the mind's steadfastness, and swift progress in its upward course to God? These trials seem to assist, rather than hinder it on its way. How matchless the efficacy of this divine joy! It enlivens faith and hope, and all the other heavenly affections. It is as if omnipotence itself had entered into all the feelings of the mind. The mind becomes more than a conqueror. The very violence of fire is quenched; and, sometimes, as in the case of the martyr, the fiercest flames, under the influences of spiritual joy, not only lose their peculiar power, but become an instrument of ease, as the dying martyr found the flames were to him a bed of roses. This may savor of mere ardor, to the externally strict religionist, but he is not set to judge in this case: we appeal in verification of what we have said, to the Scriptures of truth, and the history of the church. It has been fulfilled in thousands of real examples, of whom the world was not worthy."-pp. 60–62.

We are persuaded that no considerate reader will dissent from the leading views of the discourse. No one, surely, will question the desirableness of that high state of religious enjoyment, which it urges upon Christians, or doubt that, if possessed, it would prove the source of all that moral power, which is here represented as connected with it. On these points, it would seem as if there could be no difference of opinion. The only question, which can fairly present itself, springs from another source. It may be thought by some, that the measure of religious joy, for which the writer pleads, is greater than Christians in general can be expected to attain, and that the possession of it is to be recommended as a privilege, rather than enjoined as a duty. The author takes notice, indeed, of this objection; but, as it would have exceeded the usual limits of such a discussion, to have been more particular, he has been able to do little else than barely allude to it. It is obvious, however, that the practical effect of the discourse must depend very much upon the view which is taken of this same objection; and it may not be amiss, therefore, to pause a moment, and inquire how far it is founded in truth.

That the Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, represent, not merely peace of mind, but joy and delight in the Lord, as one of the usual fruits of genuine piety, every one knows, who is familiar with the sacred volume. Nor, as every such person must be aware, do they leave it at our option, whether we will cherish this feeling, or decline it; they use the language of authority, and with the same voice that they call upon us to repent

and believe, they command us also to rejoice, yea, always to rejoice in the Lord. Again, we know, on the testimony of the same unerring witness, that the piety of the primitive Christians fully realized, in this respect, the scriptural idea of it, that it was a piety making them happy in their possessions, as well as their hopes,-ante-dating, to some extent, the bliss of heaven, and pouring the light of "high, eternal noon" through the otherwise gloomy house of their pilgrimage. Does it seem to any one, that we state the case too strongly? Let him, then, cast his eye over the pages of the inspired record;-let him read, for instance, the account which the Acts of the Apostles give, of the first converts, selling their worldly possessions, as soon as they had found the pearl of great price, and yet, in the midst of threatened poverty, eating their meat in gladness of heart;-let him listen to the martyr Stephen, praying for his murderers, and, as the vision of Christ, at the right hand of God, bursts on his dying eye, joyously surrendering his spirit, and sinking to sleep in Jesus,—O, let him hear the praises of Paul and Silas, as they sing in their prison at midnight, while their bodies yet bleed with the stripes of recent chastisement, and they wait for morning, not to release them from their bonds, but to renew their scourging and pains;-let him call to mind, also, what, though spoken by one, applies equally to all the apostles,- We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; as unknown, yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; let him, we say, recollect these, and other numberless illustrations of the state of their minds, and then judge whether the religion of the first believers did not make them happy,-whether their heaven was not truly begun on earth,-whether it would not have been infinite loss to them, as regards even this life, to have exchanged their feelings for any mere worldly portion which can be imagined.

But it will be said, perhaps, that the experience of the first Christians was peculiar in this respect. Admitting that they were favored, in so extraordinary a manner, with the consolations of religion, does it follow, it may be asked, that Christians of every age may expect to be equally favored? Why, we ask, in reply, should they

not? The gift of tongues, and other miraculous powers, which the apostles and their contemporaries possessed, have indeed passed away. Nor is this strange. They were not designed to be permanent; and ceased, as a matter of course, when the occasion which required them had ceased. On the contrary, the wants of Christians, as regards their need of spiritual succor and support, are ever the same. There exist, at the present moment, substantially the same reasons for dispensing freely the joys of salvation, as existed in the days of primitive Christianity. The early believers, it is true, had persecutions and trials, of mockery and martyrdom, to encounter, from which believers now are exempt; but are they, therefore, exempt from all difficulties? Did the Saviour utter a temporary truth, when he said, It is through much tribulation that ye must enter into the kingdom of God? Assuredly, no. The form of this tribulation may be varied, but the reality of it is unchanged. The first Christians, in being obliged literally to give up their worldly possessions, and forsake all, and follow Christ, did but that which every true Christian does now, in affection, if not in fact; and if they needed so much grace to enable them to "take joyfully the spoiling of their goods," we, surely, need as much, who are required to regard these things with the same insensibility, as if they were actually lost to us; and, even more, we had almost said, since we are obliged to resist, as they were not, the snare of having them still in our hands, to tempt and allure us. In addition to this, we are to remember, also, that the enmity of the unrenewed heart to the gospel, is as deep and bitter as ever. They who live godly in Christ Jesus are no less the objects of its inveterate malice. The church, at this very moment, when all is externally so calm, is as really hated, as when the fires of persecution threatened to devour her, and the blood of her own sons flowed so freely as almost to deluge her. This hostility is differently manifested, it is true. The cross of the gospel, however, may be as painful, when it slays our pride, by exposing us to reproach, as when it tortures the body. A sense of shame is often stronger than the fear of death. Hence there are, perhaps, as many apostates from the faith at this day, when religion is derided as weakness and hypocrisy, as there were when it might be punished as a crime. Pos

