ther of all the graces. God lets a poo humble Christian stand, when others of higher parts, and who have higher thoughts of themselves, fall off by apostacy. They are likest to persevere, whom God u ill give most grace to : " But he gives grace to the humble," 1 Pet. v. 5. They are likest to persevere, who liave God dwelling in tliem : But God dwells in the humble soul, Isa. Ivii. 15. Nun requiescet SpirUus Sanctus Jiisi super hwtii'em, Bern. The lower the tree roots in the earth, the firmer it is; the more the soul is rooted in humility, the more es tablished it is, and is in less danger of fall- ing away.
Fijthly^ Would you persevere, cherish the grace of faith. Faith doth stabilere aninnwif 2 Cor. i. 24., " By fkith ye stand." 1. Faith knits us to Christ, as the members are knit to the head by nerves and sinews. 2. Faith fills us with love to God, — it works by love, Gal. V. 6. ; and he who love* God, will ra- ther die than desert him. The soldier who loves his general, will die in his service. 3. Faith gives us a prospect of heaven, it shews an invisible glory ; and he who hath Clu'ist in his heart, and a crown in his eye,' will not faint away. O cherish faith ! Keep your faith, and your faith will keep you ; while the pilot keeps his ship, his ship keeps him.
Sixthh/, Would we persevere, let us seek God's power to help us ; we are kept by the power of God. The child is safest when it is held in the nurse's arms ; so are we, wh.en we are held in the arms of free grace. It is not our holding God, but his holding us, pre- serves us. When a boat is tied to a rock, it is secure ; so when we are fast tied to the Rock of Ages, then \vc are impregnable. O engage God's power to help us to perse- vere ! We engage his power by prayer ; let us pray to him to keep us, Ps. xvii. 5., •' Hold up my goings in thy j)ath, that my footsteps slip not." It was a good prayer of Beza, Doviine quod apisii pcr/lc'i, 7ie in portu navfrogiiim. accidat, — ' Lord ]>erfect what thou hast begun in me, that I may not suffer shipwreck when I am almost at the haven.'
Seventhly, If you would persevere, set be- fore your eyes the noble examples of those who have persevered in religion. Quot mar-
A BELIEVER'S PRIVILEGE AT DEATH.
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tyres^ qnotfidehs in ccelis. Jam triumphant ? What a glorious army of saints and martyrs have gone before us ! How constant to the death was St. Paul? Acts xxi. 13. How persevering in the faith were Ignatius, Po- lycarp, Athanasius ? These were stars in their orbs, — pillars in the temple of God.
Let us look on their zeal and courage, and be animated, Heb. xii. 1., " Seeing we also are compsissed about with so gi'eat a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us " The crown is set at the end of the race ; if we win the race, we shall wear the crown.
A BELIEVER'S PRIVILEGE AT DEATH. Phil. i. 21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
SAINT PAUL was a great admirer of Christ, — he desired to know nothing but Christ and him crucified, 1 Cor. ii. 2. No medicine like the blood of Christ ; and in the text, " To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
I. " For me to live is Christ." We must understand Paul of a spiritual life. " For me to live is Christ," i. e. Christ is my life : so Greg Nyssen ; or thus, my life is made up of Christ ; as a wicked man's life is made up of sin', so Paul's life "was made up of Christ, he was full of Christ. TBut that I may give you the sense of the text more fully, take it in these three par- ticulars ;
1. Christ is the principle of my life.
2. Christ is the end of my life.
3. Christ is the joy of my life.
I. " For me to live is Christ," i. e. Christ is the principle of my life. I fetch my spi- ritual life from Christ, as the branch fetch-
etli its sap from the " Christ liveth in me."
root, Gal. ii. 20., Jesus Christ is an
head of influence ; he sends forth life and spirits into me, to quicken me to every ho- ly action. Thus, " For me to live is Christ;" Christ is the principle of my life ; from his fulness I live, as the vine-branch lives from the root.
2. " For me to livo is Christ," i. e. Christ is the end of my life, — I live not to myself but to Christ. So Grotius and Causabon, Christio servio. " For to me to live is Christ :" all my living is to do service to Christ ; Rom. xiv. 8., *' Whether we live, we live unto the Lord," when we lay out ourselves wholly for Christ. As the factor trades for the merchant, so we trade for
Christ's interest, we propagate his gos])el ; the design of our life is to exalt Christ, and make the crown upon his head flou- rish. Now, it may be said, " For us to live is Christ," — our whole life is a living to Christ.