I Jesus the Lord. Between natural and re- SER M. vealed religion there is a clofe and infeparable connexion. The existence of an intelligent and beneficent Cause of all; an unceafing and univerfal Providence; the moral and accountable nature of man; a prefent ftate of probation, as preparatory to a period of retribution :-thefe are points of natural religion, on which Christianity raises her superstructure. These she has, indeed, more clearly unfolded and more firmly efta- bead t. fhould A 3 SERM. fhould be unmindful of the principles of I. natural religion, which are implied in the divine miffion of the Author and Finisher of our faith*, or that, in illuftrating these, and enforcing moral duties, we preach not the gospel of Chrift. Confider how much of our Saviour's difcourfes, and of the epiftles of his Apoftles, is employed in inculcating the purest precepts of morality, and in preparing men for heaven by rendering them virtuous on earth; you will find that one principal object of the gaspel is to restore that image of God which had been defaced in the foul of man, to renew that purity of heart and rectitude of conduct, of which the world had loft even the conception, and neither pagan philofophers, nor Jewish prophets, had ever been able to produce the refemblance among their disciples. This very confideration, however, must conftantly remind us of the infinite importance of the doctrines peculiar to Chrif tianity, and of the diftinctive and appropriate character of its precepts. When we reflect Heb. xi, 2. I. flect that, for our guilty race, the chief sER M. point is, not merely to be informed, but alfo to be saved, how fruitlefs, how vain, how devoid of comfort, are the most ingenious and accurate refearches into the nature and attributes of the Supreme Being, and the relation which man bears to his Creator, unless they be accompanied with the pofitive affurance of pardon, and reftored favour! How useless, how mortifying are the most beautiful precepts of morality, attended with the reflection that they only establish our guilt and degradation! When we tremble to look to eternity, how difmal is the certainty of a future ftate! Thofe very informations and rules of life which, to creatures either innocent, or reconciled to their offended Creator, are productive of comfort and complacency, become, to those who muft feel themselves in a state of condemnation, fubjects of averfion and terror. Is not the criminal more alarmed, when he is informed of the fpecific fanctions of the law which he has violated, and of the just and steady character SER M. of the judge by whom he must be con Let us, therefore, never cease to confider that Christ Jesus the Lord, has, in the work of our redemption, imparted, to the principles of natural religion itself, that form, complexion, and colour which alone can render them agreeable, in the prefent condition of our nature; and, in that of our fanctification, rendered morality the path of present comfort, and of eternal happiness. As Christ, the anointed, the Meffiah, he hath finished transgression, made an end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness* ; told us all things† relative to salvation, and inftructed us, in particular, that, as God is a spirit, so, those who worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth. As Jesus, the Saviour, he hath given knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of God; he hath given light to them that sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and bath guided their feet in the way of peace, that, * Dan. ix. 24. + John iv. 25. + Ibid. ; be I. that, being delivered out of the hands of their SERM. enemies, they might serve God in holiness and righteousness all the days of their lives is the propitiation for our sins † ; and, by being redeemed with his precious blood ‡, by him we have received the atonement |. As the Lord, he hath obtained the victory over death and hell §; he hath made us more than conquerors; he sat down on the right, hand of the Majesty on high **, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but in that which is to come tt; where he shall reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, that God may be all in all ; and nothing may hurt or destroy in all his holy mountain §§. Chrift has, by his miracles, evinced his divine miffion. By his inftructions he has revealed thofe bleffed truths which human reafon could not have difcovered, while, without the knowledge of them, it must have *Luke i. 74, 75, 76, 78, 79. Eph. i. 21. ‡‡ 1 Cor. xv. 25, 28. + 1 John ii. 2. § 1 Cor. xv. 57. **Heb. i. 3. §§ Ifaiah xi. 9. |