:CD CD !co HOMILETIC^E: (PHINCIPALLY IN THE FORM OF SKELETONS) NOW FIRST DIGESTED INTO ONE CONTINUED SERIES, AND FORMING A COMMENTARY Cl ON EVERY BOOK OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, AN IMPROVED EDITION OF A TRANSLATION OF CLAUDE S ESSAY ON THE COMPOSITION OF A SERMON. IN TWENTY-ONE VOLUMES. BY THE REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A. SF.MOR FELLOW OF KING S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. ROMANS. LONDON: HOLDSWOHTH AND BALL, AMEN CORNER, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCC XXXIII. CONTENTS TO VOL. XV. ....cour... Text suhjeot. Pjjje. 1819. 1820. 1821. 1822. 1823. ROMANS i. 8. i. 912. i. 16. i. 20, 21. i. 30. A Minister s Joy over his People . Paul s Love to the Church at Rome . No Man to be ashamed of the Gospel The lost State of the Gentile World . Men Haters of God 1 5 9 16 22 1824. 1825. 1826. ii. 35. ii. 611. ii. 1723. Those who judge Others, judged , The Rule of God s future Judgment . Inconsistent Christians remonstrated 28 35 41 1827. ii. 28, 29. The Nature and Excellence of true 47 1828. 1829 iii. 1, 2. iii. 3, 4. Christians Advantages above Heathens The Folly of Unbelief 51 5,"> 1830. 1831. 1832. 1833. iii. 1020. iii. 20. iii. 21, 22. iii. 24 26. The Extent of Man s Depravity . Our Violations of every Commandment The Believer s Righteousness . The Justice of God in justifying Sin- 61 65 75 79 1834. 1835. 1836. 1837 iii. 27, 28. iii. 31. iv. 18. iv. 7, 8. Justification without Boasting . Faith establishes the Law .... Justification by Faith alone .... 83 89 92 100 1838. iv. 16. Justification by Faith necessary to the Honour of God and the Happiness of Man . 106 1 OQQ i v> 20 25. 112 1840. v. 15. Benefits arising from a justifying 116 1841. 1842. v. 610. v. 11. The Believer s Security in Christ Happiness of the more-advanced Be liever ......... 121 127 VI CONTENTS. ,_., TfXt. Subject Page. 1843. ROMANS V. 18, 19. Death by Adam, and Life by Christ . 132 1844. v. 20, 21. The abundant Grace of God . . 137 1845. vi. 14. The Gospel secures the Practice of Holiness 141 1846. vi. 811. The Christian risen tcith Christ in newness of Life 146 1847. vi. 14. j j A Promise of Victory over Sin 150 1848. vi. 17. Conversion a Ground of Thanksgiving 153 1849. vi. 21. Unprofitableness and Folly of Sin 156 1850. vi. 23. Man s Desert, and God s Mercy . 161 1851. vii. 4. Deadness to the Law, and Union with Christ 165 1852. vii. 7. The spirituality of the Law 168 1853. vii. 9. The spirituality of the Law 171 1854. vii. 18 23. Spiritual Conflicts of Believers . 174 1855. vii. 24, 25. Paul s spiritual Conflicts .... 181 1856. viii. 1. The Privilege of true Christians . 185 1857. viii. 2. The Gospel frees Men from Sin and Death 188 1858. viii. 3, 4. Christ the Author of our Sanctijication 191 1859. viii. 5. The carnal and the spiritual Man 195 1860. viii. 6. The carnal and spiritual Mind con- 199 1861. viii. 7, 8. Vileness and Impotency of the natural Man 202 1862. viii. 9. Necessity of having the Spirit of Christ 205 1863. viii. 9. The Offices of the Holy Spirit 209 1864. viii. 9. Our Need of the Holy Spirit . 223 1865. viii. 9. The Spirit s Work in Unbelievers 237 1866. viii. 9. The Spirit s Work in Believers . 250 1867. viii. 12. God s dwelling in us is a Motive to 265 1868. viii. 13. 267 1869. viii. 14. The Leadings of the Spirit .... 270 1870. viii. 15. Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption . 276 1871. viii. 16. The Witness of the Spirit .... 283 1872. viii. 17. The Privileges of God s Children 286 1873. viii. 18. Present Troubles and future Glory . 290 CONTENTS. Vjl Discourse. Text. subject. p.*. 1874. ROMANS viii. 23. The State of God s Children . . 294 1875 viii. 24, 25. The Office of Hope .... 300 1876 viii. 26. The Work of the Spirit in strength ening Men for Suffering or Duty . 307 1877 viii. 28. All Things work for Good .... 310 1878 viii. 29, 30. Predestination considered . 312 1879 viii. 32. God s Gift of his Son a Ground for expecting every other Blessing . 321 1880. viii. 33, 34. Paul s Confidence 324 1881. viii. 38, 39. Paul s Assurance of persevering . 329 1882. ix. 14. The Privileges of Jews and Christians 333 1883. ix. 15. Our Duty towards the Jews 338 1884. ix. 6. Israel in the midst of Israel . 344 1885. ix. 16. God s sovereign Mercy the Source of all our Blessings v> " 1 1886. ix. 1924. God s Sovereignty not to be arraigned 358 1887. ix. 3033. Christ rejected by the Jews, and be lieved on by the Gentiles 367 1888. x. 1. Paul s Love to his Brethren . . . 372 1889. x. 4. Christ the End of the Law for Right eousness 377 1890. x 810 Gospel Salvation t) i i 1891. x. 1215. Salvation by Christ universally to be proclaimed 389 1892. x. 20, 21. Christ made known to the Gentiles . 394 1893. xi. 5. The Lord s People a chosen Remnant 400 1894. xi. 6. Grace and Works opposed to each other as Grounds of Salvation . . 407 1895. xi. 11, 12. The Restoration of the Jews a Bless ing to the Gentiles 413 1896. xi. 1721. Neglect of the Jews reproved . 419 1897. xi. 20. Against Pride and Security . 424 1898. xi. 22 24. The Dispensations of God totvards 428 1899. xi. 2527. The future Salvation of all Israel 442 1900. xi. 28, 29. The Jews still beloved of God for their Fathers sake 445 1901. xi. 30, 31. The Gospel given to us as a Deposit 451 Vlll CONTENTS. 1..C.,. Te x t Subject. Page. ROMANS 1902. xi. 33. The Unsearchableness of God s Ways 456 1903. xi. 3436. God All in All 463 1904. xii. 1. Devotedness to God recommended . 467 1905. xii. 2. Against Conformity to the World . 471 1906. xii. 3. Sobriety of Mind enjoined .... 476 1907. xii. 48. Christians are all Members of one Body 481 1908. xii. 912. Christian Duties to God and Man explained ........ 487 1909. xii. 15. Suimoathu recommended . 492 1910. xii. 21. J 3 Overcoming Evil with Good 499 1911. xiii. 1 7. Duty to Civil Governors .... 503 1912. xiii. 11. The Nearness of Salvation a Motive to 510 1913. xiii. 12. 513 1914. xiii. 14. Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ . 515 1915. xiv. 7 9. The Extent and Grounds of Chris tian Obedience ...... 520 1916. xiv. 10 12. 523 1917. xiv. 1719. / Practical Christianity illustrated . 528 1918. xiv. 22. Regard to Conscience recommended . 534 1919. xv. 13. Self-denying Love inculcated . 540 1920. xv. 5, 6. Preferring the Good of Others 547 1921. xv. 812. The Universality of Christ s Kingdom 549 1922. xv. 13. The Holy Ghost, the Author of Hope 553 1923. xv. 15, 16. Ministering to the Gentiles, a good 556 1924. xv. 26, 27. Christians Debtors to the Jews 561 1925. xv. 29. The Gospel a Source of Blessings 579 1926. xv. 30. Prayer for Ministers 586 1927. xvi. 19, 20. j j Practical Wisdom recommended . 592 1928. xvi. 20. r >96 ROMANS. MDCCCXIX. A MINISTER S JOY OVER HIS PEOPLE. Rom. i. 8. / thank my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all. AS a title of honour, a minister may assume the character of an ambassador from God. But the paternal relation is that which exhibits him before us in the most endearing view. Under the character of a father, St. Paul frequently addressed his con verts*. Sometimes he even compared himself with a mother " travailing in birth with them b ;" yea, and as a nursing mother, drawing forth, as it were, the breast to them, and " desiring to impart to them his very soul, because they were so dear to him ." There is scarcely one of his Epistles which does not begin with thanking God for them, and pouring forth his petitions in their behalf. The Church of Rome, though he had " never yet seen their face in the flesh," were exceeding dear to him; and the more so, because the fame of their attainments had spread throughout the whole world. They were not all equally eminent ; yet for all of them, without excep tion, did he return thanks to God : nor did he think it at all necessary to abstain from bestowing just commendations upon them d . Nor shall we do wrong, if, with paternal regard, we express our thankfulness to God for the blessings he has bestowed on those over whom he has placed us, and whom he has graciously committed to our pastoral care. a 1 Thess, ii. 11. b Gal. iv. 19. c 1 Thess. ii. 7, 8. d Rom. xv. 14. VOL. XV. B 2 ROMANS, I. 8. [1819. We give thanks to God, therefore, brethren, for you all : I. For those of you who have begun to manifest a concern for your souls Truly this is a just ground of thanksgiving to God [Look at the world around you, and see how regardless men are of their eternal interest - They even put God far from them ; saying, " We desire not the knowledge of thy ways" Every thing occupies in their minds a higher place than God But we need not think of others. Look only at your own conduct, from your youth up, till the moment that God was pleased to open your eyes to a sense of your guilt and danger. See how little you cared for God, or for your own souls. Instead of living unto Him who died for you, even to the Lord Jesus Christ who bought you with his blood, you lived alto gether to yourselves, and were, so to speak, " without God in the world" It is possible that some few may have known God, like Timothy, from their very childhood, and never experienced any remarkable change, whether of heart or life. But this is the lot of very few. The great mass of believers were once as manifestly alienated from God as the world around them still are. Compare, then, your present with your former state; and say if there be not reason to bless and adore God for the change that has been wrought in you ] We do then, and will, thank God through Jesus Christ in your behalf [The change has proceeded from God alone. It was he who first " opened your heart to attend to the things which were spoken" in his blessed word. He quickened you from the dead ; endued you with, I will not say new faculties, but certainly with new dispositions; by means of which, you have been brought to hate the ways which you once followed, and to seek the things which you once despised And it is for Christ s sake that God has vouchsafed this great mercy, even for the sake of him who bought you with his blood, and intercedes for you at the right hand of God Through that Saviour, then, will I render thanks to God, and bless him for all that he has done for your souls. It may be that, at present, your attainments are but small. But God forbid that I should " despise the day of small things." It is true, also, that where the change is but small, and but recently experienced, we have not that confidence in your state which we feel in reference to more advanced Christians. But never theless we rejoice, even as the angels in heaven do, at the 1819.] A MINISTER S JOY OVER HIS PEOPLE. 3 first return of a repenting sinner to his God : and we desire to pray to God that he would establish all which he has wrought in you, and confirm unto the end the blessed work he has begun.] But with yet greater delight will we return thanks, II. For those who have made some progress in the Divine life Over such persons we rejoice with very exalted joy [Of those who begin a heavenly course, how many " run well only for a season ! " The stony-ground hearers are very numerous ; and their end most deeply to be bewailed. Ho\v many thousands are turned aside by the fear of man ; and " leave off to behave themselves wisely," because they cannot bear the cross which an adherence to Christ would bring upon them ! The cares of this life, also, arrest many in their course, and drag them down to the concerns of this perishing world. And not a few are ensnared by the lusts of the flesh, which they will not mortify ; or by the vanities of the world, which they cannot prevail upon themselves to renounce. Even in the apostolic age there were many, who, " after having known the way of righteousness, have forsaken it," and " turned back as a dog to his vomit, and as the sow that has been washed to her wallowing in the mire"- Shall we not bless God, then, for those who have maintained a steadfastness in the ways of God, and have made their profiting to appear? Surely, if augmented growth in corporeal and intellectual strength in a child be a ground of joy and gratitude to his parent, much more must a progress in the divine life, amongst his hearers, be an occasion of praise and thanksgiving to him who " watches over them in the Lord"- ] We do then bless God, through Jesus Christ, for you [We well know to what temptations you are exposed, and what conflicts with sin and Satan you have had to main tain ; and we therefore adore him who has graciously given you strength according to your day, and held you up in his ever lasting arms. O ! when we think of the account which poor apostates have to give, and how fearful will be their condition in the eternal world ; and when, on the other hand, we con template your future prospects ; we cannot but bless God for you. Yes, whilst for them we weep, and would have " our eyes as a fountain of tears to run down night and day;" for you we would adore and magnify our God, and implore him to " per fect that which concerns you," that what he has begun in grace may be consummated in glory 4 ROMANS, I. 8. [1819. Most of all, however, must we thank God, III. For those who are walking worthy of their high and heavenly calling To such our text more especially refers ; because the Apostle specifies, as the peculiar ground of his thanksgiving, that " their faith was spoken of through out the whole world." Now for such we thank God, 1. Because of the glory which they bring to God [They live for God: they honour God: they commend his religion throughout the world. A man of low attainments causes but a dim light to shine around him: but a man who " runs well the race that is set before him," is seen of all, and approved of all, whose judgment in any respect accords with the mind of God. He is, in fact, " a light in the world :" and those who behold him are constrained to " glorify our Father which is in heaven" ] 2. Because of the good they do to mankind [Who are they that promote the knowledge of God in the world? Who labour for the salvation of their fellow- men? I will not say that persons may not give the aid of their wealth and influence to a religious society from corrupt motives : but those who set on foot these societies, and exert themselves with most self-denying labour in them, are the persons of whom I am now speaking. In truth, but for them there would be little religious good done in the whole world. Works of humanity might go on without them : but works of religion would stagnate altogether. Nothing but apostolic zeal can do the work of an Apostle : but that work as far transcends every other, in real excellence and use, as the effulgence of the sun exceeds the twinkling of a star.] 3. Because of the blessings that await them in a better world [Who can contemplate the blessedness of a pious soul when admitted into the immediate presence of God, and not rejoice in its welfare? And can we see you, my brethren, pressing forward in your heavenly course, and labouring inces santly to finish the work assigned you, and not thank our God in your behalf? W T ould not the very stones cry out against us, if we were so insensible, so altogether destitute of love either to God or man ? For those that are departed in the faith of Christ we cannot but rejoice : and for you, who are daily ripening for glory, we cannot but feel a measure of thankfulness proportioned to the attainments they make, and the prospects they enjoy.] 