the ambiguities of language, and the fallacies of shallow thinking in favour of what is false, as well as of what is true. Hence, even those Moralists who allow an unlimited Freedom to the Inquiry after speculative Truth, still condemn the use of Ridicule with regard to religious Doctrines. To employ Jests and Grotesque images, Sarcasms and Sneers, on such subjects, is to intoxicate men, while we are leading them among the most difficult and dangerous paths.

741. As implying a degree of Levity, the familiar mention of the deeper matters which belong to Religion is not without evil. For the deeper matters of Religion cannot be properly apprehended and meditated upon, without a degree of reflection and abstraction which is inconsistent with familiar mention of them. This is especially the case with the Idea of God. The thought of God, the Author of Duty, the End of Hope, the ever-guiding Intelligence of the world, the ever-present Witness of our Thoughts, our Holy Lawgiver, our Righteous Judge; cannot fitly be called up in our minds, without being detained a moment, as the object of Reverence. To turn our thoughts towards God, is almost to address ourselves to him; and we are not thoughtlessly to use words which may make this demand upon us.

742. Hence a good man will employ the Name of God cautiously and sparingly in his speech; and will never introduce it on any slight occasion, or in any trifling spirit. Still less will he employ it as an indication of some confused vehemence or reckless fierceness in his thoughts; as is done in common Profane Swearing. Such are the dictates of Natural Piety. They are confirmed by being enjoined by God himself, in one of the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him

guiltless that taketh his Name in vain. And this is further indicated in the teaching of Christ (Matth. v., 35). For the Jews had apparently applied the commandment to the name JEHOVAH only: but Christ extends it to every expression, in which the thought of God is virtually referred to. I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.

743. All the Duties of which we have been speaking may be included in the term Christian Edification, of which we have already spoken. But it is the Christian's duty to edify or communicate religious instruction to those around him, in a larger sense. The body of Christians who are in the world at every period, have it for their business to diffuse, to the whole world, the knowledge and the spirit of Christ; as the first Disciples, in their time, had this for their business. The true Disciples of Christ are always a Church, an Ecclesia, a Body called out of the great body of the world; not only to be themselves brought to God, but to bring all men to God. They are always the Salt of the earth; the element by which it is to be preserved from corruption. Every Christian is bound to labour to make other men truly Christians, as far as his influence extends-first, as we have said, his family and neighbours; next, his nation; and then the whole of mankind-the whole Human Family of his Brethren. Every Christian, and every Community of Christians, so far as they possess this Christian spirit, will be led to look upon themselves as Christian Missionaries, whose business it is to impart to all men Religious Truth.

CHAPTER XV.

CHRISTIAN ORDINANCES IN GENERAL.

744. WE have already (591) spoken of Christian Ordinances; namely, certain habitual formal and social acts by which members of the Church acquire and express their Union with the Church, the Blessings and Privileges which this union produces, and the Emotions and Affections to which their Christian condition gives rise. As such Ordinances, we have mentioned Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Prayer and Praise, Profession of Faith and Preaching. These Ordinances involve the appointment of sacred times, as the Lord's Day, and other Christian Festivals, and of sacred Places and Forms. Besides these Ordinances, which belong to the universal course of Christian life, Christian doctrines give to Marriage, and to Death, a religious aspect which is expressed by Religious Acts accompanying each event; and thus the Religious Solemnization of Marriages and Funerals may also be looked upon as Christian Ordinances. Oaths are necessarily, as we have seen, Religious Acts; and therefore, in a Christian community, are a Christian Ordinance. Finally, the appointment of an Order of men for the purposes of Religious Ministration and Religious Teaching, and the mode of Admission into this Order, are also Christian Ordinances.

745. The use of Christian Ordinances is a Duty binding upon every Christian; for they are the means of a Christian's finding in Religion that support which Morality needs, and those Blessings and Privileges which Christianity offers to Christians.

746. Hence it is proper to show separately, with regard to the Ordinances which have been mentioned, that they are Christian Ordinances, in the

form in which they are appointed to be observed in this country. It belongs to the Religious Teacher to insist, in a more especial manner, upon the Spiritual Efficacy (592) of these Ordinances. We consider them as a portion of the Rule of Christian Duty, in which they are necessarily included.

747. The Supreme Rule of Christian Duty, with regard to Ordinances, is the same as with regard to everything else—the Will of God. This Will, however made known to Christians, is, as we have said (654), the Christian Rule of Conscience. But the Rules of Christian Duty, with regard to Ordinances, cannot be collected from Scripture in the same manner as the Precepts of Christian Morality: for Rules for Christian Ordinances, as to their Form, are not given in the Scriptures. Hence we must collect the Will of God respecting Ordinances from other sources.

Of such sources, there are four principal ones, which we shall term; Natural Piety; Early Revelation; Apostolic Institution; and Catholic Tradition.

748. We have seen (674) that Public Worship of the Deity is pointed out as a Duty by the Dictates of Natural Piety: and that Public Worship involves the establishment of Sacred Times, Sacred Places, and Religious Ceremonies. Hence it has been, by some Christian writers, reckoned as among the dictates of Natural Piety, that God should be worshipped in a special and marked manner, at the recurrence of certain fixed intervals of time; as, every morning, every seventh day, every tenth day, every month. Certain it is, that such an usage has prevailed very extensively, we might almost say universally, among nations in all ages. So has also the celebration of annual festivals, having a reference to the annual phenomena of the seasons, or to some historical event. With regard to some of these observ

ances, as the cycle of seven days, they are found to be so widely diffused in the remotest antiquity, that some persons have judged them to be traces of some Revelation made by God to man, in the early period of the world's history; and before that dispersion of the human race by which they were separated into nations.

749. But of Revelations previous to the coming of Christ, we have no authoritative account except the Old Testament. The Law of Moses, delivered in the Old Testament, contains a very large and detailed body of Precepts, concerning Religious Observances; concerning Ceremonies and Sacrifices, Sacred Places and Times. These were delivered to the Jews; and were observed by the Jews, with more or less modification, till the coming of Christ. It is proper to consider how far these Precepts may be regarded as guides for the Christian Church, in the regulation of its ordinances.

750. The Old Testament has a high claim upon the reverence of Christians. The Revelation of Christ is founded upon, and is the sequel to, the Revelations of which the Books of the Old Testament contain the record. Christ and his Apostles, in their teaching, recognize and confirm the authority of Moses and the prophets; and the precepts of Christian morality are often delivered in the way of a commentary upon the Law of Moses. The Jewish prophets predicted the coming of Christ, the promised Messiah; and by their predictions prepared men for the reception of his teaching. The connexion between the Jewish Laws and the Christian Doctrines was so close, that at first, a great number of the Jewish Christians held the whole Law of Moses to be binding on Christians, even as to ceremonies; for instance, circumcision, meats, sabbath-days, new moons, and the like. This opinion was rejected by the teachers of genuine Christianity.