CHAPTER XXII. CONCLUSION. THE interest which every man has in the foregoing subjects is of the most personal and solemn nature. Our interest in all other subjects is secondary to this. Subjects relating to natural science, literature, mental philosophy, have their importance;—indeed they all bear indirectly on the truths of Christianity, as tending to elucidate, confirm, and enforce them. But the productions of La Plas, of Milton, of Locke, noble and valuable as they are, may yet be allowed to remain unknown, without seriously endangering your eternal welfare. Not so the truths of Christianity. These take direct hold on the inner, the immortal life. These then are the truths, pre-eminently, for us to think upon— to ponder profoundly in our most serious and reflecting moments, and to write indelibly on our hearts. They are not truths for divines, or for particular sects, but for ALL men, of every name and calling. The man who neglects these truths, on any pretence, in flicts an injury on his deathless spirit which can never be retrieved. You may neglect algebra and geometry, if you please; but the Gospel of Jesus Christ you must not neglect, unless you would pay the forfeit in the life of your soul. But let not your zeal for supposed truth degenerate to bigotry. I have endeavored to exhibit what I conceive to be a correct outline of Christian doctrines, still I am not to forget that wiser and better men have viewed some of them differently. I lay no claim to infallibility;—I have too painful a sense of the infirmities of both my intellect and my heart, to allow any approximation to such a claim. While truth itself is divine, the theology which endeavors to set it forth is human. Truth is always one; its imperfect vehicles are many. We have in religion the old school and the new, we have various theories of mental philosophy, we have the more liberal and the more severe orders of mind, all professing to be in earnest for the knowledge and defence of Christian truth. These facts should make us modest in respect to our own views, and charitable towards the views of others. They should keep our minds in an inquiring posture. True Christian faith is ever open-minded, and hungry for that truth by which it is so bountifully nourished; whereas bigotry shuts up the soul, and dooms it to perpetual starvation. It may not be a question whether the bigot or the infidel is in the greater danger, but ordinarily it is quite a question which is on the whole the more disagreeable character. While on the one hand a saving faith may co-exist with various creeds, on the other hand the most rigid doctrines of the straightest sect may be pugnaciously maintained, without one jot or tittle of that faith which works by love and purifies the heart. The evidences of a saving faith are to be found, therefore, only in the life. Would you know whether in the eye of God you are a real believer or an infidel? The question is to be finally settled, not by referring to your creed, but to your spirit and conduct. Are you of a meek and lowly mind? brokenness and contrition of heart for sin? hate all sin, seek deliverance from it, and hunger and thirst after righteousness? Do you prize a clean heart, an approving conscience, and the smile of God, above all the riches and glories of the world? Do you habitually fear, reverence, love, and delight in God? Are your hopes of salvation founded solely on his grace in Jesus Christ? Have you Do you For what end do you live?-Is it to glorify and enjoy God forever? Are your treasures on earth or in heaven? Does your mental eye sweep eternity, or is its vision bounded by the narrow limits of time? Are you truly and impartially benevolent? Do you sincerely endeavor, by all your talents and opportunities, to render your fellow beings wiser, better, happier? Do you thus take the law of God for the rule of your life, and endeavor to apply it to all your actions, the most secret as well as the most open? Are you submissive under trials and afflictions? Does confidence in God and love for his will dispose your heart to say, under all the chastisements of his rod, "Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight?" Do you love communion with God and seek his favor in prosperity, as well as in affliction, and is prayer your daily service and delight? In your intercourse with men, are you conscientiously ingenuous and honest? Does truth always dwell upon your lips, and no slander ever lurk beneath your tongue? Do you make it your rule to owe no man any thing, but to love one another." In short, are you living with a view to living with God forever in a world of holiness, striving for completeness of character, and aiming to be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect? If you can respond affirmatively to these interrogatories, there is no doubt of the communion of your heart with those spiritual truths which I have endeavored to set forth. You may not hold them in the same technical forms-you and I may not be of precisely the same creed-but, if I am a Christian, we are of the same essential faith, as to the sentiments of our hearts. Christ certainly owns you, and so ought I-for, as the excellent Robert Hall said, "What is good enough for Christ, is good enough for me." If we do not belong to the same church on earth, we will yet live in charity, and hope for everlasting fellowship in heaven. On the other hand, unless yours are essentially the spirit and life above implied, no formal professions of |