1820.] PAUL S LOVE TO THE CHURCH AT ROME. 5 Permit me now to ADDRESS you " all," 1. Individually [That which rendered the Christians at Rome so eminent, was " their faith." Let that grace, then, be cultivated by every one of you. That is the root from which every other grace proceeds. Abound in that ; and every other grace will be carried on and perfected within you.] 2. Collectively- [Be careful, all of you, that we be not disappointed of our hope respecting you Then shall we thank God also for you in the eternal world, and have you as " our joy and crown of rejoicing" for ever and ever.] MDCCCXX. PAUL S LOVE TO THE CHURCH AT ROME. Rom. i. 9 12. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers ; making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. IT has been thought by some, that it would have been better for the Church if the Gospels only had been transmitted to posterity, and the Epistles had perished in oblivion. This impious sentiment origi nates altogether in men s hatred of the truth ; and it argues as much ignorance of the Gospels, as it does ingratitude to God. The Gospels contain all the same truths as the Epistles ; but the Epistles render them more clear. Never should we have had so complete a view of the correspondence between the Jewish and Christian dispensations, as we are favoured with in the Epistle to the Hebrews : nor would the doctrine of justification by faith alone have been so clearly denned, or so incontrovertibly established, if the Epistles to the Romans and theGalatians had never existed. We are moreover indebted to the Epistles for a much clearer insight into practical religion, than 6 ROMANS, I. 912. [1820. we ever should have had without them. It is true, that the example of Christ is perfect, and that the precepts he has given us are perfect also ; but we should never have known what heights of piety are attainable by " men of like passions with ourselves," if we had not known more of the Apostles than what is recorded of them in the Gospels. In the Acts of the Apostles we behold much of their zeal and dili gence ; but in the Epistles, the full portrait of a minister is drawn with a minuteness and accuracy which we should in vain look for in any other place. To go no further than to the words before us what an exalted idea have we of the love which a minister should bear towards his people, in this solemn decla ration of St. Paul ! Let us contemplate it awhile : let us consider the leading points which his words develope ; and, I. His love to the Church at Rome St. Paul was a man of a most enlarged heart : he loved all that loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ; as well " those who had not seen his face in the flesh," as those who had been converted under his own ministry. He knew the Christians at Rome only by report ; yet he felt the most ardent affection for them ; and shewed that affection. 1. By his incessant prayers for them [The love which exists among the men of this world leads them to regard each other s temporal welfare : but spiri tual and Christian love has respect chiefly to the souls of men; and consequently exercises itself most in promoting their eter nal welfare. It was thus that St. Paul manifested his love to the Christians at Rome : he prayed for them : he knew that God alone could make them truly happy ; and that he would regard the intercessions of his people in their behalf: and therefore " he made mention of them always in his prayers," and laboured "without ceasing" to bringdown upon them the blessings of heaven. Now this was a decisive proof of love. Indeed by this we till may try our love, and may ascertain whether it be merely natural, or truly Christian ; yea, all husbands and wives, parents and children, ministers and people, may here discern, not only the nature of their affection, as by a touchstone, but 1820.] PAUL S LOVE TO THE CHURCH AT ROME. 7 the measure of it, as by a scale; and, by examining into the constancy and fervour of their intercessions for others, may learn the state of their own souls before God. O that, like the Apostle, we could appeal to the heart-searching God, and " call him to witness," that we have this evidence at least of " serving him with our spirit in the Gospel of his Son !"] 2. By his earnest desire to visit them [Love naturally affects communion with the objects beloved. St. Paul no sooner heard of the piety of those at Rome, than he conceived an ardent affection for them, and a determination of mind, if a favourable opportunity should present itself, to pay them a visit. For many years, occurrences had arisen to pre vent the execution of his purpose 3 : but nothing could abate his desire of seeing them, when his way thither should be made clear. Hence, among his other petitions for them, he prayed particularly and constantly that God would be pleased to direct his way to them, and to prosper him in his journey towards them. This, in connexion with the former, was also a strong evidence of his love : for, had he loved them less, he might well have left them to the care of their spiritual fathers, and confined his own ministry to those who were nearer to him and easier of access. Had they been the peculiar objects of his charge, and had he laboured for many years exclusively amongst them, we doubt not but that his desire to see them would have been still more ardent. At all events we are sure, that no minister who truly loves his people and his work will be long absent from his flock without having this the constant language of his heart, " I long to see you ! " He may be separated from them " in presence, but not in heart."] But what were, II. The particular objects of his intended visit to them Rome was then the most magnificent city in the universe : it was the seat of empire, the capital of the world. But was it to gratify a vain curiosity, or to court popularity among the great, that the Apostle sought to go thither ? No : he had far nobler ends in view : the true objects of his intended visit were, 1. The advancement of their welfare [The Apostle was honoured by God with a power of con ferring miraculous gifts: and these, when conferred, tended greatly to strengthen the hands of those who preached the a Rom. xv. 22, 23. 8 ROMANS, I. 912. [1820. Gospel, and to confirm the faith of them that heard it b . To this therefore he might in part refer, when he spoke of " im parting to the Church some spiritual gifts." But he certainly desired to increase also the graces of the Lord s people ; to confirm their faith, enliven their hope, and augment their joy. However exalted their characters were, there was yet abundant room for improvement ; and he hoped to be a blessed instrument in the hands of God for the advancing and per fecting of his work in their souls. For this end, God is pleased to make use of his ministering servants. On them he confers the honour, not merely of awakening men from the sleep of death, but of " building them up also on their most holy faith," and completing them, as a spiritual edifice, for his own immediate residence. O blessed work indeed ! Well might the Apostle desire to be engaged in it, wherever his labours might be successfully employed : for surely no labour can be so great, no suffering so heavy, but it is richly compensated, if this end be in any measure produced.] 2. The comfort of his own soul [Next to the happiness of communion with God, is that of fellowship with his believing people. To be appreciated, it must be felt : no one can have any conception of that oneness of heart and mind which exists in the Lord s people, unless he himself has experienced it. When their faith is in lively exer cise, and their souls are humbled in the dust, and their hearts overflow with love, who shall give us any adequate idea of their felicity? Certainly it is nearly allied to the happiness of heaven ; or rather, it is an anticipation and foretaste of heaven itself. This happiness the Apostle assuredly expected to enjoy among the people at Rome : yea, this happiness does every faithful minister enjoy, according to the degree in which his own soul is devoted to God, and the people to whom he ministers have imbibed his spirit. O that it may be known and felt amongst us ; and that we may increasingly reap this fruit of our intercourse with each other !] IMPROVEMENT 1. Let us be thankful to God, who has heard and answered our supplications [That you have remembered your minister, we have no doubt: and " God is witness" that he has not been unmind ful of you ; and now our heavenly Benefactor has graciously renewed to us our opportunities of uniting together in our wonted exercises of prayer and praise. Let us then be thank- b This is strongly marked in his appeal to the Galatians, Gal. iii. 2, 5. 1821.] N0 MAN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. 9 ful ; yet " not in word only, but in deed and in truth." Let us consecrate ourselves to him afresh, and strive, with holy ardour, who shall serve him best. This is the true way in which to manifest our thankfulness to God. Our offices may differ, as the offices of the eye and hand ; but, if all of us perform the proper duties of our station with care and diligence, he will accept our services, not according to the importance which we annex to them, but according to the mind with which they are performed.] 2. Let us continue to pray for his blessing on our poor endeavours [It is to no purpose that God has brought us together again, if he himself be not in the midst of us. " Paul may plant, and Apollos may water : but it is God alone that can give the increase." Let us therefore wait upon him continually. Let us go to him before we meet in the public assembly ; and retire from thence to our closets again. Let all that we do be begun, continued, and ended in a humble dependence upon God. Then shall spiritual gifts be richly imparted to you; and the whole body of us be comforted and edified.] MDCCCXXI. NO MAN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. Rom. i. 16. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- lieveth. THE Epistle to the Romans, though first in order* is by no means first in point of time ; several having, in fact, been written before it. But in respect of importance, it justly deserves to take the lead of all the others. There is no other that is so full and comprehensive on the great subject of a sinner s jus tification before God; no other so orderly in its arrangement, or so argumentative in its statement; and perhaps no other that is, on the whole, so in structive. It was written to the Church at Rome, which, though not planted by St. Paul, had a dis tinguished place in his regard. He had long wished to visit that Church, but had been prevented, by a variety of circumstances, from carrying his purpose into execution. Now however he announced his intention of going to them the first opportunity, being 10 ROMANS, I. 16. [1821. desirous of " having some fruit among them even as he had had among other Gentiles." He had reason indeed to expect, that, in that opulent city, the abode of so many great and learned men, his ministrations would excite no small measure of contempt: but " he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ ;" nor did he think he had any occasion to be ashamed of it ; since " it was, and would be, the power of God to the salvation of all who received it in faith." It were well if all who profess to believe the Gospel, were like- minded with him in this particular : but there are multitudes who, notwithstanding they call themselves Christians, are in reality ashamed of the Gospel. That we may assist such persons in discovering their own character, and induce them to walk worthy of their holy profession, we shall shew, I. When we may be said to be ashamed of the Gospel Few perhaps imagine that any such evil is im- putable to them : but they, in fact, are guilty of it, who, through fear of that disgrace which attaches to the Gospel, are deterred, 1. From seeking instruction in it [Many, from what they have seen and heard of the effects of the Gospel, have a secret conviction that it has an excel lence far beyond any they have hitherto discovered : and they would be glad to be better instructed in it: but they dare not go where it is more fully and plainly set forth, because of the odium to which they will expose themselves. They are aware that the very circumstance of attending upon the ministry of one who is stigmatized as evangelical, will tend to fix a stigma on their names also, and to produce an apprehension in the minds of their friends, that they are beginning to favour these obnoxious tenets. If the same doctrines were delivered in a church, where they might attend without suspicion, they would gladly avail themselves of the opportunity to hear them : but, if any sacrifice of character is to be made in order to get instruction, they will rather lose the benefit, than purchase it at such a price. Even a religious book, should it happen to be in their hands when a friend unexpectedly calls in upon them, is put away in haste, lest it should draw down a mea sure of disgrace upon them. Even the Bible itself they would be afraid to have seen upon their table, if they were supposed 1821.] NO MAN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. 11 to be reading it with a view to the welfare of their souls. I ask then, Whence does all this proceed? and what does it argue, but that they are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ? They have none of these feelings in reference to other places of worship, or to other books, no, not even to plays and novels : it is plain therefore that the Gospel is that which creates the offence ; and that the dread of the odium attached to it diverts them from prosecuting the knowledge of it. Such persons may obtain mercy of the Lord, even as did Nicodemus, whose chil dren they are ; yea, they may, like him, become distinguished ornaments of the Gospel : but they are in great danger lest God give them over to their unworthy fears, and leave them to " perish for lack of knowledge."] 2. From making an open profession of it [After that men have attained the knowledge of the truth, the same evil principle frequently operates in their hearts, to make them ashamed of confessing it. They see that the followers of Christ are still at this day, no less than in the Apostolic age, " a sect that is everywhere spoken against 3 ;" and they cannot bring their minds to participate their reproach. They would partake of the blessings of the Gospel, without " partaking of its affliction :" they would enjoy their Lord s crown, but not bear his cross. But such cowardice is ex pressly designated as a being "ashamed of the Gospel b ;" and it will assuredly rob them of all the advantages which they desire to possess. If they would be Christ s disciples indeed, they must " deny themselves, and take up their cross daily, and follow Christ ." Like Moses, they must " choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt d :" they must not be contented with honouring Christ in secret, but must " follow him without the camp bearing his reproach 6 ." Indeed it is not reputation merely that they must be willing to sacri fice, but life also, for Christ s sake : and, if they stop short of this, they "lose their souls "for ever f . In some respects these are in a worse state than they of whom we have before spoken ; because they sin against greater light and knowledge, and are guilty of infinitely greater ingratitude towards their Lord, whose love and mercy they inwardly acknowledge, and from whom they expect all the blessings of grace and glory. To these therefore our Lord speaks in very awful terms, and warns them, that as they are ashamed of him, and deny him, " he will be ashamed of them, and deny them, in the presence a Acts xxviii. 