SERMON LXXXV.

THE FIGHT OF FAITH.

'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."-2 Tim. iv., 7, 8.

How blessed it is to stand by the death-bed of God's children! How different from that of the wicked! The wicked sometimes die in anguish. Some have been known to cry out: "Lost, lost, lost! O eternity! O for half an hour, to pray!" Some die in blasphemy, cursing God for their pains and their sores. The greater number die like a beast, without any thought or care, except for the body: "They have no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are laid in their graves like sheep, and the upright have dominion over them in the morning."

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How sweet, compared with these, is the departure of God's children! They fell asleep in Jesus: "I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." Paul here compares it, 1. To the pouring out of a drink-offering: "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.”—Phil. ii., 17. He felt so entirely dedicated and given away to God, that his death was like the pouring out of the wine-offering, which already belonged to God. 2. To the departure of a ship: "The hour of my departure is at hand." The things of time were like the cables that bound him to this world; but soon his bark was to be loosed from the shore, to sail forward to the shore of glory, to be moored for evermore.

In these words we have the secret of a joyful death-bed. 1. He looks back upon the life of pain. 2. He looks forward to the crown of glory.

1. He looks back. Threefold view.

He does not look back to his life before conversion at all. He often did so, but it was to condemn it: "I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."-1 Tim. i., 13. "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God."-1.Cor. xv., 9. "Beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it."-Gal. i., "I am the chief." Paul never forgot his old life; but not one ray of comfort came from it, only condemnation. It was his life since conversion that he now looked to, not as his righteousness before God, but only as showing that he was really a sinner saved through Christ.

1. I have fought a good fight. Every day since his conversion

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he had been fighting; he had been passing through an enemy's country, and had to fight his way. (1.) With his corruptions. Warring."-Rom. viii. "Flesh lusting."-Gal. v. "A thorn in the flesh."-2 Cor. x. Paul knew what these inward fightings are. He probably experienced them more than any one here. (2.) With the world. As long as he was Saul the blasphemer, the world caressed him; but when he was made Paul the apostle, the world hated him. The more he loved, the more they hated. "I have fought with beasts at Ephesus." His only weapons were the word of God, and yet he fought on against a world lying in wickedness. (3.) With the devil. "A messenger of Satan." "We wrestle not against flesh and blood."-2 Cor. x. He had experienced much of this. "We are not ignorant of his devices."

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Still it was "a good fight."-1 Tim. i., 18. "War a good warfare."-1 Tim. vi., 12. "Fight the good fight of faith." Öften when we are in the midst of afflictions and temptations, we grow weary of the conflict. It is a hard lot. But when we look back from eternity, every redeemed soul will be able to say: It was a good fight. (1.) Because we are sure to overcome. "We are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us." In other battles we know not how it will go, until the battle is done; but in this we have a sure promise of victory. We have sweet glimpses of triumph even in the thickest of the battle, sweet confidence in Jesus. (2.) It keeps us close to our Captain. If we had no fight, we would not keep near to Jesus; but when we suffer such fearful attacks, we are glad to hide ourselves under Jesus's wings. (3.) Because glorifying to God. His glory is involved in it. Often we would wish no fight; but not so in glory. There we shall see that every trial was glorifying to God, bringing out some new feature of his grace, power, and love. Are you fighting this good fight? Soon we shall look back.

2. I have finished my course.-The moment a soul is brought to Christ, he has a course to run: "And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose." Acts xiii., 25. Paul says: "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God." Acts xx., 24. "Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Heb. xii., 1. Every one has a different course, like the planets. All do not shine in the same part of the sky, and so every believer has his course; a work to do. One has the course of a minister-another the course of a master-servant. The misery of inconsistencies; leaving the course. Each of us has a work to do for Christ; let

us do it diligently. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me."

3. I have kept the faith.—I think the dying thief could say, 1 believe, and enter with joy into paradise; but he could not say, "I have kept the faith." This makes the difference between a peaceful and a triumphant death-bed. Paul "bought the truth, and sold it not." That good thing committed to him he kept, by the Holy Ghost given unto him. He held the beginning of his confidence steadfast unto the end.

Learn that perseverance in the faith is needful to a triumphant death-bed. It is Christ, and Christ alone, that is our peace in dying; yet the hand that has longest held him has the firmest hold. It is not our perseverance that is our righteousness before God, but the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus; and yet without perseverance in the faith ye cannot be saved. Alas! you that turn aside to folly, you are preparing clouds for your dying bed. Can you say you have kept the faith, poor backslider!

II. What he looked forward to.

1. That day." I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." .2 Tim. i., 12. "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." 2 Tim. i., 18. A great day of Christ's appearing, and all his saints with him. It was not merely the day of death to which he looked forward; then he would immediately pass into glory; he would go to be in Paradise; he would be absent from the body, and present with the Lord; he would be blessed dying in the Lord; but he looked forward to that day, because it is the day of Christ's full glory; the day of the gladness of his heart. There is something selfish in merely desiring the day of death; but there is a heavenly joy in looking for the day of his appearing.

