current representations of the Bible may be appealed to as a proof that the conversion of a man in the church is an event scarcely contemplated, and for which no provision has been made.

An appeal to fact would sustain this conclusion. Amidst the evidence which we cannot resist that there are many such in the church, how rare a thing is it that even one abandons his falsely-cherished hope, and becomes a sincere believer. The die seems to be cast, and the destiny sealed. The profane, the profligate, the dissolute, the moral, the aged, and the young, the rich and the poor, are converted by hundreds around them, but no Sun of righteousness visits the Greenland of their souls, or removes the deep darkness which blinds their minds. The gospel is borne to other lands, and the benighted pagan hails its coming, but it has no consolations for the deceived professor, and its pleadings and its thunders die away alike unheeded on the ear.

The

This melancholy fact may be accounted for in a word. The condition of a deceived professor is unfavorable to conversion. He dreams of a heaven to be obtained with an unhumbled heart, without self-denial, and without bearing the cross, and he is unwilling that the pleasing dream should be disturbed. His fancied security shields him from all the appeals which are made to men. exhortations which are addressed to sinners to repent and to believe the gospel he does not apply to himself, for he does not professedly belong to that class. The arguments which are urged on Christians to lead a holy life; the motives which are urged from their inextinguishable love to the Saviour, he does not regard, for he has none of the Christian's feelings, and none of his real desire to glorify God the Redeemer. Belonging not to the world professedly, and not to Christians really, the appeals of divine mercy for the salvation of the soul almost never reach the heart, alarm the conscience, or arouse to hope or fear. Yet it is fancied security, not real. It is that kind of security which a man will take, who, when Ætna or Vesuvius should cast forth lurid flames, and heave with an approaching eruption, instead of fleeing to the distant plain, should be content with reposing beneath a tree at

its base, and hiding his eyes, and stopping his ears, should regard himself as secure.

Here I close the consideration of this text. In conclusion I shall make two remarks.

(1.) The first is, that there is an obvious propriety for honest self-examination. The necessity of this is urged upon us by all the worth of the undying soul; by all the value of the blood of Christ; by all the apprehensions of a dreadful hell. On this of all subjects we should be most honest with ourselves; and yet on this of all subjects we are prone to take up with slightest evidences. The solicitude of the merchant to save his affairs from bankruptcy, is untiring; the advocate toils to gain his cause, and the physician to save his patient; the farmer has no rest till the title to his land is without a flaw. Yet that merchant, perhaps, will feel no solicitude. that his eternal interests may not be bankrupt; nor that professional man feel any concern that he is in danger of losing his soul; nor the farmer that his title to heaven is insecure. On the very point where we should suppose there would be most interest felt, there is often the least; and the last thing to which immortal man, in the church or out of it, can be roused, is the worth of his own soul.

Were it thus in other cases, we should be impressed with the folly. Let a man be seized with disease, though not immediately alarming, and let it be suffered to run on without care or anxiety until death shall lay its cold hand on him, and we do not doubt its folly. Yet how many are under the influence of the incurable disease of sin, who allow themselves to be deceived; who listen to no language of entreaty to examine; and who will soon find that their hopes of heaven have been founded on the sand! Once more, I may be permitted, not in form, but in the soberness of sincerity and of love, to entreat you to be willing to know the worst of the case. If deceived, be willing to know it, and to seek mercy before it shall be too late. If we are Christians let us know it, and let our lives testify accordingly.

(2.) Let me address one word to those who are not professors of religion. I beseech you not to make the follies, and sins, and self-delusions of others the means of your own destruction. You, as well as professed Chris

ment-seat.

