this perception shall be more universal, " In the day of thy power shall the people offer thee freewill offerings with an holy worship" (Ps. cx. 3). 6, As one property, whether it be incidental or constituent, will often require another, to give it truth and consistency, so in the case of worship, particularly the qualification of Faith, will be required in order to make it something more than mere flattery and busy mocking or worshipping busily, as it may be three times a day, to no purpose. And well did Esaias prophesy of such hypocrites saying, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me" (Matt. xv. 7, 8). Therefore if faith be here mentioned as due to the Subject after worship, in point of necessity it should go before, or however accompany the same at any rate. As "he that cometh to God must believe that He is" (Heb. xi. 6), so must he likewise who cometh to Christ; and believe, too, that he is something like that which his names and titles just enumerated bespeak him. To those who thus believe, and own accordingly the dueness or obligation of his worship, one should think the consequent debt of faith and obedience would be obvious without further proof: yet it is to be feared, that there still are many who call him Lord, Lord, and do not the thing that he says for want of the foundation of faith (Luke vi. 46), or of a proper confidence in his direction. If we were to judge literally and universally by the signs or criterions of Christian faith afforded us in one passage, we should be apt indeed to think that it was very rare; so rare indeed, that if the Son of man should come at any time, he would hardly" find faith on the earth" (Luke xviii. 8).according to them: "And these signs shall follow them that believe in my name; they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them" (Mark xvi. 17, 18). Whereupon it may be thought, that even VOL. III. F the most confident of the Subject's followers are in a dangerous predicament: for if they do not exhibit the signs here mentioned, it will appear that they do not believe; and if they do not believe, according to the same passage their sentence is certain; they will all be damned (Ib. 16). But these signs are enumerated, we may suppose, only as partial phenomena; which were to occur and did sometimes only for the sake of a general evidence, not as a proper, standing criterion. For many have proved their faith in Christ by the last and most indisputable token; which was as good as any, it being the evidence of faith, and not of miracles, that the case requires,-have died confessing him in torments; who never handled serpents, nor drank much else besides water, nor spake with other tongues than those which they learned from their parents, if they had often an opportunity of speaking with these; living in want and solitude, and dying at last for that by which they lived. Their principal food while they lived was faith in the blood of Christ, receiving the same by their eyes with the type of his body broken for them, and of his precious blood poured out: which is an indirect way of not only seeing the Redeemer, but of seeing him also in the very act of sealing our redemption. He says himself, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John xx. 29); alluding by this preterite form of expression most likely to the holy men who believed before his incarnation, seeing the promises afar off (Heb. xi. 13) and looking forward both to a better country and to a Redeemer from the evil of the present. And blessed too are they who in like manner not having seen, shall yet believe or do the same, looking backward as it were, instead of forward to the age of the Redeemer: blessed, though poor; poor, though willing to pay; having just faith enough to cry out, "Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief" (Mark ix. 24)" to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. xii. 2); and "being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. i. 6). 7, Unfortunately the Expectation with which the Redeemer of mankind is justly surrounded does not always infer a suitable meed of Co-operation and Service on the part of the expectants. There has been a great show of service in Christendom it is true, before now: but we must not allow all, nor half, nor a quarter, nor any proportionable part of what has been supposed or pretended to be done in this way upon earth, to have really been so. We must, for one item, deduct from this account all the armed crusades whether against heathens or Christians as well as all private persecutions, with all the partial sentences and violent executions that have gone forth so officiously from BUSY MOCKERS and bloody wolves, "thinking (or pretending) to do God service" (John xvi. 2),-all pious frauds and ingenious lies devised, as their authors would persuade themselves, for the service of truth; with every sort of pious dissimulation, hypocrisy and pretence; in a word, all that has ever been done-like some acts of loyalty that we read of, against the cause and authority which it professed to serve. All these extraneous matters, with all those arrogant pretensions termed works of supererogation, are to be deducted from what belongs to the genuine service of Christ and for their subjects or authors, who are all out of the question,-when we talk of Christianity: "for without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev. xxii. 15), the Lord who is now in Heaven will utterly disown them at his coming. Then shall they begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, "I know you not, whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity" (Luke xiii. 26, 27). : We may also conceive a share of passive as well as of active service to be deducted from the present account of this due incidental of the Subject, the share of many who have forsaken all for Christ, without following him (Matt. xix. 27),-it may be of some who have denied themselves dreadfully, to run up an account against one who has nothing to do with them; tearing and macerating their poor bodies, and minds too, without mercy; or it may be breaking down one, and giving the other to be burned; and all very gratuitously, or from a mistaken sense of what he requires (Ib. xvi. 24),-being our useful labours and lively devotion: for the sake of which both the mind and body ought rather to be encouraged under due regulation. To deny ourselves, and take up our cross without following Christ, is a very wretched as well as fruitless sacrifice. The true disciple will only divest himself of one enjoyment or possession, to take on another and a greater he does not link himself to misery by his new associations, but to a rational undertaking and to an interest in its success that does not court pain, but defy it. He remembers the example of one dying for all, and gratefully devotes his own life to that one. The love of Christ constraineth him, and his benevolent spirit is with him in "the ministry of reconcilation, to wit, God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself" (Cor. II. v. 18, 19). It would be premature to speak in this place of the general co-operation of the Subject's ministry beginning with his apostles, and of the effect of the Mystery under their stewardship (Cor. I. iv. 1) with his guidance and support, or of the difficulties opposed to this benevolent work; but under all the discouragement which these occasion, it may be gratifying to remember the prophecy which says, "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand" (Isai. liii. 10). For we have seen the beginning: how his meat was the will of Him that sent him (John iv. 34)," And he died for all, that they which live should no henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again" (Cor. II. v. 15). It is to be hoped likewise, that among all the degeneracy of the spe cies there will still be found some sparks of honour and gratitude among us; and some who would be ashamed to withhold their services, being so due, in so good a cause; or not to correspond in some measure with so perfect an example of love. We may be happy to think, that in the silent devotion of numbers to God the Father through our Lord and Saviour, his Son, Jesus Christ, and a sincere imitation of that blessed example by myriads who will never be known distinctly until the grand disclosure of all secrets shall be made,-without ascending to the mysterious agency of higher powers, for so many ages as have already elapsed since its obvious beginning, there must have been already a very sensible sum of co-operation thrown into this glorious undertaking of the Son of God. And all that is past may still be little compared with that which is now going on, it may be with a quickened pace, and yet for to come-by and through him from this world to the next. But having mentioned this co-operation and other due incidentals of the subject, sometimes at least indifferently paid, truth also requires the farther mention of some undue payments or deductions; which are commonly the more liberal as they are more undeserved by their object, and consequently the more disgraceful to their subject or payer,—and only some out of many. For if we were to insist on this part of the Redeemer's earthly portion and consider a good sample of the afflictions that he patiently endured for the sake of others as minutely as he deserves and our gratitude would suggest, it might occupy a larger space than can here be afforded; it must therefore suffice to observe in a few instances, how THE CHILD OF PROMISE was also a child of adversity, and how the heel of the promised seed was exposed through life to the bruises of a natural enemy which he could only conquer or escape by death: when rising again into light he might say within himself like David and others, " O God who is like unto thee! O what great troubles and adversities hast thou shewed me! and yet didst thou turn and refresh me, and broughtest me |