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the seal; and diversities of interpretation will shrink into their true insignificance.

This is the grand distinction. Do we interpret the Bible by grace or by nature; by mere reason, or by the aid of the Holy Spirit; by dint of labor and study, or by experience; by the powers of science and the application of intellect, or the voice of conscience and the feelings of the heart? Do we rest satisfied with the shell and surface of Christianity, external and incidental matters, a theoretic scheme of doctrine, and the creed of a national church; or do we penetrate to the life and interior meaning of Christianity, reach its essential discoveries, understand its scheme of salvation, and adhere to it from an inward perception of its unspeakable benefits?

If, on this all-important question, any doubt remains, let us solve it by SEEKING MORE EARNESTLY AND DECISIVELY FOR THE AIDS OF GRACE; let us examine our state before God; let us, by prayer, imbibe and drink in the heavenly influences; let us never rest satisfied till we know the truth, and the truth has made us free from the chains and degradation of sin and Satan.

And let the sincere student of Scripture, whose faith and love are bringing into his heart all the treasures of the divine word, grow and advance in THAT HUMILITY AND TENDERNESS OF SPIRIT, which are the best preservatives against the minor evils of different interpretations of Scripture. The real danger from these evils is not from the passages thus expounded in various manners, but from the self-will, the pertinacity, the dogmatism, the spirit of controversy, which the great spiritual adversary may take occasion to infuse. Humility and love preserve our own rights of judgment. entire, but avoid the bitter fruits of obstinacy and division.: The vital and fundamental points are held in meekness and charity; the incidental ones in silent and unobtrusive opinion; whilst that blessed time is waited for, in which the operations of the intellect and the emotions of the heart shall be for ever harmonized in the revelations of a world, where knowledge and love will be united in their highest exercises, never to be disjoined or clouded through eternity.

I

LECTURE XXV.

THE UNIVERSAL OBLIGATION WHICH LIES UPON EVERY HUMAN BEING TO OBEY DIVINE REVELATION.

JOHN iii. 18-21.

He that believeth, is not condemned; but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world; and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God.

We have done with the evidences of Christianity; we have concluded our argument. We turn now to intreaty, to feeling, to the impression which we desire to leave on every heart; to the universal obligation under which every one of us lies to receive the Christian Revelation with a true and lively faith; such a faith as carries with it all the practical ends for which Christianity was designed, and terminates in EVERLASTING SALVATION.

Nothing can be a stronger proof of the corruption of man, than that any topic like this should be necessary. We

might have supposed that the question would have been to convince men that they were permitted to share in such vast blessings. We might have supposed that the difficulty would have been to persuade them that the fountain of grace and salvation stood really open to all; that God invited his fallen creatures to happiness; that he welcomed a weary, heavy-laden world to truth and rest.

And this is, indeed, the question with every penitent and contrite inquirer. The difficulty is, then, raised, not upon man's part, whether he will receive the blessing or not, but as it regards the offended Majesty of heaven-whether it be indeed permitted to the sinner to approach his footstool, and drink of the fountain of felicity and joy. When the heart is submissive, there is no want of simplicity in appreciating the evidence; no want of eagerness to partake of the benefits; but much fear and apprehension lest it should lose such unspeakable mercies through unworthiness or unbelief.

But with the great mass of mankind, the case is the reverse. Nothing is so difficult as to convince them of the paramount obligations of Christianity. They slight its claims; they elude its demands of faith and obedience; they efface from their hearts the deep impressions which truth from time to time in fixes.

It becomes, therefore, most important to set distinctly before them the universal obligation under which every human being lies, to submit to the Christian Revelation.

