SERMON XIV.

THE PURIFYING INFLUENCE OF FAITH.

ACTS. XV., 9.

Purifying their hearts by faith.

THESE words form a part of what Peter is represented as having said to the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem, when they had met to consider the propriety of requiring the converted Gentiles to conform in all respects to the law of Moses. The Jews looked upon all who did not conform to this law as unclean. Peter, however, had been taught by the vision, which preceded, as you will recollect, his visit to Cornelius, that the time was come when he should no longer call any man common or unclean; and the result of that visit, distinguished as it had been by the communication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to converted Gentiles, had prepared the way for coming to a satisfactory decision upon the present question. To this remarkable circumstance, therefore, the apostle directs the attention of his hearers, and on it he grounds

his opinions. "God," says he, "who knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying or making clean their hearts by faith." You will observe here, that the apostle is marking the distinction between moral and ceremonial uncleanness, with a view of showing that the former alone is regarded by God under the gospel dispensation. Paul, as you will recollect, had come up with Barnabus to this meeting, on behalf of the Gentile Christians; and you will find him taking up the same idea, and enlarging upon it, in the second chapter of his epistle to the Romans, the last two verses of which might have been intended as a comment upon our text :-" For he is not a Jew,” says that apostle, "who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God." Setting aside, however, the immediate reference of the text to the controversy then agitated, it will very naturally lead us to consider faith as the means made use of by the Almighty for purifying the hearts of men.

There can be no doubt whatever, that belief exerts a constant influence upon conduct, an

influence which is more or less powerful in proportion to the felt importance of the truths believed, and to the weight of evidence by which they are established. We say their felt importance, because experience too plainly proves, that men may believe the most important truths, and yet, through inattention, and too often through wilful and obstinate inattention, may remain insensible to their importance. We see men every day pursuing plans, and engaging in enterprizes, which they are led by their own experience or that of others, or perhaps by mere theory, to believe likely to turn out advantageous to them. A man will not hesitate to banish himself from his native country, and to sacrifice a thousand early, and perhaps tender associations, provided he has good reason to believe that the means of profit, or the sweets of liberty, may be enjoyed to greater perfection in another hemisphere. If we believe complete and unshackled liberty of conscience to be favourable to the acquisition of religious truth, and, at the same time, believe the latter to be of the highest importance to human happiness, or even if, as is probably the case with too many, without any very strong attachment to religious truth, or to anything else connected with religion, we only believe unlimited mental liberty to be important in a political point of view, such a belief

might be expected to lead to that to which it has led, namely, an expression of opinion, on the part of those who hold it, so decided and unanimous, that no patriotic or even prudent statesman can be justified in turning a deaf ear to it. We might trace, were it necessary, the influence which belief is constantly exerting upon all the actions of men from the most minute to the most momentous, but it is an influence, of the extent and importance of which no reflecting mind can fail to be satisfied. To make known to them truths in which they are deeply interested, to establish those truths by sufficient evidence, and to point out clearly to them the nature and extent of the connexion that subsists between those truths and their own thoughts, words and actions, is the most suitable, as well as the most effectual, way of influencing the conduct of rational and accountable beings. We find, accordingly, that it is the very method which the Almighty has been pleased to employ to purify the hearts of his people, and to prepare them for the enjoyment of future and more exalted happiness. He makes their belief of certain important truths, established by evidence sufficient, if duly attended to, to satisfy at least the generality of minds, and the diligent regulation of their conduct, in conformity with this belief, the means of improving their characters, and of qualifying them

for a blessed immortality. By this mighty moral influence it was that he purified the hearts of the early converts, whether Jews or gentiles; by this, my brethren, if it be not our own fault, he is now purifying our hearts; and by this he will continue to purify the hearts of a continually increasing number of his rational offspring, until the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, even as the waters cover the channels of the sea.

We shall endeavour at present, first, to point out the evident tendency of what we believe to be the genuine doctrines of revealed religion to purify the heart; secondly, to direct your attention to one or two particulars which characterize these doctrines, and by which they are distinguished from others, which we believe to be spurious; and, thirdly, to urge you to the performance of those duties which may seem to arise from the preceding considerations.

The leading doctrine of Christianity, and that which manifestly entitles every man who believes in it to the name of Christian, is that of the Messiahship or divine mission of Jesus. Every man who receives Jesus as a teacher sent from God, believes the doctrines which he conceives him to have taught, and endeavours to