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truths, as I have now briefly stated them, we believe to be distinctly recorded in those written statements of revelation which have descended for the guidance of our faith. They are written there in characters of light, which no sophistry or infidelity can ever obscure or quench in final darkness. You will observe, that a Christian is one who believes all these truths, and cherishes them with a warm devotion of heart, and therefore called emphatically by the apostle Paul, “One chosen from the beginning to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." His mind, moreover, you will observe, becomes properly the subject of all those various emotions towards his Master, and his Master's work, which, from its nature, it is calculated to inspire. The divinity of Christ becomes the object of his worship; the condescension of Christ becomes the object of his gratitude; the example of Christ becomes the object of his imitation; the atonement of Christ becomes the object of his trust; the glory of Christ becomes the object of his expectation; the reign of Christ becomes the object of his joy; and the re-appearance of Christ becomes the object of his hope. Such is distinctly the nature of the Christian's faith; and they who feel not, and who believe not this, whatever may be their professions and pretensions, are to be considered, at the very best, as having but the form of religion without the power, -as having no part or lot in the matter.

(2.) We observe that a Christian is one who permanently obeys the commandments of Christ. Permanent obedience, it must always be remembered, is to be regarded as the proper sign of genuine and personal faith. The great design of Christianity was that of possessing a perfect and absolute empire both over the mind and over the life. The various principles contained in the testimony which has been delivered concerning Christ can be fulfilled only, satisfactorily and conclusively, in perfect spiritual obedience to the commandments which the great Redeemer has promulged. That great spiritual fact was sufficiently proclaimed during the life-time of the Redeemer himself. "Every tree," says he, "that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruit ye shall know them." Again, "not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven." Again, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" Again, "If any man love me, he will keep my commandments." Again, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Again, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man may lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my

friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Now, it must be very clear, that, to understand and perfectly distinguish all that is presented in the religion of the gospel, and to bring whatever is preceptive into regular and constant action, must be considered as an essential law of the Christian calling. The Christian is commanded to "crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts." He is commanded to come out and separate himself from whatever is impure and unholy in the conduct and habits of the world. He is commanded to "bring forth the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God: virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity." All these things are to be in him and abound. He is commanded to set his affections on things above, and not on things on the earth. He is commanded to make a public and open avowal of his attachment to the name of the great Redeemer, whom he professes to serve, and to dedicate every thing he possesses of wealth, of talent, or of opportunity, to the diffusion of the cause and glory of the Redeemer in the world.

It would be an insult to the principles of this great congregation to state, at length, that those only are Christians by whom these various commandments are obeyed; and I will venture to assume, for the honor of this church and people, that you will not venture to deny, that those who disobey these commandments have no title to claim the name of the great Redeemer who delivered them. I know that, in modern times especially, there are multitudes of men who profess the name of Christian, who nevertheless are open and avowed infidels in principle, and whose habits are hostile to what the great Redeemer has exemplified. And I know, too, how grievously the reputation of religion has suffered in the estimation of the world, by the crimes and pollution of votaries, which votaries are to be solemnly repudiated and renounced, as we do now solemnly repudiate and renounce them, as having no more connection with the worth and religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, than is possessed by the very spirits of the abyss themselves. If, in your own sphere of existence, you meet with those who profess to know God, and yet in practice deny him- if you meet those persons that assume the name of Christ, and yet refuse to imitate his example, and obey his commandments, we have but to pronounce respecting them, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ; "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their

own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

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(3.) We observe, in the last place, that a Christian is one who receives his faith and holiness, and his desert in them, by the Spirit of Christ. The fact, my brethren, which we now state, with regard to the origin of the Christian character, is one which has received, in modern, as well as in ancient times, a very general denial. It being the judgment of men, especially among the unconverted, that the dispensation of the gospel is nothing more than the dispensation of all speculative systems, so that it does not require any impulse but what arises from the intellect and affection of the human mind itself. must state, first, the great evangelical principle which it is my desire, on the present occasion, to announce among you- that the determi nation and tendency of the human will towards evil is so strong, so deep, so inveterate, and so perfectly rooted, that there never would a single case occur of one individual being brought to the Redeemer, believing in the doctrines of Christ, and rendering evangelical obedience to the commandments of Christ, apart from the influence of the Spirit of God. Apart from that influence all remains as the existence of infidelity and sin; and, if you see any thing like a state of profes sion which appears to argue the possibility of the approach of one who is unconverted to the character of one who is a Christian, the ornaments which are around him are but like the flowers which you have sometimes seen scattered around a corrupting corpse. They may veil the terrors and deformity of death; they may shed a transient interest and beauty over the scene before you, but they can do no more, and they leave it a corpse still. Hear, my brethren, the record of Scripture on this subject" But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Again, "Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Again, "No man can come unto me, except the Father draw him." Again, "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit, and they are life; it is the Spirit that quickeneth; it is the Spirit that giveth life." Again, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." And again, "We are saved, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior." Thus, my brethren, we are brought to a conclusion, which cannot be mistaken, that every thing which assists to form and to perfect

