CHAPTER XIX. SUFFICIENCY OF THE DIVINE PLAN, In opposition, therefore, to all such opinions as those alluded to above, the glorious doctrines of the word of God, and especially the grand doctrine of "Christ crucified," must be held forth in private and in public, more fully, if possible, than ever. For, did not Christ "bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins"sins of every kind, both great and small"should live unto righteousness?" Accord ingly, if we could become truly dead to any sin by human or created means, would not Christ have died in vain? Did he not, also, "give himself for our sins, to deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God, and our Father;" and, consequently, not merely from some, but from all the evils, and evil customs, that are in the world? Thus, too, we must guard against the infidel dogma of one of the so called grandees of the world, that "Christianity has become obsolete and effete, and that the great Apostle, in glorying solely in the cross of Christ, assumed too much." Faith, also, in the word as the divine record, and particularly in the cross of Christ, must still be held forth as the internal instrument on our part, by which, through the operation of the Spirit, the great moral as well as spiritual ends contemplated by Christ's death can alone be accomplished. For, as to every sin which besets us in the world, does not the Apostle John declare, "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith;" and again ask, "who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?"-clearly implying, that without faith in our blessed Saviour, no true victory can be obtained over the snares and seductions, any more than over the troubles and trials, of the world; but that, by faith in him, a perfect victory may be achieved in these and in all other moral and spiritual senses. The precepts, likewise, of the word, as being exactly adapted to our circumstances at all times, must be held forth, far more prominently than ever, as the external means in the hands of the Spirit, by which alone believers can be truly preserved from drunkenness, and from every other vice, and constrained to the practice of the opposite virtues. For, does not the word reveal to us not only what we are to believe in order to salvation, but also what we are to practise? Does it not, also, become "mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds" of sin of every kind, as well as drunkenness? And is it not complete ?-all complete as a system of practice as well as of faith; as a code of duty as well as of doctrine; so complete that nothing can, in either of these respects, be added to it, or taken from it; and therefore, fitted as well as intended to be in all things "a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path;" the rule or guide of our lives. Or, to vary the figure, is not the word the grand lever by which alone, through the help of God, we can hope to extirpate from our souls and bodies, and also from our lives, not merely one sin, but every sin? At the same time, while it is as highly distinguished for the perfection as for the purity of its precepts, in connection with its doctrines, does it not contain the most influential motives by which we may be constrained to carry its precepts into practice;-motives, too, chiefly drawn from the Cross of Christ as their centre, and consequently found nowhere else but in Scripture? On this account, when Paul says, "let us not sleep, as do others; let us watch, and be sober; for they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night;" does he not add, "for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." And, in all ages, ancient as well as modern, unless when the people have been sunk in the deepest darkness, has not the greatest heart-felt want been, not so much a knowledge of moral duty, as a motive to the performance of that duty; just such a motive as is provided in the death of Christ? The promises, also, of the word, which are "exceeding great and precious," must always be held forth as powerful encouragements to the performance of every precept. The penalties, likewise, of the word, as its sanctions, must ever be held forth as influential means by which it is preceptively enforced upon saints, as well as sinners. In like manner, the pattern of Christ himself must never fail to be held forth as being not only a perfect personification of all the precepts which the word inculcates, but likewise as one of the most powerful persuasives to the practice of these precepts. Especially, the grace of God, in connection with the power of the Holy Spirit, must ever be held forth as being absolutely necessary in order to abstain aright from sin of every kind, as well as from intemperance, and to live a life of holiness in all things. For, it is "by grace that we stand," as well as by grace that we are at first brought into a state of salvation; and it is only "by the power of God" that we can be "kept" from all the evil that is in the world. In other words, it is only by the grace and power of God that our hearts can be renewed, and our habits reformed; or that sinful habits can be rightly broken off, and holy habits truly acquired. 66 The glory of God must, also, ever be held forth as the primary motive and ultimate end of all that we do in abstaining from every thing that is evil, as well as from drunkenness; for, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do," we must "do all to the glory of God." In fine, prayer to God for his enriching blessing to accompany the means employed, and the motives cherished, must not be lost sight of; so that his own cause, as the cause of righteousness and holiness, may prevail, and prosper. Thus, my dear readers, you, and all who profess to be the people of God, must, from a sense of duty and interest, never cease to hold forth the truth as it is in Jesus in all its integrity and fulness. Thus, you must show that that |