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the painful exercise, which a penitent finner must pass through diftinctly defcribed: but how ftrange muft it appear to a well informed-mind, that any one fhould fuppofe, that the apoftle is here defcribing the fate of a Chriftian believer; and yet more ftrange, that he is defcribing his own ftate, confidered as an aged and full-grown Chriftian! Surely the fame person cannot be brought into the marvellous light and glorious liberty of the fons of God, and yet remain carnal and fold under fin! All the art of man can never reconcile the apostle to himself, if he is confidered as fpeaking of the fame Perfon both in the feventh and in the eighth chapters of this excellent Epiftle.

In the sixth, as well as in the eighth chapter, he describes the state of one, who, through faith in Chrift, hath obtain ed deliverance from that ftate of bondage before defcrib. ed; deliverance from all contracted guilt: there is now no condemnation to him, as he is interested in Chrift Jesus and more especially delivered from the reigning power of fin, by the renewing or fanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. "The law of the Spirit of Life in Chrift Jesus (faith the apoltle) hath made me free from the law of fin and death." Certainly he must be underflood, as fpeaking of that law or power of fin, which he had to painfully felt, and bitterly complained of, in the preceding chapter. "How fhall we (believers in Chrift) who are dead to fin, live any longer therein." But can that man be dead to fin, who still complains that it hath fuch power and dominion over him, that when he would do good, evil is fo powerfully prefent with him that he is overcome thereby. Is it poffible for one and the fame perfon to fay: "To will is prefent with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not ;" and, at the fame time, declare : "I can do all things through Chrift who ftrengthens me." Can it be faid of the fame perfons at the fame time: "But now being made free from fin, and become the fervants of God, ye have your fruit unto holinefs, and the end everlasting life;" and notwithstanding this, they may ftill fay: "The good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do! At what a diftance from fuch an unfcriptural and abfurd opinion muft the apostle have been, when he tells us, "That what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, by fending his own Son, in the likenefs of finful flesh, and for fin condemned fin in the flefh: (and that his exprefs defign in fo doing was) "That the righteoufnefs of the law might be fulfiled in us, who walk not after the flefh, but after the fpi

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rit." If words have any meaning, does he not here fhew us, that divine grace is communicated, in order to enable us to perform that hely obedience to the law of God, which we were in no capacity of performing till we were renewed in the spirit of our mind, by the power of the Holy Ghost! Does he not represent the grace of God as conquering all the sinful propensities of the mind, and reigning through righteousness unto eternal life? Hence he informs the believer, that he is no more a debtor to the flesh, to live after the flesh, to fulfil the desires of the flesh and of the mind, as he speaks in another place; so far from it, that, when speaking of the most dangerous, and distressing trials that a Christian can possibly be called to pass through, he sings, and even triumphs, in the salvation of God, saying: "In all these things (terrible as they are, and as they must be, to nature) we are more than conquerors, through Him who hath loved us."

Thus we have the first stage of the Christian life clearly described, and the nature of the first degree of sanctification set forth but we are certainly called to come up higher into the Divine Image; to drink deeper into the Holy Spirit; to increase with all the increase of God; and to be sanctified throughout, body, soul, and spirit. It must appear to every attentive reader of the Epistles of St. Paul, that he constantly considers the people to whom he wrote, to have experienced a good degree of sanctifying grace; yet he still urges them to give all diligence, that they might be found of God in peace, without spot, and blameless; and not only so, but he fervently prays, that "Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith,. and that "being rooted and grounded in love"; they may be blameless, and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke.” "That they might be filled with all the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus, to the honour and praise of God." And, in a word, he prays, that "They might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." Surely the apostle believed, that what he so earnestly prayed for the Lord was willing to communicate. This we may be fully assured of ; for when he had prayed "That the very God of Peace would sanctify them wholly:" he adds: "For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." That is, it is the will of God that you should be sanctified throughout, body, soul, and spirit. If so, then we may believe that God will certainly, accomplish his own will in us; and although this is far above the power of nature, and extremely difficult, considering the strength of original depravity, our manifold infirmities,

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and the many difficulties and dangers of the present world; yet, when we take into account, that "It is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure ;" and when we recollect that all things are possible with him that he speaks, and it is done : he commands, and it standeth fast; that hard and easy are both alike to our Almighty Saviour; and all our difficulties vanish into air, and every hightowering mountain becomes a plain before our Spiritual Ze rubbabel. If he say to a polluted sinner "I will, be thou clean;" surely His word shall be accomplished.

