are founded. The church of Christ could never be visibly and distinctly set apart from the world; it could never be, as its founder described it, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, without the public and visible exercises of religion, the common resorting together, and unanimous confession of the great truths of the gospel.

What a powerful and convincing testimony it is to the importance of these truths! What an awakening, moving spectacle to the doubtful, or the careless, is that of an assembled congregation of believers proclaiming with one heart and voice their allegiance and thanksgiving to one common God their Father—their high and holy trust in Him who died for their sins, and rose again for their justification! "But, if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." Thus it appears that, independently of the apostle's command not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and of the apostolic practice which sanctioned the Lord's day as a Christian sabbath, a day for religious meeting — independently of the comfort and refreshment which individual Christians find in the opportunity of common worship- the duty of it is rendered indispensable by the acknowledged efficacy of example, by which the attention of all men may be turned to the importance of religion, and an opening made for grace and conversion, and so for glorifying God.

It is chiefly upon this ground the apostles urged upon their converts a punctual attendance to religion, and a strict regard to the decency of their devotional exercises as a means of common edification and the building up of the household of Christ. And this is a sufficient answer to those persons who pretend that they can worship God as well in the privacy of the chamber as in the solemn assemblies of the Christian Sabbath. Not to dwell upon the argument that those who neglect the public worship of God are, for the most part, unfrequent and careless in their private devotions, we would remind them that our religious duty is not merely a question between God and ourselves alone that it has a reference to the salvation of others as well as our own, to the advancement of God's glory and the extension of his dear Son's kingdom upon earth. But the manifestation of our own allegiance is an essential principle of practical Christianity; the strength and allegiance of our faith must be made visible not only in preserving us unblameable, but in putting forth an attractive power, drawing into the sphere of our influence some of those who are floating careless upon the surface of human existence and bringing them within the range of spiritual thanksgiving and consolation. How powerful

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an encouragement will it be to every penitent person to be exemplary in the observance of all the stated offices of piety, if, while he is advancing in the race before him, he is urging others forward in the same course, confirming the doubtful, awakening the careless, and drawing the feet of the loiterer into paths of pleasantness and peace! And with what a constraining force ought these motives to bind the consciences of those servants of God, whom his providence has placed in the higher walks of life, to let their light be seen of men I say what a motive to abstain from all engagements which prevent their domestics from improving the opportunities of the Christian Sabbath -in fact, from those engagements and amusements which are a glaring violation of the decencies of an established religion, an open insult to Christian piety and to encourage and assist their families and servants to turn to the best account that little time which is permitted to them, by the habits of society, for doing honor to God, and acquiring a saving knowledge of his love.

I need not, after what has been said, dwell upon the mercifulness of the provision which our heavenly Father has made for the wants of his children in appointing a Sabbath, and instituting a church, and ordaining ministers, not merely to offer a daily sacrifice for his people, like the Jewish priesthood, but to be their spiritual friends, guides, and comforters, to watch over their souls as those who must give account; nor need I, after what has been said, endeavor to prove that it is a subject of pious thanksgiving to any neighborhood when any enlarged opportunities are afforded to the inhabitants of profiting by the advantages held out to them by a scriptural church. But let me remind you that he who builds it up and plants the watchman thereon will come again, and expect the fruits of his vineyard in increased attention to the public duties of piety, in an enlarged acquaintance with the word of God, a devout and delighted listening to the ministry of reconciliation, a strict compliance with the gospel rule of holiness of heart, a visible increase of Christian zeal, and the enlargement of the Redeemer's fold.

If the sanctuary which has now been set apart by solemn prayer from all common and trivial uses, and consecrated to the noblest occupation of reasonable creatures, to the common worship of their Creator -if it should set open its doors in vain, and if the gracious invitations of your Savior are unanswered, may not the Lord appeal to common sense and justice, and say, "Oh, inhabitants of Jerusalem, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard! What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes!"

But, while I enlarge upon the duty of an open, an outward confession of our faith in Christ, and the consequent obligation of public worship, I would caution you, in the last place, against entertaining the belief that the public exercises of religion are religion itself. They are its aids, its expression, its demonstration, but they are not its escence, nor its substance. No man can be truly religious who neglects them; but a strict observance of them will not supply the place, nor remedy the defect, of a single Christian grace. Let me, then, in conclusion, recur to the beautiful words which should occupy the first and the last place in our exhortations and reflections your the seat of true religion is the heart; it is there that faith is enshrined in humble, holy thoughts -it is from thence that streams of charity flow-it is from thence that prayer ascends at once to the throne of the Eternal-it is there that holy sorrow for sin, and humble hope, must dwell. And Oh, may he who discerns its inmost thoughts, and who alone can purify and establish it unblameable in holiness—may he make it in every one of us a fit habitation for himself, a decent and appropriate temple for his Holy Spirit, that we may dwell in him, and he in us, while we continue in his church upon earth, that our names may be inscribed among "THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CHURCH OF THE FIRST-BORN, WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN!"

