October 22

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.—Philippians 1:27.

THE gospel of Christ is a sacred thing, and those who profess to have received the gospel, should honor it by a sacred conversation. All the principles of the gospel tend to holiness, and no life is such as becomes the gospel, which hath not on it the stamp of holiness. And if Christians would have the joy of the gospel, they must honor it by a suitable conversation. There are several weighty considerations, which should urge us to live worthy of the gospel of Christ:—

First. In point of honor, we should learn to walk as becometh the gospel; for the gospel is a Christian's glory, and therefore ought to be preserved in his heart, as his chiefest privilege. The Spirit of God will not endure to have holy things profaned, as if they were common or unclean. Belshazzar converted the consecrated vessels of the temple into instruments of luxury and intemperance; but the Lord tempered his wine with dregs, and made them prove unto him as cups of trembling and astonishment. Herod polluted the sepulchres of the saints with a sacrilegious search of treasures, presumed to have been there hidden, and God made fire to rise there out of the earth, to devour the over-busy searchers. Antiochus ransacked the temple of the Lord; Heliodorus emptied the treasuries of their consecrated moneys; Pompey defiled the Sabbath and the sanctuary; Crassus robbed the house of God of ten thousand talents. But inquire into the event of these insolences; and we shall find that true then, of which later ages have given many examples, and are still likely to give more, that stolen bread hath gravel in it to choke those that devour it,—that ruin is ever the child of sacrilege,—that mischief sets a period to the lives and designs of profane men. Now then, if the Lord were thus jealous for the types of his gospel, how, think ye, can he endure to see the gospel itself dishonored by an unsuitable profession, or the blood of the covenant trampled under foot, as if it were a common or unclean thing? In the contempt of the gospel, there is more dishonor done to every person of the blessed Trinity, than can be by any other sin. An undervaluing of the Father's wisdom, that great mystery and counsel of redemption, which was hidden from former ages: and what indignity is it to him, for a man to shut out the light of the sun, that so he may enjoy that pitiful benefit of darkness, to gaze upon the false glistering of rotten wood, or earthly slime, the deceit whereof would be by the true light discovered? An undervaluing of his wonderful love, as if he had put himself to a needless compassion, and might have kept it still in his own bosom;—a scorn unto the Son of God, when we suffer him to stand at our doors, with his locks wet with the dew of heaven; to empty, to humble, to deny himself, to suffer the wrongs of men, and the wrath of God; and after all this, to have that precious blood, which was pressed out with such woful agonies, counted no other than the blood of a common malefactor,—nor that sacred body which was thus broken, discerned from the bodies of the thieves which were crucified with him. An indignity beyond all apprehension to the Spirit of grace, when we suffer him to wait daily at our Bethesda, our houses of mercy, and all in vain; to spend his sacred breath in the ministry of reconciliation, in doubling and redoubling his request unto our souls, that we should be contented to be saved; and we shall harden our hearts and stop our ears, and set up the pride and stoutness of our own reasonings, till we do even weary him, and chide him away from us. Now this is a certain rule, God will not lose any honor by men's sins: if they refuse to give him the glory of his mercy, he will show the glory of his power and justice, in treading down the proud enemies of Christ under his feet. As they that honor him, shall be honored; so they that cast any disgrace upon his truth and covenant, shall be sure to meet with shame and dishonor at the last.

Secondly. We should walk as becometh the gospel, to avoid scandal. The gospel is the light of a nation: and sins in the light, as they are committed with more impudence, so likewise with more offense:—an offense or scandal tending unto sin in misguiding the weak, in hardening and confirming the obstinate, in opening the mouths of adversaries to revile our holy profession; and a scandal tending unto sorrow, in wounding the hearts of the godly, and vexing their righteous spirits with a filthy conversation.

Thirdly. We should learn to walk as becometh the gospel, even in respect to the state; for the gospel is the foundation of true peace and tranquillity in a commonwealth: and those who show forth the power thereof, are, as it were, lions about the throne of their king. "By righteousness the throne is established, but sin is a reproach to any people." One Joseph in Egypt, is a storehouse to all the kingdom: One Elisha, an army of chariots and of horsemen unto Israel: One Moses, a fence to keep out an inundation of wrath which was breaking in upon the people: One Paul, a haven, an anchor, a deliverance to all that were in the ship with him. And now, if the stars fall, we must needs look for tempests to ensue: if the salt be savorless, we can not look that any thing should be long preserved. If Christians live as if they had no gospel, or as if they had another gospel; what can we expect, but that God should either plague us, or forsake us, either send his judgments, or curse his blessings?

“Watch’d by the world’s malignant eye, Who load us with reproach and shame, As servants of the Lord most high, As zealous for his glorious Name, We ought in all his paths to move With holy fear and humble love.”