¦U^fi%:)\;':i,;iii^fi:' ^*?||ii^s,, '^r-^^^^ «i < 'ft V ,|^i(M'>«)ai^-. '.-•¦-Tt :.^: ;* *.' ,:k»&! .IM' fv i^{,%. FOR THE ORACLES OF GOD, FttR JUDGBIENT TO COME, AN ARGUMENT, IN NINE PARTS. BY THE REV. EDWARD IRVING, M.A. Slmisterof the Oaledanian Church, Hattttn-Garden-i NEW-YORK: PRINTED BY S. MARKS, NO. 63 VESJEYsSSraEEt, Mnz3i CONTSXffTS. Preface -"- -- _.. v ORATIONS. Dedication -----.-'-..-.---- ix I. The Preparation for Consulting the Oracles of God - 13 II. The Manner of Cpnsulting the Oracles of God - - - 32 ly* > Tlie Obeying of the Qracles of God - -»- - - - ¦ ] A3 J-' > Tlie Obeying of the Qracles of God JUDGMENT TO COME. / Dedication .. ^.. ...-..-.-.-..¦- .t 86 Part I. The Plan of the Argument; — with an Inquiry into 'Responsibility in general, and God's right to place A ..the World under Responsibility - ----- t 89 "II., The Constitution under which it hath pleased God ^-( ->t< '¦' to place the World ..<.-.. » .- no III. The same Subject continued 137 IV. The good Efifects of the above' Constitution, both upon the Individual and upoti Political Society - 177 V. •¦;J'relirainaries. of the Solemn Judglnent"- ' - -' - - 215 VI. i!1ie La^t STudgment - f - - - - - '- - - - 256 VIL The Bsues of the Judgment ¦.- ----... 297 VIII. Th§ only Way to escape Condemnation and Wr;ath •"to come - - - - -. - - - - - -;- - - - 337 IX. The Review of the' whole Argument, and endettvour to bring it home to the Sons of Men - ^ - - - 387 PREFACE. It hath appeared to the Author of this book, from more than ten years' meditation upon the subject, that the chief obstacle to the progress of divine truth over the minds of men, is the want of its being properly presented to them. In this Christian country there are, perhaps, nine-tenths of every class who know nothing at all about the applications and ad'vantages of the single truths of re- velatjon, or of reveWtion taken as a whole; and what they do not know, they cannot be expected to reverence or obey. This ignorance, in both the higher and the lower orders of"Religion, as a discerner of the thoughts and in tentions of the heart, isi not so much due to the want of inquisitiveness on their part, as to the want of a sedu lous and skilful ministry on the part of those to whom it is entrusted. This sentiment may seem to convey a reflection upon the clerical order ; but it is hot meant to reflect upon them so much as to turn their attention to the subject. They mu^t be conscious that reading is the food of thought, and thought the cause of action ; and therefore, in what proportion the reading of a people is impregnated with religious truth, in that proportion will the conduct of a people be guided into religious ways. We must, there fore, lay our hand ypon the press as well as the pulpit, and ,season its effiisions with an admixture of devout feel- VI PREFACE. ing and pious thought. But, whereas men read for enter tainment and direction in their several studies and pursuits, it becomes needful that we make ourselves adept in these, and into the body of them all infuse the balm of salvation, that when the people consult for the present life, they may be admonished, stealthily and, skilfully invaded with ad monition, ofthe Ufe to come. So that, until -the servants and ministers of the living God do pass the limits of pul pit theology and pulpit exhortation, and take weapons in their. hand, gathered out of every region in which the life of man or his faculties are interested, they shall never have religion triumph and domineer in a country, as beseemeth her high original, her native majesty, and her eternity of freely-bestowed well being. To this the ministers of religion should bear their at tention to be called, for until they thus acquire the pass- , word which is to Cbn'vey them into every man's encamp ment, they speak to that man from a, distance, and, at dis advantage. It is but a, parley ; it is no conference, nor treaty, nor harmonious communication. .• To this end, they must discover new vehicles for conveying the truth as it is in Jesus, into the minds of the people ; poetical, historical, scientific, political, and sentimental vehicles. In all these regions, some of the population are domesti cated with all their aff'ections ; Who are as dear in God's sight as are others ; and why they should not be come at, why means should not be taken to come at them, can any good reason be assigned ? They prepare men for teach ing gipsies, for teaching bargemen, for teaching miners ; men who understand their ways of conceiving and esti mating truth ; why not train ourselves for teaching ima ginative men and political men, and legal men, and me dical men ? and, having got the key to their several cham- PREFACE. ^ vii bers of delusion and resistance, why not enter in and de bate the matter with their souls ? Then they shall be left without excuse ; meanwhile, I think, we ministers are without excuse. Moved by these feelings, I have set the example of two ' ndw methods of handling religious truth — the Oration, ahd the Argument; the one intended to be after the man- ner of the ancient Oratiofi, the best vehicfe for addressing 'the. rhinds of men which the world hath seen, far beyond the sermon, ofwhich the 'very name hath learned to inspire drowsiness and tedium ; the other after the manner of the ancient Apologies, ^^ith), this difference, that it is pleaded', not before any judicial bar, but before the tribunal of hu man thought ancfif feeling. The forrtier are but speci mens ; the latter, though most imperfect, is intended to be. complete. ,The Orations are placed first in the vo lume, because the Oracles' of God, which they exalt, are the foundation of the Argument, which brings to reason and common feeling one of the revelations which they contain. For criticism I have given most plentiful occasion, and I deprecate it not ; for it is the free agitation of questions that brings the truth to light. It has also been niy lot to have a good deal of it where 1 could not meet it, and if I get a good deal more I shall not grumble ; for, a book is the property of the Public, to do with it. what they like. The Author's care of it is finished when he hath given it birth. The people are rresponsible for the rest. I have besought the guidance of the Alinighty and his blessing very often, and have' nothing to beseech of men but that they would look to themselves, and have mercy upon their own souls. » • FOR THE ORACLES OF GOD. FOUR ORATION'S. xil BEDICjVTIOlf. licitude, now about to fall into other hands. The Lord be with you and your household, and ren der unto you manifold for the blessings which you have rendered unto me. I could say much about these Orations, which I dedicate to you ; but I will not mingle with any literary or theo logical discussion this pure tribute of affection and gratitude, which I render to you before the world, as I have already done into your private ear. I am. My honoured Friend, Your's, In the bonds ofthe Gosple, ED W.IRVING. Caledonian ChurcJi, Hatton-Garden. ORATIONS, LEOTURES, / AND SERMONS. ORATION I. JOHN V. 39. