The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy,
by Richard de Courcy, Edited by Brian Hill
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Title: Sermons by the late Rev. Richard de Courcy
Author: Richard de Courcy
Editor: Brian Hill
Release Date: June 25, 2018 [eBook #57397]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS BY THE LATE REV. RICHARD
DE COURCY***
credit
Transcribed from the 1810 Mathews and Leigh edition by David Price, email
[email protected]
SERMONS
BY THE LATE
REV. RICHARD DE COURCY {i}
* * * * *
With an Essay on
PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION
_and a Preface by Rev. Brian Hill_
* * * * *
SECOND EDITION.
* * * * *
London:
Mathews and Leigh
1810
* * * * *
PREFACE
BY
THE PRESENT EDITOR.
THE following Essay and Sermons were published, by subscription, soon
after the Author's death, and were honored with as respectable a list of
subscribers, as any work now extant. Mr. DE COURCY was so worthy a man,
so distinguished a Christian, and so excellent a preacher, that we need
not wonder, that all who had the happiness of his acquaintance, or
enjoyed the benefit of his public ministry, wished to have, in their
possession, some memorial of so valuable a friend. Mr. De C.'s views of
the gospel were truly evangelical, the Parishioners of Saint Alkmond
enjoyed the unspeakable advantage of a faithful ministration of the word
of life; for, what he himself "tasted and felt, and handled," of the good
word of God, the preacher, with much zeal, affection and earnestness,
recommended to others: the devotions of the desk and the instructions of
the pulpit were not at variance; but, the one explained, elucidated and
enforced the other, wherever this great man officiated. The attention of
hearers, of all descriptions, was sure to be arrested, by the importance
of the doctrines on which he insisted, the clearness with which he
defended them, and the fervor with which they were enforced: his labors
were abundantly blessed; and multitudes, we hope, will appear as his
"crown of rejoicing," another day.
When the present proprietors (who are also the publishers) of the work,
first contemplated its republication, it was both their wish and
intention to gratify the religious public with a memoir of the Author,
and arrangements were made for that purpose; but a friend of the deceased
expressed a wish, that it might not be carried into execution: it is
therefore withheld.
Happy would it be for the Christian Church, if all who officiate at her
altars could "give as full proof of their ministry." Mr. De. C. has not
only ably vindicated "the peculiar doctrines of the gospel," but he has
shown, in a very masterly manner, that those who claim to themselves the
title of gospel-ministers, are the only persons who preach according to
the 39 Articles, and that, instead of being the enemies of the
Establishment, are its only _consistent_ friends and its most able
defenders. Having, "cordially and without mental reservation,
equivocation or disguise," signed the Articles, and declared his "assent
and consent to all and every thing they contain," and being convinced,
after the most serious investigation and earnest prayer, that the
doctrines of the Church of England _are_ the doctrines of the gospel, he
would have accused himself of hypocrisy and wickedness, had he not
founded all his services upon those important truths, which are found
both in the Bible and the Prayer-book. And, it is asked, What churches
are so well attended, as those in which the pure word of God is preached?
What clergymen are so truly exemplary in their conduct, as those who are
termed "evangelical ministers? and, What congregations are so ready to
every good word and work," as those who attend such preachers? Immoral,
antichristian shepherds scatter the flock; the pious pastor, by his truly
evangelical labors, keeps them in the fold. When persons leave the
Established Church, it is, in a great majority of instances, because they
cannot receive _there_ "the true bread of life," and their souls hunger
and thirst after _that_, which they cannot find, _where_ they would
otherwise willingly attend. Let the established clergy preach the
gospel, and they will have no cause to complain of increasing Sectaries.
{vi} Of the first edition, very few copies (more than were subscribed
for) being printed, the present publishers presume that they are
performing an office very acceptable, to the religious public, in
presenting them with a new edition of a volume of sermons possessing
every recommendation which such a work _can_ have. Here will be found
the purest doctrines expressed in the most eloquent and glowing language,
and enforced with all the ardor of the Christian Minister. Feeling their
immense importance, and being fully convinced that "the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to every one who believes it," Mr. De C. "has
not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God;" he has preached the
doctrines of the gospel practically, and enforced its duties
evangelically; he has rescued the scripture-doctrines from the false
imputation, that "the grace of God leads to licentiousness;" he has
described Christian faith, not only in its nature, but in its effects; he
has shown, how the grace of God operates on the heart, and is productive
of the peaceable fruits of holy obedience. If modern infidels possessed
sufficient candor, to read the "Essay on Pure and Undefiled Religion,"
they must be convinced, that the love of God and Jesus Christ is the only
source of purity of morals, that every species of morality which has not
this foundation, is superficial in its nature and uncertain in its
operation; while he has also shown, that the heart which is enlightened
by the Spirit of God, and purified by the Spirit of Christ, will be the
seat of every holy and heavenly temper.
