ready to make him a king to-day, and to cry, "Crucify him, crucify him," to-morrow; but by a band "whose hearts God had touched," prepared, through good and evil report, to follow him to prison and to death. Such, with the exception of one, were his twelve apostles; such the hundred and twenty disciples who were assembled at Jerusalem after his ascension; and such the character of those whom he will acknowledge as his at a future day. Let me request your serious attention while, in dependence on Divine assistance, we attempt the improvement of this passage, by showing, I. What is the cost attending the Christian profession. II. Why it is necessary to count the cost: and, III. The reasons which ought to determine our adherence to Christ, whatever that cost may be. I. We are to consider the cost of the Christian profession. The cost attending [this profession] relates, either to what it requires us to renounce, or what we are to expect, or the term and duration of the engagement. 66 1. In order to be the disciples of Christ, there is much that we must instantly renounce. It is a profession of holiness: it therefore demands the immediate renunciation of criminal and forbidden pleasures. The moment we become Christ's disciples, we commence a warfare with the flesh, engaging for its crucifixion, with all its sinful lusts and appetites. They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts." To the severities of monastic discipline, in which the body is torn by scourges, and emaciated by abstaining from the nourishment required to sustain it in health and vigour, the religion of Christ is a stranger. "For every creature of God is good, if it be received with thanksgiving." But a soft, voluptuous, and sensual life is repugnant, not only to the example of Christ, but to the whole genius and spirit of his institutes. By his gospel, and by his Son, God has "called us, not to uncleanness, but to holiness; so that he that despiseth the precepts of purity despiseth not man, but God: "This is the will of God, even our sanctification, that every man should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, as the gentiles which know not God." However painful the sacrifice of forbidden gratifications may be, however deep and inveterate the habit of indulgence, though it may seem as necessary to us, and as much a part of ourselves, as the right hand, or the right eye,-relinquished it must be, or we cannot be Christ's disciples. A life of sinful pleasure is not the life of a man, much less is it the life of a Christian: "He that liveth in pleasure" (it is the language of inspiration) "is dead while he liveth." Let me urge every one present to count the cost in this particular, and if he is not firmly determined, in the strength of divine grace, "to abstain from those fleshly lusts which war against the soul," let him not pollute the name of the holy and immaculate Lamb of God by associating it with * Gal. v. 24. † 1 Tim. iv. 4. 1 Tim. v. 6. 1 Thess. iv. 7. his own. Such an association is his abhorrence, which he will testify in a future day; and he will vindicate his insulted purity by a final renunciation and disclaimer, saying, "Depart from me, ye that work iniquity: I never knew you.” 2. The Christian profession is spiritual, and therefore requires the renunciation of the world. The words of our Lord in this particular are decisive: "So, likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." In the interpretation of these words, we must undoubtedly distinguish between the spirit and the letter. In the ordinary circumstances of the Christian profession, a literal compliance with this requirement would lead to pernicious consequences; to a relinquishment of the duties proper to our station, and a disorganization of society: but still they have an important meaning. They present the relation of a disciple to the present world in a very solemn and instructive light. They intimate, at the lowest estimate, that the relation he bears to the present state and world, is that of "a stranger and pilgrim;" that the relation in which it stands to him is that of an entire and absolute subordination to the glory of Christ and the interests of eternity. At the first opening of the gospel dispensation, the sacrifice of all secular advantages, the disruption of the tender ties which connect parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and the dearest friends, was not unfrequently the inevitable consequence of an adherence to Christ. The necessity of literally forsaking all was a usual appendage of the Christian profession. There was therefore a great propriety in placing the engagements of a disciple in this strong and forcible light, which, however, prescribe nothing more than what is irrevocably binding on us under similar circumstances. To regard every worldly interest, at all times, with an attachment subordinate to the love of Christ, to treasure up our chief happiness in him, and to be willing to "forsake all" whenever the following him renders it necessary, are absolutely essential to the becoming his disciples. On this ground, my Christian brethren, let each of us try our religious pretensions. If you wish to carry into the Christian profession the weight of worldly encumbrance, a heart corroded by its passions, and agitated with its cares; if you are desirous of uniting the service of God and of Mammon, and think of presenting to Christ a few small relics of your time, occupied in the cold formalities of a dead and heartless religion, you cannot be his disciples. The world must be displaced from the throne, or Christ will not, cannot enter; since he will never condescend to occupy a subordinate place. Alas! what multitudes are there (there is reason to fear) who are fatally deceived in this particular; and who, while they form a high estimate of their character as Christians, have not "the Spirit of Christ," and are therefore"none of his !"‡ 3. In order to be a disciple, it is necessary, in the concerns of conscience, to renounce every authority but that of Christ. The connexion * Matt. vii. 23. ↑ Luke xiv. 33. Rom. viii. 9. of a Christian with the Saviour is not merely that of a disciple with his teacher; it is the relation of a subject to his prince. "One is your Master, even Christ."* "My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me." In the whole course of our lives, if we are indeed his disciples, we shall evince our allegiance by a conscientious observance of his laws, by an implicit submission to his will, together with a sincere desire of ascertaining more and more of his mind and purpose. “We shall call no man Master upon earth," nor dare to trifle with the least of his injunctions; and while we plead the merits of his death and the perfection of his righteousness as the alone ground of hope, we shall reverence him as a Sovereign, who is entitled to that spiritual, that interior obedience of the heart which is suited to the character of him who searches it. He who trusts in him as his Saviour must obey him as his Lord; nor shall any be washed in his blood who will not submit to his sceptre. The moment Paul was brought to a saving acquaintance with Christ, he wrought in him a most profound sense of his majesty; a most humble and reverential submission to his will. His proud, intractable heart melted like wax before the sun, till, passive and subdued under the hand of Christ, he exclaims, “Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" While you prefer submission to any other yoke, while the dictates of any other authority have more power over you than the precepts of Christ, dream not of being his disciples. It is absolutely impossible. 