3. How thankful should we be for the rich pro- visions of the Gospel !
[Who amongst us could stand, if we were to be justified only by our obedience to this law ? Who would venture his salvation upon it, even for one single day? Alas ! "in many things we all offend :" there is not a human being who does not come very short of the requirements of perfect charity. We need then, all of us, to wash in " the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness ;" and to seek an interest in that Saviour, who alone fulfilled the law in all its full extent.
Nor can we obey this law at all, any farther than we are assisted by divine grace. We need the influences of the Holy Spirit, to mortify and subdue the risings of uncharitableness within us. Whatever we may have attained, " the flesh still lusteth against the Spirit, so that we cannot do the things that we would." But, blessed be God ! the Holy Spirit is pro- mised unto all who desire his gracious influences, and his operation shall be effectual for the ends and purposes for which he is given.
Whilst then we strive to be holy as God is holy, let us seek all our help from above, and " live by faith on the Son of God, who hath loved us, and given himself for us."]
MDCCCCLXXXVlI.
THE saints' views IN HEAVEN.
1 Cor. xiii. 9 — 12. fVe know in part, a7id ive prophecy in part. But ivhen that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done aioay. When I teas a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child : but when
1987.1 THE saints' views IN HEAVEN. 337
/ became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : noio I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
IN the chapter before us, the Apostle expatiates upon the nature of true charity ; developing it in all its properties, and in all its operations. And, having done this with a singular felicity of thought and ex- pression, he declares the superiority of this grace above every thing else, whether gifts or graces ; and that too, not only on account of its own intrinsic excellence, but on account of its duration ; because, when all other things shall have passed away, this will endure through eternal ages.
To enter fully into the Apostle's views, we must notice, in succession, I. His statement of the subject —
Whatever we possess here, we have it only " in part "—
[God, in his mercy, has given us a revelation : but this revelation contains but a very small part of what God might have revealed, if it had pleased him to do so. And the know- ledge which we have of what he has revealed, is extremely partial and superficial. What know we of God, and his per- fections ? of Christ, and his offices ? of the Holy Spirit, and his operations^? What know we of the human heart, and its unsearchable depravity^? What know we of the "riches of Christy" and of all the wonders of redemption, " the length and breadth, and depth and height, of which surpass" all finite comprehension*^ ? -]
And even what knowledge we do possess shall in the eternal world " be done away " —
[We shall have no need of the written word to teach us, when once we are brought into the presence of God ; nor will our present imperfect conceptions of it abide with us. The word, which at present is to us as the polar star, will then vanish from our sight ; and the views which we now have of it, like those of the early dawn, will be dispelled ; both the one and the other giving way, as darkness before the noon-day sun To what purpose would a man carry a taper in the