grace when dead in sin," it might reasonably be expected, that the same sovereign and everlasting mercy would influence him to keep them to complete salvation, by strength proportioned to their trials and temptations.-We might mention as separate privileges the assurance, that " all things work together for good to them that love God," and combine to promote their everlasting advantage, however painful or humiliating for the present; so that they are more than conquerors over every enemy, being enriched by their assaults: that death is their friend, and his dreaded stroke proves their greatest gain (Rom. viii. 28-31; Cor. xv. 55-58); and that the everlasting God is their portion, and their all-sufficient and all-satisfying felicity.

But here silent contemplation best becomes us; and with this we will close these remarks on a subject that is nearly inexhaustible. Enough has been said to show, that true wisdom consists in leaving, venturing, or suffering any thing to secure such advantages, and in giving diligence to possess the assurance that they belong to us ;that, if we lived up to our privileges, the joy of the Lord would be our strength for every service; and our cheerfulness and conscientiousness would concur in adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour; and that our dejections arise not from our religion, but from our want of more faith, hope, love, and all those things in which true godliness consists.

ESSAY XVIII.

ON THE DISPOSITIONS AND CHARACTER PECULIAR TO THE TRUE BELIEVER.

WHEN our Lord concluded his pathetic exhortations to his disconsolate disciples, just before his crucifixion, by a comprehensive prayer for them, he made this one of his petitions to the Father in their behalf, " Sanctify them by thy truth; thy word is truth" (John xvii. 17): and the scriptures always represent divine truth as the seed in the believer's heart of every holy disposition; the graft which "makes the tree good, and its fruit good;" and the mould into which the soul is cast, and from which it receives its form and exact impression, as the metal is fashioned by the artist's skill (Rom. vi. 17, original). "We are, therefore, sanctified by faith" (Acts xxvi. 18); and the doctrine of Christ dwells in the regenerate soul, as an operative transforming principle, producing a peculiar state of the judgment, dispositions, and affections, in proportion to the degree in which it is understood and believed. This may be called the Christian temper: it is the exact counterpart of the truths by which it is produced; it discriminates the real believer from all other men; and it constitutes the standard of our proficiency in vital godliness, of "our growth in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." For a great part of the acquaintance of most of us with the truths of revelation is merely notional; and if we do not perceive the genuine nature and tendency of the doctrines to which we assent, they must fail to exert their transforming efficacy upon our hearts: Thus, "knowledge puffeth up," even when the things known are evidently suited to

produce the deepest humility; and though they never fail to have this effect, where they are re.. ceived by a living faith as the nutriment and medicine of the soul. It may, therefore, be proper to consider more particularly those dispositions and affections of the mind which constitute the appropriate temper and character of the true believer; adverting, as we proceed, to those truths by which they are produced and nourished; and endeavouring to distinguish between the lamented failures and imperfections of the upright, and the allowed and indulged evils of the mere hypocrite or self-deceiver.

1. Humility may be considered as most essential to the Christian temper, and as radical to every other part of it. The believer's principles continually present before his mind the greatness and majesty of God, and the comparative mean. ness of all creatures; which cannot fail to abate his natural propensity to self-importance and selfexaltation, and to make him feel himself to be as nothing before the infinite Creator. Having received his being, and all he is and possesses, from the hand of the Lord, and holding every thing in the most absolute dependence on him, he cannot consistently glory, as though he had not received them. He knows that every benefit lays him under obligation-that every talent demands a proportionable improvement-and that he must shortly be turned out of his stewardship, and required to give an account of it; and he is conscious that he has not made suitable returns to his benefactor, or due improvement of his talents. This teaches him, that all those things of which he has been tempted to be proud, ought to cover him with shame, and increase his humility; for they have all proved occasions of additional transgressions, and call upon him to repent and deprecate the wrath of his offended benefactor. His principles

also lead him to compare his conduct with the perfect law of God, and not with the examples and maxims of this sinful world; and to condemn every deviation from that strict and spiritual rule, even in thought or inclination, as sin, and as deserving the Lord's displeasure and abhorrence: so that every part of his past and present behaviour suggests to him reasons for self-abasement; for sin mixes with and defiles even his best duties; and he feels his need of repentance, of mercy, and of the atoning blood, in every action of his life. He is deeply convinced, that "it is of the Lord's mercies he is not consumed;" all his hopes of acceptance and happiness spring from faith in the Lamb of God, and his expiatory sacrifice, and he receives every comfort, not only as the gift of the Lord's bounty, but as purchased by his Redeemer for a hell-deserving sinner: how then can he, who lives under the influence of these principles, be proud of his possessions or attainments? He dare not venture even to the mercy-seat of his forgiving God, except in the name of his beloved Son; and he deems it a precious favour that he may be allowed thus to pray for mercy and salvation. Moreover, when he cannot but perceive that he differs from ungodly men, and from himself in former years, he knows that this difference is the effect of a divine influence on his mind; so that he sees abundant reason for thankfulness on this account, but none for pride and self-complacency. Nay, he is sensible that he hath been kept from the gross immoralities, through which numbers are made equally mischievous and wretched, by a divine interposition, in various ways restraining him from listening to temptation, or following the devices of his own heart; so that his preservation from the most destructive enormities is rather an occasion for gratitude than for self-preference; whilst his misconduct in less scandalous instances

seems to him to be baser, when compared with his advantages, than the crimes of the unhappy outcasts from human society.

As he also frequently and carefully views himself in the glass of the holy law, and compares his conduct with the perfect example of Christ; as he attentively considers his obligations and opportunities, and examines strictly his motives, affections, thoughts, words, and works; as he is more severe in judging himself, and candid in estimating the conduct of his brethren, so he is unavoidably led, in his best hours, to "esteem others more highly than himself, and in honour to prefer them:" thus he is disposed habitually to take the lowest place, instead of ambitiously aspiring to pre-eminence, which always results from the want of consistency with evangelical principles. He is also accustomed to entertain a deep sense of his own ignorance, and proneness to mistake; for his experience and observation confirm the declarations of scripture in this respect: hence originates a teachable disposition, and a willingness to "receive the kingdom of God as a little child," and "to become a fool," in order to obtain true wisdom. The most eminent saints have, therefore, always most felt and owned their want of wisdom, and been most ready to ask it of God (James i. 5); and to inquire his will at every step with the greatest simplicity and fervency. And though the well-instructed believer will not call any man master upon earth, but will bring every opinion and counsel to the touchstone of God's word; yet he will be always learning, even from his inferiors, his enemies, or false accusers, being glad of a little additional light on his path from any quarter And whilst he considers the written word as the complete rule of truth and duty, and decidedly rejects both the traditions of men and the effusions of enthusiasm, he will ever feel his need of

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