THEY are such as know most of themselves, and have seen the deepest into the mystery of iniquity. The Holy Spirit has convinced them of sin–of original sin, the fountain from which all the streams flow of actual sin in thought, word, and deed. In this conviction he has put; life and power: it is far more than a moral persuasion–be makes it practical and abiding; for the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus quickens the dead sinner, and, making him free from the law of sin and of death, gives him the faith of God's elect; and by the daily use and exercise of that faith, makes him more sensible of his obligations to Jesus.
In every act of faith, he leads the believer out of self to the Saviour; humbles him, that he may exalt Christ; empties him of self, that he may fill him with the good things of Christ; casts down, and keeps down every Irish thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. In his hand, and by his blessing, this work prospers. The loftiness of man is humbled, and the haughtiness of man is bowed down, and Jehovah alone is exalted in that day–according to the oracle of truth–"He shall glorify me"–which is the office of the Holy Spirit to testify of Christ, and to glorify Christ, by taking of the things of Christ, and by putting the believer into the possession of them.
In this school of humility, every view that can be taken of self is abasing; and as the lesson becomes more and better experienced, sin more discovered in its exceeding wickedness, and more felt in its exceeding great; danger, the believer is enabled to rejoice more in Christ Jesus, as he has less confidence in the flesh. And when he attains to the highest of his triumph which he can have in Christ in this world, he is then the lowest in his own eyes–
When he looks back and surveys what; he was by nature and practice–
When he considers what he is now, although he be renewed by grace–
And when he looks forward to what he hopes to be at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ–
Everything in the Scripture doctrine, and everything in Scripture experience, leads him to conclude, Behold! I am vile, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes; so that whenever he is tempted to glory, he has nothing left; him to glory in but the Lord; self always abased, that Christ alone may be exalted. When he looks back to what he was by nature and practice, the more ho knows, he will be the more deeply humbled, for what he was when under the law and under sin, and for what he still feels of a body of sin and of death. He was the creature of God's power; made out of noticing; distinguished by his being in the image of God, rind by being capable of communion with him in all the graces and blessings of his love. He was under the best law that could be given him for promoting God's glory and his own happiness. He was bound to perfect and continual obedience to it, and was left to his own will and pewee, that he should not offend in any one point; but upon his transgression, be because liable to suffer the threatened pains and penalties of the broken law. Every right view of himself in this state ought to humble and to abase the sinner, and it effectually does, when the conviction is from God. He then finds that his nature was earthly, sensual; and having not the Spirit, it was alienated from the life of God. All his thoughts and actions were not only irregular, but also contrary to the holy law. His very imagination was evil, only evil, and time continually. His understanding was not only ignorant of spiritual things, but was darkness itself. His will w:is a rebel. His affections apostate, ever at enmity with God. Misery and destruction were in his wags; of the way of peace he had no knowledge, neither was there any fear of God before his eyes; for although death and hell were threatened, and were ready to give him the just wages of his iniquity, yet' he was quite careless and secure. Like the atheists of old, when warned of their approaching destruction.by the prophet–"Let us eat and drink, say they, for to-morrow we die."
This true knowledge of the exceeding evil of sin, and the right humiliation for it, come by believing, and are the genuine fruits and effects of it. Legal conviction has guilt and bondage in it, and worketh sorrow unto death. But the conviction of the Holy Spirit reveals the remedy along with the disease, and produces such a repentance as is not to be repented of, a turning from sin to Christ, teaching us practically and daily, what we are in ourselves, and how much we want such all almighty Saviour, to teach us how to trust in him as our great High Priest, and to live happy and holy under his government, which is perfect freedom.
Every act of this faith is humbling. The believer is made to feel his need of that in himself, which he is commanded to trust in Christ for. And the more he is enabled to depend upon Christ, he will certainly have the less in himself And when his whole dependence is, as it ought to be, fixed upon Christ, he will come to tho apostle's experience, even so to rejoice in Christ Jesus, as to put no confidence in the flesh. Herein consists the triumph of the Christian. In every step of his walk and warfare, he is led from self to Christ, kept humbled in his own eves, that he may exalt the Saviour: emptied of self. that he may live upon the fulness of Jesus, and may thereby be taught to rest his heart in him at all times, and for all things.
