Conclusion

We have been considering in the preceding lectures, some of the particulars in which the world is under obligations to the Bible. I would cheerfully extend this discussion, did I not believe that a more protracted illustration would be an unseasonable demand upon the patience of my audience. It was my design to have detained you by the consideration of one other topic, and to have shown the obligations of men to the Bible for a religion that satisfies the conscience when it is roused to that great inquiry,” How shall man be just with God V But as this topic has more than once been incidentally alluded to, and to some extent illustrated, I pass this evening to the concluding lecture.

The design of this exercise is to request you, without any particular recapitulation on my part, to review the ground we have gone over, and in this review, to institute the following inquiries:

Is NOT THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE UNIVERSAL-LY ADAPTED TO THE CHARACTER AND CONDITION

OF OUR RACE? Whatever may be the varieties of his locahty and condition, every individual of the human family is, by nature, ignorant, depraved, subject to infirmities and sorrows, destined to the grave, and the heir of immortality. The religion which he needs, and which alone is adapted to all the varieties of his species, and all the pecuHarities of his condition, is one that meets the exigencies of his condition for both worlds. It is one which, while it appreciates the importance of the life which is to come, does not depreciate the true interests of the life that now is. It is one which, while it does not overlook his intellectual worth, and his social and public relations j his freedom, his dignity, his happiness, his usefulness, as a citizen of this world 5 provides mainly for his moral purity, and the glory and immortality that await him at the termination of his earthly career. It is one which consults the claims, not of one class of human society merely, but of all classes; not of one period of time merely, but of all periods 5 not of one clime -merely, but of all climes 5 not of one form of government merely, but of all forms of government 5 not of one locality, or a limited circle, but of all localities, and the most enlarged circle 5 not of one particular nation, or people, but of all nations, languages, and men, under the face of the whole heaven. We do not ask for a religion that is fitted for the arctic, and yet has no fitness for the antarctic circle 5 a religion that is adapted to the language and manners of the east, and yet has no adaptation to those of the west j but one that has in it nothing local, nothing restrictive, whose principles are applicable every where, and whose institutions may every where be practised. We are mainly thankful for a religion that consults our interests for eternity 5 while, at the same time we need one that consults our true and permanent interests for time. We need one, too, that consults all the peculiarities and variety of human condition 5 one that is fitted to satisfy all the faculties of the soul; one which, instead of retarding, advances the progress of the human mind, satisfies the conscience, encourages the imagination, and enobles all the natural and moral affections. Every faculty of the soul, as well as every individual of the race, is diseased and infirm, and needs some catholicon, some universal remedy, some specific that can operate on every malady, and that proves itself worthy of confidence by its actual and well attested results.

Have we not seen that such a religion is found in the Bible, and only there? Just in proportion to the degree of practical influence which the Bible has exerted on the more limited or more enlarged circles of human society, on the intellectual, political, and moral condition of men, on their inquiries and motives, on their principles and conduct, and on their enjoyments and expectations, may we discover its universal adaptation to the great family of man. No where are its effects confined to time, or place, or age, or sex, or condition. No climate, no degree of intellectual culture, no form of government, however despotic or however free, is above, beneath, or beyond its power. No physical or moral constitution has proved a barrier to its access. The civilized European, and the savage Hottentot, have alike found its “yoke easy and its burden light.” Every where and at all times, it has found minds to whom its regeneration was necessary and its Redeemer precious. Its followers are found in the camp and in the forum, among the rich and the poor, among the learned and ignorant. It has found its way to the shop of the artisan, the prison of criminals, the tribunals of justice, and the thrones of kings.* It is a religion that is never insipid and dull, never grows old, or vanishes away. It is a religion that is never behind the spirit of the age, but always in advance of it, leading it onward, and inscribing on all its improvements, “Holiness to the Lord.” Other things may change 5 but the religion of the Bible never changes. What it was in the day of Christ and his apostles, it is now, and always will be. It has nothing pliable and temporizing in its principles, and yet is it alike adapted to all. Every

