Some little acquaintance with the religious world, added, I hope, to some little knowledge of religion itself, has helped to furnish these remarks. Subjects are seen to most advantage, when placed in a contrasted point of view. And as there cannot exist a greater contrast than the essence of religion, when opposed to the spurious profession of it, or the loveliness of its character to the deformity in which it is sometimes exhibited; a regard to truth, and a sincere desire to recommend it in its native beauty to those who may have mistaken its nature, or to such as may have been prejudiced through the unlovely behaviour of its injudicious patrons, have extorted from me a discrimination of characters, which, if more amply discussed, would be proportionably useful. Let none then impute to religion, what is only imputable to fallen man, who abuses it; nor any form his ideas of it from the unsightly attire in which enthusiasm or false zeal chooses to array it. To view its genuine excellence, search the scriptures. To form a collective idea of its principal features, take into your account the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, with the deep repentance and sacred zeal of his father; that most noble act of forgiveness shewn by Joseph to his brethren, and by Stephen to his murderers, with the triumph of this lovely temper in the conduct of Jacob towards the enraged Esau; the holy intrepidity of prophets, the persevering boldness of apostles, together with the noble sacrifices which they made, who “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and who loved not their lives even unto death,” for the sake of the gospel; the invincible zeal of St. Paul, the boldness of Peter, the affectionate and amiable temper of “the beloved disciple.” But, as some infirmity was blended with the virtues of the most illustrious of these characters, behold all their respective and detached excellencies, concentring in their most bright assemblage, without frailty or sin, in the sacred person and spotless life of the blessed Jesus. In him, the scattered rays of human and angelic excellence all meet, and from him they derive their irradiation. And it is in Jesus alone that you see all the essence, and all the loveliness of religion exemplified; because of him alone it is true “that he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” Form your ideas, in both respects, from him; and from that excellence in every character, that most resembles him. “Let that mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. ii. “Be ye followers of me, says Paul, even as I also am of Christ.” And then say, whether religion does not surpass in beauty and excellence, every thing below; that assumes the name of the one or the other. What is it that guides reason, sanctifies philosophy, adorns literature? What, but religion? Without which, the sublimest style of mental exertion may be not only useless in the end, but even pernicious. What is the loveliest form, or the lustre of the fairest countenance, unaccompanied with those tempers and that demeanor, which religion teaches? What is the crowning accomplishment in all those graces, that charm the beholder, and make the possessor of them happy? Religion. Of how much greater worth is the aspect of benevolence, the look of modesty, the calm reply, the gentle and unassuming carriage, than all the blooming tincture of a skin! In vain do the rose and lily diversify their lovely tints to beautify that countenance, which covers a heart full of pride and vanity. Even when disease or age makes ravages on external charms, religion possesses the exclusive power of rendering itself amiable under all these disadvantages, and of communicating loveliness amidst all the ruins of declining nature. But, without religion, how awful the idea of a form, once the object of adoration, consumed by disease and turned into putrefaction by death! once the fair enclosure of a mind, the seat of sin, and now separated, for a season, from those tempers, which being let loose upon the soul, fill it, in its disembodied state, with misery and terror; and, when returning, as they will do in the morning of the resurrection, will complete the unhappiness and disgrace of soul and body for ever! Solemn reflection! Sufficient, one would think, to inspire parents with the ambition of instilling religion, as the grand endowment, into the minds of their children; and to make their offspring anxious to seek the one thing needful. In short, the most elaborate mode of education, in which this is omitted, is but a refined mode of training up the rising generation to the most certain destruction. It is religion that gives the loveliest charms to youth, and makes the hoary head a crown of glory. Even the monarch upon his throne is not half so august by the crown that adorns his brow, as he is, by the religion which makes him the father of his people, and the obedient subject of the King of kings.
