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never felt its sanctifying power; they put | are deemed too great. Rivers of human on a profession as an upper garment to blood have flowed in the cause of ambicover the native deformity of an unre- tion, and in forcing a way to a thronegenerated heart, and to impose on their and after its honours were secured, how fellow-men. Hence it is that so many transitory its possession, and harassing apostatize they did not count the cost its cares! The glories which dazzled at before they entered on their undertaking, a distance, like the lovely hues of the and they are not able to finish. So in- rainbow, vanish, when grasped, like the adequate are their conceptions of the real meteor, which emits a temporary flash excellency and vast importance of reli- andis then quenched for ever. And yet gion, that they will not surrender a single with what breathless eagerness and intemporary gratification to secure the eter- cessant toil are such honours sought by nity of glory which it promises. the children of men! The competitor in the games of ancient Greece submitted to a long period of previous training before he presented himself as a candidate for the laurel crown by which the conqueror was to be rewarded in the presence of applauding thousands of his

But between this crown

of life and all the glory and honour of this earth there is no comparison. As eternity surpasses time, as heaven transcends earth, so does the celestial crown which the Saviour shall place on the heads of all his faithful followers in the midst of an assembled universe.

It is vastly different, however, with the genuine Christian: he knows the truth, feels the power and experiences the joys af religion; his attachment to it strengthens with time, and the more he knows of it the higher does he value it; it incorporates all its benign influences with countrymen. every faculty of his soul, and deepens the features of its own lovely image on his heart. The service of Christ is to him more delightful than all the vanities of the world. Rather than desert the cause of Christ he would cheerfully suffer the loss of all things. It is the power of religion and the presence of the Saviour that throws the serenity of heaven over the martyr's countenance amid the fellest blasts of persecution-the keenest tortures of the rack-the hottest flames at the stake and the most cruel death. The same holy influences support the dying saint under the gathering infirmities of decaying nature and the struggles of dissolution. His pains increase-his be the eternal inhabitant of a deathless strength sinks-his eye closes his grasp of life relaxes-his pulse stops his breath departs the dews of death are on his clay-cold cheek, but his sainted spirit as it fled left fixed on his pale countenance the image of peace, and took its flight, attended by ministering angels, into heaven to receive "the crown of life."

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It is a crown of life, and this is indica tive of the pure, lofty, and endless enjoyments to which it introduces. It is when the struggles of mortality are over, and the conflicts with corruption, and all the enemies of your spiritual welfare, are over, that this supreme felicity shall be obtained. Escaped from the wreck of a decaying body, your immortal spirit shall

world. You shall appear as one among the countless myriads who shall surround the throne of the Lamb, wearing crowns of life as brilliant and unfading as your own. When a few earthly monarchs meet to deliberate on the destinies of nations, how do the chroniclers of this world's transactions summon up all their

II. ATTEND NOW TO THE GRACIOUS AS- powers of description and of flattery to

SURANCE.

"I will give you a crown of life."

Here notice,

magnify the importance of the rare occurrence; but the vastest assembly on earth, the most splendid concourse of the 1st. The gift-"A crown of life." A monarchs of earth, dwindle into utter incrown is the highest object of earthly significancy when compared to the meetambition, and the possession of it the ing of all the ransomed of the Lord in loftiest pinnacle of worldly glory-to ob-heaven-every saint shall have in his tain it no toils, struggles, or sacrifices hand a palm of victory, in his mouth a

song of triumph, and on his head a crown | circumstances associated in our minds of life. Contemplate through the me- with death which render it truly appaldium of prophecy the multitude, which ling. The pains, the griefs, the dying no man can number, arrayed in white robes, and listen to their lofty song. With united voice they sing unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, and to his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Meditate,

2d. On the glorious giver.—It is Christ who is to bestow the crown of life. Those who are to wear it have not won it by their own prowess, obtained it by their own merit, or inherited it by their natural birth. It is given freely by Him by whose blood it was secured, and by whose munificence it is bestowed. What shall be the emotions of the redeemed when they receive this inestimable gift from Him who created the heavens, formed the earth, and gave life to every order of animated being! How shall their hearts glow with unutterable emotions when this royal diadem of immortality shall be placed on their heads by Him whose toilsome life and excruciating death procured it for them! With one simultaneous burst of gratitude shall they cry, "Thou hast made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign with thee." It is beyond the power of imagination to conceive how they shall feel when those hands, still bearing the print | of the nails by which he was fixed to the accursed tree, shall hold out the crown of life as the glorious token of his victory for them, and of their victory through him. When "on the cross he spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly; and when he vanquished death, and him that hath the power of death, that is the devil." Eternity will seem too short to show forth all his praise.

