spect of the small degree in which we are sanctified.

Finally, our rule is perfect, and grace teaches us to aim at perfection; but we are still in a state of warfare and imperfection, in which “repent. ance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," will continue to be necessary. Blessed, then, are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they, and they only, shall be eternally satisfied.

ESSAY XIX.

ON THE DISPOSITIONS AND CHARACTER PECULIAR TO THE TRUE BELIEVER.

(In Continuation of the preceding Essay.)

IN stating with brevity, yet with precision, the peculiarities of the Christian temper and character, as they are produced by the seed of divine truth, and received into the heart by living faith, we shall sometimes be led to deduce coincident parts of them from different principles; and, therefore, some things which were touched upon in the former part of this Essay, may be here again resumed in another connection. This will especially be perceived in relation to that subject, with which I shall introduce what belongs to the temper of a Christian towards his brethren and neighbours, viz.

I. Indifference to the world, and the things of the world (1 John ii. 15-17). Patience, contentment, gratitude, and cheerfulness, have been shown to be the genuine effect of that confidence in God, and submission to his will, which arise from a real belief of the doctrines contained in the holy scripture; but they receive a collateral

support also, from those views that the Christian has of the vanity of all earthly things, and the importance of eternity; whilst these, again, are essential to a proper frame of mind and tenor of conduct towards our neighbours. For what is most productive of immorality and mischief among mankind? Does not an inordinate eagerness in the pursuit of worldly objects occasion a vast proportion of the crimes and miseries that fill the earth? This has not only led men idolatrously to forsake, and wilfully to rebel against God, but it has also prompted them to become the oppressors and murderers of each other, in every age and nation, and thus to fill the earth with "lamentation, and mourning, and woe!" Nor can it reasonably be expected that any effectual remedy can be applied to these evils, unless men can be generally convinced that the objects of their fierce contentions are mere vanity and vexation of spirit, and that nobler blessings are attainable. This has been so obvious to men of any reflection, that many sects of philosophers, and the inventors of various superstitions, have manifestly proposed the same end in this respect as Christianity does; but their means have been so injudicious and inadequate, that they have only taught men to sacrifice one lust to another, and to deny sensuality or avarice, that they might more advantageously gratify the lust of dominion, or the thirst for the applause of men. But when the apostle "determined to glory in the cross of Christ alone," he found that "the world was by it crucified to him," and that " he was crucified to the world" (Gal. vi. 14). The world, and every thing in it, even "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," and whatever was suited to gratify the appetites, the senses, the avarice, the ambition, or vain-glory of man, seemed to him no more attractive than the distorted, defiled countenance of a crucified malefactor; and he

was also entirely willing to be looked upon by all worldly men with that contempt, pity, or aversion, which such an object is suited to inspire. Indeed, the doctrines that relate to the incarnation of Christ; the birth of Emmanuel in a stable; his obscure education and life of labour till he entered on his public ministry; his subsequent poverty, hardship, reproach, and suffering, till he expired a sinless sacrifice on the cross; together with the circumstances of his followers, and the treatment they met with, are directly suited to mortify every corrupt affection of the human heart, and to create an indifference about all those objects which un. believers idolize. The doctrine of the cross, when spiritually understood, gives us such a view of the deplorable condition into which sin hath plunged our species, and of the hopeless misery to which the most prosperous ungodly man is every moment exposed, as must tend to lower all earthly distinctions in the believer's estimation, and to break the fatal association in his mind between the idea of happiness and that of worldly prosperity; for he cannot but see, that a confluence of all earthly comforts avails not to preserve the possessor from death and hell, nor keep out the dread of them. That near view, also, which faith presents to the mind, of the reality and speedy approach of an eternal and unchangeable state, cannot but damp his ardour, and abate his assiduity, in pursuing those things which must so soon be left for ever; whilst the substantial possessions, the incorruptible honours, and the unalloyed pleasures, which are proposed to his hope, tend to draw off his affections from the things "on the earth, and to fix them on things above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (2 Cor. iv. 18; Col. iii. 1 -4). For as the earth appears to us, who live on its surface, to be made very unequal by the mountains that are upon it, yet could we rise above it,

and view these at a distance, such inequalities would appear inconsiderable, compared with the magnitude of the globe; and, as we looked down upon it from a still greater distance, they would entirely vanish from our sight: so, to the carnal mind, the difference between rich and poor, prince and beggar, &c. seems immense; but, in proportion as our judgment and affections become spiritual, the disparity diminishes, till the distinction seems entirely to disappear. As all are sinners

and mortals, all must stand before the impartial tribunal of God; all are under condemnation according to the law; all are invited to accept of the salvation of the gospel; and all must be eternally happy or miserable, as they are found in the company of believers or of unbelievers. So that indifference to the world, and its honours, friendship, wealth, decorations, pomp, splendour, and indulgences, whether of the senses, the appetites, or the passions of the mind, is the genuine result of evangelical principles, and it is uniformly proportioned to the degree in which we are really influenced by them; so that every tendency to covetousness, ambition, vain-glory, dissatisfaction with mean or precarious provision, or the desire of things more ornamental, elegant, fashionable, or indulgent, than those which Providence hath allotted to us, is a proof that we are not fully cast into the mould of the truths which we profess. A Christian is a stranger and a pilgrim upon earth; he wants accommodation during his abode in this foreign land, and his journey to his heavenly home; he cannot but prefer things pleasant to those that are painful; yet this is not his object, nor can he, consistently, loiter, turn aside, or disquiet himself about such matters, much less can he seek great things by disobeying his Lord, clouding his prospects, disgracing his character, or interrupting his comforts.His principles will indeed show him, that there is

a place assigned to him, and that, perhaps, he cannot fill this place with propriety, without many externals, which are of little value, and which many of his brethren have not; but he cannot consistently glory or rejoice in them, or prefer himself to others on that account; nay, he will rather deem them snares and encumbrances, which may retard his course, and induce him to conformity to the world. His duty may also call him to fill up a superior situation in society, and to possess authority or wealth, as the steward of God for the good of others; or he may be engaged in any lawful business; but his principles will prevent him from loving the world, and teach him moderation, both in the pursuit of apparent advantages, and in the use of his possessions; they will dispose him to abstain from many things which others in similar situations seize upon, or indulge in; to shun what others deem desirable; and to consider the concessions which he makes to the customs of society, rather as a cross than as a satisfaction. The principles of revelation, indeed, are far from confounding the different ranks and orders in the community; nor do they countenance self-invented austerities, or a morose rejection of the rational comforts and satisfactions of life; for " the Lord hath given us all things richly to enjoy :" but they teach us to be satisfied with such things as we have, if we have merely "food and raiment," though the meanest and most scanty; to refrain from every thing inexpedient, as well as from whatever is unlawful; and not to put any interest or indulgence in competition, even with the peace and comfort of our weakest brother: they instruct us not to consider any earthly distinction as our riches, adorning, honour, or pleasure; to use all things as strangers that are about to leave them; to do all as the Lord's servants, and to improve all our advantages as his stewards; and "whether we eat or