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gains so little reputation, and so few followers. O what blessed lives did the primitive disciples of Christ enjoy! What divine satisfaction, what heavenly glory, what convincing power attended their practice, when their whole souls, with all their affections, were devoted to God and Christ, and engaged in the affairs of the upper world! They lived on earth like the children of heaven, and brought a foretaste of the pleasures of the upper world, into these lower regions. O when shall these holy seasons return again? When shall the noble principles of the christian faith animate all the powers of nature, and make us live as becomes the followers and the worshippers of the holy Jesus.

Meditation." Many and useful are the lessons, which I have now learned from the happy influence of the passions, in the important affairs of my salvation. Blessed be God that I was not born in heathenism, and left merely to the teachings of the philosophers. Even the Stoics, who were some of the best of them, deprive ús of all the advantage of pious affections, and all the pleasurable sensations that may be derived from religion; while they teach us to root the passions, if possible, out of our natures. My soul shall mourn in secret for my sins, and be ashamed of my follies: My heart shall fear and love the Lord Tay God, and rejoice and hope in Jesus my Saviour: My spirit with all its warmest affections are thine, O my God, for ever and ever!

"Let all the sects of philosophy hide their heads, and lie silent; give me the bible, where God himself speaks to me by his prophets and apostles: How divinely excellent are their writings! With what sovereign influence do they address my fear and my hope, by the discoveries of a hell and a heaven! How powerfully do they awaken my repentance for past sins, and melt my soul into holy sorrow! In what an illustrious light do they set the majesty of the blessed God, and command my humble adoration! How do they display the wonders of his wisdom, and the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus, to attract all my powers of desire and love! What a blessed foundation have the scriptures laid for an infinite variety of devout inferences and pathetic meditations, suited to my own case? There I find the divine truths that can relieve my soul under every distress; and there I learn the affectionate and devout method of applying them. In every needful hour I will go to the book of God: God and his holy book are my life, and my exceeding joy: Let my soul abide and live upon the divine or awful variety and transporting objects, which are set before me in those sacred pages. Let me be taught with sacred skill to spread abroad my thoughts on the right-hand and on the left, and to expatiate on these holy and heavenly themes: They are fountains of life, and every stream flows with

holiness and consolation. O may all my affections be under the command and influence of these sacred writings: and while they give me intense delight, let them animate me to uncommon zeal in the practice of every duty!

"And why should not our ministers in their labours of the sanctuary, imitate their inspired predecessors, the apostles and the prophets, in raising the pious passions of all that hear them? Why should they not talk to men in such warm and pathetic language as God himself uses? Doth not the great God, the Author of our nature, know what methods are most effectual to fill our hearts with divine sentiments, to draw us near to himself, and prepare us for heaven? Has he condescended to give us so many glorious patterns of preaching in his word, and shall not all that are employed in the divine work copy out the spirit and fervor, the life and power of these inspired examples! O may this dull and heavy heart of mine ever enjoy the happiness of a fervent and lively ministry, that may not only enlighten my understanding, but warm my heart!

And since God has ordained that I should be instructed in divine things by men of like passions with myself, may those whom providence has appointed to instruct me, be also examples of pious affection; that while I see their hearts filled with religious fear and holy love, and joy in the Lord, I may also be smitten with the same religious passions, may catch the holy fire, and find all the train of sprightly and devout sensations conveyed to the very contre of my soul!

"Blessed be the wisdom and grace of my God, that has added sensible signs and emblems to the articles of the christian faith. Let me remember, that I was washed with water in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit; and let me be ever jealous, lest I defile myself again: And, when I attend the sacred institution of the supper, let all the springs of pious passion be let loose, while I view the Son of God suffering for my sins: Let me feel the meltings of holy sorrow, and the highest and strongest efforts of gratitude and love to that glorious and divine person who gave himself to death for me.

"Have I heard that youth is a proper season for lively religion, because the passions of nature are then vigorous; Lord, seize all my affectionate powers in this season of youth, and sanctify them to thyself. Prevent the influence of the wicked world by the early impressions of thy grace, that I may resist the vain allurements of flesh and sense, by having those sprightly powers of nature engaged first on the side of religion. Or if my years of youth have enjoyed this rich and divine favour, I would remember the early loving-kindness of my God, and praise his name in my advanced years with joy and thankfulness."

