Chapter II: Part 2

The gracious and unmerited invitations of Divine mercy are addressed to all sinners by “God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” {39b} Let not therefore any one say, my sins are too great to be forgiven; this is to limit the atoning efficacy of Christ’s blood, which is illimitable: let not any one say, I am not yet fit to come unto Christ; this is to mistake the nature of the Gospel, which is designed to remedy man’s natural unfitness: but let all betake themselves to Christ for pardon of past sins, through His blood; and for strength against future temptations, through His grace. Nor let it be thought that these observations apply only to gross sinners. One description of man’s natural condition, and only one, applies to the whole human race;—“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God:” and one means of restoration to the lost favour of God, and only one, is offered to the whole human race;—the “being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” {40a} Those who refuse to come unto Christ as sinners, stand self-excluded from all benefit of His atonement. To such the Saviour addresses the words,—“Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and _knowest not that thou art wretched_, _and miserable_, _and poor_, _and blind_, _and naked_. _I counsel thee to buy of_ ME gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou mayest see.” {40b} Man’s natural weakness and sinfulness is the fundamental truth on which the Christian plan of redemption is built; for if he had possessed inherent power to overcome his natural depravity, and keep the commandments of God, the sacrifice of Christ would not have been necessary for the atonement of his sins, and for his escape from eternal condemnation. Did we not know that pride, based upon a poor and defective system of morality, generally shows the most decided hostility to the humbling doctrines of the Gospel, it would hardly be believed that any would refuse to come to Christ as sinners. How much at variance are such self-righteous feelings with the spirit of the confession of our Church, in which, under the appropriate and affecting figure of sheep wandered from the fold, we are accustomed to entreat the pity, protection, and guidance, of the great “Shepherd of our souls.” There are two considerations, however, which may, with the Divine blessing, if duly weighed, bring such persons to the foot of the cross with deep self-abasement and acknowledgment of sin: one is, that in the Gospel the motive determines the value of an action; and the Christian’s motive is, to do all to the glory of God: the other is, that man is accountable, not only for his actions, but for his omissions; not only for every idle word, but for every sinful wish; nay, more, for every impure thought indulged and cherished. Let those who think their failings few and venial, their merits great, and deserving of reward, apply to their lives these two great tests of Christian holiness—praying, at the same time, to “the Father of lights,” for grace and knowledge: and if they be not brought to admit, that “in many things we offend all;” {41} if it be not the language of their hearts, “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us;”—they are ignorant of the spirit of the Gospel, and far from the kingdom of God. For, like the Jews of old, “they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge: for they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. _For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth_.” {42a} “That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” {42b}

To true believers, “CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL:” {42c} on His atonement they rest for pardon before God; on His grace they rely for strength; and to His merits they trust for salvation. Their truly Christian hope is built upon a lively faith; they believe “that man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation.” {42d} That “the condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.” {43a} “That we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works and deservings: wherefore that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.” {43b} And “albeit that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgments; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.” {43c}

