SERMON XV.

ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PIETY AND RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

BY

JOSEPH ECKLEY, A. M.

Minifter of the Old South Church, in Boston.

JOHN vii. 17.

If any man will do bis will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

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T the time when our Saviour commenced his public ministry, the Jewish nation were expecting the promised Messiah. There were some traits in the character of Jesus of Nazareth, which, on particular occafions, commanded the attention, and even the applause of the people; but, through an unhappy misconception of their prophecies, they had long entertained an idea, that when the Meffiah came, he would assume the rank and power of a temporal prince, emancipate their nation, and exalt it to the highest degree of political glory. Very contrary to this were the views and professions of Christ himself;

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so that, notwithstanding the purity of his conversation, the amiableness of his life, and the lustre of his example, he passed the greatest part of his days under the most pointed notices of neglect and scorn. In the perusal of the sacred history, the sympathetic heart is wounded by the insults he received from those whose duty and interest were to have bid him welcome as their benefactor and friend; and every patron of true science is ready to recoil at the representation, that be, who was emphatically the inftructor of mankind, and great light of the world, should be confidered as one who perverted knowledge, and was actually engaged in deceiving the people.

This contumely, however, was by no means univerfal; for whilst there were many who opposed, and even fought to kill him, others were so frank as to say, When Chrift cometh, will be do more miracles than these, which this mon bath done?

By the context, we are informed of a particular conversation which Jesus had with the Jews on this interesting subject. His remarks are few, but admirably well applied. For the proofs of his mission from heaven, he refers them to his works; but previously declares, that if they would do the will of his Father, they should know of the doctrine which he preached, whether it was of God, or whether he spake of himself. This in substance is the fame as if he had faid, that if, from virtuous defires to serve their Maker, they made enquiry concerning his personal character and profession, they should escape all danger of deception by him; and, with the advantages they enjoyed, be readily able to discern, whether he was an impostor who preached in his own name, and was endeavouring to palm on them a doctrine which had no foundation in truth; or, whether he spake as the messen

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ger sent from God, and respecting things which were of infinite weight.

As it is evident the same observation may, in all ages, apply to the various nations or classes of men by whom the Bible is perused, it will be natural to confider the text, as containing in it an unequivocal acknowledgment of a real connection existing between piety and religious knowledge; and intended to promote the contemplation and belief of the serious doctrine.

The design in the following discourse is, therefore, to illustrate the principles on which this connection depends, in order to shew that every pious and good man is entitled to a full perfuafion, that, in the use of proper endeavours, he may, at all times, acquire a competent knowledge of religious truth; and this, whether he examines the scriptures in their high claim of a Divine revelation, or, as I shall have reference to, in a more particular manner contemplates them as including a system of doctrines, the belief of which among Christians is essential to salvation.

In the first place, This connection will appear, if we confider the influence of the affections on the human judgment.

There is something in moral truth most admirably congenial with the taste and temper of the good man. It is the food by which his foul is nourished, as much as the body is by meat and drink: In proportion to the degree acquired, it improves in greatness, and takes its rank in the happy world of minds. The reason of this is immediately seen, on the recollection that moral truth is friendly and conducive to moral virtue. Such is the complection of the sacred writings, in which the laws and doctrines are eminently according to true godliness. In enjoining holiness and condemning fin, in proffering pardon to the penitent, but pronouncing the impenitent to be obnoxious to Divine anger, they embrace the feelings of each reformed person, who humbly longs for the benediction of God, at the same time that they reproach the refractory and hardened finner. On this account they are studied by the one, but more generally avoided by the other. As the polished steel or common mirror represents the form and features of each one who beholds it, so the word of God exhibits to the reader the features or complection of his soul. The good man rejoices in the image; for, however faintly, it is really the image of his Maker, and must of consequence be beautiful. The bad man starts back with shame: He is ready to suspect the justness of the mirror; and perceiving the vast contrast between the amiableness of moral rectitude, and the disordered state of his own mind, he cometh not to the light, fearing the pains which are annexed to self-reproof and condemnation.

Thus may it readily be understood, that the friend of virtue may invariably obtain advantage in the important business of difcerning religious truth. The integrity of his mind will not fail to attach him to those doctrines which are recommendatory of true holiness,-explain their nature, and convince him they are right. Though an angel from heaven should proclaim any other, he would not receive them. What are immaculate in kind, and beneficial in effect, he will view as possessing the fignatures of Divine authenticity, and be immediately prepared to admit that the messenger who brings them can come from none but God.

警

It was on this principle that our Saviour addressed the Jews in the words of the text: And on this principle, every religious person may be assured that, admitting the writings of the Old and New Testaments to be authentic, he shall not only be preserved from dangerous mistakes respecting

respecting their doctrines, but acquire a sufficient knowledge of all the truths included in them, which are essen. tial to salvation.

Secondly, The same sentiment will be further illustrated and confirmed, if, in perusing the sacred Scriptures, we confider their general complection and design.

It is prefumed to be a well established point, that they contain an infallible rule for life, adapted to the various circumstances of men, and sufficient in all things to answer the end of introducing penitents to a slate of reconciliation and acceptance with God. This being the cafe, are we not to suppose, that the primary doctrines, on the hearty belief of which the salvation of the reader turns, are really very few, and likewise very comprehensible and plain?

The Bible may emphatically be characterized a message of good news to men in general. As such, it comprises in its compofition a serious address to the unlearned, as well as the learned; and to children or youth, as really as to those of riper years. It could not, however, be described in this style, if its first principles or essential truths were either very confiderable in number, or in nature fo obstruse as to require of those who examined them a course of years, aided by no small strength of genius, before they could be understood. How many examples have we known of firm believers in revelation, and pious Christians, where their natural capacities or degrees of acquired knowledge have even been proverbially small? That there is one infinitely powerful, wife, and good God, that this glorious Being has made known his will to men, and in particular informed them of his disposition to forgive their fins, that he has even promised this through the Meffiah, on their repentance, reformation, and grateful belief in his word, that there is another world,