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ing the power of this condemning sin, and giving the heart a right disposition towards the Lord and his spiritual service.

But, especially, pray for the bestowment of a true and lively faith in Christ, which will unite you to him in the closest bonds, and enable you to live in all holy obedience to the Divine will. Faith derives, from the rich fulness of grace treasured up in Jesus for the necessities of his people, that spiritual aid and strength which will enable you to resist the assaults of unbelief, to exercise an holy affiance in the promises of God, to persevere in well-doing, to overcome the world, and to secure the crown of righteousness, even an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time".'

"

1 Pet. i. 3-6.

LECTURE LXVIII.

ON SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

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Rey. iii. 17, 18. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. WHEN man fell from God, he lost that righteousness of soul in which he was created: but, though he felt conscious of having transgressed the positive command of Heaven, he endeavoured to justify his crime, and lessen the guilt of his revolt from God, by any palliating excuse which he could offer :-" The

woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat"." Thus he not only upbraided God for the gift bestowed upon him, but discovered a self-justifying spirit, which always opposes a most formidable barrier to our salvation.

That self-righteous temper which the loss of primeval integrity has induced is common to every son and descendant of Adam: it is a striking feature of that "deceitful and wicked heart" which is natural to men; and which nothing but the grace of God, in regenerating us to a new and holy and spiritual state, can ever restrain; for a tincture of this proud accursed spirit remains in the souls of contrite believers, mars their religious duties, and holds them, frequently, in a sort of legal bondage, which is foreign to the liberty and privileges of the Gospel. Nor can they reasonably expect to be entirely freed from its insinuating power until death, "when they shall awake up with the likeness of God," and be perfect in holiness for ever.

1. Self-righteousness shews itself in the erroneous judgment which men form respecting their religious condition before God. Self-righteous persons form an estimate of their state which is contrary to Scriptural truth. They fancy themselves good and upright in the whole tenor of their conduct, and such characters as must necessarily be acceptable to God, and entitled to his favour on this account. Puffed up with a high conceit of the rectitude of their hearts, because, forsooth, they may abstain from common or scandalous offences, they give themselves credit for possessing a degree of sanctity, of which they are utterly destitute. It

• Gen. iii. 12.

C John viii. 35, 36. Rom. viii. 14-22.

b Jer. xvii. 9. Psalm xvii. 15.

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is not surprising, therefore, if, feeling a sense of their own importance, they should say to their fellow-sinners, "Stand by yourselves; come not near to us; for we are holier than you dd "

The worst feature in the evil principle which we are describing is, that it is a virtual denial of the righteousness and atonement of Christ, which are opposed by it as unnecessary and useless. Selfjustifying characters are so entirely carried away by spiritual pride, as to feel unwilling to lie under any obligation to the merits of the Redeemer of sinners for acceptance with God. Like the great body of the Jews, in the time of St. Paul," they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

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2. Self-righteousness manifests itself in a scrupulous attachment to the ceremonies and outward forms of religion. Such persons as are imbued with this spirit, pray, and perform a constant round of external duties in which their hearts are not engaged, and from which they can never reap any benefit: for, whilst they hold "the form of godliness, they deny and disparage its power," as the wildest enthusiasm and folly. Thus, like the Pharisees, whose unholy spirit they have imbibed, "they make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but their inward part is full of ravening and wickedness"." Their object is, to keep up a specious appearance of religion; though they are careless about that sanctification of their souls which is absolutely necessary to

dd Isa. lxv. 5.
12 Tim. iii. 5.

Rom. x. 3, 4. * Luke xi. 39.

please God. So that the religion of the selfrighteous consists in mere "bodily exercise, which profiteth little";" in externals, without any feeling of love to God, or devotion of spirit;-in a word, it consumes its strength in ceremonious observances; whilst the disorders of the fallen heart are not rectified, nor the conduct at all affected by such a worthless parade of piety.

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3. Self-righteousness not only spends itself in a regard to the mere shadows and rites of religion, but attaches a high value to them, and rests on an attention to them for the rewards of the eternal state. Into this fatal delusion millions of nominal professing Christians fall. Substituting the outward signs of godliness for its inward, and spiritual grace, they mistakenly imagine that they not only do all which is required of them, but even make God their debtor, by a cold hypocritical service, which He abominates. Accounting themselves righteous, because they are not openly and notoriously wicked, they see no need of mercy from God to pardon their sins, nor of Christ's righteousness to justify, nor of the influence of the Holy Ghost to sanctify them; but, on the contrary, they think it would be unjust in God not to recompense their service, marred as it is by a thousand defects, with "a crown of glory that fadeth not away bh" Hence these self-justiciaries, whatever they may profess, do not make Christ, but themselves, the saviour of their souls; and place a firm reliance on the sufficiency of their own merits to satisfy every requirement of the Law and the Gospel, and to "make themselves meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."

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hh Luke xxviii. 9-15.

It will be easy to shew the fallacy and danger of this destructive principle.

4. It argues the most complete ignorance of the unspotted perfection of God. He is absolutely holy, just, and right, and without iniquity. Now, it be comes creatures so depraved as fallen men, not to think themselves righteous, but sinful; and to cherish that poverty of spirit" which God esteems. He filleth those who hunger and thirst after his righteousness, with good things; but sendeth those, who fancy they are rich in spiritual attainments and privileges, empty away.

5. Self-righteousness betrays an utter ignorance of the extensive demands of God's law; which is spiritual, and consequently reaches to the imaginations and thoughts of the heart, as well as to our outward actions. If our obedience does not consist of a spotless and righteous life, without the least deviation therefrom for a single moment, the law condemns us as transgressors, who must perish, without an interest in Christ to save us from deserved wrath.

Now, on comparing our best deeds by this standard, we shall find "there is none righteous, no not one;" yea, that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God":" and, consequently, that to set up any claim to the favour of Heaven on the footing of self-merit, is arrogant and presumptuous in the extreme: for it is declared, by the voice of Truth, "that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin"."

¡ Deut. xxii. 4. kk Mat. v. 6. "Rom. iii. 20.

Mat. v. 3.

1 Rom. iii. 10.

* Luke i. 53.

m ib. iii. 23.

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