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could admit; "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Frequent and serious contemplation of his example, would be a powerful means to suppress in us all malice, hatred, and revenge; and, whilst we were not insensible of the injuries we received, would instruct us not to forget humanity and tenderness to the authors of them. From the display of the character which we have been contemplating in the sufferings of Christ, it appears that love to God, and love to .man, must be united in the breasts of all who follow the steps of him, "who suffered for us, leaving an example." If we are not called to lay down our lives for our brethren, let us cheerfully employ the talents with which we are entrusted, in promoting their welfare; and, instead of murmuring at the little sacrifices which the wishes or the prejudices of those with whom we are connected may sometimes require, let us be ready to every good work, by loving and serving one another.

Amidst the interference of interests which is unavoidable in society; amidst the indiscretion .and malice, to the effects of which we are continually exposed; calling to mind the words and actions of him who suffered for us, let us endeavour to still every turbulent passion, to banish the thoughts of revenge, and to maintain the mild, forgiving, and placid spirit, of which he has left us an example. I shall conclude this discourse with the collect of this day: O God, who, by the humiliation of thy Son, hast raised up the fallen world, grant to thy people perpetual joy; that they, whom thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, may arrive at eternal happiness through the same! Amen.

SERMON XXIV.

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

On Impurity.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and travellers, to abstain from carnal desires, which war against the soul. 1 Peter ii. 11.

THIS exhortation of the apostle contains one of the most important precepts for the regulation of human life, and one of the most solemn declarations against transgression, that the human heart can be susceptible of. Among all the duties variously inculcated in the sacred writings, there are none which are more frequently encouraged than chastity; or, on the other hand, any thing more vehemently spoken against and discouraged, than the sin of impurity: and with reason; for, from the beauteous features of the virtue of chastity, from the crown of glory which will be the reward of those who live and die in the practice of that and her sister virtues, from the fatal consequences and nature of the opposite vice, the necessity of cherishing the one, and avoiding the other, sufficiently appears.

Saint Peter calls us strangers and pilgrims, in

the same sense as David, when he thus prays to the Lord: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication; give ear to my tears; be not silent, for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.' That is, we are pilgrims in this vale of death and sin; we are here placed in the midst of numerous temptations in a life of probation, in a pilgrimage of thorny paths, in a pilgrimage also of transitory and unsubstantial delights. In these words of the apostle, "Carnal desires which war against the soul,' what an immensity of profound meaning! To what an essential end of our salvation do they apply! Are we not assured that the souls of the impure shall be refused the glory of heaven? Because "we are the temples of God: but if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which you are." The text before us admits of two heads for interpretation. The first, As strangers and pilgrims in a life of probation: the second, the apostle's exhortation, to abstain from carnal desires which war against the soul. But before we enter on the subject, let us fervently beseech the Almighty, whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity, to purify our corrupt affections, and renew a right spirit within us; to cleanse us from our sins, that our bodies may become fit habitations for our immortal souls; to grant us his grace, that religion may become our delight, and obedience to his heavenly laws our only comfort.

As pilgrims, we are placed as it were in a strange land, like our first parents, in search of our father, our friend, our ruler, and our guide. His religion points out to us the heavenly man-sions of an Almighty parent, the source of our

Psalm xxxviii.

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+ 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.

earthly being we shall find him in all the majesty of his glory, when we triumph over sin. Strangers however we must be called, as waiting for our everlasting and righteous kingdom, our inheritance and spiritual happiness hereafter, and being denied this portion of Almighty glory here; and pilgrims also, as being sent here on a painful pilgrimage, to mortify and to subdue, to perform the penance, the severe trial imposed as the great condition of salvation. If you inquire why your pilgrimage is so painful and difficult, I must ask you, in the language of St. James, "From whence are wars and contentions among you? Come they not hence from your concupiscences, which war in your members?"* Whence then is this your painful state of pilgrimage? Does not all its miseries, all its wretchedness, derive from your disorderly passions, your unregulated and lawless lives? But the righteous Christian, who endeavours to conquer them, may glory in his pilgrimage, because the Spirit of the Lord will not forsake him, and his election will be made sure. Does not St. James command us to "count it all joy, when we shall fall into divers temptations ?"+ For, says he, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him." My brethren, if any of you can be so degraded to the level of the brute, as to deny that you can conquer your passions, let me only place you in the situation of any worldly trial. What rewards of happiness in this life do you expect, that are not to be procured by your labour, diligence, and virtue? Proportioned therefore to your ages, temper, and stations, you reap the fruits of your diligence

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and sobriety; the law protects you, and your friends support you. Draw the parallel to your spiritual labours; have you not rewards then from the law of God, and his divine succour, to iuvigorate your spiritual exertions? "Yes, if any of you want wisdom (says the apostle), let him ask of God, who giveth to all abundantly, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."*

Many disorderly and ignorant persons there are, who, for want of information, may be induced to lead guilty and corrupt lives; and, lest there should be such in this audience, I shall point out to them the heinousness of impurity, how odious it is to God, and shall shew some of the numberless ill consequences, which naturally destroy the present, as well as the future welfare of those who are abandoned to it. As to the heinousness of this sin, it appears plainly from its direct opposition to the law of God, not only to the sixth commandment, but also to that law of nature which he has written in the heart of every man; for long before the giving of the law by Moses, we have instances in scripture, which shew how infamous this sin was, and how it drew down the vengeance both of God and man, as particularly in the case of Pharaoh with relation to Sarai, Abram's wife,+ and in that of Simeon and Levi, who justified the cruelty they exercised upon the men of Sichem, because Sichem their prince had abused their sister Diana.‡ No sooner was the world increased, but we find that God was most highly provoked at the wickedness of it: "for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth." The impurities of mankind so incensed the vengeance of God, that "He said to

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