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we must strive; strive with great earnestness and persevering energy, and never give over the struggle till we are made partakers of the divine nature, and drink of the living waters of life.

After our souls have been made alive to God, by the quickening energy of the Holy Spirit, and our hearts are healed of all their deadly maladies, we must shun every poisonous atmosphere, and reject all unwholesome food. The society of the wicked and ungodly should be carefully avoided; for their very breath, like the cadaverous mists of hades, blasts, soils, and poisons as it touches. You should chose for your companions, those who love and fear God, that all you pious resolutions may be strengthened by their chaste conversation and holy example. Our intimate associates, whether they be impure or virtuous, will have a very powerful influence over us, in moulding or forming our characters to virtue or to vice. We are very much the creatures of imitation and habit, and imperceptibly imbibe the spirit and copy the example of our associates. We must also avoid all unwholesome food, or, in other words, all pernicious doctrines; all doctrines that would give license to sin-that would encourage idleness and indolence-that would engender a censorious and uncharitable spirit-or that would lead us to distrust the goodness, the power, and faithfulness of God.

In looking over this congregation, I perceive that a large proportion of this assembly are among the number of those upon whom sin is committing its depredations. I see here, sinners of all ages and descriptions; from the man of gray hairs, whose locks have been whitened by the frost of fourscore years and ten, and whose tottering limbs are now trembling over the grave, down to the young transgressor of a day old. I behold the ravages of a desolating plague, defacing and deforming the fairest portion of God's creation, and conveying one after another to the gates of eternal death, and consigning their souls to the regions of darkness and blackness forever. O, sinner! are you sensible that this destructive malady has already seized upon your very vitals-that it is disseminating its poison through every avenue of the heart-that it is drying up all the fountains of moral life within you-that it has already conveyed you very near the shades of eternal death? When I reflect that the time is not far distant, when your mortal maladies will convey some of you to those dark abodes of wretchedness and misery, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; to those devouring elements where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; to those dreary caverns, where the groans of the damned shall reverberate through the prison of hell; to that land of mania, where the shrieks and cries of the despairing inhabitants shall fall upon the astonished ear, my soul is melted like wax within me, and I can but raise my cry to God, and plead with him to have mercy on a perishing world. O, ye mothers, do you consider that those daughters whom you have raised with so much care, and watched over with so much solici

tude, have been poisoned with the breath of sin, are now pining and wasting away under its corroding maladies, and unless they are healed by Christ, the great physician of souls, will be numbered among the damned in hell? Have you no bowels of compassion to yearn over them? Have you no prayers to go up to heaven on their behalf? Have you no tears of love and pity to shed on their account? Yes! methinks you feel deeply anxious that their souls may be awakened this day, to perceive and to feel the deadly evils of sin.

Blessed be God, the sinner's heart does melt under the warming influences of divine love-it yields to the impressions of the Holy Spirit of God. O, fellow-sinner, your case, though awful, is not desperate. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, to which the dying Israelites looked and lived, so God this day lifts up in our midst the Son of Man, who is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. O, look to him, that you may be healed of your maladies, and live forever. He is full of compassion, and mighty to redeem. Of however long standing may be your maladies, Jesus is able to eradicate them; how inveterate soever may be your diseases, he is able to heal them. None need despair of his power or willingness to save them. O, may you resign all into his hands now, for behold, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. You have often formed resolutions of amendment at some future period, but these have only proved as so many illusions, by which you have cheated and defrauded yourselves. Indulge in these vain delusive hopes no longer, but enter immediately upon the great work of salvation, and you shall be numbered among the precious sons of God, when Jesus Christ shall make up his jewels.

Here are some who have been healed by this great physician. Grateful acknowledgements are due to the glory of his name. Be not like some mentioned in the gospel, who, after they were healed, neglected to give glory to God. Call upon your soul, and all that is within you, to bless his holy name, who forgiveth all thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who hath redeemed thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with loving kindness, and tender mercy. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, who have thus been graciously restored from the moral malady of sin. O, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. You must remember that there is danger of a relapse, and take the necessary precaution against it. You live in a contagious world, where noxious vapors infect the atmosphere we breathe; a world which sin has converted into a hospital, where all are diseased. Shun the dangers which surround you, and avoid the very appearance of evil. Study to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man, and seek to preserve your spiritual health. Let him whose cure has been effected, remember to watch and pray, lest he enter into temptation.

DISCOURSE XXVI.

On Cultivating a Peaceful Disposition.

"Let us, therefore, follow after the things that make for peace."-Romans xiv., 19.

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THE nature and tendency of the Christian religion, is altogether of a pacific character. It not only reconciles us to God by the blood of the cross, but it also inspires us with a peaceable and quiet disposition. St. James informs us, That the wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. It is by the exercise of this disposition that the spirit of lust, which excites divisions, contentions, strifes, wars, and the like, diffusing death through every vein of society, is to be subdued and overcome. A man of a peaceful disposition will avoid giving or taking offence, and stand aloof from the quarrels and tumults of the neighborhood; he will also, if possible, by a wise, temperate and friendly interference, heal them at an early stage. While a contentious man blows the coals of party strife, and excites a fiercer war, the true peace-maker will quench them by the application of soft words and friendly advice. A peace-maker is a great blessing to the church, to a neighborhood, or even to a nation. Christ, himself, pronounced a blessing upon such: Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. They are called the children of God, because they resemble him. He that seeks peace on pure and honorable principles is of God's mind, acting on the same principles as God acts, in reconciling the world to himself through Jesus Christ.

