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and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." O, if poor carnal sinners knew the pleasures of the godly in the worship of their Lord, they would be ashamed of their poor, mean, idle, worldly amusements, and gladly forsake them for the more solid, refined, and heavenly joys of the children of God. These are but a small part of the Christian's pleasures. We might add, his sacred joy at the table of the Lord; his sweet meditations on divine subjects; his profitable conversations with fellow Christians; the supports he finds under afflictions; and the prospects he enjoys of eternal felicity.

And as all these are good and pleasant in themselves, so they appear to greater advantage, if you compare them with the pleasures of the world. They are certainly far more solid and satisfying; far more rational and noble; and, above all, far more durable. "The most innocent of our carnal pleasures, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and the like, are the badges of our weakness, and a sort of reproach upon our nature; and it is our inclination to them, rather than any excellence in them, that makes them alluring." They are needful, it is true, at present; but when our nature shall be glorified, we shall be "as the angels," and require none of these things. And when a man places his happiness in sensual pleasures, and carries them to excess in gluttony, drunkenness, uncleanness, and so on, he becomes a brute rather than a man, and the scripture pronounces him, dead while he liveth. "The good man is satisfied from himself;" he has an inward source of joy; but the carnal man, who roves abroad for happiness, is never satisfied. "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing." The best of his pleasures perish in his using. Solomon says, "As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool"-a noisy blaze, and soon over. Let a wise man listen to the impertinent, vain, foolish, proud, profane conversation of a set of gay and loose people in a tavern; what a mass of nonsense and wickedness does it appear? and could it be written down, and shewn to the company themselves, surely, they would be ashamed of it! How childish are the amusements of the card-table! How strange, that a number of rational and

immortal beings should spend hours upon hours in playing with bits of painted paper! How ridiculous for a company of grown people to be jumping and running about a room in their dancing assemblies! How foolish for thousands of men and women to trail many miles to a race-ground, just to see one horse's head before another! Not to mention other pleasures of the world, which are as criminal as they are mean, which will by no means bear reflection, but fill the mind with painful remorse. Ah! what real pleasure can that man enjoy, who is forced to look back on the past with regret, and the present with confusion, and the future with dread and dismay. The carnal pleasuretaker is a hypocrite in his mirth. "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness." It is recorded in the life of Colonel Gardiner, that before his converson, when he gave a loose to all his carnal passions, and lived in many guilty pleasures, when he was thought by his companions so happy, that they called him the happy rake; he was even then so miserable, at times, through the stings of his conscience, that he has envied a dog that came into the room, wishing rather to have been that dog, than a man, who "must give an account of himself to God." This is just what wise and holy Job long ago observed-"Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth; though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; yet his meat in his bowels is turned; it is the gall of asps within him." How just is the comparison! Sin is the food of a carnal man; it is his meat and drink, to do the will of his father which is in hell. This food is very sweet to him, sweeter than honey and the honey-comb; so sweet that he is unwilling to lose the relish of it, but tries to enjoy it, as long as possible. But what is the consequence? Is this sweet food wholesome? No. It is turned in his bowels to poison. It is the gall of asps within him. The bite of an asp was deadly. There was no remedy for it it killed in four hours, and yet it killed with little pain. Thus Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, destroyed herself. Just so the sinner dies; he may be stupified, and feel no terrors in his soul; but the bitterness that flows from sin is the bitterness of everlasting death.

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APPLICATION. -We have now taken a view of the pleasures of religion, in the possession of Christian graces, the enjoyment of Christian privileges, and the performance of Christian duties. And now dear young people, are you not almost persuaded to be Christians? May God persuade you altogether! If you doubt the truth of what we have asserted, we appeal to Christ himself. Hear him. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your soul for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Do you love pleasure? I know you do. Seek it then in Christ's way, and not in the ways of sin. There is nothing in religion that is really irksome and unpleasant. Even that which seems to be so, as repentance, self-denial, and the mortification of sin is rendered easy by the grace of God. And were it not so, what are the pains of a moment to the pains of eternity.