Such are the four Articles of the Church of England which declare man’s natural corruption; his just exposure to Divine condemnation; his means of restoration to God’s favour; the meritorious cause of his salvation; and the inseparable union of faith and good works. From which may be drawn these two fundamental principles of the Christian faith—salvation, alone through the all-sufficient merits of Christ; and sanctification, alone through the renewing power of the Holy Ghost. Man is, in every respect, a dependent being: the same Almighty Power which formed his body from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; can alone enlighten, renew, and sanctify his soul. Thus faith—which is the rock on which the Church of Christ is built, and without which we shall never believe the promises, accept the offers, or attain the salvation of the Gospel—is the gift of God, and wrought in our souls by the Holy Spirit. United with faith is true repentance, which is no less the work of grace; for unless God enlighten the understanding, there will be no just sense of sin; unless He soften the heart, there will be no contrition: and from a true repentance there always springs holy obedience, which is also produced by the Spirit: for the same blessed Power which enlightens the darkness of the understanding and softens the hardness of the heart, also rectifies the perversion of the will, and sanctifies the corruption of the affections, that the believer may know, choose, obey, and love, the way of godliness. And thus we arrive at that blessed change in the life of a penitent, when he becomes “a new creature in Christ Jesus,” when “old things have passed away, and behold all things have become new;” when he has “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The renewal and sanctification of the soul is the only sure ground on which the Christian can build his unfailing hope of salvation. Not that any may presume to limit the extent of the Divine mercy, or state a definite time for the operations of the Holy Spirit. The first is as boundless as it is unsearchable; the second may be as instantaneous as it is incomprehensible. Thus much we know with certainty, that when that most encouraging call to repentance was addressed to the Jewish people,—“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon;”—there was added, “For my thoughts are not your 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.” {45} Still, all who have time and opportunity must prove the sincerity of their repentance, and the soundness of their faith by the holiness of their practice. Nor can it be too earnestly insisted upon, that it is only by the gift of a new and holier nature, man can rise above the pleasures of sense and things of time, and set his affections on the joys of immortality; and that the new and holier nature is implanted, when the gracious promise is fulfilled—“I will give them one heart, and _I will put a new spirit within you_; _and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh_, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” {46a} It is to the use of palliatives much of the insincere repentance and imperfect reformation of men is to be ascribed. When their fears are alarmed, they set about correcting some flagrant sins, and it may be, become outwardly moral, and even attentive to religious duties; but the renewal of the heart, through grace, and the dedication of its affections to God, are never thought of; and yet they are satisfied with this condition. Such persons are only to be roused by preaching conversion or condemnation. They must be taught to pray, with repentant David, “_Make me a clean heart_, _O God_, _and renew a right spirit within me_. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. O give me the comfort of thy help again, and stablish me with thy free Spirit.” {46b}

The great work of the renewal and sanctification of the soul is ordinarily accomplished by a progressive growth in grace; during which, the believer is gradually enabled to obtain the mastery over the corrupt affections of his nature, to acquire the graces and perform the duties of the Christian character, and “to set his affections on things above,” ever “pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” {47a} and endeavouring to “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” {47b} In the life of some of those who have been “brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” {47c} and have never departed from serving their God, there may be no clearly defined transitions, no strongly-marked shades, in the harmoniously-blended colours, in which has been traced the even tenor of their way. But such cases are probably rare—for those who attain to a very high degree of spiritual-mindedness, can generally fix upon some definite period in their religious life, when they obtained clearer views of their personal unworthiness, and of the holiness of God’s law; of the insufficiency of the things of earth to minister to the wants of an immortal soul; and of the inestimable value of the “treasure in heaven,” than they ever possessed before; and when they learnt to rely on their Lord more confidently, to love Him more devotedly, to advance His cause more zealously, and to obey Him more steadily and implicitly. In the case of those, who have either deserted the God of their youth for a “world lying in wickedness,” but, like the prodigal, upon abandoning its vices and follies, have been received and pardoned by a merciful Father; or who have been brought up in ignorance of religion, but have been plucked like a brand from the burning, by one of those afflictive dispensations which God often sends in mercy to awaken sinners; the time and circumstances of their conversion {48a} will be clearly marked and ever remembered: “it is too momentous an event,” observes Paley, in writing of such conversions, “to be forgot: a man might as easily forget his escape from a shipwreck.” {48b}

The knowledge of the time, however, when conversion takes place, is principally of importance, as far as it goes to establish the fact, the certainty of which must always be determined by the effects produced; for it is easy in this, as in every other particular of religious experience, to be deceived. But there can be no deception when the believer is at once conscious of a change in his heart, and exhibits a reformation in his life; for then he may say, this I know, that whereas I was dead, now am I alive in the Lord: he possesses an internal witness to his being born of God;—“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God;” “He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness—in himself;” and His life affords external proof of his sonship;—“Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not.” {49a} He rejoices, therefore, in the glorious privileges of the Gospel, through which “there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit;” through which, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God;” {49b} and through which, “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.”