tians, whether they are deceived or not, are advancing to the same burial-place of the dead, and to the same judgYou will stand before the same God, and give up an account, not for them, but for yourselves. "Every man shall give account of himself to God." It will constitute no safeguard to you that they are deceived. It will diminish none of the terrors of death, that your wife or child was deceived, and must perish forever. It will be no ground of acquittal to you, if they are lost. I will add, it will furnish no consolation to you in hell— no, not the drop of water to cool the parched tongue― should they go down to be your everlasting companions. To your own master you stand or fall. They may be deluded; you certainly are. They, in cherishing a hope of life to which they have no claim; you, in supposing that no preparation is necessary, and that there is no heaven or hell beyond the grave. You, deluded amidst the gaieties, and fascinations, and the jostling plans, and the vain expectations of happiness in this world; they in the church in regard to the hope of heaven. But what then? Are you safe? Hear me. When all the delusions of life shall have vanished; when we shall be summoned to attend to the sober reality of dying, and of going on the journey up to God, and giving in the solemn account at his bar, and of entering a world where there is no delusion, it will remove none of the sad realities of those scenes to remember that others were deluded as well as you, and that they, as you anticipated, sunk down to the world where "are hypocrites and unbelievers." But let me ask you, my friend, a question. What if their hopes should be well-founded? What if it shall appear that you alone are deluded and deceived? What if they rise to heaven, saved by the hope which they now cherish? What if, notwithstanding all the difficulties of the way, and the delusions around them, and their many doubts and fears, they are able to bear the scrutiny of the All-seeing Eye in the great day? Solve me this question, I beseech you-" If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

20*

SERMON XVI.

THE RULE OF CHRISTIANITY, IN REGARD TO CON-
FORMITY TO THE WORLD.

Rom. xii. 2. And be not conformed to this world.

I Do not know a more difficult passage in the New Testament than this; and I enter upon the discussion of it with very little hope of being able to furnish a satisfactory solution of the many inquiries which may be made respecting its meaning, and its application. What is conformity to the world-is the question which immediately presents itself on reading the text. It is easy to see that a command so plain as this appears to be, may give occasion to a great variety of opinions. Every Christian may have an "interpretation," and " a doctrine" of his own. Every Christian denomination may have its own rules. One will insist on confining it to the feelings and general spirit of the man; another will maintain that it refers only to the vices and crimes of the world; a third will extend it to its gaieties; a fourth will affirm that it extends to every article of apparel; and a fifth to the ordinary intercourse and courtesies of life. Many will demand that the rich shall abandon their houses, their furniture, and their equipage, and come down in all these things to the level of their neighbours; and many of the rich may deem their neighbours unduly self-indulgent in their manner of life. All of us can see some things in which we judge others to be too much conformed to the world; and most of us have many perplexing questions pertaining to our own duty as Christians, and to the demands of this and other similar texts of the Bible. Most of us probably are satisfied that there has been, and is, in the church, too much conformity to the world. Our fellow men who are not Christians, often reproach us on this subject, and demand that we should be less conformed to the follies and vanities in which they

freely indulge. Poor compliment they pay to their own conduct and discretion; and a sad employment to blame others for that which they feel at liberty to practise.

Amidst these conflicting opinions, I have little hope of traversing a perplexed and difficult inquiry with entire clearness and satisfaction. If I can excite thought on the subject among conscientious men, one part of my object will be gained. If I can establish some principles by which we are to interpret the text, I shall do all that I hope to be able to effect. It would be easy to declaim on this subject; and it is always easy to utter unmeaning and loose denunciations against Christians for conformity to the world. There may be occasion for all the severity of reproof ever uttered; but after all, the inquiry arises, what is the duty of Christians, and by what principles shall they judge of the text?

The following inquiries I shall attempt to answer:
I. To what does the rule apply?

II. What in the text is it designed to reach and effect? III. What are the proper principles of its application? 1. To what does the rule apply? Here, also, many questions might be asked. Was it intended to be limited to the time of Paul, and to that peculiar age of the world? Christians, especially at Rome, were then placed amidst the luxuries and gaieties of a refined, a vicious, and an idolatrous age. To conform to that age, would be to coincide with the splendor, pride, ambition, fashion, and even corrupt principles of a generation peculiarly wicked and vain. Christians were expected to be separated, and to constitute a distinct community. The difference between them and others was to be marked, open, decided, and there could have been little difficulty in applying the rule.

But the aspect of the world has, in some respects, changed. Idolatry is banished. Its altars are overthrown. Christianity has diffused intelligence, refinement, kindness, and a thousand kindred virtues through the community. It has elevated society much nearer to its own standards; and it is asked whether the rule is still to be applicable? If so, in what respects, and to what extent? Yet on the question of the applicability, or jurisdiction of the rule, there can be no doubt. It is unrepealed. There