dignity and exaltation of Christ as a Mediator, it is that every knee may bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. If the apostles, having the mind of Christ, faithfully imparted it, it was that the same mind may be in us, to purify our passions, and regulate our conduct. We can scarcely imagine a greater impertinence than to hear the Word with apparent seriousness, without intending to comply with its directions. It is a solemn mockery, concealing, under an air of reverence and submission, a determination to rebel, and, in the language of the prophet, a heart bent on backsliding. To suppose the Supreme Being pleased with such a mode of attendance, is to impute to him a conduct which it would be an insult to ascribe to a fellow-creature; for who, but the weakest of mortals, under the character of a master or a sovereign, would be gratified with the profound and respectful attention with which his commands were heard, while there existed a fixed resolution not to obey? Remember, dear brethren, the practical tendency of every christian doctrine: remember that the ministry of the gospel is the appointed instrument of forming the spirits of men to faith and obedience; and that, consequently, the utmost attention and assiduity in hearing it is fruitless and unavailing, which fails to produce that effect. Finally. Be careful, after you have heard the Word, to retain and perpetuate its impressions. Meditate, retire, and digest it in your thoughts; turn it into prayer; in a word, spare no pains to fasten it upon your hearts. You have read, dear brethren, of those to whom the gospel was preached, as well as to us, but the Word did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Endeavour to exert upon it distinct and vigorous acts of faith, and thereby to mingle and incorporate it with all the powers of the mind, and all the springs of action. But this you can never accomplish without deep and serious reflection; for want of which it is too often left loose and exposed, like uncovered seed, which the fowls of heaven easily pick up and devour. Then cometh that wicked one, says our Lord, and taketh it out of his heart, and he becometh unfruitful. How many hearers, by engaging in worldly conversation, or giving way to a vain and unprofitable train of thought, when they leave the sanctuary, lose the impressions they had received, instead of conducting themselves like persons who have just been put in possession of a treasure which they are anxious to secure from depredation! If Satan watches for an opportunity of taking the Word out of our hearts, what remains but that we oppose vigilance to vigilance, and effort to effort? and since the prize contended for, by the powers of darkness, is our souls, what a melancholy reflection it will be, if the disinterested malice of our enemies renders them vigilant and active in seeking their destruction, while we are careless and negligent in seeking their salvation! Satan, conscious that the Word of God is capable of elevating us to that pinnacle of happiness whence he fell, contemplates its success with alarm, and spares no artifice or stratagem, which his capacious intellect can suggest, to obstruct its progress; and if we, by our criminal negligence, turn his ally against ourselves, we shall be guilty of that prodigy of folly and infatuation which is equally condemned by the councils of heaven and the machinations of hell. |