incur all the consequences of rebellion. The evil of sin was so enormous in the estimation of Deity-the violation of a holy and good law, the disposition to dethrone heaven's Sovereign, the entire alienation of the heart from God, which it involves, so dreadful—that God has deemed it necessary to affix to it the indelible mark of his reprobation, before a wondering universe, in the death of his well beloved Son. But the declaration of every act, and of every hour of unbelief in Christ, and rejection of his atonement is, Sin is not so very great an evil as is intimated; the transgression of the law is not so very heinous a sin, and does not deserve the penalty denounced; and whilst all heaven looks down in suspense, while escape is offered, you say, It is not a matter of great moment whether we trust or reject Christ—it is more interesting to eat and drink, to accumulate the world's wealth to gratify self, than to cease sinning against heaven's Sovereign, and care for the soul's salvation. Is not this your language? Does it not treat alienation from God as a small matter? And is not this adding sin to sin?

Again: Unbelief is evidently sinful, because it is a voluntary neglect or rejection of the only proffered salvation. I have already said enough in relation to the atonement of Christ as the only way of life. There is no other way, we are assured on the veracity of God, who is to Judge, and decide our eternal state. This is certain, however the ingenuity of men may seek to pervert and disguise it. If your standing and mine be not on the Rock of Ages, we are infallibly lost amid the convulsions of the great day. But unbelief, or rejection of Christ, is voluntary, and therefore the more grievously criminal. It is impossible for one who hears the sound of the gospel, or who may hear it if he will, to resist the conviction that his unbelief is the voluntary act of his own mind. No other reason for it, we are warranted by the unerring oracles to assert, can exist. Christ declares, "Ye will not come to me that ye may have life;" "This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light." The voluntary rejection of divine grace and love, who can say is not deserving of the wrath, which God has revealed against all unrighteousness.

Again: The sin of unbelief is peculiarly aggravated, because it is an ungrateful return for all the condescension of Christ. It is cold unconcern, or a dreadful contempt of all his sorrows, and his death on our behalf. If we felt as we should the debt of love we owe, if we were truly grateful, affected as we should be by the amazing compassion and grace of Christ, we surely should make such emotions evident by a prompt and cheerful compliance with his invitations and commands. These comprise repentance, faith, and devotion to his service. There is evident reason in the test he has provided, "If ye love me, keep my commandments;'

for indeed it is by such fruits alone that we can ever be assured of the possession of true love. But unbelief rejects not only the service, but repels the grace; reflects coldly and cruelly on the love and compassion he has evinced, and practically says, “It is a vain, and idle, and needless exhibition." All that Christ endured, all that he accomplished, all that he has promised, the full enjoyment of pardon, and present peace, and future glory, it represents as of no worth. If otherwise why not believe the record which God has given of his Son? Why not practically comply. with the terms which God exhibits as of such absolute moment? To see the guilt of unbelief in its true colors, consider what Christ has done, and what he offers. Think of his condescension and love, his sufferings and ignominy, his bitter agony and death, and weigh well their amount. He has given himself to the death; he offers to you and to me, "A pardon bought with blood, with blood divine." And does not your practical apathy, your unbelief, the uniform disregard you manifest, reflect bitterly on all this love? By it God is dishonored, and Christ is injured.

IN THE APPLICATION of this subject, I observe, that we may here perceive the reason why the New Testament dwells with such frequency, and force on the duty of faith in Christ; and why unbelief is so solemnly condemned, and against it so many threatenings uttered. To the minds. of men this often appears unreasonable, and unbecoming the holiness of God. Let us, however, consider that faith is the respect and homage of the heart due to God's method of grace to a wicked world; and unbelief is a practical reflection upon the rectitude of the divine character and administration, and a rejection of God's special and only method of pardon and life. It tends to make void the law; it impeaches the government of God; it would annul the truth and subdue the honor of the eternal throne; it is an ungrateful contempt of infinite love. This is the testimony of the New Testament. These enormities of guilt are involved in unbelief, and all tend to prove the holiness and propriety of the Scripture declarations, and to add solemnity and tremendous emphasis to the words of Christ, "He that believeth not is condemned already." There is evident reason that the Holy Ghost should reprove of sin, because they believe not on Christ.