Reflect,

conflict, the shroud, the coffin, the dark grave, and the consequent corruption. The very thought of being torn from this warm and living world—from kind friends and endeared companions, rends the heart. But the bright prospects unfolded in the gospel to the departing Christian, reconcile him to all these, and secure for him a glorious victory over the king of terrors. At death the conquering hero lays down his crown, and leaves all his worldly glory behind him. He has no communion with those who herald his praise, sculpture on his tomb the paltry symbols of royalty, and with these emblems of rule distinguish the place which keeps a monarch's dust from the mass of mankind, who tenant with him the regions of the dead. But at death the Christian triumphs. Then he puts off his armour, and receives his crown. His conflicts terminate, his enemies are for ever defeated, and death is swallowed up in victory. Instead of death killing the immortal inhabitant, he has merely pulled down the frail tabernacle in which it was imprisoned, and allowed it to escape to glory, honour, and immortality. When we remember that it is the deathless spirit that thinks, feels, and enjoys, we are in some measure prepared to imagine the happy and glorious transition which takes place when a redeemed soul passes from time into eternity, leaves an emaciated and putrescent body to dwell with kindred spirits; and is severed from weeping friends to behold the face of Jesus. How great its transport when the music of heaven, the songs of angels, and the glories of eternity burst on its enraptured ears and astonished vision, and when it makes its first attempt to join in harmony with the countless throng, who are celebrating the triumphs of redeeming love.

But the crown of life shall be given 3d. On the solemn period at which this in a more solemn and public manner to crown shall be bestowed. The text directs every believer at the resurrection of the forward our expectations to the solemn just. The transactions of the day of judg period of dissolution, when this reward ment shall be awfully and inconceivably shall be obtained. This advantage is pe- grand. Imagination staggers under the culiar to Christianity. There are many | load of magnificent images by which its

his angels. Heaven shall remain to be the endless habitation of the righteous, when they shall dwell with Jesus, and all holy beings, and cast their crowns at the feet of him whose death saved them, and sing without ceasing, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing-salvation be to the Lamb that was slain."

In conclusion, I call on you to continue

dread occurrences are represented in commence. Hell shall remain to be the Scripture. When the last sand has dropt prison-house in which the ungodly shall from the hour-glass of time, then shall be tormented for ever with the devil and the whole system of nature begin to give way. The sun shall grow dim, the moon become as blood, the stars be quenched by the brilliancy of a more glorious light. The vaulted arch of heaven shall open, and the mighty Judge appear in his own glory, in the glory of his Father, and attended by all his angels. The archangel shall herald his approach, and blow the trumpet which shall announce the commencement of the last assize. Then shall the throne of judg-faithful to Jesus in defiance of every opment be set, and the books be opened. The graves shall give up the dead that are in them, and the sea the dead that are in it. Then the living shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and all the generations of men shall meet in one vast assembly, in the presence of faithful and fallen angels, to receive their changeless doom. Methinks I see the great white throne-the universal Judge -the mighty throng; there you shall stand-there I must appear. At that dread tribunal we must meet face to face, and give an account of all our privileges, and of this evening's service. Then the sentence shall be pronounced, which shall never be removed. Hear it, ye faithful followers of the Lamb, "Come, ye bless-ness. These objects you cannot see by ed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- the eye of sense, but faith can penetrate pared for you from the foundation of the within the veil, and realize all the visions world." Then shall ye receive the crown recorded in this book. While you read of life, and be admitted into eternal glory. it in the exercise of faith you hear their Hear it, ye neglecters of the great salva- lofty anthems, you behold their glory, tion, and tremble at your awful doom. you listen to their welcomes. And the "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire voice of the glorified Redeemer falls on prepared for the devil and his angels." your ear and rouses all your dormant "Then shall the heavens pass away with energies. Your failing courage is rea great noise, and the elements melt with vived, and your staggering purpose is fervent heat, the earth also and the works confirmed. You hear him saying, "Be that are therein shall be burnt up." thou faithful unto death, and I will give Then an eternal order of things shall thee a crown of life." Amen.

position, even unto death. Every motive which is fitted to operate on a rational being is presented to you in the word of God. The Bible speaks to your hopes and to your hearts, to your desire of happiness and your dread of suffering, to your hope of heaven and your horror of hell. Oh! could I secure for you a repetition of that vision which John saw when in banishment for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus, it would produce a powerful impression on your mind. Were the heavens now to open and disclose the glories of its inhabitants, their number, their songs, their palms, and their crowns, how would you long to join their company and share their blessed

SERMON XXIX.

THE PREVALENCE OF INFIDELITY, AND THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

DELIVERED

BY THE LATE REV. W. THORPE,

OF BRISTOL.

"In those days shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”—Dan. ii. 44.

