the ט religion. But in the days of the apostles the whole depended on a few plain facts. Has Jesus Christ communicated his spirit to his apostles? Do the apostles work miracles? Have they the power of imparting miraculous gifts to those who embrace their doctrine? And yet this religion, the discussion of which was so plain and easy, spread itself far and wide. If the apostles did not work miracles, one. of these two suppositions must be made:-either these proselytes did not deign to open their eyes, but sacrificed their prejudices, passions, educations, ease, fortunes, lives and consciences, without condescending to spend one moment on the examination of this question, Do the apostles work miracles? or that, on supposition they did open their eyes, and did find the falsehood of these pretended miracles, they yet sacrificed their prejudices and their passions, their educations, their ease, and their honour, their properties, their consciences, and their lives; to a religion, which wholly turned on this false principle, that its miracles were true. Collect all these proofs together, my brethren, consider them in one point of view, and see how many extravagant suppositions, must be advanced, if the resurrection of our Saviour be denied. It must be supposed that guards, who had been particularly cautioned by their officers, sat down to sleep, and that however they deserved credit, when they said the body of Jesus Christ was stolen; it must be supposed that men who had been imposed on in the most odious and cruel manner in the world, hazarded their dearest enjoyments for the glory | of an impostor. It must be supposed that ignorant and illiterate men, who had neither reputation, fortune nor eloquence, possessed the art of facinating the eyes of all the church. It must be supposed, either that five hundred persons were all deprived of their senses at a time; or that they were all deceived in the plainest matters of fact; or that this multitnde of false witnesses had found out the secret of never contradicting themselves, or one another, and of being always uniform in their testimony. It must be supposed, that the most expert courts of judicature could not find out a shadow of contradiction in a palpable imposture. It must be supposed, that the apostles, sensible men in other cases, chose precisely those places, and those times, which were the most unfavourable to their views. It must be supposed that millions madly suffered imprisonments, tortures and crucifixions, to spread an illusion. It must be supposed, that ten thousand miracles were wrought in favour of falsehood: or all these facts must be denied, and then it must be supposed, that the apostles were idiots, that the enemies of Christianity were idiots, and that all the primitive Christians were idiots. The arguments, that persuade us of the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, are so clear and so conclusive, that, if any difficulty remains it arises from the brightness of the evidence itself. Yes, I declare, if any thing has shaken my confidence in it, it has arisen from this consideration. I could not conceive how a truth, attested by so many irreproachable witnesses, and confirmed by so many notorious miracles, should not make more proselytes, how it could possibly be that all the Jews, and all the heathens, did not yield to this evidence. But this difficulty ought not to weaken our faith. In the folly of mankind its solution lies. Men are capable of any thing to gratify their passions, and to defend their prejudices. The unbelief of the Jews and heathens is not more wonderful than a hundred other phenomena, which, were we not to behold them every day, would equally alarm us. It is not more surprising than the superstitious veneration in which, for many ages, the Christian world held that dark, confused, pagan genius, Aristotle; a veneration, which was carried so far, that when metaphysical questions were disputed in the schools, questions on which every one ought always to have liberty to speak his opinion; when they were examining whether there were a void in nature, whether nature abhorreth a vacuum, whether matter were divisible, whether they were atoms, properly so called: when it could be proved, in disputes of this kind, that Aristotle was of such or such an opinion, his infallibility was allowed, and the dispute was at an end. The unbelief of the ancients is not more surprising than the credulity of the moderns. We see kings, and princes, and a great part of Christendom, submit to a pope, yea, to an inferior priest, often to one who is void of both sense and grace. It is not more astonishing than the implicit faith of Christians, who be lieve, in an enlightened age, in the days of Des Cartes, Paschal, and Malbranche: what am I saying? Des Cartes, Paschal, and Malbranche themselves believe, that a piece of bread which they reduce to a pulp wiih their teeth, which they taste, swallow, and digest, is the body of their Redeemer. The ancient unbelief is not more wonderful than yours, protestants! You profess to believe there is a judgment and a hell, and to know that misers, adulterers, and drunkards, must suffer everlasting punishments there; and, although you cannot be ignorant of your being in this fatal list, yet you are as easy about futurity, as