2. The crown of righteousness.-A crown of glory; a crown of life; an incorruptible crown, that will never die; nor shall the wearer die any more. A crown of righteousness; a crown waiting those that have put on the armor of God and the breastplate of righteousness: a crown laid up. It is ready from all eternity. It is ready now when we are fighting. Your crown is laid up. · 3. The Lord shall give it me.—How sweet it will be, when Christ puts on the crown on a sinner's brow! The just God and Saviour! Angels will shout for joy when they see the righteous Jesus crowning the sinners for whom he died. He will finish our redemption. He was crowned with thorns; he has been an advocate crowned with glory and majesty; but another step, he is to put on the crown of righteousness. All heaven and earth and hell own him faithful and true, and righteous in all his ways. Oh! how sweet to be crowned by Jesus.

4. Along with all that love his appearing.-One thing would

make us sad: Am I only to be crowned? No, no; "not to me only." Paul could not be happy in heaven without seeing others saved along with him. It gave him joy on his death-bed, to think that myriads and myriads besides him would wear the crown, many whom he had been the means of saving.

Dundee, 1842.

SERMON LXXXVI.

INTO THINE HAND I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.

"Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."-Ps. xxxi., 5.

THERE is something peculiarly sweet in these words, because they are the words used by the Lord Jesus in his agony. For six long hours he hung upon the accursed tree, bearing the sins of many. No thought of man can imagine the load he bore: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The vinegar mingled with gall was bitter, but it was nothing to the cup of wrath; the pain of his mangled body was terrible, but it was nothing to the intense agony. of the sword of justice that pierced him. This was his last solemn cry: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit;" and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. It is sweet to an afflicted sufferer to use the same words as Jesus. It is sweet to use the words of a departed friend. We treasure them in our memory, and embalm them in our hearts. But what friend is like Jesus, whose words were all gracious words?

It is sweet to a heavy-laden convinced sinner to take up the words of Jesus in the 40th Psalm: "Innumerable evils have compassed me about, and mine iniquities have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up." It is sweet to a believing soul to take up his words in Isa..., 8: "He is near that justifieth me; who is he that will contend with me?"

And so it is sweet for a poor afflicted, dying worm to take up these sweet words: "Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

Observe three things:

1. The person who speaks-a tempted, afflicted soul. Such was David: "Pull me out of the net."-Verse 4. Satan and the world had cast a net around his soul. Snare after snare, like the meshes of a net, enclosed him. He felt himself helpless: "I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel." Nowhere can he go, but to his redeeming God: "Into thine hand

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I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

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Such was the Lord Jesus: "Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion."--Ps. xxii., 12. Where could he go but to his God? Into thy hands I commend my spirit." So there may be some tempted, afflicted here, enclosed in the net of Satan-beset by bulls of Bashan; let him take up his sweet word: "Into thy hands I commend my spirit."

2. The person to whom he speaks-The Redeemer. On the one side there is a worm; on the other, a redeeming God. When the Lord Jesus took up this word he put in Father: for the Father was his Redeemer. When he had finished the work which the Father gave him to do; when he had drunk the last dregs of infinite suffering; he could look up and claim full deliverance: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." When Stephen took up this saying, he said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." The Redeemer scems to be chiefly meant; he that bore our sins in his own body on the tree, not excluding the other persons of the Godhead. It is a poor, guilty, helpless worm looking up to him that died for us: Into thine hand I commit my spirit, O Lord God, faithful and true.

3. The thing committed-" My spirit." The soul of man is the most precious part. I do not mean to speak lightly of the bodyfar from it. It is the creation of God, and though frail, and about to crumble in dust, yet it is a dear companion, and will be raised again incorruptible. But the spirit is the precious part. "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" The soul was made in the image of God. It is this which the poor tempted soul commits to the great Redeemer's hands; the part where sin commences, and bursts forth in action; where guilt lies heavy; where the blood of Jesus giveth peace; where Satan tempts the spirit. It is this the man gives in charge to the great Redeemer of souls.

I. The times when we should do this.

1. The time of conversion. This seems to be the meaning of Paul: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." Sometimes conversion is described in the Bible from God's part in it: Jesus finding the lost sheep; Jesus passing by, and spreading his skirt over the soul; the Father drawing the soul to Jesus. At other times it is described from the creature's part: Coming to Jesus, beholding the Lamb, cleaving to Christ; or as here, committing the spirit to his hands. O it is a happy day, when a poor sinner discovers that his spirit is wholly lost and undone; that his soul is like the leper's body, unclean, unclean; that