The present Editor, who is totally unconnected with the family of the
deceased, is far from thinking that Mr. De C.'s works need any
recommendation from _him_. They speak for themselves; they need only to
be known in order to be admired; for they will always be read with both
pleasure and profit, so long as evangelical piety, fervent devotion and
genuine godliness, have any charms in the estimation of the servants of
Christ.
_London_, _May_, 1810.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE following discourses, which were found among the manuscripts of the
Author after his decease, will, no doubt, be extremely acceptable to
those, who have been accustomed to hear the word of truth from his lips,
and who, engaged by his eloquence, and won by his entreaties, have,
through the influence of divine grace, which he never failed to inculcate
as the source of all holy desires, dedicated themselves to God through
Jesus Christ, and become wise unto salvation.
As the copies were written delicately fair, and with wonderful accuracy,
no pains were requisite to decipher, no labor was wanted to correct them;
so that the reader has, in this volume, the genuine works of him, whose
name it bears; {ix} and, whatever he may think of the doctrines which it
contains, I am much mistaken, if he will not be struck with admiration at
the fertility of imagination, the force of argument, and the uncommon
elegance of language, which are herein displayed. But, let him take
heed, that his attention be not too much engaged by the gay flowers of
oratory; let him compare what he here finds written with the scriptures
of truth, and let him not be in haste, either to censure or approve, till
a competent share of divine knowledge, and a thorough acquaintance with
the work itself, enable him to decide, with some appearance of justice,
on its merits.
I feel the more inclined to recommend this advice, from the impression,
which a _cursory_ view of the following discourses made upon my mind;
for, wishing to pay all possible respect to the memory of my deceased
friend, no sooner was the idea of a publication suggested, than I
volunteered my services to carry it through all its stages, not thinking,
at the moment, of any difficulties, which might occur in the
accomplishment of the design. Not many hours, I believe, elapsed, before
I began to consider, that some degree of responsibility attached to me as
an Editor, and that I was bound not to make known to the world any
sentiments, of which I did not thoroughly approve; at least, not without
offering an antidote for the evil, which they might occasion. Under this
persuasion, though extremely reluctant to obtrude myself on the public
notice, or to provoke controversy from the Author's admirers, I sat down
with the determination not to let a sentence pass unregarded, which I did
not conceive to be strictly conformable to the word of God. Accordingly,
when I had perused _a few_ discourses I wrote my animadversions freely;
but when I had read and considered _all_ with more minute attention, I
found that several of my objections were levelled against _words_ and
_phrases_, and that, though I choose to express myself upon some points
differently from the Author, we were perfectly agreed in the principal
doctrines of the Christian dispensation. This being the case, I have
thought it sufficient to refer the reader to his _Bible_, the standard of
truth and orthodoxy; and though, among the variety of opinions which
distract the Christian world, he may conceive it to be almost impossible
to find the road to glory, yet I will venture to assure him, the word of
Christ authorizing me to do so, if his _eye be single his whole body
shall be full of light_; Mat. vi. 22; i.e. he shall be able clearly to
discern the way of salvation; for the Sun of Righteousness shall dispel
the mists of error, and gradually diffusing his beams over the soul,
shall shine more and more, even to the full splendor of the perfect day.
As I firmly believe, that the following discourses, read with candor and
attention, are likely to be productive of much good, I shall here take
the liberty of obviating the objections, which may be made to one point
of doctrine, which forms a prominent feature in the whole. I allude to
the justification of a sinner by the _imputed righteousness_ of Jesus
Christ. This doctrine, as it is expressed in one or two passages, might
induce a _hasty_ reader to throw aside the book, and condemn it severely
as leading to licentiousness. But, I can assure him, that the late Vicar
of Saint Alkmond admitted no such consequences; and I only request him to
read attentively all the discourses in this volume, and he will be
convinced that what has been written upon that subject is neither
designed to set aside the necessity of self-examination, nor of personal
holiness. As a proof of the former, I beg leave to refer him more
particularly to Sermon VI. p. 240; and of the latter, to the whole of
Sermon II. upon the dedication of the heart to God; in which, as well as
in several others, he will find the most forcible exhortations to
maintain purity of heart, and to abound in the practice of every good
work; insomuch, that if he should take occasion, from any thing here
written, to sin, that grace may abound, let him recollect, that he will
meet the Author before the judgment-seat of Christ, where he must render
an account for his perversion and want of candor, as well as for all his
other crimes.