The prospects of religion. Were the religion of Jesus Christ to be limited in the duration of its influence to this life alone, it would well demand the care and anxiety of mankind to understand its nature. But “godliness hath not only the promise of this life,” of a secure passage through all its snares, and of a proportion of grace to surmount every difficulty, and come off victorious, but it hath also a promise of that life “which is to come.” The title to it is secured by the everlasting righteousness of Christ, the gift of the Father, the covenant faithfulness of the three persons in the Godhead, and the representation of all God’s elect in the highest heavens, in the person of their illustrious Head. “I will,” says he in John, xvii. “that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.” “Whom he justified, them he also GLORIFIED.” Rom. viii. “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He that believeth hath eternal life,” in the earnest and commencement of it, and shall infallibly have it in its consummation. “He will give grace and he will give glory.” Psal. lxxxiv. The first-fruits here ensure the inheritance hereafter. What Jehovah hath transferred in the bond of the covenant, he will never annul or revoke; because “two immutable things,” the promise and oath, “in which it was impossible for God to lie,” shew to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, and make their admission to glory a certainty in prospect, and, at last, in possession. Thus speaks in the language of sovereign authority the divine person who undertook to purchase, and claims the honour of conferring, eternal life upon his people, “I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH.”
Such is the glorious prospect, which religion, as a system of infallible truth and divine certainty, sets before the believer in Christ. Several considerations unite their force to prove this prospect of future blessedness, to be in every respect worthy of Him, who gives it, and fully calculated to ascertain the hopes of those who entertain it. The basis of the expectation is the well ordered covenant, or that irreversible stipulation in the contracting parties, by which the Father hath agreed “to give eternal life to as many as he hath given” to the Son. John, xvii. This title-deed is sealed with the blood of the Surety of the New Testament, who became responsible for fulfilling all its conditions. The testament supposes the death of the testator; without which, it has no force. And the testament, solemnly executed by that event, implies a bequest of blessings, the transfer of which must take place in perfect conformity to the will of the testator; which will is a perfect transcript of the covenant of redemption agreed upon “in the counsel of peace which was between both” the Father and the Son before all worlds. The work finished upon the cross by the Mediator, was the accomplishment of that “obedience unto death,” which he had stipulated to render to law and justice, in doing and suffering the will of the Father. Psal. xl. Heb. x. The believer, who receives God’s testimony respecting this transaction, “lays hold of the covenant” to save him from death; apprehends the Mediator’s righteousness as his title to glory, and sees the inheritance now secure by a reversion of the forfeiture incurred through the disobedience of Adam. Here is firm footing. On this rock the believer founds his salvation and builds his prospects, which ought never to be obscured by doubts and uncertainty, since the expectations, which the gospel teaches him to entertain, spring from a hope that is “sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the vail.” Heb. vi. 19.
How different is the prospect, afforded through the medium of promises, from that vouchsafed to Moses of the land of Canaan! He was commanded to ascend the top of mount Pisgah, was from thence shewn the goodly inheritance, but, to call to his remembrance and to punish his sin, at the waters of Meribah, was told he must die on that mount, and never personally enter that land which his eye then so wishfully surveyed. Faith gives the prospective view of the celestial Canaan; hope anticipates an admission into it; and nothing can possibly occur to darken the animating prospect, to frustrate the joyful anticipation, or to hinder actual possession. Sin, that would bar the entry, is taken away by the sacrifice of the Son of God. The great “forerunner is for us entered,” and hath taken possession of the glorious inheritance in behalf of his people. Not one angry cloud can intercept the prospect, since the Sun of Righteousness hath arisen with healing in his wings, to dissipate those noxious mists of darkness, which would otherwise have enveloped in impenetrable gloom our views of future happiness. “He hath blotted out as a thick cloud our transgressions, and as a cloud our sins.” The purchase is made in full proportion to the extent and glory of the inheritance, though in both respects infinite. The promise of admission is given by Him, whose veracity is pledged, and whose omnipotence is exerted, to accomplish what he hath spoken. The believer has, therefore, nothing to do but die, and take possession of a portion, of which earth and hell, sin and Satan, law and justice, life and death, cannot deprive him.