4. The cost of which we are speaking relates to what we are to expect. In general, to commence the profession of a Christian is to enter upon a formidable and protracted warfare; it is to engage in an arduous contest, in which many difficulties are to be surmounted, many enemies overcome. The path that was trod by the great Leader is that which must be pursued by all his followers. If he found his way strewed only with flowers, if his career was cheered with acclamations and greeted with smiles, you may not unreasonably indulge in like expectations. But if his course, on the contrary, was a course of trial and effort, of affliction and discouragement; if a life of poverty and suffering, closed by a death of ignominy and agony, form the principal features of his history, regulate your expectations accordingly. “It is sufficient for the servant to be as his Master, the disciple as his Lord." "If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household." "Marvel not," saith our Lord, "if the world hate you; it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”‡ "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, that in me ye might have peace." Though violent persecution is not an event, under the present circumstances of the Christian profession in this country, within the range * Matt, xxiii. 8. ↑ John x. 27. John xv. 18, 19. John xvi. 33. of probability, yet serious and painful opposition may be expected. Vigorous attempts will be made to deprive you of your crown, at one time by an assault on your doctrinal, at another by efforts to corrupt your practical, principles. A strong current will set in from the world to obstruct your progress, swelled by the confluence of false opinions, corrupt customs, ensnaring examples, and all the elements of vice, error, and impiety, which are leagued in a perpetual confederacy against God and his Christ. Your path will often be beset, not merely by the avowed patrons of error, but by such as “ hold the truth in unrighteousness;" who, never having experienced the renovating power of divine truth, will be among the first and foremost to ridicule and oppose its genuine influence. While you live like the world, you may with impunity think with the church; but let the doctrines you profess descend from the head to the heart, and produce there the contrition, the humility, the purity, the separation from the world which distinguish the new creature, that world will be armed against you. They think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you."* In order to stand your ground, it will be requisite for you to "quit yourselves like men, and be strong." Aware that he is everywhere and at all times surrounded with danger, the life of a Christian is a life of habitual watchfulness; in solitude, in company; at home, abroad; in repose and in action; in a state of suffering, or a state of enjoyment; in the shade of privacy, or in the glare of publicity. Aware of his incessant liability to be ensnared, he feels it incumbent on him to watch. The melancholy history of the falls of Noah, of David, and of Peter is adapted and designed to teach us this lesson. 66 An opportunity may present itself perhaps, in your future course, of growing suddenly rich, of making at least a considerable accession to your property; but it involves the sacrifice of principle, the adoption of some crooked and sinister policy, some palpable violation of the golden rule; or, to put it in the most favourable light, such an immersion of your mind in the cares and business of the world as will leave no leisure for retirement, no opportunity for "exercising yourself unto godliness," no space for calm meditation and the serious perusal of the Scriptures. Are you prepared in such a conjuncture to reject the temptation; or are you resolved at all events to make haste to get rich, though it may plunge you into the utmost spiritual danger? "Count the cost;" for with such a determination you cannot be Christ's disciple. By the supposition with which we set out, you have solemnly renounced the indulgence of sinful pleasures. But recollect that siren will return to the charge, she will renew her solicitations a thousand and a thousand times; she will sparkle in your eyes, she will address her honeyed accents to your ears, she will assume every variety of form, and will deck herself with a nameless variety of meretricious embellishments and charms, if haply at some one unguarded moment she may entangle you in those "fleshly lusts which war against the soul." * 1 Pet. iv. 4. "Count the cost." Are you prepared to shut your eyes, to close your ears, and to persist in a firm, everlasting denial? You will meet with injuries and unjust provocations: "count the cost" in this respect. 5. The cost of the Christian profession stands related to the term and duration of the engagement-"Be thou faithful unto death." It is coeval with life. II. Why, we say, is it expedient for those who propose to become Christians to "count the cost?" 1. It will obviate a sense of ridicule and of shame. (See the context.) 2. It will render the cost less formidable when it occurs. 3. If it diminishes the number of those who make a public and solemn profession, this will be more than retrieved by the superior character of those who make it. The church will be spared much humiliation; Satan and the world deprived of many occasions of triumph. III. The reasons which should determine our adherence to Christ, notwithstanding the cost which attends it. J. His absolute right to command or claim our attachment. 2. The pain attending the sacrifices necessary to the Christian profession greatly alleviated from a variety of sources. 3. No comparison between the cost and the advantages. XX. PARALLEL BETWEEN THE WAR WITH THE CANAANITISH NATIONS, AND THAT OF BELIEVERS WITH THEIR SPIRITUAL ENEMIES.* JOSHUA v. 13-15.—And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over-against him, with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay: but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. come. JOSHUA was at this time entering upon a most arduous undertaking; that of attacking the nations of Canaan, at the command of God, with a view to put the Israelites in possession of that land which God had sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, he would bestow on their posterity. Joshua had just been invested with the office of the leader Preached at Leicester, March, 1814. |