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SERMON XIV.

TIMOTHY, V., 22.

"Neither be partaker of other men's sins; keep thyself pure."

WHEN I was ordained to the office of the priesthood, the commission and command which I then received was this; "Be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God." At the same time, a Bible was put into my hand, as containing that Word of God, which I was thereby appointed to dispense, and thenceforth authorized to preach.

I consider, therefore, that the subject matter of my ministrations lies wholly within the limits of that inspired and infallible record. And when I appear before you, I take it for granted, that you regard and receive me in the character in which I am sent to you-" a dispenser of the WORD of GOD." And I further take it for granted, that you regard and receive the Bible as the WORD OF GOD;-as the only test of doctrine, and the sole standard of duty; that you acknowledge its authority to be unquestionable-its award to be final;-that on all points, whether of faith or practice, this is the judge that ends the strife.

Here I hold. Whatever be the subject to which I call your attention, I go not out of the record. I draw all my arguments from the Sacred Volume. I reason with you out of the Scriptures. And I do this, because I know not any other sure and certain ground on which I can rest, either what we ought to believe, or what we ought to do, if I leave the rule of Divine Revelation-the Word of the living and true God.

There are those who reject this rule. The very book, however, which these persons cast from them with contempt, foreshows their scornings, describes their character, and denounces their final doom; so that, even while they are contradicting and blaspheming, they are furnishing, out of their own mouths, additional evidence, that the Bible is a revelation come from God.

With such, however, as deny the Divine Inspiration and authority of the Sacred Volume, I have nothing now to do. I address myself to those who profess to feel themselves bound by its decisions.

This is now the fourteenth occasion on which I have endeavoured to bring the Amusements of the Theatre to the Test of Scripture; and to prove that they are altogether opposed to the spirit and tenour of God's Holy Word. It has been my aim, in past years, to place this subject in those different points of view in which it ought to be considered;-to bring before your minds

the variety of moral evils of which the Theatre is the occasion;-to show you that these Amusements are sinful in their nature, and most pernicious in their effects;-that their direct tendency is to dishonour God-to pamper and promote "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life"-to corrupt both the principles and the morals--to lead youth into the most dangerous temptations-to embolden them to throw off all fear of God, and all regard to man, making a mock at sin, and glorying in a course of profligacy and vicious pleasure. I trust that my labour has not been in vain; but that God has been pleased to own and bless my feeble endeavours. To HIM I look. May HE graciously favour this renewed attempt, and further it with his help and blessing!

I am aware that the advocates of the Stage call and clamour for Texts of Scripture, in which plays, or play-houses, or dramatic entertainments are forbidden in express words; and because no passages, making particular mention of this particular evil, are to be found, they pretend to believe that such amusements do not come under the condemnation of the Sacred Volume.

Now I feel assured, that the child who seriously and sincerely considers the matter, would be able to see through the sophistry and fallacy of such a demand.

The book which contains the revealed will of God is intended for all generations, and for the

whole world. It was given for the purpose of furnishing a guide and directory through the whole course of time, and to all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.

Now, it must be evident, that had such a book contained all the ever-varying forms and phases of sin-all the names and kinds of moral evil which the heart of man might devise, through all the varieties of human character, and all the diversities of human condition, in all periods, and in all countries;-that the bulk of such a book, and the multiplicity of its precepts, must have far exceeded all our means and opportunities of becoming acquainted with its contents;--and that it could have been of little or no practical use.

An infinitely-wise and gracious God, therefore, has given to his creatures—not an unwieldy code of laws, entering into all the minuter details of sin or duty;-but a convenient volume, publishing, as the first and chief part of his revelation to man, the words of peace and the way of salvation;-"This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life:"—and further, containing rules, and principles, and motives, capable of easy and universal application to all the diversified occasions and circumstances of human life, by such as are disposed to inquire, with an honest, and humble, and obedient mind,

what is the will of God concerning them, and what He would have them to do. And I feel fully assured, that it is not possible for a sincere inquirer after truth and duty, who knows any thing at all of the nature and attendant circumstances of Theatrical Amusements, to read his Bible for the purpose of ascertaining whether such Amusements are compatible with the principles and spirit of that holy book, and to weigh the matter deliberately and conscientiously, without coming to that conclusion, to which, I am convinced, every man of sound and scriptural piety has come and must come ;—namely, that his bounden and imperative duty, with respect to such amusements, is this-" Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them;" or, to express myself in the words of my text, "Neither be partaker of other men's sins; keep thyself pure."

Now, amongst the varieties and gradations of moral and religious character, there is a numerous class of persons, who are amiable and respectable in private life, and of general estimation in society;-who have no desire to promote (either directly or indirectly) moral evil;—who would not carry even their recreations to what they would regard as criminal excess;-who would condemn, as utterly indefensible, habitual

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