if you had read your names in the book of life, and had no reason to entertain the least doubt of your salvation. II. We have urged the arguments, that prove the resurrection of Christ: I shall detain you only a little longer in justifying the joyful acclamations which it produced. "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly." The three melancholy days that passed between the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, were days of triumph for the enemies of the church. Jesus Christ rises again; and the church triumphs in its turn: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly." 1. In those melancholy days, heresy triumphed over truth. The greatest objection, that was made against the satisfaction of Jesus Christ, was taken from his innocence, which is the come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath," Eccl. ix. 2. Jesus Christ, rises from the dead: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous." The system of the infidel sinks: "he errs, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God," Matt. xxii. 29. foundation of it. For if Jesus Christ were innocent, where was divine justice, when he was overwhelmed with sufferings, and put to death? Where was it, when he was exposed to the unbridled rage of the populace? This difficulty seems at first indissoluble. Yea, rather let all the guilty perish; rather let all the posterity of Adam be plunged into hell; rather let divine justice destroy every creature that divine goodness has made, than leave so many virtues, so much benevolence, and so much fervour, humility so profound, and zeal In those dismal days, tyranny triumphed over so great, without indemnity and reward. But the perseverance of martyrs. Innocence was opwhen we see that Jesus Christ, by suffering pressed, and the rewards of virtue seemed to be death, disarmed it, by lying on the tomb took buried in the tomb of him, who, above all away its sting, by his crucifixion ascended to a others, had devoted himself to it. Jesus Christ throne, the difficulty is diminished, yea, it van-rises again: "the voice of rejoicing and salvaishes away: "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly." God and man are reconciled; divine justice is satisfied; henceforth we may go "boldly to the throne of grace. There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again," Heb. iv. 16. 2. In those mournful days infidelity triumphed over faith. At the sight of a deceased Jesus the infidel displayed his system by insulting him, who sacrificed his passions to his duty, and by saying, See, see that pale, motionless carcass: "Bless God and die!* All events So the French Bibles render the words, BLESS God and die! our translation has it, CURSE God and die. Job, who best knew his wife, calls this a foolish saying; that is, a saying void of humanity and religion: for so the word foolish signifies in Scripture. It was a cruel, popular sarcasm, frequently cast by skeptics on those who persisted in the belief of a God, and of the perfection and excellence of his providence, even while he suffered them to sink under the most terrible calamities, "Your God is the God of universal nature! He regards the actions of men! He rewards virtue! He punishes vice! On these erroneous principles your adoration of him has been built. This was a pardonable folly in the time of your prosperity: but what an absurdity to persist in it now! If your present sufferings do not undeceive you, no future means can. Your mind is past information. Persevere! Go on in your adoration till you die. tion is in the tabernacles of the righteous." The designs of the enemies of innocence are all frustrated, and their attempts to disgrace purity serve only to exalt its glory, and to perpetuate its memory. Let the tyrants of the church, then, rage against us; let "the gates of hell," Matt. xvi. 18, consult to destroy us; let the kings "of the earth," more furious often than hell itself, "set themselves against the Lord, and against his anointed," Ps. ii. 2; let them set up gibbets, let them equip gallies, let them kindle fires to burn us, and prepare racks to torture us; they themselves, and all their cruel inventions, shall serve the purposes of the Almighty God. The Assyrian is only "the rod of his anger," Isa. x. 5. Herod and Pilate do only "what his hand and his counsel deter mined before to be done," Acts iv. 28. God knows how to restrain their fury, and to say to them, as he says to the ocean, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed," Job xxxviii. 2. 