dead in vain. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, and compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and the sparks, that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, saith the Lord, ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Christ is, emphatically, the end of the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth. In him, all who believe, are justified from those things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. But in order to partake in this justification, the heart must be reduced to the obedience of faith.

3. From the preceding discourse, appears the necessity of conversion. If God's charaeter be perfectly right, and the characters of sinners essentially different, it clearly follows that there can be no solid peace between God and them, without a turning on their part. Except a man be born again, he cannot enjoy God. God's character will never alter; consequently, unless the character of the sinner alter, there must be eternal variance between them. And who will be injured by this? Will the injury be on the part of God, or on the part of sinful men? Who ever hardened himself against God, and prospered? Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die, O house of Israel. Can ye endure the chains of darkness, and that devouring fire, which never can be quenched? It is vain, we have seen, to make excuses, to argue against the purity of God's law, and the justice of his requirements. All such arguing answers no other purpose than to prove the existence of that very guilt and depravity you would excuse. We must come with contrite hearts to the throne of mercy, lamenting what we are, and acknowledging what we deserve. We must have the disposition of penitents, and abandon the sins for which we mourn. The empire of sin must, by divine grace, be opposed and overcome, or we forever sink under its galling chains. There is no escaping. Except we repent, we must perish.

SERMON VI.

TENDENCY OF THE GOSPEL WHEN IT IS REJECTED.

JOHN 9: 39.-And Jesus said, for judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not, might see; and that they which see, might be made blind.

It is well known to have been the habit of our Saviour, to improve occurrences for the conveyance and illustration of moral truth. The occasion, on which the words, just read, were spoken, was the cure wrought on a man, who had been blind from his birth. Hence our Lord thought proper to show beforehand the effects, which would be produced by his ministry. Those whose minds were honest, docile, and humble, would obtain more clear and consistent views of religious truth; while the careless, the prejudiced, and the self-confident would find themselves more disinclined either to receive or obey it. It is by no means impossible, that the Jews and Gentiles were especially in our Saviour's mind. The latter, not having received any distinct revelation from God, could have no pretence for pleading the sufficiency of their religious knowledge. Through the ministry of Christ and his apostles, they, who were thus blind, received sight. As it is written: To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see; and they that have not heard, shall understand.

The Jews were already in the Church of God, enjoying the knowledge and privileges of such a relation. The event of Christ's coming was, in regard to them, the loss of that relation, and its concomitant privileges. They lost advantages, which they had;

while the Gentiles acquired those, which they previously had not. But, as the Gentiles were received into the church, on account of their attention and docility, and the Jews were rejected because of their prejudice and obduracy, the doctrine of the text will remain the same, whether this reception of the Gentiles, and exclusion of the Jews were, or were not, in our Saviour's view.

It may not be impertinent to inquire whether the text: For judgment I am come into the world, that they who see not, might see; and that they, who see, might be made blind, means, that the object of our Lord's advent was as truly and directly the blinding of some, as the illumination of others.

I answer, that the negative of that is shown, not only by the general tenor of Scripture, but by particular and express declarations. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. The Son of Man came into the world not to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The doctrine of our text is this, Though Christianity was designed for the instruction and salvation of men, and is well adapted to produce such effect, its consequences, in regard to some, will be an augmentation of prejudice, vice, and misery: or, in the words, already used, Those, whose minds are honest, docile, and humble, will obtain more clear and consistent views of religious truth; while the careless, the prejudiced, and the self-confident, will find themselves more disinclined either to receive or obey it.

This sentiment is not peculiar to the text, but is clearly conveyed in various parts of the inspired volume: If I had not come and spoken to them, said Christ, concerning the Jews, they had not had sin; but now have they no cloak for their sin. (John 25: 22.) The profligate cities of Tyre and Sidon, we are assured, will experience a doom, at the day of judgment, more tolerable than the doom of those cities, where Jesus displayed divine power, and revealed the will and purposes of God. It were better, saith the apostle, not to have known the

way of righteousness, than, after having known it, to turn from the holy commandment. That, to the minds of such, as are not reformed by the instructions of Christianity, less. powerful influences of the divine Spirit are communicated, seems well to accord with many declarations in Scripture; but even if the truth be not taken into view, there will still be no difficulty in accounting for the fact, implied in our text.

Virtue requires of us feelings and actions, corresponding with the condition in which we are, and with the relations, which we sustain. Impenitence is a state always the reverse of this; it is incongruous with the condition of a creature under a government the most wise, rational and holy. This incongruity is greater, more striking, and criminal, in proportion, as our state and relation are clearly known to us. He, who is so unfavorably situated, as to obtain but a confused view of his duty, is doubtless criminal for neglecting that degree of light, which he enjoys. Moral obliquity is inconsistent with any condition, in which a rational being can be placed. But this inconsistency is more glaring and criminal, when the character of God, the purity of his law, and the tremendous nature of its penalties, are forcibly displayed. Besides, impenitence under such circumstances, implies a greater effort on the side of vice, a heart more determined on rebellion. If, when copious light is communicated, our relations and consequent duties are not acknowledged, we either neglect evidence or resist it. Such neglect or opposition eventually produces confirmed habits. The mind is gradually advancing to a state, in which it will not be difficult to believe without evidence, or disbelieve in opposition to it. For, it is not more easy for the artificer to acquire habits of doing his work slightly, than for the mind to form habits of viewing evidence so confusedly or superficially, as to receive no impression from it. A kind of aptness and dexterity at seizing on error, and rejecting the truth, may as well be acquired, as any motion of the body can be rendered habitual. They, who see, i. e, they who enjoy the means of religious knowledge, but are not solicitous to use them impartially, are thus made blind.

It will not be denied, I suppose, that blindness, thus contracted, is criminal. For, though we are bound to be very cautious, how we attribute the supposed errors of individuals to perverseness of heart, so long as they may originate from other causes, no person can rationally suppose it a matter of indifference, what use is made of our intellectual powers. While we are justly answerable to God for a right use of our agility or bodily strength, no one will assert that we may innocently abuse the far more noble power of comparing and judging.

But to all who remain irreligious in the enjoyment of Christian light, these observations do not apply. Some of this description are not guilty of forming a wrong conclusion as to the doctrines or duties of Christianity. They acknowledge, that unlimited obedience is the duty of man, and is therefore with good reason, required by the law of God. Believing the interminable duration of future rewards and punishments, they do not deny, that motives to become religious, are indescribably powerful. Still, by these motives of such acknowledged weight they are neither reformed nor greatly affected. As the persons of whom we have been speaking, render it easy for themselves to take such confused and superficial views of evidence, as to avoid the conclusion, to which it naturally leads; those of whom we now speak, habituate themselves to similar desultory views of those motives, by which they ought to be influenced. That persons who consider it doubtful, whether there be any future. state, or if there be, whether that state will have any dependance on the present characters of men; that such persons should not be very circumspect in their lives, or anxious concerning their future welfare, is by no means surprising; but that those should be destitute of this circumspection and anxiety, who believe that the doctrine of eternal retribution is clearly taught in the divine oracles, can be accounted for on no other supposition, than that of habitual inattention to acknowledged truth. Let all the light, which is conveyed by the Christian religion, suddenly burst upon the mind of a pagan, carrying with it plenary conviction, let him at once perceive the splendor, VOL. II.

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