22. b 2 Tim. i. 8. c Matt. xvi. 24, 25. <i Ileb. xi. 25, 26. c Heb. xiii. 13. f Matt. x. 38, 39. 12 ROMANS, I. 16. [1821. of his Father and his holy angels e." " The fearful, no less than the unbelieving," will have their portion in the lake of fire at the last day h . " If we will not suffer with Christ, we cannot reign with him V " With the heart man believeth unto right eousness ; but with the mouth confession is made, and must be made, unto salvationV] 3. From walking worthy of it [Whilst the principles of the Gospel are by the world at large accounted "foolishness 1 ," the practice enjoined by it is no less offensive to them, on account of its contrariety to all the desires and habits of the carnal mind. Hence they who profess the Gospel are often led into compliances which are unsuitable to their high calling, and dishonourable to their profession. Under the idea of " becoming all things to all men " they belie their consciences, and betray the cause which they are pledged to serve. They forget that Paul s com pliances were to save others" 1 -, whilst theirs are only to screen themselves. But this is " to put their light under a bushel," when their duty is " to make it shine before men n ." They are " not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to reprove them ," and, like Noah, to "condemn that world p " which sets itself against the Majesty of heaven. Instead of " following a multitude to do evil," the Christian is to consider himself as set by God to be " a light in the world," that he may " hold forth to others, in the whole of his spirit and conduct, the word of life q ." And all who are kept by fear from thus adorning the Gospel, will be numbered amongst hypocrites and dissemblers with God r . If a den of lions were to be the recompence of our fidelity to God, we are not to be intimidated ; we are not to be ashamed*. The Lord Jesus Christ " endured the cross, and despised the shame" for us 1 ; and we must brave contempt and death in their most terrific forms for him.] Thus all who are deterred from "following the Lord fully," are, in fact, " ashamed of Christ." But how unreasonable this conduct is, will appear, whilst we shew, II. Why we should not be so 8 Matt. x. 32, 33. and Mark viii. 35, 38. h Rev. xxi. 8. 1 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12. * Rom. x. 10. } 1 Cor. i. 18. m 1 Cor. ix. 19 23. " To gain the more." Observe how often that is repeated. n Matt. v. 14 16. Eph. v. 11. P Heb. xi. 7. q Phil. ii. 15, 16. r Gal. ii. 1113. Dan. vi. 10. t Heb. xii. 2. 1821.] NO MAN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. 13 Certainly, if any one might reasonably give way to shame, Paul might, when he contemplated the preach ing of the Gospel at Rome. For as Rome was the seat of wealth and science, the preaching of the cross was likely to be peculiarly offensive to them, inas much as it poured contempt on all that was valued there, and required that they should place all their hopes for time and eternity on a poor despised Jew, who had suffered the most ignominious of all deaths from the hands of his own countrymen. But Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel ; nor had he any real reason to be so : for, 1. It is a revelation of God s grace to man [A wonderful mystery it is ; a mystery which all " the angels of heaven desire to look into," and which, as an ex pression of God s good-will to man, brings the highest possible glory to God himself. In it a way of salvation is provided for fallen man ; a way exactly suited to man s necessities, and at the same time displaying in perfect harmony all the perfec tions of the Godhead. It exhibits the Father sending his only dear Son to take upon him our nature, and to " bear our sins in his own body on the tree." It represents the co-equal, co- eternal Son of God actually fulfilling that very office, and " reconciling us to God by his own blood." It sets forth also the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the ever blessed Trinity, undertaking to apply that salvation to the souls of men, and by his almighty power to render them " meet for the inhe ritance" prepared for them. Now I would ask, What is here to be ashamed of? Is that, in which all " the wisdom of God, and the power of God," are concentrated and display ed u , an object which we should blush to acknowledge and confess ? Is that, which is the one theme of adoration and thanksgiving to all the hosts of heaven, fit to be disowned by man on earth, so that the very mention of it shall suffuse his face with shame? Shall sin, in all its varied forms, stalk abroad with unblushing effrontery, and this glo rious mystery be veiled for fear of man s reproach ? Abhorred be the thought ! Let the man that has ever been ashamed of the Gospel, be ashamed of his own extreme folly and impiety : and let that which is so glorious in the eyes of all the hea venly hosts, be henceforth glorious in our eyes ; and let us " count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of it*."] 1 Cor. i. 24. * Phil. Hi. 8. 14 ROMANS, I. 16. [1821. 2. It is God s instrument for the salvation of a ruined world [Look back, and see what it is that has been the means of saving so many myriads of our fellow-creatures, when of the fallen angels not so much as one has ever been saved ? What saved Adam, but the Gospel, which promised that " the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent s head?" What saved Abraham, but the Gospel, which was preached to him in these words ; " In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ? " Could you go up to the third heavens, and hear, as Paul did, the songs of the whole heavenly choir, you would hear but one note amongst them all, ascribing " salvation to God and to the Lamb for ever." Is this then a subject for us to be ashamed of ? Shall we be ashamed of that, which alone has put a difference between us and devils ? of that, which is " the rod of God s strength," whereby he has brought millions, through seas of difficulty, to the full enjoyment of the heavenly Canaan ? The brazen serpent that healed the Israelites in the wilderness, though it was only a piece of brass, became an object of idolatrous regard: and shall we make " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God an object of shame and contempt? If we marvel at them for giving God s honour to a piece of brass, what wonder must it create amongst all the heavenly hosts, that any creature, to whom the Gospel of salvation comes, should treat it but with the profoundest veneration, and the most ardent gratitude !] 3. It is actually effectual for the salvation of every one that believeth [Never did it fail in any instance : it is equally effectual for " Jew or Gentile," and for the vilest, as well as the best, of the human race. It will leave none under the guilt and con demnation of their sins, none under the power and pollution of them. The righteousness which it provides for sinners is so pure and perfect, that, when clothed in it, they stand before God without spot or blemish. The grace treasured up for them in their living Head is so abundant, that the weakest of mankind, even though he be opposed by all the hosts of hell, shall find it sufficient for him. It will not bring him out of six difficulties, and leave him to perish in the seventh y ; but " will keep him to the end z ," and suffer " nothing to pluck him out of his Redeemer s hands a ." Is this then a thing to be ashamed of? and shall they be ashamed of it who profess to expect sal vation by it? Methinks, a man must be almost as destitute of reason as of piety, who can account it any ground for blushing, y Job v. 19. z 1 Cor. i. 8. a John x. 28. 1821.] NO MAN TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. 15 that he loves, and admires, and glories in the cross of Christ ; yea, and determines never to his latest hour to glory in any thing else b .] ADDRESS 1. Let not any of you then be ashamed of the Gospel [Let not the rich; for it will make you richer than ten thousand worlds : " the riches of Christ are absolutely un searchable ." Let not the poor; for it raises them to an equality with the greatest on earth, and gives -them crowns and kingdoms for their inheritance 11 . Let not the learned be ashamed of it ; for in it is contained " the manifold wisdom of God;" and even angels are made wiser by the revelation of it to the Church 6 . Let not the unlearned; for it will "make them wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." Let not any thus dishonour it, till they cease to need its blessings, or have found a substitute worthy to supersede it. God is " not ashamed to be called our God f :" O ! be not ye ashamed to become, and to be called, his people.] 2. Let not the Gospel be ashamed of you [Many, alas ! who profess to love the Gospel, are in their conduct a disgrace to it. Their pride, their passion, their worldly-mindedness, perhaps too their want of truth and honesty, together with a variety of other evils predominant in them, cause " the way of truth to be evil spoken of g ," and " the very name of God to be blasphemed." In every age, and in every Church, such instances occur; and lamentable it is to say, that no people are more unconscious of their guilt than they. It is on account of such persons that our Lord says, " Woe unto the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that offences come : but woe unto him by whom the offence cometh : it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea h ." Look to it then, ye professors of godliness, that this tremendous evil be not imputable to you : and endeavour so to walk, " that the adversary may have no evil thing to say of you," and " that they may be ashamed, who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ 1 ."] b Gal. vi. 14. c Eph. iii. 8. d Jam. i. 9. and iv. 5. " Eph. iii. 10. Heb. xi. 16. e 2 Pet. ii. 2. h Matt, xviii. 6, 7. * Tit. ii. 8. and 1 Pet. iii. 16. 16 ROMANS, I. 20, 21. [1822. MDCCCXX1I. THE LOST STATE OF THE GENTILE WORLD. Rom. i. 20, 21. 27ie?/ ore without excuse : because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. HERE the plan of the epistle begins to be deve loped. St. Paul, intending to prove that there was one only way of salvation for the whole race of man kind, begins with shewing, that the Gentile world were altogether guilty before God, and lying under a just sentence of condemnation. In the next chapter he shews the same respecting the Jews : and, in the third, he confirms, from the Scriptures of truth, all that he hath spoken respecting both the one and the other ; and from thence deduces the general con clusion, that they are all shut up unto the faith of Christ, and must seek salvation by him alone. In this present discourse we shall have to consider the state of the Gentiles, against whom universally the judgments of God are denounced ; " the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all ungodli ness and unrighteousness of men," and especially against " those who hold (or imprison) the truth in unrighteousness," which they have done in all ages of the world 3 . But that we may bring the matter home to our selves also, we shall shew I. How inexcusable they are for their conduct towards God The Gentiles have in every age had sufficient oppor tunities of attaining the knowledge of God [The things of God which are exclusively made known to us in the book of revelation, they could not be acquainted with, because the light of revelation was not vouchsafed to them : but the book of creation was open to them, and equally legible to all; and from thence they might acquire a considerable knowledge of God s nature and perfections. In beholding the heavenly bodies all moving in their orbits ; and the earth so abundantly furnished with every thing for the accommodation a ver. 18. 1822.1 LOST STATE OF THE GENTILE WORLD. 17 of man ; and man himself the most noble of all God s works, his body so curiously wrought, and his soul so richly endowed ; in beholding these things, I say, they could not but know, that there was some superior Being, who had formed them all. They could not look upon any work of art, a house, for in stance, or a watch, or any thing that required skill, but their minds must of necessity be led to contemplate the maker of it: and a similar necessity was imposed upon them by all the works of creation. Having traced up every thing to a First Cause, they must see that, as He was the cause of all that existed besides himself, there could be nothing to give existence to him; and that consequently, he must be self-existent and eternal. Moreover, they must see, from the immensity and the excellency of all his works, that there can be no limit to his wisdom, his power, or his goodness; but that these per fections of his must of necessity be infinite. That these de ductions were open to them we are sure, because some of their more enlightened philosophers have actually made these dis coveries, though certainly with less clearness and precision than we by the means of revelation are enabled to do. And God himself affirms it in the verses preceding our text; saying, that the things concerning him which were invisible to human eyes, were nevertheless " clearly to be seen and understood in his visible works, even his eternal power and Godhead V St. Paul also, when addressing heathens, quotes to them their own poets, to shew, that, in the representations which they foolishly made of the Supreme Being, they did in fact violate the law that was in their own minds, and act contrary to the light that was within them .] But they did not improve these opportunities aright [They entertained most umvorthy conceptions of the Deity. Instead of regarding him as a Spirit who pervaded all space, they " made images of him like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things ;" and then bowed down to the work of their own hands, and said, " Deliver me ; for thou art my god d ." What could be more insulting to the Divine Majesty than such conduct as this? Moreover they testified no gratitude towards him for all the benefits that he conferred upon them. Innumerable were the blessings which in constant succession he bestowed upon them 6 ; yet " were they not thankful V but abused his gifts, instead of taking occasion from them to love and glorify the Giver. * ver. 19, 20. c Acts xvii. 28, 29. d Compare ver. 23. with Isai. xlir. 9 20. e Acts xiv. 16, 17. f ver. 21. VOL. xv. c 18 ROMANS, I. 20, 21. [1822. They sought not in any thing to please him, nor cared how ever much they might displease him. The abominations they committed cannot even be thought of but with horror and amazement 8 . And, whilst they were thus bent on the grati fication of their lusts and appetites, and purposely cast out of their minds all those notices of a Supreme Being, which from time to time arose to check them in their excesses 11 , they were given over to the dominion of every hateful disposition that could assimilate them to the god of this world, whose willing servants they were. What an assemblage of evils was there accumulated in their character 1 ! Yet was this repre sentation of them by no means overcharged. Their own historians, and poets, and philosophers have justified every word that is here spoken. What the poet said of the Cretans might, with few exceptions, be applied to all ; " The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow-bellies k ," a wretched com pound of falsehood, and cruelty, and abominable sensuality. Nor were they merely impelled to these things by the im petuosity of their own passions ; for, whilst they had internal convictions of the impiety of this conduct, they deliberately approved and honoured those tvho were most addicted to itJ] From hence it appears how inexcusable they were, and how justly sentenced to eternal condemnation [Had they been able to plead ignorance, they would have had some kind of excuse : but they could not do this : for " they did really know God ;" but " did not choose to retain him in their knowledge :" and so far were they from having this plea to extenuate their crimes, that the light which they resisted constitutes the heaviest aggravation of their guilt : " This is their condemnation, that they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil 1 ." Again, if they could not plead ignorance, neither could they plead necessity ; for they were under no necessity to dishonour God in this way, either from without or from within. They were perfectly free agents in all that they did : and though they could not, nor can any child of man, fulfil all the Divine will, or themselves do any thing spiritually good, yet they might have abstained from much which they did amiss, and done much which they neglected to do: and therefore they are justly chargeable with all the guilt that they contracted; and are as reprehensible before God for not using the powers which they possessed, as they would have been, if those powers had been ever so enlarged. All that has been spoken in reference to the heathen in former days, is still applicable to them at this time. The notices of a Deity may be much more obscured in the minds of some K ver. 26, 27. h ver. 28. ver. 29 31. k Tit. i. 12. i John iii. 19. 