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. The preparation for consulting the Oracles of God. There was a time when each revelation ofthe word of God had an introduction into this earth which neither permitted men to doubt whence it came, nor wherefore it was sent. If at the giving of each several truth a star was not lighted up in heaven, as at the birth of the Prince of truth, there was done upon the earth a wonder, to make her children listen to the message of their Maker. The jj^lmighty made bare his arm; and, through mighty acts shown by his holy servants, gave demonstration of his truth, and found for it a sure place among the other mat ters of human knowledge and belief. ' But now the miracles of God haye ceased, and Nature, secure and unmolested, is no longer called on for tes timonies to her Creator's voice. * No burning bush draws the footsteps to his presence chamber ; no invisible voice holds the ear awake; no hand cometh forth*'- from the ob scure to write his purposes in letters of flame. The vision is shut up, and the testimony is sealed, and the word ofthe Lord is ended, and this solitary volume, with its chapters and verses, is the sum total of all for which 14 PREPARATION F0R CONSUITINO the chariot of heaven made so many visits to the earth, and the Son of God himself tabernacled and dwelt among us. The truth which it contains once dwelt undivulged in the bosom of God ; and, on coming forth to take its place among things revealed, the heavens and the earth, and Naturethrough all her chambers, gave it reverent welcome. Beyond what it contains, the mysteries ofthe future are unknown. To gain it acceptation and currency the noble company, of martyrs testified unto the death. The general assembly of the first born in heaven made it the day-star of their hopes, and the pavilion of their peace. Its^every sentence is charmed vwith the power of God, and powerful to the everlasting salvation of sojils. Having our minds filled with these thoughts of the primeval divinity of revealfed Wisdom when she dwelt in the bosom of God, and was of his eter-nal self a part, long before he prepared the heavens, or set a compass upon the face of the deep ; revolving also, how, by the space of four thousand years, every faculty of mute Nature did solemn obeisance to this daughter of the divitie mind, whenever he pleaded to commission her forth to the help of mortals ; and further meditating upon the delights which she had of old with the sons of men, the height of heavenly temper to which, she raised them and the offspring of magnanimous deeds which these two — the wisdom of God, andthe soul of man — did engender between themselves — meditating, I say, upon these mighty topics, our soul is smitten with grief and shame to remark how in this latter day, she hath fallen from her high estate ; and fallen along with her the great and noble character pf men. Or if there be still a few names as ofthe Missionary Martyn, to emulate the saints! bf old — -how to the commonalty of christians- her oracles have fallen into a household commoness, and her visits into a cheap familiarity ; while by the multitude she is mistaken for a minister of terror sent to oppress poor mortals with moping melancholy, and inflict a wound upon the happiness of human kind. THE ORACLES OF GOD. 15 Tor there is now no express stirring up of faculties to meditate her high and heavenly strains — there is no formal sequestration of the mind from all other concerns, on purpose for her special entertainments— there is no pause of soleran seeking and solemn waiting for a spiritual frame, before entering and listening to the voice ofthe Almighty's wisdom. Who feels the sublime dignity there is in a saying fresh descended from the porch of heaven? Who feels the awful weight there is in the least iota that hath dropped from the lips of God ? Who feels the thrilling ffcar or trembling hope there is in words whereon the eter nal destinies of himself do hang ? Who feels the swelling tide of gratitude within his breast, for redemption and sal vation coming, instead of flat despair and everlasting retri bution? Finally, who, in perusing^ the word of God, is captivated through all his faculties, and transported through all his emotions, and through all his ener^es of action wound up ? Why, to say the best, it is done as other duties are, wont to be done: and, havine reached the rank of a daily, formal duty, the perusal of the Word hath reached its 'noblest place.-. Yea, that which is the guide and spur of all duty, the necessary aliment of Christian life, the first and the last bf Christian knowledge and Christian feeling, .hath', to speak the best, degenerated in these days to stand rank and file" among those duties whereof it is parent, preserver, and commander. And, to speak not the best, but the fair and common truth, this book, the offspring ofthe divine mind, and the perfection of heavenly wisdom, is permitted to life from day to day, perhaps from week to week, unheeded and unperused ; never welcome to our l^ppy, healthy, and energetic moods ; admitted, if admitted at all, in seasons of sickness, feeble mindedness, and disabling sorrow. Yea, that which )<^as sent to be a spirit of ceaseless joy and hope, withij/ the heart of man, is treated as the enemy of happiness, ^d the murderer of enjoyment ; and eyed askance, as the remem brancer of death, and the very messenger of hell .' 16 PREPARATl6l«r FOR CONSULTING Oh ! if books had but tongues to speak their wrongs, then might this book well exclaim-^Hear, O heavens I and give ear, O earth I I came from the love and etabrace of God, and mute Nature, to whom I brought no boon, . did me rightful homage. To man I came, and my word^ were to the children of men. I disclosed to you the mysteries of hereafter, and the secrets ofthe throne of God. I set opeh to you the gates of salyation, and the way of eternal life, hitherto unknown. Nothing in heaven did I withhold from your hope and ambition : and upon your earthly lot I poured the full horn of divine providence and consolation. But ye requited mfi with- no welcome, ye held no festivity on my arrival : ye sequester me from, happiness and heroism, closeting me with j^sickness and infirinity ; ye make not of me, nor use me for your guide to wisdoni and prudence, but press me into a place in your last of duties, and withdraw me to a mere corner^, of your time; and most of ye set me at nought, and utterly disregard me. I came, the fullness of the knowledge of God; angels delighted in my company, and desired to dive into my secrets. But ye, morfels, place masters over me, subjecting me to the discipline and dogmaitism of men, and tutoring me in your schools of learning. I came, not to be silent in your dwellings, but tospeak welfare tb you and to your children. I came to rule, and my throne to set up in the hearts ofmen. Mine ancient residence was the bosom of God; no residence will I have but the soul of an immortal ; and if you had entertained me, I should have possessed you of the peace which I had with God, «« when I was with him and was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Because I have called and you re fused, I have stretched* out my hand and no man regarded ; but ye have set at npught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your ffear cometh as desolation, and your des truction cometh as a whirlwind j when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they cry upon me, but I THE ORACLES OF GOD. 17 ¦vyill not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." From this cheap estimation and wanton neglect of God's cQunsel, and from the terror of this curse consequent thereon, we have resolved, in the strength of God, to do our endeavour to deliver this congregation of his intelli gent and worshipping people, an endeavour which we make with a full reception of the difficulties to be over come on every side, within no less than without the sacred pale ; and upon which we enter with utmost diffidence of our powers, yet with the full purpose of straining them to the utmost, according to the measure with which it hath pleased God to endow our mind. And do thou, O Lord from whom cometh the perception of truth, vouchsafe to thy servant an unction from thine own Spirit who search eth all things, yea the deep things bf God — ^and vouchsafe to thy people " the hearing ear and the understanding heart, that they may hear and understand, and their souls may live !" Before the Almighty made his appearance upon Sinai, there were awful precursors sent to prepare his way : while he abode in sight, there were solemn ceremonies and a strict ritual of attendance ; when he departed, the whole camp set itself to conform unto his revealed will. Like- Wise, before the Saviour appeared, with his better law, there, was a noble procession of seers and prophets, who descried and warned the world of his coming ; when he came there were solemn announcements in the heavens and on the earth : he did not depart without due honours ; and there followed, on his departure, a succession of changes and alterations, which are still in progress, and shall continue in progress till the world end. This may serve to teach us, that a revelation of the Almighty's will makes demand for these three things, on the part of those to whom it is revealed. A due preparation fbr receiving it. A diligent attention to it while