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to bondage. Christ, my brethren, by His death, destroyed the power of death. Never was an enemy more completely vanquished. Christ laid down His life of Himself. As it was a voluntary act, and not a forced surrender, death was as effectually conquered as he would have been if Christ had refused to part with His life, and had actually come down from His cross, in view of His insulting foes, delivering Himself, as He had repeatedly done, from their power. If, then, the power of death has been destroyed, trust, O believer, in Him by whom it was destroy ed. Make Him more and more precious, and you may lie down upon the pillow of death with composure, and look the last enemy in the face as a vanquished foe.

But the power of death was destroyed, not only when the Redeemer laid down His life, the victory was forever completed when he took it again, and His raised body became its demonstration and everlasting monument. In proof that His surrender was voluntary, and that he could set the last enemy at utter defiance, after three days, according to His word, He victoriously reclaimed that of which He had made a voluntary relinquishment. He arose triumphant from the grave. By the same power, at the last day, He will rifle the tombs where His children slumber. Fear not, then, Christian, fear not the grave. “Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."

Amen.

SERMON DCCIV.

BY REV. JAMES M. MACDONALD, D.D.,

PRINCETON, N. J.

CHRISTIAN MODERATION.

"Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord is at hand."-PHILIPPIANS iv. 5.

Ir the rejoicing to which we are exhorted in the preceding verse were earthly rejoicing, then moderation, in its ordinary sense, might seem to express the Apostle's meaning in this precept. But it is rejoicing in the Lord which needs no such special limitations, nor cautions against excess. There can be no undue vehemence in such rejoicing.

I propose, therefore, to consider to what this moderation refers, or rather to inquire to what disposition or temper of mind the language used by the Apostle really refers; and to notice the solemn and affecting reason by which the precept is enforced.

1. It refers to forbearance, or meekness under injuries. The believers whom Paul addressed lived at a period when they were exposed to calumny, contempt and persecution; just that sort of treatment from their fellow-men which was suited to provoke a spirit of retaliation. Their good was evil spoken of; their conduct misrepresented; their motives aspersed. The Jews professed to see, in their neglect of the ritual of Moses, an abandonment of all religion. The Pagans, in their refusal to worship or honor their idols, saw nothing less than Atheism, and accused them of practising the most degrading vices and shocking barbarities. They were set forth, as it were, appointed unto death, and were made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. They were looked upon as fools-were buffeted, and persecuted, and defamed, and made as the filth of the earth, and as the offscouring of all things. Enlightened apostles might possess grace, which would enable them, when reviled, to bless, when persecuted, to suffer it, when defamed, to entreat; but let us not be surprised if those who were ignorant, and, especially, who had never been early taught to put restraint on their angry and resentful passions, should sometimes fail to exhibit meekness and uncomplaining silence, under all this misrepresentation and harshness of treat

ment.

And though we, my brethren, may not live in an age of persecution, there are always things in the world calculated to try the temper; there are men possessed of such dispositions or manners, or who are so regardless of the feelings and rights of others, that unless Christians cherish a spirit of forbearance, they will be in constant danger of doing something inconsistent with the principles or spirit of the Gospel.

Again, the "moderation" enforced in the text, implies readiness to forgive injuries. If forbearance under provocation would not prevent the infliction of injuries; if men would be base and mean enough to insult and injure a weak, unresisting man, then Christianity requires that man to forgive the heartless injurer. Whatever may be the judgment of the world, such forgiveness invests him who exercises it with a moral glory, which amounts almost to a transfiguration, amidst the brutal and revengeful society of men of strife and hatred. The inoffensive lives, the meek and gentle spirit of such men as John and his fellow-apostles, as Timothy, Luke, Ephaphroditus, Clement, and their fellow-disciples, did not save them from unjust and cruel treatment. Nor will such lives or such a spirit, in our day, always save men from the unkindness and malice of the unprincipled among their fellows.

Indeed, in this moderation is included not only the duty of forgiving injuries, but of cultivating sweetness of dispositionthat permanent temper of mind which not only meets distinct acts of aggression and personal offenders with forbearance and forgiveness, but which pervades, like sunshine or a salubrious atmosphere, the whole moral life. It might seem to be difficult, surrounded with sullen, morose, and cruel men, who are disposed to return evil for good, cursing for blessing, incivility for politeness; but so would they exhibit the spirit of the Gospel, in contrast with the spirit of this selfish, sinful world? Unfriendliness and churlishness ill become the followers of Him who was Love manifest in the flesh-who went about doing good-who had a kind word for the most unworthy-who poured forth prayers, wept tears, and shed blood for His enemies. We decide at once that a liar, a thief, a cheat, has no title to a place in the kingdom of Christ; what claim to a place there has the churl, the rude, surly, sullen man, who has no disposition to kindness, or the courteous interchanges of life? There is great difference among men, in respect to natural disposition. Some are amiable, social, and have a warm, fraternal side, which powerfully attracts their fellow-men. Their chief conflict, consequently, may be with a tendency to frivolity, and worldly compliances. They are exposed in many directions, and the cost of their safety is ceaseless vigilance. But the man who, upon self-examination, discovers that he possesses an unsocial, austere, sullen temper, should, with fervent prayer, and a constant repetition of friendly acts, however disagreeable to him at first, seek to correct and reform that temper. Such a man will be in little danger of ever being accused of levity and worldly compliances. It is grace, and grace alone, which can sweeten the sour tempers with which some men are afflicted, and which often cleave to them, long after they have professed to enter the school of Christ. It may have as difficult a work to perform in them as in others who have been led into all the gayeties and frivolities of the world. But it is a work that must be performed. "Let your moderation be known unto all men." Let all men see what Christianity is, by its effect on you. A kind, friendly, charitable disposition is among its most grateful and wholesome fruits. It will give us meekness under provocation, and the spirit of forgiveness towards those who inflict on us the greatest injuries; it will give us calmness amid all the disturbing scenes of life-equanimity in all the extremes to which we are subject in our earthly lot. Such, in part at least, is the "moderation" which we are exhorted to be let known to all

men.

