Page images
PDF
EPUB

means used in them for its accomplishment are scarcely less deserving of these epithets; for to say the least which can be truly said, almost all the virtuous men who have existed have been made such by them. We know of no other book which has made men virtuous at all.

Numerous, inge

But the Scriptures are of divine origin. nious, and most industrious men, have, through more than sixteen hundred years, laboured to disprove their character as a revelation. The work is, however, no nearer to its accomplishment, than when it was begun. Had the design been practicable, it could scarcely have failed of coming before this time to an issue. If you will faithfully examine, and will at the same time dare to judge for yourselves, you will find that the controversy between Christians and infidels has been merely, whether man should yield to passion and appetite, or to argument, to duty, and to God; whether he should live for time, or eternity; as an animal, or as an intelligent being; for earth, or for heaven; for himself, or for his Maker; whether God is the moral governor of all rational beings, or the sluggard of Epicurus, housed in his own elysium, quaffing sensual enjoyment, and wholly indifferent to the universe of

creatures.

Fourth, In all your conduct, think before you act, and especially inquire how each action would appear to you on a dying bed.

On that bed you will drop most of your prejudices, and will no longer be under the influence of passion or appetite, of reverence for the world, or devotion to fashionable opinions and practices. This world and its objects will recede; and eternity, with its infinite concerns, will draw nigh. Should you then possess, unimpaired, your rational faculties, you will see the true nature of things more clearly, and estimate their value more justly. You will see, that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and the means by which they are gratified, form a wretched character, constitute a wretched possession, and furnish a wretched hope. You will see, that the scramble for wealth, honour, and pleasure, ardently as it may have engaged you, and wholly as it may

[ocr errors]

have engrossed others, was, on the one hand, a silly puppet show of children, and on the other a phrenzied tumult of bedlam.

Although you cannot perfectly form the same estimate of things, until you come to this solemn, this life-explaining situation, yet you may, in no unhappy degree, reap its advantages through every period of your lives. It is in the power of man, with suitable efforts, to place himself in any situation to realize the scenes which it would present, and to imbibe the sentiments to which it would give birth. Accustom yourselves to the situation in which you will actually be on a dying bed, and you will realize such sentiments as will be there entertained. Your estimate of the world, of yourselves, of duty, and of happiness, will, by degrees, resemble the final estimate; your passions, appetites, and prejudices, will lose their dominion over you; the world will cease to be your God; present enjoyments and sufferings will appear to be the dreams of a moment; and future things, no longer distant or dim, will rise, expand, and approach with amazing solemnity and grandeur. Thus circumstanced, it will be impossible for you not to live as candidates for eternity and for heaven.

Fifth, Remember that God is always where you are, and perfectly sees, hears, and knows whatever you think, speak, or do.

Sixth, Remember that you are sinners, and that it is therefore impossible that you should be virtuous in this life, or happy in that to come, but by an interest in the Redeemer.

I will not attempt to prove to you that you are sinners. If you have ever looked into your own hearts, or examined at all your own lives, you cannot but know this to be your real character. Nor can you, instructed as you have been in divine things from the cradle, nor even in the exercise of sober reason unassisted by revelation, seriously believe for a moment, that impenitent sinners can be accepted, justified, and blessed of God. God, the infinitely holy, cannot but hate sin, and determine that without holiness no man shall see his face. His unchangeable law admits of no repentance as the ground of restoration; and his voice has declared

3

Christ to be to mankind the only hope of glory. On his expiation, then, man, if ever to be saved, must rely; for there is no salvation in any other. To become interested in this expiation, you must confide in it. Distrust or unbelief will be a wall of partition between you and him so long as it remains, and confidence can alone unite you to him. Why should you not believe in him? Is he not worthy of being trusted? Is he not able-is he not willing-is he not faithful? Has he not satisfactorily proved all these things by what he has done? Does he demand of you any sacrifice, but of your sins? Does he impose on you any burden but your duty? Is not this sacrifice gainful? Is not this burden light? Is not he the best of all friends, present at all times, and in all places, on earth, in heaven, in time, and in eternity? Will you not need his favour, and an interest in his atonement on a dying bed? Seek him, then, while he is to be found; fly to him while he is near. Seck him early, and you will find him, and be loved by him for ever.

In what manner, let me ask you, would you act, if you were standing before the Shechinah of the Jewish temple, and beheld the cloud rolling, and the lightnings darting over your heads? How would you act, if you were with the Israelites at the foot of Sinai, while the earth trembled beneath, the trumpet of God sounded above, the smoke of the mountain ascended up to heaven, and the glory of the Lord embosomed its summit in the flame of devouring fire? You would undoubtedly, with Moses, exceedingly fear and quake; if you did not, with the congregation, fall down to the earth, deprived of motion and sense. The same God will always accompany you, equally awful in himself, though not manifested in a manner equally terrible. Ask yourselves, then, always when about to act, how will this conduct appear to the eye of God? If it cannot stand this test, it will never abide in the day when he shall judge the secret things of men.

Thus have I attempted to form a compendious directory for the future conduct of your lives. Much that I wished to say I have been obliged to omit; but, if what I have said be faithfully regarded, many other useful things will follow of course.

I have now, and always earnestly wished your good, and laboured to promote it. To hear of your prosperity, your wisdom, and your virtue, will sweeten the cup which God appoints to me, and furnish an additional beam to cheer the evening of my life. The connection formed between you and me, is of such a nature that it cannot be destroyed, but by folly and vice on your part or on mine. While we both live, you will have my best wishes and most fervent prayers; and whenever God shall be pleased to call me away from this world, should he in infinite mercy call me, at the same time, into his kingdom, to share with his children the blessings of his everlasting love, it will give me transports which no tongue can utter, to see you all around me, and to be able to say, "Behold, here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me."

66

SERMON XIX.

THE NATURE AND DANGER OF INFIDEL PHILOSOPHY.

Preached to the Candidates for the Baccalaureate in 1797.

SERMON 1.

COLOSSIANS II. 8.

“Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

WHEN the Gospel was published by the apostles, it was, according to the prophetic declaration of its author, vigorously opposed by the world. This opposition originated from various sources; but, whencesoever derived, wore one uniform character of industry, art, and bitterness. The bigotry of the Jews, and the sword of the Gentiles, the learning of the wise, the persuasion of the eloquent, and the force of the powerful, were alike exerted to crush the rising enemy.

Among the kinds of opposition which they were called to encounter, not the least laborious, malignant, or dangerous, was the philosophy of the age. A large number of their first converts lived in countries where the language of the Greeks was spoken, and their philosophy received. The things which this philosophy professed to teach, were substantially the same

« PreviousContinue »