286 `Ìhe Path of the f ufl, S E R M. imperfe1t, yet mutt be fincere ; and in or- XII. der to that univerfal, I fhall now proceed to confider the doctrine of the text, that this path of the Tuft, a life of holinefs, filled with the fruits of righteoufnefs, mercy, and godlinefs, fo far as thefe virtues may be at- tained in this world, nay, fo far as they are aaually attained by every good man ; that this, I fay, is a fhining light, which fhineth more and more unto the perfect day. The expreffion immediately raifes in our minds the idea of excellent, regular, and lovely, for all thefe charaters are obvioufly im- ported in ruining light, fet in oppofition to darknefs, which is naturally the image of c nfufion and horror; but we muff keep in our thoughts the nature of the fubjet to which the allufion is applied, it is a ra- tional, not a fenfible light, a fpiritual, not a corporeal fplendor. The firft thing there- fore which occurs, as imported in the figure, is, that the way or the life of the jolt mo- rally confidered, comprehending his temper and his conduct, the whole tenor of his de- liberate defigns, and the courfe of his ac- tions, is a regular fcheme formed according to one model, and under one uniforrnFdirec- tion : One principle animates the whole, one
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