But not only upon this, but also upon other subjects handled in these
discourses, there have been, and still are, great diversities of
sentiment among divines, not merely among such as are skilful in
controversy, and void of the spirit of heavenly love, but among others,
who are warmly attached to the cause of Christ, who labor much in the
word and doctrine, and whose piety, humility, and other graces, evidently
prove that they are born from above, and live under the continued
influence of the spirit of holiness. These, conceiving the several
systems, which they have embraced, to be most conducive to the glory of
God, set them forth with all the eloquence and argument of which they are
capable; and sometimes, it must be confessed, in their zeal to defend the
truth, forget the candor, which is due to persons, who are equally
zealous with themselves, and who may, perhaps, have a larger share of
that divine love, which forms the best Christian, though he may be far
from making the most able disputant. That which constitutes the essence
of Christianity appears to me to be comprised within a very small
compass. "The law" is "our school-master, to bring us unto Christ, that
we may be justified by faith;" Gal. iii. 24; and faith, working by love,
through the operation of the Holy Ghost, gives us a disposition to
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and to perfect
holiness in the fear of the Lord. This, I repeat it, appears to me to be
the essence of Christianity; but, as the talents and capacities of men
are various, as there is a constitutional peculiarity in every
individual, and as education, custom, and connexions, conspire to
constitute the character, it must be expected that truth will be
exhibited in divers manners, not always in its native beauty and
simplicity, but clothed with the gaudy decorations of human wisdom and
philosophy, about which, and not about the truth itself, contentions may
arise, to the great grief and concern of every sincere and pacific
disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It has been thought proper to introduce the following Discourses with an
Essay, found also among the Author's papers, entitled, _Pure and
Undefiled Religion_, _delineated in its Nature_, _Influence_, _Fruits_,
_Evidences_, _and Consummation_. Though no text be prefixed to it, yet
it seems to have been originally designed for the pulpit, and to have
been written when the subject of negro emancipation first engaged the
attention of Parliament. It is unnecessary in this place to point out
its excellencies; suffice it to say, that every friend of _Pure and
Undefiled Religion_ will rejoice that so valuable a treatise was not
disregarded, and consigned, with various unfinished Essays, to oblivion.
THE EDITOR.
PURE
AND
UNDEFILED RELIGION,
DELINEATED
IN ITS
NATURE, INFLUENCE, FRUITS,
EVIDENCES, AND CONSUMMATION.
"RELIGION! thou the soul of happiness;
And groaning Calvary of thee! There shine
The noblest truths; there strongest motives sting;
There sacred violence assaults the soul;
There nothing but compulsion is forborne."
NIGHT THOUGHTS.
Its advocates have not been in general either "many, or mighty, or noble,
or wise, according to this world;" but, on the contrary, riches,
strength, philosophy, and opulence, have distinguished its enemies.
Hypocrisy hath assumed its mask, to give religion its deepest reproach,
to wound it in the house of its friends, and to arm its adversaries with
plausible objections. And yet, amidst all the attempts of men of
different complexions, to destroy or deny its existence, to abuse or
blaspheme its doctrines, to pervert its nature, to divest it of its
essence, or to obscure its lustre; still, religion is a glorious reality,
and, like its divine Author, from whom it derives its origin and
influence, is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. An attempt, at
least, to illustrate, if not to prove this position, is the design of the
following pages. The arrangement I propose, is, to consider religion in
its _origin_, its _foundation_, its _nature_, its _influence_, its
_fruits_, and _evidences_; and recommend it, principally from a
consideration of its _importance_, its _consolations_, its _loveliness_,
its _end_, and _prospects_.
1. As to the _origin_ of religion, it requires little argument to prove
it divine. As the very word itself implies something that binds the
heart under the strongest ties of love, homage, and obedience to the
Supreme Being; what can produce this disposition, and give force to those
obligations, but that system of infinite grace which God himself revealed
unto man immediately after the fall? which, in subsequent and brighter
discoveries, formed the basis, and invigorated the principles of that
religion, which distinguished the character of Old Testament saints, and
afterwards attained its meridian lustre under the clear economy of the
gospel, and in the lives of that noble army of martyrs; the history of
whose sanctity, sufferings, and conquests, even unto death, is, in fact,
the history of true religion exemplified in its influence, its origin,
and its triumphs.
It is an established maxim of revelation, that "all things are of God."
No one doubts, but the credulous atheist, whether the universe be the
result of his power. But the Creator of the universe and the great
Author of our religion, is one and the same agent. John, i. 1. The
former was created and arranged by Omnipotence, and the latter no less
required the exertions of that attribute of Deity. The heavens declare
his glory, as Creator. In religion, considered as a plan of redeeming
mercy, shines "the glory of his grace." The firmament, with all the orbs
that move there, according to the rules of the most systematic
contrivance, and regular though amazingly swift rotation, deciphers his
wisdom. But it is in the plan of redemption that "the _manifold_ wisdom
of God" is more illustriously and advantageously displayed. Religion,
considered as a system, applying itself to the state of man, not as in
innocence, but under the ruin of the fall, is entirely of God. Man had
no hand in forming it, nature no power in executing it. It equally
surpassed, in every point of view, the expectations and the desert, the
wisdom and power, of man. Considered in its renovating and practical
tendency, as a system of morals, its origin is equally of God. This
appears from the various representations of the purity of its precepts,
as well as from the expressive epithets given to it in the sacred
scriptures. It is called "the wisdom that is _from above_,--the kingdom
of heaven,--the new _creation_,--the being born from above,--the new man,
which, after God, is created in righteousness, &c.--the fruits of the
spirit," &c. If union to Christ be the root of true religion, and good
works its fruit, both are from God. "OF HIM are ye in Christ Jesus." 1
Cor. i. 30. "We are HIS _workmanship_ created in Christ Jesus unto good
works." Ephes. ii. 10. From whence we may deduce this scripture axiom;
that religion, doctrinally or practically considered, is, as to its
original, the offspring of heaven, and the sole glorious work of Him,
"_by_ whom, _through_ whom, and _to_ whom, are ALL THINGS."
