not the spirit of Christ, we are none of his*. If we are not led by the spirit of God, we are not the children of Godt. You will then, if you are a real christian, desire that you may be filled with the spirit; that you may have every power of your soul subject to his authority; that his agency on your heart be more constant, more operative, and more delightful. And to cherish these sacred influences, you will often have recourse to serious consideration and meditation: You will abstain from those sins, which tend to grieve him: You will improve the tender seasons, in which he seems to breathe upon your soul: you will strive earnestly with God in prayer, that you may have him shed on you still more abundantly, through Jesus Christ§: And you will be desirous to fall in with the great end of his mission, which was to glorify Christ||, and to establish his kingdom." You will desire his influences as the spirit of adoption," to render your acts of worship free and affectionate, your obedience vigorous, your sorrow for sin overflowing and tender, your resignation meek, and your love ardent; in a word, to carry you through life and death, with the temper of a child, who delights in his father, and who longs for his more immediate presence. §. 12. Once more, " if you are a christian indeed, you will be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage." Amidst all that humility of soul to which you will be formed, you will wish to commence a hero in the cause of Christ; opposing with a vigorous resolution the strongest efforts of the powers of darkness, the inward corruption of your own heart, and all the outward difficulties you may meet with in the way of your duty, while in the cause and in the strength of Christ you go on conquering and to conquer. §. 13. All these things may be considered as branches of godliness; of that godliness, which is profitable unto all things, and hath the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come¶. §. 14. Let me now farther lay before you some branches of the christian temper, "which relate more immediately to ourselves." And here, if you are a christian indeed, " you will undoubtedly prefer the soul to the body, and things eternal to those that are temporal." Conscious of the dignity and value of your immortal part, you will come to a firm resolution to secure its happiness, whatever is to be resigned, whatever is * Rom. viii. 9. + Rom. viii. 14. + Eph. v. 18. 1 Tim. iv. 8. to be endured in that view.If you are a real christian, you will be also clothed with humility*. You will have a deep sense of your own imperfections, both natural and moral; of the short extent of your knowledge; of the uncertainty and weakness of your resolutions; and of your continual dependance upon God, and upon almost every thing about you. And especially, you will be deeply sensible of your guilt; the remembrance of which will fill you with shame and confusion, even when you have some reason to hope it is forgiven. This will forbid all haughtiness and insolence, in your behaviour to your fellow creatures. It will teach It will teach you, under afflictive providences, with all holy submission to bear the indignation of the Lord, as those that know they have sinned against him+.Again, if you are a christian indeed, " you will labour after purity of soul," and maintain a fixed abhorrence of all prohibited sensual indulgence. A recollection of past impurities. will fill you with shame and grief: and you will endeavour for the future to guard your thoughts and desires, as well as your words and actions, and to abstain not only from the commission of evil, but from the distant appearance and probable occasions of it; as conscious of the perfect holiness of that God with whom you converse, and of the purifying nature of that hope§, which by his gospel he hath taught you to entertain, §. 15. With this is nearly allied, "that amiable virtue of temperance," which will teach you to guard against such a use of meats and drinks as indisposes the body for the service of the soul; or such an indulgence in either, as will rob you of that precious jewel, your time, or occasion an expence beyond what your circumstances will admit, and beyond what will consist with those liberalities to the poor, which your relation and theirs to God and each other will require. In short, you will guard against whatever has a tendency to increase a sensual disposition; against whatever would alienate the soul from communion with God, and would diminish its zeal and activity in his service. §. 16. The divine philosophy of the blessed Jesus will also teach you, "a contented temper." It will moderate your de sires of those worldly enjoyments, after which many feel such an insatiable thirst, ever growing with indulgence and success. You will guard against an immoderate care about those things, which would lead you into a forgetfulness of your heavenly inheritance. If providence disappoint your undertakings, you will 1 Thess. v. 22. § 1 John iii. 3. Rr * 1 Pet. v. 5. VOL. I. + Micah vii. 9. submit; if others be more prosperous, you will not envy them; but rather will be thankful for what God is pleased to bestow upon them, as well as for what he gives you. No unlawful methods will be used, to alter your present condition, and whatever it is, you will endeavour to make the best of it; remembering, it is what infinite wisdom and goodness have appointed you, and that it is beyond all comparison better than you have deserved; yea, that the very deficiencies and inconveniences of it may conduce to the improvement of your future and complete happiness. §. 