4. Finally, in those fatal days, death triumph ed over all human hope of immortal glory. The destiny of all believers is united to that of Je sus Christ. He had said to his disciples, "Be cause I live, ye shall live also," John xiv. 19. In like manner, on the same principle, we may say, If he be dead, we are dead also. And how could we have hope to live, if he, who is our life, had not freed himself from the state of the dead? Jesus Christ rises from the dead; "The voice of rejoicing is in the tabernacles of It may seem strange, at first, that the same term should stand for two such opposite ideas as blessing and cursing: but a very plain and natural reason may be assigned for it. paid to false gods. But to bow the knee to an idol was to The Hebrew word originally signified to bless, benedicere: deny the existence of God, to renounce his worship, or, and, when applied to God, it meant to bless, that is, to in the Scripture style, to curse God, to blaspheme God, praise God by worshipping him. The Talmudists say, &c. If I beheld the sun or the moon, and my mouth has That the religious honours which were paid to God, were kissed my hand: Ishould have denied the God that is above, of four sorts. The prostration of the whole body, was Job xxxi. 26-28. Only the scope of the place, therefore, one: The bowing of the head, another: The bending of can determine the precise meaning of the word. The the upper part of the body towards the knees, a third: word must be rendered curse, deny God, or renounce his and genuflexion, the fourth. Megillæ fol. 22. 2. apud worship, Job i. 5. 11; and it must be rendered bless, acBuxtorf. Lex. In these ways was God praised, worship-knowledge, or worship him, in ver. 21. The Septuagint, ped, or blessed, and the Hebrew word for blessing was naturally put for genuflexion, the expression of blessing, or praising; thus it is rendered Psalm xcv. 6. let us kneel before the Lord: 2 Chron. vi. 13. Solomon kneeled down upon his knees. The bending of the knee being a usual token of respect which people paid to one another when they met, the word was transferred to this also, and is properly rendered salute, 2 Kings iv. 29. If thou meet any man, salute him not. The same token of respect being paid at parting, the word was also applied to that: They blessed Rebekah, that is, they bade her farewell, accompanying their good wishes with genuflexion. From this known meaning of the word it was applied to a bending of the knee where no blessing could be intended; he made his camels kneel down, Gen. xxiv. 11. It was put sometimes for the respect that was paid to a magistrate, Gen. xli. 43, and sometimes for the respect which idolaters after a long sarcastic paraphrase, supposed to have been spoken by Job's wife, renders the phrase sov T pro pos xvpsov, xa TEλEUTZ. To bring our meaning into a narrow compass. If an ancient Jew had seen a dumb man bend his knee in the tabernacle, or in the temple, he would have said Baruch Adonia, he blessed the Lord.Had he seen him bend his knee at court, in the presence of Solomon, he would have said Baruch Melech, he blessed, that is, he saluted the king. And had he seen him bend his knee in a house of Baal, or in an idolatrous grove, would have said, Baruch Aen, he blessed an idol; or, a the embracing of idolatry was the renouncing of the wor ship of the true God, he would have expressed the same action by Charuch Adonia, he cursed JEHOVAH. We have ventured this conjecture, to prevent any prejudices against the English Bible that may arise from the seemingly uncertain meaning of some Hebrew words. he RE his economy. It is a spring flowing with mo tives to holiness. God has left nothing undone in the work of your salvation. The great work is finished. Jesus Christ completed it, when he rose from the tomb. The Son has paid the ransom. The Father has accepted it. The Holy Spirit has published it, and, by innumerable prodigies, has confirmed it. None but yourselves can condemn you. Nothing can deprive you of this grace, but your own contempt of it. the righteous." Nature is reinstated in its primeval dignity; "death is swallowed up in victory," 1 Cor. xv. 64; the grave is disarmed of its sting. Let my eyesight decay; let my body bow under the weight of old age; let the organs of my body cease to perform their wonted operations; let all my senses fail; death sweep away the dear relatives of my bosom, and my friends, "who are as mine own soul," Deut. xiii. 6; let these eyes, all gushing with tears, attended with sobs, and sorrows, and groans, behold her expire, who was my com- But the more precious this grace is, the more pany in solitude, my counsel in difficulty, my criminal, and the more affronting to God, will comfort in disgrace; let me follow to the grave your contempt of it be. The more joy, with the bones, the carcass, the precious remains of which the glory of a risen Jesus ought to inthis dear part of myself; my converse is sus-spire you, if you believe in him, the more terpended, but is not destroyed: "Lazarus, my friend, sleepeth, but if I believe, I shall see the glory of God." Jesus Christ is "the resurrection and the life," John xi. 2. 40. 25. He is risen from the dead, we, therefore, shall one day rise. Jesus Christ is not a private person, he is a public representative, he is the surety of the church, the first fruits of them that sleep. If the Spirit of him, that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised sup Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth in you," 1 Cor. xv. 20; Rom. viii. 2. ror ought you to feel, if you attempt to diso bey him. He, who "declared him the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead," put "a sceptre of iron" into his hand, that he might break his enemies, and "dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel," Rom. i. 4; Ps. ii. 9. Dost thou enter into these reflections? Dost thou approach the table of Jesus Christ with determinations to live a new life? I believe so. But the grand fault of our communions, and solemn festivais, does not lie in