2. The _foundation_ of religion. This foundation the scriptures have
expressly laid in the life and death of him who was the Mediator of the
new covenant, having been made, as a _surety_, responsible for the
performance of its grand and awful stipulations. "Behold," says Jehovah,
"I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious
corner stone, a sure foundation." Isa. xxviii. 16. 1 Pet. ii. 6.
"Other foundation can no man lay," says St. Paul, "than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. iii. 11. This foundation, when it is
laid in the heart by FAITH, which produces a dependence on the salvation
of the Son of God, becomes the only basis of the sinner's hopes, and
forms within him a living and permanent principle of real godliness.
Convinced of the evil of sin, and justly apprehensive of suffering its
awful penalty, as a transgressor of the law, he looks for relief from his
fears, and pardon for his offences, to "the Lamb of God, who taketh away
the sin of the world." Whatever is not built on this foundation may
satisfy the conscience and comport with the religion of that man, who
never saw his guilt in the mirror of God's law; but every hope not
founded on the Redeemer's righteousness will prove infinitely
presumptuous and dangerous, and nothing give peace to the conscience, but
what secures the honour of the broken law, and provides an adequate
satisfaction for the inflexible justice of Heaven; and nothing can do
either, but the atoning blood of Jesus Christ applied by faith in that
gospel testimony, which declares, that he who shed it, thought it no
robbery to be equal with God, and presented himself on the cross a
sin-atoning victim to Almighty God. However, therefore, we may admit the
dictates of candour respecting some points of "doubtful disputation," and
embrace in Christian love the differing parties respectively; we can
never give up the doctrine of the atonement, without yielding up to our
adversaries, at the same time, the very essence of truth, the glory of
the gospel, and the only foundation of our hopes and prospects for ever.
Nay, we may boldly affirm, that the scheme of religion that is not formed
upon this plan, wants every thing essential to the glory of the divine
perfections, and every thing that can consistently secure the peace and
salvation of man, as a sinner. All the opponents of this truth, who
choose to discriminate themselves by names flattering to their pride, or
declarative of their attachment to some stale and long-exploded heresy,
are in the same predicament with Jews and Greeks; the basis of whose
religion was pride and self-righteousness. What men call natural
religion, rational religion, or New Jerusalem doctrine--those pompous
schemes of human contrivance, emblazoned with glittering epithets to
catch the unwary, and only suited to the wild fancy of visionaries and
deists--I say, what men thus call religion, if not founded on the
propitiation and righteousness of the Son of God, is the religion of
Satan, and must lead to his kingdom. For, how that system, which leaves
out the infinite virtue of the death of Jesus, as an expiation for sin,
can ever bring a man to heaven, I cannot conceive, when I find it
written, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin," when that is denied
or degraded, "but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment." Heb. x.
26, 27. So that, as true religion is in its origin of God, who planned
its system, and plants its celestial seed in the heart; so, in its
foundation, it is equally divine, being built on the knowledge of Christ
crucified, and "through faith in his blood." Rom. iii. 25.
