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SERMON IX.

IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.

PROVERBS xix. 2.

That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good.

EVERY thing that relates to the human soul is deeply interesting to an immortal being. The body, for which we are so anxious to provide, must soon moulder in the grave. In a few years it will be incorporated with the great mass of matter, and the pains which we have taken to beautify and adorn it will be lost forever. But the care, bestowed on the soul during its residence in clay, will be felt in the world of spirits-the bias, given to its operations here, will fix its state hereafter-and the stamp, impressed upon it in

time, will determine its happiness or misery in eternity.

That this spark of immortality is an emanation of Deity, reason as well as revelation assures us, that it is corrupt, impure, and unlike the source from which it sprung, is the dictate of experience as well as of scripture,—that purity cannot subsist with impurity, that holiness is inconsistent with sin, is evident to the unprejudiced understanding of every man, and that heaven, the habitation of holiness, cannot be the abode of pollution and guilt, is a conclusion that will not be resisted by a reflecting mind. How important, then, is that method, by which the human soul may be restored to the image of its Maker, by which its natural prospects of eternal wrath may be changed to the certain hopes of the full and endless enjoyment of God! Blessed be God, that there is such a method. The salvation of the soul is the great object in the economy of redemption. To obtain this, the Father parted with the Son of his love-to secure this, the Lord of glory bled on the crossand to accomplish this, the Holy Spirit, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into the hearts of his people, to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of

God in the face of Jesus Christ. In view of the connection of knowledge with the eternal interests of the human soul, we are ready to adopt the aphorism of the wise man-That the soul be without knowledge, it is not good.

This saying is verified by daily observation and experience. The importance of knowledge in secular concerns is generally admitted. Its necessity in the various occupations of life cannot be questioned. It is indispensable, not only in those pursuits, which are usually denominated the learned professions, but it is also requisite in the ordinary and more common avocations of men. The mechanic must have a knowledge of his trade, and the husbandman must acquire, by practice and experience, a knowledge of the best. mode of cultivating the soil. Without a competent degree of general knowledge, it is impossible to maintain a respectable standing in society, or to be useful in the generation in which we live.

The importance and necessity of knowledge, however it may be undervalued in those parts of the world, where it is the interest of the few to keep the many in ignorance, and to deprive them of the means of acquiring information, will not be denied by the inhabitants of a republican

country, where it is an established principle that knowledge is essential to national happiness, liberty, and order. On this principle our venerable fathers acted, when they laid the foundation of our present prosperity and respectability, in the institution of common schools, where the son of the poor man may acquire knowledge with the same facility as the son of his more opulent neighbor. It is owing to this admirable institution that knowledge is so generally diffused among all classes of the community, and that the rare spectacle of a man, who can neither read nor write, has become almost a phenomenon in this part of our country. But, while we rejoice in the wise institutions of our ancestors for the general diffusion of useful human knowledge, we have reason to lament that there is among us such a deficiency of knowledge, vastly more important, and without which all other knowledge will be of no avail.

It will be our object, in the following discourse, to consider,

I. What that knowledge is, the want of which is so prejudicial to the soul. And,

II. To attempt to point out some of the destructive consequences of this baneful ignorance.

I. The knowledge, of which we speak, respects the moral character of Jehovah-the divine lawthe human heart-and the plan of salvation.

Of all kinds of knowledge, that of our Creator is, unquestionably, the most important. Compared with this, all other science is trifling and insignificant. Indeed, all the sciences derive much of their importance from their connection with this fundamental science. Hence astronomy, for instance, acquires an interest over many other branches of knowledge, because it treats of the wonderful works of God, and opens to the astonished eye worlds on worlds innumerable. But it is possible to possess a great degree of this knowledge of the Creator's works, and yet be ignorant of the divine character, although it seems astonishing that any person can admire the one and not love the other, and we are ready to say, with the poet, "An undevout astronomer is mad." We have reason, however, to apprehend that there are not a few such madmen among the votaries of that sublime and interesting science. It is the knowledge of the moral character of Jehovah, rather than a scholastic acquaintance with the laws of nature, that we are to understand by that knowledge, the want of which is so prejudicial to the soul. A man may possess all