February 18

Who of God is made unto us wisdom.—1 Cor. L 30.

CHRIST is made unto us wisdom, in the discoveries he has made of the nature, extent, and possibility of holiness.

To this subject how little of the attention of the world has been directed; and yet is there a subject worthy of a consideration so deep? The foulest blot in creation is an unholy spirit. The brightest, the loveliest idea that can enter the human mind is that of moral order, and the purity of the heart. Were all nature reduced to order, and all the arrangements of society conformed to justice and truth; were a world of men recovered to God, and paradise restored, and but one unholy spirit remained; it would be disconnected in principle and feeling from every thing in nature, and every thing in society; and in these circumstances it would be seen how low sin prostrates the spirit, how bitterly it rankles in the disorder of the affections. Amidst the universal harmony, that string would not vibrate; amidst the universal communion of saints, that heart would be solitary and restless; and that countenance, like Cain's, would be fallen. The joy of others would be its pains; the sanctified employments of men, irksome. Every word and every example would be a reproof; and could the company of hell be enjoyed without their tortures, even hell would be sought as a refuge from a world full of saints, and full of God.

If the state of one unholy man in a recovered world would afford a striking exemplification of the principle of sin,—the habits and feelings of an individual in a world where the majority are alienated from God, and only a few love him, or are like him, exemplifies the principle of holiness. The holy human spirit is solitary, indeed, as to men, like Noah in the old world, and Lot in Sodom. Rivers of water run down his eyes because men keep not God's law. He can have no communion with the works of darkness, but rather reproves them. Yet we see with what he has communion. Hears he of a few who fear the Lord, and speak often one to another? With them he casts his lot. Does a song of praise ascend, amidst the blasphemies of men, in honor of God? In that chorus his voice is heard. Are there works of piety and charity, projected amidst universal selfishness, or destructive agencies? He is in their plan, or execution. Were he shut out from all these; were he truly, what Elijah fancied himself, left alone of all the worshippers of God; he would seek and find communion with his God, and be satisfied. His spirit would seek whatever was pure amidst the general pollution. From the crimes of men he would fly to the dispensations of Providence, and sing of judgment and mercy. From the works of man, stained with his iniquities, he would fly to the works of God, and hold converse with every object of nature which could remind him of the wisdom and goodness of God. He would seek God, and find him, in the sanctuary of his own hallowed thoughts, and walk and converse with the Invisible.

Of principles so much in contrast, need I ask you which you prefer? And need I say that the wisdom which teaches how the principle of holiness may be implanted and matured, is wisdom in a sense the most emphatic?

Christ is made unto us this wisdom. The nature of real holiness is explained to us by him. It is not a ceremonial holiness,—the mistake of superstition. It is not merely a regulation of the heart and conduct, as to ourselves and others,—the mistake of philosophers. It is not a sentimental approval of what is fair and good,—the mistake of men of imagination. It is the conversion of the heart to God; the regeneration of the whole nature; the renewal of the primitive image of God in man. This is its nature. Its rule is the glorious ideal, so to speak, contained in every precept of the gospel, in every grace it inculcates, in every promise it exhibits. There is the model; and to that we are to be conformed, until the whole lives and is embodied in our spirit and conduct.

The possibility of this is explained by Jesus Christ. Without hope there could be no effort. The lowest views of heathen virtue were above human attainment, because man was left to work it out by himself. The tale of bricks was exacted without the straw; and the teachers of morals expected grapes from thorns, and figs of thistles. The agency exhibited by Christ in the accomplishment of our sanctification, is equal to the effect. With man, it is allowed, the entire renewal of our nature is impossible; but with God all things are possible. To him our hope is turned. His Spirit is the sanctifier; and the whole process of our consecration to God is the mighty working of the Holy Ghost, with the means which he has appointed in order to that end.