1822.] LOST STATE OF THE GENTILE WORLD. 19 than of others ; and the criminality of all must be estimated in some measure according to the peculiar circumstances under which they live : but, inasmuch as all violate the law that is in their own minds, and neglect to improve the advantages they enjoy, they all are obnoxious to the charge contained in our text, and are therefore " without excuse."] But, that we may bring this matter home to our selves, let us consider, II. How much more inexcusable we are, if we re semble them We have opportunities of knowing God, far beyond any that the heathen ever enjoyed [Even in reading the book of creation, we, by means of our superior advantages, are enabled to see much that was hid from them, or, at least, to discover with incomparably greater clearness the unity and perfections of God, which they could but faintly and doubtingly discern. But we have a revela tion, wherein God has proclaimed his own name, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abun dant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin ; and that will by no means clear the guilty m ." We have also a yet clearer revela tion of God in the person of his own Son, who is " the image of the invisible God n ," " the brightness of his Father s glory, and the express image of his person ." Nor is it from words only that we discover his excellency, but from actions also. We behold our God incarnate : we behold his glory veiled, so that, without being blinded with the overwhelming splendour of his majesty, we may contemplate him, and familiarize ourselves, as it were, with his adorable perfections. In this especially the most ignorant amongst us excels all the greatest philosophers of Greece and Rome ; we behold the attribute of mercy ; we can tell how that may be exercised in perfect con sistency with justice : we can tell how God can be "just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly p ." In a word, all the wonders of redeeming love are set before us in terms so plain, that " he who runs may read them."] But how have we improved these advantages ? [Have we glorified God as God, or his blessed Son as the one hope of a ruined world ? Alas ! alas ! if we take a survey of our own spirit and conduct through life, we shall find, that there has been but little difference between us and heathens. Consider our defects. " We have not glorified God as God, m Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. n Col. i. 15. Heb. i. 3. P Rom. iii. 26. and iv 5. 20 ROMANS, I. 20, 21. [1822. neither been thankful." What might justly have been ex pected of persons privileged as we have been? Might it not have been reasonably hoped that persons redeemed from death and hell by the blood of God s only dear Son should have been incessantly pouring out their souls in grateful adorations, and dedicating to his service their every faculty, and every instant of their time ? Methinks, it should have been a work of pain and self-denial to devote so much as a thought to any other subject, especially to any subject unconnected with this. But have our hearts been thus exercised? Has it been thus our delight to anticipate the employment of heaven ? Or rather, have not the wonders of redemption had far less influence on our minds than the things of time and sense ? Yea, have they not for the most part been passed by, as though they were only " a cunningly-devised fable," wherein we had no interest? Consider also our errors. We have not, it is true, trans formed our God into an idol: but we have had scarcely more worthy conceptions of him than if he had been an idol. In theory we have ascribed to him the different perfections of his nature ; but in practice we have denied them all his omni science, his holiness, his justice, and his truth, by vainly imagining, either that he did not behold, or that he would not punish, our iniquities. We, as he himself tells us, have " thought him to be even such an one as ourselves:" whilst exalting in our minds his attribute of mercy, we have, in fact, divested him of all that belongs to him as the Governor of the universe : a God all mercy, is a God unjust. Consider yet further our excesses. These, as to the overt act, do not proceed to such extremes as were common among the Gentiles : but the abominations that we do commit, suffi ciently shew, that we are not restrained by any regard to God, so much as by public laws and popular opinion. Christianity having elevated the general tone of morals, those hideous crimes which were but too frequent among the Gentiles are scarcely so much as thought of amongst us : but, in all that we can do consistently with the laws of society, we are not a whit superior to the heathen themselves. What juster picture could the Apostle have drawn, if he had intended to describe, what is improperly called, the Christian world ? Take us as a people, and say, whether we are not " filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; yea, whether we be not full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malig nity; whether we be not whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, dis obedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, implacable, unmerciful q : and say particularly, whether, not- i ver. 29 31. In reading this, pause after every word. 1822-3 LOST STATE F THE GENTILE WORLD. 21 withstanding we know the evil of such things, we do not both practise them ourselves, and choose for our friends and com panions those who are guilty of those very practices ? Who, I would ask, are the favourites with the world ? the godly, and they who are conformed to the Saviour s image ? No : but the ungodly, who by their conduct and example sanction all the corruptions of the human heart r .] How inexcusable then must we be ! [Verily, " the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against us ;" yea, the Gentiles also, throughout the universe, will condemn us, because of the extent to which we have imi tated their evils, and abused our infinitely superior advantages. " The Gospel which we enjoy, if it prevail not with us to put away our sins, and to walk as Christ walked," will only prove to us "a savour of death" to our more aggravated and heavier condemnation 8 . " If Christ had not come and spoken unto us, we had not had sin : but now we have no cloak for our sin 1 ."] SEE then, 1. How thankful we should be for the Gospel of Christ ! [Doubtless one reason why the world was left without a Saviour for four thousand years, was, that the world might see how little they could do to restore themselves to the favour and image of God. At no period were the powers of the human intellect carried to a greater extent, than at the time of our Saviour s advent : but what did philosophy effect ? what did it eifect even amongst those who most exalted it? Nothing to any good purpose. The poets and philosophers themselves were as much addicted to sin as the vulgar, whom they looked down upon with contempt : and, if it were not for the light of the Gospel, we should be as much immersed in sensuality as they. Let this be borne in mind, that, whether born in a Christian or a heathen land, we are all by nature equally cor rupt and helpless ; and all need a Saviour, the one as much as the other. To us a Saviour is revealed, and precisely such an one as we stand in need of. O let us then bless our God for the revelation of his grace : let us be thankful that we see what many prophets and kings desired to see, but desired it in vain : and let Christ, who is the sum and substance of the Gospel, be truly "precious" to all our souls.] 2. What effect our superior advantages should produce upon us [We should aspire after the highest possible attainments, in love and gratitude, in purity and holiness. We should aim r ver. 32. s 2 Cor. ii. 16. l John xv. 22. 22 ROMANS, I. 30. [1823. at " glorifying God as God/ and Christ as Christ. Let us then contemplate Christ in all his offices, as our Prophet, as our Priest, as our King. Let us not be contented with a theoretical or superficial survey of his character, but let us search into it, and ruminate upon it, and get our souls suitably impressed with it. Let us get such views of him, as shall render us insensible to all created excellency ; as a man who looks at the meridian sun is blinded to all inferior objects. Let us in these holy exercises seek to obtain a conformity to his image ; agreeably to what the Apostle has said, " We beholding his glory are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord u ." Let no measure of resemblance to him ever satisfy us ; no efforts in his service ever content us. Let us, even if we have attained an apostolic measure of zeal and holiness, " forget it all, and reach forward" to higher attainments x . Let our trust in him be simple ; our fellowship with him intimate ; our confidence in him assured ; our expectation from him large ; our devo tion to him ardent ; our obedience uniform ; our surrender of ourselves to him entire, and unreserved. Let us live for him, and " walk worthy of him ;" so that HE may be glorified, yea, and " be magnified in us" also, both in life and death y."] 2 Cor. iii. 18. x Phil. iii. 13, 14. y Phil. i. 20. MDCCCXXIII. MEN HATERS OF GOD. Rom. i. 30. Haters of God. WHAT! are there any persons of this character upon earth ? It cannot be : it were a libel upon human nature to suppose it. Go round to all the people you can find, and put the question to them, Are you a hater of God? They will spurn at the idea, and deem the question a gross insult. The moral part of mankind would be filled with indigna tion at such a strange calumnious suggestion. And the most immoral would say, * I certainly do not serve him as I ought : but, as to " hating him," " is thy servant a dog, that he should dothis a ?" But let us " come to the word and to the testimony." Of whom speaks the Apostle the words which we a 2 Kings viii. 12, 13. 1823.] MEN HATERS OF GOD. 23 have read ? Does he give this character to some of a pre-eminently impious disposition ? or does he ascribe it to the whole Gentile world, even to every child of man, so long as he continues in his natural and un converted state ? It is most assuredly in this latter sense that the words must be understood : for the scope of this part of the epistle is to shew, not that some particular persons need a Saviour, but " that every mouth must be stopped, and all the world be come guilty before GodV I am far from saying that all persons manifest their enmity against God in the same way, and to the same extent: but if we will candidly examine the state of mankind, we shall find it precisely such as the Apostle here describes it ; and that the human heart, till changed by Divine grace, is " full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, ma lignity ;" and that men still are, no less than in the Apostle s days, " whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, impla cable, unmerciful ." With the description at large I shall not trouble you. It is my intention to confine myself to that particular part of it which I have se lected for my text: in confirmation of which, I shall, I. Establish the fact, that unregenerate men are haters of God This fact is absolutely universal [Look at every child of man, and see what are his dispo sitions and conduct towards the God of heaven and earth : and all, without exception, will be found to deserve the character here assigned them. All betray an enmity against God ; they feel it in their hearts, and manifest it in their lives. If their minds were rightly disposed towards God, they would esteem him above all ; and desire him above all ; and delight in him above all ; and, in comparison of his favour, there would be nothing regarded by them as worthy of a thought. But what is the fact ? There is not any thing, however vain or worth less, or vile, that does not occupy a higher place in their esteem than He. Any gratification which they affect, is suffi cient to draw them from their allegiance to Him, and to induce " Rom. iii. 19. c ver. 2931. 24, ROMANS, I. 30. [1823. them to violate his most express commands. The favour of a fellow-creature is more sought than his ; and the displeasure of a poor sinful worm more dreaded than his. Even Satan himself is deemed more worthy to be obeyed than he : as our Lord has said, " Ye are of your father the devil ; and the lusts of your father ye will do d ." But the will of our heavenly Father we will not do. There is no such satisfaction felt in any thing which he enjoins ; no such readiness to comply with his sacred motions in the soul. In truth, what is the whole life of an unregenerate man? is it not a state of rebellion against God? There is not a command of his which we desire to keep : there is not one which we do not violate. Now let us try this conduct by an easy test. Suppose that a child, or a servant, treated us as we have treated God : sup pose that, whilst he acknowledged his relation to us, he never sought to please us ; never cared however much he displeased us ; never felt any comfort in our society, but affected rather the society of our bitterest enemies ; never was concerned about our honour or interests ; but would sacrifice both the one and the other at any time, without any shame or remorse what construction should we put upon that conduct ? Should we not say that his mind was altogether alienated from us? No doubt we should : and that is the construction which God himself puts on our deportment towards him : " The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be 6 ."] This fact is also realized, to an inconceivable de gree [It would appear impossible for a man so to hate God, as that HIS annihilation and extinction should prove to them a source of real satisfaction : but I put it to the consciences of all, and ask, Supposing we were told, from undoubted autho rity, that there was no God to control us, no God to inspect our ways, no God to call us to an account, and that we were at liberty to follow our own ways without any fear of a here after, would it not, on the whole, be an acceptable report? The Psalmist says, " The fool hath said in his heart, No God f ." Now, whether we understand that as an affirmation or a wish, it equally shews what I am now contending for ; that the very existence of God is a burthen to the carnal mind ; and that the extinction of it, if it were possible, would be welcomed as a relief. In truth, we flee from him, as Adam did after the fall g , and banish him from our minds as much as possible 11 , and live altogether as "without him in the world ." d John viii. 44. e Rom. viii. 7. f Ps. xiv. 1. Gen. Hi. 8. h Ps. x. 4. > Eph. ii. 12. 