Let, then, the reformed examine strictly into their lives, as to whether they exhibit decisive proofs of a genuine conversion; of conversion, not used in its limited sense, as implying a sudden or even violent change, but in the more extended sense, of a recovery from sin, and of a full development of the Christian character:—a conversion which, in its completion, is equivalent to the renewal of the soul in righteousness; the progress of which may be, in some, so gradual, as almost to be imperceptible, but must be, in all, so certain, as to be unquestionable. Let those, who, through the grace of God, have endeavoured to live ever mindful of their baptismal engagements, and duly sensible of the blessed privileges of the Christian covenant, institute a no less rigid examination into their lives, as to how far they manifest a continued growth in grace; an increasing in every good word and work; a growing conformity to the example of Christ; a visible ripening for heaven; and a gradual restoration of the lost image of God in the soul. And what is to be said to those who have either never learnt, or have wilfully violated, their baptismal engagements; and during a long course of sin, have neglected, disobeyed, and forgotten God, whose calls to repentance they still disregard? The same language must be addressed to the habitual, as was applied to the externally reformed sinner;—whose heart was still the seat of vain or impure desires, of base or malignant passions;—CONVERSION or CONDEMNATION. “Of the persons in our congregations,” says Paley, “to whom we not only may, but must, preach the doctrine of conversion, plainly and directly, are those, who with the name indeed of Christians, have hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion whatever; who have not at all thought upon the subject; who, a few easy and customary forms excepted (and which with them are mere forms), cannot truly say of themselves, that they have done one action, which they would not have done equally, if there had been no such thing as a God in the world; or that they have ever sacrificed any passion, any present enjoyment, or even any inclination of their minds to the restraints and prohibitions of religion; with whom, indeed, religious motives have not weighed a feather in the scale against interest or pleasure. To these it is utterly necessary that we preach conversion.” {51a} “The next description of persons to whom we must preach conversion, properly so called, are those who allow themselves in the course and habit of some particular sin, with more or less regularity in other articles of behaviour; there is some particular sin, which they practise constantly and habitually, and allow themselves in that practice. Other sins they strive against, but in this they allow themselves. Now no man can go on in this course consistently with the hope of salvation; therefore, it must be broken off. The essential and precise difference between a child of God and another is, that the true child of God _allows himself_ in no sin whatever; cost what it may, he contends against, he combats all sin; which he certainly cannot be said to do, who is still in the course and habit of some particular sin; for as to that sin, he reserves it, he compromises it. Here then we must preach conversion.” {51b} “In these two cases, therefore, men must be converted and live, or remain unconverted and die.” {51c}

Let then all those who are living in ignorance of the spirit, and consequently in neglect of the obligations of the Gospel, lay this to heart; and let them not imagine that it is only intended to alarm their fears. The scoffer, the profane, the sceptic, and the infidel, can hope for nothing through a Gospel which they ridicule, despise, or reject. But the gay, the thoughtless, and the proud—the worldly, the avaricious, and the sensual—the malicious, the censorious, and the envious—all profess to believe the Gospel; and the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and hypocritical, pretend to make it their rule of life. “To the law, and to the testimony,” to see whether these must all be converted or condemned. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” {52a} It appears, therefore, possible to exercise some of the highest functions of Christianity, and yet to be cast away. “Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” {52b} “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” {52c} Hence, then, we learn the worthlessness of a mere profession of the Gospel. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” {53a} Here we are taught the incompatibility of the love of the world with the love of God. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;—adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” {53b} This fearful catalogue of offences, which exclude from heaven, passes sentence of condemnation upon all who live in the indulgence of any known sin. From these, and many other passages of Scripture, as well as from its general tenor, we arrive at the conclusion, that the various classes of men which have been described, are all exposed to the righteous judgment of God, ready to be revealed at the last day. They bear the Christian name, it is true, but that is all they possess of a blessed dispensation, which was ushered in by the preaching of repentance:—“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, _repent ye and believe the Gospel_;” {53c} and which has always imposed upon its converts personal holiness, as a universal obligation, and inseparable from its promises and rewards; “_Wherefore follow holiness_, _without which no man shall see the Lord_.” {54a} “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” {54b} As being destitute, therefore, of the essentials of the Christian faith, the powerful writer, who has already been quoted at such great length, says, “these persons are really in as unconverted a state as any Jew or Gentile could be in our Saviour’s time. They are no more Christians, as to any actual benefit of Christianity to their souls, than the most hardened Jew, or the most profligate Gentile, was in the age of the Gospel. As to any difference in the two cases, the difference is all against them. These must be converted before they can be saved. The course of their thoughts must be changed: the very principles upon which they act must be changed. Considerations which never, or hardly ever, entered into their minds, must deeply and perpetually engage them. Views and motives, which did not influence them at all, either as checks from doing evil, or as inducements to do good, must become the views and motives which they regularly consult, and by which they are guided;—that is to say, there must be a revolution of principle: the visible conduct will follow the change, but there must be a revolution within.”

