especially that kind of loss which is sustained at sea during a storm, when the goods are thrown overboard for the purpose of lightening the ship and saving the passengers. The figure, in its application to Paul's case, is very beautiful. In his own estimation, while seeking salvation by the deeds of the law, he was like a gallant vessel with sails full blown and a rich cargo on board, sailing under favourable auspices, and wafted by propitious gales towards the haven of eternal life. But the heavens darkened, and the wind blew, and the tempest raged, and this stately vessel was like to be broken, and the owner thereof, who had been congratulating himself on his rich cargo, and the gain and the grandeur that would accrue from it, has his dreams of fancy broken, has his pride, and ambition, and self-complacency laid for ever low: he sees himself on the brink of ruin; he is now careful only about the preservation of his life; and perceiving that his cargo was endangering the ship, was imperilling himself, he sees it will be gain to get quit of it, he sees that to retain it will be the loss of all, and, therefore, with his own hands he labours most assiduously in casting his rich wares into the sea, as did the mariners, to lighten the ship, of whom we read in the book of Jonah. To speak without a figure while all was calm in Paul's conscience, he thought he was rich, spiritually, and in the way to become the wealthiest man in the world but when he heard the voice of Jesus on the way to Damascus; when he got a sight of the exceeding glory of God, and of the holiness, extent, and spirituality of the divine law; when his eyes were opened to see the necessity of a perfect righteousness, he then saw that his life was in danger-he saw that his own doings, even the very best of them, compromised his safety-he saw that his outward privileges augmented his condemnation-he saw that his observances were formal and hypocritical-he saw that his morality was rotten at the core-he saw that his knowledge was prejudice, that his strictness was bigotry, that his zeal was the unhallowed flame of fanaticism, or ardour tinged with malign affections, and not that pure, lambent, genial flame, which is kindled in the soul by the love of God, and regard to his glory-he saw the blood of saints on his hands, and that in the sight of God he was a persecutor and a blasphemer;-and when he saw all this, like the tempest-beaten seaman, he flings overboard the whole of his former cargo, in order to save his life; for he sees that what he once trusted in is now his greatest danger-that what he once gloried in is his greatest ignominy and disgrace. And when the soul is awakened, and has its eyes opened to perceive the spirituality of the law, and the majesty, holiness, and justice of God, then every former ground of confidence is laid in the dust. Even those things in which we may be trusting for salvation-our knowledge, our morality, our church privileges, our zeal for the gospel, our opposition to error, our hatred to evil practices in others-all these, when viewed in the holy light of a perfect law, will only show our vileness and guiltiness-only tend to sink the vessel; and therefore we should take them up-take the most prized, the most cherished, the most beloved; take not only our sins, but take our righteousnesses; take our choicest treasures; take our idols of silver

and of gold; take the finest of our Babylonish garments; take the whole of what was once the soul's fortune-all that it lived by cn earth, and all that it expected to live by in heaven; take it all, and fling it overboard, and say with exultation, None but Christ, none but Christ, for pardon, acceptance, and everlasting life. And well may the believing soul fling all overboard for the Saviour, for in him there is unsearchable wealth, enough to enrich the great company which no man can number, to make them rich not merely according to the style of earth, but according to the style of heaven, and to keep them so through all the ages of eternity.

6

Paul was not only willing to renounce the things which had formerly been gain to him, he esteemed and preferred Christ before all things, and was willing to sacrifice all for his sake: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss. Not only his former ground of dependence, but all hopes, all indulgences, all attainments, all that he had, all that he hoped for, all that he had done, or could do, or could attain; he counted all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.' Not only did he prefer Christ to all, he preferred him inexpressibly. In comparison with him, all things else were counted as dung. They had no glory because of the glory that excelleth. All wealth, all grandeur, all glory, all that Satan showed to our Lord himself on the mountain; all these, in comparison with Christ, appeared to Paul's mind to be mean, empty, vile. And when Christ reveals himself in a saving manner to the soul, all things put together, which natural men most value and admire, are lighter than vanity. 'What is a man profited, though he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' But the man who wins Christ saves his soul. As far, therefore, as the immortal spirit transcends in excellence the frail framework of dust by which it is now surrounded, and which is soon to be reduced again to dust; as far as the infinite depths of eternity surpass the narrow limits and the shallow surface of time; so far ought Christ to be enthroned in the bosoms of his people above all rivals or competitors. Whatever else would take the highest place in the heart, the believing soul will say to it, Friend, sit lower down, and let a worthier than thee have that place; let the throne be reserved for the King, and come down thou, and everything else, and stand on his footstool. Come, all possessions, all attainments, all enjoyments! Come all of you, and be ministering servants to Jesus if you will; but if you will not, I renounce you all, I fling you all away; and may you and everything else perish that cannot be consecrated to Christ! This unity of soul, this making Christ all in all, is high exercise. It is not, however, visionary. When we think of this, we have reason to be humbled. Oh! how deeply to be humbled! We have so often preferred other things to Christ, we have given the throne to sin-it has been entertained, and regaled, and banqueted, while we have said to the Saviour, Stand thou on the footstool, or remain in this obscure corner, or tarry till the Sabbath, when I shall have nothing else to do, and then I will pay thee some attention; but meanwhile I am so engaged with matters that will not stand over, that I have no time for your company. We have reason

