are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." We may observe, from this account of the apostle's experience, that it is exceedingly possible for a person to have great zeal for modes, and forms, and ceremonies, yet to be totally ignorant of the spirit of true religion. There were those truths in the Jewish religion which were sufficient to humble and sanctify the mind; but the Apostle Paul missed these. Instead of embracing Jesus Christ in his arms, as good old Simeon did, and saying, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation," he was exceedingly punctilious and pragmatical. Instead of "loving God with all his heart, and soul, and strength, and his neighbour as himself," with all that humility of mind which a sense of the Divine glory and the requirements of God should have produced, he was dogmatical and precipitous, and persecuted to death all who differed from him. Every thing that was external in the Jewish religion was made his pride and boast. He imbibed its narrow and exclusive spirit, which valued trifles and ceremonies, instead of the noble spirit of the patriarch Abraham, who "saw Christ's day and was glad," which made him the father of the .faithful.

Real religion, my brethren, is one thing; an attachment to forms and ceremonies, another. We may be very zealous for one particular creed, opinion, sect, or denomination, and with the credit and conceit of our own wisdom, yet be very defective in Christian spirit; this temper leads to malignity of feeling. There may be sufficient in such religion for us to hate one another, but not enough to cause us to love each other.

Let us, my brethren, "worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;" be taught to value the great truths and promises of the gospel as all in all. Let us exercise the greatest candour and charity towards those who differ from us, placing no confidence in external morality, or in national privileges, or in our descent from pious parents; but let us seek for a personal religion, that religion which raises our hearts to God, and makes us "partakers of a new and Divine nature," which will finally lead us to the possession of eternal blessedness in the full vision and fruition of God and the Lamb, forever and ever, Amen.

VIII.

CHAP. iii., 9-15: And be found in him, not naving mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as he perfect, be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

THE Apostle Paul, in the former part of this chapter, insisted upon the vanity of depending for salvation on those national privileges and advantages for which, as a Jew, he had been accustomed to value himself, and on which to place all his hopes. He now sees the invalidity of those pretensions he had made on the ground of circumcision, and as being of the "stock of Israel, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and of the tribe of Benjamin; as touching the law, a Pharisee," which had formerly been his pride and boast, and denies their importance and authority, as a ground of justification, by saying, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." If he, who was possessed of these privileges and distinctions in such an eminent degree, counted them as nothing, those to whom he wrote need lay no stress upon them. The design of the apostle, in this part of the epistle, was to moderate and instruct a furious set of Jewish zealots, who were for enforcing the observance of their customs, rites, and ceremonies, as the means of salvation, on the Gentiles. Being set for the defence of the gospel, he took every opportunity of recommending the simple truth of salvation by Jesus Christ. That if they were justified, it was with a view to their sanctification; for if justification were by the law, then was "Christ dead in vain, and they were yet in their sins." The knowledge of Jesus Christ was of such infinite importance that those things he had counted gain he now reckoned loss for Christ. Instead of looking back on them with complacency, he counted all lost, all that he had conceived desirable as lost, when placed in comparison with this inestimable treasure.

On the last occasion, we mentioned some of the reasons why this knowledge was preferred by the apostle, the principle of which is, that in Jesus Christ he found a Saviour, and that He was the "end of the law for righteousness." He made an expiation for sin; He became the reconciler of man to God; that there was a fulness of grace in Him out of which they had derived grace. The Jewish religion had something of these blessings in types and shadows, but now Jesus Christ has taken away the veil, fulfilled all its promises and predictions, and become the end of the law for justification. In consequence of this, men become entitled to that righteousness which God had appointed through Him. This the apostle expresses in very significant terms-by "being found in Him."

Christians wish to be found in Christ at the last day, as an asylum and refuge from the wrath of God, when "all the wicked and the proud shall be burned up as stubble." They are now waiting for the Son of God from heaven, who hath saved us from condemnation. In Him they die in peace. In Him they rise in peace, and enjoy eternal life. He is as "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land;" wherever else they fly, they find nothing but disappointment. "The great men, and the mighty men, and the captains, will call upon the rocks, the dens, and the mountains to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come." But they who are united to Christ by a living faith will be found in Him, as an asylum, where nothing of the storm of that awful day will be able to reach.

Verse 9th: "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." We have here the manner in which the apostle became possessed of this salvation, in opposition to that way in which he had before expected it. Formerly it was by an exact and scrupulous attention to the law, by conforming his life to its precepts; but now he saw that by the law both Jew and Gentile were guilty before God. "By the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified." By the precepts of the law of obligation, as contained in the Ten Commandments, and by the law of conscience, the apostle saw there was a necessity for a new covenant, and this was establish ed by God, and ratified by the sufferings and the death of Jesus Christ, "The righteousness of God by faith," or the way of justification, is that way of being righteous which He has set forth "to all, and which is upon all them that believe in Jesus;" hence it is called the righteousness of justification, which is conferred upon sinners, and attained by faith in Christ. How important is it, my brethren, to be settled in these great truths, which are not as parts of the gospel, but the very essence of the gospel; without which Jesus Christ died in vain, and "your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins!"

Verse 10th: "That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." The apostle wished to know more of Christ, to have an enlarged acquaintance with his character and offices; to know Him in the excellence of his person-to know Him in the greatness and unspeakable glory of his promises.