With respect to sin, which is his daily burden, under which he is always sorrowing, yet in Christ he can always rejoice. The more he knows of the exceeding wickedness of sin, the more precious is Jesus, and the more does he value the blood of the Lamb of God, which cleanseth from all sin. In his conscience, purged from guilt, ho can triumph with exceeding great joy, that there is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. For where sin abounded, grace docs much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. His grateful acknowledgments are such as these:–
I was even as others once, by nature a child of wrath, and all heir of misery–I was going on in the broad way of destruction, careless and secure, and I am quite astonished to see the danger that I was in; I tremble to behold the precipice which I was ready to fall over, when Jesus opened mine eyes, and by the light of his word and Spirit showed me my guilt and my danger, and put it into my heart to flee from the wrath to come. O what a most merciful escape! I cannot think of it without adoring the compassionate Saviour, who remembered me in my low estate; for his mercy endureth for ever; and hath redeemed me from the hand of all mine enemies, for his mercy endureth for ever. Not unto me, not unto me in the least, but to the superabounding grace of my God, be all the glory. That the Father would make me an object of his choice and love; that Jesus Immanuel would humble himself to be manifest in the flesh, and be obedient unto death, for me and for my salvation; that the Holy Ghost would give me a new birth into the spiritual world, and would quicken me into union with Jesus, and to the enjoyment of the Father's love in him.
Adored for ever and ever be the holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, that such a filthy sinner should be cleansed from all sin, that such an ungodly creature should be freely justified by grace, that; such a miserable sinner should be blessed with all spiritual blessings, that such a weak creature should be strengthened mightily by the Spirit in the inner man, and when weakest in myself, then to be strongest in the Lord. O what riches! what unsearchable riches of grace are these! Abide with me, O thou Spirit of the Father and the Son, and keep me constantly dependent on the fresh supplies of thy divine influence. By thy daily teaching, keep open to me the depth and mystery of iniquity, the exceeding wickedness of sm, of my sin, that by thy holy inspiration I may live more by faith, and nothing may be suffered to hinder my growing fellowship with the Father and the Son, until I am admitted to full and eternal fellowship. Amen. Thus reflecting with self-abhorrence upon what he was by nature, when he was under the law, and under sin, which is the transgression of the law, alive to sin, but dead to God, he is led to consider–
What he is now, although he be renewed by grace, a believer, and a man in Christ–how he feels himself, after much and sound experience of his title to salvation, and of his enjoyment of the things which accompany salvation. Every day and in everything he has fresh matter for the deepest humiliation. He finds that he is still a man in Adam–still he carries about him a sinful nature, an old man as well as a new, a body of sin with all its members; he has spirit, but he has also flesh, and that which is born of the flesh, is flesh, nothing but corruptions that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. The old man has flesh still, with all its appetites and lusts; the new man is by the Spirit of life, that is in Christ Jesus, alive to God. In the same person sin dwelleth, as we read, "When we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by tho law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. And the new man liveth, who, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness."
The apostle, in Romans, chap. vii., not only confesses that he had nature and grace in him at the same time, but also describes it at full length. Indwelling sin was his continual grief, dud his heavy burden; an apostle in Christ, and yet he felt the plague of his own heart; and it was his daily cross which he was forced to bear–and his constant enemy, against which he was always at war –no peace, no truce could be made; the flesh was ever lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two, with such unceasing opposition night and day, that he could not do the things that he would, either so continually or so perfectly. He describes this battle as it was carried on in his own experience, the two combatants striving in him for mastery. He was a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and as well instructed and armed as ever any believer was for this warfare, having on the whole armour of God; and yet, wearied with this daily conflict, he is forced to cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He had no deliverance in or from himself; it was against himself that be fought, and of himself he was led to despair. But looking to Jesus, he takes courage, assuring himself of a complete victory, and of an everlasting triumph in the Captain of' his salvation–I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then (this is the conclusion of the whole matter), so then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
times and upon all occasions; he bas a practical comment upon the seventh chapter of the Romans in his own bosom; he has heartfelt experience of the warfare between the flesh and the spirit; he finds it hard fighting; harder, because it is continual–it will never cease so long as flesh is flesh, that is, so long as the believer lives in the body and in the present world. Indwelling sin never rests–it is like the troubled sea, always casting up its filthy motions; and then the most troublesome when he would be the freest from them.
