Again, I answer,-Neither have you been asked to do so. VII...The address which Christianity makes to an insane and miserable world, is this: "Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST! Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." "I seek not mine own will," says Christ, "but the will of the Father who has sent If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true." me. I ask not to be believed on such evidence. But, "there is another that beareth witness of me; and I KNOW that the witnesseth of me is true."+ witness which he "If any man will know of my doc do the will of God, he shall trine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." The gospel invites men, entreats men, COMMANDS men to examine, and search for themselves. It calls upon all men to employ the faculties which God has given them, soberly and earnestly, and as is befitting to † John v. 30-32. * Matt. xi. 28-30. such an inquiry, to see whether the things we preach be so. We say, therefore, "Search the Scriptures!"* search them "daily," that ye who "have tasted of the heavenly gift" may be able to answer the fool according to his folly, "lest he be wise in his own conceit.": 66 That they who are without may be brought into the way of truth;" that they may "speak" that truth to others; that they may tell their children; and that those children may tell theirs, and that they may tell other generations, how the Lord has "visited and redeemed his people;"" that we, being delivered from our enemies, might serve him without fear;" that "the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace." || We say, "Search the Scriptures:" and meditate on the simple lesson which those Scriptures teach the meek and lowly; that "Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord, HAPPY IS HE."¶"Ponder "** on the great truth which all nature "crieth," viz.-" Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."* VIII..." Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets, saying, How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity; and the scorners delight in their scorning; and fools hate knowledge?" The prophet Jeremiah, in denouncing the judgments of the Almighty against Jehoiakim, king of Judah, says, " Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father do judgment and justice? then it was well with him! He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him! Was not this to know me, saith the Lord ?" BRING FORTH YOUR STRONG REASONS. "Blessed is the man," saith the Psalmist, "who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners."-"The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous."+ "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him."§ "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord;"|| He is his *Job xxviiii. 28. † Jer. xxii. 16. Psalm i. 1, 7. § See Psalm xxv. 14. Psalm xxxvii. 23. "strength in the time of trouble;"* and "the end of that man is peace."+ Say ye to the righteous," it is written, "that it shall be well with him;" he "shall eat the fruit of his doings."+ And if we look over the world, and observe, with earnestness of thought, that which is presented to our constant view, and draw our conclusions cautiously, and as free from the influence of natural inclinations and prejudices as we can; is not the light, afforded by the inevitable results of different modes of conduct, as the light of the sun, to shew the great outlines of human duty; a light, shining about the path of all "the sons of man,"§ to lead them in the way of righteousness, and in the midst of the paths of judgment?|| What possible inference can reason draw from the contemplation of the never failing restlessness and sorrows of vice, and the peace, which is " the effect of righteousness;" but that God, who is "over all blessed for ever," is the disposer of these things ?** * Psalm xxxvii. 39. Isaiah iii. 10. Prov. viii. 20. Psalm xxxvii. 37. § Prov. viii. 4. ** See Job ix. 24. I BRING FORTH YOUR STRONG REASONS. It is He who disposeth all things; it is He who doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth."* The same Almighty power which rules over the winds and the seas; which causes the sun to shine "on the evil and on the good;" which feeds the fowls of the air; which clothes the lilies, and the grass of the field.§ That same power is He, who makes happy the good, and, in his anger, "distributeth sorrows "|| around the bad. IX...In the outset of our reflections, we arrived at the conclusion that the "God over all" must be a God of goodness; we conceive that all goodness must proceed from Him; and we speak good of his name; and we read that "" every good gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."¶ When, therefore, we see that the spirit of man's mind, when man seeks after the knowledge of God as silver, and searches for * Dan. iv. 35. + Job xxviii. 25; Mark iv. 41. James i. 17. |