to blush and to lie down before God and weep for the blindness of our minds, for the hardness of our hearts, for our amazing folly in preferring such things to the Saviour. How many prefer Mammon to Christ, and would rather have the gold that perisheth than the gold tried in the fire? How many prefer sensuality to Christ-the life of a beast to that of an angel? How many prefer the pursuits of pride, vanity, and ambition, to Jesus? The chiefest among ten thousand, the glory of heaven, the well-beloved Son of God, is still despised and rejected of men, and counted as loss, when compared with the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. A great gulph separates the souls of such from that of the apostle Paul. They stand, as it were, on a different continent in the spiritual world; they dwell in the arctic regions; they are surrounded with ice and snow, and destitute of his life, and verdure, and fruitfulness. If, however, it was required by Paul's religion to count all things but loss for Christ, all are yet entire strangers to his religion, in the life and power thereof, who count Christ loss and the world gain-who sacrifice Christ to obtain the world-who disobey Christ to please the world-who desert Christ that they may cleave to the world. May God by his Spirit open all our eyes to see the excellency, beauty, and glory of Christ's person; and may we be enabled to resolve, by the grace of God assisting, that we will prefer nothing to him, and prefer him above all !

6

Paul's resolution was very decided. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss.' 'Yea doubtless'-there is no doubt, no may be, or peradventure in the case; I decidedly prefer Christ to all things, and am willing cheerfully and resolutely to sacrifice everything for his sake. Paul was naturally of a decided and imperious character. While unconverted, he was a decided adherent of Judaism. Not contented with maintaining the ground it already possessed, he seems to have formed in his mind the daring and gigantic scheme of utterly extirpating the christian religion from the face of the earth; and for this purpose his zeal carried him even to foreign lands, that he might carry on the war against the saints. While christianity made Paul a new man, it did not make him another man. His personal identity remains the distinguishing characteristics of his mind remain; but they are animated by new dispositions, and directed to new ends. Formerly a decided Jew, he now became as decided a christian. He who was once mad with rage,' is now remarkable for calm, strong, inflexible principle, which went steadily to its purpose, and made its way with silent but resistless power. Once breathing out threatenings and slaughter,' he now breathes love and goodwill to all men. Once the most eminent of persecutors, he is now the most patient of sufferers, the boldest of confessors, the most resigned among martyrs. Once going from country to country to persecute the saints, he now gathers them in all lands to his bosom-he makes mention of them all in his prayers-the care of all the churches daily comes upon him. Once determined to exterminate christianity, he now is penetrated, he now is energised, he now breathes, as the breath of his soul's life, the spirit of that command, Go ye into all the world, and preach the

gospel to every creature.' From Jerusalem round about to Illyricum, in cities and villages, among Jews, Greeks, and barbarians, he went, or rather flew on the wings of faith and love, from region to region, undaunted by danger or distance, by the fury of the elements or the wrath of man, and made his home wherever God appointed his work. He was a decided christian. God, by his grace, converted the most prominent feature of Paul's character into a grace of equal strength; and his life is the holiest, the loveliest, the noblest specimen of decision of character to be found in the annals of the human race. And we should seek to have as much decision as christians as we have in other matters. We ought to be as decided in serving Christ, as we have been in serving the devil, the world, and the flesh: we ought to be a great deal more so, for Christ is infinitely better in himself, and has done unspeakably more for us. If we have been distinguished for our love of knowledge, we should never be satisfied with our christianity till we are equally distinguished for our love of christian knowledge. If we have been smitten with the love of wealth, we should never rest content with our religion till we are as diligent, and vigilant, and energetic, and persevering in seeking after the pearl of price. If we have been sensual, we should never rest content with our religion, until we have more pleasure, delight, and enjoyment in the favour and fellowship of God, as the men of the world had when their corn and their wine abounded.' If we have been ambitious, we should never rest content while there is any passion over which we have not attained the mastery, while there is any height of excellence that is still unreached, and while there is anything more we can do for God or man. If we have been desirous of fame, we should never be at rest till we pant as earnestly for the approbation of God as ever we did for the approbation of man.

