Our Lord says to his disciples, "Ye are the light of the world. A city set on an hill cannot be hid." And, speaking with particular reference to the teachers of religion, he says, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"। We are hereby taught, that where the gospel is preached, great effects will follow-effects which will be known and observed, both by friends and enemies, -by those who see the grace of God, as Barnabas did at Antioch, and are glad; and by those who wonder at, but hate the change. These effects will correspond with the instructions given, and the doctrines inculcated; or, to keep to the allusion of the text, an epistle will be written, such as may be "known and read of all men." All will be able to discover something of the instruction given, and of the manner in which it has been received, by observing the effects which are produced. The good seed, sown in an honest and good heart, will bring forth good fruit; so that by observing the crop, a judgment may be formed of the nature of the seed, and of the quality of the ground.

When Christianity was a new religion upon the earth, and the apostles appeared, as they did to the Athenians, to be " setters forth of strange Gods," no sooner did they begin to preach the gospel at any place, so as to gain attention, than many eyes were turned to the spot. Men looked to see and to read the " epistle." They wished to know what was going forward; some for the sake of accusing and blaspheming, and some from a desire to know what the doctrine was, and what were the effects produced by it.

In our day and country, circumstances are materially changed. That Christianity is preached in any place, is not a matter that excites surprise ; for it is professed every where, and is supposed to be preached every where. But though, to a certain extent, this is true, yet still there is a wide difference in the manner in which it is preached by different persons. It cannot be denied, that some insist, with much more earnestness than others, on what may properly be deemed, the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, as the gospel of Christ, than others do, who are, nevertheless, members of the same church, and believers in the same creed. From some pulpits, much more is heard respecting the lost and depraved condition of mankind; the salvation and atonement of Christ; the necessity of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; respecting the new heart, and the new spirit, which are produced in every true Christian by the Holy Ghost; aud the perpetual need we are in of divine grace, to enable us to serve God; than from others. In some places these subjects are little spoken upon, or are discussed in a cold, formal, unimpassioned manner; while in others, they are dilated on, as

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matters of the highest imaginable importance, insisted upon with the utmost energy, and applied to the conscience as things in which every individual is concerned, as immediately connected with the eternal happiness of his immortal soul :-such difference, is too plain to be denied. And where this more earnest way of preaching and applying the doctrines of the gospel prevails, it excites attention; larger congregations, generally, are collected, and more effect seems to be produced. An "epistle" is written, and many eyes are turned to read it. The conduct of those, who regularly attend on such preaching, and seem to prefer it, is watched, and carefully observed.

The conduct and characters of such persons, is the minister's epistle of commendation, now, as much as it was, when the apostle employed the term with respect to the Corinthians, and their behaviour. The doctrines preached, and the tendency of the instruction given by the preacher, will be judged of, by the effects produced on the people; by his fruits he will be known.

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Our enquiry then is, what ought a person, in other respects ignorant of the subject, to learn by reading this epistle"? What impression ought to be left on his mind, by seeing, and examining the conduct of those, who thus hear the gospel preached.

1. The first thing which ought to strike his mind, and engage his attention, should be, that the people are more fully acquainted with the word of God, and the whole system of religion, than those are who have not the same kind of instruction.

It would astonish any one who had not been accustomed to converse with a variety of people, to be told of the extreme ignorance that prevails, even in such a country as this, upon every subject of a religious nature; questions, which one would suppose a child would answer correctly, receive the most absurd replies from those of mature years; and often do we meet with persons advanced in life, who have scarcely a distinct idea on the simplest points of Christianity; they know not themselves, and therefore they cannot tell to others, what a sinner must do to be saved. I am not speaking of what is the case among men brought up in heathenism, but of what is the case with multitudes in our own country.

Now here is an epistle;" and what do we read in it? We read, that either the appointed teachers of religion, have been most criminally negligent of their duty, or that the persons themselves have loved darkness rather than light. These things ought not to be so. The preaching of the gospel was instituted on purpose to impart instruction to men, on subjects connected with religion,

to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light," as well as "from the power of Satan unto God;" the former is the means whereby the latter is to be accomplished. Till the mind is enlight

ened, till a man is made to perceive the truth, he will not feel its power, he will not live under its influence. The duty of the minister is, to give instruction: "The priest's lips should keep knowledge," and should impart it to the people, giving them " line upon line, and precept upon precept," so that every one should be well instructed unto the kingdom of God, and there shall be no danger that any one out of the whole congregation should be destroyed for lack of knowledge." Till this is effected, an epistle cannot be written, which will prove a commendation either to the minister or to his people.

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2. In reading this " epistle," it ought to be seen by all, that the gospel, and its infinitely important truths, are not received in a cold, heartless manner, but as things in which the people feel themselves deeply interested.

In this manner St. Paul tells us, the Thessalonians received the word which he preached to them. "For our gospel" he says, came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." And again he says, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." When man