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SERMON XVIII.

MARK X. VERSE XXV.

It is easier for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

WITHOUT entering into the disputes to which this passage has given birth, or agitating the question of the propriety of the translation, I shall construe it in a figurative sense, and suppose it to mean, that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God; that the temptations, consequent upon great possessions, create a very serious obstacle to the attainment of the principles, and of the rewards of the gospel.

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To examine what those obstacles are, and to point out in what manner they may be guarded against, will, I hope, not prove an unprofitable subject for this day's discourse; if, in the progress of such discourse, I point out any pernicious effects of wealth upon the moral, and religious character, I cannot, of course, mean to insinuate that such influence is never counteracted, and such danger never repelled.— I am speaking, not of fact, but of tendency, -not of those effects which always are produced, but of those which, in nature, and probability may be produced.

It is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God:-The first cause to be alleged for this difficulty is, that he wants that important test of his own conduct, which is to be gained from the conduct of his fellow-creatures towards him; he may be going far from the king dom of God, on the feet of pride, and over the spoils of injustice, without learning, from the averted looks, and the alienated hearts of men, that his ways are the ways of death. Wealth is apt to inspire a kind

of awe, which fashions every look, modulates every word, and influences every action; and this, not so much from any view to interest, as from that imposing superiority, exercised upon the imagination by prosperous fortune, from which it is extremely difficult for any man to emancipate himself, who has not steadily accustomed his judgment to measure his fellowcreatures by real, rather than artificial distinctions, and to appeal from the capricious judgments of the world, to his own reflections, and to the clear, and indisputable precepts of the gospel.

The general presumption, indeed, which we are apt to form, is, that the mischief is already done, that the rich man has been accustomed to such flattering reception, such gracious falsehoods, and such ingenious deceit; that to treat him justly, is to treat him harshly; and, to defer to him only in the proportion of his merit, is a violation of established forms: No man feels it to be his duty to combat with the gigantic errors of the world, and to exalt himself into a champion of righteousness; he leaves the

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state of society just as he found it, and indolently contributes his quota of deceit, to make the life of a human being an huge falsehood, from the cradle to the tomb. It is this which speaks to Dives the false history of his shameless, and pampered life;-here it is, in the deceitful mirror of the human face, that he sees the high gifts with which God has endowed him ;-and here it is, in that mirror, so dreadfully just to guilty poverty, he may come back, after he has trampled on every principle of honor, and justice, and see joy, and delight, and unbounded hospitality, and unnumbered friends: Therefore, I say to you, when you enter in among your fellows, in the pomp, and plenitude of wealth,--when the meek eye of poverty falls before you,-when all men listen to your speech, and the approving smile is ready to break forth on every brow, then keep down your rising heart, and humble yourself before your father who seeth in secret; then fear very greatly for your salvation; then tremble more than Felix trembled; then remember that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a

rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

da The second reason why it is so difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God is, that he loves the kingdom of the world too well: Death is very terrible, says the son of Sirach, to him whỏ lives at ease in his possessions; and in truth the pleasure of life does, in a great measure, depend upon the lot which we draw, and the heritage which we enjoy; it may be urged, that a person who knows no other situation, wishes no other; and, that the boundary of his experience, is the boundary of his desire: This would be true enough, if we did not derive our notions of happiness, and misery from a wider range of observation than our own destiny can afford; I will not speak of great misfortunes, for such instances prove, but too clearly, how much the love of life depends on the enjoyment it affords ;—but a man who is the eternal prey of solicitude, wishes for the closing of the scene; a constant, cheerless struggle with little miseries, will dim the sun, and wither the green herb, and

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