SERMON II.

ON THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE AGENCY OF MAN.

PHILIPP. ii. part of 12, 13.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

THIS passage in the writings of St. Paul, is one which specially demands the attention of all who seek to learn "the whole counsel of God," inasmuch as it distinctly sets forth the compatibility of two doctrines which the disputer of this world would fain represent as inconsistent with each other, viz. the free agency of man, and the preventing and cooperating grace of God. The Apostle does not stop to determine the manner in which these truths are co-existent,. neither does he bestow the most transient notice upon the metaphysical objections which might be started respecting them. Nay, so

far from attempting to reconcile these doctrines, he states each of them, broadly and unreservedly, as if their union admitted of no dispute. He places them, side by side, in immediate contact; and even makes the one a direct and necessary consequence of the other.

But it is scarcely necessary to remind you that the pride of man has laboured to put asunder the truths which the great Apostle of the Gentiles has joined ; that almost every age of the Church has been doomed to witness the controversies of her children upon this point; that system has been arrayed against system, and supported by their respective advocates, with an animosity which has too often tempted them to forget that they are the servants of Him, who hath made it the distinguishing mark of His disciples, that they should love one another; that Scripture has been opposed to Scripture, wrested from its simple meaning, and been compelled to serve, in turn, the opposite purposes of contending parties; and that hence the things which should have been for their everlasting peace, have proved oftentimes an occasion of falling. Thus, on the one hand, the question has been asked, if it be God, who works in us both to will and to do, why urge man to work out his own salvation? And, on the other hand, if man be able so to work, why declare that his power both to will and to do, is of God's good pleasure? These are among the questions which

have been asked, again and again, with unwearied pertinacity, and have led to endless controversies. And, in recurring to them now, it is not my purpose to weary your attention or harass my own feelings, by leading you through these perplexing mazes of disputation. I am desirous rather, by the Divine blessing, to enter into a practical consideration of the subject, and to enquire whether your own experience and Scripture do not concur in proving both these propositions to be true, which the Apostle has set forth in the text, viz. that man is free, and yet, that he is absolutely dependant upon God:-and whether the duties resulting from this acknowledgment be not those of watchfulness and prayer; duties which our blessed Lord Himself enjoined, and which embody in themselves the full realities of the Christian life.

You are commanded, in the text, "to work out your own salvation." Now, the very existence of such a commandment necessarily implies an ability in yourselves to comply with it. If it be asked, what proof is there that you possess this liberty of action, I answer, in the well known words of Bishop Horsley, that it is to every individual of the human race, the very same with the proof of his existence. I feel that I exist, and I feel that I am free; and I may with reason turn a deaf ear upon every argument that can be alleged in either case to disprove my feelings. I feel that I have power to flee the

danger that I dread, to pursue the happiness that I covet, to forego the most inviting pleasure, although it be actually within my grasp, if I apprehend that the present enjoyment may be the means of future mischief, to expose myself to present danger, to submit to present evils, to secure the possession of a future good; in a word, I act from my own hopes, my own fears, my own internal perceptions of moral fitnesses and dis-congruities. But whenever I act from other motives, I feel that I am misled by my own passions, my own appetites, my own mistaken views of things. A feeling always succeeds these unreasonable actions, that, had my mind exerted its natural power in considering the action I was about to do, the propriety of it in itself and its consequences, I might and I should have acted otherwise. -Having these feelings, I feel all that liberty which renders the morality of a man's actions properly his own, and makes him justly accountable for his conduct1 See now, whether Scripture does not acknowledge the existence of these feelings, and speak a language in accordance with them. "If ye love me," saith our blessed Lord, "keep my commandments 2." "If ye know these things," saith He in another place, "happy are ye if ye do them 3." Again, "that servant which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to

1 See Bishop Horsley's Sermons, Vol. ii. S. xix. pp. 121, 22. 2 John xiv. 15. 3 John xiii. 17.

his will, shall be beaten with many stripes'."

And

again, "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?" St. Paul too bears testimony to the same fact, when he tells his disciples of Corinth to "run so that they might obtain "," and when he goes on to describe himself so running, "not as uncertainly," so fighting, "not as one that beateth the air," but keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection, lest that “having preached to others,” he himself "should be a castaway." To the Ephesians also, he speaks in the same strain, when he urges them not to "give place to the devil," to "let no corrupt communication proceed out of their mouth," to put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking," to "walk as children of light," proving what is "acceptable unto the Lord,” to "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil 5,"to do "the will of God from the heart, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free ." And, what is particularly worthy of observation, he entreats them "to grieve not the Holy Spirit of God";" a command which he repeats, in

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1 Luke xii. 47. 2 Matt. vii. 21. 4 Ephes. iv. 27. 29, 30.

• Ibid. vi. 8.

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3 1 Cor. ix. 24-26.

5 Ephes. v. 8-16.

7 Ephes. iv. 30,