SERMON XIX.

THE SPOTS OF THE WORLD.

JAMES, i. 27.

Keep yourselves unspotted from the world.

So many are the sources of pollution in the world, so apt is it to contaminate, so frequently does it degrade, and so much does it deteriorate, that we may pass through the world, and perform our part in it, without seeing many whom the world has not spotted; who do not carry about with them strong marks of that blackening soil through which their path of life has been directed; but it is our serious business as Christians to watch for these marks of the world, which are plague spots, and marks of death; and which must be cleansed and washed off before we see God, before we can ask for the mercy and mediation of his most blessed Son.

I call any man spotted by the world who lives by opinion and not upon principle, who in the choice of actions does not consult his own heart, who does not say, how can I reconcile this to those rules of right and wrong, which I have adopted and derived from the Gospel as the guide of my life? but what will the world say ? how shall I meet the arbiters of taste and fashion? how shall I justify myself before them whom I feel to have more dominion over me than the warnings of my heart and the commandments of my God? This is a bad spot, and a deep mark of degradation. Let the world have its dominion in trifles; it is folly and pedantry to resist such an empire; but when truth is to be told, when

justice is to be done, when the plain page of the Gospel is open to your view, and present to your heart, to betray on such occasions the great laws of righteousness and the great interests of mankind, is the act of a weak nature and of a spotted heart.

And who are the world? The worst commonly, and the most contemptible people in it; men who lurk beneath the protection of the multitude; who trust to aggregated clamour for the propagation of opinions which, individually, they are utterly incapable of defending, who, singly, would not, and could not, be listened to; but who, under the name of the world, seem to derive a power from accumulated folly - from absurdity rapidly propagated, and error frequently repeated. This is not all; there is in the clamour of the world some little variety - there are dispersed up and down the world, and mingled with the mass, and secret enemies of virtue and of religion, men who would clamour down all principle; who look upon force of mind, acting in the cause of virtue, with a natural antipathy; who say, "Because I have no principle, there shall be no principle; because my character is degraded, I will dull and tarnish the splendour of virtue wherever I see it; because I have shaken off the trammels of the Gospel, I will pursue with ridicule whoever I find obedient to its laws;" and this mixture of bad men and of weak men is what are called the world: and to this mixture of sin and folly human beings so often surrender their hopes of salvation, and cover their souls. with the deadly spots of sin; but learn, I beseech you, to appreciate the real strength and courage of an enemy which fill so many with deadly alarm. Whenever you are called upon by the great duties of life to make the experiment, try this battle with the world; if the world look at you and see that you are not playing a game of vanity and ostentation; if they look at you and see God in your heart, they always fly before you.

You never saw an instance to the contrary; you never saw an instance where a firm man of common judgment, acting really and seriously upon religious motives, did not end with putting down the clamours of the world- and that is not all; not only do you overcome the opposition of the world, but you end with conciliating the respect of the world. Instead of being your conquerors, they acknowledge the superiority of your nature; they feel you have strength they cannot equal; that you are moved by a spring, which in them is weakened and relaxed; that you aim at objects too good and too great for them, and higher than their vision can reach; and when once you have overcome the world, you have never a second struggle to encounter; you are numbered among the just; you are known to live by rule; and you move on in the path of immortal life, growing in favour with God and man.

Not only is this fear of the world's opinions a spot in the heart, but the heart is also spotted by too great a love of the world-by an excessive eagerness and avidity for its honours and its riches: something must be done with life-there must be worldly pursuits and occupations; the purest Christianity is not only compatible with a life of action, but the Christian religion loves it and enjoins it. I don't say that a man is spotted by the world because he is ambitious; I do not call him spotted by the world because by honest industry and spirited enterprise he is adding every year to his worldly acquisitions — I know these things must be, and ought to be, and that they are a security for innocence, happiness, and peace; but I want to see through all this a deep Christian principle, regulating all, limiting all, and hallowing it all; a principle which is always repeating to the ambitious heart that his time is short, that his actions are recorded, that there are sacred laws he must not infringe, that there is a fear of offending God and injuring man, which he

must always keep moving before him, like the pillar of fire in the wilderness. When I see a man playing the game of worldly ambition under such a covenant as this, thus restrained, thus lifted up, and thus taught, guided by such a law, limited by such a rule, and directed to such a goal, I say the world is safe with such a man; and it is a blessing that the great interests of the world are intrusted to his hands: there is no world spot here; but the world spot is, to do all this as if these were the ultimate objects of existence; as if the gratification of vanity and the acquisition of power were the objects for which we were created, and all the great barriers of right and wrong were to give way before them. These are deep and fatal spots of the world, and against these I firmly believe the wrath and the punishment of Almighty God will be fearfully directed.

This spotting of the heart does not proceed from any disbelief; it is not that a man says to himself, I cannot understand, or, I will not study to understand these precepts of religion, which are so frequently offered to my notice, but in the minds of well-affected men the world often holds the first place, and religion holds the second place: the governing principle is (though not drawn distinctly into words, but acting blindly as a motive unknown almost to him that is moved,) — the governing principle is, "I must attain this or that object, which will add to my dignity, and add to my importance, and, this effected, I will then admit every consideration of principle and duty;" but if theree be any here (and many such I trust and believe there are) who come here to listen to the warning voice of teachers, and to keep human affairs out of sight for the Sabbath, and to think if all ends here to such I Keep the world under in your progress through life; preserve the whiteness, and purity, and integrity of your soul; keep it without fault or speck, or spot or blemish. It is God's! it came from God, and to God it

say,

will return: shall it return with all the loathsome marks of the world upon it? This emanation of heaven, this sacred loan, the miracle of created things, our spring while the body lasts, and our hope when the body dies will you render back this work of Heaven, polluted with falsehood, and fraud, and faithlessness, and dishonoured and disgraced by all the miserable resources of worldly ambition and worldly avarice? On all occasions of life, I earnestly and ardently pray you, keep the soul unspotted by the world: as much power as you please if the heart is unspotted, as much wealth as you can accumulate if the heart is unspotted; but be ready to give it up all, if the whispers of conscience tell you it ought to be given up: -retire to poverty; and rather than violate any rule of duty, or consent to any one action to which a sincere and zealous Christian ought not to assent, dwell in the midst of the world, remaining unspotted by the world; live so that you may live again hereafter.

I call in human pride to my aid, and I ask, Why do you think so humbly of yourself and so highly of others, as to suppose any thing in the world, whatever temporary admiration it may acquire for you, as so valuable, that it is worth while to sacrifice to it a spotless and unblemished heart? A disciple of Christ should respect himself, not be always looking outward, but inward, and disdain to sacrifice his rules for the approbation of the world. It is a miserable and contemptible life of fluctuation, a state of servitude and degradation, to submit to which evinces a meanness of spirit and a want of dignity. These should be your feelings. If I am fortunate enough to unite general approbation with my own sense of what the law of Christ requires of me, this is great happiness; but I care too little for the opinion of others to sacrifice to them the plan and system of my life. This is not that pride and highmindedness which the Scriptures labour to repress, but