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3dly. From these observations also, we learn that humility is a disposition eminently lovely.

Learn of me, says the Saviour of mankind to proud and perishing sinners, for I am meek and lowly of heart. How astonishing a declaration from the mouth of Him who controlled the elements with a word, at whose command the dead were raised to life, and at whose rebuke demons trembled and fled! Draw nigh ye miserable worms of the dust, place yourselves by the side of this glorious person, and recite before him the foundations on which your loftiness rests; your riches, your rank, your talents, and your stations. How will these subjects appear to his eye? How will those appear, who make them the grounds of their self-valuation?— Meekness and lowliness of heart adorned him with beauty inexpressible. Can pride be an ornament to you?

Would you be amiable in the sight of God, you must essentially resemble Him who was "altogether lovely." Even you yourselves cannot but discern, that, had He been proud, it would have tarnished his character, and have eclipsed the face of the Sun of Righteousness.

In the mean time let Christians remember, and feel, that they themselves will be lovely, exactly in proportion as they approximate to the character of the Redeemer in their humility. The same mind, says St. Paul to the Philippians, be in you, which was also in Christ; who, being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. From what a height did he descend! How lowly the visible station which he assumed!

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Your humility towards God will make you lovely in his sight; your humility towards your fellow-Christians will make you lovely in theirs. In both cases, it will be a combination of views and affections conformed to truth, exactly suited to your character and circumstances, and equally conformed to the good pleasure of God, and to the perfect example of his beloved Son. It will mingle with all your affections, and make them sweet and delightful. It will operate on all your conduct, and make it amiable in the sight of every beholder. From pride and all its wretched consequences, it will deliver you. Of the grace of God it will assure you. For to this man will I look, says the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, even to him, who is of a humble and contrite spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. It will accompany you through life, and lessen all the troubles, and increase all the comforts, of your pilgrimage. It will soften your dying bed, and enhance your hope and your confidence before the last tribunal.

SERMON XCV.

THE LAW OF GOD.-THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT,— RESIGNATION,

LUKE Xxii. 41, 42.—And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

THE next exercise of love to God in our progress is Resig

nation.

Of this excellence the text contains the most perfect example, which has been recorded or witnessed in the Universe. Our Saviour while in the Garden of Gethsemane having withdrawn from his disciples about a stone's cast, kneeled down, and prayed, under an agonizing sense of the evils, which he was about to suffer. His prayer in the midst of this agony was, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done! The situation of Christ was much more trying than we can conceive. Yet in this situation he bows his will entirely to the will of God; and prays him to remove the cup, only on the condition that he is willing; and that not his own will, but the will of the Father, may be done. The occasion was wonderful: the Resignation was complete. He yielded himself entirely into the hands of his Father; and earnestly desired, that his will, whatever it should cost himself, might be done. Nothing can be more edifying, than this example: nor can any thing be more instructive. By it we are taught,

1st. That Religious Resignation is a quiet yielding of ourselves to the disposal of God, and not to the mere sufferance of evil.

CHRIST prayed earnestly, and repeatedly, that, if it were possible, the evil, or the cup, might pass from him. That this was perfect rectitude on his part will not be questioned. What he, with perfect rectitude, desired to escape, we may, with entire rectitude also, desire to escape. As he was not willing to suffer evil; it was perfectly right, that he should not be willing. It is entirely right, therefore, that we should be equally unwilling.

But Christ was entirely willing to do, and to suffer, whatever God willed him to do, or to suffer. He was, however, disposed thus to do, and suffer, merely because it was the will of God; and because that will requires nothing, but what is perfectly wise and good, and perfectly desirable. As, therefore, the perfect Resignation of our Saviour was a yielding of himself to the will of God, and not at all to mere suffering; so it is clear, beyond a debate, that Religious Resignation is, in every case, of this nature only. VOL. III.

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2dly. That it is our duty to resign ourselves to the will of God entirely; and that, in all situations of life.

The situation, in which Christ expressed the Resignation in the text, was certainly much more trying, than any which men experience in the present world. At the same time, he had not merited this distress by any fault, or defect, of his own. His pure and perfect mind was free, alike, from error and from sin. Accordingly, in that memorable prayer, contained in the 17th chapter of John, and uttered just before his agony in the garden, he could say with perfect confidence, as well as with exact truth and propriety, I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work, which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father! glorify thou me, with thine own self, with the glory, which I had with thee before the world was. Yet in this situation of peculiar distress, he gave up, entirely, every wish of his own: choosing rather to suffer these wonderful afflictions, if it was the will of God that he should suffer them, than to escape them, if it was not. Whatever afflictions befal us, we are ever to remember, that we have deserved them; and that they are always inferior in intenseness to those, which were suffered by Christ. Our reasons for resigning ourselves entirely to the disposal of God, therefore, are, in some respects, greater than his. In all situations, it of course becomes us to be still, and know, that he who afflicts us is God.

To render our Resignation entire, it is indispensable, that it should be unmingled with murmuring, impatience, distrust of the "goodness of God, or any dissatisfaction with his Providence. We may lawfully wish, not to suffer evil, considered by itself; but we cannot lawfully wish, that the will of God should not be done.Nor can we lawfully complain, at any time, of that which is done by his will. He, who complains, has not, if he is resigned at all, arrived at the due degree of Resignation. Jeremiah, with irresistible force, asks, Shall a living man complain; a man for the punishment of his sins?

