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eagerly pursue this new source of gain . Possessions , which they could touch and see , and the graces , which they could buy and sell , would have some value in their eyes , and the religion of the Redeemer would then be worth some attention . But religion has neither silver nor gold . It does not ornament , or flatter , or embellish the body . It secures no joys , but those that are eternal , it has no other end , but to transform men from glory to glory , in the image of the Lord , L , et it , therefore , give place , everywhere , to the interests of the senses and of passion . No , friends of the " world , no ! light and darkness cannot be united . Yoii cannot serve God and Mammon . Behold the worldling , then , my brethren , such as passion makes him ! Poor infatuated man!—What a life ! What a career 1 What wandering ! In order to engrave on your memory all the features of this disagreeable but useful picture , contemplate a brief sketch of this unfortunate being ; place him in thought between the two masters whom he has pretended to serve ; and by the light of eternal truth , judge of the use that he makes of
existence , and the fruit that he gathers from it . 4 Born in the church , instructed in religion , he has seen what so many holy men and prophets in vain desired to know . Faith has invited him ; it has said to him , V My son , give me thy heart ; I will make thee an heir of God , and a joint heir with Jesus Christ / ' But passion held him back , cast her chains on him , put into his hands the playthings of infancy , and forbade him to raise his heart on high . He obeyed ; he trampled under foot the blood of the Son of God ;
laboured for what profited not , and walked amid vain shows . Meanwhile the storms of life fell upon him , and threatened him with adverse fortune . Faith invited him , and said , * ' Come unto me , ye that labour and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest ; " but passion held him ^ back ; it stopped him in the midst of suffering ; thre w him on a rock ; withheld all aid . He obeyed ; he remained to the end , beaten by the tempest ; in the midst of those clouds without water , those raging waves of the sea , those wandering stars , of which an Apostle speaks . The enemy of his salvation drew up against him , in array of battle , his various temptations . Faith invited him ; it offered evefv spiritual and divide weapon , and said , I afrn the victory over
the world . ' * But passion held him back , disarmed him , and led him defenceless to the monster sin . He obeyed ; he prostituted , in the service of the creature , that heart where the creator wished to dwell , and sullied and defaced the'image of his maker . * At last the king of terrors stretched out his sceptre and summoned hin > to appear . Faith invited him , and said , " I am the resurrection and the life ; though thy sins be red like scarlet , they shall be white as snow . " But passion held him back , darkened his understanding ,
oppressed his heart , commanded him to descend alone , and without support , into the valley of the death-shade . He obeyed ; he rushed into the depths of eternity , seeking his gold , his pleasures , his luxury : and the miserable man found only the Hymns of Seraphim—only trie holy and virtuous emotions of the children of God ! Meanwhile the judgment-seat is prepared : the law of liberty is opened for a testimony ; and that law to which he had voluntarily submitted himself . lie had never thought of it ; scarcely did hej know it . Oh ! at the sight of this excess of foljy and misfortune , the imagination is troubled ; the
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82 Beard ' * Family Sermons .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1832, page 82, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1806/page/10/
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