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SERMON IX.

ON MAN AS A RELIGIOUS BEING.

JOB, xxxii. 8.

"But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding."

IN discoursing on a former occasion from these words, I called your attention to two striking views of human nature, and contemplated the dignity of man as a rational and moral being. As possessed of reason, he claims a decided superiority over all the other inhabitants of this globe, and carries about with him a principle which bears an affinity to that supreme Intelligence from which the universe itself proceeded. As endowed with moral perception and sentiment, he is capable of acquiring qualities the most estimable and amiable; and exhibits traces of that goodness which, in its perfect form, we ascribe to God as his most glorious attribute. In each of these aspects, therefore, we discover the connection between man and his Creator, and are prepared to say, with Moses, that "God made man after his own image."

There is still another feature of our nature, my brethren, in which this lofty relationship is still more strong. ly expressed. The connection not only exists; but it

is felt man has not only received understanding from the inspiration of the Almighty, but he knows that it is so; and he is prompted by nature to lift up his thoughts to the contemplation of that great Being who conferred upon him so high a pre-eminence. It is here that we find in the mind of man something inexpressibly sublime, something that elevates him far above all that is little and perishing upon earth, and connects him by the ties of the heart with the eternal Ruler of the heavens.

This principle it is which distinguishes us from the lower animals, even more than our reason or our moral perceptions. In their operations, something like reason may perhaps at times be found; and if not moral feeling, yet kind affection; but religion is the grand prerogative of man. He alone, of all the creatures which inhabit the earth, lifts his eye to heaven; and while he deigns not to hold any intercourse with the beasts of the field, he yet thinks it not presumption to address himself to the unknown God. Wherever man exists, there, too, you will find religion. of society in the lowest and most abject condition, as far as mental improvement, or the comforts of life are concerned; but where will you not find the worshipper and the temple?

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In vain have some sceptical reasoners endeavoured to throw a cloud over this beautiful fact, by collecting into one view all the follies of superstition; and thus attempting to show that the religion of man is rather a proof of the weakness than of the loftiness of his nature. The extravagancies of superstition are indeed a perplexing scene; and it must be owned, that the vices and follies of man have shown themselves as frequently in

the midst of his religious sentiments as in any other part of his character. Yet the perversions of religion ought never to be treated in a light and careless strain; they are rather objects of pity: or, if any thing like scorn should be applied to them, it ought to be mingled with that deep indignation and regret, with which the strong colouring of the prophet Isaiah exposes the idolatry of the nations.

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They that make a graven image (says he) are all of them vanity, and their delectable things shall not profit, and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a God, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up: yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs, both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms; yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself, among the trees of the forest; he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; for he will take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god and worshippeth it, he maketh it a graven image, and

falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god. They have not knoton nor understood, for he hath shut their eyes that they cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burnt part of it in the fire; yea, also, I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have roasted flesh and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth of ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" Is. Chap. xliv.

No doubt, my brethren, however degrading it may be, this is but too true a picture; and man, unenlightened by revelation, instead of discovering "the invisible things of God, which, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,” man has at all times "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Yet, whatever may be the cause of this error, whether his ignorance may partly excuse it, or the corruption of his nature may necessarily infuse into all his conceptions of the Deity something that is debasing, and trivial, and low;-however we are to account for such superstitious delusions, still it is plain that man must

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find a God; and if a "deceived heart hath turned him aside that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" he will yet rather fall down to the stock of a tree, than want an opportunity of giving scope to the religious sentiments of his nature.

In fact, therefore, the histories of human superstition, although they contain many indications of the inability of man to work out for himself any regular and consistent scheme of religion, without assistance from above, yet prove more strongly than even the best constructed systems of natural religion, that he is by nature a religious being; that, in the lowest and most degraded condition of savage life, he yet hears a voice which calls him to worship and adore; and where is the wonder if, in the perplexity of his thoughts, he should rather believe that the object of his devotion was to be found in the wind, in the earthquake, or in the fire, than in the “still small voice" which speaks from the majestic harmony of nature? Were religion only to be found as it is discovered by reason, there might be some pretext for saying that it is a beautiful invention of philosophers; but when we discover it in every shape; operating in some measure wherever human beings exist; twisted, so to speak, with the cords of their hearts; what can we conclude, but that it was originally interwoven with these by him who formed them?

Here, then, likewise, my brethren, we perceive "the spirit in man, the inspiration of the Almighty:" a spirit, indeed, clouded and obscured, struggling with darkness, and fettered by sin, yet aiming at lofty things, and striving to regain some glimpses of that divine

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