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SERM imperfect, yet must be fincere; and in or
XII. der to that univerfal, I fhall now proceed to

confider the doctrine of the text, that this
path of the Fuft, a life of holiness, filled
with the fruits of righteousness, mercy, and
godlinefs, fo far as these virtues may be at-
tained in this world, nay, fo far as they are
actually attained by every good man; that
this, I fay, is a fhining light, which shineth:
more and more unto the perfect day. The,
expreffion immediately raifes in our minds:
the idea of excellent, regular, and lovely,
for all these characters are obviously im
ported in fhining light, fet in oppofition to
darkness, which is naturally the image of
confufion and horror; but we must keep
in our thoughts the nature of the subject
to which the allufion is applied, it is a ra-
tional, not a fenfible light, a spiritual, not a
corporeal fplendor. The first thing there-
fore which occurs, as imported in the figure,
is, that the way or the life of the just mo-
rally confidered, comprehending his temper
and his conduct, the whole tenor of his de-
liberate designs, and the course of his ac-
tions, is a regular scheme formed according
to one model, and under one uniform di-
rection: One principle animates the whole...

one

one rule guides all its movements, and one SERM. great end is constantly pursued in it. Light XII. fhows every thing truly as it is; a man walking in it, fees his way and the end of it; he is enabled to purfue his aim fteadily, keeping it always in view; he knows how to choose his fteps without turning afide, and to avoid dangers: Like this is the principle of virtue in the heart directing the converfation; it is always the fame unvarying guide, admirable for its fimplicity, without a mixture of interfering counfels, without a diverfity of inconsistent views; it leads us on to the one end of faith and of all religion, the falvation of the foul, which is nothing else but what my text calls the perfect day, or the perfection of virtue itfelf. Whatever diverfity there is in the way, that is, in the practice of religion, as it has been described, containing righteoufnefs, piety, temperance and charity, yet not only the end is the fame, but the spring of action, the one principle of faith working by love, the love of God and of mankind.. Under the influence of this great animating fpring, the good work of God proceeds uniformly to its perfection; the divine nature, as St. Peter calls it, holds on its regular

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SERM.Courfe, having all the active powers of the XII. human nature in fubjection to it, with the

full confent of approving reason, and арplauding confcience, the candle of the Lord. But how unlike this is the way of the wicked, which Solomon justly calls darkness; vain thoughts, foolish and hurtful lufts, blinding the understanding and corrupting the heart, produce nothing but wild diforder. No one end is steadily pursued, no governing principle adhered to; but jarring -paffions are its unequal guide, by which the unhappy perfon under their power is furiously hurried not knowing whither, fometimes to the pursuit of tumultuous brutal pleasures, of perishing earthly riches, which moth and ruft corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; or of fading honours, according as the luft of the flesh, the luft of the eyes, or the pride of life, happen to have the afcendant; fometimes into imaginary fcenes of danger, and even into black defpair, when diftracting fear prevails, or the forrow of the world, which worketh death; fometimes again into outragious madness, or meditated mifchief, when wrath and revenge are predominant; and all these blind guides in their turns rule the way of the wicked,

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wicked, which therefore is, according to SER M. another elegant fcripture comparison, like XII. -the troubled fea that cannot reft, but is in perpetual confufion, driven by the winds, and toffed. Our paffions, especially when ftrengthened by indulgence, and confirmed by evil habits, bring the mind into an unshappy ftate of ignorance, and leave the mo-ral conduct under no proper direction; which cour faviour, agreeably to the figure in my stext, excellently reprefents by the allufion

of an evil eye, Matthew vi. 22, 23. The -light of the body is the eye, if therefore thine meye be fingle, thy whole body shall be full of light: But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness; if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how - great is that darkness! As the vitiated organ of fight is dangerous to the body, leaving a sman without any just direction how to walk fafely, and to fhun fnares and precipices, fo -the judgment of the mind concerning moral differences, or whatever is neceffary and of the utmost importance to human happiness, being corrupted and misled by luft and pas-fion, is in deplorable darkness, not knowing BA VOL. I. U

Ifaiah Ivii. 20.

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SERM. at all how to guide its way, or how to escape XII. its ruin, as Solomon fays in the place already

referred to, verfe 19, of this chapter; the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they fumble. And elsewhere, the * prudent man forefeeth evil and bideth himself, but the fimple pafs on and are punished. They precipitate themselves into deftruction, not difcerning, or not determined by the moft obvious truths concerning the neceffary un alterable diftinction of moral good and evil, and the moft certain oppofite confequences of them, happiness and mifery; fo infatuated! are they by their vices, and hardened thro the deceitfulness of fin.

Secondly, As the path of the just shines with intellectual light, illuminated with knowledge, and conducted with wisdom, and therefore a consistent regular scheme fo it is accompanied with inward ferenity and fatisfaction. Solomon obferves, Ecclefi aftes xi. 7. That truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the fun. It is not only itself a very agreeable object, but it shows us the beauties of the world about us, and human life depriv'd of

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