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must have funk under it. Whereas now we are fure, that as our danger is, fo fhall our ftrength be that God is faithful, who will not fuffer us to be tempted above what we are able; but will, with the temptation, make a way to escape*. Moft gladly therefore, with St. Paul, may we glory in our infirmities, fince his grace is fufficient for us, and his ftrength is made perfect in our weaknefst and moft cheerfully may we fet ourselyes to work out our own falvation, fince it is be that works in us, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure ‡. Let us often confider then, what thankfulness it deferves, that Cod's Holy Spirit is thus active for our benefit; and at the fame time let us always remember by whom this bleffing is procured for us: I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter. The interceffion of our bleffed Lord, founded on his facrifice of himself to divine juftice in our ftead, this is the channel through which grace is derived from the Fountain of all Good; and a lively faith in him is the only way of opening our hearts to receive the falutary ftreams of it. But then, as faith without works is dead §, we must be fure carefully to improve this invaluable gift. It was an ancient and ufeful precept of philofophy, that men fhould learn to reverence themfelves and their own confciences. If this were not fufficient to keep wrong inclinations in awe, it was further directed, that they fhould imagine they were acting in the presence of some venerable perfon, whom they would be afhamed to have fee their wickednefs and their folly. Such as had perfecter notions of things, went yet further; and taught men, that in all which they thought and did, they were under the eye of an infinitely juft and holy Being, the Maker, Lord, and Judge of all. It may feem that this confideration is the very weightieft that poffibly can be and yet it will ftrike us with an additional awe, if we reflect moreover, that in committing fin, we act not only against his known will, before his face, but against his counfel and command at that yery time given us that he is not only a witnefs of the good thoughts and fuggeftions that we reject, but himfelf the author of them: that when our hearts tell us we are doing ill, it is not their voice merely,

I Cor. x. 13. † 2 Cor. xii, 9. ‡ Phil. ii. 12, 13.

but

{ James ii. 20.

but that of the Almighty speaking to us inwardly, that we difregard. Seldom do we fail in any great inftance of our duty, but fomething within at the inftant reproaches us with doing wrong. Were this nothing but our own judgment, we fhould be highly blameable for contradicting it. But what conviction must we feel, when we know it is indeed the Spirit of God; and reflect how often, how wilfully, how contemptuously, we have difobeyed fuch a monitor! The epiftle to the Hebrews exhorts them: Be not forgetful to entertain ftrangers; for thereby fome have entertained angels unawares*, Much stronger is the argument, why we should admit and embrace every pious and virtuous impulfe and fuggeftion; for this is receiving into our fouls a greater than angels, the Holy Ghost himself. Let us therefore humbly invite this divine gueft to dwell with us, and ever open our hearts to his heavenly inspirations; which, as they will never prompt us to any thing but what reafon or fcripture plainly dictates, and, by that one mark, are easily distinguished from every false pretence to the Spirit; fo they will effectually enable us, and they alone can, to perfevere in our duty against all temptations; they will fill us with comfort under all afflictions; daily improve us in all virtue and godliness of living; and make us at length completely meet for the bleffed inheritance of the faints in light ↑.

*Heb. xii. 2.

† Col, i. 12.

SER

SERMON CX.

THE ONLY SATISFYING EVIDENCE THAT A PORTION OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS IMPARTED TO MEN, IS THE UNIFORM DISPLAY OF PRACTICAL PIETY AND VIRTUE.

GAL. v. 22, 23.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against fuch

there is no law.

HESE words, even at the first reading of them, prefent

THES

to us a very engaging defcription of the good effects of the Spirit of God on the hearts of Chriftians; and confequently fet before us a fubject extremely proper for our at tention at this time, when we celebrate the effufion, not only of his miraculous gifts, but of his faving graces: the former of which were no more than the means of spreading the gofpel, the latter one of the great ends attained by it; the one temporary, the other perpetual.

