shining steel, and hear the stroke of battle. The schemes of the courtier, and the policy of the statesman, occupy, at times, a part of our thoughts: but we chiefly look up to that hand which directs the thunderbolt; which tosses about the whirlwind; which makes confusion and darkness minister to the light and the order of the moral world; which bears up the pillars of the earth. The Christian contemplates this world and all things that are therein, as destined to declare the glory of God, and to promote the interests of the church of Christ: by faith, he contemplates objects which are not perceived by the senses, nor explored by the reasoning faculty of man. Such is the testimony of inspiration. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. The vision of heaven, with all its never-ending joys of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is enjoyed by the Christian for his comfort in this life, through faith in Jesus Christ. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father: and he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. By faith, Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible. These are objects which could not have been discovered, otherwise than by revelation. It is no part of the wisdom of this world; but of the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. "As it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him: but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit."* It is moreover to be remembered, that a believing view of these glorious objects is set forth by the apostle, as our comfort in the midst of afflictions; and therefore ought to be so described in a discourse on the consolations of the gospel. For which cause, we faint not: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I say, brethren, a believing view of these divine things, which are revealed to us by the Spirit, in order to distinguish Christian perception, from the ideas which unrenewed men are capable of forming upon the same subject. The ungodly are competent to think and to reason upon every fact and every doctrine brought to light by the sacred Scriptures; but they see no form nor comeliness nor beauty in them which should render them desirable. They are blind to the excellency of celestial objects. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; but he that is spiritual judgeth all things.* *1 Cor. ii. 6-10. In the Bible we have many striking examples of men who exercised a spiritual understanding of divine things. One instance may now suffice. Paul the apostle was a man of mind, and a scholar. He was versed in the philosophy of the celebrated schools of Greece, and familiar also with their poetry. At the feet of Gamaliel he studied theology, and entered into the most minute observances of pharisaical tradition, with characteristic ardour. But he became a Christian: and gave this testimony-" Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." f 4. Religion affects the heart with sincere love. The Christian law prescribes love as our duty both towards God and towards man. The Spirit of Christ sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God; and we do, in fact, under the influence of his grace, love him who first loved us. The experience of divine power on the soul, exciting benevolent affections, and regulating them in their exercise, is a source of exquisite enjoyment; and, therefore, I introduce the idea, in treating of the comforts of godliness. It is not my purpose to consider this tender passion in its general nature, or in its particular relation to the precepts of revealed religion, except so far as may be necessary to show, that, without the exercise of it, a great part of our felicity must be cut off, and that, in the very exercise of it, under evangelical influence, independently of all calculations upon its subsequent effects, the mind has great satisfaction. Piety is, undoubtedly, much concerned with the social propensities of the human mind. An enlightened understanding is, indeed, necessary to true godliness; and, in the exercise of a spiritual understanding upon divine objects, much of our happiness consists. Christianity, nevertheless, is not a matter purely of intellection, for it extends to the whole man; and, in the renovation of our mental faculties, it is inconceivable that God the Holy Spirit should neglect entirely the finer feelings of the soul. To every man who has a heart, it is easy to prove, that love is a delightful emotion. Cold and comfortless would be all our habitations did not this sun of social life ray down its light and its joy. It is the solace of the connubial state, and the cement of every happy family. It warms the heart of the parent when he embraces the child, and its pulsations are felt by the son when he exchanges the salutation. It is the bond of perfectness among the saints; and in the sound speech of a man of God, it is as cords which draw out the soul towards heaven, and bind more firmly than the bands of a man. *1 Cor. ii. 15. + Phil. iii. 8. Like every other passion of the human heart, love is capable of being excited, in an improper degree, and upon unsuitable objects. When thus it becomes unruly and extravagant, it is a source of pain and trouble: for it is strong as death, and jealousy is cruel as the grave, the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame. This consideration does not, however, militate against the principle of my assertion. Still it is a fact, that the regular exercise of tender affection is accompanied with pleasing emotions. It is still true, that piety tends to produce and to cherish such exercise of the social affections of man. It was to have been expected, in the present depraved state of the moral constitution, that this, as well as other passions, should often prove the occasion of uneasiness: and experience proves, that sometimes it produces vexation, and sickness, and death; but these instances, in which it becomes a tormentor, go themselves to show the necessity of placing this ardent affection under the direction of piety. Like the element of fire, when it surpasses its proper limits, it becomes a raging enemy and a merciless destroyer; but, under due control, it not only ministers to our use, but is also essential to our comfort. It is easy to show that personal religion includes the exercise of love to God and to man. He who made us to show forth his praise, declares both the necessity of loving him, to our own happiness, and the certainty that all the redeemed shall sincerely love him. He displays the amiableness of his own attributes to our hearts as the proper object of our affections, and his excellency to our intellects as the object of our highest esteem: and he sends his Holy Spirit to teach us and to change us, so that, destroying the aversion to his holy and glorious perfections, which is inherent in our morally depraved constitution, the desire of our souls should be effectually and habitually directed to his own name. That same moral temperament, including both a spiritual understanding and a spiritual sensibility, which is in scripture style called spiritual-mindedness, secures, as by the instinct of a new nature provided for this express purpose, the exercise of pure regard for the Lord and for all his people. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. And every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. The love which the divine law prescribes, which the gospel of the grace of God proposes and cherishes, which the Holy Ghost communicates, and which the spiritually-minded man exercises, is a principle of action, pure, powerful, liberal, benevolent indeed, but yet, deeply interested in all its objects. It is pure; for it is both without guile, and unmingled with sensuality. It is neither self-deception, nor deceit practised upon others. It is a reality. It is not the result of an excitement of mere animal nature, or of fancy, associating detached fragments of religion with the love of pleasure, or the love of party, or with the mere natural sympathies of the unsanctified heart: for however common it may be to stir up a passion for religious concerns, by having them artfully commingled with the ordinary feelings of a volatile and ignorant mind, in order to swell the list of ecclesiastical proselytes, the holy affections of a renewed soul are of a different character. The man that loves divine things perceives, with his illuminated intellect, their peculiar excellency, and is affected towards them for their intrinsic worth. The spiritual affection of the saints refuses association with envy, and pride, and vanity, and malevolence, and falsehood-rejoicing not in iniquity, but rejoicing in the truth. It is a powerful principle of action. It is by love the faith of God's elect worketh to the purifying the heart. God's love to his people is effectual in changing them to his own image; and our love to him when produced, co-operates in assimilating us to the object of our regard. It is not an insignificant notion which exists in the mind only as a matter of cold speculation, or the creature of a phrenzied imagination, occasioning zeal without knowledge: but a moral sentiment instinctively propelling the disciples of the Son of God to rejoice in the true doctrine, to seek his own communion, and to do his commandments. Christian love is liberal: for wheresoever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. It is a generous emotion which dilates the heart towards every object worthy of regard, and which produces a communicative or charitable disposition. It makes a man to think and to act towards all others in proportion to their worth, with true liberality. O ye Corinthians! our mouth is open to you, our heart is enlarged-be ye also enlarged. Charity suffereth long, and is kind.* Love is deeply interested in its proper object. It is a propensity of the heart to that in which we take complacency; and it induces, of course, a desire to enjoy it, as well as goodwill for its welfare. We seek the company of the friend we hold in high regard, while we wish him well wheresoever he is. Of Jehovah the believer says, My soul followeth hard after thee. My heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. This is a predominant feature of Christian character. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." Psalm xxvii. 4. Mere benevolence is indeed disinterested: for charity seeketh not her own. It is not in the nature of true religion to * 2 Cor. vi. 11, 13. and 1 Cor. xiii. 4. Few words in any language have been more egregiously misapplied than the words "charity and liberality." In the scriptural use of the word Αγαπη, charity, or more properly love, it is opposed to all unkindness to friend or foe. Its expressions of tenderness behove, of course, to correspond with prudence and with equity. Liberality is opposed to all contractedness of spirit, particularly meanness, avarice, and envy, and partiality. The man who, because he belongs to a great empire, prides himself for his partiality, and abuses another as illiberal who is attached to a commonwealth of smaller dimensions, is himself uncharitable. It is not the man that pleases the multitude for gain, but he who is kind to all according to his power, and values others in proportion to their worth, that is truly liberal. It is not he that flatters the profane, the ignorant, and the immoral, but he that understands and applies the word of God, without respect to rank, to numbers, or to names; and with a regard to the good of others, irrespectively of his own immediate advantage, that practises Christian charity. It is not charity to be indifferent to divine truth. To alter or relinquish any ordinance of God, for the sake of pleasing men, can never be dictated by the love of God. Let us be liberal with that which is our own; but faithful, in what we have in trust from others, especially from the Lord. We owe God obedience in all things. Christian enlargement of heart prompts a man to relinquish his own ease and interest, for the sake of doing good to others; but never induces any one to promote his own interest by accommodating himself to all systems of religion, as alike in worth, because they may happen to be alike in popularity. I may desire and promote the welfare of every one, without tolerating error or vice in any one. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." † In applying to social affection the term disinterested, I am anxious not to be misunderstood. I do not affirm, that a regard to our own happiness, is not a proper principle of action: for I know such an affirmation would not be true. There is in fact no opposition between the principle of benevolence to others, and a regard for our own best interests. In serving God, the saints ever have respect to the recompense of the reward. Total |