* For the illustrations on this page, and for some of the phraseology, the author is indebted to a discourse of A. Vinet, Professor of Theology, in Lausanne. where its effects are the same. These things can be affirmed of no other reHgion, and of no system of philosophy. Other reUgions have been instituted, and flourished, and died, because they were adapted to the times and the spirit of the age. Neither paganism nor Mahomedanism can ever become the religion of the world. Nor can the religion of Zoroaster, destined as it is, to live only under its own native skies, and that, no longer than the gospel has an opportunity of superseding it. The Bible alone can ever become the religion of the world, because this alone corresponds to the universal exigencies of men, to the constantly recurring wants of humanity independent of accidental circumstances, and irrespective of place and time. Some of my most admiring views of the Bible arise from contemplating its wonderful adaptation to all times and places, and to every variety of character which this fallen world presents. The enlightened and the ignorant, the lofty as well as the abject, the meanest as well as the most splendid forms of human sin and misery, the living and the dying, ignorance, wickedness, sorrows and helplessness, which no other counsels of love and tenderness can reach, are all accessible to its transforming influence and precious consolations, and while convinced, rebuked and humbled by its censures, are comforted by its hopes.

But there is another inquiry: — is not the religion OF THE BIBLE A BENEVOLENT RELIGION? Is

not the world, in every view, the better and the happier for this wonderful book? Has it not exerted a favourable influence upon the learning, the laws, the liberties, the social institutions, the morality, the holiness, the happiness of mankind? Have any forms of government, any political systems, any theories of social order, any refinements of human philosophy accomplished for men what the Bible has accomplished? Wherever you trace its circulation, you see blessings every where accompanying its progress. Nothing has contributed so largely to the temporal comfort of mankind. It has scattered the darkness of intellect 5 it has given security to life, liberty and property; it has imparted mildness and efiicacy to law 5 it has elevated woman from the degradation of a slave •, it has set in motion a thousand systems of sacred charity to bless the poor, the diseased, the widow, thei orphan, the blind and the dumb. It has strengthened the weak and confirmed the strong 5 it has convinced the thoughtless, reclaimed the wandering, comforted the mourner, and directed the eye of untold millions to an “exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Wherever it has come, it has been a stream of health and salvation. It professes a benevolent design; it has openly pledged itself to become a blessing to the world 5 and it has been redeeming this pledge and accomplishing this design, ever since it was first published to men. Though the experiment has not been so full and thorough as it will have been hereafter, it has been

sufficiently full to evince its triumphs. Had it failed, how many myriads of tongues would have proclaimed its defeat! Every one who looks into the Bible can see that its great object is to make men good, useful and happy. Such is the obvious design and tendency of its precepts, its prohibitions, its doctrines and principles, its institutions and privileges, its punishments and rewards. Whatever is pure, honest, true, lovely, and of good report, it encourages and requires 5 while all that is impure, dishonest, false, unlovely and uncommendable, it discourages and forbids. All that can assimilate a creature of yesterday to his Maker, and prepare him for the family and fellowship of angels, it requires 5 while all that renders him deformed and odious, that severs the bonds of moral union and fits him to become the companion of foul and miserable spirits, and an eternal outcast, it forbids. It encourages no vice, no sinful passions and propensities 5 while it discountenances and condemns every corrupt principle and every lurking source of evil. Wherever it has exerted its appropriate influence, it has imparted new affections, new hopes, new motives of conduct, and a new and happy character. It imparts views and affections which resemble those of the redeemed in heaven, and differ from them only in degree. They are the opening blossoms, the unripe fruit which will hereafter hang in all its richness and maturity on the Tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. By gradually diffusing its own spirit of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, it has changed the face of the world, and uprooted those deep foundations of human society which were every where inlaid with injustice, oppression and misery. It has renovated the character of individuals, families and nations •, and in the same proportion in which its principles and spirit have prevailed, has banished sin and misery from the abodes of men. Its influence has not always been alike uniform, because it has sometimes had more difficulties and opposition to encounter than at others 5 nor has it always been alike visible, even where it has been real and felt, because its plans are comprehensive and it acts upon a large scale. But even where most obstructed, it has left sensible traces of its benevolent design; and where least observed, it has often been preparing the way for its most extended conquests.

