a kind of necessity that the intellect possess itself of doctrines before they can become objects of faith, it by no means follows that the intellect will send them on to the heart: on the contrary, it is a thing of most common occurrence, that the intellect will retain them as merely speculative truths, and that the historical uninfluential assent is the highest homage which they shall ever obtain. And our business is to endeavour to show you the danger of this laying up of religious truth within the confines of the intellect, and the consequent importance of attempting all obedience to the precept of our text. There is a danger to those who are unconverted; there is a danger also to those who are converted. We begin with the former, and we declare that the parties on whom it seems hardest to make a moral impression are those who are thoroughly well acquainted with the letter of the gospel. If, when sickness and trouble weigh down a man, so that he stands, as it were, open to moral attack, you address him on the evil of sin, on the love of God, and on the work of a Mediator, we shall not hesitate to say, that you plead at a comparative disadvantage, when there is already an abundant head knowledge, and that the likelihood of your obtaining an earnest attention is greatest, when the intellect is not stored with the scheme and the details of Christianity. There may be many amongst yourselves who, by a constant attendance on the preaching of the Word, through the having received a religious education, or the having associated with religious people, possess considerable acquaintance with the details of redemption, and who, if catechized on the points of faith, could give a most accurate account of original sin, and atonement, and justification; and with all this you may know nothing of vital religion, the intellect being informed, and the heart left untouched; and we assert of those of you who may answer this description, that if you were laid on a sick bed, and sent for a minister, he would in all probability find you more inaccessible to his message, harder to approach, and offering greater resistance to impression, than if there were little or none of that store of religious intelligence in the chambers of the understanding. The clergyman, at best, can only speak to the head; it remains with God Almighty to carry the Word from the head to the heart; but, when the head is already occupied by the truths which the clergyman has to advance, you must all see that there is scarce any room for the exercise of his office, and, that since he can only shoot into the understanding the feathers of those arrows with which its walls are hung, he can have little reason to hope that the shaft will so penetrate as to lodge in the affections. The man already knows all the minister can tell him; and thus, speaking on a human calculation, the message can have little or none of that arresting and grasping power which it might have had, if it had come down upon the sick man as news from a far country; or, if in his hour of weakness and failure of cherished expectation, it had struck on his ear with all that beauty and force which belong ordinarily to glad tidings that reach us in the season of depression. So that religion accumulated in the understanding will often serve as a rampart thrown up around the heart; and whilst ignorance would have left a clear spot for the introduction of the promises and threatenings of the gospel, information permitted to remain as an inert mass will block up those avenues through which the announcements of the Bible might have made their way into the soul's inmost recesses. And now you will perhaps say, that we are thus giving ignorance such an advantage over knowledge, that it will become prudent men, since they cannot change the heart, to take heed that they inform not the head; but it is altogether a man's own fault, if gospel truth remain in the intellect, and go not on to take possession of the affections. If there be one of you who knows thoroughly well the whole plan of salvation, but who has nothing more than an intellectual religion, we should like to look over what may be called the elements of his knowledge, and see whether he can stand acquitted of the charge of hindering his own conversion. It is a part of your knowledge that you are bound to pray earnestly for the influence of God's Spirit. Do you thus pray? It is a part of your knowledge, that it is your duty to detach yourselves from those habits and associations which are opposed to God's word. Do you labour to effect this detachment ? You have the intellectual persuasion that you must be lost, unless Christ heal

your moral disease. Do you act as you would do, if you had the intellectual persuasion that you must speedily die unless you betake yourself to this (or that physician! We would ply any one of you who has head knowledge, and nothing more than head knowledge, with this kind of examination; and we are sure that if there were anything of candour in your replies, they would furnish an ample demonstration that man is himself chargeable with detaining truth in the intellect, when it ought to go forward to the heart, and that it is simply through his not making that use of religious knowledge which he would and does make of any other sort of knowledge, that he fails to become spiritually as well as intellectually a Christian.

