in his
presence;" "he that _glorieth_, let him glory in the Lord." The sudden
vengeance by which the vain-glorious ostentation of Herod was punished,
when, acquiescing in the servile adulation of an admiring multitude, "he
gave not God the _glory_," is a dreadful comment on these injunctions.

These awful declarations, it is to be feared, are little regarded. Let
the Great, and the Wise, and the Learned, and the Successful lay them
seriously to heart, and labour habitually to consider their superiority,
whether derived from nature, or study, or fortune, as the unmerited
bounty of God. This reflection will naturally tend to produce a
disposition, instead of that proud self complacency so apt to grow upon
the human heart, in all respects opposite to it; a disposition
honourable to God, and useful to man, a temper composed of reverence,
humility, and gratitude, and delighting to be engaged in the praises,
and employed in the benevolent service of the universal Benefactor.

But, to return to our subject, it only remains to be remarked, that here
as in the former instances, the characters of the righteous and of the
wicked, as delineated in Scripture, exactly correspond with the
representations which have been given of the Scripture injunctions.

The necessity of this cordial unreserved devotedness to the glory and
service of God, as being indispensable to the character of the true
Christian, has been insisted on at the greater length, not only on
account of its own extreme importance, but also because it appears to be
a duty too generally overlooked. Once well established, it will serve as
a fundamental principle both for the government of the heart and
regulation of the conduct; and will prove eminently useful in the
decision of many practical cases, which it might be difficult to bring
under the undisputed operation of any subordinate or appropriate rule.

SECT. II.

And now, having endeavoured to establish the strictness, and to
ascertain the essential character of true practical Christianity, let us
investigate a little more in detail the practical system of the bulk of
professed Christians among ourselves[73].

It was formerly remarked, that the whole subject of Religion was often
viewed from such a distance as to be seen only in the gross. We now, it
is to be feared, shall find too much cause for believing that they who
approach a little nearer, and do discover in Christianity somewhat of a
distinct form, yet