AT the close of our last lecture, when | subsequent periods of their eventful hisinquiring into the moral and religious tory, down to the present day. To this character of Great Britain, your attention cause, principally, is to be ascribed the was fixed upon the British possessions in schism and the captivity of the ten tribes, the East Indies, and on the melancholy the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuscenes even now exhibited in that im- chadnezzar, and the captivity of Judah in mense portion of the British empire. Babylon-the final dissolution of their state, both civil and ecclesiastic, and al. the slaughters, massacres, famines, and unparalleled horrors of their siege. Hence also their dispersion in infamy and bondage as witnesses of the truth of Christi

Without further introduction, let us now return to our own coasts, and seriously consider the awful prevalence of infidelity in our own country. Infidelity is the highest insult that man can offer to the all-wise Creator: for, "he that believ-anity to all nations whither they are scateth not God," says the apostle, "has tered, and to warn them lest they also fall made God a liar." This sin was a prin- under the same example of unbelief. cipal ingredient in the original transgres- Hence, too, their judicial blindness and sion. Our first parents did not believe hardness of heart, and all the sufferings the Divine threatening, "In the day that of their long and painful captivity. See, ye eat thereof ye shall surely die." They then, in the history of this people, one did not believe that the threatened pen-truth-that, in the sight of God, infidelity alty would be carried into execution, or is the most horrid crime of which man can that their disobedience would be imme- be guilty. diately followed by a state of misery and death entailed upon themselves and all their posterity. Thus infidelity brought ruin on the whole world. Afterwards, the tremendous catastrophe of the deluge, the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, the apostasy of the heathen nations from the truth, and all the judgments inflicted on the house of Israel from the time of their departure out of Egypt, through all the VOL. I.-34

Soon after the establishment of Christianity in the world, infidelity or atheism reared its hideous front even in the bosom of the Christian church. Denying the Father and the Son-"the only living and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent," is branded by the apostle John with the name of Antichrist. In the closing vision of Daniel it was foretold that, when the reign of papal superstition Ꮓ

265

likely to surprise, allure, and beguile the
imagination; in a fable, a tale, a novel, a
poem-in interspersed and broken hints
--in remote and oblique surmises-in
books of travels, of philosophy, of natural
history-in short, in every form except
that of a professed and regular disquisi-
tion." Since Paley wrote his Moral
Philosophy, the fatal poison has increased
in strength, in virulence, and in extent of
influence, beyond all comparison. It has
descended from the higher, through the
middling, down to the very lowest, orders
of the community. I say the description
of the body politic of the Jewish nation
is here perfectly exemplified, "The whole
head is sick, the whole heart is faint;
and from the crown of the head to the
sole of the feet there is no soundness, but
wounds, and bruises, and putrifying
sores."
Are not these frightful symp-
toms-are they not indications of ap-

was hastening to its downfall, an atheistical power should rise up among the papal kingdoms, and spread ruin and desolation all around; which should endure only for a short time, comparatively: and the learned commentator, Faber, has clearly proved that this power can be no other than atheistical France. Modern infidelity, indeed, sprung up at the dawn of the Reformation; it was the venomous spawn of the mother of harlots, and destined to be the terrible scourge of its own parent. But as the commencement of the prophetic era is dated from the acts, not of individuals, but of states and civil governments, the reign of atheism did not actually commence until a whole nation, for the first time since a nation existed in the world, declared itself atheistical, and, having denounced the Son of God as an impostor, and Christianity as a fable, passed a decree that the faith of the French nation consisted only of two arti-proaching dissolution? cles-that God is nature, and that there is no other God—except, indeed, atheistical gods, or the imaginary gods of an atheistical government-and that death is an eternal sleep. The monster, Anti-it is disguised and concealed, but not so christ, in his full development, his most detestable and most awful form, then commenced his dreadful but short-lived reign, as the last scourge of the guilty nations in the hands of the Almighty.

From that period the poison of infidelity circulated through whole kingdoms, with the force and the rapidity of lightning. From that time, also, infidelity and popery have been joined hand in hand in diabolical confederacy against all the existing establishments of the British empire. The continental nations exhibit, to this day, one collected and putrid mass of the abominations of popery, mingling with the blasphemies of atheism. Nor has our own country by any means escaped the pestilential contagion. Infidelity infects the bar, the army, the navy, the senate, the cabinet, the church, universities and colleges; the departments of literature, philosophy, medicine, legislature, and even theology. The press groans under it. "The lurking poison of unbelief (says Paley, in his Moral Philosophy) has been served up in every form that is

Infidelity appears, in some, open and avowed; and, with unblushing effrontery, denying the God of heaven, and threatening all existing establishments; in others

much so as not to be sufficiently notorious in its effects. In some it is speculative and practical infidelity unmasked; in others the unbelief of the heart is easily discernible in its pernicious fruits in their lives and manners. It is to be found in churchmen and dissenters; in men of moral decency and of open profligacy. It is embodied under three forms, principally, or three negative positions, the whole of which shake the foundations of Christianity, and close up the heart against the admission of the gospel. First, a denial of the attribute of divine justice, and consequently of the atonement of the Son of God, and the Scripture doctrine of future punishment. Secondly, a denial of the superiority not only of protestantism over popery, but of Christianity itself over Mahommedanism, Hindooism, or any other religion that only secures the ends of civil government. Thus, it is often said that all religions are equally good. And, finally, in a denial of the responsibility of man for what he believes, even to the God who made him,

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