spiritual, and who have been taught to look upon religion as an internal operation, the work of GOD'S SPIRIT upon their souls. They do not, indeed, seek for an outward sign, as the Jews of old did; they see the impropriety of this under a spiritual dispensation: their delusion, however, though perhaps more refined, is equally dangerous. They cannot conceive that the Divine Power and Presence can be manifested to the human soul, in any other way; than by extraordinary impressions, visions, or extasies. Thus, whilst they are looking out for the appearance of their GOD in a whirl-wind, a fire, or an earthquake, their attention is wholly withdrawn from that "Still Small Voice," in which he usually addresses himself to the hearts of his creatures.

Such was the sad delusion under which poor Philip seems to have laboured. "Lord, shew us the Father, said he, and it sufficeth us." Give us some visible sign, some sensible demonstration of the Father's power and presence with thee. Let him rend the heavens and come down; and if thou art indeed his Son, let him own and honour thee as such, by placing himself near to thy sacred person, and breaking forth in a flood of glory upon our outward senses. Poor mistaken disciple! Little didst thou think of the dreadful consequences which might have attended the granting of thy request. It might have over-whelmed thy weak nature, but could never have wrought any salutary conviction in thy soul: thy outward senses could not have sustained the shock, and thy mind would have continued as dark as ever, notwithstanding the heavenly effulgence that surrounded thee.

Ignorant, weak, and deluded, as Philip seems to have been, his BLESSED MASTER bore with his infirmities, and answered him with all that sweetness and gentleness, that usually accompanied even his censures and reproofs--"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. How sayest thou then, shew us the Father?"

Not one of all those excellencies and perfections, which constitute the Divine Nature, but thou mightest have beheld manifested in me. The healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, making the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and the dumb to speak, instructing the ignorant, and preaching the gospel to the poor, all these are the surest marks and evidences that can possibly be given of the immediate presence of the Divinity within me. He, therefore, who hath seen me thus manifesting the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of my Heavenly Father, in these works of wonder, tenderness, and love to his children, "hath seen the Father;" inasmuch, as in the present state of things, there is no other way in which GOD can manifest himself to you his fallen creatures, but by awakening your attention to every act and sensibility of goodness, which you may discover either in yourselves or others. And as all these divine communications are imparted from the Father through me; so in my miracles life and conversation, had you yielded a proper attention, you might have seen "the Brightness of the Father's Glory, and the Express Image of his Person." "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?"

From this particular conversation of our LORD with his disciple, as well as from the whole tenor of the Gospel, arises this grand and fundamental truth: that our real knowledge of CHRIST depends upon an attention of the mind to those Tempers, Qualities, Dispositions and Actions, which he manifested in his life here upon earth, and which are recorded in Scripture for our instruction, accompanied with a surrender of our will and affections to those inward calls, motions, and sensibilities of Goodness, by which he reveals himself with all his heavenly tempers in our hearts. CHRIST, therefore, makes himself known to us in these two principal ways, in his Word, and in our Hearts.

His Word, or what is known by the name of the Holy Scripture, is only the outward testimony--the rule or standard providentially transmitted to us, by which we are to judge of the reality of his Presence in our Hearts. It tells us of a CHRIST, who lived, and suffered, and died in our human nature, in order to teach us how to live, and suffer, and die. It assures us, that our everlasting salvation depends upon our knowledge of this CHRIST; that this knowledge can only be attained by seeking him earnestly; that the place where he chuses to be found, where he loves to reside, is in the human heart;" that "his kingdom is within us;" that he is "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" that he is the "hope of glory," in every son and daughter of fallen Adam.

The Scriptures likewise testify of the manner of his appearance and residence within us--that he manifests himself as a destroyer of that evil work, which the Devil has wrought in our nature; first convincing us of sin, of the darkness and misery of our fallen life, and then pointing out to us the paths of righteousness; opening and unfolding all those sweet and lovely qualities, of which himself is the great Fountain Spirit, and which he distributes to every man according to his capacity and desire of receiving them.

To know CHRIST, therefore, is carefully to cultivate those holy and heavenly tempers and dispositions, which he manifested in his outward life here upon earth, and which he now continues to manifest in the breasts of all those who diligently seek after him. To know CHRIST, is to know and feel the power of "love, joy; peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Wherever these Graces take up their residence, there is the Temple of JESUS. These are the ministring servants that wait at his altar: and the sacrifices which they there present and offer, are all the earthly and diabolical passions with which human nature is polluted and oppressed,--pride, envy, covetousness, jealousy, lust, wrath, bitterness of spirit, and all the rest of the infernal legion. Love, Love Divine, is the vestal fire which there burns pure and perpetual; which cleanses, refines, sublimates, and glorifies every thing that comes within its reach.

