churches until she had given evidence of her devotedness to every good work; as one who had lodged strangers, washed the saints' feet, relieved the afflicted. He who indulges his love of wealth, while he withholds his aid from those that suffer by poverty, and "hides himself from his own flesh," acts an unnatural as well as an unchristian part. Christians are taught to "bear one another's burdens, and by love to serve one another;" they are expected not merely to equal others, but to excel in deeds of charity, that the reproachful question may not be applied, "What do ye more than others?" Jesus Christ appeared preeminently in this character, so that of Him nothing more characteristic could be said than that "He went about doing good." It is the character of Christian love, that it attends to the infirmities and distresses of others; an eminent Christian will always be eminent in these evidences of genuine charity. It is the effect of spirituality to make the heart tender and generous, feelingly awake to the calls of philanthropy. Among such calls the cause of Christian missions holds a distinguished place; its claim is imperative on Christians; "for," as the apostle argues, "how shall they believe unless they hear? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent ?" and how shall they be sent without liberal support from ourselves? We are not to depend on Providence for the support of the missionary cause, without zealous exertions on our own part; this would argue an utter forgetfulness of the established order of things, and a contempt.of the will of God. No such expectation is warranted by his word; we are expected to use the appointed means; and certainly no nobler work can be proposed than that of sending the healing balm of salvation to the perishing tribes of mankind. To this great object we should all contribute according to our various powers; mindful of the apostolic admonition, "He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." 3. Another class of good works, which we should cultivate, is that of those which diffuse happiness by diminishing contention. "Blessed," says our Lord, "are the peace-makers ;" we are charged not to return "evil for evil, or railing for railing;" we are to remember that "a soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up strife;" we are to rise superior to injurious treatment, imitating the example of Jesus Christ, "who, when He was reviled, reviled not again." Every one who, though he hold no station of authority, aims to allay discord and preserve peace, may serve Jesus Christ, and obtain his promised reward. Every individual has his own little circle of influence, in which he diffuses either benefit or bane around. Every word is a seed of good or evil. If we are content to do good in a minute way, never can we want opportunities. We are continually proving a savour to others, either of life or of death. How many emana tions of life would the apostle's example, as well as his preaching, diffuse! What gentle, benign influences would accompany his presence and his converse, wherever he went! He was, indeed, an exalted minister of the Lord: but every member of the Church has his own vocation and ministry to fulfil; poverty is no obstruction; Christians are to operate as a salt that imparts its savour in social life. In short, it is impossible to comprehend the numberless ways in which we may be doing good at all times, if we lend ourselves to this as our constant end and aim. II. In conclusion, we may briefly advert to some uses and benefits resulting from good works. 1. These works, though they are of no avail to save us as sin-, ners before God, are yet good, as works of those who are created anew in Jesus Christ, animated by the Holy Spirit, for their performance. No one can have any real evidence of his being in Christ but that which arises from works of this character; these are the good fruits of the good tree. If we say that we know God, that we believe in Jesus Christ, and yet live the same sensual and selfish lives as before, we lie, and do not the truth, which we profess to know and believe. On the other hand, what a satisfaction to compare what we are with what we once were, in purity, temperance, meekness, charity; and to be able, on such a comparison, to say, with Paul, "By the grace of God, I am what I am!" There are seasons of peculiar evidence in the experience of believers, when the Comforter bears witness with their spirit that they are the adopted children of God; but the fruits of the Spirit, the effects of the gospel on our conduct, the works of faith, the labours of love, these are the only evidences that are with us at all times. 2. Such works are the declared end of our Christian profession. We are "created in Jesus Christ unto good works." How awful our state, if we fall short of that obedience which is the end of our being, the end of our new creation! "I have chosen you," said Jesus Christ," and ordained you, that ye should bring forth fruit!" otherwise we are only cumberers of the ground, ordained to be cut down! The end of the Christian profession is, that we should serve God here and forever; consequently, if we neglect this end, we are false professors; we have no right to be called Christians. 3. According to the character of our works, we are taught to expect the degrees of glory. Though the reward is of grace, it is proportioned to the degrees of holiness and usefulness which its inheritors attained. This is the doctrine of the New Testament. "He that soweth sparingly, and he that soweth bountifully," shall reap their respective and correspondent rewards. The servant who turned his trust to a tenfold improvement is rewarded with a tenfold authority. The apostles of the Lamb inherit the highest crown. To them He "appoints a kingdom, that they shall sit on thrones, judging the tribes of Israel." 4. These works are not only "good," in respect to those who do them, but also "profitable to men." They are creditable to the cause of piety. Men will be edified by your example; you will render your religious profession amiable and attractive; conciliate even enemies; while your actions appeal to the conscience and the heart. When a heavenly life attends a heavenly doctrine, it is then marvellous in the eyes of men. This will produce an impression which no fine theory, no sublime doctrine, could otherwise effect. How would this shame away infidelity, and prove Christianity to be an emanation from heaven! Christians should regard themselves as persons consigned for God; we cannot alienate ourselves from the service of God without robbing Him of his own; and "will a man rob God?" Let us bear it in our minds, that we are not our own, but God's; that "none of us lives to himself, or dies to himself, but that we live to the Lord, and die to the Lord! that, living or dying, we are the Lord's!" XXVIII. CITIZENSHIP AND CONDUCT OF CHRISTIANS.