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tion and dejection let him leave to the slaves of guilt; who have every thing to dread, both from this world and the next. If he appear before others with a dispirited aspect, he dishonours religion; and affords ground for suspicion, that he is either ignorant of its nature, or a stranger to its power.

Thus I have shewn joy to be essential to religion. It is the spirit which it inspires, and which it requires in good men. But, in our present state, the best principles may be carried to a dangerous excess; and joy, like other things, has its due limits. To serve God with unmixed delight, belongs to more advanced spirits in a happier world. In this region of imperfection, some infusions from a different cup must of necessity tincture our joy. Let us then,

II. Turn to the other side of the argument, and consider the reasons which render it

proper, that, when we rejoice, we should rejuice with trembling.

In the first place, Because all the objects of religion, which afford ground for joy, tend to inspire, at the same time, reverence and fear. We serve a Benefactor, it is true, in whom we have reason to delight; whose purposes are gracious; whose law is the plan of our hap

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piness. But this Benefactor is the King eternal, immortal, and invisible ; at whose presence the mountains shake, and Nature trembles. Every good, and every perfect gift, come down from him. But the hand which confers them, we cannot see. Mysterious obscurity rests upon his essence. He dwelleth in the secret place of thunder; and clouds and darkness sur round him. He is the Hearer of prayer ; but we lift our voice to him from afar. Into his immediate presence no access is permitted. Our warmest devotion admits no familiarity with him. God is in Heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore, let thy words be few. If his omniscience administers comfort in our secret distress, it likewise fills with awe the heart that is conscious of guilt. For, if he knows our frame, and remembers we are dust : our iniquitirs, also, are ever before him; our secret sins in the light of his countenance.

Throughout all his dispensations, greatness, in conjunction with goodness, strikes our view; and wherever we behold the parent, we behold the legislator also. The death of Christ, in behalf of a guilty world, is the chief ground of religious hope and joy. But it is no less the ground of reverence; when, in this high transaction, we contemplate God, as at once strict in justice, and great in mercy. I the Lord keep mercy for

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thousands of them that fear me. I forgive their iniquity, transgression, and sin ; but I will by no means clear the guilty. When we open the book of the law, we find promises and threatenings mingled in the same page.

On the one side, we see Heaven displayed in all its glory: On the other, Hell opening its terrors. In short, in whatever light we view religion, it appears solemn and venerable. It is a temple full of majesty, to which the worshippers may approach with comfort, in the hope of obtaining grace, and finding mercy; but where they cannot enter without being impressed with awe. If we may be permitted to compare spiritual with natural things, religion resembles not those scenes of natural beauty, where every object smiles. It cannot be likened to the

gay landscape, or the flowery field.

field. It resembles more the august and sublime appearances of Nature; the lofty mountain, the expanded ocean, and the starry firmament; at the sight of which the mind is at once overawed and delighted; and, from the union of grandeur with beauty, derives a pleasing, but a serious emotion,

In the second place, As joy, tempered by fear, suits the nature of religion, so it is requisite for the proper regulation of the con

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duct of man. Let his joy flow from the best and purest source; yet, if it remain long unmixed, it is apt to become dangerous to virtue. As waters which are never stirred, nor troubled, gather a sediment, which putrifies them ; so the undisturbed continuance of placid sensations engenders disorders in the human soul. It is wisely ordered in our present state, that joy and fear, hope and grief, should act alternately as checks and balances upon each other, in order to prevent an excess in any

of them, which our nature could not bear. If we were subject to no alarms of danger, the wisest would soon become improvident ; and the most humble, presumptuous. Man is a pilgrim on earth. Were his path to be always smooth and flowery, he would be tempted to relinquish his guide, and to forget the

purpose of his journey

Caution and fear are the shields of happiness. Unguarded joy begets indolence; indolence produces security ; security leads to rashness; and rashness ends in ruin. In order to rejoice long, it is necessary that we rejoice with trembling. Had our first parents observed this rule, man might have been still in paradise. He who saith in his heart, My mountain stands strong ; I shall never be moved; may be assured, that his state already begins to totter. Religion, therefore,

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performs a kind office, in giving us the admonition of the text. It inspires cheerfulness in the service of God. It proposes joy as our chief spring of action. But it supports joy, by guarding it with fear; not suppressing, but regulating its indulgence; requiring us to rejoice, like persons who have obtained a treasure, which, through want of vigilance, they are exposed to lose. Dependent beings are formed for submission; and to submit, is to stand in awe. Because the Lord reigneth, let the earth be glad. We are the subjects of God; and therefore may justly rejoice. But still we are subjects; and, therefore, trembling must mis itself with our joy.

In the third place, The unstable condition of all human things naturally inspires fear in the midst of joy. The spirit to which religion forms us, must undoubtedly correspond to the state in which we are placed, and to the part which is assigned us to act. Now, the first view under which our present state appears, is that of fallen creatures, who are undergoing, in this world, probation and trial for their recovery; and are commanded to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. This view of our condition infers not habitual dejection of mind. It requires not melancholy abstrac

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