3. The _nature_ and _influence_ of religion demand our next
consideration. To judge accurately both of the one and the other, it
will be necessary to abstract whatever is circumstantial, external,
nominal, or adventitious, and to confine our ideas to that which is
essential and intrinsic. And in this disquisition, we only act by the
same rule, which we observe when forming a judgment of the real worth of
an individual. We leave out the accidents of birth, office, titles,
fortune, and form our idea of the man from his mind, from the state of
his heart, from his virtuous excellence. Any other mode of forming an
estimate of characters in a moral point of view, only tends to confound
our ideas, and leads to a servile admiration of what is neither great nor
excellent in itself: which lays the foundation of all the false homage
men often pay to profligacy and meanness, because they happen to be
titled and rich. Apply this to religion. We cannot form a true estimate
of its nature from the pomp and dignities with which the profession of it
is invested in some of its ostensible patrons; nor from any external
forms, however excellent in themselves, if men rest in them, and go no
farther. Forms no more constitute religion, than the external trappings
of rank and retinue constitute the man. On the contrary, St. Paul
classes with the very worst of characters, those, "who have only the form
of godliness, but deny its _power_." 2 Tim. iii. 5. So does the prophet
Isaiah, when describing those who "drew nigh to God and honoured him with
their lips, while their _hearts_ were FAR FROM him," Isa. xxix. 13;
though in the language of pomp and delusion they vainly boasted, "The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these." True religion is
the religion of the _heart_. For God is a spirit; and they who worship
him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Solomon describes its nature, when he demands, in the name of Jehovah,
"My son, give me thy _heart_." Prov. xxiii. 26. So does St. Paul, who
says, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink," does not consist in
outward things, "but is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
Rom. xiv. 17. And again, when endeavouring to undeceive the Jews, who
were blind on this very point, he says, "He is not a Jew who is one
outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh:
but he is a Jew who is one _inwardly_, and circumcision is that of the
_heart_, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but
of God." Rom. ii. 28, 29. Forms may be excellent; the means of grace
are necessary, and of divine institution. They are however but means,
and operate, through the blessing of God, as the transparent medium does,
which admits the light of the sun into a place of worship. But he who
rests in them, and supposes a regular attendance upon them to be the
whole of what is required in religious homage, thinks and acts as
absurdly as a man, who, trusting to a transparent medium still to give
him light, after the sun had quitted the horizon and ceased to illuminate
the hemisphere, should find himself involved in the darkness of night. A
sad but true emblem of the situation of the sinner, whose heart is not
given up to God and changed by his grace; who sits down contented with
the formalities of religion, though in the "region and shadow of death,"
till death dissolves the delusion, and consigns him to the blackness of
darkness for ever.
When we say that religion is the religion of the heart, we mean to extend
our description of its nature far beyond outward form, or mere moral
decency. Religion includes morality, but it comprehends _much more_. A
sinner may be outwardly moral, and inwardly immoral, as the pharisees
were, full of self-righteousness, pride, love of the world, and
hypocrisy. The civilization produced by morality alone, is like the
whiting of a sepulchre, which is full of rottenness _within_. Our Lord's
advice to such characters among the Jews, was, "cleanse _first_ that
which is WITHIN." The essential characteristics of the religion of the
heart, are _faith_, _humility_, and _love_: the first of these graces,
leading the renewed sinner to eye nothing for the justification of his
person before God, or the peace of his conscience, but the complete work
of Jesus finished on the cross; the second, making him abhor himself and
repent as in dust and ashes; and the third, prompting him to love, with a
supreme and ardent affection, that gracious God, who hath loved him in
his Son; and to whom, from that sacred and noble principle, he wishes
heart and life to be solemnly and unreservedly consecrated. But, in the
religion of a mere moralist, these three graces make no constituent part.
_His_ faith is dead, being made up of speculation, and some general
notions, without any regard to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His
humility, if he pretend to any, is feigned, or consists in condescending
to let the Redeemer have a _share_ in the honour of his salvation. And
his love, having no gospel root, is servile, or imaginary, or absolutely
false, not springing from a sense of the pure love of God to sinners in
his crucified Son. In short, he has every thing of religion but its
essence. And, wanting that, nothing remains in his possession to boast
of, but the shadow, and the form; whereas, religion itself is a sacred
flame kindled at the cross of Christ; which, while contemplating the love
that bound him there, has, like the living creatures in St. John's
vision, Rev. iv. "eyes within," to view with sorrow the fallen and guilty
nature, which requires his blood to cleanse it, and his love to conquer.
A sight that softens the heart, and diffuses throughout all its powers a
sense of the love of God, the strongest incentive to gratitude and
obedience. Hence, a celebrated Christian poet of our own says,
"Talk they of morals? O thou bleeding love!
Thou Maker of new morals to mankind!
The grand morality is love of thee!"
4. In describing the _influence_ of religion, we mean not to extend it
so far as to suppose it extirpates every vestige of the fall, or destroys
all the relicks of human frailty. It is not the religion of angels, nor
of "the spirits of just men made perfect," but the religion of the soul
imprisoned in the body, and embarrassed by that enclosure, in the
exertion of its faculties, that is the subject of our consideration. It
is the religion of sinners, saved by grace; and, as sinners, to the very
last moment of life, depending upon grace alone: in whom, amidst their
various conflicts, and numberless infirmities, it nevertheless produces
the most surprising effects. Observe its influence on the heart of a
sinner. It softens what was obdurate as the rock, and fixes what was
inconstant as the wind; arrests the fugitive in his flight from the ways
of God, and brings the once profligate prodigal back to his father's
house with a heart pierced with sorrow for past transgressions, and more
deeply still by a sense of the love that pardons them. It makes the
stout-hearted tremble before the majesty and power of Jehovah, and
constrains the abandoned to give up the most beloved lusts. It produces
greater wonder still, in obliging the pharisee to give up his
self-righteousness, and the formalist to trust no longer in his forms.
