May 27

in a Christian country, and were baptized in your infancy—Though you were born of religious parents, and had a pious education—Though you attend the means of grace, and hear the truth as it is in Jesus—Though you have a clear knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel—Though you receive into your conviction and belief the faith once delivered to the saints—Though you have spiritual gifts, and can talk well and pray wisely—Though your passions are sometimes pleasingly and awfully excited—Though you have undergone a great change and reformation in your character and conduct—Though many think you have the grace of God, and you are admitted into the church, and admired while you live, and extolled when you die, and the funeral sermon and the magazine may speak of you as having entered into the joy of your Lord—Though you are persuaded yourselves that you are possessed of it, and carry the confidence to the very door of heaven, saying, “Lord, Lord, open unto us: we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets—But he shall answer, I know you not whence ye are—”

Of the numbers that came out of Egypt only two entered Canaan; though they did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

MAY 27.—“And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.”—Acts 26:29.

“Such as I am.” And what was Paul? He was an Apostle. But he does not refer to this, or wish that his audience, like himself, were called to an extraordinary mission, or could speak with new tongues, and discern spirits, and heal diseases, and foretell things to come. He knew official character and miraculous endowments were not things that accompany salvation. Balaam was a prophet, and Judas was an apostle. But Paul was a Christian; and to this his desire alludes. For his exclamation is in reply to the king’s confession—“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian”—And Paul said, Would to God this was completely the case with thyself and this whole assembly—“Would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were not only almost, but altogether such as I am, except these bonds.”

Thus, therefore, he not only shows a consciousness of his Christianity, but the estimation in which he held the privilege of his state as a Christian. There was nothing he could wish for others, by an infinite degree so important and so valuable. For if they were Christians, he knew—They would be safe: for there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He knew—They would be honourable: the excellent of the earth, kings, and priests unto God, the sons and daughters of the Almighty, the charge of angels, who were all sent forth to minister unto them that are the

heirs of salvation. He knew—They would be happy: attaining what all others seek in vain: happy in hope, happy in fruition, happy in their comforts, happy in their duties, happy in their trials. He knew—They would be useful: not only being blessed in themselves, but proving blessings to others; the best benefactors of the human race, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof, the salt of the earth, the light of the world—

But see his benevolence as well as wisdom. The spirit that is in us lusteth to envy. We love things to be exclusively our own. The child is pleased when no one has a bauble but himself. The female is afraid that her fashion should be known; her mode would lose half its value should the dress of another be as new, and pretty, and fine as her own—So it is with all ranks in life. But grace had dethroned this spirit in Paul. See the benevolence of his disposition in three things. First—The extent of his wish. It reaches to all. Yet some of his audience were not only heathens and Jews, but his bitterest enemies. Secondly, the degree of it—were not only almost but altogether such as I am. It is well to see people like the young man in the Gospel, not far from the kingdom of God. It is well to see them hearing the word, convinced, reformed. But they may be hearers of the word and not doers; convinced and not converted; reformed and not renewed. It is sad to go far, and come short at last. To be almost justified is to be condemned; almost saved is to be lost. Thirdly, the exception—The chain he then wore, and which confined him to the soldier as a sufferer or a criminal, would be deemed painful or reproachful, and tend to scandalize Agrippa: he therefore says, except these bonds. This was a fine turn, and showed Paul to be a man of education and address. But it shows something more than his eloquence. He would not wish others to be tried, especially at first, as he was. I would bear willingly all my afflictions, till he for whom I suffer is pleased to release me: but I do not wish others to endure them. Let them have my privileges without my persecutions. Surely the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour! What a noble soul was here! Little and mean spirits can never rise to this. If they wish others to be equal to themselves, they cannot wish others above themselves. The elder brother could not bear the degree of the Prodigal's reception—Thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends—Yet for him thou hast killed the fatted calf. But angels rejoice when a sinner, by repentance, is brought into a condition superior to their own. And we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.

But when Paul says, "would to God" that this was the case, it is to be considered as a real prayer, and shows not only his benevolence in wishing their conversion, but his belief and acknowledgment of Divine agency as necessary to accomplish it. He owned this with regard to himself. It pleased God to reveal his Son in me. He called me by his grace. By the grace of God I am what I am—not I, but the grace of God which was with me. He owned it always with regard to others. Read what he says of the Ephesians: "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,