When the Apostle says that he " had not shunned " to exercise this fidelity, he strongly intimates, II. The difficulty of maintaining it —
Such statements as these are very offensive to the pride of man —
[Man is ready to conceive of himself as not very sinful, and not deserving of any great measure of punishment. He hopes, too, that he has within himself a sufficiency of wisdom to discern his duty, and of resolution and strength to perform it. He trusts also, that, by executing his own purposes at the time that he shall find convenient to do so, he shall reconcile himself to God, and obtain favour in his sight. But the Gospel brings down at once all these towering imaginations, and reduces every child of man to a level with publicans and harlots ; so far, at least, as to make them " renounce all con- fidence in the flesh f," and seek for mercy simply through faith in Christ. It pronounces every man " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and nakedg;" and counsels him to seek in " Christ alone, his wisdom, and righteousness, and sancti- fication, and redemption11." Nor is the holiness which the Gospel requires a whit less offensive to the worldly man, than its humiliating doctrines are to the self-righteous. When we say to him, " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world : for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world1;" and when we require him to "be crucified to the world by the cross of Christ k;" we seem to him as exacting far too much, and as shutting heaven against all but a few gloomy enthusiasts.]
Nor does any one ever make this stand for God with impunity —
[Look back to the days of old, and see which of the prophets was not persecuted by the people to whom he ministered1. And who amongst the Apostles escaped the rage of their indignant enemies? Even our blessed Lord, who " spake as never man spake," and wrought such number- less miracles in confirmation of his word, was hated and perse- cuted even unto death. He tells us, " The world hateth me, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evilm." And see, in the present day, whether there be not the same enmity evinced against his faithful servants as in the days of old? See whether ministerial fidelity do not uniformly subject a man to
f Phil. iii. 3. e Rev. hi. 18, 19. h 1 Cor. i. 30.
1 1 John ii. 15, 10. k Gal. vi. 14. » Acts vii. 52.
m John vii. 7.
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