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occasions considers to be harmless-as pride, envy, revenge, ambition, the eager pursuit of wealth, fondness for pleasure, contempt for others, and a disposition to filthy jesting-the gospel condemns, in every form and degree. It forbids the indulgence of them in thought; it prohibits the adultery of the eye, and the murder of the heart; and commands the desire to be strangled in its birth. Neither the hands, the tongue, the head, nor the heart, must be guilty of one iniquity. However the world may applaud the heroic ambition of one, the love of glory in another, the successful pursuits of affluence in a third-the high-minded pride, the glowing patriotism which would compel the world to bow the neck, the steady pursuit of revenge for injuries received, and a sovereign contempt for the ignoble vulgar-Christianity condemns them all, and enjoins the disciples of Christ to crucify them without delay. Not one is to be spared, though dear as a right eye for pleasure, or necessary as a right hand for defence or labor. The gospel enjoins upon men what is just and right, and what is necessary to their well-being, regardless of the opinions of their fellow-men, or of their temporal interests. If a man would comply with its precepts, he must be a Christian in reality, and not merely by profession. It is the heart that is required; and all the different forms of prescribed worship and obedience, are but so many varied expressions or modifications of it. If this divine energy, this holy influence of the gospel, has touched the heart, purified the conscience, and regulated the life of an individual, he must have acquired some knowledge by experience; he cannot be ignorant of the power of Christianity, in the salvation of the soul.

Christianity excites new dispositions in the heart of a regenerated man, by making him a partaker of the divine nature. All the affections of the heart are directed in a new channel. Old things pass away, and all things become new. The love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit which is given unto him. The Spirit itself beareth witness with his spirit, that he is a child of God. He truly possesses a peace that passeth all understanding. Being justified by faith, he has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He also has the testimony of a good conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, by the grace of God, he has had his conversation in the world. And as he progresses onward in the path of the just, the shining light shines more and more to the perfect day.

It is the peculiar glory of the Christian religion, that it inspires in the heart of a believer, that temper and disposition suited to every rank and station in life. Is the Christian favored with temporal blessings? He is instructed how to enjoy them aright, and to distribute to the necessities of those who are in want. Are his circumstances contracted? It preserves him from a spirit of repining. He has learned in whatever state he is, therewith to be content. He knows both how to be abased, and how to abound; every

where, and in all things, he is instructed, both to be full and to be hungry-both to abound and to suffer need. Nor does Christianity only produce contentment, but it gives to its possessors a certain dignity and authority, which the greatest can never attain without it. The terrors of men may make us afraid, and extort an outward reverence; but nothing commands the hearts and affections of men, like real piety and true godliness. Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come. A strict and conscientious discharge of the duties of the Christian religion conciliates the esteem and love of mankind, and establishes a fair reputation and an unblemished character. While the real Christian fears God, and obeys the laws of his country, he is honest in his dealings, frugal in his expenses, and industrious in the proper calling of his life, and aims to adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour in all things. Real Christians, whatever be their station in life, have a peculiar enjoyment in the possession of temporal goods, while the ungodly find emptiness in all their possessions: for the mind, rendered holy and happy by the excellent principles that govern it, mixes its own sweetness with whatever good is received, and imparts an extraordinary relish to it; while the unholy tempers and dispositions of those who are not in a Christian state of mind, must, by their very nature, prevent such persons from enjoying what they possess.

But the happy effects of Christian experience are not confined to prosperity; it qualifies the mind to face the storms and to meet the adversities of life. The experience of every day proves that man is born to trouble; and religion will not prevent the Christian from being made to feel what it is to share in the common lot of mankind. But what support will Christianity afford him, when the cup of affliction is put into his hand? Supports to which mere men of the world are utter strangers. These are, for the most part, miserable in their afflictions. If they be kept from complaining, it is the summit of their attainments; while the Christian is enabled to glory even in tribulation, and cordially to approve all the dispensations of God towards him. Animated by a sense of the divine presence and approbation, and fully persuaded of an overruling providence, he adopts the expressive language of the prophet:—although the fig tree should not blossom, neither shall fruit be in their vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. This is a joy with which a stranger intermeddleth not-a joy inspired by the influence of Christianity over the heart and the affections-a joy unspeakable and full of glory. What trouble, indeed, can overwhelm, what fear can discompose, that man whose mind is stayed on God, and whose hope the Lord is? What earthly power can make such a man unhappy? Will you take away his riches? His treasure is

in heaven. Will you banish him from home? His country is above. Will you bind him in chains? His conscience, his spirit, his affections, are all free. Will you destroy his body? His body shall be raised incorruptable at the last day, and his spirit will immediately return to God, who gave it. Heaven itself is but an emblem of his happiness. As heaven is enlightened by the rising sun, his soul is illuminated by the sun of righteousness, which rises without setting in his heart. As heaven is intrinsically bright and beautiful, though clouds obscure, and midnight darkness surround it, he is peaceful, happy, and serene in the midst of trials and af flictions. As heaven is exalted above the storms and tempest of this lower atmosphere, he is elevated above the distractions of this troublesome world. He is a Christian; his conversation is in heaven; his life is hid with Christ, in God.