"Who would not give a trifle to prevent

What he would give a thousand worlds to cure ?"

But the fact is, there is far more pleasure in religion now, than there is in sin; and we are sure that it will end better. What will it avail any of you an hundred years hence, that you were gay and merry, that you saw every fine sight, and indulged every sensual pleasure? but it will avail you a thousand years hence, that you regard the one thing needful, and "choose the good part." And let it be observed, that the person who can take no pleasure in religion, is not at all qualified for the joys of heaven, nor could he be happy there if he were admitted. If you can take 1:0 pleasure in the things of God, in singing his praises, in conversing with his people, in observing the Sabbath, what would you do in heaven, where the delights are not carnal, such as you love, but wholly spiritual, such as you hate? Does not this convince you that something is wrong? that your state and disposition is not what it should be? "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." It is regeneration that makes the important change in a person's views and taste, for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh" and therefore can relish only carnal things; but "that which

is born of the Spirit is spirit," and therefore enjoys spiritual pleasures. O look up to God in earnest prayer, that you may experience this blessed change. Then will sin be the object of your hatred, and holiness that of your delight. Depend upon it you will be no loser by religion. "Godliness is profitable to all things, having the promises of this life, and of that to come." you wish for more? While your eternal happiness is secured, you will enjoy "a conscience yoid of offence towards God and man." Your way may be directed, your crosses sanctified, and your earthly comforts doubÏed. "O taste and see that the Lord is good."

SERMON XXVI.

THE VALUE OF THE SOUL.

What can

Mat, xvi. 26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

N all the Bible, I know not a more weighty sentence than this. Were it duly considered, what a religious world would this become! The disregard of it makes the world that scene of mischief and folly which you behold. To give these words their full force, remember whose they are. They are the words of Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, the Creator of the world. And who so able to determine that the soul is worth more than the world, as he who made them both? He made the soul, and he made the world; yea, the price he paid for the redemption of the soul was his own precious blood. Surely then he knew the value of the soul. Regard these words, my friends, as full of truth, and truth of the greatest importance to yourselves. And O that he who first spoke them to his disciples, may now speak them to our hearts by his Holy Spirit!

In the text there are three things which require our

attention:

I. Every man has a soul of the greatest value.

II. There is a possibility of a man's losing his soul, yea, great danger of it.

III. The whole world can make no amends for the loss of the soul.

I. Every man has a soul of the greatest value.

The nature of the human soul is, at present, but imperfectly known. God has not told us so much about it, as to gratify our curiosity; but enough to assist our faith. From the Scriptures alone we learn any thing satisfactory concerning our souls; and there we find that the soul is a something distinct from the body; a thinking immortal substance; and capable of living separately from the body in another world. This appears from Matt. x. 28. where our Lord says to his disciples-"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." In like manner, we learn from the parable of Dives and Lazarus, that the soul of the former was tormented in hell, while his body lay buried in earth. Jesus Christ assured the penitent thief on the cross, that he should be with him that very day in paradise, while, as we know, the body of Jesus was laid in the tomb. It is said of Judas, that he went to his own place, which certainly was hell; but his wretched carcase was on earth. St. Paul declared, that death would be gain to him, because, when absent from the body, he should be present with the Lord; useful as he was in the church, and happy in that usefulness, he rather desired to die, to depart, to be with Christ, which was far better.

Now this immortal soul is of immense value: and its excellency may be argued from the following considerations:

1. Its origin, it came immediately from God. Something peculiar is said of the formation of man, Gen. i. 26. "God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Surely it was the soul of man, rather than his earthly body, that bore the divine resemblance.

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2. Consider again the vast and noble powers of the soul. When these powers are assisted by learning, how does the philosopher survey, measure, and describe the heavenly bodies, or search into the hidden secrets of nature. And in an ordinary way, how skilfully does the mechanic form various instruments and engines for the common purposes of life. The farmer cultivates and improves the earth, and

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