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dreading to cast a thought on that hour which is fast approaching, when they and all their worldly schemes shall perish together. But it is after death that the life of the sons of God will begin in its excellence and perfection; for, because they are the sons of God, they will then begin to partake of those ineffable treasures which necessarily belong to their heavenly Father, eternal life and eternal happiness: He will then acknowledge them as His children indeed, and in His presence they shall continue everlastingly, rejoicing with joy unspeakable, and satisfied with the pleasures of His house.

SERMON XXII.

FORCE OF EXAMPLE.

MATT. v. 16, 17.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

THIS precept, taken from our Saviour's sermon on the Mount, might seem at first sight to be at variance with another which occurs in the same discourse. For our Lord directs us in the text to let our light shine before men in good works of every sort, whereas, in the passage just alluded to, He enjoins us to perform the duties of prayer and almsgiving in private-to enter into our closet and shut the door, when we are engaged in the first, and not to let our left hand know what our right hand doeth, when we are occupied in the second. These different directions are, however, perfectly consistent with each other; in the one

class of them our Lord only intended to condemn publicity in well doing, when sought after from ostentatious views, and a desire of obtaining the praise of men, more than the praise of God; in the text He is describing the beneficial effects to others, resulting from a public profession and practice of religion, and pointing out those effects as one reason why Christians should endeavour to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. On the one hand, therefore, He condemns the wish of human applause as the proper, ultimate motive of virtuous actions, and on the other, He asserts the universal duty of setting a good example, in consideration both of the glory to God, and the advantage to men, which will naturally arise from it: which two doctrines have manifestly nothing whatever contradictory to each other.

To that one of them, which the text contains, I now desire to direct your attention. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Hence our Saviour sets before us both an important rule, and also the reason which should induce us to adopt it. The rule itself is very plain, and yet very comprehensive. We are to let our light shine before men-that is, not to let our religion terminate in barren speculation, nor, although it be a gem of great price, to lock it up in our own

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bosoms; but, in opposition to the pusillanimity of those who seem ashamed of the faith they profess, we are, not obtrusively indeed, but whenever occasion requires, modestly, but manfully, to avow the principles which we have received, and on which we are resolved to act;-and still more directly in opposition to the inconsistency and perfidy of those, who, in word, acknowledge the authority of the Saviour as a teacher sent from God, but who, in their works, deny Him, we are to proclaim to the world the reality and efficacy of our faith by the uniform tenor of a righteous and holy conduct. And the reason, on which our Lord has commanded us to set, in our own conduct, a bright example of religion, is this, that men, by seeing our good works, may be led to glorify our Father who is in heaven; for, since God is glorified in exact proportion as His laws are observed, whatever tends to preserve men from moral evil, and to bring them into and to keep them in the path which leadeth unto life eternal, must have a tendency also to promote the glory of God as well as the best interests of his rational creatures; and every one who walks worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called, by showing forth the power of genuine religion in his own practice, does promote these blessed and glorious consequences most effectually.

But, perhaps, the value of a pious example may

be more distinctly seen by contrasting it with the mischiefs produced by an irreligious and profligate demeanour, in persons, who, without foundation, call themselves Christians. Now the first of these evils, and by no means a trifling one, is, that occasion is thereby given to the adversaries of our faith to speak evil of it—of its origin, its authority, and its efficacy;-"Is this," asks the unbeliever, with triumphant malignity, when he sees a nominal Christian disgracing his holy calling"Is this that religion, which you tell me came down from heaven, to turn the world to righteousness, and by its powerful energy to purify from every evil affection the hearts of those who embrace it, and to render them conspicuous, above all other men, for acts of self-denial and deeds of goodness? If these things which we see be the effects of Christianity, wherein is it superior to heathenism, and of what consequence is it to the great purposes of morality, whether a person takes up with either, or neither of these defective systems?" It is in vain we should urge against such an objection as this, that he has formed a totally erroneous estimate of the proper fruits of religion, by looking for them in a soil where either religion was never implanted at all, so as to take root, or from which it has since been eradicated-by scrutinizing, that is, the character and conduct of the pretended and not real disci

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