May it not then be said, that the religion of the Bible is a benevolent religion? Who, that is a friend to man, is not the friend of the Bible? What part of the earth that now enjoys them, can aftbrd to dispense with the Scriptures? What greater calamity could befall our world than to lose the last copy of this sacred Book? What benevolent man would extinguish such a light as this? Whoever was induced, from a sincere regard to the best interests of his fellow men, to subvert the foundation of so much pubHc tranquillity, and so many private virtues and hopes? Who would bring back upon the world the ignorance and servitude, the horror and crime of the dark ages?

Who would be the agent in inducing it to retrace its steps to the ignorance and superstitions of paganism 5 to the impure and sanguinary altars of Baal-Peor, Moloch, and Ashtaroth 5 to the obscene groves of oriental idolatry; to the hero-gods of Egypt and Greece, and to all that shall foster the basest and most malignant passions of men? Who would throw back the human intellect upon a state of scepticism and uncertainty as to the reality of a future and immortal existence, and the way of securing its blessedness by faith in the only Redeemer? Who would impart anew all their power to those exciting causes of human depravity which the Bible has subdued, or restrained? Who would dry up those living fountains of joy which it has opened? Who would destroy or diminish its motives to well-doing, and wither its fruits of righteousness? Who would refuse its consolations to the heart of the bereaved, and provoke afresh those tears of the mourner which it has wiped away? Who would tell the widow and the orphan to go and visit the tombs of those they loved, and come trembling away, trembling on through life, trembling and uncertain to the grave, to learn all there, but not to bring back the secret? O, where is the man that would thus consent to restore to death the sting, and to the grave the victory, which the Bible has taken away? No calculations could measure, no numbers estimate the loss, were this Book to be blotted out of existence 5 nor were it possible to appreciate it, except from the extended cry of misery and despair that would be consequent on excluding it from the world. Fiends, alone, and men like fiends, would toll its funeral knell, and crowd in joyful procession to its tomb; while virtuous and holy minds, veiled in mourning, and bathed in tears, would turn away disconsolate, and bury their hopes in the same grave with the Bible.

May we not also say, in view of the preceding lectures, that the Bible is a book pre-eminently DISTINGUISHED FOR ITS INTELLECTUAL

SUPERIORITY? With very few exceptions, I have carefully read this book every day for more than forty years, and I have never discovered in it a single mark of intellectual imbecility. Though portions of it were written during the periods of this world’s infancy and darkness, and when contemporaneous authors evinced nothing more than their ignorance and weakness 5 though it treats of a vast variety of themes, difficult, complicated, and some of them mysterious *, yet does it every where evince a powerful and well-disciplined intelligence. In mere intellectual excellence, it has claims to superiority over every other and all other books.

It is in every view an original work. It is impossible for language to speak of it in this respect in the terms of commendation which it deserves. Its amazing thoughts and combinations of thought, discover wonderful originality of mind. Read, for example, the Ten Commandments given from Mount Sinai by Moses 5 a code of laws so wonderfully comprehensive and perfect, that it cannot be improved upon by all the legislative wisdom of the world, either as it regards its influence upon human opinions, affections, and conduct. And the entire book exhibits throughout, the same originality and simplicity of thought. While it aims not at originality for its own sake, yet “it makes disclosures which have eclipsed and consigned to oblivion all prior discoveries.” It does not disdain to dwell upon important truths that are old, and give them to the world again with “all that original freshness and force which is the peculiar prerogative of genius,” nor does it withhold disclosures that are peculiarly its own. Many of its instructions are common-place to us, while to the most learned minds of Greece and Rome, they were “new and strange things,” and have added almost every thing that is original and valuable to our intellectual resources. Its sublimest truths and great peculiarities it places in a clear and strong light 5 and what is always the work of an original and powerful mind, makes them as level to the capacities of the meanest, as of the highest intellect. To cursory readers, whose object is amusement, they afford comparatively little interest; but to those who will consent to digest what they read, they will prove a perfectly original source of mental improvement.

