abstract, is is not the weakness of unassisted reason, that can ever lead us unto that great and glorious end for which we came into the world. Before us there is placed, as before the Israelites of old, a blessing and a curse. It is at the peril of our salvation that we either disdain the one, or disregard the other. We know the terms of salvation which our great Lord and Master hath offered us. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." God will enable us to perform the condition of being faithful unto death, by a view to the motive, namely, a crown of immortality and life."

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SERMON XXII.

ST. JOHN xviii. 36.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

THERE is not perhaps a stronger proof of the divine origin of the Christian dispensation, than the utter disregard which it exhibits of all worldly motives and secular designs. Though framed by its heavenly Author to guide the principles, and to regulate the conduct of mankind in every department both of public and of private life, it advances nothing which in a political point of view can establish an independent influence, or cherish a separate interest. With the various forms and modifications of temporal government, it does not condescend to interfere; it points to the Almighty as the source of all power, and to his laws, as the basis of all authority. By teaching the proud and the factious to bow themselves in equal submission before the tribunal of God, it raises in the scale of responsibility the relative duties both of the governor and of the sub

ject; and while it binds on the one the obligations of purity, justice, and mercy; it encourages in the other a spirit of frank and conscientious obedience.

In the life and ministry of our Lord, this line of conduct was very conspicuous. But a word of encouragement from him would have kindled into action a people already ripe for rebellion, and waiting in the delusive expectation of a Messiah, who should lead them on to liberty and to glory. Though in his reply to the question of Pilate, he asserted in the strongest terms his regal authority, he renounced at the same time every claim to an earthly sovereignty; "Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world." By the sentence of the Roman governor himself, was he absolved from every imputation of offence against the ruling powers. "Pilate saith, I find

no fault in him at all." By the same character also were the primitive Christians especially distinguished. In an overgrown and divided empire, where opportunities daily presented themselves both of secret conspiracy and of open insurrection, we find no single instance among the Christians either of rebellion or intrigue. To their general simplicity, submission, and endurance, their persecutors themselves have borne the amplest testimony.

"The kingdom of Christ is not of this world."

The prospects which it opens, the motives which it suggests, and the dispositions which it cherishes, are those of another and a better country, "that is an heavenly." The influence which it exercises over the hearts and affections of its subjects is purely spiritual, elevating the mind above all transitory objects, and fixing its ultimate view "upon things above, and not on things on the earth." On the other hand, the peculiar responsibility which it attaches to all the actions of life, enforces the discharge of every earthly duty, and strengthens the obligation of every social tie. Thus then by keeping the one in due subserviency to the other, does it reconcile the opposite interests of two contending worlds, thus in the exercise of every Christian charity and grace does "the kingdom of this world," in anticipation, "become the kingdom of Christ and of his glory."

One evident mark of the unambitious views of the Christian dispensation, is the union which it forms of high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, in "one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and in all, and through all." Had the kingdom of Christ been of this world, had any temporal influence been the object of his Church, its higher privileges at least would have been confined to a chosen body, who by their initiation into cer

tain mysteries either of doctrine or practice, might have established a controul over their weak and ignorant brethren. Equality of privilege and community of knowledge, are the strongest barriers which can be erected against the encroachments of priestcraft and enthusiasm. Of all the corruptions indeed, with which the perversity of man has disgraced the Gospel of God, the leading feature appears to be a limitation of the graces and privileges of the Christian kingdom to a selected view. By this limitation, let it assume what shape it may, the heavenly character of the kingdom of Christ is gradually lost, temporal views and secular motives are introduced, a spirit of domination is excited, a system of persecution is established, and under the mask of the Gospel, the worst passions which agitate the world are called into a dangerous and a destructive action. Such is the source both of Papal usurpation and of Calvinistic presumption; for however opposite in appearance these two extremes may be, the principle and the tendency of both is ultimately the same. Both equally limit the privileges and mystify the doctrines of the Gospel, both equally encourage in the few a contempt of the many. Spiritual pride is the parent of spiritual ambition; and spiritual ambition never yet confined itself to the future hopes and prospect of mankind, but

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