hath long patience for it, until he receive tlie early and latter rain ; so must we " be patient, and establish our hearts, till the Lord liiinsc'lf shall come," to crown, and to reward ova- labours ™
^^\^ must not however rest here. " To patience we must add <f()(lliness:" tor without a pious regard to God, all our eftbrts will be in vain. We may conceive of all the foregoing graces as exercised by a Heathen : but we must have that sublime piety which no Heathen can possess. We must see the hand of God in every thing ; and receive every thing as from him ; and do every thing as for him ; making his will the rule, and liis glory the end, of all our actions. At the same time, ■we must walk with him, and delight ourselves in him, and maintain sweet fellowship ^nth him as our Father and our friend, and must look for his approbation as our great reward.
To this there is yet another grace which we must add, and that is "brotherly-kindness." We are all one family, and must regard every member of that family with a truly fraternal affection. It is " by this love one to another that all men are to know us for Christ's Disciples";" and by it w^e ourselves also are to judge of our having " passed from death unto life"."
That which closes the train, and which must of necessity be added to all the rest, is " charity." For though there is an especial regard due to "the household of faith p," our love must not be confined to them : it must be extended to all, even to enemies ; and must so pervade our whole spirit and temper, and so regulate all our Avords and actions, as to evince that we are indeed Children of Him, whose name and nature is " Love ''."J
2. The importance of them to the Christian cha- racter—
[No words can declare the importance of these graces to the Christian more forcibly than those in which the Apostle has declared it in my text: for he asserts, that ifie constant ex- ercise of them wilt prove us to be iiUeU'igent and consistent Chris- tians, whilst the want of them ivill prove us ignorant and incon- sistent.
Attend to these assertions. " If these things be in you, and abound, they make you (that is, they render, or constitute' you) neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." How shall it be known that any man
fossesses a truly Scriptural and saving knowledge of Christ? t cannot he determined by his professions, but by the whole of his spirit and deportment. As a tree is known by its fruits,
so " Jam V. 7, 8. " John xiii. 35. " 1 John iii. 14.
•• Gal, vi. 10. 0 1 John iv. 8, lO. ' y.u6tn<rn.
1168.] THE christian's GRACES. 161
SO is the faithful follower of Christ. If indeed these graces could flow from any other source than an union with the Lord Jesus, they would determine nothing respecting the reaUty of our faith in him : but they cannot. A man may have valour, and knowledge, and temperance, and patience without any acquaintance with the Lord Jesus : but the whole assem- blage of graces that are here mentioned he cannot have : they can be wrought in the sold only by the Spirit of God: and the Spirit can be supplied by none but the Lord Jesus Christ, "in whom is the residue of the Spirit'," and in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily * : " And to none will Jesus so impart the Holy Spirit but to those who believe in him. Hence the existence and operation of these graces in the soul is a decisive evidence, that our faith in Christ is lively, our knowledge of him spiritual, and our walk before him con- sistent.