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to your own soul. You remember, O Christian, how long you lived in forgetfulness and contempt of God, as if you had been independent of him, or he unworthy of your notice; how long you was engrossed by mean and selfish pursuits, never inquiring, where is God my maker? Yet you know he suffered you to survive all this insolence of behaviour towards him. In the midst of it all, his mercy was not withheld from you; he still protected, still provided for you, and preserved you from perishing for ever in your sins. At length he crowned his mercy towards you, by giving you repentance and remission of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. This very gracious and long indulgence from your heavenly Father towards you, lays bare the hideous deformity of a vindictive spirit. Compared with the treatment you have received, what a return to repay your enemies hatred for their ill-will? This contrast, where any sense of right and wrong remains, is insupportable to the mind. Though violent provocations, therefore, may suddenly kindle sparks of resentment in your breast, and prompt you to gratify the impulse of your selfish nature, very soon a recollection of God's patience and love towards yourself, will make the transient thought of revenge appear full of injustice, weakness, ingratitude to God, and a denial of your sinful state before him. By this means the hell-engendered fire will be presently extinct, and love reign in your heart.

Besides these motives, your firm belief of scripture, O Christian, convinces you that every rising of ill-will towards any man is abomiable in God's sight; for you are assured, that whoever harbors hatred in his heart cannot be saved, till that detestable spirit is subdued. It is so highly offensive to God, in such sinful wretches as we are, that it renders us incapable of praying, without increasing

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our sin and condemnation. The tongue which holds any correspondence with a heart envenomed by hatred, invokes the curse of God, when it cries, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." The petition, dreadfully inverted, sounds thus in his ears, "Forgive not me my trespasses, as I do not forgive them that trespass against me." And whoever dies in hatred of his foes, will find himself answered according to this true meaning of his prayer: justice he shall have, and not mercy; vengeance, and not compassion.

In so forcible a manner are you taught, O Christian, to forgive and love your enemies. Whilst these arguments prove the reasonableness and indispensable duty of forgiveness, the grace of God is promised, that what is impossible with man may be your constant practice. For though injuries extremely irritate our selfish spirit, whilst we have a high opinion of our own dignity, and imagine we have a right to avenge ourselves; whilst we have never been brought low on our knees, to ask with a broken heart pardon for our faults; yet afterwards, upon receiving a spirit of love, of power, and of a sound mind, we are not soon apt to think ourselves so miserably ill-used; the injuries done us appear small, compared with what we know we deserve, and are accustomed to deprecate; evils which threaten death to the soul. And through a supreme desire to please our Lord by the reasonable sacrifice of so vile a lust, we can do it in his strength.

SUNDAY XXXIII.

CHAP. XXXIII.

Christian Humility.

THE Christian, by continuing in the faith of Christ, and growing in grace, comes at length to prefer every one before himself. This is the crowning excellency in his character, an attainment which not only surpasses all the world judges to be excellent or necessary to salvation, but appears to them big with absurdity. How is it possible, say they, not to perceive a vast difference in the practice and tempers of mankind? But if I am allowed to see this difference in regard to others, can it be wrong to acknowledge as much with regard to myself? What a violence does it offer to my reason, to attempt to persuade me, that a man who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity, is not to prefer himself to the disobedient and lawless?

But let the case be properly stated, and there will appear, I conceive, very sufficient reason for a Christian to take the lowest place.

It is certain then, if you are much advanced in the knowledge and practice of true religion (which is the case supposed), you are very sensible of the corruption of your nature; for nothing but pride, blinding the mind, can prevent this from being felt. It is also certain that you are conscious of much unfaithfulness to the grace received, of very great defects, many sins of omission, much negligence in the service of God, and of a very small measure of those holy tempers which ought to have been improved to a high degree. At the same time, you clearly per

ceive what excellent advantages you have enjoyed, what peculiar obligations you are under on this account, demanding suitable returns in faith, love and obedience. You remember the alarming calls, the affectionate warnings, which have strongly impressed your heart, the answers given to your prayers, the troubles, the dangers, and the enemies from which you have been delivered, with the peace, comfort, and delightful hope so often refreshing and animating your soul.

In these circumstances, must not every thing which betrays evil concupiscence, inordinate affection, or want of supreme love to God in any instance, afflict and abase you? Such being the case with every humble and advanced Christian, I would now ask, where is the absurdity of concluding each person of this character should judge himself (every thing considered) inferior to all men? Or from the bottom of his heart believe there is not one upon earth who, if blessed with equal advantages, would not have far surpassed his attainments?

The whole difficulty of conceiving that the most excellent in the church of Christ do really entertain such thoughts of themselves, arises from pride natural to the heart, which loves to dwell on any supposed pre-eminence above others, without once considering how much more than others they have been favoured by Providence, or comparing the progrcss they have made with the means vouchsafed, or the duty they owe. The advanced Christian is of a more reasonable and humble mind. He blushes at his manifold and great defects: having his soul strongly impressed with the rich grace he received, and the excellency of the God he serves, he thinks it is not so with any man beside: the transition then is easy, to prefer every one before himself.

The command to do so is plain; "In lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves," Phil. ii. 3. A command expressly enjoined as the only prevention of vain glory. Nor must this command be interpreted only to imply a preference of those who walk worthy of their Christian name, leaving you still at liberty to look down upon open transgressors as worse than yourself. This construction is contrary to a parable our God spoke, on pur-. pose to condemn the sin of valuing ourselves above any one. He sets before us a Pharisee and a publican; the former is honest, strictly conscientious and devout, virtues which he acknowledges are the gift of God; he only prefers himself on their account to the adulterers, the unjust and profane. One of them he mentions in his prayer (not from personal aversion) merely because he saw him in the temple*, and thanks God he was not so base and wicked as this publican. You know the judgment of God in this case. The Pharisee was left in his sins, highly offensive to his Maker, because he exalted himself above the publican. He trusted in himself as righteous, and despised others in comparison of himself; a full proof, as can be given, that it is the bounden duty of every Christian to take the lowest place.

This example proves, that all who prefer themselves to others in fact adopt the sentiment of the Pharisee, and do just what he did. This instructive parable convinces you, that as there were none in common opinion more wicked than publicans,

* Observe, there could be nothing wrong in the Pharisee's making mention of the publican's name, unless there was injustice in his preferring himself to him; since nothing is more plain, than that he might very innocently mention in his prayer what he, at all other times, was allowed to think. But this he was not allowed to do, if he might esteem hinself above the publican..

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