THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



of God with power.&quot; In this deliverance, as 

 in the first creation, a variety of the grandest 

 and most interesting objects is presented to our 

 view : The Son of God manifested in the flesh 

 the moral image of the invisible Creator em- 

 oodied in a human form, displaying every hea 

 venly disposition, and every divine virtue, per 

 forming a series of the most astonishing and bene 

 ficent miracles, giving sight to the blind, and 

 hearing to the deaf, making the lame man leap 

 as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing, re 

 storing the infuriated maniac to the exercise of 

 reason, commanding diseases to fly at the signal 

 of a touch, recalling departed spirits from the in 

 visible world, raising the dead to life, and, on 

 every occasion, imparting heavenly instructions 

 to attending multitudes. We behoid this illus 

 trious personage suspended on the cross, encom 

 passed with the waters of affliction, and with 

 the agonies of death ; the veil of the temple rent 

 in twain, from the top to the bottom ihe rocks 

 of mount Calvary rent asunder the sun covered 

 with blackness darkness surrounding the whole 

 land of Judea the graves opening the dead 

 arising, and the Prince of Life consigned to the 

 mansions of the tomb. On the third morning 

 after this solemn scene, &quot; a great earthquake&quot; 

 having shaken the sepulchre of the Saviour, we 

 behold him bursting the prison-doors of the tomb, 

 and awakening to a new life, which shall never 

 end we behold celestial messengers, in resplen 

 dent forms, descending from the ethereal regions 

 to announce to his disconsolate disciples, that 

 he who was dead &quot; is alive, and lives for ever 

 more;&quot; we behold him, at length, bestowing his 

 last benediction on his faithful followers, rising 

 above the confines of this earthly ball, winging his 

 way on a resplendent cloud, attended by myriads 

 of angels, through distant regions which &quot; eye hath 

 not seen ; and entering &quot; into heaven itself, there 

 to appear in the presence of God for us.&quot; In 

 the redemption achieved by this glorious person, 

 we are directed to look back on that scene of 

 misery in which sin has involved the human 

 race, and to those &quot; regions of sorrow and dole 

 ful shades,&quot; from which his mercy has delivered 

 us ; and to look forward to a complete deliverance 

 from moral evil, to a resurrection from the grave, 

 to a general assembly of the whole race of Adam 

 to the destruction and renovation of this vast 

 globe on which we dwell, and to the enjoyment of 

 uninterrupted felicity, in brighter regions, while 

 countless ages roll away. Such are some of the 

 sublime and interesting objects which we are 

 called upon to contemplate and to celebrate on 

 the day appointed for the Christian sabbath ob 

 jects which have a tendency to inspire the mind 

 with sacred joy, and with an anticipation of no 

 ble employments in the life to come. 



Again, the Sabbath was appointed as a stated 

 season far llie public worship of God. As man 

 kind are connected by innumerable tics, as they 



are subject to the same wants and infirmities, arc 

 exposed to the same sorrows and afflictions, and 

 stand in need of the same blessings from God, 

 it is highly reasonable and becoming, that they 

 should frequently meet together, to offer up in 

 unison their thanksgiving and praise to their com 

 mon Benefactor, and to supplicate the throne oi 

 his mercy. These exercises are connected with 

 a variety of interesting and important associa 

 tions. In the public assemblies where religious 

 worship is performed, &quot; the rich and the poor 

 meet together.&quot; Within the same walls, those 

 who would never have met in any other circum 

 stances, are placed exactly in the same situation 

 before Him in whose presence all earthly dis 

 tinctions evanish, and who is the Lord, and &quot; the 

 Maker of them all.&quot; Here, pride and haughti 

 ness are abased ; all are placed on the same 

 level as sinners before Him &quot; who is of purer 

 eyes than to behold iniquity ; the loftiness of man 

 is humbled, the poor are raised from the dust, and 

 the Lord alone is exalted in the courts of his holi 

 ness. Here, cleanliness and decency of apparel 

 are to be seen, and human nature appears, both 

 in its physical and its moral grandeur.* Here, 

 civility of deportment, and kindly affections are 

 generally displayed. Here, we feel ourselves in 

 the immediate presence of Him before whom all 

 nations are as the drop of a bucket ; we feel our 

 guilty and dependant character, and stand, as 

 suppliants, for mercy to pardon, and for grace to 

 help us in the time of need. Here, knowledge 

 of the most important kind is communicated to 

 assembled multitudes, almost &quot; without money 

 and without price.&quot; Here, the poorest beggar, 

 the youth, and the man of hoary hairs, may learn 

 the character of the true God, and of Jesus 

 Christ whom he hath sent the way to eternal 

 happiness the sources of consolation under the 

 afflictions of life and the duties they owe to 

 their Creator, and to all mankind. In a word, 

 here the sinner, in the midst of his unhallowed 

 courses, is aroused to consideration ; and here 

 the saint is animated and encouraged in his 

 Christian journey, and enjoys a foretaste of the 

 blessedness of heaven, and an earnest of the de 

 lightful intercourses and employments of &quot; the 

 saints in light.&quot; 



Let us now suppose, for a moment, that the 

 Sabbath, and its exercises, were universally abo 

 lished from the civilized world. What would be 

 the consequences ? The knowledge of the true 

 God, which the institution of the Sabbath, more 

 than any other mean, has tended to perpetuate, 

 would soon be lost, his worship abandoned, and 

 relioion and moral principle buried in the dust. 

 In Pagan countries, where the Sabbath is un- 



What a striking contrast, even in a physical 

 point of view, is presented between a modern a* 

 sembly of Christian worshippers, and the hideous 

 and filthy group of human beings that are to be seen 

 in the kraal of a Hottentot, or in the cave of a r w 

 Hollander. 