3dly. Religious Resignation is perfectly consistent with the clearest, and strongest, sense of the evils, which we suffer; and with the deepest distress, while we suffer.

Christ, as I have observed, was perfectly resigned. Yet Christ felt, in the deepest manner, the whole extent of the evils which he suffered. This we know, both because he prayed to be delivered from them, if it were possible; and because his agonies forced the "sweat to descend upon him in the form of great drops of blood. What Christ did, in this respect, it is lawful for us to do. Christ felt these evils to their full extent; and yet was perfectly resigned. We, therefore, may in the same manner feel the evils, which we experience; and yet be the subjects, in this very conduct, of true Evangelical Resignation.

4thly. Christian Resignation is perfectly consistent with the most fervent supplications to God for deliverance from the evils which we suffer.

The evidence of this is complete in the example of Christ. Christ thus prayed, while yet he was perfectly resigned: we, of course, may thus pray, without lessening at all the degree, or af fecting the genuineness, of our Resignation.

The obligations, which we are under to exercise this spirit, are founded both in the command of God, and the nature of things. The command of God carries with it, in all cases, an authority and obligation, which are without limits. With this authority he requires us to be resigned to his whole will; asserting it, with the most perfect propriety, to be His prerogative alone to prescribe, and our duty entirely to obey. We are his creatures; and are, therefore, under all possible obligation to do his pleasure. At the same time, his will is perfectly right; and ought exactly to be obeyed, even if there were no authority to bind, and no reward to retribute, our obedience. Our own supreme good is entirely promoted by our obedience only; both as the obedience itself is delightful, and as it is followed by a glorious and divine reward.

Resignation is not merely a single act, but a general course of obedience; a general preparation of the heart to yield itself to God's known will, and his promised dispensations. I here include, and have all along included, what is commonly called Submission. Submission differs from Resignation in nothing but this: Submission is yielding the heart to the divine will, in that which has already taken place, or is now taking place; and Resignation, yielding the heart to that, which, it is foreseen, may, or will, hereafter take place. The spirit is exactly the same, as to its nature, in all instances; and the difference is found only in regarding the past, present, or future, accomplishment of the divine will. This distinction is so nearly a nominal one only, that both names are used indiscriminately; and of so little importance, as to preclude any necessary regard to it in this discourse.

This disposition is the only becoming temper in suffering creatures, so far as their sufferings are concerned. The sufferings of mankind, in the present world, are all expressions of the will of God. There are but three dispositions, with which they can be regarded; impatience, indifference, or acquiescence. It cannot be necessary for me to show, that the last of these is the only spirit with which we can receive either profitably, or becomingly, the chastisements, inflicted by the hand of God.

To acquiesce in the divine pleasure under sufferings is a strong, an eminently excellent exercise of Love and Reverence to God. It is not easy to conceive how we can give a higher, or more deci sive testimony of our delight in the divine character, or our approbation of the divine government, than by quietly yielding to that government in circumstances of suffering and sorrow; by testifying with the heart, that we have such a sense of the wisdom and goodness of God, as to be satisfied to undergo whatever afflictions he is pleased to send upon us; and to give up our own wishes and com

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forts, that the pleasure of God may be done, and his glory promoted. This is an exercise of love to our Maker, which proves itself to be genuine, and excellent, by the willing self-denial, which it encounters; and by the victory, which it gains over interest and pleasure powerfully present.

It is also to be remembered, that the Christian, notwithstanding he is a Christian, is still a sinful being. Afflictions are punishments of his sins, incomparably less, than he has deserved. Resignation to them is a candid, equitable, dutiful acknowledgment of the justice of God in sending them, and a humble confession of the sins, by which they have been deserved.

By this spirit the general selfishness of the mind is gradually wasted away; the strength of passion and appetite continually weakened; its impiety prevented; its ingratitude destroyed; and its rebellion broken down. The rebel is converted into a child. A serenity and quietness of disposition take possession of the soul; allay the bitterness of its distresses; sooth all its tumults into peace; mingle comfort in the cup of sorrow; and happily blend with all its sufferings the inherent delight of Resignation; a supporting sense of the approbation and favour of God.

REMARKS.

From this passage of Scripture, thus considered, it is evident, 1st. That willingness to suffer Perdition is no part of Christian Resignation.

It is well known to my audience, that the contrary doctrine to that which I have here asserted, has been taught by men of distinguished reputation for learning and piety: and it is equally well known, that no human learning and piety will furnish a sufficient security from error. All human opinions, therefore, may be warrantably questioned; and none are to be received without evidence, upon the mere reputation of their authors. While, therefore, I would treat the authors with becoming respect; I shall take the liberty freely to question their opinions.

That Christian Resignation does not at all involve a willingness to suffer perdition is, in my view, unanswerably clear from the text. To the arguments derived from this source, I shall, however, add a few, out of many, suggested by the nature of the subject.

In the first place, Christian Resignation is Resignation to nothing but the will of God. This position has, if I mistake not, been proved beyond debate, in the body of the discourse. The will of God, by which we are to be governed, is plainly that which is, or can be, known to us. The proof of this, both from reason and Scripture, is complete. Reason teaches us, or rather we know by intuition, that it is impossible for us to be governed by a rule, which we cannot know. Revelation informs us, that secret things belong to God; and that only the things which are revealed belong to us,