by the knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and faith in him, as revealed in the gospel, the incarnate Son of GOD and our REDEEMER. Religion, therefore, in a sinner, as variously defined in the Holy Scriptures, is "repentance towards GoD, and faith toward our LORD JESUS CHRIST," "the life of GOD in the soul,”—“ the kingdom of GOD within you." And this "kingdom of GoD is not meat and drink," consisting in mere ceremonial observances, but in "the knowledge of the truth," in "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the HOLY GHOST." Rom. xiv. 17. Religion produces a moral loveliness, with which it adorns its possessor as "the fruit of the SPIRIT," and this beauty consists of "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance; against which there is no law." Gal. v. 22, 23.

Genuine personal religion leads the intelligent Christian, who has entered into the spirit of his principles, to acknowledge the striking appropriateness of the apostle's testimony, and to adopt it with gratitude to the GoD of his salvation. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with GoD through our LORD JESUS CHRIST: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of GoD. And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of GoD is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY GHOST, which is given unto us. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we joy in God through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, by whom we have now received the atonement." Rom. v. 1, 2, 5, 10, 11.

Influenced by the purifying and consoling principles of the gospel, the true Christian proceeds in his course of sobriety, uprightness, and piety, discharging the duties of civil and social life," adorning the doctrine of GoD his SAVIOUR." And though conscious of many infirmities, he is no longer the slave of passion; but "sanctified by the truth," feeling the propriety of the inspired testimony to the Christians of Rome-" Being now made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." vi. 22.

Religion qualifies the true believer for the enjoyment of temporal and worldly good, with thankfulness of heart to GOD the FATHER of mercies and it equally prepares him to bow with resignation under the evils of the present life, with a cheerful hope of eternal glory. Is the Christian possessed of affluence, “the love of CHRIST Constrains him," with enlarged benevolence of heart, to relieve the distressed, and to " weep with those that weep" and while reflecting that "the whole world lieth in wickedness," 1 John v. 19; it engages him to rejoice in contributing liberally to bless those who are "perishing for lack of knowledge," with the saving ministry of the gospel of CHRIST. Hence have arisen all the Bible and Missionary societies to propagate through all nations "the glorious gospel of the blessed God."

"Man is born to trouble," being a mortal, fallen creature: sickness, pain, and calamity are, therefore, unavoidable in the present life. The promises of the Scriptures, however, inspire the soul with that "peace of GoD which passeth all understanding, and which keeps the heart and mind through CHRIST JESUS." Phil. iv. 6. And while even the pains of mortality are endured, the man of GoD is enabled, with inspiring resignation and hope, to say, "These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2. Cor. iv. 17. "For I am persuaded. that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of GoD, which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD." Rom. viii. 38, 39.

Inestimably precious as are the spiritual benefits which produce the state of mind here exhibited, chiefly in the language of inspiration, they are the common privileges of all true believers on JESUS CHRIST, and evidently the legitimate fruits of the SPIRIT of GOD, by means of a devout reading of the Holy Scriptures.

DISSERTATION XX.

NATIONAL BENEFITS FROM SCRIPTURAL KNOWLEDGE.

Divine Revelation regards man individually, and in society-The Scriptures reveal GoD-they es tablish law-they restrain crime-they enforce morality-they promote humanity-benevolent institutions-they provide for civilization-Influence of Christian missions.

DIVINE Revelation is designed for man as an individual, contemplating him in his extreme circumstances of ignorance, guilt, and mortality. It affords him all the relief that he needs in the lessons of infinite wisdom, exhibiting an almighty SAVIOUR, and the promise of life eternal in the kingdom of GOD. Divine Revelation regards man at the same time as a social being, and addresses him in all the various relations of domestic and civil life. This inestimable treasure, therefore, must be of supreme importance to communities, necessarily bringing and securing the most valuable national benefits, the mention of some of which will illustrate the preciousness of the Holy Scriptures.

1. THEY REVEAL GOD.-Communities cannot exist without the acknowledgment of a Deity; and those nations who have possessed no correct knowledge of "the only living and true God," have framed to themselves divinities of wood and stone, contrivances of crafty priests and legislators, as the means of preserving their power over the people. To an intelligent pious mind, what can be so truly humiliating as the idea of a nation of men, rational beings, as of Burmah, of Japan, or of China, prostrate in adoration before a block of wood or stone, fashioned with their own mortal hands? How degrading to men endowed with reason! How ineffably foolish, worse than brutish, in itself! How awfully criminal! What a grievous insult to the ALMIGHTY CREATOR!

Criminal absurdities such as these were once practised by our forefathers: but, thanks to the "Father of mercies," they have been banished by the brightness and glory of the Holy Scriptures; and the monstrous delusions of idolatry no longer degrade the privileged inhabitants of Great Britain, nor the favored people of America! Every good and ennobling institution arises from the acknowledgment of the glorious and self-existent CREATOR of all things, the only

and eternal GOD.

