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conversion. Who can contemplate without horror the conduct of David; who, though an eminent professor and patron of religion, defiled the wife of his faithful subject, and, in order to conceal his crime, laid a plot to destroy him? Consider him, I say, murdering this man who was exposing his life continually for his sake, murdering also a multitude of other persons together with him, involving another person in the guilt of all these murders as his instrument and accomplice, and making the very man, whose death he was contriving, the bearer of that letter, which was devoting him to destruction: consider him moreover, when he had accomplished his purpose, blasphemously ascribing the death of all these persons to God; then instantly taking the adulterous Bathsheba to live with him as his wife; and, after all, living at least nine months in utter impenitence, as though he had committed no crime at all: in an ignorant heathen, such conduct would have been inexpressibly vile; but in a saint of God, the man after God's own heartwho would conceive it possible? To believe that such iniquity was ever committed, seems almost a libel upon human nature. Yet even this, surpassing as it does almost the bounds of credibility, was forgiven, and that too, upon the very first motion of penitence in David's heart. Peter's sin, if viewed in all its aggravations, was scarcely less than this: yet, even while he' was committing it, our Lord looked on him with pity and compassion; and afterwards thrice repeated the commission, which restored him openly to his apostleship.i]

2. From scripture declarations

[Consult we the prophets? They speak strongly on this point, declaring that we are redeemed from all sins, even those of a scarlet or crimson die. Ask we of the apostles? They speak in terms of similar import, and contrast the gospel with the law in this particular; that whereas there were some sins, for which there was no sacrifice appointed under the law of Moses, there is no iniquity whatever from which we may not be justified by the gospel of Christ. If we attend to the voice of Christ himself, we shall find him no less explicit: he assures us that whosoever believeth in him shall never die, shall never be cast out." Thus universally do the scriptures testify, that "all manner of sin," yea, even the most horrid "blasphemies wherewith any man can blaspheme," (except the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost) " shall be forgiven unto men." It must however be remembered, that these declarations

h 2 Sam. xii. 13.

k Ps. cxxx. 7, 8. Isaiah i. 18. Acts xiii. 38, 39.

i John xxi. 15—17.

11 John i. 7. and ii. 1, 2. n John xi. 26. and vi. 37.

suppose that we repent and believe the gospel; for, without repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, no sin whatever can be pardoned.]

Before we close, it will be proper to add a word
1. Of admonition

[We hope and trust that there are not any in this day, who are guilty of the sin, which is here declared unpardonable: but many who scoff at religion, and deride the influences of the Spirit, may be much nearer to the commission of it than they imagine. It will be well for all such persons to pause, and consider on what a precipice they stand: for they may do despite to the spirit of grace till they have quenched his sacred motions, and provoked him to abandon them to their own delusions. The Lord grant that none of us may bring down on ourselves such a tremendous judgment!]

2. of consolation

[Some are tempted to think that they have committed the unpardonable sin: but if it be true, that the commission of it is always attended with judicial blindness, and followed by final impenitence, then no one can have committed it, who is apprehensive that he has; because, instead of indulging such fears, he would go on glorying in his shame, and hardening himself in his iniquities. Let all such apprehensions then be put away; and let that other declaration of the text abide upon our minds for our comfort and encouragement under all the accusations of a guilty conscience.]

CCCXCII. THE EXTENT AND IMPORTANCE OF A CHRISTIAN'S DUTY.

Matt. xvi. 24, 25. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

THE precepts of the gospel are often considered as harsh and severe; but, if they were duly considered, there is not one of them, which would not appear highly reasonable-Perhaps there is not a stricter precept in the whole Bible than this before us, since it plainly declares, that no man shall ever enter into heaven, who is not willing to renounce every thing in the world, yea, VOL. IV.

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even his own life, for the sake of Christ. But can we think this too strict, if we observe the time and manner of its delivery? Our Lord had just foretold his own sufferings and death; and had reproved Peter with great severity for attempting to dissuade him from subjecting himself to such miseries: and "then it was, that he gave this injunction to his followers." In this view we may conceive our Lord as saying, "Do I deny myself, and take up my cross, and even surrender up my life, from love to you? then do ye the same in obedience to me: if I do it willingly for your salvation, surely you cannot hesitate to do it for my glory."