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This state of entire sanctification the apostle seems to have attained when he said; "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life that I now live in the body I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." And when, in another place, he says: "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content; I know how to be abased, and how to abound; how to be full and to suffer need." This high and holy state of mind he describes in the thirteenth chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians. There he shews us, that perfect love enables the who is pos sessed of it, "To suffer long, and to be kind." To bear up under all the distressing trials of the present life, with patience and resignation to the will of God; and to be kindly affectioned towards all men, especially towards the household of faith. This love "envieth not" the gifts or graces, or the prosperity, whether temporal or spiritual, of another person. It vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up.' It is at an infinite distance from self-exaltation, or high-mindedness; it fills the soul with the deepest humility; and leads it to glory only in the Lord. "It doth not behave itself unseemly." It leads a person to act agreeably to that station in life, in which Divine Providence hath placed him; to fill up the several duties thereof, according to the order of God; and disposes the man to endeavour to please all men for their good to edification. This love "Seeketh not her own" ease, honor, or advantage; but simply intends the honour of God, at all times, and on all occasions. "It is not provoked to anger, on any account, or by any means whatsoever; but is enabled to bear the contradiction of sinners, and the perverseness of those who call themselves saints." It thinketh no evil of any one, where evil doth not evidently appear; it disposeth the person to put the most favourable construction upon the conduct of others, that it will possibly bear. "It rejoiceth not in ini

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quity, but rejoiceth in the truth." Very far from feeling any degree of pleasure from hearing, or seeing, the weakness and imperfections of others; he rather weeps over, and laments them, before the Lord. Far from feeling any degree of satisfaction in hearing that such an evil report is true, he rejoiceth to hear that it is false, and that the man's innocency is made to appear. This degree of holy love "beareth all things" well knowing, that all shall work together for good: "believeth all things ;" is ever ready to believe whatever is favourable to any one's character: and "hopeth all things;" that when evil evidently appears, yet this lover of mankind will still hope that the person did not intend so highly to dishonour God, or t wound his cause. This love endureth all things," and "never faileth." It supports the soul under the heaviest crosses, comforts it under the most painful afflictions, and enables it to glorify God in the fires. This love shall never fail; it shall endure for ever; in heaven itself it shall reign, when faith shall be lost in sight, and hope in everlasting enjoyment. "He who dwelleth in love (saith the apostle) dwelleth in God, and God in him." Let God then dwell in us, and walk in us, according to his promise; and he will bring us into a state of full conformity to his will. This is the great salvation that the ministers of Christ are called to publish in his

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But as every faithful minister of Christ will thus freely declare to us the whole counsel of God, as it respects the entire sanctification of our souls; so he will also shew us, how we may be brought into this glorious liberty. In order to this, the precious promises of the gospel must be fully explained, and the lively exhortations of the word of God powerfully enforced. With respect to the promises, our gracious God declares, that he will "sprinkle clean water upon us, and we shall be clean; from all our idols, and from all our filthiness, he will cleanse us; a new heart also he will give unto us, and a right spirit will he put within us." "I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away all thy dross, and take away all thy tin." "And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem; when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment and of burning." viction and the spirit of love..

That is by the spirit of conThe Holy Ghost first enligh

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tening the understanding, so that a discovery is made of all the remaining depravity of the soul; and accordingly, judging and condemning all our evil desires, carnal affections, and unholy tempers, as enemies of our peace and happiness, and highly offensive to our gracious God, and therefore must all be put to death. Then that same blessed spirit will act upon the mind as a spirit of burning; and by the sacred fire of divine love, refine and purify us from all that is earthy, sensual, or devilish, in our nature.

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Such exceedingly clear views had this highly favoured servant of God, the prophet Isaiah, that in another place, when speaking of the happy state of the gospel church, he says: "Look unto Zion, the city of our solemnities ; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken; but there will the glorious Lord be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams." Are we not here taught to expect, that the grace of God shall abound towards us; and that, as the Psalmist speaks, "There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." And does not the Lord himself lament that his ancient people lived far below the privileges of the Mosaic dispensation, when he says: "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments; then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." How powerful must the grace of God be in its influence upon the mind; if it may, with any propriety, be compared to the force of a river, which we well know carries away every thing which would oppose its course; and may also be considered as resembling the mighty waves of the sea, that nothing can withstand. Surely then corrupt nature shall fall before it, like Dagon before the ark of the God of Israel.

There are many other promises of the same kind, which might be quoted from the blessed book of God; but I shall only take notice of one more, in which the design of God in sending Christ into the world is clearly expressed: "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Here I would ask: Are there any such dangerous or troublesome enemies of our peace and happiness as those roots of bitterness, our carnal affections, and sinful'tempers, are well known to be? Ought we not, therefore, thankfully to embrace the promises

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