And whilst we can thus fasten upon man the whole blame of his religion being purely intellectual, it is no advocacy of the advantages of ignorance to expose the dangers of head knowledge. If a man refuse to acquaint himself with the truths of the gospel, arguing that since he can only gather them into the head, he had better avoid what may prove finally detrimental, we tell him that in neglecting means he asks miracles, and that therefore, whilst thinking to decline danger, he provokes condemnation. We are far enough from saying that he can carry truth into his heart, and cause it to engage all the affections in its service; but what he cannot do he may be instrumental to the preventing being done, and he may have chained to the head what he could not transport to the heart. So that with no fear of advancing what can be misunderstood or misapplied, unless wilfully and of set purpose, we recur to our statement as to the perils of an intellectual religion. We regard these perils not as accessory or merely possible, but as inevitably resulting from merely head knowledge. The mind which has long been stored with truths the most momentous and interesting to man, but by which it has not been otherwise affected than by an historical fact or scientific deductionthat mind must acquire an habitual indifference to the gospel, harder to be overcome than avowed infidelity. The man who has sat year after year under the preaching of the gospel, and who may have drawn from the sermons which he has heard a most skilful acquaintance with the scheme of redemption, why, the very dealing through this lengthened period with Christianity as he might have done with astronomy or chemistry, attending the disquisitions of a lecturer, and bearing away new pieces of intelligence, which were all to go to the upholding and completing a theory-we are bold to say that in thus treating Christianity he has gradually stripped it of its power of attack, or rather, has so gradually hardened himself against the impressions which it is calculated to make, that through none of its ordinary workings can he be roused to struggle for salvation. And thus it will be quite true, that the man, to all human appearance, would be more accessible to conviction, if he were without the head knowledge. We can seldom have a seemingly less hopeful subject, towards which to direct the engines of the gospel, than the man whose intellect has been the grave of a thousand sermons, into whose understanding, as into a prison, from which there was no passage to the heart, have been gathered the various books and chapters of the Bible. There is an awfulness, and a majesty, and a sweetness in the truths of Scripture, which cause a minister to feel, as he draws near the sick bed, that God has put a mighty weapon into his hands, and that now that the fascinations of the world are withdrawn, and the disturbing forces of time and sense are made from the pressure of disease to act at disadvantage, he may have good hopes of exciting to anxiety and leading to a Redeemer; but when he finds that there is lying one before him who is just as well versed as himself in the theory of Christianity, who has perhaps had knowledge enough to be the great controversialist of a neighbourhood, and who could distinguish with a mathematical nicety between heterodox and orthodox, who all the while may have never received the truth in the love of it-oh! it is then more deeply than at any other time that the minister will feel the little likelihood of any effectual work being wrought, and observing that he can but repeat a trial which has been made a thousand times, and has a thousand times failed, this precept will recur to him, and cause a melancholy foreboding "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul."

Now, up to this point we have confined our remarks to the case of uncon verted men; and it may be thought at first sight, that intellectual religion can never be attributed to the converted; yet if you examine with a little attention you will perceive, that in respect of every man, there is a likelihood of the understanding outstripping the affections, so that many truths may be held by the intellect which are not known in the experience. Now, look, for example, at the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not possible that a renewed man should fail to give his unqualified assent to the truth that the death of Christ was an expiation for sin, so that he will unreservedly hold the doctrine of the atonement. He will have no hesitation as to the facts, that every transgression deserves an infinite punishment, and, that, unless punished in the Surety, must be punished in the transgressor. But all this, you observe, is purely intellectual. The truth may be thus held, but yet held only in the understanding; and the question is, whether the believer lives in the daily and hourly experience of this truth-whether as fast as sin is committed it is carried to the blood of the atonement, and whether, therefore, the opening of a fountain for human defilement is a fact which has only gained the assent of the intellect, or one in which the heart feels a deep and abiding concern. And if, whilst you put forth an unhesitating acknowledgment that the fountain has been opened, you do but dwell, as it were, continually by the margin of its flowings-if you are not in the habit of marking sin as you commit it, and then of presently applying to the purifier, that you may be cleansed from the newly-contracted stain, we assert that the intellect is in advance of the experience, and that you hold the truth in the understanding more than you hold it in the heart. And thus, again, there must be with every real Christian an intellectual holding of the truth, if we are to live each moment in a realised dependence upon God; that we are to cast our burdens upon the Lord, that we are to refer to him our every care, our every want, our every anxiety. You will find this admitted frankly and with gladness by all who profess themselves disciples of Christ. But we want to know whether, in respect of the providence of God, as well as of the priesthood of Christ, the intellect is not often in advance of the experience. There may be an unqualified admission by the understanding of the noble truths, that not a sparrow falls without our heavenly Father that though the Creator have to throw his inspections over the unnumbered worlds of immensity, he attends, as if with an undivided solicitude, to the