These observations are made by Paley, with reference to those persons “who have hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion whatever;” with whom, in short, religion has not been the rule of life. Oh! that the countless multitudes within this kingdom, to whom this description applies, and who are living regardless, if not ignorant, of the eternal condemnation impending over their unconverted souls, “would be wise and consider their latter end.” Oh that they would be persuaded to learn from the word of God, what the holy name which they bear requires of them; and consider what the vows made in baptism bind them to, if they wish to be partakers of the precious benefits purchased for his faithful servants by Christ, at the costly price of his blood. “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures,” is a reproof which applies to them all. For, unfortunately, the generality of men are content to receive from others all they know of religion: they do not enquire for themselves; but willingly acquiesce in the most indulgent views of human duty. And if they do sometimes read the Bible, yet they do not study it, and pray over it, with an anxious desire to be brought to a knowledge of the truth; with a firm determination to receive the truth, however unpleasant, however opposed to their present opinions; and with a resolution, not suddenly taken, but after mature and anxious deliberation, and not formed in dependence upon themselves, but upon Divine grace, to build their faith and practice on its holy doctrines and precepts. To all such, however, we would say, “This do, and ye shall live:” let the time past of your lives suffice to have past in ignorance or neglect of God’s gracious revelation to man; now delay not longer: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand;” may the day-spring from on high visit you, and the day-star arise in your hearts to give light to you, who, whilst the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are shining around you, are still lying in darkness and the shadow of death. “Search the Scriptures,” and learn from them, and not from the opinions and conduct of men, what is the hope of the Christian calling; search the Scriptures, and from them learn, that ye must repent or die eternally.

May the profane, the scoffer, and the sceptic, have the veil of darkness removed from their understandings, by which “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” {57a} May they not be left in wilful blindness, until that terrible day, when the enemies of the Lord shall find, to their everlasting confusion, that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, _even His eternal power and Godhead_: so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” May

—“The gay, licentious, proud,
Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround,”

