represented as "a thing of nought," and his Saviour Christ "all in all?" Let us hear St. Paul in that noted passage to the Romans: "That which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil, which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members"."

Here, Christian brethren, is a picture of human weakness! Without controversy, whether applied to regenerate or unregenerate, the features and the lineaments of our fallen estate are alike visible. It applies not to this or that man only. It is the representation, to the life, of you, and of me, and of all mankind, for "we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God'." And what have we to do, but with sorrow and contrition of heart, to lay our hand

9 Rom. vii. 15-23.

1 Rom. iii. 23.

upon our mouth, and to confess with the favoured child of the captivity, "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces2 ?"

This is indeed our real estate by nature, the estate of our weakness, and frailty, and insufficiency. But, "to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him";" neither hath He left us, in our weakness, as a prey to the destroyer of souls. He hath sent unto us a mighty deliverance. "For us men, and for our salvation," Christ has been manifested in the flesh, has bowed the heavens and come down with great power and might to succour us. "Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of a fowler; the snare is broken, and we are delivered. Our help standeth in the name of the Lord"" our Righteousness. And what is more, "They that put their trust in the Lord shall be even as the mount Sion, which may not be removed, but standeth fast for ever"." So that when St. Paul passionately exclaims, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" himself makes the only effectual and proper reply, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord "."

Now this, rightly considered, will lead us to understand and reconcile, what, to the disputer of this world, seems an utter contradiction; I mean, the doctrine of the Bible which declares the two apparently incompatible truths of "Christian weakness," and

"Christian power." Of ourselves, as we have seen, and full well know, if we know anything as Christians ought to know, we are weak, and "unstable as water, and cannot excel'." Reuben's case is ours. But when the "breaker," as saith the prophet Micah, "is come up before us," when "our King shall pass before us,

and the Lord on the head of us." then the case is altered, and the lowly believer in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, is certified of the Apostle's saying, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."

Yes, Christian brethren", "having the Lion of the tribe of Judah for our captain and leader, we shall be able to vanquish all that force, which the lion that goeth up and down, seeking whom he may devour, is able to bring against us. And though many times, as we ought, we sadly bemoan our case, and much rue the loss, which, through the recklessness of our first parents, hath befallen us; yet, let us cheer up ourselves; our fear is greater than our hurt. As Elkanah speaks unto Hannah, 'Why weepest thou? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons'?' So will we comfort ourselves in like manner. Let us sorrow no more for our loss in Adam; for is not Christ tenfold better unto us, than all the good of paradise? The sycomores are cut down, but

7 Gen. xlix. 3.

Mic. ii. 13.

See the "Ever memorable Hales of Eaton," Sermons, vol. ii.

p. 232, ed. 8vo.

1 1 Sam. i. 8.

we will change them into cedars'. The loss of that portion of strength, wherewith our nature was originally endued, is made up with fulness of power in Christ. It is past that conclusion of Zeba and Zalmunna unto Gideon, in the Book of Judges. 'As the man is, so is his strength;' for now, beloved, as God is, so is our strength. Wherefore, as St. Ambrose speaks of St. Peter's fall, 'It hurt not me that Peter denied his Lord, but it hath profited me that Peter repented.' So we may speak of the fall of our first parents; it hurts not us that Adam fell; nay, our strength and glory is much improved, that by Christ we are redeemed. Our natural weakness, be it never so great, with this supply from Christ, is far above all strength, of which our nature, in its greatest perfection, was capable."

These considerations laid before you, let me now call your attention more directly to what it is that St. Paul says to the Philippian converts he is able to perform. “I have learned," says he, "in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where, and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me';" strengtheneth me, that is, within, by his perpetual presence and assistance.

2 Isa. ix. 10.

4 In the original ἐνδυναμοῦντι.

3 Judges viii. 21.

In accordance with that, our Lord and Saviour's own saying, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

This, then, is the secret,-this also the secret and hidden power which helps on the Christian, weak as he is in himself, to work out his own salvation. And of this we may rest assured, and it is the intent of the text to declare it, that heavenly aid will never be wanting to those, who are not wanting to themselves; the grace of Christ will prevent and follow us, if we be obediently zealous to maintain every good word and work. For this truth the whole tenor of the New Testament is voucher, and besides this the bright and shining light which is discernible in the path of all God's saints. It is "light of light,” and that light is God.

One of the most remarkable instances of the truth of the text is St. Paul himself. Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, whose "bonds in Christ," when he wrote this epistle, "were manifest in all the palace, and in all other places "," and Paul the persecutor of the brethren, were very different people. The one was the natural, the other the spiritual man. In the first Epistle to Timothy he returns thanks unto the

5 John xv. 4, 5.

6

• Phil. i. 13.