a Christian's character is truly and essentially Divine; that every grace which flourishes in his heart is implanted there by the power of the Almighty; that every principle which is formed around his life, and breathes a consecrated glory, is an emanation from heaven. The Alpha and Omega-the beginning and the ending the first and the last of a Christian's character-is the sovereign mercy of God; and to that mercy, in time and through eternity, he may well ascribe the praise. We have now presented to you that which constitutes a Christian's character: let us proceed to consider,

2nd. What constitutes a Christian's privileges.

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The connection of the text, indeed, you will observe, speaks of the sufferings of a Christian : "If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed." But let it not be forgotten that the suffering of a Christian does by no means call into question the verity, or diminish the value, of his privileges; but, on the other hand, by the wonderful and mysterious arrangement of Divine mercy, these sufferings are overruled, so as to become themselves privileges and blessings. He is taught to glory in tribulation also; and the glorious fact stands for ever, that he who is born again, and who, by Divine grace, is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ, is possessed of enjoyments, immunities, and blessings, so vast, that Divinity alone can comprehend them, and eternity alone can fulfil them. Let us now take a brief survey, and particularly enumerate the privileges which belong to a Christian. Observe,

(1.) A Christian is justified from the guilt and condemnation of sin. It is an ordination of heaven that the exercise of fa.th in the Divine testimony —especially in that department of the Divine testimony which refers to the ability of Christ to save us, and to his propitiatory sacrifice for sin-shall be the medium of imputing the merit of Christ to the believer, so that he who believes is justified, is counted holy that is the meaning of justification-is counted holy before God, no longer in a state of condemnation, no longer in peril of perdition, no longer in peril at the judgment, but secure of acceptance there; "we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remis sion of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." This justification once bestowed is irrevocable and irreversible, containing a final and inalienable title to the skies.

(2.) A Christian possesses friendship and constant intercourse with

God. The removal of the guilt and mental alienation, by which, in a state of nature, he was characterized, is connected with the favor and kindness of God, from whom he was once estranged. Listen, Christian, to the statement of the subject, if you think it presumption "We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say, his flesh." "In him we have boldness, and access with confidence, by the faith of him." "We have access by one spirit unto the Father." "We have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The Christian is a child of God, and enjoys all the fulness of God, which is comprehended in the protection of a father's arm, the wisdom of a father's counsels, the constancy of a father's care, and the tenderness of a father's heart.

(3.) A Christian possesses the certainty of victory over death. The terrors of death arise, legitimately, only from the curse upon creation, and the fear of the punishment of eternity. The curse and the terrors of punishment in a Christian are removed; and, therefore, the fear of death is perfectly and entirely destroyed. We, therefore, may say, in the beautiful language of the apostle Paul, in the second chapter of Hebrews, "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also, himself, likewise took part of the same." Why? "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death - that is, the devil; and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were, all their life-time, subject to bondage." We, therefore, may say, in the language of the same apostle, as he looked down to the coldness of the grave, and contemplated the terrors of the last enemy, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But, thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Other men, without exception, shall fall beneath the stroke of the king of terrors, in hopeless and helpless ruin; but the Christian enters into his territory that he may be the victim of the conqueror, but the destroyer of the desolater; and thus death must have his empire, that the Christian may frustrate and trample him under his feet. And,

(4.) The Christian has the prospect of perfect and immortal happiness and glory. For, why is it that he is born again? Why is it that he is brought to the exercise of repentance, and the exercise of faith? And why is it that he is made to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts, but for the single purpose that he may enter into life, and be saved? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again into a

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