But it is time, before proceeding further, to notice the solemn reason by which the precept is enforced: "THE LORD IS AT HAND." Some have taken the sense to be, a God is at hand, or will soon appear for help, to scatter your enemies, and deliver you out of

all your afflictions. Others have supposed that the Apostle alludes to the coming of Christ to destroy Jerusalem. But it seems more proper to understand the expression, as referring to the advent of Christ at death, which, in a great measure, to individuals, is the same as the final advent of Christ to judgment. "As death cannot be far from any man, and the final consummation of all things is, when measured with eternity, as it were at hand, so the judgment may be said to be near, even at the door." Death is at hand; and the coming of Christ, and judgment, are just as near as death; therefore, let your moderation be known to all men. Nothing is better fitted to repress angry, revengeful, bitter feelings towards our fellow-men, than the thought that death is near. I must soon go into the presence of my Judge, against whom I have committed greater sins than it is possible for a fellow-mortal to commit against me. If I forgive not, how can I expect to be forgiven? How can I dare, or how can I bear to leave this world, while I have some quarrel unadjusted with a fellow-creature? Or, those who have injured me, or whom I may have injured, are just as mortal as I am. Their bodies will soon lie mouldering in the grave. They, too, will soon be called to give up their account to God. We may meet ere long before that dread tribunal. Oh, how does animosity subside in the presence of death, and in near prospect of the judgment-seat of Christ! Who will not forgive a dying man? and what dying man will not forgive his fellow-men? If we realized our nearness to death, and the judgment-seat of Christ, how little should we be disturbed by any of the vicissitudes of life, or excited by the favor or the hostility of our fellow-men. It is, when we look too much at the present, and too little at the future, that our equanimity is in danger of being disturbed by the smiles and applauses, or by the frowns and wrongs of our fellow-men. The coming of Christ obscures by its brightness all the interests and scenes of time, and reduces to their true proportions and level all the trials and sorrows, as well as joys of life. It shows how petty and insignificant are our altercations and feuds ; and how unworthy of us as immortal and accountable beings. It shows how unbecoming are unfriendliness, and an indisposition to acts of kindness and courtesy, in those who shall need mercy so great in that awful day.

2. Christian moderation involves equity in all our dealings with our fellow-men, and in the management of our worldly business. Every man, to some extent, has the custody of the rights of those with whom he has any dealings, and is responsible for its proper exercise. It is not only true in respect to the Creator, but in respect to our fellow-creatures that no man liveth to himself. We have relations to others; we must depend on others for many services and favors; we can not always follow them, but must trust them as they must trust us. We are to look not only on our own things, but the things of others; i. e. we are to have regard not

only to our own interests and rights, but equally to those rights and interests of others that are, by the necessities of business, or the ordinances of civil society, linked with ours. The temptation to permit the selfish principle to assert the mastery over us, to the disparagement of the rights of our fellow-men, is often strong. A mau perceives that he has it in his power to take advantage of some fellow-man, and that by so doing, he can enrich himself, and that there is no human law which will take cognizance of his act. The love of filthy lucre is strong within him; to be rich, has long been his great ambition; and now the opportunity of gratifying his desire is presented. He sees houses and lands,stocks and equipages, and all the luxuries which wealth can purchase, almost within his reach. He has only to open his hand and grasp them. True, he must do his neighbor wrong, but then it is a wrong which the law of the land does not threaten with punishment. Now, I say, that to a man in whom the selfish principle is strong, and the love of filthy lucre, the temptation to swerve from the line of strict uprightness is strong, under these circumstances. Or, take another example of the same thing, on a smaller scale, but perhaps more frequently occurring, because the opportunities are more frequent: A tradesman misrepresents the value of an article which he knows the purchaser is unable to estimate aright; perhaps he discovers that he himself was deceived as to its value, when he purchased it, and thinks he has a right to make good his loss, by deceiving somebody else, as somebody deceived him. The temptation is strong. He tries to persuade himself that all is fair in the transaction, and that nobody is to blame but his customer, who is to blame for his ignorance. The temptation to err from strict integrity-and it might be illustrated in a thousand ways in all departments of business-being strong, we need a strong motive that we may not swerve a hair's breadth from the line, but may do justly as a part of that mercy we should love, and of a humble walk with God. Such a motive is set before us in the text. "The Lord is at hand; death is near; you must soon stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." O, how will dishonesty appear in the light of eternity? How will those little mean acts of overreaching, in which a few coppers only were sought to be gained, perhaps from a child, or from an ignorant servant, or some feeble-minded person, appear in that light? What comfort will it give to a man on his dying bed to reflect that he was sharp at a bargain, and knew how to blind the eyes of men and get the better of them in a trade. And O to think of meeting, at the judgment-seat, with orphans and widows who have been despoiled of their property and made to eat the scanty, bitter loaf of poverty. Let your "moderation (again I say) be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand."

3. Christian moderation argues a mind moderate in its desire for the things of this world.

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