"Grant, O Lord, that I may never lose the pleasure of religion, by suffering my affections to grow cold and languid. Quicken this lifeless spirit of mine by daily influences from above; Shine upon my soul, O Sun of Righteousness; awaken my drowsy powers to active piety and zeal, and let all my passions conspire with my reasoning faculties to promote the interests of religion in my own heart and life, and to diffuse the savour of godliness all around me. Amen.

DISCOURSE V.

The Abuse of the Passions in Religion.

IN the two last discourses, we learned the use of the passions in matters of religion, and what advantages may be expected from them, in the christian life: We proceed now to the fourth general; and that is, to enquire into the abuse of the passions in religious concerns, or when the exercise of our affections, in the things of God, may be pronounced irregular, and in what manner they should be limited and restrained, and put under better conduct.

Abuse I. Then are the passions irregularly exercised, "when we suffer them to influence our opinions in religion, and to determine our judgment in any points of faith or practice.' The passions were made to be servants to reason, to be governed by the judgment, and to be influenced by truth; but they were never given us to decide controversies, and to determine what is truth, and what is error. Even the best affections, and those that seem to have a strong tendency toward piety, are not always safe guides in this respect; yet they are too often indulged to sway the mind in its search after truth or duty, as I shall make it appear in several instances:

1. Suppose a person should be exceedingly affected with the unlimited goodness and abounding grace of God; if, by this pious affection towards God and his goodness, he is persuaded to think that God has no such severe vengeance for sinful and rebel creatures, and that he will not destroy such multitudes of mankind in hell as the scripture asserts, or that their punishment shall not be so long and so terrible as God has expressly declared; here the passion of love and esteem for the divine goodness, acts in an irregular manner, for it takes off the eyes of the soul from his awful holiness and his strict justice, and the unknown evil that is in sin. It prevents the mind from giving due attention to God's express word, and to those perfections of the divine nature, and his wise and righteous government, which may demand such dreadful and eternal punishment, for the rebellion of a creature against the infinite dignity of its Creator and Governor.

2. Suppose a christian has most powerful impressions made on the passion of fear by the tremendous ideas of God's majesty, and his punishing justice, and thence he concludes that the great

God will pardon no wilful sins, that he will forgive no repeated iniquities, no sins after baptisin and the Lord's-supper, or after vows or solemn engagements, that he will have no mercy upon apostates, even though they turn to him by repentance; this is yielding up truth to the passion of fear, and an abuse of our religious dread of the majesty of God; for such an opinion runs counter to the great design of the gospel, which assures us that Christ came to save the chief of sinners; 1 Tim. i. 15. to remove the guilt of wilful and repeated sins, and to provide forgiveness for some of the most profligate rebels, even for all that renounce their rebellion.

3. Some pious persons have had such an affectionate zeal to honour God, that they have been led by this passion to contrive various forms of service and ceremony, gay and costly rites, with long and painful exercises of devotion, which God never appointed, and have introduced a number of them into his worship. A childish fondness to please the great God with bodily services, has tempted them to forget his own divine prerogative, to prescribe how men should worship him. They have been blinded with this sort of fondness for ceremony, in such a degree, as to lead them far astray from the divine simplicity of worship, which the New Testament has appointed.

4. Some persons out of a passionate desire to honour Christ, and ascribe the whole train of their blessings and salvation to him, have been tempted to think that they are to do nothing toward their own salvation, but to lie still and be saved without any labour or care of their own; so that they have sought no more after sanctification and holiness in themselves, than they have sought to make atonement for their own sins. But this zeal has much darkness in it, and betrays them into a gross mistake, as though they could not ascribe their salvation sufficiently to Christ, unless they fancied that he came to save them in their sins, rather than to save them from sin.

5. It is possible that a person may have so high an esteem and so excessive a love for some near relation, some christian friend, some wise and pious minister of the gospel, that he sees no fault in them: He imitates all their practice, as though they were perfect patterns; he receives all their opinions for certain and divine truths, and believes every thing which they teach, as though they were infallible, without comparing it with the bible, which is the only test of truth in matters of revealed religion. This affection of love to ministers or christians is certainly irregular, when it tempts us to set up their judgments, their practices and their dictates, in the room of the word of God.

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6. Again, it is the same culpable indulgence of our passions to sway our judgment, and bias our understanding, when our souls are warmed with the holy fire of love and devotion under a

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