Defeated-The defeat of Satan quite reconcilable with his present prevalence-Called a spirit, to excite our vigilance-An unclean spirit, to awaken our antip- athy-His influence over the heart, great-But only The hope of immortality reasonable--The great instinct of humanity--Revelation necessary to authenticate it --It did so, partially, under the last economy--Full revelation and proof of the doctrine reserved for Christ. I. Taught the doctrine of an intermediate ex- istence. II. Proved a resurrection. III. He himself will raise the dead. IV. Resurrection, universal. V. Bodies raised, identical with those intered. VI. Means of a resurrection to eternal life, provided by Christ-- he possesses the power--By dying in our stead, has acquired the right-Begins, even here, to make his power and right available, by quickening dead souls- The judgment anticipated by the human mind. I. Its publicity. II. Christ himself the judge. III. Its sol- emn pomp. IV. Its rectitude--Hence, it will be uni- versal-Take cognizance of every act--A judgment of comparison and proportion--And conducted accord- ing to the known laws of the divine government. Its division of all intelligent beings into good and bad -This distribution commenced upon earth-Angels will then be employed to complete it. VI. Its final awards-These awards everlasting-The whole doc- I. The spirituality of the Divine Nature. II. Of the moral law. III. Of the worship of God-As opposed to that which is local-Ceremonial--Prescribed by hu- man authority-Formal and insincere. IV. Of his kingdom-Denounced the temporal hopes of the Jews -Called for spiritual subjects-Born from above-Dis- claimed for his kingdom all resemblance to earthly governments-Conclusion-The whole reminds us of our proneness to repose in a form of piety to the neg- lect of evangelical holiness--This has originated su- perstition--Neutralized the Jewish economy-And The recollection of our Lord's character necessary, to ity of his offers--Expressions of his benevolence went on increasing to the last--Conclusion; character of Christ regarded as an evidence for christianity-An I. Our Lord evinced his wisdom, as a practical teacher, by limiting his revelations to the measure of our real wants-By dispensing with a cumbrous ritual. II. His favorite topics, humility and benevolence. III. Preferred comprehensive rules to a detailed enumera- tion of duties. IV. His morality extends to the thoughts. V. To motives--Love of God. VI. Pre- scribes for its end, the glory of God. VII. For its standard, the character of God. VIII. Injunctions, simple and authoritative--Sanctions. IX. Not only commands, but enables. X. Objections of the in- ccmpleteness of the Saviour's code, answered--Happy effects of his gospel. XI. Impiety of those who re- gard it as a dispensation from holiness. XII. Supreme INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. THE seal which God put upon man, when he made him, was nothing less than his own bright image. What a mysterious creation! The stamp of the Divinity upon a child of the dust! What noble intellectual and moral powers! What a destiny! And can this being, so 'fearfully and wonderfully made,' know himself and find out. the character of his fellows? Is he capable of admiring what is great in them, and imitating what is good? These questions do not need a formal answer-for the natural, as well as 'the proper study of mankind is man.' We are instinctively prompted to examine other copies of this remarkable volume, not only to ascertain how far they agree with our own, but to note down whatever strikes us as peculiar in any of them. Especially are all eyes attracted by intellectual and moral greatness, wherever it appears. Such men as Aristotle, Bacon, Pascal, Edwards, Milton, Howard, Washington, and Napoleon, always have had a nultitude of admirers, and they always will have. It is hardly necessary to add, that the constituent elements of greatness in such extraordinary men, are capable of being exhibited in a variety of interesting lights. They are like those large bodies, which cannot be seen, on all sides, from any one station or those wide and deep waters, which cannot be effectually sounded, by heaving the lead once, or twice, in the same place. The genius-the inspiration, I was about to say, of a great Poet, or Philosopher, or Reformer, requires much and deep reflection, to comprehend it. And in order to do justice to the master spirits of the world, the soul must be stirred by kindred impulses. Moreover, when the sublime and original conceptions of a Milton, or the indomitable daring of a Luther, or John Knox, is to be scanned, a single biography, or a critique, however ably drawn up, does not satisfy us. It just awakens our admiration and curiosity. We inquire more eagerly than ever, wherein 'their great strength lay.' We dwell upon every incident of their lives with new interest. We read their works again and again, with increased satisfaction, and eagerly catch every ray of light which is their characters and writings by the most gifted cast upon admirers. But no mere human work or character is perfect. The profoundest depths of man's intellect can be fathomed. In the loftiest flights of his imagination he can be followed. None of his richest mines are inexhaustible. The time must come, when all will have been said, that can be said, to exalt the character of any individual of our race, however great his talents, or illustrious his virtues. And this would have been the case had sin never entered the world. Had the men whom we most admire, been perfectly holy, it would have been a limited perfection after all—not finite merely, but the perfection of, probably, the lowest order of God's intelligent creation. So that in due time, we might have learned every thing that could be learned about them; might have exhausted our admiration upon every thing that was worthy to be admired. In like manner, were an angel to come down from heaven, and dwell among us, and unfold to us those sublime |