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SERMON XXV.

CHRISTIANS THE SALT OF THE EARTH.

MATT. V, 13.

Ye are the Salt of the Earth: but if the Salt have lost it's Savour, wherewith shall it be salted? (wherewith shall it be seasoned?) It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under Foot of Men.

FROM

ROM the use of salt in preserving food from putrefaction, Christ illustrates in this passage the design of Providence in furnishing Christians with superiour religious knowledge, which was to check the progress of corruption in the world. For, as salt preserves meat in a wholesome state, and makes it grateful to the palate, so Christians are qualified to preserve or restore purity of morals among mankind, and to keep the world in a useful and acceptable state. Whence it follows, that it is the duty of Christians to endeavour to answer this purpose of the divine Being by the means with which he has furnished them, remembering, that, if they do not comply with his wishes, they must expect to be treated with the same contempt as insipid salt.

Hence I shall take occasion to show,

I. How Christians are qualified to produce the effect here ascribed to them; and

II. Employ some considerations to induce them to exert their powers to answer this useful purpose.

Were they to think and act in every respect like the men with whom they are surrounded, such a benefit as that of which we are speaking could not be expected from them; but if we can show, that their principles and conduct are opposite to those of the world, we may then suppose, that they will have some influence in restraining them.

What we have now, therefore, to inquire is; wherein do the principles of Christians differ from those maintained by other men? From the intercourse of two bodies of people which are each of them in a like state of putrefaction, we can expect nothing but an increase of the putridity of both; but where the qualities of the one are totally opposite to those of the other, the tendency to grow worse may be corrected.

י.

The character here given of Christians was delivered many ages ago. To ascertain the truth of it, therefore, it is necessary to examine, what they be lieved, and how they acted, at that time. We shall afterward consider, how far the same description is applicable to those, who bear the same name at the present day.

Christians were then taught to believe, as the

Jews were before them, that there was but one God, the creator of the world, infinite in all his perfections, the benevolent governor of the world, and the kind father of all mankind. In this respect they differed from the heathen who believed in many Gods, and attributed to their deities all the passions and vices of men. They likewise differed from many modern Christians, who have associated with him two other beings of equal powers,-and by dividing have lessened the dignity and authority of the Supreme.

They were taught to regard the perfections of this being as the object of their imitation, and as the only foundation of their hopes; and that, although his perfections were to be celebrated and his favours acknowledged both in private retirement and in the society of their brethren, yet that such services were of no value in his estimation, unless accompanied with the affections of the heart, and with a strict regard to the duties which men owe to one another. In this respect they differed from the Scribes and Pharisees, the teachers of religion among the Jews, who, while they were strict in enjoining the observance of ceremonies, paid no attention to the cultivation of the heart, or to the duties of justice, mercy, or fidelity, but had grossly corrupted the law of God in respect to all these virtues..

Few of the heathen had any hope of a future state of existence after death; and where they entertained this expectation, the ideas they had formed of it's pleasures and punishments were too mean and

gross to have any influence in recommending virtue or deterring from the practice of vice. It is allowed, indeed, that the Jews in the time of our Saviour expected a resurrection from the dead, although it formed no article in the revelation made to Moses. Their conceptions of a future life were, however, very gross, as well as those of the heathens; and they limited the benefits of it to the seed of Abraham. But Christians are instructed to believe, that there will be a resurrection of all mankind, of the Jew and of the Gentile, of the just and the unjust, and that each will receive retributions exactly proportioned to their characters, the one being rewarded with substantial and everlasting happiness, the other punished with unspeakable misery.

The Jews limited the favour of the divine Being to their own nation, or at least to such only as conformed to their laws; but Christians maintain a more liberal and conciliating doctrine, viz. that all his offspring without exception are alike the objects of his affection, and that nothing is necessary to recommend men to his favour, but sincere contrition for their offences and reformation of conduct, or fearing God and working righteousness.

From the master, who taught these just notions of God, their duty, and future expectations, they have also learnt, that it is incumbent upon them to publish the knowledge they have acquired to the world, and to take every opportunity of impressing it upon the minds of others; that to conceal it within their

own breasts, or to be afraid to acknowledge their relation to their divinely authorised teacher, from the dread of any kind of suffering, is an instance of criminal timidity and weakness, which will be punished with the greatest severity, Christ having said, that he shall be ashamed of those before God, who have been ashamed of him before men. From the same authority they have also learnt, that, as they are not to embrace the principles, so they are not to follow the example of other men, but to observe the law of Christ, however contrary it may be to the practice of the world, and however inconsistent with their temporal interest. This was the language and the doctrine of Jesus to his followers; but the maxim, which heathen philosophers held out to their disciples, was, "think with the wise, but act with the vulgar,"-conform outwardly to the religion of your country, however contemptible it may appear in your eyes, and never expose yourselves to suffering for the sake of your opinions.

The consequence of believing the principles before mentioned to be true and of divine origin must be, that Christians would no longer regard it as the chief object of life to indulge their appetites, to acquire fame or wealth, but to form a virtuous and pious character, as the only sure means of true enjoyment, of qualifying themselves for the divine favour and for future happiness. Believing the supreme importance of those views of religion which the Gospel communicates, they would inculcate them with

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