2. A life of universal holiness —
[We have duties to God, our neighbour, and ourselves. Those which relate to ourselves are comprehended under the term "sobriety," which includes the government of all our passions, and the regulation of all our tempers. " Righteous- ness " fitly expresses our duty to our neighbour, which briefly consists in this. The doing to him as we would that he, in a change of circumstances, should do unto us, " Godliness " pertains more immediately to the offices of piety and devotion, and marks that respect which we ought to have in our minds to God in all that v/e do. Thus extensive are the injunctions of the Gospel : it makes no abatement in its demands : it gives no licence to sin : it does not allow us to reduce its requisitions to our attainments ; but urges us to raise our attainments to the standard which God has fixed. Nor is it on some parti- cular occasions only that it requires these things : it enjoins us to " live" in this way as long as we are " in this present world," having the tenour of our lives uniformly and perseveringly con- formed to these precepts. Such is that holiness which the Gospel requires, and " without which no man shall see the Lord."]
Sufficient has already been stated to shew the practical tendency of the Gospel. But its tendency will yet further appear from,
III. The motives it suggests —
The instructions which the Gospel affords, are not mere directions, but commands, enforced with the most powerful motives that can actuate the mind of man. Those suggested in the text may be consi- dered as referring to,
1. Our own interest —
[There is a day coming, when our adorable Emmanuel, who once veiled his Deity in human flesh, will appear in all the glory of the Godhead. At that period, all that we have done for God shall be brought to light : and though our good works shall not be the meritorious ground of our acceptance with him, they shall be noticed by him with approbation, and rewarded with a proportionable weight of glory. This is " that blessed hope " which the Gospel has set before us, and to which it directs us continually to " look."
And is not this sufficient to instigate us to holiness ? If we kept this in view, how unremitted would be our diligence, and how delightful our work !]
2. Christ's honour —