SERMON IX.

Christian Perfection.

BY REV. NOAH LEVINGS, D. D.,

FINANCIAL SECRETARY OF THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY.

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."-Matt. v, 48.

THESE, my brethren, are the words of Jesus Christ, in his justly celebrated Sermon on the Mount. His previous discourses and miracles, together with the sanctity of his personal character, had so interested the public mind, that multitudes from all parts flocked around him to hear the words of eternal life. Seeing these multitudes as sheep without a shepherd, and feeling his bowels of compassion melt in love toward them, he ascended a mountain-the better to be seen and heard by them all—and there delivered the sermon comprised in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of this Gospel. The words of the text form the conclusion of what he had said in the fifth chapter, and contain the practical improvement of the first part of this incomparable sermon. Viewed in this light, the solemn command contained in the text stands intimately connected with every part of the preceding discourse; and clearly shows that perfection in the Christian character was the grand end of all these divine communications. The pattern of this perfection, showed us in the mount, was the divine character itself. 66 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." God is the inexhaustible fountain of all desirable goodness and adorable perfections. To be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, is indeed impossible as to quality or extent, but not as to imitation. As God is perfect in all the qualities of his nature, and in all his adorable attributes; so we, as the subjects of redeeming and saving mercy, may be so "renewed in righteousness and true holiness," as to bear a striking resemblance to him in moral and spiritual perfection. As far as we can discover, it would have been inconsistent for God to have required anything short of this.

Accordingly he says, "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." To which we may add the language of the text"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." These claims of God are holy, just, and good.

But to have required this state of perfection of the posterity of Adam, while they bore no active part in producing the fallen condition of the race, without making provision for their restoration to the lost favor and image of Godthough it might have been just, as the law is unchangeable -yet it would have been unavailing in our behalf; for, by the fall, we not only lost all disposition, but also all power, to do that which is pleasing and acceptable to God. This was our state by the fall. "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost."

If we consider fallen man abstractly from the great atonement, and from all the provisions of the gospel; or under this great economy, but in an unreconciled state, we may well say, that "there is no man that liveth and sinneth not;"" that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" or, "if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." But in view of this great provision-the all-atoning sacrifice-we are informed that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is in view of this great provision of the gospel that we are commanded to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

Notwithstanding the Scriptures everywhere abound with this important doctrine, yet very diverse are the views of Christians as to the nature and attainableness of entire sanctification in the present life. But inasmuch as “without holiness no man shall see the Lord;" and as holiness of heart and life stands intimately connected with the glory of God, our present peace and usefulness, as well as with our eternal state, should we not be well satisfied as to the

nature and truth of this important doctrine? And above all, should we not be well assured of a personal interest in this great salvation? Let us, then, consider

I. THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE PERFECTION REQUIRED OF US IN THE WORD OF GOD, AND OFFER SOME PROOFS OF THE TRUTH OF THE DOCTRINE. And II. POINT OUT THE WAY BY WHICH THIS GREAT BLESSING MAY BE OBTAINED.

I. Its nature, extent, &c.

The term perfect signifies "finished; complete; not defective; having all that is requisite to its nature and kind; complete in moral excellences." But the term, in the evangelical sense, is used to express that matured state of personal holiness which God requires of us, and which the gospel promises to us. This state, in the Scriptures, is denominated the being "sanctified thoughout, spirit, soul, and body," and being "preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; "the being "perfected in love" the being "perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect." But we are not to understand by this the perfection of Adam in paradise. That degree of perfection enjoyed and exercised by man prior to the introduction of sin to our world, cannot be attained by any of his fallen posterity in the present life.

But if our moral natures may be so "renewed after the image of Him that created us," as to be "sanctified throughout, spirit, soul, and body, and be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," why, it may be demanded, may we not expect to be made as perfect in all respects in this life as Adam was in paradise? We answer, for the following reasons:-The fall entailed upon the posterity of Adam certain disabilities, which it does not please God to remove when we are renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Some of these disabilities are mental; as ignorance, weakness, and error of judgment. These, in many respects, and in relation to many things, are not entirely removed in the present life, even in the most holy persons. Others of these disabilities are physical: such as weakness, disease, decay, and death of the body. These dreadful evidences of the original curse remain, and have been exemplified in the painful experience of the most holy men who have ever lived upon the earth:

and although a perfect deliverance from all these is secured, prospectively, by a future and glorious resurrection from the dead, yet in these respects, even if saved from all sin, we must, during this life, fall far short of the perfection of paradise. To these were we to add a long catalogue of moral defects, in thought, word, and deed, it would only be what exists in fact with the great proportion of professing Christians. But, in these remarks, it is not so much our duty to set forth what is in fact the moral condition of professing Christians, as to exhibit what, in the word of God, we are commanded to be; and what, by the grace of God, we may be. And, least of all, are we permitted to hold up the dwarfish and imperfect experience of the great body of professors, as the evidence of the Bible doctrine on this great subject. The question, then, returns upon us--and which we come now to consider-What is the nature and extent of the perfection taught in the word of God as the privilege of his people?

It is a perfect deliverance from the guilt of sin. Every act of God is perfect, whether it regard any work of his as a whole, or in its progressive degrees. Hence pardon of sin is a perfect work in its kind and degree. Whenever God absolves a sinner from his sins, and reconciles him to himself, they are all pardoned and removed as far from him as the east is from the west. But when we say all sin, we mean all past sin; for it cannot be rationally supposed that any sin which a man may commit subsequently to his conversion, is at all involved in the question of his justification. Hence Jesus Christ is set forth "a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past." We mention this important and early step in the progress of human salvation in connection with this subject, not only because it is in itself a perfect work, but also because of its important bearing upon every succeeding step of this salvation.

Inseparably connected with this, as to time, is that glorious manifestation of God to the soul of the pardoned sinwhich, at the same time that it witnesses and seals his , so changes the moral dispositions of his heart as citute him a "new creature in Christ Jesus." The God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost

given unto him. This work is also perfect in its degree. The will, for the time being, is wholly subjected to the will of God. The affections being thus changed in their moral nature, are also changed in their direction, and are now wholly placed on things above. The passions, for the time being, are wholly under the control of this gracious influence, so that the individual feels, for a time, nothing contrary to love either toward God or any man.

To one in this state of mind, everything in the moral kingdom appears new and beautiful. God, the law of God, the gospel of God, the people of God, the service of God; all are new and glorious. This is the blade, and it is a perfect blade; nay, it is the ear; but not the "full corn in the ear." This is a "babe in Christ," and a perfect babe in Christ: but not the "fullness of the stature of a perfect man in Christ." This is justification by faith, and the witness of the Holy Ghost that such a change in our relations to God and his law has taken place; and many are the blessed fruits which follow this great work. This important work has often been confounded with entire sanctification; and not unfrequently mistaken for that great work itself. But although it partakes of its nature, yet it is only as a child partakes of the nature of a man, but remains a child still. But what further than this, it may be asked, may we look for in the present life? Blessed be God, we may look for the full growth and maturity of every Christian grace. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Let us notice

in a few particulars.

First. This state of Christian perfection consists in a matured faith, such a faith in the truth of God's word as admits of no doubt; such a faith in the promises of God as staggers not through unbelief, but is strong, giving glory to God; such a faith as relies upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ, as the only consideration on account of which salvation may be expected or asked for; such a faith as not only embraces the promises, but claims and receives the fulfillment of them in the present salvation of the soul; such a faith as not only rests satisfied that the dispensations of divine Providence are all right, but one that enables its possessor to dismiss all anxious care concerning the future. With this faith firmly fixed in the