They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts: Gal. v, 24. ALTHOUGH the flesh be alive still, and frequently stir, yet it cannot fulfil its desires when it is fastened to the cross: with the crucifying of the flesh we have to do as long as we live. This is the cross we are to take up daily, and which either prevents many outward crosses, or at least yields. great comfort unto them. The cross being an extraordinary good mean to experience the sweetness of the word of God, thou must always be ready and prepared for it, O my soul! And if none come from without, take care to break thy own will in everything. Painful and hard as this may seem to be at first, yet it will certainly very soon grow easier, and be matter of real joy. Blessing and peace will attend thy ways and steps, and thou shalt glorify God for having been resigned and guided, not by thy own, but by his good will and pleasure. Self-will, on the other hand, creates nothing but vexation, trouble, and uneasiness. It is punished by itself, deprives us of real blessings; and therefore deserves, and is best, to be broken and crucified in its first motions. Still I feel a fleshly part, Break, oh break this heart of stone! Form it for thy use alone; Bid each vanity depart; Build thy temple in my heart. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect: Gen. iv, 4, 5. HERE are two brothers, bringing each of them an oblation to the Lord. Cain, as a husbandman, brought of the produce of the ground he cultivated; Abel, as a shepherd, some of the firstlings of his flock, with the fat of them; consequently, both believed that there was a God that made the world, and was to be worshipped; and yet one was accepted, and the other rejected. Cain's sacrifice was wholly eucharistical, or a thankoffering to God, for the bessings of his providence. Abel's was not only of the eucharistic, but of the expiatory kind; and while it was an expression of gratitude for the blessings of Providence, it was also typical of the atonement by Christ, and expressive of his hope of redemption through him but what made the chief difference between them was, that Cain presented his offering while. his heart was withheld, and without faith in Christ; so was of the wicked one. Abel brought both his person and sacrifice, an offering to the Lord he presented his oblation, and performed the other parts of worship, with faith in God and the promised Saviour, and with sincerity, humility, and love. Thus God had respect to him and his offering; accepted first his person as justified, then his offering; but neither the person nor offering of Cain found acceptance with God. Reader, mark the difference; by this Abel speaks to thee art thou in a state of acceptance with God by faith in Jesus? Is thy whole dependence for pardon and life on Christ crucified? Dost thou obey from a principle of love? Then thou shalt be blessed with righteous Abel here and for ever. On that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul: Lev. xvi, 30, 31; xvii, 11. OUR great day of atonement is that on which Christ shed his blood for us on the cross, and thereby made atonement for us. Now, if it was necessary for the Israelites to afflict their souls and chastise their bodies, on the great day of atonement, how much more ought we to pray for humility and repentance, as the evidence of our interest in the propitiation made by Christ Jesus: And as they abstained from all labour on that day, when the high priest alone was employed, so should we abstain from all our sinful works, and particularly from all self-sufficiency of righteousness, and seek our salvation only in the meritorious blood of atonement shed by our High Priest; for the life of our souls is in the blood of Jesus. my Redeemer, may I, with an afflicted soul, ever seek my atonement, life, and salvation, in thy blood and death; and may I lie down and rise up in a comfortable hope that I am pardoned through thy blood, thy Spirit bearing witness to my conscience! Father, God, who see'st in me See thine own anointed one! Turn from me thy glorious eyes By the grace of God I am what I am: 1 Cor. xv, 10. BE this my motto, both as to my natural and spiritual life: how else could I have existed at all? Had not foreknowledge planned, and wisdom contrived, and power put every atom together, and fixed my scene of action, I had never been here. Nor is this God of grace less to be seen in every motion of my soul towards him; had not every spring been in him, this table, on which I lean, had felt as much bias towards him as I. The first check of conscience, the first thrill of fear, the first view of guilt, the first tear of penitence, were all his own; the first drawings of the Spirit, the first sight of Christ, the first dawn of hope, were all his own; every succeeding step in the path of duty, every attainment in grace, every victory over the world and sin, every evidence and token of the safety of my everlasting state, and every sweet interval of communion I have had with him, were still all his own; and the last labour of love, the last act of faith, and conquest over sin, death, and hell, together with an admission into eternal glory, must and shall be all his own likewise. The spring is love; the mean is Christ; the footing firm; the headstone "shall be brought forth with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it ;" and grace shall be crowned with everlasting glory. Whate'er I am, whate'er I hope, Proceeds from bounty of rich grace; The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again: 2 Cor. v, 14, 15. IF the love and power of Christ constrain us, we must needs be meditating and relying on him and his death. This will cut off all workings of our own, and make room for Christ to work everything in us, and through us. O Lord, may thy love on the cross fire my frozen heart also; that I may now begin to love and praise thee purely and fervently, and to offer my whole life up to thee as an entire sacrifice of love. Raise your triumphant songs To an immortal tune; Let the wide earth resound the deeds Sing how eternal Love Its chief Beloved chose, And bade him raise our wretched race Now, sinners, dry your tears, Lord, we obey thy call; To the salvation thou hast brought, |