affairs and sorrows of the meanest of his creatures. But unless a man continually act on the admission; unless indeed he carry his every concern to the Almighty; unless he live in the momentary habit of unbosoming himself to God, so as to ask his counsel in each difficulty, his support in each trial, his guardianship in each danger, why, we contend that the understanding has outstripped the heart-in other words, that the intellect is in advance of the experience; and there are, we suppose, but few Christians who will venture to deny, that they are chargeable with this inequality of pace in the understanding and the heart. We may put it to those of you who live most in the enjoyment of the privileges of godliness, whether the truth of God's providence is not more received in the intellect than realised in the experience whether, that is, there be not a broader and deeper acknowledgment than there is employment of the facts, that the hairs of our head are all numbered, and that if in all our ways we acknowledge him, God will not fail to direct our paths. But this is nothing less than fastening on the best Christians the possession of a religion which, to a certain extent is intellectual; and we cannot doubt that with respect to the doctrines which have been, and others which might be alleged, there is with all of us the outrunning of the heart by the understanding, so that we know truth better than we feel it. If so fast as truth is admitted into the undertanding it were embraced by the affections, and therefore woven, as it would be, into the practice, we might almost be reckoned perfect Christians-at least, there would be in us an element of perfection which we can hardly look to attain— the maintenance of an unbroken uniformity between what we know and what we do. But if an exact sameness of truth in the understanding and the affections be a difficult, if not an impossible attainment, it will still be true,

that there is great danger in the difference of rate, and that it is a Christian's prime business to labour at compliance with the precept of our text. We will just show you what we think the consequences of the intellect being in advance of the experience. If you know a doctrine whose power and preciousness you do not feel-and this is, in other words, the outstripping of the heart by the understanding-then you receive that doctrine only as an unconverted man receives it, and you must be chargeable even in a greater¡degree with its detention in the intellect, when it ought to be sent on to the affections; and there must be produced something of the like effect in two cases. You strip the doctrine of energy, by allowing it to remain inert in the understanding; you reduce it into a dead letter, and thus you grieve the Holy Spirit, who intended it as an engine by which you might carry on the conflict with the world, the flesh, and the devil; and we need not tell you, that what grieves the Spirit must sensibly affect your well-being as Christians. Besides, in all your religious intercourse with others, the probability is, that your conversation will take its measure from your knowledge, and not from your experience. Take the case of a preacher. The preacher, and we suppose it to be his duty, will press upon his congregation the amount of truth which is known to himself, whether or not it be felt by himself. The man who admonishes another, and who desires to bring that other into acquaintance with the gospel, he will pour in upon him whatever he has ascertained of the doctrines of Christianity, and will never pause to determine whether he keeps himself in his announcements within the bounds of his own experience, or whether he is not dealing up to the limits of his knowledge. He will tell nothing of whose truth he is not assured; but the understanding being in advance of the heart, he may tell much whose value he has not personally ascertained. And what will be the result of this recommending and enforcing truths of which we do not realize the power? Why, there is a species of deception in the process, which cannot fail to produce injury. It will be taken for granted, that we ourselves feel the importance of what we recommend to another. If we speak to our fellow man of the duty and the privilege of casting care upon God, it will be concluded that the performance of the duty is our own object, and the enjoyment of the privilege our own delight; and just in the degree that the intellect is in advance of the experience, there will be error in this conclusion, and we shall therefore virtually be hypocrites. When I speak up to the extent of my knowledge, if that knowledge outruns my experience, I represent myself as attaching value to certain truths of which, after all, I have not tasted the preciousness. And what is this but representing myself as a more thorough believer than I am? And what again is this but the playing the hypocrite, though I may have no distinct purpose of palming a false estimate upon others? And if the excess of knowledge over experience thus makes it almost certain that in attemping to instruct others we shall virtually be hypocrites, you have only to remember how hateful is hypocrisy in every degree, and under every disguise, to the Almighty, and you will have no difficulty in discerning the signal danger of allowing the intellect to outstrip the heart. It is true, you may say, we will avoid the danger, by abstaining from all endeavour to instruct, but you will thus again be neglecting a positive duty—and is not this perilous? You may say, 'We will never speak beyond our experience,' and this will secure us against the alleged risk; but since your experience comes not up to your knowledge, you would thus be guilty of keeping back truths which God has given to be advanced, and you would hardly then think, that the danger which you incur would be less than the danger you avoid. So that we leave you no way of escape; view the matter in what light you will, and the same fact is presented, namely, that so far as the intellect is in advance of the heart, the well being of the Christian is in jeopardy, and that if, therefore, any one of you as a true Christian values peace and security, then his constaut aim and his constant prayer will be, that whatever of reli gious truth finds its way into the understanding may be sent onward at once to the affections, and that thus the precept of Moses may be sedulously and continually obeyed-"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul."