It can light up a sacred flame in the breasts that had been frozen with
formality, and dilate with sentiments of pure benevolence a heart long
contracted by self-complacency or worldly-mindedness. It bursts the
bonds of the captive who had been "tied and bound with the chain of his
sins;" and makes the self-conceited rationalist, who is no less a captive
than the profligate, to sit down, Mary-like, at the feet of Jesus, in the
character of a pupil, a novitiate, a fool. It pours the balm of comfort
into the breast of the afflicted, tempted mourner, and makes "the bones
that had been broken to rejoice." Psal. li. What was it that so
instantaneously stopped Saul in his career of cruelty and persecution,
and changed a blasphemer into a preacher of the faith, which once he
destroyed? What was it that brought Magdalen, a prostitute, to bathe the
feet of Jesus with tears of penitence and joy, and to wipe them with the
hairs of her head? What was it that tore Zaccheus from an occupation of
worldly-mindedness and extortion, and disposed him to make restitution,
and to give half his goods to the poor? What was it that made Paul and
Silas sing praises to God, though smarting under the lashes they had
received, and when confined to a loathsome prison? that kept Stephen
composed, and filled him with rapturous views of the glory of God, even
when his murderers were taking his life; and that enabled those pious
heroes of antiquity, mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to perform
so many wonders? It was the _sovereign_ influence of religion in the
first instance, its _softening_ and _converting_ power in the second, its
_expanding_ efficacy in the third, and its _victorious_ operation in the
last.
Mark the influence of religion on society. It is the grand cement of
pure and permanent friendship among individuals; is the great
preservative against disorder and discord in families; is the sacred bond
of union in the assemblies of the righteous; the only safe guarantee of
the faith of nations; the healer of divisions; the sovereign peace-maker
between contending parties; and the most powerful antidote against
strife, animosity, and revenge, and all the other vindictive and
turbulent passions, that disquiet the breasts of individuals, break the
bonds of domestic tranquillity, or disturb the peace of nations. "From
whence come wars and fightings among you?" says St. James: From religion?
No, from the want of it. "Come they not hence? even from your lusts that
war in your members." Were religion but universally known, and the
empire of the Prince of Peace as extensive as the dominion of pride and
secular power, of ambition and revenge, we should then see all the
belligerent powers of the earth "beat their swords into plough-shares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks," and wars of every kind cease for
ever.
5. The _evidences_ of religion. Religion, when possessing its sacred
empire in the heart, is in scripture called by different names, according
to the different faculties which it governs, or the passions respectively
which it controls. In the understanding, it is light; in the affections,
love; in the will, acquiescence and submission. In the passions of the
renewed mind, it is the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of
wisdom; the hope that maketh not ashamed; the joy that is unspeakable and
full of glory; the holy shame that covers the soul with overwhelming awe
in a view of the presence and condescension of God; the peace that
passeth all understanding. Under crosses, it is patience; under affronts
and injuries, meekness; under persecution and losses for Christ's sake,
fortitude and resignation; in prosperity, humbleness of mind; in
adversity, spiritual support; in death, triumph. Considered in a complex
point of view, either as implying the commencement of the divine power
that produces, or the progressive influence of the grace that advances,
that assemblage of the fruits of the Spirit, which form religion into a
sort of bright constellation; it is, the new birth, sanctification, the
divine life, the image of God restored, the soul's union to Christ, and a
growing meetness for the everlasting inheritance of the saints in light.
Religion, when it can produce tempers so sacred, and so benign, must
necessarily display its nature in a course of external evidence before
the world. Being in its effects "pure," and preserving him who is the
subject of it "undefiled" from the corruptions that are in the world, it
must necessarily teach us to live "righteously, soberly, and godly,"
amidst every temptation to injustice, intemperance, and impiety, to which
we are every day exposed; as well as provide for the laws by which every
relation in social life ought to be governed, from the prince and
subject, down to the very lowest ranks of subordinate characters. But
let us attend to the particular evidence adduced by St. James. "Pure
religion and undefiled before God, even the Father, is this; to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted
from the world." Of all the situations, which the calamities of life
distinguish among the sons and daughters of affliction, none could be
more to the apostle's purpose, than that of the orphan and the widow; and
none more apposite, as an evidence of true religion, than to visit
_such_. The state of the orphan is greatly to be pitied, as being
destitute of the guide of his youth, and deprived by a premature stroke
of him, to whom nature directs him to look up as to his guardian and
support; in a world too, in a passage through which, youth stands so much
in need of all that a wise and tender father can do for his offspring.
The widow is an object of still greater commiseration; who, besides the
affliction of having been bereft of her dearest earthly friend, is left
to struggle alone with the difficulties of a family and of the world, to
educate with maternal solicitude the party that became an orphan by the
same calamity which made her a widow, and to suffer an affliction, which
is the more poignant, as her sex, age, and the tender relation in which
she had been placed, would contribute to make her feel more sensibly the
loss, to which the orphan seldom adverts. These are the parties, whom
pure and undefiled religion enjoins us to visit; not for the purpose of
mere form or curiosity, but for the purpose of administering actual
relief, and mingling with the acts of beneficence the counsel and
consolations, which the religion of Jesus inspires. But how few love to
make _such_ visits! and how fewer still, to make them in _this_ style!