Again: the subject may disclose to such as are yet in unbelief the real nature of their conduct. The unbelief, practical unbelief, of multitudes, they are apt to regard as a matter of very small concern, and which will produce few evil consequences; or rather they are not in the least disposed to reflect upon the subject. Yet this easy unbelief in which you live, my impenitent hearers, is the grand crying sin which now rests upon you. I pray you, consider it not in the light of carnal reasoning, but through the medium of the inspired word. You reject the special display

of infinite benevolence; you reject the immeasurable love of Christ you practically reject the demand of the New Testament written as with a sunbeam and "how can you escape if you neglect so great salvation." Say not, we press the point beyond reason. Whatever be your ideas of its importance, we follow only the leadings of the word of God, which explicitly declares, "He that believeth not, shall be damned. Hence it is evident that there is an immensity of interest connected with this subject. From the very nature of gospel faith, which is practical from the very nature of the objects about which it is concerned, and from express declarations of scripture, it appears, this is the point on which are suspended life and death, blessing and a curse. Will you lay claim to the precious immunities of gospel faith, when yours has not the least practical effect upon you; for you live and act, just as you would, if there were no such demands upon you in the word of truth? How vain, how empty all your expectations of a heavenly inheritance. Tell us not, you are no infidels, and that you esteem it hard to be ranked as such. True, you have some respect for religious things, and profess to believe the Bible. But what is the practical influence of your faith? Does it rify the heart and overcome the world? Is it that humble, holy, self-denying spirit which fixes all your warmest affections on the cross of Christ? Or is it such as perfectly well consists with a supreme love to self and the world? O, be persuaded to examine this matter, and understand your real condition. Be persuaded to exercise that faith which is practical and saving. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness;" so believe, and your soul shall have peace; you shall be calm and serene amid the darkest storm-shall meet death with heavenly fortitude-and finally stand on Mount Zion above, arrayed in the splendor and likeness of your Redeemer.

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NATIONAL PREACHER.

No. 6. VOL. 9.] NEW-YORK, NOV. 1834. [WHOLE NO. 102.

SERMON CLXXVII.

BY. REV. EDWARD HITCHCOCK, Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in Amherst College, Mass.

BLESSINGS OF TEMPERANCE IN FOOD.

DANIEL 1. 12-15.-Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days, and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the 'children' that eat of the portion of the king's meats and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this mat

ter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.

DANIEL was prompted by conscientious scruples in making this request. He knew, perhaps, that the "portion of the king's meat and wine" which was sent them, had been previously offered in sacrifice to some idol god, and feared lest he should seem to connive at such idolatry. He had, moreover, doubtless observed, that such rich living, as must have been common in that luxurious court, operated unfavorably both upon body and mind. The result of ten days trial of a simple yet nourishing vegetable diet, making their countenances fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat of the king's meat, has been regarded by some commentators as miraculous: and so it seems to have been considered by the Babylonian eunuchs, who had the charge of Daniel and his companions. Indeed, the general opinion among the great mass of mankind, in almost every age, has been, that a diet of simple bread and other vegetable food, with nothing but water for drink, is not only most unfriendly to comfort and happiness, but inconsistent with vigorous health and fullness of muscle and strength. But the man who has perseveringly tried such a diet, after using one of a more stimulating character, sees in its effects upon these Jewish youth, nothing but the natural consequence of a return to the proper course of living. The more luxurious course VOL. 9-No. 6.

urged upon them by the king, must have had a peculiarly unfavorable effect upon the health of these virtuous Jews, who had probably all their former days practised temperance; and very likely they had now become somewhat emaciated. A return to their former healthy diet, even for ten days, might therefore have perceptibly added to their muscular fullness, and especially to the fairness of their complexion. We need not, therefore, call in the aid of a special miracle to explain the result or rather, it is one of those cases, (fortunately not uncommon at this day,) in which God commissions temperance to perform the work of a miracle, without any suspension or contravention of the laws of nature.

Such a case as this, therefore, may serve as a convenient starting point in describing the salutary effects of temperance in the use of food. And this is the use I shall make of it in the present discourse. I shall take it for granted, that he who adopts a strictly temperate course in respect to food, is equally temperate in respect to drink; and that he abjures every alcoholic and stimulating mixture; using for his daily beverage, that pure and only fluid, which God has cre ated and widely diffused for the drink of man and other animals. Let the community but adopt such a system of temperance, and the following blessings will be the result:

1. Health and Longevity.

I would guard against conveying the opinion, as some writers on this subject seem to have done, that even the strictest temperance in diet will infallibly secure to a man the blessings of health and longevity. For there are other causes of disease and premature decay, besides dietetic excesses; and to some of them we are all inevitably exposed; and we often expose ourselves to those that are not inevitable. There is exposure to vicissitudes of climate and weather; to the damps and chills of the night; to the prostrating heats of a vertical sun; to the unhealthy miasms of decaying vegetable and animal matter; to deleterious chemical agents in the processes of the arts; to the reaction of the soul on the body when the labors of the intellect have been too severe, or the nobler powers have been overdone with care; and above all, to the deadly influence of unrestrained consuming passions. He who has escaped all these influences, has been favored almost miraculously. But none do escape; and often they plant the seeds of disease in the constitution, too deeply for the strictest diet and regimen to eradicate. Yet temperance in diet, joined with appropriate exercise, and regularity in other habits, will, if any thing can do it, bring back to the invalid health and happiness. It will also fortify the system more vigorously to resist all morbid influ