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That which we observe is universally existent, we conclude is the effect of an universal law.

When, therefore, we find all nature and all history proclaiming, with united voice, that the business of man, in this life, is to be ignorant and humble: we conclude that this is the will of Almighty God.

And we do not expect that this law will be changed; because we know that with Him who made that law, "there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."*

When, therefore, we listen to the tidings, which say, that God “established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, that men might set their hope in him, and not forget his works, and keep his commandments;" when we hear, that God "hath showed his work unto Jacob, and his statutes unto Israel;" when we hear of the " Scripture of TRUTH,"§ and of the WORDS which, though heaven and earth shall pass away, are not to pass away;||

And that it is repentance, and faith, in the

* James i. 17.

† See Psalm lxxviii.

|| Mark xiii. 31.

See Psalm cxlvii. and Deut. iv. 8.

§ Dan. x. 21.

Scripture of truth, by which we may have the promise of the life that now is, and of a life which is to come;

When we HEAR these tidings, and on the ground of the probability that an all-wise and merciful God would in some way make known to man, that which it is of all things most important for him to know; —when, on this ground, we determine to engage every faculty we possess in the undertaking the examination of the Book, which purports to be the "SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH;"

Entering upon this determination, and bearing in recollection, clearly, what have been our conclusions respecting the nature of the faculties which we are about to employ, and the extent of their capacity;-it seems, that we must expect that the knowledge which Almighty God may grant to us on one subject, will be so far similar to that which we are allowed to attain on another, that it will be found to be limited to the limits of our faculties; that it will be adapted to our situation, and fitted to the purposes for which it was intended.

We shall consider, that if we shall be permitted to arrive at reasons for a belief in

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more than the mere existence of One "that judgeth the earth;"-if we should ever gain conviction respecting a future state after death, information respecting the nature of that state, and its duration;-if we should ever arrive at a more definite knowledge of the will of God respecting our conduct here, than by nature we can attain unto, of the origin of our moral depravity, and the means of remedying it;-if, on such subjects, light should be granted to us, through the medium of a revelation, in any mode conveyed; we expect, that that revelation, that light, would be fitted to our vision: a light not to dazzle, but to guide us; adapted to its purposes, as the light of other knowledge given us by our Maker; suited to its ends, as the lights in the firmament of heaven, to rule the day or the night.

III... When, therefore, man undertakes to "search" the "Scripture of Truth,” man must call to mind for what end that Scripture purports to have been sent; with what design it is declared that God, the ruler and disposer of all things, caused it to be written :

Namely, to give light to them that sit in DARKNESS, and in the shadow of death; and to

guide their feet in the way of peace ;"*" to be a lantern unto our feet, and a light unto our paths."+

Remember, therefore, that as the knowledge of earthly things which we are permitted to attain, amounts only to that portion which is of utility to us in this life; and, moreover, that this is to be gleaned, without suspension of the curse" in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread:" so we cannot expect that our knowledge of heavenly things, of things beyond the earth, when aspired unto in watching and prayer, will be found to exceed that portion designed to be our light in this dark world:-A light for us who sit in darkness, prepared to guide our feet in the way of peace, and to lead us on to everlasting life.

* Luke i. 79.

† Psalm cxix. 105. "Well, and with good right therefore do we maintain (and with more zeal than we should defend body or estate,) a deep and inward conviction, which is as a moon to us; and like the moon, with all its massy and deceptive gleams, it yet lights us on our way (poor travellers as we are, and benighted pilgrims.) With all its spots and changes, and temporary eclipses; with all its vain haloes and bedimming vapours; it yet reflects the light that is to rise upon us, which even now is rising, though intercepted from our immediate view by the mountains that enclose and frown over the whole of our mortal life.”—Coleridge.

"Difficulty is one of the conditions of imperfect knowledge."

IV..." We see through a glass darkly," says St. Paul.

The materials used by the ancients in place of the glass now in use among us, were by no means so clear as is the glass which we make use of; so that objects seen through them, or reflected by them, were but dimly and indistinctly perceived.

St. Paul, therefore, speaking of the knowledge or perception of heavenly things which is imparted to us by the gospel, takes opportunity to represent the nature of this knowledge by using this figure or comparison; by comparing our present perception of divine things to the perception of the nature of objects when reflected by or seen through a dim and darkened glass.

"We know," he says, 66 in PART.... When that which is PERFECT is come, then that which is in PART shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now we see through a glass darkly; but then, face to face." In another life, that is, we shall see these things clearly and distinctly; then we shall know even as we are known.

The expression of the original language in

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