VIII. of the Almighty. He knows that he is SERMON under the protection of that God towards whom he aspires. He can look up to him. with pleasing hope; and trust that he shall receive illumination and aid in his progress to perfection. His virtues may as yet be imperfect, and attended with many failings; but his approach towards God is begun. The steps by which he draws near to him may be slow; but that progress is commenced, which in a future state shall be more successfully carried on, and which shall continue to advance through all eternity. They go on, says the Psalmist, from strength to strength; every one of them appeareth before God in Zion*. Hence, by a very beautiful and instructive metaphor, the path of the just, is described in Scripture to be as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. It is the dawn of a glorious morning, which increases by degrees to meridian splendour; and as the morning dawn, though dim and feeble, is nevertheless a ray of the same light which forms the brightness of noon-day, we are hereby taught to conceive, that the piety and Pfalm lxxxiv. 7. + Prov. iv. 18. M 4 virtue VIII. SERMON virtue of good men now, is a degree of celestial nature already imparted to their souls, and differs from its perfection in a higher world, only as the twilight is inferiour to noon. The path of the wicked man is directly the reverse of all this. Degraded by his vices, he is constantly declining more and more in a downward course. His path, instead of being as the shining light, is the dusk of evening begun that darkness of the infernal regions to which his nature is tending, increases upon him gradually, till the shadows of night close upon his head at last, with endless and impenetrable gloom.Thus fully is verified what the Psalmist had asserted in the verse preceding the text, Lo! they that are far from thee shall perish; while his own fixed sentiment he immediately declares-but it is good for me to draw near to God. I proceed II. To consider the other sense in which we may be said to draw near to God; that is, in acts of immediate devotion. There are two ways by which these contribute to bring us near to God. The first is, by their strengthening in the soul that power VIIL power of vital godliness and virtue, in which SERMON consists our chief resemblance to God; for it is never to be forgotten that all our devotional exercises are subservient to this great end. Herein consists their whole virtue and efficacy, that they purify and improve the soul, raise it above low passions, and thereby promote the elevation of the human nature towards the divine. When they are considered merely as external services, which we are obliged to perform, but to which we address ourselves with cold and backward hearts; or when the glow of affection which they excite is merely momentary and soon forgotten, they cannot be held to have any influence in bringing us near to God. It is only when they are the service of the heart, when they are the genuine voice of the soul to God, when they serve to kindle those sacred aspirations which continue to breathe throughout the rest of life, that they assist us in rising towards heaven, and alliance with God. When our acts of devotion are of this nature, they form the other sense in which the words of the text are to be understood. We therein draw near to God, as we enter VIII. SERMON into the most immediate intercourse with him, which the nature of our state admits. In one sense, we cannot be said to be nearer to God at any one time than another; as at all times his presence equally surrounds us; in the fields, as in the temple; in the midst of the world, as much as in the retirement of the closet. But when with serious and devout affections we address ourselves to God, in prayer, and praise, and solemn worship, we then bring home that divine presence to our feelings, and formally place ourselves in it. We may then be truly said to draw near to God; approaching to him through a great Mediator and Intercessor; sending up those prayers to which we are encouraged to believe that the Almighty is Lending a gracious ear; resigning ourselves to his conduct, and offering up our souls to him; exercising, in short, all those acts of faith, love, and trust, which become dependent creatures, towards their Sovereign and Father. This intellectual correspondence of the heart with our Maker and Redeemer, is termed, in the language of divines, communion with God. And, if there be truth in VIII. in religion at all; if a Supreme Being exist, SERMON who is in any degree accessible to his creatures, and who is gracious to the good, it must be admitted to have a foundation in reason and truth. There must be just ground to think, that the worship of pure and holy hearts is acceptable to him; and the gospel gives us full reason to believe that the energy of his spirit is concerned in stirring up within them the sentiments of devotion. At the same time it is incumbent on me to warn you, that the satisfaction which on such occasions we feel, must not be grounded merely on a belief which we allow ourselves to entertain, of some communication which we had received directly from God. In the warm and transporting moments of devotion there is always a hazard of our mistaking the exalted efforts of our own imagination, for supernatural impressions from Heaven. It is much safer to judge of the acceptance of our services, by an inference which we can warrantably draw from the state of our hearts and life, compared to God's written word. To the law and the testimony we must always have re course |