by force and compulfion, but freely, willingly, and cheerfully; not by an external, pharifaic obedience only, but by the better and inward obedience of the heart, by which the whole man, and all his faculties, are led to bow to the divine inftructions and precepts of his Maker; and that not by fudden fits and tranfient starts, as paffion or humour prompts him, but regularly, conftantly, and uniformly. This, and this only, is the obedience of a Chriftian, to which is annexed the glorious promise of abiding for ever.

But how can we fay, that he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever, when we fee him fubject to the fame viciffitudes, to time and chance, to pain and death, in com mon with the reft of the creation? He paffes through the various ftates of existence like other natural beings, and undergoes the fucceffive changes of increase and decay: he feels the follies of youth, the cares of manhood, and the infirmities of age; and after a few fhort turns upon the stage of the world, he paffes away like other men: for "wife men "die as well as the foolish and ignorant."

How then can we say, that the righteous man abideth for ever?

In

In anfwer to this, we are to confider, that it is not the corporeal or animal life of the religious man; not his outward condition, nor his worldly ties and relations, to which this eternal permanency is promised; for these are subject to the fame changes and alterations with the reft of the perishable things of this world but it is the inward and fpiritual life of the Chriftian, his relations to God, that abide for ever. It is not this poor, frail, fleshly tabernacle, this mass of difeafe and corruption, which we drag about for a few years, but it is the fublimer part of our compofition; in one word, it is not the man, but the Chriftian, that abideth for

ever.

And well may the righteous man be faid to abide. If we view him in the prefent life, he is firm and fteady amidst all its changes. and chances. If he meets with difappointments, he is not dejected: if he is afflicted, he does not defpair: if he falls, through inadvertency or furprize, and what man is there who does not fometimes fall? he rifes again by repentance, and fupports himself by trusting in God. Infpired by this, amidst trials VOL. II.

e

and

and temptations, he is enabled to fight the good fight of faith, and to come off victorious, though men and devils oppose his progrefs with united powers. For, as the Pfalmist long ago obferved, "They that put their trust " in the Lord fhall be even as mount Sion, "which may not be removed, but standeth "fast for ever." Relying therefore on Him, who is the Rock of Ages, he looks down on the storms and tempefts of the world with tranquillity: he despises its vanities, and he fears not its frowns; being affured, that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor

66

principalities, nor powers, nor heighth, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall "be able to feparate him from the love of "God in Christ Jefus." In this confidence, therefore, he remaineth firm, and abideth.

And if we carry our view beyond the grave, we may certainly fay, that "he that "doeth the will of God, abideth for ever." His body, indeed, will return to that duft from whence it was taken: but that is but his earthly house, and his clothing: but his immortal foul, emancipated from the vaffalage of corruption, and freed from the fetters of its corporeal prifon,

prison, will return to God, who gave it; and, whilft the foul of the wicked is doomed to everlasting destruction, will rife to the regions of immortality, and there rejoice, amidst unfading pleafures, at God's right hand, for

evermore.

If, then, any one fhall afk, How he that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever; here is the short and certain answer.

After he has done the will of God on earth, he will be tranflated to enjoy immortal, incorruptible, immutable, perfect, and eternal happinefs in heaven. This is the great promife of the Gospel, which has brought life and immortality to light. This is the glorious reward, which the great Author of the Gospel promises to thofe that believe in him" He "that believeth in me fhall never die." This is the animating hope, for which every true Chriftian is contented to strive and fuffer; knowing in whom he has believed, and being perfuaded, that he is able to keep that which is committed to him. And, in fact, without this hope, what would be able to fuftain the infirmity of a man? for furely, if

in this life only we have hope, we are of all creatures the most miferable: equally fubject, as we are, to vanity, decay, and corruption, with 'the rest of the animal world; corroded with a thousand melancholy cares, which they never either anticipate or feel; it would be too heavy a load, after all our fufferings for virtue, to find our expectations deceived, and that we had ftrove, fought, ftruggled, and run in vain. The man, therefore, who endeavours to shake the foundations of Chriftianity, and thereby to rob the Chriftian of this hope, is the greatest of all enemies to human happiness. He takes away the pillow, on which every species of mifery has long been accustomed to repose, and substitutes in its place nothing but the horrors of looking forward to utter extinction and annihilation of being. In the beautiful language of the poet, "The foul, fecure in its exiftence, laughs at "the drawn dagger, and defies its point;" but, take away this fecurity; tell us, that, after a fhort and painful life, we fhall lie down with the beafts that perish, and mingle with the clods of the valley, and what shall support us under the preffure of misfortune, the pangs

of