Spiritual life. He still has senses, affections, passions; but the hand of God hath wrought mightily in him, and changed their character. He possesses a life more exalted than that of nature: he lives on other food: he breathes another air he walks as in the light of a purer day, and beholds the glories of a brighter sky. He walks by faith, not by sight. The life which he now lives, he lives by the faith of the Son of God, who loved him, and gave himself for him.

If we would understand the nature of this life of the Christian, we must accompany him through the whole of his earthly pilgrimage; we must examine his dispositions and his conduct; we must visit him in the hour of retirement; we must attend him in his intercourse with mankind; we must mark the tempter in his assaults, and the Holy Spirit in his Divine aids; we must observe the enemies that are without and the Saviour that is within him. In short, we must become Christians ourselves indeed and in truth, if we would form any right notion of that state which is the privilege of the children of God. "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God."

I. Let us consider the nature of this life.

1. First, then, the life of the Christian is a life of peace; of peace with God and man. We have no need to be told, in these days of conflict, how desirable a thing it is to lead a quiet and a peaceable life: but how much more desirable is it to be at peace with God; to have a settled conviction that he is our friend, and that he will not forsake us. Such was the language of consolation with which our Saviour cheered the hearts of bis disciples. "Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you." The legacy of Jesus to his followers is a peace which passeth understanding, and which keeps their hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ,

Being at peace with God implies the answer of a good conscience, and the mastery over those lusts which war against the soul, as well as that spirit of charity which banishes discord from the heart: it produces the desire, and, in a certain sense, the power, of living peaceably with all men. For what saith David? "Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them." Nothing which can arise shall disturb that inward harmony, that principle of peace, which, coming directly from the God of peace, is by his grace implanted in the heart, and by the power of the Holy Ghost sheds its influence on every side. But as this state of peace with God cannot exist while we are living in opposition to his will, I observe, in the second place,

2. That the life of the Christian is a life of holiness. Armed with the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, he no longer lives the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. He is dead unto sin, but he lives unto righteousness. "For this," saith St. Paul," is the will of God, even your sanctification." It is his will that his children should be " holy in all manner of conversation." giveth them a new heart and a new spirit; and, being thus renewed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they are required to live unto God, and to walk in the way of his commandments.

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And here let us not be deceived by the persuasion, that the will of God is to be satisfied by a few occa. sional acts of piety; or that sanctification exists merely in the outward conduct. There must be a principle of holiness within; the heart, the source of action, must be purified, must be prepared and directed by the Holy Spirit. By our natural corruption, we are alienated from the life of God: by having his image impressed anew on ουτ hearts, we are to live unto him a life of spiritual obedience. The very expression" to live unto God," which is used in the verse preceding

the text must imply the cherishing of all the affections, and a regard to all the duties of a boly life. It is true, that some of these may be more opposed to our inclinations than others; but if the Spirit of God be with us as a sanctifying Spirit, he will incline and dispose us to fulfil every obligation. He will suffer us to engage in no -pursuit which is inconsistent with the fear and love of Christ. He will lead us to lay aside every weight, and the sin that most easily besets us; to mortify every desire, and to subdue every passion, which is at variance wide his will; and to walk in the constant and habitual regard of that law which the finger of God has now written in the heart. If on some occasions, through the deceit, fulness of sin and the revival of our corruptions, these holy dispositions should decline, yet in its own character the life of holiness is uniform. If, from these causes, our vigilance should be relaxed, and spiritual slumber come upon us; yet let us keep in mind that if we live unto God as we are required to live, we must set the Lord always before us; we must be ready to show all diligence unto the end. So long as we permit the Holy Spirit to rule in our hearts, our dispositions and affections will be continually purified, the fear of God will be in us, and we shall not depart from him.

3. The life of a Christian is a life of contentment. "I have learned," says St. Paul," in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” This was the language of a man who was called to submit to many things which were painful to flesh and blood; but every where and in all things he preserved a cheerful and contented spirit. The words do not describe a momentary or occasional feeling. His was a life of content ment: he possessed a settled prin

ciple of acquiescence in the will of Gol: this was the frame and habit of his mind. The very nature of the Christian profession requires us to be resigned under all circumstances to God's disposal, and in all to acknowledge his fatherly care; resolving every event into the good pleasure of his will. This spirit is closely connected with being crucified to the world. Those who are delighted with the things of time and sense will be dissatisfied when these things are withheld: if they set their affections on the world, they will feel pain when the world ceases to smile. But the Christian is dead to the world. He submits without a murmur to every dispensation of Providence, with the thought, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? He looks with composure

even to that awful decision which determines the limit of our years, and brings us to the dust. The influence of this happy temper may be felt alike in the cottages of the poor and in the palaces of kings: it was no less the principle of Job when cast upon the ground, than of Solomon seated on the throne of Israel.