This precept then leads us to point out

I. The extent of a Christian's duty

To be Christians indeed, we must enter in at a strait and walk in a narrow way: we must

gate,

to

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1. Deny ourselves

[Since the first introduction of sin into the world men have cast off the love and fear of God, and have subjected themselves to the dominion of self-Instead of conforming themselves to the will of their Maker, and living wholly for his glory, they have made their own will, the principle, and their own honour or interest, the end, of all their actions-Christianity is intended to bring us back to the state from which we are fallen The very first step towards our restoration is, deny self," and to restore God to the dominion of which we have robbed him-Our enquiries must henceforth be, not, what do I choose? or, what will gratify self? but what does God command? and, what will glorify him?-To "put off the old man," to "mortify the deeds of the body," to " crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts;" in a word, to deny self in all its actings, is the course, on which every Christian must enter, and which he must resolutely follow to the end of life-]

2. Take up our cross

[Every Christian must of necessity have some cross to bear: for though there will be seasons of comparative rest, when the storms of persecution shall subside, yet, as long as there are any of "the serpent's seed" on earth," the seed of the woman" will be treated by them as "the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things"-But to this the Christian must submit: he must not expect to be above his Master, but be willing to suffer in conformity to his example-He must not indeed bring trials on himself by his own misconduct:

but, if the cross lie in his way, he should not be solicitous to avoid it; but rather should take it up and carry it-Nor, while he is bearing the cross, should he account it an heavy and insupportable load; but should glory in it, and "rejoice that he is counted worthy" to bear it-This too should be the daily habit of his mind-Let us view a malefactor bearing to the place of execution a part of the cross whereon he is shortly to be fixed, and then we shall see the degraded state in which the Christian must be content to walk in the midst of an ungodly world-If he be regarded with even a shadow of respect, he must consider it as gain, for which he did not stipulate, and which he had no right to look for-]

3. Follow Christ

[While we profess to rely on Christ for our acceptance with God, we must also follow him as our pattern and example -In the whole of our conduct we must endeavour to "walk as he walked"-Though we are not to do in all respects the very things which he did, yet we are to manifest in all things the same spirit and temper-Like him, we must abhor sin even in thought; like him, sit loose to all the things of time and sense; like him, devote ourselves entirely to our God-Nor are we to draw back when persecution arises, but still to “follow our Lord without the camp, bearing his reproach" Yea, if such a death awaited us as our Lord himself endured, we are not to shrink back from it, but to go boldly forward: the language of our hearts must be, "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I may finish my course with joy"]

Doubtless these things are difficult: but we shall not be deterred from duty by any difficulties, if we duly consider

II. The importance of it

On our faithfulness unto death our eternal salvation depends

It may be that we may be called to die for the sake

of Christ

[In the first ages of Christianity, martyrdom for the truth was common: and, since its establishment in the world, thousands have been called to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Christ-Nor are we to conclude from the rest that we enjoy, that our faith and patience shall never be put to the testIndeed, there are few, if any, real Christians, who are not on

* Luke ix. 23.
Heb. xiii. 13.

Hence the word furcifer. d Acts xx. 24.

some occasions made to endure the fiery trial, and to approve themselves as pure gold, by sustaining, without loss, the action of the fire-At all events we must in the habit of our minds be "ready, not only to be bound, but even to die at any time, and in any manner, for the name of the Lord Jesus" If, when called to suffer thus, we are found faithful, we shall be unspeakable gainers

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[We are assured, not only in the text, but in many other places, that "if we suffer with Christ we shall also be glorified together with him;" and, that "our light and momentary amictions shall work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"-Now what do we lose, when this poor frail life is taken from us? Nothing, but a few days or years of uncertain, and, at the best, painful existence upon earth-But what is our gain, the very instant our spirit has taken its flight? Who can conceive the rapture with which the disembodied soul will enter into the presence of its God? Who can form any idea of its joy, when it shall hear this plaudit from the Saviour's lips, "Well done, good and faithful servant?"-Will any one then think he has endured too much for his divine Master? Will any one then regret that he had not continued longer in this wretched world, and purchased a temporary ease at the price of eternal glory?]

If on the contrary we decline suffering, our loss will be inconceivably dreadful

[We are plainly warned that" if we deny Christ, he will deny us;" and that "if we draw back, his soul shall have no pleasure in us"-What then will a man gain by sacrificing his principles to his fears? he will protract the little space allotted for his natural life, and save himself from a few minutes of pain and torture: but he will forfeit all hope of eternal glory, and subject himself to the wrath of an incensed God-It is but a few days at most, before he must resign the life, which he is now so averse to part with: and what will his feelings be when the Saviour of the world shall say, Depart from me, I never knew thee; thou hadst no regard for me; I told thee long since that, if thou wouldst save thy life by denying me, thou shouldst have no part with my faithful followers: these on my right hand "loved not their lives unto death;" but thou wast of "the fearful and unbelieving, and shall therefore take thy portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone""______

Do not these considerations evince the importance of our duty? and should they not stimulate us to perform it in its utmost extent?-]

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