* [Preached at Broadmead, Bristol, Lord's Day evening, March 2, 1828.] THE Apostle Paul, in writing to the various churches among which he had laboured, often appeals to the purity of his own example: he was able to remind them "how holily, and righteously, and piously, he had behaved himself among them." And he found this the more necessary, from the early corruption of manners which crept in among the professors of Christianity: even in that age of exalted piety, "many walked" as the real enemies, while they called themselves the friends, of Christ. We should not take offence at the gospel on account of false professors mingling with the sincere, since it was the same in the purest age of the Church. Let none question the Divine origin and holy tendency of the gospel because some abuse it; it is enough that every genuine Christian purifies himself even as his Master is pure; "for we," says the apostle, "are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." And while many, calling themselves Christians, walk as enemies of Christ, "our conversation is in heaven." In the text we have a description either of the privilege, or of the duty of real Christians. The word rendered "conversation" is equally applicable to either sense it may denote both a state of citizen ship, the condition of those who enjoy certain privileges and immu· From the notes of the Rev. T. Grinfield nities, and also a course of life, a manner of behaviour, a spirit and character formed by such a condition, and suitable to those who enjoy such a citizenship. We shall consider the text in both these respects; and, 66 I. As it expresses the privilege of all real Christians. They are called to be citizens of heaven. The heavenly state is often represented in the Scriptures under the notion of a city. Thus the apostle says of those who died "in faith," that they "looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God ;" and "here," says he, we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come;" "for God," he adds, "hath provided for us a city." In the Apocalypse we have a large description of the heavenly state as "the holy city-the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven." Jerusalem, as the seat of worship and centre of the Jewish nation, was eminently a type of the celestial city; it is thus often mentioned in the Psalms, as, "the Lord hath desired Zion for his habitation, saying, this shall be my rest forever." In the same manner the apostle says, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Sarah and Hagar are mentioned by the apostle as typical of the two seeds, the legal and the evangelical; and Sarah is compared to Jerusalem which is from above, the mother or metropolis of us all; "for we, brethren, are the children of the free woman." All who become real Christians are accessions to the heavenly city, training up for the full enjoyment of its privileges. No sooner does a person become truly religious, than he obtains a right and title to heaven; "he is begotten again to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." All true Christians form one society, are incorporated into one city, acknowledge one King. They are children of hope and of promise; that hope of heaven which is the great hope, that promise of heaven which is the great promise of the gospel. Christians have a much nearer and more important relation to heaven than to earth. With earth, although they are at present its inhabitants, they are connected by the body; with heaven, by the soul: the former is merely a transient, the latter an everlasting connexion: the former is but as a shadow, the latter the real substance: here they have but a dissoluble tent, there "a house eternal in the heavens." In proportion as they realize their heavenly calling, they lose sight of the distinctions of time, those of riches or poverty, health or sickness, prosperity or affliction, life or death; the changeable colours of this mortal scene! II. We may regard the words as descriptive of a course of life suited to those who possess such a relation. Every citizen of heaven In this sense the word is used when the apostle says, "Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel" (Phil., i., 27).—Grinfield. VOL. IV.-KK has a part to act, a character to sustain, different from the men of this world. Something more pure and elevated may be expected from such a person, than from those who " mind earthly things Taken in this sense, the word "conversation" may be viewed in three respects. 1. It is a heavenly call by which we become Christians at first. When our Saviour spoke of a man being born again, if he is to enter heaven, the word He used may be equally rendered, 'born from above." The sons of God are born not of blood, nor the will of man, but of God; they have a heavenly descent. They are placed in a new relation to the best of Beings--they are made associates of angels: a spark, kindled at the great Fountain of Light, inflames their souls. And as their new nature springs from heaven, so it tends to heaven. 2. All the exercises of grace are preparations for heaven. The graces of the Holy Spirit have their end in the heavenly state. Faith, hope, and love-those cardinal virtues of the Church on earth-have their faces set Zion-ward, and aspire to heaven as their element and home. Faith looks at things unseen and eternal: "I give unto My sheep eternal life;" and this is the grand attraction of the gospel. Faith, in the ancient believers, though it had a subordinate respect to temporal promises of an earthly Canaan, yet always looked beyond these to its ultimate object; and all those saints "died in faith" of a better country, and were conscious that they had not received the grand promise. And hope-is its object of a temporal nature? no, it is the hope of glory! The Christian, who realizes this hope, finds it to be an" anchor of his soul, sure and steadfast, and cast within the veil” of eternity it supports and animates him amid his trials. "We are saved by hope," says the apostle: "Jesus Christ, He is our hope," Love, also, the grace whose dignity is such that it will survive every other, will expatiate in heaven as in its proper field: when every obstacle is removed, when faith is lost in sight, and hope in enjoyment, love will reign in its perfection; the beatific vision is accompanied by the fire of love! Other virtues of the saints, as patience, humility, equanimity under every trial, all are preparations of the soul for heaven; as the Divine Forerunner said, "Where I am, there shall also My servants be." They tread the path of Him who was made perfect through sufferings. "If we sow to the Spirit, we shall reap life eternal." It is this principle that sustains the Christian, and strengthens his hands and knees when weak and weary. Behold, my reward is with me." The graces that are most spiritual and heavenly in their nature, that flourish in the shade, and court not the eye of man, have most respect to heaven; they are watered by the dews that descend from the everlasting hills! 66 3. Lastly, the Christian's conversation is in heaven, as his actions, no less than the emotions of his spirit, are regulated by a regard to eternal felicity. (1.) Jesus Christ, as He declared, will "give to every man according to his works; to them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life."--(Rom., ii.) The actions of Christians are like a series of steps, by which they as |