learn “how hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” {57b} For they too often forget they are God’s stewards, and accountable for all they possess. The day will come when to all of them will be addressed the command, “Give an account of thy stewardship;” and how terrible will be their lot, should they, “having been unfaithful in the unrighteous mammon,” lose “the true riches,”—treasure in heaven. Our Lord himself has said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” {58a} They, therefore, who in their day of trial have forgotten that their rank or affluence are so many talents, for which they are to give account to their Master in heaven, must expect fearful retribution, unless, while the day of grace remaineth, they obtain pardon and peace through their long-neglected Lord. Let them now learn that the friendship of the world—whose smile they have courted, whose honours they have coveted, whose pleasures they have enjoyed—“is enmity with God.” “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” {58b} May the avaricious and the sensual, whose grovelling, sordid, and impure minds, have not a thought, a wish, beyond this earth, where they would willingly live for ever; see their sin and folly before it be too late. Let them hear the awful denunciations of Scripture; and may that Scripture, through God’s grace, bring conviction to their minds and repentance to their hearts. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you; and shall eat your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the last day.” {59a} “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.” {59b} “Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” {59c} “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” {59d} “Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” {59e} May those who now rise up early, and late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness, that they may increase their worldly store, receive grace “to lay up treasure in heaven,” not “trusting in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy:” {60a} and may those who, placing few or no restraints upon the appetites and passions of their animal nature, ardently pursue impure, debasing, and guilty pleasures, have their souls so sanctified, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that, “cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” {60b} they may desire only “the joys unspeakable, and full of glory, which are at God’s right hand for evermore.” And may the envious, the censorious, and the malicious, who cherish in their hearts hostility and malignity towards their fellows, acquire the spirit of Christian charity! For “charity _suffereth long and is kind_; _charity envieth not_; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly; seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, _thinketh no evil_; _rejoiceth not in iniquity_, _but rejoiceth in the truth_.” There exist no passions in the human breast, which in every age have excited so much scorn and reprobation amongst generous and noble spirits as envy and malice: there is a meanness in them which renders them contemptible; there is a malignity which makes them detestable: the virtuous heathen, therefore, viewed them with contemptuous indignation; but the Christian must mourn over such bitter fruits of an unchristian temper; he must admonish those who foster them, that these sins of the heart, as more difficult to be repented of, are more likely to exclude from heaven than the failings which they gloat upon with secret pleasure, and publish with malicious satisfaction. The sins of uncharitableness cannot but be peculiarly odious in the sight of Him, whose religion inculcates the purest and kindest spirit of brotherly love, and who has made our forgiving our brother his trespasses, the ground of our asking the forgiveness of our own. We are, therefore, strongly and repeatedly warned in Scripture against anger, envy, hatred, revenge, and malice; whilst the opposite virtues are urged upon us with equal force of exhortation and tenderness of entreaty. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.” {61} Let such, therefore, remembering that their only hope of forgiveness consists in their obtaining grace to overcome their uncharitable temper and habits, hear also and obey the similar admonition of another apostle: “Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil-speaking; as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” {62}

May all those who make a decided profession of religion, but whose heart is not right before the Lord; the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the hypocritical; learn that God will never accept of a divided heart; that He will never approve of a self-righteous spirit, and will never receive the incense of feigned lips. Hypocrisy must be peculiarly offensive, as it is peculiarly insulting, to the Majesty of an omniscient and omnipresent God. That one of his creatures should dare to make His name or service a cloak to cover his selfish and worldly views; should profess a great reverence for Him, only to secure the applause, or procure the assistance of men, is at once such a bold and impious fraud, as must excite the displeasure, and call down the vengeance of an insulted and offended Deity. What! shall the weak and miserable creature who has been graciously allowed to approach his great Creator, and “tell out his wants and unburden his sorrows to Him in prayer,”—shall he pervert to his base ends this high and holy privilege, and “make long prayers, that he may be seen of men!” Such a fearful profanation resembles that of Belshazzar, when he used, at his unholy banquet, the sacred vessels taken from the Temple at Jerusalem, and with them gave honour to his false gods. {63} For the hypocrite, who worships in the sanctuary to advance his worldly interest, is employing the holy ordinances of the Lord in the service of Belial, who is his god.