There is scarcely any blessing more desirable, either in church or state, than peace-true and well-grounded peace. It is so intimately connected with prosperity, that the Hebrew word which is rendered peace, signifies also prosperity. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. The Hebrew word is the same in both places. In this view of the subject, we shall attempt to explain and enforce the exhortation contained in the text; for if peace be with us, prosperity will follow as a matter of course.

II. proceed, then, in the first place, to explain the exhortation contained in the text. Let us, therefore, follow after the things that make for peace. The exhortation which is here given, is to be understood in a general, and not in a forced or strained sense. There are exceptions to all general maxims. It is not, then, to be understood, that we are to be so fond of peace as to sacrifice truth and principle to preserve it; for this would be uprooting the very foundations of peace. If the foundations of Christianity are de

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stroyed, what will the righteous do? They can only rest in a false peace, a refuge of lies, that will be surely swept away. If the pastor of a flock desert the truth, and teach for doctrine the commandments of men, his people ought to abandon him. Neither are we to maintain peace consisting in the neglect of discipline, and the passing over such evils as ought to be censured and exposed. It is the glory of a man to pass over an injury done to himself, but not to be pliable in matters that dishonor God, and obstruct the progress of Christianity. It is lamentable, however, that men are apt to resent with a bitter spirit personal insults and injuries, while those that are offered to God are little heeded. The rule of Scripture is, First pure, then peaceable. We, then, should make every sacrifice to secure peace which we consistently can, and preserve inviolate the true doctrine and precepts of the Christian religion; and we are not authorized to go further.

II. In order to secure the prosperity of the church, two things are to be considered-the conduct of its members towards their pastor, and their conduct towards one another.

First: Endeavor, by all means, to preserve a good understanding with your pastor. His peace of mind is essential to the happiness, prosperity, and edification of the church. If he become cramped or embarrassed in his mind, it will check the free operation of his mental powers, bind his spirit, damp his ardor, and paralize his energies. He will resemble Samson shorn of his locks; all his efforts will be distinguished by weakness and langor. Filled with lassitude, dejection, and gloom, he will never be able to descend with his people upon the mount, or to inspire them with courage and confidence in the day of darkness and peril.

2. Let your attendance upon his ministrations, be constant and regular. If you frequently absent yourselves from meeting, or leave his ministrations to attend those of other ministers, or come to meeting late, it will necessarily affect his peace of mind. He will be left to suppose his labors are unacceptable, or that you have imbibed a personal prejudice against him. This state of things will become exceedingly painful to him, and will greatly embarrass his mind. It will serve continually to depress his spirits, and will diminished his confidence in his powers and usefulness. And these evil effects will be the most sensibly felt at the time of public service, when it is essentially important he should be free from embarrassments. And if you should discover any defects in his manner, or mistakes in his preaching, consider human frailty. Do not make them a matter of conversation with others, nor talk of them among yourselves; but talk to him respecting them, and that with modesty and tenderness. Every man has his defects, and ministers of the gospel with all others. These defects, are more or less prominent; some of them can be remedied and others cannot. Many of these defects are only noticed by a few, and if they are not made a matter of conversation by those who observe them, they

may do little harm. But if they are made a matter of conversation, the attention of the whole congregation will be uselessly drawn to them. At the same time, the only possible mode in which they can be corrected, is to state them to the minister himself, and give him an opportunity, if possible, of avoiding them in future.

3. Let the vigilance you exercise over his conduct, be marked with tenderness and candor. His enemies will watch for his halting; they will magnify his foibles into crimes; they will put a forced construction upon his words and actions; they will overlook his excellencies and dwell upon his failings; they will emblazon his imperfections before the eyes of the public; and he will be necessarily compelled to throw himself upon the protection of his friends. If this protection is denied-if his friends stand aloof in the hour of peril, or unite with his enemies in the general outcry against him, the best man will be sacrificed upon the altar of revenge or malice. For it should be remembered, that the greater the excellencies of a minister of the gospel, the wider the influence he exerts in the community, the more vehement will be the envy of his opponents. Under such circumstances, every pastor must rely upon the candor and good sense of his people. Suffer not, then, your confidence to be diminished in your pastor by any reports to his disadvantage especially if they come from his enemies. It will be sufficient time to credit evil reports, when the facts of the case have been fully elicited, and all the connecting circumstances properly and duly weighed. It will be found, on proper examination, in most cases, that vain and idle rumor is but the echo of some secret envy, or the poisoned dart of some hidden foe. Consider, then, that the public reputation of your pastor is, in a very great measure, committed to your care and preservation. May you ever prove worthy of the high trust reposed in

you.

4. Let your exercise of discipline be prompt, and such as shall preserve him from censure and reproach. The discipline of the church must be maintained, or the peace and harmony of the body will be destroyed, and its glory will depart. In every church there is a greater or less proportion of disorderly walkers. These persons must be admonished, and, if possible, reclaimed; if this cannot be done, they must be separated from the body, lest the little leaven should leaven the whole lump. It is of great importance to the well-being of a church, that men are not wanting who will watch over one another in love, observe and counteract the symptoms of declension, heal differences at an early period, and nip disturbances in the bud. By such means there will be but few things of a disagreeable nature, which will require either the censure of the church or the interference of the pastor. But there are instances in which both the church and the pastor must interfere; and here it is of the utmost importance that they both preserve a right spirit, and act in concert. The church should always

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