temperance, and a judgment to come. There can be no question, that he first stated the great outlines of the Christian doctrine, particularly the resurrection of his Master, and the evidence on which it was founded. And from this statement the transition was easy to that future judgment, the belief of which the resurrection was intended to establish and confirm. But to what practical conclusion does the doctrine of this great retribution lead? To that, undoubtedly, which Paul so powerfully inculcated upon the Roman governor; to the necessity of moral righteousness, including all the social virtues, and of that self-government, without which these virtues cannot exist. When asked to speak of the faith of Christ, he reasons, that is, he argues on those great branches of duty, which that faith enforced by new sanctions, and rendered indispensable in all those who should adopt it. The apostle follows the same course, even in those parts. of his writings, which are most controversial. Though he combats the erroneous views of his countrymen, relative to the observance of the Mosaic law, and stands up the champion

of

of Christian freedom, yet all his epistles are full of those practical exhortations, with which the faith of Christ is inseparably connected. Nor does he omit any proper occasion of reminding those to whom he wrote, that the end both of faith and of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart; and that every man must finally be judged according to the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. This he urged before Felix as the grand result of Christian faith; and it was by forcing home this conviction upon his conscience, that he produced the memorable effect recorded in the text. And can a preacher of the gospel follow a better model? For what indeed is the doctrine of a future judgment valuable, if not as the most powerful of all arguments for the practice of righteousness, temperance, and every moral virtue? But if, as some contend, men are to be justified or condemned by another rule than that of their personal acts; if they are to be tried, without any reference to their works; then where was the sense of reasoning upon righteousness and temperance to Felix? Why did

not

not the apostle exhort him to believe and be saved, without urging him upon points, which he could not but know, would be very unpleasant? Had he followed this course, he would have been heard by the Roman governor without any of that perturbation, which his dis- course occasioned; and we should probably have been informed, that he had become, both with him and Drusilla, a favourite preacher. But instead of this, he holds up the faith of Christ, as inseparably connected with a virtuous life, and makes the judge tremble in the apprehension, that he himself would be judged for the profligacy of his public and private character, and for all those transgressions of justice and temperance, of which his own conscience, roused by this appeal, could not fail to remind him.

t

Here then is the proper end of preaching the faith of Christ; and the preacher who neglects this, neglects the most important part of his ministerial duty. If there is any truth in the Christian doctrine, which we profess to believe, we must all appear, as well as

Felix, before the tribunal of a righteous God.

This is the awful and interesting event, which we affirm the gospel has revealed, and made certain. And shall we yet suffer ourselves to be guilty of injustice and oppression; of fraud and dishonesty; of intemperance and sensuality? Shall we hold the faith in unrighteousness, renouncing the practice, whilst we assume the form of godliness? Have we reflected well upon the miserable wages which sin offers here, and the inevitable death to which it exposes hereafter? Have we connected the sentence of our own consciences with the prospect of our future account? And can we yet remain careless about our moral conduct, and its everlasting results?

Christians, let us be more consistent. We believe in a life and a judgment to come. Let us act upon this belief, in maintaining with steadiness the cause of truth, in using temperately the pleasures of a world, through which we are passing as pilgrims and strangers; and in confirming all those habits of piety and righteousness, without which there can be no permanent happiness.

SERMON

413

SERMON XVII.

A CAUTION AGAINST FANATICISM.

1 John iv. 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit; but try the spirits, whether they be of God.

Ir is clearly ascertained by historical evidence, that about the time of our Lord's appearance, there was, among the Jews, a very general expectation of the promised Messiah. This arose from two causes. Men of reflection and inquiry, in studying the prophetic writings of the Old Testament, might have inferred from the signs of the times, that the day of their redemption was drawing near; whilst the great body of the people, though incapable of comprehending the grounds upon which that conclusion was founded, were eager to catch at any opinion, which promised them a speedy deliverance from the Roman yoke.