It may be hoped that hypocrisy of this impious nature is rare; but neither its criminality nor its extent are sufficiently regarded by men in general. For what, in reality, are all who make merely an outward profession of religion? they are all hypocrites: they do not attend religious worship to offer their sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to their Preserver and Benefactor; but they pretend to do so; and perhaps might consider themselves unjustly stigmatised, if the real cause of their being in the courts of the Lord’s house was stated to be, either regard for reputation, to set an example, general custom, or the force of habit. But if men go not to the house of prayer for worship—and those who make merely an outward profession of religion cannot be sincere in offering up any prayers—it remains that some other motive must have drawn them there; and whatever that may be, as the real but not ostensible motive, it stamps them as hypocrites. There also are, it may be feared, other hypocrites, of a very different description, who lay claim to more religion than they possess; and, in the cause of the Lord of Hosts, profess more zeal for His honour than they feel. All such—more especially if they assume a character of which they know themselves to be totally unworthy, seeking to gratify their pride or advance their interests; for then they are hypocrites of the worst description;—expose themselves to the righteous displeasure of the Lord. May men, therefore, learn, that the profession of religion, without regard to its principles, will, sooner or later, bring down upon them swift and sudden destruction; for “the prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord,” when “they take the law of God into their mouths, but hate to be reformed in their hearts.” And whilst their principles must always correspond with their profession, their practice must be in accordance with both. The repentance of the hypocrite is extremely difficult: he has profaned, to his own ungodly purposes, all the means of grace; and sometimes, so perfect becomes the delusion of lengthened deception, he almost believes himself really to be the character he has falsely assumed. Nothing but Divine grace can rescue him from his alarming state; for he resembles one who has himself poisoned the wholesome aliment intended for his sustenance; still the Great Physician of souls is a sure refuge. May he, through Him, obtain mercy and pardon, and escape having “his portion with the hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Amongst the Pharisees it appears, from the severe reproofs our blessed Lord directed against them, that both an hypocritical and self-righteous spirit prevailed to a great extent. Such will ever be the case where the forms are substituted for the spirit of religion. It will then quickly degenerate into a number of lifeless observances, and the shadow of the religion will remain whilst the substance will be lost. Self-righteousness, in this day, rests nearly upon the same foundation as in the time of our Saviour. Amongst ourselves it is often built upon the groundwork of regularity and strictness in religious observances, and of belonging to a particular sect or party. It is often characterised by an appearance of much self-complacency and spiritual pride; still it is at the same time distinguished generally by a correct standard of morals, a due regard for decorum, and a strict attention to religious duties. Alas! every one must lament that the spirit is wanting which will give acceptability to these services in the sight of God: for “thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” {66a} There exists not in the heart of man a feeling more perfectly irreconcileable with his corrupt and fallen nature, than spiritual pride. In the first place, “who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” {66b} And in the second, “Who can tell how oft he offendeth? O cleanse thou me from my secret faults! Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.” {66c} One of the first Christian virtues is humility; and he must be equally ignorant of his own heart and of the spirit of the Gospel, who prides himself upon his excellences, instead of lamenting his deficiencies. A deep consciousness of personal unworthiness; a fearful sense of his little progress in holiness, in comparison with the advantages which have been afforded to him; a humble thankfulness that God has enabled him to advance some way in his Christian calling; and an entire dependence on his Saviour for grace, for strength, and guidance, for the time to come, generally characterize those most favoured servants of the Lord who have reached the highest attainments in piety, and best served their generation. May the self-righteous receive grace “to learn of Him” who was “meek and lowly of heart,” and then they will find present and eternal “rest unto their souls.”

“How long halt ye between two opinions?” was the indignant enquiry addressed to the Israelites by the Prophet Elijah: “If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then follow him.” {67} In every age there have been too many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be addressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a compromise between God and Mammon. They are unwilling to forfeit all hope of the fair “inheritance of the saints in light;” they are afraid to encounter the awful terrors of the blackness of darkness for ever; still the world, with its seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a strong hold upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the blossoms and fruit of genuine piety.

