secret purposes of the heart, is introduced as the moral balance, in which the pretensions of men shall be weighed, and their true places designated, in the decision of the Great Principle of the Gospel of Christ :

"I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE;" is the Motto that is emblazoned in characters of fire, on the escutcheon of Zion's King! And Paul, the Divinely inspired servant, the Heaven-taught Apostle, has affirmed, of "Faith, and Hope, and Charity,-The greatest of these is Charity!" O CHARITY! LOVE! thou Heaven-born, thou that descended in the person of God's only begotten Son, LOVE, how hast thou been received by men! Thy reception was marked by the scoffs of the infidel, the frown of the priesthood, the execration of the malevolent; and the cross, the gibbet, was the return, from the people whom thou came to bless and to save!

Alas! that even now, the devices of the priesthood of modern times, have prevailed, to hide beneath the false glosses of an imperfect translation of the good news, and perversions of the text, and the dogmas, and creeds of men, the Euangelion of life and salvation for a guilty world; the riches of the truths of Heaven, from man. And the people, blinded by the god of this vain world, in the folly of their hearts, "love to have it so." Reader, Ocos àyámn torív, (1 John iv. 8,) signifies, literally, that, "GOD IS LOVE." And Paul affirms " Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not àyúrn, LOVE, I am nothing," (1 Cor. xiii. 2.*)

And thou, blind Israel, who, in thy rebellious day, affirmed, "We see;" what hast thou to say, why judgment should not be kata, against thee? The goats on the left hand, are represented in the Divine parabola, as pleading

an excuse

"Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?"

How wonderful is the reply of the rejected Messiah of Israel! How true to the Divine Motto, that characterizes His glorious Kingdom! Did Christ upbraid them? saying,

I was, for a time, in the midst of you, a stranger from a

* The question, therefore, is, not whether love (charity) can exist without faith? but, whether faith can, in reality, exist in a man's soul, or mind and heart, without producing love, as its fruit? The King in Zion will decide the first question! and His decision is final.

far country; a messenger of good; a minister of love; sent by my Father, whom you have hypocritically pretended to worship, reverence, and serve. I came to you poor; without a place to lay my head. In your presence, my destitute condition was manifested, during a whole generation. I went about among you, bearing my poverty; my whole concern and business was to do you good. I rais ed the helpless sufferer from the bed of languishing-he that was blind, received from me his sight; lifted, in transport, his newborn vision, and beheld the glory of the heavens. Even the limbs that had been paralyzed by long anguish, received from me a youthful vigor; and the dumb, shouted, in a glad acclaim, the healing of my word. I extended my hand to her that had no helper, and led her forth from the death in Hades. By every example which virtue can give-by every exhibition that love could dictate-by all the manifestations of a heart filled with the purest benevolence-I showed myself in all your cities; and you now ask, "When saw we, thee, hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" You saw me under all the circumstances of a life of poverty, and patient endurance. You received naught but blessings from my hand. And my example, as the Sent of that God whom you falsely professed to worship, had been sincere, would have been received by you, and made the rule of your life, and the guide of your conduct. And what a return did I receive at your hands, for a life spent in your service! When did you feed me? Thousands of you were witnesses, that my Father, at my request, sent bread to satisfy the cravings of your hungry multitudes. Yea, even my own person, I presented to you, as the bread of God, which came down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. When did you quench my thirst? Never, save when, after having rejected, derided, and reviled me, you presented vinegar to my lips, when parching with agony, I was expiring, a victim to your hellish cruelty, like a common malefactor, on the cross: Wretches, your day of grace is over-The day of your triumph is past.-My turn has come, to inflict the vengeance due to your crimes, your unprecedented wickedness: I will hurl, in my fury, the fiery bolts of heaven's vengeance; and mark your fall to tartarus, by tortures that shall never end. Depart!

you

Not So, the blessed Jesus. He who had wept over Jerusalem, is the same Jesus, that is now the Judge. To

Rome, pagan Rome, but guiltless of sin, compared to guilty Jerusalem, was the task given, to punish rebellious Israel; and, as the messengers, (angels) of God's righteous judgment, to inflict upon that guilty generation, the full measure of punishment, for shedding the blood of God's prophets, and crucifying His Son.