1823.] MEN HATERS OF GOD. 25 And thus we give a clear proof that we should esteem it no loss if we could get rid of him altogether.] Melancholy, indeed, is this fact. I will now en deavour to, II. Account for it One would suppose, that He who is all excellence in himself, and the one source of all benefits to man, should be an object of love, and not of hatred, to us : and so he would be, if we had retained our primitive state of innocence : but we have fallen, and are be come inconceivably depraved : and therefore we hate him on account of, 1. The contrariety that exists between him and us [There is not a greater difference between light and darkness, than between him and us ; not only in his natural attributes, which, of course, we cannot resemble, but in his moral perfections also, which in our original creation were enstamped upon us. There is not any one thing which God loves, which we do not hate with a perfect hatred. Holiness, in all its branches, is that which he approves : but in no one respect do we love it. A conformity to his image we never seek ; nay, if we behold it in another, we hate and abhor it. This matter has been put to a trial. God himself has become incarnate, and exhibited to the world a perfect transcript of his perfections : and how did the world treat him ? There was not an indignity which they did not offer him ; nor did they rest, till they had put him to the most ignominious death. Nor was this the conduct of the ignorant populace alone, but of every rank and order in society : kings, priests, people, all joined in the same murderous assaults upon him. His image, too, was represented in his holy Prophets and Apostles : and how were all of them treated ? In every age they were the objects of most inveterate hatred ; insomuch, that, of all the Apostles, one alone escaped the sword of martyrdom. And is human nature different now from what it was in former ages ? The laws of men have imposed restraints on the enmity of the heart : but were those restraints removed, and occasion for the exercise of men s evil dispositions afforded, the same scenes would be transacted now as formerly : for men at this hour, no less than in former ages, " love darkness rather than light ;" and would gladly extinguish the light, that they might be left to follow their own ways unmolested and unreproved.] 2. The consciousness we feel that he will summon us to his tribunal 26 ROMANS, I. 30. [1823. [We may treat revelation as we will ; but we all feel in our bosoms a persuasion that God inspects our ways, and hates our proceedings, and will avenge the breaches of his holy laws. We may try to divest ourselves of these feelings, and may prevail to dissipate them for a moment ; but they will return; and at certain times and seasons will occasion much uneasiness to the mind, and produce there a wish that we could by any means avoid the judgment that awaits us. We feel that God is, and must be, an enemy to us : and therefore we cannot contemplate him with any other feeling than that of fear and dread. It may be said indeed by some, that this is by no means their experience : that, on the contrary, they feel a complacent regard for God, and a grateful sense of his mercies. But to this I would answer, It is not to God as revealed in the Scripture, but as they paint him to themselves in their own vain imaginations, that they feel this regard. They conceive of him as bearing no anger against them for their sins, and as lowering his demands of obedience to the standard which they have fixed for themselves, and as looking with compla cency on their formal self-righteous endeavours : it is in this view of him alone that they are pleased with him : they despoil him of his own proper attributes, and clothe him with attri butes of their own creation ; and then they worship the work of their own hands. But, let him be presented to them in his own proper character as a holy Being, that cannot look upon iniquity without the utmost abhorrence; as a just Being, that cannot but punish with everlasting destruction every impeni tent sinner ; and as a God of truth, that will accept no human being but as clothed in the righteousness of his dear Son and they will lose all their fancied regard for him, and shew to wards him all the aversion which we have before described. They will find in themselves that Scripture realized, " My soul lothed them ; and their soul abhorred me k ."] Regarding the fact as proved, I now come to, III. Make some reflections upon it In the view of this fact, we may observe, 1. How deep should be our humiliation before God ! [Men are not humbled, because they will not look at themselves in the glass of God s word. They think only of some particular sins which they may have committed ; and put out of view altogether the disposition of their souls towards God. But, if we would have a just sense of our condition, we must probe our hearts to the bottom ; and see, not merely 1823.J MEN HATERS OF GOD. 21 what we are, but what we should have been if we had been left to follow our dispositions without restraint. Look at the souls that are now shut up in the abodes of misery in hell : Has any new disposition been infused into them, since they have entered into the eternal world ? No : they have only the dispositions which they carried with them : and the only dif ference is, that they are now left to manifest to the uttermost what in this world was kept from issuing forth in all its full malignity. Under the displeasure of their God, so far are they from humbling themselves before him, that they " gnaw their tongues with anguish, and blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains 1 ." What would they htive said in this world, if they had been told what was really in their hearts ? They would have deemed it a gross calumny. But such would be our deportment here, if our corruptions were not restrained, either by education, or by the preventing grace of God. And, if we be sensible how great our depravity is, we shall see that no humiliation can be too deep for any of us; but that it becomes all of us, without exception, to " abhor ourselves, even as holy Job did, in dust and ashes. "] 2. What obligations we owe to God for his Gospel! [In the Gospel is revealed a way of reconciliation for us, through Christ. O ! what love was it that bestowed upon us such an inestimable gift as that of God s only dear Son, to make reconciliation for us through the blood of his cross ! And here it is particularly to be noticed, that God does not so much offer to be reconciled to us, as he invites us to be reconciled to him. The address which his ministers are com missioned to make to men, is, " We beseech you in Christ s stead, Be ye reconciled to God m " The great obstruction to friendship between God and us lies altogether on our part. Not a single moment would God retain his anger against us, if we humbled ourselves before him, and besought his favour for Christ s sake. But, though importuned by him, we con tinue obstinate in our alienation from him. Still, however, the Gospel follows us with invitations and entreaties to lay aside our enmity, and to accept his proffered mercies. Be thankful for this marvellous kindness vouchsafed unto you : for, if once you be taken into the eternal world, there will be no longer any forbearance on the part of God ; but his wrath will burst forth against you, and burn even to the lowest hell to all eternity". It would be terrible to have all the creation for your enemies : but to have the Creator himself your enemy, and that for ever and ever, O ! how inconceivably terrible 1 Rev. xvi. 10, 11. m 2 Cor. v. 20. 11 Ps. xi. G. Rom. ii. 8, 9. 28 ROMANS, II. 35. [1824. will this be ! Well ! bless your God that this need not be your fate, nor shall be, if only you will throw down the wea pons of your rebellion, and implore mercy at God s hands for Christ s sake.] 3. What a blessing the Gospel proves to all who receive it ! [The effect of the Gospel is, to " slay this enmity," and to bring the soul into a state of peace with God. Nor does it merely put away our guilt ; but removes also our indisposition to what is good and holy, and even writes the law of God upon our hearts ; so that there is in those who receive it as great a resemblance to God, as there was before a contrariety. The mind of a true convert is brought into a conformity to God s mind, and his ways into a conformity to God s ways. Thus, " being agreed, they walk together" in mutual love ; and earth is made, to man, a foretaste of heaven itself. See, then, my brethren, that ye experience this effect. See that you love all that God loves, and do all that God approves. Then will you shew that there is an efficacy in the Gospel to transform the soul into the Divine image, and to render it meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.] MDCCCXXIV. THOSE WHO JUDGE OTHERS, JUDGED. Rom. ii. 3 5. Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God ? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering ; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. HUMAN nature is the same in every age, and every place : external circumstances may make an external difference ; but internally, every child of man is alike alienated from God, and alike needs the salvation revealed in the Gospel. To prove this, is the scope of the three first chapters of this epistle. In the foregoing chapter, it is proved in reference to the Gentiles ; and in this, in reference to the Jews. But to which of these the words which we have just read are addressed, admits of doubt. We think how- 1824.] THOSE WHO JUDGE OTHERS, JUDGED. 29 ever, that the transition to the Jews is at the com mencement of this chapter, notwithstanding they are not expressly mentioned till the 17th verse : and the not mentioning of their name proceeded, we appre hend from a delicacy of feeling, and a fear lest he might, by a too direct attack, arm, as it were, their minds against him. This certainly accords with the very tender regard which he manifests towards them throughout this whole epistle : and it was the less necessary to mention them, because their contempt of the Gentiles was so fully known, and so universally acknowledged. But the characters that are addressed are the same, whether amongst Jews or Gentiles : and, as the whole force of the address will be invali dated if we do not clearly discern to whom it is delivered, we will, I. Shew to whom the expostulation is addressed There were among the Gentiles some who in their public discourses inculcated a purer morality than that which was generally practised, but in their own life and conversation were guilty of the very crimes which they condemned : and so it is at this day among those who call themselves Christians. The disposition which is here reproved shews itself, 1. In the world towards each other [From whatever it may proceed, whether frem envy or uncharitableness, there is a disposition in all to view others in an unfavourable light, at the same time that they themselves are faulty, either in the same precise way, or in other ways to the same extent. Indeed such is the extreme blindness of human nature, that the more any are under the dominion of pride, or vanity, or covetousness, or ambition, the more they hate those in whom the same evils are predominant : the proud man cannot endure the proud ; and so of the rest. But if this disposition manifests itself amongst equals, much more does it among those who are placed at some distance from each other, whether the difference be in age, or rank, or relation, or general habits and dispositions. The old condemn the follies of the young ; and the young the severity of the old. The rich inveigh against the idleness or dishonesty of the poor; the poor, against the selfishness and oppressiveness of the rich. Parents complain of their children ; children, of their parents. 30 ROMANS, II. 35. [1824. Masters, of their servants ; and servants, of their masters. In like manner, the bigot and the free-thinker, the prodigal and the penurious, the hermit and the gay, all love to indulge in mutual criminations; all overlooking their own peculiar fail ings, and condemning without reserve the characteristic failings of others.] 2. In the world, towards those who profess re ligion [To be religious is, with the generality, the greatest of all crimes : there is no other so little tolerated, so universally con demned. Opprobrious names are universally affixed to the godly: and the current title, whatever it may be, is sufficient to make a man despised, and shunned, and dreaded, as a public nuisance all the world over. Supposing for a moment that religious persons were unwise in laying so great a stress on religion, is there no evil in neglecting God and our immortal souls ? yet the world overlook all their own impiety, as if there were no harm in it, and set no bounds to their invectives against those who serve and honour God. It may be thought that the wild enthusiast alone is the object of their aversion : but were the Apostles wild enthusiasts ? Was our blessed Lord wanting in wisdom and prudence? Yet were they all regarded " as the filth of the earth, and the offscouring of all things : " and the very men who scrupled not to suborn false witnesses, and to imbrue their hands in the blood of an innocent man, could find no evil in themselves, but only in those who were the objects of their implacable aversion. If an occasion arise where a professor of religion acts un worthy of his profession, what a cause of triumph is it to an ungodly world ! With what exultation are his faults imputed to the whole body of religious people, and all of them con demned as hypocrites alike ! The sins of the ungodly and profane are all reputed as nothing in comparison of his crime ; and the whole Church of God is vilified, and God himself also is blasphemed, as approving and justifying the iniquity that has been committed.] 3. In religious persons towards the world [It would be well if this partiality in judging were confined to the ungodly : but there is a great tendency to it in those who profess religion. Doubtless in proportion as real humility is formed in the heart, this evil disposition will be mortified : but in proportion as pride and conceit are unsubdued, the attendant evil of uncharitableness will betray itself. We have a most remarkable example of this in David, when he had relapsed into a state of grievous departure from God. When Nathan told him of a man who had taken a poor man s lamb, 1824.] THOSE WHO JUDGE OTHERS, JUDGED. 