I close this subject, then, by offering you the following considerations. Remember, that, in proportion to the purity of your own hearts, will be the justness of your thoughts of God. The more like God you become, the more - I would say it with reverence will you enter into his character. And, without this conformity of heart and conduct to his will, your knowledge of the Divinity will be nothing but a cold and barren speculation. To what purpose is it, that you can enter into all the proofs of his eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, and infinity, or arrange a demonstration of God's attributes with the utmost perspicuity; to what purpose talk of him in language worthy of his greatness, and become eloquent in the praises of Jehovah ; if you remain untouched with the moral excellence of his character, if God is not the object of your love, if there exists in your heart a secret disgust at his government, and an aversion to his purity? The mind of such a man is like a cold and empty chamber hung round with the maps and figures of the different parts of the earth, which he has seen and known only in these delineations; regions of which he knows nothing by personal knowledge, where he has no friends, no attachments, no hopes, no ties of interIf God is not our God, it is of little purpose, that we believe that such a Being exists. But, my friends, if your hearts are frequently in communion with him, you will have an eternal friend in this awful Being. If you can enjoy everything, which you meet, as his gift, every creature in existence will furnish you with new proofs of his goodness. God will enter into all your thoughts. No event, however unexpected, will weaken your trust in him. What you cannot now interpret you will believe contains a kind meaning; what you fear you will fear as a mark of

est.

his displeasure, and in no other view; what you suffer you will suffer as the instrument of his goodness. The changes in the world, and, much less, the dark and the light aspects of your affairs, will not, for a moment, give you any misapprehensions of your Maker. The longer you live, the more will you acknowledge the equity of his dispensations, and the more humbly will you rely upon his providence.

If, then, you would correct your false notions of God, you must be more intimate with him. Live a life of habitual devotion, and your breast will be the temple of Divinity. "He, that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him." Without this spirit of piety, it seems to me, that all our discourses, all our descriptions of Jehovah, and, indeed, everything relating to religion, must appear to you like the conversation of foreigners, in a language which, however familiarized to your ear, you do not understand. Without the aid of a devotional spirit, God must be forever a stranger to you. Oh! my friends, let us beware, lest the light, which bursts upon the world to come, reveal him to us, not as a stranger only, but as an enemy.

SERMON XXI.

JOHN VII. 17.

IF ANY MAN WILL DO HIS WILL, HE SHALL KNOW OF THE DOC

TRINE, WHETHER IT BE OF GOD, OR WHETHER I SPEAK OF

MYSELF.

AMID the great variety of existing opinions on the subject of religion in general and of Christianity in particular, this text often becomes the refuge of the weary and distracted mind; and it is also often held out as an encouragement to the youthful inquirer who is beginning to seek with anxiety for the truth as it is in Jesus. The Christian quotes this text against the infidel, when he is not willing directly to impeach his motives. The theological polemic quotes it against his adversary, when he is himself compelled, by stress of argument, to retreat from his positions, and shelter himself in the goodness of his heart, rather than in the strength of his cause. The fanatic quotes it against the man whom he cannot make to feel as he does, and who, he is sure, therefore, will not think with him. And, lastly, the man of real candor quotes it, when, weary of the war of words, disgusted with the spirit of sectarianism and the obscurities of human systems, he seeks repose, for himself and his friends, in this merciful declaration, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."

The words were addressed by our Savior to those incredulous Jews who had heard his public teachings in Jerusalem, at the feast of tabernacles. We learn from the Evangelist, in this chapter, that there was, at this time, much dissension among the Jews respecting Jesus. Some said he was a good man; others said nay, and maintained that he seduced the people. For, adds the evangelist, no man, not even the friends of Jesus, openly professed his attachment to him, through fear of the Jews. Then Jesus went up to the temple and taught, that is, in the most public manner. The Jews, who heard him, were astonished at his preaching, and said, Whence hath this man any knowledge of the sacred writings, having never received the usual education? He has had no instruction in the science of the law, to which our doctors are brought up; or, as we should say, he has never received a professional education. The language of our English version," How knoweth this man letters, having never learned," does not, in this place, give the meaning of the Jews. Their wonder was, that our Savior should assume the office of a public religious instructer, without having been brought up at the feet of some rabbi. Jesus replies to this objection: The doctrine, which I deliver, is not mine, but His who sent me. If any one will do the will of God, he will know whether this doctrine has God for its author, or whether I speak of myself, and merely on my own authority. He, who speaketh of himself, or on his own authority merely, consults his own glory; but he, who consults the honor of him who commissions him, is true; a teacher very far removed from any attempt at imposture.

Before we proceed to state and illustrate the doctrine of our text, we have two preliminary remarks to suggest.

In the first place, the text allows us to conclude that a man, without the knowledge of Christianity, or of any other revelation, may yet be disposed to do the will of God. It supposes that there may exist in the mind a predisposition to religious obedience, or, at least, a sincerity and ingenuousness of temper, which qualifies some minds better than others for instruction. The disposition, to which our Savior makes the promise, is that general disposition of religious obedience, which, certainly, is not entirely unknown under any dispensation; and which may accompany that knowledge of God, which we are commonly said to derive from the works of creation and the plain deductions of reason. The proffer of the gospel, therefore, presupposes a knowledge of some truths among mankind, and a certain moral character in individuals, either favorable or unfavorable to its reception. Christianity does not profess to give us our primary, much less our only, religious notions. Neither does it suppose every man to be utterly averse from all good, and inclined to all evil, and that continually, till he comes within its enlightening doctrine and sanctifying influences. It supposes some groundwork in human nature, on which the gospel is to build, some previous moral capacities in a man, as necessary to the operation of the gospel motives. It is intended, indeed, to regenerate the human heart; but it also supposes the heart to be already prepared to yield to its regenerating influence. In short, the language of the text implies that we must be inclined to do the will of God, before we can receive the doctrine of Jesus Christ as the truth of God. Of course, our disposition to do the will of God cannot depend exclusively on our faith in Christ.

Our second remark is, that the text gives to an honest