1 should say, that, in its strictest sense, it appears to express admiration : but we may very properly con- sider it as the language,
1. Of inquiry —
[" Who is this?" Is there, amongst ourselves, any one answering to this character ? Am I this happy person ? Do I so live in this world, that the by-standers notice the peculiarity of my walk, and my entire devotion to the Lord and Saviour
'1 John xvii. 6. ^ pieb. xi. 13. f Col. iii. 2.
s 2 Tim. i. 12. ^ i^ai. xlvi. 4. ' Jcr. xvii. 5.
^ Hos. xiv. 3. ' Ps. xvii. 5.
G g2
Jesus Christ? Do I, instead of loving the world, account it a dreary wilderness ? Do I renounce, as in my baptismal vows I undertook to do, all the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh ? and " am I daily dying unto the world," to its cares, its pleasures, its maxims, its habits, its company altogether? Am I " crucified unto the world, and is the world crucified unto me by the cross of Christ," so that I value it no more than a man does who is in the very article of death "^ ? And, in my passage through this wilderness, am I leaning constantly on my beloved Saviour, saying, " In the Lord have I righteousness and strength"?" This is, indeed, the character of the true Christian ; and we are commanded to " examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith, and to prove our own selves"." I would entreat you, therefore, to make this a subject of most serious inquiry ; and to ask yourselves. Am I the person characterized in the words of our text?]
2. Of admiration —
[This I suppose to be the more immediate feeling expressed in my text. And truly a person so circumstanced as the Bride here was, is one of the greatest wonders upon earth. Conceive yourselves to be that person ; — that such an earthly and sensual creature, as every one of you must know yourselves to be, should so renounce the world ! — that such a j)olluted creature should enjoy such intimacy with the Lord of Glory ! that such a iveak creature should persevere, in despite of so many obstacles both within and without ! May not such an one well say, " I am a wonder unto manyP? " Must he not, above all, be a wonder to himself? " Who am /that /should be so honoured ; whilst the world at large are left to walk after the imaginations of their own evil hearts, and to " live as without God in the world!"]
3. Of congratulation —
[No man in the universe is so to be congratulated, as he who dies to the world, and seeks all his happiness in Christ. Think with yourselves from what immment danger he has escaped. " The whole world is lying in wickedness i," and "will be condemned at lasf^ ; but " he has been taken out of the world %" and been delivered from it, even as Lot from Sodom. Is not he a fit object for congratvdation ? But consider, further, to what a glorious place he is hastening ; even to heaven itself, where he shall speedily possess " an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away '." Behold, too, to what a blessed company he is joined ! " He is come to an innumerable company of angels; and to the general assembly and Church
"1 Gal. vi. 14. n Isai. xlv, 24. " 2 Cor. xiii, 5.
P Ps. Ixxi. 7. 1 1 John v. 19. -^1 Cor. xi. 32.
s Jolin XV. 19, t 1 Pet. i. 4.
854.] THE christian's RELIANCE ON CHRIST. 153
of the first-born, which are written in heaven ; and to God, the Judge of all ; and to the spirits of the just made perfect ; and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant ; and to all these, as his everlasting companions." Think, also, hoiv near he is to all this felicity, every day and hour bearing him towards it, as fast as the wings of time can carry him. And, above all, what an all-sufficient suppoj't he has in his loay thither, even his beloved Lord, " who is able to keep him from falling, and to present him faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy"." Tell me. Who is happy in comparison of him? Who is to be congratulated, if he be not ?]