but through him; no knowledge of any thing but Christ crucified, no capacity of pardon, or of grace, or of salvation, but by the merits of his death, "and whether I eat, or whether I drink, or whatever I do, I must do all to the glory of God."a Then, O my soul, be not content with a mere formal abandonment of sin. Be not content with a cold and stiff compliance with God's will, but go further, let thy conversation be totally in heaven. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ." Desire to be "clothed upon with your house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed, you shall not be found naked; not that you would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up in life."c THE MEANS. BUT how shall I attain this perfection of Christian character, "for who hath known the mind of the Lord ?"d First, let me honestly examine what the world is, and what heaven is. I will weigh them in the balance, and where the highest value is, there shall be my preference. a 1 Cor. x. 31. b Gal. iii. 27. с 2 Cor. v. 2—4. But what constitutes the value of a possession? I. Its Durability. Suppose I possess all the treasures of the world, its honours, its riches, its reputation. Yet will they endure? An end, sooner or later, they must have. But heaven is eternalThe things of the world, "Like a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed; but thy years fail not." The inheritance of the righteous shall be for ever, and they shall receive a crown of glory which fadeth not away. II. Its Strength. There may be beauty in the countenance, and a goodly colour in the skin, and yet withal rottenness in the bones. The pleasures of the world present a good appearance—the outward works are fair, but on what foundation do they rest? The foundation is of sand; but the foundation of heavenly things is on the rock, and that spiritual rock is Christ." Riches may make to themselves wings. The applause of the multitude varies with the wind, and, like the apostle Paul, we may be a Ps. cii. 26. b1 Pet. v. iv. c 1 Cor. x. iv. said at one moment to be a god, at another "a murderer."a But Heaven-If I make Christ my peace, I am strong; if I make God my treasure, "no moth or rust can corrupt it, no thief break through and steal." If my hope is in thee, O Lord my righteousness, no change of time shall weaken it-If God be my friend, he will be faithful and true; in time of need, he will be near at hand; in time of danger, he will help me. III. The Cheapness of the Price. Is the possession of the world a cheap possession? Have I paid nothing to obtain it? Is the service of mammon a light service? What toil, what labour, yea, what sacrifice of all the noble and spiritual qualities of man, is there for the poor slave of this heavy taskmaster! The tale of bricks will be demanded, and withal no straw to work them with. He dares not disobey its commandments, be they ever so grievous;-He dares not run counter to its customs, be they ever so absurd. It exacts that only purity of body which contributes to health; it requires that only purity of mind which contributes to serenity and peace; it desires that only restraint which, if kept, I shall thank God for every day I live here, and which will produce hereafter such joy as no man taketh from me. But I cannot from my own reason make my adjustments clear. My judgment is perplexed. The balance that I hold is unsteady. Well, then, there are other means at hand, and even better. "The sword of the spirit which is the word of God." Here surely is a means sufficient, here is than my own way through all a weapon by which, better experience, I may cut my the delusions of worldliness, and give my soul its flight to God. Can I read that Holy book and behold its warnings, its assurances, its inward testimonies, and yet be of the world? Where can I find assertions for the eventual overthrow of the worldly given more strongly, than by the Spirit of God speaking in his scriptures? O let my meditation be therein by night and by day: Let me read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the sacred precepts of my God; and then, by patience and comfort of * Ephes. vi. 17. his holy word, I shall love the world less, and Jesus more; I shall rightly choose between God and Baal, and promptly choose; for surely, though the world "cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, until the blood gush out upon them, yet still the Lord he is the God-the Lord he is the God."a Nor less that holy sacrament, in preparation for which, I am now in commune with my God. What means of reminding me of the joys of Heaven, and the vanities of the world could there be devised, so vivid, so effectual, so sure, as this! Here is presented to me the picture of my Saviour's death so faithfully, so truly! Here am I reminded of those grievous things which Christ endured, the stripes, the buffettings, the spitting--all which he did endure for my sake. O shall I not hate the world which hated him so bitterly? Shall I not with my soul's best affections follow Jesus, from the cradle to the cross, and from the cross to those blessed regions of glory where now he sits at the right hand of God, and have my conversation there? O my soul, if thou art not moved by the body and blood of Jesus received in his holy Eucharist; if thou dost not become, by 1 Kings xviii. 21-39. |