4. Further, the Christian life may he considered as a life of hope. Indeed, the life of every man may, in some sense, be viewed as a life of hope; much of his happiness being drawn from prospects of future good, that which we enjoy seeming to vanish in the expectation of what is yet to come. This is, in a higher sense, the condition of the Christian. The God he serves is called the God of Hope, and he has the promise of every good which can excite his desire and expectation. If questioned as to the extent of his hope, he might justly ask, what is the blessing which it does not comprise? If benefits are to be valued by their true worth, he is persuaded that even in this life, he shall receive an abundant measure of blessing. The hope of the worldly is for the things

of the world: the hope of the Christian relates to every blessing of which he stands in need; and it is the excellence of this hope, that its views are unlimited. It looks for the Divine favour here, and eternal happiness hereafter. It is a hope full of immortality. Nor is this a principle which operates only under peculiar circumstances. It pervades the whole life of the believer. Even under the old covenant, the Psalmist, in a season of deep distress, could say, "I will hope continually." And if we turn to the apostles of Christ, we shall find that their whole practice agreed with the exhortation of St. Peter; " Be sober, and hope to the end." Had it been possible for hope to have been destroyed, while the love of God was in the heart, we might have expected this effect to have been produced in them; but it remained with them as "an anchor of the soul sure and stedfast." They were in deaths often, but the lie which they lived was a life of hope: they could still say with St. Paul," For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

5. The life of the Christian may also be viewed as a life of joy. The very existence of hope, of that hope which contemplates the glories of immortality, must be attended by delight. When we think on the excellence of the present condition and of the future blessings of the Christian, and can entertain a scriptural persuasion that that is our state, and that these blessings will be our portion, is it possible we should not rejoice? If we should feel pleasure in acquiring, or in the prospect of acquiring, worldly good, how much more must this feeling be awakened by the treasures of the Gospel; by reconciliation with God; by the gift of his Spirit; by his peace in our hearts; and by the view of the paradise which he has prepared for them that love him?

Were we to enter into detail on this subject, it were easy to show from Scripture that joy is a grand feature of the Christian clraracter.

The gaoler at Philippi trembled before his prisoners, and fell at their feet: and what followed? In that same hour, he became a disciple of Christ, and rejoiced. St. Paul frequently speaks of the joy which animated him in the whole of his course; and it was never more remarkable than in the time of suffering. He fixed his attention on other scenes, and rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Nor was this disposition confined to the Apostles. St. Paul's address to the Philippians is," Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice." We know from St. Peter, that stoh were also the feelings of the Christian converts scattered through the provinces of Asia. They were kept by the power of God, and, even in persecution, they "greatly rejoiced."

6. The life we are to live, as Christians, is, lastly, a life of com munion with God. Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." It is our privilege, like Enoch, to walk with him; to partake of his nature; to behold and to reflect his image; to receive from his fulness the communication of spiritual strength; and to partake in all the gifts, and graces, and consolations which proceed from the Father of mercies, and which fill the largest capacity of the human mind. And here we are led to the source of that spiritual life. "I live," saith the apostle, "yet not I, but CHRIST liveth in me." He liveth in me by his Spirit, by that quickening power which hath raised me from a death of sin to a life of righteousness. "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." Without faith in Christ Jesus we are, in respect to spiritual life, absolutely dead. It is faith in the Son of God, which kindles our affections, strengthens our faculties, enables us to walk in newness of life, and fixes our attention on the realities of the eternal world. It was through faith that the saints of old endured, as seeing him that is invisible. It was. faith which, dispersing the dark

clouds that surrounded them, opened to their longing eyes the glory of future days, the pavement of the city of God.

II. But not to rest this doctrine on general remarks, it may be shewn from Scripture, that every branch of the divine life to which I have adverted grows out of the faith of the Son of God. The particulars I have mentioned as descriptive of the spiritual life, viz. Peace, Holiness, Contentment, Hope, Joy, and Communion with God, may be shewn to comprize every privilege and grace which belongs to the child of God. Let us consider whence they are severally derived. 1. Peace. " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." Thus also, St. Paul prays to the God of hope, that he would fill the converts at Rome" with all joy and peace in believing." He entreats in behalf of the Thessalonians, that "the Lord of peace himself would give them peace always by all means;

that the Lord Jesus Christ himself would impart this blessing to his faithful people on all occasions and by every mode. It is, therefore, by faith in the Son of God that we live

a life of peace.

