of hell," the vengeance of God against sin, a thousand times more forcibly than I should if I could see all hell opened before me. "By the law," says St. Paul, "sin became exceeding sinful," but by the gospel, it appears infinitely

more so.

6. May God make us all to thirst after inward purity; and may we remember our high calling, and live to his glory both now and for ever.

SERMON XII.

THE BELIEVER'S DEATH TO THE LAW, AND

UNION WITH CHRIST.

ROM. vii, 4.

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Of what avail to us is Christ's being alive and reigning in glory, if he does not reign in our hearts and in our conduct? Believing in creeds is nothing by itself; even the devils are said to "believe and tremble." We have sufficient outward evidence to establish the astonishing fact of Christ's resurrection from the dead, and we are convinced that he is now in the invisible world above, "ever living to make intercession for us;" but do we inquire what personal benefit we gain by this? and whether when we use the expression of the apostle, "risen with Christ," there is truly a spiritual resurrection in

our minds? Do we, according to another phrase equally striking, "know him and the power of his resurrection?"1 How finely does Jesus say of himself, "I am the resurrection"-and what else?" the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die!" So, following the same idea, the scripture says in other language, "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory."3 Now what does a man mean, when he says "Christ is my life?" The explanation is given in another text, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" this is the believer's life. Every one who lives as he ought to live, lives by the life of God communicated to his soul. The grace of God in the heart puts the resurrection of Christ beyond a doubt; for if we are truly risen with Christ, and by regenerating influence can seek those things that are above, and are made heavenlyminded, and spiritually-minded thereby, we have the witness in ourselves, and cannot deny our own feelings. May God make us feel well, for this is the best evidence of the power of

1 Phil. iii, 10.

3 Col. iii, 4.

2 John xi, 25, 26.

4 Gal, ii, 20.

divine truth. I despise the fastidiousness of those who lay no stress on inward feelings, for they will always be our guides to action. May I have many of them passing through my mind daily, so that it may be perpetually kept open to receive the impressions of divine love. This is the only key to the meaning of the injunctions to "pray without ceasing," to "be instant in prayer," and to be "praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." This moment I need the presence of God; this moment I pray to be under the direction of God; and may the same prayer be this instant in every mind here; and then, though the words of my preaching should not captivate your ears, they will cause you, as I desire, to lift up your hearts unto the Lord. I heard it said once of a minister "you cannot hear him without being led to pray;" and this is the best sign of all our preaching. "My house," said the Lord, "shall be called a house of prayer." The most eminent service of the house of God is prayer.

But I now proceed to the illustration of my

text.

I. We are told of a law to which we were originally bound. Our first parents were blest with a most excellent command, namely, to look

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to God as the grand source of their happiness. and delight. This blessing will never be taken away from man,-the blessings of God's holy law. But it may be rejoined, "you contradict your text in saying so; its words are, 'dead to the law'." True, we must be dead to it as a covenant, yet God forbid that ever we should be dead to holiness, to that portion of the law which teaches us to bring forth fruit unto God," the fruits of righteousness," not merely according to the bare command of the law of Moses, but the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. The apostle uses metaphorical language, to give additional strength to the meaning of his assertion. The scripture abounds in metaphors, because it designs to use language of the strongest kind; yet a wrong use has often been made of them, as in the case of those who would sweep away the doctrine of regeneration because it is metaphorical. I wish such teachers would show us how you and I could live upon metaphorical food? But no, the use of metaphors is to convey to our minds stronger meanings than common explicatory terms can reach. Hence we are here taught, that as to moral duty, man was married or bound to the first covenant, and a blessed union it was.