the precise time of our communions and solemnities. The representation of Jesus Christ in the Lord's supper; certain reflections, that move conscience; an extraordinary attention to the noblest objects in religion; the solemnities that belong to our public festivals; inspire us with a kind of devotion: but how often does this devotion vanish with the objects that produced it? These august symbols should follow thee into thy warfare in the world. A voice should sound in thine ears amidst the tumult of the world; amidst the dissipating scenes that besiege thy mind; amidst the pleasures that fascinate thine eyes, amidst the grandeur and glory which thou causest to blaze around thee, and with which thou thyself, although, alas! always mortal, always a worm of the earth, always dust and ashes, art the first to be dazzled; a voice should sound in thine ears, Remember thy vows, Remember thine oaths, Remember thy joys. Was ever joy more rational? Was triumph more glorious? The triumphant entries of conquerors, the songs that rend the air in praise of their victories, the pyramids on which their exploits are transmitted to posterity, when they have subdued a general, routed an army, humbled the pride, and repressed the rage of a fee; ought not all these to yield to the joys that are occasioned by the event which we celebrate to-day? Ought not all these to yield to the victories of our incomparable Lord, and to his people's expressions of praise? One part of the gratitude, which is due to beneficial events, is to know their value, and to be affected with the benefits which they procure. Let us celebrate the praise of the Author of our redemption, my brethren; let us call heaven and earth to witness our gratitude. Let an increase of zeal accompany this part of our engagefinents. Let a double portion of fire from hea- My brethren, if you be not to-morrow, and even kindle our sacrifice; and with a heart pene- till the next Lord's-supper-day, what you are trated with the liveliest gratitude, and with the to-day, we recall all the congratulations, all the cost ardent love, let each Christian exclaim, benedictions, and all the declarations of joy, "Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord which we have addressed to you. Instead of Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant congratulating you on your happiness in being mercy, hath begotten me again to a lively hope, permitted to approach God in your devotions, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the we will deplore your wickedness in adding perdead," 1 Pet. i. 3. Let him join his voice to fidy and perjury to all your other crimes. Inthat of angels, and, in concert with the celes- stead of benedictions and vows, we will cry, tial intelligences, let him sing, "Holy, holy, "Anathema Maranatha; if any man love not holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema,' full of his glory," Isa. vi. 3. Let "the taber-1 Cor. xvi. 22. If any man who has kissed acles of the righteous" resound with the text, the Saviour betray him, let him be Anathema. "the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly: If any man defile the mysteries of our holy rethe right hand of the Lord doth valiantly." ligion, let him be Anathema. If any man But what melancholy thoughts are these, "tread under foot the Son of God, and count which interrupt the pleasures of this day? the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, let Whose tabernacles are these? The tabernacles him be Anathema," Heb. x. 29. Instead of of the righteous? Ah! my brethren! wo be to inviting thee to celebrate the praise of the Auyou, if, under pretence that the righteous ought thor of our being, we forbid thee the practice, to rejoice to-day, you rejoice by adding sin to for it is "comely only for the upright," Ps. sin! The resurrection of the Saviour of the xxxiii. 1. God, by our ministry, saith to thee, world perfectly assorts with the other parts of "Thou wicked man! What hast thou to do VOL. I.-25 to take my covenant in thy mouth?"" Ps. 1. 16. | he was to meet with in his mission, I mean the Why does that mouth now bless my name, and unsuccessfulness of his ministry. For, my then blaspheme it: now praise me, thy Creator, brethren, they are not only your ministers, and then defame my creatures: now publish who are disappointed in the exercise of the my gospel, and then profane it? ministry: the Isaiahs, the Jeremiahs, the Ezekiels, are often as unsuccessful as we. In such melancholy cases, we must endeavour to surmount the obstacles which the obduracy of sinners opposes against the dispensations of grace. We must shed tears of compassion over an ungrateful Jerusalem; and if, after we have used every possible mean, we find the be satisfied with the peace of a good conscience, we must learn to say with the prophet, or rather with Jesus Christ, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God," Isa. xlix. 4. If, on the contrary, you live agreeably to the engagements into which you have entered to-day; what a day, what a day, my brethren, is this day! A day, in which you have performed the great work for which God formed you, and which is all that deserves the attention of an immortal soul. A day in which many impurities, many calumnies, many pas-corruption of our hearers invincible, we must sionate actions, many perjuries, and many oaths, have been buried in everlasting silence. It is a day in which you have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; in which you have entered into fellowship with God; in which you have heard these triumphant shouts in the church, "Grace, grace unto it," Zech. iv. 7. A day in which you have been "raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 6. A day, the pleasing remembrance of which will follow you to your death-bed, and will enable your pastors to open the gates of heaven to you, to commit your souls into the hands of the Redeemer, who ransomed it, and to say to you, Remember, on such a day your sins were effaced; remember, on such a day Jesus Christ disarmed death; remember, on such a day the gate of heaven was opened to you. O day! which the Lord has made, let me for ever rejoice in thy light! O day of designs, resolutions, and promises, may I never forget thee! O day of consolation and grace, may a rich effusion of the peace of God on this auditory preserve thy memorial through a thousand generations! Receive this peace, my dear brethren. I spread over you hands washed in the innocent blood of my Redeemer; and as our risen Lord Jesus Christ, when he appeared to his disciples, said to them, "Peace, peace be unto you;" so we, by his command, while we celebrate the memorable history of his resurrection, say to you, "Peace, peace be unto you. As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God," John xx. 19. 21; Gal. vi. 16. To him be honour and glory for ever. Amen. SERMON XXII. THE EFFUSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. ACTS ii. 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? We must content ourselves with this thought, if our hearers have not been sanctified, they have been left without excuse; if God has not been glorified in their conversion, he will be glorious in their destruction. But how sad is this consolation! how melancholy is this encouragement! By consecrating our ministry to a particular society, we unite ourselves to the members of it by the tenderest ties, and whatever idea, we have of the happiness which God reserves for us in a future state, we know not how to persuade ourselves that we can be perfectly happy, when those Christians, whom we consider as our brethren, and our children, are plunged in a gulf of everlasting wo. "If the angels of God rejoice over one sinner that repenteth," Luke xv. 10, what pleasure must he feel, who has reason to hope that in this valley of tears he has had the honour of opening the gate of heaven to a multitude of sinners, that he has "saved himself, and them that heard him," 1 Tim. iv. 16. thou This pure joy God gave on the day of Pen tecost to St. Peter. When he entered the ministerial course, he entered on a course of tribulations. When he was invested with the apostleship he was invested with martyrdom. He who said to him, "Feed my sheep, feed lambs," said also to him, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldst: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not," John xvi. 15, 16. 18. In order ing opposers, and to sweeten the bitternesses to animate him against a world of contradictwhich were to accompany his preaching, Jesus Christ gave him the most delicious pleasure that a Christian preacher can taste. He caused, at the sound of his voice, those fortresses to fall which were erected to oppose the estab lishment of the gospel. The first experiment of St. Peter is a miracle; his first sermon astonishes, alarms, transforms, and obtains, three thousand conquests to Jesus Christ. "Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation. They will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: yet thou shalt speak unto This marvellous event the primitive church them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord saw, and this while we celebrate, we wish to God; whether they will hear, or whether they see again to-day. Too long, alas! we have will forbear, and they shall know that there had no other encouragement in the exercise of hath been a prophet among them," Ezek. ii. 3. our ministry than that which God formerly 5; iii. 7. 11. Thus God formerly forearmed Eze-gave to the prophet Ezekiel: shall we never kiel against the greatest discouragement that enjoy that which he gave to St. Peter? too ור long, alas! we have received that command | those persecutions, which the world always from God, "Thou shalt speak unto them, and raises against all whom heaven qualifies to tell them, Thus saith the Lord, whether they destroy the empire of sin: all these considerawill hear, or whether they will forbear, for tions damp the courage of the preacher and they are a rebellious house." Almighty God! deprive him of freedom of speech. If in the pour out that benediction on this sermon, silent study, when the mind is filled with an which will excite compunction in the hearts, apprehension of the tremendous majesty of and put these words in the mouths of converts, God, we resolve to attack vice, how eminent "Men and brethren what shall we do?" Add soever the seat of its dominion may be, I own, new members to thy church," Acts ii. 47; my brethren, we are apt to be intimidated in not only to the visible, but also to the invisible a