To the plea made in the Divine parabola, the King in Zion answers-Love filled his bosom-The King in Zion forgot the injuries done to the man Christ Jesus at Jerusalem-'Tis the Great Principle of His Kingdom, the law of His court, that pronounces the sentence-"Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the LEAST of these, ye did it not to ME. It was the law under which rebellious Israel had sinned, it was Moses, to whom they appealed, that sent the Roman eagles to Jerusalem, and consummated the long-delayed vengeance of pitying Heaven!

"Come, ye blessed of my Father," says the loving Jesus, whispering in the silver tones of love-Come to the kingdom, prepared for you, before the world began.

The Divine parabola speaks for them-What have we done! The King has recounted their kind attention to his person: "I," says he, "was hungry, and -I was fed you methirsty, and ye gave me drink-I was a stranger, and ye took me in-I was naked, and ye clothed me-I was sick, and ye visited me I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' The righteous answer-"When saw we THEE, "under the circumstances thou hast described? Wonder! Astonishment! fills every bosom. Hear the reply of the loving, pitying, kind, affectionate, tender-hearted, and merciful Jesus:

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto ONE of the LEAST of these my BRETHREN, [poor, suffering humanity,] ye have done it unto Me!"

The proud, self-righteous Pharisee, stands abashed; and hangs his head in shame. The bigot, who, in the arrogance of his heart, despises his neighbour; and prizing his own faith as the only treasure, lays it up in the heaven of his fancy, as the only needful thing; with him, the charities of life are in a low estimation; the all-important thing is well secured the reprobated of his faith, have no pretensions, save the carnal, despised kindnesses, and common benevolent aspirations of a pitying, worldly soul. His turn has come; and he, too, stands before the judgment-seat of Jesus: The King in Zion says, "Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have not done it unto ME."

Reader, the word has gone forth-the tongue inspired by the Pneuma from above, hath spoken, and the law of Christ's Kingdom has confirmed the word:-"These three-Faith-Hope-Agape-but the greatest of these is Agape." Do you ask a reason? Here it is,

"GOD IS LOVE."

Do you again inquire, and ask a reason? I will give you one more, and it is final:- "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved;" is the record. Not with water, for that was only unto repentance. He that believeth must be baptized into the Spirit, to believe unto salvation. It is the baptism that John the Baptist, who baptized with water unto repentance, (the figure,) affirmed, saying, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I; whose shoes I am unworthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the HOLY [Pneumati] SPIRIT, EVEN FIRE.' AMEN.

* I have rendered kat, in this passage, even, as it should be rendered; and I will assign my reasons for so doing: 1. As a copula, it is here explicative. 2. As intensive. The common translation, confounds the obvious sense, etc. The agent, the Holy Spirit, is the Fire; significant of God's love. A baptism of this Fire, is a baptism into this Fire, or Agape of God; without which, faith is a tinkling cymbal. There is much faith without this Fire! Can this Fire burn, unless it is kindled by the Pneuma, Spirit? No!

SERMON VIII.

THE GOSPEL PARADOX, OR,

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" JOHN xi. 26.

THE subject of the soul's immortality has lived, if not a life of immortality, a very long existence; compared to the ephemeral duration of the lives of millions of speculative men, who have pretended to believe it, and raised castles on its foundation.

"The soul, secure in its existence, smiles

At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.”

However true in blank verse, this sentiment of the poet may be, it requires strong arguments, and positive testimony to sustain it in plain prose. Vague conceptions, a speculative opinion, cradled in superstition, and nursed in ignorance; do not constitute faith. Neither is the skepticism of the cavilling infidel, reason. For we must reason, in a certain legitimate and well-qualified sense, on many things that we do not know; if by knowledge is signified, the being familiar with, and an apprehension of, the truth of things, derived from our acquaintance with the things in question; to a degree that shall enable us to define the things, and explain their existence, both in the manner of, and the locality of their being.

*

The

Behold the wonder of wonders, magnetism! Needle nicely adjusted, and the magnetic-soul dwelling in it--but this, the soul, the magnetic power, or influence, or spirit, or by whatever name you shall identify it, or distinguish it from the iron Needle that it dwells in, and controls, and guides to a rational action, you cannot see. is invisible-it is also not tangible to the touch. No power that man possesses, can make it palpably evident to the

It

* I beg, reader, if that thing ycleped "Animal Magnetism;" should come uppermost in your mind, that you will hold me guiltless of it.