SERMON XXVI. PREACHED BEFORE VOLUNTEERS. LUKE ii. 14. On earth peace-good-will towards men. HOUGH we may not, thoroughly, comprehend THOL why the Almighty, after He had spoken the moral creation into being, so long delayed the promulgation of a system by which His creatures were to be directed in the knowlege of truth, and incited to the practice of virtue; why He suffered them to wander so long in the ways of error-some living in total darkness a few only conducted by a glimmering light-it is very obvious that we, on whom "the "sun of righteousness hath arisen to guide our feet "into the way of peace;" we who are baptized into the profession, and educated in the belief, of Christianity, are required to profit by believing its doctrines, and imbibing its precepts. It was not revealed to obtain a confined influence, or answer a partial design; it was to be universal in its reception, and transcendent • Preached at Knaresbrough, October 12th, 1794. Never be fore printed in a volume. in its effects; it was to pervade all orders, and degrees of men; it was to be the principle of our conduct, and the spring of our actions. In contemplating the benevolent design of Christianity, we perceive every relation of life described with precision, and where its influence is admitted, diffusing personal happiness. Are you the father of a family? Look into the Gospel, and see what it requires of you; that you cultivate and improve the minds of your childrenthat you bring them up as citizens of a community-that, above all things, you implant the moral sensethat you teach them to be kind, compassionate, tender-hearted, and forgiving-to do wrong to no man, but to live as accountable creatures, who are, one day,' to be rewarded according to their sum of merit; or punished according to their degree of guilt. The dictates of nature are refined by the genius of Christianity. The comfort and happiness of families, the satisfaction of individuals, and the welfare of the whole, are designed by its superintending care, and promoted by its awful injunctions. Is your temper fretful?-your spirit ungovernable ?—your passion outrageous?-The Gospel requires that you conform to its amiable suggestions; that you sacrifice those perverse inclinations, and froward humors, which, in anywise, interrupt the peace, and destroy the happiness, of those with whom you live. Christianity is to descend into every department, and actuate every sphere, of life. Whether you are rich or poor, a master or servant, you are to confine your wishes to its precepts, and submit your conduct to its direction. If Providence has blessed you with wealth, and placed you in affluence-what does the Gospel, O man, require of thee? It suppresses the flattering thought which riches too often inspire; it restrains the haughty mind, when in the fulness of its sufficiency, it is tempted to cry out, " my hand and my might "have gotten me this wealth." It whispers to the heart, when in danger of being intoxicated with the gratification of pre-eminence, the splendor of distinction, the pride of independence, that the enviable lot of influence, of grandeur, and of wealth, is not, unconditionally, bestowed. It forbids injustice under the consciousness of impunity, oppression under the weight of authority, and insolence under the refuge of power. But Christianity not only prohibits what is odious, it enjoins what is amiable; and as the rich are possessed of the means of assuaging sorrow, and diffusing comfort, the Gospel imposes upon you the indispensable necessity of applying some portion of your substance to the poor and needy, with the gracious intention that you may not only be "rich in this "world," where you are "no more than strangers "and pilgrims," but " rich in good works," in order that you may be entitled to an everlasting inherit ance. That divine Religion, which was ushered into the world with acclamations of "peace on earth, and "good-will towards men," descends, with consummate wisdom and equity, not to be found in human institutions, to the lowest stations, adapting itself, equally, to all conditions; requiring of "masters to "give unto their servants that which is just and "equal," enforced by a consideration worthy the sug gestion of an all-wise Lawgiver, that "they themselves "have a Master in heaven." Has Providence placed you in a lower sphere? Have you, in order to procure your daily bread, to go to your work and to your labor until the even"ing?" Are you, in order to provide yourselves with the necessaries of life, obliged to "eat the bread of "carefulness?" You have duties to fulfil as well as the Rich and the Great:-the poverty which you endure, the hardships which you encounter, the wants which you feel, if they are submitted to with resignation, as the appointment of Him "who bringeth low, " and lifteth up, will work out for you a far more "exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Christianity considers you as its own children; to you in particular its peace is offered. But remember, that it demands of you a sacrifice of your violent, and unrestrained, passions-a disposition to "work with your own hands, and to eat with quietness your own "bread" to submit with patience to the condition in which Providence has placed you, and not to attempt to remedy the inconveniences of it by private wrong, or public tumult. No! "Tarry thou the Lord's. "leisure; be patient, and He shall comfort thine. "heart;" be doing good, fulfilling the duties of thy station; and as Lazarus was conveyed by Angels into Abraham's bosom; so shalt thou-whilst the unjust and the abandoned shall be excluded--dwell for evermore with thy Saviour, and with thy God. 66 Could men be persuaded to submit to the directions. of the Gospel in every relation which they bear in this life; instead of looking with envy on the goods of another, "would diligently learn and labor to get their σε own living, and do their duty in that state of life unto which it has pleased God to call them,"-instead of, idly, intermedling with the business of other men; or with the government of the country, the favorite amusement, and the popular topic of the indolent, and the clamorous, would render" honor to "whom honor is due," and double honor to those whom the king himself delighteth to honor, the Gospel would then, indeed, incorporate itself in our hearts and lives-it would, indeed, " bring forth the fruits of "good-living"-it would make the rich man considerate, and kind, and charitable; it would make the poor man content, resigned, and happy. Though Christianity has been interrupted in its progress, and impeded in its operations, by the turbulent passions of men; yet such, notwithstanding, is its influence, that it has diffused among civil societies, as well as private persons, an exalted spirit of philanthropy to provide instruction for ignorance-to afford relief to poverty-to administer comfort to affliction -to supply sickness with health. Would yo substitute the deductions of reason, and the improvements of philosophy? How it is then, that you have not discovered the stupendous fabric of perfection in the civil jurisprudence, and social happiness, at Athens or at Rome? where the science of philosophy and civil government, like a plant, the natural produce of the soil, which is, seldom, seen in less happy climes, was displayed to surrounding nations, as the boast, and glory, of the world; but where a something was wanting; insomuch that it may be said of them, as in their religious, so in their civil, capacity-" they looked "for |