The Bible is also an inexhaustible book. The extent, number, variety and importance of the subjects of which it treats, the weight and pertinence of its instructions, as well as the illimitable extent of views it opens to the mind, give it a pre-eminence above all other books that ever were written. The more you gaze at its splendours, the more is your vision dazzled and overpowered; and the more you investigate its truths, the more do its resources appear unwasted and unwasting. It has exhausted many a life, and many a capacious and vigorous mind, while itself remains unexhausted. There are men who have studied this volume most thoroughly and intensely, and who, the more they have studied, have been the more charmed with its clearness and simplicity; and who, at the same time, have been at every step of their progress, more and more deeply convinced that it is a fathomless profound of light and knowledge. There are those who have made it the chief object of their investigation for half a century; who have studiously examined every paragraph it contains, some fifty or an hundred times; and who, at every fresh perusal, have discovered new thoughts and new sources for admiration and joy. It has been read and studied a thousand fold more than any other book; libraries have been written upon it, and while, by every unwearied research, you see that new truths are elicited, you at the same time hear the most patient students of its pages confess, that the more deeply they have been absorbed in their contemplations of it, the deeper has been their conviction of its illimitable resources.

Mark also the intellect discoverable in the perfect harmony and unity of its object. It was not composed in a single age, but in the progress of sixteen hundred years, and during a period in which the views and opinions of men were in a state of great fluctuation. It was not written by one man, but a great variety of men — men in different classes of human society — men imbued with different prejudices — unlettered men, and men of science. They wrote, too, upon subjects on which men are specially prone to differ. Most of the writers also were entirely unknown to one another. And yet there is the same great outline — there are the same principles, and the same great object and end. Every thing is so harmonious throughout the whole book, that, did you not know otherwise, but for the variation in style and circumstance, you might naturally suppose it came from the same pen. The instances of apparent disagreement among the different writers of the sacred volume, and of apparent contradiction in the same writers, are found on inquiry, to be no disagreement in reality, but rather a confirmation of their substantial harmony. There has been some governing and strong intelligence presiding over these successive narratives and instructions. One grand design, one undivided system of truth and duty, redemption and retribution, runs through the whole.

But more than all, does the intellectual superiority of the Scriptures appear in the elevation and grandeur of the design itself. Let a man set down to the perusal of this book, from beginning to end, as he would study a tragedy, or epic poem, and he will discover traces of a plan which, in its commencement, progress, filling up, close and catastrophe, exhibits powers of a most original and inventive genius. It carries you back into the ages of eternity, and developes its original purpose at a time when “there were no depths, and no fountains of water, and before ever the earth was.” The theatre of this wonderful drama is this extended and beautiful earth; the great actors in it, the three glorious Persons in the ever-blessed Godhead, angels and men 5 the spectators, all intelligent existencies 5 the time, from the primeval creation down to the period when time shall be lost in eternity; the interests at stake, the well-being of every son and daughter of Adam; the events disclosed, the apostacy of angels and men — the predicted Seed of the woman waging war upon the kingdom of darkness — the special vocation of a people from whom the Messiah was to be descended — the fearful revolution of empires, and the rapid changes in human affairs with a view to his advent — his wonderful incarnation, and more wonderful character, God and man mysteriously united — his death and sacrifice on the cross as a satisfaction to divine justice for the sins of men — the descent of the Holy Spirit — the progressive conflict between light and darkness, holiness and sin — the apparently doubtful issue — the ultimate triumph of the Mighty Redeemer — the resurrection from the dead on the last day — the final judgment — the sentence pronounced, and executed — the heavens passing away — the elements melting — the earth burnt up — the perfections of the Deity gradually and progressively unfolded, and the everlasting song, “Salvation to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” Such is the Bible as an index of thought and intelligence. Has it not in this respect a legitimate claim to superiority?