We have said enough to prove to you, that what we term an intellectual religion-a religion which rests in the intellect-may have place amongst converted men, as well as amongst unconverted. We have further shown, though upon this point it were easy to be more diffuse, that in both cases well being is perilled, and that in proportion as we know but do not feel, we increase the likelihood in the one instance of final perdition, and in the other of piety being sickly and dwarfish. We hold it to be your duty to acquire religious knowledge, for it is your duty to search diligently the Scriptures, and to attend regularly the preaching of the Word; and whilst you are bound to acquire knowledge, it is, as we have shown you, your own fault, if the knowledge be confined to the head, and push not on instantly to the heart. The knowledge is of such a description, that you must be perpetually taking pains to resist the admonition which it conveys, otherwise it would assuredly so tell on the feelings and the practice that you would be led to a genuine repentance and a genuine faith. Would to God that we might all be moved to the "keeping the heart with all diligence," forasmuch as "out of it are the issues of life!" Why is it that the service of God is "perfect freedom?" Why is it that "in keeping his commandments there is great reward?" so that though the tasks which are given for our performance are just those to which human nature is most averse, the believer finds duty a privilege and takes delight in obedience? Simply because vital religion does not rest in the intellect, but domesticates itself in the heart. The alone secret of the matter is, that the heart is on God's side. It is not painful to the miser, and yet it seems opposed to flesh and blood, to labour, and watch, and consume his days and his nights, and wear down the body with privation and toil. And why not painful, except because he loves money, because money has his heart, and because what is done at the bidding of the heart must always be done through inclination, and therefore always done with pleasure? And it is even the same with the commandments of God. These commandments seem burdensome, so long as they have not travelled beyond the understanding; but they lose their grievousness as they make their way to the heart; and when the direction of our text is fulfilled, we incline to God's testimonies, and obedience, which was a duty, becomes most strictly delight. It is the principle on which we act which gives character to our feelings; and he who is moved by love-and this it is to have the precept in the heart-cannot fail to find pleasure in that to which he is incited. And therefore we again say, would to God we might be moved to the "keeping the heart with all diligence!" Oh! it is a great thing to feel it our privilege to perform our duty! And this it is which God designs us to follow, when he directs us to lodge his commandments in our affections. "My son, give me thine heart"-this is his demand; and he who complies with this demand, finds it his meat and his drink to do the will of his Father which is in heaven. Oh! you libel godliness, and throw on it the foulest of calumnies; when you represent the man of piety as compelled to be perpetually thwarting his every desire, and as therefore living in one unbroken series of self-denials and mortifications. We tell you that if ye be Christ's in deed and in truth, ye will find a pleasure such as ye would not barter for the most vaunted and cherished enjoyment of earth, in serving God and promoting his glory. You will not perform your duties as a slave who fears the lash of a task-master, but rather as a child, who seeks the smile of a parent. You may run the round of human gratifications, but nowhere will you have found such delight as in obeying God, though that obedience be the resistance of nature. Not in vain, not in figure, not in parable, has the wise man declared-" Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." And if you marvel at this-if you reckon it inexplicable, if not incredible, that there should be pleasure in self-denial, happiness in resistance, we give you the solution by telling you, that you will do with alacrity and cheerfulness what you do with all your heart, and that the real Christian-may God make us all such!-is one who is always striving to live out the injunction, “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul."