these pretensions produced the same effect at this moment in our own Country? Have not spiritual pride and conceit of superior sanctity produced a manifest Schism in the bosom of our National Church, and forbidden us to hold the Faith in the bond of peace, in meekness and in charity? I leave the answer to these questions to those who, like myself, have lived to witness the great change in the state of society and manners which has taken place within the last thirty or forty years; and proceed to exhort you, in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews, to "follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."* When our Saviour was asked by the Pharisees," Which was the great Commandment in the Law?" his answer was, that the first and great Commandment of the Law was, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and the second is like to it, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Our Saviour's determination on this point is plain and clear; full and decisive; that there is no comparison between the excellence of ritual and moral duties; between formal ceremony and sincere devotion. The * Chap. xiii. v. 14. + Matthew xii. 33. true and ultimate intention of all the Laws and Institutions of Religion is-to make men holy. "The end of the Commandment (says the Apostle) is Charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and Faith unfeigned."* Let us not be deceived: no one who, making profession of the Christian Religion, does not shew in his conduct the virtues of the Christian life; no one who, expecting to be saved by Christ, disregards the conditions upon which that salvation depends; in a word, no profane, unjust, or unrighteous person, can derive any benefit from pretensions to superior knowledge and piety. On the contrary, he that will come to Christ must come, as the Prophet beautifully expresses it, “clothed with the garments of Salvation, and covered with the robe of Righteousness; as a Bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a Bride adorneth herself with her jewels."† * 1 Tim. i. 5, 6. + Isaiah lxi. 10. SERMON XIV. OF THE HAPPINESS OF A FUTURE LIFE. 1 COR. II. 9. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. THE Apostle in this, as in other references to the Old Testament, has not confined himself strictly to the same form of words. The passage of Scripture here cited occurs in the 64th Chapter, v. 4, of the Prophet Isaiah, and in our authorized Version is thus expressed :"For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." In which words, though capable of * Instead of " what thou hast prepared," &c. by an enallage, or change of persons, not uncommon in the Prophetical Writings. * being differently rendered and interpreted,* nothing more seems to be implied than that God would confer on those who "wait for" (i. e. who trust in) him, blessings greater than can be comprehended by the limited faculties of man, and which are known to him alone whose wisdom is infinite. But by the Apostle this passage of Scripture is applied either (as some think) to the Gospel Dispensation, and the blessings attending those who embraced it; or else to the happiness of another life, to that state of endless and ineffable bliss which "God hath prepared for them that love him;" for them who faithfully serve and cheerfully obey him. † Taken in this latter sense, the words of the Text may be considered as a kind of preclusion to all conjecture or inquiry respecting the condition of man in another state of existence; and yet there is no subject on which his curiosity is more actively employed. doubt it is a subject highly interesting; but one upon which no satisfactory information can be obtained. It is that of which, as the Text assures us, we can form no conception; "it has not entered into the heart of man: * See Lowth's Isaiah; note on this place. No it + For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. 1 John, v. 3. is above the reach of his rational faculties. Still we dwell with pleasure on this "hidden mystery," and are anxious to learn all that can be collected concerning it either from Scripture or Tradition. In the Old Testament whatever relates to another life is delivered in metaphorical and obscure terms. Not to speak at present of the well known passage of Job, (Chap. xix. v. 25,) nor of the allusions to this subject, which are found in Psalm xvi. 49, and other places; the Text which bears most strongly upon it is Daniel, Chap. xii. v. 2 and 3.—" Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." In the first of these verses (as is observed by a modern Translator of this Book) reward and punishment are expressed generally as to their degree, and merely said to be perpetual in their duration. The design is to convince the eminently virtuous that they are in a more especial manner the favourites of Heaven, and may with greater confidence expect their reward.* * Wintle's Daniel, p. 204. The word many in the above citation is equivalent to all, i. e. the multitude, or the many. |