sibly, the step of an informer may not have been half so dreadful to the first Christians, as the sneer of a fool-hardy trifler is, to some of us. The eye of Jesus, we have no doubt, now looks down upon many a follower, who, if it were the will of his Lord, would much more cheerfully glorify him by a martyr's death, than endure the scoffs, with which the ungodly mock at his prayers and zeal. Can we suppose, then, that he, whose compassion has no limit, would give to his people of one age a support under trials, which he refuses to those of another, equally, although differently, exposed? Having loved his disciples in one period of the church, will he not love their successors in every other, even to the end? He does, he must. To suppose otherwise, is to make him, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, changeable like ourselves. Surely, he who has inscribed the names of his children on the palms of his hands, will not fail to succor them in every distress, and to bless them, even in this life, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

There is another source of proof on this subject, to which we would just allude. The actual experience of believers shows, that the ministration of the Spirit, in his office of comforter, was not designed to be temporary. There have been those, we mean, in every age of the church, who have walked in the steps of the joy, as well as the faith, of the primitive saints. There have been men, even in our own times, or those next to our own, who have risen to such measures of spiritual joy, as to realize our highest conceptions of the experience of apostles and martyrs. We mention, among the crowd of names, that offer themselves to us in confirmation of this, those of Flavel, Baxter, Tennent, Edwards, and Payson, and to these we might add others still. Surely, with such witnesses before us, we cannot doubt for a moment, that the Holy Ghost is still the comforter, as well as the sanctifier, of the Christian, and that he is as free to impart his consolations to us, as he was to those who were first obedient to the faith.

Why, then, the inquiry here naturally suggests itself, do so few of those, who call themselves Christians, exemplify the spirit of religion, in the matter of which we are speaking? We revert again to the sermon, which has

occasioned these remarks, and give the answer as it is there presented:

"The plain truth is this, that what hinders our joy, is allowed sin. The power of sin to do this is great. This little hand, said Whitefield, placing his hand near his eyes, as he was preaching in the field, while the glorious sun was flooding creation with his beams, this little hand hides all the lustre of the sun from my eyes; and so a little sin may involve the soul in darkness, though the spiritual world be all bright as heaven itself. But should we therefore he content to live in darkness, or set ourselves with more resolution against all forms and degrees of sin? The latter is the course of duty, and is it not also the course of wisdom? Is it idle to ask the question, What manner of persons ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness? Why is it we do not understand, that our only concern in this world is, to keep a guileless spirit, a conscience void of offence? Alas, that we should suffer such things as love of lucre, or of preeminence, or of sensual pleasure, or jealous, and envious, and irascible feelings, to rest in our bosoms, and stay there from day to day, and week to week, and month to month, in the place which should be ever sacred to the gracious affections; in the temple of the Holy Ghost! Alas, that we should be so infrequent, so cursory, so cold in prayer; so seldom in fastings, so formal and lifeless in the duties of the sanctuary: that we should be so uncircumspect in speech, so little intent on walking in the Spirit; in all the pursuits of life, so regardless of the great principle of Christian morals, which demands that we do all things, even to eating and drinking, to the glory of God: that we should have so little fellowship (might we not rather say, such disagreement?) with Paul, in his purpose to do but this one thing all his life long,-forgetting the things behind, and reaching forth to those before, to press towards the mark, for the prize of his high calling? Here is the secret of our want of religious joy, of our spiritual doubts and fears; and also of our readiness to justify them. But shall such things vitiate and set aside the law of Christ's kingdom before recited, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice?

It

"No, this is as irreversible as any other statute of the eternal realm. It has been given out, not to be neglected, but obeyed. is the duty of all Christians to rejoice evermore, and the importance of their fulfilling this duty, no tongue can fully tell. Immortal souls, in countless multitudes, have gone to an undone eternity, in consequence of its not having been fulfilled; the salvation of the world still lingers from the same cause; for want of holy joy in the church, all the means of grace in operation are comparatively ineffectual; the triumph of the gospel is kept back, on this sole account; and the gloominess and sadness of Christians keep up a sort of rejoicing among the spirits of darkness.”—pp. 83-86.

The two discourses on Doing Good, are intended to urge upon Christians the duty of making it their aim, in imitation of their great Example, to lead lives of active