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exhibited vividly to our imaginations; and familiarized, by the analogy of our own nature. Not so the Holy Spirit. The mode of his subsistence; the process by which he operates; and the peculiar functions which he exercises, in the great scheme of universal government, are all shrouded in a sublime obscurity.

Such is a faint and imperfect outline, of the plan which the Gospel exhibits to us: a plan, by which our weak and vacillating hearts are kept, in the narrow way that leadeth unto life. Thus, the peculiar truths of Christianity tend to maintain the devotional spirit, at a safe, though unearthly elevation. They neither raise us to a giddy ecstasy; nor suffer us to subside, into a heartless indifference. They counteract the gravitation of our carnal nature; but they give no support to those flights of extravagance, which would rise to an unseemly familiarity with the Godhead. The clear and steady light of the Gospel, at once disperses the gloom of superstition, and obscures those transient and ineffectual meteors, which fanaticism would enkindle, to allure and to mislead us. Repelling all presumptuous levity, while it dissipates every servile apprehension; tempering our joy with godly fear, and soothing our awe into filial confidence, it diffuses over the entire man, a meek, solemn, rational equanimity. It teaches us to pray with the spirit, and to pray with the understanding als to know our Creator, and ourselves to see, in him, a father, a sovereign, and a judge; and,

in ourselves, the children of his love, the subjects of his empire, the enfranchised heirs of everlasting life to perceive, in a word, that, through the knowledge of Him, who hath called us to glory and virtue, are given us, for the present, all things which pertain unto life and godliness, and for the future, exceeding great and precious promises; even, that we shall become partakers of the DIVINE NATURE!

109

SERMON VI.

HEBREWS, VI. 1.

Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.

It is now, I would hope, sufficiently manifest, that the superstitions of the great mass of mankind have, in all ages, pointed to the incarnate Son of God; and that, in him, they receive, at once, their consummation and correction. The Gospel of Christ was, in a special sense, preached to the poor; the revelation of his character and agency, was peculiarly adapted to stablish the hearts, and to exalt the conceptions, of the weak and uninstructed. But there is another great agent in the Divine Essence. And, as the impulses of the multitude point to the Son, so, the theories and speculations of the more enlightened and contemplative, lead, with nearly equal facility, to the Holy Ghost. To exhibit this latter correspondence, with clearness, and in detail, would occupy a long and toilsome investigation. Even of those evidences which might easily be adduced, the circumstances of this place must limit us to brief, partial, and broken sketches. The following discourse, therefore, will furnish occasion, rather than matter, for your own reflections; and there will be abundant room for your

diligence in pursuing, and your charity in pronouncing upon, the remarks which shall be offered to your consideration.

There is one general observation, which I would premise it is this, that, in those anticipations of spiritual comfort, which may be traced among the sages of antiquity, we must expect much admixture of human error. It will, however, be no small satisfaction, if we discover some type of good things to come; recollecting, however, at the same time, that every type is, of necessity, imperfect. Thus much, then, we can discover: we can prove, that the spirit never left himself without a witness in the heart; that there is at least a typical correspondence, between the presentiments of man, and the predestination of God. Indeed, we should remember, that more would be injurious; because the great utility of all such inquiries, is, not merely to confirm our natural anticipations, but to establish the necessity of a fuller and clearer revelation of truth. The impression made on our minds, by observing how near to that truth were the first principles of speculative men, is deepened into a more solemn feeling, when we perceive the absurdities in which these principles ended. Thus, we are disposed to embrace, with a more thankful alacrity, the great salvation which has been achieved for us; and which, alone, provides safe and commensurate objects, for the high aspirations of improved human nature.

It is the belief of Christians, that man was created

for immortal happiness; and that his happiness is to consist, principally, in a communion with God. At the same time, we hold, that the natural man knoweth not the things of God; that to acquire such knowledge, we must be born again; that, regeneration is the work of God; and, that this work is effected, not merely by a process of influential suggestions, but by the actual indwelling of God in our hearts; finally, that this indwelling is not to be attributed to the essential subsistence of Deity, (because to that subsistence we do not ascribe either local presence, or a local motion,) but to some mysterious, yet real effluence of Divinity, which, from human analogies, we denominate a PERSON. We are now to consider, whether the learning of heathen antiquity presents to us any precursive shadow of this great doctrine.

I do not mean to insist much at present, upon the universal practice of invocation, among the poets. Yet, there are considerations, sufficient to make us pause, before we lightly reject the coincidence. The higher we ascend into antiquity, the more sincere, and even religious solemnity, we find in those addresses. In very early times, the poet and the prophet were the same person; and it is certain, that the spirit of prophecy was, in the beginning, vouchsafed to some among the gentiles. Balaam is an instance that you all recollect; and, in a tract of Bishop Horsley's, you will find abundant

*A Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Messiah, dispersed among the Heathen.'

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