31 behold, nothing would suffice to expiate the crime but the for feiture of life itself: so atrocious did this light offence appear, when all his own unparalleled enormities were forgotten. We grant that this was a very extreme case ; and that nothing like it is commonly to be imputed to those who profess religion : but is there not amongst many professors an utter contempt of the ungodly? Do they not frequently speak of their irreligious neighbours with contemptuous asperity, as wretched, blind, carnal creatures ? The Jews designated the Gentiles as dogs, and as cursed ; whilst they fancied themselves the chosen people of God : and is not a great deal of the same spirit to be seen amongst what are called the religious world ? The ignorance and ungodliness of the men of this world are at once conceded as just grounds of their eternal condemnation ; whilst the pride and uncharitableness, and ten thousand other evils that are found but too frequently amongst these contemptuous pro fessors, are passed over as venial, or perhaps as having no existence in their hearts. How different was the lesson taught us by our Lord, who, when the Rich Youth came to inquire of him the way to heaven, " loved him," notwithstanding he knew that the love of earthly things would ultimately overcome all those better desires which occupied his mind ! Our divine Master loved him for the good that was in him, though he foresaw it would prove ineffectual for the final welfare of his soul : whereas the great mass of religious professors would have lost sight of all the good that was in him, and have treated him with unqualified contempt. But among those who with great confidence " cry, Lord, Lord," there are many who will be found in as bad a condition as he : and the Disciple who betrayed our Lord with a kiss, will be found in no happier plight, than they who apprehended him with swords and staves.] 4. In religious people towards each other [Strange as it may seem, the different sects of religious people are as ready to anathematize each other, as to condemn those who cast off all religion. It is even an avowed tenet in the Church of Rome, that they who are not of her communion cannot be saved. And there is not a little of that same bigotry existing amongst the different professors of the Protestant faith. To be of their party is almost of itself a qualification for heaven ; and a dissent from it a preparative for hell. Blessed be God ! this intolerant spirit has of late years greatly abated 3 : but still it prevails to an awful extent, and gives but too just occasion for sceptics and infidels to triumph. But even amongst persons of the same religious community this propensity to judge and condemn one another greatly prevails. The weak a Since the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible So ciety. 32 ROMANS, II. 35. [1824. will judge the strong, and the strong despise the weak. Per sons, whose situations totally disqualify them for estimating aright the conduct of others who are differently circumstanced, will yet take upon them to determine with confidence the line of conduct that should be pursued, and to pass a sentence of condemnation on those who walk not in the way that seems good to them. In truth, there are but few who do not need that reproof: " Who art thou that judgest another? To his own Master he standeth or falleth."] Thus we see to whom the expostulation in our text is addressed; namely, to all who "judge others, whilst they themselves do the same things," or things equally reprehensible. We proceed now to, II. Consider the address itself This is extremely pointed. The interrogations shew how fearfully these persons delude themselves. The address is, in fact, an appeal to the consciences of the persons addressed ; and it constitutes them judges in their own cause. It shews to all such un charitable persons, what an awful state they them selves are in : 1. How vain their hopes ! [All the fore-mentioned characters imagine, that they themselves have nothing to fear : but they are all in a state displeasing to God, " whose judgment is according to truth against them that do such things V Can any man suppose that a mere profession of religion will pass with God for the actual experience of it in the heart ? or that a forwardness to condemn others will be a substitute for the performance of our own duties? Will God form his judgment upon the partial grounds which we take for the forming of ours? Will he admit as just the estimate which we have made of our own character, or be content to try us by the standard which we have used in trying ourselves? No: his law is perfect; and by that he will try all to whom that law has been revealed. He will weigh us all in the balance of the sanctuary ; he will " try the hearts," and " weigh the spirits," of the children of men : he will " not judge according to the appearance, but will judge righteous judgment." We appeal then to all, shall these uncharitable hypocrites escape? O thou, who hast thus deceived thyself hitherto, what dost thou now think ? Thinkest thou, that, because thou knowest more than others, or makest a greater profession of religion than others, thou shalt escape? Know, that such a hope is vain : " We are sure c " that, if thou b ver. 2. c ver. 2. 1824.] THOSE WHO JUDGE OTHERS, JUDGED. o3 humble not thyself as an undone sinner, and flee not for refuge to the Lord Jesus Christ, the vengeance of God shall overtake thee; and thou shalt experience the fate which thou art so ready to award to others.] 2. How aggravated their guilt ! [God has graciously exercised much " forbearance and long-suffering " towards thee ; and thou takest occasion from thence to conclude well of thy state, and to sit in judgment upon others who appear less favoured than thyself. But is this the end for which God has borne with thee, and displayed towards thee all the riches of his goodness? Was not that the proper tendency of all " his goodness ? " Should it not have humbled thee as unworthy such mercy ? Should it not have filled thy heart with gratitude for such distinguishing favour? Should it not have quickened thee to return to God, and to requite him to the best of thy power ? Consider, " O man," whether such be not the improvement which thou shouldst have made of all these mercies? and ask thyself, whether the neglecting to improve them thus be not in fact to " despise them ?" Yes : in overlooking thine own sins, and in passing judgment upon others, thou art " hardening thyself in impenitence," and pouring contempt on God himself. Alas ! thou hast little thought what guilt thou hast been contracting. Thou worldly man that judgest the religious, and thou reli gious man that judgest the world, when wilt thou turn thy thoughts inward, and pass judgment on thyself? Know that, till thou art brought to a more equitable spirit, as it respects thyself, and a more charitable spirit as it respects thy neigh bour, thou art a despiser of God, an usurper of his preroga tive, and " a judge of the law itself," even of that law whereby thou thyself art to be judged d . But this most awfully aug ments thy guilt, and prepares thee daily for a more aggravated condemnation.] 3. How fearful their prospects ! [There is " a day wherein God will judge the world in righteousness." Man has his day 6 , and God has his f . The present is a day of grace : but that which is coming is " a day of wrath." What a fearful appellation is this ! a day of wrath ! or, as it is elsewhere called, " the day of the perdition of ungodly men g !" O hear it, and tremble, all ye who are judging others, and neglecting to judge yourselves. Against this day ye are heaping up wrath : ye are adding to the mass day by day : load upon load, mountain upon mountain, ye are piling up ; d Jam. iv. 11. e 1 Cor. iv. 3. See the Greek. f 1 Cor. iv. 5. e 2 Pet. iii. 7. VOL. XV. D 34 ROMANS, II. 35. [1824. and under this accumulated weight must your souls lie to all eternity. Ah ! little do you think what your employment is : little do you think what shall be the issue of all your impenitence and obduracy. But thus it will be. That day is appointed expressly with a view to " the revealing," and displaying before the assembled universe, "the righteous judgment of God." Every sin that is committed will then be brought to light ; " and every one will be judged according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or evil." Then, whether ye will or not, your attention shall be fixed upon your own sins : you will have nothing to do then with the sins of others. O ! begin now, whilst time is afforded you, to search out your own iniquities, and to seek the remission of them through the blood of Christ.] We will conclude this awful subject with a few words of ADVICE 1. Do not occupy yourselves too much about others, but rather take heed unto yourselves [There are situations, no doubt, wherein we are called to judge: nor are we ever so to lay aside the office of judging, as to think well of those who are guilty of all manner of sin ; or to commit ourselves to those, whom we have good reason to think treacherous and deceitful. Nor need we so forbear judging, as to be satisfied with the state of those who live in a total neglect of God and of their own souls. On the contrary, we ought to weep over them, and pray for them, and to labour by all possi ble means for their salvation. But our chief concern must be with ourselves. Here our scrutiny cannot be too exact, or our anxiety too great. Here we should be afraid of entertaining a good opinion on insufficient grounds. We should judge our selves, that we may not be judged of the Lord. Search then, and try your every way : and, not venturing to trust your own efforts, pray earnestly to God, and say, " Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me ; and lead me in the way everlasting 1 ."] 2. Above all things, seek to know your perishing need of a Saviour [This is the grand scope of the Apostle s argument : he is endeavouring to convince all, both Jews and Gentiles, that they stand in need of the salvation which Christ has purchased for us by his own blood. There is in the generality a fear of seeing themselves in too humiliating a point of view : but this can never be : the more we are abased in our own eyes, the h Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. 1825. J THE RULE OF GOD S FUTURE JUDGMENT. 35 more we shall be exalted in the sight of God. It is " the sick that need the physician :" and the more sensible we are of our disorder, the more we shall value the Lord Jesus Christ. Were there indeed any doubt of his sufficiency to save us, we might well be afraid of viewing our sins in all their extent : " his blood will cleanse from all sin ;" and " he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." In him all ful ness dwells : and you need not be afraid of seeing yourselves " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," when you hear him counselling you to come to him for " gold that shall enrich you, and clothing that shall cover you, and eye-salve that shall restore your sight ." Be nothing, yea, "less than nothing," in yourselves ; and He will be to you all that your heart can desire, "your wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- tion, and redemption."] j Rev. iii. 17, 18. MDCCCXXV. THE RULE OF GOD s FUTURE JUDGMENT. Rom. ii. 6 11. Who will render to every man according to his deeds : to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life : but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness $ indignation and wrath, tribulation and an guish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile : for there is no respect of persons with God. IN reading the apostolic writings we should at tend, not only to the doctrines that are inculcated, but to the manner in which they are inculcated ; for writing, as the Apostles did, entirely under the in fluence of love, they have given us many valuable lessons, which escape the notice of the superficial observer, but amply repay the search of those who investigate them with deeper attention, and desire to imbibe their spirit. It is of no small importance to learn how to combat prejudice with success. This is rarely done by an open and direct attack : it is far better to attempt it by a more circuitous mode, namely, by establishing such truths as shall serve to 36 ROMANS, II. 611. [1825. give juster views to the mind. In this way the fabric of error, which would have withstood any rude assault, is undermined, and falls, ere the person who defended it is aware of any opposition. The Jews were strongly possessed with the notion, that no Jew could perish, except through apostasy or idolatry; and that no Gentile could be saved, but by subjecting himself to the institutions and observances of the Mosaic ritual. To counteract this error, the Apostle shews, that the Jews, no less than the Gentiles, stood in need of a Saviour, and must embrace the Gospel in order to their final salvation. But to this conclu sion he comes by gradual, and almost imperceptible, advances ; shewing, that God, as a righteous Judge, will deal with all according to their works, without shewing partiality to any on account of their external privileges, or leaving any to suffer on account of their external disadvantages, but awarding equally to all such a sentence as their respective characters shall require. This is a truth so obvious and incontro vertible, that they could not but acquiesce in it; and, by a due consideration of it, they would be prepared to embrace all that the Apostle was about to advance on the subject which he was especially commissioned to proclaim, the admission of all, both Jews and Gen tiles, on an equal footing, into the Church of Christ. But, in stating the rule which God would observe in the future judgment, the Apostle designed further to convey the most important information to the whole world : for, as all must one day stand at the judgment-seat of Christ, it is of infinite importance for all to know on what grounds their eternal state will be determined. To leave no doubt on this subject, he fully states, I. The character and end of the godly Mark, 1. Their character [The godly man is known by the object he pursues. Nothing less than "glory, and honour, and immortality" will satisfy him : not the glory and honour which pertain to this life ; not the immortality which consists in posthumous fame : 1825.] THE RULE OF GOD s FUTURE JUDGMENT. 