is like the leaven hid in three measures of meal; it is working silently, slowly, almost imperceptibly, but not the less surely. It is like the fire which smoulders long concealed beneath the heap of fuel; secretly it gathers strength, unseen it burns its way, till at length it bursts forth in the overwhelming flame, and nought can arrest or retard its progress. Thus in God's due time shall the faith of Christ make its way to nations now barbarous and ignorant; the heap of falsehood and superstition under which the arch-deceiver Mohammed has veiled its fair proportions shall be swept awaythe divisions of the western church shall be healed-God's ancient people, the descendants of Israel, his chosen, shall bow down before the spiritual son of Jesse, and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.'

This glorious consummation is not indeed to be expected in our day. We

may be called to witness scenes far less bright and glorious. We may have to mourn the judgments of God upon his church for her lukewarmness and indifference. He may see fit to purify her in the furnace of affliction, and may for a season deliver her over to the will of her enemies. We may be exposed to persecution, or what is more dangerous, to the blandishments of crafty enemies, and the still more detestable perfidy of false brethren. But let us not be discouraged. If God wound, it is but that he may heal; if he cast down, it is that he may hereafter build up with greater strength and beauty the walls of this our Zion, and make her a glory and defence, the praise and the joy of the whole earth.

49

SERMON III.

THE MYSTERIOUS NATURE OF THE DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY NO VALID AR

GUMENT AGAINST THEIR TRUTH.

PROV. XXV. former part of the 2nd verse.

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing.

AMONGST all the objections which, from time to time, have been brought forward by unbelievers, in order to justify their rejection of the Holy Scriptures as containing the undoubted revelations of Almighty God, there is none which has been urged more frequently, and, as they imagine, more forcibly and successfully, than the mysteries and difficulties in which some of the doctrines of our faith are confessedly enveloped.

D

A revelation (say they) from God to man relating to subjects affecting the eternal interests of the latter, might naturally be expected to be so plain as to be easily understood by those to whom it is addressed, and so full as to leave no difficulty unanswered, no doubt unsatisfied; and the circumstance of Christianity containing doctrines which it is contended must be believed, though it is confessed they cannot be comprehended, forms an insuperable objection to its divine origin.

It is (they add) absurd to suppose, that the Almighty should bestow upon man the faculty of reason, and yet require him, upon pain of eternal damnation, to believe what reason does not enable him to understand.

This objection being somewhat plausible and one which has not unfrequently been instrumental in unsettling the faith of weak Christians, I propose, with God's assistance, to endeavour to point out its fallacy; preparatory to which it will be

necessary to place the objection upon its right foundation, to show how far it is of force, and where the lurking sophistry begins.

Now for what purpose can we suppose that God would afford to man a divine revelation? Two most important objects of such revelation might naturally be expected to be these, to inform man by what means he may be reconciled to his offended Maker; and to instruct him in his moral, social, and religious duties. If then in these important particulars we should find obscurity and mystery, the objection would be of some weight. If the necessity of forgiveness were insisted on, and yet the means of obtaining it were revealed in doubtful or unintelligible terms; if, in order to obtain the rewards of the future life, we were called upon to perform actions in themselves impossible, or else enjoined in such terms as to be incomprehensible, duties of which we had no knowledge, and towards the practice