public assembly, when in surveying the church, which is "thy peculiar treasure," members of whom it is composed, we see Exod. xix. 5, the object of thy tenderest love. some hearers, whom a multitude of reasons Amen. ought to render very respectable to us. "When they heard this they were pricked in their heart." They of whom the sacred historian speaks were a part of those Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea and Cappadocia, in Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Egypt, ver. 9, 10, who had travelled to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Pentecost. When these men heard this, that is, when they heard the sermon of St. Peter, tr "they were pricked in their heart, and said, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" In order to understand the happy effect, we must endeavour to understand the cause. In order to comprehend what passed ed in the auditory, we must understand the sermon of the preacher. There are five remarksable things in the sermon, and there are five correspondent dispositions in the hearers. I. I see in the sermon a noble freedom of speech; and in the souls of the hearers those f deep impressions, which a subject generally makes, when the preacher himself is deeply affected with its excellence, and emboldened bbby the justice of his cause. II. There is in the sermon a miracle which gives dignity and weight to the subject: and 1 there is in the souls of the auditors that defeerence, which cannot be withheld from a man to whose ministry God puts his seal. 11 III. I see in the sermon of the preacher an invincible power of reasoning; and in the souls of the audience that conviction which carries along with it the consent of the will. IV. There are in the sermon stinging reproofs; and in the souls of the hearers painful remorse and regrets. V. I observe in the sermon threatenings of approaching judgments; and in the souls of the hearers a horror, that seizes all their powers for fear of the judgments of a consuming God, Heb. xii. 29. These are five sources of reflections, my brethren; five comments on the words of the text. I. We have remarked in the sermon of St. Peter, that noble freedom of speech which so well becomes a Christian preacher, and is so well I adapted to strike his hearers. How much soever we now admire this beautiful part of pulpit eloquence, it is very difficult to imitate it. Sometimes a weakness of faith, which attends your best established preachers; sometimes worldly prudence; sometimes a timidity, that proceeds from a modest consciousness of the insufficiency of their talents; sometimes a fear, too well grounded, alas! of the retorting of those censures which people, always ready to murmur against them, who reprove their vices, are eager to make; sometimes a fear of But none of these considerations had any weight with our apostle. And, indeed, why should any of them affect him? Should the weakness of his faith? He had conversed with Jesus Christ himself; he had accompanied him on the holy mount, he had "heard a voice from the excellent glory," saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," 2 Pet. i. 17. Moreover, he had seen him after his resurrection loaden with the spoils of death and hell, ascending to heaven in a cloud, received into the bosom of God amidst the acclamations of angels, shouting for joy, and crying, Lift u up your heads, O ye gates! ye everlasting doors! the King of glory shall come in," Ps. xxiv. 7. Could he distrust his talents? The prince of the kingdom, "the author and finisher of faith," Heb. xii. 2, had told him, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," Matt. xvi. 18. Should he dread reproaches and recriminations? The purity of his intentions, and the sanctity of his life, confound them. Should he pretend to keep 'fair with the world? But what finesse is to be used, when eternal misery is to be denounced, and eternal happiness proposed? Should he shrink back from the sufferings that superstition and cruelty were preparing for Christians? His timidity would have cost him too dear; it would have cost him sighs too deep, tears too many. Persecuting tyrants could invent no punishments so severe as those which his own conscience had inflicted on him for his former fall: at all adventures, if he must be a martyr, he chooses rather to die for religion than for apostacy. Philosophers talk of certain invisible bands that unite mankind to one another. A man animated with any passion, has in the features of his face, and in the tone of his voice, a something, that partly communicates his sentiments to his hearers. Error proposed in a lively manner, by a man, who is affected with it himself, may seduce unguarded people.Fictions, which we know are fictions, exhibited in this manner, move and affect us for a moment. But what a dominion over the heart does that speaker obtain who delivers truths, and who is affected himself with the truths which he delivers? To this part of the eloquence of St. Peter, we must attribute the emotions of his hearers; "they were pricked in their heart." They said to the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"Such are the impressions which a man deeply affected with the excellence of his subject, and emboldened by the justice of his cause, makes on his hearers. |