SERMON XV. ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PIETY AND RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. BY JOSEPH ECKLEY, A. M. JOHN vii. 17. any man will do bis will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I Speak of myself. At the time when our Saviour commenced his public ministry, the Jewish nation were expecting the promifed Meffiah. There were fome traits in the character of Jefus of Nazareth, which, on particular occafions, commanded the attention, and even the applaufe of the people; but, through an unhappy mifconception of their prophecies, they had long entertained an idea, that when the Meffiah came, he would affume 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 profeffions of Chrift himself; fo so that, notwithstanding the purity of his conversation, the amiableness of his life, and the luftre of his example, he paffed the greatest part of his days under the most pointed notices of neglect and fcorn. In the perufal of the sacred history, the sympathetic heart is wounded by the infults he received from those whose duty and intereft were to have bid him welcome as their benefactor and friend; and every patron of true fcience is ready to recoil at the reprefentation, that be, who was emphatically the inftructor of mankind, and great light of the world, fhould 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 fo frank as to fay, When Chrift cometh, will be do more miracles than these, which this mon bath done? By the context, we are informed of a particular converfation which Jefus had with the Jews on this interefting fubject. His remarks are few, but admirably well applied. For the proofs of his miffion from heaven, be refers them to his works; but previously declares, that if they would do the will of his Father, they fhould know of the doctrine which he preached, whether it was of God, or whether he fpake of himself. This in substance is the fame as if he had faid, that if, from virtuous defires to ferve their Maker, they made enquiry concerning his perfonal character and profeffion, they should escape all danger of deception by him; and, with the advantages they enjoyed, be readily able to discern, whether he was an impoftor 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 ger ger fent from God, and refpecting things which were of infinite weight. As it is evident the fame obfervation may, in all ages, apply to the various nations or claffes 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 ferious doctrine. The defign in the following difcourfe is, therefore, to illustrate the principles on which this connection depends, in order to fhew 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 fhall have reference to, in a more particular manner contemplates them as including a fyftem of doctrines, the belief of which among Chriftians is effential to falvation. In the first place, This connection will appear, if we confider the influence of the affections on the human judgment. There is fomething 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 feen, on the recollection that moral truth is friendly and conducive to moral virtue. Such is the complection of the facred writings, in which the laws and doctrines are eminently according to true godlinefs. 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 perfon, who humbly longs for the benediction of God, at the fame 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 reprefents the form and features of each one who beholds it, fo the word of God exhibits to the reader the features or complection of his foul. The good man rejoices in the image; for, however faintly, it is really the image of his Maker, and muft of confequence be beautiful. The bad man ftarts back with fhame: He is ready to fufpect the juftness of the mirror; and perceiving the vaft contrast between the amiableness of moral rectitude, and the difordered state of his own mind, he cometh not to the light, fearing the pains which are annexed to felf-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 thofe doctrines which are recommendatory of true holiness,-explain their nature, and convince him they are right. Though an angel from heaven fhould proclaim any other, he would not receive them. What are immaculate in kind, and beneficial in effect, he will view as poffeffing the fignatures of Divine authenticity, and be immediately prepared to admit that the meffenger who brings them can come from none but God. It was on this principle that our Saviour addreffed the Jews in the words of the text: And on this principle, every religious perfon may be affured that, admitting the writings of the Old and New Testaments to be authentic, he hall not only be preferved from dangerous mistakes respecting respecting their doctrines, but acquire a fufficient knowledge of all the truths included in them, which are effential to falvation. Secondly, The fame fentiment will be further illuftrated and confirmed, if, in perusing the facred Scriptures, we confider their general complection and defign. 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 flate 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 falvation of the reader turns, are really very few, and likewife very comprehenfible and plain? The Bible may emphatically be characterized a message of good news to men in general. As fuch, 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 defcribed in this style, if its first principles or effential truths were either very confiderable in number, or in nature so obftrufe as to require of those who examined them a course of years, aided by no fmall ftrength 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 fmall? 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 difpofition 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, |