O what humbling lessons does he learn in all his ap preaches to God! he knows his privileges, and he wishes to live up to them, but he cannot. When he would draw near to God in the prayer of faith, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. On his bended knees, desiring to confess his sins, and to humble himself under the mighty hand of God, imploring pardon through the redemption that is in the blood of the Lamb, and expecting it freely, as the most sovereign mercy that a poor sinner can receive.–Alas! alas! even then shame and confusion cover his face; he desires to keep his thoughts from wandering; he would have his whole heart engaged in the duty, but he cannot; his imagination is not to be restrained; when he would be uniting all his affections in fervent and effectual prayer, vain foolish thoughts force themselves upon him; he drives them away, as Abraham did the birds which came down upon the sacrifice; but they will return. He mourns, as well he may, for these distractions of his mind, and is deeply convinced, that a most holy God might justly condemn him for his very best devotions. He is therefore led to put them into the hands of the Mediator, that he may perfume them with much of his incense for their acceptance, and through his intercession, and through that only, ho may obtain an answer of grace.
Neither can he trust in his praises any more than in his prayers. Let him praise ever so much, and ever so well, yet he can make no suitable acknowledgments for the blessing of' creation. Once he was nothing: for his being at all–for such a being, rather than any other–for being made a man, and at first highly favoured with the image and friendship of God–who can express the noble acts of the Lord, or show forth all his praise for the miracle of creation? but who can conceive how great, how endless are the blessings of the new creation ? for they are all gifts of God's grace–distinguishing and sovereign–given to sinners as sinners–to the chief of sinners–continued to the unworthy–increased to the unthankful: how great in their nature–how invaluable the sum of them!
The believer, deeply impressed with these sentiments, acknowledges that he is less than the lease of all God's mercies; yea, he is sensible that he deserves the heaviest of the divine vengeance; so that his prayer, God be merciful to we a sinner, lays the foundation of his very best praises, lie who has most forgiven, will love most. He who feels what he really is among the chief of stoners, will be among the chief of those worshippers who ascribe all their salvation to God and the Lamb. The humblest amongst them will feel that they have most reason to be thankful. But still their praises are no payment. They must receive fresh grace to praise with, and more grace to praise better. The debt increases by the addition of fresh gifts of grace, and leaves the believer nothing to glory in but the Lord–to be saved–to feel it–to enjoy it by faith–to be made, and to be kept thankful, giving all the glory where it is due: these are among the mercies which endure for ever.
In this school of self-abasement, he is taught to be humbled for his short attainments in the Scriptures, read, or preached, or meditated on. How seldom does he attend the word, as that congregation did–"Beheld, we are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." This preparation of heart was from the Lord. He disposed Cornelius and his family to receive the word aright, and his blessing came upon them in hearing it; for while Peter was speaking, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And it would be so still, if there was the same dependence on his grace, and the prayer of faith for his teaching along with the word. How little is this depended upon under hearing, although the profit be en-rely from him; how seldom is the mixing faith with it received and acknowledged; therefore the memory keeps little impression of the word, and in heart it is not fruitful as it ought to be.
On all these accounts, the believer mourns, and is humbled before God. He feels it to be true, "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me, but "how to perform that which is good, I find not." He is sensible of these failings and distractions, even when he labours to be most free from them. He is going to the Lord's table to be fed and feasted, hoping that he is one with Christ, and Christ is one with him. He would gladly partake of the fruits and blessings of this union by communion with Christ, by receiving the bread of life, and the cup of salvation, according to Christ's holy institution. He comes in faith to eat the flesh of Christ, and to drink his blood, in grateful remembrance of him–according as he hath been taught–The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for me, preserve my body and soul unto eternal life–I take and I eat this bread, and I take and I drink this cup, in remembrance that Christ died for me, and I desire to feed on him in my heart by faith with thanksgiving.
In this service he would have his whole soul engaged, that nothing might interrupt his communion with his beloved; but vain thoughts, which lodge within him, will break out; they intrude, although most unwelcome guests, into this banquet of love; so that he is constrained to cry out, Lord Jesus, pardon the failings of my holy things; I come to the throne of thy grace, that I may obtain mercy, and may find more grace to help me in every time of need.