37 those he leaves for others: his ambition soars to higher things; the things worthy of an immortal soul ; even to the everlasting possession of all the glory and felicity of heaven. This is the prize which he sees held out to him in the Scriptures : and for the attainment of it he strains every nerve. He well knows how richly it will recompense all his labours and toils ; and every thing in comparison of it is regarded by him as the small dust upon the balance. He is further known by the means he uses to attain it : he seeks it " by a patient continuance in well-doing." Whatever he believes to be the will of God, he does. Has God com manded him to humble himself as a sinner, and to flee to Christ as to the refuge that is set before him ? he does it ; he does it heartily; he does it humbly; he does it continually. Has God further ordered him " no longer to live unto him self, but unto Him that died for him and rose again?" he endeavours to consecrate all his faculties and all his powers to the service of his adorable Redeemer. He is not satisfied with doing such good works as the men of this world are wont to perform ; his efforts extend to all the most difficult and self-denying duties, as well those which are loaded with oppro brium, as those which elevate us in the good opinion of man kind And this he does with " a patient continuance," prosecuting, like the sun in the firmament, his destined course, and causing all who behold his light, to glorify God in his behalf. There are times indeed when the difficulties and discouragements which he meets with oppress his mind : his hands sometimes hang down, and his feeble knees seem as if they would no longer sustain the weight they have to bear. But he looks up to God for help: he obtains fresh supplies of grace and strength from above ; and, with vigour renewed like the eagle s, he resumes his course, determined never to stop, till he has obtained the prize. In accomplishing the work assigned him, he finds also oppo sition from without. Much as the ungodly world profess to honour good works, they do not like such works as Christ performed, or such as all his faithful followers perform : they do all they can to obstruct the Christian s path ; and if he will proceed in it, they will revile and persecute him, even as they did the Lord of Glory himself. But he " endures hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," and " counts not his life dear to him, if only he may be enabled to finish his course with joy," and to complete the work which God has given him to do.] 2. Their end- [God never suffers his faithful servants to be disappointed of their hope. Do they seek " eternal life " as their one object? " eternal life" shall be theirs : " the glory and honour" 38 ROMANS, II. 611. [1825. which they sought shall be awarded to them, and shall be enjoyed by them in a degree, of which, whilst here, they had no conception. "Peace" also, even a perfect freedom from all those conflicts which so often troubled them in this world, will be theirs in full and everlasting possession. Whilst they were here, their " peace passed all understanding, and kept their hearts and minds as in a citadel," out of the reach of all their enemies : but in the future world, their reconciliation with God will be so perfect, and their rest in God so com plete, that their peace will flow down like a river, with ever- increasing amplitude and abundance to all eternity.] In perfect contrast with the foregoing are, II. The character and end of the ungodly Their character is the very reverse of that before considered [It might be thought that an obedience to the Gospel was not intended to be included in the " well-doing" of the godly : but here the want of it is particularly marked as a leading feature of the ungodly. In fact, " the souls of men can only be purified by obeying the truth through the Spirit a ;" and all who are born again of the Spirit, that is, all the children of God, are so purified. But the ungodly are averse to the truth ; they are " contentious, and will not obey it :" and this arises, not from any want of evidence in the truth itself, but from the predominance of some unrighteous principle, towards which they feel a decided preference, and to which they yield a willing subjection. Some, through the pride of their hearts, reject the principles of the Gospel: whilst others, through the love of this present evil world, or through the prevalence of unmortified lusts, refuse submission to its precepts : the prin ciples are too humiliating; the precepts too difficult and self- denying. It is not necessary that a person, in order to be numbered with the ungodly, should commit such crimes as are reprobated by the world around him : he may be blameless as to his external conduct in the sight of men, and yet be very ungodly in the sight of God : his aversion to " the truth as it is in Jesus" constitutes him a most flagrant sinner before God, and subjects him to God s heaviest displeasure 1 *.] Their end will be more awful than either language can express, or heart conceive [They dream of being in the favour of God : but they are objects of his " indignation and wrath." They persuade them selves that they shall be happy in the eternal world : but 8 1 Pet. i. 22. b 2 Thess. i. 8. and 1 Pet. iv. 17. 1825.] THE RULE OF GOD s FUTURE JUDGMENT. 39 "tribulation and anguish" will be their certain and unalterable portion . O ! who can conceive what it is to be " cast into a lake of fire and brimstone," and to "dwell with everlasting burnings ?" Alas ! what " weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth " will there be in those regions to which the ungodly will be for ever consigned ! Yes : " to every soul that doeth evil," shall this sentence be awarded. " No respect will be shewn to persons " on account of their name, or profession, or rank, or distinctions of any kind. The Jew will have a priority to the Gentiles, both in respect of happiness and misery ; of happiness, inasmuch as his peculiar privileges afford him greater advantages for the attainment of holiness ; though the Gentile shall not be overlooked on account of his want of those advantages. In like manner the Jew will have a fearful precedence also in respect to punishment, on account of the advantages he has abused : but the Gentiles will accord ing to their measure be punished also, if they have not walked agreeably to the light which they have enjoy ed d . The posses sion of privileges will prove a blessing, or a curse, according to the use that has been made of them ; but the want of privi leges shall neither excuse deliberate wickedness, on the one hand, nor prevent the acceptance of willing, though imperfect, services, on the other hand. If God, on the one hand, will " take vengeange on them that know him not," he has, on the other hand, declared, that " in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, shall be accepted of him."] From this subject then we may LEARN, 1. What the Gospel is [Many imagine that such declarations as those in our text are altogether legal. But the apostle Paul, who surely under stood the Gospel, considered these declarations as an essential part of it : and it is worthy of notice, that, in the very epistle where he has most strongly advanced the doctrines of predes tination and election, he has brought forward these truths, which are so often set in opposition to them. But the Gospel is not such a partial system as is generally imagined : it neither consists exclusively in those doctrines which are commonly spoken of under the term Calvinism, nor in those which are supposed to have an Arminian aspect. The Gospel exhibits the Deity to us under different views ; first, as a merciful Father, who offers salvation to us through the blood and righteousness of his only-begotten Son ; next, as an almighty Sovereign, who dispenses his blessings according to his own will and pleasure ; and lastly, as a righteous Judge, who will proceed with perfect equity in assigning to every man his c Compare Ps. Ixxviii. 49. with Ps. xi. 6. d Luke xii. 47, 48. 40 ROMANS, II. 611. [1825. proper portion of happiness or misery, according to what he has done in the body, whether it be good or evil. Under all these characters God must be viewed : if any one be excluded, his Gospel is mutilated, and his glory obscured. Let us then be equally ready to view him under any of these characters. Let us look to him for a full salvation through the death of his Son : if made partakers of that salvation, let us give all the glory to his free grace, and his electing love : and then let us walk before him in a conscientious performance of every duty, under a firm expectation, that our final sentence shall be according to the dictates of perfect equity. This is to be in the spirit of the Gospel ; and if any restrict it to more partial views, they only betray their ignorance or pride, and will find themselves awfully mistaken in the last day.] 2. How to estimate our own character [The persons who have such an exclusive fondness of the deeper doctrines of predestination and election, are ready to pour contempt on evidences, as though an inquiry into the evidences of our conversion were mere legality. A favourite notion with them is, that faith is the ONLY evidence of faith. But this is a grievous error. That faith does carry its own evidence along with it, just as love, or any other grace does, we readily allow. A person who relies simply and entirely on God, has a consciousness that he does so, and may, if this consciousness be confirmed by other evidence, be assured that his faith is genuine. But men may have a full persuasion in their own minds that they are right, and yet may be under a fatal delusion. This was the case with Paul, whilst he perse cuted the Church of Christ : he "verily thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus." The Scrip tures furnish us with unnumbered marks whereby to judge of our state. The Epistles of St. John are full of them 6 ; and our blessed Lord cautions us strongly against that presump tuous confidence that would exclude an appeal to them f : he bids us judge of ourselves by the fruits that we produce g ; and assures us, that in this way only can we guard against final disappointment and everlasting ruin h . To all then would we say, examine whether you are proceeding in " a patient continuance in well-doing:" for the Judge himself will assuredly at the last day institute a strict inquiry into your works, and determine your state according to them 1 : and " whatever you have sown, that, and that only, shall you reap to all eternity V] e See 1 John iii. 10, 14, 1921, 24. f Matt. vii. 2123. s Matt. vii. 16 20. h Matt. vii. 24 27. 1 Matt. xxv. 31 4G. * Gal. vi. 7, 8. 1826.] INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS REPROVED. 41 3. How to secure the prize that is set before you [Not only is this plainly told us in our text ; but St. Paul elsewhere says expressly, " Be not weary in well-doing ; for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not 1 ." St. John also inculcates the same salutary lesson, as our Lord also does in the parable of the Sower" 1 , both, in effect, saying, look to yourselves, that ye " lose not those things which ye have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward"." That we must live altogether by faith in the Son of God, is certain ; for it is from his fulness alone that we can receive any spiritual bless ing : but still we must exert ourselves as much, as if salvation were the fruit and recompence of our own efforts alone. This matter is put in a just light by St. Paul, when he says, " Let us cast away every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ." In humble dependence on him to assist our efforts, and in an entire reliance on his meritorious sacrifice as the only ground of our acceptance, we must press forward in our heavenly course : then may we with confidence expect " a recomponce of reward," not indeed for any merit in our services, but in exact proportion to them. The men of this world may seek for glory and honour, and be disappointed : but no disappoint ment shall occur to us: " The wicked worketh a deceitful work ; but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward p ."] 1 Gal. vi. 9. m Luke viii. 15. " Bring forth fruit with patience." " 2 John, ver. 8. Heb. xii. 1, 2. P Prov. xi. 18. MDCCCXXVI. INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS REMONSTRATED WITH. Rom. ii. 17 23. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the laiv, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being in structed out of the law ; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore ivhich teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou com mit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege ? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the laiv dishonourcst thou God ? 42 ROMANS, II. 1723. [1826. IT is generally acknowledged, that the heart of man is deceitful : but the extent of its deceitfulness is very little known. It is not in things of minor im portance only that its delusive operations are felt, but in things of everlasting concern, where, it might be supposed, we should be most on our guard against them. It deceives us in things relating to God, who, however we may deceive ourselves, can never be deceived by us : it leads us to substitute a profession of religion for the actual experience of it in our souls; and to rest in a form of godliness, whilst we are wholly inattentive to its power. This species of self- deceit obtained to an awful degree amongst the Jews, with whom St. Paul expostulates on account of it in a way of keen remonstrance. They could not be persuaded that they were in any danger, because they were descended from Abraham ; but St. Paul shews them, that their descent from him would avail them nothing, whilst their conduct was so contrary to their professions ; but that rather their hypocrisy proved them to be as much in need of a Saviour, as the most ignorant of the Gentile world could be. Such being the general scope of the passage, we will consider more particularly, I. The remonstrance itself Certainly the state of the Jews called for severe reproof [They were highly privileged beyond the rest of mankind. They had a revelation from heaven, whereby they were in structed in the mind and will of God a , and enabled both to " discern things that differed," and to " approve the things that were more excellent 13 ." Moreover, as God s peculiar people, they could call Jehovah their God. But these privileges they grievously abused. We condemn not their " resting in the law," or their " making their boast of God," provided they had really endeavoured to serve God acceptably, and to yield a willing obedience to his law: but it was the external privilege that they gloried in, and not the spiritual advantages derived from it: they were proud of the distinction, but not desirous of the spiritual benefits connected * Deut. iv. 8. b ck>/a/uatie ra hatiipovra may be translated in either way. 1826.] INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS REPROVED. 43 with it. Because of the superior light they enjoyed, they despised all the rest of the world, as blind, ignorant, be nighted : and they assumed to themselves vain-glorious titles, as " guides of the blind, lights of those who were in darkness, instructors of the foolish, and teachers of babes :" they had a summary of their duties in a short compendious form, " a form of knowledge and of the truth in the law," by means of which they were enabled to appear very wise to the unen lightened heathen; but, whilst they thought themselves so highly qualified to " teach others, they taught not themselves:" on the contrary, they were notoriously guilty of those very crimes which they reprobated amongst the Gentile world. They proclaimed with great authority the commandments, " Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery;" but they were as much addicted to these crimes as the heathen themselves ; and though since their return from Babylon they professed an abhorrence of idolatry, and in that respect ex celled the heathen, they sacrilegiously robbed God not only of his tithes and offerings, but of all that honour and obe dience which they acknowledged to be his due. In a word, by their gross hypocrisy, and their diversified abominations, they caused Jehovah himself to be blasphemed and abhorred amongst the heathen who were round about them . Of what avail could external privileges be to such hypo crites as these ?] Would to God there were not equal cause for reproof to those also who name the name of Christ [Great as were the advantages of the Jews, they were not to be compared with those which are enjoyed by the Christian tvorld. We have not the law only, but the Gospel also, in which are discovered to us all the wonders of redeeming love. And we, in consequence of this distinction, look down with pity on the benighted heathen, who are bowing down to stocks and stones, and seeking to propitiate their deities by services most painful, most nugatory, most debasing. On the Christian name also we value ourselves, as if that name could save us : and because we have been admitted by baptism into the external bond of the Christian covenant, we conclude ourselves of course partakers also of its inward blessings. Ah ! fatal delusion ! We stand amazed at this error, when exhibited to us by the Jews; but behold it not, when exemplified in ourselves. But our lives testify against us, as no less hypocritical than the Jews themselves. Were we really a holy people to the Lord, we might well " make our boast of the Saviour," and " rest in his Gospel " as an undoubted source of everlasting c Isai. lii. 5. Ezek. xxxvi. 