There is no vitality of religious principle, and no consistency of religious conduct. They profess the Gospel, it is true; but they are desirous to accommodate it to their own views and wishes, that it may not interfere with their worldly advantage, not interrupt their present enjoyments. But such a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever to ask, “How little can I do, and yet get to heaven?” has nothing in it of the Gospel of Christ. Our blessed Lord employs, in the Revelations, terms expressive of the most contemptuous rejection of the works of the Church of Laodicea, because it was “lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot.” {68a} The whole tenor of Scripture inculcates the duty of obedience to “the first and great commandment”—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” {68b} And they can know little of the glorious and blessed privileges of the children of God by adoption and grace, who do not habitually look up to Him as “a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus our Lord;” who do not cry with humble but firm and confiding faith, “Abba, Father;” and who do not obey, with willing and joyful readiness, the command, “My Son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” There is a necessary union between adoption and grace, between grace and holiness, between holiness and love: “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God:” “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you:” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” They, therefore, who do not manifest in their hearts and lives those blessed proofs of the indwelling of the Spirit, renewed minds, sanctified affections, and holy obedience, cannot be said to “walk after the Spirit.” “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:” he is “carnally minded;” and “to be carnally minded is death;” “because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Oh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the lukewarm in religion, a class which may sometimes embrace those dearest to him on earth—united to him by the closest ties of blood—by the sweetest bonds of affection. He feels for them, for he remembers the time when he had “set his affections on things of earth:” He estimates fully the difficulties they have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is to “set the affections on things above.” For this world invites us, through the medium of the senses, with objects present, visible, and palpable; but it is only by the power of abstraction, and through the medium of faith, we can even contemplate the future invisible and unpalpable realities of a spiritual world, whose rewards and joys are covered with a veil which revelation has only raised so far as to show, that whilst their nature transcends the power of human conception, their extent exceeds the limits of human comprehension. He fears, therefore, lest, bewildered by the false glare of earthly attractions, they may never be able to fix the steady eye of faith upon what human “eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of men to conceive;” he fears lest, still impelled forward in the broad way of destruction by semblances of happiness, as alluring but as illusive as the mirage of the desert, they may never enter upon the narrow and often thorny path of life, which leads to the Zion of our God.

How earnestly, therefore, does he entreat them not longer to linger in the outward courts, but to enter at once into the temple of our faith; not longer to starve themselves with “the beggarly elements of the Law,” to which they secretly cling, but to refresh and invigorate their souls with the “rich mercies” of the Gospel dispensation, which supplies every want, and satisfies every desire, when fully understood, firmly believed, thankfully received, and implicitly obeyed. For it is not generally that they seek to escape the obligations to personal holiness, for they are moral men: it is not that they wish to avoid the observances of religion, for they are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances; but they will not submit themselves to the sole guidance of that Holy Spirit which can alone consecrate their prayers and sanctify their obedience. Their case is stated by St. Paul in a few words: they have “the form without the power of godliness;” and being destitute of its power, they enjoy not its present consolations,—they will possess not its future rewards, unless, by the transforming influence of divine grace, they are enabled to give their, at present, divided hearts to God. A merely formal profession of the Gospel never yet supplied comfort in the hour of affliction—never cheered the sufferings of the bed of pain—never took away the fear of death. It may be, that when the understanding is blinded, or the heart hardened, exhausted nature sometimes willingly seeks relief from present suffering in death; but such is an awful sign of spiritual insensibility. When the conscience is fully awake, and the mind, in full possession of its powers, is conscious of the rapid approach of death; the Gospel of Christ alone has power to divest the destroyer of his terrors by robbing him of his sting, and the grave of its victory. Still it is only a heartfelt profession of the Gospel, in which the approval of the understanding, and the desire of the heart, accompany the utterance of the lips, from which issue no lifeless words, but the earnest prayer for mercy and forgiveness for faith and hope, for sanctification and submission; which, proving that grace is employed in its blessed and holy work of the soul’s renewal, supports and comforts in that awful hour, when the soul is preparing to meet its God and Saviour. Oh that this consideration may have its due weight to rouse the lukewarm from their state of apathy! Can they imagine that their languid and lifeless services will be acceptable in the sight of that God, who is Himself love, and whose motive, in offering them eternal life, is love? Can they suppose their weak faith in the Saviour, their cold reception of His inestimable blessings, will satisfy Him, who referred the ignominious and painful death He endured to the greatness of His love,—“greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” {72} If, in the various relations of social life, the little services of affection are valued infinitely higher than the more costly benefits which spring only from a cold sense of duty:—if the willing obedience, the watchful attention, and the tender offices of love are prized, beyond all comparison, above the forced submission, the reluctant compliance, and the unwilling attendance of fear:—can we think for a moment that He, who has admitted us to all the privileges of sonship, and has allowed us to approach Him in the endearing character of children, and cry, Abba, Father, will regard favourably the services which spring from slavish fear, and not from filial love? It might be thought that the consideration of the infinite love of God towards man, and of the precious benefits conferred upon us by the Saviour, would fill every soul with gratitude and love: to think that weak, sinful, and guilty man, should be elevated to so exalted a relation to God as that of son; to remember that his title to his high dignity was purchased, by no less a sacrifice than the atonement made by Him, who is the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person,—present to the mind such an astounding, and yet transporting view, of “the length and breadth, and depth and height,” of “the love of God, which passeth knowledge,” that we are constrained to exclaim, “Such things are too wonderful for me; I cannot attain unto them.” And yet, they affect not, they influence not, that large class of men, the lukewarm in religion! God now calls them by “His judgments, which are in the earth,” to “turn unto Him with all their heart.” May they all receive grace, to obey the call, and seek forgiveness at his hands; for there is impending over them a most terrible curse—a curse which repentance only can avert. “If any love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” {73}