Now, we may argue this, or rather enforce this-for I abstain from further direct argument-by reminding you that men are already bound to obey and love God by THE STRONGEST ANTECEDENT OBLIGATIONS; that Christianity is so excellent in itself, that THE SLIGHTEST EXTERNAL EVIDENCE is sufficient to oblige men to obey it; that THE SIMPLICITY, VARIETY, INDEPENDENCE, AND FORCE OF THE EVIDENCES with which Christianity is actually surrounded, increase this obligation; that the duty is augmented by the PARticular adVANTAGES which we have each respectively ENJOYED; and that the whole is carried to the utmost height by its VAST DISCOV

ERIES AND THE IMMENSE INTERESTS WHICH ARE AT STAKE.

And do Thou, O blessed Lord God, vouchsafe to assist us! Do thou dispose every ear to attend! Do thou dissipate every prejudice from our understandings, and discharge every passion from our hearts! Do thou excite in each breast an ardent desire for that grace, which alone can cause truth to penetrate and renew the soul, and give efficacy and success to all those evidences with which, thou hast been pleased to accompany thy gospel!

I. We observe, in the first place, that men ARE ALREADY BOUND TO LOVE AND OBEY GOD BY THE STRONGEST ANTECEDENT OBLIGATIONS; and are therefore by no means at liberty to receive or reject Christianity at their mere option.. ...The question is not between Christianity, and no moral and religious accountableness whatever; but between that accountableness, dreary and awful, without assistance and without joy, and the same accountableness relieved by the gracious discoveries of Christianity. We are addressing those who admit the bonds of essential religion. With the atheist we have nothing to do in the present argument. "Do not imagine, then,"-I adopt the language of a great living writer, "that you can consult your tranquillity by shaking off the incumbrance of Revelation. Do not imagine you may live without religion, the fear of God, restraining your passions, mortifying your lusts, making sacrifices from a sense of duty, if you can succeed in getting rid of the New Testament. You may shake off the restraints of the Christian religion; but you will not on that account shake off the restraints of religion. Christianity did not give birth to religion. Christ was not the author of religion

did not come into the world to teach religion. Had the Son of God not come forth from the presence of the Father into the world, religion would have remained in all its extent and obligation. The law of God was already promulgated; the obligation of man to love and serve God would have remained unaltered; the chain which connects man with the Deity undissolved. Our blessed Saviour came not to make you religious, but to make you happy by religion. If he had not come, indeed, the religion of nature could only have breathed the accents of despair and misery.

Whether you choose to be the disciples of Christ or not, you are previously under his law, and that law you have broken. Let the New Testament be a deception-Jesus Christ an impostor; yet a judgment to come is certain. Every secret thing will be brought to light. Whether you shall taste, indeed, of the divine goodness, depends upon the truth of the gospel; whether you entertain any hope of pardon, enjoy communion with God as a Father, experience the consolations of religion, be justified by faith, and die in the full assurance of hope; this is alone the gift of the religion of Christ. If you reject this, you reject your remedy, your medicine, the only antidote to your misery. Your guilt, apostacy, ruin, is the great foundation on which all the statements concerning a Saviour rest; the things sup posed and taken for granted. Let no man think he can quiet his mind by shaking off the fear of judgment, by rejecting revealed religion. The only consolation you can derive by refusing to be guided by the New Testament, is to lose the hopes of religion; to stand, in relation to God, as an enemy, when you might have been reconciled to him by the blood of his Son, adopted into his family, and made. heirs of eternal life. Do not imagine that you are in a state of safety, because you go out of hearing of the voice of Christ, the great Deliverer."

Nor is this the only obligation under which we already lie, with respect to God and religion. Another follows. Let it never be forgotten, that if Christianity be true, it is NOT A MATTER LEFT TO OUR OPTION whether we will receive it or not. Human authority cannot constrain; but divine can and does. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that it is left to our choice whether we will receive Christianity or not; so that we are under no direct moral obligation to be lieve in it and obey it. On the contrary, we are under the strongest and most indispensable, supposing the religion to be true. Man is not left to his option; and he knows he is not: his whole moral nature, his conscience, the reason of the case, his common understanding, tells him the obligations he is under to submit to the greatest communication

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