LECTURE V.

RELIGION THE CHIEF CONCERN.

ECCLESIASTES, xii. 13.

LET US HEAR THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER; FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS; FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN.

I approach the subject of this evening's Lecture with a feeling of despondency. Hitherto we have gone along together; and while you have appeared to take a lively interest, in the various subjects of discussion that have come before us, it is an additional cause of felicitation, that you have given so ready and so general an assent to the sentiments that have been advanced. But we have now come to a point where I am afraid we shall part. The text will lead me to speak of religion; of the soul; of God and eternity; of heaven and hell; and the cause of that despondency, which oppresses my mind, is an apprehension that in speaking of these great subjects, I shall not find, in my hearers, the

same preparation of heart duly to estimate and feel their weighty and solemn import. Am I mistaken in this apprehension? Would that it may prove so. To the topics discussed in the preceding lectures, though relating chiefly to the objects and pursuits of time, you gave an interested and candid attention. But would it not be too sanguine, to expect a similar attention, now that we are about to direct your thoughts to the high concerns of eternity? It may seem an unpleasant intimation, but I cannot forbear to ask, whether some of my hearers are not conscious of a diminished interest in the subject proposed as the theme of the present discourse,--whether, as they approach a more spiritual region, and are about to take a view of their relations to God and another world, they are not conscious of a dark mist hanging over, and intercepting their vision,-of a chilling coldness, falling upon their affections, and checking the full, warm flow of sympathy and interest, which they felt in the discussion of topics of a more earthly and secular character? Strange effect of eternity, one would think, to throw into obscurity and littleness the subjects with which it is connected. And why should it be so? Why should religion, the concerns of

the soul, seem to any of you, less worthy of deep and thoughtful attention, than topics which relate only to the transient scenes of this short and precarious life? It cannot be, because religion is a subject of less importance. In comparison with it, all other subjects sink into insignificance. It cannot be, because it is a subject less easily understood. In its essential doctrines and duties, religion is a very plain subject. It cannot be because it is in itself an unpleasant subject, fitted only to bring gloom and melancholy into the bosom of man. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Your present and eternal well being, all your dearest interests, both for this and the coming world, depend on the favor and friendship of your great Creator and final Judge; and these can be secured only by the possession of true religion. All this we must believe, if it be admitted, that the soul of man is immortal, or that there is above us, a Being of infinite perfections, and beyond us a state of just and eternal retribution. Why then ought not religion to be regarded as the first and greatest concern of man? Why should it seem to any rational being a subject worthy only to be treated with indifference, or repel

led with aversion? Why should it be a subject, the bare announcement of which so often throws a chill over the spirits, and freezes up all the avenues of the heart? Who, or how many of my hearers, may be conscious of this state of feeling in themselves, I know not; but in the conviction that it is a state of feeling very common, especially, among young men, I deem it of importance to analyse it; to show whence it originates; and to draw it out, in some of its principal features; that you may see how utterly unreasonable and foolish it is, as well as wicked and ruinous, to treat religion with indifference and neglect.

1. In the first place, then, we are often pained to notice, in some, an entire thoughtlessness on the subject of religion. There are some young men, as there are men of riper age, who really care too little respecting this subject, ever to make it a matter of direct and serious consideration. As if they had nothing to do with the immortal spirits within them, nor with the great Being that made them, nor with the scenes of that invisible state to which they are hastening; they give their affections, their thoughts, their all, to the things of sense and time; and if ever religion obtrudes itself on their attention, it is

immediately repelled as an unwelcome visitant, or retained only as a subject of ridicule and jesting.

But I ask, is this proper, is it rational? Is it worthy of one, who claims to be distinguished from the brutes that perish, in that he has been endued, by the Creator, with the power of thought and is destined to exist beyond the grave? Were one of this character present, and could I gain access to him, I would expostulate with him in terms like these:—Why is it, my friend, that religion is with you a subject of so little interest? It claims to have its origin in a revelation from God; it discloses truths and objects of the most serious and weighty character; it tells you what you are, what is the design of your present existence, and what awaits you in that unseen state, to which you cannot but feel that you are advancing. Is this then a subject to be thrown aside as unworthy of thought and reflection? Are you indeed capable of thinking, and can you see nothing in religion which demands thought? How is that you can live surrounded with so many demonstrations of the being and presence of God; with so many solemn mementos of the uncertainty of life, of the certainty of death,