Delightful prospect! glorious inheritance! What are the dim uncertain prospects which this world affords, when compared with the luminous and well grounded prospect of future glory! Or what is the duration of them, even if they were realized to the full extent of human wishes, compared with that glorious eternity, which is to stamp perpetuity and purity on the Christian’s bliss through everlasting ages! Here some earthly hope seizes the imagination, and paints there in captivating colours some fair future prospect, that looks bright, and promises bliss. A slight contingence, such as this world abounds with, soon occurs, makes the imaginary Eden vanish, and leaves the soul smarting under the anguish of delusive and disappointed expectation. Happy if those, who have existed in this ideal earthly heaven, see their error, and lay hold on a hope, the powers of which, in their greatest expansion, can never form the idea of that immortality with which it blooms! How often does vain man rest his hope on an arm of flesh, and erect his prospects on human promises, uncertain as the wind, and unsolid as the floating bubble! Religion teaches us to desert these weak resources, and to rely on the promises of the gospel, which, he who revealed them, wants neither sincerity nor ability to fulfil. While multitudes circumscribe their views, and contract their happiness within the narrow limits of a miserable and short-lived existence, imbittered by cares and bounded by time; the believer passes these boundaries, with a noble ambition, enlivens his prospects, and expands his views with the anticipation of future glory. Thus, “mounting on wings as eagles,” he ascends the sacred hill of contemplation; from thence views by the eye of faith the fair inheritance, which is prepared for him; and often breaks out into effusions of joy and gratitude, under the impressions of such a ravishing prospect. “What a rich inheritance does my wondering eye survey! How extensive! how glorious! What is a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of Israel’s portion, compared with a country, where there are rivers of pleasures, and joys for evermore! Here no sorrow can imbitter, no sin diminish, no enemies interrupt, no lapse of time exhaust, the joys of its blest inhabitants. Here is an eternal sabbath, an uninterrupted state of repose. No fruits of the curse, no assaults of Satan, can endanger the bliss of this Eden, through which flows the river of life, clear as crystal, from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in which grows the tree of life, whose fruit is the repast of heaven, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Here is that society, which the most perfect harmony unites, which the blood of Christ redeemed, and which his grace shall animate with songs of never-ending praise. Here is the mansion of rest and glory, which the Redeemer went before to prepare for his once disconsolate disciples. But is this mansion mine? Yes. He who purchased it is mine, and I am his; and the mansion where he dwells is mine, by covenant right, by gratuitous donation, by unalterable promise, by rich redemption. Unworthy of admission, his righteousness alone is my title and recommendation. Ah! what are now the little busy scenes of earth, that perplex the mind and engross so much time and thought? or what the gilded trifles of the world, riches, honors, and pleasures? They all die away and disappear, absorbed in this delightful prospect, as stars that vanish before the mid-day sun. The world recedes, heaven opens to my view, death is advancing to fix the period, where my happiness begins, that shall never conclude. Soon shall I see Him, in whom all my hopes and happiness are wrapt up, and cast my crown in deep humility before his throne. Let the world change, time flow with its wonted velocity, the outward man decay, and death put on his most terrific form: still this can make no alteration in my state, or impede my prospects into glory. I rejoice in hope of it, and shall one day enter upon the possession of what ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which it hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive.’”
Whether we consider religion in its origin, foundation, nature, influence, fruits, and evidences; or examine the consolations it imparts, the attractive loveliness it displays, and the prospects it opens to its happy votaries; it must, in every point of view, be a concern of great importance.
