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from him the Holy Spirit; and the unhappy offender lost for a time the joy of salvation.

The indulgence of malignant passions, as well as, of fleshly lusts, grieves the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are love, peace, gentleness and meekness. The contrary tempers are the works of the flesh, and descend not from above, but are earthly, sensual and dev. ilish. Therefore to the caution in the text the Apostle subjoins a dissuasive from all bitterness, wrath, clamor and evil speaking, and an exhortation to kindness, compassion and mutual forgiveness.

Contentions among Christians are opposite to the Spirit. "Ye are builded together," says the Apostle, for an habitation of God through the Spirit.' Walk worthy of your vocation in all lowliness, forbearing one another in love, and keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; for there is one body and one Spirit." Christians can no longer be an habitation of the Spirit, than they are builded together, They no longer walk worthy of their vocation, than they preserve unity and peace.

Finally Men grieve the Spirit, when they ascribe to him those motions and actions, which are contrary to his nature.

If, under pretence of the special guidance of the Spirit, they blindly follow every impulse of a heated imagination, every suggestion of the common deceiv er, every motion of their own vanity and pride, they profane and blaspheme his sacred name.

The scripture directs us to prove every Spirit, whether it be of God. If, instead of trying the Spirit which moves us, we rashly obey every motion that we feel, and ascribe to the Spirit of God the tempers and actions which his word forbids, we not only are guilty of great impiety, but lay ourselves open to fatal delusion.

To dissuade us from these, and all other sins, what argument can be more powerful, than this which our

text proposes? It is grieving the Holy Spirit, whereby. we are sealed to the day of redemption; or, at least, are urged to secure a share in the redemption. The offer of redemption is made without distinction. They only are already interested in it, who have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. But even the unrenewed have been the subjects of his convincing and awakening influence. It is not necessary, that we should wait to ascertain our character, before we apply to ourselves the argument. Whatever our character is, we have at least had the offer of redemption, been called to repent, and invited to seek the grace of the Spirit, who is forward to assist us in the religious life. And who of us can say, they have not experienced his strivings within them?

Let us remember, then, that the sins which have been mentioned, as grieving the Spirit, are inconsistent with a clear evidence and scriptural hope of our interest in the great redemption; and the indulgence of them will most certainly cut us off from the glorious inheritance proposed. And if we fail, alas! we shall sink under this additional load of guilt, that we have pursued our own destruction, in opposition to the strivings of divine grace; and, while we have ruined ourselves, we have grieved God's compassion and love.

Let sinners, awed by their danger on the one hand, and animated by their encouragement on the other, flee from the wrath to come, and lay hold on the hope set before them.

Let saints, by a steady faith in God, by a diligent attendance on the means of religion, and by the exercise of a holy temper, keep alive their Christian joy. And let them walk as becomes those who have the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts, and are waiting for the day of redemption.

SERMON XXXII.

Kindness, Compassion and Forgiveness, in Opposition to Bitterness, Wrath and Evil Speaking.

EPHESIANS iv. 31, 39.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

IN these, and the preceding verses, the Apostle describes the Christian life. To give us the more accurate and just conception of it, he shews both what it is, and what it is not-what those passions and vices are, which we must renounce; and what those dispositions and virtues are, which we must cultivate.

We are taught, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off the old man, and to put on the new man. The old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; the new man is holy after the image of God. The Christian thus renovated must depart from evil and do goodput away falsehood, and speak truth-abhor all dishonesty and fraud, and work with his hands the things which are profitable-allow no vain discourse to proceed from his mouth, but such only as may be useful to edification.

In the same manner the Apostle, in our text, expresses that benevolent and social temper, which Christians ought to exercise toward one another.

They are to put away anger, malice and evil speaking, and to be kind, compassionate and forgiving, in imitation of the mercy of God, who for Christ's sake hath forgiven them.

We will, first, consider what are the evil disposi tions and manners which Christians are here required to renounce. We will then state and explain the opposite virtues. And lastly, we will illustrate and apply the argument by which these virtues are urged.

I. We will consider the evil passions, manners and language, which the Apostle cautions us to avoid in our intercourse with one another. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice."

1. We are to put away all bitterness--all such passions, behavior and language as are disgustful and offensive to others, wound their tender feelings and embitter their spirits. It is an easy and obvious metaphor. We all know how bitter objects affect our organs of taste. The bitterness, which the Apostle in

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tends here, is that conduct in the social life, which af fects, in a similar manner, the feelings of others. It is a metaphor which the scripture often uses: A bitter affliction is a very painful, grievous, one. bitterness of soul, is to be in great anguish. Bitter words are words which deeply distress the heart. A foolish son is a bitterness to her that bare him, i. e. he is a great affliction to her. We read of those whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness-of severe and reviling language. Husbands are directed to love their wives, and not be bitter against them. Bitterness is here opposed to a smooth, kind and obliging car riage toward intimate friends.

Christians are to put away all such bitterness. Under this metaphor may be comprehended a roughness of

manners, and severity of temper-a captious, cavilling humor-a spirit of opposition and contradiction, not only in great, but trivial matters-an assuming, imperious behavior toward friends and companions-a disposition to cross their will, and to criminate at a venture every thing they do, whether right or wrong— a proneness to upbraid them with past failings, and reproach them for innocent infirmities-a perpetual jealousy of their intentions, and passionate complaints against them for accidental errors, or even suspected offences. Such treatment is a bitterness to those who have common feelings, especially if they stand in the more tender and delicate relations of life; yea, in those relations, coldness and indifference are more painfully felt, than direct and positive injuries in ordinary cases. The happiness of domestic life depends on mutual affection and confidence. That neglect which betrays the want of regard, embitters the connexion.

But perhaps no temper is more inconsistent with the felicity of social life, than what is commonly called peevishness. There are some who are subject to sudden and violent gusts of passion, in which they say and do extravagant things; but when the gust has blown itself out, it is followed with a comfortable calm; and perhaps the clouds which had been lowering before, are now wholly dissipated. So, people, afflicted with epileptic fits, in the intervals of their disorder, enjoy tolerable health: But peevishness can never be easy. It is a restless spirit, irritable at trifles, and discharging its impotent spleen on every object in its way. Though its force may, in general, be but languid, yet it is extremely troublesome and vexatious, because it never cau be quiet itself, nor suffer others to be so. Men of violent passion, like a musket, are silent after the explosion. But the peevish are like wild fire, which keeps up a silly noise, and emits an incessant smoke, with little other effect, than

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