When he is led to consider what is the cause of all these failings, O what an abiding lesson of humility has he to learn! He sees that they all spring from the bitter root of unbelief, and are the fruits of remaining corruption, which can only be kept down and conquered, as the strength of Christ apprehended by faith prevails over them. Self, pride, legality, nurse them: they have their being, their activity, their power, from those fleshly lusts which war against the soul and render the whole life of the believer one continued act of self-denial. He has still a body of sin, with all its members mixing with every duty, so that he cannot ground his faith and hope upon the best of them. The work of Jesus upon earth, the intercession of Jesus in heaven, are the sole ground of his confidence towards God. His motive is good–he aims at pleasing God in all things, he would do his will, and suffer his will, as it is his bounden duty, with faith and patience. His end is good–he would gladly keep the glory of God in his eye, and direct all he does to it, as his elder brethren do in heaven. But he cannot. When the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.
Yet he is not so discouraged as to give over, and cease his approaches to God because of his infirmities. Having obtained help of God, he fights on the. good fight of faith. He does not leave off praying because he is not so spiritual as he desires to be; but he is rather more earnest and fervent. The Spirit helping his infirmities, keeps him in an humble dependence upon Jesus, waiting on him for a due sense of his wants, for the acceptance of his prayers, for a supply of them, for pardoning, the failings of them, for more faith in them, and for enabling him to continue instant in prayer, according to the divine command, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint, which supposes them to be kept in a praying frame, and to use the means which Saint Jude recommends for the obtaining of these blessings: "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
As he is not weary of his prayers, because they are not so spiritual as he could wish; so neither is he weary of his praises, although they fall far short of what such a Saviour deserves, and of what he would acknowledge with all possible gratitude; because he falls short, he aims higher. He feels himself under infinite obligations to the Father for his love, to the Son for his salvation, and by the supply of the Spirit's grace, he is made sensible that he is not only less than the least of divine mercies, but if he had his just deserts, he should have judgment without mercy. This lays the foundation for is highest praises. The faithful witness for Jesus makes the believer willing robe beholden to him for every mercy; yea, to glory in being a pensioner upon his fulness; from which he receives grace for grace, that in all things he may be giving of thanks; according to the Lord's favour to his people, informing them to take with them words, and turn to the Lord, and say unto him, "Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips," which is the sacrifice of the New Testament worshippers, who, through Jesus the Mediator, offer the sacrifice of praise continually; that is, the fruit of their lips giving thanks to his name, wishing, praying to do it with some of the praises of heaven, as one said, "I will hope continually, and I will yet praise thee more and more."
As these prayers and praises are grounded upon faith in the divine promises, this makes the believer a diligent reader of the Scriptures. He does not neglect his Bible because he has not y?et attained the perfect knowledge of every part of it. For that very reason, he studies it more. he prays more over it, grows more thankful for the divine power, which still accompanies it, and studies and prays that he may experience more of this power; it has been the means of making him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. He finds it also to be the food of this faith–it nourishes him, and he grows thereby, lie hears, reads, meditates, and keeps on praying to the Holy Ghost to write the Scriptures upon his heart, and to make his life a fair copy of them. And what he thus learns, preserves him in a settled dependence upon the faithfulness of God to his word and promise. And he is not disappointed: he finds all the Scripture which was given by the inspiration of God is still profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. This blessing he has in his :Bible. The more he can mix faith with it, the more precious it becomes. His Bible is his library. The study therein makes hint wise for eternity; which is the superlative excellency of Bible knowledge, of which Jesus thus speaks: ":Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily army gates, waiting at the posts of my doors; for whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord."
Thus, in the use of means, he is kept humble and dependent, exercising the true gospel, poverty of spirit in self-abasement, and so far from being stopped, that he rather glories and triumphs in his infirmities. The opposition which they give helps him forward; they are always driving him out of self to Christ, teaching him the necessity of the supplies of the Spirit, making, him more diligent, and keeping him more humble in the use of the means; and thus he learns to live more by faith upon Christ, and to seek more close communion with him, and his fulness, especially at his table. He does not absent himself from it, because he has not the fellowship there, so close, intimate, and abiding, as he could wish, or because, the last time he was there, he was not so lively as he used to be, or because he was unworthy and fall of complaints. He has tasted that the Lord is gracious; and this taste has increased his hunger and thirst; the food which he wants, he does not carry with him, but he goes to receive it. When he hears his Lord's command–"Take, eat this bread–drink this cup–Do ye this in remembrance of me," he obeys, believing the promise: "This is my body, given for you: this is my blood, shed for you." The more faith in the promise, there will be the more appetite, and the more nourishment received from the spiritual food; for then the Holy Spirit puts his influence into the elements, and the communicant eats the flesh of Christ indeed, and drinks his blood indeed, having by faith communion with him in the bread and wine. At this table the believer is fed, nourished, and feasted with the bread that cometh down from heaven, even angels' food; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever; according to the Lord's own promise, "Whose eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
The believer has this in his eye, both in what the banquet is now, and in what it is the pledge and earnest of, when it shall be realized. Faith gives a substance to the things promised and hoped for; it has the earnest and the pledge of them; as certainly as we have the one, so certainly shall we have the other. A faithful God gives us this security–whoso is one by faith with Jesus, shall sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb: whoso eateth and drinketh at his table here in faith, shall infallibly eat and drink with him at his table in his kingdom of glory. The sure and certain hope of this makes our present feast at the Lord's supper a happy foretaste of that eternal banquet, when ho will vouchsafe to admit us to the honours of his table and of his kingdom.