Let, then, all the several classes of men, who, as constituting the leading divisions of those who believe not, or practise not, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord—have been exhorted and warned “to flee from the wrath to come,” be now earnestly intreated to imitate the example of the Bereans of old, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, _in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind_, _and searched the Scriptures daily_, _whether those things were so_.” {74a}

And may God accompany with his grace and blessing such study of the Scriptures, that they who have heretofore neglected, perverted, disobeyed, or rejected the Gospel, may, through “its marvellous light become wise unto salvation!”

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” {74b} In the “lively oracles of God,” therefore, they will find instruction how to proceed in the difficult work of true repentance. Let them not, however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for “He who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure,” is ever ready to succour and omnipotent to save, “all who come unto Him” through Christ, “who is the way, the truth, and the life.” Let them not fear the power of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they long willingly bore; “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” {75a} Still, at the same time, let them underrate neither the difficulties nor the dangers which await them. Spiritual as well as worldly prudence is shewn in rightly estimating difficulties, that they may be the more certainly overcome; and real courage, whether carnal or spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as the case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.

The prophet Jeremiah, to prove the difficulty of a late repentance, has used a figure which places it in a strong light; “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.” {75b} The apostle Peter, to shew the extent of danger to the Christian, employs a simile not less striking, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” {75c} And St. Paul accumulates the most forcible expressions to convey an adequate idea of the dangerous nature of our spiritual warfare, “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” {75d} It is most true, that when the corruption of man’s nature has been increased in malignity by the long indulgence of its sinful appetites and passions; when his habits have become confirmed, inveterate, and almost second nature through time; and when his severe master, the devil, seeing him planning rebellion against his authority, and escape from his power, employs his subtle arts to retain his dominion over him: we have a case in which unassisted human nature must despair. Passion is not tameable at the will of man, appetite is not mortified at his bidding, habit is not overcome at his command, the devil is not vanquished by his power. On the contrary, they all reign and rule in the heart of the unconverted, who have grown old in sin: there passion is ungovernable, appetite irresistible, habit invincible, the devil dominant and triumphant.

Well may every sinner start at this appalling picture of human weakness and depravity, and well will it be for him, if, through grace, he be thence led to exclaim—“Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!” {76a} and if he be enabled to apply to his own case the answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. “With man it is impossible” to escape from the debasing and enslaving effects of sin, “but with God all things are possible;” {76b} and “thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.” {77a}