SERMON III.

THE CHARACTER AND PRIVILEGES OF A CHRISTIAN.

BY REV. J. PARSONS.

"A Christian."-1 PET. IV. 16.

It has been customary, my brethren, in all ages, and in all nations, to designate those systems which have exercised a considerable influence over the opinions and over the practice of mankind, by names either derived from the systems themselves, or the titles of him by whom they were respectively founded. Illustrations of this fact may be abundantly found both in the annals of ancient and modern philosophy; and also in ancient and modern religion. Such a mode of designation has justly been considered to be perfectly admissible, and indeed it is absolutely necessary, for the purpose of preserving the memory of those great events which have transpired both in the social and moral history of mankind.

On this principle it was, that when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, appeared upon the earth, for the purpose of announcing important doctrines with regard to the government of Jehovah, and the destinies of mankind, and gathered around him a circle of followers, these followers became designated by a name derived from him to whom they rendered their homage, and by which title they have been properly and permanently distinguished. As their organization and their augmentation in number gave signs of the permanency and establishment of their cause, they either chose or received a title which is memorable, appropriate, and comprehensive a title which, altogether merging the minor distinctions of rank, of origin, and of nation, proclaimed the fact of their union around a common Savior, and under a common religion. That title was the title of Christians.

It is stated by the evangelical historian that "the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch," a Gentile city, which, as we are informed in the Acts of the Apostles, received one of the earliest messages of the gospel, and had a multitude of converts to the Lord. By that appellation they are still to be distinguished, and it must remain as the badge of augmenting multitudes till the world itself shall fade away and be dissolved. It is of little importance to us to ascertain distinctly and properly what may be comprehended in many of those appellations by which the children of men are distinguished; but it is of vast importance to every individual, that he should understand perfectly and distinctly what is comprehended in the name and character of Christian, comprising, as it does, all that belongs to your present welfare, and your final and everlasting state.

I would observe, my brethren, that while, on the present occasion, it is our intention to present before you what is comprehended in the appellation of Christian, we shall, if spared to the evening of this day fortnight, present to you what is comprehended in the character of an infidel. Requesting, however, your attention now to the appellation which is particularly before us, we propose,

I. To consider in what consists the Christian's character and Christian's privileges: and,

II. We shall endeavor to impress those exhortations, which, from the view of a Christian's character and a Christian's privileges, may justly and properly arise.

I. IN WHAT CONSISTS A CHRISTIAN'S CHARACTER AND A CHRISTIAN'S PRIVILEGES.

1st. With regard to what constitutes a Christian's character.

That there have been not a few misapprehensions and perversions

on this subject, will doubtless be evident to every one who is at all acquainted with, and able to judge of, the past history of mankind. By the avowed enemies of Christianity many a falsehood and many a perversion has been uttered; and even by those who have been recogniz ed among its professed friends, grievously mistaken notions have been entertained and expressed, which have been incalculably injurious to the promotion of the cause. As it is possible that not a few may now be present whose notions on this subject may be far from proper and correct, we shall endeavor to present, in a few brief particulars, all that is stated upon it in the inspired record, by which alone our views are to be regulated. And here you will observe,

(1.) A Christian is one who fully and cordially believes the testimony that is given concerning Christ. The truth is evident, and is palpable, that the claims of him who is the founder of our religion should be accurately and properly estimated, and that whatever he is declared to be, in the institutes of religion, should be fully and universally embraced. The question then arises what is the precise nature and import of that testimony which is given to us concerning the Founder of Christianity, the reception of which at all times is essential to the just estimate of his name? The import of that testimony is, we believe, in the first place, that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses an eternal and Divine existence in union with the Almighty Father that he assumed human nature by virtue of his miraculous incarnation, and in which human nature he was subservient to the Father, in compliance with the everlasting counsels, being in that nature known as the Messiah, or Christ, both of which words mean "the anointed one". that during his existence on earth he was emphatically without a stain of moral pollution, being holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners that in that way he became the great teacher and exemplar to mankind—that he submitted to an ignominious death on the cross of Calvary, as a propitiatory sacrifice for sin, the imputation of the merit of which, through the medium of faith, is essential to secure the pardon and acceptance of man with God that he rose again from the dead, at an appointed period, for the purposes of his own glory, and to give a solemn pledge and proof of the resurrection and immortality of mankind that he ascended up to heaven to his Father, and to our Fa ther, to his God and to our God, there to intercede, and there to reign as Mediator, sending down the influences of his Spirit to renovate the hearts of his people - and that, at the appointed period which has been determined, he shall come forth with glory and with splendor, for the purpose of raising and judging all the human race, and that then his mediatorial kingdom shall finally and for ever close. These various