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MISCELLANEOUS GLEANINGS.

ON CHRISTIAN JUSTICE AND INTEGRITY.

February 14, 1802.

EVERY thing in Christianity tends to enforce the practice of justice and integrity in all your dealings. It is the very spirit of the Law which says, Thou shalt not covet. It is impossible to lay down general principles upon this subject; but, in matters of prudence, last thoughts are best. In morality, your first thoughts are best;-where things are indifferent as to principle, we have frequently to calculate consequences, which requires a long train of thought and reflection; but, in matters of conscience, God has not left us to such a process as this; for he has established in the breast of every man a vicegerent, and whatever this conscience remonstrates at first, is best; you may silence it, you may upbraid its voice, but whatever in its first movements it condemns, ought to be condemned. Your endeavours to prevent it will be like labouring in the fire; always then, in matters of morality, trust your first thoughts. Persons are

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sufficiently selfish not to give sentence in favour of themselves; and, like every other faculty, conscience is liable to become darkened; but if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! It is putting out, as far as possible, the light of the mind, and leaving us in a state of abject wretchedness. It is suicide of the immortal part.

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PERORATION ON CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION.

December 12, 1801.

Only let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ."

THIS precept was with regard to the final salvation of the Christian converts; it depended upon their "continuance" in these commands. They were to be diligent, to be found of him in peace, to do which they were to continue faithful unto death. Too many Christians are apt to look back upon their conversion as a ground of comfort; but the Scriptures give us no promises but what are connected with perseverance to death. If after having begun in the Spirit ye end in death— if you conform to the spirit of the world-you know nothing of the spirit of Christianity; you have the name without the spirit; ye are weighed in the balances, and found wanting. It is by consistency only we can allure others to the profession and dignity of the Christian character; for it rests

upon this that others, seeing your good works, may glorify your heavenly Father. These principles, my brethren, followed out, will carry us to great heights and degrees in Christian virtue; we shall not ask how little of it we may have, but does such a spirit, and such a course of conduct, most become the gospel of Christ? With these maxims in our mouths and in our hearts, we shall be aiming to have as much of it as we can, and be continually dissatisfied with ourselves if we are not copying some new lineaments of the features of Jesus Christ. This, the apostle says, would be a source of unspeakable satisfaction to him. Their union with each other, and their steadfast adherence to the cause of Christ, was one part of this exemplary course. He exhorted them to be nothing terrified by their adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition. Having Jesus Christ with the Father, as an advocate, what was there to terrify them? They knew he was at the head of all principalities and powers. That Christian, my brethren, who views Jesus Christ as the Lord of men, of angels, and of glory, how firm and undaunted may he look around him, and consider kings and princes but as common dust; for they must submit themselves to his authority, or perish! This resolute adherence to Christ firmly shewed that they had an invisible protector;—that those potsherds of the earth must be destroyed-Woe to him who striveth with his Maker! This was an evident token of perdition to their enemies, but of salvation to themselves. It was a foretaste of

their future inheritance; for unto you (the apostle says) it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but to suffer for his sake. Instead of their repining at the cross of Christ, they were to consider it a privilege which God had put on them-it was a gift on behalf of Christ; they rejoiced that they were thought worthy to suffer for him. Why this unutterable kind of sentiment and feeling, my brethren? Because they believed the friendship of Jesus Christ, and they knew that he had solemnly declared-Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven. They knew that though all the faithful followers of Jesus Christ would be crowned, yet a brighter crown was reserved for them; they knew that they should reign with him with peculiar honour and glory. They considered the sufferings of the church on earth as an earnest of their elevation in heaven; that the degree in which they sunk in one, was to be their exaltation in the other. Can we have this spirit if we do not deny the world? or, if we do not suffer for his sake, how can we be companions of them that suffered? On the whole, my brethren; O the great importance of having these views in life, and these hopes in death, which the apostle sets before us! As we must all die, and God has laid no other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, let us often ask ourselves, whether the end of our life is to glorify God, and whether

we have any well-founded hope, if we were to die, we should be with the Lord? This evidence lies in a very small compass-Is your conversation such as becomes the gospel of Christ?

INCIDENTAL, ON PRAYER.
February 1, 1801.

THERE is a tranquillity and fortitude which prayer inspires amidst the troubles of life. When a good man has opened all the secrets of his soul to God, he begins to taste the hidden manna. It is like the fragrance of those flowers that perfume the air. When he went into the presence of God, perhaps with injured feelings, malignant or oppressed he there drops his burthen-all becomes calm and serene; and with his passions more pure, his benevolence more ardent, he returns into the world. This duty of private prayer will prepare you, beyond every other, for death. We must all soon die;-how is it that men, when they come to die, begin to pray-even those who have never come to the house of God? but would they not pray better, think you, if they had been accustomed to it? Which is most likely to be accepted,—that man that is pushed into the presence of the Supreme Being by the force of destiny, or that man who has sought him by prayer? The dying man, who has been delighted with the thought of being with God-that event

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