Permit me also to enquire, Is there not evidence THAT THE BIBLE IS NOT THE WORK OF MAN?

Whence is this intellectual superiority? Whence is it that the herdsmen, and fishermen, and tent-makers of Judea have given a book to the world which is so superior to all the productions of human genius and learning, so undivided and unique in its object, and in its design so unutterably grand and elevated? What presiding genius, what master-mind was it, that controlled and propelled them at every step? If the greatness of the cause may be ascertained from the greatness of the effect, is not this book, as a mere intellectual effort, inexplicable upon any other supposition, than that it is of divine original? Does not the light that emanates from these pages proceed from the great Fountain and eternal source of knowledge? Is it not the production of the Infinite Mind? Is it not impossible that it should have been the result of human invention? Is it not utterly beyond the grasp of man? Has it not an elevation of thought, a vigour, an extent, a greatness of conception which make the proudest efforts of human genius melt away like an untimely birth, and which bears on the face of it the intelligence and signature of heaven?

Who is the author of a book all whose aims and tendencies are so full of kindness? Does the benevolence of the Bible look like the work of man? It was the remark of the celebrated Madam De Stael, that she desired no other evidence of the truth of Christianity, than the Lord’s Prayer. It is indeed the archetype of all appropriate supplication. And this prayer is but an epitome of the benevolent spirit that breathes throughout the New Testament. In no instance does the Bible exert an influence which a benevolent spirit would desire to repress. And does not this form a strong presumption in favour of its divine original? Can a work which bears so prominently the marks of kindness and mercy, be rationally attributed to human artifice and pious fraud? When the captious and fooHsh Pharisees saw the Saviour heal the demoniac, they preposterously said, “This fellow doth cast out devils by Beelzebub, the Prince of devils. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to destruction 5 and every city, or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself.” To suppose that such a book were a fabrication, were to suppose that falsehood is the fruit of goodness, and that the kingdom of darkness is divided against itself. The design to impose such a volume upon the world could originate from no other than the worst forms of human wickedness. And who can believe that a book of such a benevolent character had such an origin? The Bible professes to be a teacher sent from God. As God is benevolent and holy in his nature, every thing that proceeds from him must be benevolent and holy in its tendency, and produce holiness and happiness as its fruits. And does not the benevolent tendency of this book sustain its claims to this divine origin? Can its benevolent character be accounted for, without allowing its claims to divine inspiration? It is true that “we allow great excellence to what is contained in many books which no one supposes to be inspired 5” but is not the excellence of their precepts and doctrines derived from the Bible 5 and where is there a book of unalloyed unmingled excellence except this, and such as owe their excellencies to this origin? Does not the Bible do honour to a divine Author? Is it not destined to accomplish all the purposes which an infinitely benevolent mind desires to accomplish?

