relish for the things which he once affected, and will savour those things only which are suited to the spiritual mind. And this will serve him as a criterion whereby to judge of his state before God. He may for a time be driven, by the force of temptation, from that which his soul supremely affects, even as the needle may be forced from its wonted rest: but let the opportunity once return for the discovery of his real feelings, and he will turn to his God, even as the needle to the pole : and by that he will shew whose attractions he delights in, and whose motions he obeys.]
3. It regulates his life —
[The aberrations of the more advanced Christian will be comparatively small and transient. Though in the world, he will not be of the world. Whether he move amongst the higher classes, or in the humblest walk of life, there will be a consistency about him : he will be " the man of God" in all places, and in all situations : " he will shine as a light in a dark world ;" and " his light will shine more and more unto the perfect day." The spiritual principle within him is com- pared by our Lord to a fountain of water ; which pours not out its streams like an engine wrought upon from without ; but sends them forth by a power from within, and " springs up, as it were, unto everlasting life." Behold him day or night, and he is still the same ; a blessing to the world, an ornament to his profession, an honour to his God.]
Let not any one suppose that this is an imaginary character, drawn only to serve a purpose : it is a real character ; and, though douhtless it exists in different degrees, it really distinguishes every child of God : and in my text we see,
II. The privilege inseparably connected with it —
He is not under the law —
[He has nothing to fear from its curses; because the Saviour, in whom he has believed, and from whom he has received the gift of the Holy Ghost, has borne them for him. He has no dependence on its promises ; seeing that he has a better righteousness than that can ever afford to fallen man ; even the righteousness of Christ himself imputed to him, and made his by faith. Not even its commands have the same terrific influence on his mind which they had in his uncon- verted state. For though he still feels bound to obey them, he does not obey them with the same slavish fear which once oppressed his mind : they are no longer to him the terms of salvation, on a perfect compliance with which his everlasting