It is admitted that such a Christian has sorrow; but his sorrow is sweeter than the joy of the world. Every trial, every affliction, draws him nearer to his God. In the tumults of life, in the secrecy of his chamber, in the silence of midnight, he has a resource of which the world is ignorant. He pours forth his fears, his apprehensions, his troubles, into the bosom of his Maker. Suffering thus becomes a fountain of delight; for it is felt to be a source of spiritual improvement. Thus it is, that all things work together, not only for good, but also for enjoyment, to them that love God. Thus it is, that if they sow in tears, they reap in joy. Far different from this is the joy of the wicked. His joy is a malignant passion, excited by the temporary success of some of his devices. Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom; but the triumph of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment; God is not in all their thoughts. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we should pray unto him?

But it is in the prospects of futurity, especially, that the happy effects of Christianity upon the human heart are peculiarly felt and displayed. The hour of death must, unavoidably, come to every individual of the human family. In that awful moment, when the soul is floating upon the confines of the two worlds, suffering the agony of bodily torture; when friends and relatives are expressing, by their agonizing looks, what they are afraid to utter; when medicines and pains are racking the debilitated frame; when the cold chills of death are felt passing all through the system; how glorious are the Christian's views of the eternal world. The time has arrived when the upright judge comes to strike off the chains of mortality, to free him from that earth where he has so long been a stranger and a captive, and to deliver him from all the sorrows, trials, and tribulations of this transitory life. He comes to conduct him, in peace and safety, through the dark valley of the shadow of death, and to introduce him into the kingdom of light and glory

above. What blessed tidings of joy and immortality to this righteous soul! What a blessed prospect! With what peace, what confidence, what thanksgivings, does he accept it! He rises like Simeon of old, his dying eyes to heaven, and beholding the approach of the Lord, exclaims: Break, O my God! when thou pleasest, these remains of mortality, these feeble ties which still keep me here I wait in peace and hope, the effects of thine eternal promises. From the promise of his Creator he learns that his body, sown here in corruption, weakness, and dishonor, shall be raised, beyond the grave, in incorruption, power, and glory, with so many attributes of spirit, as to be denominated by him who made it, a spiritual body. Ever young, active, and undecaying, it shall be re-united to the immortal mind, purified from every stain and every error. This perfect man shall be admitted, with an open and abundant entrance; into the heaven of heavens, the peculiar residence of the Infinite Majesty, and the chosen seat of infinite dominion. In this noblest of all habitations, the mansion of everlasting joy, he shall be united with an innumerable multitude of companions like himself, sanctified, immortal, and happy. Enrolled among the noblest and best of beings in the universe, a child, a priest, a king, in the house of his heavenly Father, his endless and only destination will be, to know, love, serve, and enjoy God; to interchange the best affections and the best offices with his glorious companions, and to advance in wisdom, virtue, and happiness, for ever and ever. Cheered and animated by these promises, the Christian endures hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, through all the labors and toils of life; and when the messenger of death comes to relieve him from the present scene of suffering affliction, in the sweet composure of triumphant faith, he adopts the elevated strains of the poet :

"Ye golden lamps of heaven! farewell, with all your feeble light,
Farewell, thou ever-changing moon, pale empress of the night!
And thou, refulgent orb of day, in brighter flames arrayed,

My soul, which springs beyond thy sphere, no more demands thy aid.
Ye stars are but the shining dust of my divine abode,

The pavement of those heavenly courts, where I shall reign with God.”

This is no ideal picture. Hopes and consolations like these, have, in every age of Christianity, supported the minds of millions of believers, in the humble and retired walks of life, as well as in exalted stations. But these hopes and consolations are only acquired by religious experience. A heart ignorant of Christian experience knows nothing of communion with God, or of the hope and joy inspired by the gospel. If the heart has never been touched by the power of truth-if the soul has never been warmed by a celestial fire, nor the conscience purified from the dross of sin, a profession of religion is but an empty show; we are as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

From the foregoing remarks, we are led to the conclusion, that

all true Christians are experimental Christians. There are in this, as in former ages of the gospel, false disciples, mere nominal Christians, who have a form of godliness, but are destitute of that power which purifies the heart, regulates the life, and overcomes the world. Such persons, however, are not regarded as the devout worshippers of God, or the true followers of Jesus Christ, and we are, accordingly, commanded to turn away from them. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart; in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Finally, the proper use of correct sentiments, and a right state of feeling in the heart, are to regulate our conduct. When, therefore, we are convinced that there is a God who has a right to all the love of our hearts, and to all the service of our lives, we should then enter into his service by a regular and uniform course of obedience to all of his requirements. Jesus Christ came into the world that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Hence his disciples are styled in the Scriptures, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that they might show forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light. The power of Christianity is exerted, not only in changing the heart, and plucking up the roots of bitterness which pollute the soul, but also in forming the character to piety and virtue. The first converts to Christianity were reformed characters. This is affirmed by the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans. What fruit, says he, had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of these things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become the servants of God, ye have your fruits unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. This same apostle, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, also asserts that some of them were reclaimed from sin by the gospel: Be ye not deceived; neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor idolators, nor effeminate persons, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were

some of you; but ye are washed, ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God. Peter, in the following passage, alludes to the reformation wrought among the Jewish converts in Pontus, Galatia, and in other places:-The time past of your lives may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lust, and excess of wines, reveling, banqueting, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot.

Origen, who flourished about A. D. 246, speaking of the efficacy of the gospel in forming the character of a wicked man to piety and virtue, remarks: "Give me a man who is choleric, abusive in his language, headstrong and unruly; with a very few words-the words of God-I will render him as gentle as a lamb. Give me a

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