it is disclosing. A strict obserpance of it when it is delivered. IS SHEPAHATION FOR GONSVLTlNe In the whole book of the Lord's revelations, you shalt search in vain for one which is devoid of these necessary parts. Witness the awe-struck Isaiah, while the Lord displayed before him the sublime pomp of his presence, and, not content with overpowering the frail sense of the prophet, despatched a seraph to do the ceremonial of touch ing his lips-with hallowed fire, all before he uttered one word into his astonished ear. Witness the majestic ap parition to St. John, in the Apocalypse, of all the emblem atical glory of the Soji of man, allowed to take . silent effect upon the apostle's spirit, and prepare it for the revel ation of things to come. These heard with all their ab sorbed faculties, and with all their powers addressed them tOjthe bidding of the Lord. But, if this was in aught flinchedfrom, witness in thepersecutionoftheprophet Jonah, thfe fearful issues which ensued. From the presence ofthe Lord he could not flee. Fain would he have escaped to the uttermost parts of the earth ; but in the mighty waters the terrors ofthe Lord fell on him; and when ingulphed in the deep, and entombed in the monster of the deep, still the Lord's word was upon the obdurate prophet, who had no rest, not the rest-of the grave, till he had fulfilled it to the very uttermost. Now — judging that every time we open the pages of this holy book, we are to be favoured with no less than a communication from on high, in substance the same as those whereof we have detailed the three distinct and several parts — we conceive it due to the majesty of Him who speaks, that we, in like manner, discipline our spirits with a due preparation, and have them in a proper frame, before we listen to the voice. That, while it is disclosing to us the important message, we be wrapt in full attention. And that, when it hath disburdened itself into our opened and enlarged spirits, we proceed forthwith to the business of its fulfilment, whithersoever and to whatsoever it summon us forth. Upon each of these three duties, incumbent upon one who would not forego the benefit bf a heavenly ^ THE ORACLES OF GOD. 19 message, we shall discourse apart addressing ourselves in this discourse to tht first mentioned of the three. Tke preparation for the Announcement. — When God uttereth his voice, says the Psalmist, coals of fire are kindled ; the hills melt down like wax, the earth quakes, and deep proclaims it unto hollow deep. This sam« voice, which the stubborn elements cannot withstand, the children of Israel having heard but once, prayed that it might not bespoken to them any more. These sensible images of the Creator have now vanished, and we are left alone, in the deep recesses ofthe meditative mind, to dis cern his comings forth. No trump of heaven now speak eth in the world's ear. No angelic conveyancer of Heaven's will taketh shape from the vacant air, and having done his errand, retireth into his airy habitation. No hu man messenger putteth forth his miraculous hand to heal Nature's immedicable wounds, winning for his words a silent and astonished audience. Majesty and might no longer precede the oracles of Heaven. They tie silent and unobtrusive, wrapped up in their little compass — one volume, arnongst many, innocently handed to and fro, hav- Jng no distinction but that in which our mustered thoughts are enabled to invest them. The want of solemn prepar ation and circumstantial pomp, the imagination ofthe mind hath now to supply. The presence of the Deity, and the authority of his voice, our thoughtful spirits must discern. Conscience must supply the terrors that were wont to go before him ; and the brightness of his coming, which the sense can no longer behold, the heart, ravished with his word, must feel. For this solemn vocation of all her powers, to do her Maker honour and give him welcome, it is, at the very least, necessary that the soul stand absolved from every call. Every foreign influence or authority, arising out of the world, or the things of the world, should be burst when abbut to stand before the Fountain of all authority. Every argument, every invention, every opinion of man 20 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING fbrgoty when about to approach to the Father and oracle of all intelligence. And as subjects, when their prince honours them with invitations, are held disengaged, though pre-occupied with a thousand appointments — so, upon an audience fixed and about to be holden with the King of kings, it well becomes the honoured mortal to break loose from all thraldom of men and things, and be arrayed in liberty of thought and action, to drink in the rivers of his pleasure, and to perform the commissions of his lips. Now far otherwise it hath appeared to us, that Cliris- tians, as well as worldly men, come to this most august occupation of listening to the word of God, preoccupied and prepossessed, inclining to it a partial ear, a straitened understanding, and a disaffected will. The Christian public are prone to preoccupy themselves with the admiration of those opinions by which they stand distinguished ias a church or sect from other Christians ; and instead of being quite unfettered to receive the whole council of the divinity, they are prepared to welcome it, no farther than as it bears upon, and stands with opinions which they already favour. To this prej udgment the early use of catechisms mainly contributes, which, however serviceable in their place, have the disadvantage of present ing the truth in a form altogether different from what it occupies in the Word itself. In the one it is presented to the iKtellect chiefly, (and in our catachism to an intellect of a very subtle order ;) in the other it is presented more frequently to the heart, to the affections, to the imitation, to the fancy, and to all the faculties of the soul. In early youth, which is so applied to with those compilations, an association takes place between religion and intellect, and a divorcement of religion from the other powers ofthe inner man. This derangement, judging from observation and experience, it is exceedipg difficult to put to rights in after life ; and so it comes to pass, that, in listening to the oracles of religion, the intellect is chiefly awake, and the better parts ofthe message— those which address the heart THE ORACLES OP GOD. 21 and its affections, those which dilate and enlarge our imaginations of the Godhead, and those which speak to the various sympathies of our nature — we are, by the in judicious use of these narrow epitomes, disqualified to receive. In the train of these comes Controversy, with his rough vcice and unmeek aspect', to disqualify the soul for a full and fair audience of its Maker's word. The points ofthe faith we have been called on to defend, or Which are repu table with our party, assume in our esteem an importance disproportionate to their importance in the Word, which we come to relish chiefly when it goes to sustain them, and the Bible is hunted for arguments and texts of contro^ versy, which are treasured up for future service. The solemn stillness which the soul should hold before his Maker, so favourable to meditation and wrapt communion •w'A i|e throne of God, is destroyed at every turn by suggestion of what is orthodox and evangelical — where all is orthodox and evangelical ; the spirit of such readers becomes lean, being fed with abstract truths and formal propositions ; their temper uncongenial, being ever dis turbed with controversial suggestions ; their prayers undevout recitals of their opinions ; their discburse tech nical announcements of their faith. Intellect, cold intel lect, hath the sway over heaven- ward devotion and holy fervours. Man, contentious man, hath the attention which the unsearchable God should undivided have ; and the fine full harmony bf Heaven's melodious voice, which, heard apart, were sufficient to lap the soul in ecstacies un speakable, is jarred and interfered with ; and the heavenly spell is broken by the recurring conceits, sophisms, and passions of men. Now truly, and utter de^adation it is of the Godhead to have his word in league with that" of any man, or any