truth of the divine existence pours in from every side. We have touched upon a few of the proofs: the number that might be brought is infinite. That there is a God,

"All nature cries aloud through all her works."

"The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." We hear his voice in the whispering breeze, the gurgling fountain, in the roaring ocean, and in the bellowing storm. Every grain of sand is a memento of his presence; every spire of grass points to his abode; every fluttering leaf waves him reverence. There is not a particle of matter in the broad earth, from the crude clay lump that sleeps in its bosom, to moving, breathing, thinking man, who rules its surface, but

"Shows the labor of his hands Or impress of his feet."

The

"The heavens declare his glory, and the firmament showeth forth his handy work." Every star reflects his brightness; every constellation spells his name. clouds are his chariot, and he rides upon the wings of the wind. There is not a change in the seasons, nor an event of providence; there is not an object that addresses the smell, or taste, or touch; there is not a vision that passes before the eye, nor a sound that salutes the ear, but it tells of a God-a God of unbounded wisdom, goodness, and love. Our God, our Father, our Saviour, our Friend. Sensible of our constant dependence on him, let us pray without ceasing. Grateful for blessings received at his hands, let us in everything give thanks. Confiding in him implicitly for future mercies, let us rejoice evermore; yea, "To Him whose temple is all space, Whose altar, earth, sea, skies, One chorus let all beings raise, All nature's incense rise."

Let us serve him faithfully in this distant province of his dominion, where he is seen, after all, but "through a glass darkly," and soon he will permit us to surround his throne, and bask in the smiles of his countenance, without a dimming veil between.

3. Finally, in view of this subject how pitiable the case of the infidel! How blind! Deity shining in everything around him, and yet he cannot see! How deaf! Everything that hath vocality speaking His name, and yet he cannot hear! Well do the Scriptures declare it is “the fool that hath said in his heart, There is no God." This blindness and deafness are willful. 66 They hold the truth in unrighteousness: because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." How ungrateful is the infidel! He receives his all from the hand of God, and yet will not even acknowledge his existence, but gives the honor of all his blessings to another. How unhappy is the infidel! Everything around him is a mystery, himself a mystery-his origin, the object of his existence, his destiny, all involved in utter darkness. How low must be his esteem of himself and of his fellows! A slight difference of organic structure is all that distinguishes him from the reptile that crawls at his feet. Both live by chance, both die by chance; both have one end. How chilling his prospects of futurity! As age creeps on, or sickness wastes, he feels he is approachingwhat? the shoreless, waveless, bottomless, gulf of annihilation. He feels that when he loses his life, he loses his all: when he thinks of the cold, damp grave, the loathsome decay, and the banqueting worm, there is no redeeming thought! no trust in a God! no gleam of immortality! no bright hope of a resurrection morn! no sweet foretaste of that auspicious hour when the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall come from heaven, and change this vile body, and fashion it according to his own glorious body, and when the redeemed of the Lord shall return to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads!

No! to the infidel the future is all dreary and dreadful. This world is his all of good, and yet he perceives it every moment receding. Death comprises the sum total of evil, and yet he sees it constantly approaching, and liable to pounce upon him in his securest moment. Yet dark and dreadful as appears the future to the infidel, the reality will infinitely exceed his imaginings. He calls death an

eternal sleep, but he will find it a scene of wasting vigils, a scene of endless wakefulness and wailing. Life has been to him the period of sleep. Death alone has opened his eyes. Does he sometimes speak of death as a leap in the dark? It will, indeed, be an awful leap, from the precipice of infidelity into the dark abyss of perdition! That consciousness which he expected would leave him, clings strangely to him. That reason which he had resolved into a mere result of physical organization, or a property of matter, now asserts its prerogatives, and when it is too late to repent, teaches him the folly and sinfulness of his course, and the justice of his fearful doom. The existence of a God he no longer doubts, but shudders at the awful reality of that scripture which he once despised: "Though I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there!" With the dying Altamont he must say, as for a God, 66 Nothing less than an almighty Being could inflict what I now feel!" Is there any one infected with infidelity? Cast it away as you would cast coals of fire from your bosom: shun all books and associates that would bring you in contact with the poison. Their words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords. "He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Amen.

