v.

" and of all confolation." Our Lord calls DISC.
us to him, that he may "give us rest and
"refreshment;" that he may "wipe all
" tears from our eyes;" that we may "en-
" ter into our Master's joy;" and that " our
" joy may be full." For this purpose he
has fent us a blessed "Comforter, to abide
" with us for ever," whose first fruits are,
" love, joy, and peace;" a Spirit, cheerful in
himself, and making those cheerful, who
are partakers of him; cheerful in trouble,
cheerful out of trouble; cheerful while they
live, cheerful when they die; cheerful in
ufing well the blessings of this life, cheer-
ful in expecting the blessedness of the next;
cheerful through faith, while they believe
in the great and precious promises made to
them; cheerful through hope, which de-
pends upon their accomplishment; cheerful
through charity, in doing acts of mercy and
loving kindness; till they come to that land
of plenty, where none shall want; to those
regions of joy, from whence forrow shall
be for ever excluded.

There

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DISC.
V.

There is no occafion to be more particular upon this topic. It appears evidently, that, whether we confider the name, the nature, or the end of the Gofpel, it's author, it's doctrines, it's duties, or the Spirit which accompanies it; every way, it is a dispensation of love and peace, confolation and joy. So that a good Christian, of all men, has most cause to be cheerful. Some have gone fo far as to affirm, that it is impious in such an one to be otherwise.

:

:

A celebrated writer on the side of scepticism and irreligion, in a book published, fince his death, to recommend atheism to the world, has been pleased to say, that all the devout persons he had ever seen were melancholy. This might very poffibly be; for, in the first place, it is most likely, that he saw very few, his friends and acquaintance being of another fort; and, fecondly, the fight of him would make a devout perfon melancholy, at any time.

و:

But it may be faid, How can these

V.

things be? Doth not the Gospel call us to DISC. repentance? And is not repentance attended by mourning? Are we not commanded to renounce the world, and to mortify the flesh; to abstain from jollity and pleasure; to deny ourselves, to fast, to watch, and to pray? How then can such a religion as this be a fource of cheerfulness and joy?

It is most certainly true, that the Gospel calleth us to repentance; and it is equally true, that repentance is attended by mourning. But is this the fault of religion, or of the sinner? Of the finner, surely, who by his conduct makes repentance necessary, and then is angry to find that it is not agreeable. Physic is feldom so; and he, who has contracted a disease, must submit to the remedy, if he would recover his health. But the fact is, that true penitents have never failed to declare, they felt a greater joy in the midst of their forrow, through a comfortable sense of God's returning favour, than ever they did in the commission of their fin, which was fure to be followed, if it were

VOL. III.

H

not

DISC. not accompanied, by the stings and terrors of confcience.

v.

As to the world and the flesh, jollity and pleasure, if we are bidden to renounce, to mortify, and to abstain from them, it is by way of friendly caution, left they should endanger the health of our minds, and bring on a relapse. They are taken from us by the kind hand of our heavenly Father, that something more wholesome, and more truly delightful, may be communicated to us, and relished by us. "Be not drunk with wine," fays the Apostle ; " but be filled with the " Spirit." And he who makes the exchange, can be no loser by it. In a word, there is infinitely more joy in subduing a passion, than there can be in gratifying it; and, if we are to be determined by experienced persons, who have fairly tried both, they tell us, the pleasures of fin are far inferior to those afforded even by the severest and most unpromising exercises of religion. The objection therefore, when confidered and answered, turns out (as all objections in the end

v.

end do) to the advantage of the Gospel, DISC. which resembles a fine country in the spring season, where the very hedges are in bloom, and every thorn produces a flower. The joys of the world end in forrow; but the forrows of religion terminate in joy. "Blef"sed are they that mourn, for they shall " be comforted." And it is very observable, that our Lord enjoins his disciples not to appear abroad with a four and gloomy countenance, but, in their converse with mankind, to preserve their usual cheerfulness, even at those seasons, when they are exercifing upon themselves any act of religious difcipline. "When ye fast, be not, as the " hypocrites, of a fad countenance: for they " disfigure their faces, that they may ap

pear unto men to fast. But thou, when " thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash "thy face; that thou appear not unto men "to faft, but unto thy Father, which is " in secret: and thy Father, which feeth in " secret, shall reward thee openly."

Such, then, are the motives for culti-
vating

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