council of men. What matter to me whether the Pope, or ariy work of any mind be exalted to the quality of God ? If any helps are to be imposed for the understanding, or safe-guarding, or sustaining of the 23 PREPARATION KOR CONSULTING word, why not the help of statues and pictures for my de votion ? Therefore, while the warm fancies of the South- ems have given their idolatry to the ideal forms of noble art — let us Northerns beware we give not our idolatry to the cold and coarse abstractions of human intellect. For the pre-occupations bf worldly minds — they are not to be reckoned up, being manifold as their favourite passions and pursuits. One thing only can be sa[id — that before coming tq the oracles of God, they are not pre- occupied with the expectation and fear of Him. No chord in their heart is in unison with things unseen ; no mo ments are set apart for religious thought and meditation ; no anticipations of the honoured interview ; no prayers of preparation, like tliat of Daniel, before Gabriel was sent to teach him; no devoutnesslike that of Cornelius, before the celestial visitation ; no fastings like that of Peter, before the revelation ofthe glory of the Gentiles ! Now, tc||^^ds minds which are not attuned to holiness, the words of God find no entrance — ^^striking heavy on the ear — seldom ma king way to the understanding — almost never to the heart. To spirits hot with conversation, perhaps heady with argu ment uncomposed by solemn thought, but ruffled and in uproar from the concourse of worldly interests — the sacred page may be spread out, but its accents are drowned in the noise which hath not yet subsided within the breast. All the awe, and pathos, and awakened consciousness of a divine approach, impressed upon the ancients by the pro cession of solemnities — is to worldly men without a sub stitute. They have not solicited themselves to be in readiness. In a usual mood and a vulgar frame they come to God's word, as to other compositions — ^reading it with out any active imaginations about Him who speaks ; feel ing' no awe of a sovereign Lord, nor care of a tender Father, npr devotion to a merciful Saviour. Nowise de pressed themselves out of their wonted independence— nqr humiliated before the King of kings — no prostrations ofthe soul — ^nor falling at his feet as dead — ^no exclamation. THE ORACLES OF GOD. 23 as of Isaiah, " Woe is me, for I am of unclean lips !" — nor suit, " Send me,'' — nor fervent ejaculation of welcome, as of Samuel, " Lord, speak, for thy servant heareth !" Truly they feel towards his word, much as to. the word of an equal. No wonder it shall fail of happy influence upon spirits which have, as it were, on purpose, disquali- fied themselves for its benefits, by removing from the regions of thought and feeling, which it accords with, into other regions, which it is of too severe dignity to affect, otherwise than with stern menace and direful foreboding ! If they would have it bless them, and do them good, they must change their manner of approaching it ; and endea vour to bring themselves into that prepared and collected and reverential frame which becomes an interview with the High and Holy One Avho inhabiteth the praises of etemity. Having thus spoken without equivocation, and we hope without offence, to the contractedness and pre-occupation with which Christians and worldly men are apt to come to the perusal of the word of God, we shall now set forth the two master feelings under which we should address ourselves to the sacred occupation. It is a good custom, inherited from the hallowed days of Scottish piety, and in our cottages still preserved, though in our cities generally given up, to preface the morning and evening worship of the family with a short invocation of blessing from the Lord. This is in unison with the practice and reconmmedation of pious men, never- to open the divine Word without a silent invocation of the divine Spirit. But no address to Heaven is of any virtue, save as it is the expression of certain pious sentiments with which the mind is full and overflowing. Of those sentiments which befit the mind that comes into conference with its Maker, the first and most prominent should be gratitude for his having ever condescended to hold com merce with such wretchedandfallen creatures. Gratitude not only expressing itself in proper terms, but possessing 24 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING the mind with an abiding and over-mastering mood, under which it shall sit impressed the whole duration of the interview. Such an emotion as cannot utter itself in language — though by language it indicate its presence — but keeps us in a devout and adoring frame, while the Lord is uttering his voice. Go, visit a desolate widow with consolation and help and fatherhood of her orphan children — do it again and again — and your presence, the sound of your approaching footstep, the soft utterance of your voice, the very mention of your name — shall come to dilate her heart with a fulness which defies her tongue to utter, but speaks by the tokens of a swimming eye, and clasped hands, and fervent ejaculations to Heaven upon your head ! No less copious acknowledgment of God, ' the author of our well-being and the father of our better hopes, ought we to feel when his Word discloseth to us the excesses of his love. Though a veil be now cast over the Majesty which speaks, it is the voice of the Eternal which we hear, coming in soft cadences to win our favour, ' yet omnipotent as the voice of the thunder, and over powering as the rushing of many waters. And though the veil of the future intervene between our hand and the promised goods, still are they from His lips, who speaks and it is done, who commands and all things stand fast. With no less emotion, therefore, should this book be opened, than if, like him in the Apocalypse, you saw the voice which spake ; or like him in the trance you were, into the thirdheavens translated, company and communing with the realities of glory, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, hor the heart of man conceived. Far and foreign from such an opened and awakened bosomy is that cold and formal hand which is generally laid upon the sacred volume ; that unfeeling and unimpressive tone with which its accents ai-e pronounced ; and that listless and incurious ear into which its blessed sounds are receiv ed. How can you, thus unimpassioned, hold commu nion with themes in which every thing awful, vital, and THE ORACLES OF OOD. 25 endearing, do meet together ! Why is not curiosity, curiosity ever hungry, on edge to know the doings and Jtl- tentions of Jehovah, King of kings ? Why is not interest, interest ever awake, on tiptoe to hear the future destiny of itself? Why is not the heart that panteth over the world after love and friendship, overpowered with the full tide of the divine acts and expressions of love ?. Where is Nature gone when she is not moved with the tender mercy of Christ f Methinks the affections of men are fallen into the yellow leaf. Of your poets which charm the world's ear, who is he that inditeth a song unto his God ? Some will tune their harps to sensual pleasures, and by. the en chantment of their genius well nigh commend their un holy themes to the imagination of saints. Others, to the high arid noble sentiments of the heart, will sing of domestic joys and happy unions, casting around sorrow the radiancy of virtue, and bodying forth, in' undying forms, the short-lived visions of joy I Others have en rolled themselves the high priests of mute Nature's charms enchanting her echoes with their minstrelsy, and peopling her solitudes with the bright creatures of their fancy. But when, since the days of the blind master pf English song, hath any poured forth a lay wortfiy of the Christian theme ? Nor in philosophy, ",the palace of the soul," have men been more mindful of their Maker. The flowers of the garden and the herbs of the field have their unwearied devotees, crossing the ocean, wayfaring in the desert, and making devout pilgrimages to every region of Nature, for offerings to their patron muse. The rocks from their residences among the clouds to their deep rests in the dark bowels'bf the earth, have a mo^ bold and venturous priesthood; who see in their rough and flinty faces a more delectable image to adore than in the revealed countenance; of God. And the politipal welfare of the world is a very Moloch, who can at any time command his hecatomb of^ human victims. But the revealed sapience of God, to which the harp of David and the prophetic lyre of Isaiah 26 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING 'were strung, thfe prudence of God, which the wisest of men coveted after, preferring it to every gift which Heaven could confer — and the eternal intelligence him self in human form, and the unction of the Holy One which abideth — these the common heart of man hath forsaken, and refused to be charmed withal. I testify, that there ascendeth not from earth, a Hosan- nah of her children to bear witness in the ear ofthe upper ¦regions to the wonderful manifestations of her God ! From a few scattered hangilets, in a small portion of her -wide territory, a small voice ascendeth like the voice of one crying in the wilderness. But to the service of our general Preserver there is no concourse, from Dan unto Beersheba, of our people ; the greater part of whom, after two thousand years of apostolic commission, know not the testimonies of our God ; and the multitude of those who do, rfeject or despise them ! But, to return from this lamentation, which, may God hear, Iwho doth not disregard the cries of his afflicted people ! With the full sense of obligation to the giver, combine a humble sense of your own incapacity to value and to use the gift of his Oracles. Having to taste what ever for the mean estimates which are made, and the coarse invectives that are vented against human nature, which, though true in the main, are often in the manner so un feeling and triumphant, as to reveal hot zeal, rather than tender and deep sorrow, we will not give in to this popular strain. And yet it is a truth by experience, revealed, that though there be in man most noble faculties, and a nature restless after the knowledge and truth of things- there are, towards God, and his revealed will, an indisposi tion andaregardlessness, which themost tender and enlight ened consciences are the most ready to acknowledge. Of our emancipated youth, whp, bound after the know ledge ofthe visible works of God, and the gratification of the various instincts of nature, ho-yv few betake themselves at all, jtow few absorb themselves with the study and THE ORACLES OF GOD. 2v obedience of the word of God! And when, by God's visitation, we address ourselves to the task, how slow is our progress and how imperfect our performance ! It is most true that Nature is unwilling to the subject ofthe scriptures. The soul is previously possessed with ad verse interests ; the world hath laid an embargo upon her faculties, and monopolized them to herself ; old Habit hath perhaps added his almost incurable callousness ; and the enemy of God and man is skilful to defend what he hath already won. So circumstanced, ani^every man is so circumstanced, we come to the audience of the word of God, and listen in worse tune than a wanton to a sermpn, or a hardened knave to a judicial address. Our understanding is prepossessed with a thousand idols either of the world religious or irreligious — which corrupt the reading ofthe word into a straining of the text to their service ; an J when it will not,strain, cause it to be skim med, and perhaps despised, or hated. Such a thing as a free and unlimited reception of all the parts of Scripture into the mind, is a thing most rare to be met with, and when met with, will be found, the result of many a sore submission of Nature's opinions, as well as of Nature's likings. But the word, as hath been said, is not for the intellect alone, but for the heart, and for the will. Now, if any one be so wedded to his own candour as to think he doth accept the divine truth unabated — surely no one will flatter himself into the belief that his heart is already at tuned and enlarged for all divine affections, or his will in readiness for all divine commandments. The man who thus misdeems of himself, must, if his opinion were just, be like a sheet of fair paper, unblotted, unwritten on ; whereas all men are already occupied, to very fulness, with other opinions, and attachments, and desires, than the Word reveals. We do not grow Christians by the same culture by which we grow men, otherwise^what need of divine revelation, and divine assistance ? But being' un- 28 PREPARATION FOR- CONSBRTINe acquainted fromthe womb with God, and attached to what is seen and felt, through early and close acquaintance, we are ignorant and detached from what is unseen and unfelt. The Word is a novelty to our nature, its truths, fresh truths, its affections, fresh affections, its obedience a new obedience, which have to master and put down the truths, affections, and obedience gathered from the apprehension of Nature and the commerce of worldly life. Therefore, there needeth, in one that would be served from this store house of truth opened by heaven, a disrelish of his old ac quisitions, anda preferance of the new, a simple, child-like teachableness, an allowance of ignorance and error, with whatever elseTaeseems an anxious learner. Coming to the word of God, we are like children brought into the con versations of experienced men ; and we should humbly listen and reverently inquire : or we are like raw rustics introduced into high and polished life, and we should un learn our coarseness, and copy the habits of the station : ^— nay, w-e are like offenders caught, and for ainendment committed to the bosom of honourable society, with the power of regaining our lost condition, and inheriting hon our and trust — therefore we should walk softly and tender ly, covering our former reproach with modesty and hum bleness, hasting to redeem our reputation by distinguish ed performances, against offence doubly guarded, doubly watchful for dangerous and extreme positions, to demon strate our recovered goodness. These two sentiments — devout veneration of God for his unspeakable gift, and deep distrust of our own capacity to estimate and use it aright — will generate in the mind, a opnstant aspiration after the guidance and instruction of a Higher Power. The first sentiment of gopdness remem bered, emboldening us to draw near to Him who first drew near to us, and who with Christ will not refuse us any gift. The second sentiment, of weakness remembered, teaching us our need, and prbmpting us by every interest of religion and every feeling of helplessness to seek ofhim THE ORACLES OF GOD. 29- who hath said, " If any one lack wisdom let him seek of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not." The soul vvhich under these two master feelings cometh to read, shall not read without profit. Every new revelation, feed ing his gratitude and nourishing his sense of former ignor ance, will confirm the emotions he, is under, and carry them onward to an unlimited dimension. Such a one will prosper in the way ; enlargement ofthe inner man will be his portion, and establishment in the truth his exceed ing great reward ; affection to the Godhead will lead him on ; and the strength which sustaineth the humble will be his reward. *' In the strength of the Lord shall his right hand get victory — even in the name of the Lord of Hosts. His soul also shall flourish with the fruits of righteousness from the seed of the W^ord, which liveth and abideth for ever.'' Thus delivered from prepossessions of all other masters, and arrayed in the raiment of humility and love, the soul should advance to the meeting of her God; and she should. call a muster of all her faculties, and have all her poor graces in attendance, and any thing she knows of his excellent works and exalted ways she should summon up to her remembrance : her understanding she should quick en, her memory refresh, her imagination stimulate, her affections cherish, and her conscience arouse. All that is within her should be stirred up, her whole glory should awake and her whole beauty display itself for the meeting of her King. As his hand-maiden she should meet him ; his own handy-work, thoQgh sore defaced, yet seeking restoration ;, his humble because offending servant — )'et nothing slavish, though humble — nothing superstitious, though devout-T-nothing tame, though modest in her demeanour ; but quick, and ready, all addressed and wound up for her Maker's will. How different the ordinary proceeding of Christians, who with timorous, mistrustful spirits; with an abeyance of intellect, and a dwarfish reduction of their natural powers ^ 80 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING enter to the conference ofthe word of God ! The natural powers of man are to .be mistrusted, doubtless, as the willing instruments of the evil one ; but they, must be honoured also as the necessary instruments of the Spirit of God whose Operation is a dream, if it be not through knowledge, intellect, conscience, and action. Now Chris tians, heedless of this grand resurrection of the mighty instruments of thought and action, at the same time co veting hard after holy attainment, db often resign the mastery of themselves, and are taken into the counsel of the religious world — whirling around the eddy of sOme popular leader — ^and so drifted, I will not say from god liness, but drifted certainly from that noble, manly, and independent course, which, under steerage ofthe word of ^God, they might have safely pursued for the precious interests of their immortal souls. Meanwhile these popu lar leaders, finding no necessity for strenuous endeavours and high science in- the , ways of God, but having a gathering host to follow them, deviate from the ways of deep and penetrating thougjht — ^refuse the contest with the literary and accomplished enemies of the faith — bring a contempt upon the cause in which mighty men did formerly gird themselves to the combat — and so cast the stumbling-block of a mistaken paltriness between en lightened men and the cross of Christ ! So far from this simple-mindedness (but its proper name is feeble- minded- ness) Christians shouldjDe — as aforetime in this island they were wont to be — the princes pf human intellect, the lights of the world, the salt ofthe political and social state. Till they come forth from the swaddling bands in which foreign schools have girt them, and walk boldly upon the high places of human understanding, they shall never ob tain that influence in the upper regions of knowledge and power ofwhich unfortunately they have not the apostolic unction to be in quest. They will never be the master and commanding spirits ofthe time, until they cast off the wrinkled and withered skin of an obsolete age, and clothe THE ORACLES OP GOD. 31 themselves with intelligence as with a garment, and bring forth the fruits of power and of love and of a sound mind. Mistake us not, for we steer in a narrow, very narrow channel, with rocks of popular prejudice on every side. While we thus invocate to the reading of the Word, the highest strains of the human soul, mistake us not as dero gating from the office of the Spirit of God. Far be it from any Christian, much farther from any Christian pastor, to withdraw from God the honour which is every where his due, but there, most of all his due where the human mind laboured'alone for thousands of years and la boured with no success — viz. the regeneration of itself, and its restoration to the lost semblance ofthe divinity! — Oh ! let him be reverently inquired after, devoutly waited on, and most thankfully acknowledged in every step of progress from the soul's fresh awakening out of her dark oblivious sleep — even to her ultimate attainment upon earth and full accomplishment for heaven. And that there may be a fuller choir of awakened men to ad vance his honour and glory here on earth — and hereafter in heaven above — let the saints bestir themselves like angels, and the ministers of religion like archangels strong ! — ^And now at length let us have a demonstration made of all that is noble in thought, and generous in action, and devoted in piety, for bestirring this lethargic age, and breaking the bands of hell, and redeeming the whole world to the service of its God and King ! As he doth know this to be the desire and aim of the preceding Discourse, so may he prosper it to the salva tion of many souls, that to his poor servant, covered over with iniquities, may derive the forgiveness and honour of those who tm-n many from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to the service ofthe living Qpd. ORATION II. JOBS T. 39. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. The Manner of Consulting ihe Oracles of God, God, being ever willing and ever ready to second and succeed his Word, and having a most longing anxiety for the recovery of all men ; when his Word fails of convert ing the soul (as it doth too bften), that failure cannot be due to any omission upon his part, but to some pmission or transgression upon purs. If any one, however, incline to refer the failure to a want of willingness, or a withholding of power, upon the part of God, whereof it is not given unto man to discover or remove the cause— Then in this his opinion, such a one must needs remain beyond the reach of help. If he think that notwithstanding of revela tion, we are yet in the dark as to the putting forth of divine power — that in a sinner's conversion there is an element still undisclosed — ^that the information delivered in the scriptures is not enough, and the means there pre scribed not adequate, and the divine blessing there promised not to be surely calculated on : but that over and beyond all, there is something to be tarried for— then, for one so opinioned, there is nothing but to tarry. For, except by what is revealed how are the councils of the Eternal known ? and if revelation do notdisco's^r the way in which God may assuredly be found, what mortal or immortal can ? — and if there be a gap between our present habitations and the Holiest of all, who can fill it up ? and if one possessed of all God's revelations do still hold him self unaeWamplished for the finding of God, who in heaver* or earth can help him ? — and, in short, if employing God's revelation as God himself directs it to be employed, and in the spirit proper to each taking every measure therein appointed, we may nevertheless be remote from Xne, ORACLES OF GOU. 33 success, and nothing sure of our aim, then, what less shall we say, but that this book, the light and hope of a fallen world, is an idle meteor which mocks pursuit, and may be left to seek its way back into the hiding place of the Almighty's council, from which it hath come forth to man in vain ! But if,, upon the other hand, any one believe that God's favour cometh not at random, nor by a way unknown, but may be calculated on in the way that God' himself hath revealed it to proceed, and doth distil like the dew falling unseen, and rest upon every one who longeth after it, any who believes that our backward state cometh not of any darkness in the Word or abstinence in the Spirit of God, but of our own withdrawing from the light and fighting against the truth — who giveth to God thankful- ness and praise, taking to himself all the blame — ^^then, with such a one we are happy we can freely discourse, and, by God's blessing, we hope to help him onward in the way everlasting. Yet for the sake of disabusing the others who stand looking for a dawning they know not whence nor when, let me interrogate any Christian, how he won his way from former darkness to present light ? Not by knowledge alone of what the Word contains. True. By what then ? by earnest prayer. But what taught him, what encouraged him to pray ? Was it not certain revelations in the Word ? Not by confidence in his knowledge or his strength, but by distrust of both. True. But what taught him to distrust himself? Was it not certain revel ations in the word ? Not by bold and urgent endeavours of his own, but by humble endeavours rested upon hope of heavenly aid. True. But what taught him to bridle his impetuosity and expect superior aid ? Was it not certain revelations in the Word ? And, to sum up all, how doth that Christian know, save by the image of righteousness revealed in the Word, that he is not yet in the bondage of his sins, but standeth sure in the liberty 5 2'i PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING