SERMON VIII. TITUS iii. 10, 11. A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself. WHAT first strikes the intelligent observer who is occupied in the study of nature, is the inexhaustible variety which the Creator has introduced into his works. In them all, from those prodigious bodies which roll through space, to "the poor insect which we tread upon," and the humble grass that decks the surface of the earth, this quality is manifested. Even in the same race and the same species, each individual, while it preserves the characters of the family, has its peculiar features which distinguish it from every other. But nowhere is such variety more remarkable than in man. I refer not only to the differences which are pre R sented in the features of the face, in the sound of the voice, or in the tastes and talents of men: there is a still more striking diversity: it is that of the mind-the direct consequence of that liberty which is the distinguishing privilege of humanity. In matters of taste, in questions relating to government and legislation, there are not perhaps two persons on earth who think exactly alike, or see things in precisely the same point of view: ought we then to be surprised if we find more divergence still in religious opinions, which, regarding objects beyond the reach of our senses and above the sphere of our understandings and the limits of the external world, open a boundless field to the inquiries and conjectures of the human mind? Assuredly not; and to seek to bring all mankind to uniformity of sentiments and identity of opinion in this respect, would be to seek for what is impossible: such universal harmony may form the subject of a good man's speculations, but will never enter into the serious designs of a man of reflection, acquainted with his fellow-creatures and with himself. |