17. With contentment, if you are a disciple of Christ, you will join patience too," and in patience will possess your soul*. You cannot indeed be quite insensible, either of affiictions, or of injuries: but your mind will be calm and composed under them, and steady in the prosecution of proper duty, though afflictions press, and though your hopes, your dearest hopes, and prospects be delayed. Patience will prevent hasty and rash conclusions, and fortify you against seeking irregular me thods of relief; disposing you in the mean time, till God shall be pleased to appear for you, to go on steadily in the way of your duty; committing yourself to him in well doing. You will also be careful, that patience may have its perfect work‡, and prevail in proportion to those circumstances which demand its peculiar exercise. For instance, when the successions of evil are long and various, so that deep calls to deep, and all God's waves and billows seem to be going over you one after another§: when God touches you in the most tender part; when the reasons of his conduct to you are quite unaccountable; when your natural spirits are weak and decayed; when unlawful methods of redress seem near and easy; still your reverence for the will of your heavenly Father will carry it against all, and keep you waiting quietly for deliverance in his own time and way. N.B. If this chapter seem too long to be read at once, it may properly be divided here. §. 18. I have thus led you into a brief review of the christian temper, with respect to God, and ourselves: permit me how to add, "that the gospel will teach you another set of very important lessons with respect to your fellow-creatures." They are all summed up in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; and whatsoever thou wouldst, (that is, whatsoever thou couldst in an exchange of circumstances fairly and reasonably desire) that others should do unto thee, do thou likewise * Luke xxi. 19. +1 Pet. iv. 19. Jam. i. 4. § Psal. xlii. 7. || Rom. xiii, 9. the same unto them.* The religion of the blessed Jesus, when it triumphs in your soul, will conquer the predominancy of an irregular self-love, and will teach you candidly and tenderly to look upon your neighbour as another self. As you are sensible of your own rights, you will be sensible of his ; as you support your own character, you will support his. You will desire his welfare, and be ready to relieve his necessity, as you would have your own consulted by another. You will put the kindest construction upon his dubious words and actions. You will take pleasure in his happiness, you will feel his distress, in some measure as your own. And most happy will you be, when this obvious rule is familiar to your mind, when this golden law is written upon your heart; and when it is habitually and impartially consulted by you, upon every occasion, whether great or small. §. 19. The gospel will also teach you, to put on meeknesst, not only with respect to God, submitting to the authority of his word, and the disposal of his providence, as was urged before; but also with regard to your brethren of mankind. Its gentle instructions will form you to calmness of temper under injuries and provocations, so that you may not be angry without, or beyond just cause. It will engage you to guard your words, lest you provoke and exasperate those, you should rather study by love to gain, and by tenderness to heal. Meekness will render you slow in using any rough and violent methods, if they can by any means be lawfully avoided; and ready to admit, and even to propose a reconciliation, after they have been entered into, if there may be hope of succeeding. So far as this branch of the christian temper prevails in your heart, you take care to avoid every thing which might give unnecessary offence to others; you will behave yourself in a modest manner, according to your station; and it will work, both with regard to superiors and inferiors; teaching you duly to honour the one, and not to overbear or overpress, to grieve or insult the other. And in religion itself it will restrain all immoderate sallies and harsh censures; and will command down that wrath of man, which instead of working, so often opposes the righteousness of God, and shames and wounds that good cause, in which it is boisterously and furiously engaged. will §. 20. With this is naturally connected" a peaceful disposition." If you are a christian indeed, you will have such a Mat. vii. 12. + Col. iii. 12. James i. 20. value and esteem for peace, as to endeavour to obtain, and to preserve it as much as lieth in you*, as much as you fairly and honourably can. This will have such an influence upon your conduct, as to make you not only cautious of giving offence, and slow in taking it, but earnestly desirous to regain peace as soon as may be, when it is in any measure broken; that the wound may be healed, while it is green, and before it begins to rankle and fester. And more especially this disposition will engage you, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace+, with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christt; whom if you truly love, vou will also love all those, whom you have reason to believe to be his disciples and servants. $. 21. If you be yourselves indeed of that number, you will also put on bowels of mercy§. The mercies of God, and those of the blessed Redeemer, will work on your heart, to mould it to sentiments of compassion and generosity, so that you will feel the wants and sorrows of others; you will desire to relieve their necessities, and, as you have an opportunity, you will do good, both to their bodies and their souls; expressing your kind affections in suitable actions, which may both evidence their sincerity, and render them effectual. §. 22. As a christian, "you will also maintain truth inviolable," not only in your solemn testimonies, when confirmed by an oath, but likewise in common conversation. You will remember too, that your promises bring an obligation upon you, which you are by no means at liberty to break through. On the whole, you will be careful to keep a strict correspondence between your words and your actions, in such a manner as becomes a servant of the God of truth. §. 23. Once more. As amidst the strictest care to observe all the divine precepts, you will still find many imperfections on account of which you will be obliged to pray that God would not enter into strict judgment with you, as well knowing that in his sight you cannot be justified; you will be careful not to judge others, in such a manner as should awaken the severity of his judgment against yourself¶. You will not, therefore, judge them pragmatically, that is, when you have nothing to do with their actions; nor rashly, without enquiring into circumstances; nor partially, without weighing them attentively and fairly; nor uncharitably, putting the worst construction upon things in their own nature dubious, deciding upon inten Rom. xii. 18. § Col. ii. 12. + Eph. iv. 3. Psal. cxliii. 2. 1 Cor. i. 2. |