Paul's resolution was of a permanent character. It was his calm, firm, deliberate judgment, and not a strong flush of feeling-not merely a speat of affection, which made his soul overflow its banks with a love and zeal for the Redeemer which was soon to ebb. It flowed from a spring in his heart which Christ had opened, which Christ himself supplied, and which flowed with equal fulness, in summer and in winter, all the days of the apostle's life. Never was any man more closely allied to the Saviour, more identified with him than was Paul. No one of whom we ever read appears to have felt and realised as he did the wonderful union between Christ and his people. Christ seemed to dwell in him: Christ seemed to be the soul of all his thoughts, and plans, and purposes; and the servant seemed to be lost in his Master: 'I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' Paul's inward life was Christ living in Paul, and not Paul living by himself. His outward life was by Christ, and for Christ: To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Not only do I think about Christ, not only do I love him and serve him, 'to me to live is Christ;' my life is by him, and for him, and whatever is not so, is not my life. This is a sublime idea. Would that the Lord may humble us before the portrait which this great man has unconsciously drawn of himself, so that we may be able to say, Christ liveth in me; and to feel that

we live as christians only in so far as we live by him and for him! All else is mere vegetation, mere animal existence--not a life worthy of a man, and much less of a christian. We should live to Christ, and not withdraw from the world, not shut ourselves up in solitudes, not consume our days in lazy abstractions, and indolent, dreamy musings; but we should live for the honour and glory of the Saviour, 'whatever we do, in word or in deed, doing all in his name.' Our days are but as an handbreadth and a span, but if they were to be measured by this rule--if we were to calculate that we had lived only so much of our time as we had lived to Christ, we would all still be in infancy, even the oldest among us would still be a child in years. But we ought to lay hold on this idea, or rather, we should seek that it may lay hold on us, that its energy may penetrate and pervade us -that we may be cast into its mould-that from henceforth we may consider that our lives are to be measured, not by the beatings of our pulse, but by the pulsations of our heart towards Jesus-that our years are to be calculated, not by the number of revolutions which our earth makes around the sun, but by the revolutions of the soul around the Sun of Righteousness.

He

This was a well-tried resolution of the apostle. Many persons are very strong so long as they remain untried. Their resolutions are good, and holy, and heroic; but when put to the test, these 'strong men become as tow' in the flame; these resolutions become as the green withes on the arms of Samson, when their corruptions are aroused, or their passions are inflamed. Peter will not forsake Christ though all men should do so; he will go for him to prison; even though he should die with him, he will not deny him; and yet on that very night, this man, so mighty, trembles and falls before the soft words of a maiden, and in the hour of adversity denies his Master with oaths and cursing. And we are all Peters by nature-strong untried; and too often Peters in practice-weak when we are tried. But Paul's resolution was formed after all had been sacrificed. does not say, 'for whom I will suffer the loss of all things,' but, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.' Never were the prospects of a young man higher than those of Saul of Tarsus. Considering the greatness of his talents, the strength of his character, and the troublous times that were opening on his country, he might have raised himself to the head of the Jewish race; he might have been the first man in power, as he was the first man in genius, and have occupied a place in history, that would have eclipsed the renown of all the popular leaders who directed the frenzied and sanguinary zealotry of his countrymen against the Romans. Considering his unrivalled judgment, and matchless energy and intrepidity, if Saul had been at the head of the Jewish state, he would have been the greatest worldly man of the age; and Titus and Vespasian might have been checked in their conquests by this man of Tarsus, in Cilicia. But for Christ's sake 'he had suffered the loss of all things' -he had parted with ease, he had parted with pleasure, he had parted with fame, he had parted with ambition, he had parted with self, he had suffered the loss of all for Christ. And he did not part