SERMON XI.

THE DUTY OF READING OR HEARING THE SCRIPTURES.

JOHN V. 39.-" Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me."

WERE we informed that a volume was published, which, for the vast variety of interesting events it records, excelled all other books in the world, should we not be impatient to peruse it? And were we also assured that it contained an authentic account of the creation of our own species, and of the world we inhabit ;-that we might gain from it all the information we could desire, of our origin, our nature, our destination; —and, above all, that it would impart to us the means by which we might become happy in this life, and everlastingly blessed in the next, -how rejoiced should we be in having such a valuable book in our possession! Christians! is

not this precious volume already in our hands? Is not the Holy Bible-(a book that contains all these particulars, and gives us all this information,) in our houses, and read to us in the house of God? Yet, alas! with all these strong claims to our reverent attention, there are few books of which the generality of Christians know so little, which they read less frequently, or with less pleasure! This prevailing indifference to such an inestimable treasure, is only to be explained, by man's being a fallen and an ungrateful creature:—a creature who is too insensible of even the common blessings which are continually vouchsafed him by an all-gracious God. For instance, are we sufficiently thankful for the kindly warmth of the sun, and fertilizing showers, which make "our vallies stand thick with corn,' and our fields bring forth their produce to sustain us and our cattle? Are we sufficiently thankful for the pleasing vicissitudes of day and night? -for the grateful changes of the seasons; the precious gift of health; the strength that enables us to provide for our own support, and for the maintenance of our families? Do our souls praise the Lord for the numberless means of comfort and of safety which he gives us to enjoy! No all these, and innumerable other blessings, have become so familiar, that too many of us receive them without emotion, without any feeling of gratitude, or any acknowledgment of

God's goodness. So it fares likewise with the Holy Bible whose pages are mercifully spread before us-whose sacred truths are able to "make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." It is put into our hands at home,it is read in our ears at Church; and, because the blessed boon is thus always with us and about us, we treat it with cold neglect. Yes, the sacred "Word" of God, which "is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path,”—this blessed light, like the glorious light of the Sun, is disregarded, because it shines daily upon us. But, is not such inattention to the word of God often fatal to our temporal peace ?-and may it not be so to our immortal souls? Remember, there is no infallible guide of truth but the Bible, which shews us the one only way through the labyrinth of life, to heaven: so that, if we neglect its sure guidance, we must wander in error,—and, perhaps, finally perish in our sins!

It was the admonition of Moses and the prophets to the Jews, that, what was most valuable in the scriptures, "they should bind upon their foreheads, as frontlets between their eyes, and write them upon their hearts." And our blessed Lord, when he commands us to "search the scriptures," points out so clearly the duty of making them our frequent and careful study, as to convince us that we cannot neglect them but at the peril of our souls. But, the spiritual

advantages to be derived from observing our Lord's injunction, and the imminent danger of neglecting it, however powerful, are not the only motives, that should constrain us frequently to read the Scriptures, or to hear them, with reverence and delight. The gratification they are calculated to afford, is another strong inducement to peruse them. Indeed, though we must unquestionably admit, with St. Paul, that "the natural man receiveth not" in the most exalted sense, "the things of the Spirit of God," neither can he rightly "know them, because they are spiritually discerned,”—and a man's taste must be spiritualized, by the influences of the Holy Spirit on his heart, before he can thoroughly appreciate their excellence;-yet, so numberless are the beauties contained in the Oracles of Truth, that we hesitate not to affirm,-were any person of sound understanding, who had never even heard of a Bible, accidentally to meet with one, and (with a mind unbiassed and unblinded by prejudice,) to read it with attention, he would pronounce it the most interesting -the most delightful book that had ever fallen into his hands.

The Bible, brethren, contains the most authentic account of ancient times;-of customs, manners, and of countries, in a part of the world far distant from our own. It relates circumstances, and records events, entirely different

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from any to be found in the most ancient uninspired writings. It describes individuals whose actions are so extraordinary, and whose characters are so various, that whether we contemplate them as types-as examples—or as warnings,— if we read and meditate on these sacred records, with a humble and teachable spirit, and with earnest prayer for that divine grace which can alone make this all-important study profitable to us, we must be edified by the teaching of God's Holy Spirit, which inspired what is there "written for our learning." The prophetical writings, more especially, present us with the most exalted ideas of God's omniscience: declaring things before they came to pass, which so fully answered to the predictions, that we might suppose the prophets described these things after they had happened, if we did not know that the prophecies were written manyvery many years before the events to which they relate; more especially those which appertain to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and when it is considered, that during all this time, even for many hundred years, these prophecies were in the possession of the Jews, the inveterate enemies of Christ, their authenticity is surely unquestionable: since it is obvious, that they, by whom "he was despised and rejected," would never attempt to forge prophecies which evidently prove him what he professed, and what they