put our trust in His sufferings and death for our redemption; unless we are sensible of our obligations to Him for becoming our substitute, and suffering the wrath of God instead of guilty man; and it be our earnest desire and prayer to partake of the blessings which are bestowed in and through Him, both in this life and in that which is to come; in vain is it that we bear the name of Christians. A Christian is one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, who hopes for pardon through His blood, who trusts in His merits for reconciliation and peace with God, who relies upon Him alone for salvation from sin and death everlasting. If this be our character, the appeal in the text will be responded to by us.

When the consideration of the vastness of our obligations to the Lord Jesus is brought before us, it will powerfully constrain us to comply with the exhortation given by the apostle to believers in Him; which is to be noticed in the

Second place, as showing the Christian practice which flows from the reception of Christian doctrine. To walk so as to please God and therein to abound more and more, will be the object which we shall propose to ourselves continually, in consequence of knowing what commandments were given us by the Lord Jesus. Walking means, in scripture language, the whole course of our behaviour and conduct in life, particularly the active part of it, and that which is under the

This in

observation of our fellow-creatures. Christians is to be regulated by the commandments of the Lord Jesus, or in other words by the will of God, as the apostle proceeds to call these commandments. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, or that His people should be separated from the pollutions of the world that lieth in wickedness, and be set apart to His service and glory, both in their souls and bodies. This the apostle thought it needful to inculcate most especially on account of the state of the heathen world, in which sensual gratification was scarcely regarded as a crime. He therefore descends to particulars; that ye should abstain from fornication, or from gratifying the sinful lusts of the flesh. This sin was so common, that the apostle describes the Gentiles as being insensible to the wickedness of it; who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.68 This crime constituted in some instances even a part of their religious worship; and the writings of the heathen poets continually represented their fancied deities as being engaged in the most infamous practices of this description. Hence it was absolutely necessary that the evil of it should be plainly declared in the word of God; and Christians exhorted, that every one of

68 Ephesians iv. 19.

you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, or, to avoid fornication; in order to which the apostle says at another time, Let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband,69 in an honourable connexion, not giving way to the unruly passions of the corrupt heart of man.

And not only is the outward conduct to be thus regulated, but also the thoughts and desires and inclinations of the mind; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles, which know not God. Impurity of heart and mind is most offensive to God, as well as the practice of what He has forbidden. Both were common among the heathen, but both are to be avoided and abhorred by the disciples of the Lord Jesus. He requires of them, that no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any (or rather, in this) matter, because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such; as we also have forewarned and testified, says the apostle; which he did when he declared that, Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. He anxiously pressed this point, for the purpose of bringing it home to the consciences of those who were living in the midst of an ungodly world; that, seeing how abominable all such conduct is in the sight of God, they might utterly detest and abhor this

69 1 Corinthians vii. 2.

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70 Ephesians v. 6.

cursed thing, which is so pregnant with evil consequences. He declared therefore that God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. He hath called His people to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." And therefore He that despiseth, despiseth not man but God, who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit. Here then we learn that Christian practice consists in holiness of heart and life, which believers in Christ are enabled to follow by the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in them for this purpose, to purify their hearts, and to enable them to mortify their earthly members, the sinful lusts of the flesh.

Who that knows any thing of the state of society in our professedly Christian land could imagine that a sin, which abounds, alas, so greatly among us, is so pointedly condemned in the word of God; and that such awful denunciations against those who commit it are contained in the sacred volume? Surely this affords sufficient proof that in the midst of much Christian profession there is a deficiency of Christian principle; for if those who call themselves Christians were under the influence of the faith of Christ, and were led by the Spirit of God, their hearts would be purified, and their conduct sanctified. Of little benefit

71 2 Corinthians vii. 1.

will it be to hear the word of God, unless we also obey the gospel. St. James therefore exhorts us, Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. Our Saviour asked those who professed to follow Him, Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say. And He declared, Not every one that saith unto Me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father, which is in heaven. Impurity of mind renders communion with God impossible. The Psalmist said, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.73 The pure in heart alone, or those who refrain from indulging impure thoughts in their minds, as well as from committing impure deeds,—they alone shall see God; they alone shall enjoy His spiritual presence on earth, and the beatific vision of His

74

glory in heaven. Without following holiness, or earnestly seeking after purity of heart and life, and refraining from the indulgence of impure imaginations and practices, no man shall see the Lord.75 If a profession of faith in Christ do not purify the heart, it is of no avail; it is only an

72 James i. 22-24. 73 Ps. lxvi. 18. 74 Matt. v. 8. 75 Heb. xii. 14.