2. Holiness. "Having boldness," saith St. Paul, "to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." And St. Peter, speaking of the Gentiles, observes, that" God had given to them the Holy Ghost, purifying their hearts by faith." The operation of this faith is twofold: it purifies the heart, and it works by love. Hence the same Apostle addresses those to whom he wrote as persons, "who by Christ do believe God raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God; seeing ye have purified your hearts in obeying the trath through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren." By

faith we experience the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Christ:

according as his Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and vir tue."

3. Contentment. "Every where and in all things," saith St. Paul, "I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." The word which we here translate I am instructed lite rally means, "I am initiated in the art, I have learnt the mystery, of contentment." The word was used in reference to the sacred mysteries so famous among the Greeks. The knowledge of them was not given to men in general: it did not belong to rank or station, but was confined to those alone who were admitted to an acquaintance with the sacred rites. The lesson which St. Paul had learned was not to be acquired at the feet of Gamaliel or in the groves of philosophy; it was to be found only in the teaching of Christ. By dependance on him the believer learns both to be abased and to abound; to abound with thankfulness, to be abased with resignation. With the knowledge that Christ liveth in him, and with the belief that all things shall work together for good to them that love God, he cannot but consider himself rich, whatever the Disposer of events may give, and whatever he may take away.

4. Hope. "Christ," St. Paul tells us in his epistle to Timothy, is "our hope"-the only foundation on which our hope is placed. By faith in him we learn to " rejoice in hope of the glory of God." It is by the grace of God enabling us to believe, that we are made to "abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." If faith be evidence of things not seen," it is also the "substance of things hoped for." It imparts such a conviction of their reality, and conveys such a demonstration of their train, that

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the Christian is armed with a lively hope which no changes can destroy or injure.

5. Joy. I have already stated the close connection between hope and joy; and they are sometimes joined in Scripture as the common fruit of faith. Thus the God of hope is said to fill us with joy in believing. St. Paul describes those as belonging to the household of God, "who hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm unto the end." And in other places joy is more expressly mentioned as the fruit of faith. Thus the terror of the gaoler at Philippi was converted into joy he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." And similar to this is the testimony of St. Peter; "whom having not seen ye love: in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

6. And lastly, whatever be the nature of our communion with God, this also is the fruit of faith. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Such are the words of our Lord. "Through him," saith the Apostle, " we have access by the Spirit unto the Father ;" and in him "we are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." It is thus that we hold intercourse with the Father," having boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Jesus."

But here let it be carefully observed that the faith of which we speak is that faith which appropriates the benefits of the death of Christ. The Apostle points this out in the concluding words of the text: "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." He believed on him for his own particular salvation. He considered the Saviour as having died for him, and having assured him personally of the love wherewith he loved him. This forms the life, the vitality, of the Christian state. If we would walk as the apostles

walked, we must believe as they believed.

The suggestions now offered do but touch on a few points of this great subject; yet I would venture even from them to appeal to every man, on the excellence and importance of the Christian life. How noble is its source! How excellent are its motives! How pure are its enjoyments! It is true, indeed, that the life of faith must come to an end. The time will arrive, when that sacred principle, which even now seems to bear us up as on the wings of an eagle to the light of the eternal throne, will fail: but the life of faith will issue in a life of glory; when the things now seen through a glass darkly will be fully revealed, when the consolations of this lower world will be lost in fulness of joy, and the faint and distant prospects of heaven will be merged in the visions of God.

Let these thoughts be often in our minds. Let us learn to realize to our view the things which are not seen; to live as if heaven were even now open before us, and the day of God were at hand. If we live the life of the righteous, we shall be enriched with their blessings, and shall finally enter into the rest of those who by faith and patience inherit the promises. Amen.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. A COUNTRY VICAR has undertaken, in your last Number, (p. 223), to prove the illegality of the practice "of substituting other lessons for those appointed to be read in churches." The argument is briefly this: It is true, "the second part of the Homilies," "set out by the authority of the late Queen Éliza, beth in 1560, and to be read in every church agreeably," does distinctly admonish "all ministers ecclesiastical" that where it may so chance some one or other chapter of the old Testament to fall in order to be read upon the Sundays or holibetter to be days, which were