SERMON XXII.

The Reign of God a Source of Joy.

BY REV. JOSEPH CUMMINGS, A. M.,

OF THE NEW-ENGLAND CONFERENCE.

"The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof."-Psalm xcvii, 1.

It has been remarked, that nowhere in the sacred writings is there an attempt formally to prove the existence of God. Their authors seem to have regarded this as a truth generally admitted, and in the abrupt manner of the Psalmist, they assert it, proclaiming, "The Lord reigneth;" declaring his awful majesty, his perfection in all his attri

butes, and calling on the people to worship him, to tremble in his presence, and to celebrate his praises. To the first of the human race God clearly manifested himself; and the frequent interviews the chief men among his peculiar people had with him, together with the tokens of his power and goodness so often given them, were sufficient to remind them constantly of his existence and preserving care. As the ruler of the universe, he has not left his works without a witness of himself, for thereon may be traced, in legible characters, in all parts of creation, the nature of his government. The light of reason in man has often been darkened; and, sunk in sin, superstition, and the abominations of idolatry, he has appeared as though deprived of all the noble and elevating characteristics given him by his Creator; yet, in but few instances, have communities of men been found so degraded as to have totally lost the idea of a Supreme Being.

Various are the modes which have been used to prove from nature the existence of God; to show that he reigns over the universe, possessing all the glorious attributes ascribed to him in the sacred Scriptures. These various modes of proof we do not purpose here to consider; but there is one way by which all can demonstrate for themselves that God exists, and that the Bible is true. Christ has assured us that "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." If any man, then, will do the things written in the Bible, obey the injunctions, and follow the examples therein given, he shall know, shall have full and satisfactory proof, that God exists, and that the Scriptures are a revelation of his will. This mode of proof is the more valuable, since none have ever tried it and found it to fail. Those who have most fiercely assailed the Scriptures, and labored most zealously to overthrow their claim to a divine origin, have acknowledged, not only that they have not obeyed their dictates, but that they never candidly and carefully examined them, with a sincere desire for truth. Their wishes, vices, pursuits, or education, made them infidels, and, with opinions already formed, they read the word of God, only to cavil at its doctrines, and to refute its statements..

But while the existence of God is generally acknowledg ed, there are many who seem to deny the practical appli

A

cation of the great truth, "The Lord reigneth." We might infer from their statements, that they supposed that God created the world, and giving matter certain laws and tendencies, swung it forth into space, and left it to take care of itself; remaining himself a quiet spectator of the operations that have been going on since creation. There are many in the present age, of whom it may be said, they do not "like to retain God in their knowledge." Works on various branches of science are placed in the hands of the young, that exclude the agency of God from the operations and phenomena of nature, ascribing all things to secondary causes. They abound in errors and inconsistencies. They represent matter as inert, completely passive, wanting power; and yet ascribing to it certain laws and tendencies, they make it the source of a mighty, incomprehensible power, whose influence reaches through the illimitable extent of space, which not only produces the changes in organic and inorganic bodies around us, but binds the planets to their orbits, determines the relations of systems of worlds to each other, and regulates the harmony and forces of the whole material universe. They assure those who may seek to know the nature and operation of these "laws " and "tendencies," that here is a limit to human knowledge, that beyond them we cannot go. But is it not absurd to call a law the cause of anything? It is something conceived in the mind of a rational being; the term denotes a mode of existence or an order of sequence. It has a real and independent existence, as it must have to be a cause. "It is a perversion of language to call a law the cause of anything." When it has reference to any effect or change, it implies an agent, a power entirely distinct from itself; and aside from this agent, it can do nothing; is nothing. It would be absurd to consider civil laws the cause of the peace and prosperity of society, without reference to the power that formed and enforces them. All the statute books in the land would oppose but a small obstacle to the robber, the murderer, and the betrayer of unsuspecting innocence, did they not know that laws are but the rule by which, in the infliction of punishment for their crimes, a power will be exerted, which nothing human can successfully resist. They fear not the law, but the power that enforces it. In nature there is a continual