O blessed, most blessed time! The prospect is animating, it brightens the darkest day of affliction, refreshes the spirits under the heaviest trials, and is a rich cordial under the deepest feeling of indwelling sin. Where Christ is, all is blessed; union with him is heaven begun; and this the believer is called to enjoy; even to enjoy communion with him in ail he is and has. Christ is one with him: Christ will not leave him nor forsake him; nothing is able to separate the members from the Head. He who has begun the good work, has given the fullest security that he will not leave it unfinished; he will carry it on unto the end; for he is faithful who hath promised.
And the apostle applies the word spoken to Joshua, and says that they were spoken also to ns, that we might trust; and not be afraid:–"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success. Have not I commanded thee–be strong and of a good courage: he not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest." And he went 'out strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, lie fought the Lord's battles, and prospered, until the whole land was subdued before him. There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Even so shall it be to the whole Israel of God. Every good soldier of Christ Jesus shall be kept safe by his almighty power, and under his banner shall fight the good fight of faith, until he obtains the promised inherit-ance, which is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them. He has taken possession of it in their name, as their surety, and not one of them can perish; for he keeps the inheritance for them, and them for it: yea, the day is hastening on, when he will present all his redeemed unto the Father. "Of those whom thou hast given me, have I lost none:" –"Behold I, and the children whom thou hast given me!"
On all these accounts, it is evident, that a believer every day, and in everything, finds matter for the deepest humiliation. He has still a body of sin, remaining corruptions, daily infirmities, and shortcomings; All that he has of his own abases him in his own eyes; so that his triumph is never in himself. His salvation, with all its graces and blessings, depends entirely upon what he is in Christ. On this foundation he may rest safely always, notwithstanding he has nothing of his own to glory in. Most of his mistakes and miseries come from his seeking to be independent of Christ–hoping to find that in himself, or in the world, which is only in Christ. Self-love is unwilling to be beholden to Christ for every good thing; it is always trying to put some confidence in the flesh; but the believer is commanded, and is taught to deny self–to put it upon the cross–and to crucify it daily with its affections and lusts. As Christ is exalted, self goes down: as Christ is beloved, self is not only denied, but is also abhorred.
The prophet Exekiel, in the thirty-sixth Chapter, describes the very height of the experience of a great believer, who is blessed with the abundant graces of the Holy Spirit; the result of which is–"Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings, that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, house of Israel!" Such is the genuine working of true grace–it lays the sinner low at the Saviour's feet, abased and humbled to the dust. Behold! I am vile: I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. The sense of God's distinguishing and sovereign mercy brings all high thoughts of self, into subjection to Christ Jesus, and teaches the believer to walk humbly with his God, ascribing all his salvation to the praise of the glory of the exceeding riches of God's grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus; that, according as it is written, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
Thus it is evident, that, when the believer looks back upon what he was by nature, or considers what he is now by grace, he has nothing of his own to boast of; yet even m this continual warfare between the flesh and the spirit, in Christ Jesus he may rejoice even to a triumph, a jubilee of joy. But the grand triumph is yet to come: the best glorying in the Lord here is only a prelude to it. Now we have the espousals with our heavenly bridegroom, but then the marriage will be consummated; now we are kept waiting in hope for the crown of righteousness, but that will be our coronation-day. What a day will it be! what wonders and miracles! the promises exceeding great and exceeding precious, will then have their full and everlasting accomplishment by a faithful God, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them who have believed!–when they shall see him face to face, shall be with him where he is–shall be like him, and made capable of enjoying the honours, and riches, and pleasures of his kingdom, in their fulness of blessedness for evermore.