Had our apostle made it a mark of religion to frequent scenes of
dissipation, to run the round of worldly pleasure, to mix with each
convivial assembly, and to visit only the house of laughter and levity,
what multitudes would put in their claim to religion and to the
recompense annexed to it! But let not the sons and daughters of
dissipation deceive themselves. Religion seeks different society, loves
different pleasures, visits the abodes of wretchedness and sorrow, and
prefers the house of mourning, where it can shew its sympathy, impart its
benefits, and learn lessons suited to the condition of suffering and
short lived humanity, above all the gilded scenes of earthly splendor.
And we may be bold to say, that if the pleasure-taker could, from the
highest style of sensual indulgence, prove, that he tasted delight in any
degree equal to that, which _he_ feels, who makes the "widow's heart to
dance for joy;" we would then leave him in peaceable possession of the
amusements that engross his time. But as he can never possibly prove it,
we must mortify him in the midst of his gratifications, by telling him,
that he who liveth in pleasure is "dead while he liveth;" dead to the
life of religion and to the offices of real humanity; and that there is
an awful day approaching, in which the Judge of heaven and earth shall
say to sinners of a certain description, "In as much as ye did it not to
one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me."
But humanity and charity do not constitute the whole of religion.
Something more is required; and that is, that a man "keep himself
unspotted from the world." The christian character, or the conversation
of a true believer, is, according to scripture metaphor, represented
under the emblem of a white garment; the color denoting purity and glory.
They who walk consistently with their profession, are described as not
sullying the purity of it. So our Lord says of some in the church of
Sardis, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled
their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are
worthy." Rev. iii. 4. Perhaps the allusion in both places is made to
the custom of arraying, as the word signifies, all candidates for
offices, as among the Romans, in white robes. Christians are candidates
for glory. They are adorned in the white garment of Christ's
righteousness for their justification before God; Rev. iii. 5; and they
wear the sacred robe of personal holiness, as the justification of their
character before men. The former is incapable of defilement, and is that
"fine linen, clean and white, in which the bride, the Lamb's wife," is to
be adorned in the grand solemnization of her nuptials in the last day.
The latter, when under the inspection of omniscience, and compared with
the extensive purity of the law, requires to be "washed and made white in
the blood of the Lamb." Rev. viii. 14. It is this last robe, the
Christian's walk and character, which it is incumbent upon him to keep
unspotted from the world. And as a white garment shews any accidental
defilement on it sooner and more conspicuously, than one of a different
color; this application of the emblem points out the greater necessity of
watching against every inconsistency, that would disgrace his profession
and bring his character into suspicion. The world watches for his
halting, and will be ready upon every occasion to impute faults where
there are none, and to aggravate and triumph in real ones. If
defamation, false charges, misrepresentations, untruths, could really
blot the Christian's garment, it would be never white. But the
blackening of the wicked in this respect, is all their own. Happy and
blessed the Christian, who, when "the world says all manner of evil of
him," proves by his conduct, that it is "falsely for Christ's sake." But
it is not from hence that his principal danger arises. The world is less
to be feared when it frowns, than when it smiles; and many a professor,
who has stood firm in the midst of opposition, has been hugged to death
by caresses. In short, he, who is truly wise, will consider the world as
a hostile country, in which the enemy of his soul has spread ten thousand
snares for the purpose of alluring to destruction. The whole armour of
God, and all the power of grace, will be requisite to guard and keep him
amidst such innumerable dangers as compass him about. The power, which
the world has of accommodating its baits and changing its temptations,
will demand the exertion of every grace of the christian soldier. His
experience will instruct him when to resist, and when to flee; when to
exercise caution, and when to summon up fortitude. Sometimes he will be
in danger of loving the world; at other times, of fearing it too much.
"The course of this world" being totally opposite to the word of God, and
its principles, maxims, and amusements, tending to promote error, vanity,
and sin, he will often recollect the words of Solomon, "Can a man take
fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot
coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his
neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her, shall not be innocent." Prov.
vi. 27, 29. And he will pray with David, "Keep back thy servant from
presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me, then I shall be
upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." Psal.
xix. 13. The words of St. Paul too, warn and animate him. "Come out
from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the _unclean thing_,
and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.
But it is not only from the spots of gross criminality, or the commission
of flagrant offences, that religion teaches us to keep ourselves pure and
undefiled. Even the smallest approaches to these, or a _temptation_ to
any, in the secret workings of inward depravity, give the Christian
infinitely more pain, than acts of injustice do the fraudulent; a life of
unremitted excess, the licentious; or adultery, that epitome of all
villanies, the wretch, who, by committing it, gives the most deadly stab
to his own reputation, and the deepest wound to his neighbour's peace.