The importance of religion. This an inspired writer comprehends in the following short sentence, “Godliness is profitable for all things.” Man’s best interests here and hereafter, are essentially interwoven with the experience and practice of it. As a dependent, dying, sinful creature, he can never act his part honorably through life, or meet death without dismay or stupefaction, but as supported by the guidance and consolations of true religion. In every line of life it is of infinite utility. By making sin hateful, it guards against the false maxims or vicious examples, that would hide the deformity, or give sanction to the practice of that great abomination. If we ask, Why do fraud, injustice, oppression, predominate, to the overturning of all the rights of humanity, the laws of conscience, and the claims of civil liberty? The answer is at hand. Because the sacred mandates of religion, which transfer these privileges as the unalienable claim of human nature, have been disregarded. Had the voice of religion been only heard, and her merciful dictates obeyed, an inhuman traffic would not, for so long a season, have transmitted its bitter fruits to this country, at the expense of the blood, the sweat and toil, the lives and liberties of millions of our fellow-creatures. Barbarous traffic! that begins, and is prompted by avarice, is conducted by desolation, oppression, and unprovoked hostilities, and that ends in a species of slavery, which, in point of enormity, has hardly ever had an example among the most uncivilized heathens! But who knows but the happy hour of emancipation is at hand? The cries of the poor Africans, that have long entered the ears of the Lord of Sabbath, are likely soon to be carried to the ears of our legislators, through the laudable exertions of some, who deserve all praise for having taken the lead in this humane undertaking. Others are taking up the subject with equal ardor. Let us figure to ourselves, thousands of our fellow-creatures, torn from the embraces of friends and relations, and dragged from their native home; sold by an African tyrant, to a greater one from England; linked together like oxen under a yoke; driven in that ignominious situation to a floating prison that is to receive them; treated without the smallest regard to the delicacy of sex or age; and at last, after a voyage that proves fatal to many, transported to a foreign clime, there to undergo the severest toil, and smart under the lash of a merciless planter; and there, by an accumulation of slavery and misery, often sold by public advertisement like beasts of the field, and transmitted from one mercenary hand to another; till exhausted by excessive toil, or cut off by the tortures of an inventive barbarity, death comes at last, self-procured in many instances, to close the dismal tragedy. I say, let us form to ourselves an idea of this concatenated slavery and misery, in the case of millions of our own species, who have the reason and feelings of men, and then we shall unite our prayers and supplications with the rest of the nation, for the purpose of procuring the abolition of such an execrable traffic. It is a solecism in politics, that in a free constitution, like that of Great Britain, there should exist one slave in the whole extent of the British empire. How great the solecism, then, that it should connive at the commerce that enslaves thousands! Should our legislators take the matter into serious consideration, the act that would emancipate the subjects of West Indian vassalage, would reflect the highest honor on the wisdom and humanity of British legislation, and make the British name more dear and more illustrious, than all the conquests that have carried it with so much renown to every distant corner of the globe. The event would form a memorable epocha in the annals of British history; would exemplify the genius of that pure and undefiled religion, the leading characteristic of which is, that it is “full of mercy;” and would be an imitation of its great Author, who “came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them;” not to rob them of the sweets of liberty, but in the most exalted sense to make them free. The voice of religion, the voice of justice, the voice of humanity, the voice of the nation, and I am sure I may add, the voice of God, says, “Abolish slavery, and extend the blessings of freedom to the oppressed Africans.” What a high indulgence would it be to the feelings of humanity, to be the bearer of the act that would confirm the blessing, and spread the joyful intelligence through the seats of oppression and slavery abroad! [50]
But it is not to the West Indies or to Africa alone, that we are to wish the blessings of liberty. Even in this land of freedom we abound with slaves; who, while entreating liberty for others, feel not the chains that enslave themselves to a degree the most humiliating. Many boast of political freedom, who are under the galling yoke of spiritual thraldom. They are tied and bound with the chains of sin, which is the worst slavery, and are led captive by Satan, the most dreadful of tyrants. Yet they bear his yoke contentedly, and feel not the chains that form a sad prelude of eternal captivity. But here the great importance of religion is displayed. By revealing an act of emancipation from the council of the Trinity, and directing a world of captives to look for life and liberty to Jesus the mighty Redeemer, it “opens the prison to them that are bound,” Isa. lxi. 1, and shows a ransom paid down by his precious death, which makes infinite justice say in behalf of the sinner who believes the record, “Deliver him from going down to the pit.” Oh! that each enslaved sinner may apply the great redemption! and, “knowing the truth as it is in Jesus,” be set free from the entanglements of the world, the dominion of his lusts, or the more refined but deeply rooted delusion of self-righteousness!