2. THEY ESTABLISH LAW.-Man is a moral being: and society cannot exist without law. GOD is the only acknowledged source of moral obligation; and conformity to his law is the only rectitude. Despotism and atheism prevail, in various forms, with inseparable evils, in every country destitute of Divine revelation; and this inestimable blessing is the instrumental cause of all our social benefits and national advantages.

Dr. Dwight remarks: "The only object which the atheist knows in the moral world is man; and man lowered to the humblest possible level of intellectual existence. His origin, in the view of the atheist, is the same with that of the mushroom; and his character that of a mere animal. He is the subject of no moral government; unsusceptible of moral obligation; incapable therefore of virtue, excellence, and loveliness. How obvious is it that, on these views of man, there can be erected no personal worth, enjoyment, or hope; no

common good, no sense of rectitude, and no efforts for the promotion of general happiness. This intolerable state of things would compel even atheists to unite in society, and establish government; but the rulers would feel no sense of rectitude, possess no virtue, and realize no moral obligation; convenience, of course, or in better words, passion and appetite would dictate all the conduct of these rulers. The nature of a government directed by passion and appetite we know imperfectly, by the histories of Caligula, Nero, and Heliogabalus; and more thoroughly, though still imperfectly, in those of Danton, Marat, and Robespierre, and their associates. Who could be willing to see such a tissue of madness, cruelty, misery, and horror, woven again? The subjects of such a government would, at the same time, be in the same manner, under the same doctrine. Their conduct would accordingly be an exact counterpart to that of their rulers. Appetite would change every man into a swine, and passion into a tiger. To deceive, to defraud, to betray, to maim, and to torture, would be the common employment, and the common sport. The dearest and most venerable relations would be violated by incestuous pollution; and children, such of them I mean as were not cast under a hedge, thrown into the sea, or dashed against the stones, would grow up without home, without parent, without a friend. The world would become one vast den; one immeasurable sty; and the swine and the wolf would be degraded by a comparison with its inhabitants."

Enormities such as are here described have existed in every country destitute of the light of Divine revelation. And by the testimony of the most unexceptionable witnesses, they still exist and prevail, in a greater or less degree, according to the measure of their destitution of the light of the Holy Scriptures. 3. THEY ENFORCE MORALITY.-Vice and immorality are lamented as fearfully prevailing in America. No intelligent observer of society among us can fail to observe this but it may confidently be asked, whether they do not prevail at least equally in other countries? Morality certainly cannot be less in degree among us than in other nations; and, while alarming deficiency is still acknowledged, it may be a subject of pious exultation, that a standard of practical morality equally high does not exist in any other part of the world as it prevails among American Christians: this, however, "with one mind and one mouth," they unite in ascribing to the sanctifying influence of Divine Revelation.

4. THEY PROMOTE HUMANITY.-"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," is the imperative injunction of the law of GOD; and both the spirit and the letter of this benevolent precept are imbodied in the obligations of the gospel. Humanity in the highest degree is professed by Christians as inculcated by the gospel; and the institutions of America, and modern Europe especially, afford a striking illustration of its influences.

Dr. Valpy, in his "Sermon before the Royal Humane Society" of London, remarks: "To the influence of Christianity are to be attributed those asylums for the relief of the miserable, which humanity has consecrated as monuments of beneficence. Constantine was the first who built hospitals for the reception of the sick and wounded in the different provinces of the Roman empire. These establishments were multiplied in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries, in Italy, France, and Spain. They were afterwards so generally adopted, that according to Matthew Paris, not less than nineteen thousand charitable houses for leprosy alone existed in the Christian states in the tenth century. Rome contained forty hospitals for various charitable purposes. The number of similar establishments in Petersburg is almost incredible to those who recollect the sudden growth of that capital. In Paris, besides private establishments, there were before the revolution forty-eight public foundations for the relief of disease and indigence."

Great Britain and the United States, it is well known, stand pre-eminently distinguished through all their cities by such monuments of Christian sympathy; and all Europe, not to say all the world, is indebted to the missionary labors of that "prince of philanthropists," JOHN HOWARD but he, and all who have shown their generous pity for suffering humanity, in providing hospitals, infirmaries, and asylums, to relieve the sick and indigent, the blind and dumb, the aged, the widow, and the fatherless, have professed their moving impulse to have been derived from the merciful dictates of the Holy Scriptures.

