own will by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures," the richly endowed heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, in whose image we are renewed? What, I ask, can be a greater abuse of the tongue, than to curse him whom God has blessed, to pass sentence on him whom God has forgiven, to imprecate vengeance on him whom God has blessed with the greatest of his gifts?

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." How unnatural, and therefore impious, and offensive to God it is, that the same tongue should be employed in the two opposite services of heaven and hell, that blessing and cursing should proceed from the same mouth, the apostle illustrates by the harmony which is visible throughout created nature. God," says another apostle, "is not the author of confusion," 1 Cor. xiv. 33. Wherefore, since the fig-tree, the olive-tree, and the vine, each bear fruit after their kind; since fresh and salt springs always send forth water of the same kind, and this uniformity and order of nature is agreeable to its Author, for he looked on all that he had made, and pronounced it to be very good, it cannot be good or pleasing in his eyes, if in contravention to this Divine arrangement, the gifts and faculties entrusted to man are perverted from the use for which

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they were originally designed; if the tongue for instance, which has uttered, and was framed to utter the praises of God, be employed to give vent to evil speaking, indecency, and unseemly jesting. As long as this takes place among professors, as long as we who have had on our lips the precious word of God, indulge in bitter invectives against those who are equally entitled with ourselves to the highest of his blessings, so long we are still lamentably under the power of sin, and we are not yet established in the unity and integrity of the divine life. Yes, the more frequently we abuse the tongue, if not by cursing, yet by other unworthy uses; the more frequently we employ it in a way that is not for the benefit of our fellow creatures, so much the more impure will be the service we offer to God; for if a man saith, “I love God, and hateth his brother, he is," whether he be conscious of it or not, "a liar;" it is impossible that any one can with sincerity serve two masters. If without being first reconciled to our brother, whom we have cursed or offended, we approach the altar of God, to offer him praise and thanksgiving, we shall merit the severe rebuke of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."

"My brethren, these things ought not so to be." But what avails it, say you, only to know that it ought not so to be? Is this the joyful message of an evangelical discourse? Can there be more disheartening intelligence

than this, "that the tongue no man can tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison?" I allow that it is disheartening, if we forget that we, as well as the apostle who makes the assertion, are the disciples of Him, who when the subject of discourse was the difficulty of entering the kingdom of God, comforted his fearful disciples by these memorable words, “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." The Almighty has provided for this unruly evil, this deadly poison, an antidote and cure, by making his Son Jesus Christ unto us redemption, and righteousness, and sanctification. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, and in communion with him, we can attain what without him is impossible. We who without him are incompetent for the government of the tongue, are able through him to do all things which in this respect are required of us by the will of God. Let us then, my friends, ever remember that Christ has redeemed us from all unrighteousness, and has consecrated us to be a peculiar people. Let us remember that our body with all its members is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which through Christ dwelleth in us, and that "we are not our own," but his who bought us with his own blood. Let us, then, "glorify God with our bodies and our spirits, which are his." Amen.

LECTURE XII.

JAMES iii. 13-18.

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is

from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

"Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you?" the apostle inquires, and then proceeds to give a description first of false, and then of true wisdom. The common wisdom and prudence of which the world is full, often are shown at this season of harvest,* in the same manner as in the instance of the rich man in our Lord's parable, Luke xii., whose ground brought forth plentifully, so that he was obliged to pull down his barns and build greater, and said to himself, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry." I say, this is the

*This discourse was delivered at harvest time.

common wisdom, even of those whose fields have not borne so abundantly, or are not sufficiently extensive, to render it necessary to erect larger store-houses. Every man considers it a point of prudence, to secure as well as possible his own property, and to draw from it the greatest possible enjoyment and profit. But from this predominant regard to self-interest, it comes to pass, that envy and strife, and their attendant evils, are never more active than when the fruits of the earth are to be gathered in. For whoever has his thoughts set exclusively on earthly things, cannot, whether his own share of the harvest has been great or little, look upon the goods of his neighbour without a wish to appropriate a portion to himself, and this is envy; and when he strives to get possession of another's property, either unlawfully or with some appearance of right, and the latter takes measures to defend what he holds, then there is strife and contention, whether carried on privately, or in a court of justice. How applicable to such cases is the language of the apostle in the text, "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." You all know from melancholy experience, what confusion and disorder are produced in family and domestic relations, from the operation of envy and strife. But is this consistent with true christianity? What says St. James? "If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth." If you allow such evil passions to lodge in your hearts, and such disorders to agitate and perplex your daily