An idea in the imagination, a thought, a word, any sudden sally of
unguarded temper, that cannot be justified or harboured, without grieving
the Holy Spirit, and violating truth, will give him pain, and excite
resistance, and produce humiliation. The conscience of the believer
being "cleansed from dead works to serve the living God," is susceptible
of the slightest spot; while that, which is totally defiled by long
accumulated guilt, feels no uneasy sensation, and sees not its own
pollution. Being made the seat of sensibility as well as of purity, the
conscience, though wounded with even a slight offence, is like the tender
organ of the eve, when only a mote incommodes or lacerates its delicate
texture. It makes him weep, and robs him of repose, till that blood
which washes out the deepest or the slightest stain of sin, and that
Spirit who subdues its power, renew their respective and sovereign
influence. This guard against the access of inward defilement, and this
gospel mode of cleansing it, are the only safe preservatives from grosser
corruptions. Therefore, as the heart, like tinder, is too susceptive of
the sparks of temptation, he shuns the converse of those, through whom he
might be drawn aside; thinking his character too sacred to be habitually
mixed or trusted with the company of the gay and irreligious; and his
peace too precious, to be lost by what, in review, must often give so
much pain, without the smallest real advantage. Even if there were no
other argument to enforce the necessity of keeping ourselves unspotted
from the world, this is sufficiently strong and alarming; that that very
world, by a sinful conformity to which, men contract guilt and risk
salvation, after having acted as _tempter_, will, like Satan, be the very
first to turn _accuser_, and _tormentor_.
The _consolations_ of religion. When we recommend the consolations of
religion, as an argument to engage men to enter upon the experience and
practice of it, we cannot so far delude their hopes, as to insinuate,
that it excludes every idea of trouble and conflict, as well as every
sensation of sorrow and solicitude. As compared to a warfare, a
pilgrimage, a race, religion must, of course, presuppose enemies, who
cannot be overcome without fighting; a journey, that cannot be undertaken
and completed without difficulties; and a prize, which cannot be won by
indolence and inaction.
Every science and art is attended with difficulties; and nothing that is
useful and ornamental in the business of life can be acquired without
study, and toil, by which the value and pleasure of the acquisition are
proportionably increased. Can any persons, then, reasonably expect, that
in a world lying in the wicked one, they should meet with no opposition?
in a body of sin and death, they should feel no conflicts? that their
peace should remain undisturbed by any annoyance from Satan? that no
thorns should perplex their path in a wilderness, in which nothing
naturally grows but sorrow, sin, and care? and that their head should be
hereafter adorned with an immortal crown, without sustaining one previous
cross, or making one sacrifice in their way to it? They cannot suppose
this. The great Author of religion says, "Except a man deny himself,
take up his cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple. Strive to
enter in at the strait gate." Yet, to encourage the diffident, and fix
the resolution of the hesitating and the timid, an apostle assures us,
that God "hath given everlasting consolation and good hope through grace"
to all believers in Christ.
The Lord himself says, "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you. In the world you shall have tribulation; but in me, you
shall have peace." The unhappiness of mankind arises in general from
five principal causes; from guilt in the conscience, tyranny in the
passions, want of real enjoyment in what they possess, want of spiritual
resource under affliction, and an inordinate love of life, which makes
death terrible, and even the thought of it the most imbittering intruder
into the human breast. But against all this mass of wretchedness,
religion provides an antidote. If we know and follow Christ, he will
bring the peace which he purchased on the cross, into our conscience; he
will sanctify and govern our passions, and make our heart the seat of his
peaceful dominion; the enjoyment of his "favor, which is better than
life," will give a sacred zest to ordinary comforts, and fill up in our
soul, a void, which the whole world cannot satisfy; he will keep us
resigned amidst the cares of life, and tranquil in the prospect of its
awful close. Life shall have no real bitterness; sin, no dominion; the
smiling world, no real charms; and death, no real sting, when we can say,
"My beloved is mine, and I am his." Under crosses and adversity, we
shall never want a spring of comfort in the salvation of Jesus, nor want
a friend, when interested in the love of Him, who drank up the dregs of
inexpressible sorrow, that we might partake of the richest ingredients in
the cup of gospel consolation. However chequered our scene of life may
be in the dispensations of Providence, being made up of joys and sorrows,
hopes and fears, crosses and comforts, his grace will enable us to adopt
the language of primitive Christianity, and say, "We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; as sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
2 Cor. iv. 8, 9. "As tribulation aboundeth, our consolations in Christ
shall much more abound." And as they flow from a source, which is as
perennial as it is pure, and are founded upon a basis as firm as the
covenant and oath of Jehovah, can any language describe the happiness of
true religion, when its real votaries can pronounce in faith and
experience, the two following sentences of sacred writ? "Our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory. We _know_ that when the earthly
house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
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