And here I may remark, what is evident to all, that there must be more careful, systematic personal investigation of the Holy Scriptures. There are many people in the church who depend entirely for their knowledge of the Bible upon what ministers say, and what they may catch from the conversation of friends. There are some to whom we might quote Shakespeare and tell them it was the language of inspiration, and they would believe it, and probably repeat it in support of some particular opinion of their own as the most unquestionable authority. Many a blunder of this kind has come under. my own observation. The great reason of it is, that such people never read their Bibles; and if they have read in the holy Book, they have never read all that is in it. Now there is no tolerable excuse for a christian not being acquainted with all that is in the word of God. I know that people try to frame excuses. One says, he has such a bad memory that it is impossible for him to retain what he does read. But is not that a reason why it should be read more frequently? If you are prone to forget, you ought the oftener to refresh your memory. Another says, that the Bible is a large book, and that it requires the patience of a Job and the energy of a Hercules to go through it. It is admitted that the Bible is a considerable volume; but what is such a book, or hundreds of such books to men who live in this world twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years. I contend that one year is enough for a common laboring man to read all that is in it. It contains but 1189 chapters, and some of them consisting of no more than two and three verses. And if you read two pages every week and five pages every sabbathor fifty-four verses every week and twice that number every sabbath--or three chapters every day and five on every sabbath, you will get to the close of Revelations before the year is out. Certainly this is no difficult task. It only requires at the outside an aver∙age of ten minutes ordinary reading each day of the year.

But it is not sufficient merely to read the Bible, it must also be studied. And for this every christian family should be furnished with at least a few well selected books and commentaries.' But

Here I will take occasion to recommend the Publications of the American Tract Society, both for cheapness and valuable matter. As to commentaries-among writers of our own church, "The Popular Exposition by Morris and Smith," though it extends as yet (1846) only over the Gospels, possesses many excellencies. "Barnes' Notes" on most of the books of the new Testament, are also admirably adapted to the use of the common reader. To which I would add "The Comprehensive Commentary" upon the whole Bible, as a work for the student and for family use. The commentaries of Scott and Henry are so universally appreciated, as to need no commendation from me.

you may say, you lack the means to procure books. Then save a few of those dollars which you spend for little delicacies, and at senseless exhibitions, and you will have enough and to spare. And permit me to say to you, parents, that a well chosen little library will profit your sons a great deal more than your dollars or your farms. Nor dare to tell me that you have no time to read. If you were to take but a few of those evening hours which you now while away in the stores, work-shops and bar-rooms, &c., in conversation about every body's business and every imaginable nonsense, and devote them to books; I can assure you it will be better for your heads and your hearts. Tell me not you have no time to read, whilst what I daily see passes before my eyes. Time there is, and time enough, if you will only appropriate it to the proper use.

A good religious family newspaper, is also highly valuable in enlarging christian views of doctrine, benevolence, and general intelligence. No family should be without one.

The Bible-class must also be sustained. It is here where we enter into a social discussion of the teachings of select portions of the word of God. And as a proof of the efficiency of such classes, you will always find, that those who most regularly attend them, and take most interest in them, are always the most intelligent and consistent christians.

The Sabbath School must be kept up and diligently attended to. It is here that the truths of revelation are brought down to the comprehension of children, and that the young are taught the way to heaven. Nor can any one doubt the excellence of this institution, who has observed the man who was brought up in the well-regulated sunday school.

Such, my hearers, are the principal means of improvement in Divine wisdom, and of advancement "in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." And in conclusion I would affectionately and sincerely urge upon every one here present professing christianity, and all others desiring the salvation of their souls, to give them your diligent attention. Read your Bibles, study your Bibles, using every help which you can call into requisition. So will you be prepared for the highest offices of usefulness here; and when you reach the world to come, you will be prepared to enter upon the investigation of those sublime fields of wisdom and of thought which spread themselves to the view of the redeemed.

LECTURE XIII.

THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY.

Heb. vi. 1, 2, 3. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permit.

WHEN We look at the doctrines of the Bible in their connection with the great scheme of the Gospel, we find such a mutual relation and dependence between them, that all seem to be equally important and indispensable. There are some however, which, from their nature, and the places they occupy in the history of redemption, require to be more thoroughly understood and more confidently received than others. In religion as in all science, there are primary rudiments, which serve as the foundation upon which the superstructure is to be reared. These first elements are all essential in every instance to the formation of christian character. As flesh, bones and blood enter essentially into the composition of our bodies, so these first principles enter into the constitution of all valid piety. These fundamentals we have enumerated in the text, and to a brief discussion of them shall our whole attention be directed this morning. The following is a paraphrase of the passage before us:Omitting now to insist on the first elements of christian doctrine, let us proceed to the consideration of the more difficult principles of religion, not discussing at present the doctrines of repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permit.'