And whence is its universal adaptation to the character and condition of our race, except from Him who knew how to reveal a system of truth and grace fitted to universal humanity? There have been here and there men who were so much in advance of the age in which they lived, that they have impressed their own individual character upon large portions of human society around them, and upon their own nation, and perhaps, to some extent, upon the existing generation; though this last hypothesis may be seriously called in question. But where is the man whose mighty mind has diffused its vivifying rays, not over one country and nation, and generation of men, but whose thoughts and principles, whose strong and ardent affections and moral impulses have the same adaptation to man in whatever quarter of the world and in whatever age of time he is found? The work of man is a partial, relative, and limited work. But it is God alone that can perform a work, and reveal a religion that is equally adapted to every age, and place, and creature of this vast creation. If there is a religion revealed from heaven, it must possess the characteristics of universality and perpetuity. God alone can speak to the race. His love alone, overlooking all the peculiarities of time, circumstance, condition, and character, embraces the race, and makes its appeals to the heart of man wherever he is found. This is done by the religion of the Bible 5 and wherever such a religion is found, it comes from God. The religion of nature, so far as it goes, is for this reason from him *, and the religion of the Bible, extending so far beyond the religion of nature, is, for the same reason, from the same divine source. Is there not a peculiarity in the Bible, in all these respects, which distinguishes it as the work of God?

Man can perform only the work of man. Whatever God does “exhibits such clear traces of the divine workmanship, as will distinguish it, at once, from the works of man. No one, when he surveys a ship, or a steam engine, or a watch — the fairest specimens perhaps of human ingenuity, is in any danger of attributing either of them to the handy-work of his Maker. But if we look at the works of creation; we cannot find a star in the firmament, nor a cloud in the sky, nor an animal, or vegetable, or mineral on the earth, nor atom in the sunbeams which has not written on it in letters of light. The hand that made me is divine. The same is true of the works of Providence. No man can trace the path of a planet, or the progress of an empire, or the life of man, or the fall of a sparrow, or the drop of a leaf, without discovering that all-wise hand which regulates their motions. Surely then, when God undertakes to reveal his thoughts to men, he can stamp on the revelation similar evidence that it is the work of the Divine mind.”* Does not the Bible carry with it a sort o intuitive evidence that it is the work of God? It has not been the object of these lectures to discuss the question of the divine origin of the Scriptures;

S. E. Dwight’s sermon at the installation of Rev. E. Jenkins. and yet, may I not be allowed to ask, whether they do not furnish evidence of their divine origin which may not be hastily set aside? Honest inquirers after the truth we respect; but we care little for the cavils of men who “contend against their Maker.” We may say to them all, ‘^ Who art thou that repliest against God?” It is no matter of surprise that so much patient and critical investigation has been bestowed on this great subject. No question in the whole circle of the sciences has received half the attention that has been devoted to this. Every inch of ground has been by turns defended and disputed j and had there been a weak spot in the defence, it had long since been discovered and assailed. This sacred Book has passed the ordeal of the severest examination ) and it is no assumption to say, that its claims have been established. Had it been possible, wicked and corrupt men had long ago swept it from the earth. Men have been forbidden to read it *, more than once has it been publicly burnt by the common hangman 5 emperors and councils have been leagued against it j popes and priests have conspired to corrupt and destroy it 5 but the more it has been opposed, the better has it been known and loved. Other things grow old, and time detracts from their vigor, but the Bible is always new and always young. A tithe of the evidence, in relation to any other matter, which has been adduced in favour of the divine origin of the Scriptures, would have silenced and satisfied the world. If there are those who are sceptical and incredulous, and will not be convinced by the evidence which has so often been adduced in its favour, we doubt much whether evidence ever convinces them. The strong hold of infidelity is more often found in the heart than in the intellect. It has its throne in the corrupted affections. It finds its aliment in the love of sin. Men are not willing to believe the Bible is true because it requires with such infinite authority, and on such fearful penalties, a holy life. Pride, luxury, ambition, voluptuousness, and secret sin are the enemies of the Bible. There is no opinion more erroneous than that infidelity is founded on an apprehended deficiency of the evidence which supports a divine revelation. “If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.” Scepticism has other sources than want of light. “Light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.” Those who most resemble God are most likely to believe him. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.” I will conclude by adding —

