creatures, you must, according to the established laws of his empire, remain in that same restless and dissatisfied condition till you know by experience that the heavens do rule—­till you bow to the sublime requirements of his word. That dissatisfaction varied according to the condition of moral character is the punishment God sends upon us for our indifference.  From this indifference we may rise to that unquenchable thirst for riches, already noticed, and our sufferings will receive new accessions according to our moral light.  And from this we may rise to a desire for honour and power, till we are hurried on by ambition to conquest and slaughter where we are doomed to suffer all the miseries a Buonaparte endured.  From this we may rise to dishonour, fraud and theft; and as we rise in crime, our miseries increase in degree, till we imbrue our hands in innocent blood, and thus render our bosoms a hell and our very existence a burthen.

Every man is in a condition of uneasiness, suffering, guilt, hardness of heart and blindness of mind exactly in proportion to his moral conduct.  Let us then be wise;—­and if we desire happiness, let us seek it in that course where the unerring word of God assures us it can alone be found.  Let us acknowledge “that the heavens do rule,” and rest assured that He, who notices the fall of a sparrow, will not wink at our evil doings.

SERMON V

“For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?  God forbid; yea let God be true, but every man a liar.”  Romans iii:3, 4.

The doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ, is worthy the solemn consideration of all men.  It is this, that rendered a revelation necessary.  It is this that kindled the flame of transport in celestial bosoms, and raised that triumphant song, “glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men.”  Salvation is the doctrine of the Bible, and ought ever to be the theme of the pulpit.  Salvation is the oracle of heaven around which all denominations assemble, receive their instructions, and believe according to the force of evidence.

Prefaced with these remarks, we will now proceed to state what we conceive to be the law and gospel—­point out the distinction between them, and defend the gospel doctrine of salvation of faith.

The law was a conditional covenant between God and man.  It was predicated on works.  Under this covenant, if a man were strictly moral in his external deportment—­if he lived up to its letter, he was considered righteous.  This covenant was imperfect, because it could be kept externally without reaching the heart.  They could exclaim like the young man, who came to Jesus—­“all these things have I kept from my youth up,” and still lack the one great point, charity.  Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified in the sight of God.  The law, being temporary in its nature, had nothing to do with eternal things.