nd reverence arise from a sight of
the majesty and glory of his natural attributes, and a sense of his
presence. Joy may come from a sense of the infinite rectitude of his
moral government; from the sight of the glory of God, in his works of
providence and grace; or from a general view of the beauty and
excellence of divine truth. Comfort may be derived from evidence of the
divine favor; and confidence, from an appropriation of God's promises to
ourselves. And in many other ways, also, the Holy Spirit produces
spiritual feelings through the instrumentality of the truth. But all
religious feeling, produced by impulse, without any rational view of the
truth, is to be suspected. It may be the work of Satan, who is very busy
in counterfeiting religious experiences for those he wishes to deceive.
Every religious affection has its counterfeit. Thus, sorrow may be
produced by the fear of hell, without any sense of the evil of sin; a
presumption of our own good estate may be mistaken for faith, and this
will produce joy; we may exercise a carnal or selfish love to God,
because we think he loves us, and has made us the objects of his special
favor; and the promises of God, so far as they concern the personal good
of the believer, may administer as much comfort to the hypocrite as to
the real saint.

How exceedingly important is it, then, that you should not only exercise
a general belief of the great doctrines of the gospel, but that you
should have a right apprehension of them. The _truth_ is so necessary in
the Christian warfare, that it is called the _sword of the Spirit_. But
of what benefit is the sword to the soldier who knows not how to use it?
The sword is used as much to ward off the blows of the enemy, as to
attack him. But the novice, who should engage an enemy, without knowing
the use of his weapon, would be thrust through in the first onset.
Hence, the peculiar force of the prayer of our Lord, "Sanctify them
through thy truth." It is by the use of the truth, as the "sword of the
Spirit," in the Christian warfare, that the work of satisfaction is
carried on.

But, as the frame-work of a building, though complete in all its parts,
would be no house without a covering; so we may have a perfect knowledge
of the abstract doctrines of the Christian religion, and be no
Christians. It is the practical and experimental application of these
doctrines to our own hearts and lives, that makes the building complete.
Regard your