Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? No. For when once the master of the house hath risen up and hath shut the door, though many standing without will begin to knock at the door and say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, he will answer, I know you not, whence ye are. Then will they begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he will say,

I tell you again, I know you not, whence ye are. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. For there will come from the east and the west, from the north and from the south, many who will sit at the table in the kingdom of God, and behold these are cast out.

Lastly; we may infer from the spirituality of Christ's kingdom, the proper means of extending it. On this subject the most dreadful mistakes have prevailed in different ages, and among the best of men; mistakes, which, at the present day, fill us with astonishment and shame. Nations have been christianized, as it has been termed, at the point of the sword, and Jesus was supposed to have gained a disciple, when a christian prince only gained another subject. But though, by the grace of God, most of us now understand, that a kingdom which is not of this world is not to be extended by the force of arms, but only by the force of moral motives, and the pacific introduction of religious teaching, yet even our zeal is now imperfectly directed. Our families, my friends, our children, our dependents are our first care.

I cannot estimate very highly the wisdom or the sincerity of that man who promotes missions to the ends of the earth, while those who are immediately under his eye, are ignorant of the first principles of the oracles of God. The first victory which the gospel gains should be over our own hearts. Till this is achieved, it is weak and absurd for us to rejoice in the triumphs of the cross at the extremities of the earth.

My kingdom is not of this world, saith our Saviour. But are we not of this world? And when we are summoned, as we soon must be, to leave it, shall we not feel as if we were quitting in exile, a land where all our pleasures and hopes have centred? God grant that we may so understand the declaration in the text, that heaven may prove our native soil, the abode of our friends, our parent country, and an abundant and welcome entrance be there administered to us, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

SERMON VII.

MISAPPREHENSIONS AS TO THE NATURE OF RELIGION.

ROMANS, XIV. 17.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT MEAT AND DRINK; BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND PEACE, AND JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.

In these words are described, with much truth and conciseness, the nature and the effect of religion. It consists in the practice of righteousness, and it is accompanied with a spirit of peace and joy, resulting from an habitual confidence in God, the author of all moral and religious happiness. The last clause, 'joy in the holy spirit,' admits of various interpretations. It may signify that satisfaction, which the Christians in the apostolic age derived from the possession of the extraordinary gifts of the spirit; or, it may be opposed here to that dissocial disposition, which disturbed the intercourse between Jew and Gentile, on the subject of the use of meats, mentioned in the preceding verse. It is otherwise rendered, 'joy in a holy spirit,' or a pure and benevolent state of the affections. But I am willing to understand by it, that

contented and joyful state of mind, which belongs to a man of real devotion, who possesses confidence towards God, and that filial spirit which makes duty easy, afflictions light, death harmless, futurity promising, and the whole course of the christian life cheerful, active, and full of expectation.

The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It does not consist, as those imagined to whom the apostle wrote, in abstaining from the use of certain kinds of food, nor in the liberty of using them. This is only one instance, which stands, however, as a specimen of the mistakes, that prevail with regard to the general nature of religion; mistakes, which are entirely consistent with the most scrupulous conscience, with the most animated zeal, with any form of worship, or any profession of doctrine.

I. The misapprehension of the nature of religion itself, will form the subject of the first division of this discourse.

Let it be premised, however, that this is a question entirely different from the inquiry, what are the true doctrines of Christianity, or what is fundamental in the belief of every man, who assumes the name of Christian. It is true that false notions of the nature of religion may be grounded on the supposition, or supported by the persuasion of the truth or importance of particular tenets; but, however closely mistakes in practice, or imperfections of temper may be connected with false

articles of belief, error in our notions of particular doctrines, is entirely distinct from our misconception of the nature and design of religion itself. This is primary and antecedent, and must be corrected, not merely by correcting particular tenets, but by more comprehensive views of religion in general.

The most exact conceptions may be formed, and the most perfect delineations may be made of the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, without conveying to a mind which will not reflect, the peculiar characteristics of a religious spirit. Just notions of what religion is, must be collected rather from the general spirit of the gospel history, and a study of the character of God, and of man in his relation to his Maker, than from any precise definitions of particular truths. Yet, notwithstanding all the variety of opinions existing in the christian world, resulting from the ignorance or the passions of man, it is a most consoling thought, that the doctrines which Christians acknowledge in common, are a sufficient foundation for real religion, and will effect, with the blessing of God's grace, the sanctification and happiness of every man, who is previously furnished with just notions of the nature of this most precious gift.

1. Among the mistakes of the nature of religion, is one, by which, that is taken for religion which may perhaps with greater propriety be termed a complete absence, in the character, of everything essential to religion. This mistake discovers