of Christ? Why then, in the name of plain and honest dealing, will you hesitate to acknowledge and asseverate for the behoof of lingering and mistrustful men, that in God's revelations, rightly used, there is a reservbir of knowledge and direction, ample enough to feed the famish ed spirit of the world, whence every sinner may derive to himself a satisfying stream to refresh his present faintness, and to follow hisfootseps through the tedious wilderness of life. Therefbre do we feel upon a useful and a hopeful topic, while we endeavour to discover what it is which hinders the Scripture from its full efficacy in deriving to us who Search them the regeneration of our souls, and their re newal in the whole image of God. And without recurring to what hath been already said of the F R E F A E A T ION ncccssary for perusing aright the Word of God, we come at once to the perusal itself, and shall now, not without much distrust of our own, and interces sion for heavenly power, endeavour to take account pf the spirit and style in which it is wont to be perused amongst us, and of the spirit and style in which it ought to be peru sed. And being conscious that we have many convictions, ^o express which chime not in with the temper of the times, and some sayings hard to be received by Christians discipled in modern schools, we ask your patience and Christian courtesy, and pray God for your consent and approbation. The more ignorant sort ofmen, who entertain religion by a kind of hereditary reverence, as they do any other custom, take up the word of God at stated seasons, and a"fflict their spirits with the task of perusing it, and, to judge from a vacant face and an unawakened tone, and a facility of enduring interruption, it is often as truly in flicted upon the soul as ever penance was upon the flesh of a miserable monk. Or, upon another occasion, when one beholds mirth and jocularity at once go dumb for an a.ctof worship, and revive again with fresh glee when tbe THE ORACLES OF GOO. 35 act is over, one cannot help believing that it hath been task work with many, if not with all. Holding ofthe same superstition is the practice of drawing to the Word in sickness, affliction, and approaching dissolution, as if a charm against the present evil, or an invocation oHh& future good. Against these and all other mortifications it were enough to quote that weighty sentence of Job. " Caa a man be profitable to God, as one that is wise is profitable unto himself; or is it any profit to the Almighty that thou makest thy ways perfect ?'' It is well pleasing to him that his word is honoured, and that his name is magnified by the intelligent creatures which his hand hath formed ; but he cannot endure to be approached with mere form,, or served out of constraint. It is to be preferred above the creatures which he hath made that delights him ; and tp reign supremely in the soul ; at all times to be held in reverence, and over all our actions to preside. The want of will to his service, or impatience in its performance, or joy when it is over, converts it into contempt, the more hate ful because it is covered. The weaknessand imperfections of our nature he will overlook, and if besought, will by his spirit remove ; but guile and disguise and all hypocri sies his soul hateth, and cannot away with. And for studying his will, ii^ is of nb importance save to perform it in the face of all opposition from within and from with out ; therefore, of all seasons, sickness and affliction — when we are disabled from action, and in part also from thought — is, it seems to me, the season least proper for the perusal of the Word. If it cannot overmaster us when we are clothed in all our strength, then it is a poor victory to overcome us when disease hath already prostrated our better feculties. Then chiefly to take concern about the name and the Word of God is a system of our weakness, not of our devotion. Take heed then ye present to the Lord no lame nor maimed offerings, or put off your alle giance with well-timed and well mannered acts of occa-, Sional attendance ; or think to satisfy Him with painfljj g.e PREPARATION, FOR CONSULTIHG instances of self-denial, who is only gratified when the service of his creatures goes Avith all their heart and soul, and yields to them the height of self-enjoyment. From this extreme of narrow and enforced attendance upon the Word of God, there are many who run into the other extreme of constant, consultation, and cannot pass an evening together in conversation or enjoyment of any kind, but call for the Bible and the exposition of its truths by an able hand. That it becomes a family night and morning to peruse the word — and that it becomes men to assemble themselves together to hear it expounded — is a -truth ; while at the same time it is no less a truth, that it Ss a monkish custom, and a most ignorant slavery, to undervalue all intellectual, moral, or refreshing converse, for the purpose of hearing some favdurite ofthe priesthood set forth his knowledge or his experience, though it be upon a holy subject. It is not that he may talk, but that we all may talk as becometh saints ; it is not that we may hear the naked truth, but that we may exhibit our senti ments and views of all subjects, our tempers in all en counters, to be consistent with the truth. It is not mere ly to try our patience in hearing but to exercise all our graces, that we come together. Let the Word be appeal ed to, in order to justify our opinions and resolve our doubts. Let there be an occasion worthy of it; then let it be called in. But it is to muzzle free discourse, and banish useful topics, and interrupt the mind's refresh ment, and bring in upon our manly and freeborn way of life, the slavishness of a devotee, the coldness of a hermit age, and the formality of cloistered canons, thus to abolish the healthful pulses of unconstrained companionship, and the free disclosures of friendship, and the closer com munion and fellowship of saints. Yet though thus we pro test against the formality and deadness of such a custom, we are not prepared to condemn it, if it proceed from a pure thirst after divine teaching. If in private we have a still stronger relish for it than in the company of our friends. THE ORACLES OF OOD. 37 • — if in silent study we love its lessons no less than from the lips of our favourite pastor — then let the custom have free course, and let the Word be studied whenever we have opportunity, and wheiuver we can go to it with a common consent. Against these two methods of communing with the word of God, whereof the one springs from the religious timidity of the world, the other from the religious timidity of Christians; the one a penance, the other a weakness ; we have little fear of carrying your judgments ; but you will be alarmed when we carry our censure against the common spirit, of dealing with it as a duty. Not hut that it is a duty to peruse the word of God, but that it is something infinitely higher. Duty means a verdict of conscience in its behalf. Now conscience is not an inde pendent power, at the bidding of which the Word abides to be opened, and at its forbidding to continue sealed — but the Word, let conscience bid or forbid, stands forth dressed in its own awful sanctions. " Believe and live" — " Believe not and die." If conscience have added her vbice also, that is another sanction, but a sanction which was not needful to be superadded. When my Maker speaks, I am called to listen by a higher authority than the authority of my own self. I should make sure that it i^ my Maker who speaks — and fbr this let every faculty of reason and feeling do its part ; but being assured that it is no other than his voice omnipotent, my whole soul must burst forth to give him attend ance. There must be no demur for any verdict of any inward principle. Out of duty, out of love, out of adora tion, out of joy, out of fear, out of my whole consenting soul, I must obey my Maker's call. Duty, whose cold and artificial verdict, the God of infinite love is served withal is a sentiment which the lowest relationships of life are not content with. Servant with master — child with teacher-T-friend with friend — when it comes to the