5. THEY PROVIDE FOR CIVILIZATION.-Civilization has ever been most effectually promoted by the Christian missionaries, diffusing the knowledge of Divine Revelation. Apostolic men went into all the world, and their labors regenerated society. Europe has been unspeakably benefited by this means. The various tribes of Germany relinquished human sacrifices; the Scythian clans ceased to use the skins of their enemies for clothes, and the Hungarians to devour the hearts of their captives in war, after the introduction of Christianity. The Scandinavians refrained from the common practice of suicide on their reception of the gospel, and their slaves and wives no longer devoted themselves voluntarily to death to honor the deceased in the paradise of Odin. Christianity imparted to the Danes, Norwegians, and Russians, just ideas of property, and led them to abandon their murderous system of piracy. The Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, were recovered from the rudest barbarism, acquired the use of letters, and rose to civilization, as the fruit of their conversion to the gospel. Laws corresponding with the benevolent genius of the gospel were framed in the several nations; and every one who compares the codes of the Visigoths, Lombards, and Anglo-Saxons, with the laws of the emperors Theodosius, Justinian, and Charlemagne, sanctified greatly by the doctrine of CHRIST, sees abundant reason to admire the benevolent and civilizing influence of Christianity.

Modern missions to the heathen afford the most remarkable evidence on this subject; and the astonishing moral transformation of the inhabitants of South Africa, and of the numerous islands of the Southern ocean, has excited the admiration of every one, considering the subject as illustrating the civilizing power of Christianity.

"Britain" (says a late writer)" affords the finest and noblest example of the civilizing influence of Scriptural knowledge. Druidism, with its sanguinary rites, the religion of our forefathers, was succeeded by the impure mythology of Rome, and then by the cruel and war-inspiring worship of Odin, Wodin, and other divinities of the northern hordes. Christianity triumphed in the conversion of many of our ferocious Druid forefathers; sanctified many a convert from the filthy worship of Jupiter and his kindred divinities; and at length the Saxons ceased to immolate their miserable captives, being converted in a great degree from war as a business by the heavenly doctrine of CHRIST. This divine spirit of the gospel gradually prevailed in our favored country, abolishing one pernicious custom after another, until, in our privileged times, social blessings are enjoyed in a greater measure than in any other nation; and justice and humanity are known generally to influence the active classes of society as the genuine fruits of the gospel. And especially during the last half century, since our missionaries have carried the Bible with its regenerating blessings throughout the world, every country has participated in the precious benefits of Christianity."

28

DISSERTATION XXI.

STATE OF MIND REQUIRED IN READING THE SCRIPTURES.

Dispositions corresponding with the character of the Bible must be possessed by its readers— Reverence-Self-denial-Faith-Meckness-Obedience-Devotion-Our Saviour's Injunction—

Dr. Owen's Recommendation.

DIVINE Revelation necessarily requires to be regarded by its students in a manner corresponding with its heavenly character. We must not look upon the pages of the sacred volume as if it were a common book, and however we may have been familiar with the Bible from our childhood, we must not read the Holy Scriptures as ordinary writings. Suitable dispositions of mind are indispensable in us, so as to be able to profit by the perusal of the oracles of GoD agreeable to their merciful and gracious design.

James the apostle gives inspired directions to hearers of the word, and they were evidently intended for the instruction of readers. 'Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness," says the sacred writer, "and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Jam. i. 21, 22. The apostle Peter also exhorts: "Laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the LORD is gracious." 1 Pet. ii. 1-3.

There is great reason to fear that some read the Bible only for the purpose of entertainment, while others consult it principally as the most authentic and instructive record of ancient history, and some refer to it chiefly as affording the greatest variety of examples of the sublime and beautiful in literary composition. Those, however, who derive from it wisdom, holiness, and consolation, agreeably to its divine design, reflect upon its awful contents, in which themselves are personally interested, as heirs of an imperishable existence, desirous of immortality and eternal life.

1. Reverence is requisite in readers of the Scriptures. Nothing on earth possesses the sacredness of the Bible, as it is the volume of divine inspiration, the collection of the oracles of GOD. It is the sacred rule of our duty in this life, and the law by which we shall be judged at the tribunal of CHRIST. Certainly nothing can be more unbecoming than a trifling, careless, irreverent frame of mind in reading the Scriptures; and serious reverence should be cherished as an indispensable qualification for their profitable perusal. GoD calls for this temper by the word of his prophet: "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." Isa. lxvi. 2. Superstition leads to an absurd veneration for the elegant appearance and rich binding of a sumptuous volume: but pious reverence regards the divine testimony and the heavenly doctrine of the writings: hence the Psalmist's language should be that of every Christian: " My heart standeth in awe of thy word." Psal. cxix. 161.

2. Self-denial is necessary in reading the Scriptures. Divine doctrine militates against all the sentiments natural to the corrupt propensities of the human heart: favorite opinions, therefore, and preconceived notions, must be given up, unless in accordance with the express testimony of Scripture; and in profitably reading the sacred word, every evil passion must be denied, and every unsanctified feeling must be disallowed. We must, as Peter directs, "lay aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil speaking," which