See the importance of religion, when other things, even the most estimable, are brought in competition with it. Form life’s estimate agreeably to the pursuits and plans of its greatest admirers, and throw into the scale whatever weighs heaviest in the opinion of the sons of opulence and of dissipation. Load the balance with riches, honors, pomp, and pleasures, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. This is the whole aggregate of terrestrial good. But what can all this avail, to shield the sinner from the terrors of the law, the clamors of conscience, or the wrath of Heaven? to give him tranquillity of mind under the pain of inward reproaches, or afford him confidence in the hour of dissolution. “Riches profit not in the day of wrath; but righteousness delivereth from death.” Prov. xi. 4. For how short a season are riches possessed! How many thorny cares, and ensnaring temptations, are connected with that possession to imbitter and make it dangerous. That inward peace which religion inspires, is so far from being the companion of opulence, that the wealthy and the great are in general strangers to its heaven-born influence. The happiness that flows from it, quits the mansions of vicious pomp and earthly magnificence, and takes up its abode in the dwellings of poverty and dependence, where grace teaches contentment, and opens through Christ the prospect of final deliverance from every trouble, in its root and effects. Examine more closely these opposite conditions, with the characters respectively which they include. Fancy a sinner, full of wealth and bold in sin. He lives “as without God in the world,” indulges his pride, and feeds his lusts with the provision, which might be used to the noblest purposes. Accustomed to the tribute of flattery and homage from unfortunate and fawning dependants, his heart drinks in the luscious poison, which feeds his self-consequence, but at the same time renders him more sensible of mortification from the affronts of superiors, and impatient under the afflictive hand of Providence. His heart swells and says, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him?” and his life more emphatically speaks the insolent question. In his family, in his closet, in his conversation, in his thoughts, God has no place, religion is not allowed to enter; except when infidelity fills the scorner’s chair, profaneness animates “the song of the drunkard,” or Satan suggests the bold imprecation, the vulgar oath, or immodest jest. That is, religion is never introduced but to be ridiculed, nor suffered admission for a moment, but to be driven out again with disgrace by the scourge of the infidel’s tongue. Thus he lives independent of the Being, who gave him life, and rebellious against the mercy that spares it. But mercy will not always spare, nor life always last. See him on his death-bed. The farce of life is ending; the curtain about to be drawn on all its pleasurable scenes; and the dismal tragedy begins. If not hardened with infidelity or stupified by disease, all within feels dark, uncertain, and disturbed, full of fears and forebodings, the prelude of hell. What will his riches avail him now? They can procure him medicines, physicians, attendants. But the king of terrors mocks all their assistance. The sinner wants now, what they cannot give: he wants religion. But the joys of that, with all the peace and hope it inspires, are fled for ever. Behold the contrast. Look into the humble habitation of a little family, sequestered from the noise and snares of life, like the humble shrub in a valley, that escapes the fury of the tempest, which tears up by the roots the lofty cedar. See at the head of this modest happy household, an upright Christian, whose industry provides them food, and whose religious example leads them in the way to heaven. His daily resolution resembles that of Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;” and his practice exemplifies it. The morning finds him upon his knees to implore the blessing of Heaven: the day is closed with thanksgivings to God for the gift of his Son, and for every domestic, social, and personal blessing vouchsafed, of which his evening sacrifice is a solemn and grateful recognition. The sacred scriptures are constantly applied to, as to a source of uncorrupted truth, of consolation, guidance, and instruction. The religion which they inspire, sweetens his cares, is a spur to industry, and helps him to bear the frowns of the world, or the visitations of domestic affliction, with patience and submission; persuaded that the goodness and faithfulness of his heavenly Father will “make all work together for good.” To walk by faith with God reconciled to him through the Son of his love; to act as under the inspection of his all-seeing eye in his intercourse with men; to bring forth the fruits of faith and keep a conscience void of the least allowed offence; constitute the main business of life, and the chief object of his care and solicitude.
But [55] see the righteous drawing near the hour of his dissolution; then do the graces of faith, of patience, and of resignation, shine forth with the most resplendent lustre. Confidently relying upon the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, neither the debilitating pains of protracted sickness, nor the more excruciating agonies of acute disorders, provoke a murmur from his lips. At the prospect of that hour, the very thought of which is terrible to the unbeliever, his happy soul exults; and knowing that death is the gate to everlasting life, he longs for the moment of his dismission, when he shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and join the glorified spirits of the redeemed in songs of unceasing praise. How important is Religion, if such be it’s termination, and with how much justice are all our afflictions called light and momentary, seeing they work out for us an eternal and exceeding weight of glory! O my soul, let me die the death of the righteous, and let my latter end be like his!