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of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.-Heb. xii. 12, and 22-24.

The true spirit of religion cheers, as well as composes the soul. It is not the business of the gospel to extirpate the natural affections, but to regulate them.-Serj. Palmer's aphorisms and maxims.

Religion never was designed

To make our pleasures less.-Dr. Watts.

Some degree of comfort follows every good action, as heat accompanies fire.-Jer. Taylor.

Hæc est pax quæ datur in terra hominibus bonæ voluntatis, et hæc via consummati perfectique sapientis.— Austin.

CONCLUSION.

THEME CXIII. Are ye not much better than they (i. e. than the Birds of the Air and the Beasts of the Field)?

INTRODUCTION.

1ST REASON.-IN NATURAL GIFTS.

(1.) Man alone possesses reason, wisdom, judgment, discourse, and knowledge.

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(2.) Dumb animals have no knowledge of their own gifts the horse (for example) knows not his strength, nor can he make it serviceable without the guidance of man; But man is conscious of his gifts, rejoiceth in them, and giveth God thanks.

(3.) Birds, beasts, reptiles, and insects are wholly sensual, and without consideration of the past or future; but man is a rational being, and his work is a "reasonable service."

(4.) The spirit of man is immortal, and at death will

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return to God who gave it; but the " spirit of beasts goeth downward," and perisheth with their dead carcase. 2ND REASON.-IN SUPERNATURAL GIFTS.

(1.) Man alone is made in God's image, and although by the fall the likeness is nearly effaced, yet by regeneration it is renewed again after the same similitude.—Eph. iv. 24.

(2.) The seed of the woman have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and are thus made "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that they may show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light."-1 Pet. ii. 9.

(3.) Man alone of all the dwellers upon earth is sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and being sanctified becomes a temple for God himself to dwell in.

(4.) The redeemed and sanctified shall behold the face of the High and Holy One on the throne of his glory.

3RD REASON. To man has been given power to 'subdue the earth," and dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.-Gen. i. 28.

4TH REASON.-The end for which man was created is more glorious than that for which other animals were made.

(1.) He was made to glorify God "in his mind and in his spirit, which are God's."

(2.) He was made to love, to fear, and to trust God, to render Him reasonable service, and to obey his commandments.

(3.) He was made to be glorified by God, and to enjoy Him for ever in heaven.

5TH REASON. The Son of God "took our nature on Him," and has thus given it a dignity beyond that even of angels.

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6TH REASON. Having been purchased by the blood of the Redeemer we are no longer our own," but belong "to the King of saints”—and (unless we have divorced

ourselves) are married to the Lamb, and are Christ, as Christ is one with God."

SIMILES.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

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QUOTATIONS. Of earthly things are four kinds, every one excelling the other:

1. To some God only gave to be; as the sun, the moon, and stars.

2. Some have life, as well as being; as the flowers of the field and the trees of the forest.

3. Some have being, life, and senses; as the birds of the air and beasts of the field.

4. But man has being, life, senses, reason, and immortality; and therefore, in his kind, is far more excellent than they all. Jer. Taylor.

Thou hast made him (i. e. man) a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thon madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet:all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea.-Ps. viii. 5–8.

And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.-Gen. i. 26, 27.

There's nothing situate under Heaven's eye
But hath his bound in earth, in sea, in sky:
The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowl,
Are their males' subject, and at their control:
Men, more divine, the masters of all these,
Lords of the wide world, and wild watery seas,
Endued with intellectual sense and souls,
Are more pre-eminent than fish and fowls.

Shakspeare.

There wanted yet the master-work, the end
Of all yet done; a creature who not prone
And brute as other creatures, but endued
With sanctity of reason, might erect

His stature, and upright with front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing; and from hence
Magnanimous to correspond with heaven,

But grateful to acknowledge whence his good
Descends, thither with heart, and voice, and eyes,
Directed in devotion, to adore

And worship God supreme, who made him chief
Of all his works . . . in his own image He
Created thee, in the image of God

Expressed; and man became a living soul.-Milton.
Say why was man so eminently raised
Amid the vast creation; why ordained
Through life and death to dart his piercing eye
With thoughts beyond the limit of his frame;
But that the Almighty might send him forth.
To hold his course unfaltering, while the voice
Of Truth and Virtue, up the steep ascent
Of Nature, calls him to his high reward-
The approving smile of Heaven ?-Akenside.

No man can think too highly of his nature, or too meanly of himself.-Dr. Young.

CONCLUSION.

THEME CXIV. Those who covet earnestly the best Gifts, will not covet Riches.

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1ST REASON.-RICHES CANNOT BE CALLED A "6 BEST GIFT,"

or SUMMUM BONUM.

(1.) A "best gift" must belong to the best part of man : It must ennoble and make happy the soul; but riches, so

far from benefitting the soul, do not even make the body more perfect.

(2.) A "best gift" must satisfy desire; but the rich man is like the horse-leach, which cries "Give! give!" and every accession serves only to irritate and increase cupidity.

(3.) A "best gift" must be permanent or stable: No man is really happy that may, at some future time, be miserable; as one of the ancient philosophers used to say, "a happy man is like a solid square or cube; cast it which way you will, and it lies even:" No chance, no change, no vicissitude, can affect the value of that which is essentially good: but riches are proverbially fleeting and unsubstantial; they are here to-day, and to-morrow may "make to themselves wings and fly away, as an eagle towards heaven."-Prov. xxiii. 5.

2ND REASON.-RICHES ARE NOT AN ABSOLUTE GOOD.

(1.) That which is an "absolute good" would make its possessor the better for its attainment: Thus Virtue, Piety, Grace, are absolute goods," because a man who possesses these gifts "is more excellent than his neighbour." Prov. xii. 26. But riches may be a punishment, or even a curse, and those who most abound in them may be the worse for their abundance.

(2.) An absolute good" is incapable of abuse; it must be good in its fruits, its attributes, and its uses. Thus no man can put Virtue, Piety, or Grace, to an abuse: The actions of Virtue are always virtuous, the operations of Piety are always pious. But riches have no such worth; they may be abused most sinfully, and are often "kept to the owner's hurt."-Eccles. v. 13.

(3.) An "absolute good" (as Faith, Grace, Sanctification, &c.) is a pledge of God's love: a man who enjoys "the good things of God" may be sure they are tokens of love and not of wrath: But God gives not wealth in token of love, nor poverty in token of displeasure.

3RD REASON.--RICHES ARE NOT ALWAYS EVEN INSTRUMENTALLY GOOD. A thing may not be essentially or absolutely good, and yet may be the means of doing good:

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