But to apprehend the defign of St. Paul in this paffage more completely, it will be requifite to bear in our minds his principal intention throughout the epiftle; which was to prove, that believers in Chrift were not bound to obferve the law of Mofes; nor allowed, if they did obferve it, to confider that as the ground of their acceptance with God. Thefe indeed are points, concerning which we at prefent are fully fatisfied; and therefore may poffibly wonder at his tak ing fo much pains to clear them up. But men were then very generally, and fomewhat naturally, inclined to the contrary doctrine that law being confeffedly of divine inftitution; and our Saviour and his apoftles, and all the first converts to Christianity, having kept it with great regard. Con

fider alfo, that on the queftion, whether it was to be kept still, the practice, not only of that, but of every fucceeding age, greatly depended. For even we of this must have borne the yoke of all the Jewish ceremonies, and retained all the ftatutes of the Jewish commonwealth, had it been at firft decided that they continued obligatory. Nay, in a yet more important respect must the temper, and spirit of our religion, have been different from what it is, had we either expected to be justified by the works of our own righteousness in fulfilling God's law, as moft of the Jews did; which must have nourished within us a Pharifaical pride, inftead of Chriftian humility; or had we been convinced, as we eafily might, that our beft works cannot endure the feverity of God's judgment * ; and yet had been left to look for eternal life from precepts, which we obeyed fo imperfectly, that they could only condemn us, inftead of refting our hopes on him alone who came to fave us. You will eafily infer, that our mistake would be equally fatal, were we now to truft folely to our Christian good deeds, as if we had trusted in the Jewish. It was therefore with great reason, and great benefit to the faithful of all times, that St. Paul dwelt fo much on these points, in fo many of his epiftles, as he did. For in moft he hath inculcated them more or lefs, though in none fo earnestly throughout as

in that before us.

But then, as the law of Mofes confifted not only of religious ceremonies, and rules of civil government, but moral duties likewife; and all thefe had been obferved together on the fame footing; to convince men, that the two former were defigned to fubfift no longer, and yet preserve a due regard to the laft, was an affair of the utmost difficulty, but notwithftanding of abfolute neceffity. And therefore, as foon as ever he had afferted to the Galatians the liberty wherewith Chrift bad made them free, and exhorted them, in the beginning of this chapter, to ftand faft in it, he quickly proceeds to confine it, ver. 13. within its proper bounds, by fubjoining, Only ufe not liberty for an occafion to the flesh; that is, to any wicked purpose. For our propenfities to fin are frequently expreffed in fcripture by the word flesh, because they arife from

7

our

• Art. zii..

our prefent fallen ftate in this mortal body; as, on the contrary, our difpofitions to good are distinguished by the name Spirit, because they proceed from the Spirit of God; and perhaps in part alío, because they are approved by the fpirit or reason of our own minds. Thus he opposes them in two verfes after Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the Tufts of the flesh.

:

But fuch general terms, though very useful on account of their comprehenfiveness, are liable to be mifapplied, or paffed over with too little attention. And therefore, that no one might be ignorant of his own state, fince every thing is beft known by what it doth and produces, he lays before them a catalogue, firft, of works of the flesh; then, in the text, of fruits of the Spirit: for he will not honour with the latter name the unfruitful works of darkness. The former, he faith, are manifeft; it being easy for persons themselves, and all about them, to fee if they are grofsly wicked. But whether indeed we are truly good, is a matter much lefs obvious; but of too great confequence, both to our direction and our comfort, not to be examined with the most accurate care.

For this purpose then I fhall at prefent endeavour,

I. To explain, as far as is necessary, the nature of the feveral virtues mentioned in the text:

II. To fhew in what fenfe, and how far they are the fruits of the Spirit:

III. To lay before you the meaning and importance of that expreflion, that against fuch there is no law.

I. To explain the nature of the feveral virtues mentioned in the text where probably the apoftle did not intend to make out a complete lift of Chriftian graces, but to fpecify thofe only, on which it was moft neceflary to fix the minds of the perfons to whom he wrote. The reft would be underftood by parity of reason, or further instruction, if they were not already; and had they been all crowded together, the multiplicity would have distracted their thoughts too much.

Now, the duties of which mankind in general want to be reminded the ofteneft, and of which the Galatians particularly wanted to be reminded then, were thofe of kind and charitable

* Eph. v. II.

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