They who are called to an inheritance, naturally wish to make themselves acquainted with it. The apostle prays in another place for the Ephesians, that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened, that they might know what was the hope of their calling, and what the riches of his glory, in the inheritance of the saints. Verse 10th: "That I may know Him," for to know Him is to know God; to know Him so as even saints and angels know Him, who contemplate God through the beatific vision in the person of Jesus Christ. To know Him is to anticipate the glories of heaven, and to be "singing the song of Moses and the Lamb."

The apostle adds, "the power of his resurrection." This has a powerful efficacy on the mind; for, if the head is risen, the members must be risen. If Jesus Christ, as the head of the Church, is in heaven, our treasure is there, and our views and hopes should be directed principally there. Hence Christians are already said to be "risen with Christ." "If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." This the apostle couples with the fellowship of his sufferings, in verse 9th: And the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." The apostle means, that such was his attachment to Jesus Christ, that he was willing to have a fellowship in his sufferings, and to be conformed to his death, if by that means he might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Severe as the sufferings of Christ were, he had such a sense of the glory which was reserved for those that followed Him, that he was willing to be a partaker of them. This was the case with many hundreds and thousands who were nailed to the cross and put to death. It was the power of his resurrection that worked this effect, and which made them willing to be thus conformed to Him; for they wished, at any rate, or by any means, to attain to the resurrection of the dead. By attaining to the resurrection of the dead, the Apostle Paul did not mean simply to be raised from the dead, but to that resurrection of the just which is unto eternal life, after the pattern of Christ's resurrection, as first in order; for we are told the dead in Christ shall rise first, and this the apostle was anxious to attain.

It is remarkable that he shows the connexion of this with the end, "not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after;" not that he might sit down in sin, and give up all concern about his salvation; for he knew the way to the Father was the way of holiness; that he who wished to share in his resurrection, must know the fellowship of his sufferings. "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

Our redemption consists of two parts: first, exemption from the punishment of sin; and, second, from the power of sin; these inseparably go together. This is made more evident where he speaks of himself as intent upon a race; so as not to have already attained, but I follow after. "If so be, brethren," he adds, "I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."

"Not as though I had already attained." The main thing he wished to secure, it is plain, was something future; that he was saved by hope, and what is seen is not hope. If then, my brethren, the Apostle Paul, with so many visions, so many prophecies and revelations, as he was favoured with, and so many full and satisfying assurances of the Divine favour, yet says, "he had not attained," should Christians of the present day complain or murmur because they do not find their happiness complete? The apostle made this the subject of his pursuit: he had not attained." A right sense of this is the great support of the Christian profession. The first principle of religion is, that there is a God. The Christian should regulate his virtue and at

tainments by a life to come. While others gain honours, emoluments credit, and comfort, in the present state as their satisfying good, the Christian is looking forward to the end of his faith, "the prize of his high calling of God in Christ Jesus." This is the soul and principle of his profession, "not as though he had already attained." The latter clause is remarkable: "That for which, also, I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." It alludes to the apostle's conversion. God did not arrest him by the ordinary preaching of his word, but he forced conviction upon him, and apprehended him as he was going to Damascus, by a light brighter than the sun, producing blindness; from this the apostle was restored, and converted to the faith in Christ. Mark the design of it, that he might secure his eternal happiness, that he might make a vessel of his wrath, a vessel of his mercy; happy imprisonment this! which came through the mighty power of God. It might have been supposed, that if the apostle had been apprehended, it would have been in vengeance; but our blessed Redeemer knew no other force than that of love. If he put upon him the yoke of his profession, it was to save him from the dominion and slavery of his passions. He was formerly "free from righteousness;" a freedom that is fruitful in all sin. Now he was made "free from sin, and had his fruit unto holiness."

Verse 14th "I press towards the mark." The apostle had made very eminent progress in holiness and knowledge, more than all his contemporaries. In sufferings more abundant; in perils in cities; in perils by the heathen; in perils in the wilderness; in perils by the sea; in perils among false brethren; twice was he stoned." In zeal and assiduity he was never equalled by any of the sons of men ; yet he had a deep sense of his own unworthiness and imperfections.

"For the prize of the high calling" here is a beautiful allusion to the celebrated Olympic Games, where the prize was held up to the view of the combatants engaged. To this the apostle compares his course and conduct. He resolved to forget the steps already advanced; he considered nothing as done while he had any thing to do; he directed his eyes only to the prize. This stimulated him still to exert himself; and this, my brethren, should be our spirit; if we suffer ourselves to dwell with fond complacency on our attainments in our Christian experience, we shall go back in it. In all our attainments there is nothing so dangerous as to rest satisfied with what we have acquired. The apostle had a sacred ambition to outstrip his competitors, and with this disposition he could never sink into obscurity or contempt. If we say, with the Laodiceans, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," Christ will say, "Thou knowest not that thou art poor, and blind, and naked, and miserable." Humility is the great preservative of the Christian character. View the glorious excellences to be attained by faith in Christ, which is surely the only way to attain them. Animate your hearts by the prospect of the prize, and not gratify your vanity by comparisons; vain comparisons and ideal conceits would destroy your virtue and humility.