SERMON XXII.

THE WAGES OF SIN.

EZEKIEL Xviii., 20

The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

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EVERY reflecting mind must, no doubt, have frequently found itself distressed by the idea, that a religion of which so many various and parently inconsistent views have been taken, as have certainly been taken of Christianity, cannot possibly be a revelation sent from God. A little consideration, however, will always be sufficient to convince us that this conclusion is a very hasty one. We are naturally led to enquire how far, generally speaking, the best gifts of God, in the natural and moral worlds, have been equally improved by all his creatures. How far they have been equally extended to all. How far different classes of men have been equally prompt in availing themselves of discoveries in philosophy and improvements in the arts. If they have differed about everything else, why should we feel surprised at their having done so

here? Nay, are there not many obvious reasons, such as its vast importance, and the abstruse nature of several of the subjects of which it treats, which might have led us to expect, antecedently to experience, that all these differences of sentiment would follow its introduction? How could such a system of doctrines, originating, as it did, in one, and that an obscure corner of the world, fail to be corrupted in its mixture with the great mass of mankind? How could it possibly come in contact, as it must necessarily do, with the various and fantastic systems of philosophy, which then prevailed so extensively, and retain its purity? You might as well throw a drop of water into a vessel containing a coloured mixture, and expect it to remain colourless. Could a philosophical sectary become Christian, and impart to the religion of Jesus none of the leaven of his peculiar sect? The Ethiopian might as soon change his skin, or the leopard his spots. Could the pure light of Christianity pass through such a refracting medium, without having every one of the simple doctrines of which it consisted, more or less perverted, as they were more or less liable to become so? Impossible! Here, then, we have a very simple method of accounting for the differences that arose among the supporters of Christianity soon after its origin. And, having once arisen, they

were not likely soon to terminate. If the waters of a fountain are separated near their source, it will be a long time before they are re-united. They will mingle, however, at length in the ocean; and, so sure as the word of God is true, all differences among Christians likewise will finally vanish. The whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, even as the waters cover the channels of the great deep. There shall be one fold, under one shepherd. Meanwhile, it is satisfactory to observe, that the present state of things in the religious world, which is necessary, in the nature of things, as a means of restoring the gospel to its primitive purity, is not, in other respects, altogether without its advantages. It affords room for the exercise of many valuable virtues, such as candour, humility, moderation, and Christian love; and presents to all, who are disposed to enter upon them, subjects of inquiry, of which it is saying but little to affirm, that they yield to none within the range of the human intellect, either in interest or in importance. Like the pebbles of the ocean, the different sects of Christians are perpetually rubbing against one another; and it is only necessary for us to look abroad into the world, to perceive that they are every day becoming smoother and more polished. The progressive improvement of the human mind, the

confirmation and extension of the great principles of civil and religious liberty, and, above all, the internal practical influence of its own pure and powerful precepts, are perpetually infusing fresh supplies of harmony, amidst the jarring elements, which will assuredly issue in the establishment of a steadfast and an everlasting union. Already may the eye of the philanthropic Christian behold, in the horizon, the distant dawning of that blessed light which is to usher in the peaceful sabbath of the moral creation. Meanwhile, my brethren, it is our bounden duty, as men and as Christians, to cling with unwavering firmness to those views of gospel truth, which, from a careful examination of the sacred volume, we may have been led to adopt. So far as we may be right, we owe it to ourselves, to the world, to our Saviour and to our God, to advocate them. So far as they may happen to be wrong, we are not wilfully in error, and we may rest assured that we shall eventually be corrected. Now, my brethren, of all the doctrines contained in scripture, there is not one which is possessed of greater practical importance, and, at the same time, there is not one which has been more tampered with, sophisticated and reasoned away, than that which we find clearly and strongly stated in the text, and enforced throughout the whole of the chapter from which it is taken: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

The words of the text, it is true, are primarily applied by the prophet to punishments inflicted on the children of Israel in this world; but they are not, on this account, the less applicable to every description and degree of punishment inflicted under the Divine superintendence. They state a general principle, upon which punishments are inflicted by the Almighty; a principle, too, which is not less, but more applicable to that great distribution of retributive justice, which we are taught to look forward to at the day of judgment, than it is or can possibly have been to any limited or temporal dispensations. We know that, in this world, rewards and punishments, happiness and misery, are very far, indeed, from being always accurately proportioned to the merits of those to whom they are allotted; and we can imagine innumerable combinations of circumstances, by which, without the intervention of a miracle to clear it, the course of justice might be partially obstructed; but on that great and awful day, when the secrets of all hearts are to be made manifest, and when every man's account with his Creator is to be finally summed up, we cannot so much as form the slightest conception of a reason why this great principle should not be fully acted on. Since, then, my brethren, it is this great and final distribution of rewards and punishments in