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to their activity and comprehension. There will be a clearness of perception hitherto unknown. Your relation to God, the nature of human obligation, and the difference between virtue and vice, will be subjects neither of investigation nor cavil. Reason unbiassed will, in every period of duration, and in all parts of the universe, boldly condemn vice, and declare itself on the side of virtue. The friends of holiness will then experience that peace and overflowing joy, which arise from an intimate and near view of its obligation and good desert, and of the unchangeable approbation of its Author. The conflict, on the other side, which is now maintained in sinners, between reason and inclination, between the conscience and the heart, will then become intolerable, when reason shall have acquired immortal strength, and vice unchangeable dominion. Our Saviour, in describing future punishment, is pleased to speak of "chains and darkness,—a burning lake, a place prepared for the devil and his angels." How far this language is literal, I pretend not to say. But, we may well conceive, that the suffering of reprobates will be sufficiently great, to justify this language, even if the body should have no share in the pain. Remorse of conscience, we have been reminded, in this discourse, has in the present life, driven persons to desperation. It is impossible to tell how far this remorse may be increased after death, when the organs of moral vision shall become more powerful and discriminating. A consciousness of unworthiness, of turpitude, of folly, and irretrievable loss, will accompany the sinner, in whatever part of the universe, in whatever part of eternity he may exist. Even if he could escape the eyes of God, there is another immortal enemy, whose upbraidings he cannot escape; I mean his own reason and conscience; I mean himself. Fly where he will, his reason goes with him; and its reproaches will always be felt with undiminished sensibility.

Lastly. We cease to be surprised at the great effort, which the gay and thoughtless often make to keep up their spirits ;— in their own language, to expel the glooms,— to banish sorrow. These glooms and this sorrow are very likely to be the result of

solitary and calm reflection. On such occasions, reason begins to speak, and her voice becomes distinct and audible. The sinner is alarmed; he dreads this assiduous monitor: I hate him, said Ahab; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil. Scenes and employments must be devised, in which the passions will be interested, and reflection silenced. But this tumultuous state of the feelings cannot be always preserved, nature herself will not endure it. Nay, reflection may obtrude itself, in the midst of splendid and loud festivity. In the midst of mirth the heart is sorrowful: and the end of that mirth is heaviness. Who could have been less exposed to care and anxious thought; who could have been in a better condition to enjoy a night of revelling, undisturbed, then Belshazzar, when he had made a feast to a thousand of his lords, and was drinking wine before the thousand; when he sent for the golden vessels, which had been taken from the house of God, and suffered his lords, his wives, and concubines to drink in them. Yet in that same hour, came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; the king saw the part of the hand, .that wrote. And the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote, one against the other.

But whether conscience can now be silenced or not, the time is coming, when there will be no amusement, no expedients for effecting this. Its twinges, of which the sinner is so much afraid, are premonitions of something to come. They are the gentlest corrodings of a worm, which never dies; they are scintillations of that fire, which never can be quenched.

My hearers, in order to be secure, we must be Christians ;— in order to be rational, we must be pious; peace must be restored between the intellect and the heart. We must cease to be our own enemies; to expose ourselves to our own reproaches: For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.

SERMON XVI.

THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY PROVED FROM ITS LEGITIMATE MORAL EFFECTS.

JOHN 9: 30.-The man answered and said, Why, herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

SUCH was the judicious answer of one, who, having been born blind, had from the power of Jesus, recently received the blessing of sight.

Much attention among the people being excited by this miracle of Christ, but two ways of proceeding lay open to his enemies. One was to disprove the fact; the other, to deny the inference which was likely to be drawn from it. With a view to the former, they summoned as witnesses, the parents of him who had received the cure, and severally interrogated them as to the. blindness of their son. Vexed and mortified, perceiving that every new inquiry issued in giving, not only additional certainty, but increased conspicuity to the miracle; their next object was to prevent the people from hence forming any conclusion, favorable to our Saviour's claims and character: This man, say they, is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. We know that God spake by Moses; as for this fellow, we know not whence he is. Then follows the reasoning of him, for whose benefit the miracle had been wrought: Herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

The force of this reasoning could be resisted by nothing but inveterate prejudice. And such, at present, seems to be the universal concession. No persons, I believe, in our own times, deny the Christian religion, who, at the same time, allow the miracles attributed to its author. It is doubtful in the mind of no one, that, if the miracles were wrought, the religion is true.

My object in this discourse, is not to illustrate the argument contained in the text, but-by a familiar mode of reasoning, to prove the truth of Christianity, from its legitimate moral effects.

Preliminary to this, a few remarks will be made, as to the change which the gospel has effected in religious sentiment, or theory.

Few of my auditors, perhaps, need to be informed concerning the great outlines of pagan mythology. It is not easy, and perhaps not possible to form exaggerated conceptions of the absurdity, grossness, and immoral tendency of heathen sentiments and heathen worship. Thousands of gods demanded homage from men; gods, whose origin, exposures, adventures, sufferings, and escapes-whose forms, in some instances frightful and monstrous-whose passions, usually impetuous and uncontrolled-whose quarrels, displaying all the weakness, misery, and revenge of mortals-whose characters, in almost all instances, hostile to reason and virtue-were transmitted in mythological tales, sung by enraptured poets, or distinctly brought to view in the very act of worship. In devotional services, rendered to such gods, it would be absurd to suppose that pure and spiritual dispositions-feelings of veneration, confidence, and love, would constitute any part. Such feelings, on such an occasion, would have been incongruous in the worshippers, and most severely reproachful to the objects of worship. Such feelings were not required. If the gods were angry, their wrath was to be appeased, not by a moral reformation, an amendment of the heart and character, but by some idle ceremonies, with which character had no connexion-some stagnant water was to be put in motion-some lake was to be drained off-a nail was to be driven into a consecrated temple--or some games or Vol. II.

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ceremonies fallen into disuse, were to be renewed. In perfect consistency with the character attributed to their gods, gross and abominable crimes were not only allowed, but deemed a necessary part of that religion, which the laws had established. When the apostle uses this language: It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret, he alludes to certain practices, which, in the worship of the gods, were sanctioned by public opinion.

Consider now, for a single moment, what religious sentiments were inculcated by the gospel. There is one God, without beginning, dependence, imperfection, or change-possessing unlimited power, unsearchable wisdom, and perfect goodness.This one living and true God maintains a government, embracing all beings and all events, whether great or small. The law, which he has enacted for his intelligent creation, is the law of virtue. His estimation of men and angels, is exactly proportionate to their observance or neglect of this law. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him, must do it in spirit and in truth. No sacrifices, however costly-no prayers, in whatever words conceived, with whatever looks or gestures accompanied -no punctilious adherence to forms and ceremonies, even though such forms and ceremonies are of divine institution, will meet acceptance, and obtain reward, so long as there is wanting at heart, a sincere, shall I say, an honest regard to the law of God-a principle of piety, which prompts to the performance of all duty. They only, who imbibe and retain this principle, will experience the mercy of God, in that day, when he will judge the world in righteousness. And this mercy is to be exercised through the atonement of him, "who, by one offering, has perfected forever them that are sanctified."

From these general remarks it will be apparent that darkness and light are scarcely more opposite, than that religion which Jesus Christ found, and that which he left, among men. Were there present a single infidel, I would appeal to his reason, and even to his candor, whether the Christian theory of religion is not, beyond comparison and beyond utterance, superior to that

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