Is NOT THE Bible worthy your serious and SOLEMN ATTENTION.? The real merit of objects is not always discerned on our first acquaintance with them. The great design throughout these lectures has been to honour the word of God. Most sincerely do I wish they were a tribute more worthy of the great Book I have desired to exalt To me it has seemed that the Bible is not appreciated. How can it be when it is so little known? A familiar acquaintance with the sacred vohime is the only way of ascertaining its true excellence. The Abbe Winkleman, perhaps the most classical writer upon the Fine Arts, after descanting with great zeal upon the perfection of sculpture as exhibited in the Apollo Belvidere says to young artists, “Go and study it 5 and if you see no great beauty in it to captivate you, go again. And if you still discover none, go again and again. Go until you feel it 5 for be assured it is there.” So say we of the Bible. You may not, — nay, you cannot discover its worth at a single reading. Though its great truths are perfectly plain and easy to be understood, it is not to be supposed that it requires no diligent mental exertion to comprehend so vast a book. It is, as we have already seen, one of its great excellencies, that it is essential to the clear discovery and highest enjoyment of its varied instructions that it puts in requisition the highest intellectual and moral powers of the human mind. It has excellencies, which, the more they are discovered, will the more lead you to say with one who was no indolent, or passive reader of its pages, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of thy law!” All the treasures of this inexhaustible mine are not found upon its surface. After all that critics and theologians have explored, rich jewels will yet be found far below the ground. “Search the Scriptures.”

Search them daily. Search them not from curiosity merely, though curiosity and learning are amply remunerated by the search; but from a deep and personal interest in their instructions. Endeavour to extract from them the sense they were intended to convey. And that you may do this, go to them with a heart and mind deeply imbued with their spirit. It is true they require thought and intellect j but it is not always when mere intellect is most exercised and acute, that divine truth discloses itself to the mind most clearly, or in its most lovely forms. I have known men who were profound critics and acute controversialists 5 whose inquiries indicated an enlarged and comprehensive acquaintance with the sacred volume, who employed all their energy and resources in becoming masters of that varied learning which might shed light upon this ancient book j but who were never “mighty in the Scriptures,” because they had not drank into its spirit, and who instead of unlocking this rich treasury, took away the key of knowledge. The Bible is not more a revelation of the mind, than of the heart of the Deity. It has a soul 5 and it is the soul only that can catch its heavenly teachings. When you go to this book of God, let it be not so much to gratify a restive intellect, as to find spiritual aliment 5 not so much to decipher the Urim and Thummim, as to find the heavenly manna. There are difficulties, nay, there are mysteries in the Bible j and so there are mysteries in every star and every grain of sand. But if it makes you holy and fits you for heaven, you may leave it to its enemies to reproach it on account of its mysteries.

Nor is it enough to understand the Scriptures. They must be loved and obeyed. Search them, sincerely desirous not only to know, but to do the will of their Author. Though they may be wounding to your pride, receive them with all readiness of mind. Though there may be a sensible collision, a severe conflict, between the truth of God and the unhumbled heart 5 yet must the truth of God be believed and loved. It is no impossible thing for your convictions to correspond with the truths of the Bible, while your affections and dispositions have no such correspondence. The word of God has comprehensive claims. Its great Author requires every man to receive it on his own divine testimony. True Christianity is heartfelt obedience to the truth of God. “He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record which God hath given concerning his Son.” O, it were a grief of heart, ray young friends, to live and die the enemy of this Bible and this Saviour. “Hold fast that thou hast, let no man take thy crown!”

I have now concluded this series of lectures. In bringing them to a close, I cannot but express my devout gratitude to Almighty God for the favour with which his providence has attended them. Most unfeignedly also do I express my acknowledgements to this audience for the attentive ear with which they have listened to these exercises. My humble prayer is, that in that Great Day which shall disclose the results of our privileges and obligations, both the hearers and the speaker may see that they have had some influence in securing a welcome entrance of the word of life into your hearts and his own.” Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, amen!

7lllMliniaiSfL^^’”’’’arp Libran