284 CHRÍSTIAN MORALITY. same Man as he appears in the public world." They who have knownhim longest, admire him most and love him best, and they bear a noble testimony to his virtues, and his graces. His graces andhis virtues advance with his years, they imitate the morning sun, which keeps the same steady pace through theheavens, but rises hourly, and shines with a brighter lustre, and with warmer beams. " The pathof the just, like the morning light, shines more and more unto the perfect day ; Prov. iv. 18. But what awretched satire it is upon any man to say, " If you see him for an hour his talents will surprize and please you, but if you have a year'sacquaintance with him, his evil qualities are so many and so hateful, that all his charms vanish, and he sinks and loses all your esteem ?" So a torch blazes high when it is first kindled, butthe flame grows lower as it burns, till it ex- pire in stench and smoke. Where such a censure is just, orsuch a simile well applied, the man is far from that fair character of truth andconstancy which the gospelrecommends. 2. A truechristian is the same in all conditions of life. Let the favours or the frowns of men attend him, or the awful pro- vidence of God make a surprizing change in his affairs, still he ceases notto look and live, to speak and act like a christian. Is it not a veryhonourable account that youhave heard sometimes given of aperson in the height of prosperity, and in the depthof afflictive circumstances, that he is still the saine man ? That he maintains his probity and his integrity, and every virtue, in the midst ofall the revolutionsof providence ! Serene and chearful, calm,peaceful and heavenly, holy and humble amidst them all'! St. Paul was eminent for this grace. " I know," saith he, " how to be abased and how to abound, to be full and to be hungry I have learned to be content in whatsoever state I am," and to ap- pear a christian under every changeof circumstances ; Philip. iv. 11, 12. The man of truth and constancy, when he is exalted and walksupon the mountains of prosperity and honour, is not vain and haughty in his treatment of inferiors, nor does he look askew upon hisformer friends, nor cast his eye down with contempt on his meaner brethren. When his mountain shakes and falls, he descends calmly into' the valley; but he is not of a mean, abject and desponding spirit : Ever mindful of his high birth as a chris- tian, and of his heavenlyhome, he bears up with a sacred con- stancyof soul, with a generous contempt.ofthis world, and all the vanishinghonours and the uncertain possessions ofit. his beha- viour is ever true to his holy profession, and to his subiimest hope. Is not this acharacter which each of us wish our own ? Is it not worthy of our aim and ambition, our daily pursuit and labour to obtain ? There are some christians that know not how to bear the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=