21 23. 44 ROMANS, II. 1723. [1826. blessedness, But whilst we boast of our superiority to the heathen in point of light and knowledge, we are on a perfect level with them in our allowed violations of every moral duty. We say to heathens, " Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery:" but where were ever fornication and adultery practised with more unblushing effrontery, than amongst those who name the name of Christ? Where was dishonesty more universal in every branch of trade, than amongst those who call themselves Christians ? Who have ever carried dishonesty to such a pitch as the professed followers of Christ ? Who have been men-stealers ? Who have stirred up wars from year to year, on purpose to facilitate their projects of enslaving their fellow-creatures ? Ah ! tell it not in Gath. The very name of Christ stinks in the nostrils of millions, who have been the victims of our rapacity. " Me no Christian," is, in the mind of an African, a severer reproach to us than any other that language can express. And, at this day, there is an anniversary held in the island of Japan for the purpose of trampling on the cross, which the Jesuits of former days have made an object of universal abhorrence.] Happy should we be, if this reproof were to be confined to merely nominal Christians ! [Amongst religious professors, who have the Gospel fully and faithfully administered to them, there are many whose superior light and information serves only to puff them up with false confidence and vain conceit. They look down with affected pity on those whose views of divine truth are not so clear as their own ; whilst yet, in respect of truth, and honour, and integrity, they are far inferior to the persons whom they despise. It is common for such persons to set up for teachers, whilst they themselves need to be taught some of the first and fundamental rules of Christian duty. That professors of religion are too indiscriminately, and too severely, judged, is certain : but it is no less certain, that there is too much reason for complaint given by many, who, under a cloak of religion, veil, or attempt to veil, the grossest hypocrisy. Deceit, and lying, and covetousness, and fraud, and petulance, and idleness, and many other evils, are not unfrequently found predominant features in persons professing godliness ; insomuch that the very profession of piety is brought by them into general disrepute, till, by a long probation, a man shall have established his character for integrity and truth. The dishonour they reflect on God, and the injury they do to " the Gospel of Christ, which is evil spoken of through them," is more than words can ex press: but against such persons no remonstrance can be too pointed, no censure can be too severe.] 1826.] INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS REPROVED. 4/5 To view the remonstrance in its true light, \ve must further consider, II. The argument confirmed by it The general argument is, to convince the Jews of sin : but more particularly it was the Apostle s design to shew, 1. The emptiness of a merely nominal religion [The Jews valued themselves on their descent from Abraham, and on their external relation to God as his peculiar people. We in like manner value ourselves on being Christians and Protestants : and we, purely on this ground, entertain as little doubt of our salvation, as the Jews did of theirs. But St. Paul tells the Jews, that the uncircumcised Gentiles, who walked according to the light they enjoyed, would fare better in the eternal world than the disobedient Jews, notwithstanding all their boasted privileges d . And, no doubt, many heathens are in an incomparably better state than the great mass of the Christians, who in their life and conversation disgrace the truth which they profess. We must go further still, and say, that many, who have walked humbly and conscientiously before God, will, notwithstanding the comparative darkness of their views, rise up in judgment against those, who, with their clearer views, and more confident professions of faith in Christ, have walked unworthy of their heavenly calling. Yes ; many that, according to human estimation, are " last, shall be first ; and many that in their own conceit are first, shall be last."] 2. The criminality of an inconsistent profession [A profession of love to God and his law only involves us in deeper guilt, if it be not accompanied with a suitable conversation. Much as God hates wickedness in general, there is nothing so odious in his sight as hypocrisy. Against none did our blessed Lord denounce such woes as against hypocrites; "Woe unto you hypocrites!" and to " take our portion with the hypocrites" is to have the severest lot of all in the eternal world. Think then, ye who call yourselves Christians, what a portion awaits you, if, whilst you name the name of Christ, you depart not from iniquity. Say not, that ye do not make any profession of religion ; for your very calling of yourselves Christians, is a public avowal, that Christ is your Redeemer, and your Lord. What if ye were warned that you should be refused the rites of Christian burial? would you deem that no insult? Yet it is only on the pre sumption that you are Christians indeed, that your bodies are 46 ROMANS, II. 1723. [1820. committed to the grave in faith and hope. You do then, and you cannot but, make a profession of faith in Christ, and of obedience to his revealed will : and, if you will not walk as becometh the Gospel of Christ, " your circumcision shall be come uncircumcision," your baptism no baptism, and your end terrible, in proportion to the advantages you have abused. But to a still greater extent is this true respecting those, who, whilst they make their boast of the Gospel, dishonour God by their unholy lives, or unsanctified dispositions. To what purpose are their public professions, or social exercises? To what purpose are all their boasted experiences of alternate elevation and depression, of fear or confidence, of sorrow or of joy ? They may profess as they will that they know God ; but, if in their conduct they deny him, " they deceive their own souls, and their religion is vain." Extremely awful is that declaration of God to the Church of Smyrna, " I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan e ." And it is to be feared, that such synagogues are yet to be found in our land, under the semblance of Christian Churches and religious societies. But whatever they may think of their professions, God accounts them " blasphemy," and those who make them will be dealt with by him as hypocrites and blasphemers. We would not speak of this, but with weeping f ; nevertheless we must declare it, because it is the very truth of God g .] 3. The universal need of a Saviour [All, both Jews and Gentiles, are under sin, and there fore need an interest in the Saviour. Yea, the best of men must perish, if they be not washed in the Redeemer s blood. For who is there, that has not occasion to humble himself for his manifold infirmities ? Who is there that has acted in all things up to his profession ? Who could stand, if God should enter into judgment with him? Yea, " if God should lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet," who could answer him for any one act or thought of his whole life ? Know then, that we are all in this respect on a level : we must all " put our hand on our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, crying, Unclean, unclean :" we must all desire with St. Paul to be found in Christ, not having our own righteous ness, but the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ."] EXHORTATION We call on all then, as they value their immortal souls, 1. To embrace the Gospel e Rev. ii. 9. f Phil. iii. 18, 19. s Hos. viii. 2, 8. 1827.] NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF RELIGION. 47 [Do not attempt to substitute any thing of your own in the place of it. Your privileges, your professions, your ex periences, your attainments; you must consider them all but as "loss and dung in comparison of Christ." Let it not appear a hard thing to renounce them all in point of de pendence ; but " submit " willingly and thankfully " to the righteousness of God." It is strange that the acceptance of a free salvation should require any submission at all : but our proud hearts are averse to stoop to such an humiliating way of coming unto God. But be content to have nothing in your selves, and all in Christ : then shall you be glorified in him, and he in you, to all eternity.] 2. To adorn the Gospel [It is no small measure of holiness that becomes those who believe in Christ. They should endeavour " to shine as lights in a dark world h ;" to " walk worthy of their high calling;" yea, "worthy also of him that hath called them to his kingdom and glory." They should seek to be " holy as He is holy," and " perfect as He is perfect." Doubtless those who preach to others should, like the shepherds of old, go before their flocks in every thing that is excellent and praise worthy: they should be " examples, not to the world only, but to believers also, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in love, in purity 1 ." They should be able to say to others, " Whatsoever ye have seen and heard in me, do ; and the God of peace shall be with you." Would to God that he who now is endeavouring to teach you, may himself learn, and exemplify, these lessons more than he has ever yet done ! But the duty of holiness pertains equally to all. O be persuaded to press after the highest attainments in it, and so to make your light shine before men, that all who behold you may be constrained to glorify God in your behalf.] h Phil. ii. 15. Matt. vii. 1316. 1 Tim. iv. 12. MDCCCXXVII. THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF TRUE RELIGION. Rom. ii. 28, 29. He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of nien, but of God. IF we were to estimate men s religion by the degree of confidence which they expressed, we should be 4-8 ROMANS, II. 28, 29. [1827. ready to think that the glory of the latter day were already arrived, so universal are men s claims to Chris tian knowledge and experience. But it is often found, that, where there is the strongest confidence, there is the least ground for it. None could ever be more firmly persuaded of their acceptance with God than the carnal Jews ; yet were they fatally mistaken : for though they enjoyed many privileges, and abounded in outward observances, they were destitute of that vital principle, without which their religion was a vain ceremony, an empty form. In the preceding context the Apostle is proving to the Jews that they stood in need of a Saviour no less than the idolatrous Gentiles : and, knowing what a stress they laid upon their outward privileges, he tells them, that it was not an outward and carnal, but an inward and spiritual service that God required, and that was necessary to justify their pretensions to the Divine favour. His words naturally lead us to shew, I. The vanity of a mere outward and nominal reli gion- All are apt to rest in external forms [There is nothing in mere forms, which does not gratify, rather than counteract, our natural tendency to self-righteous ness, and self-applause. Hence arises that universal readiness to substitute something that is of an external nature, in the place of vital godliness. The Jews valued themselves on their descent from Abraham, and on their admission into covenant with God by the right of circumcision : they also boasted of the law in which they were instructed, and of the ordinances wherein they drew nigh to God: and such was their depend ence on these things, that they would not suffer themselves to doubt one moment their title to heaven. Precisely such also are the grounds on which the generality of Christians hope to obtain eternal happiness : they have been born of Christian parents, devoted to God in baptism, instructed in the truths of the Gospel, and brought up in a constant attendance, if not on the Lord s supper, at least on the other ordinances of religion. If they can boast thus far, they will conclude that all is well with them, and that their salvation is quite secure.] But the form of godliness without its power is of no avail 1827.] NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF RELIGION. 4-9 [Testimonies to this effect are exceeding numerous and strong. John the Baptist particularly cautioned the Jews against trusting in their descent from Abraham a : our Lord also warned his hearers, that though they were Abraham s children after the flesh, they could not be considered as the seed to whom the promises were made, because they did not the works of Abraham b . St. Paul also, having enumerated the great and glorious privileges to which the Jews were entitled, yet declares that " all were not Israel who were of Israel," and that the spiritual seed alone should be partakers of the promises . However therefore our knowledge of divine truth be en larged, or our outward services be multiplied, we can never be admitted into God s sanctuary, unless we have a better righte ousness than the Scribes and Pharisees attained" 1 : we may indeed, " have a name to live; but we are really dead 6 ."] In confirmation of this point we proceed to state, II. The nature and excellence of true religion True religion extends its influence to the inmost dispositions of the soul [Circumcision and baptism are mere signs and shadowy representations of something inward and spiritual; they are intended to lead our minds to " the circumcision of the heart," and " the washing of regeneration*"." True religion rests not "in the letter of the law," but goes to " the spirit" of it; and inclines the heart to an uniform, unreserved compliance with the will of God. God himself has informed us fully upon this point ; " Neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircum- cision, but a new creation g . The renovation of our inward man after the Divine image, is that which alone constituted a person a Jew in God s estimation ; nor is any thing less than this necessary to constitute us Christians in the sight of God. Without this, the circumcision of the Jew was a mere concision ; and the baptism of the Christian is a worthless ablution 11 .] Wherever this operates, God looks upon it with pleasure and delight [Man s approbation is confined to the outward forms of religion ; the life and power of which are reprobated by him as hypocrisy and enthusiasm. But God, who sees the emptiness of mere outward services through the specious veil that is a Matt. iii. 9. b John viii. 39. c Rom. ix. 4 8. d Matt. v. 20. e Rev.