I. The first essential element of christianity is-Repentance. This is the first step in christian life. It is a doctrine which claims your particular attention.

Probably the most effectual way of removing false conceptions of this matter will be, to show what it is not. 1st. It evidently does not consist in a mere confession of sins. This is one part of Repentance, but not all of it. A man may condemn himself in the most debasing language, and sit down in sackcloth and ashes, and

all without avail. The Pharisees confessed sins after the manner of their formalism daily, but very few of them repented. 2nd. Nor is sorrow and weeping on account of the privations and distress brought upon us by our sins, to be regarded as genuine repentance. We may be sorry for a course of conduct because it brought us into serious difficulties, and not hate that course of conduct itself. Esau weep bitterly because he had lost his birth-right, but evinced no sorrow for having eaten the pottage. 3d. Nor are the occasional meltings of natural affection, marks of true penitence. Some are constitutionally more soft and yielding than others. A sermon may dissolve them into tears-the tale of the Savior's mournful history may melt them to tenderness, without approaching the borders of Repentance. Orphah wept, and filled Naomi's ears with lamentation, but while the tears were yet on her cheeks returned to the idolatry of the Moabites. 4th. Nor is deep conviction and remorse for sin repentance. Felix trembled under the pungency of his conviction, but turned away his apostolic instructor. Judas was overwhelmed with remorse for his guilt in betraying Christ, and hanged himself for relief from its goadings, but it is said he was a devil, and went to his own place! 5th. Nor is a glad hearing of the Gospel, and compliance with its outward requisitions, evidence of repentance. Herod heard John gladly, and did many things which he taught, but afterward beheaded him for the gratification of a damsel who danced at his birth-day! True Repentance embraces conviction of sin-contrition for sin-confession of sin-and abandonment of sin. Different individuals may experience these states of mind, and these dispositions of heart in different degrees according to their various constitutional temperaments, previous histories, and intellectual cultivation; but in every instance they are indispensable qualities of a genuine penitent.

"When convicted of sin, the individual clearly sees and deeply feels his natural depravity and practical wickedness: his conscience, awake to guilt and exquisitely sensitive, becomes painfully oppressive; and his spirits droop under the dread of final condemnation and endless punishment. This conviction is wrought by the agency of the Holy Ghost, through the instrumentality of Scriptural truth. That it is not a natural and original operation of the mind itself, is evident from the indisputable fact, that the uniform tendency of sin is to darken the mind-harden the heart-and sear

the conscience. The longer therefore, that the sinner persists in transgression, the more his moral blindness and insensibility will increase. But the state of conviction, of which I am speaking, implies light, and tenderness, and quickness of conscience; and hence, no man need doubt that these circumstances are sufficient indications of the presence and action of the Divine Spirit. The part of man in this, as well as in every subsequent stage of this saving process, is to receive the truth in the love of the truth, and so submit to the operations of the Hand by which the instrument is directed.

Then follows contrition for sin. The contrite sinner contemplates the immaculate holiness of God, and laments his own pollution; he remembers the goodness of God, and mourns his own ingratitude; he considers the power of God, and tremblingly deplores his own folly and madness. He sadly reflects upon the degradation he has suffered through the influence of sin. He perceives that not only his moral principles, but his intellectual faculties and physical energies have all been greatly injured; that his time, and talents, and property, have been shamefully abused and prostituted and wasted; and that his example has not only been useless, but extensively and sorely pernicious, exerting its most deleterious influence in the circle of his nearest and dearest friends, and diffusing a feebler but still pestilential contagion over the whole sphere of his acquaint

ance.

Thus he is prepared for the confession of sin. He freely acknowledges before God and man, the guilt of sin, and its ruinous tendencies. In private places especially, humbling himself in the presence of the Omnicient searcher of hearts, he fully admits the justice of the charge alledged against him as an inexcusable violator of the Divine law, and, shrinking from his exposure to wrath, immediately and fervently pleads for mercy. He has no mental reservation-prefers no extenuation or apology-makes no mention of presumed personal merit—but calmly unbosoms his profound pursuasion that he is utterly sinful in condition and conduct-in heart and in life. Neither is he careful to suppress or conceal the appropriate accompaniments of confession. If his breast heave with anguish, and his eyes overflow with tears, and his lips quiver, and his voice falters, with the struggle of a prayerful spirit, he will not outrage the better developments of his improving nature by assuming the rocky sternness of a cold constraint; for if there be any