In this sense, CHRIST has been a long time, indeed, among the sons of men, though they may not have known him: He has been long "come to his own," though his own have not universally received him. Where is the man, who hath not, in innumerable instances, felt the powerful suggestions of vice; and, in innumerable instances, been inwardly warned against them, and pressed to the exercise of virtue?

Speak, thou unthinking, careless mortal! Hast thou never felt thyself swoln with pride, or burning with envy? Hast thou never coveted, been jealous, angry, revengeful, bitter, and implacable? Hast thou never found thyself bound to this world, by such strong and numerous ties, that the parting from it would be like tearing away thy very heart-strings? Amidst all that storm and confusion, into which this restless croud of evil passions has frequently thrown thee, hast thou never once felt a monitor within, that would have let thee know, if thou hadst attended to his voice, that all this uproar was from an evil principle, and that thou wert injuring thy soul by submitting to its power?

Hast thou never been led to admire and revere the amiable graces of Meekness, Humility, Love, and Peace, in the life of thy neighbour; and secretly to wish, that these plants of Heaven would spring up in thy own barren soil? Hast thou not frequently envied the happy frame and circumstances of some, whom thou hast seen devout and pious in their conduct towards GOD, and affectionate, mild, and gentle, in their behaviour towards their brethren? And hast thou not, in such a situation, been constrained to sigh out some such wish as this: O that I could feel, and live, and act, as these men seem to do! Would to GOD that this evil nature of mine, with all its horrid lusts and passions, was wholly subdued, eradicated, or changed!

Let me tell thee, then, poor mortal! that all these senses, sensibilities, and secret desires, are from CHRIST, and that this is the way he takes to invite thee to his friendship and communion. He is in thine heart, waiting there with all the condescension, tenderness, and compassion of a most indulgent father, to deliver thee from thy sins, and shew himself to thy soul in reconciliation and peace. He hath been waiting there ever since thou wert born, seeking to make himself known to thee, sometimes by the frowns of conscience, sometimes by its approving smiles, sometimes by the endearing intercourse of Christian friendship and love, and sometimes by the sweet emotions of his own Charity, kindled within thee, at the sight of an object in distress; sometimes by providential deliverances from imminent dangers, sometimes by providential visits of health and prosperity. Whence is it then, O sinner, that, though thy SAVIOUR hath been so long time "with thee, yet hast thou not known him?" Whence is it, though he has made thee such frequent offers of his Love, thou hast still slighted or rejected them?

Various are the obstacles and impediments which prevent us from coming to a true and saving knowledge of CHRIST. In some persons, the unrestrained sovereignty and dominion of fallen nature, leads them captive at its will, makes them deaf to the voice of conscience, and blind to every ray of light that seeks to illuminate the dark region of their heart. They know not CHRIST, because they have not the least desire to be acquainted with him.

In others, the grand and principal impediment to the knowledge of CHRIST, is their absolute dependence upon an external decency of conduct, to which they have given the name of morality. If they cultivate those seeming virtues, which are the faint images or shadows of the True Graces of the Gospel, it is solely from a selfish principle, a desire of being noticed and respected by the world: they have no view, in any thing they undertake, to that real inward change of heart and temper, in which alone the Knowledge of CHRIST consists. Such persons, being unacquainted with the intrinsic evil and corruption of their own nature, cannot have the least desire to be delivered from it; and, till they are providentially awakened to a sense of this, they cannot find themselves disposed to enquire after a Saviour, in and through whom alone these evils and corruptions are to be healed or removed.

Others again there are, who are kept from this saving knowledge of CHRIST, by an attachment to external forms, modes, and opinions of religion; who, provided they are found faithful in the observance and belief of these, excuse themselves from the cultivation of those inward and heavenly graces and virtues, which alone constitute the life and power of religion. Such persons frequently fall into the grossest inconsistencies. They can be angry, in the defence of meekness; proud, whilst they are discoursing on humility; and can speak of all the sublime truths of religion, and sometimes of its vital influences on the heart, with the utmost elegance and pathos of sentiment and expression, and yet remain totally insensible of their efficacy respecting themselves. Such persons know not CHRIST, because they do not seek him in the only way in which he can be found, viz. in a conformity to his Heavenly Character.

The last impediment which I shall mention, that excludes many serious minds from the knowledge of CHRIST'S personal power and presence with them, is that under which poor Philip laboured; even an expectation of some unusual display of supernatural agency, to produce their conviction and conversion.--He, indeed, looked for an external sign; they are anxious for something internal and spiritual; but the nature of the desire is the same in both, and is equally delusive and dangerous. Such persons, solicitous for nothing but an assurance of the forgiveness of GOD, expect to have it communicated by some vision, ecstasy, or sudden illumination.