senti- mentof duty, it is neai^ its dissolution; and it never 38 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING thrives or comes to good but when it rests upon well- tried trust and hearty regard ; upon a love to our persons, and a confidence in our worth. And in the ties of nature, to parents, to children, to brethren, to husband and wife, there to be listened to out of cold constraint of duty argues nature gone well nigh dead. There is a prompter con- sent,,a deep sympathy of love, an over-stepping of all the limits of duty, agoing even unto the death, which hardly satisfies the soul of such affection. What then shall we say of that closest of all relations — creature to Creator — which hath in it the germ of every other : the parental, for .he formed us ; the patronal, for he hath upheld us ; the friendly, for in all- our straits he hath befriended us ; the loyal, for our safety is in his royal hand; and, which addeth the attachment to very self, "for we are ourselves his workmanship !'' To bind this tie, nothing will suffice but strong and stubborn necessity. Duty, . in truth, is the very lowest conception of it- privilege is a higher — honour a higher happiness and delight a higher still. But duty may be suspended by more pressing duty — privi lege may be foregone and honour forgot, and the sense of happiness grow dull ; but this of listening to His voice who plants the sense of duty, bestows privilege, h( mour and happiness, and our every other faculty, is before all these, and is equalled by nothing but the stubbornest ne cessity. We should hear His voice as the sun and stars do in their courses, as the restful element of earth doth in its settled habitation. His voice is our law, which it is sacrilege, worse than rebellion-, worse than parental rebel lion, to disobey. He^keeps the bands of our beingtogether. "^ His voice is the charter of our existence, which being disobeyed, we should run to annihilation, as our great father would have done, had not God in mercy given us a second chance by erecting the platform of our being upon the new condition of probation, different from that of all known existences. Was it ever heard that the sun stop ped in his path, but it was God that commanded? Was THE ORACLES OF GOD. 89 it ever heard that the sea forgot her instability, and stood apart in walled steadfastness, but it was God that com manded ? Or that fire forgot to consume, but at the voice of God ? Even so man should seek his Maker's word, as he loveth his well-being, or, like the unfallen creatures of God, as he loveth his very being — and labour in his obedience, without knowing or wishing to know aught beyond. Necessity, therefore, I say, strong and eternal necessity, is that which joins the link between the creature and the Creator, and makes man incumbent to the voice of God. To read the Word is no ordinary duty, but the mother of all duty, enlightening the eyes and converting the soul, and creating that very conscience to which we would sub join it. We take our meat not by duty — the body must go down to dust without it — therefore we persevere be cause we love to exist. So also the word of God is the bread of life, the root of all spiritual action, without which the soul will go down if not to instant annihilation, to the wretched abyss of spiritual and eternal death. But while we insist that the Scriptures should be perused out of the sense, not of an incumbency, but of a strong necessity, as being the issued orders of Him who upholdeth all things — we except against any idea of painfulness or force. We say necessity, to indicate the strength of the obliga tion, not its disagreeableness. But in truth, there is no such feeling, but the very opposite, attached to every ne cessity of the Lord's appointing. Lit^ht is pleasant to the eyes, though the necessary element of vision. Food is pleasant to the body, though the staple necessary of life. Air is refreshing to the frame, though the necessary ele ment of the breathing spirit. What sp refreshing as the necessary of water to all animated existence ? Sleep is the very balm of life to all creatures under ,the sun. Motion is from infancy to feeblest age the most recreating of things, save rest after motion. Every necessary instinct for preserving or continding our existence, hath in it a 40 PREPARATION FOR CONSULTING pleasure, when indulged in moderation ; and the pain which attends excess is the sentinel in the way of danger, and, like the sentinel's voice, upon the brink of ruin should be considered as the pleasantest of all though withdrawing us from the fondest pursuit. In like manner attendance on God's law, though necessary to the soul as wine and milk to the body, will be found equally refreshing ; though , necessary as light to the eyes, will be found equally cheer ful : though necessary as rest to the weary limbs, will be found equally refreshing to our spiritual strength. A duty which is at ^\ times a duty, is a necessity ; and this listening to the voice of God can at no time be dis pensed with, and therefore is a stark necepsity. The life of the soul can at no time proceed, without the present sense and obedience of its maker's government. His law must be present and keep concert with our most inward thoughts ; from which, as we can never dissolve con nection, so ought we never to dissolve connection with the regulating voice of God. In all our rising emo tions ; in all our purposes conceiving, in all our thought ful debates, holden upon the propriety of things; in all the secret councils of the bosom — the law of God should be consentaneous with the law of Nature, or rather should be umpire ofthe council, seeing Nature and Na ture's laws have receded from the will of God, and become blinded to the best interests of our spiritual state. The world is apt to look only to the executive part of conduct —to the outward actions, which come forth from behind the curtains of deliberative thought ; and as these have stated seasons, and are not constantly recurring, it hath come to pass that the Word of God is read and entertain ed, chiefly for the visible parts of life ; being used as a sort of elbow-monitor to guard our conduct from offence, rather than a universal law to impregnate all the sources of! thought and action. My brethren, doth the hand ever forget its cunning, or the tongue its many forms of speech, or the soul its various states of feeling and passion? Is THE ORACLES OF GbD. 41 there an interval iri the wakeful day, when the mind ceases to be in fluctuating motion, and is bound in rest like the frozeiVlake? I do not ask, is it always vexed like the troubled sea — but doth it ever rest from emotion, and re main Steadfast like the solid land ? Doth not thought suc ceed thought, impressibn impression* recpllectioh recollec tion, iri aceaseful and endless round? And, before this plea sant agitation of vital consciousness can compose itself to rest, the eye must be sealed to light, and the ear stoppedt 6 ¦ hearing, and the body become dead to feeling, and the powers of thought and action, done out, surrender them selves to repose. Nay, even then, under the death-like desertion of all her faculties and the oppressive weight Of sleep, the mind in her remoter chaixibers keeps up a fan tastical disprot of mimic life, as if loth for an instant to forego the pleasure she hath in conscious being. Seeing, thfen, not even the sleep-locked avenues of sense, nor the wornout powers of tholight and actibn, nor slumber's soft ernbrace, can so lull the soul that she should for a while forget her cogitations, and join herself to dark oblivion ; seeing that she keeps, up the livelong day a busy play of thought, feeling, and action, and during the night keeps vigils jn her mysterious chambers, fighting with the powers of oblivion and inertness, a battle for existence — how should she be able for any instant to do without the presence and operations of her Creator's laws — from which being at any instant exempted, she is a god unto hersdf, or the wqrid is her god ? From their authbrity to be de tached, ho we v^ brief a season, is for that season to be under foreign control, and rebellious to the Being of whom her faculties arb holden, and by whom her pow