Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

people. By a succession of faithful witnesses, it is to be exhibited, held fast, and transmitted pure and entire to future generations ;-The fathers to the children shall make known thy truth. His testimonies and his laws he placed in Israel;-he made that people the guardians of a system so sacred, and so much connected with the glory of God, and the salvation of men, and charged the fathers that they should make it known unto their children. Every Christian is called to buy the truth— not to sell it—and to hold fast the form of sound words. Believers are commanded to strive together for the faith of the Gospel-to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints. The Christian redeemed by the blood of Christ, and renovated by his grace, appearing under the banners of the King of Zion, must approve himself a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Summoning up holy fortitude, he must be valiant for the truth upon earth. Constituted, by his confession of the name of the Redeemer, a witness for Christ, he must bear testimony for the whole sacred system, and be zealous especially for those parts of divine truth which are at present litigated or impugned.

66

(4.) To grow in grace, is to grow in spiritualmindedness.

"Spirituality of affection is not any one particular grace, but a general feature or character of the Christian life. It may be considered as consisting chiefly in devotedness of heart to God, and divine things-in a proper valuation of heavenly blessings in the habitual voluntary contemplation of these objects-in the rest and consolation which the heart finds in them-in ardent desires, and a corresponding activity to secure an interest in these benefits. It is to seek the kingdom of hea ven first in order-first in ardour of pursuit; having our conversation daily in heaven, whence we look for the Saviour; and this temper so moulding our conduct, as to manifest to all that we seek another and a better country.

"The grand Agent in the production and increase of this heavenly temper is the Holy Spirit. From him alone comes that sacred flame which enkindles holy affections. If we muse, the fire must burn. And it is only as we are subjects of his saving influence that we

1

can make progress in this heavenly frame. In regard to the manner of this increase, however, it may be observed, that all spiritual affections are modified in the degree of their exercise by the principles we have already considered. The Christian's valuation of heavenly things, and his desires after divine manifestations are always modified by the degree of his saving illumination, his faith, and his love. In proportion as these are enjoyed, and are in present operation, heavenly blessings rise into view in their glory and importance, and in his estimation all sublunary objects and enjoyments sink in

the scale.

"Under the influence of this temper, the Christian is ardent and uniform in his attendance upon divine institutions, where his heavenly affections find their proper nourishment. And when in the house of God, this temper distinguishes him from the mere formalist or hypocrite. While others come merely to the place or to the ordinances themselves, he is not satisfied with the external part of service; he feels uneasy, and he retires disappointed and dejected, if communion with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ be not his privilege. In prospect of entering the sanctuary, and when there the aspirations of his soul are,- O God, thou art my God! early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is: to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. When, in kindness unto me, wilt thou be pleased to come? O God! all that I desire is still before thine eyes. Lord! lift upon me the light of thy countenance. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.'

66

Entangled with the cares and avocations of the present life-occasionally ensnared with its allurementsmarred in all his exercise by the body of sin and death, the Christian, under this temper, naturally turns his eye to the future and better world, and, with submission to the will of God, longs for deliverance from the present state. Having felt in some good measure the felicity of communion with God,-a blessing which his present physical weakness and moral imperfection forbid to be

his enjoyment in any great degree, or for any long period, his hopes and desires leave the present unhappy scene, and terminate in the better country. These hopes and desires increase in strength, and frequency of exercise, as he approaches the confines of that good land. There he knows he shall see Christ as he is, and know even as he is known. There he knows the weary shall be at rest, and enjoy everlasting refreshing, when the toils and heat of the day of life are at an end. When delivered from the ruins of his present moral condition, and all that is painful in the present state-when death itself shall be swallowed up in victory, he expects to enter into a state of perfect holiness, and full and eternal felicity-into that land where his sun shall no more go down, nor his moon withdraw its shining-where the Lord God shall be his everlasting light, and the days of his mourning shall be ended. With this hope, and these prospects, and that faith which enters in within the vail-which realizes unseen blessings, and gives them a present being in the soul, the Christian lives above the world, and looks and longs for the final, full, and glorious consummation of redemption. As the servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and the hireling looketh for the reward of his work-as the child longs for the state of manhood, and the minor heir for the year of his majorité, so the Christian, advancing in heavenly-mindedness, longs for the period of moral maturity, and for the glories of that state which is his high and happy destiny. Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon with our house from heaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

"Among the attainments made by such as have been Christians for a length of time, there is one which we ought not to pass over :-They are almost universally more catholic than those who are young. By catholic here I do not mean what in modern times is frequently meant by the word. This honourable term, like many others, has been purloined by men without worth, to denote and to ornament a part of their own unworthy character. It has been employed to designate a shameful indifference to truth and error-to virtue and sin.

This

is a direct contrast to the spirit of the men of whom I have been speaking. These men are more attached to truth, and more opposed to error-more ardent in their love to virtue, and their hatred of sin. But they are possessed of more gentleness, and more charitableness in their thoughts-more candour in their judgments--more sweetness in their dispositions-and more evangelical tenderness and moderation in their conduct. They are less ready to censure, and more pleased to commend. Truth they prize more for its own sake, and are less solicitous to ask from whom it comes. Error they oppose in all men; especially in themselves and their friends. Little things they value less, and great ones more. On the names so numerously found in the Christian world, and so highly valued by many who inhabit it, they place little importance. On the parties and sects which disgrace that world they look only with disapprobation and regret. To real and evangelical worth they attach high consideration. Over the feuds and janglings which have so extensively prevailed among the professed followers of Christ, and often about subjects of little moment, they cast an eye of compassion; and lament, that those whom Christ has loved-for whom he died-who will finally be placed at the right hand of the Judge-and who will be united for ever in the friendship of heaven, should be kept asunder, alienated, engaged in contention, and at times even embarked in hostilities, for reasons which they will blush to recite before. the last tribunal, and which will awaken shame, if shame can be awakened, in heaven itself.” *

*The author is indebted to others for the greater part of the sentiments contained in this number.

[70

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

"This privilege was denied him. For offering strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not, there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them; and they died before the Lord. With what emotions did he gather up their ashes, or anticipate the day of final retribution. Unhappy fa ther, doomed to witness thy two sons cut off from the land of the living by the judgments of heaven!! What is the loss of children in infancy, and falling by the stroke of nature, compared to this?"

page 9.

London:

PRINTED FOR FRANCIS WESTLEY, 10, STATIONERS' COURT, AND AVE-MARIA-LANE.

« AnteriorContinua »