text with this! "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come!"* Indeed, if we calmly consider, we may be constrained to say on this occasion, "O generation of vipers how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."+ For the viper, when warmed and comforted, biteth the hand that hath saved it from death and those who, having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, afterwards deny the Revelation thereof in the heart, and the wonders He has wrought even in their own experience; if this passage does not include such, whom can it apply to? Well might tears of blood be shed for these, could any thing avail to turn that horrible calamity which they appear but too plainly to be preparing themselves for.

;

The substitution of theory for practice, of profession for obedience, is no new thing; it appears to have been begun by Eve, continued by Adam, and most horribly consummated so early as the time of Cain, who thought to please God by the erection of an altar, and offered his fruits thereon, and evidently had considerable zeal in his religion, which was proved by his being so wroth with his brother, who, with the same regularity, so far as we read, performed also his outward observances, and brought of the firstlings of his flock. Now the relative acceptance of the brothers could hardly relate to the character of their outward offerings; but we may find the

* Matt. vi. 31, 32. † Matt. xii. 34.

ACCEPTANCE THE RESULT OF OBEDIENCE. 23

cause of the rejection of one votary and the acceptance of the other, in the simple rule that the dear Redeemer also always teaches as the very point and fulcrum of acceptance; "If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lyeth at the door."* Yet, continuing to love himself better than God, which was clearly proved by his loving his own will better than the will of his Creator, there appears but small interval between his outward performances of religious forms and the first murder; in which also was involved religious persecution; for his brother's religious attainments appear to have been the chief incitements of his envy and malice. And in every subsequent period of man's history, there has been a strong tendency to rest in theory, though many of those theories were of course excellent, for they had God for their author; yet did their excellency consist in leading man to God; and if they were followed without that result, they became a snare, yea, a rival to God in the heart of man; and in this way have various forms, by some, if not very many, been made a snare by lulling the soul into a false repose, by inducing man to place an undue value on ordinances and records, and thereby satisfying his soul with something short of that true rest to which Christ's Baptism, by oft-repeated exercises, leads the soul by the path of obedience, fidelity, and love.

Now, wherein is the substantial, broad, general difference between the nature of the Jew's practice of resting in forms, while they imagined themselves to be on the road to Heaven, and the practice of professing christians who do the same thing? Christians approve of this language when applied to the Jews, "Ye hypocrites, well did Esias prophecy of you, saying, this people draweth

* Genesis iv. 7.

24

GRATITUDE AND LOVE, THE SOUND

nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; but in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,' ""* Albeit, their doctrines were chiefly the doctrines of God, so far as words are concerned ; but not living in those doctrines, the very Truth became, as regarded their profession thereof, a lie; inasmuch as they declared what they neither felt nor knew, for the things of God are only spiritually discerned.† They taught for gain from their quarter, and made war against those who would not put into their mouth, as mystery, Babylon, the mother of harlots, always has practised and always will, until consigned to that pit from whose bourne no traveller returns.

Doubtless, in every age, there have been men and women who, in connexion with forms, have, in the spirit, sought and found the Lord of Life and Glory, and been by Him led through life and supported in death. And, doubtless, in every age there have been those who, without forms have, in the same spirit, sought and found the same Holy High Priest, and have by Him been led through life and supported in death: yet, as a general epitome of the average of men may we not take this lamentable retrospect? That in all ages of the world a large proportion of mankind have loved themselves a very great deal, and been very faithful to their sins, and have, consequently, had but very little room for the love of God in their hearts, and have been very faithless to Him; moreover, a large proportion of the service they did render, had its very life or existence in a selfish desire to escape from punishment, far, very far away from pure love and gratitude to God for all His manifold mercies and goodness; many of this

* Matt. xv. 7. 9. † 1 Cor. ii. 14.

Isaiah cvi. 11.

MOTIVES TO A RELIGIOUS LIFE.

25

class have, in all ages, been high professors; and some having become hirelings, traders in religion, and others, zealous supporters of hirelings, they have taught the people that religion consists very much in the correctness of their OPINIONS upon certain great Truths, and a corporeal uniting with certain carnal ordinances; and this has been a very palatable bait both with preachers and hearers, because the preachers could sell these commodities, and deliver them to their customers, though they could not supply them with the Holy Ghost for their money; ;* and the hearers were pleased with it, because they would rather part with some of their money than all their sins; and they found the stirring of the Holy witness in their hearts rendering them so uneasy with their sins, that they gladly availed themselves of the false consolations of priestscraft, to get away from, or stifle, that which would have brought them to Christ. Thus both preachers and hearers have united, because they might assent to very many doctrines of Christ, and, adding a few of their own, such as (sin for term of life,) lay fast hold of their claim to this world, while they professed to be heirs of that which is to come; yea, and not only have deceived themselves in this state of existence, but will keep it up to the judgment seat of Christ, at the last day, forgetting the unrepented sins they had committed in those bodies of which they shall have then become divested, and remembering the many instances in which they have talked, and wrought, and done what they have thought to be many wonderful works. But alas! too late for repentance will the webb of sophistry be torn from their then naked souls by the solemn declaration, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."+

*Acts xvii. 22. † Matt. vii. 23.

с

26 TRUTH SHOULD BE FELT BEFORE BEING UTTERED.

The religion of this class of persons has generally consisted very much in doubtful disputations, in which is mixed up much error, with much of that which, when uttered in the will of God, is Truth; but if Divine Truths be uttered without being felt or understood, they are empty declamations; or, perhaps, to those who utter them, even worse; as it is written, "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."* Yet we know that many men utter with their lips that declaration, who, notwithstanding, also declare that divine revelation has long ceased to be vouchsafed to man; thus denying the only authority by which they can acknowledge Him, and denying the following promises of Jesus to His disciples; And lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." And again; Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them;"‡ and again, Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, and he with me;"§ and again, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me; if any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself;"|| and again, "If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."¶

But then, if a man's heart chiefly desires this world's good, it is with him as with all others; His servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or

* 1 Cor. xii. 3. § Rev. iii. 20.

Mat. xxviii. 20.

John vii. 16, 17.

Mat. xviii. 20.

¶ John xiv. 23, 24