for the few remaining hours that he had to live, they would have been of no value whatever in his eyes.
Now thus the Apostle looked upon the world and every thing in it. There was nothing in it that he desired : " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," were all lighter than vanity, in his estimation : he had now no longer any taste for them : he felt that, whether his life was of longer or shorter continuance, he had nothing to do, but to honour God, and benefit his fellow-creatures, as far as he should have opportunity, and seek the salvation of his own soul. All that the world could either give or take away, was " counted by him as dung, that he might win Christ, and be found in him."]
And whence was it that he attained such extra- ordinary deadness to the world ?
[This holy feeling was wrought in him altogether by the cross of Christ ; which brought such glories to his view, as eclipsed all sublunary good ; and filled his soul with such joys as rendered all earthly satisfactions worthless and distaste- ful as the husks of swine. This it was which raised him above those vain hopes with which the Judaizing teachers were animated, and above those unworthy fears with which their fidelity to God was assailed. A sense of " love to his Re- deemer constrained him ;" and, when menaced with all that the world could inflict, he could say, " None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I may but finish my course with joy, and fulfil the ministry com- mitted to me." Nor was this a vain boast : his whole life testified, that it was his actual experience ; and that the doc- trine which formed the only basis of his hopes, had a trans- forming effect, such as no other principles under heaven could produce.]
But we must not suppose this state of mind to be peculiar to the Apostle : it is produced invariably by the cross of Christ, wherever it is surveyed and gloried in as it ought to be. We may see therefore from hence,
1. How sublime are the Christian's views! [The cross of Christ is that, and that alone, in which every Christian under heaven will glory. The very words of our text afford the best comment on that description which the Apostle gives of the cross of Christ, when he calls it, " The wisdom of God, and the power of God." So unfathomable are the counsels of Divine Wisdom contained in it, that all the angels of heaven are searching into it, with a thirst that is insa- tiable : and such is its efficacy, that nothing can withstand its